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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
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TH E WORKS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EMPEROR JULIAN, 
 
 AND 
 
 SOME PIECES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SOPHIST LIBANIUS, 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK. 
 
 WITH 
 
 Notes from P E T A U, La B L E T ER I E, GIBBON, kc. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 The history of the EMPEP.OR JOVIAN, 
 From the Fr.'n:h of th.-:t Abbe De la Bleterie. 
 
 By JOHN BUNCOMBE, M. A. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 THIRD EDITION CORRECTED. 
 
 Him Poefy, Phllofophy, deplore. 
 The fcepter'd Patriot, who diftlnflions wav'd. 
 Lord of himfeli, by Pagan rites enflav'd ; 
 Whom all, but Chriftians, held their common friend, 
 Whofe very errors had a virtuous end. Irwin. 
 
 VOLUME THE SECOND. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed for T. C A D E L L, in the STRAND. 
 
[ iii 1 
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. 11. 
 
 Epiftles of Julian I 
 
 The Life of Libanius the Sophift, by Fa- 
 bricius 21^ 
 
 A Monody, by Libaniy^, 
 
 on Nicomedia, defboyed by nn Era'th- 
 quake 227 
 
 A Monody, by Libanius, 
 
 on the Daphnxan Temple of Apollo, 
 deftroyed by fire 243 
 
 The Hiftory of the Emperor Jovian, 
 
 by the Abbe de la Bleterie 25SI 
 
 An Abftraa of an E%, by the fame 565 
 
 '^' Additional Notes 381 
 
 i3 EPISTLES 
 
THE 
 
 O F 
 
 EPISTLES 
 
 JULIAN. 
 
 *' Superior, as he was, to all men in all his writings, ia 
 *' hi3 E PI S T L E S he was fuperior to hioifelf." 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 B 
 
*:f.* Of the Epiftles of Julian, the nine firfl were printed 
 in Greek, with other Epiftles by various hands, by Aldus, 
 Rom. 1499, 4to. and afterwards in Greek and Latin, at 
 Geneva, 1606, folio. The xth was preferved by Socrates 
 in his Hiftory, III. 3. The xith, and thofe that follow, as 
 far as the xLviith, were in like manner publiflied among 
 the Epiftles of various writers. The XLixth was taken 
 from Sozomen, v. 16. The Lth, i.ift, and Liid were 
 firft publiflied in Greek by Peter Martinius, together with 
 the Mifopogon, and the other Epiftles, illuftrated by a 
 Latin tranflation, Paris, 1567 and 1583, 8vo. Petau there- 
 fore firft tranflated thofe three, and alfo the Liiid, and the 
 following, as far as the Lviith, which, together with the 
 Epiftle of Gallus to Julian, Bonaventure Vulcanius pub- 
 liflied at Leyden, 1597, ismo. at the end of the Epiftles 
 and Problems of Theophyla6tus Siraocatta^ The Lviiith 
 and nxth, but doubtfully blended together, were firil 
 publiflied by Nicholas Rigalt,. who alfo added a tranflation, 
 at the end of his Fu/ius Parafitkum^ Paris, 1601, 4to. But 
 in the edition of Petau, by ihe advice of Rigalt himfelf, it 
 was divided into two, both mutilated, the former having 
 no conclulion, and the latter no beginning. At length 
 the former was fupplied from a MS. by the learned and 
 ingenious Lewis Anthony Muratori, in his Aufcdota Gr-acay 
 Padua, 1709, 4to. The Lxtli and the two following were 
 firft publiflied by Petau, from a copy of an old MS. lent 
 him by Parricius Junius. The Lxiiid, which Martinius 
 and Petau have given in Greek only, but very imperfect 
 and incorreft, Ezekiel Spanheim amended and fupplied 
 from the MS. of AUatius, and firft added a Latin verfion. 
 Muratori has alfo publiflied three other Epiftles of Julian, 
 the Lxivth, Lxvth, and Lxvith, from the fame MS. 
 
 Fabricius. 
 
 For aa account of the other EpilUes, fee the notes. 
 
 ^•^ 
 
EPISTLES OFJULIAN. 
 
 Eplftlel. To * * * * t. 
 
 T THOUGHT that you had long ago arrived 
 -*- in ^gypt ; and recolled:ing what I have often 
 faid, " Happy," cried I, " are the j3igyptians in 
 *' the plenty with which they have long been fup- 
 *' plied by the Nile, but happier are they no'v 
 *^ in the poiTeflion of your Mufe, a blefllng, ia 
 *• my opinion, fuperior even to the Nile : That 
 ** fiver, by flooding, enriches their country ; but 
 *' you, by your eloquence, improving the minds 
 *' of their youth, endow them with the treafurcs 
 *' of wifdom> like Plato and Pythagoras, their 
 ** forrtier vifitors." 
 
 Such were my refieclions, little thinking that 
 you, in the mean time, were not far diilant. At 
 the receipt, therefore, of your letter I was at firft 
 fo much furprifed, that I thought it an impofition, 
 and could not believe my eyes. But when I pe- 
 rufed the contents, convinced that fuch elegance 
 could flovi? from no other pen, how great was my 
 delight ! I then entertained hopes of foon feeing 
 you here, and I rejoiced that your own country 
 would foon be blefled with your prefence, however 
 fhcrt might be your ftay. On this fubjeft you 
 feem to have brought a ludicrous charge againfl 
 
 t The nnme <)f the fage, to whom this Epiftle is ad- 
 drefled, is not known. La BtBTERic. 
 
 B 2, me. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 me. For though I allow that the au* is fuch as 
 you reprefent it, that the water is as brackifh as 
 the oceariy and that the bread is made of barley; 
 all which, out of regard to your country, you 
 have by no means exaggerated; yet, my good 
 friend, you are much indebted to her for having 
 furniihed your mind with philofophy. But be- 
 ware ho'vV you defpife the luxuries of ^gypt. 
 Wife UlylTes, though he inhabited a fmall and 
 rocky ifland, could not be tempted either by the 
 charms of Calypfo, or the promife of immortality, 
 to prefer them to Iihaca. Nor was any Spartan, I 
 imagine, ever induced by the recollection of his 
 coarfe domeltic fare to complain of Soarta. But 
 I know what has occafioned your bringing this 
 charge againft me. You are fond of money, and 
 in that pUrfuit being difappoinied, you figh with 
 regret, and envy the Nile and the wealth that it 
 produces. This, you fay, makes you defert your 
 country, and renders your perfon as inelegant as 
 that of Chcerephon ' *. But I ratlier fufpetl that 
 you are detained by fome kind nymph, and are 
 fenfible at laft of the power of love. Be this as 
 Venus pleafes ! Mean time, farewell ; and m.ay I 
 foon hail you the father of a family ! 
 
 * Chxrephon uas a writer of tragedies. He celebrated 
 the aftions of the Heraclidie. But being grcatiy emaciated 
 by his nocturnal iucubratiuns, he bec;imc a vulgar joke. 
 The name "Df '* owl" was alio given him. See EraJ'm. In 
 ChiL p 685. 
 
 He was a difciple of Socrates. His nocturnal iludies pro- 
 cuiexlhirii the nai-Rc of wKh^iCy " bat;" and his palenels the 
 epithet of uv^tv&f, " the man of box." LaBlhtkrie. 
 
 Epiltle 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Epiftle II. To Proh^resius *. 
 
 TT 7" H Y fliould I not fiilute the excellent Pro- a. d. 
 ' ^ hserefius, a man as exuberant in language ^^'* 
 as a river in water, when it overflows its banks •, 
 and in eloquence, the rival of Pericles f, except 
 that he does not embroil Greece ? Be not furprifed 
 at my adopting the Lacedaemonian brevity. Sages, 
 like you, may make long and verbofe orations ; 
 but from me to you a little is fufficient. 
 
 * One of the Chriftian profeffors who flint up their 
 fchoois in confequence of Julian's edid:. [bee Epiftle xlii.] 
 He taught at Athens, and his reputation extended over 
 the whole empire. The city of Rome had erefted a flatue 
 to him as large as the life, with this infcription, " The 
 " queen of cities to the king of orators." He had re- 
 ceived from the Emperor Conllans the honorary tide of 
 " general of the Roman armies." Julian, it is faid, ex- 
 empted him from the general law, and allowed him to re- 
 tain his feat without changing his religion. But Prohae- 
 reiius had the delicacy not to avail himfelf of a privilege 
 which would have rendered his faith fufpefled. Eunapius, 
 an admirer and a difciple of this fophilT:, but a great enemy 
 to the Chriftians, relates this facl difterently. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 On the eloquence of Prohaerefius, Eunapius has fully 
 enlarged. But Suidas fays, that Julian, in order to pique 
 him, preferred Libanius. Petau. 
 
 Libanius, in one of his Epifiles, recommends him to 
 Maximus, " as an ornament to the world by his eloquence, 
 a good man, and one to whom both Rome and Athens had 
 ereded a ftatue of brafs." His death was celebrated in a 
 remarkable epigram by Nazinnzen, preferred by Muratori 
 in his Anccdota Graca^ p. I. 
 
 -{• As to the oratory of Pericles, fee Ciceio de Oraicrc^ 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 B 3 Know 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Know, then, that my affairs are much embarrafled 
 2nd diflraftei. With all the reafons of my return, 
 if you intend to compile a hiftory, I wiU mod ac- 
 curately apquaint you by tranfmitting the original 
 letters and other authentic evidence. But if you 
 determine to profecute your prefent ftudies for 
 the remainder of your life, you Ihall have no caufe 
 to complain of my lilence. 
 
 Epiftle III. To LiBANius 
 
 ^- 
 
 r^r^- ^T^HO UG H this is now the third day, the phi, 
 -*- lofopher Prifcus f is not yet arrived, and a 
 letter from him feems to intimate that he will defer 
 his journey. As you have forgOLten your promife, 
 I mull remind you of it by demanding my debt. 
 Thi$ debt, you well know, it is no lefs eafy for 
 
 ^' For an account of this fophifl, and fome of his 
 epUHes, fee Vol. T. p. 303. 
 
 f A platonift, whom, at the folicitation of Maximus, 
 fptving from the fame fchool, the Emperor fent for from 
 Greece. He was fo referved and myllerious in what he 
 knew, as even to tax thofe, who communicated their learn- 
 ing, with prodigality and profanenels. But when he con- 
 defcended to difplay his own talents, he difcovered a pro- 
 found knowledge of thefyflems of the ancients. The court 
 did not corrupt him, and, inftead of becoming a courtier 
 himfclf, he endeavoured to render the courtiers philofopers. 
 
 He was one of the philofophers that attended Julian to 
 the Perlian war, and with whom he harangued in his lafl 
 moments on the nature of the foul. He was called in 
 quc'ftion in the reign of the Emperor Valens ; but his inno- 
 cence W2S immediately acknowledged. La Bleterie, 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 you to difcharge, than it is agreeable to me to re- 
 ceive. Send me therefore your oration, and that 
 divine difcourfe ; but, by Mercury and the Mufes, 
 fend them foon. For thefe three days, be allured, 
 you have much wafted me, if what the SiciHan 
 poet fays be true, 
 
 Lovers in one day grow old *. 
 If this be a facl, as no doubt it is, you, my good 
 friend, have trebled my age. 
 
 I have dictated this letter in the midfl of bufi- 
 nefs. I could not write to you myfelf, as my hand 
 is more tardy than my tongue. But my tongue 
 ^Ifo is at prefent tardy and inarticulate through 
 difufe. Farewell, my deareft and beft loved 
 brother ! 
 
 I 
 
 Epiftle IV. To Artstomenes f. 
 S an invitation necellary from me to you, and A. D. 
 
 muft friendly offices never be anticipated ? Let 
 us take care not to introduce fuch a troublefome 
 
 cuflom 
 
 * Theocritus, Idyll, xii. by Fawkes. 
 
 f This was, without doubt, a- man of learning, and 
 perhaps a philofopher. From the conclufion of the Epiftle 
 it may be I'uppofed, that he was zealous for the Pagan re- 
 ligion, and perfedly well acquainted with the ceremonies. 
 
 This Epiftle feems to have been written by Julian, when 
 he was in Cappadocia; where he ftaid fome time in h'rs way 
 from Conftantinople to Antioch. La Bleterie, 
 
 In the MS. of Voffius it is addrefled " to Ariftoxenus." 
 
 Petau. 
 
 B 4 The 
 
 362> 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 cufiom as that of expefling a friend to be as 
 ceremonious as a common acquaintance. If I am 
 allied, " How can you and I be fly led friends, as 
 '' we are not yet acquainted r" I anfwcr, Why do 
 we profefs cnrfelves friends to thofe who were 
 born a tboufand or even two thoufand years ago? 
 Becaufe they were good and virtuous. We wiJh 
 to refemble them. And though as to myfelf I 
 am confcious of being in faft far odierwife, in 
 mclination I am certainly not far diflant. 
 
 But to ceafe trifling, if you come uninvited, you 
 will be cordially welcome ; but if. you exped an 
 invitation, you here receive it. Therefore, by 
 Jupiter the Hofpitable, haflen hither, I intrest 
 you, as foon as pclTible, and (hew us, among the 
 Cappadocians, a true Greek *. For as yet fome 
 
 facrlfice 
 
 The Lxxxixth Latin Epiltie of Libaniu;, b. iii. feems to 
 covifirm the former re:iding, being addrelTed " to Arillo- 
 " menes," and much on the fame lubjcc'^. Being fhort, I 
 will add it in Englifli : 
 
 '* You v.-ilh, I hear, to be known to me. Be aflured 
 '' thnt you have gained your wiOi, as I am better acquainted 
 '' wi:h nothing trian with you. For who can be ignorant 
 *' of the fplendor of fuch a genius ? Befides, my love for 
 *' you is fuch, thst I love myfelf fcarce more. Confe- 
 *' fiuently, command my fervices, if any thing fliould offer 
 *•' in '>vhich I can be ufeful." 
 
 * Aroia c» KaT;ra5o>:;4K ic«6area'; E>.>.v.>'K. " A pure Grcck 
 
 " among the Cappadocians." The reftorer of the Greek 
 religion could not but be difpieafed with Cnppadocia. 
 I. Ca^farea, the capital of the province, w-as almofl: en- 
 tirely Chriftian. The temples of Jupiter and Apollo, the 
 tiuelar ^leiries of the city, had been long defiroyed. Even 
 in the reign of Julian, the Ciiriitians had jull pulled down 
 
 the 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 9 
 
 the temple of Fortune, the only one that remained. This 
 prince, not contented wjth confifcating the efFe6ts, move- 
 able and immoveable, of the churches, enrolling the clergy 
 in the moft defpicable militia, and putting to death thofe 
 who had affifted in the deflriiftion of the temple of For- 
 tune, erafed the town from the number of cities, fubiecied 
 it to taxation, and made it refume the name of INlazaca, 
 which it bore before Tiberius gave it the name of Cn^farea. 
 2, In Cappadocia the Pagans themfelves could not be 
 agreeable to Julian. Befides his complaining of their want 
 of zeal, their Paganifm was apparently blended with the 
 religion of the Magi. Strabo, a native of the province, 
 fays, {Gcogr. I. xv.) that, in his time, " there was a great 
 *' number of Magi, called Pyrathi, and feveral temples of 
 *' the Gods that were worfliipped ia Perfia. Large in- 
 ** clofures were feen there, where thofe Magi kept up the 
 *' facred fire on an altar," &:c. The fame author feems 
 to fay, that thofe inclofures, called Fyraihean^ were ap- 
 pendages to the temples of Anaitis and Oman. The ftatue 
 of the latter was carried in procefficn. More than three 
 centuries after Strabo, St. Bafil, a Cappadocian alfo, and 
 contemporary with Julian, being confulted by St. Epi- 
 phanius as to the origin of tlie iNlagi, and concerning the 
 Magufcei, replied, that " the former were a nation ori- 
 ** ginally tranfplantcd from Babylonia into Cappadocia, 
 *' and diifafcd throughout all the country. They wor- 
 *' fliipped fire, and condemned the killing of anim.als, 
 *• though they fcrupled not to eat them when they had 
 *' been killed by others. They had neither any law in 
 ** their marriages, nor books, nor teachers, nor any rules 
 ** but their ancient cuilom.s. They were alfo unfociablc 
 *' with all men, and incapable of reafoning." The Ma- 
 gufffii could not be very different from the H}plularii, a 
 fe6l in which Gregory, the father of St. Gregory Na- 
 zianzen, was born. He informs us, that " the Hypliftarii, 
 " or worfliippers of the Moft High, profeiTed to adore one 
 «' God only. They defpifed idols, and facrifice," which 
 muft probably be uuderflood with fome reftriction, as the 
 fame St. Gregory elfewhere fays, that " his father liad 
 «' been fubjefted to the idols of animals. They reverenced 
 *' fire and lamps ; and though they were not circumcifed, 
 V they obferved the fabbarh and the diftindtion of meats." 
 
 From 
 
lo EPISTLES OFJULI AN, 
 
 facrifice with reluflance, and the few who have 
 zeal, want knowledge *. 
 
 Epiflle V. To the moft honoured Theo- 
 dora t« 
 
 A LL the books which you fent me, and alfo 
 your letter, I received with pleafure by the 
 excellent Mygdonius 'l- And though I have little 
 leifure fthe Gods know I do not exaggerate) I re- 
 turn you this acknowledgment. Farewell, and fa- 
 vour me with more fuch letters. 
 
 From thefe teftimonies it may be inferred, that the tenets 
 and rites of the Perlian religion nad made a great progrefs 
 in Cappadocia, but had undergone feveral'alterations. They 
 were certainly adopted, in fome degree, even by thofe who 
 embraced the Greek religion ; a mixture highly ofFenfive to 
 Julian, who thought that the re-eftablifliment of Helleuifm, 
 in its purity, was the chief purpofe of his exillence. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 * ESfAojia? fjLsv, ax! ei^ola; u£ Qveit, " Willing, but not know- 
 *' ing how, to facrifice." Like thofe Chriftians, whp, St. 
 Paul favs, had a zeal of God, but not according to hio=:\.ledge. 
 Rom. X. 2. 
 
 f This literary lady I apprehend to be the fame who is 
 addrelled by Libanius in the following fliort Epillle (the 
 Mccxcixth) *' We, in return, invite you to come hither, 
 *' and leave the fea. For it is better that you (liould live 
 *' foberly with us than that we fliould feaft with you." 
 By this file appears to have been a perfon of fortune as well 
 as learning. 
 
 I This alfo was a friend of Libanius, as appears from 
 two Epiftles to him, the ccccLXXifl and the pxviiith; 
 in the firfl: of which that fophifl fays, " he was like a pa- 
 " rent to him at Athens." 
 
 Epiaie 
 
EPISTLES OFJULIAN. n 
 
 Epiftle VI. To EcDiciUs. Praefedt of ^gypt 
 
 * 
 
 ' I ^HOUGH you write to mc on no other Tub- a. d, 
 ■*" jecl t, you ought, however, to have writ- ^^^* 
 ten concerning that enemy of the Gods, Atha- 
 
 nafius, 
 
 * It appears from Epiftle l, that Ecdicias was very 
 xemifs in writing to Julian even on fubjei5ls in which he 
 was the moft interefted. La Bi.eterie. 
 
 Ecdicius fludied oratory at Athens with Libanius, as 
 appears from feveral of his Epiftles. 
 
 f After the tumult of Alexandria had fubfided, by the 
 maffacre of George [fee Epiftles ix and x], Athanafiiis, 
 amidll the public acclamations, leated himfelf on the 
 throne from which his unworthy competitor had been pre- 
 pipitated. Julian, who defpifed the Chriftians, honoured 
 Athanafius with his fmcere and peculiar hatred . . . He 
 again banifhed the archbifliop from the city ; and he was 
 pleafed to fuppoff, that this a6l of juftice would be highly 
 agreeable to his pious fubjedts. The preffing folicitations 
 of the people foon convinced him, that the majority of the 
 Alexandrians were Chriftians ; and that the greateft part 
 of the Chriftians were firmly attached to the caufe of their 
 oppreffed primate. But the knowledge of their fcntiments, 
 inftead of perfuading him to recall his decree, provoked 
 him to extend to all vEgypt the term of the exile of Atha- 
 nafius. The zeal of the multitude rendered Julian fl:ill 
 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 refentment difcovers the 
 opinion which he entertained of the courage and abilities 
 of Athanafius. The execution of the fentence was ft;ill 
 delayed by the caution, or negligence, of Ecdicius, Pra^fedl 
 of /Egypt, who was at length awakened from his lethargy 
 by this fevere reprimand. Gibbon, 
 
 The death of Athanafius was not exprefsly commanded ; 
 |3ut the Prxfeft of i?i.gypt underlloud that it was fafer for 
 
 him 
 
12 EPISTLES OFJULIAN. 
 
 nafiusjefpecially as you have long been acquainted 
 with our edicts againll him. I now fwear, by the 
 great Serapis, that if that enemy of the Gods does 
 not leave Alexandria, or rather i^igypt, before the 
 calends of December, the cohort that you com- 
 mand fliall be fined a hundred pounds of gold *, 
 
 him to exceed, than to negleft, the orders of an irritated 
 mafter. Thearchbifliop prudently retired to the monaileries 
 of the defert, and lived to triumph over the aflies of a 
 prince, who in words of formidable import had declared his 
 wifli, that the vvhoie venom of the Galilean fchool were con- 
 tained in the fingle perfon of Athenafins. Ibid, 
 Not contented with banifliing Athanafius, the Emperor 
 gave perhaps fecret orders to put him to death; or at 
 leail Ecdicius, to ingratiate himfelf with Julian, who feemed 
 diffatisfied with his negligence, took a refolution to deliver 
 Paganifm for ever from fo formidable an enemy. Be it as 
 it may, Athanafius went up the Nile in order to retire into 
 the Thebais, when he was informed that he was purfued. 
 *' Fear nothing," faid he to the companions of his flight. 
 *' Let lis fliew, that he who protects us is greater than 
 *' he who perfecutes us." Saying this, he made the boat 
 sleer back towards Alexandria. They foon after met the 
 ailailin, who afked them if they had feen Athanafius, and 
 \vhether he was far off? He is very near, they replied. 
 
 * If you make ever fo little hafte, you cannot fail to over- 
 
 * take him.' The aflaflin went on making hafte, in vain. 
 Ath'anafius returned to Alexandria, and there remained 
 concealed. I.a Bleterie. 
 
 The three Epiilles of Julian, which explain his inten- 
 tions and conduft with regard to Athanafius, fliould be 
 dlfpofed in tlie following chronological order, xx^'^, x, vi. 
 
 GiBEON. 
 
 M. de la Bltterie has, by miftakc, placed the xth before 
 the XXV I th. 
 
 * From ilie excellent difcourfe of Mr. Greaves on the 
 clenar'ua^ the Roman pound of gold, the ufual method of 
 reckoning large fams, may be computed at forty pounds 
 llerling. Gibbon. 
 
 4000 pounds fterling therefore v,-ould have been the fine. 
 
 You 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 13 
 
 You know, that, flow as I am in condemning, when 
 I have once condemned, I am much flower in par- 
 doning *. 
 
 P, S. In his own hand. 
 
 It grieves me extremely to fee all the Gods de- 
 fpiled by him. -None of your tranfadlions will 
 give me lb much pleafure as to hear that the wicked 
 Athanafius, who has prefumed in my dominions 
 to perfuade fom^ Greek women of rank to be bap- 
 tized, is expelled from all parts of -£gypt f. 
 
 Epiftle VII. To Artabius J. 
 
 "O Y the Gods, I would neither have the Gali- A. D. 
 -*-' leans put to death, nor fcourged, unjuftly, 
 nor be in any other manner ill-treated. I think ir, 
 
 never- 
 
 * Surely this, and the other letters relating to Atha- 
 nafius, flievv that Julian did aot praftife that indulgence 
 and moderation towards the Chriftians which he fometime3 
 boafted of. For no fault is alleged againfl Athanafius, 
 except that he was " an enemy of the Gods," and made 
 convids to Chrillianity from among the , Gentiles. 
 
 Lardner* 
 
 t Mr. Gibbon tranflates this palTage thus : " Under 
 *' my rtign the baptifm of feveral Grecian ladies of the 
 *' higheft rank has been the effeft of his perfecutions ;" 
 and adds, " 1 have preferved the ambiguous fenfs of the 
 *' laft word (o»(ux£5-6a») the ambiguity of a tyrant who wiihed 
 " to find, or to create, guilt." 
 
 X This Artabius, I imagine, is unknown. What is here 
 given as an Epiftle of Julian is perhaps a fragment of fome 
 edift. There cannot be a doubt thar tills prince publifhed 
 fuch a one at the beginning of his reign, declaring pa- 
 ganilhi the religion of the empire, and at the fame time 
 
 forbidding 
 
i4 KPISTLESOFJULIAN\ 
 
 neverthclefs, highl}'' proper that the worihlppeis 
 of the Gods fhould be preferred to them. B3' the 
 madnefs of the Galileans * the empire was almon: 
 ruined f, but by the goodnefs of the Gods we are 
 now preferved. We ought therefore to honour 
 the Gods, and alfo religious men and dates. 
 
 Epi'ftle VIII. To George J. 
 
 A. D. (( XT' O U are come, Telemachus §," fays the 
 362. II 
 
 ■*- poet. I have now feen you in your letter. 
 
 I have there feen your divine mind in miniature, 
 
 like a large flatue copied on a fmall feal. For 
 
 forbidding the Chvldians to be ill-treated. This therefore 
 muil: have been written in 361. La Bleterie. 
 
 This edict i'ufficiently indicates what treatment the Chrif- 
 tians were to expeft in his reign. Lardner. 
 
 * It was his fancy to call the Chriflians Galileans. In 
 this appellation there was no reafon or argument. Blit it 
 might anfwer Jvilian's purpofe to make them appear con- 
 temptible in the eyes of weak people. Ihid. 
 
 •|- It is certain, that the Arian perfecution produced 
 great evils in the Ihite. Conftantius, defirous of being a 
 divine, neglefted the duties of an emperor. In order to 
 hold councils, he ruined the public carriages, and expended 
 immenfe fums, &c. But it is nnjuft to charge the Chriftiaa 
 religion with faulcs which it condemns even when corrt- 
 mitred for its fupport. Of all religions it is bell: calculatfid 
 to render a ilate happy. La Bleterie. 
 
 X The procurator, or one of the receivers, of the Ca^far. 
 Epiule Lv is alfo addrefled to him, with the addition of 
 KstSoAtKO', which the IMS. of Voflius has annexed to this. 
 
 § BXv^fc, TrMi^xxe- In Odyff. x\i. 23. HaSe.-, k. t. A. the 
 beginning of the welcome of Eumceus to that prince on his 
 return from Pylos, 
 
 inuch 
 
E P 1 S t L ESOFJULIAN. ig 
 
 inuch may be exprelTcd in little. The vl'ife Phi- 
 dias * was not only celebrated for his Olympic 
 and Athenian ftatues, but alfo forcomprifing work's 
 of real art in fmall fculptures. Such, it is fiiid, 
 were his grafshopper and bee, and perhaps his 
 fly f, each of which, though the brafs was formed 
 by nature, Teemed animated by art. But in thefey 
 it may be faid, the appearances of truth might b'e 
 owing to the i'mallnefs of the infe£l?. Obferve then 
 his Alexander hunting on horfeback 4:, whofe 
 whole dimenfions do not exceed the fize of a 
 finger-nail : Each figure, however, is fo wonder- 
 fully executed, that Alexander even wounds the 
 beafl:, and with his looks terrifies the fpeciator. 
 But the horfe refufing to rear up, even in this 
 
 * This excellent Greek iculptor, in the year of Ro;r,e 
 323, finilhed the ivory ftatue of Minerva, fo much extoUed 
 by the ancients, and confidered as the mafter-piece of his 
 art. He placed it in the citadel of Athen?. Afterward?, 
 being baniflied from that city, he retired into the province 
 of Elis, where he was killed, aiLcr finiiliing the ilatye of 
 Jupiter [of ivory alfo, according to Pliny] which he placed 
 in the temple of Delphi, and v.'hich has been reckoned oue 
 of the wonders of the ^vorld. jMoreri. 
 
 •f Thefe do not occiir among the works of thk artiit 
 enumerated by Pliny, in his Natural Hitlory, xxxiv. 8. 
 though he fays, that, " in fmall works Phidias had equal 
 magnificence." Julian does not fpeak of them as then 
 extant — ^asriv is his expreilion, " it is faid." A grafshopper 
 and locuft of Myron are mentioned by Pliny, as celebrated 
 in the poems of Erinna. 
 
 X Here Julian fcems to refer to fome well-knov.-n work 
 then in being, (probably at Rome or Conftantinople). The 
 ex^ reiTion is 2;i!o~«, " Behold." A hunting-match of Alex- 
 anderby Myron, is mentioned alfo by Erinna, as v.e learn 
 fr. m Pliny. 
 
 theft 
 
i6 £PlSTLEg OF JULIAN. 
 
 theft of motion, moves by art. The fame Im- 
 prelTions, my excellent friend, you have made on 
 me. For having been often crowned viclor in the 
 lifts of eloquent Mercury, your writings, though 
 few, are excellent, and remind me of the UlyfTes 
 of Homer, who, by only faying who he was, ter- 
 rified the Phs'acians *. Therefore, if my friendfhip 
 can be ferviceable to you, you may freely command 
 it. That even the m.eaneil can be ufeful, princes 
 may learn from the moufe, whofe gratitude pre- 
 ferved the Hon -f . 
 
 * In Odyff. IX. 19. Ulyfies tells Alciiious and the 
 Phsacians who he is, by faying, Et/x' Ojyo-Euj Aatpltxhit 
 
 Behold Ulyffes, fam'd Laertes' fon, 
 but no terror or confufion, on their part, is mentioned, 
 nor is his narrative difcontinued till b. xi. Perhaps Julian 
 has Lbftituted by miilake (trufting to his memory) " the 
 ■ ' Pbs'acians" for " thefuitors,"w'ho are indeed faid (xxii. 
 42 ) to have trembled at hearing *' v/ho Ulyffes was." 
 
 OFS. confus'd the fuitors flood, 
 
 F cm their pale cheeks recedes the flying blood. 
 
 Pope. 53. 
 
 f Alluding to the fable of the moufe, who, having been 
 preferved by a lion, in return extricated her benefador from 
 a net, by gnawing the mefiies. 
 
 To this fable Libanius alfo alludes, in his xLviith 
 Epiftle: *' We mice endeavour more to aiTillyou lions, than 
 *♦ you lions, us ;" and that proverb, which Syneiius ufes, 
 ** he prefers a moufe to a lion," feems not imknown to the 
 ancients, applied to thofe who promifemuch, but perform 
 little. WoLFius, 
 
 Epiftle 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 17 
 
 EpifllelX. To EcDicius, Praefecl of^gypt. 
 
 SOME delight in horfes, fome in birds, and ■^- ^• 
 others in wild beafls --. I, from my childhood, 
 have always been inflamed with a paflionate loVe 
 for books f. I think it abfurd to fufFer thefe to 
 fall into the hands of wretches whofe avarice gold 
 alone cannot fatiate, as they are alfo clandeflinely 
 endeavouring to pilfer thefe. You will therefore 
 oblige me extremely by collefling all the books of 
 George ;|: : He had many, I know, on philofo- 
 
 phical 
 
 * AXXoi fXt* iwuf, aXXoi h o^vsat, aXXo* 9eg»wv tgwaiv. M. de la 
 Bleterie has tranflated this, Les hommes naijfent avec des goiits 
 differens^ and fays, ** Some delight in horfes, &c. (as in 
 *' the original) would have had no grace in French.'* The 
 Englifli language is not fo faftidioufly delicate. Our af- 
 fected neighbours might with equal reafon objeft to that 
 fimilar paflage of the Pfalmifl '* Some trufi in chariots^ and 
 Jome in horfes^* &C. 
 
 f Thus was truly Julian, what Cicero terms himfelf, 
 helluo librorum. 
 
 % Surnamed, from his parents, or his education, the Cap- 
 •padocian. He was born at Epiphania in Cilicia, in a fuller's 
 Ihop. From this obfcure and fervile origin he raifed him- 
 felf, by the talents of a parafite, firft to a lucrative com - 
 miffion, or contrad, to fupply the army with bacon, and 
 afterwards, by his profeffion ofArianifm, to the primacy 
 of jEgypt, vacant by the expulfion of Athanafius. His 
 entrance was that of a Barbarian conqueror; and he 
 opprefled, with an impartial hand, the various inha- 
 bitants of his extenfive diocefe. Under the reign of 
 Conftantius, he was expelled by the fury, or rather 
 by the juftice, of the people, and it was not without a 
 violent ftruggle that the civil and military powers of the 
 
 Vol. II, C ftate 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 phical and rhetorical fubjeds, and many on the 
 do£lrine of the impious Galileans. All thefe I 
 would have deftroyed * -, but left others more 
 valuable fhould be deftroyed with them, let them 
 all be carefully examined. The fecretary of 
 George may aifift you in this difquifition, and if 
 he afts -with fidelity, he {hall be rewarded with 
 freedom ;- if -not, he may be put to the torture f. 
 i lo^ ^Zfiis'iL stCiiv" c'iirj):. I am 
 
 flate could refiore his authority, and gratify, his reven'ge. 
 The" mefTengef who proclaimed at Alexandria the acceffion 
 ■;cf Julian, announced the dowrifall of the archbifliop. 
 George, with two of his obfequious luinifters, were igno- 
 miuioufly dragged in chains to the public prifon (Nov. 30. 
 A.:D. 361.). At the end of twenty-four days, (Dec. 24,) 
 the prilon was forced open by the rage of a fuperftitious 
 multitude, impatient .Q.f tke tedious forms of legal pro- 
 ceedings. Th« enemies, pf Gods and men expired under 
 .their, cruel infuksj.the Hfelefs bodies of the archbifliop 
 and his aflbcjates were- carried in triumph through the 
 Hreets on the back of a camel ; and the inactivity; of the 
 Athanafian party was elleepied a fliining example of evan- 
 gelical patience., , The Remains; of thefe guilty Wjrettiv?s 
 were thrown into the fea, ', ..a s-\ —•.'•A 
 
 The meritorious dgath-of the archbifliop obliterated the 
 memory of his life. The rival of Athanafiiis was dear and 
 facred to the Ari-ans j and the feeming converfion of thofc 
 fe6taries introduced, Jus worfliip into. the bof9ni of the-C^« 
 tholic church, T,h|q odiqus 'flranger,;c)ifgtHling every cir- 
 cumftance of time'.and place, afl'umed the maik of a iuartyr, 
 a, faint, and a Clirillian hero; and the infamous George of 
 Cappadocia has been transformed into the renowned St. 
 George of England, thepatron of arms, of chivalry, and 
 of the garter. .* ■,,^,([ ^,; ., Gibbow. 
 
 * It was mean ia Julian to wifli that all Qhriftian writings 
 iriiglu be deftroyed. , It was beneath, a philofopher to en- 
 tertain fuch a thought. Lardner. 
 
 f The deceitful and dangerous experiment; of the cri- 
 minal ^usjlioti (as it is emphaucahy ilyled), was admitted, 
 
 rather 
 
E !» r S T LE S OF JULIAN. 
 
 I am not iinacquainted with this library ; for when 
 I' was m Cappadocia, George lent me feveral books 
 to be tranfcribed^ which I "afterwards returned 
 to him', ' 
 
 ^9 
 
 Epiftle X. To the People of Alexandria *• 
 
 IF you d.o not revere Alexander, your founder f, -^^ ^' 
 and more efpecialiy that great God, the moft 
 holy Serapis J, have you no regard for your 
 ., -. country, 
 
 rather than approved, in the jurifprudence of the Romans, 
 They applied this fanguinary mode of examination only to 
 f{^rvile bodies, vvhofe fufferings vvere feldom weighed by 
 thole haughty republicans in thefcale of julHce or hu- 
 manity ; but they would never conlent to violate the facred 
 perfon of a citizen, till they pofTeffed the clearefl: evidence 
 of his guilt.. , Gjeeon. 
 
 ^ This, public Epiftle [occafioned by the maffacre men- 
 tioned in a note on the laft, p. 17.] affords us a very lively 
 proof of the partial fpirit of Julian's adminiftratiqn. His 
 reproaches to the citizens of Alexandria are mingled with 
 expreffions of efteem and tendernefs. " He fuffered his 
 *' friends," (fays AmmianusJ, " to aiFwage his .^.nger." 
 
 Socrates has tranfcribed this Epiftle, and fo has M, 
 Fleury. 
 
 In fpeaking of George, he did not mention the two 
 officers who had been maffacred with him ; becaufe, not 
 defigning to revenge their death, which was moft atrocious, 
 he was alhamed to feem to forgive it. His letter is full of 
 noble fent\ments. I would not affirm, that, after having 
 written itj he was not in his heart pleafed with thofe who 
 had fiirninied him with the fubjeft. The Arians circulated 
 a report that the partifans of Athanjfius were the a-uthors 
 of the death of George ; but the latter need no other 
 apology than the Epiftle of Julian himfelf, v/hich only ac- 
 cufes the Pagans, La Eleterie, 
 
 C 2 Alexander 
 
20 .EPrS-TLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 country, for humanity, for decency ? I will add, 
 for me alfo, wljom all the Gods, particularly the 
 great Serapis, have thought proper to appoint ruler 
 of the world *, and who ought to have been in- 
 formed of the outrage that you have committed ? 
 But anger perhaps has miiled you, and rage, 
 which, fubverting reafon, often inftigates the moft 
 enormous crimes, has, by a fudden impulfe, urged 
 you to perpetrate, as a people, fuch wickednefs as 
 in others you have juftly abhorred and detefled. 
 
 t Alexander the Great bnilt this city, as one of the moil: 
 glorious monuments of his conquelts, about 330 years 
 before Chrilh Its fituation was moil advantageous, betu-een 
 the fea and one of the arms of the Nile. Alexandria be- 
 came not only the firft city in Africa, after the deftruclion 
 of Carthage, but in all the world, next to Rome, as He- 
 rodian fryles it. It is at prefent fubjedl to the Turks. Selim 
 fubdued it in 151 7, with the reft of i^igypt, and the 
 country which compofed the empire of the Mammelus. 
 The city is almoft entirely ruined, and it has no m.ore than 
 Soco inhabitants. Its haven, however, is very good and 
 commodious, and it has llill fome trade. Moreri. 
 
 X A falfc deity which the ^Egyptians adored. The 
 Romans had often forbidden the facrifices of Serapis to be 
 celebrated in their cities. The idol of which rhe Emperor 
 Hadrian, and afterwards Julian, wifhed to have a copy, 
 was compoled of all kinds of metals, wood, and preciotis 
 ftones. The temple and itatue were demolifiied in the 
 time of Theodofius the Great, A. D." 389, In confequence 
 of a fedition excited at Alexandria by the Pagans. 3iii. 
 
 * It is obferyable, that Julian was fo addicled to the 
 idolatry of the ^Egyptians, that, though he worfliipped fo 
 many Gods of his own country, he profeifes himfelf in- 
 debted to Serapis alone even for the empire. On this ac 
 count perhaps he caui'ed himfelf to be.reprefented on coins, 
 together with Serapis, or alone, with the name of Serapis 
 Jnfcribe 1, as if he were that deity, Baronius, 
 
 But 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 21 
 
 But tell me, I adjure you, by Serapis, what 
 were the crimes that incenfed you againft George ? 
 You will anfwer, no doubt, " He exafperated 
 *' again ft us Conftantius of blefled memory ; he 
 '* brought an army into the holy city j the king 
 " of -^gypt * feized the mod holy temple of 
 *' God, defpoiling it of the ftatues, the offerings 
 ** and ornaments ; being juftly provoked, on our 
 '* endeavouring to fuccour the God, or rather to 
 " prevent his treafures being pillaged, he with 
 " equal injuftice, wickednefs, and impiety, dared 
 ** to fend againft us an armed force, fearing 
 " George perhaps more than Conftantius, if he 
 " had treated us with lenity, inftead of conftantly 
 " acting like a tyrant." 
 
 For thefe reafons therefore, being enraged at 
 George, the enemy of the Gods, you have again 
 
 * O BxTiXsvi; T»); AtyvTrlu, rex jEgypti: fo it is exprefled in 
 the edition of F. Petau. He thinks, however, that we 
 ihould read rfolnycj, {dux) or iTrag^yjJi, and M. Spanheim in- 
 ferts that correftion in the text. But that is not neceflary. 
 Julian flyles Artemius " king," or tyrant, of ^Egypt, in 
 deriiion, on account of the outrages which he was charged 
 with having committed, and for which the Emperor had 
 juft caufed him to be beheaded. La Bleterie, 
 
 Some months after the tribunal of Chalcedon had been 
 diflblved, the notary Gaudentius and Artemius, duke of 
 ^gypt, were executed at Antioch. Artemius had reigned 
 the cruel and corrupt tyrant of a great province. His 
 merit, who demoliflied temples, and w:is put to death by • 
 an apoftate, has tempted the Greek and Latin churches to 
 honour him as a martyr. But as ecclefiaftical hiftory attefts 
 that he was not only a tyrant but an Arian, it is not al- 
 together eafv to juftify this indifcreet promotion. Gibbon, 
 
 C 3 polluted 
 
iz EPISTLES. O FJULIA N. • 
 
 polluted the holy city, inftead of bringing him to 
 a legal trial before the judges. In that cafe, there 
 would have been no murder, no crime ; by a juft 
 fentence you would have been entirely acquitted, 
 and by punifliing the impious author of thefe in- 
 curable evils you would have rcftrained all who 
 defpife the laws, all who dare to infult fuch 
 fiourifliing flates and cities, and think that their 
 own ufurped power is aggrandifed by cruelty. 
 
 Compare with this epiftle that which I fent you 
 not long ago ; obferve the diiTerence, and re- 
 collect how much I then commended 5^ou. But 
 now, though I would gladly praife you, by the 
 Gods I cannot, fo heinous is your guilt. For the 
 people have dared, hke dogs, to worry a man, 
 without being abafhed, nor have kept their hands 
 pure to approach the Gods, the purifiers of blood. 
 But '' George," you allege, " deferved fuch a 
 " punifhment.'* Allowed, and one even more 
 fevere. ** And for us," you fay. This alfo I 
 will grant, but not by you. For you have laws, 
 which you all ought to obey and revere; and 
 though fome individuals tranfgrefs them, yet flill 
 the republic (hould be well governed, you fhould 
 obey the laws yourfclves, and not violate thole 
 which have hitherto been conftantly well admi- 
 niilered. 
 
 This is nobly done by you, men of Alexandria, 
 in my reign, who, from, my reverence towards 
 Cod, and from .a regard to my grandfather *, and 
 * Conftantjus-Chlorns. 
 
 my 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 23 
 
 my uncle and naraefake *, . who governed ^gypt 
 and your city, efleera you with a brotherly 
 a;:rc(ftion. The undefpifed authority of a good 
 and flrifl government will never fuffer the aban- 
 doned wicxkednefs of its fubje^ls to pafs unpunilhed. 
 A defperate difeafe muft be cured by rough pre- 
 fcriptions. For the reafons above-mentioned I ad- 
 miniiter to you, however, the mildeft, this epiflle 
 and reprimand, which I hope will have the more 
 efFeft iff as you arc by origin Greeks, and the 
 laudable and illuftrious ftamp of that noble defcenc 
 flill remains in your fentiments and actions. 
 
 Let this be communicated to my citizens of Alex- 
 andria, 
 
 * Julian, afterwards Count of the Eaft. See Epiflle 
 XIII. Note *. 
 
 f I cannot fuppofe that he flattered hirafeif with cor- 
 refting the Alexandrians merely by reprimands. Their 
 tumults, which generally arofe in the theatre, were fo 
 frequent, that the government hardly deigned to take 
 notice of them. It found, no doubt, that they did them- 
 felves fufficient juflice, for there was always fome blood 
 fpilt. They were as foolifti as the inhabitants of Antioch, 
 and much more wicked. La Bleterie, 
 
 C 4 Epiftle 
 
24 ^ EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Eplftle XL To the Byzantines • 
 
 ALL your fenators we have reftored to you, 
 
 and alfo thofe of fenatorial families, whether 
 
 they have attached thernfelves to the Galilean re^ 
 
 ligion, 
 
 * This title feems to me faulty. I do not think that 
 any Emperor, efpecially in a law, has given the name of 
 Byzantium to the city of Conftantinople. But this is not 
 iry only reafon for thinking that this law of Julian was 
 not addrefled to the inhabitants of New Rome. Whatever 
 was the city to which Julian wrote, he declares to the 
 citizens that he admits into their fenate thofe who by 
 birth, or any other means, obliged to take their feats there, 
 fhould allege fome exemptions and privileges, by way of 
 excufe. 1 have often mentioned the zeal of Julian to 
 iill up the council of the cities. But that he had occafiort 
 to employ his fovereign authority to retain in the fenate of 
 Conftantinople, or to recall to it, thofe who ought to have 
 been members of it, cannot be conceived. I know, that, 
 at leaft, till the reign of Theodofius the Great, this fenate 
 ■w-m not in all refpefts equal to that of Rome, without 
 being able to afcertain in what that inequality confifted. 
 But it was, without doubt, a very auguil aflembly, efpe, 
 cially when Conllantius and Julian had augmented its pre- 
 rogatives. With regard to the Eaft, it was confidered as 
 the public council of the Roman nation. It there held in 
 the political order the fame rank which that of Rome held 
 in the Weft. The fame titles were given to both fenates. 
 The Emperors gloried in being members and chiefs of both, 
 &c. Thus, though the place of fenator, even in the two 
 capitals, was attended with very great expences, it muft 
 have been the objeft of the ambition of individuals ; and 
 we fee that one of the methods which was employed to 
 efcape municipal dignities, obfcure and ruinous honours, 
 was to obtain, when they could, the place or title of fenator 
 
 eithey 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 llgion, or have taken any other method of ab- 
 fentlng themfelves from the fenate, fuch as have 
 filled any public office in the metropolis * ex- 
 cepted. 
 
 either of Rome or Conftantinople. One law of Conftantius 
 had fufFered ecclefiaftics, iu certain cafes and on certain 
 conditions, to quit the curia', or municipal lenates ; and it 
 is. probable that Julian, as well from hatred to Chriftianitv, 
 as from zeal for the cwia^ was dcfirous to make the ec- 
 clefiaiUcs fit there again ; as we fee by one of his laws,, 
 Xll cod.Theod. tit. I. De decurio7iibus /. 51. Dccwiones^qut ut 
 Clirijiiani diclinant mvaia, re'vocentur. But who can be per- 
 fuaded that he wanted to force them to be fcnators of Con- 
 ftantinople ? That would have been a ftrange kind of pcr- 
 lecution. I could add many other refledlions, were I not 
 appreheniive that they would make this, note degenerate 
 into a diflertation, perhaps curious, but certainly- raifplaced. 
 I think I have faid enough to prove, that the v/ord B:.^*>- 
 T»6*5, which appears in the title of this Epiftle, has beeti. 
 put by m.iftake, inftead of fome other fimilar word, which 
 I will not endeavour to reftore, becaufe I ftiould only ad- 
 vance very uncertain conjedures. La Bleteri-e. 
 From this Epiftle it fhould feem that the place of fenator 
 was confidered as a burthen rather than as an honcjr; but- 
 the Abbe de la Bleterie has fhe;t'a that tnis Epiftle could 
 not relate to Conlhntinople. Might we not read, inftead' 
 of the celebrated name of Bt.^«/Iio»5, the obfcure but mors 
 probable word B.o-a*6.).ot« ? Bifanthe, now Rhodcfto, was a. 
 fmall raarituiie city of Thrace. Gibbon. 
 ^» jn /*')Tg4^o^♦. I fuppofc Rome and Condantinople. 
 
 La BleteriEv 
 
 25 
 
 Epiille 
 
26 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftle XIL To Basil *. 
 
 A. D. <t "^jr O U do not declare war -f," fays the pro- 
 or36;. -*- verb. But I add, from the comedy, " O 
 " mefTenger of golden words !" Come then, ex- 
 emplify this, and haften hither. You will come a 
 friend to a friend. Conflant attendance on public 
 bufinefs is fatiguing to thofe who difcharge it negli- 
 gently ; but thofe with whom I a£l are diligent and 
 induftrious, and in every refpe6l deferving. I em- 
 brace therefore this opportunity, without neglect- 
 ing public bufinefs, to take fome relaxation. For 
 being ftrangers to the courtly hypocrify (which 
 you perhaps have experienced) of loading with 
 
 * There is not a word in this Epiftle which can autho- 
 rife the fuppolition of its being addrefled to Bafil the Great. 
 The name ot Bafil was not uncommon. Who this was is 
 •unknown. As to the Epillles of Julian to St. Bafil, and 
 from St. Bafil to Julian, which are printed with the works 
 of that father, they are unworthy of either, both as to 
 their fiyle and matter. Their fpurioufnefs is vifible at the 
 firft glance. La Bleterie. 
 
 •j- Oy TTo^Euov ayyiWfii. A common faying, when any one 
 brings good news to a town, as war is the moft calamitous 
 of all things : and yet with the rumour of it many people 
 at prefent are delighted ; namely, thofe who feed on the 
 miieries of mankind. Julian has doubled the proverb; as the 
 following expreffion, x^vaon ayyei^^a^ iTuy, taken from the 
 phitus of Arifiophanes, is alfo proverbial. They are the 
 words of the old men, who fupply the chorus, to Carion, 
 \yh.o had informed ihem of the approach of Plutus. They 
 are alfo adopted by Plato in his Phcedrusj and again in his 
 Illd book De Legiius. Erasmus. 
 
 praifes 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 27 
 
 praifes thofe whom it really detefts, with mutual 
 freedom we accufe, when neceflary, and blame 
 each other, yet are as cordial as the greatefl 
 friends. Hence it happens, envy apart, that I 
 find ftudy a relaxation, and thus ftudious as I am, 
 I feel no anxiety, and fleep ferenely; as when I 
 have watched, I have watched not for myfelf alone, 
 but alfo for others. Thus far perhaps I have been 
 trifling with j'-ou through mere idlenefs, and, like ' 
 Aftydarnas *, I have praifed myfelf. But I fend this 
 to inform you, that the company of a fage like 
 you will be highly ferviceable to me. Haften there- 
 fore, as I have faid before, making ufe of a public 
 carriage f , and when you have flayed here as long 
 as you pleafe, you fhall be conveyed wherever you 
 think proper. 
 
 I 
 
 Epiftle XIII. To his Uncle Julian %, 
 
 T is now the third hour of the night, and hav- A. D. 
 
 361. 
 
 ing no fecretary, as they are all employed, I 
 with difficulty write you this. I am living, thanks 
 
 to 
 
 * An a^lor who, being ordered a ftatiie in the theatre, 
 for his excellent performance of Parthenopasus, infcribed 
 his own elogium ; whence the proverb, AJIyaamas fe ipfu?n 
 iaudat. See Erafmns in Chiliad, p. 627. It is alfo ufed by- 
 Julian, in his Lixth Epiftle, and by Libaniiis. 
 
 f The government furnifhed carriages to thofe who 
 travelled by order of the prince ; and thefe were then 
 called public carriages. La Bleterie. 
 
 X Afterwards Count of the Eafi, the Emperor's maternal 
 
 uncle. He had alfo been prccfeft of ^g\ pt, (See Epifde X.) 
 
 4 At 
 
28 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 tO" the Gods, and have been preferved from doing 
 or fuffering incurable evils. The fun, whofe affift- 
 ance I particularly requefted, and alio royal Ju- 
 piter, can attefi:, that I never wiihed the death of 
 Conftantius, but that 1 rather wiihed the contrary. 
 Why then did I wage war ? Becaufe the Gods 
 exprefsly comn:ianded me, promifing me fafety if 
 I obeyed, but, if I hefitated, that which all the 
 Gods avert ! By appearing openly in arms I 
 thought I might intimidate him, and thus accom* 
 modate matters more eafily •, or, if a battle (hould 
 prove inevitable, I determined to rely on Fortune 
 and the Gods, and to wait whatever their good- 
 pefs fhould determine. 
 
 Eplftle XIV. To LiBANius 
 
 * 
 
 I READ yefterday moft part of your oration -f 
 before dinner ; and after dinner, without in- 
 lermifTion, I finiflied the remainder. How happy 
 
 At his requeft, being alfo an apoftate, and hating the 
 Chrillians with lefs diftindion than his nephew, Julian 
 pardoned the Pagan niurderers of George at Alexandria. 
 As foon as Julian had heard iri lllyricum of the death of 
 Conftantius, he wrote this Epiftle to his uncle by the 
 mellenger whom he difpatched with the news of that in- 
 tereliing, event. La Bleterie. 
 
 '•'■ One MS. adds 'Zotptry, y.at Komirupi, ** Sophifl and 
 Quaefior." See the firft note on Epiftle xxvii, which is io 
 iuperfcribed. 
 
 •)■ Perhaps this was the oration in praife of Julian, which 
 is mentioned by Suidas ; or perhaps one of the two that 
 arc publiflied. Baronius. 
 
 are 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 29 
 
 are you to be able thus to fpeak, or rather, thus 
 to think ! What a difcourfe ! what judgment ! 
 ■what an underftanding ! what wifdom ! what ar- 
 .guments! what an arrangement! what (Irength ! 
 what language ! what harmony I what compolition ! 
 
 Epiflle XV. To the Philofopher Maximus *. 
 
 ALEXANDERof Macedon is faid to have A. d. 
 -^ ■*• flept upon the poems of Homer, that, night ^ 
 and day, he might be converfant with his martial 
 
 inftruftions. 
 
 * The boldeft and moft flcilful mafcer of the Theurgic 
 fcience, by whofe hands Julian (after having imbibed the 
 fifft rudiments of the Platonic doftrines from Edefius) was 
 fecretly initiated at Ephefus, in the twentieth year of his 
 age. 
 
 As foon as Julian had taken poflTeffion of the palace of 
 Conftantinople, he difpatched an honourable and preffing 
 invitation to Maximus ; who then refided at Sardis, in 
 Lydia, with Chryfanthius, the aflbciate of his art and 
 ftudies. . . . His journey through the cities of Afia dif- 
 played the triumphs of philolophic vanity ; and the ma- 
 giflrates vied with each other in the honourable reception 
 which they prepared for the friend of their fovereign. 
 Julian was pronouncing an oration before the fenate, when 
 he was informed of the arrival of Maximus. The Em- 
 peror immediately interrupted his difcourfe, advanced to 
 meet him, and, after a tender embrace, conduced him by 
 the hand into the midft of the affembly ; where he pub- 
 lickly acknowledged the benefits which he had received 
 from the inllruitions of the philofopher. Maximus, who 
 jfoon acquired the confidence, and influenced the councils, 
 of Julian, was infenfibly corrupted by the temptations of 
 a court. His drefs became more fplendid, his demeanour 
 more lofty, and he was expofed, under a fucceeding reign, 
 IQ an enquiry into the means, by which the difciple of 
 
 Flato 
 
30 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 inflruiflions *. But I fleep with your epiflles as fo 
 many Pasonian medicines, and am no more weary 
 of perufing them, than if they were-'^hew and- juft 
 received. To give me therefore^ in your corre- 
 fpondence a picture of yourfelfi' wnte, I intreat 
 you, and fail not. to write frequently. Or rather 
 come,, with aufpicicus omens ; and be- affured that, 
 during your abfence, I cannot be faid to enjoy life, 
 except while I am reading youri^lettfeps. ' ** 
 
 ■Plato had apcuraulated, in the lliort dura4:ion. ofhis favour, 
 
 a' very fcaridalbu^ proportion' of 'wealth.' Three othe'r 
 Epiftles (xvT, XXXVIII, and xxxix.) in the fame ftyle of 
 frendfllip and confidence, are addrelfed to this philofopher. 
 
 . J . - GlEBOX. 
 
 Maximus and other philofophers accompanied Julian in 
 his Periian expedition; and, when he vv.as. mortally wounded, 
 fomeof his lail words .were a uietaphylical argument with 
 Maximus and Prifcus on the nature of the foul, haviug 
 Socrates no doubt in- view. See Ammianus, xxx. 5. He 
 was fined and imprifoned,. in the reign of Valens, and, at 
 lail beheaded for.magicby Fefius^ p:^vj-co^ful of.Afia,. ia 
 
 3.74-: ^v-'-irj ^f" ""'n^-'-'trrd J f- - ,--bv ' 
 
 Though Maximus was greatly refpe61:ed, and much 
 
 admired by the Emperor Jiilian, and rnany learned Heathens, 
 
 as a great philofophtr, and was alfo reputed to have cora- 
 
 naerce with the God^j.I.jdo wt thipk.he jvas a wife man. 
 
 * Of all the remains of antiquity, Alexander had the 
 greateft efteem for Homer, Vvho, he thought, was the only 
 writer who had perfectly defcribed that v.ifdom by which 
 empires fubfift ; and fi^eh was hispaflion for him, that he 
 was flyled " Homer's lover." He ufed to carry his works 
 always with him j and even when he went to bed, he put 
 them and his fword under his pillow, calling them hrs 
 *' military viaticum, and the elements of martial virtue.'* 
 
 Freinshemius. 
 
 'Epiflfc 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 31 
 
 ' Eplftle XVL To the fame. 
 
 THE fable fuppofes, that the eagle, when he 
 would try his genuine brood, carries them 
 unfledged into the air,, and^^'gxpofes them to the 
 rays of the fun, that by the teftimony of that God 
 rile may diftinguilh the true from the fpuriotis ofF- 
 fpring. . But I offer my writings to you as to 
 eloquent Mercury : and if they can bear your 
 penetrating ray *, you 'will judge whether they 
 are fit -to; be publifhed. If not, throw them away, 
 as ftrangers to the Mufes; or plunge them, as 
 fpurious, in the river. Thus the Rhine^.the de- 
 cent avenger of adultery, does juftice to the 
 Celts \, by overwhelming illegiiimate infants with 
 
 . his 
 
 ' .•■ -^^'^^ "-■ ' 
 
 * Tr,» c-jji axW in one MS^'^'hlch feems preferablie to 
 «xo-/j» (** -hearing") the common hearing, as it continues the 
 
 : metaphor. 
 
 1 f On examining ail the paffages in which Jiiliaii' has ufed 
 the word Cehei, I have obferved that he raalces it fometimes 
 lignify tlie Gauls, fometimes the Germans, and at other 
 times both of them. T think that it is employed in this 
 latter fenfe here. Claudian (/» Rufin. I. I'l;) reckons 
 among the Gauls thofe to whom he afcribes the cu from of 
 making their infants undergo the trial of water, by plung- 
 ing them in the Rhine : 
 
 Thus the fierce Gauls with yellow locks proceed, 
 
 Whom the fwift Rhone or flower AraT breed. 
 
 Or whom, new-born, the Rhine's deep current try'd, 
 
 Or whom Garumna wafhes with his tide, 
 
 When fu-ell'd with torrents from the troubled main, 
 
 The refluent river floats the cover'd plain. 
 
 Jaeez Hughes. 
 But 
 
j^ EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 But this poet does not afcribe to them this cufrom ex* 
 chiUvely of the Gtrffiafis. The nations fettled on the f.vo 
 banks of the Rhine muft Jiave had nearly the fame manners 
 and the fame cullxm-i's, becaufe many of thofe who inha- 
 bited the left fide of that river were, of German origin . 
 Wc know alfo that the Germans plunged their children in 
 cold water as foon as they were born, to afcertaia whether 
 they were ftrong, and to inure them to the cold, as did 
 many other nations, and as, it is faid, feveral^ in America 
 ■Co te't prefent. "?] ?-rU v^' •^"'■■- <a^'i -♦!- ' 
 
 As to the intention of proving the legltim&ej- of infantis, 
 it is probably a fable invented by the Romans. Seeing them 
 plunge in the Rhine thofe children of whom fome perifhed 
 thrmigh weaknefs of conflitution, or by the mifmanage- 
 msnt of thofe who bathed them ; and judging, by their o\vn 
 cofruption, of that of other nations, they imputed to the 
 Germans fume vie\ts which they had not, and an anxiety 
 from which the prudence of the women fufficientiypreierved 
 their hufbands. Be that as it may, the. moil: ancient au- 
 thors who mention this motive are Julian, Gregory Na- 
 zianzen, and Libanius; but many have mentioned it fines ; 
 among others, Nonnus, Theophyladus, Euftathius, &c. 
 I TLnovv not whether Glaudian fliould be added, as he does 
 U0[ mention the objeft of the trial. According to the 
 author of a Greek epigram, quoted by Cluvier {German, 
 L I.) infants were expofed on the Rhine in a buckler. 
 When a fable is once invented, circumftances never fail to 
 be added, I fhall obfcrve, however, that Julian, who in 
 two paiVages mentions this trial* fpeaks of it as a report 
 in his fecond Panegyric on Conftantius ; inftead of which, 
 in this EpiiHe to Maximus, fubfequent to that difcourfe, 
 he expreires himfelf in an affirmative manner: a difference 
 the more remarkable, as in the fame Epiilie he takes care 
 ^Q;relate only as a fable what he fays of the eagle and his 
 
 vVOUng ones. O jut? ^vOoc *ok« tok aawv, k. t. K, Fubula fi'igit 
 
 aqu'darn^ Sec. But, after all, it is probable that Julian was 
 really certain of the fa6t, that he had feen the nations 
 bordering on the Rhine plunge their children in that river, 
 but that he was miiiakeu as to themoti\e. La Bleterie. 
 The other paflage, to which M. de la Bjeterie ulludes, is 
 the following, in the iid Oration : *' It is faid, that, 
 •• among the Germans, there is a river, which is an in- 
 ." fallilils jiidge of chaitity, which neither lighing mothers, 
 t' '* nor 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 his flood ; but fuch as he acknowledges to be of 
 a pure origin he fupports above the water, and 
 .again delivers into the hands of the trembling 
 mother, rewarding her wirh the fafety of her child, 
 as a tenimony of her uncorrupt and irreproachable 
 nuptial?* 
 
 Epiltle XVIL To Oribasius 
 
 w 
 
 E are told by the divine Hohirr, that there -'^- ^- 
 are two gates of dreanis, and that their 
 
 credit, as to future events^ is different f . I think 
 
 you 
 
 ,*' nor fathers dreading the event for tlieir wives and chil- 
 ** dren, can perf.ia^de to conceal their Ihiiaie, being always 
 *' true and fincere." 
 
 That in thole daj-s of darknefs and ig'ionnce fuch a fu- 
 peritition might prevail, may eafily be believed, whenuc 
 cunhder, that in much later times female chaftity vvas as 
 abfurdly fubjeited to the tell of another element ; and that 
 even in our own country, poliflied as it is, and in our own 
 memory, the aged of the lame fex have been expofed to 
 a trial fimilar to that above-mentioned, and drowning hcs 
 been deemed the only method of exculpating them from 
 the charge of witchcraft. 
 
 * Of Pergamus. He was phyfician to Julian, and one 
 of the four domeftics whom Conftantius allowed him to 
 retain when Caefar (See the Epifile to the Athenians, 
 p. 78.) Oribafius attended him to the Ptrfian v/ar, and in 
 his laft moments tried in vain all the refources of medicine. 
 This letter muft have been written in Gaul. 
 
 The Chriilian Emperors afterwards ftripped him of all 
 his fortune, and baniflied him among cruel Barbarians, by 
 whom and their kings he vvas much efteemed, probably for 
 his Ikill in phyfic or lurgery. He was then recalled to his 
 native country, had his eilate reftored to him, and married 
 Vol. II. D a wife 
 
34 
 
 EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 you have had a clear infight into futurity J. And 
 
 a wife with a large fortune. This we learn from his life, 
 among thofe of the fophifts, hy Eunapius, who nientions 
 him as living when he wrote, which was about the year 400, 
 above forty years after^his going into Gaul with Julian. 
 Suidas fays, that Oribafius was of Sardis, and both he and 
 Photius mention feveral of his works, particularly thefe 
 four: I. " An abridgment of the works of Galen," in fe- 
 veral books. II. " The fentiments of other phydcians, 
 " as well as Galen," in feventy books. Both infcribed to 
 the Emperor Julian, iii. "■ An abridgment of the other 
 *' two," in nine books, to his fon Eullathius. i v. " Another 
 *' compendious reprefentation of the principles of medi- 
 " cine,'"' in four books, infcribed to Eunapius (probably his 
 biographer), at whofe delirq it was compofed. LardNeb. 
 The Csefar had rejected with abhorrence a mandate for 
 the levy of an extraordinary tax; a new fuperdi£lion, which 
 the pr a; feci [Florentius] had offered for his lignature ; and 
 the faithful pifture of the public mifery, by which he had 
 been obliged to juftify his refufal, offended the court of 
 Conftantius. Vve may enjoy the plealure of reading the 
 fentiments of Julian, as he exprefles them with warmth 
 atid freedom in a letter [the above] to one of his moft 
 intimate friends. Gibbon. 
 
 ■j- Odyff. XIX. 562, 
 
 Jmmur*d within the filent bower of fleep, 
 Two portals firm the various phantoms keep; 
 Of iv'ry one, whence flit, to mock the brain, 
 Of- winged lies a light fantaflic train : 
 The gate opposed pellucid valves adorn, 
 And columns f lir incas'd with poliflvd horn, 
 Where images of truth for paffage wait, 
 With vifions manifeft of future fate. Fenton. 
 
 Virgil has imitated this in iEneid VI. 893. 
 
 :|: It is obfervable, that Julian ufes this language to an 
 intimate friend. Can his belief then m dreams be doubted ? 
 In what remains of his books againit the Chriltian religion, 
 he aflirms that " iEfculapius often cuied him by remedies 
 •' which he had dii'cioled to him." Tiic Pagans believed 
 that that God appeared to them in tlicir fleep. 
 
 La BhL\ ERIE. 
 
 liie 
 
EI^ISTLES OF JULIA tr* ^^ 
 
 the fame T myfelf alfo have had to-day *. A lofty 
 tree "f- grew, I thought, in a fpacious room, with 
 its branches bending down to the ground, and 
 from its root fprouted another, fmail and young, 
 and very flourifliing. For this plant I was very 
 anxious, fearing left it ihould be rooted up, to- 
 gether with the tree. Approaching nearer, I faw 
 the large one fallen to the ground, but the fmall 
 one not only ered:, but raifed into the air. Seeing 
 this, I exclaimed, with much concern, " What a 
 " downfall is this ! The root, I fear, will perilh 
 " alfo." One, who was a ftranger to me, then 
 fald, " Obferve with attention, and be not afraid t 
 " For as the root ftill remains in the ground, 
 *' the plant is unhurt, and will fix more firm- 
 ** ly X'" Such was my dream ; what it portends 
 God knows* 
 
 * Even in his fleep the mind of the Ciefar muft have 
 been agitated by the hopes and fears of his fortune. Zo- 
 fimus relates a fubfequent dream. Gibbon. 
 
 f This tree is Conflaritius, and the flioot Julian himfelf. 
 
 La IfLETERIE. 
 
 J He here plainly intimates, that he fliould ficceed 
 Conftantius. To the fame pufpofe is the following paffage 
 ot Ammianus, xxi. 2. " As Caefaf Julian was br^ndifhing 
 ** a buckler, which he vvas t-xercifing with various aiotions 
 *' in the field, the pegs, by which it w^as fallened to- 
 " gether, being fliaken out, the handle alone remained, 
 *' which he grafped hard in his hand* And all that 
 *' were prefent being terrified by the bad omen," ' Let 
 " ' no one,' he faid, ' be alarmed ; I grafp firmly what 
 *' I heidt' 
 
 D 2 As 
 
^6 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 As to that wick^ and effeminate wretch *, I 
 am very defirous to learn, when he thus difcourfed 
 concerning me, whether before we met, or fm'ce : 
 inform me as far as you are able. He well knows, 
 that frequently, when he oppreiTed the provincials, 
 I was more iilent than I ou^ht j not hearing fome 
 things, not admitting others, not crediting a few, 
 and imputing, many to his friends and favourites. 
 But when he thought proper to endeavour to 
 brand me with infamy by fending me bafe and 
 fcandalous memorials to fign +, what was the proper 
 flep for me to take ? To be filent, or to revolt I 
 The former was foolifli, mean, and odious ; the 
 latter was juft, manly, and liberal, but, on account 
 gF fome prefent circumftances, inconvenient. How 
 then did I a£l ? In the prefence of many, who, I 
 knew, would acquaint him with it, I faid, "He will 
 *' certainly alter his plan, its injuftice is fo ap- 
 *' parent." Hearing this, inflead of adling with 
 difcretion, he did what, by heaven, a common 
 tyrant would have fcrupled, and that almoft before 
 my eyes. In fuch a fituation, what conducl could 
 one, who is a zealous obferver of the precepts of 
 
 ■* Ta fiiaps avJ'goytivB. He means Florentine, pr.tfeft of 
 Gaul. La Bleterie. 
 
 See the Epiflle to the Athenians, p. 92. Petau and others 
 underiland this of the eunuch Eulebius. 
 
 t -A. fcheme to augment the capitation. Il/id. 
 
 This, in the reign of Conftantius, was in Gaul twenty- 
 five pieces of gold, annually, for every head. The humane 
 policy of his fucceifor reduced the capitation to {even 
 pieceSf Giebok. 
 
 AriHotle 
 
EPISTLES GF JULIAN. , 37 
 
 Ariftotle and Plato *, with propriety adopt? Should 
 
 I abandon the wretched people to the mercy of 
 
 thefe extortioners, or fhould I not, to the ut- 
 
 moft of my power, prote£l them, reduced as they 
 
 are, by that profligate crew, to the laft gafp -j- ? 
 
 Shall I punifh a military tribune, when he deferts his 
 
 poft, with immediate death, and not deem him 
 
 worthy even of interment ; and (hall I abandon my 
 
 own flation, when I am called upon to defend the 
 
 oppreiTed; a ftation, in which I was placed by God 
 
 himfelf ? If difgrace mufl be my portion, a pure 
 
 confcience is no fmall confolation. Would to heaven, 
 
 that I were flill blelTed with fuch an excellent friend 
 
 as Sallufl: ! J If, on this account, I fhould be fuper- 
 
 feded, I fhall not be concerned j as a fnort time 
 
 * It is plain that his illuftiious a6lions proceeded from 
 pedantry at leaft, as much as from virtue. La Bleterie. 
 f In the original, To nvmein slaoso-t, " they ling the fong 
 •' of fvvans." Julian here adopts the ancient poetical idea of 
 the dying rnelody of this bird. Knd the^fame expreffion of 
 the *' fvvan-fong" is proverbially ufed to this day, in the 
 fame fenfe, in Sweden. Yet even among the ancients it 
 was doubted by ^lian, denied by Pliny, and ridiculed by 
 Lucian, and by modern naturalifts it is generally exploded. 
 Some, however, have fupported it. Mr. Jodrell, in his 
 elaborate illuftrations of Euripides, after employing thirty- 
 four 8vo pages on the fubje6t, recapitulates the modern 
 evidence on both fides ; and a late writer in the Gentle- 
 man's Magazine (for 1782, p. 420.) v/iflies " Mr. H''pfer 
 *' would afcertain the capabilities of this common b rd for 
 *' fuch enchanting melody," as he has thofe of the v uraa- 
 Outang for fpeech ; and queries '* whether it may noi c- 
 " fide, like that of bees and other flying infefts, in the 
 •;' motion of the wings." , 
 
 I An officer of great merit, by nation a Gaul. See the 
 Confolatory Oration on his departure, or recall, in Vol, I. 
 
 D 3 well 
 
38 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 well fpent is preferable to a long courfe of evil *. 
 The Peripatetic philofophy is notj as feme think, 
 more pufiHanimous than that of the Stoics. In 
 this only, I apprehend, they differ •, the former is 
 more fanguine and lefs fyftematical ; the latter 
 more cool a,nd prudent, urging a tenacious ad- 
 herence to opinions. 
 
 Epiflle XVIII. To the Phllofopher 
 
 EUGENIUS f. 
 
 ii^D ALUS, it is faid, formed waxen wings 
 for Icarus | ; and endeavoured by art tofur- 
 pafs nature. Though I admire his art, I cannot 
 commend his prudence, in venturing to trufl the 
 fafety of his fon to diflbluble wax. But if I had 
 the power, according to the wifli of the Teian 
 lyric, to be changed into a bird § I would not 
 fly to Olympus, or on any amorous purfuit, but to 
 
 * Such a condn£l r.lmoft jufllfies the encomium of ]Ma- 
 mertiaus : Ita illi annlfpatia divifa funt, ut aut Barbaras do- 
 jnitety aut ci'vihus jura rcf:ituat ; perpctiw.m pi-ofcJTns ant contra 
 hojiem, ant contra vitia^ certamcn. Gibbon, 
 
 f There is great reafon to fuppofe that this Eugeniii's 
 \v?s the fadier of TheimOius. For he alio was a philo- 
 fophtr, and of nc fmall reputation, if the teftimony of 
 his fon may be credited. See the lid oration of The- 
 miftlus, Fetau. 
 
 .,^ X See Ovid. Metam. VIII. Fab. 3. 
 
 ^ No fuch palfage occurs in any of the Odes of Ana- 
 crcon that are known to us, ci fo llyled. See a note on 
 theMifcpogoQ, p. 291. The idea is, certainly, Anacreontic. 
 
 the 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 39 
 
 the tops of your mountains, that, as Sappho fays. 
 Thee, my care, I might embrace *. 
 Nature, however, having confined me in the 
 prlfon of a human body, and not allowing me to 
 elevate even my words on high, with fuch wings 
 as I have I purfue you, with my writings, thus 
 endeavouring to be with you as much as poflible. 
 Homer ftyles words " winged f," becaufe they can 
 fly any where, like the fwifteft birds, and make 
 what excurfions they pleafe. But do you, my 
 friend, write alfo. For you have an equal, if not 
 a larger, Ihare of the wings of words, to enable 
 you to reach your friends, and, as if you were 
 prefent, every where to afford them delight.-. ... 
 
 Epiflle XIX. To EcEBOLus j. 
 
 iIND AR thinks that theMufes are of riiver§, 
 comparing the clearnefs and fplendor of their 
 art to the mofl fplendid of all fubllances. The 
 
 wife 
 
 ha cri, TO ^fXrju* r»i(jco», crs^^Trli-^wfiai. 
 
 This alfo mult be in fome O.dtj of Sappho that, has net 
 been preferved. 
 
 t Emx r^h^oina, II. I. ?oi, II, 7, and innumerable other 
 places. Thus alfo Virgil, 
 
 : — i ■ verbis^ 
 
 ^a tutp ti'A magna 'vpla/it. JE.r\. XI- 380. 
 
 X The preceptor of Julian, a fophiil', whofe confclence 
 was fo fnpple, that he was coriliancly af 'ne religion of the 
 fovereign, and perhaps, iu r.eaiKvvO-f •'^>"'3' -Under Con- 
 flantius he iaNei-ghcd againft th'fe' Ged? 'of the Pagans. 
 i\fteru"ards he deciaiuied tot ih<Srh^'v;^ist\i his pi pd Julian 
 
 D 4 haJ 
 
40 EPISTLESOF JULIAN. 
 
 wife Homer ftyles filver " (hining *," and water 
 " iilvery f/' as glittering by the bright rays of 
 the fan, and by its own fplendid form. Fair Sappho 
 calls the moon '* filvery," and fays, ** on this ac- 
 *' count all the other ilars are obfcured !•" Some 
 therefore may fuppofe that the Gods abound with 
 filver more than gold. For that fdver is more fit fov 
 the ufe of mankind, and better than gold, as being 
 more eafily attainable, and much more pleafing and 
 commodious, is not my idea, but th^t of the ancients. 
 
 Kad opened the temples again. And as foon as he heard of 
 the death of that prince, he aded the part of a penitent by 
 proftrating himfelf at the doors of a church, and, in a 
 lamentable tone, exclaiming to the faithful, *' Trample me 
 " under foot : I am like fait that has loft its favour." 
 
 He made Julian promife, with the moft dreadful impre- 
 cations, never to bie the difciple of Libanius ; precautions 
 llktly to give Julian a greater talte for that fophift. 
 
 La Bletekie. 
 
 § Pindar, in his Vlllth Ifthmian, ftyles the Mule 
 *' golden," (pifyo-EaK) ; but I do not find that the epithet 
 *' lilver" is fo applied in any of his works now extar4t. 
 
 * AiyX>jevra. 
 
 f Agyvfiov. Neither of thefe epithets are to be found fo 
 applied in the Index of Homer by Seberus, They muft 
 therefore be in fome work that has not reached us. Water 
 indeed is often ftyled '•' fplendid," {uyXuav) both in the Iliad 
 and Odylfey. 
 
 X This alfo mull be taken from fome poem of Sappho 
 that is loft. The only pall;ige in which the moon is men- 
 tioned in her few remaining works is in a fragment, 
 and that without the epithet, which the tranflator has 
 added : 
 
 AtdtDtE ^£v at at'Xunat, 
 Kat YlXna.h':, k. r, >.. 
 
 The Pleiads now no more are feen. 
 
 Nor fliifies the [filver] moon ferene, Fawkeo„ 
 
 There- 
 
E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 41 
 
 Therefore, if for a piece of gold, prefented by you, 
 I return filver, as of equal value, think not the 
 favour lefs, nor imagine, as in the cafe of Glaucus, 
 that the exchange of armour is difadvantageous 
 to you ; and even Diomed perhaps exchanged his 
 filver * arms for gold, bccaufe he thought thofe 
 much more ufcful and more proper, like lead, to 
 blunt the point of fpears. 
 
 What you wrote has occafioned this jocularity. 
 But if you would fend me gifts more valuable thart 
 gold, write, and fail not to write inceffantly. For 
 '^ letter from you, however fhorr, will be preferred 
 by me to the moft coftly prefents. 
 
 Epxftle XX. To EusTocHius t» 
 
 THE wife Hefiod thinks, that our neighbours t -^- o* 
 362. 
 fhould be invited to entertainments, that 
 
 they may feail and rejoice together, as well as 
 
 lament and mourn together, when they meet with 
 
 any unexpcfTted misfortune. But I think, that 
 
 our friends, not our neighbours only, fhould be 
 
 * A^yvfx y^^va-Qiii. In Homer rhe nrras of Diomed areof 
 
 ^rafs : %«t;<r£a pijaA^.^wi'. 11. VI. 256. 
 
 M. de la Bieterie has not tranflated this Epiftle. 
 
 t A native of Faleftine, an eloquent orator, mentioned 
 by Libanius in feveral of his Epifties. In one of them he 
 iays, " Euftochius, by his manners, conciliates every one; 
 *' they render thofe who are fierce gentle," Stc. 
 
 I Works and Days, I, 340. 
 
 No friends forget, nor entertain thy foe, 
 Nor let thy neighbour uninvited go. Cooke, 457. 
 
 invited; 
 
42 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 invited ; becaufe a neighbour may be an enemy, 
 but a friend cannot, any more than white can be 
 black, or hot cold. That you are my friend, not 
 only now, but have long been fo, and that your re- 
 gard for me has never varied, if there v.'ere no other 
 evidence, niy love and cfteem for you would fuf- 
 ficiently prove. Come then, and partake the con- 
 fular fedivity *. The public road will convey 
 you, and you may command one carriage, and a 
 fupernumerary horfe i". To complete your wifhes, 
 I have invited the friendly Enodia and Enodius to 
 ffieet you. 
 
 ^ It was a cuftom for the confuls elect to invite their 
 
 friends to the coni'ulfnip, which was on the calends of 
 
 January ; this was called rogare ad confulatum. And fome^ 
 
 times the confuls ele£t not only invited their fiiends by 
 
 their own letters, but alfo by the letters of the prince 
 
 hinafelf caufed them to be afked to their confulfhip by his 
 
 agent ; which honour, Libaniiis, in his oration on his own 
 
 life, p. 67, fpeaking of the conful Richomeres, fays, was 
 
 iirft offered to him. Be that as it may, that the cull;om 
 
 was frequent in thofe times we learn from the 5th and 6th 
 
 books. of the Epiftles of Symmachug. And of the fame 
 
 kind is this Epiftle of Julian., Valois. 
 
 Julian invited Euftochius both as prince and conful, which 
 
 he was the fucceeding year. Saliuft the fecond was his 
 
 coUegue. 
 
 f This wagiTTTro? I interpret to be a fingle horfe, a third, 
 ^n addition to the two that drew the carnage, which horfe, 
 for the greater expedition, king Theodoric, in an Epiftle 
 preferved by Caffiodurus, forbade to carry more than an 
 hundred pounds weight. The fame indulgence is granted 
 by juli?.n to yl'.tius, \\\ Epiftle xxxi. Petau. 
 
 This is alfo oaiitted by M. de laBleterie. 
 
 Epiflle 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Eplftle XXL To Callixene .*, Prleflefs 
 of Ceres. 
 
 I ME alone evinces men to be jufl:. So we A. d. 
 were taught of old. Let me add, pious and 
 religious. But you fay, the love of Penelope for 
 her hiifband was alfo thus demonftrated. To this I 
 anfwer, "who can prefer, in a woman, conjugal love 
 to piety, without being thought to have fwallowed 
 large draughts of mandragora -f ? And who that 
 
 * It is plain, by this Epiftle, that Callixene had been 
 molcfted, -on account of her religion, for twenty years, 
 that is, during almoft the whole reign of Conilantius. 
 The date of it may evidently be fixed to the time of tire 
 journey which Julian took to Peffinus. La Bleterie. 
 
 See note * next page. 
 
 The enthuliafm of Julian prompted hirri to embrace the 
 friends of Jupiter as his psrfonal friends and brethren ; and 
 though he partially overlooked the merit of Chriflim con- 
 flancy, he,.'dinired and rewarded the noble perseverance of 
 thofe Gentiles who had preferred the favour of the Gods to 
 that of the Emperor. Thus he praifes and rewards the 
 fidelity of this priellcfs, and thus, in EpilHe xxvil, he ap- 
 plauds the firmneis of Sopater of Hier^polis. Gibbon. 
 
 f Mandragora has fuch a foporific quality, that, if we 
 credit Piiiiy, (xxv. ii.) large draughts of it arc fatal. 
 It is alio called Circean, becaufe its root is fuppofed to be 
 ufeful in love-philtres. Therefore thofe v.'ho negleft their 
 duty, .and fall alleep, are laid " to have drunk much man- 
 ^' dragora." Erasmus. 
 
 Thus Shakfpeare, in Othello: 
 — — Not poppy, r.c: mandragora, 
 Nor all the drowfy lyrups of the world, 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that fveet fleep 
 Which thou hadi't ycflcrday. Act III. 
 
 confiders 
 
44 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 confiders the times, and compares Penelope, thouglx 
 praifed almoft univerlally for her conjugal fidelity, 
 with the pious matrons v.ho lately hazarded their 
 lives, and, in addition to thefe evils, twice the 
 length of time, can juflly put Penelope in com- 
 petition with you ? 
 
 Difregard not thefe praifes. All the Gods will 
 reward you. We, for our part, will honour you 
 with a double priefthood, and to that, which you 
 had before, of the moll holy Goddefs Ceres, we add 
 the priefthood of the great Mother, the Phrygian 
 Goddefs at facred PelTmus *. 
 
 •5^ The flatue of Cybele had been removed from this 
 temple to Rome by Scipio Nafica many centuries befoife. 
 See Livy, xxix. lo. and Pliny, v. 32. When Julian arrived 
 on the confines of Galatia, in his way to Antioch, he quit- 
 Ted his route to vifit Peffinus. And probably he compofed 
 there, in honour of the Mother of the Gods, that hafly 
 difcourfe which is ftili extant, as " it cofl: him," he fays, 
 ♦' not a whole night," cv ^^a^j^ vvxic; jj-'-^et, after venting 
 his anger on two Chriilians, one of whom had pulled dovyn 
 the altar of the Goddefs. 
 
 The PelTinuntians had fuch an indifference for the 
 Mother of the Gods, their ancient prote£trefs, that it is 
 no wonder that this priefthood was vacant. Julian confers 
 JL as Sovereign Pontiff, the head of the Pagan religion. 
 
 La Bleterie, 
 
 Epiaie 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Epiftle XXII. To Leontius. 
 
 ' I ^ H E Thurian hiftorian fays, that *' mens ears 
 -*■ " are lefs faithful than their eyes ^." But 
 as to you I diffeut, and my eyes are lefs faith- 
 ful than my ears. For though I were to fee you 
 ten times, I fliould never trufl my eyes fo much as 
 I now trufl my ears ; having heard, from one of 
 unimpeached veracity, that, as you excell others 
 in every thing elfe, you excell yourfelf in ailing, 
 as Homer exprefles it, both " with hands and 
 *' feet f ." Allowing you, therefore, the ufe of 
 arms, we have fent you a complete fuit of armour 
 proper for the foot, being lighter than that of the 
 
 * Thus Horace, in his Epiltle to the Piibs, 
 What we hear 
 
 More flo'.vly moves the heart than what we fee. 
 
 Julian ftyles Herodotus, the author of this faying, " the 
 ** Thurian," becaufe he lived and died at Tliurium, ia 
 Magna Grecia. It is taken from his Clio, fpeaking of 
 the queen of Candaules, whom he vvilhed to ihew naked 
 to his friend Gyges. 
 
 f When we mean to exprefs our utmoft endeavours, vre 
 fay, " with hands and feet." For by the " hands" is de- 
 clared induftry in performing, and by the " feet" fwift- 
 nefs in forwarding, an undertaking. Thus Horn. II. XX, 
 360* Erasmus, 
 
 horfe 5 
 
 As 
 
46 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 horfe ; and have enrolled you among our domelli.: 
 guards, who confiil of fuch as have borne arms, 
 and ferved in the army *. 
 
 Epiftle XXIIL To Hermogenes, formerly 
 Prsefed of ^gypt. 
 
 A. D. ALLOW me to lliy, with the poets, 
 10 1. J. X How blefs*d -beyond my hopes am I ! 
 
 How much beyond ray hopes have I heard of my 
 efcape from that many-headed Hydra f \ I do 
 not mean my brother Conftantius (whatever he 
 was), but the Yv'ild beads who Tu.rjounded him, 
 whofe eyes nothing could elude,- and who made 
 him more fevere, who in his own difpofition was 
 not the mildefl, though he feemed fo to many. 
 But he is no more. On him therefore, as the fay- 
 ing is, light lie the earth ! As to them, 1 would not 
 have them, Jupiter knows, treated with the lead 
 injuftice ; but as many charges are brought againlt 
 them, 1 allow them a trial J. In order to be 
 
 prefent, 
 
 "^ Synimachus, Epift. 67. l.'iii. *' For to fuch veterans 
 *' a prerogative is due, that they may have the rank- of 
 '* guards, as a reward for their long fervices," Petau. 
 
 This Epiftle is omitted by M. de la Bleterie. 
 
 f noXviitCc'i7'.ov [in one MS. T^»«£^aXo>] vhcip. Hermogenes 
 was, like himfelf, converfant with tlic Greek poets. 
 
 Gibbon. 
 
 + To conduiTc this enquiry, Julian named fix judges of 
 
 the higheft rank in the ftate and army ; and as he wiflied 
 
 to efcape the reproach of condemning hispcrlonal enemie?, 
 
 z he 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 47 
 
 prefent, haften hither, my dear friend, even be- 
 yond your flrength ; for, by the Gods, I have 
 long wilhed to fee you : and as I have had • the 
 great fatisfa(flion of hearing that you are well, I 
 now command vou to come. 
 
 Epiftle XXIV. To the mod excellent 
 
 SERilPION *. 
 
 O O M E prefsnt their friends with panegyrics ; 
 *^ but I, as a delicious repaft, have fent you a 
 hundred of our long-flalked, dried figs -f; a gift 
 whofe beauty far exceeds its value. Ariiiophanes 
 fays, that '* dried figs are the fweeteft of all things, 
 •' except honey," and he is afterwards of opinion 
 that not even honey is fweeter J. The hiftorian 
 Herodotus thought that a true folitude was fuffi- 
 ciently defcribed by faying, " it has neither figs, 
 
 he fixed this extraordinary tribunal at Chalcedon, on the 
 Aiiatic fide of the Bofphoriis, and transferred to the com- 
 rfiiffioners an abfol;ne power to pronoiince and execute their 
 final fentence, without deiay, and without appeal. They 
 were a fecond Salluft, Praefect of the Eaft, Prefident ; the 
 eloqutnt Mamertinus, one of the confuls elect, and four 
 generals, Nevitta, Agiio, Jovinus, and Arbetio. 3iJ. 
 
 * A fenauir, probably, of Conllantinople. 
 
 t Pliny (/. XV. c. i8.) mentions, among the various 
 kinds of figs [twenty-nine in all], thofe of a purple colour 
 {porphyritides) with very long ftalks. F£tau. 
 
 X The only two pali'ages m which Ariftophanes mentions 
 fig5, are in his Knights, act II fc. 2. and his Acharnians, 
 act. III. ic. 3. and in neither of thefe are they compared 
 with honey. Julian mufl: therefore refer to fome play, or 
 work, that is not extant. 
 
 a 
 
 nor 
 
^8 EPISTL.ES OF JULIAM. 
 
 '* nor any thing elfe that is good *." As if no fruit 
 excelled figs, and" AvRere there were figs, nothing 
 good could be wanting. Homer praifes other 
 fruits for their fize, their colour, or their beauty; 
 but to the fig alone he gives the appellation of 
 " fweetnefs -j-." Honey he calls *' new j," fearing 
 left he ibould inadvertently ftyle that fweet which 
 often happens to be bitter : on the fig alone he 
 
 * Herodotus, in "the lirft book of bis hillories, thus 
 pruves the excellence of figs : " You are preparing to 
 " make war, O king, againft men who wear breeches, 
 " and other garments, of leather, who feed, not on what 
 *' they like, but on what they have, inhabithig a rugged 
 *\ country; they have no wine, by Jove, but are watef- 
 ** drinkers ; nor have they figs to eat, ;:or any thing cJ/c 
 *' thai is good^'' Athek^Us. 
 
 The above is part of the fpeech of Sandanis, a Lydian, 
 who in vain attempted to dili'uade Crcefus from invading 
 Perfia. 
 
 f In the garden of Alcincus, Odyfi'. vii. 117. Zf-ta* re 
 
 yXO)£E^ai. X. X. T. 
 
 The biufliing fig with lufcious juice o'erflows. Pope, 14.8. 
 And again, xi. 589. among the fruits that torment Tan- 
 talus, v.here though the line in the original is the fame, 
 Erccme drops the epithet, and fubllitutes two of his own : 
 . Figs fky-dy'd a purple hue difclofe. 
 
 " Homer's epithets," fays Euftathius, " are excellent. 
 *' For it is obfervable, that the poet gives every tree an 
 " epithet fuired to its peculiar nature. Thus the apple is 
 " " beautiful," and its fruit, as he exprefles it," fplendid" 
 ** (aT-^ao;) he therefore ftyles the apple a •' fplendid-fruited 
 *' tree" {(x.y\o.ny.a.i^Tco^) ; among the autumnal fruits, the fig, 
 *' by way of eminence, " fweet," and the olive " verdant." 
 X Mea4 x^'wpor, part of the entertainment given by Neftor, 
 in II. XI. 630. and by Circe in Odyff. x. 234. Pope ren- 
 ders it in one place by *' frefii," and in the other by 
 *' new-prefled.'' The Latin tranflator of Julian has made 
 xijianjurut 
 
 beftows 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 beflows this peculiar praife, as on necflar, becaufe 
 of all things the fig only is fvveer. " Honey/* 
 fays Hippocrates, " is fweet to the taftc, but quite 
 " bitter when digefted * :" and I am of his opinion ; 
 for that it breeds bile is generally allowed, and 
 gives the humours a different favour ; which (hews 
 that it is in its nature rather bitter than fweet. 
 For it would never change to bitter, if it were not 
 fo originally, and afterwards became the reverfe. 
 But the fig is not only fweet to the talfe, but eafy 
 of digeftion. It is fo ufeful to mankind, that Ari- 
 ftotle deems it an antidote againft all poifons, and 
 fays, that " for no other reafon it is introduced at 
 *' the beginning and clofe of meals ; as, in pre- 
 " ference to every thing elfe, affording a facred re- 
 " medy againft the injuries of food." That the fig 
 is confecrated to the Gods, and in all facrifices is 
 placed on the altar, and is better for perfumes 
 than any frankincenfe, is not merely my opinion ; 
 but all who are acquainted with its ufe know that 
 fuch alfo is the opinion of that fage the Hie- 
 
 * Hippocrates fays this, though not in thefe words, in 
 fubllance, in his work de ijitemis affcHionibus^ but of honey 
 boiled : ** Boiled honey is heating, and adheres to the 
 *' belly ; but after it is digelled, it ferments, and the belly 
 *' fuddenly fwells, and burns, and feems as if it would 
 ** burft." Galen alfo, in his iiid book dc facultate alimen- 
 torum^ fays, that " honey, in its nature, is fubtle, and by 
 *' its acrimony fvvells the belly before it can be digefted, fo 
 " as to be voided. Therefore by correcting this we render 
 •' it fitter for digeftion and concoction." And this is 
 done by mixing it with water, and boiling b(Jth together. 
 For then, , being clarified, it digefts eafily, Petau. 
 
 Vol. II. E rophant. 
 
 49 
 
|0 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 repliant *. The excellent Theophraftus f , in his 
 precepts of husbandry, explaining what kinds of 
 trees can be grafted on others, and the manner of 
 engrafting them, commends, I think, above all, 
 the fig-tree as capable of admitting various forts, 
 and as being Angular in eafily bearing at the fame 
 time grafts of every kind, if you fplit any of its 
 boughs, and engraft upon them the Ihoots of other 
 trees; fo that it often refembles a whole orchard, 
 ^iffufing, like a beautiful garden, the variegated 
 fplendor of different kinds of fruit. And while 
 the fruits of other trees continue but a lliort time, 
 and attain no age, the fig alone furvives the year, 
 and accompanies the growth of the fucceeding 
 fruit J. Homer therefore fays, that, in the garden 
 
 of 
 
 * AvS'^o; cro^a xa. n^o^^xvlti. I fuppofe that Julian here 
 means the Eleulmian pontiff, peculiarly ftyled HUrophantes^ 
 or a revealer of facred things. He was obliged to devote 
 himfelf to the divine fervice, and lead a chafte and fingle life. 
 He was attended by three oiiicers, a torch-'bearer, a herald, 
 and one who affilled at the altar. (See Epidetus, /. in. 
 f. 21. and Potter's Greek Antiquities, vol. I. c. 20.) This 
 pontiff was fuppofed to be more profound even than Maxi- 
 mus in the fcience of Theurgy. And Julian muft have 
 been well acquainted with his fentiments, as he initiated 
 him in the myileries at Eleufis, and was afterwards invited 
 by that prince to the court of Gaul, to perfeft his fanfti- 
 fication. I am not confident, however, that the interpre- 
 tation which I have given is the true one. 
 
 t Theophraftus has treated on figs, and on the grafting 
 of them in the iid book of his HiJ. Plant, c. z. and 7. and 
 alfo in his ift book tk Caujh^ c. vi. Petau. 
 
 ; Theophrafais alfo mentions fome wild fig trees which 
 bore twice, and others thrice, in a year, as tn the illand 
 of Ceos. The late Mr. Markland,- in an ingenious illuf- 
 
 tration 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 51 
 
 of Alcinous, fome fruits grew old upon others * ; 
 which, as to other fruits, perhaps may feem a 
 poetical fi61:ion, but, as to the fig, is confiflent with 
 truth, becaufe of all fruits it is the mod laftlng. 
 
 Such, I think, is the nature of the fig in general; 
 but of all figs ours is far the beft ; as that is fu- 
 perior to all other fruits, ours is fuperior to all other 
 figs, and though it excells every other kind of fruit, 
 it is, in its turn, excelled by ours. And, to con- 
 tinue the coraparifon, it not only furpalTes, as is 
 fit, all others, but even in thofe particulars, where 
 it feems inferioi', it really excells. Nor is this 
 undefervedly our peculiar lot. For it wasjuft, 
 I think, that the true city of Jupiter, and the 
 eye of the whole Eaft, I mean the holy and mofl 
 fpacious Damafcus, as Ihe is pre-eminent in every 
 thing elfe, in the elegance of her facred rites, 
 the magnificence of her temples, the happy tem- 
 perature of her climate, the beauty of her foun- 
 tains, the number of her rivers, and the fertility 
 
 tration of Mark xi. 13. adopted from Bifhop Kidder, refers 
 *' thofe who will not be convinced that the tree fhou!d 
 *' have figs on it at the time of the Paflbver," to the above 
 paflage of Julian. See Bowyer's Critical Conjeftures and 
 Obfervalions on the New Teftament, 410, p. 65. 
 
 * OdyfT. VII. 1 17. 
 
 Each dropping pear a following pear fupplies, 
 On apples apples, figs on figs arife : 
 The fame mild feafon gives the blooms to blow. 
 The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow. 
 
 PoiE, 154, 
 
 E 2 of 
 
52 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 of her foil *, fhould alfo be unrivalled in this 
 wonderful fruit. 
 
 This tree will not bear tranfplanting, nor will 
 it leave its native foil, difdaining, like an indi- 
 genous plant, to grow any where but in the colony. 
 Gold and fllver are probably })roduced in various 
 places ; but our country is fiiigular in giving birth 
 to a plane which will not flourifh in any other. 
 As the wares of India, and the filks of Perfia, and 
 all the valuable produdlions of jiEthiopia, by the 
 law of commerce are exported to all oiher parrs of 
 the world, fu this our native fig is tranfiritted by 
 us into all other countries ; nor is there a city, or an 
 ifland, to which its admirable flavour is unknown. 
 It graces even royal banquets ; of every entertain- 
 ment it is the boad and ornament ; nor is there 
 any cake, or wafer, or conlerve, or any other kind 
 of confe^lionary, that is comparable to it in fweet- 
 nefs, fo much does it excell all other dainties. 
 Other figs are eaten in the autumn, or are dried 
 for that purpofe ; ours alone are fit for either 
 purpofe ; they are good on the tree, and when 
 they are dried they are ftiil better. And were 
 
 * Damafcus is fituated in a very fertile plain at the foot 
 of Mount Libaniis, being furroiinded by hills in the manner 
 of a triumphal arch. It is bounded by a river which the 
 ancients named Chryforrhoas, as if it flou-ed with gold, 
 and it is divided into fevcral canals. Damalcus has ftill a 
 great number of fountains, which render it extremely 
 agreeable. Its fertile and delightful meadows, covered 
 with fruits and flowers, contribute alfo to its fame. 
 
 MORERI. 
 
 5 you 
 
EP IS TLE S OF JUL! AN. S3 
 
 you to obfcrve their beauty when growing, how 
 they hang from every bough by loiig ilalks; like fo 
 many cups, aud fuiTound the tree in a circular 
 form, thus exhibiting various charms, you would 
 fry, that what a necklace is to the neck, luch 
 is this appendage to the tree. In the art of 
 preferving them, there is alio no lefs ingenuity 
 than there is pleafure in eating them. For they 
 are not, like other figs, thrown together in heaps, 
 and promifcuoufly dried in the fun ; but, firfl, they 
 are gathered careftilly from the trees, and then 
 they are hung againft a wall, by briars or twigs, 
 that they may be bleached by the action of the 
 pure rays of the fun, and may alfo be fecured from 
 the attacks of animals and birds, being proteded 
 by the prickles as by fo many guards. 
 
 In the praife of their origin, flavour, beauty, 
 confe6tion, and ufe, my e})iil:ie has been fportive. 
 Let me now inform you, that the number a hun- 
 dred is more honourable than any other, and con- 
 tains in itfelf the per.fe<^ion of all numbers. I 
 know indeed that the ancient fages preferred an 
 odd to an even number *. .... Homer feems to 
 
 me 
 
 * Thus Virgil, Ed. vii i, 75. — Kumcro Deus buparc gai'Jet. 
 Some paragraphs that follow in the original, bting only a 
 tririing play oh the number a hiir.drcid, I have omitted, 
 " as attbrding," in the words of I\I. de la Bleterie, " neither 
 •' entertainment nor inftruftion." The French tranflatoi- 
 indeed has omitted the whole Epiftle, and reprobates it in 
 his preface, as one of thofe " which turn on mere trifles." 
 *' I would fuppofe," he adds, " that this piece is only a 
 
 E 3 " proftiv 
 
54 - EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 me to have given in his poem, not lightly or ,m- 
 conliderately, a hundred- folded ihield to Jupiter * ; 
 as he meant by this obfcurely, to intimate either 
 that he appropriated the mod perfect number, and 
 ih^t which would raoft honour him, to the moll 
 perfeft God^ or perhaps becaufe, as no number 
 but a hundred defcribes the world, which, on ac- 
 (Count of its rotj.indity, is difplayed in the circular 
 form of a fliieid, that intelligence which is fo ap- 
 parent in the world is alfo expreffed by a century 
 of circles. For the fame reafon, hundred-handed 
 Briareus is placed near Jupiter, and contends with 
 ihe Father to give an idea of his perfeft flrength 
 by a perfeft number. Pindar aifo the Theban, 
 
 *' proilitutlon of wit and learning, and perhaps a criti- 
 *' cifm ; for it appears, by the Letter itfelf, that fuch 
 *' elogiums were fafnionable." Wit and learning, how- 
 ever, are never more difplayed than by giving importance 
 and charms to trifles. 
 
 * The paffage alluded to is in Iliad II. 447. 
 The dreadful ^^gis, Jove's immortal fhield, 
 Blaz'd on her f arm, and lighten'd all the field ; 
 Round the vaft orb a hundred ferpents roli'd, 
 Form'd the bright fringe, and feem'd to burn in gold. 
 
 Pope, 526. 
 This fnaky ^gis, but without the number, is defcribed 
 alfo in II. ¥,"738. 
 
 But to naake amends (which I wonder Julian fhould 
 omit) the helmet of the Goddtfs is defcribed as sxarov -tto- 
 .\'£a7 7r^f^E££^' w^a^fta, either, as Euftathius fays, " becaufe 
 " it could cover a hundred warriors, or becaufe it had the 
 warriors of a hundred cities engraved upon it." Pope adopts 
 the latter, but amplifies the idea; 
 
 So vaft, the broad circumference contains 
 
 A hundred armies on a hundred phiius. 9200 
 
 J Minerva's. 
 
 when 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. ^^ 
 
 when he celebrates theflaughterof Typhoeus in a 
 triumphal Tong, and afcribes the ftrength of this 
 greateft of giants to the greateft king of the Gods *, 
 beflows fuch extravagant applaufe on him, for no 
 other reafon than his being able to deftroy this 
 hundred-headed monfler with one blow ; as if no 
 giant was able to contend with Jupiter but he 
 alone whom his mother had armed with a hundred 
 heads, and as if no God but Jupiter was worthy 
 of the conquefl: and deftrudiion of fuch a giant. 
 Simonides, the Lyric poet, thinks it a fufficient 
 commendation of Apollo to ftyle him Exaloy, and, 
 in preference to any other title, adorns his name 
 with this facred di(lin£lion, becaufe he flew the 
 ferpent Python, it is faid, with a hundred arrows ; 
 and he delights rather to be flyled EkixIov thaa 
 Pythius, being diftinguiflied by that as by a fur- 
 name -f. The ifland Crete, the nurfe of Jupiter, 
 as a reward for his birth and education, is now 
 honoured with a hundred cities |. Homer flyles 
 
 Thebes 
 
 * This muft probably be in one of the Olympics that 
 are loft, as no fuch paifage, or '* triumphal fong", is 
 extant. 
 
 t This feems a forced conftruftion. Apollo's name 
 EkoIo! is naturally derived from his {hooting at a diftance, 
 like ex.nCoXo?, fo often applied to hiin by Homer, and 1 do 
 not recoUeft his being any where ftyled EhoIih. The above- 
 mentioned paffage of Simonides is not in his few remaining 
 fragments collected by Henry Stephens. 
 
 I II. II. 649. 
 
 Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her fons. Pope, 790. 
 
 It is obfervable, that in the Odyfley, XIX. 174, only 
 
 — Ninety cities crown the fea-born ille, Ffnton, 197. 
 £ 4 on 
 
56 EPISTLESOF JULIAN. 
 
 Thebes " hundred-gated *," but gives this praife 
 to no other, becaufe there is a wonderful beauty 
 in a hundred gates. I fay nothing of the heca- 
 tombs -j- offered to the Gods, of the temples a 
 hundred feet wide |, the altars with a hundred 
 bafes, the hundred rooms, the hundred-acred fields, 
 and other things, divine and human, which are in^ 
 eluded in the appellation of this number. This 
 number adorns the eflablifliments both of war § 
 and peace jj, it exhilarates the military centuries, 
 and with its addition honours the title of the 
 judges. 
 
 on which Euflathius remarks : *' Crete is ' ninety-citied,* 
 *' in the Odyfley, which is ' a himdred-citied* in the 
 *' Iliad, from an accidental circumftance ; for it is faid 
 ♦' that ten cities were dellroyed by Idomeneus, at his re- 
 *' turn from Tro)-, when Leucus pofleffed it, whom, being 
 *' his fon by adoption, he left guardian of the kingdom, 
 *' ^' a foflered fnake," as Lycophron Ityles him ; but thofe 
 *' ten cities are faid to have been rebuilt after the Trojan 
 *' war. Others underftand ' hundred-citied* here not in 
 ** a determinate fenfe, but merely as ' many-eitied.' For 
 *' * a hundred' was fometimes fo ufed on account of the 
 *' diflinftion of that perfeft number, like ' a hundred 
 ** fringes,' and the warriors of ' a hundred' cities. Thus 
 -^' ' hundred-citied' Crete is ' many-citied." Virgil has 
 followed the Iliad : Ceiit:i:n urhes habitant magnas, M,v\, 
 JII. 106. 
 
 * ExccVs-vXo.. II. IX. 383. 
 
 That pours her heroes through a hundred gates. 
 
 Pope, 503, 
 f The facrifice of a hundred oxen. 
 
 ;|: "EnoCioviccrzi^ki;. Such, as appears from Plutarch, was the 
 temple of Minerva, in the citadel of Athens. Spa.vheim. 
 § Centurions, captains over a hundred foot each. 
 II Centumviri, judges chofen, three out of every tribe, 
 to hear and determine certain civil caufcs. 
 
 I could 
 
EPISTLESOF JULIAN. ^y 
 
 I could add more, did not the rules of eplftolary 
 compofition forbid. Pardon me, if I have faid too 
 much. Should it, in your opinion, attain medi- 
 ocrity, the laudable attempt fhall be communicated 
 to others, fuch is my confidence in your judgment. 
 But if another hand fhould be necefiary to make it 
 anfwer its intention, who better than you can polifb 
 this epiftle fo as to enable it to delight its reader^ ? 
 
 Epiftle XXV. To the Community of 
 the Jews ^. 
 
 TTp O R M E R times were not To grievous to you A. d. 
 ^ on account of the yoke of flavery, as on that ^^^' 
 of your being opprefled by furreptitious decrees, 
 
 and 
 
 .* We are in formed by fome or all our ecclefiaftical hif- 
 lorians, who write of Julian, that he fent for iome of the 
 chief men of the Jewifli nation, and .enquired of them, 
 why they did not now facrifice, as the law of Mofes di- 
 redted^ They told him, that " they were not to facrifirc 
 •*' at any place, except Jerufalem ; and the temple being 
 *' deftroyed, they were obliged to forbear that part of 
 *' worlliip." He thereupon promifed to rebuild the temple 
 at Jerufalem. And we ftill have a letter of Julian, in- 
 fcribed, " To the Community of the Jews," which, how- 
 ever extraordinary, muft be reckoned genuine. For Sozo- 
 men expiefsly fays, that " Julian wrote to the patriarchs 
 *' and rulers of the Jews, and to their whole nation, de- 
 *' firing them to pray for him, and for the profperity of 
 *' his reign." That is an exacf defcripaon of the letter 
 wliich is infcribed (as above). It was writ in the year 
 362, as Pleterie fuppofeth ; in the beginning of that year, 
 fay Tillemont and the bifliop of Gloucefler, Lardner. 
 
 Aldus 
 
58 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 and obliged to pay large fums into the treafury ; 
 of which I faw much with my own eyes, and have 
 learned more from the edi6ls which were preferved 
 
 AWas {Tenet. 1499.) has branded this Epiftle with an 
 dyvno-tos; but this ftigma is juftiy removed by the fub- 
 fequent editors, Petavius and Spanheim. It is mentioned 
 by Sozomen (v. 22.) and the purport of it is confirmed by 
 Gregory {Orat, iv. />, ni.) and by Julian himfelf, Frag- 
 ment, p. 295. Gibbon, i 
 What Gregory Nazienzen, in his fecond invective, tells 
 tis of the conference that followed this letter, plainly Ihews 
 it to be genuine. " Julian," he fays, '* alTured the leaders 
 *' of the Jews, that he had difcovered from their facred 
 *' b6oks, that the time of their reftoration was at hand.'* 
 It is not a mere curiofity to enquire what prophecy it was 
 that Julian perverted ; becaiife it tends to confirm the truth 
 of Nazianzen's relation. I have foraetimes thought it 
 might poffibly be the v/ords of the Septuagint in Dan. ix. 
 27. SynlsAfiot 3o6}i«r£T«i sTTt T>)v i§j7/aw3-iv, the ambiguity of which 
 Julian took the advantage of (againft helleniftic Jews, who, 
 it is probable, knew no mdre of the original than himfelf), 
 fignifying the tribute JJ:all be given to the defolate^ inftead of 
 the confummntion ^/ImU be poured upon the defolate. For the 
 letter in quellion tells us he had remitted their tribute, and 
 h\ fo doing, we fee, was for paffing himfelf upon them 
 for a fecoud Cyrus. Warburton, 
 It feems that the Jews, after the deftru£lion of Jerufalem, 
 preferved a fort of monarchy till the beginning of the Vth 
 century. They had in Paleftine an Ethnarch, or chief of 
 their nation, who, by the toleration of the Romans, was 
 inverted with great power. He ftyled himfelf alfo Patriarch, 
 Kis place was hereditary, and defcended from father to fon. 
 All the fynagogues of the Eaft and Weft paid him tribute, 
 ■under the pretence of contributing to the fupport of the 
 Rabbins, who applied themfelves in Judea to the ftudy of 
 the law. Thole whom he commilTioned to levy this tax 
 were ftyled .Apoflcs or En-voys. Thefe patriarchs, who had 
 made themfelves very odious by their extortions and rapines, 
 did not exift in 429. See M. de Tillemont's Hijioire des 
 £fir>cre7trsj tome I, La Bi.etf.rie. 
 
 agaiiifl: 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 59 
 
 againfl: you. The tributJ|again ready to be levied 
 iipc.n you I have revoked; this infamous impiety * 
 I have reilrained ; and the decrees againft you re- 
 maining in my offices I have deftroyed, that none 
 may be able to circulate fuch an impious re- 
 port. Of thefe great oppreilions the memorable 
 Conftantius, my brother, was lefs guilty than 
 fome men, barbarous in their underilandings and 
 wicked in their minds, who frequented his table ; 
 v.'hom, arrefled by my own hands, and thrown 
 into dungeons, i put to deathj that no memorial 
 of their deftruftion might remain among us f. 
 
 ,.d ..i jt Deiirous 
 
 * Aa-i^njxx. Julian, defirous of flattering thejewsj c<m- 
 fiders them as a facred nation, who €ould not be ihjured 
 without impiety. - »« .'^f nasjB.LA BLETEkit. 
 
 f From this part it appears' to h'ave'been writtei; early 
 in his reign, on his firft coming to Cenftantinople, Ti'hea 
 he purged the city and palace of fpies and informers, and 
 the like pefts of a corrupted court. WarbuRton. 
 
 The chamber of juftice, created by Julian; pFoee<-ded 
 againfl the favourites and minifters of Conftantius with the 
 utmoft rigour. But that Julian thruft any of thern into 
 dungeons " with his own hands," no where appears, and 
 is not even probable. It muft therefore be deemed a rtioil 
 extravagant exaggeration ; or we muft fuppofe, that the 
 words E» x^?''''* E/^^K >.acou£roj were added by fome Jew, 
 Though with MelTrs de TUlemont and Fleur}% T have jnade 
 life of this Epiftle in the Life of Julian, I own neverthelefs, 
 that this paflage makes me in fome meafure fufpect ir, 
 and ftrikes me much more than the ftyle of the Epiftle, 
 which feems to me written with much lefs purity than 
 the others ; for, after all, it is not neceflary for it to 
 have been dictated by Jvrlian hicfifelf, or that all his iecre- 
 taries fnould have been pure writers. It might alfo, as well 
 as fome others, have beeti written in Latin, La Bleterie. 
 
 In 
 
6o E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N, 
 
 Defirous to fhew you ftill greater favours, I have 
 urged my brother Julus *, your mofl: venerable 
 patriarch, to forbid the tax which you Ityle 
 apoftlefliip, and no one fliall opprefs you by ex- 
 ading fuch for the future, that you may enjoy 
 eafe and fafety in all ray dominions, and may be 
 ftill more fervent in your prayers for my empire to 
 the mod excellent God, the creator of all things •]-, 
 
 who 
 
 I^ In the ftrange boafl of his perfonal atchievcment in 
 thrufcing down the delators into dungeons " wirh his ov, u 
 *' hands" the Imperial character is fo little preferved, that 
 tbe learned M. de la Bleterie is almofl tempted, on this 
 fingle circumftance, to give up the letter as a forgery. 
 "But he here forgets what he himlelf had before mentioned 
 of the flrange elcapes of.this fantaftic monarch: " Sr« 
 *' Gregory Nazianzen fays, that Julian drove away with 
 *' cuffs and kicks tl}? poor who came tofolicit favours from 
 *^ him." Life of Jul/ a//^ b. IV. Wareurtox. 
 
 h. * Julian in this refcript forbids the affeiTments and 
 tributes which the patriarchs of the Jews ufed to exa£l by 
 apoftles.. Of the Jeuifli patriarchs, lee Hi. xvi. CeJ. 
 Theod. tit, 8. Patau. 
 
 ■ f This language of Julian is by no means a proof that 
 the letter is foi-ged. We fliall fee, in the conclufion, that 
 he believed that the God of the Jews was the Demiuryi-is^ 
 who had created, or rather arranged, the univerfe. The 
 Demiurgus, orAoyo?, proceeded eternally, fubflantially, and ot 
 himfelf, from the fir ll God, named The Being, the One and 
 the Good. Whether the Platonifts admitted a diftinflion of 
 nature between The Being and the Demiurgus^ or whether 
 they only acknowledged a diltinftion of perfons, or laflly, 
 whether they conlidered x.\\&Demturgus as an attribute of The 
 Being, it is certain that they gave even the Thcurgus the name 
 of the firil, the Supreme God. It was the Tlmo-gus whova 
 Julian worfliipped under the name of the Sun-King, meaning 
 not the orb which ftrikes our eyes, but an intelligence wliich 
 
 pre. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 61 
 
 who has condefcended to crown me with his own 
 pure hand. Thofe who labour under any anxiety 
 mufl neceffarily be timid and difpirited, and can- 
 not elevate their hands with confidence in prayer; 
 but thofe who are utterly free from care rejoice 
 with their whole hearts, and more frequently and 
 more effcdlually offer their devout fupplicat"ons to 
 God that the (late may be governed in the befl man- 
 ner agreeably to my wifhes. In this alfo you are 
 deeply interefted ; that, after having happily termi- 
 nated the Perfian war, I may dwell in the holy city 
 Jerufalem *, which you have long defired to fee 
 
 inhabited, 
 
 prefides over that orb, and holds the fame rank in the intel- 
 ligent world which the material fun holds in the fenfible. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 •* Julian did not wait fo long before he gave the Jews 
 fome proofs of his affeftion. or rather of his hatred to the 
 Chriftians, by the project which he formed of rc-buiiding * 
 
 the temple of Jerufalem ; a projeft, which, as Pagan writers 
 themfelves attell, was confounded by one of the moil aftonifti- 
 ing and beft attefied miracles mentioned in hiftory. Ibid, 
 On this remarkable event iSlr. (afterwards Bifhop) War- 
 burton, publiflied, in 1750, his Difcourfe, entitled, Julian, 
 &c. (occalioned by Dr. Middleton's Free Enquiry into the 
 miraculous Powers) written, it is generally thought, with 
 temper and candour, thoughMr. Gibbon brands it " with all 
 *' the peculiarities ^vhich are imputed to the Warburtonian 
 *' fchool," and charges the author with " revealing the 
 *' fecret intentions of Julian, and, with the authority of a 
 " theologian, prefcribing the motives and conduct of the 
 ♦' Supreme Being." 
 
 Dr. Lardner, however, (Jewish and Heathen Tefti- 
 ironies, vol. 1\\ p. 47 — 71.) doubts the truth of this 
 miracle. His reafons are drawn from Julian's own writings 
 
 (the 
 
62 EPISTLE SOFJULIAN. 
 
 inhabited, and in that, refliored by my labours, 
 
 inay with you glorify the Mod High *. 
 
 (the above paffage in particular, which intimates his inten- 
 tion of re-building Jerufalem after his return from the 
 Perfian war, which never happened), the improbability of 
 his allotting money for fuch an expenfive work when he 
 was juft fetting out for Perfia, the credulity, in other in- 
 ilances, of Ammianus, the incredible miracles, or pre- 
 tended miracles, with which the hiftory of this event is 
 loaded by Chrifiian writers, there being no occafion, at 
 that time, for fuch a miraculous interpofition to hinder 
 that undertaking, and the filence of feveral Chriftian con- 
 temporary writers, particularly Jerom, Prudentius, and 
 Orofius. He concludes thus: "Let not any be offended 
 '* that 1 hefitate about this point. I think we ought not 
 *' too eafily to receive accounts of miraculous interpofitions 
 ** which are not becoming the divine Being. There are 
 *' many things faid of Julian, which all wife and good 
 *' men do not believe." But let us hear another excellent 
 writer. 
 
 The interpofition certainly was as providential as the at- 
 tempt was impious. . . There are indeed many witnefles 
 to the truth of the fact, v;hom an able critic f hath well 
 drawn together, and ranged in this order: " AmmianusMar- 
 *' cellinus an Heathen, Zemuch David a Jew, who confef* 
 ** fes that J ulian Vv'as dlvinUus wipcJitrcs^ ' hindered by God, 
 •*< in this attempt,' Nazianzen and Chryfoftom among the 
 *' Gi'eeks, St. Ambrofe and Ruffinus among theLatins, who 
 ** flourifiied at the very time v.hen this Vv'as done ; Theo- 
 *' doret and Sozomen, orthodox hiflorians, Philoftorgius an 
 ♦' Arian, Socrates a favourer of the Novatians, who wrote 
 " the ftory within the fpace of fifty years after the thing 
 *' was done, and whiift the eye-witneffes of the faft 
 *' were yet furviving." But the public hath been obliged 
 with the beft and fulleil account of this whole tranf- 
 action in Dr. Warburtou's Julian, where the evidence for 
 the miracle is fet in the ftrongell light, and all objetlions 
 are clearly refuted, to the triumph of faith and the con- 
 fulion of infidelity. Bilhop Newton, 
 
 * The blind fuperftition and abjeft flavery of thefe un- 
 fortunate exiles mufc excite the contempt of a philofophic 
 t Wlutby's general Preface, p. xxviii. 
 
 Emperor ; 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAK. 63 
 
 To THE PRINCIPAL PHYSICIANS. An Edi6t *. I- J"°^» 
 
 362. 
 
 That the medical art is falutary to mankind, ex- 
 perience clearly demonflrates. The philofophers 
 therefore juftly teach that it came down from 
 heaven ; for the weaknefs of our nature, and the 
 frequent diforders to which we are liable, are by 
 that corrected. Therefore, as reafon and juftice 
 require, and according to the example of former 
 princes -f, we, from our benevolence, exempt 
 you, for the future, from the fenatorial functions. 
 Dated at Conflantinople, on the 4th of the ides of 
 May, in the confulfliip of Mameninus and Nevitta, 
 
 Epiftic 
 
 Emperor ; but they deferved the friendfhip of Julian by 
 their implacable hatred of the Chriftian name. Gibbon. 
 * This law was, without doubt, written originally in Latin. 
 An abridgement of it is found, with the title and date, 
 in the Theodofian Code, xili. t. 3. iie meMcis ct profeJJorihiS. 
 It is addrefled ad archiatros. The title of archlatri was given 
 to the phyficians of the Emperor, and to thofe who prac- 
 tifed phyfic in the two capitals. It is therefore to the phy- 
 ficians of the court, and to thofe of Rome aad Conflanti- 
 nople, that this law of Julian is addrelTed. La Bletef.ie. 
 •\ The Imperial laws exempted the principal phyficians 
 from every public office. They could not be obliged to be 
 members of the council, nor to exercife the magiftracioK 
 in the municipal towns. If they became fenators of Rome 
 or Conflantinople, they enjoyed fome honours and privi- 
 leges annexed to that ofRce, without being required to dif- 
 charge its fun&ions, or to bear its burthens, &c. See the 
 Theodocian Code, at the title juft quoted, and the notes of 
 Godefroi. Thefe privileges were as early as the reign of 
 Auguflus. They had been confirmed by a great number 
 of Emperors, and very recently by Conftantine, whofe 
 laws are frill in being. But it is well known that Julian 
 was the declared enemy of exemptions, and that he loved 
 to undo what Conflantine had done. The phyficians 
 therefore were uneaiV'. Julian, however, maintained them 
 4 in 
 
64 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 Eplftle XXVI. To the Alexandrians. 
 All Edia *. 
 
 A. D. f~\ N E who had been baniflicd by fo many Im- 
 ^ "' ^^ peiial decrees (bould have waited at leafl for 
 one edict f before he returned home, inftead of 
 contumelioufly infulting the laws, as if there were 
 none in being. For we have not allowed the Ga- 
 lileans, who were baniflied by Conftantius, of 
 
 in their privileges. The Latin text feems to give them more 
 than is granted to them in the Greek. Securi a molejiiis ?nu- 
 nerum cninhim pvM'icorum rcluptum tempus atatis jugiter agi~ 
 fahitis. The Greek only fays, luv ^aXtvlmcay Xeilu^yr.uotlaf. 
 It is remarkable that the exemptions of the profeflbrs, 
 though they were the fame as thole of the phyficians, arid 
 though Conflantine had confirmed them by two laws, were 
 not attacked, it was notorious that Julian's love of litera- 
 ture, and of thofe who taught it, exceeded his hatred o-f 
 exemptions, and even of Conflantine. La Bleterie. 
 
 * Athanaiius had been banifhed once by Conflantine, 
 and twice by Conflantius. He was in his third exile when 
 Julian recalled all thofe whom Conflantius had baniflied 
 on account of religion. Prudence did not allow Athanaiius 
 to avail himfelf of this recall while his fee was occupied 
 by George of Cappadocia. But foon after the death of the 
 nfurper (fee p. i8.) he returned to his church, where the 
 pagans did not fuffer him to remain long in quiet. They 
 leprefented to the Emperor that Athanaiius would pervert 
 the whole city, and that, if he continued there, not a Angle 
 Heathen would focn be found there. Their complaints 
 determined Julian to iffue this edi6t. Ih'ii. 
 
 ■[ This was not neceflary, as Julian had, without dif- 
 tin»5tion, recalled all thofe whom Conflantius had baniflied 
 for the '* inadnefs" of the Galileans. 3i/, 
 
 blefled 
 
E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 6.5 
 
 eflfcd memory, to return to their churches *, but 
 only to their countries. Yet I hear that he mofl 
 audacious Athanafius, with his ufual infolence, has 
 again ufurped what they call the epifcopal throne ; 
 and that this has not a little difpleafed the people 
 of Alexandria f. We therefore command him to 
 depart from the city on the very day that he (hall 
 receive the letter of our clemency ; and if he 
 remain there, he may expeft a much feverer 
 punifliment. 
 
 Epiftle XXVII. To the Sophift and Qusftor 
 
 LiBANIUS j. 
 
 /^N my arrival at Litarbe §, a town in Chlcis, March, 
 ^^ I found a road where were fome remains of ^^^' 
 the Antiochian winter camp. One part of it w:s; 
 
 mora fly ; 
 
 * Whether Julian thought of this diftinftion at firft, or 
 •whether it was an after* ftroke, that this prince employed 
 it only againft Athanafius is glorious to that prelate. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 This explication feems evafive, and perhaps was now firft 
 thought of. Lardner. 
 
 f This was the " pious" people who tore '• men in pieces 
 ** as if they had been dogs." [See Epiftle X.] 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 X It appears that Julian had givxn Libanius the ho- 
 norary title of Quaefl-or. But Eunapius reports, that Li- 
 banius refufed the honorary rank of Prjetor aa Prcefedt, 
 which one of the fucceflbrs of Julian would have given him, 
 as Icfs iiluftrious than the title of Sophill {in vita Sophiji, 
 p. 135.) The critics have obfer^'ed a fimilar lentiment in one 
 of the Epillles (xviii. edit. Wolf.) of Libanius himfelf. 
 
 Vol. IL F Ift 
 
69 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 morafiy ; the other hilly, and extremely fteep ; over 
 the morafs loofe (lones were placed by chance, and 
 not artfully cemented, as roads are in a manner built 
 n other places, where, inftead of fand, the flones 
 are laid in mortar, as in a wall. Faffing this wi'-h 
 forae difficulty, I reached my firfl ftage *, about 
 the ninth hour, where I faw in the hall the prin- 
 cipal part of your fenate f. Of the fubje<ft of oar 
 converfation, though perhaps you may have heaid 
 it already, if the Gods permit, I will inform you. 
 From Litarbe I proceeded to Berea J, where Ju- 
 
 In this Epiftle Julian gives the journal of his march from 
 Antioch to Hierapolis. La Bleterie. 
 
 He informed Libanius of his progrefs in an elegant 
 Epiftle, which difpla) s the fertility of his genius, and his 
 tender regard for the fophift of Antioch. Gibbon. 
 
 § This place Euagrius nienti(>ns, /. v. c. 12, and fays, it 
 ">R-as three hundred ftadia from Antioch. Petau. 
 
 * It is lingular that the Romans (hould have negleded 
 the great communication between Antioch and the Eu- 
 phrates. GlEBOK. 
 -j- The mariial impatience cf Julian urged him to take 
 the field in the beginning of the fpring ; and he difmifled, 
 with contempt and reproach, the fenate of Antioch, who 
 accompanied him beyond the limits of their own territory, 
 to which he was refolved never to return. Ihid. 
 X Now Aleppo. The inhabitants of this place are re- 
 corded with honour in the A^s of the Apofiks^ ch. xvii. for 
 the readinefi of mind with which tkey recci'ved the word^ 
 preached by Paul, and fe arched the fcriptures daily vjhether 
 ihofe things '•jjere fo. By Julian's account, they iVill adhered 
 to their Chriftian principles, receiving, as Mr, Gibbon ex- 
 prefTcs it, " with cold and formal demonftrations of re- 
 *♦ fpe6t, the eloquent fermon of the Apoftle of Pa- 
 ganifm." 
 
 St. Bafil has addrefled two Epii^les to the inhabitants 
 
 of Berea, applauding their piety. See his works, vol. 111. 
 
 jp. XOC60 
 
 piterj 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 67 
 
 plter, by the clearcu omens, declared all things 
 aufpiclous. Staying there a whole day, 1 viiited 
 the caftle, and royally facrificed to Jupiter a wh't) 
 bull*. With the fenate I eonv.erTed a little en 
 matters of religioiij but though they all praifed 
 my difeourfe f, a few only were convioced by it ; 
 however, they were fuch as, before I fpoke, I 
 thought feuftblc ; the orhers afTumed a kind of 
 licence, and feemed totally deftitute of fname. 
 Men are apt to be extremely abaliied at qualities 
 that are laudable, fuch as fortitude of mind and 
 
 '* He was more a liiperflitious than a legal .observer of 
 facred rices, I'acriticing innurrerable catrle without parfi-> 
 mony, lb that it was thought, if he had returned I'rom 
 Pqrfia, oxen would have been wauring; like Marcus Ccelar, 
 of ^vhom, we are told, it was laid, " White bulls toMarcils 
 " Cxfar:" ' If you conquer, we perifli ' Awmianus. 
 
 To Capitoline Jupiter white victims oaly were facrificed 
 in triumph. See Turueh. I. 29. i6. 
 
 + The fori of one of the moft illuflrious citizens of 
 Berea, who had embraced, either from intereft or con- 
 fcience, the religion of the Emperor, had been difihherited 
 by his angry parent. The father and the fon were invited 
 to the Imperial table. Julian, placing him.felf between them, 
 attempted, without fuccefs, to inculcate the leffon and 
 example of toleration ; fupported, with aifecled calmnefs, 
 the indifcreet zeal of the aged Chriftian, who feeraed to 
 forget the fentiments of nature, and the duty of a fubjeiTt ; 
 and at length, turning towards the afflicted youth, " Since 
 *« you have loft a father," f?.:d he, " for iisy fake, it is 
 " incumbent on me to fupply his place." 
 
 Julian alludes to this incident [above]; v.hich is m.ore 
 diftincliy related by Theodoret (/. iii. c. 22 ) The in- 
 tolerant fpirit of the father is applai^ded by Tillemont, 
 {Hiji. dcs Emperewiy torn. IV. p. 534.) and ^K^n by La 
 Blcterie {Fie ds Julkn^ p. 413.) Giebok. 
 
 F 2 piety; 
 
68 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 piety; but in the bafeft adions and fentiments "*, 
 in facrilege and pufiUanimity, they have the con- 
 fidence to" glory. 
 
 Batnse next received me, a place to which I never 
 faw any fimilar but Daphne f. But though Batnas 
 may now vie with Daphne, not long ago, when 
 the temple and the image were in being, 1 ftiould, 
 •without fcruple, not only have compared Daphne 
 to Offa, Pelion, Olympus, and Theffalian Tempe, 
 but even have preferred it to them all. The place 
 above-mentioned is dedicated to Olympic Jupiter 
 and Pythian Apollo. But on the fubjeft of 
 Daphne you have compofed an oration |, fuch as 
 no other mortal, 
 
 ■ Of thofe who live in thefe degenerate days §, 
 'withii.s utmofl: efforts, could have written, and, I. 
 -think, not many of the ancients. Why therefore 
 fhould I enlarge upon what has (o elegantly been 
 defcribed by you ? Far be that idea ! 
 
 * Ma^vfltxi* ytu!/.r:^, Kru cruualo:. It is not furpriling, that by 
 the Pagans that abftiaftion and contempt of the world, with 
 which the gofpel inlpires every true Chritiian, ftiould be 
 deemed meannefs of ipirit. But why is not Julian afliamed 
 to blame in the Chriftians thofe virtues whofe very fliadow 
 he adored in the philofophers ? See his Epiftle to Tlie- 
 niiflius. La Bleterie. 
 
 t See an elegant defcription of Daphne by jMr. Gibbon, 
 in a note on the Mifopogon, Vol. I. p. 280. 
 
 I This lamentation is ftill extant in the works of Liba- 
 nius, and compofes his IXth Oration. It is entitled, " A 
 *' iVionody on the Temple of Apollo at Daphne, confumed 
 ** by fire, or, as it is faid, by lightning." It is tranflated 
 in this volume. 
 
 § Horn. 11. V. 304. 
 
 I Ac 
 
E F I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. -69 
 
 At Batnse (though the name is barbarous, the 
 town is Greek) we inhaled the fumes of incenfe 
 from all the adjacent country, and fluv viftims 
 every where prepared. This, though ir much 
 pleafed me, feemed rather too fervent and foreign 
 to religion *. For facrifices Ihould be offered in 
 private, far from all public roads and paffengers, 
 and all that is required is a fupply of vi<5lims and 
 offerings. But this by proper care may be eafily 
 corrected. 
 
 Batnse is fituated on a plain fkirted by a grove of 
 cypreffes, none of which were old or decayed, but 
 all were equally young and flourifhing. My, palace 
 was by no means magnificent, being confl:ru£l:ed of 
 clay and boards, and having nothing ornamental. 
 Nor could the garden vie with that of Alcinous f, 
 but rather refembled that of Laertes |. There was 
 alfo a fmall grove of cypreffes, and a row of thofe 
 trees was planted along the walls : in the middle were 
 pot-herbs and fruit-trees of every kind, I facrificed 
 there in the evening, and again early in the morn- 
 ing, as was my conftant cudom every day •, and as 
 the rites were aufpicious, we proceeded to Hiera- 
 
 * He too clearly difcerned that the fmoke which arofe 
 from their altars was the incenfe of flattery, rather than 
 of devotion. Gibbon. 
 
 t OdyiT. VII. 112. 
 
 X Ibid. XXIV. 204. — Laertes cultivated land. 
 
 The ground himfelf had purchas'd with his pain, 
 And labour made the rugged foil a plain. 
 
 Pope, 235. 
 
 F 3 polls. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 p6lis *, where we were met by the citizens, and I 
 was received as a gueft by one whom, though I 
 had fcarce ever feen him before, I had long 
 efteemed. Though you are well acquainted with 
 the re^fon, I eannot deny myfelf the pleafure of 
 repeating it; for to hear and fpeak of ihele perfons 
 is always ne£lar to me. Sopater, the father-in-law 
 of this, was a difc'ple ot the mofl: divine Jambli- 
 chus f. Did 1 not love all that \yere ponneded 
 with him, I (hould deem myfelf guilty of the 
 
 * Hierapoli?, fituate almoft on the b;inks of the Eur 
 phraies, had been appointed for the general rendezvous of 
 the Roruan army, who there paffed the great river on a 
 bridge of boats, which was preyioufly conftru£ted. 
 
 GiBr.oK. 
 
 The ancient and magnificent temple, which had fanfti- 
 fied, for lo many ages, the city of Hierapolis, no longer 
 fubiiilcd ; and the confecrated wealth, v.-hich afforded a 
 liberal maintenance to more than three hundred priefls, 
 might hiaftcn its downfall. 3IJ. 
 
 f Of Chalcis, a Pythagorean philofopher, the difciple 
 of Porphyry, and uncle to the philolopher of the fame 
 name, to whom Julian has addrefled fix fubfequent Epiftlcs, 
 and whom M. de la Bleterie ftippofes to have been here 
 jii^ant ; but as I underftand that the father-in-law of this 
 Sopater (then dead) had been his difi^iple, it feems rather 
 more applicable to the elder Jamblichus. The elder Sopater 
 was probably that Platonic philofopher who v/as put to 
 death by Conftantine the Great, being ftyled, bv Suidas and 
 others, " a difciple of Jamblichus.'' 
 
 The French tranflator alio- flyles this Sopater of Hiera- 
 polis the '* fon- in-law" (as well as " pupil'') of Jambli- 
 chus, for which I can fee no authority in the original, or 
 in any other author. Let the reader judge. ix/x€x»x,** ""^ 
 ^m^xla to S^Sf/.jjLst T,anra\^ocy tbIw xroirv,,- t^ ore. In the French 
 So^atre cjl Vtlcve ct le gendre du di'vlnjamhllque^ meaning the 
 y<)tirlgef of thefe philofopljers, then living. 
 
 word 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 7; 
 
 Worft of crimes. But there is another reafon ftlll 
 more cogent. Having often entertained at his 
 houfe my coufin and my brother *, and, as might 
 well be fuppofed, being (Irongly urged by them 
 to apoftatife from the Gods, he had the great 
 merit of never being infe^led with that contagion. 
 
 Thefe particulars, immediately relating to myfelf, 
 I now communicate to you from Hierapolis. As 
 to military and civil tranfaftions, you fliould be 
 prefent to fee and obferve them yourfelf. For, be 
 afTured, if they were diftinclly related, they could 
 not be comprifed in a letter of twice the length 
 of this. But, as I am writing, I will briefly men^ 
 tion them. 1 have fent an embaily to the Sa- 
 racens f, urging them, if they are fo inclined, to 
 join us. This is the {ir(l article. Next, I have 
 difpatched, as was proper, fome obfervant fpies, 
 left any deferter (hould acquaint the enemy with 
 our motions. Add to thefe, I have decided a mili- 
 tary difpute {, I am perfuaded, with lenity and 
 
 juftice. 
 
 * Coaftantius and Gallus. 
 
 f A wandering people in the deferts of Arabia [who 
 llretched from the confines of AfTyria to the cataradts of 
 the Nile], warlike and felf-interefled, dangerous enemies 
 and burthenlome friends. Ncc amici nobis unipeam ncc hojies 
 optandi^ are the words of Amruianus. The love of rapine 
 and war allured feveral of them to the imperial fiandard, 
 though Julian ftcrnly retuled the payment of the accuftomed 
 fubfidies. La Bleterje. 
 
 X STfoitJlixiin 3*xv,v. M. de Tillemont fufpedls that this 
 
 jelates to a fad mentioned by St. Chryfortom. Being 
 
 F 4 ready 
 
72 EPISTLESOF JULIAN. 
 
 juftice. I have procured excellent horfes and 
 mules, and my army is aiTerabled. The boats are 
 filled with corn, or rather vvih bifcuit and vinegar. 
 What a long letter would it require to tell you 
 ho'.v each of thefe points was acconpliihed ! What 
 was faid on every fubjecl you may eafily guefs. 
 As to the happy omens *, having recorded them 
 in many letters and books, which I every where 
 carry with me, why fliould 1 trouble you with the 
 repetition ? 
 
 ready to pafs the Euphrates, Julian made an attempt to 
 gain luch of his foldiers as were ftill Chriftians. Some 
 fuifcred rhemlelves to be fed need, bnt the reft refufed, and 
 the Emptror did nor dare to cafhier them, for fear of 
 •weakening his army. Ibid, 
 
 * Infatuated with his expedition, he faw every thing in 
 the beft light, and only kept a regifter of what he confidered 
 as happy prefages. He pafles over in filence the fatal ac- 
 cident which happened when he made his entry into Hiera- 
 polis. Fifty foldiers were cruflied to death by the fall of 
 a portico, and many more wounded. Ammianus xxiii. 2. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Another bad omen is mentioned by Ammianus at Batna: 
 in Ofdroena (after the date indeed of this letter), fifty men 
 being alio killed there by the fall of a ftack of ftraw. 
 
 Julian ftayed three days only at Hierapolis, and then 
 proceeded to Carrhas in Mefopotamia, fourfcore miles 
 diftant. 
 
 This is the laft Epiftle of his writing that is extant. 
 
 Epiflle 
 
EPi§f LES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftle XXVIII. To Duke Gregory *. 
 
 A SHORT letter from )^ou is fufficient to give 
 "^ -^ me great pleafure. Being much delighted 
 therefore with what you have written, I return you 
 many thanks. The love of our friends fliould be 
 meafured, not by the length of their epiilles, but 
 by the extent of their affedlion. 
 
 Epiftle XXIX. To Alypius f, the Brother 
 
 of C^SARIUS. 
 
 s 
 
 merly given him, and in return requeued Samos. 
 
 Darius 
 
 * Though the military Counts and Dukes are frequently 
 mentioned both in hiftory and the codes, we muft have 
 recourfe to the Notitia for the exaft knowledge of their 
 number and ftations. The fecond of thofe appellations is 
 only a corruption of the Latin word, which was indifcri- 
 minately applied to any military chief. All thefe provin- 
 cial generals were therefore dukcG. Gibbon. 
 
 The Greek word is >J7e/xi;>, which M. de la Bleterie tranf- 
 lates Commandant dcs troupes, 
 
 •\ Among the friends of the Emperor (if the names of 
 Emperor and of friend are not incompatible) the firft place 
 was affigned by Julian himfelf to the virtuous and learned 
 Alypius. The humanity of Alypius was tempered by 
 fevere juflice and manly fortitude j and while he exercifed 
 
 his 
 
 73 
 
 YLOSON}, it is faid, came to Darius, re- ^- D. 
 minded him of a cloak which he had for- or \lz. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Darius afterwards was much elated, thinking that 
 he had returned a great prefent for a fmall one. 
 
 Bur 
 
 his abilities in the civil adminidration of Britain, he imitated, 
 in his poetical compofitions, the harmony and loftnefs of 
 the odes of Sappho. [See the next Epiftle-] Gibbon. 
 
 This niinifttr, -vho is ftyled by Amp,iianus " a man of an 
 amiable charafter," and who, like himlelf, was a native of 
 Antioch, afterwards received from his mafler, jull before 
 he fet out for the Perfiai) war, the extraordinary commif- 
 fion to rebuild, in conjunction with the governor of the 
 province, the temple of Jerufalern, But the attempt was 
 defeated, as Ammianus, a Heathen and a conCempofary, 
 relates (xxxii. i.), by a miraculous interpofition, ** dread- 
 *' full balls of fire {nietuendi ^lohi flammartirti) ^ breaking out 
 *'■'■ frequently near the foundations, and rendering the place 
 " inacceffible to the I'corched and blafted workmen." The 
 truth of this miracle Mr, Gibbon quedions, and even Dr. 
 Lardner has doubted. The reafons adduced by the latter 
 have been briefly mentioned, p. 62. '^ A philofopher 
 (fays Mr. G.) " may llill require the original evidence of 
 *' impartial and intelligent fpeclators." But Ammianus 
 alfo was " a philofopher," and therefore, no doubt, 
 *♦ required" and had the " original evidence" of his 
 fellow foldier^, of his friend and countryman Alypius, 
 in particular ; and would not rafiily have named him, and 
 related a faft, which, if falie, muft have been imme- 
 diately contr^difted. In the reign of Valens, after having 
 been long in a private flation, Alypius and his fon 
 Hierocles, a youth of an excellent dilpofition, were both 
 apprehended on a charge of poifoning. Alypius was de- 
 prived of his ellate, and baniflied. And the f n, when he 
 was leading to execution, was happily faved. How is not 
 mentioned. Amm- xxix. i. Yet Libanius (Ep. xxv. SiC.) 
 mentions this Hierocles as periftiing in the earthquake a; 
 Nicomedia, in 358. 
 
 % Sylolon was the brother of Polycrates,* tyrant of 
 Samos. See Herodotus, /. lu. c, 140. and iElian. Fut. 
 Hijt, I. IV. c. 5. He gave his cloak at Memphis to Darius, 
 when that prince was only one of the guards of Gambyfcs, 
 Julian relates the fame ilory in his Jlld Oratiop. 
 
 *' The 
 
EPISTLES OFJULIAN, 75 
 
 But Sylofon found it a woeful gift *. Compare 
 my condu<^ with that of this prince. In one re- 
 fped I have the advantage. I did not want to be. 
 jreminded, but retained the remembrance of you 
 unimpaired, and on the firft opportunity that Gjd 
 gave me I ranked you, not among my fecond but 
 my fiiil friends. So much for the pall. 
 
 As to the future, will you allow me (for I am a, 
 prophet) to predi(?t? We (hall be more fuccefsful, 
 I doubt not, if Neraefis be propitious. For you 
 need not a prince to alTifl: you in deftroying a city, 
 but I require the affiflance of many in re-building 
 thofe that have been deflroyed f. Such is the 
 pleafantry of my Gallic and barbarous Mufe X* 
 Come with the aufplces of the Gods. 
 
 P. S. hi his own handrivr'iting, 
 
 *' The cloak of Sylofon," (» SuXoc-ovIo,- '/>,a.fjLv^) is adduced 
 by Erafmus [Chil. p. 352.) as a proverb applied to " thofe 
 *' who boaft and pride themfelves on their drefs." And (he 
 ' adds) " it may be properly faid of thofe to whom a fmall 
 *' gift, feafonably beftowed, returns with large intereil: ;" 
 and then relates, as the origin of it, the above Itory from 
 Herodotus. 
 
 * Sylofon was put in pofleflion of Samos, but the city 
 being taken, it was pillaged by the Periians, fo that he 
 only reigned over a defert. La Bleterie. 
 
 f This perhaps may allude to the forty cities in Gaul, 
 which, Zolimus fays, the Barbarians dellroyed, and Julian 
 rebuilt. See the Epiftle to the Athenians, Vol. 1. p 84. 
 
 I Julian fomewhere fays, [Ep. LIV.] that his refidence 
 in Gaul had made him a Barbarian, fo that he had almoft 
 forgotten Greek. He would have been forry to have been 
 taken at his word. La Bleterie. 
 
 There 
 
^6 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 There is ready for you plenty of game, goats 
 and fheep *, which we hunt in our winter-quarters. 
 '-Come to a friend who loved you before he knew 
 your worth. 
 
 Epiftle XXX. To the fame f . 
 
 WAS jufl: recovering from an indifpofition, 
 when I received the geography { that you fent 
 me, nor was the book lefs acceptable for coming 
 from you. For it contains not only better defcrip- 
 tions than any book of the kind, but you have 
 
 This paffage is obfcure and perhaps corrupted. Docs 
 Julian mean to fay that the winter did not allow hunting ; 
 and that there was nothing at his table but butcher's meat ? 
 But Julian was not fond of dainties, nor, as I recolleft, of 
 hunting. No more might Alypius. The meaning is, that 
 the troops of Julian made incurfions, during the winter, on 
 the territories of the enemy, and carried off flocks and herds. 
 If fo, this Epiftle muft have been written in the Gauls be- 
 fore the abfolute rupture between Julian and Conftantius. 
 Alypius might be then in Britain, where, we know, he was 
 employed before the reign of Julian. Britannias curaverat 
 pro frafcBis, fays Aramianus Marcellinus. La Bleterte, 
 
 Vice-praefefl therefore, or vicar, was his proper title, 
 "Britain being one of the diocefes that were governed by a 
 magiflrate fo named, fubordinate to the Prxfcft of the 
 Gauls. 
 
 •\ La Bleterie has neglefted to tranflate this Epiftle. It 
 VJZi probably addreflcd to Alypius, while he was governor 
 of Fiiitain. Gibeon. 
 
 X This geography feems to have been the compofition 
 of Alypius. Moreri fays, " another geographical work 
 " is alfo afcribed to him, which was a dcfci'iption of the 
 " old world." 
 
 alfo ; 
 
 J 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 77 
 
 alfo embelliflied it with Iambics, not " finging a 
 Bupalian * war," as the Cyrenean poet f exprelTes 
 it, but fuch as fair Sappho would have thought 
 worthy of adapting to her hymns. Such a work 
 it may be proper perhaps for you to give, but 
 certainly it is mod agreeable to me to receive. 
 With your adminiftration of affairs, as you fludy 
 to ad-, on all occafions, both with diligence and 
 mildnefs, I am highly fa'tisfied. For to blend lenity 
 and moderation with fortitude and refolution, and 
 to exert thofe in encouraging the goad, and thefe 
 in correcting the wicked, requires, I am confident, 
 . no fmall degree of genius and virtue. 
 
 May you have thefe objefts always in view, and 
 make both fubfervient to your own honour ! The 
 wifefl of the ancients juftly thought that this fhould 
 be the end propofed by every virtue |. May health 
 and happinefs be your portion as long as poffible, 
 my mofl: efteemed and beloved brother § .'. 
 
 Epiftle 
 
 * Bupalus, a ftatuary, made the image of the poet 
 Hipponax, who was very deforrred in perfon, in ridicule ; 
 which he refenting, wrote fuch fevere Iambics againft him, 
 that he hanged himlelf. This was the common report, which 
 Horace (Epod, v. 14.) feems to confirm. But Pliny (xxxvr. 
 5.) fays, that report was falfe. Hipponax is reprobated 
 by Julian in his Duties of a Prieft, Vol. I. p. 132. 
 
 t Probably Callimachus, born, as Strabo fays ( I. xvii.) 
 at Cyrene in Africa, in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. 
 Thence he is often ftyled " the Libyan bard," His hymus 
 were tranflated by Dr. Dodd. 
 
 I Thus they made the entrance to the temple of Virtue 
 the paffage to that of Honour. 
 
 § Little did Alypius imagine, while he was exercifing 
 his poetical and pohfical talents in Britainj amoag 3 people 
 
 as 
 
78 1 f^ t S T L E S O F j U L 1 A N* 
 
 Epiflle XXXI. To Bifhop i^Tius *. 
 
 '^- ^' ALL the reft who ivere banifhed by the late 
 361. f-\ 
 
 -*--*■ Conftantius, 00 account of the raadnefs of 
 .the Galileans, I have recalled. As to yoa, I not 
 only remit your banilliment, but, mindful of our 
 old acquaintance, I alfo invite you hither. Ufe 3 
 public vehicle 9s far -^s my camp, a/id one fuper- 
 numerary horfe f* 
 
 as infenfible to the charms of his pcfetry as their rocks and 
 foiefls, that, in a diftant age, when the Britons co\ild have 
 relifhed his verfes, he would not have been knov.'n as a 
 poet, end fcarcely as a governor, eminent as he was in both 
 thoie charafters, had not this accidental billet been happily 
 refcued from the gulph of time. 
 
 * A celebrated Arian prelate, who had been fent by 
 Gallus to his brother Julian, while he was reader in the 
 (icburch of Nicomedia, to ftrenfftben him in the Chriftian 
 religion. See the Epillle from Gallus to Julian, Vol- I. 
 p. 1. 
 
 The death of Gallus had been followed by the exile 
 of iEtius, his divine and confident. He was made re- 
 fponfible for fome of the faults of that unfortunate prince, 
 .and the demi-Arians accufed him to Conftantius as a 
 very dangerous herefiarch. The rank of bifhop, which 
 is given him in the title of the above Epiflle, muft have 
 been added by the tranfcribers. ^tius was not a bifliop 
 when Julian wrote to him. But he was foon after or- 
 .dained by ilie bifhops of his party, who then came to an 
 open rupture with the demi^Arians. The credit which 
 ^ti.us had with the Emperor, who prefented him with an 
 eftate in the ifland of Lefbos, no doubt infpired the Ano- 
 ttieans, or pure Arians, with the boldnefs to complete their 
 fchifm. It does not appear that ittius, though a bifliop, 
 was ever fixed to any fee. La Bleterie. 
 
 t .See note f on Epiftle XX. p. 42. 
 
 Epiftlc 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 79 
 
 Epiftle XXXII. To the Sophifl Lucian. 
 
 T WRITE, that I may be entitled to an anfwer. 
 -*• If I offend you by the frequency of my letters^ 
 give me, I intreat you, the fame offence *. 
 
 Epiftle XXXIIL To Dositheus +. 
 
 T COULD fcarce refrain from tears, and with 
 -*- reafon, when I heard your name mentioned, 
 recolle<rting your \ beloved, noble, and in every 
 refpeft excellent father •, whom if you im.iratc, 
 you will be happy, and, like him, render your life 
 honourable ; but if you are indolent, you will 
 grieve me, and difgrace yourfelf, for being ufelefs 
 to the world. 
 
 * The length of this letter could not offend. ?,Tany 
 fcraps, equally infignificant, from Pope, were treafured 
 \ip by his friend Richardion. But, ie Jeu ne vaut pas lo- 
 ch ande lie. 
 
 •j- Dofitheiis is mentioned by Libanius, in his cxxxil^ 
 Epiftle, and a fhort Epiftle to him from that fuphift is pre- 
 ferved (in Latin) by Zambicari. 
 
 X In the printed editions it is >;/xi7, a miftake furely for 
 «/*«>. Juliau could fcarce remember his own father. 
 
 Epime 
 
So EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Epiflle XXXIV. To the Philofopher 
 Jambuchus*. 
 
 T T was fufficient for Ulyffes to fay to his fon, in 
 -*- order to check his high opinion of him. 
 No God am I ; for heaven referve that name ^f* 
 But I cannot think myfelf a man, as the faying is, 
 while I am abfent from Jamblichiis. I will allow 
 myfelf, however, to be your admirer, like that 
 father of Telemachus, and though fome perhaps 
 may think it unbecoming, that fhall not prevent 
 my loving you. For I know that many who have 
 
 * This Jamblichus miifl: not be confounded with ano- 
 ther of the fame name, who was more ancient (fee p. 70. 
 note f.) This was the difciple of Edefius. Julian has addreffed 
 fix Epiftles to him, [xxxiv, xl, xli, liii, j:x, lxi.] 
 which I have not tranflated. To thefe Epiftles in par- 
 ticular may be applied what M. Fleury fays, in general, of 
 thofe which are addreffed to the fophifts. Elks font fkincs 
 aes lonanges outr'ees^ et cCun efnprejfcment qui marque plus de le- 
 gerete que d' affeHion. La Bletreie. 
 
 Mr. Dodwell {Exerc. de Pythag. atate) fufpefts the au- 
 thenticity of thefe Epiftles, " becaufe they treat on very 
 *' trifling fubje6ls, more worthy of a fophift than a prince, 
 *' and fliew a greater attention to ftyle than becomes even 
 " a philofopher." As to his argument drawn from a mil- 
 take in chronology, in regard to Sopater, that may eafily 
 be obviated by fuppofing there were alfo two of that name, 
 as Julian feems to intimate See note f . on Ep. xxvii. 
 p. 70. Libanius has addreffed feven Epiftles to this 
 younger Jamblichus, of which one is prelerved by Fabri- 
 cius, Bibliother:a Grsca, vol. IV. p. 384. 
 
 f Odyff, xri. 187. Broome, m* 
 
 admired 
 
lEPISTLES OF JULIAN. tt 
 
 admired fine ftatues, far from derrafting from the ^ 
 
 praife of the artift, have by their paffion for them 
 added frelh honour to the work. As to your 
 humoroufly ranking me among the ancient fages, 
 that I am far dillant from them is as certain as that 
 you are one of them. But you unite not only 
 Pindar, and Democritus, and the m jft ancient 
 Orpheus, but almoft all the Greeks, who are faid 
 to have gained the fummit of philoiophy, as the 
 various notes of vocal and inftrumental mufic 
 combine in a perfc£l concert. And as Argus, who 
 guarded lo, is defcribed by thepoeisas furrounded 
 with eyes, (o you, the genuine'^gbardiau of virtue, 
 are enlightened by eloquence with the pure eyes 
 of learning. It is faid, that Proteus, the ^Egyptian, 
 affumed various forms, fearing left he (hould in- 
 advertently appear wife to thofe who queftioned 
 him *. But as Proteus was really wife, and, as 
 Homer fays, had much knowledge, I praife him 
 for his knowledge ; but I do not admire his 
 virtue, as he a£led not like a benevolent being, 
 but an impoltor, in concealing himfelf to avoid 
 being ufeful to mankind. But who, my noble 
 friend, docs not admire you, not only for equal- 
 ling Proceus in wifJom, but alfo for never in- 
 vidioufly withholding from any one that virtue 
 and perfect knowledge, which you poffefs, of all 
 ihmgs excellent ? Thus, like the fplendid fun, the 
 radiance of your wifdom enlightens all, both by 
 
 ♦ See Virg. Georg. IV. and Ovid. Metam. XI. 
 Vol. II. G inllru^ling 
 
82 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 infl:ru6ling the prelenr, and by your writings, as 
 far as poffible, improving the abfent. In this you 
 .excel I even the illuflrious Orpheus, fince he wafted 
 his mufic in the folace of brutes, but you, as if 
 born for the good of mankind, imitate the hand 
 of iEfcuiapius, and every where dlfFufe your elo- 
 quent and falutary precepts. So that Flomer, I 
 .think, if he were to return to life, might with 
 much more reafon apply that line to you, 
 
 — One ftill living traverfes the world *. 
 For to thofe who are of ancient ftamp, to us in 
 particular, a cer^tain facred fpark, as it were, of 
 true and fertile J^ajping is by you alone rekindled 
 and revived. And, O Jupiter the Preferver, and 
 eloquent Mercury, grant, in return, that, for the 
 general good of mankind, the life of the excel- 
 lent Jamblichus may be prolonged to the utmofl 
 extent! If for Homer, Plato j-, and all that are 
 worthy of their fociety, juft vows were of old fuc- 
 
 , ^'- Homer. OdyiT. iv. 198. Proteus fpeaking of Ulyfles 
 to Menelacs, 
 
 Otherw'jTe, ivfi'i koo-iau. 
 Not fo well. P'or the word noa-fAoi; does not occur in Homer 
 
 ' in that fenle. Clarke. 
 
 This various reading may perhaps rcfl on no better 
 foundation than the above paflage of Julian, in which his 
 infertion of Koaf^u may be accidental, by his quoting (as 
 ufual) from memory, or intentional, as better fuiting his 
 purpofe. 
 
 t The Latin tranflator has added " Socrates," but with- 
 out any authority from the original; and indeed Julian 
 \\ould hardly have mentioned him on this occafion, as hjs 
 life, though in an advanced age, was fliortened by violence, 
 and the-pray^rs of the y in nous were therefore in that rc- 
 ipitS unfu^zctifsful. 
 
 ■^ '-■-■'■'- ^ cefsfully 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. ^ 
 
 cefsfully offered, and their lives were thus pro- 
 longed, why fliould not a contemporary of ours, 
 their equal both in virtue and eloquence, be tranf* 
 mitted by fimilar vows to the extremeft old age, 
 and endowed with every bleffing ? 
 
 Epiftle XXXV. For :Jthe Argives 
 
 * 
 
 T N favour of the city of the Argives ranch may 
 ■*• be faid by any one who would celebrate their 
 anions ancient and modern* Of the glory ac- 
 quired at Troy they are judly entitled to the 
 greateft fhare f, as are the Lacedaironians and 
 
 Athe- 
 
 -^ The Argives being opprefled by the Corinthians, and 
 fubjefted to new exaftions, contrary to law, Julian recom- 
 mends them, as I imagine, to the Pro-confnl, faying it 
 was unjuft that a city, fo flouriftiing of old, and, on ac- 
 count of the expence of the facred games, i^xenipted from 
 taxes, fliould pay a tribute to Corinth towards the amphi- 
 theatral fports. Corinth was made a Roman colony by 
 Auguftus, who, at the defire of Julius C^efar, raifed -that 
 city from rums. Under this title flie claimed authority 
 over feveral cities that were not colonies. That tltis was 
 not an edift of the Emperor, but a petition of Julian, then 
 a private man, appears by an obfervation made in a flib- 
 fequent note. • . Petau. 
 
 This Epiftle, which illuftrates the declining ftate of 
 Greece, is omitted by the Abbe de la Bleterie.' ■ "i 
 
 The eloquence of Julian was ifiterpofed, moft .probably 
 with fuccefs, in behalf of a city which had been the royal 
 leat of Agamemnon, and hati given to Macedonia a race 
 pf kings and conquerors.' Gibbon. 
 
 •. f it feems ftrange that' Re fliould afcribe the greateft 
 fliare.in the Trojan war to the Argives, irt the fame manner 
 as he does afterwards to the Lacedemonians and Athenians, 
 " " G a For 
 
84 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 Athenians afterwards. For though both thofe 
 wars were waged by all Greece, of praife, as well 
 as of cares and labours, the generals may claim a 
 large proportion. But thefe are of ancient date. 
 After the return of the Heraclid^, the birth right 
 taken from the cldeft *, the colony fent from thence 
 into Macedonia, and the ccnftant prefervation of the 
 city, free and independent, from the neighbouring 
 L/acedaemonians, were proofs of no moderate or 
 
 For they attempted nothing afterwards againft the Tro- 
 , jans ; but by the appellation of *' Trojan*' he means fome 
 other expeditions which were undertaken by the Greeks 
 againft thePerfians, as if Tga-txa were the Laie as Baj^a^-kxu. 
 
 Petau. 
 Agamemnon, the *' king of men," was king of Argot 
 (in Achaia), as well as of Mycenae, but is not io ftyled by 
 Homer in his catalogue of the fliips, the troops of Argua 
 being there fubdivided from thofe of Mycenx, and led by 
 Piomed, afting as their general under Agamemnon. *' Di« 
 ** omed" (as Mr. Wodhull obferves, ia his notes on the 
 Oreftes of Euripides), " though he derived his title of 
 •' king from iEtolia, never pofleffed that throhfe, but re- 
 ♦• fided chiefly at Argos (about fix miles only from My- 
 ** cense), till he fettled in Italy. Euripides, it has been 
 •* obferved, perpetually confounds thole two cities." 
 
 * Temenus. The origin of the Macedonian kingdom 
 was derived from the Argives by Caranus (their firft king), 
 brother to Phidon, king of the Argives. On which ac- 
 count, he fays, the anceftors of Philip and Alexander 
 fprung from Argos. Petau. 
 
 This pedigree from Temenus and Hercules may be fuf- 
 picious, yet it was allowed, after a ftridl enquiry, by the 
 judges of the Olympic games (Herod. /. v. c 22.) at a 
 time when the Macedonian kings were obfcure and un« 
 popular in Greece. When the Achaian league was deelared 
 againft Philip, it was thought decent that the deputies of 
 Argos ihottld retire. G i b bon. 
 
 commoa 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 85 
 
 common fortitude. Aflions fimilar to thofe of the 
 Macedonians againft the Perfians may alfo be af« 
 cribed to this city; as this was the country of the 
 latter anceftors of Philip and Alexander. In later 
 times it obe\eJ the Romans, not as a vaffa), but 
 rather as an ally ; and, I think, partook \vith the 
 relt of the freedom and other privileges which the 
 Emperors have always indulged to the cities of 
 Greece. But now the Corinthians *, prone to op- 
 preffion, compell that city, which is annexed to 
 theirs (for thus it (hould properly be exprefled) 
 by the reigning city f, to be tributary to them; 
 and this innovation, it is faid, they have now 
 
 * Argos, he fays, was made tributary to Corinth by 
 the authority of the reigning city, becaufe when the 
 Achaians were fubdued by Miinnmius, and Corinth de- 
 ftroyed, all Greece, being aflefTed under the name of 
 Achaia, received a nnagiftrate from the Romans, who, 
 under the Emperors, was ftyled a Pro-conful, and refided 
 at Corinth, which was therefore the metropolis of Achaia, 
 nay of Pcloponnefiis, and confequcntly of all Greede, See 
 Paufanias, i/t Achdicis^ p. i2Z. and Plinv, Kf- vlt. I. viil. 
 Seven years before Julian wrote this Epiftle, the Corin- 
 thians had begun to cxaft a tribute from the Argives to- 
 wards their wild beafts and hnnting-matche?, Petau. 
 
 t Rome. Julian gives her the fame ap|)ellation in his 
 ift Oration, p. 5. Eunapius, who flourifhed after the death 
 of Julian, Oyles her « ^»o'»X6t»3's» fw^n, in his Proharcfius. 
 Themiflius, though he was ambaflador from CosftsntU 
 ncple to Conllantius at Rome, in his lid Oration, p. 41. 
 ftyles the one " the queen of cities," and the other " the 
 *' fccpnd." For the fame reafon, Rome is repreiented on 
 ancient Qoias, and thofe ftruck even under Conftantine or 
 tiis fons, a<5 a woman fitting, and holding a globe in her 
 yight hand. Sianheim, 
 
 G 3 pra^ifed 
 
86 E PISTIL E^SO;F JULIAN. 
 
 prptftifed for feven years,, not confidering that 
 JDelphi and Elis are .ty. agreement exempted from 
 tribute on account. of^ tHeir, celebrating the facred 
 games, ..For fince there a.re^ .as is ^y_ell Jcnown, four 
 great and molt ilTuftrioug garnes in Qreece, the, 
 JEleahs furjiidi and dire^ the Olympic, the Del- 
 phlans the iPythian, the Corinthians the lllhmian, 
 and the Argivcs the Nemean. Why then Ihquld 
 thole retain the exemptions formerly granted, ancf, 
 thefe, who, on account of the .like expences, were 
 formerly exempted,or perhaps not taxed originally^ 
 now be deprived of a privilege with which they 
 were once honoured ?. Befides, Elis and .Delphi *, 
 foir thqfe highly celebrated games every fifth year, 
 are ufed to contribute pnly once ; but at Argos 
 there are two Nemean, as there are two Ifthmian at 
 (Corinth. And at this time alfo two other game^ 
 
 * The Olympic and Pythian games were cetebrated once 
 in five years ; the Nemean and Ifthmian twice. For the 
 Nemean were kept at the. beginning of the firfl, and, in 
 like manner, at the cTofe of the third year ; the one being 
 in winter, and the other in fummer. Belides the two 
 Nemean, the Herean alfo were defrayed by the Argives, 
 Four folemnities therefore, jp the whole, were exhibited by 
 them, on which account they ought juftly to have been 
 exempted from tribute., Petau. 
 
 The firft inftitutor of the Olympic games is unknown, 
 though itis generally fuppofed to have been Pelops. They 
 wereconfecrated to Jupiter, and were performed in the 
 neighbourhood of Olympia, in the dillri£t of Fifa. The 
 Pythian vvere celebrated, at Delphi in honour of Apollo ; 
 the Nemean at Nemea, in Peloponncfus, in honour of 
 Hercules ; and the Ifthmian in the Ifthmus of Corinth, in 
 honour of Neptpnp, 
 
 are 
 
E'PISTLES of JULIAN. 87 
 
 are added to ihofe at Argos, fo that there are four 
 games in four years. Is it proper then that thofe 
 who exhibit them only once (hould be exempted, 
 3nd that thefe who exhibit them four times at 
 home Ihould be obliged to contribute to orhcrs, 
 efpecially as they are not ancient nor accuflonied 
 in Greece ? For the Corinthians do not require 
 thefe large fums for the fupport of gymnadic or 
 mufical performances ; but for hunting-matches, 
 which they often exhibit in the theatres, purchafmg, 
 for that purpofe, bears and panthers; an expence 
 which they eafily defray by means of their wealth 
 and large revenues ; and as many others contribute 
 alfo towards it, they reap the advantage of their 
 own inflitution. But do not the Argives, who are. 
 extremely indigent, by thus being made to con- 
 tribute to a foreign entertainment in another conn* 
 try, fuffer unjuftly and illegally, and in a manner 
 unfui table to the ancient power and glory of their 
 city ? And as they are neighbours, they ought on 
 that account to be more efteemed, if that fayiog 
 be true, 
 
 " ; — Bad mud be your neighbours, 
 
 " If an ox perifli *.'* 
 
 But 
 
 "* Oui a.y j3tf; awoXoiIo, ei fx») *»« KOtxtuv yeilovuv. 
 
 Taken from one of the moral maxims of Heliod, 
 
 Oua at /3ft;; aTro/.otT, ft fj-ri yetluv KOty-o^ «». 
 
 Works and Days, ver. 346, 
 A correfponding Latin proverb occurs in Piautus : 
 — P^erum illud ver brim ejfe expert or vetuSy 
 jiliquid mall ejjc propter vici/ium ?nah ni, 
 
 Mercator, A6t. IV. Sc. 4. 31. 
 G4 ' ' 
 
88 EPISTLES OFJULIAN. 
 
 But the Argives do not bring this charge againft 
 the Corinthians through their folicitude fjr one 
 ox only, but for many and great expences with 
 which they are unjuftly burthened. The Corin- 
 thians might alfo be afked, whether they would 
 ch(X)fe to adhere to the ancient laws of Greece, or 
 adopt thofe which they have fince received trom 
 the reigning city ? For if they approve the ma- 
 jefty of the ancient laws, the Argives are no more 
 bound to pay tribute to the Corinthians, thin the 
 Corinthians are to pay it to the Argivts. But if the 
 Corinthians adopt the modern lavv^, and, becaufe 
 ihcy are made a Roman colony, contend that they 
 
 Juvenal, in his xvich Satire, ver. 36. expreffes his appre- 
 hcnlion of fimilar dangers fronn bad neighbours : 
 
 ■ I ' Convallem ruris aviti 
 
 Jmprobus, aut campum mihi ji viciuus ademit^ 
 
 Etfacrum effodit medio de limite faxum. 
 
 If any rogue vexatious fuirs advance 
 
 Againft me for my known inheritance, 
 
 Enter by violence my fruitful grounds. 
 
 Or take my lacred land-mark from my bounds. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Many other parallel paflages might be adduced both 
 from the Latin and Greek writers. 
 
 I am indebted for this note to a writcrin the Gentleman's 
 Magazine for 1783, p. nr. 
 
 Simil. r humanity to animals and good neighbourhood 
 are inculcated in the Levitical law. Thou Jhalt not fee thy 
 hr other's ox or hi<i J}:eep go afiray^ and hide thy fclf from them : 
 thou fbalt in any cafe bring them again unto thy brother. Thou 
 Jhalt not fee thy brother'' s af or his ox fall do^vn hy the ivay, 
 and hide thy f elf from them : thou J);alt furely help him to lift 
 tbem up again. Deut. XXII. i, 4. &c. 
 
 iave 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 89 
 
 liave the dominion over Argos, we will humbly 
 intreat them not to be more afluming than their 
 fathers, nor to new model, or fubverr, to the de- 
 triment of their neighbours, thofe cuiloms which 
 their aiiciflors wiih found judgement obferved, 
 relying on the decree which they lately obtained, 
 and meanly taking advantage of the ignorance of 
 the advocate who pleaded for the Argives *. For 
 if this caufe had been removed out of Greece, 
 the Corinihians would have had much lefs in- 
 fluence, and its merits, difcuffed by ma-iy fkilful 
 advocates, would have been more apparent; on 
 \\hi h account it is probable, that the judge, 
 abaii.ed by the eflabUflbed dignity of Argos, would 
 have made a juft decree. Concerning the rights of 
 the city, if y(^u will only hear the orators, and 
 they may he allowed to fpealc, you fhall be ac- 
 quainted with the caufe from the beginning, and, 
 from their arguments may form a judgement 
 of the whole. On what is faid, that we ought 
 not to credit thofe who are fent hither as peti- 
 tioners f , it may now be proper to add a few words. 
 
 * In the reign of Conftanfius this difpnte between the 
 Corinthians and Argives had been litigated, and the latter 
 loft their caule through the inexperience of their advocate 
 in law -affairs. Petax;. 
 
 + It appears froni this paflage that Julian, then a pri- 
 vate man, had been requefted by the Argives to ufe his 
 interefl with the pro-confulof Achaia in their behalf: other- 
 wife he would have commanded with authority, inftead of 
 prtknting a petition ; as he himfelf would have put an 
 cud tp the difpute. Ibid. 
 
 If 
 
90 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I AN. 
 
 If there are any philofophers in thefe times, 
 Diogenes and Lamprias arc fuch. They decline 
 the legiflative and lucrative offices of the ftatc ; 
 bur if their country wants their affiftance, they 
 ferve her to the utmoft of their abilities ; when 
 the city is in any emergency, they plead caufes," 
 afiift: in the government, engage in embaffies, and' 
 liberally expend their money, thus confuting by 
 their conduct the fcandalous afperfions on' philo- 
 fophy, and difproving that vulgar notion, that 
 thofe who ftudy philofophy, arc ufelefs to their 
 country. For their country employs them in thofe 
 functions, and they endeavour to defend the caufe 
 of juftice by our affiflancc; but we employ yours. ' 
 All that remains for the defence and fafety of 
 the oppreffed is the appointment of a judge both' 
 willing and able to make a jufl decree. If cither 
 of thefe be wanting, if he be either miftaken or 
 unfaithful, juflice mufi: abfolutely perifli. But 
 though we fhould have a judge agreeable to our 
 wiihes, wc have not the liberty of fpeaking *, as 
 we have not appealed ; this, they requeft:, may 
 firfl be allowed them, and that the indolence of 
 him who then pleaded for the city, and managed 
 her caufe, may not entail fuch a burthen on pof- 
 terity. Nor can there be any impropriety in grant- 
 ing a new trial. It is fometimes expedient to forego 
 
 * The advocate of the Argives, when he loft the former 
 caufe, nelefted to appeal ; therefore the city could not 
 bring a new aftion, nor demand another trial. Petau, 
 
 fome 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. ^t 
 
 fome prefent advantages nnd opportunities, for the 
 fake of future fecurity. And "as life is (hort, they 
 wifh to pafs that fliort fpace with tranquillity. But 
 that the caufe fhould fink before the judgement- 
 feat, and be tranfmitted to poilerity undetermined, 
 is dreadful ; fo that, the hazard being fo great, 
 it feems better to accept half the advantage, than, 
 by contending, to lofe the whole. But thofe im- 
 mortal cities, unlefs a jufl decree be made, and 
 their mutual anlmofities terminated, muft necef- 
 farlly be at perpetual variance. For enmity gains 
 flrength by time. 
 
 I have faid -^j as the orators exprefs thera- 
 felves. May juflice direct your determination ! 
 
 '• ^ l-ipAm oy f,u5; ^icyof, analogous to Dlxi^ in Latin. 
 
 Epiflle 
 
$< EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 
 Epiille XXX VL To Porphyry *, 
 
 THE library of George was large and co- 
 pious f. It was (locked with books of phi- 
 lofophy of all kinds, and with many of hiftory ; 
 €m other fubjec^s not a few ; and V'ith various 
 writings of the Galileans. Examine therefore 
 onefally the whole, and fend it to Antioch* Be 
 affared, that, unlefs you make a diligent fcru- 
 tky, you {hall be feverely fined ; and as to thofe 
 who are in the leafl fufpe^ted of having fecret^d 
 any of ihcfe hooks, if you cannot induce them, by 
 afi kinds of arguments, and adjurations, and in 
 particular by puii"ng their flaves to the torture, 
 Ifit them be compelled by fore^ ip r^ftore theip a.H {. 
 
 * Tregfirrerrgeneral of Jfgypt. Lihanius nFientions bi?n 
 m tmer of his Epiiiles as an excellent frieri^Jj a,mi fays, that 
 he ws» caluiv.irrated and opprefled by two, i^gyptians. 
 A race '* more lavage than, all the wild beafts o^ i^tbja,*^ 
 
 f See Epiftles IX. and X. 
 
 X This is by no nneans an inftance of cnielty in JuHan, 
 A confiderable robbery had been committed, and of pro-. 
 perty nuTch more vahmblc than it is at prefeiu. The Rq, 
 mans, on the flighrtil fufpicwns, put their flaves to th? 
 forture. La Bleterje, 
 
 Epiair 
 
EPtStLES OP* JULIAN. 93 
 
 Epime XXXVIL To Amfrius * 
 
 TTOUR letter, in wlikh you mention 
 
 -*- death of your wife^ anci exprefs your cjxrrriHQC 
 afflii^ion, filled my eyes with rears. Paiufiil vA«naJJ 
 it have been to hear that any wife, young, ckiiftfj, 
 and engaging? <ii''d dlfo an excellent mother, "w^ 
 prematurely Inatched awiiy • l>ut that yod h^vs 
 fuilained fuch a lols gives me peculiar cq-uccvo^ 
 For, of all my friends, Am-eriub lealt defervs^d isacli 
 a calamity; a man whole ii!K^'r(l:andin.g is iupeoaff 
 lo molt, a man whom I highly cltee:iu 
 
 If I were writfng on this fubjeil: to any otlicr 
 perfon, 1 (liould be more prolix in teiiio^ Ji-irra iSsat 
 fuch is the lot of human nature, that fubmrScm 
 
 * I know not that tliis Tnrin of letters, apparemtlyafog^d^ 
 and a P.ig.^n, is eirevvhere nieutioaL-d. One MS. diyles issm 
 *' Himeriiis." We are acquaUired whh a icelebrit'C'd 5^n.>- 
 feflbr of that name", the tival and the c/jlkgue <ot' S'vty- 
 hj;itfms, and who, like hi.n, taught eloqucnas at Al'isarai* 
 whfu Julian was there. Himeriits left fo;ne djfa»iTal"£, <^ 
 whi< h there are Ibme extracts in the BibH.itheca of Pi&s[rcia:3» 
 It inigtu be iuppi-fed tliat ch>s Epiliic was adciTeiW t<* 
 him, if the MS did not ftyte him " Fruffedt of ALgypt" 
 
 In the rejgtt of Julian that province was goveriK-d by 
 Ecdicius ; and this tpil-lle is certainly wfitteii to one wLo 
 was a teacher : but it might not be iiupolDble fur iLe title 
 of Prasfet'i to be here no more than an honorary titJi:. la 
 thoie times honorary titles of the grcateil euiipk>« svitnu 
 were fometimes given to men of letters. I woakl h'h ven- 
 ture, however, to affert, they had that of goverxtor of ;«w 
 particular province. ' La iJi^x t^ig. 
 
94 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N* 
 
 is neceflaiy, that the mod; poignant grief admits of 
 confolation *, and, in (hort, fhould ufe, as to a 
 novice, all the arguments that are likely to alle- 
 viate ajfflidtion* But as I am afliamed of employ- 
 ing to one who inftruds others thofe arguments 
 which are ufed to teach and improve the ignorant, 
 Waving every thing elfe, I will relate to you a 
 fable, or rather a true ftory, of a certain wife man, 
 not new perhaps to you, but probably unknown 
 to many, whofe only medicine, mirth, you will 
 find as effe61ual a remedy for forrow as that cup f 
 which the fair Lacedcemonian is fuppofed, on a 
 fimilar occafion, to have given to Teleniachus. 
 
 It is reported, that Democritus l of Abdera, 
 finding nothing that he faid could confole Darius 
 
 for 
 
 * Thus the three remedies which Pliny prefcribes are, 
 ^' Length of time, the neceffity of fubmiffion, and fatiety 
 " of grief." 
 
 f In the IVth book of the OdyfTey, ver. 220, tie. when 
 Menelaus gives an entertainment to Telemachus, Helen 
 puts into the wine a drug which had the virtue to induce 
 an oblivion of the moft cruel anxieties. La Bleterie. 
 
 • Julian refers to the fame paffage in his Confolatory Ora- 
 tion, Vol. L p. 32, where it is quoted in the notes. 
 
 X Demonax comforted Herod the philofopher under 
 afflidion by a fimilar fable, as Lucian relates in his life. 
 
 PETAU. 
 
 This flory is no where found. Though Democritus had 
 travelled into Perfia, and was acquainted with the fecrets 
 of magifm, his difcourfe with Darius has all the appear- 
 ance of being only a phiiofophical novel. At the time 0/ 
 the death of Darius, the fon of Hyllafpes, Democritus 
 \vas, at moft, 28 years old j perhaps he was no more than 
 
 ^3» 
 
EPISTLES OFJULIAN. 95 
 
 for the lofs of a beautiful wife, promifed to re- 
 flore her to life, U the king would fupply him 
 with all things neceflary for the purpofe. Darius 
 ordered him to fpare no expence, but to take what- 
 ever was requifiie to perform his promife. Soon 
 after, Democritus told him, that ** every thing was 
 *^ ready for the completion of the work, one only 
 ** excepted, which he knew not how to procure ; 
 *' but that Darius, as he was king of all Afia, 
 *' would perhaps find no difficulty in providing 
 ** it." On his alking what this important matter 
 was, Democritus is faid to have replied, " If you 
 " will infcribe on the tomb of your wife the names 
 " of three who have never known affliction, flie 
 ** Ihall immediately return to life, this ceremony 
 " being irrefiflible *." Darius hefitating, and not 
 being able to recolleft any one who had not ex- 
 perienced fome forrow, Democritus laughed, as 
 ufual, and faid to him, " And are not you, the ab- 
 " furdeft of men, alhamed flill to lament, as if 
 
 23, or even nine. This philofopher was on his return to 
 Greece, when Darius II. furnaraed Nothus, afcended the 
 throne, in the year before Chrift, 425. La Bleterie. 
 
 See Vol. I. p. 21. note f. 
 
 •^ It is in the Greek EySy? «t/T/;v a,ta,^iuu-=7^a.i ru T>jf TiMvlng 
 >ofx.w Svawjrafji.svnt, which Martinius has tranflated thus : Illam 
 ab inferis ejje red'ituram ; fore enini ut ejus mortis confue't'ud'ine 
 eruhcfceret. I think that it may be reltored by leaving out a 
 fingle letter. Inftead of rr,; teAeJI*;.-, we fliould read t>jj 
 riA£';>jf, and tranflate irj/o^-^- utjiatim i-cvi-vijcerct, ejus ceremo^ 
 nlie 7-itu cxorata. The word <5<)<Ta;rfj3;5«i lignifies not olilV 
 ** to blufli, to be afiiamed," but alfo, '' to fuffer onefeff 
 ** to be perfuaded,. tpbe moved." /^?V, 
 
 d:. ;. " you 
 
9« EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 ** you alone were involved in fuch dillrefs, when 
 •• you cannot find one that ever lived exempt from 
 ** fome domeftic misfortune ?'* 
 
 That Darius, an illiterate Barbarian, a Have 
 both to joy and grief, fhould be told this, wa» 
 highly proper ; but you, a Greek, who cultivate 
 true literature, fhould learn from yourfelf to govern 
 your paflions. For it is (liameful that reafon Ihould 
 not anticipate the certain effects of time *. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 36©. 
 
 Eplflle XXXVIII. To the Philofopher 
 Maximus +. 
 
 Y ideas crowd fo faft upon mc, that they 
 choak my utterance, fome hindering the 
 paflage of others. Whether this be frigidity, or 
 any thing elfe, you will determine. But let mc 
 now arrange them in order, and firft return my 
 
 * If Julian had read the Latin authors (and why iltould 
 he not have read, at leaft, fome of them ?) I fliould fay 
 that he has copied this paflage of the letter of Servius SuN 
 picius to Cicero : NuUus dolor eft qutm non longinquitas tem- 
 foris minuat atque molliat. Hoc te expcHare tempus tuipe eji^ ac 
 non ei rei tudfapientid te occurrere. La Bleterie. 
 
 f This Epiftle was written in lllyricum at the time 
 when Julian was preparing to march agamft Conftantius. 
 
 Ibid, 
 
 Among the philnfophers, Maximus obtained an eminent 
 rank in the friendfhip of his royal difciple, who commu- 
 nicated, with unreferved confidence, his a£lions, his fen- 
 timents, and his religious defigns, during the anxious fuf- 
 pence of the civil war. Gibbon. 
 
 See the firfl note on Epiille XV. p. 29. 
 
 1 thanks 
 
 i 
 
EPISTLES OFJULIAN. ^p 
 
 thanl^s to the Gods, vvhofe goodnefs ftill allows me 
 to write *, and perhaps will perrtiit us to meet. -' 
 When I was firft made Emperor (the Gods know, 
 ^nd I, as far as poffible, declared to them, with 
 what reludance), I was waging war againft the 
 Barbarians. After paffing three mon'-hs in that 
 fervice, as I was returning to Gaul, Hooked round, 
 and enquired of thofe who came from thence 
 whether any philofopher, any fcholar, or any one 
 clad in a woollen coat or cloak, had arrived there. 
 At length I approached Vefontio 7. This fmall 
 town, now rebuilt, was formerly a large city, 
 adorned with magnificent temples, and fortified 
 both by (Irong walls and its natural fituation, 
 being furrounded by the river Dubis |, and ele- 
 vated, as if in the fea, on a high reck, almoft in- 
 acceflible even to the birds, except where an ifth^ 
 mus joins it to the continent. Near this town I 
 met a Cynic philofopher, with his cloak and ftafF. 
 
 * It is probable that Julian, after his taking the title 
 of Auguflus, wrote feldom to Maximus, for fear of em- 
 broiling that philofopher, who dwelt in Ionia, or Greece, 
 and confequently under the dominion of Conflantius. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 t Now Befan^on, the capital of Franche-Comt^. Julian 
 pafled through this town, which had fufFered feverely from 
 the fury of the Barbarians, after his fourth expedition be- 
 yond the Rhine, A.D. 360, in his way to Vienne, where 
 he fixed his head-quarters for the enfuing winter. See Am- 
 mianus, xx. 10. Of the citadel of Vefontio, on a high 
 mountain, fee Csfar, de bell. Gall. /. 1. F. Martinius 
 tranflates it '* Danuhiui,^^ 
 
 X Now the Doux. 
 
 Vol. 11. H At 
 
^8 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 At a diflance I thought it was you *, and on his 
 nearer approach I imagined that he carae from you. 
 He proved to be alfo a friend of mine, but not 
 fuch as I hoped and expe^ed. He was ufeful to 
 me therefore in one inftance only, that of giving 
 me reafon to conclude that your anxiety on my ac- 
 count had prevented your leaving Greece. Witnefs 
 Jupiter, witnefs great Sun, witnefs Minerva, and 
 all ye Gods and Goddeffes, how much, in my re- 
 turn from Illyricum to Gaul, I trembled for you I 
 And I ei)quired of the Gods, not that I dared 
 myfelf (for I was not able f to fee or hear any 
 thing of the fituation in which you then might be), 
 but I entrufted that office to others. The Gods 
 clearly {hewed, that fome troubles would befall 
 you, but that nothing terrible fhould enfue, nor 
 any wicked device prevail. 
 
 I omit, you obferve, many important events. 
 You are chiefly interefted to know how foon we 
 experienced the manifefl: affiftance of the Gods, and 
 
 * This clearly flievvs that Maximus was of the feci of 
 the Cynics. A Cynic was as vain of his ftafF and cloak as 
 if he had been decked with all the ornaments of drefs. 
 But this Maximus muft be dillinguilhed from another Cynic 
 of the fame name, under the Emperor Theodofius, who was 
 of Alexandria. Baronivs, 
 
 •{• He means the danger to which Maximus was ex- 
 pofed under Conftantius, and affirms, that he did not 
 venture liimfelf to confult the Gods concerning him, left 
 he fliould be compelled to hear fome inaufpicious tidings, 
 as -wa^ highly probable. Petau. 
 
 After this, can there be a doubt of Julian's belief in 
 theurgy ? La BtETERiE. 
 
 efcapcd 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 99 
 
 efcaped fuch a multitude of traitors, killing none 
 and fpoiling none, but only imprifoning thofe who 
 were apprehended in the very faft *. 
 
 Thefe things perhaps it might have been better 
 to fpeak than to write. I am certain, however, 
 that they will give you pleafure. We worfhip the 
 Gods publickly, and all the troops that arc re- 
 turning with me profefs the true religion. We 
 openly facrifice oxen. We have made our grate» 
 ful acknowledgments to the Gods in feveral heca- 
 tombs |. They command me to reftore their 
 "worlhip with the utmoft purity }. Moil: willingly 
 I obey them. They promife me great rewards, if 
 I am not remifs. Euagrius § is arrived. 
 
 ^ Soon after Julian was proclaimed Auguftus, an eunuch, 
 fuborned by the partifans of Conftantius, attempted to 
 aflaffinate him. Julian pardoned him. We learn from hence, 
 that this was not the only confpiracy which threatened his 
 life. 37c^. 
 
 •Y The legions of Gaul devoted themfelves to the faith, 
 as well as to the fortunes, of their vidorious leader ; and, 
 «ven before the death of Conftantius, he had the fatif- 
 fa£tion of announcing ro his friends, that they affifted, with 
 fervent devotion, and voracious appetite, at the facrifices, 
 which were repeatedly offered in his camp, of whole he- 
 catombs of fat oxen. ♦' So that the foldiers," fays Am- 
 mianus (xxii. 12.) *' living grofsly on fat meat, and 
 ** greedy of drink, were carried through the ftreets on the 
 *' flioulders of palTers-by, from the public-houfes . . , .' 
 ** to their quarters." The devout prince and the in- 
 dignant hiftoriaa defcribe the famefcene ; and in Illyricum, 
 or Antioch, fim.ilar caufes muft have produced fimilar 
 cfFefts. Gibbon. 
 
 X He had 00 doubt of his being raifed up by the Qods 
 
 to be the reftorer of Paganifm. La Bleteris. 
 
 § See the firft note on Epiftie XLYI, 
 
 H 2 Epiflle 
 
too E P I S T L E S O F ] U L;I A N. 
 
 A. D 
 
 Epime XXXIX. To the fame. 
 
 ^ ^' TT7ELCOME the coming, fpeed the part- 
 
 ' ^ ing gueft *. 
 
 Such is the law of the wife Homer. But our 
 
 friendfhip is fuperior to that of hofpitality, being 
 
 founded oa learning and religion. So that no one 
 
 could juftly charge me with tranfgreffing this law 
 
 of Homer, if I (hould think proper to detain ^^ou 
 
 longer with me. But as, I fee, your diminutive 
 
 frame -f requires more attention, 1 allow you to 
 
 go into your own country J, and have provided 
 
 for the convenience of your journey, by giving 
 
 you the ufe of a public carriage. May ^fcu- 
 
 lapius, and all the Gods, conduft you, and bring 
 
 you fafely back to us again 1 
 
 * This is faid by Menelaus (OdytT. xv. 74.) when Te- 
 iemacbus, after villting him at Laced^imon, was going to 
 take his leave. La Bleterie, 
 
 Pope, 84. He has adopted this line in his iraitation of 
 the sdiatire of the ift book ct Horace. Thus alfo The- 
 ocritus, Idyll. XVI. 27. as tranllated by Fawkes. 
 With prudent hofpitality they fpend, 
 And kindly greeting fpeed the parting friend. 
 •{• 5k'^a1»9>. corpufculum . As from a»?^«u7J-»£rxo:, homuncia^ 
 applied to Athanafius in EpilHe LI. it has been inferred, 
 that the primate of iF.gypt was a little man, the fame con- 
 -•clttfion perhaps may be drav^n from the above expreffion 
 ia regard to Maximus ; though, in this inllauce, the dimi- 
 mitive is a termof affe£iion, and, in the other, of contempt, 
 j Ephefus, Maximus probably took this journey while 
 lite En^peror was at Conilaiktinople, La Blei-erie. 
 
 Epiftle 
 
E P I S t L E S O F J U L I A N, lo: 
 
 Epiflle XL. To Jamblichus *. 
 
 T AM fo fenfible of the good-nature with which a. r>, 
 "^ you blame me, that I think myfelf equally ho* ^ ^' 
 noured by your letters, and icdrufted by your re- 
 proofs. Bur were I confcious of the leaft failure of 
 attciUrOn to you, I would certainly endeavour, if pof- 
 fible, to palliate the fault, or I would not fcruple to 
 all< your pardon, efpecially as I know that, whenever 
 your frieiids indifcreetly violate the laws of friend- 
 ihip, you are not implacable. Now then (fince 
 negligence^ or indolence, generally prevents my 
 accomplifhing what I ardently defire), afcend, as 
 it were, a tribunal, while I plead my caufe before 
 you, and fhew that I did not treat you with im- 
 propriety, or z£t with tardinefs or negle£^. 
 
 Three years ago I left Pannonia r, with diiS- 
 culty efcaping thofe fnares aiKi dangers of which 
 you are well apprifed. But when I had crofled the 
 Chalcedonian flrait |, and approached the city of 
 Nicomedia §, to you firft, as to the God of my 
 country, I paid due offerings for my fafety, by 
 fending you a melTage as a token of my approach, 
 
 * See the firft note on Epiftle XXXIV. 
 
 f Now Hungary. 
 
 "* Now the Bolphorus. 
 
 § This city was then in ruins by an earthqualce, which 
 happened in 358. See a note on an epiftle of Libanius, 
 vol. 1, p. 304. and his Monody on that event, in this Vol. 
 
 H 3 _ or 
 
102 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I AN. 
 
 or a kind of facred prefent. The letter was con- 
 iigned to the care af one of the Imperial guards, 
 by name Julian, the fon of Bacchylus, a native of 
 Apamea *, to whom I the more readily entrufted 
 it, as he was going thither, and declared that he 
 knew you perfe<fVly well. After this, I received, 
 as from Apollo, a facred epiflle from you, ex-^ 
 prefling that you had heard with pleafure of my 
 arrival. Wife Jamblichus, and a letter from Jam- 
 blichus, were to me a happy omen, and the dawn-- 
 ing of good hope?, Need I fay how much I re- 
 joiced, and how greatly I was affeifted by your 
 letter ? For if you have received what I wrote on 
 that fubjeft (which was fent to you by one of the 
 letter-carriers that came from thence), you cer- 
 tainly know the great fatisfadion that it gave me. 
 And again, when the man who nurfed my child^ 
 ren f returned home, I fent you another letter, 
 
 in 
 
 * The metropolis of Phrygia. 
 
 •f Ta r^o<p(ui; juv £p,at]s "Trat^iDv. M. de Tillcmont, who 
 takes ill its moft rigorous fenfe that fufpicious paflage in the ■ 
 Mifopogon (p. 244.) in which Julian ironically urges the 
 reproach of the people of Antioch, that *' he almo^ akvayt 
 {ij>^ sTTiTav) lay alone,*' and confiders it as a confeffion that 
 J-ulian himfelf makes of his incontinence, obferves, in order 
 ^o ftreugthen ■ this pretended confeffion, that Julian, in 
 this Epiftle (which is one of thofe that I have not tranf- 
 lated), fpeaks of " the man who had nurfed his children," 
 *' Now," fays M. de Tillemont, '• he never had any le-f 
 *' gitimate, except a fon who perifhed by the wickednefs 
 *' of the midvyife, whom the Emprefs Eufebia, the wife of 
 *^ Conrtantius, had fuborned. The fatf is certain ; there- 
 ♦* fore {le had feme illegitimate," 
 
 But 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 203 
 
 in which I esprelTed my acknowledgments for your 
 former, and alfo requefted a repetition of the 
 favour. Afterwards the diflinguifhed Sopater * 
 came to us on an embalTy, and, as I knew him, I 
 inflandy fprung forward to embrace him, and ihed 
 
 But we muft not conclude from this paflage, as M. de 
 Tillemont does, that there was adually a man who was 
 charged with the care of the children of Julian. Helena 
 had a fon. After her firft lying-in, fhc never went her 
 full time. But at every pregnancy a nurfe was provided. 
 The fame perhaps was frequently chofen. It was probably 
 the hulband of that nurfe whom Julian ilyles " the nurfe 
 *' of his children." I fay probably, becaufe a number of 
 other plaufible reafons may be fuppofed for Julian's having 
 given fome one that name. Who knows, for inftance, 
 but that it was a man whom he had deftined for the care 
 of the children that he hoped to have ? Whether he did 
 not caufe fome children that did not belong to him to be 
 educated with the tendernefs of a father? Or whether it 
 was not a joke which Jamblichus perfedtly underftood ? 
 
 La Bleterie.- 
 When Julian fpeaks of " the tutor of His children,** 
 who is not named, the expreilion muft be underftood figu» 
 ratively. for Julian had no children, legitimate or ille- 
 gitimate. HiAorians are quite filent about them, except- 
 ing that one which he had by his wife Helena, who was not 
 fuffered to live. If Julian had any children out of lawful 
 marriage, and therefore illegitimate, can it be fuppofed 
 that Chriflian writers would have been filent about it ? By 
 no means. Eumenius, in his panegyric, recommends to 
 Conftantine not only his five children of whom he was the 
 parent, but his other children likewife, as he calls them, 
 whom he had educated for the bar or the court. In fome 
 fuch figurative fenfe Julian muft be underllood. He intends 
 fome young perfons under his fpecial care. Lardner. 
 
 * See Epiftle XXVII. p. 70. notef. That this was the 
 fame Sopater who entertained Julian afterwards at Hiera- 
 polis, though probable, I cannot affirio. 
 
 H 4 tears 
 
504 ^PrSTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 tears of joy, dreaming of nothing but you and a 
 letter from y©u. As foo'n as I received, it, 1 kifled 
 it, held- it- td -my eyes, and ftrajned it cloie, as if 
 I h?id feared, that,, wiiile- 1: w^s reading it, ^-he 
 features of your face fhould fecretly efcape mCo 
 I immediately wrote an anfwer, not only to you, 
 but to the excellent Sopater, his Ic;^, telling him, 
 in joke, tt^ajjt I h^d'accepted'a common friend froni 
 Aparaea as an hoftage for your abfence. 
 
 From that time to the date of my prefent writing, 
 I have received no letter from you but that in 
 which yoii feem to chide me. If by this appear- 
 ance of a'.charge you. mean only to urge me to 
 write, I accept the whole, charge with the utmofl; 
 joy, and the very letter which I have now received 
 I deem the higheft favour. But if you really 
 accufe me of having given you the leaft offence, 
 wha can be more miferable than I in having beea 
 pr-evented by the negligence of letter-carriers from 
 giving you the fatisfa^ion that I wifh? However, 
 though I were not to write very frequently, I might 
 juflly claim your indulgence, not on account of 
 the bufinefs in which I am engaged (for I am not 
 fuch a wretch as not to prefer you, as Pindar fays, 
 to "all,, my affairs *) ; but, becaufe there is more 
 
 * f'.&yp.\zic uTracrsc to ax?a ce y.^et^'lo-j tyeio^ai , The fenfe, but 
 not the vfords^ of Pindar. ^ 
 
 ' Tov TJO».. ')(^^vc7ctcrVi- &riQa, 
 
 &PK70^fx,i Illhm, I. lo 
 
 Your buiincfs, froldpn-fhielded Thebes, 
 To ali aiy own I wiilir.gl';' prefer. 
 
 wifdom 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 105 
 
 wifdom in being loth to write to fuch a mgin as you, 
 who cannot be recoUedled without veneration, than 
 in being too preiiimpiuous. For as thofe who ven- 
 ture to gaze ftedfaftly on the hght of the fun, 
 unlefs they are in a manner divine, and can behold 
 his rays like the genuine off-fpring of eagles *, 
 cannot fee what is unlawful to be feen -f , and the 
 more they endeavour it, the weaker are their 
 efforts; fo he, who prefunaes to write to you, 
 clearly fhew$ that the bolder he is, the more he 
 ought to fear. But you, diftinguiflied fage, who, 
 I may fay, were created for the total prefervation 
 of Gentilifm, judged right in fending me frequent 
 letters, and thus, as far as poiTible, checking my 
 indolence. For as the fun (again to compare you 
 with that deity), when he (liines perfectly bright 
 with full radiance, is regardlefs whether all the 
 objects that he illuminates perform their re- 
 fpeftive fundions with propriety | ; you, in like 
 manner, Hiould liberally diffufe the light of your 
 knowledge among all the Gentiles, and not fe- 
 crete it becaufe fear or modeily pre?ents your 
 hearers from making a reply, ^fculapius does 
 not heal difeafes from interefted motives, bu: 
 every where difplays his humanity, like a kind of 
 doctrine. You, being the phyfician of noble fouls, 
 
 * See EpiftleXVI. p. 31. 
 
 f Otlf a jtA» ^ij/.K; o(p6>5r«». Not unlilce St. Paul, a a^- ^-hv 
 tfj^^iorr-ji ^a^)JC7•ai, 7iot la'^M fill for a incvi to utter, 2 Cor. Xii. 4. 
 
 J This pafTage in the original being corrupted and mu- 
 tilated, I can only guefs at the meaning. 
 
 I Ihould 
 
ic^ EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 ihould do the fame, and in every thing obferve the 
 precepts of virtue; like a good archer, who, though 
 he has no adverfary, always exercifes his art againfl; 
 a proper opportunity. Our views are not the 
 fame, as we wifii to enjoy your aufpicious letters, 
 arid you to receive ours. But we, though we 
 Ihould write a thoufand times, refemble the play- 
 ful children in Homer, who ere<fl clay-buildings 
 ©n the Ihore, and then foon overwhelm them with 
 fand * : While your letter, however Ihort, is pre- 
 ferable to the mofl copious flrcam. And in truth, 
 I had rather polTefs one epiflle of Jamblichus than 
 all the gold of Lydia. 
 
 If you have any regard for your friends (and 
 fome regard you have, or I am much miftaken), 
 do not negle<rr us, who, like poultry, are always 
 in want of your fufrenance ; but write frequently, 
 and forbear not to nourilh us with your good 
 cheer. And if we have been deficient, difcharge 
 at once two friendly offices, that of writing to us, 
 and alfo of writing for us. For fuch a pupil of 
 eloquent Mercury as you are, fhould employ his 
 rod, not in exciting, but in banifiiing and dif- 
 pelling lleep, and in this particular, above all, let 
 him be your model. 
 
 ** 11. XV. 362, where the pcet dei'cribes the Grecian 
 turrets ncdding, and the bulwarks falling, when lliaken by 
 Apollo ; 
 
 Eaiy, as when afliore, the infant -j- (lands. 
 
 And draws imagin'd houfes in the ilinds, 
 
 The fportive wanton, pleas'd with fome ncu' play. 
 
 Sweeps the flight works and fafliion'd domes away. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 -f T'j''?-^. ootini" b» memory, fubftitutes T:iuh; for wosif. 
 
 Epiftle 
 
 I 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. to; 
 
 Epiftle XLL To the fame. 
 
 IN obedience to the Delphic oracle, we fhould 
 have known ourfelves, and not prefumed to flun 
 the ears of a fage like you, whofe very looks it is 
 difficult to encounter, much more to contend with 
 him in genius, as he combines all the powers of 
 philofophic harmony. Every mufician, Ariftceus * 
 not excepted, mud yield to Pan, when he breathes 
 fwect melody; and when Apollo warbles to his 
 lyre, all, though they had the mufical powers of 
 Orpheus, would be filent. Confcious, as we are, 
 of our own inferiority, it is juft that the lefs fliould 
 fubmit to the greater. But he who would put 
 human in competition with divine harmony muft 
 be unacquainted with the cataflrophe of Marfyas f 
 the Phrygian, and with the river named from him, 
 which flows as a punilhment to the mad mufician. 
 
 * The fon of Apollo by Cyrene, the daughter of Pe- 
 neys, king of Arcadia. He is faid to have difcovered the 
 life of honey, milk, rennet, and other ufeful things. Juft. 
 Hift. XIII. 7. This the poets have turned into a fable, 
 SeeVirg. Georg. iv. 317, &c, One MS, inftead of Apir«ios, 
 has agifoj, (" the beft" mufician.) The fable of Ariitsus 
 is alfo in the IVth book of the Odyfiey, 
 
 f A fatyr, who challenged Apollo, and, being overcome 
 bv him, was flead alive, and changed into a river. See 
 dyid. Metam. VI. and Liv. XXVIIL 13. 
 
 Nor 
 
icS EPISTLES OF J U L J .^ N: 
 
 Nor can he have heard of the fate of Thamvris *, 
 who unfuccefsfqliy- contended in finging with the 
 Mofes. Not to mention the Sirens -f-, of whom 
 fuch of the Mufes. as conquered th«m ftili bear a 
 wing in their foreheads, All thefe now fuiTer, and 
 will lopg fuf?lr, for their prefumption ; we therei 
 fore, as I faid before, ought to have remaiheS^ 
 within our own bounds,, and to hav.e been quietly 
 fatj&iied with your flraias, like thofe who filefitly 
 rpceiye the oracle of Apollo ilTuing from the facred 
 
 ^11. 11.595. . ; _ . 
 
 Superior oiifce of all the tuneful race, 
 ,; Till, vain of mortalc empty praife, he ilrore 
 To maich the ie&d of cloud-coropelling Jove, 
 Too daring bard i ',vhofe unfuccefsful pride 
 Th' immortal Mufes'in their' art defy'^d. 
 Th'avengirrg Mufes of the light of day 
 Pepriv'd his eyes, and fnatch!^.his vqic^ away.,-: .'^' 
 
 Pope, 21?- 
 f As to the wings of the Sirens",' j(^ iEHan de'tiatiira 
 anim. /. xvii. f. 23. ,•; ,[\' ;; \;j. •■:;::'.■■ 
 
 This conieli of the Sirens with the ,Mufe$ is thus men-- 
 tioned by Spenfer : 
 
 They were fair ladies, 'till they fondly ftriv'd 
 
 With th Heliconian maids for maiilerye, 
 Of whom they overcomen w.ere, deprlv'd 
 Of their proud beauty, and th' one moiety 
 Transform'd to fifh, for their bold furquedry J. 
 
 Fahy £yucea, h. kl. C. 12, &. 51, 
 which Mr. Spence juflly quotes as one "inftance (among 
 many) of this great poet's *' mifreprefenting the ftories and 
 " allegorical perfonages of the ancients, the Sirens being 
 *' never reprefented in antiques with a fifh-tail, but with 
 ** the upper part iiuman, and tlie lower like birds.*' Sec 
 \'olymetis, p. 302. 
 
 Ovid, in hioMetamorphofes, v. 553. afcribcs their tranf- 
 formation to another caufe. 
 
 I Prefumption. 
 
 fhrines. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. io^ 
 
 ihrines. But fiace yoii lead our fong, and by your 
 eloquence, as with the rod of Mercury, roufe us 
 from fleep, we, In the manner of thofe enthufiafls, 
 who wiih dances meet Bacchus, when he celebrates 
 his orgies, will join in unifon with your harp, as 
 they in tune and meafure accompany the leader of 
 the dance. Accept therefore the orations ^, which, 
 by the command of the Emperor -f-, I lately com- 
 pofed on the celebrated junction of the (traits |; 
 a fmall work, if compared with yours, and brafs 
 for your gold § ; but fuch prefents as we have ||, 
 we offer to our Mercury, Thefeus by no means 
 defpifed the coarfe fare of Hecaic ** ; but, urged 
 by neceffity, was fatisfied with little. And the 
 Ihepherd Pan difdained not to apply to his lips the 
 pipe of a young herdfman. Such as it is, then, 
 receive it, and fcorn not to bellow great atten- - 
 tion on a fmail poem -f^. If it have any merit, 
 both the work and its author will be fortunate, ia 
 receiving fuch a token of eflecm from Minerva. ^ 
 
 * Thefe oration.3 are not extaBt. 
 
 f Conftanrius. 
 
 X Does he mean the Hellefpont joined by Xerxes ? 
 
 Petaw. 
 ^ li. VI. 236. Julian feeras particularly fond of this 
 paOage, this being the third time of his quoting or alluding 
 to it in thefe Seledt Works. 
 
 }1 0»? Si expfji.iy |:-vjoi;— irwt]f«. Not ufililce that expr effion 
 of St. Peter, Ads iii. 6, O h t^/^, Tttl« aoi hltff/a. Su£b at I 
 have, I give thee. 
 
 ** A poor old wojnan mentioned by Callitnachus, aa 
 having entertained Thefeus with: wild lettuce. See Plin. 
 Hift. Nat. XXII. 22. and xxyi. 8. 
 
 If OT^yu fAi>.ei. Could this be one of thofe which before 
 wetc &yisd Acj-a'* (" orations?") 
 
 And 
 
Jia EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 And fliould a finilliing hand be necefiary to com^ 
 plete it, difdain not, I intreat you, to fupply its 
 defe£ls. Thus of old the God appeared to the 
 archer * who invoked him, and diredled his fhaft, 
 and thus the harper who was playing the Orthian f 
 tune was anfwered by Apollo in the form of a 
 grafs-hoppcr J. 
 
 An Edi£t relating to Profeflbrs §. 
 
 t7jane, TJROFESSORS and maflers (hould be dif- 
 362. r^ 
 
 ■*- tinguifhed firfl by their manners, and in the 
 
 next place by their talents. We therefore forbid 
 
 any, 
 
 ^ Paris probably, v.hen Apollo guided his arrow againft 
 Achilles. See Ovid. Metara. XII. 
 
 f A kind of loud mufic uled by Arion, according to 
 Herodotus. It is introduced by Homer, II. xi. 11, where 
 
 Difcord 
 
 — — Thro\igh the Grecian throng, 
 
 With horror founds the loud Orthian fong. 
 
 Pope, 13. 
 X I am aware that the Greek word 7£Tii|, and the Latin 
 cicada^ m^an a different infesft from our grafs-hopper ; for 
 jt has a rounder and fhorter body, is of a dark green co- 
 lour, fits upon trees, and makes a noife five times louder 
 than cur grafj-hopper. It begins its fong as foon as the 
 iun grows hot, and continues finging till it fets. Its wings 
 are beautiful, being flreaked with filver, and marked with 
 brown fpots; the outer wings are twice as long as the 
 inner, and more variegated ; vet, after the example of Mr. 
 Pope (fee II, iii. 300.), I retain the ufual term, 
 
 Fawkes on Theocritus, 
 
 ^ I have t^aken this Epifrle from the Theodofian Code, 
 
 XI 11. .'. 3. De medims et pr0ffjtoylbus',~ iy\% ti6i\sioviVi iT:,om 
 
 • — what 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. m 
 
 any, whoever they be, to intrude haftily or ralhly 
 into this important office. He who would keep 
 a fchool muft be approved by the council of the 
 town, and alfo have the fan£lion of the principal 
 inhabitants ; and, as I * cannot be every where 
 perfonally prefent, let the decree be fent to me for 
 examination, that the candidate may have the ad- 
 ditional honour of feeing the fuffrages of his fel- 
 low-citizens f confirmed by our opinion. 
 
 Given at * * * * on the fifteenth of the calends 
 of July. Received at Spoleto on the fourth of the 
 calends of Auguft, in the confulfhip of Mamertinus 
 and Nevitta. 
 
 what place it was dated, nor to whom Julian addrefled it. 
 Ic only appears that he wrote it on the road from Conftan- 
 tinople to Antioch, as he left Conftantinople in the month 
 of May, and was at Antioch towards the end of July. It 
 was made, withotit doubt, on account of Ibme profeflbr of 
 Spoleto, a city of Picenum, and confequently was addreCed 
 either to the Prefect of the Prstorium of Italy, or to the 
 Prsfeft of Rome, or perhaps to the Confular of Picenum 
 (now the march of Ancona), or, laftly, to the inhabi- 
 tants of Spoleto. The intention of Julian is plain. He 
 referves to himfelf the right of confirming or annulling 
 the eledlion of profeflbrs, in order to exclude the Chriflians 
 from all literary offices. This law might perhaps be part 
 of the following edi£l. I have therefore placed it here. 
 
 La Bleterie, 
 
 * The Emperors generally fpeak in the plux^al in their 
 laws; Julian, however, here ufes the Angular. Sed quia 
 fmgulii civitatibus adejje ipfe non fajjum, jubeo^ &c. Ibid^ 
 
 f The original is, Hoc enim decretum ad me traHandum 
 defer etur J, ut altiore quodam honore n^firo judicio (M. de ia 
 Bleterie thinks we Ihould read nofirum judicium) Jiudiis civi' 
 fatum accedai, 
 
 % Iq Gothofred's edition, ttfererk'-t 
 
 Epiille 
 
212 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftle XLII. An Edicl, forbldduig the 
 Chrnlians to teach polite Literature *. 
 
 A. D. '' I ^PvUE learning, in my opinion, confifts not 
 -*- in words, in elegant and magnificent lan- 
 guage, but in the found difpofitions of a well- 
 formed 
 
 * Two motives Induced Julian to reflrain the Cbriftian 
 profeflbrs from teaching: i. He flattered himlelt", that, 
 in order to keep their chairs, they would change their re- 
 ligion. In this, he did not fucceed, if, as Orofius fays, 
 almoft all rather chofe to quit them. This, in particular, 
 is affirmed of Proharefius, the fophifl, of Athens, and of 
 Marius Vittorinus, who profeffed eloquence at Rome, 
 2. Julian knew, by his ov/n experience, that mailers, vvhen 
 they ihewed their fcholars the ancient authors, never failed 
 to infill on the wcaknefs and folly of Paganifm. He was 
 fenfible how much a Chrillian mailer can contribute to the 
 progrefs of religion, when he explains profane authors 
 chriilianly, and equally avails himfelf of the tiath and the 
 falihood which he iinds there in order to conducl his pupils 
 to God and Jelus Chrifl. This is what he wilTied to pre- 
 vent. But, inilead of difcovering his true motives, he, em- 
 ploys the moil lamentable pretext that can be ; lb that this 
 piece of eloquence is a mailer-piece of fophillry. M. Fleury 
 has inierted mofl of it in his Ecclefiailical Hiilory. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 His moll illiberal treatment of the Chriilians was, hi-j 
 forbiddrng the profeflbrs, who were of that religion, to 
 ituch humanity and the fciences in the public fchools. 
 His more immediate deiign in this was to liindcr tiie y«^uth 
 from taking imprelTions- to the difadvantage of Paganifm ; 
 hits rcHCiOter view, to deprive Chrillianity of the fupport of 
 human literature. His own hiHorian, Amipianus Mar- 
 ccUinus, paiTes a fevere fcntence on this edift, xxi. lo. 
 
 War BUR TON. 
 His 
 
EPISTLES OF JU LI AN. n 
 
 formed mind, and in jufl: notions of good and 
 evil, of vircue and vice. Whoever therefore 
 thinks or teaches O'herwife ft:*ems no lefs defiitute 
 of learning than he is of virtue. Even in tridcs, 
 if the mind and tongue be at variance, it is always 
 efteemed a kind of dilTionefty. But if in matters 
 of the greatefl confequencs a man thinks one thing 
 
 His driving from their fchools fuch teachers of rhetoric 
 and grammar as profeffed the Chriftian religion, was fevere 
 (inclemens)^ and fliould be buried in eternal oblivion. 
 
 Ammianus. 
 
 He ena£ted no oppreffive laws .... a few excepted ; 
 among which was that fevere one, which forbade Chriftian 
 mailers to teach rhetoric and grammar, unlefs they con- 
 formed to the worfliip of the Gods. Ibid, 
 
 Ammianus has twice mentioned this Edi6t, and always 
 with difiike, as a great hardfliip. Orolius fays, that 
 *' when Julian publilbed his edidt forbidding the Chrif- 
 ** tian profeiTors of rhetoric to teach the liberal arts, they 
 *' all in general chofe rather to refign their chairs than 
 *' deny the faith." And jerom, in his Chronicle, aiTures 
 us, that " Prohaerefius, the Athenian fophill, in particular, 
 [fee Epiftle II.] " flaut up his fchool, though the Em- 
 '* peror had granted him a fpecial licence to teach." Au- 
 guftine records the like lleadinefs of Viftorinus, who had 
 long taught rhetoric with great applnufe at Rome. But 
 Ecebolus, a Chriftian fophift at Conllantinople [fee Epi{tle 
 XIX.], who had been Julian's mailer in rhetoric, vvas over- 
 come by the temptations of the times, arid uith great hu- 
 miliations intreated to be reconciled to the church. 
 
 Lardner. 
 
 This Edi£l may be compared with the grofs inveftives 
 of Gregory {Orat, iii. p. 96.). Tillemont [Me?n. Ecd. torn, 
 yii. p, 1201 — 1204.) has colleded the feeming difference* 
 of ancients and moderns. They may be eafily reconciled. 
 The Chriftians were dlreSlly forbid to teach ; they were 
 indireSlly forbid to learn, fiuce they would not frequent, the 
 fchools of the Pagans, Gjsbon, 
 
 Vol. IL I and 
 
114 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 and teaches another *, does he not referable thofe 
 mean-fpirited, diflioneft, and abandoned traders, 
 who generally affirm what they know to be falfe, 
 in order to deceive and inveigle cuftomers I 
 
 All therefore who profefs to teach ought to be 
 ftri£l in their morals, and fliould never entertain 
 opinions oppofite to thofe of the public ; fuch, 
 efpecially, ought to be thofe who inflruft youth, 
 and explain to them the works of the ancients, 
 whether they are orators, or grammarians ; but 
 particularly fophifls, as they affec't to be the teach- 
 ers, not only of words, but of manners, and infiil 
 that civil philofophy is their peculiar province. 
 Whether this be true or not I (hall not at prc- 
 fent confider. I commend thofe who make fuch 
 fpecious promifes, and (hould commend them much 
 more, if they did not falfify and contradict them- 
 
 * If the Chriflian profeflbrs, when they explained in 
 their fchools Homer, Hefiod, &;c. had canoniled the 
 doctrine of thofe writers, the reproaches of Julian would 
 have been juft ; yet perhaps he would not have made them. 
 A book may be efleemed in fome refpefts, and condemned 
 in others. No one is deceived by this. To explain the 
 claific authors, to commend them as models of language, 
 of eloquence and tafte, to unveil their beauties, &c. this 
 is not propofing them as oracles of religion and morality. 
 Julian is pleafed to confound two things fo difterent, and 
 to ere6V, under favour of this confufion, the puerile fo- 
 phiftry which prevails through his whole edi6t. 
 
 * . La Bleterie, 
 
 Thus Homer's Achilles, II. ix. 312. 
 Who dares think one thing, and another tell, 
 • My foul detefts him like the gates of hell. Pope. 
 
 fch'cs 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 115 
 
 felves by thinking one thing, and teaching their 
 fcholars another. What then ? Were not Homer, 
 Hefiod, Demofthenes, Herodotus, Thucydidcs, Ifo- 
 crates, Lyfias, guided in their fludies by the Gods, 
 and efteemed themfelves confecrated, fome to Mer- 
 cury, and others to the Mufes ? It is abfurd there- 
 fore for thofe who explain their works to defpife 
 the Gods whom they honoured. 
 
 I do not mean (I am not fo abfurd *) that 
 they ftiould change their fentiments for the fake 
 of inftru£ling youth ; I give them their option, 
 either not to teach what they do not approve, or, 
 if they choofe to teach, firft to perfuade their 
 fcholars, that neither Homer, nor Hefiod, nor 
 any of thofe whom they expound, and charge with 
 impiety, madnefs, and error, concerning the Gods, 
 are really fuch as they rcprefent them. For as 
 they receive a flipend, and are maintained by their 
 works, if they can aft with fuch duplicity for a few 
 drachms, they confefs themfelves guilty of the mofl 
 fordid avarice. 
 
 Hitherto, I allow, many caufes have prevented 
 , their reforting to the temples ; and the dangers 
 that every where impended were a plea for their 
 difguifmg their real fentiments of rbe Gods. But 
 now, when the Gods have granted us liberty, it 
 feems to me abfurd for any to teach what they 
 do not approve. And if they think that thofe 
 
 * Petau thinks that fomething is wanting here to per- 
 fetSl the fentence. 
 
 I 2 writer* 
 
ii6 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 writers whom they expound, and of whom they 
 fit as interpreters, are truly wife, let them firfl 
 zealoufly imitate their piety towards the Gods. But 
 if they think their ideas of the mofl holy Gods 
 erroneous, let them go into the churches of the 
 Galileans, and there expound Matthew and Luke *. 
 In obedience to your rulers, you forbid facrifices. 
 I wilh that your ears and your tongues were (as 
 you exprefs it) regenerated j- in thofe things of 
 which I wifh that myfelf, and all who in thought 
 and deed are my friends, may always- be par- 
 takers. 
 
 f Let all ithe moral truths which are found^ or are fup- 
 pofed to be found, difperfed here and there in the Pagan 
 writers, be coileded ; let all profane antiquity, if I may fd 
 .exprefs nhyfelf, be laid under contribution; the fyftem 
 vvhich can be drawn from it will be far lels valuable 
 than what we are taught in a few words by the authors of 
 Whom Julian affeds to fpeak with contempt, and will fo 
 •far oflly be rational, as it refembles their doctrine. ■ yrr 
 
 La Bleterte. 
 ~ A'juft and fevere cenfure has been inflifted on the law 
 which prohibited the Chriftians from teaching the arts of 
 grammar and rhetoric. The motives alleged by the 
 Emperor to juftify this partial and opprelTive meafure might 
 command, during his life-time, the filence of ilaves, and 
 the applaule of tiatterers. Gib box. 
 
 f He ridicules the Chriftians by the trite application of an 
 expreffion ufed by them. Atayivxa-i; is commonly iniderftood 
 of baptifm, the reformation of the new man, and the 
 change of Itudies and manners. Therefore forbidding the 
 Chriftians. to read the books of the Heathens, he fays, he 
 woi.ld have their ears and tongues cleanfed from all ac- 
 quaintance with their writings, that what is depofited 
 in them may in a manner be born again, Petau. 
 
 To 
 
 I 
 
 .J5!i 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 117 
 
 To mafters and teachers let this be a general 
 Jaw. But let no youths be prevented from reforting 
 to whatever fchools they pleafe *. It would be as 
 unreafonable to exclude children, who know not 
 yet what road to take, from the right path, as it 
 would be to lead them by fear, and with reluctance, 
 to the religious rites of their country. And though 
 it might be proper to cure fuch reIu(R:ance, like 
 madnefs, even by force f, yet let all be indulged 
 with that difeafe. For the ignorant ihould, in my 
 opinion, be inftrudled, not punifhed. 
 
 ^ This was fair, but woirid by no means be accepted. 
 Here the bait was half off the hook, and difcovered, that 
 to draw them to th^ fchools of ihe Pagan profeflbrs was 
 one end of the edift, which he imagined would necefTarily 
 reduce things to this ftate, either to difpofe the GaHleans, 
 during their youth, ia favour of Paganifm^ or to difable 
 them, in their adult age, to defend Chriftianity, So that 
 it appears from hence, his forbidding Chriftian profeflbrs to 
 explain Pagan writers to any audience whatsoever, amounted 
 to a prohibition of learning them. Wareurton, 
 
 Mr. Gibbon has adopted the fame idea in a former note, 
 p. 113. 
 
 f He derides the ^wjia r«X»Aaiw» (Epift. VII.) and fo far 
 lofes fight of the principles of toleration as to with (Epift. 
 XLII.) «Kor!«5 ixff9ai, GlBBON. 
 
 I 3 Epiille 
 
ii% EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftlc XLIIL To EcRBOLus * 
 
 36*. C^ ^'^^^ ^^^ humane have been my decrees 
 ^^ concerning the Galileans, that none of them 
 can fuffer any violence, or be dragged to the 
 temples, or be expofed to any other injury. But 
 they who are of the Arian church, being pam- 
 pered with riches f, have attacked the Valen- 
 tinians, and have dared to perpetrate fuch out- 
 rages atEdeffaas can never be tolerated in a well- 
 governed city. Therefore, as they are taught, in 
 their wonderful law, the mofl eafy method of en- 
 tering into the kingdom of heaven, for this pur- 
 
 * This is not the fophift under whom Julian had ftudied, 
 and to whom he addrefied Epiftle XIX. This, no doubt, 
 was the chief magiftrate of Edeffa, the capital of Ofrhoena, 
 a province beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris. 
 
 La Bleterie, 
 
 About the fame time that Julian was informed of the 
 tumult of Alexandria, he received intelligence from EdefTa 
 of the diforders which occafioned this mandate. Gibbon 
 
 •\- The Arians were put in poflelFion of the church of 
 EdefTa, under Conftantius, They muft necelfarily there- 
 fore be great perfecutors to retain it under Julian. The 
 Valentinians derived their name from the herefiarch Va- 
 lentinian, who lived in the fecond century after JefusChrift, 
 and who, by a mixture of the golpe!, of Platonifm, and 
 the theogony of Hefiod, formed a lyflem fo compounded, 
 fo extravagant, that we do not underlland it, perhaps he 
 did not underfland it himfelf. Some remains of the 
 Valentinians ftill exifted in the Vth century. 
 
 La Bleterie, 
 
 pofe 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 119 
 
 pofe co-operating with them *, we have ordered all 
 
 the wealth of the church of the Edeffenes f to be 
 
 confifcated and given to our foldiers, and the lands ' 
 
 to be annexed to our demefnes. Thus being poor 
 
 they may become wife, and not fail of that 
 
 heavenly kingdom to which they afpire J. 
 
 We alfo command the inhabitants of Edeffa to 
 
 refrain from all tumults and feditions §, left, if 
 
 they provoke my humanity, you yourfelf (hould 
 
 be punifhed for the public diforders by exile, fire, 
 
 and the fword. 
 
 Epiflle 
 
 ■* Julian might boafl: as much as he pleafed of not being 
 a perfecutor. Thofe profane and cruel railleries, which 
 fell from the pen of the fovereign, were in themfelves a 
 cruel perfecution, and muft expofe the Chriftians to the 
 fury of the idolaters, wherever they found themfelves the 
 ftrongeft. In order to ill-treat thofe who are not of their 
 religion, the populace only wait for the leait fignal from 
 the prince, and frequently not even for that. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 ■f The effedts of the church of Edeffa were probably 
 returned to it by the fucccilors of Julian. At leall, it was 
 very rich in the vth century. Ihid. 
 
 X Doubtlefs Julian refers to divers texts of the gofpels ; 
 perhaps to Matth. v. 3. Luke vi. 20. Matth. xix. 21. 
 or fome other parallel places. But few will allow him to 
 be a good interpreter of fcripture, or that he deduces right 
 concluljons from it. Lardner, 
 
 § Thefe divifions might perhaps be occafioned by the 
 Arians having feized the chvirch and its revenues, though 
 the greater part of the inhabitants was inviolably attached 
 to the Catholic faith. It is notorious, that, nine years 
 after the death of Julian, in the reign of Valens, the bifliop, 
 the clergy, and the laity, ftri£tly deferved the glorious title 
 of confeflbrs. The women, and even the children, fiiared 
 the glory of this confellion. The Edeffenes pretended 
 
 I 4 that 
 
E P i o T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 Ep'idle XLIV. To LiBANius *. 
 
 ECOVERING lately from a feverc and 
 dangerous illnefs, by the providence of the 
 Supervifor of all things, your letter was delivered 
 to me on the day tli.it I fiift bathed. Reading it 
 in the afternoon, 1 can fcarce exprefs how much 
 it confirmed me in my opinion of your pure and 
 difmterelled benevolence, of which I wiih I were 
 worthy, that 1 may not difgrace your friend^ip. 
 I immediately began your Epiflles "j-, but could 
 not finifh them : thcfe from Antony to Alexander 
 I poftponed to the next day. A week after, my 
 health, by the providence of God, improving to 
 my wifli, I wrote yon this. May you be pre- 
 ferved, my moft elieemed and beloved brotker, 
 [by God, who regards all things ! may I fee you, 
 my bed friend i With my own hand, by your 
 fafety and my own, by God the fuperiniendant 
 
 that their city had the honour of being the firfh that dedi- 
 cated itieif to Jefus Chrift, and flicwed in their archives a 
 letter which they believed to have been written ro one of 
 their kings by Jefus Chrill himfelf in the courfe of his 
 niortai Ufe, We may judge to what degree Julian hated 
 them, and we niuft no longer be furprifed at his writing 
 to Ecebo!u3, or rather to the whole fenate of EdelTa, fo 
 bitter and fo threatening a letter. La Bleteric. 
 
 * This, in one MS. is addrefled " to Prifcus." 
 
 f What thcie " Epirties" were vve know not. Poffibly 
 fon-.e in afliimed charaders (now loil), fuch exercilej bcin^j 
 Gommon with this Icphilr. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. i2Z 
 
 of all thiiigs, I have written what I think. Ex- 
 cellent man, when fhall I fee and embrace you? 
 For now, like a cirappolnted lover, I am ena- 
 moured even of your name *.3 
 
 Epiaie XLV. To Zeno t- 
 
 ESIDES many other proofs of your having A. D. 
 attained the fummit of the medical art, to ^ 
 which you have added propriety of behaviour, 
 good-nature, and regularity of lite, this teftimony 
 now crowns all, your having turned the whole 
 city of A'exandria towards you in your abfence ; 
 fuch a fling, like a bee, you have left behind you. 
 And with reafon ; for Homer well obferves, 
 A wife phyfician, fkill'd our wounds to heal. 
 Is more than armies to the public weal |. 
 And you are not merely a phyfician, but aifo a 
 mailer to all who praftife phyfic, fo that you are 
 to phyficians what phylicians are to others. For 
 this reafon you are re-called from exile, and with 
 great fplendor. If you were obliged to quit Alex- 
 
 * The words between [ ] are added in one MS. 
 
 t Some MSS. give Zeno the title of*' Chief Phyfi- 
 cian," (apxnilpai). He was, it appears, a celebrated pro- 
 fcflbr of phyfic, a Pagan without doubt, as Julian ex- 
 prefles to him fo much efteem and affeftion. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 t II. XI. 514. Pope, 636. The words of Idomeneus on 
 Machaon. It is necdlefs to obferve that the ancient phy- 
 sicians were furgeons, 
 
 andria 
 
122 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 andria by the Georgian * h^thn^ as the procefs 
 was unjuft, you may moft juflly return. Return 
 therefore to your former honour, and let a cknow- 
 Icdgements be paid to us by both j by the Alex- 
 • andrians for reftoring Zeno to them, and by Zeno 
 for reftoring to him the Alexandrians. 
 
 I 
 
 Epiftle XLVI. To EuAGRius-f. 
 
 INHERITED from my grandmother }a fmall 
 ellate in Bithynia, confiding of four farms, and 
 with it I reward your affedtion to me. It is too incon- 
 fiderable to elate a man with wealth, or to confer 
 
 * George had equally perfecuted the Catholics and the 
 Pagans. He muft have procured by furprife fome order of 
 Conftantius to banifli Zeno ; for if George had only driven 
 him out by force, this phyfician, fo dear to the city of 
 Alexandria, would not have waited for an order from the 
 fiicceirorof Conftantius to return thither. La Bleterie. 
 
 f It is not known to whom tliis Epiilie is addrefled. It 
 js very well written ; neverthelefs, it is tinctured with pe- 
 dantry. Il>it/. 
 
 The name of *' Euiigrius" occurs in the index to Petau's 
 edition. 1 have therefore added it. He is probably the 
 fame who is mentioned in the coaclafion of the xxxviiith 
 Epiftle. 
 
 Libanius has two Epiflles to one of this name, and men- 
 tions him in fcveral others. He held, it appears, fome 
 office under the government, and being arcufed of fome 
 mii"m?.nagement in it, was brought to trial, but was ac- 
 quitted by the intercll of Salluft, whom Libanius thanks 
 for his good offices. 
 
 J In the Duties of a Pried, p. 122, Julian mentions his 
 inheriting the whole ellate of his grand-motlier, which had 
 Jjeen forcibly with-h^kl from him. 
 
 felicity, 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 123 
 
 felicity, but its endowments are by no means un- 
 plcafing, as you may judge from the particular^. 
 And there is no reafon why I fhould not be jocular 
 to you who abound with elegance and wit. 
 
 It is twenty fladia * diftant from the fea, and is 
 therefore undifturbed by trafficking merchants and 
 clamorous or quarrelfome failors. Yet it is not 
 entirely deflitute of the graces of Nereus ; for ic 
 can always fupply a gafping fiih frefh-caught, and 
 an eminence near the houfe commands a view of 
 the Propontic fea, the iflands, and the city which 
 bears the name of a great prince f ; and inftead 
 of being difgufled by fea-weed, and various other 
 kinds of filth that (hall be namelefs, which are often 
 thrown on the beach and the fands, ground-ivy, 
 thyme, and other aromatic herbs, will afford you 
 a conftant regale. When with tranquil attention 
 you have purfued your fludies, and vvifti to relax: 
 your eyes, the profpefl: of the fliips and the ocean 
 is delightful. In this retirement 1 found many 
 charms when I was a boy, for it has fountains alfo 
 far from defpicable, a beaudful bath, a garden, 
 and an orchard ; and when I grew up, I was (till 
 fo fond of it, that 1 frequently reforted to it, and 
 therefore my obtaining it fecmcd a fortunate cir- 
 cumflance. It affords too a fmall memorial of my 
 agriculture, a fweet and fragrant wine, which is 
 
 * About two miles and a half, 
 'J- Conflantinople. 
 
 good 
 
ji4 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 good even when it is new *. In Ihort, you will 
 there fee Bacchus and the Graces. The grapes, 
 both when they hang on the vines, and are prcffed 
 into the vat, are as odoriferous as rofes. But as 
 foon as the wine is in the c^iks, to fpeak in the 
 language of Homer, it is 
 
 A rill of neiflar, flreaming from the Gods f. 
 
 Why then, you will fay, did I not plant many 
 more acres with fuch vines ? Becaufe I was not a 
 very keen hufbandman ; and befides, as mine is a 
 temperate cup, and the neighbourhood abounds 
 with nymphs, I provided enough for myfelf and 
 my few male friends. Such as it is, my dear friend, 
 you will now accept it : however trifling the 
 
 * In the original, Of>c avajxevovla t» Tra^a ra %^ova ■^Tpa-'A.a.Qetv, 
 literally, ** not waiting to rereive any thing from time." 
 But the Latin tranflator has affixed a meaning no lefs op- 
 pofitc to the intention of Julian, than to faft and obfer- 
 vatson : ne(jue temporis diuturnitate 'vitli quicquam ajfumit. 
 Though our Imperial author was no votary of Bacchus, 
 his " cup" (as he fays) being ** temperate*' (»»(?;a^4o,-)> he 
 inuft have known, and meant to intimate, that, in general, 
 old wine is proverbially good, and -vice verfa. A nevj friend ^ 
 fays the wife fon of Sirach, h like nnu ivine ; luben it is eld, 
 thou Jhalt drink it ifjith pleaf lire. Eccl. ix. lo. 
 
 ■\ T« »£xIago; Er»v airop^w|. OdyJJ". IX. 359. PoPE, 426. 
 The elogium of Polyphemus on the rich Maronean 
 wine given him by UlyfTcs. This wine alfo, like that of 
 Julian, 
 
 Breath'd aromatic fragrances around, ver. (210.) 245. 
 Julian, it appears, had feveral female friends whom he 
 pccafionally mentions, viz. Areta, Theodora, Enodia, &c. 
 but here, to avoid any mifconftrudion, he takes particular 
 care to fpecify, that though " there were many nymphs 
 ♦' there" (ttoXw tut vnf^ipwv '?e £r»>)> thofe whom he entertained 
 were '* a few of the other fex'' (o^iyo» h £$•» to %§>?/*« tuiv 
 
 I pre fen r, 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 125 
 
 prcfent, it is pleafing to a friend boili to give and 
 receive, *' from houle to houfe," according to the 
 
 wife Pindar *. 
 
 This is a hafly epiftle, written by lamp-light. 
 Whatever therefore may be its fauhs, do not crl- 
 tlcife them with the feverity of one orator towards 
 another f. 
 
 Epiftle XLVIL To the Inhabitants of 
 Thrace J. 
 
 ^ I "^ O a prince who was avaricious your requeil 
 -*- would fcem nnreafonable, nor fhould the 
 public revenue ever be injured through any favour 
 to individuals. But as it is our view not to coiiect 
 from our fubjefts as much as poiTibie, but rather 
 to do them the utmoft poflible good, we remit 
 you what is due. Not indeed the whole, but It 
 ihall be divided ; one moiety you flial! retain, 
 and the other Ihall be given to the foldiers. Of 
 
 * O>xo8fy oocaJi. I have not found thcfe words in Pindar, 
 If I have fearched well, it mull be fuppoled that Julian 
 took them from one of the works of. that poet which has 
 not been tranfmitted to us. La Bleterie. 
 
 M. de la Bleterie has not '* fearched v,-ell." They are 
 both in the vith and viith Olympics, 
 
 •f- This concluilon favours aaore of the author than the 
 prince. ihid. 
 
 \ He remits them the arrears of taxes till a certain 
 time, namely, till the third indiftion, or levy, which be- 
 gan ;n the year of Chrift, 359. Thii ufed to be llyled 
 *' an indulgence." See Cod, Thead. 1. xi. tit. 28. De indul- 
 gtntiis dshitorum, F E T A t?» 
 
 this 
 
126 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 this no hiconfiderable part will aifo be yours, as 
 they preferve you in peace and fafety. We remit 
 you therefore, till the third indiflion *, all that is 
 in arrear ; after that, you muft pay it as ufual. 
 For what we have remitted to you is fully fufE- 
 cient ; and the public revenue we muft not im- 
 pair. I have written on this fubjedt to the prs- 
 fedls, that the favour intended you may have its 
 full effea. 
 
 I pray the Gods always to preferve you if, 
 
 * The name and ufe of the indiutions, whinh ferve to 
 afcertain the chronology of the middle ages, were derived 
 from the regular praftice of the Roman tributes. The 
 Emperor fubfcribed with his own hand," and in purple ink, 
 the folemn edi6b, or indiftion, which was fixed up in the 
 principal city of each diocefe, during two months previous 
 to the firft day of September. And, by a very eafy con- 
 nedion of ideas, the word '* indiftion" was transferred to 
 the meafure of tribute which it prefcribed, and to the 
 aririual term which it allowed for the payment. 
 
 The proportion, which every citizen fhould be obliged to 
 contribute for the public fervicc, was afcertained by an 
 accurate cenfus^ or furvey, and from the well-known period 
 of the indiilions there is reafon to believe that this dif- 
 ficult and expenfive operation was repeated at the regular 
 diftance of fifteen years. The cycle of inditlions, which 
 may be traced as high as the reign of Conftantius, or 
 perhaps of his father Conftantine, is ftill employed by the 
 papal court ; but the commencement of their year has beea 
 very wifely altered to the firft of January. Gibbon* 
 
 •\ This fentence is added in one MS. 
 
 Epiflle 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 127 
 
 Epiftle XL VIII. To * * * * 
 
 MY body is on many accounts in an indifferent 
 ftate of health * ; my mind, however, is 
 pretty well. An epiftle from one friend to ano- 
 ther cannot, I think, have a better preface. Of 
 what then does this preface confift? Of a pe- 
 tition, I fuppofe. For what ? An epiftolary cor- 
 refpondence ; which, I hope, will confirm my 
 wifhes, and bring me intelligence of your health 
 and happinefs. 
 
 Epiftle XLIX. To Arsacius, Hlgh-priefl 
 of Galatia -f- 
 
 'T~^KAT Hellenifm | does not yet fucceed as wc a. d. 
 -*- wifli is owing to its profcflbrs. The gifts q/!^', 
 of the Gods are indeed great and fplendid, and far 
 
 fuperior 
 
 * From this and feveral other paflages, which the reader 
 mull have obferved, it appears, that Julian had frequent 
 returns of illnefs, owing probably to his great and conllant 
 fatigue of mind and body, and to his rigid manner of lite. 
 
 f This pontiff is not known. I imagine this Epiftle v.'a's 
 written, at thefooneft, towards the end of the year 36-2," a*" 
 it fuppofes that fome time had been employed in en'leavoOr-; 
 ing to re-eftablifli Hellenifm. Sozomen and M. Fleury have 
 thought the whole worth being inferted in their Eccleliaftical'' 
 Hiftor)'. Indeed it would be impoirible to produce a more^ 
 honourable and lefs fufpicious tellimony in favour of. ourf' 
 religion. Bit 1 will not deprive the reader of the pleafure 
 
 of 
 
jiS EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 fuperior to all our hopes, ro all our vvilhes. For 
 (be Nemefis propiiious to my v.-ords i) net long 
 ago no one dared to hope for fuch and (o great a 
 change hi fo fhort a tinic. But why (hould we be 
 fatlsfied with this, and not" rather attend to the 
 means by which this impiety § has increafed, 
 naaiseiy, huir.anity to Grangers, care in burying the 
 dead, and pretended hnliiiy of life ? All thefe, I 
 think, fhould be really praciifed by us. 
 
 It is not uifficient for you only to be blamelefs. 
 Intreat or compeil all the prie'fts that. are in Galatia 
 to be alfo virtuous. If they do not, vvith their 
 wives, children, and fervants, attend the wordiip 
 of the Gods, expell them from the prieflly funclion ; 
 and alfo. forbear to converfe with the fervants,' 
 
 of making himfelf all the iifeful reflexions which the pe- 
 rufal of this piece fiipplies. La. ]3leterie. 
 
 The paftoral letters of Julian, if we may ufe that name. 
 Hill repreient a very- curioas Iketch of his vviiHies and in- 
 tentions. , , r. GiryoN. 
 
 I This was the ftyle at that time. Hclhnifm is Hea- 
 thenifm, or Gentilifm. And Heathens are called Hellenes, 
 and Hellenifts, by our Eccleiiaftical hiflorians, Socrates, 
 Sozomen, and Theodqret,. efpecially in their hiflory of 
 Julian's reign. Laedner, 
 
 § A fihgiilar kind of impiet^.', which renders man the 
 friend of man, and makes him praftife all virtues ! To 
 charge good men with hypocrily is the ^hial refource of 
 extravagant prejudice and wickednefs. Julian, vvith all his 
 genius, did r... : und would not fee that a fociety, fo nu- 
 merous as the Ch:-iilians then were, does not carry on and 
 cannot even conceive fuch a defign. Hypocrify will never 
 be a popular vice. The multitude, be it what it may, is 
 thva^s hgncii. La BLtTERie, 
 
 • '•; children 
 
EPISTLES OF JU LI AN. 1-9 
 
 thildren, and wives, cf the Galilenns *, vtho nre 
 impious towards the Gods, and pi-efer impiety to 
 religion. Admonifli alfo every priefl not to fre- 
 quent the theatre, nor to drink in (averris, nor to 
 exercife any trade or employment that is mean and 
 difgraceful. Thofe who obey you, honour ; and 
 thofe who difobey you, expell. Ert(!l alfo hof- 
 pitals in every city, that flrangers may partake our 
 benevcilence ; and not only thofe of our own re- 
 ligion, but, if they are indigenr, others alfo. 
 
 How thefe expences arc to be defrayed mufl 
 now be confulered. . I have ardcred Galaria to fup- 
 ply you with rhirty-thoufand bufhels of wheat -f- 
 every year ; of which the fifth part is to be given 
 
 y.. T. 
 
 >k. I have attempted a new tranfiation of ih^s palTage, 
 not being fatislicd Vvi:h any other xvhich I havr met wirh. 
 in Spanheim's edirioh the Latin verfion is, ae patiantilr 
 ft-rvos, ant fb.os^ aut conjiiges GaKliSorum imp'c in Deos fe 
 gerercy et tinfletatem p'leiatl fraponcrc. And much to the 
 fame purpofc is the Latin tranflation ot this Epillle in 
 Sozoinen, made by Valefuis, which would be commanding 
 cverv Heathen priefl; and his fjmily to becoitie perfecutors ; 
 which cannot be fuppofed to be probable. C'ave, in the 
 inrrodtiction to his Hillory of the Fathers of the ivth cen- 
 tury, p. 34. " not fufFering their fcrvants, children, or 
 *' wives, to be Galileans, who are defpifers of the God-, 
 " and prefer impiety before religion," which cannot be 
 jight. I'or it is a tautology, faying over again the fame 
 thmg which had been faid juft before. Ahd yet Bleterie's 
 tranflation is much to the fame purpofe : s Us fcuffrent dans 
 lev.r famille ele c'es impics de Gulilccns^ Lardner, 
 
 ] have adopted-this conftruciiori. 
 
 + The Latin and French tranflatioiis add here ** and 
 •' fixty-thoiifand /■■.v.'c-rr/j (br_/r/)/iVr/) of wine," wonis, for 
 k^hich tliere is no auihoiiry in Petau's or :?p:;nh£im'3 edition. 
 
 Vol. II. K to 
 
L50 EPISTLES OFJtJLIAN. 
 
 to the poor who attend on the prlefls, and the 
 remainder to be diftributed among ftrangers and 
 our own beggars. For when none of the Jews beg, 
 and the impious Galileans relieve both their owm 
 poor and ours, it is fhameful, that ours ftiould be 
 deftitute of our affiflance *. 
 
 Teach therefore the Gentiles to contribute to 
 fuch miniflerial funfiions, and the Gentile villages 
 to offer to the Gods their firft-fruits. Accuftom 
 them to fuch a£ls of benevolence, and inform them 
 that this was of old the regal office. For Homer 
 puts thefe words into the mouth of Eumseus : 
 It never was our guife 
 
 To flight the poor, or aught humane defpife ; 
 
 For Jove unfolds our hofpitable door, 
 
 'Tis Jove that fends the flranger and the poor f. 
 Let us not fuffer others to emulate our good 
 actions, while we ourfelves are difgraced by floth j, 
 
 left 
 
 *' Julian beheld with envy the wife and humane regu* 
 gulations of the church, and he very frankly confefles his 
 intention to deprive the Chriftians of the applaufe, as well 
 as advantage, which they had acquired by tha exclufive 
 practice of charity and benevolence. Gibbon. 
 
 fe3 the conclufion of the Duties of a Prieft, Vol. I. 
 .p. 142, &c. 
 
 t Odyir. XIV. 56. Pope, 65. This paffage is quoted 
 by Mr. Harris, on tiie fubjeft of the Arabian hofpitality. 
 See his Philological En/iuirics^ part III. ch. 7. 
 
 X Who doubts but that, before Chriftianity appeared in 
 the world, the Pagans performed fome humane actions, 
 and that fome among them praftifed fome moral virtues ? 
 But it was not as Pagans, it was as men that they prac- 
 tifed tiiem : In that they only followed the imprelfions of 
 (he law and religion of t»ature. It was becaufe the cor- 
 ruption 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 131 
 
 TlJption of the heart, the ftrange idea which the idolaters, 
 at leafl the people, formed of the divinity, and r'nat mon- 
 ilrous colledion of fenfelefs opinions, of fcandalous tra- 
 ditions, and of ridiculous fuperftitions, in which Paganifin 
 confifted, had not abfolutely extinguiflied the light <vjhlcb 
 JJnneth in darhiefs. 
 
 The Pagans had a morality, but Paganifm had none. It 
 IS no lefs abfurd to appropriate virtues to it, as Julian does, 
 than it would be to afcribe to infidelity fome virtuous 
 fiftions, of no confequencc, which efcape from infidels. 
 Snppofmg that they have fome probity, it is from temper, 
 from intereft, from caprice, becaufe they are men, and 
 often becaufe they have prefsrved f.)me remains of a Chrif- 
 tian education. This epiftle of Julian (hc-.vs, how many 
 virtues, even thofe which by the pleafure that attends their 
 pradice carry with them their reward, were rare among 
 the Pagans. Could the finger of God be millaken in a re- 
 ligion which renders all virtues common ; .which, founded 
 alfo on all the proofs of which a fact is fufceptible, bring* 
 into the world a fyftem of morality the motl perfett that 
 can poffibly be imagined, fupports it by the moll powerful 
 motives and examples, regulates even the moft fecret mo- 
 tions of our fouls; in a word, which re-e(labliflies, un- 
 folds, and perfefts the principles of the law of nature, 
 alraoil: effaced in the minds of men, and Hill more in their 
 hearts ? 
 
 Let us judge of the neceffity of Chriftianity by the 
 horrid crimes which were committed, and are ftill com- 
 mitted, in the bell-governed Pagan nations. To the dif- 
 grace of Philofophy, it will, for inftance, be always true 
 to fay, that mankind are indebted to the gofpel of jefus 
 Chrift for the abolition of the barbarous cuilom of ex« 
 pofing infants. In this refpeft the moft favage animals rife 
 lip in judgement, even at the tribunal of reafon, againll 
 •the. Greek, the Roman, and the Chinefe. 
 
 To deprive our religion of a glory which is peculiar to 
 it it would be uielefs to fay, that Maliometanifm has bcea 
 equally ferviceable to humanity. Who knows not, that 
 this falfe religion fuppofes and acknowledges the milTion of 
 Jefus Chrift, and is only a corruption of Chriftianity and 
 Judaifm ? No one can deny, that the Chriftian religion has 
 at leaft fweetened the manners, civilifed the barbarous 
 people who have embraced it, enlightened, as to his duties, 
 
 K 3 the 
 
132 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 left by negligence we lofe our reverence for the 
 
 Gods. It I hear that you pradtife this, I (hall 
 
 overflow whh joy. 
 
 Vifit the dukes * feldom at their houfes, but 
 
 write to them often. Whenever they enter a city, 
 let none of the priefts go to meet them ; but when 
 they rcfort to the temples, let them be received 
 within the veftibule. When they enter, let none of 
 
 the rudeii Pagan, difFufed every where fome delicacy of 
 conscience, and, even among thofe whom it does not alter, 
 a tincture of probity. A Chriftian, moderately inil:ru6ted, 
 and of common virtiie, knows more in point of morality, 
 and is more philofophical than a philofopher. Thofe who, 
 like Julian, but with lefs fpkndor than he, have aban- 
 doned the Chriftian religion, are more indebted to that 
 religion than they imagine. They, as well as Julian, are 
 indebted to it for the exactefl and pureil notions of certain 
 moral virtues. It is from that that fome have retained 
 thofe maxims of rigid probity of which they would w t 
 have made parade, if Chrillianity had not given them re- 
 putation. It has already been faid, that if, which is im- 
 poffible, the gofptl were falfe, it would be tor the intercit of 
 mankind to believe it true. La Bi,eteri2. 
 
 •^- Or commanders of the troops. See note on Epiftle 
 XXVIII, p. 73. Julian, in what follows, feems very attentive 
 to the dignity of the priefthood, by endeavouring to prevent 
 thofe who were ordained to any holy ofiice from degene- 
 rating into mere fecular politicians, party zealots, and 
 danglers at the levees (as we now call them) of the great. 
 What fo proper to iraprefs them with a jult of inion of their 
 own rank and importance as to forbid their mixing in 
 > popular alfemblies and tumultuous proceffions, even when 
 
 intended to give honour where honour was due, and pay- 
 ing idle or even ceremonious vifits, and rather to confine 
 them vvithin the precincts of their own temples, where, 
 without offence, they had an undoubted precedence r hi 
 the Duties of a l'ri< ft, in like manner, the priells are al- 
 lowed to *' vilit the d .kes and pnefeds." Sec Vol, I. p. 138. 
 
 their 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 133 
 
 their guards precede them; but let who will fol- 
 low them. For as foon as they enter the door ot" 
 the temple, they become private perfons. You 
 yourfelf, you well knowf have a right to precede 
 all who are within it, that being agreeable to the 
 divine law. Thofe who are truly pious will obey 
 you, and none will oppofe you but the proud, 
 oflentatious, and vain-glorious. 
 
 I am ready to affift the people of PelTinus *, if 
 they can render the Mother of the Gods pro- 
 pitious to them. But if they neglecl her, they 
 will not only be culpable, but, which is more harfli 
 to fay, will incur my difpleafure f. 
 
 No law requires that they my care (hould prove, 
 
 Or pity, hated by the powers above J. 
 
 There* 
 
 * See EpiAle XXI. p. 43. 
 
 •f An ungenerous dillinction was admitted info the mind 
 of Julian, that, according to the ditterence of their re- 
 ligious fentiments, one part of his fubjecls deferved his 
 favour and friendfhip, while the other was entitled only to 
 the common benefits that his jullice could not refufe to aa 
 obedient people. Gieeok. 
 
 i See OdyfT. X. 73. What Julian fays here does not 
 feem to agree with ihe order which he has Juil given to 
 eilablifli fome hofpitals, where all might be received, Chrif-, 
 tiaiis as well as Pagans. This contradiftion, if fuqh it 
 were, would not have been the only one of which he had 
 been guilty. But it is only apparent. The duties of hu- 
 manity are ftricl-ly juil, They are obligatory with regard 
 to all men. But favours are due to none; and it was fome 
 favour that the inhabitants of Peffinus had afKcd of the 
 Emperor. La Bleterie. 
 
 Thefe two lines, which Julian has changed and perverted, 
 
 in f.he true fpirit of a bigot, are taken from the fpeech of 
 
 ^olus, when he refufes to grant Ulyfles a frefli fupply of 
 
 K 3 Winds, 
 
134 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 Therefore affure them, that, if they wi(h for 
 my protection, all the people mull fupplicate the 
 Mother of the Gods. 
 
 Epiftle L. To EcDTCius, Prsefe^l of 
 ^gypt *. 
 
 ^•^P' " XT'OU tell me my dream f," fays the pro- 
 
 -*- verb. But I am going to tell you what 
 
 you have feen waking. The Nile, I am informed, 
 
 ha5 
 
 winds. Llbanius {Orat. Parent, c. 59. p. 2S6.) attempts to 
 juftify this partial behaviour by an apology, in which per- 
 iecution peeps through the mafk of candour. Gibbon, 
 
 The lines in Homer are. 
 
 His baneful fuit pollutes thefe blefs'd abodes, 
 Whofe faith proclaims him hateful to the Gods. 
 
 Pope, 85. 
 Julian has altered them thus, at the expence of a falfe 
 quantity, and a jingle : 
 
 Ov yap fAOi ^ifJt; Bfi y.oui^e/xEv, r, s\iXtpei)i 
 Av'^^a;, 01 /Cat fiioio'H' awEp^Swir' a.9«va.':oi3'»». 
 
 In the laft word, probably, his memory might deceive 
 him, as ccTTtxJ^iu'fi-i ^axa^iasriii would have fuited his purpofe 
 and metre as v/ell. The other alterations ('cat perhaps ex- 
 cepted) muft have been intentional. 
 
 ■* This Epiftle is a good piece of pleafantry on the negli- 
 gence of Ecdicius. That governor, I fancy, would rather 
 have received a ferious reprimand. Nothing was more 
 interefting to the Emperor and the empire than an account 
 of how many cubits the Nile had rifen in the autumnal 
 folflice, as on that depended the fertility of j^gypt, and 
 the fubfidence of Conftantinople. V/here the waters rofe 
 too much, or too little, the lands could not be fowp. 
 *• If the increafe," fays Pliny, (/. v, c, 9.} " be only 
 
 " twelve 
 
E P r S T L E S O F J U L I A N. J35 
 
 has rifcn feveral cubits, and orcrflowed all yEgvpr. 
 If you wifli to know the number, it was fifteen 
 on the twentieth of September. This intelligence 
 I received from Theophilus, prcEfecl of the camps. 
 If you had not heard it before, rejoice at heaving 
 it now from me. 
 
 *' twelve cubits, the province is afflicted with famine ; if 
 *' it be only thirteen, it ftili fufFers. Fourteen give joy ; 
 *' fifteen fatety; fixteen abfolute plenty." TheNil<; iwells 
 from the middle of July to the folllice. When it is at its 
 greatefl height, the canals are opened, to let it in upon 
 the lands. It returns to its bed in the month of No- 
 vember, The feeds are then fown. The corn is reaped in 
 May. La Blei k-rie. 
 
 The cubit, by which the rifing of the Nile in yF.gypt 
 was meafured, had been ufually lodged in the temple of 
 Serapis [at Alexandria]. Conflantine removed it into a 
 Chriftian church. But Julian ordered it to be replaced in 
 the temple of Serapis. His llatue and temple having been 
 demoliflied, by order of Theodofius I. in the year 391, it 
 •was given out by the Gentiles that the Nile would no 
 longer overflow. Neverthelefs it rofe the following year 
 to an uncomm.on height. The cubit was then again re- 
 stored to the Chriflians, Lardker. 
 Thales, the Milefian, accounted for the iuund/itiun of 
 this river by the Etefian winds blowing againlT: the mouth 
 of it at that feafon. But the fame would probably then 
 happen to other rivers where the like winds are known to 
 hlow. The true caufe is probably the melting of the fnows 
 ■on the mountains of Ethiopia, when the fun comes over 
 them. Yet thefe winds m;iy contribute to make the over- 
 flow more regular and lafling, as they are an equal balance 
 to the waters, and prevent their running into the fea after 
 thefe have fufficiently fertiiifed the land. 
 
 f T» crov ovaa croi hr,yii^v.i^ " I tell you your dream." That 
 is, '* I tell you what you yourfelf know better than 1." 
 In Suidas this proverb is quoted from fome unknown au- 
 thor, and aifo in Plato De Republ. I. viii. It feems derived 
 from thofe who confult interpreters of dreams ; whom fome 
 alfo require to giiefs what they have dreamed. Erasmus, 
 
 K 4 Epiftle 
 
JS6 EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Epiftle LL To the Alexandrians '^, 
 
 A. D, TF your city had had any other founder, any one 
 " "' -*- of thofe who, tranfgreiTing their own laws f, 
 had judly fullered puniflimcnt for leading a wicked 
 Hie, and introducing a new do*^rine, a new re- 
 ligion, even then it would have been unreafonable 
 for you to wilh for Achanafuis. Eut now, as the 
 founder of your city is Alexander |, and your 
 ruler and tutelar deity king Serapis, with the 
 virgin his allociate, and the queen of all ^gypt, 
 Ifis, * * * *, you do not acl like a healthy city, 
 but the diHempered part dares to arrogate the 
 
 ^ The Catholics, who were, without doubt, the moft 
 numerous, prefented, in the naxue of the city, a petition 
 to the Emperor, rcquelling the repeal of the order which 
 he had ilTued againll Athanafuis. The Emperor anfwers 
 their petition by this new Edict. M. Fleury quotgs the 
 whole of it. La Bleterie. 
 
 t Thofe whom Julian here treats as apoilates (a re- 
 proach llrange enough in his rnoiuh), had not abandoned 
 the God oi their fathers, to run after llrange gods. They 
 believed in the fecond revelation, which wi^s only thq 
 objci;!:, the fcquel, and the accomplilhment of the firll. 
 13y dying for the doctrine of their niafter, they have proved 
 that they were not deceivers. 'I'he proofs of the fatSt whick 
 determined them to embrace it arc of fuch a nature, that 
 it is impofllble for them to hf.ve been deceived. Could 
 Julian allege any thing finjilar in jullilication oi' his change ? 
 He has here given us a very remarkable licetch of his 
 reafons in the pathetic difcourfe which he addrcfics to thd, 
 inhabitants of Alexandria. /^jiJ. 
 
 I See Epiflie X. note fj P- 20. 
 
 Fiaiiie 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 137 
 
 pame of the whole. By the Gods, nien of Alex. 
 andria, I am afhamed, that any of you fliouli 
 avow himfelf a Galilean. 
 
 The anceflors of the Hebrews were formerly 
 flaves to the ^Egyptians. But now, men of Alex- 
 andria, you, the conquerors of iEgypt (for iEgypt 
 was conquered by your founder), fuflain a volun- 
 tary fervitude to the defpifers of your national 
 ri'es, in oppofition to your ancieut laws * ; not re- 
 colleifting your former happincfs, when all ^Egypt 
 had communion with the Gods f, and enjoyed 
 many bleffings. But tell me, what advantage '^ 
 has accrued to your city from thofe who now in- 
 troduce among you a new religion ? Your founder 
 was that pious man § Alexander of Macedon, who 
 
 did 
 
 * The Hebrews were fubjeded to the ancient lings of 
 JF.gypt ; the Alexandrians therefore ought to prefer the 
 Greek religion to the do^^rine of the Apoftlcs : ,\V!iat a 
 lingular coinplication of bad arguments : I:,a Hi,eterie. 
 
 t If they recoUedted it, they recollected but little of it. 
 
 Julian makes intercommunity the diftinguifhing cha- 
 pter of the Pagan religion. For the Imperial fophiir, 
 writing to the people of Alexandiia, and upbraiding them 
 ;vith having forfaken the religion of their country, iii ordcf 
 to aggravate the charge, iufuuiates them.to be guilty or in- 
 gratitude, as having forgotten '* thofe happy tiaies when 
 " all ^gypt vvorlhipped the Gods i.'i CQm?>:o!i'' (v.nxa ■n.t 
 jK&ifi'na). War B UP. TON. 
 
 X The ChriHian religion does not proniife temporal 
 bleffings ; but, if men pradife it, they will be as happy as 
 they can be on earth. ■ La Bleterie, 
 
 §, In matters of religion, what authority y;as that of 
 Alexander ? What concjuell* were his, compared to thofe 
 
 of 
 
1^8 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 did not, by Jove, referable any one of thefe, or 
 any of the Hebrews, who far excelled them. 
 Even Ptolemy, the fon of Lagus *, was alfo fu- 
 perior to them. As to Alexander, if he had en^- 
 countered, he would have endangered, even the 
 Romans. What then did the Ptolemies, who fuc- 
 ceeded your founder? Educating your city, like 
 their own daughter, from her infancy, they did 
 not bring her to maturity by the difcourfes of Jefus, 
 nor did they conClrudt the form of government 
 \yith which Ihe is now bleffed by the do^rine of 
 the odious Galileans. 
 
 Thirdly, after the Romans became its mailers, 
 taking it from the bad government of the Ptole- 
 mies -j-, Auguftus vifited your city, and thus adr 
 dreffed the citizens : '' Men of Alexandria, I ac- 
 *f quit your city of all blame, out of regard to 
 " the great God Serapis, and alfo for the fake of 
 " the people and the grandeur of the city. A 
 ** third caufe of my kindnefs to you is my friend 
 
 of the Apoftles ? I beg the reader to recoUeft that paflage 
 m the epilHe to Theminius (p. 24.), where Julian raifes 
 Socrates above Alexander ; and to determine whether the 
 ^ufl reafons which he has given for preferring the former 
 are not infinitely more ftriking and deciiive in favour of 
 the difciples of Jelus Chrilt. Here Julian fpeaks like a 
 true fophifi:. He was well acquainted with Alexander, 
 and would not have wiHied to refemble him in every thing. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 * Ptolemy, the fon of Lagus, was one of the generals 
 cf Alexander, who fliared his empire. ' He founded the 
 kingdom of iEgypt. IbiJ, 
 
 f The family of the Lrg'.des terminated in the perfoa 
 <»f Cleopatra, after having reigned 300 jears. Ihid. 
 
 " Areus." 
 
EPISTLES OF J U LI AN. 139 
 
 " Areus *." This Areus, the companion of Au- 
 guflus Ciefar, and a philofopher, was your fellow- 
 citizen. 
 
 The particular favours conferred upon your city 
 by the Olympic Gods were, in fliorr, fuch as thefe. 
 Many more, not to be prolix, I omit. Thofe blef- 
 finos which the illuftrious Gods beftow in common 
 ev jry day, not on one family, nor on a fmgle city, 
 bu: on the whole world, why do you riot acknow- 
 ledge I Are you alone infenfible of the' fplendor 
 that flows from the fun f ? Are you alone igno- 
 rant that fummer and winter are produced by him, 
 and thdt to him all things owe their life and origin? 
 Do you not alfo perceive the great advantages 
 that accrue to your city from the moon, from, him 
 and by him the difpofer of all things I Yet you 
 dare not worfliip either of thefe deities ; and 
 this Jefus, whom neither you, nor your fathers 
 have feen, you think mufl: necelTarily be God the 
 Word J, while him, whom, from eternity, every 
 
 * The -fame who is mentioned in the Cx'fars, (Vol. I, 
 p. 193.) and in the Epillle to Themiftius, (p. 25.) 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 f All nature, and the heavenly bodies, in particular, 
 prove the exiftence of a Supreme Being, and declare his 
 power, his wifdom, and his goodnefs. But their fplendor, 
 the regularity of their motions, and the utes which 
 they render to jiiankind do not prove that they arc go- 
 verned by I'ome particular intelligences, and much lefs that 
 they deferve to be worfliipped. laid, 
 
 X T have already faid that Julian placed the Logos, or 
 Demiurgus, in the Sun. 3ld. 
 
 ©Eflv Aoyov. Taken from St. John, i. i. ©toj «» S Xoyoj, 
 Tf:e Word ivas Ged, 
 
 generation 
 
Ho E P 1 S T L E S O F J U L 1 A N. 
 
 generation of mankind has feen, and fees, and 
 worfhips, and by woifliipping lives happily, the 
 great fun, 1 mean, a living, animated, rational, 
 and beneficent image of the intelligible Father *, 
 you defpife. If you liften to ray admonitions -f, 
 * ^ * -^^ you will by degrees return to truth. You 
 will not wander from the right path, if you will 
 be guided by him, who, to the twentieth year of 
 liis age, purfued that road, but has now wor~ 
 fiiipped the Gods for near twelve years, 
 
 If you will follow my advice, my joy will be 
 exuberant. But if you will ilill perfevere in that 
 fuperflitious inftitution of defigning men, agree, 
 however, among yourfelves, and do not defire. 
 Athanafms. There are many of his difciples who 
 are abundantly able to plcafe your itching ears Xj 
 defirous as they are of fuch impious difcourfes. 
 I wifli that this wickednefs were confined to Atha- 
 nafius and his irreligious fchool. But you have 
 
 ' * In another place {apudCyyil. I. ii. p. 69.) he calls the 
 
 fun " God, and the. throne of God," Julian believed the 
 
 Piatonician Trinity,' and only blames the Chriftians for 
 
 preferriirg a mortal to lin "imriiorta! Logos. Gieeon". 
 
 Though the Alexandrians faw the fun, they by no means 
 
 faw that he was gi divinity; but without having feen the 
 
 Man' Go'T), they had certain proofs of his million ; proofs 
 
 which, all united, form, in fac'l-, a complete demo;iftra- 
 
 tion. It is worth ohferving, that Julian, in one and the 
 
 fame pbrafe, fpeaks the language of Pyrrhonifm and that 
 
 of credulity. La B;.e rsiiiE. 
 
 f Something here is wanting. 
 
 * T«i xv.oa.<i vjxuv Kivfiiirat^. Similar to that cxprelTion of 
 St.' Paul, 2 Tan. iv. 3. xvijSo/AEioi 7>;» ct^oni'. 
 
 among 
 
E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 141 
 
 among you many, fiot ignoble, of the fame feet, 
 and the bufmefs is eafily done. For any one whom 
 you may (tleSt from the people, in what relates to 
 expounding the fcriptures will be by no means in- 
 ferior to him whom you folicit. But if you are 
 pleafed with the (hrewdnefs of Athanafius (for, I 
 hear, the man is crafty), and therefore have peti- 
 tioned, know, that for this very reafon he was 
 banifhed. That fuch an intriguer fliouid prefide 
 over the people is highly dangerous •, one, who is 
 not a man, but a puny contemptible mortal, one 
 who prides himfelf on hazarding his life *, cannos 
 but create diflurbances. That nothinr^ of that 
 kind might happen^ I ordered him formerly to leave 
 the city, but I now banifh him from all ^gypt. 
 Lcl this be co/fivianicated to cur Alexandnans, 
 
 * I cannot convey ail the energy- of the Greek : M;?* 
 
 m.->n^, a'KK aiS^uTTiTKo; nli^.r;, y.xix~-^ tlo,-, o itsya? (it nioiild be 
 
 homuncio 7iuUius prelii^ quails ijle eji^ cut a-: capite peyiclitari 
 magnum aJiqu'ul e.vijrimat. La B l e t e r i e . 
 
 The preient tranilator mny fay the fame. 
 
 M. deTillemont concludes froin this text, that Atha- 
 nafius was a little man, and that his perfon had nothing 
 that announced the giandcur and elevation of his mind. 
 The mofr, 1 think that we can conclude from this exprellion 
 of Julian is, that, Athanafius wss not of ?. p oper hi ig t. I 
 i'iy, the moft; for it muft be obferved, that it is an Euiperur 
 who fpeaks ot one of his fubjects, and who affeds to fpeak 
 of him in a tone of contempt. Gregory Nazianzen [O'af. 
 XXI.) fays, that Athanafius " had the form of an angel,'* 
 ec-/y->.r/.o; TO eii'o;. It e% en appears, that, when he went to 
 meet the Emperor Ccnllanrine the younger, in Gaul, that 
 prince was ftruck with his advantageous iippearance. 3id. 
 
 Epiftle 
 
142 E PI S TLES OF JULIAN* 
 
 ; :r Epiftle LII. To the Bostrenians *. 
 
 Aog. X THOUGHT that the prelates of the Gali- 
 •*■ leans had been under greater obligations to nr>e 
 than to my predecefTor. For in his reign many 
 of them were banifhed, perfecuted, and imprifoned; 
 and numbers of thofe, who are ftyled heretics, were 
 put to death, particularly at Samofata and Cyzicus ; 
 and in Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Galatia, and many 
 other provinces, whole villages were laid wafte 
 and entirely depopulated f . In ray reign the re- 
 
 * Bollra, or Bofra, as it is flyled in fcripture, was a 
 Roman colony, and the capital of Arabia. It had then 
 for its bifliop a man equally well verfed in polite literature, 
 and the doftrine of the church, named Titus. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 in this very remakable Epiftle to the people of Boftra, 
 Julian profefles his moderation, and betrays his zeal; which 
 is acknowledged by Ammianus, and expofcd by Gregory, 
 {Orat. III./*. 73.) Gibbon. 
 
 -f- The fucceflbr of Conflantius has exprefled, in a con- 
 cife, but lively, manner, fome of the theological cala- 
 mities which afflifted the empire, and more efpecially the 
 Eaft, in the reigc of a piince, who was the Have of his 
 own paffions, and of thofe of his eunuchs. Ibid. 
 
 Under Conftantius the Arians, who pretended to be the 
 • Catholic church, had perfecuted not only the orthodox, but 
 alfo the feftaries, efpecially the Novatians, who, without 
 receiving the council of Nice fubfequent to their fchifm, 
 were no lefs zealous than the orthodox for confubilantiality. 
 They were the fublilling and unfufpefted proof of the 
 novelty of Arianifm ; which made them much regarded 
 bv the Catholics, and more odious to the Arians than the 
 Catholics themfelves. La Bleterie. 
 
 verfe 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 14: 
 
 Terfe has happened. For they who had been ba- 
 nilhed are allowed to return, and to thofe whofc 
 goods had been confifcated, all have been re- 
 {lored. Such, neverthelefs, are their raadnefs 
 and foil}', that, becauTe they can no more ry- 
 rannife, or perpetrate what they had projeOed, 
 firft againfl their brethren, and then againfl us, 
 the worfhippers of the Gods, enraged and exafpe- 
 rated, they move every ftone, and dare to alarm 
 and inflame the people * ; impious towards the 
 Gods, and difobedient to our edi(5l-s, humane as 
 they are. For we fufFer none of them to be dragged 
 to the altars againll their will. We alfo publickly 
 declare, that, if any are defirous to partake of our 
 ludranons and libations, they mufl: firft offer facri- 
 fices of expiation, and fupplicate the Gods, the 
 averters of evil. So far are we from wifhing to 
 admit any of the irreligious to our facred rites 
 before they have purified their fouls by prayers to 
 the Gods, and their bodies by legal ablutions -f . 
 
 The populace therefore, deluded by thofe who 
 are called the clergy, as the feverity above-men- 
 tioned is abollflied, grow tumultuous. For they 
 who have been ufed to tyrannife, not fatisfied 
 with impunity for their pafl crimes, but ambi- 
 tious of their former power, becaufe they are no 
 
 * The Arian clergy, who were in polTeffion of a great 
 number of churches, gave cccafion to the inveftives of 
 Julian. ^ La Bleterie. 
 
 f One who fpeaks in this manner was very capable of 
 
 having endeavoured to efface his baptifm. IHd. 
 
 7 longer 
 
144 EPISTLES OFJULIAN. 
 
 longer permitted to a£t as judges *, or make 
 wills -j^ or embezzle the ellates of others, and ap- 
 propriate every thing to thetnfelves, all, if I may 
 fo {liy, pull the ropes of fedition, and, as the pro- 
 verb exprelfes it, heap fuel on the fire, and fcruple 
 not to add greater evils to the former by urging 
 the multitude to commotions. 
 
 It is my pleafure therefore to declare and pub- 
 lifli to all the people, by tlris edifl, that they mud 
 riot abet the feditions of the clergy, nor fufFcr 
 themfelves to be induced by them to throw flones, 
 and difobey the magiftrates. They may affemblc 
 together, if they plcaTe, and offer up fucli prayers 
 as they have eftablifned for themfelvcs. But if 
 the clergy cndeavotir to perfuade them to foment 
 didurbances on their account, let them by no means 
 concur, on pain of punilhmeht. 
 
 ^ Julian liacl revoked all the privileges granted to the 
 church, and, among them, the law by which Conilantinc 
 allowed thole who had law-fuits to decline the ordinary 
 juriidiclion, and to apply to the biftiops, whole fenfences 
 were to be executed like thole of the Emperor himfelf. 
 
 La Bi.ETCRif . 
 
 t r^^;<^f.'» Ji«5»;y.«f, fcriherc tcftamcnta, may here have three 
 n^eanings ; I. to make wills; 2. to receive wills in a public 
 capacity; -;. to dictate or luggeit wills. Julian had nor 
 deprived tlie clergy oi the right of making wills, ' This is 
 proved by the lilence of Chriitian writers, Amongthe Ro- 
 mans, to the making of the moft folemn will no public per- 
 fon was reipiirue : there only wanted a certain number oi 
 V. itnede?. The third fenll: tlierefore remains. A law ot 
 Conllantine, uhich is ftill in being,- allowed wtUs to be made, 
 in favour of ih.- church, fulian having abrogated that law, 
 tl e eccle'dailics could no longer engage any one to give his 
 cltaie 10 the church by v>ill, and conictpicntly to their ad- 
 vantage, as Julian \ rwtcnd;i they had. il^^>^' 
 
 3 ' I thought 
 
E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 145 
 
 I thought proper to make this declaration to the 
 city of Bo.itra in particular, becaufe the billiop, 
 Titus *, a,nd the clergy -j-, in a memorial which, 
 they have prefented to me, have accufed the people 
 of being inciined to raife diflurbances, if they had 
 Eot been retrained by their admonitions. I will tran-. 
 fcribe the words which the bifhop has dared to iu- 
 fert in that memorial: " Though the Chrlflians 
 '* are as numerous as the Gentiles, they are re- 
 " drained by our exhortatioas from being tumul- 
 **' tuous.'* Thefe are the words of the billiop 
 concerning you. Obfcrve, he does not afcribe your 
 regularity to your own inclination ; unwihingiy, he 
 fays, you refrain, " by his exhortations." As your 
 accufer, therefore, expell him from the city {, And, 
 
 for 
 
 * This Titus, bifliop of Boftra, taught that we cfo nQt 
 die in confequenct: ut the fui t*t Adair., but by the ne- 
 cclury of nature ; and that Adaui himfelt uould have died, 
 if he had not finned. In this he was followed by Pelagius. 
 
 Priestley. 
 
 f It feems a.s if there was an apprehenfion of fo?ne com- 
 motion in the city of BoUra. Julian had threatened to 
 make the billiop, Titus, r.nd his clergy, refpcnlible for the 
 whole. The bllhop had prefented, or cauied a memorial 
 to be prefented, to the Emp.ror, accounting for his- conduct. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 i If we did not know hew much the mind is narrowad 
 by the fpisit of party, it %\oud be inconceivable that an 
 Emperor, a m:m who picue.! himlelf on reafoning, and 
 who pubiiflied this himfc.f, ihou d be c^pnb c o^" lach 
 a trick [tracaj/crie.] I ue this wpid, because it is a 
 low one, and I know none m'oie j roper to chara^ierife 
 the arcfulneis of Julian, wha was de er.nii ed, at aoy. 
 rate, to prejudice in the minds of the people an irrJ^ 
 
 Vol. II. L procchsbj^ 
 
146 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 for the future, let the people agree among them- 
 felves ; let no one be at variance, or do an Injury 
 to another j neither you who are in error, to thofc 
 who worfhip the Gods, rightly and juftly, in the 
 mode tranfmitted to us from the moft ancient 
 times ; nor let the worfliippers of the Gods de- 
 ftroy or plunder the houfes of thofe who rather 
 by ignorance than choice are led aftray. Men 
 fliould be taught and perfuaded by reafon, not by 
 ' blows, invetflives, and corporal punifliments. I 
 therefore again and again admonifli thofe who em- 
 brace the true religion in norefpe(5l to injure or in- 
 ' fult the Galileans *, neither by attacks nor re- 
 
 proaches. 
 
 proachable prelate, who employed his authority to main- 
 tain the public tranquillity. This philofophical Emperor, 
 in an cdi6t which breathes the principles of mutual fup- 
 port, foments the flame, which he pretends it is his wifh. 
 to ftifle. If he had baniflied the bifliop, his orders would 
 have been peaceably obeyed. But does not his advifing 
 the people to drive him out indicate a defign to excite a 
 tumult ? Some might confidcr the advice of the Emperor 
 as an order, and others only as an advice, Hillory doei 
 not inform us what was the confequence of this affair. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 After this, no inftance of bafenefs, or injuftice, will b« 
 thought ftrangc. It is remarkable that the author of th« 
 Chara<fteriflics ha? given us a tranflation of this letter, for 
 " a pattern," as he tells us, *• of the humour and genius, 
 ■*' of the principles and fentiments, of this virtuous, gallant, 
 ** generous, and mild Emperor." p. 87, &cc. 4th edition. 
 It is true, his tranflation drops the affair of Titus, their 
 bifliop. So that nothing hinders his reader from concluding 
 but that the Emperor might be as " gallant and generous" 
 as he is pleafed to reprefent him. Warburtom, 
 
 * How irreconcileable is this with the above Edid, 
 £Epiflle XLII.] for which he deferved no fmall reproof from 
 
 (ill 
 
EPISTLES OF JUL IAN. 147 
 
 |)roaches. We fliould rather pity than hate thofe 
 who in the moll: important concerns acl: ilL For 
 as piety is the grcateft of bleflings, impiety, cer- 
 tainly, is the greateic of evils. Such is their fate, 
 who turn from the immortal Gods to dead men *, 
 nnd their relitks. With thofe who are thus un- 
 happy we condolcj but them who are freed and 
 delivered by the Gods We congrattilate -[•. 
 Given at Antioch on the calends of Augujl, 
 
 Epiftle 
 
 fin other refpee^s) his cliief patiegj-rift ! " It v/as very un- 
 " merciful in him (as that excellent writer exprefles it) to 
 " ibrhid the niaflcrs of grammar and rhetoric to teach 
 •' the Chriftians, unlefs they embraced the worlliip ct" the 
 *• Gods." Ammi Marc; xxVi 4. St'ANHEir.i. 
 
 ■* A-o 0c4)» £vt rtfi vs>!JHj /islalilpau^-ttvac. An exprcuion finii- 
 lar to that of St. Paul, 'L~iTi}-^'>>^i'>^[^'^. tov Gtoi ar:o iav et':}\-\iu'> : 
 Ve i'tlrned to God from idols, to fervc the living God, i Tliel". 
 J. 9. ' 
 
 f From this Edirt, 25 v;el! ns from other things, it ap- 
 pears that Julian was very fond of Hellenifm, or lieathenilin. 
 And Sozomcn's obfervations appeur to be very pertinent. 
 Julian was very ready to lay hold of every pretence, and to 
 improve every occafion, to rid himfelf of the Prelidents of 
 Chrillian churches ; efpecially fiich as had an influence v/irh 
 the people. We fee three inilanccs of this, in Atlianafuis of 
 Alexandria, Eleufuis of Cyzicum, and Titus of Bollraj all 
 of them men cf great d;(lini_^ion. 
 
 Julian here makes repeated profeirions of moderation and 
 equity toward the Chriltians. But the letter bears witnefs 
 ag.iinft him^ 'fituS was one of tl»e mou karneu men of 
 the age. rfis people wefe peaceable, and he had exhor:~.-d 
 them to be io; And yet Julian coina^ands his people to 
 expell him out of their city ; under a pretence, that hi? 
 fexhortations to a peaceable behaviour implied an accui.iiiy.i 
 of an rtnpeaceable temper; 
 
 Julian was a man of great ingcnuitv, fobriety of mans 
 ner?, and good-na:ured in himfelf. But his zeal for the: 
 religion which he ]iad embraced was excellive, an.i de- 
 
I4S 
 
 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftle LIII. To the Philofopher JaM- 
 
 BLICHUS *. 
 
 /^ JUPITER ! can it be true that we refide in 
 ^^ the middle of Thrace, and winter in its ca- 
 verns, while from the excellent Jamblichus, a« 
 from fome eallern fpring, letters greet us, inftead 
 of fwallows, though we are not yet allowed to go 
 to him, nor he to come to us? Who but a Thracian, 
 or one like Tereus f, can with equanimity fupport 
 this ? 
 
 O royal Jove^ from Thrace the Grecians free J, 
 Difpell thefe fogs, and give us but to fee 
 
 generated into bigotry and fuperftition j infomuch th»t 
 with all his prctenlions to right reafon, and all his pro- 
 felTions of humanity, moderation, tendcrnefs, and equity, 
 he has not efcaped the juft imputation of being a perfe- 
 cutor. Lardner. 
 
 This learned writer has given an Englifli tranflation of 
 the above Epiftle in his Jewilh and Heathen Teflimonies, 
 Vol. IV. p. 108. 
 
 * See Ep. XXXIV. note *, p. 80. 
 •f Tereus was a king of Thrnce, but feems here intro.. 
 
 duced for his cruelty and brutality. See Ovid. Metam. vi. 
 
 * 2,tv atu «X>i« cv ^vcrai cnto ©^riK%Qn A;)^a*yf, altered from II. 
 XVII. 645. Zsv woIe^, ecXKa. av fvsrai vv «s«o; ytssj A;^ai«», thfr 
 
 beginning of the celebrated prayer of Ajax, applauded by 
 Longiuus and others. The other line is the lame as ia Ho- 
 mer. Pope has thus tranllated them : 
 
 Lord of earth and air ! 
 
 O King! O Father ! hearmy humble prayer ! 
 
 Difpell this cloud, the light of heaven rellore. 
 
 Give me to fee, and Ajax alks. no more. 727, 
 
 3 " fome* 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 149 
 
 fometimes our Mercury, and to falute his fhrinc, 
 and embrace his images, as UlyfTes is faid to have 
 done, when, after his wanderings, he at laft faw 
 Ithaca * ; though the Phasacians departed, after 
 laying him out of the (hip, like a bale ef goods, 
 in his fleep -j-. But fleep does not feize us till we 
 are allowed to fee the great blefTing of the world. 
 You too are jocofe in faying that I and my com- 
 panion Sopater | have tranfported all the Eaft 
 into Thrace. For if the truth muil be fpoken, 
 while Jamblichus is abfent, I feem involved in Cim- 
 merian § darknefs. Befides, you defire one of thefe 
 
 alternatives^ 
 
 * Ulyfles, at his return to Ithaca, OdyflT. xiii. 
 
 With joy confefs'd his place of birth, 
 
 And on his knees falutes his mother earth ; Pope, 403, 
 but where Julian found the two other circumftances men- 
 tioned above, I cannot fay, 
 
 + Odyff. xiri. 116. 
 
 Ulyfles fleeping on his couch they bore, 
 
 And gently plac'd him on the rocky fliore, &c. 
 
 Pope, 138. 
 
 % Could this be the Sopater, who afterwards entertained 
 him at Hierapolis, (fee p. 70.) whom he' " had (then) 
 *' fcarce ever feen before ?" 
 
 § The Cirnmerians were a people of Italy vvho dwelt in 
 a valley, between Baiae and Cuma;, fo furrounded with hills, 
 that it is faid they never faw the fun. There was the 
 Sibyl's grot, and there was fuppofed to be the defcent to 
 hell. 
 
 Great obfcurity, or darknefs, of the mind, is called 
 ** Cimmerian darknefs." This adage arofe from the pro- 
 digious darknefs of the Cimmerian region, which Strabo 
 defcribes in his firft book of his Geography, and quotes 
 the following paflage from the Odyfley of Homer, xi, 
 
 H- 
 
 L } There, 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 alternatives, either that I would go to you, or 
 that you may come to mc; one of which, namely, 
 that I would return to you, and enjqy your ad- 
 vantages, is very clefiruble to me. The other ex- 
 ceeds all my wiflies. But as this is not only 
 inconvenient to you, but alio impraclicable, remain 
 at home, fare you well, and continue to enjoy your 
 prefenr tranquillity. As to me, whatever the Gods 
 fl:iall allot, I will bear \vi;h fortitude : for it is the 
 character of the virtuous to cherilli good hopes, 
 and to perform their duty, hfai always to fubmit iq 
 laral necelluy. 
 
 There, in a lonely land, and gloomy cells. 
 The dufky nation of Ciaiaicria dwells ; 
 The fun ne'er views th' uncomfortable feats, 
 When radiant he advances, or retreats : 
 l^nhapny race, whom endlefs night invades, 
 Clouds the dull air, and wraps them round in fliades. 
 
 Broome, 15, 
 
 TuUy alfo mentions the Cimmerians in the ivth book of 
 his Academic Quellions. And in this country Ovid, in the 
 xirh book of his Alcuimorphofes, has built a temple to the 
 God of Sleep, Erasmus, 
 
 Epiftic 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 151 
 
 Epiftle LIV. To George, the Catholic * 
 
 T ET Echo be, as you fay, a Goddefs, and 
 -*—' talkative, and alfo, if you pleafe, the wife 
 of Pan f. I fay nothing to the contrary. Though 
 Nature would teach me, that Echo is the found of 
 the voice reverberated by the percuffion of the 
 air, and refle6lcd back to the ear, yet, by the 
 opinion both of ancients and moderns, as well, 
 as by yours, I am induced to think that Echo is 
 a Goddefs. But what is this to me, who in lore 
 to you far exceed Echo ? For flie does not reply 
 to every thing (he hears, but only to the laft 
 words of the voice, like a coy miftrefs, who re- 
 ceives the falute of her lover on the extremity of 
 her lips. In this as I gladly lead the v;ay, fo again 
 challenged by you, like a tennis-player, I return 
 the flroke. You fhall not efcape, but Ihall be con- 
 victed by your own letter ; and in that image yon 
 may difcover a refemblance of yourfclf, as you re- 
 
 ■* Epiftle VIII. is addrefled to the fame, 
 
 t The Mythologifls fable, that Echo was defperately- 
 beloved by Pan. See, among others, Hephreftion ia the 
 Writers of poetic hillory, publiflied by Thomas Gale, p. 333. 
 
 Wolf I us. 
 
 And thus Libanius fays to his friend Demetrius, *"• You 
 *' have tranfmitted me fo fvveet a voice by your epillle, 
 *' that I was quite captivated by it, and enamoured of its 
 *' charms, admiring the beauty of the words no lefi than 
 <* ^.m admired the Goddefs !" Ep. ccccxlii. 
 
 L 4 celve 
 
1^2 EPISTLES O F JULIAN. 
 
 ceive much and return little, not of me, who en- 
 deavour to excell in both. But-'Tvhether you re- 
 turn with the fame merifure that you receive, or 
 nor, whatever 1 receive from vou i^ aereeable to 
 inc, and (hall be deemed a full and fatisfaclory 
 anfwer. 
 
 Epiftle LV. To EuMENius and Pha- 
 
 R I ANUS *. 
 
 ^ -f ' \X7'HOEVER has perfuaded you that any 
 thing is more pleahng and beneficial to 
 mankind than philofophiling in eaie and fecurity, 
 is deceived himfelf, and deceives you. If you 
 retain your former fplrit, and, like a fparkling 
 flame, it be not fuddenly extinguiflied, I deem you 
 happy. Four years have nov/ elapfed, and almoft 
 three months more, fmce we .parted. I would 
 gladly therefore learn what progref§ you have made 
 in that time. As to me, it is a wonder that I can 
 even fpeak Greek, fuch barbarifm I have ccn- 
 tra£ied in this country f. D^fpife not oratory, 
 
 * Thcfe were probably two of Julian's fellow-iludents, 
 whom he left with reg'.et at Athens, in 355, when he was 
 fiimmoned to court by Conftantius, and created Casfar. I 
 iiave therefore dated this Epiftle as above. I know not that 
 their names occur any where elfe. 
 
 Ainong the Epiftles.of Libanius, preferved ,(in Latin) by 
 Zambicari, are two to Euirediu?, (iii. 257, 8.) which 
 probably means tliis Eiimerfius, elpccially as in one of them 
 Andromachus, an Athenian, is recommended to him. 
 
 -j- This exprelBpn fliews, that Juhan vyas then in Gaul. 
 
 It is fimiiar to one in Epiftle XXlX.'p. 75.'" 
 
 nor 
 
EPISTLES OFJULIAN, 153 
 
 -nor neglecl rhetorick, nor be inattentive to poetry. 
 But let your principal fludy be phiiolophy ; and 
 in this beftow all your labour on the maxims, df 
 Arillotle and Plato. Be this your chief work; be 
 this the bafe, the foundation, the walls, the r0of« 
 Let the reft be no more than offices ; which, how- 
 ever, you may finifh with more ikill than fome can 
 build a manfion. 
 
 This advice is given you by one, who, by di- 
 vine Nemefis, loves you both with a brotherly 
 affedion, as having been his fchool-fellows and 
 intimate friends. If you retain a regard for rae, 
 my affe£lion will increafe. ""' IfnoL, I Ihall grieve. 
 And what at length may be the confequence of 
 continual grief, for the fake of a better omen, I 
 fupprefs. 
 
 Eplflle LVL To EcDiciu's, Trsefe'a -of 
 
 ^gypt.^ 
 
 TF any thing particularly deferves our ferious 
 attenrion, it is facred multc. Selefting there-^ 
 fore from among the Alexandrians fome youths of 
 good families, order two artaha ^ to. be diftrif 
 buted every month to each ; and fome oil, wheat, 
 and wine. The praefe^ls of the treafury (hall fup- 
 .ply them, with cloaths. They jfhall be chofen by 
 
 * Among the ^Egyptians, that an artaha made twenty 
 modii we are told by Jerom on Ifaiah, ch. v. 
 
 Among the I*erfians it was different, as we learn from 
 Herodotus, /. i» RoEERTsoy, 
 
 their 
 
154 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 their voices. Mean time, let thofe who are pro- 
 ficients in that art be informed, that we have al- 
 lotted rewards for their labours. And, befides 
 thefe encouragements from us, they may alfo be 
 affured by thofe who have a right judgement in 
 thefe things, that they will profit their fouls by 
 purifying them with divine mufic. So much for 
 thefe youths. As to what relates to the fcholars 
 of the mufician Diofcorus, let them cultivate that 
 art with more attention, and they Ihall receive from 
 ' us all poffible affiftance ^, 
 
 EpiflleLVIL To thePhilofopher Elpidius f • 
 
 TH E pleafure even of a fhort letter is great, 
 when the friendfliip of the writer is meafured, 
 not by the concifenefs of his epift.le, but by the 
 crreatnefs of his mind. Therefore if my prefen; 
 mental falutation be rather fliort, do not from 
 thence form a judgement of my regard. But as 
 you well know the extent of my love for you, ex- 
 cufe the brevity of this addrefs, and anfvver it with- 
 
 * This Epiftle is a proof of the Emperor's great cfteem 
 for mufic. And indeed it is impoffible to read his works 
 without being convinced, that he was ignorant of nothing 
 \yhich was then neceffary to be known to render a' man an 
 univerfal fcholar. La Bleteri?. 
 
 It is omitted, how-ever, by this tranflator, 
 
 + This philofopher, and the Emperor's kindnefs to 
 him, are mentioned by Libanius iu one of hij Epiflles to 
 Julian. See Vol. I. p. 305. 
 
 out 
 
EPISTI^ESOFJULIArf. ' 155 
 
 out delay. For whatever you fend me, though 
 it be finall, I efleem as a fpecimen of every thing 
 that is good. 
 
 Epiftle LVIII. To the Alexandrians. 
 
 YO U have a ftone obelifk % I am informed, A. D, 
 361. 
 of a proper height, but that, as if it were 
 
 worthlefs, it lies 011 the fliore. Conflantius, of 
 
 bleifed memory, had conllru£led a veffel on pur^ 
 
 pofe to convey it to my country, Conflantinople f. 
 
 But as he, by the will of the Gods, has taken a 
 
 fatal departure from hence, that city now requells 
 
 this prefent from me, being my country, and con- 
 
 fequently more nearly conne<5led to me than to him. 
 
 flis was a brotherly, but mine is a filial, love J; 
 
 for 
 
 * In a remote but poliflted age, which feems to have pre- 
 peded the invention of alphabetical writing, a great num- 
 ber of thefe obelifks had been ere£ted in the cities of 
 Thebes and Heliopolis, by the ancient fovereigns of ^gypt, 
 in a juft confidence that the fimplicity of their form and 
 the hardnefs of their fubftance would refift the injuries of 
 time and violence. Gieeok. 
 
 f Conftantius caufed one of the obeliflcs that are ftill 
 feen at Rome to be tranfported thither from ^gypt. It is 
 that which was erected by Sixtus V, Conftantius was de- 
 lirous of procuring a like decoration for New Rome. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 A veffel of uncommon ftrength and capacioufnefs wa» 
 provided to conv^ey this uncommon weight of granite from 
 the banks of the Nile to thofe of the Tyber. Gibbon-. 
 
 X Julian, I think, might have faid that Confiantine loved 
 the city as his " daughter j" and then he would have h44 
 
136 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 fot I was born there, I was educated there, and 
 therefore I cannot be ungrateful to her *. 
 
 As your city is no lefs dear to me than my own 
 country, inftead of a triangular flone engraved 
 with Egyptian chara6lcrs, I allow you to ereft 
 the coloflal (latue -f, which has lately been made, 
 of a man whofe refemblance you defire. And as 
 it is generally reported that forae perfons repofc 
 on the top of that obeliit, and pay it adoration 
 
 it 
 
 no occafion to magnify bis affe(!!lion for that place above 
 Conft-antlnes, However, the more to fatisfy the Alexan- 
 -diians, he promifes them a column of brafs, of a large fize, 
 in the room of the ^Egyptian obelifk of ftone. And thus 
 Julian does what had been blamed in Confiantine. He robs 
 "and ftrips Alexandria to enrich and adorn Conftantinople. 
 . , Lardner, 
 
 This learned writer, it is obfervable, has here mil^aken 
 " Conftantine" for " Conilantius." Yet he refers to Span, 
 ".hsim's edition, where we read Y-^%a~i\-n^ K^vravlio,-. 
 
 * In the editions of Julian the Epillle ends here. M. 
 
 Mnratori foimd the conclufion in a MS. of the Ambrofian 
 
 • library, and has publKhed it in his Anecdota Graca^ from 
 
 ■)»vl>^HGe M» Fabricius has inferted it in his Bihliotheca Graca* 
 
 La Bleterie, 
 
 7 1 imagiae this was a ftatue of Julian himfelf. Ih'uU 
 
 ■ Al. Muratori tranilates it, quofdam ejfe thcrapcutas qui obclifcl 
 "hujiU'vcrtlci 'mdormlunf . He thinks that thefe therapcuta: 
 iv.xre fbme monks, who, no doubt in the fpirit of morti- 
 fication, ilept on that obeliQc. M. Fabricius adds, that 
 thefe were certainly fome Stylites. But, i. in order to find 
 •therapeuts here, a force muft be put upon the text, 
 > and no regard paid to the conjunction copulative which coa», 
 nefts the two verbs : cultum adhibentci et indonnientes ejus 
 certici. 2. The Stylites were entirely unknown before the 
 i ilhiflrioiis St. Simeon, who did not afcend his pillar till 
 ' about the year 423 j and it is remarkable that the an- 
 j . chorets 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN; 157 
 
 it fliould, I am convinced, on account of that iu- 
 perftition, be removed. For thofe who fee them 
 fleeping there, amidft the filth which mufl fur- 
 
 chorets of -(Egypt fent and declared to him, that they 
 feparated themfelves from his communion, becaufe they 
 could not approve fo new a kind of life. Nor did they 
 again unite with this faint till they had had proofs of hij 
 obedience and humility. It is better therefore to tranilate 
 it as I have done, and to fay that fome Heathens paid ado- 
 ration to this obtlilk. It is well known, that all the obelillis 
 were dedicated to the fun, a reafon fufficient to millead 
 fome Chriftian anchorets ; and the hieroglyphics which were 
 fcen on this might render it ftill more refpeftable to ido- 
 laters. Some, hoping no doubt to have divine dreams, 
 went to deep on the point, or rather near the point, of 
 this obelifk, which lay on the fea-lhore. The heat of .th,e 
 climate will not admit a doubt that this was in the night f 
 and this ncxSlurnal fuperftition ferved as an occalion and a 
 pretext for fome diforders which completed the difcredit 
 of Paganifm. Julian, if I may be allowed the expreffion, 
 was delirous of removing that Jlo/ie of offence, r\nd of pre- 
 fcrving from this ridicule his unhappy religion, which had 
 already too much of it. Ihid. 
 
 This obeliflc might be that which Spon faw at Conftan- 
 tinople in the fquare of the Armeydan, where was for- 
 merly the Hippodrome. It is of ^Egyptian granite, fifry 
 feet high, and covered with hieroglyphics. The infcriptioa 
 on the bafe relates that " Theodofius undertook to erc<ft 
 *' this monument, which lay on the ground, and tha' Pro- 
 *' clus accomplifhed the work in thirty-two days." fulian, no 
 doubt, was dead before his obelilk was erected, and Valens 
 had neglefted it. In the reign of Theodofius they were 
 far from giving the honour of it to Julian, or from fliying 
 that it had been tranfported from yEgypt by the orders of 
 that apoftate. It may be objected that the obclift. of Spon is 
 fquare, but that this which Julian mentions was triangular, 
 Tfiytfvi}. But this word is a correftion of M. Muratori, a» 
 the MS. gives TfiTwvy, which has no meaning. Probably vvc 
 (hould read Tilpa^wrt, efpecially as, according to jNI. INiura- 
 • tori hirtifelf, ail the other obeliiks are fquare^ Ihld. 
 
 round 
 
158 E P I S T L E S O F J tJ L I A 1^. 
 
 round the place, and the Ihameful anions there" 
 committed, can by ilo means regard this done as 
 facred, and the fuperftition of thofe who dvvell on 
 it confirms unbelievers in their infidelity. You 
 Ihould therefore fecond me in my undertaking, by 
 fending this obeliHc to my country, which, when 
 you navigate our feas, receives you with fuch hof- 
 pitality, and thus contributing your affiftance to 
 the outward embellifhitieiit of that city. Nor can 
 it be difagreeable to yourfelves to have fomething 
 of your own extant among us, which, as yoti 
 fail towards the city, you may hereafter view witk 
 pleafure. 
 
 EpiftleLIX*. To DioNYsius t* 
 
 riV yl* ORE prudent was your former filence thari 
 ^'^ -*- your prefent defence;] for then, though 
 perhaps you devifed fcandal, you did not utter it* 
 [But now, teeming, as it were, with flander againft 
 us, you pour it forth moft abundantly; unlefs I 
 ought not to deem flander] and abufe your thinking 
 
 * For an account of this Epiftle and the former, fee 
 p. 2. In the editions of Rigalt, Petan, and Spanhcim, it 
 is imperfeft. The above is tranflatcd from a copy in the 
 Lux Et'Ofigrlii of Fabricitis, p. 326. collected by Roftgaard, 
 The additions arc inferted within []. 
 
 f The Medicean MS. has this infcription: lnUxyix; kcP.x 
 N«x». The beginning of the Epiftle is wanting in the edi- 
 tions, fABtllCIUS. 
 
 mo 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN* 15^ 
 
 iTie like your friends j to each of whom you offered 
 your fervices unafl^ed *, but particularly unafked by 
 the firft, and the fecond only hinting that he (hould 
 be glad of your afliftance, you immediately com- 
 plied. Whether I refemble Conaftns and Mag- 
 nentius -f-, fa£ls, as the faying is, will (hew. But 
 you, like Aftydamas in the comedy, are your own 
 panegyrifl: J ; and this is evident from what you 
 have written. For thofe expreffions, " intrepidity," 
 and " great boldnefs/' and, *' I wifh you knew who 
 *' and what I am," and the like, for (hame ! what 
 boading and oftentaiion do they exhibit ! But, by 
 Venus and the Graces, if you are fo bold and noble- 
 minded, fwhy were you fo fearful of being under the 
 neceflity of offending a third time? For thofe who 
 have incurred the difpleafure of princes, if they 
 are wife, find an cafe, and perhaps a pleafure, ia 
 
 * Suidas : aitXTjIoc, atutvfxc^t ^siuKcti a-£civ\o» aa'Ar^iot ru ^iv\-.^. 
 He alludes to the words of Julian. By wfolEfo* (" the 
 *' former,") underfland Conftans (" the fecond,") oh^wepu 
 is Magnentius. Faericius. 
 
 t Conllans, the youngeft fon of the great Confluntine, 
 was engaged in a civil war with his eldeft brother Con- 
 #antine, who was killed in the courfe of it. Magnen- 
 tius revolted againft Conftantius, and ulurped the Weft. 
 By comparing Julian to them, Dionyfius perhaps meant 
 to ftigmacife him with the murder of Conftantius and ufur- 
 pation of the empire. 
 
 J In the MS. a-ixvlot ixttMistq, not ca,C\zi ewaivw,-, yvtxi, as 
 even Rigalt to Onofander, in his edition, p. 90. It refeis 
 to Philemon, the comic poet, as appears from the Proverbs 
 of Apoftolius, Centur. xvri. 30. and Suidas on c■nl^T,^ iiraitsii. 
 See alfo Zenobius, v. 100. Julian quotes the fame proverb 
 in his xzfth Epiftle. Fakricius. 
 
 beins 
 
i^o EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 being difcharged from bufinefs ; or if they muft be 
 fined, they fuffer in their fortunes ; or the utmoft 
 effect of refentment is that incurable evil, as it has 
 been called, the lofs of life. All thefe things are 
 fcomed and dcfpifed by you, who have renounced 
 your friend, a man, from common and general re- 
 port, well known to us, dull as we are. Inflead 
 of this, you fay, you invoke the Gods that you 
 may not offend a third time. My anger therefore 
 will not from being good make you wicked. He 
 that could do this would be a prodigy indeed. Ac- 
 cording to Plato, it might indeed have the contrary 
 cffeft *. But virtue being perfe£lly free, you ought 
 to have no fuch ideas. You, however, think it a 
 great matter to flander all men, to utter the bit- 
 tereit farcafms, and to convert the temple of peace 
 into a brothel.] 
 
 Do you think that your pail faults are in general 
 
 cxcufed, and that your late courage has atoned for 
 
 your former cowardice ? You know the fable of 
 
 , Chabrias f. A cat was once in love with a handfome 
 
 youth {. Learn the reft from the book. What- 
 
 * De Legibus, vr. 
 
 f The words tov Xx^pm are in the Medicean and Barro:. 
 MS3. and this is in the xvith fable of Chabrias, or Ba- 
 briiis, a Greek poet, who has put the fables of ylllop into 
 Iambic -verle. 
 
 J Kathcr, according to our fables, a young man was 
 in love with -a cat; Dionytius could no more divert hirofelf 
 of his natural pufillanimiry, &c. than the cat (traiif- 
 for.Titd to a womnn) could forego her purfuit of mice. 
 The Latin lranil::iTor rendi-is it viujtda (" a vvcafel") ; but 
 y«?i>) fignlfies alio '• a cat." 
 
 ever 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, i6i 
 
 ever you may fay, you will perfuade no one that 
 you were not what you were, and what many have 
 long known you to be. But your unfkilfulnefs and 
 temerity are ov.-ing, not to philofophy, the Gods 
 forbid ! but rather to what Plato calls *' a double 
 ignorance *." For though experience might have 
 taught you, as it has me, that you know nothing, 
 yet you think yourfelf the wifefl: of all men, pad, 
 prefent, or to come ; fo great is your ignorance, fo 
 abundant your felf-conceit. 
 
 But enough concerning you. Some apology 
 perhaps is necelTary to others for fo readily giving 
 you a fliare in the conduct of my affairs. I am 
 not the firfl, nor the only one, Dionyfius, who has 
 been miflaken. Your name-fake alfo deceived 
 Plato 'J-. [And fo did Callippus the Athenian J, 
 whom, he faid, he knew to be wicked, but that he 
 was profligate to fuch a degree he never could have 
 fufpe£led.J And need I add, that the greatefl of 
 phyficians, Hippocrates, faid, ** in my opinion of 
 *' the futures of the head I was miflaken § ? Thus 
 they were deceived in what they ought to have 
 
 knov.'n, 
 
 : * The one is when men acknowledge their ignorance, 
 the other when tiiey think they know that of which they 
 are ignorant. In Alcib. I. 
 
 f Dionylius the younger fent for Plato into Sicily, to in- 
 ilru(5t him in philofophy. See the Life of Dion in Plutarch. 
 
 X A hearer of Plato, who murdered Dion. 
 
 § The foUovving is doubtlefs the palTage to which Julian 
 alludes : " Autonomus of Omilus died of a wound on his 
 ** head, on the lixteeath dav, having received a hurt by a 
 
 Vol. II. ' M ♦' ftonc 
 
i62 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 known, and even a pbyfician was ignorant of a 
 tbeorcin of his own arc. Is it (1 range then that 
 Juhan, hearing that Nilous *, or Dionyfius, had on 
 a fudden behaved bravely, (hould be miftaken ? 
 
 You have heard of Phirdon f of Elis, and you 
 know his hiftory. If not, read it with attention. 
 He thought that no one is fo depraved that phi- 
 lofophy cannot cure him, and that it purifies hu- 
 man life from the palllons, defire?, and all fuch dif- 
 orders. For that it fliould be fcrviceable to thofe 
 who are well born, and well educated, is not at all 
 extraordinary. But if it brings back into the light 
 thofe whofe minds are ever fo much darkened by ( 
 depravity, this feems to me truly admirable. And on 
 that account, as all the Gods know, I began by de- 
 grees to form a more advantageous opinion of you. 
 
 *' ftone on the futures. I did not think it neceflary to 
 *' open it ; for that the futures themfelves were injured by 
 *' the blow efcaped me." {syM-^uv ^i /xb tyiv yiui/.r,v ai ^a^a'? 
 )... 7. X.) H'rpp. dn inorh. V. 7. 27. The words above quoted, 
 as from Hippocrates, are, ecr^Tj^av ot ^.s Tr,> y''-^\^'^<'' «' '''■r* ''■'•.» 
 x£|)aAy,i> ^x<fM. Bi'iL though in a particular cafe (as above) 
 this great phyfician had the candour to own himfelf mif- 
 taken, it does not follow, nor docs it appear, that he was 
 io-norant of the nature of the futures in ({encral. Tulian 
 trufJcd to his ir.emory, which, though good, was not in- 
 fdl-.ble. 
 
 This candid confcifion of Hippocrates is mentioned aifo 
 vv'ith applaule by Celfus, vHi. ,f. and Plutarch Je proftJIa 
 in fir tilt cm.) p. 82. 
 
 * Tov Nei7.w;». IMS. T&v NeiXo/. FaBRICIUS. 
 
 -j- A fcholar oi ^ocrate?, fo much beloved by Phato, that, 
 he inicribcd his divine book, en ihe inimoiiolity of the ioul, 
 Phxdon. 
 
 /; . Not 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. i6s 
 
 Not that I placed you in the firfl, or even in the fe- 
 cond, rank of worthies, as you yourfelf perhaps 
 inay know. If not, afk the excellent Symmachus *, J 
 for he, I a:n pcrfu.^ded, being naturally difpofed 
 to fpeak truth, will never utter a wilful falihood. 
 [But if you refent ray not raifihg you to the 
 higheft, I reproach myfelf for not degrading you 
 to the lowefl, rank. And I thank all the Gods 
 and GoddeiTes for preventing me from forming an 
 intimacy with you, and making you privy to my 
 counfels, as a bofom friend. Though the poets 
 have faid many things of Fame, ^s a Goddefs ; 
 fhe is rather, if you pleafe, a Bcemon. For 
 Fame is not ahvays to be credited; and there- 
 fore her nature is dcemoniacal, being not abfolutely 
 pure or perfectly good, like that of the Gods, but 
 allayed with fome degree of evil |. And though it 
 may not be proper to fay this of the other D^emons^ 
 I know I may fafcly affirm of Fame, that Ihe utters 
 many fahhoods, as w;;il as many truths {. For I 
 
 * A Roinan orator and prxfeit, well known by his 
 epiftles ftill extanr, and by his writings agalnfl: Chriftianity, 
 refuted by Prudentius and St. Anibrol'e. Three epiftles to 
 him are extant from Libanius, to whorrij it appears, he 
 T.rote in Latin, as his letters required an interpreter. Ke 
 was conful in 391. 
 
 f And had- not the Gods, as well as FamS and the 
 Dcemons, of Julian and the Heathens, much evil in their 
 nature ? Not to mention the notorious vices of 2^Iars, 
 Bacchus, Apollo, and the rell of them, in what was.th^nr. 
 Jupiter, their Supreme, lo pre-eminent as in his deba.i- 
 cheries ? 
 . J 7«,77 /lilji ^Kii'.'ijKc U'uax quam confcla - c I, . Yip. G. 
 
 M 2 •woLJd 
 
164 EPI:STLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 would by no means be accufed of bearing falfc 
 witnefs.] 
 
 You value your freedom of fpeech at four 
 eboli *, as the faying is. [But know you not, that 
 Therfites, among the Greeks, was alfo a free-fpeaker, 
 and in return was chaftifed by the wife Ulyfles with 
 his fceptj-e f ? and that the drunkennefs of Ther- 
 fites was lefs regarded by Agamemnon than the flies 
 lb the proverb were by the tortoife J ?] 
 
 What avails our reproaching others ? We (hould 
 rather be irreproachable ourfelves. If you are fo, 
 tonvince me of it. [When you were young, you 
 told fine (lories of yourfelf to your elders. Thefe 
 adventures, with the Ele£lra of Euripides §, I pafs 
 
 * That is, at ever fo high a rate. Suidas 00 Tixla^w* 
 c?o>.i-v, quoting this paflage of Julian. Faericius, 
 
 He quotes it, as iifual, without naming his author. An 
 oholus was a fmall Athenian coin of filver, weighing about 
 twelve grains ; in our money five farthings. 
 
 t II. II. 199. 
 
 ■ ■ Cowering as the daftard bends, 
 
 The weighty fceptre on his back defcends. Pope, 336, 
 
 X Suidas quotes thefe words from an author to jne un- 
 known, Tu ^i Ay«|t*i/xvon. X. T. X. Flies cannot hurt a tortoife, 
 on account of the fliell with which it is furnifhed. Similar 
 to this is, *' an elephant does not regard a fly." It would 
 be more pleafant if applied to the mind. A mind fortified 
 by virtue and philofophy no more fears the attacks of for- 
 tune than *'a tortoife flies." Erasmus. 
 
 The paflage above quoted by Suidas is this of Julian, 
 which has been brought to light long fince the time of 
 Erafmas. It is alfo quoted anonymoufly by Apoftolius, in 
 hit Centur. XX. proverb. 66. 
 
 § Eurip. Eleftr. ver. 946. 1122, 
 
 I never with the opening morn forbore 
 
 To breathe my filcut plaints, &c» - Potter. 
 
 6 in 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 165 
 
 in filence. But when you became a man, and 
 joined the army, you did, by Jove, juft what you 
 fay of truth ; it gave you offence, and you de- 
 ferred it. By how many witneffes can I prove this, 
 and thofe not of the vulgar and abandoned, but 
 fome by whom you yourfelf were repulfed, who 
 came to us from that neighbourhood ?] To depart 
 from princes in enmity, moft fagacious DionyfiuSj^ 
 is no proof either of courage or wifdom. Much' 
 more would it become you to conciliate, by your 
 intercourfe with mankind, their affeftions to us. 
 But fuch, by the Gods, will never be your con- 
 du6l, nor that of thoufands more who are like- 
 minded. 
 
 If rocks dafh againfl rocks, and flones againft 
 ftones, inftead of being ferviceable to each other, 
 the ftrongeft eafily breaks the weakeft. I fay not 
 this with Laconic brevity ; for I think on your fub- 
 je6l I feem more loquacious than the Attic grafs- 
 hoppers *. For your drunken abufe f of me, 
 with the leave of the Gods, and powerful Nemefis, 
 I will infli£l upon you a deferved punifhment, 
 " To what purpofe ?" you fay, [To reftrain as 
 much as poffible your mind and tongue, andj to 
 
 * This is faid of a man immoderately talkative, or 
 very mufical ; bccaufe this infeil, living only on dew, chiefly 
 delights in finging. And Socrates, in the Phasdron of 
 Plato, relates that fome Who were fo abforbed by mufic 
 that, neglecting their food, they were famifhed, were 
 changed by the Gods into grafshoppers. Erasmus, 
 
 f See the Fragment (froni Suidas) on Mufonius. 
 
 M 3 preveat 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 prevent your offending [in the leafl:] either by 
 words or deeds; in (hort, to dived your fcurrilous 
 tongue of i'o much flander. I v^'ell know that 
 the fanda! even of Venus is laid to have been ridi- 
 culed by Momus *. But you fee that iv'Iomus, though 
 envious of all her beauties, could find nothing but 
 her fandal to depreciate. May you grow old, 
 fretted, in like manner, with envy, more decrepid 
 than Tithonus, more wealthy than Cinyras, and 
 more effeminate than Sai^danapalus, fo as to verify 
 the proverb, " Old men are twice children ! |" 
 
 ^ [But why does the divine Alexander feem to you 
 fo renowned? Why do you profefs yourfelf his 
 imitator and rival ? Is it for that with which the 
 youth HeriT.olaus ;|; reproached him I Of that no 
 one is fo filly as to fufpeft you ; but of the con- 
 trary, for which Hermolaus, grievouQy complain- 
 ing, fuffered ftripes, and, it is faid, would have 
 killed Alexander, there is no one who is not per*' 
 
 * Viz. The creaking of it. See Philoflrati Epiil. XXL., , 
 f On the woid K&layn^xa-sit, Suidas has the above para* 
 graph (not mentioned as a qriotatioa from Julian) with 
 this addition, " which is fiid of thofe who live long. For 
 " Tithonus, being fuperannuated, vvas, at his own define, 
 *' changed into a grafshopper. Cinyras, a defcendant of 
 *< Pharnaces, king of Cyprus, was famous for his riches. 
 ♦' And Sardanapalus, the la 11 king of AfTvria, fell a viiftini 
 *' to intemperance and luxurious delights." 
 
 X " \Vc confpired to kill you," faid Hermolaus, " be- 
 *' caufe you have begun not to govern us as free-men, but 
 *' to tyraxinile over us as ilaves." Q^ Curtius. 
 
 fuadgd 
 
E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 167 
 
 fua'Jed ih:u you are guilty *. From many, by the 
 Gods, who iliid they h-id a great reL;r.rd for j'ou, 
 I have heard feveral things advanced by way of 
 extenuating thisoifencCi and one there was who 
 difoelieved it. But he was a fingle fwallo-A-, who 
 does not make a fpring f. Perhaps Alexander 
 appears great to you, becaule he cruelly flew 
 Callitlhenes I ; or bccaufe Clitus | fell a facrifice 
 to his intemperance; and alfo Philotas J, and 
 Parmenio | *, whofe fon He<n:or was afterwards 
 fmothered in the whirlpools of the i^gyptian Nile, 
 or of the Euphrates, for both have been men- 
 tioned §. I omit his other follies, that I may not 
 feem to revile a man, who, though by no means 
 diftiaguifhed for virtue, was a moil: valiant and ex-^ 
 €ellent commander. Of both which, virtue and 
 
 * Kennolaus, a noble youth, of the royal guards, for 
 kiliing a boar, which the king bad deftined for his ovva 
 fpear, was by his command fcourged. ; a difgrace which 
 he {o bicteily re'ented that he wept, and fotmed tlie above- 
 lacntioiied confpiracy. Q^ Curtius. 
 
 f See Era! mi Chihad. xciv. 
 
 ;{; 'I'he cruel deaths of this philofopher and thefc generals 
 are well known, and are related at large by Quincus 
 Curtius. •' One," iaid Hermolaus, [Ciitus] "■ fpnnkled 
 " your table v,:i:h his bbod ; another [Philotas] futiered 
 *' more than one kind of deadi. Furraenio was matficrcd 
 *> unheard, &;c."- 
 
 § According :o Curiir.s, as this youth, one of the few dear 
 to Alexander, was attempting to loilow tiun down the Nile, 
 the fn)a!i''ve'ircl in v. hi/h he liad embarked, being over- 
 Waded, funk. Hector, after long ilruggling wirh the jlream^ 
 at length reached the bank, but there, for want of alnlfance, 
 perillied. Of this, however, Alexander teems to have been 
 ijiuocent. Philotas was a' to a fon of Parmenio. 
 
 Pvl 4 ' valour^ 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 valour, you have a lefs poriion than fifh have cf 
 hair. Now hear with calmnefs what I advife : ' 
 Not thefe, O daughter, are thy proper Ctires I 
 Thee milder arts befit, and fofter wars *. 
 What follows, by the Gods, I am afliamed to 
 tranfcribe. I would have you, however, attend to 
 it, fince it is highly reafonable that deeds Ihould 
 follow words, and that oiie who has been remifs 
 in his deeds fhould never flart at words. But you, 
 who revere the fliades of Magnentius and Conflans^ 
 wage war with the living, and, in fome way or 
 other, afperfe the beft charadters. Are the living 
 lefs able to revenge affronts? This you will by no 
 means think proper to affirm, be the confidence 
 which you mention, whatever it may. -Reje(-Hing 
 that plea, will you admit this, that you deride 
 them becaufc they are infenfible ? Nor is this, I 
 prefume, the true reafon. For who among the 
 living is fo ftupid, or pufillanimous, as to think 
 your good opinion of the leaft importance, and 
 would not prefer being totally unknown to you, or, 
 if that wereimpoflible, would not rather choofe to 
 be reviled by you, as I am now, than honoured ? 
 I would by no means err fo egregioufly in my 
 judgement as not to think your praifcs better thafi 
 your reproaches. But even this, perhaps, that I 
 am now writing to you, proves- that I am hurt. 
 By no means, Lcall the preferving Gods to wit- 
 nefs; I only wiQi to check the intolerable arrogance 
 
 * II. V. 428. Pope, 519. 
 
 of 
 
E P I S T L E S O F ] U L I A N. 169 
 
 of this reviler, the petulance and prurience of his 
 tongue, the frenzy of his mind, and his fury on 
 all occafions. If I were injured by you, I might 
 by deeds, "not words, have a legal remedy, as 
 you, being a citizen, and of the fenatorial rank, 
 have difobeyed the command of the Emperor. 
 But for this there was no occafion, nothing 
 but the lad extremity requiring it. I did not think 
 proper therefore to fubjed: you to any puniihmenr, 
 but rather chofe firft at leaft to write to yon, hoping 
 that a (hort epiflle might effeft your cure. But 
 as you perfevere in tbefe crimes, or rather exhibit 
 to the public the frenzy which was before con- 
 cealed, let no one, for the future, think you a 
 man, who are not a man, or miftake the fury, 
 which tranfports you, for courage, or fuppofe you 
 to be learned who are an utter Granger to litera- 
 ture, as may eafily be proved from your epiftles.l 
 '' None of the ancients, for inftance, ever ufed to 
 ^^ii^cy, to fignify " manifefi,'* * as you have, be fides 
 many other blunders, in your letter. No one, in 
 the longefl difcourfe, could exprefs your loolc 
 and indecent behaviour, your feif-profticuiion. For 
 
 you 
 
 ■* ^fceoor is rather a(^a>e?, ly.rrB^uiv, atpatlor. (" Far dilrant, ob- 
 fcuie.)" See Hc'fychius and Harpocratio. Faericius., 
 
 f Among the flagrant crimes of which he accufes Dio- 
 nyfius, Julian here condefcends to crraign his phra-feology, 
 3nd, like a former Dionyfius, exchanges his fceptre tor a 
 rod. Thus a miftake in the meaning of a v.ord, or in the 
 graces of ftyle, is put on a level uirh treachery and trcafon, 
 and feems as unpardonable to this Imperial critic, as an 
 cfFence againfl the graces of behaviour was to a la-te Britifti 
 .... _ ^ peer.. 
 
170 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 you feduce, not only fuch a<? ?.re willing and foi% 
 ward, "* * * * nor thofe vl.o hunt after public 
 employments, but ihofe who, in confeqnence of a 
 found judgement, adl right, [and therefore have 
 been feledted by us for their prompt obedience. 
 
 You make fair proinifes, thou^^h not by way of 
 intreatv, or fubmillion, if we will again empioy 
 y< u in fon^e place of rruft. But fo far is that 
 from my intention, that when others have beca 
 admitted, I never fent for you, as I have for many, 
 kno.vn and unknown to me, of the inhabitants 
 of that heaven-beloved city, Rome. Such value 
 I fet on your friendfhiip ; of foch attention I 
 thought you worthy ! I (hall therefore acft in the 
 fame manner probably for the future. And this 
 epiitle, which 1 am now writing, I intend, not only 
 for yuur perufal, but think it neceflary to be com- 
 municated to many more. 1 will give it indeed 
 to all, for all, I am perfuaded, will readily receive 
 it ; fuch a general indigiiation your infoieuce and 
 arrogance have excited. 
 
 You h.ive here a complete reply, fo that you 
 cnn defire from us nothing farther. Nor do we 
 wiib anv return from you. Make what ufe you 
 pleafe of our letters; for \ou have fold our friend' 
 Ihip. Farewell-, amidll your banquets abuCng me'} 
 
 peer. The above Ciitici'm is perfectly in the fpirit of 
 Bentley t'crfus Barnes. !^ut Julian fliould have recuUcctctj 
 that this Roman wrote Greek in compliment to him. 
 
 Epiftie 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. iV 
 
 Epiftle LX. To Jamelichus. 
 
 YOU came, and z.diza. For you came, though 
 abfent, by your letter. But, by the ardour 
 of the friendfliip which I feel for you, I do not 
 decline your love f, * * * nor ia any refpedl 
 defert you, but, as if you were prefent, I view 
 you with my mind, and am with you, though 
 abfent, nor can any thing elfe give rae complete 
 fatisfatflion. You are never weary of obliging 
 the prefent, and not only delighting, but preferving 
 the abfent by your writings. For being told that 
 a friend was arrived with a letter from you, though 
 I had been three days ill of a pain in my ftomach, 
 and was much indifpofed with a fever, yet hearing, 
 as I faid, that a letter from you was at the gate, like 
 one not mailer of himfelf and divinely infpired, I 
 fprung np and rufned out to him before he could 
 enter. But as foon as I had taken the letter into 
 my hands, I fwear by the Gods themfelves and 
 that regard for you which inflames me, my pain at 
 once abated, and the fever inftantly fled, abaflied, 
 as it were, at the evident prefence of fome tutelar 
 deity. And when I had opened and read it, what, 
 think you, were my fenfations, or how great was 
 my fatisfa£lion, praifing iramoderately, and loving 
 
 f Imperfeft. 
 
 the 
 
in EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 the moH: friendlj'', as you flyle him, * * * * |, who 
 is really deferving of love, and the minifter of 
 good, for being inftrumental in forwarding to me 
 your letter, and conligning it to me, like a bird, 
 by a favourable and profperous gale, which not 
 only gave me the delight of hearing that your 
 affairs were in a proper flate, but alfo recovered 
 me from illnefs ! As to other things, how Ihall I 
 expreis what I felt when 1 firfl read that epiftle, 
 or how can I fafficiently demonftrate my affe£lioi> ? 
 How often did I turn back from the middle to the 
 beginning ! How much did I fear, left, when I 
 had finiflied it, I (hould forget it ! How often, as 
 in the circuit and compafs of a ftanza, did I carry 
 ^ back the conclufion to the beginning, repeating at 
 
 the clofe, as in a mufical compofition, that mcafurc 
 with which the fong began ! And what followed ? 
 How often did I apply the letter to my lips, as 
 mothers kifs their infants ! How clofely did I prefs 
 it to my mouth, as if I had been embracing my 
 deareft miflrefs ! How frequently did I accoft and 
 kifs even the fuperfcrlption, which, as a well- 
 known fignatnre, you had written with your 
 own hand; and then fixed my eyes upon it, rivetted, 
 as it were, by the fingers of that facred hand on 
 the traces of the letters ? 
 
 t Imperfeft. The name of the friend who forwarded 
 the letter feems all that is wanting. 
 
 '' Much 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 173 
 
 " Much falutation from us attend you !" as fays the 
 fair Sappho * ; and, not only during our reparation, 
 but fare you well always, not failing to write, and, 
 as is fitting, to remember us ! As to ourfelves, 
 there will never be a time, there can never be an 
 occalion, there will never be a difcourfe, in which 
 wc fhall not remember you * * * *. And if Ju- 
 piter (hall ever allow me to revifit my native coun- 
 try, and again to enter your facred raanfion, fpare 
 not the fugitive-, but, as a deferter from the Mufes, 
 brought back from flight, bind him, if you pleafe, 
 to your delightful benches, and, when properly 
 chaftifed, reprimand him. I will by no means de- 
 cline the puniihment, but will fubmit to it volun- 
 tarily and chearfully ; as to the provident and falu- 
 tary corre£lion of an indulgent father. But if you 
 will permit me to pronounce my own fentence, I will 
 with pleafu re fubmit to this; the being faftened, 
 my noble friend, to your veil, (o as never to be 
 feparated from you, but clofely to adhere to you, 
 and every where to be carried about with you, as 
 fables feign of double men ; unlefs they ludi- 
 croufly mean it as an alluHoii to the excellence of 
 friendfhip, exprefSag the congenial agreement of 
 each foul in the bond of communion. 
 
 * X«»ff h x*^ «vl»f Hf^n C7e;.x«. This muft be in Comt 
 po«m that is loll. 
 
 Epiftle 
 
174 EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 
 
 Epiflle LXI. To the fame. 
 
 THAVE fuffered, I confefs, fufficieut punini- 
 -^ ment for my abfence from you, partly in the 
 fatigues which I endured in my journey, but 
 chiefly on account of my long feparation from yoii. 
 Though I have every where met with a variety of 
 accidents, fo as to have left none unexperienced ; 
 though I have fuftained the tumults of battles, the 
 diftrefsof fieges, the wanderings of flight, with ter- 
 rors of every kind, and alfo the feverities of winter, 
 the dangers of difeafes, and many and various other 
 calamities from Upper Pannonia to the paflage of 
 the Chalcedonian ftrait, I can truly fay, that no* 
 thing has happened to me fo grievous and perplex- 
 ing, fince my leaving the Eaft, as my not having 
 feen, for fuch a length of time, you, the general 
 blefrnig of the Greeks. Wonder not therefore, if 
 I fay, a kind of darknefs and thick clouds hang 
 over my eyes. For, in truth, the fty will be 
 ferene, the light of the fun more fplendid, and a 
 molt beautiful fpring of life will, as it were, be 
 renewed to me, when I cau embrace you, the great 
 ornament of the world. Then, like a darling fon, 
 efcaped from war, or returned from a long voyage'> 
 and reftored unexpectedly to an excellent father, 
 relating to you all my fufferings, and the dangers 
 that I have furmounted, and rctiing, us on a facred 
 
EPIS TLES OF JUL! AN. 1/5 
 
 anchor, I fliall find a fufficient fol ice tor my for- 
 rows. Vov calamities are confoleJ, and fufterings 
 alleviated, by communication, and by the know- 
 ledge of our friends participated. Mean v*^hiie I 
 tender you my bed fervices, nor will I ever fail to 
 write to you, and durini^ the whole time of my 
 abfence to fend you fuch epiftolary tokens. If 
 I can obtain the fame from you, the perufal of 
 your letters, like an aufpicious omen, will abate 
 my grief. Receive mine with complacence^ and 
 be more favourably difpofed to make a return. 
 For whatever good you (hall exprefs or commu- 
 nicate, I fliall prefer to the eloquent voice of 
 Mercury, and the ficilful hand of jEfculapius. 
 
 Epinie LXII. f. To * * * * (Iinperfea.) 
 
 SHOULD not the fame indulgence, which Is 
 given to wooden blocks, be allowed to men i ? For 
 fuppofe that one invefl-jd with the prieRhood be 
 unworthy, Ihould he not be fpared, till, having 
 
 aicer- 
 
 t The Gentiles, who peaceably followed the cnftoms of 
 their anceitors, were rather furprifcd than pleafed with the 
 introdudion of foreign mariners ; and in the fiiorr period 
 of his reign, Julian had frequent occafions to complain of 
 the want ot' fervour of his own party. See Epiililcs LXII. 
 and LXllI. Giebont. 
 
 Many of the Epifllcs of Julifln are the efiufions of pri- 
 vate friciidllnp ; fome are public Edicts ; while others are 
 
 juill/ 
 
i;6 EPISTLES OF JUL! AN. 
 
 afcerralned the enormity of his offence, be can be 
 removed from the miniflerial funftion, and deprived 
 of the name of prieft, injudicioufly perhaps con- 
 ferred upon him, and may be fubjedted alfoto cen- 
 fure, fine, and other punifhments ? If you underfland 
 cot this, you cannot have even a fuperficial know- 
 ledge of any thing ; for how ignorant muft you 
 be of what is jui1: and right, not to Icnov/ the dif- 
 ference between a prielt and a private man ! 
 And what muft have been your temper, if you have 
 beaten one to u'hom you ought to have rifen froni 
 your feat I Nothing can be more fhamefu!, In yoii 
 it is particularly unbecoming, in the fight both of 
 Gods and men. The bifliops and prefbyters of the 
 Galileans perhaps alfociare with you ; aiid if not 
 publickly, through fear of me, yet by fleakh and 
 
 juflly ftyled by Mr. Gibbon '' paftoral letters," and are 
 ' dictated by the Emperor as Sovereign Pontiff. In this 
 pontifical charader he addreffes the Epiftle, of which this 
 fragment only is prefervcd, to a Gentile prieft, who, for- 
 getting the nature of his fpiritual warfare, had violently 
 ailhuitf^d and beaten one of his brethren. As a Chriftian 
 Pontiff would have quoted St. I'au) to Titus, A biJJiop. 
 ntujl be no Jhika\ this Gentile apoftle appeals to the; 
 Didym^ean oracle, and then pronounces a fentence of, 
 fufpenlion. 
 
 \ This paragraph is unintelligible, for w?.nt of that 
 . which precedes it. Julian perhaps had been fpeaking oi 
 fuch images of the Gods as were worn out and decayed,, 
 which he has mentioned alio in his long Fragment. ■** If 
 *' any one, " fayj he, " thinks, that, bec.ufe they have 
 ** been once called ihe images oi" the Gods, they caa 
 *' never decay, he feems to me to have loft his lenfes, 
 *♦ For then they could not have been the workmanfliip of 
 ♦» r.ien," &c. 
 
 at 
 
E P I 3 T L E S O F J U L I A K. 177 
 
 at home with your concurrence. But the priefl 
 has been beaten. Otherwife your pontllF would 
 not have preferred fuch a complaint againft you. 
 P.iQages from Homer you think fabulous; hear 
 therefore the oracle of the Didymgean lord, and 
 confider whether he rightly admoniihed the Greeks 
 of ckl, and afterwards, in his difcourfes, taught 
 men to be wife and virtuous : 
 
 They, whom depravity and folly lead 
 To fcorn the priefts of heaven's immortal powers,' 
 And to the wife intentions of the Gods 
 Their own vain thoughts contemptuoufly oppofe. 
 In fafety live not half their days, condemn'd 
 To perifh by th' eternal Gods, who deem 
 Their fervants honour facred as their own *. 
 Not only thofe, you fee, who beat or infult ptieils, 
 but fuch as deny them honour are [declared f] to 
 be enemies to the Gods ; fo that he who' beats them. 
 is guilty of facrilege. I therefore, as the Sove- 
 reign Pontiff of the religion of my country, having 
 now obtained the prcefciflure of the Didymsean 
 oracle, forbid you to interfere in any thing that 
 rehites to the priefthood for three whole months. 
 If, Vv'ithin that time, you (hould appear deferving, 
 on my hearing from the chief-prieft of your city, 
 I will confult the Gods whether you fhall be re- 
 inftated. To this punifhment, which I infiici upoa 
 
 * This pafu^ge has been quoted before, iu the Duties of 
 A Pried, p. 127. 
 
 4 Some fuch word is wanting in the original. 
 
 Vol., IL N V0« 
 
:y^ E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 you for your ralhnefsj the ancients ufed fornierly 
 to add, by words and in writing, thecurfes of the 
 Gods. But of this I do not approve, as it never 
 feems pra£i:ifed by the Gods. And in other re- 
 fpecls, knowing that the priefts are the rainifters 
 of our prayers, I join my hopes and prayers to 
 yours, that by many and earnefl intreaties you may 
 obtain the pardon of the Gods. 
 
 Eplflle LXIII. To the High-Prleft Theo- 
 
 dore 
 
 * 
 
 %?/ nr ^^ ^ Epiflle that I have addreffed to you differs 
 
 -*■ from that which I have tranfmitted to others f, 
 
 as I think, your friendfliip for me fuperior to theirs. 
 
 It is no inconfiderable circumftance^ that we have 
 
 ^ This High-Prisft Theodore was, as may be inferred 
 from this Epiltle, a zealous Pagan, the difciple of Maxi- 
 miis, who, like Julian, had been initiated by Maximus, 
 and inftrniSted, like that prince, in the principles of theurgy. 
 This letter is inferted in the edition of F. Petau, but only 
 •in Greek. It had been copied from a MS. fo defective, 
 rhat it was not poffible to tranfiate it. M. Spanheira, from 
 a MS. lefs imperfeft, has given it, with a Latin verflon, -' 
 which is not anfwerable to the reputation of that learned 
 vvriter. La Bleterie. 
 
 t Jnlir.n had fent, without doubt, a circular letter to 
 the Pagan pontiffs as foon as he was in peaceable polleffion 
 of the eoipire. As this feems to have been writn^a at the 
 lame time, 1 aflign it to the year 361. JiiiJ. 
 
 Julian muft thea have been at Conllantinople. 
 
 one 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 179 
 
 one common mafler, and you well remember *. . . , 
 In a converfation that paiTed between us, a few 
 evenings ago, it gave me great pleafure to hear 
 him exprefs the highefl regard for you. In my 
 friendlhips I am ufually very cautious. As for you, 
 I had never feen you. Before we can love, we mull 
 know ; and before we can know, we fliould try. 
 But a certain reafon determined me '}-. I have there- 
 fore thought proper to rank you among my friends. 
 And now I entrufl to you an affair very interefling 
 to me, and highly advantageous to all men. You 
 will tranfaft it, I doubt not, with propriety, which 
 will afford me much joy here, and better hopes 
 hereafter J. For I differ in opinion from thofe 
 
 who 
 
 * He intimates by half a word, and a myfterious air, wlnt 
 they faw, or thought they faw, when they vvere initiated 
 by Maximus. La Bleterie. 
 
 f It is impoffible to guefs this reafon ; but we may partly 
 difcover, that, in the initiation of Theodore, fonaething 
 happened which induced Julian to conclude that a man 
 fo agreeable to the Gods deferved to be the miniiler and 
 the afiftant of the apoftle of Paganifm. Ibid^ 
 
 I As this Epiftle was not written to be flie'.vn, it prove? 
 to what a degree Julian was fanatical and convinced o' 
 his falfe religion. It fliews, at the fame time, that he 
 believed a providence, another life, and the immortality 
 of the foul. He detefted the materialifts. In one of his 
 works he fpeaks with horror of Pyrrhonifm, and of the 
 dodrine of Epicurus. He thanks the Gods for having 
 extinguiflied thofe feds, and canfed moll of the books 
 v.hich contained their pernicious tenets to be defcroyed. 
 [See the Duties of a Prieft, p. 13+.] Probably the tree- 
 thinkers would not have Triumphed in his :eign. Why 
 
 X z then 
 
ito li. PISTLES OF* JulIaM. 
 
 who think that the foul perifties before or with thd 
 body ''^n We rely, however, on no mnn, but only oh 
 the Gods, as they only can be well acquainted 
 with thefe things, or rather thdy alone necelllirily 
 know theal. Men may form conjeOur^s, but 
 knowledge belongs to the Gods. The commiiTion 
 that I now give you is the fuperintendence of all 
 the priefls in Afia, both in the cities and in the 
 country, with full powers to treat every one ac- 
 cording to his deferts. 
 
 In a high-priefl: the principal requifite is mode- 
 ration, together with kindnefs and benevolence to 
 the delcrving. As to thofe who are unjufl or in- 
 "^ iolent to men, ind irreligious to the Gods, let 
 
 them be rebuked with boldncfs, or puniflied with 
 feverity. Whatever is neceflary to be regulated 
 in common, in order to render divine worfhip as 
 perfetfl as poiTible, I will foon dire^l, with many 
 other particulars. Some of them, in the mean time, 
 I will here mention, in which it is right for you to 
 
 then fliould they defend him ? But fome common intereils 
 often ferve to unite in appearance irreconcileable ene- 
 mies. jIfiJ the fa flic Jay they iicre viadc friends together ; 
 for hrfor^ they -jjere at enmity het'.veeii thanfel-ves. Of this the 
 affeftion vvliich Julian teftified for the Jews is a remarkable 
 iniiance. Ihld, 
 
 * Thofe who believed the foul to be immortal, and even 
 the materialifts, diftinguifhed in the foul the inrelleLl:ual 
 part, >«i, and the fenlliive part, •^•jxv. There were fome who 
 imagined, no doubt, that the intelleftual part was with- 
 drawn, and others that it was defi:royed, w'hen they faw the 
 body reduced to a mere animal life* 3ld„ 
 
 be 
 
EP J STL KS OF JULIAN. ,8x 
 
 be advifed by me. For on many of thefe lub- 
 jects I fpcak, as all the Gods know, with much 
 premeditation. In circumfpcdtion no one exceeds 
 rne, and I am an enemy, and have been To ft yled, 
 to ail innovation, efpecially in matters of religion, 
 thinking it highly proper to adhere to our ancient 
 paternal laws ■^, which were certainly given us by 
 the Gods. They could not be fo excellent, if they 
 proceeded from men. But by the prevalence of 
 riches and pleafures they have been fo negle£i:ed 
 5nd corrupted, that they require, I think, a new 
 foundation. Seeing therefore fo great an indif- 
 ference among us towards the Gods, and all fcnfe 
 of religion banifhed by debauched and luxurious 
 raanners, I have continually lamented in private, 
 
 ■ ,* F<iganifm, in general, had no religious code, unlefs it 
 were fome pretended oracles, apparently very iiiodcin, as 
 to the ceremonies which ought to be obferved in lacri- 
 i^ces, and the victims which were fuitable to every kind 
 of Gods. Eufebius quotes fome pafTages of thefe oracles 
 in the fourth book of his Evangelical Preparation. I ima- 
 gine that the laws which Julian here mentions are prin- 
 cipally the ancient rites of every nation, city, and temple. 
 Thefe rites had in time fuffered various alterations, ap.d iu 
 the decline of paganitm fome u'cre abuliflied. 
 
 Julian, deeply veried in antiquity, was defirous of re- 
 iloring things to their former ftate. As to the wifdom quite 
 divine which he adniires in thefe rites, that is the work of 
 bis imagination. He confiders them as fymbolical. Being 
 an ingenious and fruittul allegorif}, by the force of arbiti-ary 
 explanations he difcovered fome wonderful things in the wor- 
 ijiip, as well as in the hitlory, of his Gods, To be convinced 
 that he every where found all that he chofe, we need only 
 read his difcourfe " on the IMother of the Godo." 
 
 La Eleterie. 
 
 N 3 ¥ov 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 For thofe who are diflinguifned in the fchool of 
 impiety * are (o zealous as to fafFer want and 
 famine rather than tafle fwine's flefli ^, or that of 
 any thing ftrangled, or even killed by accident; 
 while we are fo regardlefs of the Gods as to for- 
 get the laws of our anceftors, and not even to 
 know whether any fuch exili. But thefe men are 
 in part only religious, as the God whom they wor- 
 fhip is really mofl: powerful, and moft benevolent, 
 and governs the vifible world J. 
 
 They therefore who do nor tranfgrefs the laws 
 feem to me to ad: right. I blame them only for 
 
 * Ava-a-tQiiai; cyjikr, 'z^o<xyjJi\y.;, " Thofe who are attached 
 *' to the Ichool of impiety." I think that we fliould read 
 iT^'iiypt'^iix.i, " the chiefs, the principal teachers." The fequel 
 Ihews that this refers to the Jews. La Bleterie, 
 
 ^ This would only prove that Julian fpeaks of the Jews. 
 Indeed the Chriftians, through refpe6t for the Council of 
 Jerufalem, abftained from blood and things flrangled longer 
 than the re^fons fubfifted on which the prohibition was 
 founded ; and the Oriearal Chriftians continue to abftain 
 from them flil!. ' But after God had revealed to St. Peter 
 (Acts XV,) that the diftinctiori of meats was abrogated, 
 no Chriftian fcrupled eating fwine's flefh, except the Ju- 
 diifing Chriftians, who were not tolerated till the fecond 
 deftruL'tion of the Jev;s, which happened under the Em- 
 peror Hadrian. Ik:d» 
 
 % In the books of J'.ilian againft the Chriflian religion, 
 of vv-hich St. Cyril, itt refuting them, has preferved a con- 
 ildcrabie part, this prince fays, in direft terms, that "he 
 " v.orfnips the God of Abrahaiu, of Ifaac, and of Jacob :'* 
 A« 'TT^oTKi'vuii -ray ©to» Aof»«j7., y.on Ij-aaK, x«» Jxy.'^o. But it 
 appears, in the fame books, that he means, by this God, 
 the Dimiirrgus; in which h.e is mirtaken if he makes 
 the Dcni'urgus^ or Lngos^ of a dittcrent nature from the 
 Being, rs u^, 7'»;av'iv. IbicL 
 
 worjQiip- 
 
E PIS TLES OF JULIAN. 183 
 
 worfhipping God alone, and defpifing the wordilp 
 of other Gods. Hurried Into this frenzy by the 
 pride of Barbarians *, they think that he Is hidden 
 from us Gentiles only. But from the Galilean im- 
 piety, like a peftliential diftemper -j- * * * *. 
 [T/je remainder is wanting in the original.^ 
 
 ^ Whatever incenfe Julian gave the Jews in the Epiftle 
 which he wrote to thera, this text, and many others, flxew 
 •that he defpifed them. In general, what moft prejudiced 
 the Pagans againft both the Chriftian and Jewifli religions, 
 "v/as their being exclufive and admitting no community with 
 any other. But they endured the Jews with lefs impa- 
 tience, and contented themfelves with defpifing them, be- 
 caufe the latter gained few profelytes. The barrennefs, with 
 which the fynagogue was flruck, made it find gra':;e in the 
 fight of our common enemies ; but the fertility of the 
 chujch alarmed and enraged thera. They forefav/ that 
 file would at length deftroy their altars. Julian, in par- 
 ticular, kept good terms with the Jews, becaufe they en- 
 tered into his plan, i. By their implacable hatred to the 
 Chriftians; 2. from the defign which he had formed to re- 
 ftore the nation and the temple, in order to falfify the 
 fciptures. Befides, the religion of the Jews ordained fa- 
 crifices, and in this point of view was agreeable to Julian, 
 Vfho, as may be feen in his life and his works, had a tafle 
 for bloody facrifices more worthy of a butcher than a phi- 
 lofopher. La Bi^eterie. 
 
 f It is evident that Julian here launched forth agiinft 
 Chriftianity and the Chrillians ; perhaps in a manner fo 
 atrocious as to fliock the tranfcribers. Il>iJt 
 
 N 4 Epiftle 
 
i84 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Eplftle LXIV. *. To the People +, cUh 
 moroufly applauding in the Tychsum, ol* 
 Temple of Fortune. 
 
 A. D. "^"Jf J'HEN I enter the theatre, even privately. 
 
 you m:iy applaud ,* bun in the temples be 
 filent, and transfer your apphiufes to the Gods. 
 Praifes are much more properly due to them. 
 
 ^' This Epifile '.vas firli: pnhliflievl by Muratori, in his 
 Jliuc^iCia Grkca^ from a IMS. 700 years old, in the Am- 
 bro{i;in library,' and is copied by Fabricius, in his L'M'-O' 
 theca Gracn. 
 
 In the edhion of Wolfius, it is the Mc^.xxtKEpjfLle of 
 Libanins. And the editor fiibjoius in a note, " I neitUei 
 *' underhand u hat Libaniys here means, nor the 'Occa'dou 
 *' on Which 'he wrote this EpiUle." Yet as Miiratori .and 
 Fabricius had previoufly given it to JuUan, I cannot account 
 fjr its 'being there afcribed to Libanius- Surely it fecms 
 much more characterinic of a prince than of a fophilf ; 
 and is befid?5 a fiibjecf, which Julian has difculTcd in the, 
 JNIifopogon, Toh I. p. 241, he. 
 
 -}• Probably " ot Conjjantinopie.V Fiihricius iufcribes ij 
 B;:^anti.nisy like F.piftle XI'. But iec a note on that f.pitUe, 
 pe-4. 
 
 Fivilie 
 
IZPISTLES OF JULI AN. jSj 
 
 Eplftle LXV. To a Painter *, 
 
 ^ Not being aWe to fatisfy myfclf ns to tlie meaning of 
 the firll: part ot this fnort Epiflie, i will add thu- prigluai, 
 w-iththe Latin tranflacicn of Mui-atori, by v.hom tbis alib 
 is prefcncd : 
 
 U^o; ^wyfci-^tyv. Jld Piciorcm. 
 
 El /^Ev (j-f) e^xcv, x«t tya^iTii Slqitidcm nmihahcrem^ et m'hl 
 
 ^' ' ., \ „ rcm^ hCiiue uterer Beos fen-cm ', 
 
 •' ttiio potius^ -Du mc ferrent. 7ti 
 
 . ^ '^ ' r ., , A.'h-'v rjcro quare altenum mi hi hcibi- 
 
 TTi-.: sS'cV-, fr«ij3 ; Oiov i^i ^oi;, ia„t dcdift'i^Q amice ? ^idivi 
 
 The meiiiing of the tv/o jr.ft paragraphs is fufficiently 
 clear. " But why, my friend, have you given me a tbreigii 
 *' drefs? Paint me as you fee me." Tiic painter perhaps 
 Jiad drawn him, like (i Roman Eoiperor, '.vi:h n fmdl he.ir<i, 
 Kncl not like a Grecia;! rii4lcio|)Iitr, ivitii a hr^e ^ne.. 
 
 Epi;;l. 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Epiftle LXVI. To Arsaces, Satrap of 
 Armenia *. 
 
 \\^' \ ^^^5 ^^f^j Arfaces, againfl the furious Per- 
 -^ -*- fians, and haden to join my forces, fwift as 
 thought. My martial preparations and deter- 
 mined refolution have one of thefe ends in viewj 
 
 either 
 
 ■^ The feeble Arfaces Tiranus, king of Armenia, had 
 degenerated, ftill more fliamefuHy than his father Chofroes, 
 from the many virtues of the great Tiridates ; and as the 
 puriUanimous monarch ivas averfe to any enterprife of 
 danger and glory, he could difguife his timid indolsnce by 
 the more decent excufes of religion and gratitude. He 
 ey.prcffed a pious attachment to the memory of Conftan- 
 tius, from v.hofe hands he had received in marriage Olym- 
 pias, the daughter of the prsfcLl Ablavius ; and the al- 
 liance of a female, who had been educated as the deflined 
 wife of the emperor Conftans, exalted the dignity of 3. 
 Barbarian king. Tiranus profelTcd the Chriftian religion ; 
 he reigned over a nation of Chrifti.ins ; and he v/as re- 
 ftrained by every principle of confcjence and interefl; from 
 contributing to the vidory which would confummate the 
 ruin of the church. The alienated mind of Tiranus was 
 exafpcrated by the indifcretion of Julian, who treated the 
 k-ng of Armenia as his flave, and as the enem.y of the 
 Goiis. The haughty and threatening ftyle of the Imperial 
 mandates awakened the fecret indignation of a prince, 
 who, in the humiliating ftate of dependence, was flill con- 
 fcious of his royal delcent from the Arfacides, the lords 
 of the Eaft, ,Tnd the livals of the Roman power. GiBEoy. 
 
 Thi"^ Epiftle, printed, for the firft time, in the Anecdota 
 Craca (A M. Muratori, is inferted in the Biblioihcca Graca^ 
 ['."'.7. VII. /. 86. J of Fabricius. It is in very bad Greek. 
 va!ga;-, brutcil, meanly v.iin-glyrious, without gcuius, con- 
 
 irarv 
 
EPISTT.es of JULIAN. ' i8y 
 
 either to pay the debt of nature, bravely fighilng, 
 and exerthig ray utmoH: efforts, if fuccefs (honld 
 attend the Parthians ; or, if the Gods (hould aflill: 
 me, to return triumphant, and to cre<^ trophies 
 
 trary to policy; and, what is llill more remarkable, it con- 
 tains expreilions that could not proceed troiri the pen of. a 
 fuperftitioiis Pagan, at the eve of a great enterprile, and 
 in circamftances where the leail word of bad omen was 
 ifcrupuloully avoided, as capable of being fatal. Can it be 
 fuppofed that Julian would have ventured to fay, even by 
 way of circumlocution, that " he was refolved to perifh ?" 
 Would he have communicated the predidion that we find 
 at the end of the Epiftle ? Whatever the illuftrious M. 
 IMuratori may fay of it, I can fcarce believe that it is the 
 fame which Sozomen has mentioned ; efpecialiy as this does 
 not contain all that the Ecclefiadical hillorian relates. I 
 do not infift on this lafh reafon, becaufe it may be an- 
 fwered, that we have not the whole Epiftle. But, after 
 all, it is fo ftrange a piece, that, inftead of afcribing it to 
 Julian, I would rather fay, which is not necelFary, that 
 Sozomen was deceived by a fpurious piece. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 T'.Iuratori has publifhed an Epiflle from Julian to the 
 Satrap Arfaces, fierce, vulgar, and (though it might 
 deceive Sozomen) moil probably fpurious. La Bleterie 
 tranflates and rejects it. ' Gibbon. 
 
 And fo does the prefent tranCator. 
 
 The paffage of Sozomen, to which M. de la Bleterie re- 
 fers, is as follows : " He v.-rote alfo to Arf;ces, king of' 
 "" the Armenians, an ally of the Romnns, to join him in 
 *' the field. In this Epirtle, after boafting iinmoderateiv, 
 *' and extolling himfelr as fit to reign, and deaf to the Gods 
 /' whom he worfiiipped, and iligmatinng Conftantius as 
 *' pufilianimous and impious, he threatened Arfaces mofl: 
 *' contumelioufiy. And as he had heard that he was a 
 *' Chrillian, in order to aggravate his reproaches, he ut- 
 *' tered fome wicked blafphemies agaiull Chrift, with great 
 *' pride and oftentation, fignifying, that the God whom 
 *' he v.'orfliipped would by no n"ieans dc.'tnd him, if he 
 *' negleded his ccnimands." Hijh Keel, I. vi. c. i. 
 
 taken 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIA X. 
 
 taken from the enemy. Shake o^ therefore your 
 inaclivity, forego all evaiions, and think,ing no 
 Ipnger of that Conftantine of happy memory *, or 
 pf the wealth of the nobles, which was laviflied on 
 you and other Barbarians, by the effeminate and 
 too aged T Conflantius, now cultivate the friend- 
 fhip of Julian, Sovereign Pontiff, Cosfar, Auguftus* 
 the fervant of Mars and the Gods, the deftroyer of 
 the Franks and Barbarians, but the deliverer of the 
 Gauls and Italians. If you have any other defign, 
 for I hear that you are very crafty, a bad foldier, 
 a boafter, I iliall not be furprifed, as you now 
 fecrete a public enemy, trufting to the chance of 
 war. To dedroy the enemy, we need only the 
 aflldance of the Gods ; but if Fate, whofe decree 
 13 their will, fliould determine otherwife, I fliall 
 fubmic with fortitude and complacence. Know 
 however, that you, in confequence, will be fubjecled 
 to the Perfian power, your houfe and your whole 
 family will bedeilroycd by lire, and the kingdom of 
 
 * Mz:ix^fiK» jy.itjcv Koj^ravltvov, " That bltilTed Conftantinc.'* 
 Tulian would hardly have Ipoken fo favourably of his uncle, 
 the confrant object of his hatred and ridicule. It appears 
 by the coticluiion of the Cccfars, p. zzo^ thut he rather 
 thought him curled than " blelTed." 
 
 t rioAiiEla; Ka.vTi2,!iwj, ,i?i!inji Coiifla7tul. Conftantius lived 
 r.nly 4+ or +5 yeari. La Bleterie, 
 
 in Hke nnanner, Julian, in his i.: oration, fryles Licinius 
 ** an old man," (7Ece>»j at the battle of Cibalis in 314, 
 though he was then not :;o. M. de la Bleterie tranfiates 
 tto^deV- '* nul n'a vccu que trap long ttmi (" v.ho liad lived too 
 •-y long.") 
 
 Armenia 
 
EPISTLES OFJOLIAN. i^ 
 
 Armenia fubverted. The city of * Nifibis will 
 alfo (hare your misfortunes. This the Gods re- 
 
 vealed to us long ago. 
 
 Epiftle LXVIl. To the People [of An- 
 
 TIOCH t-] 
 
 s 
 
 0]\IE are fo audacious as to prophane the fe- i^Feb^ 
 pulchres and confecrated graves of the dead. 
 
 though to remove from thera even a Itone, or to 
 dig the earth, and pull the turf, was ahvavs deemed 
 
 by 
 
 •^ The bulwark of the Eait, given up to the Perfians by 
 "ovian, now reduced lo 150 houfes. See P'oyagcs dc 'Kichuhr^ 
 io?nc ii. p. 3C0 — 309. 
 
 Be this letter genuine, or not, '■'• Arfaces," as ?J. de la 
 Bleterie exprelTes it, *' attentive only to his own intereft, 
 *' and diffatisfied v.ith Julian, would not leave his ovva 
 *' frontiers." This prince, in the reign of Valens, vras trea- 
 cheroufly leized, imprifoned, and put to death, by Sapor, 
 king of Perfia, as Ammianus relates, xxvii. :2. 
 
 f I take this law from the Theodolian Code, ix. xvii, 
 3. tit. D^ fepulchrh 'violatis. It is the only piece of any 
 length that is left of the Latinity of Julian. It is forcible 
 and elaborate, but much lefs pure than his Greek. The 
 leader perhaps v/ill not diflike being enabled to judge for 
 himlelf. The following is the whole Epiftle. 
 
 Imp. Julianus A. ad Populum. 
 
 PcrgJt auJacia ad hufta diem fujiHofum et ttggerts con/ecrafos ; 
 £um et lapldon hlnc rtiQ-jere^ terra?n follcitarey et cefpitem 'veUere^ 
 troximum facrilegio major cs fe?nper hahturint. Bed ornamenta cjui- 
 dam tridiniis^ aut portklbuSy aufcncnt de fepukhris. ^ji-.hui 
 primis covlulaites^ ne in piacidnm inc:da7'.t contaminata reiigione 
 ivjlorji-f:^ hoc fi^cn prohlhe/Kus tocna ^a'lium '■jindice cobibenta. 
 
 C ' 
 
j^c3 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 by our anceftors next to facrilege. Some take 
 away the ornaments of tombs to adorn their por- 
 ticoes or parlours. To prevent, in the firft place, the 
 criminal impiety of polluting fepulchres, we pro- 
 hibit it under pain of the punidiment that is due to 
 thofe who offend the Manes ". 
 
 Secundum illud ejt, qrtod cfferr'i cngnovinms caJavcra mor- 
 iuoru?n per confer tarn populi frcquentlam et per ?naxi/r:::7n injrf- ' 
 tent'ium dcnjitatejn^ quod quidem oculos homhium infauftis inccjiat 
 afpcctihusi ^U2 enim dies ejl henh aufplcatui a funcrc ? Aut 
 qnomodo ad Deos ct tcmpla venietur ? Idetque, quoniam ct dolor 
 in exeqtiiis fccrctiim amat, et diem funBis nihil intereji, utrian per 
 TiOiles^ an per dies, efferantur^ liherari convcnit pcpuli totius af' 
 peJIw; ; ut dolor ijj'e in funcrihus^ non pompa exe qui arum ^ ne'e 
 cjleniatio^ 'videatur. 
 
 Datum prid, id. Fch, Antiochia, Juliana Aug. iv. et 
 Salluf.io^ Cojf, La B let ERIE. 
 
 ^' The profanation of fepulchres was confidered in all 
 times among the Romans ,as a kind of facrilege. Thofe 
 who dug up the body, or tlic bones, of a dead perfon were 
 puniflied with death, if they, were of mean condition. 
 They were confined in an ifiand, if they were of genteel 
 rank. Thofe v/ho dellroyed a fepulchre, or took any thing 
 away from it, were condemned to the mines, or baniflied. 
 Conftantine, in a law, whcfc objeit was to render divorces 
 Iffs frequent, and to make the Roman iurifprudencc as to 
 marriage again fomewhat like the goi'pel, by reibaining 
 divorce to certain cafes, fpecifies, among the crimes which 
 gav^e a woman a right to repudiate her hulband, murder,' 
 poifoning, and the violation ot tombs. &" hcrniddam^ <vcl 
 medicamentarium vel fcpulchroriim dijjohtorcm maritum fuum 
 ejfe proha--c->-it. in Cod. Thcod. tit. xvi. De repudiis. B\it 
 rhe rclpcft for the dead, and their tombs, which nature 
 herfclf leems to infpire, was carried to an exceis among ' 
 the Pagans. They honoured the fouls of the dead as di- 
 vinities, and fepuleiires as temples. 
 
 The Chrillian religion, which enlightened tlie world as 
 to the fate of thofe wretched divinities, and t!ic impiety 
 cf the worfliip that was p'-iid them, no fooner became the 
 
 rclisiion 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. r'^i 
 
 religion of the empire, than many individuals fell into an 
 excefs oppofite to that of Pngaiiifm. A zeal ill underftood, 
 and, under the mafk of zeal, avarice, always ready to draw 
 from the trueft principles falfe conclafi^ns which favour 
 it, deftroyed tombs, applied the llones and ornaments to 
 other ufes, and difperied the afhes of the dead, in order 
 to find fome valuable I'tuffs, or trinkets, which fuperilitioa 
 might have interred v.-ith them. 
 
 M. Muratori, in his Anccdjta Graca^ has inferted near 
 eighty (liort copies of verfes compofed by St. Gregory 
 Nazianzen, agninii the violators of fepulchres. As ieveral of 
 them feem made in order to be engraved on the tombs of 
 his friends, of whom the majority at leaft profefled Chriui- 
 anity, we may infer that the tombs of the Chriftians were 
 not fpared, were it only by the Pagans, who, withor.t 
 doubt, vSitd. rcprifab. The law, above q^ioted, ihews what 
 the Emperor Conftantine, long after his converfioa, 
 thought of thefe diforders, which not orriy outraged 
 nature, but alfo might render Chriftianity odious, on whole 
 account they had become more common, though it had 
 always condemned them. Hov.'ever, in the reign cf 
 Conllantine, the kws were not executed v/ith rigour. It 
 appears by a law of Conftan^, that fome individuals, and 
 even fome of the raagiurates, had violated them with im- 
 punity. He caufed a learch to be mads for the guilty : 
 but he moderated' the feveriry of the ancient laws, and re- 
 duced it to pecuniar}' penalties. Conftantius renev,-ed and 
 even augmented it, as he fufFered the pecurnary penalties 
 to remain, when he re-eilabliflied the puriidimcnt of death, 
 •Other chriftian princes, particularly Valentinian III. ex- 
 erted themiftlvcs, in like manner, againft this crime. 
 
 Julian, who confidered the v/orfhip of the Manes as an 
 effcntial part ef Helknifm, here condemns from fuper- 
 ftition what thofe princes condemned from a principle of 
 humanity and Chriilianity, though fom.e Pagan expreiTicn;-/- 
 have crept into their ordinances, which, without doubt, 
 Hiufl be afcribed to their fecretaries. The firft part of th," 
 law of Julian is in the Code of Juftrniati, r, ith feme al- 
 teration. That which favoured too much of Paganifm has 
 been retormed. La BLi:TEKi£. 
 
 If in ancient were to revifit the world, v>ith what af- 
 tonifliment would he be ftruck in the amphirhcarre of thi 
 Aeadsmv P-'^v-i!, v.hich no Iz.;;- auchorife.- to h-ve dead 
 • ■ ' ■ bod-i* 
 
 6 
 
 A 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 SeconJiy, we have heard that dead corpfes are 
 carried to interment through large crowds of people 
 and numerous fpeftators, a fight, that defiles the eyes 
 of men by its inaiifpicious appearance. For what 
 day is well-omCned by a funeral? And how can we 
 afterwards approach the Gods and the temp!p,s I 
 
 For thefe reafons, and becaafe funereal grief loves 
 privacy, and as it is of no conlequence to the de 
 ceafed, whether they are interred hr day or by 
 night, it is proper that funerals fhould be fecreted 
 from the public view, fo as to be exprefTive of 
 forroWj rather than of pomp and oilentation *. 
 
 bodies ! A corpfe wns efieemed by the nncients a facred 
 object, which was refpeftfuUy placed under a funeral pile ; 
 and he who dared to l;iy hands on it was dechired impure. 
 What would he fay on feeing that corpfe horribly cut and 
 mangled ; and all the young furgeons, with their arms 
 Gripped and bloody, joking and laughing amidft thole 
 dreadful operations I Tableau dc Paris, 
 
 * Whatever refpetSt the Pagans had for the dead, by a 
 contradiction,, of which I will not here trace the origin, 
 they confidered a human corpfe as the impureft thing in the 
 vvorld. They thought thty ought not to enter into a 
 temple on a day when they hnd attended a funeral. But^. 
 delivered from a vain fuperilition, the Chriilians, and per* 
 haps fome Pagans, after their example, paid the lalT; duties 
 ro the dead in open day. Julian was defirous of reviving 
 the ancient practice, and even endeavoured to lupport, by 
 philofophical ideas, the pagan notions on which that pracfics 
 was founded. This fecond part of his law is in tiie Theo- 
 dofian Code, though it does not appear to have been ob- 
 ierved after his death. La Bleterie. 
 
 Of ths laws which Julian enacted in a fliort reign of 
 Hxteen months [Dec, 361 — June 363.] fiffy-four have been 
 admitted into the Codes of Theodoiius and Juilinian. {Go- 
 thafrcil. Chron. Lcgum. pp. (d\ — 67.) Gibbon. 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 193 
 
 Given at Antioch, on the day preceding the ides 
 of February, Julian Aug. {for the i\ih time), and 
 Sallufi being Confuls, 
 
 Eplftle LXVIII. To Libanius *. 
 
 P "X/'^U have made a proper return to Ariflo- 
 
 -^ phanes | for his piery to rhe Gods, and his 
 
 affe£lion for you, by making what was lormcrly 
 
 a difgrace to him redound to his glory, not only 
 
 t* This Epiftle was copied by the illiidrious Roftgarird 
 from the Modenefe MS* D. collated with ths two Medicean 
 E. and F. and is not to be found among thofe which have 
 been publifhed, except, with many rrn^re, in the SalutarisLux 
 E'vangelu of our Fabricius, p. 323. Eut it is here more en- 
 larged. It is thus infcribed : Ib>.i«voj Avloxpltp A»?i.»iw ri, Eo- 
 
 P»r« p(ja»f«y. WoLFlUS, 
 
 Libanius anfwers this Epiftle (occailoned by his oration 
 in defence of Ariftophanes) in his DCLXxth, which fee 
 Vol I. p. 317. The original of it is inferted by W'olflus, in 
 his notes on that Epiitle. 
 
 jMnratori obferves that in one of the Ambrofian MSS. [at 
 Milan] there was a fliorc Epillle of Julian, not yetpubliflied; 
 *' but," he adds, " the evanefcent letters niade me totally de- 
 *' fpair of reading it. 1 hope, however, that it will fome time 
 ** or other be publiflied, together with foaie other remains 
 *' of the Apoftate, by Frederick Roi"^gaar(i, a noble Dane. 
 *' Fcrvvhen he was travelling througn Italy, and collecting 
 ** the Epiftles of Libanius fronr various IMSo. in order to 
 *' give them to the public, he thought he had fagacity 
 *' enough to decypher alio this Ambroliaa MS." 
 
 See the firft note on the next Epiilie. 
 
 f Meaning Arillophanes, a Corinthian, the fen of Me- 
 nander, for vrhcm there is an oration of Libanius, in Vol. 
 II. of Morell's edition, p. 210. ^alricius. 
 
 Vol. II. O ac 
 
 A. D. 
 
194 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 at prcfent, but in future times ; as the calumny of 
 l\ul *, and the fer tencc of that judge f, can by- 
 no means be compared whh your orations. For 
 luch fiery proceedings were inftantly detciled, and, 
 together with their authors, are now extin6i ; while 
 your orations delight the true Greeks of the prefent 
 age, and, unlefs I am much miflaken, will alfo de- 
 light their poflerity. 
 
 Be aflured, in fhort, that you have convinced 
 me, [or rather that you have induced me to retra6t 
 my opinion of Ariftophanes, and that I think him 
 fuperior to all the allurements both of profit and 
 pleafure. Can I refule to concur with the moll 
 phiiofophical of orators, the greatell: partifan of 
 truth ? After this, perhaps you may aflc, why 
 we have not placed his affairs in a more profperous 
 
 * This Paul, who pleaded for the informers againft Arif- 
 tophanes, before the Emperor Conftantius, is mentioned 
 in the fame oration of Lihanius, p. 222. Fabricius. 
 
 Julian has ftigmatifed Paul as a " notorious flanderer," 
 in his Epiftle to the Athenians, Vol. I. p. 92. See alfo Am- 
 mianus, xix. and xxii. He was burnt alive, by the order 
 of that prince, foon after his accellion to the empire ; a 
 fate to which helcems to allude above bv ai6»/1«, (" fiery") 
 and <7yy*7rei7C»). (" extinguiflied together.") In Fabricius it 
 ii ctvOvsIst, (" at their firll appearance.") 
 
 Libaolus, in the oration above mentioned, fays, in one 
 place, '* Arlil'^'phanes received many fevere ftripes from 
 " balls of lead" [tied, probably, to firings], " which 
 ♦* Paul thought fit inftruraents of death ;" and in another^ 
 that " he had irritated Paul by feme exprelfions fuitable 
 ■** indeed to him, but v.'hich it would have, been better to 
 *' h!tve fuppreffed." 
 
 •j- The Emperor Conflantius, FAr.Ricirs, 
 
 3 ibifj 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN* 
 
 ftate, and removed every Inconvenience attending 
 his difgrace. 
 
 When two their efforts join, &c. *. 
 You and I will confer together. For you are 
 worthy to be confulted, not only as to the pro- 
 priety of affiding a man who devoutly honours 
 the Gods, but alfo in what manner, of which 
 indeed you have given fome hints. But of thefe 
 matters it will be better perhaps to difcourfe than 
 to write. Farewell, my mod dear and beloved 
 brother -f.] 
 
 * Zvv T6 $v* tfx^oixcya}, x. T. X. IWid X. 224. 
 
 An expreflion of Diomed, enforcing the propriety of an 
 affiftant in his nightly expedition. The fame meaning is 
 conveyed by our Englifh proverb, " Two heads are better 
 *' than one." 
 
 f This was immediately followed by Attyvuy ^1 ^/k; rof 
 Xo'yov, K. r. ^. ('♦ Reading yefterday your oration, &c.") 
 which is the XlVth Epiftle of Julian [fee p. 28.] pub- 
 Iilhed by Ezech. Spanheim, among iiis works, as a fmgle 
 EpilHe, and (as is Tery probable) totally unconneiSted with 
 the former. Wolfius. 
 
 The concluding farewell is exactly the fame with that of 
 Epiftle III. to Libanius alfo. 
 
 All that is between [ ] is only in the copypublifhed by 
 Wolfius. 
 
 ^95 
 
 O z Fpillle 
 
J96 EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 
 Epiftle LXIX *. To SosiPATER f- 
 
 "TT T H E N an opportunity offers of writing to 
 our friends by a doraeftic, the pleafure it 
 affords is much augmented. For thus your letters 
 convey to them foraeihing more than a mere image 
 of your mind. So fortunate am I at prefent. And 
 therefore, as I was fending to you Antiochus, the 
 tutor of my fons 4, I could not omit this oppor- 
 tunity of informing you, that if you wifh to have .; 
 any intelligence concerning us, you may learn it 
 particularly from him. And if you have a regard 
 for jour friends, and that you have fome I am 
 certain, when you have a fimilar opportunity of 
 writing, you will by no means ncglefl it. 
 
 * This, and the 'feven following Epiilles (and alfo great 
 part of the LlXth and LXVlIlth, as has been obferved in the 
 notes on each) were firft publiflied by Fabricius, in his Lux 
 Evangclii, ly^i, with a Latin tranflation. He was indebted 
 for them, he fays, to Count ChriflianDannefhiold de Samfoa 
 (then lately deceafed), who purchafed them in 1726, to- 
 gether with many hundreds of unpiibliQied epiftles of Li- 
 banius, at the public audion of the library of the " moft 
 *• noble and learned Frederick Roftgaard," having been tran- 
 fcribcd by him in Italy, from the Vatican, Medicean, and 
 Ambrofian libraries. See p. 193, note *. 
 
 f Or was it " to Sopater," the fon-in-law of Jamblichus, 
 who is frequently mentioued in the XXVlIth, XLth, and 
 Lllld Kpifties of Julian ? Fabricius. 
 
 See p. 70, note f. 
 
 X This probably muft be the perfon mentioned by the 
 fame appellation (Tfo^fi*/,- ta-v! ♦«f')« TxiStuv) in Epiflle XL. 
 i.-'ce p. 10:. note -j-. 
 
 7 Epiftlc 
 
E P I S T L E S O F J U I. I A N. jj; 
 
 Epiflle LXX. To Philip *. 
 
 TTTHILE I was Casfar, the Gods c;in vvlmefs, A. r. 
 
 ~ ' I wrote to yoii, and, I think, more ihim 
 once. Great cerrainly was the impulfe 1 felt, but 
 many and various were my avocations ; and, belides, 
 as the friendfliip between me and the blefled | Con- 
 Itantius, in confequence of my advancement, -/as 
 that of wolves, I was extremely cautious of writ- 
 ing to any one beyond the Alps, lefl I fi:iould in- 
 volve him in the greareft difficulties. Conilder 
 my writing to you now as a proof of my friendf 
 fhip, for frequently the tongue refufcs to corr^'- 
 fpbnd with the heart. And fubje(fts perhaps have 
 reafon to exult and glory in being able to iliew the 
 letters of princes, difplaying them to the unex- 
 perienced, like rings to perfons unacquainted with 
 
 * This feems to be the fame to whom there are feverai 
 Epiilles of Libanius, in [one of] which be hys, that the 
 letters which he received from Philip were written *' not 
 *' with ink, but with a I'egaiean Hquor." Fabricius. 
 
 Libanius had two correfpondents of this name, one a 
 prsfeft, whom he mentions in his Life, p. 25, and the 
 other a poet. 
 
 It mull: have been written in the ipring of 362, prababiy 
 at Conllantinople, when Julian was preparing to remove tu 
 Antioch. 
 
 f So Julian ufed to ftyle Conftantius, now dead, as he 
 calls him fAaxaftI»?,in his XXXIft and LVllIth Epiilles, and 
 
 ir* his XX I lid, iKHtu ju,sy b», tTretSr] (/.axetfUiii sysvalo, x«(pB yv. 
 
 Ib,'^. 
 
 Q 5 fuch 
 
198 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 fuch trinkets. True friendfhip is generally found 
 between equals; but there is a fecond kind, when 
 one has a real, not a pretended, el^eem for the 
 other, and though fuperior in rank and genius, is 
 loved for his good-nature, affability, and difcretion, 
 But fuch epiftles are apt to be filled with vanity 
 arid trifles. And I often reproach myfelF for 
 making them too prolix, and being too loquacious, 
 when I fliould teach my tongue a Pythagorean 
 filence. 
 
 I have received your prefents, a filver cup, a 
 pound in weight, and a piece of gold coin. I am 
 indeed delirous, as you fay in your letter, of hav- 
 ing your company here. But now the fpring ap- 
 proaches, the trees begin to bloifom, and the 
 fwallows, though not yet expcdled, when they ar- 
 rive, will expell us, engaged on a like expedition, 
 from our houfes, and bid us remove to a diftant 
 country. Therefore, as we fliall pafs near you, 
 it will be better for you, if the Gods permit, 
 to meet us in your own neighbourhood. This, I 
 hope, will foon happen, unlcfs fomething provi- 
 dential prevents : which may tjie Gods aver? ! 
 
 jLpillli 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 199 
 
 Epiflle LXXL To Eutherius 
 
 * 
 
 W 
 
 E live, preferved by the Gods -j~. Offer fa- A. D. 
 crifices therefore to them in acknowledge- 
 
 ment of my fafety ; but not for the fafety of one 
 individual only, but of all the Greeks J in general. 
 If you have leifure to pafs over § to Conftanti- 
 nople, I fhall think myfelf not a little honoured 
 by your company. 
 
 * To this Eutherius 1 have three Epiftles of Llbaniue 
 in MS. Faericius. 
 
 There are fix in the edition of Wolfius. Julian muft 
 have written this foon after his arrival at Cornlantinopie in 
 the winter of 361. 
 
 f Za»fx£» vrro rut ©euv c-wGevIe;. On the fame occafion Julian 
 ufes an exprelTion very fimilar to this in his Xlllth Epiftle, 
 to his uncle: Znfji-if SiXTa^ Qa;:, In the Latin of Fabricius 
 it is mifprinted Plcimus. • 
 
 X Meaning the Gentile worfhippers of idols. 
 
 Fabricius. 
 
 § This expreffion (oiaCr^va*) fhews, that Eutherius wa» 
 then on the oppofite fide of the Bofphorus, 
 
 O 4 Epiftlc 
 
2C0 EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftle LXXII. To the Patriarch *. 
 
 ^ I ^ H 1 S is the fecond letter that I ha"ve fent in 
 
 -■- favour of Amogila f, my former having 
 been rendered ineffe<ftual by the powerful influence 
 of her oppreffors. Lamenting therefore the fate 
 of my former Lpiftle, pay due regard to this, and 
 make it not neceffary for us to write a third. 
 
 * Mention is made of Jukis, the Patriarch of the Jews, 
 whom he calls *' mofl venerable," in the XXVth Epiftle of 
 Julian. Fabriciub, 
 
 See p. 50. . 
 
 This, as has been obferved of the LXIVth Epiftle, p, 
 184. has alio, by miftake, been afcribed to Libannis, being 
 printed in the edition of Wolfius, as the DCCCXXXVth of 
 his Epiftles. There are fix more lo infcribed. But a MS. of one 
 of Lhem in the Vatican library has the addition of Ailioxtu*. 
 This therefore, and all of them, were probably addreffed, 
 not to the Jewifh Patriarch, as Fabricius fuppofes, but to 
 the Chrillian Patriarch of Antioch, who in the year 361 was 
 Meletius. 
 
 f AjuwyiXjij. In the copy (above mentioned) afcribed to 
 Libanius, the name is A^/^wnXXn,-, (" Ammonilla.") 
 This is followed in Fabricius, by 
 
 " To JErivs. (Seep. 78,) 
 " Komw; i^i* aTTaso-j, &c. This, in the editions of Petau and 
 *' Ez. Spanheim, is the XXXlft Epiftle, p. 405, but inftead 
 *• of KoiWi, (" in general,") we there read Ao»toi;, (" the 
 *• reft,") and then inftead of the words i^tx^i m rpaloTre^'a 
 *' TH i/*a, (" as far as [my] camp,") there is only in the 
 *' Medicean MS. //.^xf ' t« rfoIoTTfJa. This Epillle, by which 
 ** we find the biftiops, whom Conftantius had banifhed, 
 *' re,caH^d by Julian, is mentioned by Sozomen, /.v. c 5.'* 
 
 Epiflle 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 201 
 
 Epiftle LXXIII. To Diogenes 
 
 * 
 
 A FT ER your departure, Diogenes, your foil 
 •^ "^ came to me, and fald, you were angry with 
 him, and as much enraged as a father could be 
 with a fon : he begged me therefore to intercede. 
 for him, and to reconcile you to him. If his of- 
 fence be flight, and fuch as may eafily be forgiven, 
 yield to nature, and, recolle(5ling that you are a 
 parent, reftore your fon to favour. But if it be 
 fuch as cannot be pardoned, you yourfelf are the 
 befl judge which is mod expedient, to a61 gene- 
 roufly on this occafion, and to conquer the dif- 
 pofition of your fon by the bed advice, or to truft: 
 his amendment, and the repararion of his fault, to 
 length of time. 
 
 * An Athenian philofopher, to whom there are fome 
 Epiftles of Libanius. Fabricius. 
 
 In orie of them he acquaints Diogenes with the death 
 and burial of his wife. He is alfo mentioned by Juhan 
 in his XXXVth Epiftle. See p. 90. He was the uncle of 
 Arillophanes, the Corinthian, mentioned p. 195. 
 
 Epiflle 
 
iQZ EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 
 
 Epiftle LXXIV. To Priscxjs *. 
 
 ^'\^' f^^ receiving your letter, I immediately dif- 
 ^-^ patched Archelaus -f, and gave him fome 
 epiftles for you, with a pafiport, as you defired, 
 for a longer time. If you are inclined to fpeculate 
 the ocean, every thing, under God, will profper 
 to your wifli, unlefs you dread the inelegance of 
 the GalatiauSj-or a ftorm. But this will be as God 
 Ihall think fit. I fwear to you by him, who is to 
 me the giver and preferver of all good, that I wifh 
 to live only for the fake of being ufeful to you. 
 By you, I mean the true philofophers ; of whom 
 convinced that you are one, you well know how 
 much I have loved, and love you, and wifli to fee 
 you. May divine Providence preferve you in 
 health many years, my mofl efleemed and friendly 
 brother ! The excellent Hippla, and your children, 
 I faluie. 
 
 ■* The father of the praefe*^ Anatolius, Fabricius. 
 
 Anatolius was raafter of the offices, and was killed in 
 the fame fkirmifh in which Julian himfelf was mortally 
 Vv-Qunded. He would otherwife perhaps have fuccecded 
 that prince, as he himfelf is faid to have wiflied. For an 
 kccount of Prifcus, fee p. 6. note f . 
 
 t To this Archelaus, as I fuppofe, Libanius has four 
 Fpiules, in one of which he expoflulates with him for 
 cnvioufly burning fome of his declamations, ' 
 
 Epiflle 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 303 
 
 Eplftle LXXV. To LiBANius, SophiO: and 
 Quitftor *. 
 
 TjrOW fortunate was our difappolntment of a 
 public carriage ! For inftead of the terror and 
 apprehenfion attendant on fuch a vehicle, where we 
 meet viih drunken muleteers, and mules, like thofe 
 in Homer, '* pampered wit=h barley f," fuch are 
 their idlenefs and repletion, and are annoyed with 
 clouds of dull and the intolerable difibnance of 
 clamorous drivers and fmacking whips J, I now 
 travel at my leifure on a pleafant fliady road, 
 abounding with fountains, and having many com- 
 modious inns, and when the hour of refrefl^ment 
 arrives, I reft wherever I pleafe, beneath the fpa- 
 cious, fragrant boughs of the plane or cyprefs, 
 with the Myrrhinufian § Ph*edrus j|, or fome other 
 work of Plato, in my hands. As 1 thus enjoy an 
 imembarraiTed journey, did I not communicate this 
 pleafure to you, my dearefl friend^ I fhould think 
 inyfclf inexcufable, 
 
 * So llyled alfo in Epiftle XXVIIth. But here, for a 
 reafon given below, I fuipeft it to be an anachronllm. 
 
 -j- Ay.cTv.'yaai,. Iliad. \l. 506. xv, 263. 
 
 X The inconveniences of the public vehicles in thofo 
 clays feem by this account very fimilar to thufe expei"ience4 
 in our times. Had Julian then been Emperor, or even 
 Cajfar, all the public carriages, \yirh their motions, would 
 have been at his commarid. 
 
 § Of Myrrhinus in Attica. Fabkicics, 
 
 Ij The book of Plato fo infcribed, from his fcholar of that 
 Dame. 
 
 Epifilc 
 
204 E P I S T L E S O F J U L I A N. 
 
 Epiftle LXXVI. To thePhilofopherEucLiD*. 
 
 W/ HEN did you leave us, that we mufl: write 
 to you ? or when do we not view you, as if 
 you were ilill prefent, with the eyes of our mind, 
 feeming not only to be conftantly enjoying your 
 company and.converfation, but alio taking the fame 
 care of your affairs as when you were here ? If, 
 however, you would have me write to you as to 
 one who is abfent, confider vv'hether this requeft 
 does not prove that you are really abfent. Be that 
 as it may, if it gratifies you, even in this we readily 
 obey you. Indeed, according to the proverb, you 
 will fpur to the field a free horfe. See then that 
 you make a fimilar return, and fail not to be punc- 
 tual in your replies. Though I am unwilling to 
 interrupt your labours for the public good, yet, 
 as I obferve that you purfue what is excellent, far 
 from offending I fhall feem to render an efleniial 
 fervice to all Greece by difraiffing you unreioleffed, 
 like a generous hound, to track learning through 
 all her paths, through every footftep -f. If you 
 have fuch alacrity as neither to negle^l your friends, 
 nor to difcontinue thefe purfuits, hafle, and exert 
 yourfelf in both thofe courfes. 
 
 * I do not rccolleft that this philofopher is elfevvhere 
 mentioned, either by Julian or Libaniiis. An Eucladius 
 occurs in the ucLxxiiid Epiflle of the latter. 
 
 -j- B>ijual», othei-vvile Ay,;ix^alt, ("argument.") Fabricius. 
 
 Epiilola 
 
EPISTLESOFJULIAN. 205 
 
 Eplftola LXXVU *. Ad Phctinum f- 
 
 ' I ^ U quidem, O Photine, veriiimilis videris ct 
 -*- proximus falvare, benefaciens ncquaquam in 
 utero inducere quern crediJiftl Deum. Diodorus J 
 aurem Nazaraei magus ejus pigmentalibus rr,?.n- 
 goneis acuens irratiouabilitatem acuTus ispparuit 
 fophifta religionis agreftis. * * * * Quod h nobis 
 opitulati fuerint dii, et de^, et mufe orrmes, ct 
 fortuna, oftendemus infirmum et corruptorem k- 
 
 ■* This Epiftle, mentioned byFabricius, in his Lux Eva s.- 
 gel'.i, p. 310. is preferved b\' Faciindus, bifl^op of Her- 
 mania in Africa, in his' book dedicated to the Emperor 
 Jultinian, in defence of the ^' three chr\pttrs," as they were 
 called, which were th^ writings of Theodore of Alopfiieilis, 
 Theodoret of Cyprws, and Ibas of Edefl'a, againft ail whidi 
 Juftinian had publifhed an edift, A. D. 544. See Mv>flj'-ia:i, 
 I. 299. It was printed by "Sirmond, at Paris, 1629, Svaj 
 and from that edition, p. 163, this letter s extracLed, 
 
 This letter of Julian, if nor written originally iu L^iti'i, 
 feems to have been tranllated in a very bomtjaft ftyle. Me 
 here threatens his work againft the Chrillians. I will noi 
 give it in Englidi. 
 
 -)■ Fhotinus, bifliop of Sirmium, publifhed, in the year 
 34.3, his opinions concerning the deity, vvhich were equally 
 repugnant to tlie orthodox and Arian fyilems. His tc- 
 tnerity ^v•as chaftifed, not only by the orthodjx in ttac 
 councils of Antioch and Milan, held in the years 34; aoui 
 347, and in that of Sirmium, v-rhoie dste is tincertain, but 
 alfo by the Arians, in one of their alFemblies held at Sir- 
 niium, in the year 351. In confequence of all this, Pho- 
 tinus was degraded trom the epifcopal dignity, and dicA 
 in exile in the year 372. MosiiEiM- 
 
 For his extravagant notions fee vol. I. 01 this hiituhan, 
 223. 
 
 ; Of Antioch, bifliop of Tarfus, an orthodox prelate, 
 5.ee Moflieim, I. 1S8, and Moreri, article DuJjriJ^ AnticcU. 
 
 I. ITS, 
 
2o6 EPISTLES OF JULIA ]^. 
 
 gum, et rationum, et mylleriorum paganorum, et 
 deoruin infernorum, et ilium novum ejus deum 
 GalilcEum quern xternum fabulosc prnsdicat indlgna 
 morte et fepultura denudatum confiiftcE a Diodoro 
 deitatis ! Ifte enim malo communis utilitatis Athenas 
 navigans, et philofophans, imprudentcr muficorum 
 participatus eft rationem, et rhetoricis confefti- 
 onibus odibilem adarmavit linoruam adverfus esc- 
 leftes deos ufque adeo ignorans paganorum myf- 
 teria omnemque miferabiliter imbibens, ut alunr, 
 degenerum et imperltorum ejus tbeologorum pifca- 
 torum errorem. Propter quod jam diu eft quod ab 
 ipfis punitur diis. Jam enim per multos annos in 
 periculum converfus, et in corruptionem thoracis 
 incidens, ad fummum pervenit fupplicium. Omne 
 ejus corpus confumptum eft : nam malce ejus conci- 
 derunr, rugce vcro in altitudinem corporis defcen- 
 derunt, quod non eft philofophicas converfationis 
 indicio, ficut videri vult a fe deceptis, fed juftiticC 
 pro certo deorumque poen^ qua percutitur com- 
 petent! ratione ufque ad noviiTimum \\tcc fuze finem 
 afperam et amaram vitam vivens et facicm pallorc 
 confed:um. 
 
 FRAG' 
 
 I 
 
207 
 
 FRAGMENTS 
 
 O F 
 
 EPISTLES OF JULIAN, 
 Traiiflated from S U I D A S. 
 
 Article A M P H I O N. 
 
 F 
 
 O R you have leifure, you have excel- 
 lent natural endowments, and, if any 
 one ever had, a love for philofophy. Thefe three 
 united were fufficient to render Amphion the in- 
 ventor of ancient mufic ^^ ; namely, time, divine 
 infpiration, and the love of harmony. The want 
 of inftruments cannot be any impediment to thefe; 
 and he who is poirelTed of thefe three will ealiiy 
 find thofe. Have we not heard that Amphion not 
 only invented mufic, but alfo the harp, either by 
 the Wonderful powers of his genius, or fome divine 
 afiiftance, or fome unufual co-operation I And moll 
 of the ancients, by principally attending to thefe 
 three, feem to have philofophifed without difgulfe, 
 and to have required nothing elfe. 
 
 *^ The lute, on which Amphion played ^o harmoniovi'.lv as 
 to bring together the rtones with which the tower of Thsbes 
 was built, is laid by others to have been prefented to him 
 fey Mercury. Some fuppofe that there were two Amphion?, 
 and that the younger, called the Dircrcan, from the rivcf 
 Dirce, in Boeotia, was the muiician and the icrentor of 
 nnjfic. ^ 
 
2o8 EPISTLES OFJULIAN, 
 
 Article Herodotus. 
 
 TTTHO is ignorant of what the iEihiopians 
 ^ ^ faid of the mod nouriihing food we have? 
 On tailing fome of our bread, '* they wondered'% 
 they faid, " how we cculd Hve upon dung," if we 
 may credit the Thurian hiliorian *. Thofe who 
 have treated on the various climates of the earth 
 alfo relate that there are nations of men who feed 
 on fifii and flcfh, and never, even in a dream, faw 
 fuch diet as ours. If any one of them fhould at- 
 tempt to adopt our mode of living, he would fare 
 uo better than thofe who fwallow hellebore or 
 hemlock. 
 
 * Herociofup, fo called from Thurium in Magna Grnecia, 
 \vherc he lived and died. Julian gives him thfe fame ap- 
 pellation in EpiRle XXII. The paflage to which he here 
 alludes is in the iiid book of that hiftorian, and is part 
 of the enquiry which the ^Ethiopians made of the Ichthy- 
 ophagi^ or " lifli-eaters," whom Cambyfes fent to explore 
 that country. Their king, they faid, lived upon bread, 
 expiainiiig the nature of v.heat, and that eighty years was 
 the lopgtil period pro];ofed by a Perfian. The ^Ethiopian 
 anfuered, " I do not wonder, as you live upon dung, that 
 " \ou arc fo fliort-livcd ; and, were it not for this 
 ** beverage (wine), you would notlive fo long." 
 
 This extraordinary pcrfon was born at HalicarnafTus, a 
 Grecian colony in the IciTer Afia, not long before the in- 
 vafion of Greece by the armies of Xerxes. In his youth 
 he retired from his native city to Samos. in order to avoid 
 the arbitrary proretdings of Lygdamis, the grandfon of 
 the famous Artcmifia, who acquitted herfelf with much 
 honour in the naval engagement of Salamis." There he 
 formed hin.fclf tipon the dialedl of Ionia, and compiled his 
 
 hiflury 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIA isr. ao^ 
 
 hiftory, which begins with Candaules and Cyrus, and comes 
 down to the battle of Myeale, towards the latter end of 
 the reign of Xerxes, a period of 12O years. In the mean 
 time he fpared no pains to inform himleif of all that was 
 neceflary, in the beil manner which he could. To this end 
 he travelled into yEgypt, furveyed its chief towns, con- 
 verfed with the priefts of Thebes and Memphis, and pene* 
 trated into the principles of their religion and learning, as 
 far as his own fagac-ity could carry him, and their reclufe- 
 nets ^Diild permit him. He travelled through the federal 
 dirtrit^s and republics of Greece, faw the piincipal cities 
 of Afia, and vilited the borders of Thrace, Scythia, ana 
 Arabia. Returning, hovv^ver, after a long voluntary exile, 
 into his o^vn country, he bore a coji,riderabl,e (hare in th^ 
 expulfion of the tyrant ; but meeting with envy from his 
 fellow-citizens, inftead of that gratitude which he expci^-ed 
 ^s the juft reward of his fervices, ha went to Athens, and 
 after alpoui a twelvemonth's flay there, departed into Italy 
 with a colony of Athenians, to build a city called Thuriutti, 
 (hence the above appellation) near the ruins of the ancieat 
 Sybaris. As foou as he had drawn up his hiftory from th^ 
 materials he had collected with fuch infinite diligence and 
 induftry, he determined to expofe it to the jtidgement of 
 all Greece. It happened, that during his relidence at 
 Athfns, be&des tijf fcaftflf Panathen^a where he read his 
 work aloud, the Olympian cxercifes were performed, to 
 ^hich-the Grecians csiprtsd in general from each ftate, and 
 thus he h.ad .a very favourable opportunity pf putting his 
 defign into execution. Many of his auditors had, 09 
 doi^bt, been perfqnally engaged in fome of the battles 
 againft Xerxes' and Mardonius, and not one of them could 
 be unacquainted with the principal fa>5ts of a yvar, fo ho- 
 nourable to Greece, and fo inglorious to Periia. In the 
 midft of this aflembly he declared, that ** he appeared be- 
 *' fore them not fo much a fpe6tator of iheir games, as «. 
 *• competitor for the prize of reputation;" and recited his 
 work publtckly a fecond time with univerfal applaufe. Of 
 this nothing can be a greater teftimony than that the names 
 of the nine Mufes have been given to the nine books of his 
 hiftory, as if the compofition were above the ftandard of 
 humanity, and the joint labour of thofe celebrated divinities. 
 
 Vol, II. P Artk/e 
 
2ia EP I S T L E S O F J U L I A No 
 
 Article Musonius *. 
 
 '. '» . ^ I ^ H E drunken abufe, with which the cora- 
 -*- mander in Greece f has loaded me, you 
 have borne with ferenity, thinking that it did not 
 in the lead concern you. As to your earnefl de- 
 iire to be ferviceable to the city in which you re- 
 lide, that is a certain proof of a philofophical 
 mind. The fir ft feems to me fuitable to Socrates, 
 the fecond to IMufonius. He faid that it was 
 wrong for a good man to fuflfer himfelf to be in- 
 jured by the wicked {. For he had the fuper- 
 intendence of the towers when he was banifhed 
 by Nero. 
 
 * For an account of Mufonius, fee the Epiftle to The- 
 miftius, Vol. I. p. 25. note 1|. 
 
 -j- • This polTibly might be Dionyfius, whofe " drunken 
 ** abufe" Julian mentions in Epiftle LIX.-p. 165. The words 
 in the original aTe finiilar, r:x^c,m%-/ and ■riTrapi'iiicaj. 
 
 + Though 1 have literally tranflated this paffage, I do 
 not clearly apprehend its meaning, or its connexion with 
 what follows. 
 
 Articlr 
 
EPISTLES OF JULIAN. 211 
 
 o 
 
 Article XPHMA. 
 U R journey lay through the Hercynlan A. D. 
 
 foreft *. There I faw a mofl wonder- 
 ful fight (xpjj/xoj, s^ocicriov'), I can confidently affure 
 you, that you have never feen the like, though I 
 know that there are many of the kind in the Ro- 
 man dominions. But let any one think of the in- 
 acceffible Theffalian Terape, or of Thermopyl^s f, 
 cr of ileep and exienfive Taurus % i and all thefe 
 will feem infignificant when compared in rugged- 
 Tiefs with the Hercynian foreft. 
 
 * This feems alfo to be ftyled the Hercynian foreft by 
 Zofimus, /. III. It is at prefent called der Spejfard^ for- 
 merly a part of the Hercynian foreil:, and is on the left 
 bank of the Mayne, not far from the confluence of the 
 Rhine and ^lofelle, as Cluverius fays, /. iii.c 7. 
 
 Valois. 
 
 In Ccefar's time this foreft extended from the country 
 of the Rauraci (Bafil) into the boundlefs regions of the 
 North. Julian mentions his being " fent into the Her- 
 ** cynian foreft when he had fcarce arrived at manhood," 
 in the Mifopogon, p. 275 ; and Ammianus, xyii. i. where 
 it 15 ftyled f'yl-vam fqualQve tenchraricm horrendam. 
 
 f Straits between the mountains of ThelTaly and Phocis, 
 ■which divide Greece, famous for the defence of Leonidas 
 ag-ainii the Perfians. 
 
 J The higheft and moft exteniive mountains in Alia, 
 
 357- 
 
 P 2 INDEX 
 
stz 
 
 INDEX TO THE EPISTLES. 
 
 Epiflle I. 
 
 (37) To * * * "* page 
 
 S 
 
 II. 
 
 (11) To Prohxrefius, 
 
 5 
 
 III. 
 
 (31) To Libanius. 
 
 6 
 
 IV. 
 
 (17) To Ariftomenes. 
 
 7 
 
 V. 
 
 (44) To the mofl honoured Theo- 
 
 
 
 dora. 
 
 10 
 
 VI. 
 
 (^0) To Ecdiclus, Pragfei^ of 
 
 
 
 ^gypt. 
 
 IX 
 
 VII. 
 
 ( 6) To Artabius. 
 
 ^3 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To George. 
 
 14 
 
 JX. 
 
 (23) To Ecdicius. 
 
 n 
 
 X. 
 
 (22) To til e People of Alexandria. 
 
 19 
 
 XI. 
 
 (40) To the Byzantines. 
 
 24 
 
 xn. 
 
 (13) ToBafil. 
 
 26 
 
 Xlll. 
 
 ( 5) To his Uncle Julian* 
 
 27 
 
 XIV. 
 
 (43) To Libanius. 
 
 28 
 
 XV. 
 
 ( 9) To the Philofophcr Maximus 
 
 '^9 
 
 XVI. 
 
 (41) To the fame. 
 
 3» 
 
 XVII, 
 
 ( 3) To Oribafius. 
 
 S3 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To thePhilofopherEugenius. 
 
 38 
 
 XIX. 
 
 (38) To Ecebolus. 
 
 39 
 
 XX. 
 
 To Euftochius. 
 
 41 
 
 XXI. 
 
 (18) To Callixene, Pricllefs of 
 
 
 
 Geres. 
 
 43 
 
 XXIL 
 
 To Leontius* 
 
 45 
 
 XXIII, 
 
I N D E X TO TH£ E P i S T L E S. 213 
 
 Epiftle Page 
 
 XXIII, ( 7) To Hermogenes, formerly 
 
 Prsefeft of iEgypt. 46 
 
 XXIV. To the moft excellent Se- 
 
 rtipion. 47 
 XXV. (14) To the Community of the 
 
 Jews. 57 
 (19) To the principal Phyficians. 
 
 An Edia. 6^ 
 
 XXVI. (27) To the Alexandrians. An 
 
 Edift. 64 
 
 XXVII. {^5) To Libanius, Sophift and 
 
 Qnceflor. 65 
 
 XXVIII. (47) To Duke Gregory. 75 
 
 XXIX. (12) ToAlypius, Brother of 
 
 Czefarius. ib, 
 
 XXX. To the fame. ^6 
 XXXI. (10; To Bidiop iEtius. 78 
 
 XXXII. (46) To the Sophift Lucian. 79 
 
 XXXIIJ. (45) To Dolitheus. ib. 
 XXXIV. ' To the Philofopher Jamb- 
 
 lichus. 80 
 
 XXXV. For the Argives. 83 
 XXXVI. (24) To Porphyry, Treafurer of 
 
 ^gypt. 92 
 
 XXXVII. (39) To Amerius. 93 
 
 XXXVIII. ( 4) To Maximus. 96 
 XXXIX. (16) To the fame. 100 
 
 XL. To Jamblichu!?. 10 1 
 ? z XLI. 
 
I N D E X TO THE E P I S T L E S. 
 
 Epiflle Page 
 
 XLL To Jamblichus. 107 
 
 (20) An Edift relating to Pro- 
 
 feffors. 1 1 o 
 
 XLII. (20) forbidding the Chriftians 
 
 to teach polite literature. 112 
 
 XLIII. To Ecebolus. 118 
 
 XLIV, To Libanius. 120 
 
 XLV. (25) To Zeno. 121 
 
 XLVI. (36) To Euagrius. '' 122 
 
 XLVII. (42^ To the Thracians. 125 
 
 XLVIIL To**** J27 
 
 XLIX. (32) To Arfacius, High Prieft 
 
 of Galatia. 'ib. 
 
 L. (28) To Ecdicius. 134 
 
 LL 
 
 (29) To the Alexandrians. 
 
 136 
 
 LII. 
 
 (26) To the Boflrenians, 
 
 ' 142 
 
 LIU. 
 
 To Jamblichus. 
 
 148 
 
 LIV. 
 
 To George. 
 
 *5i 
 
 LV. 
 
 To Eumcnius and Phari- 
 
 
 
 anus. 
 
 15^ 
 
 LVL 
 
 To Ecdicius. 
 
 153 
 
 LVIf. 
 
 To thePhilofopherElpidius 
 
 ;. 154 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 (15J To the Alexandrians. 
 
 ^SS 
 
 LIX. 
 
 To Dionyfius. 
 
 158 
 
 LX. 
 
 To Jamblichus. 
 
 171 
 
 LXI. 
 
 To the fame. 
 
 174 
 
 LXII. 
 
 To * * * * (Imperfea.) 
 
 175 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 ( 8) To the High-Priefl 
 
 
 
 Theodore. 
 
 178 
 LXIV. 
 
f N D E X TO THE E P I S T L E S. 
 
 IT^ 
 
 Epiftle 
 
 
 
 Page 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 
 To the People, clamoroufly 
 
 
 
 
 applauding in the Ty ch^ura 
 
 . 184 
 
 LXV, 
 
 
 To a Painter. 
 
 185 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 (34: 
 
 ) To Arfaces, Satrap of Ar- 
 
 
 
 
 menia. 
 
 i85 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 (33) 
 
 To the People [of Antioch.] 
 
 189 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 
 To Libamus. 
 
 195 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 
 To Sofipater. 
 
 196 
 
 LXX. 
 
 
 To Philip. 
 
 197 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 
 To Eutherius. 
 
 199 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 
 To the Patriarch. 
 
 200 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 
 To Diogenes. 
 
 20 r 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 
 To Prifcus. 
 
 -202 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 
 To Libanius. 
 
 20^ 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 
 To the Philofopher Euclid. 
 
 204 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 
 Ad Photinum. 
 
 205 
 
 Fragments of EpiiUes* 
 
 207 — 211 
 
 N. B. Thofe tranflated by M. de la Bleterie arc 
 marked with Arabic figures, which (lievv the chro- 
 nological order in which he has endeavoured (as far 
 as he could) to arrange them. Gallus to Julian, 
 and Julian to Themiftius, are his two firft. And 
 thofe to the Athenians and Conftantius he has 
 emitted. 
 
 P4 
 
 THE 
 
1I6I 
 
 THE 
 
 I f E 
 
 O F 
 
 L I B A N I U S, tke SofHisT. 
 Of ToHN Albert Fabricius, Di D. * 
 
 LIB ANIUS was born df ari ancient aiict rioBle : 
 family at Antioch, dn the Orontes, in the ] 
 year of our Lord 314. Soidas calls his father 
 *' Phafganius •," but this \<^s the name of one bf 
 his uncles f ; thr other, who was the elder, was 
 named Panolbius. His great grandfather, who 
 excelled in the art of divination, had publifhed feme 
 |)iec€s in Latin, which occafibned his being fup- 
 pofed b}' fome, but falfly, to be an Italian. His 
 maternal and paternal grandfathers '«^ere eminent 
 ih rank and in eloquence ; the latter, With his 
 brother Brafidas, was put to death, by the order of 
 
 * In bis Bibliotheca Graeca, vol. vii. p. 378. 
 
 + Libanius, in his Lite (which he fays, p. 19, he wrote 
 when he was fixty), vol. 11. p. 6. and 40, and Orat. xxiv. 
 p. 534. He mentions, p. 46. that he attained his fiftieth 
 year under Jovian j and, p. 48, his fifty-feventh under 
 Valcns, Fabricivs. 
 
 Diocletian, 
 
LIf E OF LIB ANlUfe. ixy 
 
 Diocletian, in the year 303, after the ttimiilt of 
 the tyrant Eugenius. Libaitius^ of his" fathcr*s 
 three fons the fecond, in the fifteenth veal- of his 
 a^e, wilhing to devote hitiifelf entirely to litera- 
 ture, complaihs that he met with fomc ** fhadows 
 *« of fophifts." Then, affifled by a prbptr maftfer *, 
 he began to read the ancient \trittrs ftt Antioch, 
 atid from thence, with Jaiion, a Cappadocian, went 
 ro Athens, And refiding there for mott than fdoir 
 years became intimately acquaiiltfed with Ctifi-JinUs 
 of Heracleajwho, he fay$, enriched him afterwards 
 with books at Nicomedia, and went, but feldbm, ib 
 the fchools of Diophantus. At Conlliititinople he 
 ingratiated himfelf with NicOcles of Lacedacmon (a 
 grammarian, who was mafter to the Emperor Julian), 
 and the fophift Bemarchius. Returning to Athens, 
 and foliciting the office of a profefTor, which the pro- 
 conful had before intended for hihi when he was 
 twenty-five years of age, a certain Cappadocian hap- 
 pened to be preferred to him. But beihg encouraged 
 by Dionyfius, a Sicilian, who had been prasfecl of 
 Syria, fome fpecimens of his eloquence, that were 
 publiflied at Conftantinople, made him fo generally 
 known and applauded, that he colledled more than 
 dghty difciples, the two fophiils, who then filled 
 the chair there, raging in vain, and Bemarchius, 
 intfifei^ually oppofing him in rival orations, and 
 w^ien he could not excell him, having recourfe to 
 
 * This was probably the fame whom Libanius freed 
 
 from the rclentment of the Emperor Conftantius, as he 
 
 tehtes, p, 34. Fabricius. 
 
 S- the 
 
2ig LIFE QF.LIB ANIU3. 
 
 the, frigid cal.uniny.of magic. At .length, .about 
 the'^^e^rj346y. being expelled the city by his: com- 
 petitorsv ^> the preefeft Limenius concurring, he 
 repai.re4 to Nice,: and foqn after to Nicomedia, the 
 Athens of -Bithynia, where his excellence in fpeak- 
 ing .began, to bemoi'e and '.more approved by all, and 
 Julian., if;ipota hearer, vva^ a reader and admirer 
 of his orations. ,Iu the fame cit}"", he fays, he 
 was particularly. deliglit^d with the frijsndfhip of 
 Ariftsenetus -f, and thef:ve years, which he paffed 
 there, he flyles *.^ the fpring, or any thing elfe that 
 *' can be conceiyed pleafanter than fpring, of his 
 " whole life." Beins; Invited ag-ain to Conflanti- 
 nople, and 'afterwards returning to Nicomedia, being 
 alfo tired of Conflantinople, where he found Phoenix 
 and Zenobius, rival fophifls, though he was pa- 
 tronifed by Strategius, who fucceeded Domitian as 
 priefg^p; of' the Eafi:, not daring, on account of hi^ 
 rivals, to occupy the Athenian chair, he obtained 
 pernjiffion from Gallu.s Cj^far to yjfit, for four 
 months, his native city Antioch, where, after 
 Gallus was killed in 354, he fixed his refidence 
 for the remainder of his life, and initiated many 
 
 * The jealoufy of his rivals, who perfecuted him from 
 one city to another, confirmed the favourable opinion vvhicn 
 Libanius oftentatiouily difplayed of his fuperior merit. 
 
 GlISBOI^, 
 
 f The death of this Arift^enetus, prrefe£i: of Bithyni^, 
 who was overwhelmed at Nicomedia by an earthquake in 
 358, he laments, p. 40, and in his XXIXth and XXXlft 
 EpilHes. See alfo the following Monody. 
 
 6 " io 
 
LIFE OF LIBANIUS. jj,^ 
 
 In the fiicred rites of eloquence. He was alfo much 
 beloved by the Emperor Julian, who heard his dif- 
 courfes with pleafure *', received him with kindnefs^ 
 and imitated hini in his writings. Honoured by 
 that prince with the irank of qua^ftor f, and with 
 feveral Epiflles [of which fix only are extant |], 
 the lall § written by the Emperor during his fatal 
 expedition againd the Perfians, he the more la- 
 mented his death in the flower of his age, as from 
 him he had promifed himfelf a certain and lafting 
 fupport both in the worfliip of idols and in his 
 own ftudies. There was afterwards a report that 
 Libanius, with the younger Jamblichus, the mafler 
 of Proclus, enquired by divination who would be 
 the fucceflbr of Valens ]{, and in confequence with 
 
 difficulty 
 
 '•'■ Fabricius corre£ts this miftake in his Lux E-vangelii. 
 
 f Seep. 6^. 
 
 J Viz, the iiid, xivth, xxviith, XLivth, Lxvinth, and 
 i,xxvth, 
 
 § The xxviith. 
 
 ]| In the year 373, or 374., uhilfi: Valens was at Antioch', 
 a difcovety was made of a confiiltation which fome Gentiles 
 had together fbr finding olit the name of the perfon who 
 fliould fucceed the Emperor. There are accounts of it 
 in feveral of out* Ecclefiaftic'al hillorians, and in divers 
 Heathen authors, particularly Ammianus Marcellinus, v:ht> 
 is the fulleil of all, and was then in the Eaft, and poifibly 
 at Antioch. The confeffions made by patritius and Hilary, 
 both -fkilful diviners, he thus particu!ai!y relates : 
 
 " A tripod made of laurel was artificia'ly prepared, and 
 •' confecrated with certain prefcribed fc:ret charms and 
 " invocations. It was then placed in 'the middle of a 
 *' room, perfumed wirh Arabian fpices. The charger, on 
 *' which it was icz, had on i:s utmoft brim the four and 
 " twenty letters of the alphabet, nearly eigrared, an4,fet 
 *' at due ciiflances fi am each other. Then a perion, clud 
 
 "in 
 
220 LIFEOFLIBANIUS. 
 
 ** in linen veftments, with linen focks upon his fe^t, and 
 *' a fuitable covering upon his head, came in with laurel 
 •' branches in his hands, and, after fome myftic charms 
 *' ^>'jrformed, fliook a ring, hanging at a curtain, about 
 *• the edg^ of the diarger ; which jumping up and down, 
 *' fell upcn fome letters of the alphabet, where it feemed 
 ♦* to ilay ; the prielt alfo then compoling certain heroic 
 *' verfes in anfwer to the queftions that had been propofed. 
 *' The letters, which the ring pointed out in this cafe, were 
 *' four, 0, E, O, A, which being put together, one that 
 ** was prefent immediately exclaimed, that the oracle 
 *' plainly intended Theodorus" [then fecond in the fecre- 
 taries office], " nor did we make any farther enquiries, 
 ** being all well fatisfied that he was the perfon intended, 
 *' though himfelf was totally ignorant of this proceeding." 
 
 Cavers Tranjlation, 
 
 Zonaras gives a different aiccount of the method of divi- 
 nation then made ufe of. He fays, " that the four and 
 *' twenty letters of the alphabet were written upon the 
 ** ground, and at each one was placed a grain of wheat or 
 ** barley. Then, after fome myltic forms, a cock * was let 
 ** cut, which picked up fuch grains as lay at thofe four 
 *' letters." But it is much more reafonable to rely ttpon 
 Ammianus, who was contemporary, and likely to be well 
 informed. His account alfo is agreeable to that in Sozo- 
 men and Zofimus, who have both mentioned the tripod. 
 
 When Libanius fays, that *' Valens hoped to have had 
 *' him alfo accufed as one of the confpirators,"^ I take it to 
 be a mere flourifii. He was willing to make a merit of 
 fome danger with the rell of his friends, though really he 
 was fafe enough. Larpner. 
 
 For this confultation and divination many were put to 
 death, viz. Simonides and Maximus, philofophers, the 
 latter the friend and perverter of Julian, Diogenes, who 
 had been prKfe(5t of Bithynia, and Theodorus, the perfon 
 named, peihaps with many more who owned the fatal 
 fyllahles. Thendofius fiicceeded. Alypius too (fee p. 73.) 
 who had been vice-prefect of Britain, was condemned, but 
 only baniflied ; and his Ion Hierocles, when he was leading 
 to execution, was happily favcd, it is fuppofed, by a tumult 
 of the people. 
 
 ♦ To this method Fabrlcliis plair.Iy alludes by the word nUnryifitaniOr 
 
 The 
 
LIFE OF LIBANIUS. 221 
 
 difficulty efcaped his cruelty *, Irenseus attefling 
 the innocence of Libanius. In like manner he 
 happily efcaped another calumny, by the favour 
 of Duke Lupicinus, when he was accufed by his 
 enemy Fidelis, or Fiduftius, of having written 
 an elogium on the tyrant Procopius f . He was 
 not, however, totally neglefled by Valens, whom 
 he not only celebrated in an oration, but ob- 
 
 The inquifition into the crime of magic, which, under 
 the reign of the two brothers, vvaa fo rigaroufly profe- 
 cuted both at Rome and Antioch, was interpreted as the 
 fatal fymptoni, either of the difpleafure of heaven, or of 
 the depravity of mankind. Lardner has copiouily and 
 fairly examined this dark tranfadtion. Gibbon. 
 
 * That future events noay be conjectured by the motions 
 of the ftars Libanius does not deny, in an Epiflle £thc 
 xivth of Zambicari, /. I.] to Eiiftolius. That he alfa 
 ftudied the interpretation of dreams may be deduced from 
 Vol. II. of his works, p. 74. Faericius, 
 
 f Procopius, a relation of the Emperor Julian, who had 
 
 haftily promoted him, from the obfcure ftation of a tribune 
 
 and a notary, to the joint command of the army of Me- 
 
 fopotamia, retired, after the death of that prince, to his 
 
 ample patrimony in CappadiDcia. But being fufpe^ed and 
 
 ordered to be apprehended by the new fovereigns Valentinian 
 
 and Valens, A. D. 365, he efcaped from his guards, paiTed 
 
 over to the country of Bofphorus, and, after remaining 
 
 many months in that fequeftered region, embarked for Con- 
 
 ftantinople, and affumed the fovereignty. Being joined by 
 
 fome Gillie foldiers, whofe numbers rapidly increafed, he 
 
 fubdued the unarmed provinces of Bithynia and Afia, the 
 
 city and ifland of Cyzicus, &cc. but being at lafl deferted 
 
 by his troops, in two engagements, after wandering fome 
 
 time among the woods and mountains of Phrygia, he was 
 
 betrayed by his defponding followers, conducted to the im* 
 
 perial camp, and immediately beheaded. 
 
 Abriilgeii from G I B B o i.r . 
 
 tailed 
 
222 LIFEOFLIBANIUS. 
 
 tained from him a coriiirmation of the law agaiilft 
 entire!}' excluding illegimitate children from the 
 inheritance of their paternal edates, which he fo" 
 liched from the Emperor, no doubt, for a private 
 i^eafon, fince, as Eiiuapius informs us, he kept a 
 miilrefs *, and was never married. The remainder 
 of his life he pafied, as before-mentioned, at An- 
 tloch, to an advanced age,' amidfl various wrongs 
 and oppreffions from his rivals and the times, which 
 he copioufly relates in his Life, though, tired of 
 the manners of that city, he had thoughts, in his 
 old age, of changing his abode, as he tells Eufebius 
 in his DLIVth EpKlle [edit. Wolf.] He continued 
 there, however, and on various occafions was very 
 fervlceable to the city, cither by appeafmg fe- 
 dltions, and calming the diflurbed minds of the 
 citizens, or by reconciling to them the Emperors 
 Julian and Theodofius. That Libanrus lived even 
 to the reign of Arcadias, that is,, beyoiid the 
 feventieth year of his age, the learned collect from 
 his oration onLuclan and the teflimony of Cedrenus ; 
 and of the fame opinion is Godfrey Olearlus, a 
 man not more refpe^table for his exquifite know- 
 ledge of facred and polite literature, than for his 
 judgement and probity, in his MS. prcelefllons, in 
 
 ■* He laments her de .th, and mentions a fon, whom he 
 had by her, in liis Life, p. 82. and in feveral of his Epiflles. 
 It) others it appears that his name was Cimon ; that his 
 father fent bixn to iludy at .Athens, and that he died before 
 
 him. 
 
 which, 
 
I i F E OF LI B A n"i U S. 123 
 
 t^-LIch, wben he was profeffor of both languages 
 in the univerfity of his own country, he has given 
 an account of the life of this fophifl. 
 
 The writings of Libanius * are numerous, and 
 he compofeH and delivered various orations, as well 
 demonftrative as deliberative, and alfo many fic- 
 titious declamations and difputations. Of thefe 
 Frederick Morell f publifhed as many as he could 
 colleft in two volumes, folio, in Greek and Latin. In 
 the ifl vol. Paris, 1606, are XIII. Exercifcs {Pro- 
 
 "^ The voluminous writings of Libanius ftill exift ; for 
 the moft part they are the vain and idle compolitions of 
 an orator, who cultivated the fcience of words; the pro- 
 ductions of a reclufe ftudent, whofe mind, regardlefs of his 
 contemporaries, was inceflantly fixed on the Trojan war, 
 and the Athenian conamonvi-eaith. Gieeox. 
 
 f The Latin tranflation of Morell has been obferved by 
 many of the learned to be often obfcure, and in numberlefs 
 places to have mifi;aken the fenfe of Libanius. Whoever 
 therefore fliall undertake another edition of this author, 
 muft new tranflate many paffages, efpecially in the iid 
 volume. It is faid, neverthelefs, that Moreil applied to 
 his verfion with fucli intenfe application, as not to fuffe 
 himfelf to be interrupted by an account that his wife was 
 at the point of death, if we credit Ifaac Vollius, in Colo- 
 mefius, p. 99. of his works: *' Lh^ve heard from M. 
 *' Voffius, that while Frederipk Moreil was employed on 
 *' Libanius, feme one capie to inform him that his wife 
 *' was very ill:" to which he replied, '* 1 have only three 
 •' or four fentenccs more to tranllate,' and then I will go 
 *' and fee her." Another coming to tell him that flie was 
 dying;" I have only tv.o words," faid he, *' 1 will be 
 " there as foon as you." At laft, being informed that his 
 wife was dead, *' I v.'as very happy," he aniwered coldly, 
 *' flie was an excellent vroman," Fasricius. 
 
 ^ymnafmata) 
 
«44 
 
 LIFE OF LlSANIi;^. 
 
 gymnafmata) XLIV Declanjatipps *, aacji 1 1 1 l?ior^J 
 diflertatiops, and in the iid ypl. P^rji$, \^l')% are 
 the Life -f- of Libanius, and jcxxvi othef oration*, 
 moft of them long and on ferious fubje^t?. 
 
 Befides yhat are contained in thofe volumes, 
 and his Epiflles, ten other worjcs of this fophiil 
 have been feparately publiflied, moft of them ora- 
 tions J, and in the Excerpta Rhetorum of LcQ 
 
 Allatius, 
 
 * That his Declamations were " poflefled, read, and 
 *' thought worthy of being imitated by many," appear* 
 from an Epiftle of Libanius :o Arcbelaus [xLivth of Zam- 
 bicari, /. i.], w.ho, from envy, hid committed fome of .them 
 to the flames, Eraimus (I. 550.) has tranllated the i& of 
 ttvem, the " oration of Wenelaus," wliich MoreJl has 
 adopted •vcrhatlii;, without acknowledgment, (I. 189.) his 
 name being prefixed as the tranflator of them all. 
 
 4- Libanius has compofed the vain, prolix, hut curious 
 narrative of his oy,n life, of which Eunapius (p. 130 — 135.) 
 has left a concife and unfavourable account. Among the 
 moderns, Tillemont, Fabricius, and Lardner have illi^lV 
 trated the cliara^ter and writings of this famous iophi^, 
 
 G LB BON, 
 
 X Of thefe, as of all the others, Fabricius has giv^n 
 the titles and fubjefls. The Vth of them, " an oratioa 
 *' for the Temples," that they may not be 4eftroyed, tp 
 Theodoi\U3 the Gcec\t, 39D, firft publiflied by Qodqfroi, 
 Geneva, 1634., 4to. is trauflated into Englilh by Dr. Lard- 
 ner, ip his Jewifli and FL;athen Teftimonies, Vol. IV. p. 
 137 — 158, with Obfervations. The Vlth, " On rey^ng- 
 *' in^ the death of the Emperor Julian," addrefled to the 
 lame Theodollus, 379, ivas ficil publiflied, from the Bod- 
 leian MS. by Olearius above-mentioned, Leipfic, 170,1, 
 8vo. to which he afterwards added a Latin tranflation, ar>d 
 learned notes, at the deftre of Fabricius, which he pub- 
 li(hed, in Bibliotheca Gr«ca, Vol. VH. p. 145 — 179, >i;ith 
 the original, and aFfo with the Vllth, " To thofe who 
 «♦ called hijh troublefome," 373 ; and the Vlllth, '* To 
 •' the AntiOchians, on appeafmg the refentment of the 
 
 l^ Emperor" 
 
L 1 F E O F L I B A N I U S. '■ 225 
 
 Allatius, Greek and Latin, Rom. 164.1, 8vo. are 
 Jfxxix Narrations, wii Defcriptions, and vii more 
 Exercifes of Libanius, wich tranflations by AU 
 iatius. His unpubiifhed works are, 
 
 I. Many hundred Epiftles * yet concealed in va- 
 rious libraries, a mode of writing in which it ap- 
 pears he excelled by the teflimony even of the 
 ancients, particularly Eunapius and Phorius ; and 
 of that the perufal of them will eafily convince 
 the intelligent reader ; for they abound with Attic 
 wh and humour, and every where recommend 
 themfelves by their pointed concifenefs no lefs than 
 
 by their elegance and learning f* 
 
 2. Several 
 
 -• Emperor" [JiJaan], 365, bo!>h for the firfi time, and a 
 'jorrecl copy of the " funeral oration on Julian," wi;h 
 tranflations of them all by the fame Giearius. 
 
 * Eleven years after Fabricius printed the above, John 
 Chrillopher Wolfius, his pupil, friend, and collegiis, affilted 
 by the colletlions of Frederick Roftgriard, a noble Dane, 
 (fee p. 196.) pnblifi:ed at Hamburgh, in orii volume, folio, 
 1738, with learned r.otcs, mdcv Epiftles of Libanius, in 
 Cyreek and Latiii, two-thirds of them collected from various 
 MSS. to v,-hich he added dxxii Epiules of the fame aurhor, 
 111 Litin onl)- (>:c of them duplicates, being alio in the 
 Greek), tranflated from the originals, collected in Greece, 
 and publiflied at Cracou-, about the middle of the XVch 
 century, by Francis Zambicari of Bologni, and repubhfiijd" 
 there by John Sommerfeld, xM. A. 1504. See Vol.1, p. 
 330, note *. 
 
 t The critics may praife their fubtle and elegant brevity ; 
 yet Dr. Beniley (Diffcrtatioii upon Phalari.-, p. 4S7.) 
 might juftly, though quaintly, oblcrve, that " you fed by 
 " the emptinefs and deadnefs of them, that you conv-.Tfe 
 " with fome dreaming pedant, with his elbov/ uj^on his 
 " defk." Qj.s&aH. 
 
 Vol. ir. CL 'I'^-s. 
 
226 LT Ft OF LIB ANIU S. 
 
 2, Several Orations, as in a MS. of ilie BarbC'* 
 rini library, of excellent characler, uioll: correftly 
 written on vellum, from which Allatius afferts *, 
 that all the pnblillied works of Libanins might alfo 
 be given much more correiTt and perfe£l. 
 
 3. V^arious Declamations, in the above MS. and 
 oi>e in the Vatican library. 
 
 And that there are many MS Epiftles, Orations, 
 and Declamations of Libanias in the Imperial 
 library [at Vienna], NefTelius has obferved, affirm- 
 hig alfo that feveral Greek fcholia are frequently 
 inlerted in the margin. 
 
 Though fo many of the writings of this fophifl 
 are preferved, there is no doubt that many both 
 of his Kpiftles and Orations have been loft -f* 
 
 The MDLxxivth Epiftle of Lrbanius occurs among thofe 
 of phalaris, and is inscribed tcx Antimathius, n. xxvii. 
 
 It is thcwight at prefent by almoll all the learned, Bentlev, 
 the prince of critics {viro y.^!lixula1u) at their head, that thefe 
 Epiftles of Phalaris may juftly be afcribed to lome fophill. 
 It may be worth while to confider whether all of them 
 perhaps were not fabricated by Libanius. I recollect, at 
 leaft, that in n^y notes I have frequently compared the 
 phrales and exprellions of Phalans with thofe of Libanius. 
 See, for inilance, the notes on Ep. mcxli. Wolfius. 
 
 * Pr/cf. ad Excerpfa Khetonan Gracontm. 
 
 ■\ Oi XI of thefe, mentioned by I ibaniua himfelf in dif- 
 ferent parts of his works, Fabricius recapitulates the titles, 
 behdes various Couniels (c-i.>iSaXa» \) to the Emperor The- 
 odonus, mentioned m the b-ginning of his oration for the 
 temples of the Heathens. And many more, which Fa- 
 bricius has omitted, might be fpecified from feveral of 
 his epiftles. 
 
 X Tranllated by Dr. Lardnerj '< 0ra:itns, aiil the counfel ds'hered »a 
 thcra." 
 
 A MONODY 
 
 A 
 
JW7 
 
 A M O N O D Y * by L I B A N I U S, 
 
 On N I COM ED I A, 
 
 Deilroyed by an Earthquake -f. 
 
 H 
 
 O M E R never fuffers even a tree to perifh ^' ^' 
 
 3 5 
 
 without commiferation ; but, as if he himfelf 
 
 had been the planter or gardener, when he fees it 
 {Iretched on the groundj he fings a lamentatioQ 
 
 * A mournful fong, recited by one only on the ftage, 
 without a chorus, was called Motsiha, And mention is 
 rnade of a Monodiai ia^ or of a woman who fung a monody. 
 
 WOLFIUS. 
 
 Libanius, in his XXXlfl Epiflle, mentions two Monodies 
 which he compofcd oh this occalion ; one (which is now 
 before us) relating to the city, the other, no doubt, to 
 Ariil^netus, Prxfe<ft of Bithynia, who periflied in it (fee 
 the next note) ; but the latter is loft. *' I alfo," fays he, 
 (Ep. XXV.) *' am one of thole who are overwhelmed by 
 " that great calamity. For Ariftaenetus, O Jupiter, has 
 " periflied ; and, behdes this, we have fuffered another 
 «« ftroke, as fate has not fpared the head of Hierocles." 
 
 All the ancients fpeak of Nicomedia as a place of great 
 note : Pliny calls it "a famous and beautiful city :'* 
 Ammianus, " the mother of all the cities of Bith}nia." 
 In this city the Roman emperors refided, when the affairs 
 of the empire called them into the eaft. Conllantine the 
 Great chofe Nicomedia for the place of his abode after he 
 -retired from Rome, and- there remained till the buildings 
 that he had begun at Byzantium were finiflied. This city, 
 ohce fo famous, is now but a fmall village, known to the 
 Turks by the name of Schemith J. Universal History, 
 
 t AccorOing to Pococke, Ifmit, 
 
 0^2 At 
 
228 AMONODYBYLIBANIUS, 
 
 f At break 'of day, on the 9th of the calends of Septem- 
 ber, th<; flcy, which before was clear, was obfcured by thick 
 dark clouds ; and the light of the fun being veiled, neither 
 near nor contiguous objefls were difcernible. Then the Su- 
 preme Deity throwing, as it were, fatal thunder-bolts, and 
 removing the winds from their very hinges J, the fury of 
 the ftorm abated ; and to thefe hurricanes and whirlwinds 
 lucceeded an horiible" earthquake, which totally overthrew 
 the city and fuburbs. And on account of the declivity of 
 the hills, fome houfes fell upon others, all refounding with 
 the dreadful crafti of the ruins. Mean time the lofty roofs 
 re-echoed with various cries of thofe who were feekingthait 
 wives and children, or deareft friends. After the fecond 
 hour, but long before the third, the Iky, now fair and clear, 
 difcovered the funereal carnage. For fome, cruflied by the 
 overwhelming force of falling rafters, periflied under the 
 weight of them : fome, buiied up to the neck, though they 
 might have furvived if they had had timely alTiflance, died 
 for want of help ; others hung fixed to the tops of {landing 
 beams ; many men were killed a little before by one blow ; 
 then were feen promifcuous flaughtered bodies ; fome, the 
 roofs of their houfes falling in, were confined unhurt, vi£tims 
 to anguifh and famine. Among w'hom Ariftasnetus, who 
 governed the diocefe lately defired with vicarial power, to 
 which Conrtantius, in honour of his wife, had given the 
 name of the EufehijU Piety ||, by this calamity, long lor- 
 tured, expired. Others, cruflied by fudden bulky ruins, 
 are ftill covered by the fime heaps. Some, who had their 
 fcuUs fraiftured, or had loll their arms or legs, between 
 life and death, imploring with earnell intreaties thofe who 
 were airuling others, were deferted. And the greater part 
 of the inhabitants might have furvived the facred and pri- 
 vate buildings, had not flames, widely difpcrfed, for fifty 
 days and nights, confumed whatever was combullible. 
 
 Ammianuj. 
 See alfo an Epiftlc on this fubjeft from Libanius to Julian, 
 Vol. I. p. 303. 
 
 X Ventofqrte ah Ifjis excilante cardinibus. 
 
 Not unlike to this arc Milton's " winds," that 
 
 . — — rufh'd abroad 
 
 From the four hinges of the woild. Par. Reg. iv, 409. 
 
 II After the example of the Julian Pi ry, a name given to Po!a in 
 
 Iftria (of which fee I'lui. 1. lu. c. i<j.) LiNDtNBROG. 
 
 .-; over 
 
 I 
 
O N N I C O M E D I A. 229 
 
 over it *. And can I permit Nicomedia, where I 
 increafed my knowledge of the liberal arts, efpc- 
 cially eloquence, and acquired, belides, a degree 
 of reputation which I had not before, to be de- 
 ftroyed, can I fee fuch a city, a. city no longer, re- 
 duced to aflies, unmourned, unwept ? This con- 
 cern 1 fliare in common with the vulgar ; let 
 her alfo participate of the oratory which flie 
 cheriflied. As, if I had been a mufician, and had 
 gained many victories there in mufical contefls, 
 Ihould I have fuftered others to lament without 
 joining in the lamentation? 
 
 Let me now addrefs the Gods, fuppofing them 
 prefent, and thus endeavour to eflimate our ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 When, fitting in the palace of Jupiter, with the 
 other Gods, you, O Neptune, were enraged on 
 account of the wall which the Grecians had built 
 
 * Homer deplores the defirucTtion of plants in Iliad ix 
 and XVIII. Moreli.. 
 
 a monftrous boar, 
 
 That levell'd harveils, and whole forefls tore. 
 
 PoiE, IX. 6^9. 
 jMuch more expreiTive in the original. 
 In the xviiith I find a plant, or a tree, mentioned only 
 thus, 
 
 Like feme fair olive, by ray careful hand 
 
 He grew, he flourifli'd, and adorn d the land. 
 
 Poi'E, 17^ and 51.'.. 
 If Libanius had been acquainted with the Pfalmiit, and 
 unprejudiced by Paganifm, he could not have overhmked 
 that beautiful allufion of the " vine brouglu out of 
 *' JEgypt," and the complaint of its being " rooted up, 
 *^ burnt, and cut down." Pf. i.xxx, 8 — 16, 
 
 0.3 a^ 
 
»30 A MONODY BY LIBANIUS, 
 
 at Troy to cover their fliips, was not their neglect 
 of the Gods, when tiiey laid the foundation, the 
 principal fubjeiS of your complaint *? And there- 
 fore, when Troy was taken, you judged right in 
 thinking it neceffary to deflroy that wall ; which 
 you ealily accomplifli'-i by turning againfi: it the 
 ri ers that roilud froai Ida f. But in the foun- 
 dation of this city what was the offence that in- 
 ^Juced you to treat it in t-"e fume manner ? Did not 
 its firft founder {, defigning to build a city on the 
 
 Ihorc 
 
 * Hom. 11. VII. 45^. 
 
 See the long walls extending to the main, 
 
 No Gcd confulted, and no victim (lain, &c. Pope, 536. 
 
 •f Ibid. XII. 17. 
 
 Then Neptune and Apollo fliook the (hore, 
 Then Ida's fumraits pour'd their watery ilore ; 
 Rhefus and Rhodius then unite their rills, &c. 
 
 Thefe, turn'd by Fhcebus from their wonted ways, 
 
 Delug'd the rampire nine continual days ; 
 
 The weight of waters ftps the yielding wall, 
 
 And to the fea the floating bulwarks fall. 
 
 Inceffant cataracts the Thunderer pour^^ 
 
 An... u..!f the ficies defcend in lluicy fliowers, Sec. 
 
 Pope, i^. 
 This is a noble psffa-^e m the old bard; ftorm, inunda- 
 tion, and earthquake magtiificently combined. B. 
 Milton alludes to it in his viiion of the Deluge, b. xi, 
 
 — — ■— Then fliall this mount 
 
 Of Paradife, by might of waves, be mov'd 
 
 Out of his J lace, pufli'd by the horned flood. 
 
 With all his verdure fpoil'd, and trees adrift, 
 
 Down the great river to the opening gulf, 
 
 A.nd tliere take root, an ifland fait and bare, 
 
 Tlie haunt of feals, and ores, and fea-mews* clang. 829. 
 
 t Nicnmcdia is faid to have been firft built by Olbia. 
 
 and had its firit n.ime ficm him. It was afterwards re-bui!c 
 
 5 by 
 
O N N I C O M E D I A. 23I 
 
 fliore oppofite to that where it now (lands, or rather 
 where it once flood, begin his work from you ? 
 Were not the altars covered with viftimSj and fur- 
 rounded by a crowd of worfhippers ? But by an 
 eagle and a prodigious fnake you diverted their at- 
 tention to the hill i of thefe, the former with her 
 talons fnatched the head of the viflim from the fire; 
 and the Litter, large and refembling thofe which 
 are bred in India, ilfucd from the earth. The one 
 cleaving the fea, and the other the air, repaired to 
 the brow of the hill. 1 he people followed, led, 
 as they thought, by the guidance of the Gods. 
 Thefe cMiiens were all deceitful. The city was at 
 fi.rrt: overwhelmed by the torrent of war *. Be it 
 fo. Your own Corinth | alfo, and the land of 
 
 by Nicomedes T. king of Bithynia, though Olbia feems 
 rather to have been near it, and that the inhabitants of it 
 were tranfpUnted to this place. Pococke. 
 
 Nicomedia, Aftacus, and Olbia are fpoken of by 
 Ptolemy as three neighbouring but diftintl cities. Strabo 
 writes that Nicomedes, the fon and fncceflbr of Zipoetes, de- 
 firoyed Ailacus, and transferred its inhabitants to Nicomedia, 
 
 U.VIVERSAI. History, 
 
 * This muil probably have been in the reign of Nico- 
 medes III. who was twice driven from his throne by Mith- 
 ridates the Great, king of Pontus. 
 
 + Among other nam^s which Corinth anciently had we 
 find that of Heliopolis, or city of the fun, for which this 
 reafon i? commonly given ; that the poets feign Apollo and 
 Neptune to have contended for it, and that Jupiter having 
 appointed Briareus, the Cyclop, their umpire, he adjudged 
 the Iithraus to the latter, and the Promontoty, which com- 
 mands the city, to the former. Universal History, 
 
 0^4 Cecrops, 
 
*32 A MONODY BY LIBANIUS, 
 
 Cecrops *, your bed beloved, have experienced 
 the fame hiQ f. Another founder came, who, 
 nniking the Gods his principal leaders, and, by the 
 luperior magnitude of his olferingj rendering your 
 minds more propitious, reflored the city. How 'mt 
 then, like the land of ^.tolia, for the offence of 
 GEneus |, did fhe deferve to be punifhed with cou-. 
 tempt ? Is it right, has it been ufual, for the Gods 
 to deftroy with their own hands works like thefe, 
 in which they have co-operated with mortals, and 
 to imitate the pallime of children, who are ac^ 
 cuflomed to pull down wh:it they have eredled § I 
 Ck did it become you, O Neptune, to enter into a 
 .contefl with your niece for an A'nc city not then 
 in being, and to overflow a citadel fo ditlant from 
 
 * An yEgyptian fugitive, who introdjiccd religion into 
 Greece, and founded the Athenian monarchy. See note -^ 
 P 233. 
 
 •{ Corinth was furprifed by Antigonus and Aratus, taken 
 and burnt by the Romans, &c. Athens was ueftroyed by 
 JMardonius, taken by the Lacedcemonians and Sylla, &c, 
 
 I Oeneus, king of i'Etolia, or Calydon (its chief city) 
 facrificing to the rell of the deities, neglected his duty to 
 Diana, who in confequence fent a wild boar to ravage and 
 deitroy the country, which was killed by his fun Meleager, 
 and his company. See Horn. 11. ix. 530. 
 
 ^ Thus Tibuilus, — ■. pucr e virgls extruet arte cafas. 
 
 1. II. el. 1, 
 And Horace of a boy,—— — >■ — aviata relinr^uere pcmix, 
 
 iMOREI.L. 
 
 Libanins had here, no jdoubt, in his view that pallage in 
 the Iliad to which Julian a!fp refers in his xtth Epiiile, 
 See p. io5, 
 
 the 
 
O N N I C O M E D I A. 233 
 
 the fea "•• , yet to difplay no regard for fiich a great 
 and important city as this, but even to i'ubvert it 
 from the foundations I What city was more beau- 
 tiful ? I will not fay larger, for in fize it was ex- 
 ceeded by four -f, but contemned all that increafe 
 of extent, which would have wearied the feet of 
 its citizens ];. In beauty alfo it yielded to thefc, 
 and was equalled, not excelled, by fome others : 
 for, ftretching forth its promontories, with its arms 
 
 ^ Cecrops not knowing what name to give to his new- 
 built city, an olive-tree, and a fountain of water (or, as 
 others fay, a horfe) appearecL The oracle, being coniulted, 
 anfwered, that " Neptune and Minerva were contending 
 " for the honour of naming it, that the olive was the gift 
 '* of Minerva, and the fountain (or horfe) that of Nep- 
 ** tui!e ; and that th^t which they efteemed mofb beneli- 
 *' cial to mankind fliould adjudge the prize to the giver." 
 The men and women being affembled to give their judge- 
 ment, the former gave it for the God ; but the Vv-omeo, 
 who were more numerous, gave it for the Goddefs ; and 
 the city was named from her Athena. Neptune, in revenge 
 of the affront, overflowed their territories. Apollodorus. 
 
 Here we have an account of the PoSjoi- mentioned by Li- 
 banius, which Morell has rendered Pi'ocellay though it 
 fignifies properly *' the violence and force of water, a billow 
 *' of the fea :" as, in the poem on ftero and Leander, the 
 poet fays, he ftood on the fliore, 
 
 where ^ojj.'Sa)! excellently exprefles the heavy found occafioned 
 by the fall of the waves. B. 
 
 f Rome, Byzantium, Antioch, and Alexandria. 
 
 lo^oDi tm; ttoJo.;. This is an odd palTage, and feems to me a 
 puerile conceit. Morell's marginal reading, ta. 7r«j^i»s (for 
 ?ro^«;) is pleafant enough. I wonder he ihould think any 
 alteration neceffary, as he underflood the true fenfe of the 
 place ; for men may be fatigued as well as children, I have 
 Ro doubt that he was a great walker, B, 
 
 it 
 
234 AMONODYBYLIBANIUS, 
 
 it embraced the Tea. It then afcended the hill 
 by four colonnades extending the whole length. 
 Its public buildings were fplendid, its private 
 contiguous, rifing from the lowed parts to the 
 citadel, like the branches of a cyprefs, one houfe 
 above another, watered by rivulets, and furrounded 
 with p^ardens *. Its council-chambers, its fchools 
 of oratory, the muhitude of its temples, the 
 magnificence of its baths, and the commodi- 
 oufnefs of its harbour I have feen, but cannot 
 defcribe. This only I can fay, that, frequently 
 travelling thither from Nice f, we ufed on the 
 road to difcourfe on the trees, and the foil, abun- 
 dant in all produdiions, and alfo of our families, 
 our friends, and ancient wifdom. But after we had 
 pafTed through the intricate windings of the hills, 
 when the city appeared, at the dKlance of a hun- 
 dred and fifty fhadia J, on all other fubjefls a pro- 
 found iiience inftantly enfued, and, no longer en- 
 gaged either by the towering branches of the 
 gardens, or by the fruitfulnefs of the foil, or by 
 
 * In Uke manner, Dr. Pococke defcribes the prefent town 
 as " fitiiated at the foot of two hills, and all up the fouth 
 ** tide of the wefiern one, which is very high, and on part 
 *' of the other : it is near the N. E. corner of the bay. All 
 " the houfes have fniall gardens, or courts, to them, efpc- 
 *' cially thofe on the hills. The gardens are planted with 
 " trees §, and the vines, being carried along on frames built 
 ** like roofs, make the city appear exceedingly beautiful. 
 *' There are very few remains of the ancient Nicomedia." 
 
 f Thirty-two miles. Fococke. 
 
 I About nineteen miles. 
 
 § KuTot «ni'g«^£voj Toij- x^a^oij are the words of Libanius. 
 
 the 
 
O N N I C O M E D I A. 235 
 
 the traffic of the Tea, our whole converfation turned 
 on Nicomedia. And yet niaruiers, or thofe who 
 labour at the oar, and enfnare the iifli with nets, 
 or hooks, naturally attract the obfervation of tra- 
 vellers. But the form of the city, much more 
 fafcinating, by its beauty tyrannifed over our eyes, 
 and fixed their whole attention on itfelf. Similar 
 were the fenfations of him who had never feen it 
 before, and of him who had grown old within its 
 walls. One fliewed to his companion the palace, 
 glittering over the bay ; another the theatre em- 
 bellifliing the whole city ; others various other rays 
 darted from various objedls: which furpafied it was 
 difficult to determine. Revering it as a facred 
 image, we proceeded ; in cur way to Chalcedon, 
 it was necefiary to turn, till the nature of the road 
 deprived us of the fight *. This feemed like the 
 ^reflation of a feaft. 
 
 A city fo great, fo renowned, ought not the 
 whole choir of the G ds to have furrounded and 
 protected, exhorting each other to decree that it 
 {hould never be fubje^led to any calamity I But 
 now fome of you have deceived, others have de- 
 ferted, and noue affifted her. And all thefe par- 
 ticulars, which I have mentioned, once were, but re- 
 main no longer. What a beautiful lock has For- 
 
 * He firft mentions the pleafure arifing from the prof- 
 peA of the city, as they approached ; and then their con« 
 cern at lofing light of it, as they proceeded from it to 
 Chalcedon, B. 
 
 tune 
 
236 A MONODY BY LIBANIUS, 
 
 tune now fevered from the world ■*! How has flic 
 blinded the other continent by thus bereaving it of 
 its illuftrious eye ! What a deplorable deformity 
 has flie difTufed over Afia •, as if her moft fpacious 
 grove had been felled, as if her mod confpiciious 
 feature -j- had been lopped off! O moft injurious 
 earthquake, why didft thou perpetrate this ? O de- 
 parted city ! O name of it in vain remaining ! O 
 grief difperfed over land and fea ! O dire intelli- 
 gence, diflrefsful to the hearts of all ranks, of all 
 ages ! for what heart is Jo flony, what heart is fo 
 adamantine, as not to be wounded by this relation? 
 who is fo deRitute of tears as now to with-hold 
 them I O dreadful misfortune, which has reduced 
 the innumerable ornaments of the city to one 
 ruinous heap ! O unpropitious ray }, what a city 
 
 didft 
 
 * Thus rindar flyles JEtn3. " the front," or forehead, 
 *' of the fruitful earth," ivKci^Troio yai«j jueIwtov, Pyth. I, 
 and Nicornedia was a beautiful city " high-mounted on a 
 *' hill," as Sandys fays of fome other. I am afraid the hill 
 of Nicornedia hardly deferved the name f^ilvnot ycaas; but 
 a pauegyriil may make mountains of molehills. B, 
 
 t Borpvx^a^, o'pQa.^.f/.oc, what next? aXao:^ ^iv (" The lock, 
 ** the eye, the gro've^ the nofe.") In the name of pro- 
 priety, what has aXc/o; to do here ? Are we to underftand it 
 of the hair of the head ? B. 
 
 This idea feems anticipated by &are,vx°i' The metaphor 
 indeed feenns here 'oft, " a grove," or " wood," being no 
 feature, like the others. Pjc. feemed in Englifh to re- 
 (juire a circumlocution. 
 
 siav ^f a.<pei(7K y.ali^v. Morell tranflates axlt/c, tricicntis radius. 
 But why fliould it not mean (as wfual) the " fun's ray ?" 
 K)ix,v and xpiiaJvytf are ufed for the *' rifing and fettingof the 
 
 fuu." 
 
O N N I C O M E D I A. 23 
 
 didfl thou fmite at thy rifing, what a city funk with 
 thee ! The day had almoft advanced to noon * ; 
 the tutelar deities of the city abandoned the 
 temples, and (he was left like a fliip deferted by 
 its crew. The lord of the trident (hook the earth, 
 and convulfed the ocean ; the foundations of the 
 city were difunited; walls were thrown on walls, 
 pillars on pillars, and roofs fell headlong. What 
 was hidden was revealed, and what had appeared 
 was hidden. Statues, perfe6l in beauty, and complete 
 in every part, were blended by the concuffion in one 
 confufed mafs. Artificers, working at their trades, 
 were dafhed out of their (hops an-d houfes. la 
 the harbour was much deftruclion, and alfo of 
 many worthy chofen men collected about the Pra;- 
 feft +. The theatre involved in its ruins all who 
 
 fun." I do not recollcifl that axliv is ufed abfolutely, as 
 here, for the " prong of the tridenf." The trident too 
 is thruft under the foundation. See the beginning of the 
 Phceniflae of Euripides, where Jocafta, addreffing the Sun, 
 complains of his darting an '* unpropitious ray" on Thebes. 
 
 H^*E, Soa»; in-Toicriv, k. t. ?i. 
 
 O thou, that glorying in thy fiery fieeds, 
 
 RoUeft the orient light, refplendent Sun, 
 
 How inaufpicious didft thou dart thy beams 
 
 That day on Thebes, &c. Potter. FoiTibly Li- 
 banius may allude to it. B. 
 
 Literally, '• it was near high market." But Ammianua 
 fays, that it happened at break of day ; and George Ce- 
 drenus, in the night. 
 
 f Ariftsnetus, the great friend and patron of Libanju?, 
 who, in feveral of his epiil:les to him, celebratg^s his elo» 
 quence and fvveetnefs of manners. See p. 227. note *. He 
 •,vas afterwards buried at Nice, of whithhe was a native. 
 
 were 
 
23^ A MONODY BY LIBANIUS, 
 
 were in it. Some buildings, which had long flood 
 tottering, and others which had yet efcaped, with 
 all who were in them^ fliared at lad the general 
 fate. The fea, "violently agitated^ deluged the 
 land. Fire, which abounded every where^ feizing 
 the rafters, added to the concuffion a confla- 
 gration * ; and fome wind, it is faid, fanned the 
 flames. Much of the city, much of the ramparts, 
 flill remains. Of thofe who have efcaped, a favl' 
 flill wander about wounded. 
 
 O all-feeing Sun, what were thy fcnfations oil 
 feeing this ? Why didfl: not thou prevent fuch a 
 city from leaving the earth ? For the oxen pro* 
 faned by the famifhed mariners f fuch was thy 
 fcfentment as to threaten the celeftial powers that 
 thou wouldil give thyfelf up to Pluto X ; but for 
 the glory of the earth, for the labour of many 
 kings, for the fruit of prodigious coft, dedroyed 
 in the day-time, thou haft no compaffion. 
 
 O faireft of cities, on what a faithlefs and fro- 
 vvard hill didft thou fix thy feat ; which, like a 
 vicious horfe, has difmounted its excellent rider ? 
 Where are now thy winding walks ? where are thy 
 
 * Thus at Lifton, Meffina, and in all great earthquakes, 
 fire has been their conftant attendant. 
 
 f Horn. Odyff. xii. Libanius has before taken Nepi 
 tune to talk j he here reprimands Apollo. 
 
 j Alluding to what Apollo lays on that occafion in the 
 fime book of the Odyfley. 
 
 ** Vengeance, ye Gods, or I the fkies forego, 
 
 '< And bear the lamp of heaven to (hades below." 
 
 Pope, 4(;o. 
 
 poif- 
 
O N N I C O M E D I A. 239 
 
 porticoes? where are thy coiirfes, thy fountains, 
 thy courts of judicature, thy libraries, thy ten:iples? 
 Where is all that profufion of wealth I Where are 
 the young, the old ? Where are the baths of the 
 Graces and of the Nymphs ? of which the largeft, 
 named after the prince, at whofe expence it was 
 built, was equal in value to the whole city *. 
 Where is now the fenace? Where are the people? 
 where the women ? the children I where is the 
 palace? where is the circus -{~, (Ironger than the 
 walls of Babylon ^ ? Nothing is left ftanding ; 
 nothing has efcaped i all are involved in one com- 
 mon ruin. 
 
 O numerous dreams, where now do you flow ? 
 what manfions do you lave ? from what fprings 
 do you iffue ? The various aquedu£is and refervoirs 
 are broken. The plentiful fupply of the fountains 
 runs to wafte, either forming v/hirlpools, or fiag- 
 nailng in moralTes ; but drawn or quaffed by no 
 one, neither by men nor birds* Thele are terrified 
 
 * As Diocletian, according to La<ftantiu?, embellifhed 
 Kicomedia with a great number of ftately buildings, with 
 a deilgn ot equalling it to Rome, pofljbly thefe baths might 
 be part of them, and named after him, as we know hi^ 
 baths, now magnificent in ruins, were at Rome ; which, fays 
 Ammianus, with no fmall exaggeration, " feeaied rather a 
 *' province than a building." 
 
 ■f He [Diocletian] built there federal bafilics, a circus, a 
 mint, an arfenal, a palace for his wife, and another for 
 his fon, Lactantius, 
 
 i The walls of Babylon were fo celebrated among tlic 
 ancients as to grow proverbial^ Libanius mentions them 
 ifi like manner in his cxcvith Epillie, 
 
 by 
 
240 A MONODY BYLlBANIUS, 
 
 by the fire which rages every where below, and, 
 where it has a vent,"flames into the air. This city, 
 once (o populous, now in the day time is deferred \ 
 and defolate, but at night is poffeiTcd by fuch a 
 multitude of fpe£lres, as I think muit crowd the 
 inhabitants of the infernal regions after they have 
 paffed Acheron. 
 
 Celebrated of old were the difaflers of Lemnos * 
 and the Iliad fings the woes of Troy. Their re- 
 membrance will be flighted, but the excefs of our 
 calamities any one may hence determine. Former 
 earthquakes, though they deftroyed fome parts of the 
 city, fpared others; but this has overwhelmed the 
 whole. Other.cities have alfoperifhed, but never one 
 of fuch a magnitude. If it kad been deprived only 
 of bodies infected with the plague, or of thofc 
 perfons who, contrary to the lav>'s f, were cele- 
 brating 
 
 * Great misfortunes were proverbially ftyled " Lem- 
 •• nian ;" fome lay, from the flaughter of the Attic 
 women, and the children which they had by ttiem, by the 
 Pelagians, who inhabited Lemnos ; others, from the mur- 
 der of their hnfbands, on account of their offenfive breafh, 
 by the Lemnian women. See Ludolph Kufter on Suidas, 
 torn. II. p. 44.1. Bayle's Dictionary, vol. 11. p. 1780. and 
 Erafmus, in his Chilcades. WoLfitfs. 
 
 Libanius, in his xxivth Epiflle, thus alludes to this 
 paffage ; *' I fud little when I exprelTed the ruin of Ni- 
 ** comedia by the misfortunes of Lemnos." 
 
 •f Koila vofj.ov. It feems a little hard that people fhould be 
 deftroyed for facrifi<;ing " according to law ;" yet xola k>^.o» 
 is certainly " according to law." Let us fuppofe an error of 
 ' the prefs, and make it vo/xw. He alludes to fome event, ^vhsch 
 I do not recollec!^. I fufped that he has taken a line from 
 fome Greek poet, and accommodated it to his purpofe. 13. 
 
 Though 
 
ON N I C O M E D I A. 
 
 brating a general facrifice without the city, and 
 had not itfelf fallen, the ftroke might have been 
 fupportable. The whole would not have been 
 defolated ; now both lie proftrate, and the form of 
 the citv is confufed with the flau^hter of the 
 citizens. 
 
 Lament therefore, every Ifland and every con« 
 tinent, peafants and mariners, cities, villages, cot- 
 tages, every thing that is connefted with human 
 nature ; and let tears prevail over all the world, 
 as in iEgypt whenever Apis dies *. Even rocks 
 fhould now be indulged with tears, and birds with 
 reafon, to join in an elegiac fong. O harbour, 
 which fhips now carefully avoiding, rather lleer 
 into the ocean, their cables flipped, which for- 
 merly wert filled with loaded vefTels, but now 
 cannot boaft even a pleafure-boat, and art more 
 dreaded by mariners than eveii the manfion of 
 Scylla ! O difappointment to travellers, who no 
 longer frequent the road, which, gloomy and in 
 the form of a crefcent, beautifully winded round 
 the dyk cs f the haven, but embarking fail to- 
 
 Though Libanius, like Julian, was probably acquainted 
 with the Mofaic hilloiy, I will not affirm that he here 
 alludes to it ; but certain it is, that this pafTage has no 
 diflant affinity to the earthquake that fwallou'ecl up Korah 
 and his company, for otFering unhallowed incenfe, and to 
 the plague that deftroyed their abettors. Numbers xvi. 
 
 * When Apis dies, they behave as if they had loft their 
 clcarefl: children, and burv him in the inoft fumptuous man- 
 ner. Nor do the people ceafe from lamenting till the 
 priefls have found a calf with the lanie marks. 
 
 DiODORVS SicuLrs, 
 
 Vol. II. R wards 
 
 241 
 
242 A M O N O D Y B Y L I B A N 1 U S. 
 
 wards the hill, to which they formerly haftenecJv 
 [by land], trembling as at Charybdis, and unable ta 
 conjecture in what part of the fea they ufed to 
 ftand on the fhore ! O deareft of cities ! in vour 
 ruin you have involved your inhabitants ; you have 
 deflroyed them by your fall ; fo that all mankind 
 apply themfelves to fupplications, thinking the ex- 
 tinftion of their whole race determined. After the 
 iofs of this mofl valuable polTefEon, nothing here- 
 after, they apprehend, will be fpared. Who will 
 fupply me with wings to waft me thither I Who will 
 place me on an eminence to viev/ the diftrefsful 
 l^ght ? For a lover has fome confohtion in being 
 furrounded by the objedis of his afFed:ion, though 
 in ruins *. 
 
 * For the notes on this and the following Monody, 
 .marked B, I am obliged to a learned and amiable friemJ* 
 
 A M O 
 
243 
 
 A MONODY by LIBANIUS, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Daphnaean Temple of Apollo, cleftroyed b/ 
 Fire, orj as it is laid, by Lightning *. 
 
 F 
 
 ELLQW-citizens, wliofe eyes, like mine, are A. D, 
 
 now involved in darknefs }, this city we (hall 
 no longer flyle beautiful or great |. 
 
 * The Greek title of this Monody is more perfeft in the 
 Jloyal MS. which I have followed, than in the Bavarian ; 
 m which it is only ftyled, " A Monody on the Daphn^an 
 *' Temple of" Apollo." But the coroUro-y, which is added 
 to the infcription here adopted, does not give the fenti- 
 ments of Libanius, who had conceived an idea, that fome 
 incendiary by a fmall Jpark had kindled this great confla- 
 gration, as he fays, in the beginning; and foon after, that 
 he may obviate the opinion of thunder from heaven, he 
 adds, that " it happened in a clear and qloudlefs Iky ;" 
 which to the orthodox increales the miracle, of which St. 
 John Chryfoftom, the contemporary of our Libanius, in his 
 I ft Difcourfe on the Martyr St. Babylas, pt 7:25. '"' As 
 *' foon as the bier v/as brought to the city, lightning 
 " fell fiom heaven oq the head of thg image, and con- 
 *' fumed every thing.'" And the Emperor Julian too was 
 well aware of this; *' he knew that the blow came from 
 *' heaven ;" though he afferts, in the Mifopogon, that *' the 
 *' temple was deiiroyed by the negligence of the keepers, 
 *' and the prefumptioa of the impious.' Morell. 
 
 After the interm.ent of St. Babylas, Apollo gave oracles 
 as belore ; and Julian caufed a fuperb colonnade to be built 
 round his temple. But in the night of the zzd of October, 
 362, a fire confumed the wood work of that ancient edi- 
 fice, and the flatue itfelf ; nor could Julian, who hallsned 
 
 R 2 to 
 
1^4 A MONODY BY L I B A N I U S, 
 
 to the place, fupply any remedy. That fire was afcribed 
 by the Chiiitians to the divine vengeance, and by Julian to 
 the refentment and jealoufy of the Chriftians. He fufpefted 
 the facrrll:, and the miniflers who kept the temple, of being 
 in a confederacy with them. But thofe idolaters, being put 
 to the torture, accufed no one. On the contrary, they 
 conftantly afRrmed, that the fire began from above ; and 
 fome peafants, who were that night on the road in their 
 way to the city, faid, they faw fire from heaven fall on the 
 temple, though the weather was very calm, and there vvaa 
 no appearance of a ftorm. Julian,. however, either by way 
 of reprifal, or to prevent the Chriftians from triumphing, 
 6rdered the great church of Antioch to be fliut, and its 
 riches to be carried to the irnperial treafury. 
 
 La Bleterie. 
 
 See alfo Vol. I. p. 247, 248. 
 
 f What darknefs hangs over the eyes of the Antiochians' ? 
 1% it the darknefs of a cloud, which 
 
 With mifts and films involves their mortal fight ? 
 Such as the Pallas of Homer boafts to have removed from 
 Diomed, and the Venus of Virgil from ^neas ? Or is it the 
 gloom of forrow, which, hanging over the eyes of the 
 mind, obfeures the ufe of realbn and thought ? Morell. 
 
 J On the beanty and extent of Antioch, fee Philoftratus 
 on the Life of Apollonius, /, L c. xii. />. 21, " Apollonius 
 *' came to Antioch the Great," &c, and our Libanius, in 
 his oration to Theodofius the Great, on the fedition, in be- 
 half of the Aatiochians, where, in the conclufion on the qiif- 
 tortunes of that city, he adds, as here, " our city is be- 
 *' come difterent, or, to fpeak more truly, it is no longer 
 ** a city." Aiifonius celebrates it among the famous cities, 
 Ttrtia Phcd)e<x lauri domus Antlochla. 
 With the Pheebean laurel grac'd, the third 
 Is Antioch. 
 
 After the fiiil fentence, Chryfoftom in the fame place 
 declares, that Libanius added lomething of the fable of 
 Daphne, and perhaps it was the fable which Philoftratus, 
 in the above mentioned palTagc, calls " Arcadian," and 
 explains as fol'ous : " He entered the fane of Daph- 
 *' nxan Apollo, to which the Ailyrians afcribe the Ar- 
 *' cadian fable. For they fay, that Daphne, the daugh- ' 
 " ter of Ladon, was there transforned; and the river 
 . *' Ladon tio.vs among tntm, and the laurel t'ec is ho- 
 *' noured by them, o.. aac(/ant of that vir<jin." Ihid. 
 
 . - . [A king 
 
On the DAPHN^AN temple. 245 
 
 • • • []A king of Perfia, one of the anceftors of 
 him who is now at war with us, having by trea- 
 chery taken and burnt the city, as he was preparing 
 the fame fate for Daphne, was fo thoroughly di. 
 verted from his purpofe by the Deity, that, throwing 
 away the torch which he brandifned, he proflrated 
 himfelf, and adored Apollo : fo appeafed was his le- 
 fentment, fo checked was his fury *.J He, though 
 he led an army againft us, thought proper to pre- 
 ferve this temple, and the beauty of the image re- 
 trained his barbaric fury. But now, O heaven and 
 earth, who and whence is that traitor, who want- 
 ing neither light f nor heavy-armed foot J, nor 
 
 * This I have not publiflied in the Greek, becaufe it 
 was not in our Royal and Bavarian MS. And John Chry- 
 foilom himfelf, though he did not infert it in its proper place, 
 hurried away by the eddy of hi^difconrfe, yet afterward* 
 pays it as a debt, or brings it back as a fugitive, with this 
 introdu6tion, " You read this in the beginning of the 
 •' Monody, " A king of Perfia," &c. [as above]. But 
 who was this king of Perlia, unlefs it were Sapor, thp , 
 fecondking,who, according toZolimus,fucceeded Artaxerxes 
 the firft king ? ■ The fame took Antioch, and held it till the 
 Emperor Gordian, having defeated the Perfians in fcveral 
 battles, difpoflefled king Sapor, and recovered Antioch, 
 with Carrhae and Nifibis, all which were under the Perfian 
 dominion, as Julius Capitolinus relates ia his Gordian. 
 
 MORELL, 
 
 •f" The light-armed foot of the Greeks fought with 
 arrows, darts, and flings j and were placed either in the van 
 to begin an engagement, or on the flank of the wings t^ 
 gall the enemies cavalry, and prevent their breaking in. 
 
 X The heavy-armed foldiers engaged with long fpears, 
 broad flaields, and cutting fwords. The Grecian ^cavalry 
 yk.zi not very numerous. 
 
 R 3 h9rfe, 
 
246 A MONODY BY LIEANIUS, 
 
 horfe, has confuraed the whole with a fmall fpark ? 
 Nor was our temple deftroyed by a violent ftorm, 
 but in a i'erene and cloudlefs H^y, Hitherto, 
 Apollo, your altars thirfling for blood, you have 
 remained the conflant and careful guardian of 
 Daphne; and rhough neglefled, and fo far con- 
 temned as to be dripped of your outward orna- 
 inents, you acquiefced. But now, when many 
 flieep, many oxen, have been offered to you ; 
 when the facred lips of an Emperor * have im- 
 preffed your feet ; feen by him whom you have 
 exalted, feeing him whom you have proclaimed, and 
 delivered from the hateful neighbourhood of a 
 certain dead body f, which difturbed you, you 
 have withdrawn from the midft of your worfhip. 
 
 How can wc now expeft to be honoured, in fu- 
 ture, by thofe who have a veneration for temples 
 and images ! When fatigued in our minds, of what 
 a rehef, O Jupiter, are we deprived ! How purcj 
 how free from all tumults, was the region of 
 Paphne ! how much ftill purer was the fhrine I 
 like a haven formed by nature within a haven ; 
 both being tranquil, but the inner affording the 
 mofl tranquillity. Who did not there lofe his 
 difeafes, his fears, his forrows ? Who there wiflied 
 
 * Julian. The Pagans ufed religioufly t j kifs the image? 
 of their Gods, if they could, and putting their hands to 
 their mouths, they wafted kifles to them at a diftance. 
 From this cuftom Ibme derive the word (iJoro. Thus Job, 
 XXXI, 27. If 7ny 7>:outh hath Ujjed tny hand ^Uq. WoLFlUS. 
 
 f The rcn.ainsof Fabylas. See the Mifopogon, Vol. I. 
 
 F- 3+7- 
 
 for 
 
On THE D A P H N ^ A N TEMPLE. 247 
 
 for the Ifland of the bielTed ? Ere long will be the 
 Olympic games -^ ; that annual feflival will convene 
 the cities; thefe cities too will come, bringing oxen 
 as vi£lims to Apollo. What then (hall we do ? 
 Where fliall we fecrete ourfelves ? Which of the 
 Gods will open the earth for us ? What herald, 
 what trumpet, but will excite tears? Who now will 
 flyle the Olympic games a feftival, as this late mif- 
 fortune fuggefts fo dire a lamentation ? 
 
 Bring me my boiv of horn f, 
 fays the tragedy. I add, a little in the fpirit of 
 prophecy, 
 
 That thus I may attack, and thus deftroy. 
 
 The vile incendiary. 
 
 O impious deed ! O facrilegious foul ! O daring 
 hand ! Surely this was another Tityus J, or Idas §, 
 
 * Of Antioch. In the adhcent fields a ftadium was 
 built by R fpecial privilege, which had been purchafed frbni 
 Elis ; the Olympic games were regularly celebrated at the 
 expcnce of the city ; and a revenue of thirty thoufand 
 pounds flerling was annually applied to the pubficpieafures. 
 
 Gibbon'. 
 In three of his Epiflles I.!J)anius urges three of his 
 friends to fupply thefe games- with wreftlers ; and in his 
 Life, pp. 59 and 68, he mentions two orations which he 
 compofed on that folemnity, which are not now extant, 
 A third is in his works, Vol. II. p. 538. 
 
 f Ao; To|a i^oi xs^ovXxa. Euripides in Orefte, :68. 
 X Struck by Jupiter vvith a thunderbolt, for attempting 
 to ravifh Latona. See OdylT. xi. 575. and ^En. vi. 595. 
 § — matchlefs Idas, more than man in war. 
 The God of day ador'd the mother's charms, 
 Againll the God the father bent his arms. 
 
 Pope, II. ix. 672, 
 
 Let us not imitate that daring Idas, who bent his bow, 
 
 it is faid, againft the God ; for this is waging war with. 
 
 Apollo. Li BAN I us, 
 
 R 4 the 
 
24S A MONODY BY LIB ANI us, 
 
 the brother of Lynceus, not an archer, indeed, Uke 
 the one, or a giant, like the other, bat a proficient in 
 nothing fave frenzy towards the Gods. The fonsof 
 Aloeus *, while they meditated mifchief againft the 
 Gods, you, Apoilo, quieted by death; but him, bring- 
 ing fire from afar, your arrow did not arrefl, tranf- 
 fixing his heart. O wicked hand of Telchin -i- 1 
 O injurious fire ! What did it firfl catch ? Where 
 did the evil begin ? Seizing the roof, did it defcend 
 to the inferior parts, to the head, the face, the cup |, 
 the tiara, or the ftowing robe ? Vulcan, the dif" 
 
 * Othus and Ephialtes, who being of a gigantic ftature, 
 znd threatening to make war againft the Gods, were tranf^ 
 fixed and (lain by the darts of Apollo and Diana, Sec 
 JE.n. yi. 582. 
 
 -j" The Telchines, who inhabited Pvhodes, were the inven- 
 tors of feveral arts and other things beneficial to mankind. 
 They are alfo faid firft to have nude images of the Gods, 
 and fome of the ancient ftatues were furnamed from them. 
 Thus among the Lindians Apollo was called Telchinius, 
 Juno was alio ftyled Telchinia. . . They were called en- 
 chanters ; and were laid to produce, when they pleafed, 
 clouds and rain, and to generate hail, and to be invidious 
 in teaching their arts, Diodorus Siculus. 
 
 Thus it appears that tW Telchinians were a people of 
 great ingenuity, by which ^^'-ey got a bad name, like our 
 Roger Bacon, and the German Fauftus, who is fuppofed at 
 this very day to have dealt with the Devil ; fo that this 
 e::clamatlon, il ^s|«»j T£X;!(;tvo5, ftanding in immediate con- 
 nexion with the preceding fen'ence, Telchin here mult be 
 Apollo. And perhips he means to give. Apollo a rap here, 
 as he did Neptune [and Apollo too] in the other Monody. B. 
 
 I The colofial figure of the detty almoft filled the ca- 
 pacious fanftuary, H[e was reprefented in a bending atti- 
 tude, with a golden cup in his hand, pouring out a libation 
 on the earth; as if he lupplicated the venerable mother to 
 giye to his aims the cold and beauteoqs Daphne. Gibboii. 
 
 penfcr 
 
On the DAPHN^AN TEMPLE. 
 
 J>.enfer of fire, though indebted to the God for his 
 former obliging difcovery *, did not rebuke this 
 Vv'afting flame. Nor did Jupiter, who ha§ the 
 command of rain, pour water on it, though for the 
 unfortunate king of Lydia he cxtinguilhed the fu- 
 i]eral pile f . 
 
 What was the firfl uiggeflion of him v/ho 
 undertook this enterprife ? whence this raflmefs I 
 how could he retain his fury ? how could he avoid 
 abandoning his purpofe through reverence for his 
 beauty of the God ? My fancy, O my countrymen, 
 prefents me with the form of the God, and fets 
 before my eyes his image, the complacency of the 
 ^fpe£il:, the tendernefs of the ikin expreffed in the 
 marble, the fafli over his breaft confining the golden 
 robe, fo that fome parts of it fubfided, and others 
 rofe, What mind had fuch fervour that the whole 
 appearance of the flatue could not calm ? For the 
 God feemed in the a(51: of linging ; or as when he 
 was once heard playing on his harp at noon. The 
 fong was in praife of the parth, oq whom, gaping 
 Xo receive the virgin, and then contradling to coa- 
 
 * A-Uuding to that paflage of Homer, OdylTey viii, 
 where, in the loves of Mars and Venus, fung by Demodocus, 
 
 Warn'd by the God who (hed the golden day. 
 Stern Vulcan homeward treads the Itarry way, 
 
 Broome. 
 
 -f- Crocfus, being placed by Cyrus on a funeral pile, 
 praying to Apollo was faved by a fhower of rain, which 
 extinguillied the flames, Sec Herodotus, I. 87. Julian, 
 afcrifbes this miracle to Jupiter. 
 
 ceal 
 
 249 
 
t^Q A M O N O D Y B Y L I B A N I U S, 
 
 ceal her, he feeraed to pour a libation from the 
 golden cup. 
 
 At the eruption of flames the traveller exclaimed ; 
 the guardian of Daphne, the domeftic prieftefs of 
 the God, was alarmed ; the beating of bofoms, 
 and (lirili (hrieks, echoing through the fpacious 
 groves, foon reached the city, diffufing univerfal 
 grief and horror. The prince *, whofe eye had 
 fcarce yet yielded to fleep, at the dreadful intelli- 
 gence fprung from his bed. Tranfported with fury, 
 and wiihing for the wings of Mercury, he rufhed 
 forth to inveftigate the caufc. Inwardly he burnt 
 no lefs than the temple. The rafters now fell, fcat- 
 tering the fire below, which deftroyed all that was 
 within its reach; [the llatue ofj Apollo imme- 
 / diately, being near to the roof ; then, other orna- 
 ments of the temple, the Mufes, the flatues of 
 the founders, the fplendid marbles, the beautiful 
 pillars. Crowds of fpeclators flood by lamenting, 
 but unable to affift, like thofe, who from land be- 
 holding a fhipwreck, can afford no relief but their 
 tears. The Nymphs, leaving their fountains, loudly 
 exclaimed; fo did Jupiter, who fat not far diftant, 
 lamenting, as bccam.e him, the tarnifhed honours 
 of his fon ; fo did alfo an innumerable throng of 
 Daemons who inhabit the forefl. Nor lefs was the 
 bmentation of Calliope, in the middle of the 
 
 * Julian, 
 
 city. 
 
On the DAPHN^AN TEMPLF. 251 
 
 city *, when the high-prieft of the Mufes was 
 injured by the flames * * * * j-. 
 
 As propitious may*lt thou now be to me, ApoUo, 
 as Chryfes rendered thee, when he imprecated ven- 
 geance on the Greeks, full of indignation, and 
 *' dark as night ^." Since while we were offering fa- 
 crifices to thee, and were reftoring whatever had 
 been purloined from thy temple, the objedt of our 
 worfhip has been fnatched away from us; like a 
 bridegroom, who, while the garlands are weaving 
 for his nuptials, dies. 
 
 * I have an idea that there was a ftatue of Calliope in 
 the middle of Antioch, to which Libaniiis here alludes ; 
 and alfo in one of his Epiftlcs. See Vol. I. p. 324. And 
 from a paflage in his Dccxxxviith Epiftle, to Rufinus, it 
 feems to have been erected to that chief of the Mufes by 
 the great-great-grandfather of that friend. 
 
 -}• Something here is wanting. 
 :J Nt/)ti» sotxila. Horn. II. I. 47, 
 breathing revenge, a fudden night he fpread. Pope 65. 
 
 THE 
 
■MM 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 EMPEROR JOVIAN. 
 
 From the French 
 
 Of the Abbe dela BLETERIE- 
 
 Infelix brevifate regendu 
 
'S5 
 
 THE 
 
 AUTHOR^s PREFACE. 
 
 A S ihe empire and religion are at the death of 
 -^ ^ Julian in a kind of crilis which interefts the 
 Curioiity of the reader, the Life of that prince 
 would remain in fome degree imperfect, if the 
 Hiftory of Jovian were not annexed to it. Though 
 he reigned only a few months, and though, in our 
 age, when fingularity alone may fupply the place 
 of merit, his charstfter may be lefs interefting thaa 
 that of his predecelTor, I may venture to fay, that 
 his hiftory prefcnts fome memorable fafls, and 
 fuggeds more reflexions than the long reigns of 
 many other fovereigns* 
 
 It is chara£terifed by two remarkable events," 
 one good, the other bad : I mean the re-eftabH(h' 
 ment of Chriftianity, which is feen to re-afcend 
 the throne of the Csefars never again to leave it ; 
 and that fatal treaty of peace, which announces 
 and begins the fall of the Roman greatnefs. It is 
 thus that he ivbc dvuelkth in the heavens laughs at 
 the deflgns of his enemies. Julian flattered him- 
 felf with reftoring his empire to its ancient fplendor. 
 6 He 
 
S56 • The A U T H O R's P R E F A C E. 
 
 He had, or feemed to have, mofl: of the talents 
 neceffary for the execution of this plan ; yet the 
 imprudence of Julian muft have been the caufe, 
 or, at leaft, the occafion, of the ruin of the empire, 
 Julian made no doubt of fupprefling the Chriftian 
 religion : but Providence had decreed that he 
 fhould be the lafl: Pagan Emperor. The war which 
 he waged with Sapor was preparatory to that 
 w^hich he meditated againd us [the Gauls]. He 
 thought that the conquert: of Perfia would give Him 
 fufficient leifure and authority to complete by force 
 of arms the work which his cunning and his artifices 
 had only Ikeiched ; yet it was really that wat 
 which preferved the Chriftians from the other 
 which he v/as preparing againft them ; it was that 
 war which took him out of the world, and gave 
 the Romans an Emperor who was zealous enough 
 to make Chriftianity triumph by means worthy, of 
 the true religion. 
 
 Hitherto the reign of Jovian has remained loftj 
 as it were, in general hiftory. I Ihall be thanked, 
 perhaps, for fnatching it from oblivion. I have 
 treated it with all the care of which I am capable, 
 and I dare not fay how much it has cod me. 
 Hiftory is not a compilation of fafts colle^led at 
 random, a brilliant coUedlion of pretty thoughts, a 
 tiffue of learned uiffertations. It is neither a pa- 
 negyric, nor a fatire ; it ought to be an impartial 
 and difintciefled narration, fimple and natural, 
 though fentimental, always eafy in its %le, even 
 2 - when 
 
The A U T H O R's PREFACE. a^/ 
 
 when it offers the refult of many refearches and 
 difcuflions. It ought, if I may fo fay, to render 
 the reader contemporary with the events, to In- 
 ftrucl without fatiguing him, to enlighten without 
 dazzling him, to make him think, and to give him 
 the pleafure of believing that he thinks for himfelf, 
 not faying every thing, and leaving nothing to be 
 wifhed, allowing neither too much nor too little to 
 conjefture, and removing apparent contradi^lions 
 by lucky difcovcries ; in a word, it Ihould fupply 
 the place of original authors to thofe v/ho have it 
 not in their power to read them, and enable thofe, 
 who can confult them, to read them with more 
 pleafure and emolument. I have endeavoured to 
 write in this manner the Hiftory of Jovian. I do 
 not flatter myfelf with having fucceeded ; happy 
 if connoiffeurs find fome marks of refemblance 
 between the execution and the idea. 
 
 Vol. II. S HISTORY 
 
a^ 
 
 H I S T O R Y 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 EMPEROR JOVIAN. 
 
 ^6^' y^ ™^y ^^ f^cT^i in the Life of Julian, that that 
 "■- princC; after paffing the Tigris above Ctefiphon, 
 by an extravagance which even fuccefs could not 
 excufe, burned his fleet and provifions '^. He was 
 
 defirous 
 
 * He deftroyed, in a fingle hour, the whole navy, which 
 had been tranfported above five hundred nniles, at fo great 
 an expence of toil, of treafure, and of blood. Twelve, or, 
 at the moft, twenty-two fmall veffels were faved, to accom- 
 pany on carriages the march of the army, and to form oc- 
 cafional bridges for the paflage of the rivers. A fupply of 
 twenty days provifions was referved for the ufe of the fol- 
 diers; and the reft of the magazines, with a fleet of eleven 
 hundred veflels, which rode at anchor in the Tigris, were 
 abandoned to the flames, by the abfolute command of the 
 Emperor. The Chriftian bifhops, Gregory and Auguftin, 
 infult the madnefs of the apoftate, who executed, with 
 his own hands, the fentence of divine juftice. Their au- 
 thority, of lefs weight perhaps in a military queftion, is 
 confirmed by the cool judgement of an experienced foldier 
 [AmmianusJ, who was himielf fpeftator of the confla- 
 gration, and who could not difapprove the reluftant mur- 
 murs of the troops. Yet there are not v/anting fome fpe- 
 cious, and perhaps folid, reafons, which might juftify the 
 refolution of Julian. The navigation of the Euphrates 
 never afcended above Babylon, nor that of the Tigris above 
 Opis, The diftance of the laft-mentioned city from the 
 Roman camp was not very confiderable ; and Julian mufl: 
 fo»n hav« renounced the vain and impradicable attempt of 
 
 forcing 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. is^ 
 
 firous of penetrating into the heart of Aflyriii; but 
 at the end of fome days march, finding neither 
 corn nor forage, becaufe,, the Perfians had laid all 
 the country waftc, he was obliged to approach the 
 Tigris. Being unable to pafs it for want of boats, "■ 
 
 he took for the model of his retreat that of the 
 ten thoufand *, and refolved to gain, like them, 
 the country of the Carduci, called in his time 
 
 forcing upwards a great fleet againft the flream of a rapid 
 river, which in feveral places was embarrafTed by natural or 
 artificial catarafts. The power of fails and oars was in- 
 fufficient ; it became neceffary to tow the {hips againft the 
 current of the river; the ftrength of 20,000 foldiers was 
 exhaufled in this tedious and fervile labour ; and if the 
 Romans continued to march along the banks of the Tigris, 
 they could only expeft to return home without atchieving 
 any enterprife worthy of the genius or fortune of their 
 leader. Tf, on the contrary, it was advifeable to advance 
 into the inland country, the deftru6lion of the fleet and 
 magazines was the only meafure which could fave that 
 valuable prize from the hands of the numerous and aftive 
 troops which might fuddenly be poured from the gates of 
 Ctefiphon. Had the arms of Julian been victorious, we 
 ftiould now admire the conduct, as well as the courage, of 
 a hero, who, by depriving his foldiers of the hopes of a 
 retreat, left them only the alternative of death or con- 
 qiieft. Rccolleft the fuccefsful and applauded raftinefs of 
 Agathocles and Cortez, who burnt their fhips on the coafts 
 of Africa and Mexico. Gibbon. 
 
 the martial throng, 
 
 Up Tigris* banks who wound their march along; 
 
 O'er wilds and mountains held their toillbme way, 
 
 By hods aflaiilted, and the folar ray ; 
 
 By thirft, by famine, b/ eternal fnows — 
 
 Whom heaven and earth united to oppofe. 
 
 Unconquer'd ftill the Greeks each peril meet, 
 
 Regain their ihores, and dignify retreat. Irwin, 
 
 S 2 Corduenne, 
 
i6o H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 Corduenne, a name which is dill found in that of 
 Curdes and Curdidan. Corduenne, then fubje£l to 
 the Romans, is fituated on the north of Affyria. 
 Thus marching on that fide, Julian had the Tigris 
 on his left, and went up towards the fource of 
 that river. 
 
 Superior in every attack to the lieutenants of 
 Sapor, whether they waited for him in line of 
 battle, or contented therafelves with infulting him 
 en his march, he was ftill advancing, when on the 
 26th of June, 'i^^ii repulfmg the enemy with too 
 much ardour, he received a wound, of v^'hich he 
 died the night following *. 
 
 At the death of Julian the Roman array was in 
 a ftrange fituation ; viftorious, but in want of 
 every thing. Corduenne, its only relburce, was ftill 
 far diftant. To reach this province it mud traverfe 
 without provifions, beneath a burning llcy, a ruined 
 country, fultain in this march the continual at- 
 
 * The defection of this great min from the purefl of 
 all religions cannot be defended, though it may be ac- 
 counted for ; and his avcrlion and difcountenance to Chrif- 
 tians fuit not the informed and liberal mind of Julian in 
 other points. It will fuffice to fay, that his life feems to 
 have belied the name of Apoftate, which he brought upon 
 himfelf by his deviation from the faith in which he was 
 educated. If the paths of Virtue lead to the temple of 
 Truth, he invariably trod them ; and may charitably be 
 fuppofed to have arrived, by an indire6t courfe, at the di- 
 vine goal. The circumilances of his death are fo fmiilar to 
 thofe of Epaminondas, that we muib be rejoiced to find 
 their lives were equally digniiied by purfuits that rendered 
 their end imraorial. Irwik. 
 
 tacks 
 
' HISTORYOFJOVIAN. 261 
 
 tacks of the Perfians, always formidable though 
 vanquifhed, becaufe they were as ready to rally 
 as to fly, and, befides, as the death of Julian had 
 . raifed the hopes of king Sapor. 
 
 It feemed difficult to remain without a chief ; the 
 moments were precious. On the 27th of June, 
 therefore, at break of day, the officers met to 
 choofe a fucceffor to Julian, who had juft expired. 
 The creatures of that prince *, and thofe who 
 Hill remained of the old court f , having neither 
 the fame interefls, nor the fame views, all earneftly 
 defired an Emperor of their own faction ; but as 
 neither of the two factions had had time to con- 
 cert among themfelves, all their fuffrages, not one 
 excepted, were united in favour of Salluft the 
 fecond, Pr£Bfe<n: of the Prstorium of the Eafl. This 
 illuftrious Pagan, whofe virtue cannot be fuffi- 
 ciently admired and lamented, completed the jufti- 
 fication of that choice by the firranefs with which 
 he refufed to load himfelf with a burthen too op- 
 preffive, he faid, both for his age and infirmities. 
 A fubaltern officer |, then feeing the embarraffinent 
 iito which the- perfevering refufal of Salluft had 
 thrown the affembly, faid to the generals, *' What 
 
 * Nevitta, Dagalaiphiis, and the Gallic oflicers. B. 
 
 f Arintheus, Viftor, &c. B. 
 
 X Thus I tranflate that exprelHon, honoratior aliquls muss, 
 I fufpeft that Amniianus thus defcribes himfelf. B. 
 
 The modeft and judicious hiAorian defcribes the fcane of 
 the election, at which he was undoubtedly prel'ent (xxv. 5.) 
 
 Gibbon. 
 
 S 3 *' v/ould 
 
262 H I S T O R Y O F J O V 1 A N. 
 
 ** would you do, if the prince, inftead of rnarch- 
 *' ing in perfon, had given you the command of 
 " the army r You would only think of extricating 
 " yourfelves from this dilemma. A61-, as if he 
 " were flill living ; and when we have once reached 
 ** Mefopotaraia, in concert with the army of ob» 
 ** fervation ve will choofe an Emperor, whofe 
 " election cannot be contefted." This perhaps 
 •would have been the beft advice; but fome on a 
 fudden exalted their voices in favour of Jovian, and 
 by their tumultuous clamours drew away all the 
 reft, without giving them time to confider. 
 
 Flavius Claudius Jovianus, aged about 33 
 years, vc'as the firft of the Emperor's guards *♦ He 
 had conducted the corpfe of Conftantius to the ira 
 perial city ; and as, according to cuftom, fitting in 
 the fuuereai car, he received in fome fort the 
 honours which were paid to that prince, it was 
 imagined, after the event, that this honourable, but 
 tranfient and mournful, employment had been the 
 prognofllc and image of his future grandeur -f. 
 
 The 
 
 * Jovian was not captain of the guards, as fome have 
 thought ; but only what was cnlled doviejiicorum ordinis pri' 
 TT.us, What rank this was we know not. Domcfiid^ ov pro- 
 tcHores domrjiici, arc certainly the body-guards. B. 
 
 Tiie primus, ox primlcerius^ enjoyed the dignity of a fe- 
 riator, and ihough only a tiibune, he ranked with the mili- 
 tary dukes. Cod, Th^odiijian. I. vi. ///, xxiv. Thefe privileges 
 are perliaps more recent than the time of Jovian. Gibbon. 
 
 f Wherever the Emperors pafled, deputies were fent 
 to them : they were harangued, famples of the provifions 
 intended for the tiojps were prefented to them, the hories 
 
 were 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 263 
 
 The nobility of his family afcended no higher than 
 count Varronian, his father, born in the territory 
 of the city of Singidon in Myfia, and probably a 
 foldier of fortune, who, for his merit, had been 
 appointed to the command of the Jovians : Such 
 was the appellation of a body of troops formed by 
 Diocletian, who, it is known, had taken the fur- 
 name of Jovius. It was owing perhaps to his 
 regard for the troop of which he was chief, that 
 Varronian made one of his children bear the name 
 of Jovian. This officer, full of years and glory, 
 ftill enjoyed his high reputation in retirement. . 
 Some even pretend that it conflituted the prin- 
 cipal merit of his fon. But to refute them it is 
 fufficient to fay, that though Jovian had declared 
 that he would rather quit the fervice than renounce 
 the Chriftian religion, Julian did not ceafe to keep 
 him near his perfon, and to take him with him, 
 when he fet out on his fatal expedition. Julian 
 was well acquainted with his talents. A confefibr 
 of the faith, whom an apoflate and intolerant 
 monarch thought worthy to retain a place of con- 
 fidence, was certainly no ordinary Tubjecl:, The 
 Pagans themfelves do juftice to his valour, and if 
 
 were flaevvn to them, Sec, which the public maintained for 
 the ufe of thofe who travelled by order of the court. The 
 fame ceremonial was obferved with regard to the Emperors 
 after their deaths. On that o. "ihon he who attended .le 
 corpfe a6lcd and fpoke, withoui duubt, in the nam^' . - che 
 late Emperor. It was a kuid of fovereignty wh'.th expired, 
 pn the tcjnb of the prince. See Amrn. /. xxi. c ult* B. 
 
 S 4 they 
 
164 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 they fometimes fpeak of him as a timid prince, 
 this reproach falls rather on the politician than the 
 warrior. 
 
 To finifli his portrait, without copying the Chrif- 
 tian authors, who might here perhaps feem lefs 
 credible, I will chiefly confine myfelf to the tefti- 
 mony of Ammianus and Eutropius, both Pagans, 
 who were in the Perfian war, and of whom the 
 former ferved in the guards with Jovian. With the 
 fentiments of a generous and beneficent foul this 
 prince united affable manners, a fund of gaiety 
 which induced him to joke with thofe who ap- 
 proached him, fufficient application and activity, 
 but too little experience. He had fuch a know- 
 , ledge of mankind as promifed difcernment in the 
 diftribution of employments; fome literatyre *, and 
 great regard for men of learning ; an extreme at- 
 tachment to his religion, but a great refpe(5l to con- 
 fcience, which he thought accountable only to 
 God. Zealous without bitternefs, and moderate 
 without indifference, he profefTed orthodoxy ; but 
 he perfecuted neither heretics, nor even Pagans. 
 It is faid, that thefe excellent qualities were accom- 
 panied with fome faults. Ammianus accufes him 
 of loving wine and the table, and fome other 
 pleafures ftiil more unbecoming a Chriilian. Men 
 are apt to be inconfident, and their belief has not 
 always a fufficient influence on their morals. 
 
 * This feems to me the feme cf riiofe words of Ar^imi- 
 pnps, Mcdioa'iler crtiditns^ mn^':f<ju£ benevolus. B. 
 
 " But," 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 26^ 
 
 " But," fays the fame author, *' the refpe^t which 
 ** he oweid to his purple would have correcled 
 " them *." Jovian was in ftature much above the 
 common ftandard, and large in proportion, fo that 
 it was difficult to find an imperial habit that would 
 fit him. He was round-lhouldered, as he appears 
 alfo on his medals, and had a majeftic air, but a 
 heavy walk. The gaiety of his mind fparkled oa 
 his face and in his eyes. He is ranked among the 
 good princes. Perhaps he would have been placed 
 among the greateft, if he had afcended the throne 
 at a jundture lefs fatal, and if he- had reigned 
 longer. 
 
 The army was (liil ignorant, it feems, of the 
 death of Julian. It wqs beginning to leave the 
 camp, in order to march, when the new Emperor 
 appeared, and, invefted with the marks of his 
 dignity, repaired to the diffsrent quarters to fliew 
 himfelf to the foldiers. The name of Jovian re- 
 founded on all fides ; but the refemblance of this 
 name to that of JuUaji caufing a miitake, fome 
 cried, Julian Augustus. Their cries, foon ap- 
 proaching by degrees to the vanguard already at a 
 difiance from the camp, were repeated with the 
 mod lively tranfports. It was imagined that the 
 wound of Julian was not dange-ous, and that he 
 was leaving his tent, according to cuitom, in the 
 
 •^ Thefe are the hiftorian's own words, Edax tamen et 
 •vino 'venerique indulgens ; qua vitia ijiiperiali n-'erelundid forjtfan 
 correxijfct. B, 
 
 4. midil 
 
2:66 H I S T O R Y O F J O V I AN. 
 
 midft of acclamations. But this tranft^t joy was 
 immediately fucceeded by alllid:ionoan.d tears, as 
 fbon as the prefence of Jovian anaou|iced,what had 
 juft happened. ' T:;r.r]j. 
 
 Such is the recital of an eye-witnefs, a Pagan 
 indeed, but an impartial writer; I mean Ammianus 
 Marcellinus. His teftimony does not allow us to 
 underftand literally what Theodoret wrote about 
 half a century after him, of the perfcft unani- 
 mity with which all the army demanded Jovian 
 for Emperor, while the officers were affembled for 
 the election. Nothing, however, obliges us to re- 
 ject what the fame father adds : " Jovian," he fays, 
 *' was placed on a tribunal prepared in hafte ; the 
 *' names of Auguftus and Emperor were given 
 " him. The prince then faid to the foldiers, with 
 " his ufual franknefs, that, being a Chriflian, he 
 •* could not command Pagans, and that he faw the 
 " wrath of the living God ready to fall on an army of 
 *' idolaters.'"' You command Chriftians," exclaimed 
 with one voice thofe who heard him. " The reign 
 *' of fuperitition has been too fhort to efface from 
 *' our minds and our hearts the inftruftions of the 
 *' great Conftantine and his fon ConftaiiVius. Im. 
 ** piety has not had time to take root in the fouls 
 *' of thofe who hvive embraced it *." 
 
 While Jovian received the homage of the army, 
 
 * Ammianus, calmly piirfuing his narrative, overthrows 
 this legend by a fingle i'enttnce : Hnjiils pro Joviaiio cxt'-fque 
 infpeHis^ pronuHtiatum eji, Sic. xxv. b. ~ Gibbon,. 
 
 6 an 
 
HISTORY OF JO VI AN. 267 
 
 an enfign of whom he had reafon to complain *, 
 fearing his refentraent, deferted to the enemy. He 
 found Sapor, who had jufi: joined his troops, at the 
 head of a confiderable reinforcement. This fugitive, 
 admitted to an audience of the great king, told him, 
 that " Julian was no more; and that the fervants 
 '' of the army had tumultuoufly fupplied his place 
 *' with the phantom of an Emperor, one only of 
 ** the body-guard, a man without vigour, without 
 ** courage, without capacity." At this unexpefted 
 news the monarch ftarted with joy. The valour 
 of Julian, and the rapidity of his conquefts, had 
 fo alarmed him, that he paid no attention to his 
 hair, and ate on the ground as in the greateft ca- 
 lamities. The Perfians, even after the death of that 
 formidable enemy, reprefented him, in their hiero- 
 glyphical paintings, under the emblem of thunder, 
 or of a lion vomiting flames ; fuch was the terror 
 with which he had imprefled them. Sapor, who 
 faw himfelf at the fummit of his wifhes at the very 
 time when he thought himfelf on the brink of de- 
 ftru£lion, flattered himfelf that the Romans would no 
 longer ftand before him, and detached a body of 
 cavalry -f- full fpeed to fall on their rear-guard, 
 with the troops that had fought the preceding day. 
 Sapor had no doubt that the Romans were on 
 their march ; but the eledion of Jovian had fuf- 
 
 * He was an enemy of Varronian. By mangling the re- 
 putation of the father, he delerved the hatred of the fon. B, 
 f Perhaps the ten ihouiand Immortals. Gibbon. 
 
 pended 
 
,65 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 pended their departure ; and this prince though-t 
 of deferring it till the next day. The Pagans, 
 for all were not converted, having offered fome 
 facrifices of thankfgiving for his eledion to the 
 empire, the augurri found in the entrails of the 
 Ti(5tims that all would be lofl, if they remaiued iq 
 the camp, but that they ihould gain fome advan- 
 tage, if they began their march. As the Emperor 
 knew how much fuperflition can affecfi: courage, 
 he did not hefitate to purfue the latter. The Ro- 
 mans had fcarce left their entrenchments when they 
 faw themfelves attacked. Their cavalry was at firft 
 put into diforder by the elephants which preceded 
 that of the Perfians; but the legionaries fo vigoroufly 
 fuilained the iliock of the hoftile fquadrons, that 
 they forced them to retire. On the fide of the 
 Barbarians, befides fome elephants, a great number 
 of foldiers were left on the field. The Romans, 
 however, paid too dearly for that advantage, as it 
 coft them three of their bravefi: officers *. 
 
 After having paid them the laft duties, as well 
 as the time and place would permit, they encamped 
 near a caiile named Sumera -f- ; and on the next 
 day, for want of a better defence, they entrenched 
 
 * Tribunes. 
 
 •f- On the banks of the Tigris, about one hundred miles 
 above Ctellphon. In the ninth century, Sumere, or Sa- 
 mara, became, with a ilitju change of name, the royal 
 refidence of the Khalifs of the houfe of Abbas. The 
 obfcure villages of the inland country are irrecoverably lofl; 
 Bor can wc name iiic ficld of battle where Julian fell. 
 
 Gibbon. 
 
 iheni- 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 169 
 
 themfelves in a valley furrounded by eminences 
 which left only one oiulet. From the top of thofe 
 hills, covered with trees, the Perfians rained on 
 the camp a (hovver of arrows, which they ac- 
 companied with the bittereft taunts, calling the 
 Romans '* traitors, and the murderers of their 
 " Emperor." Thofe reproaches originated from the 
 frivolous difcourfe of fome deferters, and the en- 
 deavours which the great king inefFedually employ- 
 ed to difcover who had delivered hira from Julian. 
 Sapor having offered a reward proportioned to 
 the importance of the fervice without any one 
 appearing to claim it, he concluded that Julian had 
 been killed by one of his own fubjefts ; as if it 
 were impoffible for that rafh prince to have been 
 ftruck either by a dart thrown at random *, or that 
 the horfeman, who wounded him, might hirafelf 
 have loft his life. 
 
 Libanius indeed has difplayed all his rhetoric to 
 give fome colour to this accufation. This fophift 
 abfolutely infifts that the fatal blew, which fhort- 
 ened the days of Julian, came from a Chriftian 
 hand directed and employed by the chief of the 
 Chriftians -f-. By this Libanius probably means 
 
 fome 
 
 * Thus Ahab was killed by a certain ma/i who Jrevj a 
 hoiv at a venture, i Kings xxii. 34. 
 
 •j- E»Io>»iv ii'Kr.^w* T« <7(pw» «ui,» a;j;>;^vl». Implais acceptum ab 
 €0 qui pracjl Hits mandatum. Perhaps it fliould be tranf- 
 lated praerat \ as the oration of Libanius was not coai- 
 pofcd till the reign of Theodolius. I have retained in the 
 
 French 
 
27© HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 fbrae diilinguifhed bi(hop, whom he makes the 
 author of a confplracy formed againfl: the life of 
 Julian. He pretends that he was privately ac- 
 quainted with all the particulars of that dreadful 
 tragedy, and that there needed only public au- 
 thority to unravel and afcertain its horrors. Li- 
 banius, however, utters only conje^lurcs that arc 
 eafily confuted by other conjectures as probable as 
 his ; and as to the pretended confpiracy, the pro- 
 found filence of all writers of the fame religion is 
 a proof either that they had not heard it men- 
 tioned, or at leaft that they confidered it as a fable *. 
 Thofe authors, and Zofimus himfelf, fay exprefsly, 
 or plainly fuppofe, that Julian was wounded by 
 a foldier of Sapor. The malignity of Zofimus is 
 well known : all the evil which he has not faid of 
 the Chrillians, and which others have faid of them, 
 has much the air of a calumny, 
 
 French the equivocal expreffion of the Greek. It is im- 
 poffible to know what bifliop Libanius had in view. It is 
 furmifed that it might have been either St. Bafil or St. 
 Gregory of Nazianzus. For my part, I think that in the 
 time of Julian there was no bifliop in the Eaft who deferved 
 the name of " chief of the Chriftians" better than St. 
 Athanafius. B. 
 
 * Above fixteen years after the death of Julian, the 
 charge was folemnly and vehemently urged in a public 
 oration, addreflTed by Libanius to the Emperor Thcodolius. 
 The fuipicions are unfupported by fa6l or argument, and 
 we can only efteem the generous zeal of the fophift of 
 Antioch for the cold and negleded afhes of his friend. 
 
 Gibbon, 
 
 After 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. zyt 
 
 After all, that a rhetorician, like Libanius, a 
 Pagan even to madnefs, fhould think the Chriftians 
 capable of attempting the life of Julian, is not 
 furprifing. That it is polTible for an ignorant and 
 fanatical Chriftian to think that he fhall immor- 
 talife himfelf both in this world and the next, by 
 delivering the church from an implacable perfe- 
 cutor, hiflory unhappily affords too many examples. 
 But that an ecclefiaflical hiftorian, like Sozomen, 
 fliould be tempted to canonife fo deteftable an 
 aftion, might perhaps not be credited on my 'dC- 
 fertion. Let him fpeak for himfelf: " It is not 
 ** improbable," fays that writer, " that one of 
 *• thofe who then ferved in the army might have 
 *' refie6led, that the deftroyers of tyrants were 
 " highly extolled, not only by the ancient Greeks, 
 *' but by others even to our times, as men who for 
 *' the common liberty of all did not hefitate to die, 
 " having chearfully affifted their countrymen, 
 *' friends, and relations. No one certainly," con- 
 tinues Sozomen, " can eafily blame him, who, for 
 " the fake of God and his religion, has a£ted fuch 
 *^ a manly part *." Sozomen, it feems, had fludied 
 profane antiquity more than the morality of the 
 gofpel and the fpirit of true Chriftianity. Let it 
 be obferved, that this hillorian was not a father 
 
 * Sozom. Hijt. Ecclef- 1. vi. c. 2. 
 
 Sozomen applauds the Greek doctrine of tyrannicide ; 
 but the whole paffage, which a Jefuit might have traaf- 
 lated, is prudently lupprefled by the prefident Coulin. 
 
 GlBBO.V. 
 
 of 
 
272 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 of the church, that he has no authority in matters 
 of do£lrine, that his language is here contrary to 
 all tradition, that he wrote towards the middle of 
 the fifth century ; and that he is the firfl in whom 
 we perceive fome marks of that anti-chrlftian fa- 
 naticifra. But it is time to refume the thread of 
 the hiflory. 
 
 While their enemies, pofted on the heights, were 
 infuking the army, a detachment of cavalry forced 
 the gate of the camp, called the Pr^torian gate ; 
 and were very near penetrating even to the imperial 
 tent : but they were repulfed with lofs. The 
 Romans afterwards encamped at Carche ; from 
 whence on the fucceeding day, July i, they ar- 
 rived near the city of Dura *, which muft not be 
 confounded with another of the fame name, fitu- 
 ated in Mefopotamia. Four days were there loft 
 by the obftinacy of the Barbarians. As foon as 
 the army was on the march, they harraffed it by 
 continual fkirmifhes, fometimes in rear, fometimes 
 in flank. If it faced about to receive them, by 
 degrees they gave ground, being only defirous of 
 retarding its march, and leaving to famine the 
 care of fighting for them. 
 
 The fear of the worfl misfortunes makes men 
 credulous and ready to adopt the mofl hazardous ex- 
 pedients. On a fudden a report being fpread that the 
 
 * Dura was a fortified place in the wars of Antiochus, 
 againit the rebels of JNledia and Perfia. (Polybius, /. v. 
 
 C, 48. 52.) GlEBON. 
 
 fromiers 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN* 27. 
 
 frontiers of the empire are not far diftant ; on 
 this falfe fuppofition the foldier will no longer 
 coafl: the Tigris, but clamoroufly infills on being 
 allowed to pafs it. The Emperor, with the prin- 
 cipal officers, oppofes this rafli proje<n: in vain. In 
 vain, (hewing tliis river always fo rapid, and then 
 fvvelled by the melting of the fnows of Armenia, 
 he reprefcnts that mof!: of them cannot fwim, that 
 the enemy is mailer of the two banks, and that, 
 if they gain the other fide, it will only be to fall 
 into his hands. Thefe fage remonftrances are dif- 
 regarded. The clamours increafe, threats are 
 added; every thing breathes fedition. It was necef- 
 fary to allow a number of Gauls and Germans ^' to 
 attempt the paflage. Jovian flattered himfelf that if 
 they periflied, the reft would become more tradable, 
 or, if they were fo lucky as to fucceed, he might 
 reafonably make an attempt to tranfport the army. 
 By favour of the night, five hundred able fwim- 
 mers crofs the Tigris with more eafe than could 
 have been expected, and find the Perfians, who 
 guarded the oppcfite bank, buried in a profound 
 fieep. They make a great (laughter, and as foon 
 as the day begins to break, they raife their hands, 
 and throw their cloaths into the air, to announce 
 their fuccefs. The army, anxious to follow them, 
 urges the engineers to conftrudl a kind of [floating] 
 
 * The text of Ammianiis gives Sarmath ; but it is pro« 
 bably faulty. Soon after, the lame author calls them Ger- 
 iiv^.us. B. 
 
 Vol. I[. T bridge. 
 
274 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 bridge, which they propofed to make of (heep 
 fkins faftened together *. They laboured on it 
 two days; but it was impoflible to fix it on 
 account of the violence and rapidity of the ftream. 
 The foldiers, having confumed the provifions that 
 they had lefr, became defperate, and rather chofc 
 to perifti fword in hand than languifh under the 
 horrors of a flow and cruel death. 
 
 Ths Perfians, on their fide, had alfo much to 
 lament. The intoxication of Sapor was already 
 difpelled ; from the mod prefumptuous confidence, 
 he relapfed into an extreme perplexity; he faw his 
 country laid wafle, his towns taken by aflault, hi3 
 troops, always defeated when they dared to wait 
 for the enemy, having no refource but in flight, 
 and confiderably diminiflied by the lofs of an in- 
 numerable multitude of men, and almoft ail the 
 elephants. Every day fome new check made him , 
 perceive that the valour of the Romans was not. 
 buried f with Julian. Animated with the genius 
 of that conqueror, they feemed to think as much, 
 aad perhaps more, of revenging him than of fur- 
 vivtng him. Famine itielf could not force from 
 them the lead propofai of peace. Was Sapor 
 cffrtain of avoiding a battle ? And if he mufl fight, 
 
 ^ Coverf^d with a floor of earth and fafcines. A fimilar 
 expedient was piopofed to the leaders of the ten thoufand,^ 
 a«d viii'c'y r^cfted. It appears, from our modern tra- 
 vellers, that jafts floating on bladders perform the trade 
 »nd na'/ig^ition of the Tigris, Gibbon. 
 
 t Rfffi"'4U't A iiight inaccuracy. Julian was not then 
 
 what 
 
HISTORY OF JO VI AlSf. 175 
 
 U^hat had he not to fear from men refolved to de- 
 termine their fate, either by gaining a complete 
 viftory, or at leaft by rendering their defeat fatal 
 even to the conquerors ? Could he flatter himfelf 
 with annihilating the Roman army, he was not 
 ignorant that Julian had left in Mefopotamia ^0,000 
 men, under the command of his relation Procopius: 
 at length the vaft provinces af the empire might 
 caiily furnifli other legions, who, by attacking 
 Perfia when exhaufted and terrified, might over- 
 throw the throne of the Artaxerxides already tot- 
 tering. 
 
 Amidft thefc melancholy refleflions, he was in- 
 formed of the fuccefsful temerity of the Gauls and 
 Germans. This exploit of a handful of deter- 
 mined men alarms him, and makes him fenfible of 
 what a whole army of defperadoes will be capable. 
 Immediately he turns all his thoughts towards an 
 accommodation with the Romans -, he does not 
 hefitate to make the firft advances, proceeding to 
 effeniials, and defiring, at any rate, to Commence 
 a negociation, which, in the prefent circumftances, 
 mult infallibly terminate to his advantage* Thus, 
 contrary to their expe<flatlons, the Romans faw the 
 Surena (he was the general of the Perfiaft cavalry), 
 arrive in their camp, with another lord *. " The 
 " Great King our mailer," faid the deputies to' 
 
 * Sextus Rufus (r/r Provinciis, c* 29.) embraces a poor- 
 fubterfuge of nation nl vanity. Tauta revercntla nontiuis 
 Romani ficifs ut a Pirjii primus de pace fermo habere tier » 
 
 CiBiicif-. 
 
 T ^ Jovan 
 
27^ HISTORY OF JO VI AN. 
 
 Jovian and the principal officers, *' is not dazzled 
 '' by profperity ; he knows the fituation to which 
 *' fortune has reduced you ; but he knows flill 
 *^ better the uncertainty of human affairs. Sapor 
 *' refpe£ls unfuccefsful virtue, even in his enemies. 
 *' He efteems you enough to feek your alliance, 
 " and to offer you peace on equitable terms." 
 
 As the Romans were fupported only by defpair, 
 the hope of peace weakened them at once, and 
 
 . made, it may be faid, their arms fall from their 
 hands. Jovian, in particular, was eager to enjoy 
 the empire, and to infure to himfelf its poffeflion 
 by repairing fpeedily to the capital. How did he 
 know, but that, in his ab fence, fome ambitious 
 leader, Procopius for inffance, then at the head 
 of an array, might feize the diadem r At that time, 
 thofe who affuraed the purple did not even deign 
 to feek pretexts to colour their enterprife ; and 
 Procopius, as he was related to Julian, might 
 allege the rights of confanguinity. The propofals 
 therefore of Sapor were embraced with eagernefs. 
 They were vague, erabarraffed, equivocal, and liable 
 to great difcuffions. At all events, this able poli- 
 
 . tician defigned to protradl the negociation, in order 
 to famiili the Romans more and more. 
 
 The Emperor, on the contrary, impatient to con- 
 clude it, difpatched, without lofmg a moment, 
 Sallufl:, with Arintheus *, lo draw from Sapor 
 
 himfelf 
 
 * Libanins puts the general Vi<flor in the room of 
 Arintheus, The latter was reckoned one of the greatell 
 
 captains 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 277 
 
 hirafelf fomething determinate. They had many 
 conferences equally long and intricate by the 
 management of the old monarch, who negociated 
 peace as he waged war. The more the Romans 
 advanced, the more he retreated. He formed fup- 
 pofitions upon fuppofitions, and raifed difficulties 
 upon difficulties. Now he required time, then he 
 would no longer grant what he had promifed, and 
 promifed what he had refufed. Befides, he feemed 
 to think it ftrange that the death of Julian was 
 not revenged; for he flill thought that that prince 
 had been killed by a Roman * ; and as the de- 
 puties probably did not allow the faft, ** if one 
 " of my generals f," added he, " had loft his 
 
 captains of his age. Prodigies are related of his valour. 
 He was of an extraordinary ftature, yet fo well made, 
 that, St. Balil fays, he was confidered as the model of a 
 man. His ftrength was equal to his courage. His looks 
 alone had made him gain fome battles. He received 
 baptifm before his death. We have a confolatory letter 
 v/ritten by St. Bafil to the widow of Arintheus, who had 
 been the proteflor of the churches, and the friend of St. 
 Bafil. We have alfo a letter from the fame faint to this 
 general, in which he praifes him for his generolity aod 
 liberality, of which every one perceifed the effefts. See 
 M. de Tillemont on the Emperor Valens, Hlfioire des 
 Empereurs^ tom. V. p. lOO. B. 
 
 * For the Perfians alfo had heard this report, and, in 
 confequence, betpre Jovian made peace with them, the 
 common foldiers reviled the Romans as traitors and mur- 
 derers of the greateft of princes, as we learn from Am- 
 mianus, xxv. 6. Olearius. 
 
 f Libaaius heard thefe words of Sapor to the Roman 
 ambafladors, no doubt, from Salluil: himfelf, with whom 
 he was extremely intimate, as four of his epiftles to Salluft 
 fufficiently atteft. Ibid. 
 
 T 3 *' life 
 
HISTOPvY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 " life in a bartle, thofe, who, being near his 
 *' perfon, had the cowardice not to die with him, 
 " lliould not efcape my juit refcntment. I would 
 ** inf^antly fend their heads to the family of that 
 *' officer." We here difcern the ideas and lan- 
 guage of an Faftcrn monarch. Sapor, by affecting 
 to intereft himfelf in revenging Julian, was alfo 
 defirous perhaps of teflifying his efteem for that 
 prince, with a view to infinuate, that he had little 
 regard for his fuccelTor, and that he no longer 
 feared the Romans. 
 
 They became lefs formidable every moment. A 
 devouring famine confumed them, while by chi- 
 canery and affected delays he trifled with their 
 deputies. *' We pafTed four days,'* fays Ammi- 
 anus, " in a ftate more cruel than the fevered 
 " puni(braents. During that time, if the Emperor, 
 ** difcovering the artifices of Sapor, before he 
 *' fent deputies to that prince, had continually 
 " gained ground, he would certainly have arrived 
 ** at the ftrong places of Corduenne, which then 
 *' belonged to us ; and which would have fupplied 
 *' us with provifions in abundance*- We were but 
 ♦* a hundred miles diilant *♦" 
 
 * About thirty leagues. 5i 
 
 It is prelumptuous to controvert the Oi>inion cf Ammi-, 
 anus, a foldier and a ipedator. Yet it is difficult ^o iindcr- 
 itand, how the mcuntains of Corduenne could extend over 
 the plain of Aflyria, as low as the confiux of the Ti-gris 
 and the great Zab : or hc-.u an army of fixty thouland 
 jlien could march one lumdred milqs ip four dayi, 
 
 GlBBONf 
 
 I wifli 
 
HISTORYOFJOVIAN. 279 
 
 I wiih Ammianus had clearly explained the pofli- 
 biliiy of this march. If I am not miflaken, this 
 is his idea. Sapor himfelf had occalion for a peace, 
 and only offered it to his enemies becaufe he feared 
 to encounter them. Jovian therefore fhonld have 
 oppofed craft to craft, fliould have expreffed lefs 
 eagernefs for peace, fhould, however, have given 
 good words to the envoys of Sapor, fhould have 
 purfucd his route, Ihould have fent deputies to 
 that prince, and have treated on his march. Sapor, 
 from the fear of being forced to a battle, or of 
 thwarting the accommodation, would not have at- 
 tacked the Romans, and would have been taken 
 in his own fnarc. Ammianus was a foldier : he 
 underftood his profeffion, and knew the country. 
 He faw things near, and he faw them with re- 
 fieiflion ; to be convinced of this we need only read 
 him. The judgement of an hiftorian like him mufl 
 cmbarrafs the defenders of Jovian. 
 
 When Sapor thought he had fubdued the Ro- 
 mans by famine, he threw off the majfk, and, 
 fpeaking with authority, he declared, firft, that 
 he infilled on their rcftoring to him, for fo he ex- 
 preffed himfelf, the five provinces beyond ths 
 Tigris *, formerly conquered by the Emperor 
 
 * Moft of thefe provinces were on this fide the Tigris 
 with regard to the Romans. In calling them ** beyond the 
 ** Tigris" they conformed to the language of the Perfians, 
 whom they were on the other fide of that river. As to the 
 particular names of the f>rovince8, they are not the fame 
 in all authors. B. 
 
 T 4 Maximian- 
 
iSo H-IS TORY OF J O VI AN. 
 
 Maximian-Galeriiis from King Narfeus, bis grand- 
 father ; viz. Arzanenia, Moxoenia, Zabdicenia, 
 R-ehiraenia, and Corduenne. Secondly, that befides 
 thele, there Oiiould be ceded to him fifteen caftles, 
 the city of Nilibi?, that of Singara in Mefopo- 
 tamia, and another important place called the Callle 
 of the, Moors {Cafira Mauroruni). Thirdly, that 
 they would engage to interfere tio mote in the 
 affairs of Armenia, and even refale king Arfaces 
 the affiftance which he might demand againd the 
 Perfians. 
 
 '* It would have been a thoufand times better," 
 fays Ammianus, *' to have tried the chance of 
 *' arms than to have aee,€pted. any one of thefe 
 *' conditions." In faO, under pretence of a refti- 
 tution, which is not honourable but when it is 
 voluntary, to cede five provinces, anneKed: to the 
 empire for about feventy years, was to pay a 
 ranfom the more humiliating as there were added 
 10 it almoft'all Mefopotamia, and even Nifibis, 
 which had been podefled by the Romans ever fince 
 the wars of Mithridates; Nifibis, the bulwark of 
 the Eaii, and the rock which wrecked the pride of 
 
 Sapor *. 
 
 By 
 
 * He acquired, by a fingle article, the impregnable ciry 
 of Nifibis, which had iulluued, in three lucetlive lieges, 
 the effort of his arms. Gibbon. 
 
 The treaty of Dura is recorded with grief, or indig- 
 nation, by Ammianus (xxv. 7.) ; Libanius {Oral. Parent. 
 c 142. p. 364.) ; Zcfip.nis (1. iii. p. 190, 191.) ; Gregory 
 Naziaazen {Orat, iv. p. 117, 118. v. ho imputes the diihefs 
 
 to 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 281 
 
 By binding his hands with regard to Armenia, 
 Jovian furrendered at difcretion, to a revengeful, 
 perfidious, and cruel prince, Arfaces *, the faith- 
 ful ally of the Romans, to whom he was connedted 
 by the neareft and mofl honourable ties, as Con- 
 flantius had made him efpoufe Oiympias, t'aughter 
 of the Prsefeft Ablavius, who had been contracted, 
 to his brother the Emperor Conftans. Sapor was the 
 declared enemy of the Chriftians; and, what muQ: 
 perfonally affeCl Jovian, Arfaces, by his atrachment 
 to Chriftianity, had merited, like Jovian himfelf, dii- 
 grace from Julian. King Arfaces bad been eiTenLially 
 ferviceable to the empire. He had juu ravaged 
 the provinces of Perlia bordering on Armenia. 
 That was his crime in the fight of Sapor, and the 
 fecret reafon, but eafy to be gueffed, for which 
 he required them to refufe him affiilance. 
 
 Thefe confiderations cuuld not efcape Jovian ; 
 but he was befieged by a crowd of flatterers, who 
 
 to Julian, the deliverance to Jovian) ; and Eutropius (x. 
 ly.) The laft-mentioned writer, who was prefent in a mili- 
 tary flation, ftyles this ^Q?iCQ tteccffarlam quidem^fed ignohikm. 
 
 Ibid, 
 * See p. 186. The nnfufpicious Tiranus wai per- 
 fuaded by the repeated afllirances of infidious friendftiip 
 to deliver his perlon into -the hands of a faithlefs and 
 cruel enemy. In the midfl of a fplendid enrertainment, he 
 was bound in chains of fTlver, as an honour due to the 
 blood of the Arfacides ; and. after a fhort confinement in 
 the Tower of oblivion at Ecbatana, he was releafed from 
 the miferies of life, either by his own dagger, or by that 
 of an affaffin. The kingdom of Arnaeaia was reduced to 
 the ftate of a Perfian province. Ibid, 
 
 inceflantly 
 
aSz H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 JncefTantly reprefented to him Procopius as an 
 
 enemy more dangerou? than Sapor *. . . His fear 
 
 of Procopius was well grounded ; and it may be 
 
 faid that his revolt f juftified it two years after, if, 
 
 neverthelefs, this fear itfelf did not occaHon his 
 
 revolt. Befides, there is the greateft probability, 
 
 that the irreparable lofs of four days, imprudently 
 
 confumed in inadivity, had rendered the army 
 
 utterly incapable of fighting, and reduced Joviaa 
 
 to the indifpenfible neceffity of accepting the peace. 
 
 Thus the treaty was perhaps lefs the work of his 
 
 timil policy than of his inability. 
 
 Be that as it may, to the difgrace of the Roman 
 
 name, this prince received the law from Sapor, and 
 
 agreed to all the articles propofed. All that he 
 
 obtained, and that with difficulty, was, that the 
 
 garrifons of the places ceded as well as the 
 
 inhabitants of Nifibis and Singara, fhould retire 
 
 into the territories of the Romans. Arfaces was 
 
 included in the treaty, of which he did not fail 
 
 to be foon after made the vi£^ira. On both lides a 
 
 peace, or rather a truce, of thirty years was fworn, 
 
 and in the mean time hoftages J were given for the 
 
 performance of the treaty. 
 
 * La Bletcrie has exprefled, in a long direv^ oration, 
 thefe I'pecious coniiderations of public and private intereft. 
 
 GiBEOK. 
 
 This harangue being imaginary, I have omitted it. 
 ■f For an accouat of his revolt and death, fee p. 221. 
 f note 
 
 + Remora, Viftor, and Bellovsedius, tribunes, on the 
 part of the Romans ; and Einefes, with tliree other Satraps, 
 on that of the Ferfians. Am mi an us. 
 
 Hufinus 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 283 
 
 Rufinus and Theodoret, deceived by probability, 
 pretend that Sapor furniftied the Romans with pro- 
 Tifions '^. Nothing was more natural ; but with- 
 out doubt, the Pcrfians had no magazines, and fub- 
 fifted themfelves with difficulty in an exhaufled 
 country. At leaft, it is certain that the Romans 
 gained by that difgraceful peace not even the per- 
 miflion to deviate from the banks of the Tigris -j-, 
 where the roads were rough and craggy, in order 
 tocrofs the country to the place where they in- 
 tended to pafs that river. Thither they proceeded 
 by long marches, continually tormented by famine, 
 to which was alfo added want of water. Many, 
 coUe£ling their expiring flrength, withdrew from 
 
 * Sucli a faft is probable, but undoubtedly falfe. Sec 
 Tillemont, /////. dei Empereurs, torn. iv.p. -qz. Gieeon, 
 f In the neighbourliood of the fame river, at no very 
 confiderable diftance from the fatal ftation of Dura, the 
 ten thoufand Greeks, without generals, or guides, or pro- 
 vifions, were abandoned, above 1200 miles from their na- 
 tive country, to the refentment of a vidorious monarch. 
 The difference of their conduct and fuccefs depended much 
 more on their charafter than on their lituation. Inftead of 
 tamekf refigning themfelves to the fecret deliberations and 
 private views of a fingle perfon, the united councils of the 
 Greeks were infpired by the generous enthufiafm of a 
 popular allcmbly ; where the mind of each citizen is filled 
 with the Icve of glory, the pride of freedom, and the 
 contempt of death. Confcious of their fiiperiorify over 
 the Barbarians in arms and difcipline, they diidained to 
 yield, they refufed to capitulate ; every obllacle was fur- 
 mounted by their patience, courage, and milit..iy Ikill ; and 
 the memorable retreat of the ten rhouland cxpofed and in- 
 fulted the weaknefs of the Perfian monarchy. Giebon. 
 Sec p. 256. note *". 
 
 ' the 
 
2S4 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 the body of the army, and endeavoured to fwim 
 crofs the Tigris. Moft of them perifhed ; the refl: 
 fell into the hands of the Perfians and Saracens 
 ported on the other fhore. Thefe Barbarians, in- 
 cenfed by the maffacre of their companions whom 
 the Gauls and Germans had flaughtered, put to 
 death all who efcaped the waters, or if they fpared 
 fome of them, it was only to fell them, and fend 
 them to fuch a diftance that the Romans could 
 never reclaim them. 
 
 When the Emperor and the army were arrived 
 at the place of paffage, which no author, not even 
 Ammianus, has taken care to point out to us, after 
 fome flight preparations, the trumpet gave the 
 fignal. It is impoffible to exprefs with what pre- 
 cipitation every one, caring only for himfelf, 
 haftened to outrun his companions, and braved 
 daDg?r, to efcape, as foon as poffible, from that 
 fatal country. Some on bad hurdles, by way of 
 rafts, drew after them their horfes fwimming; 
 others were carried on bladders; all availed them- 
 felves of what was offered them bv chance, or of 
 what neceffity, ever fruitful in expedients, made 
 them contrive. Twelve fmall flat boats, the re- 
 mains of the fleet of Julian, ferved to tranfport 
 the Emperor, with the principal officers, and made, 
 by his order, as many voyages were necefl^ary lo 
 complete the tranfportation. " Thus," fays Ammi- 
 anus, '* by the divine goodnefs, we all paflcd 
 
 " fafely, 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 2S5 
 
 " fafcly, excepting fome who had the misfortune 
 ** to be drowned." 
 
 Immediately after, advice was received that the 
 Perfians, out of the fight of the Romans, were 
 conftrucling a bridge, no doubt that they might 
 intercept the ftragglers and the baggage ; but fee- 
 ing themfelves difcovered, they did not dare to 
 execute their perfidious defign. Thus the Per- 
 fians, it appears, had materials for a bridge. Why 
 then did not Jovian infift, as a preliminary, that 
 they fhould facilitate his pafTage I Sapor was too 
 great a gainer by the treaty to have made a difficulty 
 of a condition which he could with eafe perform. 
 This feems worth remarking, as another proof of 
 the inability of Jovian. 
 
 The Roman army, continuing its march with 
 extreme diligence, encamped fome leagues from 
 the Tigris, near the town of Hatra *, fnuated on 
 a hill in the midft of a vaft defert, formerly in- 
 habited by the Scenites Arabians : it had been 
 reckoned impregnable, but had now been long 
 abandoned. Perhaps the Romans, when they faw 
 Hatra, confoled themfelves a little on their dif- 
 grace, by recolle(Sting that which had befallen, 
 under the ramparts of that place, the two greateil 
 
 * So called by Ammianus, by Dio, (HL ult.) T« Ay-a, 
 and by M. de la Eleterie, Atra, 
 
 M. d'Anville (fee his maps, and VEuphrate et k Tigir, 
 pp. 92, 93.) traces their march, and affigns the true po- 
 lition of Hatra, Ur, and Thilfaphata, which Ammianus 
 has mentioned. Gibbok. 
 
 3 generals 
 
ft86 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 generals that had filled the throne of the Casfars. 
 , Trajan had made the taking it a point of honour, 
 
 but nature abfolutely armed againft him, in de- 
 fence of the befieged -, and what may be conlidered 
 as a prodigy of another kind, Severus, who, after 
 having raifed the fiege, attacked it a fecond time, 
 called back his foldiers very unadvifedly, when 
 they were jufl ready to florm the place, and when 
 he ordered them to return to the affault, he could 
 never make himfelf obeyed. This prince, as well 
 as Trajan, thought he fliould have periftied before 
 that town with all his army. Artaxerxes, the 
 founder of the fecond monarchy of the Perfians, 
 was not more fuccefsful, and Providence * feemed 
 conftantly to declare in favour of Hatra. How- 
 ever, the frequent attacks of the Romans, and the 
 danger to which the town was expofed, efpecially 
 in the lad fiege, might make the Scenites Arabians 
 think, that the Hberty, of which they were always 
 fo jealous, and which they flill preferve, was lefs 
 endangered in their tents than under the ihelter of 
 the ftrongeft walls. They abandoned Hatra \Vc 
 no where read that it was taken, and yet it had 
 been longdeferted when Jovian arrived there. The 
 Romans were now informed, that they had a plain 
 
 * In this Dr. Delany, a learned Englifb divine, thinks he 
 ilifcovers the marks of the vilible prote6^ion of God ta the 
 defcendants of Iflimael, agreeably to the prooiifes made 
 to Hagar and Abraham, Gen. xvi, and xvii. See th« 
 work, entitled, Revelation examined v:iib Candour^ vol. II, 
 diflcrt. IV. IP. 
 
HISTORY OF JQ VI AN. a?-, 
 
 of thirty leagues to traverfe, where nothing was 
 to be found but wormwood and fuch kind of herbs^ 
 with a little putrid and brackifii water. They pro- 
 vided therefore fome frefti water, and killed forae 
 of the camels and other hearts of burden, whole 
 unwholefome flefti prolonged their lives at4:he cx- 
 pence of health. 
 
 In about fix days march they met, near the caftic 
 of Ur, a place dependent on the Perfians, a con- 
 voy of fome provifions, which Jovian, immediately 
 after his elefiion, had fent the tribune Mauricius 
 to feck in Mefopotamia. This weak fupply, the 
 fruit of the oeconomy of the two generals Proco- 
 pius and Sebaftian, enabled the Emperor to recover 
 breath, and to take meafures to make himfelf 
 acknowledged through the whole empire. He 
 might even confider this afliftance as an act of obc. 
 dience on the part of Procopius and his collegue, 
 whofc fubmiffion neceflarily drew after it that of 
 the Eaftern provinces. But who could infure to 
 him the Weft, till lllyricura and Gaul had acknow- 
 ledged him ? The troops of lUyricum and Gaul 
 had often difpofed of the purple, and occafioned 
 great revolutions. They were indeed lefs formid- 
 able Cnce the time of Conftantine. That prince, 
 more on his guard againft civil wars than againft 
 the invafions of the Barbarians, had, by good or 
 bad policy, weakened the authority of the generals 
 by dividing it. He had alfo difperfed in the inner 
 part of the provinces the legions long Rationed oa 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 the frontiers, where the proxunity of their quar- 
 ters placed them within the reach of keeping up 
 correfpondences, of fecretly forming and fuddenly 
 executing confpiracies. Neverthelefs, in fpite of 
 thefe precautions, the recent examples of Vetranio * 
 in lUyricum, and of Magnentius f and Julian in 
 Gaul, did not allow a doubt that the legions might 
 again make Emperors there ; and the diftance mud 
 mcreafe the unealinefs of Jovian. 
 
 He difpatched therefore, with the necelTary 
 orders to fecure to him thofe important provinces 
 two confidential men, Procopius, fecretary of flace, 
 who mufl be diftinguiflied from the relation of 
 Julian, and Memoridu?, a tribune. The whole 
 family of Jovian was in Iliyricum ; his wife, his 
 fon yet in the cradle. Count Varronian his father, 
 and his father-in-law Count Lucillian. Both, after 
 having quitted the fervice, enjoyed the repofe of a 
 quiet life. But the infirmities of age without doubt 
 rendered Varronian incapable of ading, as the 
 orders of the Emperor were addrefTed to Count 
 Lucillian. The raelfengers carried him the com- 
 
 * Vetranio, an aged general, beloved for the fimplicity 
 of his manners, who had long governed the martial coun- 
 tries of Illyricurn, airumed the purple in 35O. But Con- 
 ftantius, having feduced his troops, and undermined his 
 throne, at an interview with the ufurper, appointed at Sar- 
 dica, by the dLfeclion of his followers, Vetranio was de- 
 pofed and baniflitd to Prufa, where he lived fix years in the 
 enjoyment of eafe and affluence. Abriilgcd f7-om Gi'^^o^. 
 
 \ For an account of the ufurpation of Magnentius, fee 
 Vol. I. p. 175. note *. 
 
 mifiion 
 
HISTORY OF JO VI AN. 289 
 
 miffion of malter-generai of the horfe cind foot *. 
 Thus invefted with two employments which were 
 ufually feparared, he was to take with him fome 
 officers of merit and known fi^'elity, whofe names 
 were menrioned in a private oupatch, and to repair 
 immediately to Miian, from thence to watc-j o 'er 
 the remainder of the Welt, and to ref^rt, ia cafe 
 of commotions, where-ever the exi'^'"''"c of affairs 
 might require his prefence. The Emperor took 
 from Jovmus the command of the uoops m Gaul, 
 and conferred it on M.iianch, by nation a Frank, 
 long actached to the fervice of the Romans. Thus 
 he freed himfelf of a mun whofe fuperior talents 
 rendered his fidelity fufpefted, and put in his place, 
 a foreigner, who, not being ab'e to have any pre- 
 tenfions to the empire, would always confider the 
 good fortune of his benefactor as the foundation of - 
 his own, and would confine his ambition to ferving 
 him well. The meffengers had al fb orders to 
 announce on their journey the death of Julian and 
 the election of his fuccelTor, to convey to the go- 
 vernors of the provinces the letters of Jovian, and 
 to publi(h every where that he had terminated the 
 "war by an advantageous peace. They travelled 
 night and day, without flopping •, but, more expe- 
 ditious and more fincere than they. Fame out- 
 flripped them, and declared the truth. 
 
 ^ In M. de la Bleterie, le brevet de generalljjlme de l^ in/an- 
 terie ct de la ca'valerie: in the original of Animianus, mu' 
 gijhrii equitum et pcditum codicillls. For obvlous reafons I 
 prefer the latter. 
 
 Vol. II. U Jovian 
 
290 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 Jovian wrote, without doubt, at the fame time 
 to the fenate of New Rome, and efpecially to that 
 of the Old, which flill retained fome kind of pre- 
 eminence, praying them, at leaft for form-fake, 
 to confirm what the army had done in his favour. 
 It was at that time probably, that he nominated 
 himfelf conful for the enfuing year, with his father 
 Count Varronian, who had learned, in a dream, 
 if we credit Ammianus, that he Ihould be ap- 
 pointed to the confulfhip, but who certainly knew 
 not that death would prevent his taking pojOreifion 
 of that high dignity *. 
 
 If the Pagans of the army had been fenfibly 
 affected by the lofs of Julian, it was no lefs dif- 
 trelTing to the others, of whom there were fuch num- 
 bers throughout the empire ; and, without doubt, 
 the latter, not being conflrained by the prefencc 
 of their new prince, abandoned themfelves to their- 
 grief with more freedom. " This intelligence," 
 fays Libanius, '^ was a flroke that pierced me to 
 *' the heart. I call my eyes on a fword, and wiflied 
 " to rid myfelf of a life that would henceforth be 
 " more cruel to me than death. But I recolle£led 
 " the prohibition of Plato, and the punifliments re- 
 *' ferved in hell for thofe w ho difpofe of themfelves 
 
 * Count Varronian tluis ('ying foon after he had heard 
 of his Ion's good fortune, and before he had leen him, 
 Jovian declared his infant-ion ^'^arronian conful with him- 
 lelf, in the room of his grandfather; *' becaufe," adds 
 AmmianDs, *' the old man was foretold in his lleep that 
 " the higheft magiftracy fliould be borne by that name." 
 
 " without 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 291 
 
 " without waiting for the command of God. Be- 
 ** fides, I refle£led that I owed that hero a funeral 
 " oration -." 
 
 Libanius acquitted himfelf of that duty by con- 
 fecrating to the memory of Julian two difcourfes, 
 which have been tranfmitted to us. The firft -f, 
 which feems to have been compofed immediately, 
 is only a very fhort and yet fufficiently tedious la- 
 mentation, with more wit than fentiment, and more 
 pedantry than wit. The fecond J is an hiftorical 
 elogium, laboured at leifure, in which the orator 
 follows Julian flep by ftep, and always fhews the 
 bright fide of him. This piece, perhaps the belt 
 of his works, and worthy, almofl: in every refpe£>, 
 of the pureft antiquity, makes, on the whole, a re- 
 markable contraft to the eloquent difcourfe of St, 
 Gregory of Nazianzus §. 
 
 At Carrhs in Mefopotamia, a city entirely de- 
 voted to Paganifm, the meffenger who brought 
 the firft account of the death of Julian, was near 
 
 •* De vita fua, 
 
 f lBX»avo5, 7) E7r»Ta9"'5 et4 t« Ta?.i«>w. ('* A funeral ora- 
 *' tion on Julian.") This difcourfe was publifbed imper- 
 fectly by Morell ; but more correftly, with Latin tranflation 
 of Olearius, by Fabricius, Bibl. Gfjec. Vol. Vll. p. 223. 
 
 X Yte^ ra iaA(a»a ri/Aa'fiaj. (" On revenging Julian.") 
 Spoken before the Emperor Theodofius, 379, firft publifhed 
 by Olcarius, 1701, and afterwards, with his tranllation and 
 notes, by Fabricius. See p. 224. nr;te \. 
 
 § Though in the editions of this Father the work is di- 
 vided into two. it is, however, only one and the farre 
 difcourfe, as is proved by the judicious writer who has 
 given a French tranllation of it, printed at Lyons, in 1735, 
 a tranfl.ition much lefs- known than it dcfervcs to be. B, 
 
 U 2 beins: 
 
^92 H I S T O U Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 being ftoned to death, and really was fo, according 
 to Zofimus. Such was the dcfpair of the Pagans. 
 They faw their reign vanifli like a dream, the flat- 
 tering hopes which they had conceived from the 
 youth and zeal of Julian pafs away in fmoke, Hel- 
 lenifm ready to be burled in the tomb of its re- 
 (lorer, and the Chriftian religion again invefled 
 with the purple, and more flrengthened than ever, 
 1 at the very time when, thinking it arrived at its 
 fatal period, they only waited the return of Julian 
 to give the laft blow. Many had perfecuted it with- 
 out difcretion, and had been betrayed into the 
 greateft excciTes. What probability that the moft 
 moderate Ghriftian prince would let crimes, at 
 which Julian himfelf had been forced to blufh, 
 pafs v/ith impuniry ! 
 
 On the other fide, the Church, In the tranfports 
 of a fudden deliverance, bleffed by its canticles 
 the God ever faithful to his promifes, whofe arm 
 had exterminated the new Sennacherib. But the 
 Chridians, it mud b^ owned, did not all confine 
 themfelves to the legitimate fentiments which this 
 kind of refurreftion planted in their hearts. Inftead 
 of a Chrifiian joy, pure in its motives, humble 
 and modefl in ics eiFecls^ mixed with compaflion for 
 a periihing enemy, and with fear at the profpedt 
 of profperity ; m.any gave themfelves up to the 
 merely human emotions of a proud and outrageous 
 joy, and feemed already to threaten the vengeance 
 of a religion which teaches only patience and for- 
 given efs. 
 
HISTORYOFJOVIAN. 293 
 
 givenefs. Thofe of Antioch, perfonal enemies to 
 Julian on fo many accounts, infulted at once the 
 memory of the Pagan, the philofopher, and the 
 author. In this great city, fo voluptuous, and 
 which thought itfelf fo Chriftian, there was no- 
 thing but public entertainments, nothing but facred 
 and profane feftivals. In the churches and ora- 
 tories of the martyrs were feen dances, and the 
 tumult of public (hews; and the theatres refounded 
 with religious exclamations. There was publifhed 
 the vi(ftory of the crofs ; there was apoftrophifed, 
 though abfent, the philofopher Maximus, the 
 oracle and the perverter of Julian. " Foolifh 
 '^ IMaximus," they exclaimed, *' what is become of 
 *' thy predictions ? God and his Chrifl have con- 
 " quered." 
 
 But if the Church triumphed, the empire was 
 covered with difgrace, and had received a deep 
 wound, of which it never recovered. Thus the 
 tranfports with which the intereft of religion, 
 efpecially when joined with animofity, at firft in- 
 fpired the people, were no fooner abated, than the 
 public rejoicings gave place to uneafmefs and 
 alarms. To inveigh againft Julian, to impute the 
 calamities of the ftate to his apoftacy and fenfelefs 
 condu£l, publlckly to expofe the fliocking remains 
 of the human vidlims which he was accufcd of 
 having facrificed in his abominable myfteries, this 
 might be a kind of confolation, but it was not a 
 refource. Jovian alone gained by it, becaufe he 
 U 3 had 
 
ft94 H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 had the advantage of fucceeding a prince that was 
 hated, and confequently refponfible, in the opinion 
 of the multitude at lead, for the firft faults of his 
 fucceffor. 
 
 By the ceffipn of the provinces beyond the Tigris, 
 and of Nifibis, Syria was going to become almoft 
 a frontier, and the city of Antioch remained ex- 
 pofed, wi^h the reft of the Eaft, to the incuffions 
 of the Barbarians. Whoever had ftill a Rqman 
 heart muft confider, that for the fpace of about 
 eleven centuries, neither the annals of the republic, 
 nor thofe of the monarchy, furnilhed an example 
 of an event fo grievous, fo ignominious, all things 
 confidered, as the treaty of Jovian ; that if, in 
 former times, fome generals had fubfcribed to dif- 
 honourable conditions, the fupreme authority, 
 which then refided in the people, by declaring 
 thofe treaties null, had made all their infamy fall 
 on their authors ; that the majefty of the empire, 
 after it was concentered in a monarch, had 
 been no doubt deeply humiliated by the captivity 
 of Valerian, who had grown old in the chains of 
 another Sapor ; but that this majefty had degraded 
 and annihilated itfclf in the perfon of Jovian, who 
 had forfaken the fundamental principle of the 
 policy of the Romans, who yielded nothing by 
 force, nor were ever more haughty, or more in- 
 tradlable, than when they feemed cruflied ; that 
 this precious maxim, efcaped from the wreck of 
 the republic and of ancient manners, had fupponed 
 
 to 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 295 
 
 to the prefent day the empire which it had formed; 
 but when that was once abandoned, the Emperors 
 would in future be feen fucceffiveiy to cede the 
 provinces, to difmember the (late, under a pre- 
 tence of faving it ; in fhort, that it was eafy to 
 forefee the fall and total ruin of that vaft body. 
 
 Without extending their views fo far, the in- 
 habitants of Nifibis, fufficiently occupied with 
 their own calamity, trembled to fee themfelves at 
 the mercy of Sapor, and of Sapor provoked. They 
 retained, neverthelefs, fome hopes founded on the 
 importance of their fortrefs, their pafl fidelity, and 
 their recent fervices. They could not believe that 
 Jovian would deliver them to Barbarians ; and 
 they flattered themfelves, that if, from a regard to 
 his oaths, he did not dare dire£lly to infringe the 
 treaty, fenfible at leafl of the juftice of their re- 
 monftrances, he would not deprive them of the 
 liberty of defending themfelves againfl an enemy, 
 whom they had already fo often repulfed. 
 
 The army, however, after having confuraed the 
 little provifions that it had received, again endured 
 fo ftrange a famine, that they were on the eve of 
 eating human flefh. If a bufliel of corn was 
 found by chance, *' which happened," Ammianus 
 fays, " but feldom," it was fold for at lead: thirteen 
 pieces of gold. By degrees, as the horfes were 
 killed, the arms and baggage were abandoned ; 
 fo that there is perhaps lefs exaggeration than ma- 
 lignity in the pi<^ure which Libanius draws of the 
 U4' flare 
 
t^6 HISTORY OF JO VI AN. 
 
 ftate of the troops at their return; " Our foldiers/' 
 fays he, *' returned without arms, without cioaths* 
 " They alked alms, being as naked, for the moft 
 " part, as people who efcape from fhipwreck. 
 " If any one retained half his buckler, a third 
 *' part of his fpear, or even one of his boots, which 
 ** he carried on his (houlder, he confidered himfelf 
 " as a hero. All thought themfelves fufficiently 
 " juflified, by fa)'ing, that Julian was dead, and 
 " that it was not furprifing that the Romans fhould 
 " appear in the deplorable (late in which the Per- 
 *' fians would have been, if that conqueror had 
 " lived." 
 
 It is fuppofed, that the army re-entered the ter- 
 ritories of the empire at a place named Thifal- 
 phata. It was there, at leaft, that Procopius and 
 Sebaftian, with the officers of the troops of Me- 
 fopotamia, came to pay their duty to the Emperor, 
 who received them gracioufly. Jovian foon re- 
 paired to the gates of Nifibis,;^nd encamped under 
 the walls, without liftening to the prayers of the 
 inhabitants, wiio conjured him, with reiterated in- 
 treaties, to lodge in the palace, like his prede- 
 cefTors. He was afraid to iliew himfelf, and was 
 ftill more afraid, no doubt, to confine himfelf in a 
 Roman colony, of which he had put the Barbarians 
 in poffeiTion. 
 
 That very evening he committed an act of de- 
 fpotifm more fuitable to the fufpicious charafler 
 with which he is reproached, than to the delicacy 
 
 of 
 
HISTORY OFJOVIAN. 297 
 
 of confcience un which he piqued hunfelf. At the 
 beginning of the night, on his riling from table, 
 an officer, who had diftinguifhed himfelf in the 
 lad war at the taking of Maogamalcha *, was put 
 to death. He was dragged oiu, and thrown into a dry- 
 well, where ftones were heaped over him. He was 
 named Jovianus, like the Emperor, and had had 
 fome votes to fucceed Julian. To remain a fub- 
 je£i-, after having appeared worthy to reign, is a 
 iituation fo delicate, that the greateft circum- 
 fpe<5lion is fcarce fufficient to ward its dangers. Of 
 this jovianus was not aware. Ambition or vanity 
 made him utter fome expreffions the more fufpicious 
 as he occafionally invited fome officers to his table ; 
 and *' to this," fays Ammianus, " his deftruiftion 
 *^ was certainly owing." The tragical end of this 
 unfortunate man, who feeras to have been more 
 imprudent than culpable, is related by none of the 
 modern writers who mention Jovian f. I queftioa 
 whether they would have omitted a fimilar palTagc 
 in the hiflory of his predcceiTor. 
 
 On the next day Binefes, a lord of the Perfian 
 court, who attended Jovian, to ferve as an hoftage, 
 and at the fame time to urge the execution of the 
 
 * Whilft the Barbarians defended themfelves, finging, 
 according to their cuitom, the praifes of their king, and 
 braving the Emperor, laying, he might fooner fcale the 
 walls of heaven than take Maogamalcha, the legions en- 
 tering by the mouth of the mine, furprifed them, maflacred 
 them, and threw down the ramparts. B, 
 
 •j- A fubfequent hiitorian, Mr, Gibbon, ironically flyles 
 it *' a ;-<7yrt/aa." 
 
 treaty 
 
298 HISTORY OFJOVIAN. 
 
 treaty of peace, efcorted, no doubt, by a guard 
 which the Emperor gave him, entered Nifibis, and 
 difplayed on the citadel the ftandard of the Great 
 King. The fight of this fatal flag, and the order 
 which the inhabitants received to retire fomevvhere 
 elfe, threw them into the utmofl: confternation. 
 At firft they had imagined, that Jovian had en- 
 gaged to deliver up the city with all its inhabi- 
 tants. One would think therefore that it muffc 
 have been feme abatement of their grief to learn 
 that their perfons would not fall into the hands of 
 Sapor. But befides their not being able, as I have 
 faid, to perfuade themfelves entirely that this en- 
 gagement would take place, the baniOiment, to 
 which they faw themfelves condemned, appeared 
 to them as terrible as flavery. Several perhaps 
 would even rather have chofen to live flaves in the 
 bofom of their country, that is, fubjccts of the 
 kings of Perfia, than to preferve in exile, in po- 
 verty, in the miferies of a new eflablifhment, a 
 J chimerical liberty under the Roman Emperors, 
 princes as abfolute in faft * as thofe who bore the 
 fccptre of Arfaces and Artaxerxes pretended to be 
 by right. 
 
 It is very ufual wirh hiilorians, when they re- 
 late the ruin of iiluftrious cities, to recount in few 
 words their origin and the principal events which 
 rendered themdiftinguiflied. May I therefore be 
 allowed to lay fomething here of the famous Niiibis, 
 
 * Witnefs the inllance jufl related. 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. a^^ 
 
 as the Romans then lofl it for ever, and as it in a 
 a manner even periflied itfelf by the total tranfmi- 
 gration of its citizens? Nifibis, if we may credit 
 the oriental hiflorians, is the fifler and contem- 
 porary of Babylon, Nimrod alfo being its founder. 
 According to fome, he gave it the name of Chalya ; 
 according to others, that of Achad j and it is, fay 
 thefe, the fame city of Accad which is mentioned 
 in Genefis, among thofe of which the fon of Cufti 
 laid the firft foundations in the land of Shinar. 
 It took afterwards the name of Nifibis ; and if we 
 had a right to infifl on an uncertain etymology *, 
 we might conje£ture that it was already, or then 
 |)ecame, a place of ftrength. One of the kings of 
 Syria who fucceeded Alexander, gave it the name 
 of Antioch of Mygdonia, and certainly it was fo 
 called, as may be feen in Polybius, (/. v.) in the 
 yeign of Antiochus, furnamed the Great. It was 
 fuuated in the north part of Mefopotamia, two 
 ■days journey from the Tigris, near mount Mafius, 
 in a pleafant and fruitful plain, watered by the 
 river Mygdonius, which interfecled the city. Not- 
 withftanding its antiquity, Nifibis does not begin 
 to figure in hiilory till towards the latter time of 
 the Roman republic. 
 
 Tigranes, king of Armenia, having taken it 
 from the Parthians, being himfelf attacked by 
 
 * ^*:»i fignifies, it is faid, in Phoenician, " columns, 
 " heaps of ftones." It means in Hebrew, " a monument, 
 " a ilatue," &c. but it alfo fignifies in the Bible *' a gar- 
 '^ riion, fiatiouary foidiers." i Sam. xiii. 12. B. 
 
 Lucullus, 
 
30© H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 Lucullus, there lodged his'^treafures. He thought 
 them fafe in a city furrounded by two walls all of 
 brick *, of a prodigious thicknefs, which a broad 
 and deep ditch fecured from being undermined, 
 and alfo put out of the reach of machines. Thus it 
 defpifed LucuUus, when he ventured to appear be- 
 fore Nifibis in the depth of winter. But by the fa- 
 vour of this contempt, and of a tempeftuous night, 
 he carried the place by fcaling, (ixty^eight years be- 
 fore the Chriftian ccra. After the defeat of CrafTus, 
 it again became fubjed to the kings of Armenia. 
 Occupied by their civil wars, the Romans did not 
 think of retaking it; and the policy of Auguftus, 
 who fixed the limits of the empire to the banks of 
 the Euphrates, was a law to his fucceffbrs till Tra- 
 jan. Thus for more than a hundred and fifty years 
 the Romans faw without jealoufy Nifibis and its 
 territory in the hands of the kings of Armenia, 
 their vaiTils, or of the kings of Adiabena, valTals 
 of the Parthians. Trajan, the mod: warlike of the 
 Emperors after Julius Csefar, exploded the ftate- 
 maxim introduced by Auguftus, and carried his 
 victorious arms far beyond the Euphrates. The 
 taking of Nifibis was one of the firft exploits on 
 that fide; but Hadrian foon abandoned it, with the 
 
 * Nifibis is now reduced to one hundred and fifty houfes ; 
 the marfliy lands produce rice, and tiie fertile meadows, 
 as far as Molul and the Tigris, are covered with the ruins 
 of towns and villages. See Niebuhr, Voyages, torn. ii. 
 p. 300 — 309, Gibbon. 
 
 nevy 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. joi 
 
 aew provinces which Trajan had conquered in the 
 Eafl. 
 
 Lucius Verus, the brother and collegue of Mar- 
 cus Aurelius, retook it ; and in the time of Scverus 
 befieged twice, once by the people of Mefopo- 
 tamia revolting againft the Romans, and the other 
 time by Volagefus I^ing of Parihia, it defended 
 itfelf with fuch vigour and fuccefs, that Severus, 
 who firft firmly eftablifhed the Romans in Mefo- 
 potamia, not contented with fortifying Nifibis, and. 
 making it the capital of a particular province, 
 raifed it even to the dignity of a colony, and made 
 it take the name of Septimia. In the time of 
 Alexander the fon of Mamm.ea, Artaxerxes, who . 
 had jufl: dethroned Artabanes, the lafl king of 
 Parthia, and reftcred to the Perfian nation the 
 fceptre which (he had loft for about ^c^^ years, 
 endeavoured, but ineffetflualiy, to make himfelf 
 mafter of Nifibis. 
 
 Under one of the fucceeding Emperors it v/as 
 taken either by the fame Artaxerxes, or his fon 
 Sapor I. ; but by taking it he only procured the 
 younger Gordian the honour of re-conquering it. 
 Julius-Philip, the murderer and fucceiTor of Gor- 
 dian, deferved by fome bencfa(51:ions to be con- 
 fidered as a new founder of the colony, as on a 
 medal which (lie caufed to be (Iruck in honour of 
 Philip, (he took the name of Julia with that of 
 Septimia. The captivity of Valerian, and the 
 effeminacy of Gallienus his unworthy fon, ceded 
 to Sapor I. moft of the Afiatic provinces. It 
 I ^ was 
 
302 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 was neceffary for another Barbarian, named Oden-» 
 athus, the chief of fome Saracens, more Roman 
 than the Emperor himfelf, to take care of the in- 
 terefts of the empire ; and he faved it in the Eaft. 
 Nifibis firft fubmitted to that prince, whofe fer- 
 Tices Gallienus rewarded with the title of Auguftus. 
 It feemed again feparated from the empire in the 
 reign of Zenobia, the widow of Odenathus ; but 
 it was re-united by Aurelian. The Perfians having 
 made themfelves mailers of it after the death of 
 Carus, the terror of the arms of Diocletian forced 
 them to abandon it. 
 
 In fliort, the sera of the glory of Nifibis, and 
 the moil brilliant parts of its hiftory, mufl be 
 ^ fought in the IVth century after Jefus Chrift. In 
 the reign of Conilantius, Sapor II. as has been 
 faid, was thrice foiled before its ramparts. Of 
 thofe three fieges, the moft memorable is that of 
 the year 350 *, defcribed by Julian with no lefs 
 elegance than energy, in his two firft orations, 
 which the orator has found the fecret to render 
 intereiling in a certain degree, though they are 
 panegyrics, and the panygyrics of Conilantius. To 
 give an idea of that fiege, I will add, that Sapor 
 having learned that the revolt of Magnentius, and 
 the progrefs of thai ufurper, called Conilantius into 
 the Weil, defirous of availing himfelf of that 
 Joniflure, invaded Mefopotamia at the head of an 
 
 * The other two fieges were in 337, and 359, accord- 
 ing to Spanheim. Mr. Gibbon, though he refers to this 
 author, has (in his margin) by rome millake, placed the 
 Ihrce lieges in 338, 346, and 350. 
 
 innumerable 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 303 
 
 innumerable army, and that, after having taken 
 fome caftles, he on a fudden invefted Nifibis. At 
 firft he befieged it in form ; but neither the ram, 
 nor the mine, nor the tortoife, having any effect, he 
 turned the courfe of the river Mydonius, hoping to 
 reduce the inhabitants by drought. From this, hap- 
 pily, the fprings and the wells preferved them. The 
 Great King then conceived a defign worthy of Da- 
 rius and Xerxes. He furrounded the place with a 
 high and (Irong mound, and flopped the river below 
 it. The waters ebbing filled a bafon that was pre- 
 pared for them, and rofe almoft as high as the 
 rampart, which was not more above their level than 
 was necefTary to prevent the city from being 
 overflowed. Sapor then equipped on this lake a 
 fleet of barks filled with machines to batter and 
 fcour the walls, and with foldiers to afTault them. 
 This new mode of attack continued feveral days 
 with an amazing lofs on the fide of the Barbarians, 
 and with prodigies of intrepidity on the fide of the 
 Romans, till a weak part of the bank breaking^ 
 buried in the waters great numbers of the befiegers. 
 Sapor, feeing his reputation endangered, {lopped 
 the Mygdonius above the city, and difcharged the 
 river againil the walls, of which it threw down a 
 hundred cubits, 152 feet. Though he played in- 
 cefTandyon the breach, the inhabitants raifed anew 
 wall fome paces from the old one, with fuch expe- 
 dition, and defended it with fuch vigour, that they 
 repulfed all the alTaults. The king, in the violence 
 
 oft 
 
304 H I S T O 11 Y O F J O V I A No 
 
 of his paffion, fhot an arrow into the fky to revenge 
 himfelf, as far he could, of the deity himfelf. But 
 he made that impious prince fl^ill more fenfible of 
 his power by an army of gnats, whofe flings fo 
 enraged the horfes and elephants, that they cruflied 
 in pieces feveral thoufand foldiers. At length, 
 after lofmg 20,000 men, he burnt his machines 
 and raifed the fiege, which had laded more than 
 four months. Count Lucillian, who commanded in 
 the city, and St. James, its biihop *, divided the ho- 
 nour of having faved itj the former by his courage 
 and military talents, the latter by his fervent 
 / praiyers, which he interrupted only to animate his 
 people to fight for their liberty and religion ; for 
 they all profelTed Chriftianity, of which Sapor was 
 the perfecutor. 
 
 Such was the city of NiGbis, which the fon-in- 
 law, of Lucillian ceded to the fame Sapor. Thofe, 
 whom he ordered to leave it and give piace to Bar- 
 barians, v^'ere in general the fame, who, thirteen 
 years before, had fo well defended it. The fenate, 
 in a mournful filence, and the people uttering la- 
 mentable cries, repaired to the camp of the Em» 
 peror, and, proflrate at his feet, faid to him every 
 thing that grief and the love of their country fug- 
 
 * The miracles which Theodoret (/. 11. c. 30.) afcribcs 
 to St. James, hifhop of" Edeffa, wcvi at leait performed in- 
 a worthy caule, the defence of his country. He appeared 
 on the walls under the figure of the Roman Emperor, and 
 fent an army of gnats to I'ing the trunks of the elepiraiiCs,, 
 and to difcomfit the hoft of this new Sennacherib. Gibe. n. 
 
 gelled 
 
HISTORY OFJOVIAK. 305 
 
 gefted to them raofl affeifling. As the whole an- 
 fwer that he oppofed to their fupplications, to their 
 arguments, to their fighs, was the fan^ity of an 
 oath ; ** Sire," faid they, " if neceflity conftrains 
 you to cede your rights to Nifibls, do not forbid 
 us, at leaft, to fupport ours, fword in hand. 
 We afk of you neither flores, nor troops, nor 
 money. By conquering Sapor we are all be- 
 *' come foldiersi Confider us as foreigners. Aban- 
 " don us to ourfelves, or rather to Heaven, the 
 " protector of juftice and innocence. That will 
 ** continue to render invincible fuch Romans as 
 ** fhall fight for their altars, for their hearths, for 
 *' thofe walls which they have cemented with thei'' 
 " own blood. After we have rcpulfed Sapor, the 
 ** only ufe that we wifh to make of our liberty is 
 " to give ourfelves back to you." 
 
 Jovian anfwered, that he had exprefsly fvvorn 
 to deliver up the city, and that he was incapable 
 of eluding an oath by vain fubtleiies. Then 
 Sabinus, to whom his birth and riches gave a dif- 
 tinguifhed rank among his fellow-citizens, faid to 
 him with equal fpirit and boldnefs : *' Conftantius, 
 " always at war with the Perfians, was almoft al- 
 ** ways unfortunate ; he (hivered at the name of 
 " Sapor, and this terror embittered all the mo- 
 " ments of his life. Conftantius, however, over- 
 " whelmed with misfortunes, Conftantius, reduced 
 ** to the neceffity of efcaping almoft alone, and of 
 ** eating a morfel of bread in the coitage of a 
 Vol. II. X "poor 
 
2o5 HI STORY O F JOVIAN. 
 
 " poor woman, flill preferved Nifibis. What do 
 •' I fay ? He never ceded to the enemy an inch 
 ** of ground ; but Jovian no fooner comes to the 
 *' empire than he furrenders the bulwark of the 
 *' Eaft." Jovian heard thefe reproaches unmoved, 
 dill intrenching himfelf in arguments drawn from 
 a point of honour and confcience. 
 
 It was cuftomary for every city to offer new 
 princes a crown of gold. In the critical (ituation 
 to which the inhabitants of Nifibis were reduced, 
 they were particularly careful to perform that duty. 
 The Emperor, who did himfelf juflice, being very 
 fenfible that he did not deferve the crown, efpecially 
 from them, refufed that which they prcfented to 
 him. But the inhabitants, with a perfeverance proof 
 againft all refufals, conjured him to receive it, 
 thinking, without doubt, that he would allow him- 
 felf to be affected by that mark of attachment and 
 refpe6l, and that, if he accepted their homage, he 
 would contra£t a kind of engagement with them. 
 Jovian, in order to extricate himfelf from their ira-. 
 portunity, feemed at length to accept it ; and in- 
 ilantly a lawyer, named Silvanus, exclaimed, with 
 a loud Toice, " In like manner, great Emperor, 
 ** may you be crowned by the other cities !" At 
 this fpeech he was fo exafperated, that he imme- 
 diately ordered the inhabitants to evacuate the city 
 in three days, and fent fome troops to haften them,- 
 with orders to p t any to death who Ihould remain 
 there after the time prefcribed. 
 
 3 . This 
 
HISTORYOF JOVIAN. 307 
 
 This terrible decree filled Nifibis with confler- 
 nation. Inllantly nothing was heard but groans, 
 cries, imprecations againft the government, and 
 frightful bowlings. To fee fome women of rank 
 forced by their fovereign to banilh themfelves from 
 the fcenes of their birth, from the places where 
 they had happily pafled their days in the bofom of 
 opulence, forced, I fay, to abandon all their pof- 
 feffions, and, what was more diftrefsful, to remove 
 for ever from the tombs of their hufbands. theif 
 parents, their children, whole afnes remained at the 
 difcretion of the Barbarians, was a fight capable 
 of moving Sapor, if he had been prefenr. Some- 
 times they tore their hair and their faces, fometimes 
 they clafped in their arms the doors of their houfes, 
 bathing them with tears, and bidding them a laft 
 farewell. In a word, there was feen the image of 
 a city taken by alTault, and all the fymptoms of 
 grief and defpair which great calamities produce 
 among the orientals, whofe paffions were always 
 more expreffive than ours. But who could defcribe 
 the anguifh of heart which mult be felt by thofe 
 brave men who had fuftained three iieges, and 
 who would have thought themfelves happy to 
 fhed the remainder of their blood for a country, 
 which they confidered not only as the place of 
 4heir birth, but alfo as the theatre of their glory, 
 and the monument of their valour! Every one 
 feized in his hafte, and as if he had liolen it, any 
 'thing, that he could carry away, of his own effcifls; 
 
 X 2 for. 
 
3o8 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 for, to complete their misfortunes, beafts of burden, 
 were wanting, fo that a large quantity of valuable 
 furniture was obliged to be left. 
 
 The roads were foon covered with thefe poor 
 fugitives, who, groaning under their burdens, and 
 Hill more opprefled by the weight of their affli^ion, 
 were going to feek the firft afylum that providence 
 fhould be pleafed to offer them. Moft of them 
 retired under the walls of Amida, where Jovian 
 ordered a walled fuburb to be built for them, 
 which was called the town of Nifibis. Amida, 
 founded by Conftantlus, and almofl ruined by Sapor, 
 thus increafed by the ruins of this ancient city, and 
 repaired its lolTes with fo much advantage, that it 
 became the capital of what the Romans retained 
 in Mefopotamia. As foon as the inhabitants of 
 Nifibis were departed, Jovian difpatched the tri- 
 bune Conftantius to expell thofe of Singara, ano- 
 ther Roman colony, and to deliver the five pro- 
 vinces to the officers of Sapor. Thus this famous 
 treaty was literally executed, a treaty, which may 
 be regarded as the epocha of the fall of the empire, 
 and whofe execution expofed Jovian, more than 
 the treaty itfelf, to the reproaches not only of 
 Pagan, but of fome Chrillian authors. Are their 
 reproaches well founded ? This is a problem, whofc 
 difcuflion will be more properly placed at the end 
 
 of this hifiory *. 
 
 After 
 
 ■^ The Abbe de la Bleterie, though a fevere cafuill, has 
 pronounced, that Jovian was not bound to execute his 
 
 promife ; 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 After having fulfilled his engagements with the 
 Perfians, the Emperor ordered Procopius to con- 
 Tey to Tarfus in Cilicia the corpfe of Julian, agree- 
 ably to the laft will of that prince. In the fu- 
 neral proceffion, which mufl have been a fortnight 
 at lead on the road, the cufloms of the Pagans 
 were obferved, of which the mod fantaflic was, to 
 enliven the funeral pomp of the great, and even 
 of the Emperors, at the expence of thofe whom 
 they pretended to honour. They added humour 
 and faiire to the demnftrations of grief. Here 
 were heard mournful fongs and lamentations, and 
 tears were feen to flow : there drolls and buffoons 
 danced and adted fome jocofe' fcenes, or one of 
 the troop, in a mafk which reprefented to the 
 life him whofe obfequies were celebrated, imitated 
 his gefture and his voice *, and made him utter, 
 in a ludricrous drain, the language moft proper to 
 charafterife him. The inferior perfonages loaded 
 
 promife ; fince he could not difmember the empire, nor 
 alienate, without their confent, the allegiance of his people. 
 I have never found much delight or inflrudion in fuch po- 
 litical metaphyfics. Gjebon. 
 
 Not being convinced or edified by the Abbe's reafon- 
 ing, I have not tranflated his differtatioii. 
 
 * Of this we are informed by Suetonius in the following 
 remarkable paflage ; '' At the funeral of Vefpalian, Favo, 
 •' the chief of the comedians, who played his part, and imi- 
 *' tared, as is cuftomary, his words andaclions while alive, 
 *' all;ed the managers of the folemnity aloud, " What 
 " would be the expence of the funeral pomp ?" and they 
 " anfvvering, ' a hundred millions of fefterces,' the pretended 
 *' Yefpafian exclaimed, " if they would give him but a 
 ^' hundred feflerces, they might throw him into the river." B, 
 
 X 3 this 
 
 309 
 
jia HISTORY OF JOVIAN.' 
 
 this principal performer with railleries and affronts. 
 The pretended Julian muft have been highly rl- 
 diculousj as the copy was always more extravagant 
 than the original. Neither the faults of that un-^ 
 fortunate prince, nor perhaps his good qualities^ 
 were fpared. He was reproached in the bitrerefc 
 terms for his apoftacy, his temerity, his defeat, his 
 death. To conceive how far the licentioufnefs was 
 carrii;d, it mufl be remembered that the adtors re-^ 
 venged themfelves on the enem.y of the ftage, and 
 thac they v/ere fure of th,2 applaufe of the Chrif- 
 tiar.s. 
 ■ As foon as Prccopius had acquitted himfelf of 
 this commillion, alarmed at the fate of Jovianus, 
 apd at the falfe report that was fpread, that Julian, 
 his relation, had wilhed, at the point of death, to 
 have him lor his fuccelTor, he thought that his life 
 was in danger. He therefore fec.reted himfelf, and 
 had the art to elude the fearches of Jovian, and 
 afterwards thofe of Valens. About two years after 
 the death of Julian, he appeared again in order to 
 afcend the throne, from which he fell almoll the 
 lame inftant "--. ' 
 
 Frooi Nilibis Jovian took the road to Antioch, 
 and came to Edcfla, which Ihould have been dear 
 to him for the fame reafon -}- that had made it 
 pdious to his predecefTor. He was in that city on 
 the 27th of September, according to the date of a 
 
 * See p. Z2\. note -j-. 
 
 t Julian would not ]:;;is tnrough Edcfia, becauie that 
 city '.vas flron^iy attathtd to Chnitiani;y, B. 
 
 law. 
 
HI S TO RY OF JO VI AN. 311 
 
 law *, which excufes the foldiers from going to 
 forage more than twenty miles, or one day's journey, 
 from the camp. Julian, the reftorer of military 
 difcipline, had obliged them to go in fearch of it 
 to that diftance ; but perhaps fome officers fent 
 them flill farther. Jovian, interefted in conciliating 
 the affeflion of the troops, delivered or preferved 
 xhem from that fatigue, to which there was no 
 right to oblige them ; and the fpirit of his law 
 agrees exafily with that of Julian. 
 
 The Emperor continuing his march by long 
 Itages, and received very forrowfully on his route, 
 entered Antioch in the month of 0(ftober, and 
 could not difpenfe with making fome flay there^ 
 notwithflanding his impatience to go and fhew him- 
 felf at Conflantinople, and afterwards, no doubt, 
 in the provinces of the Weft. His troops were in 
 extreme want of repofe. Antioch, the abode of 
 plent}', and the centre of all the conveniences of 
 life, was the propereft place in the world to re- 
 cover them; and prudence did not yet allow Jovian 
 to feparate himfelf from an army, whofe fuffrages 
 were the only right that he had to the empire. 
 
 During fix weeks, more or lefs, that he paffed 
 in the capital of the Eaft, he applied himfelf 
 chiefly to regulate what concerned religion. That 
 
 * This law is dated in the confullhip of Jovian and Var- 
 ronian, and confequently the date is falie, at leaii in that 
 refpeft. It is well known, that the dates marked in the 
 Theodolian code are fo faulty, that fcarce any ftrcls can be 
 laid on them. B. 
 
 X 4 portion 
 
3U HISTORY OFJOVIAN. 
 
 portion cf public affairs, fo effential and always 
 fo delicate, then required extreme difcretion. 
 Julian, with his pretended toleration, which had 
 been no more in facl than a perfecution aukwardly 
 difguiied, in which the injuflice of opprefTion was 
 aggravated by the infolence of diflionefty, had in 
 a manner fet all the fubjefts of the empire at va- 
 riance. The people were incenfed againfl the 
 people ; cities were divided ; families were dif- 
 unlted ; the ferment of minds was fo violent, that 
 it feemed as if it could not be calmed but by the 
 extin£lion of one of the parties. The unexpected 
 revolution, which again gave the Chriftians a 
 prince of their religion, was not fufEcient to re- 
 flore tranquillity. There was room to fear, that, 
 under the appearance of zeal, the animolity of 
 fome ill-informed Chriftians, indulging itfelf in 
 fome unworthy reprifals, might drive the Pagans, 
 with whom patience was founded on no religious 
 principle, to extremities. Already the temples were 
 every where * fhut ; the blood of vidims flowed 
 no longer ; the priefts of the idols abfconded"; the 
 philofophers trimmed their beards, and quitted the 
 cloak, to refume the common drefs. This was not 
 a panic fear : they had unworthily abufed their 
 credit. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, at the conciuiion 
 of his difcourfe againfl Julian, exhorts to the for- 
 
 ■* TaifgaTwn EXAvji/wi' Tavra a-TenXeiiio, Suppofing that So- 
 crates is not miftakcn in faying that the tenaples were 
 every where fliiU, this could not have happened before the 
 law which we fliall prefently mention. B. 
 
 givenefs 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. gij 
 
 givenefe of injuries in a manner that would induce 
 a belief, that, on that occafion, he confidered obe- 
 dience to the precept as a great effort of virtue. 
 One would be apt to think, that, though he in- 
 veighs with fuch warmth againft the Pagans, and 
 againft the memory of Juhan, it is a flroke of 
 Chriftlan policy ; and that by taking, as it were, 
 in the name of the church, and by public au- 
 thority, a lawful vengeance, he means to prevent 
 and difarm that of individuals. 
 
 The war kindled betvv'een the Chriftians and 
 Pagans was not the only one of which religion 
 was either the pretext or the caufe. Not to men- 
 tion fome fefts that were obfcure or of little ac- 
 count *, every thing that bore the Chriftian name 
 was divided between the faith of Nice and the 
 herefy of Arius. The moil vehement contro- 
 verlies are often no more than difputes on words. 
 Here, under the appearance of difputes on words f, 
 and «even on letters, there were real divifions as to 
 fundamental tenets ; and the difputes were managed 
 with as much animofity,as if incomprehenfible truths 
 had been in queftion. The Arians, whom the 
 favour of Conflantius had put in polTeffion of the 
 churches of Confiantinople, and of the principal 
 
 * Such as the Valentinians, the Marcjonites, the Mon- 
 taniftsjthe Manicheans, B, 
 
 f The terms o/xoho-io?, " confubftantlal," " of the fame 
 fubllance," confecrated by the council of Nice, and 
 c^oiao-ioj, " hke in fubftancc," which moll of the Arians ad- 
 mitted, only differ an- iota more or lefs, B, 
 
 fee§ 
 
14 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 fees of the Eaft, fubdivided into pure Arlans and 
 demi-Arians, agreed only againft the Catholics. 
 In lefs than fifty years they had made fixteen for- 
 muhiries of faith *, and it was doubted whether they 
 had made the lad. Arianifm was a cruel feci, and 
 even by that, according to St. Athanafius -f, bore 
 on its front a mark of reprobation. To cruelty 
 it knew how to add cunning and artifice. De- 
 ceived by its equivocal forms X* under Conflantius 
 the whole world was furprifed to find itfelf Arian 
 without thinking of it; but error did not long en- 
 joy this imaginary triumph. A reunion founded 
 on duplicity had only produced a more cruel 
 divifion. 
 
 On the other fide, thofe who acknowledged the 
 divinity of the Word, did not all agree as to the 
 reft. Some, by an excefs of delicacy, rcjefted the 
 term " confubftantial," as not being in fcripture ; 
 and though they admitted the tenet meant by that 
 word, all had not, like Athanafius §, equity enough 
 to companionate their weaknefs, and to reckon them 
 among the orthodox. 
 
 An obftinate fchifm, formed by miftake, and 
 perpetuated by imprudence, rent the city of 
 
 * The enumeration of them may be feen in the Eccle- 
 ■fiaftical Hiftoiy of M. Fleury, 1. xiv. 23, B. 
 
 f Jih. Hi/t, Arhn. ad Monachos^ t. i. p. 3S2. Ecfit. 
 Bcncd. B. 
 
 \ At the Council of Rimini. B. 
 
 § Athan, de Synodif^ 1. 11. p. 755* B, 
 
 Antioch. 
 
HISTORY OF J O VI AN. 315 
 
 Antioch ■^. There were feen two Catholic bifliop?, 
 befides one Arian. At Conftantinople, and elfe- 
 
 wherc, 
 
 ^ In the year 530, under the reign of Conftantine, hav» 
 Ing fucceecled in depoling and banifliing St. Euftarhiii?, 
 bifliop ot" Antioch, the mod: zealous of the Catholics began 
 to hold their feparate aflemblies. As rhey ftiH acknow- 
 ledged Euftathius, the name of Euftarhians was given them. 
 The fee was fiicceffively filled by feveral bifhops, more or 
 lefs attached to the Arian cabal, with whom the great 
 number of Catholics of Antioch, either through love of 
 peace, or from v, eaknefs, did not fail to communicaie. Things 
 remi'ined in this ftate during the reign of Conftantlus. But 
 in 361 (the laft year of that prince) Anianus, the Arian biOiop, 
 having been banifned, and, belidcs, Euftathius having died in 
 his exile, tliey we;re defirous to elect a bifliop who might 
 re-unite the church of Antioch. Thg Arians and the 
 moderate Catholics cafe their eyes on Alelstius, the mofl: 
 amiable and moll: peaceable of men. Every one thought 
 him of his own party. But in that the Arians were mif- 
 taken. Meleiius was no fooner eleded than he declared 
 for the Catholic faith. The Euftathiaiis, howev^er, ob- 
 ftinateiy refolved not to acknowledge him, becaufc the 
 Arians had had great fliare in his eledion. On the other 
 iide, the Arians, enraged at being deceived in him, 
 cauftd him to be baniflied a month after, to the great re- 
 gret of the moderate Catholics, who, retaining an inviolable 
 attachrarnt to the holy bifliop, would no more alFemble, as 
 they had hitherto done in the churches of the Arians-., and 
 offered to unite themfelves with the Euilathians, or zealous 
 Catholics. But thefe refufed to admit them to their com- 
 munion. There were then at Antioch therefore three 
 parties ; the Arians, the Euflathians, and the Aleletians. 
 After the death cf Conftantius, in 362, Lucifer, of Cag- 
 liari in Sar<iiuia, whom that prince had baniflied into Syria, 
 a man celebrated for his courage, and his fuffcrings in the 
 good caufc, but whole views were too confined, ordained 
 as bifliop the priefl Faulinus, whom the Euftathians already 
 confidercd as their head. Lucifer thought that the iNle- 
 letians, more pacific than the. others, would accept Fau- 
 linus, who, befides, was very worthy of the prelacy ; 
 
 but 
 
3i6 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 where, the Macedonians *, orthodox, at leafl in 
 appear3.nce, as to the confubflantiaHty of the Son, 
 denied that of the Holy Ghof}. The Donatifts, 
 thinking that there was no church, or even facra- 
 ments, out of their fociety, carried fanaticifm in 
 Africa to a decree of madnefs. The Novatians -f-, 
 whofe herefy was to ered: a defpcrate rigour into 
 an article of faith, kept up fome good underftand- 
 ing with the Catholics, who diflinguiflied them ex- 
 tremely from the other feclaries ; and it may be 
 faid, that they merited that diftindtion by the purity 
 of their manners, and by their attachment to the 
 ancient doclrine as to the divinity of Jefus Chrid. 
 They had fupported with heroic courage the Arian 
 perfecutions : but fome had fliewn J, that for the 
 defence of their faith they knew how to employ 
 other arms than thofe of true Chriftians. 
 
 As the mod natural effect of a foreign war Is to 
 fufpend civil dilTentions •, in fpite of the artifices of 
 
 but this imprudent ftep only ferved to put an end to the 
 fchifm. Thus there were feen in the fame city three bifhops, 
 Euzoius the Arian, Meletius, returned from his exile, and 
 Paulinus, both Catholics. This divifion did not terminate 
 till long after, under bifliop Alexander, to whom the Eu- 
 ftathians re-united themfelves in 415. B. 
 
 ^ So named from Macedonius, archbifhop of C«n- 
 Hantinople. B. 
 
 t The Novatians did not admit to penitence thofe who 
 had fallen after baptifm. B. 
 
 ; Under Conitantius theNovatian peafants of Mantinium 
 in Paphlagonia, armed with fcythes and axes, cut in pieces 
 four companies of foldiers, who had been fent to oblige 
 them to embrace Arianifm, B, 
 
 Julian 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 317 
 
 Julian to foment the flame of dilGord, there ap- 
 peared in his reign between the moft oppofite com- 
 munions a kind of truce refembling peace. Ex- 
 cepting only the Donatills, who committed excefles 
 againll the Catholics, f(;r which the magiflrates 
 thought it their duty to account to the Emperor ; 
 excepting, I fay, thofe madmen, the Chriftians had 
 feemed to forget their domeflic divifions, and to 
 employ themfelves in concert in offering up prayers 
 for their common deliverance. But as foon as the 
 election of a Chriftian prince was known, the 
 numbering difputes began to awaken, and the 
 chiefs of the different communions were eagerly 
 defirous of going to meet the Emperor as foon as 
 he was in the Roman territories ; either to engage 
 him, or at leaft to render him favourable to their 
 party. 
 
 Amidft fuch a diverfity of opinions, Jovian, as 
 I have already faid, had the happinefs to know the 
 truth. He had preferred Chriftianity to his for- 
 tune, and openly profelfed the Catholic dod:rine. 
 If the purity of his manners did not perhaps 
 anfwer to that of his faith, at lead he ardently 
 wiflied, it cannot be doubted, to fee all his fubje6ts 
 re-united in the bofom of the true religion. But 
 Jovian was too well inflru(5ted in the nature of re- 
 ligion itlelf to offer violence to any one. A con- 
 feflbr of the faith become a perfecutor would have 
 been a kind of prodigy. Who fliould be better 
 acquainted with the rights of confcience than he 
 6 who 
 
5i8 HISTOR Y O F JO VI AN. 
 
 who himfelf had been obliged to claim them ? He 
 was convinced that faith perfuades, but does not 
 command ; that to employ fire and fword, in the 
 progrefs of the gofpel, is to combat at once the 
 fpirit of the gofpej, and the principles of reafon ; 
 that fear only makes hypocrites; that God re* 
 je^ls forced homage, and that if he difapprovea 
 error, he detefts perjury; that the excellence of 
 the end propofed cannot fan^lify unlawful means ; 
 that, befides, in order to fucceed, the means mufl: 
 be fuited to the end, and thus that confcienccs can 
 no more be carried by force of arms than ramparts 
 by arguments *. 
 
 But, befides, if Jovian had thought it law- 
 ful and poffible to convert men by the dread of 
 punifliments and death, it would have been rifking 
 too much at the beginning of a new reign to irritate 
 the Arians, who flill retained, among the Chriftiaa 
 communions, that air of fuperiority which had 
 been given them by the proteftion and favour of 
 Conftantius. It would have been (till more dan- 
 gerous to attack Paganifm in front, which, under 
 Julian, had recovered ftrength, and had even be- 
 come again the religion of the flate. It mull be 
 fuppofed, that the Pagans, feeing themfelves at the 
 
 * Thefe truly Proteftant doftrines flow from the pen of 
 a nominal Fapift, but are as different from thoi'e of the 
 murderers of Cranmer in former times, and of thofe of 
 Calas in the prefent, as light from darknefs. Such liberal 
 fentiments in fome ages and countries would have conligned 
 the author to the Inquilition. 
 
 difeVetion 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 319 
 
 difcretion of a prince who was a zealous enemy to 
 idolatry, were extremely alarmed, and that many 
 exprefled fo much uneafinefs as to occafion fome to 
 that weakly eftablilhcd prince. With a view there- 
 fore to confirm them, and alfo to confirm himfelf, 
 he haftened to make a law, by which he maintained 
 them in the free exercife of their religion, and 
 permitted them to re-open the temples, where, by 
 forcible means, and without the authority of the 
 prince, they had been lliut fmce the death of 
 Julian. 
 
 . " You underftand," fays Themiilius, a Pagan 
 
 philofopher and fenator of Conftantinople ='■•, in a 
 
 panegyric on Jovian, which he pronounced before 
 
 him, *' that there are fome things which a fo- 
 
 '* vereign cannot reftrain. Among thefe are the 
 
 " virtues, and efpecially religion. A prince,- 
 
 '* who fhould make an edift to enjoin his fubjefts 
 
 ** to love him, would not be obeyed. Could he 
 
 ** flatter himfelf with being fo for commanding 
 
 " them to have fuch or fuch a religious perfuafion ? 
 
 ** Fear, without doubt, will effe^l: tranfient meta- 
 
 '* morphofes. But (liall we confider as men con- 
 
 " vinced, thofe men more changeable than Eu- 
 
 " ripus 'f', perfuaded by their variations to be the 
 
 *' adorers of the purple, and not of the divinity^ 
 
 " thofe ridiculous Prot^ules who difhonour human 
 
 " kind, and who are fometimes feen in the temples 
 
 * See the Epiille to him, Vol. I. p. 4. 
 
 •\- This narrow fea, betvvee.i Boeotia and Eubcea, ebbed 
 and flow.. d i.ven times in -24 hours, or oftener, or feldomex"", 
 xi the wind I'at. 
 
 " at 
 
323 HISTORYOFJOVIAN. 
 
 '' at the feet of the ftatues and altars, and fome-* 
 *' times at the holy table in the churches of the 
 *' Chriftians ? Thus, inftead of ufing violence, you 
 •* have made a law which allows every one to pay 
 ** to the Deity the vvorfhip which he fhall think 
 '* the beft. As the image of the Supreme Being, 
 •* you imitate his conduft. He has placed in the 
 •* heart of man a natural inclination which leads 
 •* him to religion ; but he does not force him in 
 •* the choice. Thus the coercive laws, which 
 " tended to deprive man of a hberty which God 
 •* leaves him, have lafted at moil during the lives 
 " of their authors ; inftead of which, your law, 
 ** or rather that of God himfelf, fubfiils in all 
 ** ages. Neither conii feat ions, nor exiles, nor 
 ** punilhments can annul! it. The body may be 
 ** imprifoned, tormented, deflroyed ; but the foul 
 " takes her flight : (he efcapes from violence, bear- 
 " ing in herfelf this indelible law, this liberty of 
 ** thinking, of which it is impoffible to deprive 
 ** her, though the tongue fhould be forced 
 
 •* to articulate fome words The wifdora 
 
 •* of your edi<Si: allays our cruel divifions. This, 
 •* Emperor, beloved by God, you know better 
 •* than any one : The Perfians were lefs formidable 
 •* to the Romans than the Romans themfelves ; the 
 *• incurfions of thofe Barbarians lefs dangerous than 
 " the accufations fuggefled by the fpirit of party 
 •* to deftroy citizens. Continue to hold the ba- 
 •* lance even. Allow all mouths to addrefs prayers 
 •* to heaven for the profperity of your empire. . . 
 
 " A hvf 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAR 321 
 
 ** A law (o juft muft penetrate all the fubjects of 
 " our divine monarch with lefpe^l and love, thofe, 
 ** among others, to whom not contented to reftore 
 ** liberty, he explains the tenets of their religion 
 " as well as the ablefl of their teachers." 
 
 Thus, in the prefence of Jovian himfelf, fpoke 
 Themiftius, one of the mod iJluflrlous magiftratcs 
 of his age, and deputed by the body to harangue 
 the Emperor. His authority fufficiently authen- 
 ticates the law of Jovian, though it no longer exift?, 
 and though other writers feem to have been igno- 
 rant of it. The panegyrics of princes fometiraes 
 praife them for virtues which they do not poiTefs, 
 but never for laws which they have not made. It 
 cannot be denied that Themiflius, in the difcourfe, 
 part of which I have juA: quoted, lays down, on 
 occafion of that law, fome very philofophical and 
 even very Chriftian maxims. But as truth is very 
 feldom found in the mouths of Pagans without any 
 mixture of error, to the folid arguments which 
 condemn cruelty and violence he adds the pre- 
 tended impofTibility of knowing how the Deity 
 would be adored, and the imaginary honour which 
 redounds to the Supreme Being from the variety 
 of worfliips which divide ^he world. This philo- 
 fopher confounds political toleration with indif- 
 ference, while Jovian, by the light of the gofpel, 
 perfe£lly diftinguifhes them. 
 
 The fame edi6l, which permitted the temples to 
 
 be re-opened, ordered the abominable fantSuaries 
 
 Vol. II. Y of 
 
322 H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 of Impoftures and witchcraft to be fliut. It fufFered 
 the public facrifices, and the worfliip formerly au- 
 thorifed, to remain ; but it forbade enchantments, 
 magic, and all worihip viiibly founded on im- 
 pofture. Though the Roman laws had always con- 
 demned thefe pradlices, the foolifh fuperllition and 
 credulity of Julian had brought them extremely 
 into fafliion. The wifeft among the Pagans mud 
 greatly praife his fucceffor for the care which he 
 took to profcribe what they deemed foreign to their 
 religion, and likely to do it difcredit. It feemed 
 to them, no doubt, performing a legitimate aft of 
 the pontifical power, which they flill afcribed to 
 the Chriftian Emperors, and of which Conflantine 
 had ufefully availed himfelf, to effeft the deflruftion 
 of idolatry. 
 
 Properly fpeaking, the Pagan religion had no 
 dogmas ; it confifted of a heap of praftics, and 
 the Sovereign Pontiff had a right to fupprefs fneh 
 as he thought abufive *. Conflantine therefore 
 having formed the plan of dilTolving it by little 
 and little^ and of deflroying it by degrees, with- 
 out {hocking the Pagans, had confined it withia 
 very narrow bounds, by retrenching fometimes a 
 worfhip contrary to good manners, fometimes a fuf- 
 picious practice; here fubverting a temple that 
 was become ths fchdol of libertinifm, there inter- 
 
 * See the DifTertation of the Baron de la Bailie, on the 
 Sovereign Pontificate of the Roman Emperors (Part III.) 
 in tlic ^le/fioirs of ths J^naemy of Infcriptions and Belles 
 Lettrs, t. XV« B. 
 
 dicing 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 323 
 
 dl£ling an oracle whofe priefts manifeftly abufed 
 the public credulity. It appears that Jovian did 
 not pretend to tolerate Paganifm but in the flate 
 to which Conftanrine had reduced it. On that 
 footing only it could in facl be fuffered, and the 
 moderate Pagans required nothing more. 
 
 The political toleration of Jovian was efFef^ive 
 and fincere. Inftead of feeking pretences to difturb 
 the Pagans, he did not avail himfelf of the mod 
 natural occafions. He might, without injuftice, 
 have abandoned to the feverity of the laws feveral 
 priefts of the idols, and the philofophers who 
 had abufed the confidence of Julian. Neverthelefs, 
 it is not to his reign that the rigours which, Li- 
 banius fays *, were exercifed againil them, mufr 
 
 be 
 
 * As Libanius did not pronounce his fecond funeral 
 oration on Julian till eighteen months after the death of 
 that prince, and confequently more than ten months after 
 the death of Jovian, I know not why M. de Tiilemont ap- 
 plies to the reign of the latter the bitter complaints of that 
 orator. " At prefent," fays that orator, {Or at. Parent, 148, * 
 
 et feq.) " thofe who declaim againft the Gods are treated 
 " with refpedl, while the priefts, thofe who are only guilty 
 *' of ferving the Gods, undergo unjuft trials. That which 
 *' they have employed in divine worlliip, that which th» 
 *' flame has confumed on the altars, they are forced to - 
 *' furrender. Are they unable to pay ? They languifh in 
 *♦ fetters. The temples have been deftroyed, or remain 
 *' half-built, to ferve as a ridicule for Chrifti.?ns. The 
 *' philofophers are put to the torture. To have received 
 *' fometbiing from the Emperor is to have contracted a 
 *' debt. What do I fay ? Ic is to have committed a theft. 
 ** In the midft of fummer, at noon-day, a n:ian is expofed 
 *' quite naked to the heac of the fun. Belides v/hat he 
 
 y 2. ♦♦ has 
 
3i4 H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 *' has received, he is afked what every one fees he has not 
 " received. It is well known that this is to require an 
 *' impoffibility ; but it is a pleafure to burn him ; he muft 
 *' expire in "this horrible torture. The profeffors of elo- 
 '* quence, accuftomed to live with the great, are driven 
 " from their doors, like infamous murderers. That nu- 
 *' merous fwarm of young difciples who always accom- 
 " pany them, feeing their matters thus treated, conceive 
 *' that knowledge is good for nothing, and feek a better 
 *' proteftion. In every city the members of the public 
 *' council unjiiftly difpenfe with the fervice, which their 
 *' coxmtry has a right to expedt from them; and no one 
 *' checks fo outrageous a diforder. Nothing is every where 
 *' feen but exaflions, forced fales, confifcations, indigence, 
 *' poverty, tears. The labourer choofes rather to beg than 
 *' to cultivate the earth. He vi'ho to-day gives alms, to- 
 ** morrow will be obliged to afk them. The Scythians, the 
 ** Sarmatians, the Celts, in a word, all the Barbarians be- 
 *' gin again to infult us on all fides," &c. 
 
 The odious flrokes of this pifture do not relate to Jovian. 
 Indeed, during his reign, the bifhops, and other Chriftian 
 preachers, were in great cfteem, and fpoke again ft Pa- 
 ganifm with full liberty. It is alfo very poffible, that at 
 the news of his elecfion, in places where the Chriftians 
 ■were the ftrongefr, the populace might deftroy feme temples. 
 Thofe which Julian was building remained unfinifhed, be- 
 caufe Jovian would not furnifli the expence, and the zeal 
 of idolaters cooled ^ I alfo fuppofe that Libanius, and his 
 ' fellows^ did not find the fame accefs to the great : fome ma- 
 
 giftrate might have rcfuled him admittance ; a very fenfible 
 affront to that fophift, who treated Julian as an equal. But 
 this is all that can rcafonahly be afcribed to the reign of 
 Jovian. According to Libanius, it was " the height of 
 *' fummer,*' (fAEo-a fisfaj) when the philofophers were per- 
 fecuted. Novv Jovian did not enter on the territories of the 
 empire till towards the beginning of autumn, and died be- 
 fore the end of winter. Beiides, the philofopher tor- 
 mented fo cruelly is plainly the famous Maximus. But 
 Prifcus and he were brought to trial at the beginning of the 
 reign of Valentinian and Valens. 
 
 As to what Libanius fays of the venality of exemptions,- 
 and of the oppreffion of the people, no author reproached 
 Jovian with anything like it; on the contrary, the patrician 
 
 Petronius, 
 
 I 
 
II I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 325 
 
 be afcribed. It is true, that, after the death of 
 Julian, their prote(5lor and their dupe, fome phi- 
 lofophers were called to a fevere account for the 
 immenfe fums, which, it was faid, they had drawn 
 from him; and this perhaps is the only time that 
 the royal treafure has purfued men of letters. But 
 thofe enquiries were not made till the reign of Va- 
 lens, Eunapius, alfo a Pagan, and as plaintive 
 as Libanius, affirms that Jovian continued to ho- 
 nour the philofophers -* who were in the train of 
 his predecelTor. We may at leafl: conclude, from 
 that exprefTion, that he had fome regard for them. 
 Themiftius reckons as a merit in him his protecting 
 philofophy at a time when almofl every one elfe 
 declared againft it, and recalling it to court in a 
 lefs difgraceful habit. Fear had at firft driven the 
 philofophers from it ; but they foon recovered 
 their courage ; and Jovian allowed them to appear 
 there again, but in the common drefs. It may, 
 however, be prefumed, that they were not feeii 
 there with a very gracious eye, and that they rauil 
 
 Petronius, the father-ia-law of Valens, a monfter of ava- 
 rice and cruelty, rendered immediately the government of 
 his fon-in-law highly odious, and ruined a multitude of 
 families, by enquiring what was due to the treafury for 
 near a century paft. See Amm. xxvi. 6. In fliort, the 
 two brothers reigned when the Barbarians, being no Ipnger 
 reftrained by the fear of Julian, again took up arms. Thofe 
 people had fcarce had time to hear of his death, and to 
 niake fome preparations, during the reign of Jovian. B, 
 * Tjjuwv Tot'j at^^K; ^iiliKzuei'. Illos nja o> honore profeq.u.i non 
 
 Y I fjiffer 
 
52$ HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 fuffer fome mortifications, and perhaps infults, 
 
 from the courtiers, which the Emperor did not 
 
 take the trouble to avenge ; and ihat, if I miftake 
 
 not, is the meaning of what Themiflius fays, in a 
 
 difcourfe addreffed to Valens ; that " it is a ftain to 
 
 ** the glory of Jovian to have fuffered infults to 
 
 *• be offered them, though, as to himfelf, he offered 
 
 " them none." 
 
 Libanius continued inceffantly to bewail Julian, 
 and to praife him in his writings. Some would 
 have made it a ftate crime, and Jovian was advifed 
 to fend him to confole himfelf with his hero. But 
 he thought it beneath an Emperor to trouble him- 
 felf with what a fophifl might write. He was 
 fenfible alfo that by putting an author to death, his 
 works, inftead of beiug fuppreffed, are aifured of 
 immortality. As Jovian fpared a Maximus and 
 a Libanius, we may judge what tranquillity was 
 enjoyed by fuch Pagans as could be reproached 
 with nothing but their religion. It is certain, 
 that at Conflantinoi'le facrifices were publickly 
 offered for the folemnity of the confullhip of 
 Jovian. 
 
 It this prince, in quality of common father and 
 chief cf the body politic, thought himfelf obliged 
 not to reflrain the confciences of his fubjeds, he 
 did not forget that he owed a (Iriking protection 
 to the religious fociety of which he was a m.ember. 
 it appears by his medals that he replaced in the 
 X Laharum 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 327 
 
 Labarum * the monogram of Jefus Chrift. Not 
 content with having thus declared that Chriftianity 
 was the religion of the empire, he formally de- 
 clared by a letter |, which he wrote to the gover- 
 nors 
 
 * The principal ftandard which difplayed the triumph 
 of the crofs was ftyled the Labarum^ or Lahorum^ an ob- 
 fcure though celebrated name, which has been vainly de- 
 rived from almoft all the languages of the world. It is de- 
 fcribed as a long pike interfered by a tranfverfal beam. 
 The filken veil, which hung down from the beam, was cu- 
 rioufly enwrought with the images of the reigning mo- 
 narch and his children. The fummit of the pike fupported 
 a crown of gold, which inclofed the myfterious rro- 
 nogram, at once expreffive of the figure of the crofs, 
 and the initial letters of the name of Chrift. The fafety 
 of the Laborum was entrufted to fifty guards of approved 
 valour and fidelity. Gibbon, 
 
 Julian had replaced in the ftandards the antient Latin 
 letters, S. P. O. R. 
 
 f This letter, mentioned by Sozomen, is, I fancy, the 
 very law of which Themiftius gives the elogium. He fays, 
 plainly enough, that this law was the firft of thofe of 
 Jovian ; and Sozomen aflerts, that Jovian did not defer a 
 moment {a^t* /A£^Ar,5-x;) to write to the generals of the pro- 
 vinces. It is probable, that the law contained two heads. 
 The Emperor there declared, firft, that the Chriftian re- 
 ligion was that of the ftate, Sec. Secondly, that he did 
 not pretend to deprive any one of the liberty of following 
 and excrcifing any other, &:c. The Pagan philofopher 
 dwells only on the fgcond head, which was advantageous 
 to the Pagans : the ecclefiaftical hiftorian mentions only the 
 firft, which favoured the Chriftians. Each of them com- 
 ments in his own way on the article which interefts him, 
 and gives it too much latitude. In reading Themiftius, 
 one would think that Jovian had put all religions on the 
 fame level ) but Sozomen, whofe text I am far from under- 
 flanding rigoroufly, fays, that this prince declared Chrifti- 
 anity the only religion of his fubjecls. M. de Tillemont did 
 liot know how to reconcile the law that Themiftius mentions 
 Y 4 wJtk 
 
3^S H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N, 
 
 nors of the provinces, all Pagans no doubt, as 
 they had been put or left in place by Julian ; en- 
 joining them to ad fo that the Chriflians might 
 alTemble in the churches : for in feveral places they 
 had either been deflroyed or converted to profane 
 ufes. He recalled all who had been banifhed on 
 account of religion, reftored to the clergy, to 
 virgins, and to widows the privileges granted by 
 ihe Chriftian Emperors, and re-eftablilhed the dif- 
 tribution of corn which the demefne allowed to 
 every church for the fubfiflence of widows and 
 orphans. The famine which then afflifted the 
 empire obliged him to reduce to one-third that 
 pious donation of Conflantine ; but he promifed to 
 give the remainder at the firfl return of plenty. 
 
 He made alfo a law, which we ftill have-, ad- 
 dreffed to Salluft the Second, Prsefeft of the prse- 
 torium of the Eaft, denouncing capital punifliment 
 to thofe who fhould dare to fteal away, or even 
 fohcit in marriage, the virgins confecrated to God *„ 
 
 Thefe 
 
 with that referred to by Sozomen. I flatter myfelf that 
 this learned writer would have approved the method of 
 agreement here propolcd. B. 
 
 The Abbe de la Bleterie judicioufly remarks, that Sozo« 
 men has forgot the general toleration, and Themiilius the 
 eftablifhment of the Catholic religion. Each of them 
 turned away from the objeft which he difliked, and vvilhed 
 to lupprefs the part of the edicl the leail honourable, in his 
 cpinion, to the Emperor Jovian. Gibbon. 
 
 * The following are the very terms of the law. Imp, 
 Jovianus A, ad fecundum P, P , S: ^uis^ 71071 dica/n rapere^fed 'vel 
 
 atten," 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 329 
 
 Thefe fcandalous marriages had grown common 
 under Julian. To accomplifh them, fome had em- 
 ployed violencej and others fedu6lion. An officer, 
 named Magnus, the fame who was, under Valens, 
 and perhaps from the time of Julian, treafurer of 
 the Emperor's houfliold ^, had burned, by his pri- 
 vate authority, the church of Beryta in Phcenicia. 
 Ecclefiaftical hiftory reprefent^ Count Magnus | as 
 
 unprin-p 
 
 atlentare, ?natrimonii juyigend'i caiefa, facratas vh-glnes i^el in- 
 vitas aufus fuerit, capltali fentcntlu fcriatur. Dat. XI. Kal. 
 Mar. Antiochlay Joviano A. et Vanoniano Cofs. Inftead of 
 invitaSy we fliould perhaps read invitare, Sozomen feems 
 to have read intueri^ as he tranflates the Latin word by 
 thefe ; «xo?karw? <s!fO(7Z>.f7toi\»,y impudic'c afpiciente?!!. There is 
 no probability that this was the fenfe. The date of this 
 law is alfo falfe, like a number of others. Jovian did not 
 take the confuKliip till a month at fooneft after his leaving 
 Antioch J and, befides, he was no longer in this world on 
 the 19th of February, 364, as he died between the i6th 
 and 17th of that month. B. 
 
 The new law which condemned the rape or marriage of 
 nuns, is exaggerated by Sozomen ; who fuppofes that an 
 amorous glance, the adultery of the heart, was puniflied 
 with death by the evangelic legiHator. Gibbon. 
 
 * Thus, I thmk, Comes largitionuni comitatenjium ihould be 
 tranflated. B. 
 
 f It was he who, in the time of Valens and of the go- 
 vernor Palladius, perfecuted by an inferior order the Ca- 
 tholics of Alexandria, to oblige them to receive the bifliop 
 Lucius. Having caufed nineteen, as well priefts as deacons, 
 to be apprehended and brought before his tribut^al, fpmc 
 of whom were more than fourfcore years of age, he faid 
 to them, " Embrace, wretches, em.brace the opinion of 
 ^' the Arians. If your religion be true, God will pardon 
 *' you for having yielded to neceffity. You will pleafe the 
 f - mpH clenaent, auguft Valens," After having put them 
 
 «, ^ 
 
330 H 1 S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 unprincipled, a Have to the court, ardent to dillin- 
 guifh himftlf in all perfecutions, and committing 
 with the bafenels of a fubaltern fome crimes of 
 fupererogation. He was very near being beheaded 
 by Jovian. Powerful interceffions obtained his 
 pardon ; but he was condemned to re-build the 
 church of Beryta at his own expence. 
 
 Athanafius, the perfonal objeft of the hatred 
 2nd perfecution of Julian, hearing of the death of 
 that prince, had on a fudden re- appeared in the 
 midil of his people, who were agreeably furprifed. 
 As the orders of Julian had not then been re- 
 voked, a Pagan or an Arian might have made an 
 attempt on the perfon of the holy prelate. How 
 ■was it known whether the new Emperor would not 
 be difpleafed that Athanafius Ihould {hew hirafelf 
 publickly in Alexandria, without the leave of the 
 fame authority which had baniflied him from all 
 j^gypt ? But his fears were immediately difpelled 
 by a letter from Jovian, conceived in thefe terms : 
 " To the moH: religious friend of God, Athanafius, 
 " Jovian. As we admire beyond all expreflion the 
 *' fandity of your life^ in which Ihine forth the 
 
 in prifon, and caufed them to be fcourged and tormented, 
 he baniflied them into an idolatrous country, made them 
 fet out immediately, urging them himfelf, I'word in hand, 
 without giving them time to take neceflaries, without wait- 
 ing till the lea became calm, without being moved by the 
 cries and tears of the whole Catholic people. Epijiola Peiii 
 Mc-'-andrini aj^ud Thcodoret, 1, IV. 22, B. 
 
 ** marks 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 331 
 
 " marks of referablance to the God of the uni- 
 •* verfe "*, and your zeal for Jefus Chrifl our Sa- 
 ** viour, we take you now under our proteftion, 
 *' mod refpectable bilhop. You deferve it by that 
 " courage which has made you reckon as nothing 
 '^ the mofl painful labours, and regard as an ob- 
 *' je£l of contempt the rage of perfecucors and 
 *' menacing fwords. Holding in your hand the 
 *' helm of faith, which is fo dear to you, you ceafe 
 '* not to combat for the truth, nor to edify the 
 " Chriilian people who find in you the perfect 
 ** model of all virtues. For thefe caufes, we re- 
 *' call you immediately, and we order you to return, 
 '* to teach the do6lrine of falvation. Return there- 
 " fore to the holy churches ; feed the people of his 
 " God. Let the paftor, at the head of the flock, 
 *' offer up prayers for our perfon : for we are per- 
 *' fuaded that God will diffufe on us, and on thofe 
 " who are Chriflians like us, his moft fignal favours, 
 ** if you grant us the affiilance of your prayers." 
 
 It appears by the order contained in this letter, 
 that the Emperor was ignorant, or chofe to be 
 ignorant, that Athanafms had refumed the public 
 exercife of his fundions +. Be that as it may, 
 
 * The word ** celeflial"' faintly exprefles the impious 
 and extravagant flattery of the Emperor to the archbifliop, 
 
 rr,; iTfOi rot @io:t Tuv e\uv o/AOUKTex^, GiEEON'. 
 
 f He might be ignorant of it ; for St. Gregory of Na- 
 zianus fays, that the order for the recall of Athanalius was 
 difpatched the firil of ail, Grc^. A«?, or, xxi. B. 
 
 Jovian 
 
332 HISTORA" OF JOVIAN. 
 
 Jovian wrote to him again, to afk inftrui^^ion of him 
 as to the tenets which were then the fubjed of 
 dilputes. Not that he was not a confirmed catholic. 
 The letter jaft quoted would alone prove it * ; 
 and, befides, thus to confiilt the great Athanaiius, 
 the man of the church and the bulwark of the 
 faith, was loudly to declare himfelf for the doctrine 
 of Nice. But not to mention the difpute which 
 bad been raifed concerning the divinity of the Holy 
 Ghoft, the Arians, by their fophifms and captious 
 formularies, fome of which were rather infuffi- 
 cient than erroneous, had introduced into a con- 
 troverfy, (iraple in itfelf, more difficulties than 
 were neceiTary to embarrafs a foldier like Jovian, 
 Thinking himfelf then obliged by the flate to 
 labour on the great work of the re-union of Chrif- 
 tians, and refolved to employ only perfuafion, he 
 had need of fome palpable but decifive and keen 
 arguments to convince the fe6J:aries, v;ithout en- 
 tering into thorny difculTions, which would have 
 been above his reach, and in one fenfe beneath his 
 dignity, 
 
 Athanafius entered fully into his views; con- 
 vened foml^ intelligent bidiops, and anfwered him 
 
 * Theodoret (1. iv. c. 2.) fays, that he ordered thofe, 
 who had adhered to the faith of Nice in its purity, to be 
 put in poiTi-irion of the churches, if that be true, the 
 order was not rigorouily executed. It appears, however, 
 that Jovian gave a church new-built to the Catholics of 
 Antioch (of the cqinrnunion of St. Meletius) ; v/hich feems 
 to prove that under Julian the Chriftians might builcj 
 churches^ B, 
 
 in 
 
HISTORY or T O V I A N. 533 
 
 in the name of the whole patriarchate of Aiexan* 
 dria. After congratulating the Emperor on the care 
 which he took to inform himfelf or the truth *, the 
 holy teacher proves that he mult attach hiraftlf to 
 the faith of Nice. It is the faith of the Apoflles and 
 martyrs. They were in poffexTion of that dcftrine 
 when Arius came to fow his errors. All the 
 churches have received, and ilill receive, the de- 
 cifion of Nice; the fmall number of Arians that 
 oppofe it cannot form a prejudice againft the refl: \ 
 
 of 
 
 * We have this letter in the Hiuory of Theodoret, and 
 among the works of Athanafius. In the letter, as it is 
 quoted by Theodoret, is a half phrale in v/hich AihanaSus 
 leems to promife Jovian a long and tranquil reign, as thg 
 reward of his deiire to be inftructed in heavenly tiTiths : 
 
 K«» Trit jSjKr»?t«atv ftsx fiprv*:':' ffoXXa^ tiUi/ •s-t^tccoi? ezr/leAi'Tsi; : " and 
 
 *' you will govern the empire many years in peace." 
 
 As Jovian reigned a very fiicrt time, Baronius imagines, 
 that thefe words are an addition of fonie Arian, who was 
 willing to mslie Athanafius pafs for a falfc prophet ; but 
 in authors who are not inlpired fuch fort of exprell-or^ 
 ought to be regarded as wifaes, and not as promifes, xnucii 
 lefs as prophelles. B. 
 
 Before his departure fron:i Anticch j, he p-lTured Jovi2ri 
 that his orthodox devotion would be rewarded with a 
 long and peaceful reign, Athanafius had reafon to hope^ 
 that he (hould be allowed either the merit of a fuccefsful 
 predi<ftion, or tl:c excufe of a grateful, though ineffetftuai, 
 prayer. In fome MSS. this indifcreet promiie is omitted j 
 perhaps by the Catholics, jealous of the prcphetio fan.e 
 of their leader. Gi3£or< 
 
 TUf lot Aftiov ^tomt'tu)/ . , . xccy T«y£s a-piif.eyacn Tavlrt tjj crffft a 
 ivnutlat ■jT^cx.fijj.a, «■&»«> :rc.ee"» tj? Oi>«p.i>?,. " AH the cburcbes 
 
 *' every v.here agiee ... a few excepted^ v.-bo embrace 
 
 J This letter v/as rather prevlvvs t« his coming '.o Antioch, »r.<i icdeed 
 •ccafioned ic. Sec p. ^34. 
 
334 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 of the world. At length Athanafius, willing to 
 guard Jovian againfl the hcrefy of Macedonius, 
 obferves, that the fame council of Nice has fuffici- 
 ently eftablilhed the confubflantiality of the Holy 
 Ghoil, by faying, that it is ** glorified with the Fa* 
 *' ther and the Son.'* Thus this able divine adapts 
 himfelf to the necefTity and capacity of the prince, 
 and does not omit to fupply him with peremptory 
 arguments, drawm from prefcrlption, and the confent 
 of the churches as to a formal and determined tenet. 
 The Emperor was fo well fatisfied with the letter 
 of Athanafius, that he wifhed to converfe with him, 
 and ordered him to repair to Antioch. The holy 
 bifhop obeyed the more willingly, as he had already 
 refolved to go to court ; not from tafte (for no 
 bifhop was ever lefs a courtier), but for the intercfls 
 
 *' the opinion of Arius *, and though fome contradit^ this 
 *' faith, we know that they cannot prejudice the whole 
 "*• world.'' Athanafius, by reducing the Arians to fo fmall 
 a number, feems to differ from the common opinion ; but 
 it mull be obferved, I. That the bifliops who had fub- 
 fcribed to the council of Rimini, had recovered their fall 
 after the death of Conftantius. 2. At the very time when 
 herefy feemed to prevail, many of thofe who received the 
 forms propofed by the Arians, received them in a Catholic 
 fenfe. 3. As the moft determined of the Arians did not 
 fcruple to fay, that Jefus Chriil is God, the Chriilian 
 people, who knew only the Supreme God, underftood that 
 Jefus Chrift was the only and fame God with his Father, 
 and underftood in a good fenfe the ambiguous expreffions 
 with which the error was envelopped. This occalioned the 
 faying of a father of that time : " The ears of the people 
 ** are more holy than the hearts of the priefts." B. 
 
 * This affcrtion was verified in the fpacc of thirty or forty years. 
 
 GlliBON. 
 
 of 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 335 
 
 of the church, and from deference to the advice of 
 his intimate friends. However advantageous his 
 reputation was, he always gained by a perfonal 
 acquaintance. Jovian liked him extremely, and 
 gave him his confidence. It is honourable for 
 that prince to have placed it fo well. Athanalius 
 was the greateft man of his age ; and perhaps, 
 taken all together, the church has never had a 
 greater. God, who deftined him to combat the moil 
 dreadful of herefies, armed at once with the 
 fubtleties of logic and the power of the Emperors, 
 had endued him with all the gifts of nature and of 
 grace, which could render liim proper to fill that 
 high deftination. 
 
 He had a juft, quick, and penetrating mind ; a 
 generous and difinterefled heart ; cool courage, and, 
 it may be faid, uniform heroifm, always the fame, 
 without impetuofity or extravagance ; Hvely faith ; 
 unbounded charity; profound humility; a chrif- 
 tianity, (Irong, fimple, and noble, like the gofpel ; 
 a natural eloquence, abounding with peneirating 
 •ftrokes, ftrong in fubllance, going diredily to the 
 point, and of rare precifion in the Greek writers 
 of that time. The aufterity of his life rendered 
 his virtue refpectable ; the gentleneft of his manners 
 made him beloved. The calmnefs and fercnity of 
 his foul were painted on his face. Though he 
 had not an advantageous perfon *, his external ap- 
 pearance had fomewhat majeftic and flriking. He 
 
 * See note *■. p. 141. 
 
 was 
 
33^ HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 was not ignorant of the profane fciences, but he 
 avoided muking a parade of themi Skilled in the 
 lerter of the fcriptures, he alfo poiTeffed their 
 fpirit. Neither Greeks, nor Romans, ever loved 
 their country fo much as Athanafius loved the 
 church, whofe interefts were always infeparablc 
 from his. Long experience had inured him to eccle- 
 fiafhical afTairs. Adverfity, which enlarges and 
 refines when it " does not crufli the genius, had 
 given him admirable penetration to difcover re* 
 fources, even human, when every thing feemed 
 defperate* Threatened with exile when he was m 
 his fee, and with death when he was exiled, he 
 flruggled for near fifty years againft a league of 
 men fubtle in arguments, profound in intrigues, 
 acute courtiers, matters of the prince, arbiters of 
 favour and difgrace, indefatigable calumniators^ 
 barbarous perfecutois. He difconcerted, confound- 
 ed, and always efcaped them, without giving them 
 the confolation of feeing him make one falfe flep; he 
 made them tremble even when he was flying before 
 them, and when he was buried alive in the tomb of 
 his father '^, He read hearts and futurity. Some 
 Catholics were perfuaded that God revealed to him 
 the defigns of his enemies; the Arians accufed him 
 of magic ; and the Pagans pretended that he was 
 
 * Under Valens he concealed himfelf in the fepulchrc 
 of his father, and remained there four months. Among 
 the ancients, particularly in yEgypt, fepulcihres were build- 
 ings in the open country, fo confiderable that there were 
 apartments in them. M. Flcury^ 1, xvi. lO. B. 
 
 vcrfed 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 verfed in the fcience of auguries, and that he u^- 
 derflcod the language of the birds * ; fo true it is 
 that his prudence Was a kind of divination. No 
 one difcerried better than he the feafons to difclofc 
 or to conceal himfelf; thofe of fpeech or filence ; 
 of aftion Or repofei He kilew how to fix the in- 
 conllancy of the people (the Alexaridrians, which 
 is faying all), to find a new country in the places 
 of his exile, and the fame credit at the extremity 
 of Gaul, in the city of Treves, aS in iEgypt, and 
 the very bofom of Alexandria -, to keep up cor- 
 refpondences ; to procure proteflions ; to unite 
 the olrthodox-, to encourage the mod tiniiid ; of 
 a weak friend never to make an enemy ; to ex" 
 cufe weaknefles with a charity and goodnefs of 
 heart, which fhewed, that, if he condemned ri^ 
 gorous methods in matters of religion, it was 
 lels from interefl than principle and charafter; 
 
 * This we learn from Ammianus : " It was faid, that 
 *' being thoroughly fkilled in foothfaying, and in what 
 " was portended by augural birds, he Ibmetimes foretold 
 " future events/' It is related on this fubjeft, that ;;is 
 Athanafius was paffing through the ftreets of Alexandria 
 on the eve of a feftival which the Pagans were to celebratd 
 with great feftivity, a raven was heard to croak. " What 
 *' fays that bird ?" exclaimed the Pagan populace. Atha- 
 nafius anfvvered fmiling, " He fays, eras''' (which fignifiet 
 in the Roman language, " to-morrow)," " and declares to 
 *'~you that the Emperor of the Romans forbids you to cele- 
 *' brate your feftival." On the morning after, the prj- 
 hibition of the Emperor did not fail to arrive. Sozomen, B. 
 
 A prophecy, or rather a joke, is related by Sozomen, 
 (I. IV. e, ID.) which evidently proves, if the crows fpeak 
 Latin, that Athanafius underftood their language. Gibbon* 
 
 yoL. II. Z Julian, 
 
 337 
 
338 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 Julian, who did not perfecute the other bidiops, 
 at leaft openly, confidered the taking away his 
 life as a piece of great policy, thinking that 
 the fate of Chriftianity was attached to that of 
 Athanafius. This honourable diftimf^ion fcemed 
 to have completed the glory of the holy bifhop, 
 when he repaired to Jovian. He was then about 
 ieventy years old •, but his career was not ready to 
 clofe. After having made him triumph over three 
 former Emperors *, God deftined him to gain 
 other vld^ories over Valens |. 
 
 We are ignorant of the particulars of the ad- 
 vice which Athanafius gave to Jovian; but we 
 may be certain, that he confirmed him in the de- 
 iign of labouring only in a Chriflian manner to re- 
 unite Chriflians ; and that he made him under- 
 ftand that it was previoufly neceffary to infpire all 
 parties with principles of kindnefs ; to teach them 
 to bear with one another; to defire and to feek 
 peace, till it fliould pleafe God to accomplifh it. At 
 the fame time he difciofed to him the fnares of the 
 fetf^aries, fome of whom at leaft had formed pro- 
 jects of conqueft on a prince v/ho was not fufE- 
 ciently inftruCled in theological matters to diftin- 
 
 * That is, of Conilantine (in the latter years of his 
 reign deceived by the Arians), Conftantiu?, and Julian. B. 
 
 f The Janfenifts have often compared Athanafius and 
 Arnaxild, and have expatiated with pleafure on the faith 
 and zeal, the merit and exile, of thofe celebrated doftors. 
 This concealed parallel is very dcxtcroufly managed- by the 
 Abbe de la Bleterie. GrBEON, 
 
Ill STORY O F JO VI AN. 339 
 
 guifli by himfelf what charaderifes error, when it 
 borrows the features of truth. 
 
 Arrian and Candidus, pure Arians, ordained 
 bifhops by the famous jStius *, both relations of the 
 Emperor, were gone to meet him at Edella ; iiiid Jo- 
 vian, if we may believe Philoftorgius, had, in fpeak- 
 ing to them, expreifed a kind of neutrality which 
 might give them fome hope, though hisanfwer might 
 be only the effect of his moderation. They had fol- 
 lowed him, without doubt, to Antioch ; and it is 
 alfo known that Euzoi'us, bilhop of that great city, 
 and fome other Arians, already praftifed upon the 
 eimuchs of the palace, having not forgotten that, 
 by that method, they had gained the favour of 
 Conftantius, and reigned in his name. All the 
 leaders of parties befieged Jovian to obtain his per- 
 miffion to perfecute their enemies. We may judge 
 of their refpeflive pretenfions by the petition of the 
 Macedonians, who demanded to be put into pof- 
 feffion of the churches which were occupied b)"- 
 the pure Arians. The Emperor contented himfelt" 
 with replying, " I hate difputes : I love and ho- 
 " nour thofe who have peaceable views, and who 
 " concur in union." Thefe words, proceeding 
 from the mouth of the fovereign, and coming from 
 the bottom of his heart, were an efFeclual (Iroke, 
 and immediately chilled the warmeil difputants. 
 They held a council in Antioch, where the Ariims 
 ©f the party of Acacius of Caefarea in Palcftine 
 
 * See Vol. I. p. 2. note *. 
 
 Z % com- 
 
340 H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 
 
 communicated with Meletius, one of the two Ca- 
 tholic biOiops of that city, and fubfcribed to the 
 form of Nice. The fmcerity of their fignature is 
 queftioned ; but if they betrayed their confciencc, 
 it was not the fault of Jovian, who declared plainly 
 that he would not conftrain any one, and who 
 faid it fincerely. He was not fo fuccefsful in ter- 
 rninaring the fchifm of the Catholics of Antioch, 
 divided bet^veen Meletius and Paulinus. Fra- 
 ternal diflenfions are always the mofl: obftinate. 
 
 Though Jovian (hewed very great regard for 
 Athanafius, the Arians of Alexandria, fupported 
 clandeftinely by Huzoius, made fome attempts 
 to prevent his returning to his chui*ch. After the 
 tragical death of their bifliop, George of Cappa- 
 docia, which happened in the time of Julian *, 
 they had call their eyes on a prieft named Lucius, 
 a man of very bad looks, and of a ftill worfc cha- 
 ra£ler, who did net fail to juflify their choice by 
 the cruelties which he committed in the perfecution 
 of Valens. The Arians of Alexandria, for fome 
 reafon that is not known, had not yec caufed him 
 to be ordained. They fent deputies to Jovian, and 
 Lucius at their head; wifliing to have him for 
 their bifhop, or, at leaft, any other that the Em- 
 peror would give them to the exclufion of Athan- 
 afius. The Catholics of Alexandria lent deputies 
 alfo'^ on their part, to oppofc the efforts of the 
 Arians; the latter addreffed the Emperor feveral 
 
 * Sec the IXth and Xth Epiflles oi' Julian, p, 17 — 23. 
 
 times* 
 
H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 341 
 
 times. We have the original relation of the dif- 
 ferent audiences which he gave them *. It is a 
 curious remain in many refpe£ts. Above all, Jo- 
 vian is there feen drawn to the life : he there 
 ' Ihews firmnefs, fenfe, judgement, and equity, fome- 
 thing blunt and military, a lively difpofition, and, 
 if I miftake not, a rafte rather than u talent for 
 raillery. But I am wrong to foreflall the reader ; 
 let him judge for hirnfelf f. 
 
 [The Emperors, who originally were only ge- 
 nerals of the army, were accuftomed to exercifc 
 with their foldiers. There was near every city a 
 place for exercife, called, *' The field of Mars,"' ^ 
 
 or, " The field.]" One day, when Jovian [at- 
 tended by his guard] was going on horfeback 
 through the Roman gate to the field of Mars, 
 Lucius, Berniccus, and the other [deputies of 
 thej Arians, approached him, faying, " We beg 
 " your power, your majefly, your piety, to give 
 ** us audience." * Who, and whence are you?* 
 faid Jovian. They anfwered, ** Sir, we are Chrif- 
 " tians." ' Whence, and of what city ?' added 
 the Emperor. " Of Alexandria,"** replied the Arians. 
 * What do you defire of me ?' faid the Emperor. 
 *' We befeech your majefty," faid they, *' to give 
 *' us a billiop." * I have ordered Athanafius,' re- 
 
 * Petltio Ananorum ad Jovian, hiter opera Athan. t. I. 
 /. 782. B. 
 
 t I give this account entire, having taken care to incloic 
 within crotches all that is not in the afts themfeJves, and 
 yet was neccirary to facilitate the uadcrftanding them. 
 
 Zs 3 plied 
 
S4i 
 
 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 plied Jovian, ' to return to his fee.' " Sir," faid 
 the Arians, '^ Athanalius has been banifhed many 
 ** years for crimes of which he is not cleared." 
 Then- a foldier [a Cathoiic, of the Emperor's 
 guard] in the tranfport of his zeal, took the 
 liberty to fay, ' Sir, give yourfeif the trouble 
 
 * to examine who are ihefe people, and whence 
 
 * they come. They are the miferable remains 
 
 * of the fLiCfion of Cappadocia, the agents of 
 *. George, of that villain, who defolated the city 
 
 * of Alexandria, and the whole world.' At thefe 
 words, the Emperor fpurred his horfe, and went 
 to the field. 
 
 They prefented themfelvcs a fecond time, and 
 faid, ' We have feveral heads of accufation again ft 
 
 * Athanafius, which we are able to prove. It is 
 
 * thirty years fmce he was banifhed by Conftan- 
 ' line and Conftantius, of immortal memory. He 
 
 * has been baniihed lately by the beloved of God, 
 
 * the mofu philofophical =^- and moft happy Julian.' 
 *' The accufations of ten, twenty, thirty years," 
 faid the Emperor, " are obfolete. Speak no more 
 *' to me of Athanafius. I knov/ why he was ac- 
 '' cufed, and how he was banidied." 
 
 [So firm an anfwer did not repulfe t ' Arians. 
 They returned to the charge a third time ] " We 
 
 * It is difficult to conceive that peifc;ns who profv^fled 
 Chtiltianity, and, befides, were fpeaking to a Chriiiian 
 iimperor, Ihould have been fo irreligious, fo abfurd, :i3 to 
 jjiv: [ulian thele epithets. 
 
 Muft there not have been foine i iteqolacion here r B. 
 
 " have/' 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 34^ 
 
 " have,'* fald they," " new complaints againft Atha- 
 *' nafius." [The deputies of the Catholics of Alex- 
 andria beginning, as it fcems, to fpeak at the fame 
 time], " Jovian faid, ' When all fpeak together, it 
 ' is impoffible to underftand who is in the right. 
 
 * Choofe two perfons on each fide ; for I cannot 
 
 * anfwerbothof you.' The Catholics began. " Sir," 
 faid they, " thefe men, whom you fee, are the re- 
 *' mains of the deteftable George, the fcourge of 
 *' our province. They do not fuffer in the cities any 
 *' fenator" . . . The Arians [wifhing to cut fliort an 
 account which would have covered them with con- 
 fufion, and perceiving, befides, that Lucius, a crea- 
 ture of George, would never be approved by the Em- 
 peror, interrupted the Catholics by faying], ' Be fo 
 
 * kind, Sir, as to fet over us whomever you pleafe, 
 ' except Athanafius.' " I have already told you,*' re- 
 plied the Emperor, " what concerns Athanafius is 
 *' fettled ;" — and in an angry tone, he faid to his 
 guard in Latin, " Feri^feri^ that is to fay, ♦* Strike, 
 ** flrike *.'* [The order, without doubr, was not 
 executed, as the Arians perfifted.] ' Sir,* faid 
 they, * if you fend back Athanaiius, our city is 
 
 * ruined ; and, befides, no one aiTociates with him.' 
 *' I have, however,' faid Jovian, '* made en- 
 *' quiries ; and I am afTared, that he thinks well, 
 " that he is orthodox, and that he teaches found 
 
 * Jovian fpoke Greek to the Alexandrian?. It is pro- 
 bable that the Emperors always fpoke Latin to their 
 , guard. B. 
 
 Z 4 *' doflrine." 
 
344 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 *' doclrine." * It is true,' replied the Arians, ' that 
 * he fpeaks well ; but he thinks ill/ The Em- 
 peror faid, *' 1 require no other teftimony than that 
 " which you have given him. If he thinks ill, he 
 ** mufl: give an account of it to God. We men 
 *' hear words i God alone knows the bottom of the 
 •' heart." * Sir,' faid the Arians, * allow us to 
 
 * hold our aflemblies *.' " Ah !" replied Jovian, 
 ^* what hinders you:" 'But, Sir,' added they, 
 f Aihanafms declares us heretics and dogmatifts, 
 ** His place obliges him," laid Jovian. " It is the 
 •* duty of thofe who teach the truth." ' Sir,' 
 proceeded the Arians, * he has taken away the lands 
 
 * of the churches f .' *' You would make mc be- 
 *' lieve," faid Jovian, " that you are brought 
 ** hither by other views than thofe of the faith. 
 ** Retire, and live in peace. Go to church ; you 
 " have an afferably to-morrow." [This was on 
 3 Saturday, or the eve of fome feftival.] *' After 
 ** the alTembly, every one Hiall fubfcribe his pro- 
 " feffion of faith. You have here fome bifliops 
 ** and Nemefinus ;j;. Athanafius alfo is here. Thofe 
 *' who are not inltru^led in the faith have only to 
 ** apply themfelves to him. I give you to-morrow, 
 " and the day after. J am now goiog to the field 
 
 •j- This perhaps is the meaning here of the '.*crd t» 
 
 J This Nemefinus is not known ; he might be an officec 
 employed by the Emperor to efFeftuate the re-union. Under 
 Conftantius we find 'Senicjianus^ intendarit of the finances, 
 eomti largitionum, B. 
 
 " cf 
 
H i S T O R Y O F J O V I A N. 345 
 
 ** of Mars." A lawyer, a Cynic philofophcr, then 
 
 laid to Jovian, * Sir, on account of the bifnop 
 
 . ' Athanafius the ireafurer-gcneral has taken fomc 
 
 * houfes from me/ Jovian anfwered him, " If the 
 *' treafurer-general has taken feme houfes, is Acha- 
 ** nalius refponfible for it ?" Another lawyer, 
 named Patalas, then faid to him, * I have a charge 
 
 * againft Athanafius.' *' What bufinefs," faid the 
 Emperor, *' has a Pagan like thee to trouble him- 
 '» feif with Chriftiansr" 
 
 [During this time Lucius kept behind the other 
 deputies. The bad fituation in which he faw his 
 affairs was likely to increafe the confafion which 
 his difadvantageous perfon might already have oc- 
 cafioned in him. He would have mingled in] the 
 crowd of the people of Ancioch, who were col- 
 le^led round the Emperor. But fome feized him, 
 and having made him advance, againft his will, 
 
 * See, Sir,' faid they, * what a fubjecl they wifh to 
 
 * make a bifliop !' [It mud be remembered that 
 Athanafius had a countenance full of noblenefs 
 and dignity "•^\] 
 
 Neverthelefs the fame Lucius [depending per- 
 haps on fome private recommendation] ventured 
 to appear again before the Emperor at the 
 gate of the palace, and begged an audience. 
 Jovian flopped, and faid to him, * Lucius, is it 
 
 * thou to whom I am fpeaking ? How cameft thou 
 
 * hither ? By fea or by land V *' By fea. Sir," re- 
 plied Lucius. * May the God of the univerfe, may 
 
 * Seep, 141, cote. 
 
 « the 
 
346 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 * the fun -^ and the moon,* faid the Emperor, 
 
 * punifh the companions of thy voyage, for not 
 
 * having thrown thee into the fea ! May the fhip 
 
 * be eternally the fport of outrageous waves, and 
 
 * never arrive in port !* fThus he delivered him- 
 felf from that odious man by an ironical impre- 
 cation, in which the learned editors of Athanafius 
 difcover much wit j. I queftion whether everyone 
 difcovers as much •, nor do I know whether they will 
 not be furprifed at this fantaflic affemblage of the 
 fun and moon with the God of the univerfe in the 
 iilbuth of a prince iti other refpe£^s fo religious.] 
 -•The Emperor, having learned that the Arian 
 Cabal were ufing indire£l: meafures at court, and 
 thiat Euzoius had engaged Prob-atius, the great 
 thai:r.berlain, and the other eunuchs of the pa- 
 lace, to fpeak to him in favour of the Arians 
 of Alexandria, was enraged to fee that the fuc- 
 ceiTors of Eufebius andBardion|, vv ho had made 
 a traffic of the favours of Conflantius, fliouid pre- 
 tend to fucceed to their credit. He made his 
 eunuchs undergo the torture to difcover the 
 bottom of the intrigue ; and faid, '* that he would 
 *' treat in the fame manner the firft [of his do- 
 •* ir.cflrcks] who fhould dare to folicit him againfi: 
 ** the Chriftians." After having begun the work 
 
 * It is in the Greek KojAr^^ r,>.to<;, *' the blazing I'on." B. 
 f-See the Latin Life of Athanaiius, which is prefixed to 
 tht nfew edition ; et facete: quidem. B. 
 
 X Braudion i:i the Frfench ; but in the Greek, 'Bx^^mt. 
 
 of 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 347 
 
 of re-union, as far as time would permit, under the 
 eyes and direiflion of Athanalins, he allowed him 
 to return into JF.gypt, and remained impreffed 
 with efteem for his virtues and talents *. 
 
 With fuch zeal for the Chriflian religion, Jovian^ 
 one would think, miifi have fucceeded at An- 
 tioch better than his predeceiTor. But the city 
 was filled with Arians, or v.ith perfons \vho 
 thought therafelvcs fuch; and the Arian (cdii 
 deemed themfelves peifecated wlien they could HOC 
 perfecute. Befiues, the inhabitants cf Antioch -re- 
 mained in polTeffion of the facultv of defpifing ail 
 iheir fovereigns, or at lea ft of turning them intci 
 ridicule. What prince couid have found favout" 
 in their fight r They did not fpare Marcus Au- 
 relins. Some Emperors had puniftied thofe info- 
 lent people. Moil had connived at their infults. 
 
 * Athanauus at the court of Antioch is agreeably re- 
 prefented by La Blererie. He tranflates the fingular and 
 original conferences of the Emperor, the primate of lEgvpi, 
 and the Arian deputies. The Abbe is not Satisfied with 
 the coarfe pleafantry of Jovian ; but his partiality for Atha» 
 nafius aHV.mes, in his eyes, the charatter of jtiftrce. 
 
 Gideon-. 
 
 As foon as Athanafius had gained the confidence, and 
 fecured the faith, of the Chriftian Emperor, ht- returned 
 in triumph to his diocefe, and ccnrinued, with mature 
 counfels and undiminiflied vigour, to direift, ten years 
 longer, the eccleliaftical government of Alexandria, yEgypt, 
 and the Catholic church. The true cera of his death is 
 perplexed with fome difficulties. But the date (A. D. 373, 
 j\'lay 2.) which feems the mod: conliftent with hiftory and 
 reafon, is ratified by his authentic life (^M(i^~ei,OJfc7--vazioni 
 Lettei-aric, torn. III. p. 81.) Ibid. 
 
 3 Juliaa 
 
34^ HISTORYOF JOVIAN. 
 
 Julian had lately revenged himfelf with his pen. 
 But Antioch was a city ttiat was incorrigible, was 
 reckoned fuch, and abufed its reputation. Jovian 
 was not well received. The treaty of peace, and 
 the ceffion of Nifibis, furnilhed the jokers with a 
 thoufand farcaflic Ilrokes. They had ridiculed Julian 
 for his beard, his diminutive flature, his temerity. 
 As for Jovian, he was treated as a fecond Paris: 
 *' he has," it was faid, " the good looks and per- 
 ** fon of the Trojan prince. He has, like him, 
 '* ruined his nation. O that he had perifhed in 
 *' the war ! He fhould be fent back into Perfia 
 •* to commence another treaty. His perfon was 
 •* formed at the expence of his mind. The meafurc 
 ** of his ftature is that of his folly." The walls 
 were covered with abuiive bills, the ilreets and 
 fquares were ftrewed with verfes of Homer, applied, 
 or parodied, in the mofl: infulting manner *. In 
 the Hippodrome a man of the dregs of the people 
 made the fpe61ators laugh by repeating, with a 
 loud voice, feme low jefts on the flature of the 
 Emperor i and at the idea of this vvretch being ap- 
 prehended, the people revolted. This fedition 
 might have had dreadful confequences, if the 
 pra^feci; Salluft the fecond had not quelled it ; and 
 that required all his authority. 
 
 * The libels of Antioch may be admit t^sd on very flight 
 evidence. Gibbon. 
 
 Thefc 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 345 
 
 Thefe facts, though taken from the fragments 
 of a Greek monk *, an hiflorian little known, are 
 no more than probable and fuitable to the character , 
 
 of the inhabitants of Antioch. But what the 
 fame writer adds merits no belief. " There was," 
 fays he, " in Antioch, a fmall temple, of very 
 •• elegant architedure, built by Hadrian, in ho- 
 *' nour of his adoptive father, Trajan. Julian had 
 ** converted it to a library, and entrufted the care 
 ** of it to the eunuch Theophilus. Jovian, at the 
 " infligation of his wife, reduced it to a{he<^, with 
 " all the books that it contained." Bur, what is 
 BQore furprifmg, the author makes Jovian march to 
 this expedition at the head of his feraglio, with a 
 torch in his hand -f, juft as Alexander formerly, 
 with the courtefans of Greece, burned the palace 
 of Perfcpolis. 
 
 I am far from fufpeifling the Greek monk of in- 
 venting fo ridiculous a ftory, and of intentionally 
 blackening Jovian. He copied, without difcern- 
 ment, fome enemy of that prince, Eunapius per- 
 haps, an hiflorian very envenomed againft the 
 Chriflian Emperors. That the morals of Jovian 
 
 * John of Antioch, whofe hiftoi-y begnn with the cre- 
 ation of the world, and clofed with the reign of Phocas. B, 
 
 " The harlots themfelves v.'ith laughter lighting the pile.'* 
 
 SUIDAS. 
 
 He might he eJax, ct "jino Venerium indulgetis. But I af^rec 
 with La Bleterie in rejeding the foolifli report of a Bac- 
 chanalian riot {ap. SuiJam) celebrated at Antioch, by th? 
 Hmperor, hia ^lA^/^, and a troop of concubines. - Gibbon. 
 
$S0 HISTORY OF JOYIA^, 
 
 were not very regular we may believe, if we pleafe, 
 on the word of Aramianiis Marcellinus, though ac- 
 cording to the judicious reflection of Aramianus 
 himfelf, on the fubjecl of another Emperor, the 
 malignity, or corruption, of mankind, is accuftoi-aed 
 to- lend fraikies to princes who have them not *. 
 However, if Jovian had Hved in a public and 
 fcandalous irregularity, the Chriftians would not 
 have loaded him with praifes at a time when no 
 one had any thing more to hope or fear from him. 
 The concurrence of the Emprefs with the midrelTes 
 of the Emperor is alfo fomerhing very fmgular. 
 But by what caprice could the wife of Jovian, 
 Cariton, to whom her father, Luciilian, had, with- 
 out doubt, given a Roman education, fuirable to 
 the rank which he himfclf held in the ftate, have 
 vvifned to burn a temple, which was no longer a 
 temple, but a library? To annihilate the remains 
 of profane literature is a Mufl'ulman lafte, which 
 never prevailed among Chriftians, cfpecially in 
 the fourth century, when the molt celebrated men 
 in the church were at the fame time the mod con- 
 yerfant with the Iciences of the Greeks. Bcftdes, 
 we lliall prefently fee that the wife of Jovian was 
 not then with him. In {hort, the filence of Am- 
 mianus and ZoHmus completes the deftru£lion of 
 this calumny, and even renders what I have juft 
 
 f- It is fiippofed that they would do all that they can 
 with impunity. ^^uotJ crimen etia77ifi non invenlt mall^nitas^ 
 jingit in fummarum licentid poiejlatunu B. 
 
 mentioned, 
 
HISTORY OF JO VI A N. 35; 
 
 mentioned, of the ribaldry of Antioch againil Jo- 
 vian, in ferae degree fufpicious. 
 
 Neither of them fay a word of what happened 
 during his refidence in that city. Ammianus con- 
 tents himfelf with relating feveral natural events 
 which the Pagan fuperflition confidered as fatal 
 prefages. The ftatue of Maximian, placed in the 
 vcflibule of the palace, loit on a fudden the 
 ^brazen] globe (a fymbol of the empire) which 
 it held in its hand. A dreadful noife was heard 
 in the council-room. Comets were feen in the 
 day-time *. The Emperor, too intelligent to be 
 alarmed by thefe pretended (igns of the wrath of « 
 heaven, .but filled with a thoufand anxieties on ac- 
 count of the provinces of the Weft, of which he 
 had received no intelligence, fet out with his array 
 in the month of December. Forced marches, and 
 the rigour of the feafon, deftroyed a great number 
 of men and horfes. 
 
 At Tarfus he paid the lad duties to Julian, ac- 
 cording to Socrates, and gave him a folemn fu- 
 neral. Ammianus only fays, that he ordered his 
 
 * Ammianus, who is very ready to difplay his erudition, 
 here relates the various fentiments of - the ancient phir 
 iofophers on comets, and concludes with the opinioii- of 
 Pyth.ngoras, which feems then to have had the preference : 
 *' that they are ftars, iike the reft, but that we are igno- 
 ** rant of their revolutions." Stellas ejje quafda7n deter'n 
 Jimiles, quarum ortus ohitufijiie^ qulhus fint tem^oribui fraJiittUi^ 
 ■Ifutnanif mentihti ignor^ri, B. 
 
 tomb 
 
352 H I S T O R Y O F J O V I A N^ 
 
 tomb to be decorated *. This order was executed 
 under Valentinian and Valens, with much atten- 
 tion, on their part, and even with fufficient mag- 
 nificence. To give fome idea of it, it is enough 
 to fay, that Libanius was fatisfied. Thus three 
 Chriflian Em erors, whom Julian had molefted on 
 account of their religion, concurred in granting 
 him th:it frivolous reward of his frivjlous virtues, 
 or rather that prerogative annexed to the rank in 
 which God had placed him in the world. Hu- 
 manity, decorum, policy, and even religion autho* 
 rifed their conducl: ; and Jovian did not forefee, 
 that, at the end of twelve centuries, his having bu* 
 ried the dead, and exprefTed fomc regard- for the. 
 talents of the man, the Emperor, and the nephew 
 of the great Conftantlne, would be imputed to him 
 as a crime f . 
 
 Though we have no inconteftible proofs of the 
 apotheofis of Julian, there is no doubt that the 
 
 * Zonaras fays the fame in thefe words ; fl A>'»o;^£»ac h 
 
 f({ Tc.^3-Q» yiycvui^ y-cti to f^mua xo3-//.i;5-a? ra lKXta»d Ecraxiiw.'* 
 
 *' Going from Antioch to Tarfus, he honoured Julian by 
 ♦' adorning his tomb." He alfo relates that the corpfe of 
 Julian was alterwards removed from Tarfus to Conitan- 
 tinople : which is confirmed by Ccdrenus. Valois. 
 
 \ Baronius, in his Annals, confiders the premature death 
 of Jovian as the puni(hment of his having commanded the 
 adorning the tomb of a wretch who deferved to be thrown 
 into the highway, hominis aiioqui ne cafpititid quiJem fepulturd 
 
 The Abbe de la Bleterie handfomely expofes the brutal 
 bigotry of Baronius, who would have thrown Julian to the 
 
 d'igt. GlEBOX. 
 
 icDate 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 fenate of Rome, whofe members were ftill almoft 
 all idolaters, paid him an honour due by right to 
 the Emperors, unlefs a procefs was inllituted againll 
 their memory. Even the Chrillian princes were 
 deified. There was no medium : they muil be 
 ranked amotig the Gods, or numbered among the 
 tyrants. Many cities, in which Paganifm prevailed, 
 aflbciated Juhan with their tutelar deities. Some 
 of his credulous adorers thought that they per- 
 ceived fome effed:s of his power ; while it was faid 
 by the Chriftians, that the afhes of that apoftate 
 ftirred in the tomb. A report was even fpread 
 that the earth, by a violent fhock, had difcharged 
 them from her bofcm* There, however, they re- 
 mained, when, writing in the reign of Theodofius, 
 Ammianus judged the city of Tarfus little worthy 
 of fuch a treafure. This hidorian, a foldier, wiflied 
 to have feen Julian on the banks of the Tiber 
 among the firft Casfars * ; and Libanius, entirely 
 a man of letters, would have been better pleafed 
 with him in the Academy by the fide of the divine 
 
 * XV. lo. The paffage deferves to he tranfcribed ; 
 Cujus fuprema et ctncrcs . . . non Cydrius "videre deberet, quam- 
 <Dii gratljjimus amnls et liqnidus ; fed ad perpetumidam gloriam 
 rc^Te faclori(?n pri-eterlamhere Tiheris^ hiterfccans urbtm aternam^ 
 divorumquc vetcrum monumenta pr^Jiringens. B. 
 
 " Whofe obfequies and aflies lliould not have been feea 
 *' by the Cydnus, though a moft pure and limpid ftream, 
 " but, to perpetuate the glory of his good deeds, iliould 
 ** have been laved by the Tiber, which interfeds the, 
 '* eternal city, and chills the monuments of the ancient 
 « Gods." 
 
 Vol. II. A a Plato* 
 
 35: 
 
154 
 
 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 Plato *. Either in the field of Mars, or in the 
 Lyceum, Julian would have been placed with pro- 
 priety. On the contrary, he would have been 
 remarkably milplaced, if, as the modern Greeks 
 pretend, he had been afterwards removed from 
 Tarfus to Conftantlnople, and interred among the 
 Chriftian princes in the church of the Holy 
 Apoftles. Who could have made that auguft 
 temple fo ftrange a prefent ? This kind of di- 
 greffion will, I hope, be excufed. To the hiftory, 
 that I am writing, nothing that relates to Julian is 
 foreign. 
 
 Jovian, continuing to make long marches, pafled 
 through Tyana in Cappadocia, where Procopius, 
 the fecretary of ftate, and the tribune Memoridus, 
 who had been difpatched into the Weft, brought 
 him the following intelligence. Lucillian, his 
 father-in-law, on arriving at Milan, had learned 
 that Malarich, that confidential Frank appointed 
 by the new Emperor to command the troops in 
 Gaul, in the room of Jovinus, refufed to accept 
 that employment. Upon that, the Count had 
 fpeedily pafied the Alps, and repaired to Rheims, 
 with Valentinian and the tribune Seniauchus. He 
 
 * Orat. Parent, c. 156. p. 377. T«Jok sJeloJo juek to tt^o Tap- 
 cut ivti KiXixia; ;!^jfc'ptev, e-t^t ^ «> imm^ifov to ttjj Axa^n/vcwj tX*}- 
 cr»ov n>.si](y>o;. B. 
 
 ** The fiiburb of Tarfus in Cilicia received him ; but 
 *' he had a greater right to be buried in the Academy near 
 *' the tomb of Plato." 
 
 The hiftory of princes does not very frequently renew the 
 
 example of a fimilar competition. Gibbon. 
 
 7 had 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 3J5 
 
 had found Gaul tranquil and fubmiffive to Jovian. 
 But without confidering that the authority of his 
 fon-in-lavv was not fufficiently eilablifhed, he un- 
 dertook to proceed agalnfl: fome officers with a 
 premature feverity. A criminal, iipprehenfive of 
 being punidied for his mifdemeanours, fought an 
 afylum among fome troops of Baravians ^, who 
 were probably quartered in the neighbourhood of 
 Rheims. To induce them to take him under their 
 protetftion, he alTured them that Jovian was only 
 an ufurper who had revolted againfl Julian ; but 
 that Julian was living, and would foon make that 
 rebel fenfible of it, if he had not already ; and that 
 the mofl efTential fervice which fubjecrs could ren- 
 der to their lawful fovereign was to exterminate the 
 emiffaries of a tyrant, who came to furprife the 
 fidelity of the people, and to engage them in their 
 revolt. This Roman, indifcreet as he was, found 
 credit among people that were limplc, and befides 
 affeflionate to Julian. They took arms, and maf- 
 facred Lucillian and the tribune Seniauchus. Va* 
 lentinian (who in a few months was to reign) owed 
 his life to the care w^hich his hoft took to fecrete 
 him. The Batavians, having foon difcovered the 
 
 * Ammianus only fays, ad mlUtarla Jigna confuglt^ with- 
 out mentioning the Batavians. Zolimus names them, 
 but extremely mutilates all this hiftory, and places the 
 fcene at Sirmium. It appears, however, by the Notitia of 
 the empire, that there were Batavians at Condren, in 
 the fecond Belgic, of which Rheims was the capital. Pra- 
 feBus Latorum Baiavorum Contragincnjium^ Noviomago Bel^'tca 
 ftcund^Ss B, 
 
 A a 2 ■ impofition, 
 
356 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 impofition, returned to their duty. As, on the re- 
 fufal of" Malarich, Jovinus had retained the com- 
 mand of the troops, he difpatched the principal 
 officers to Jovian, to alTare him of the fubmiffion of 
 the army and himfelf *. Procopius and Memo- 
 ridus, accompanied by Valentinian, proclaimed the 
 approaching arrival of his deputies. 
 
 The Emperor, to reward the zeal of Valen- 
 tinian, gave him the fecond ffchool, or] company 
 of targetteers, of his domeftic guards, and fent 
 Arinthseus immediately with a letter to Jovinus, 
 by vv^hich he confirmed that general in his poft, 
 and enjoined him to punifh the author of the im- 
 pofition, and to fend the principal leaders of the 
 fedition to court, loaded with irons. 
 
 At the little town of Afpuna f, in Galatia, the 
 deputies from the army of Gaul met Jovian, who 
 having given them a public audience with extreme 
 fatisfaftion, made them prefents, and ordered them 
 to return immediately to their refpedive employ- 
 ments. 
 
 He entered Ancyra l at the end of the month 
 of December j and on the firft day of January, 
 364, he there celebrated the folemnity of his 
 confulfhip. In the room of Varronian, his father, 
 
 ■f-' The moderation of Jovinus, mafter-general of the 
 cavalry, who iorgave the intention of his difgrace, foon 
 appealed the tumult, and confirmed the uncertain minds 
 of the foidiers. Giubon. 
 
 t As he delcended from mount Taurus. IbuL 
 
 j The capital of Galatia. 
 
 who 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 357 
 
 who died conful ele61:, he had chofen for his col- 
 legue young Varronlan, his fon. He had been 
 brought from lUyricum to Ancyra, where the Em- 
 peror immediately conferred upon him the title of 
 l>lobiUJfimus ; a title invented for the brothers of 
 Conftantine, and afterwards given to the fons of 
 the Emperors *. They quitted it only to affume 
 that of Csefar. Other princes had often raifed 
 their fons to the confulfliip before the time fixed 
 by the laws ; but a conful in the cradle had never 
 yet been feen. Jovian thought it a debt to the 
 memory of his father to fubfliture to that illuflrious 
 veteran an infant who bore his name. After 
 all, this dignity, which was flill called the fummit 
 of human grandeur, had no longer any funclions. 
 It lerved merely to denominate the years, and to 
 perpetuate the form of the ancient government. 
 On the day of the ceremony, when the young 
 prince was to be placed, according to cuftom, in 
 the curule chair, he exprelTcd by obdinate cries a 
 relu6lance, which feeraed a bad omen, and which 
 was foon after confidered as a kind of forefight f . 
 
 •^ The fame is now the title of our dukes. 
 
 \ Cujus vagltus, perthiaciter reluEantis^ 7ie in cur all fclLt 
 nfehcrctur ex ?)iore, id quod ?nox ctccidit portendchat. Ainmian. 
 XXV. 10. Auguftus, and his fucceiTors, refpeftfully folicited 
 a difpenfation of age for the fons or nephews, whom they 
 raifed to the confullliip. But the curule chair of the firlt 
 Brutus had never been difnonoured by an iiirant. Gibeon'. 
 
 See p. 290. 
 
 A a 3 From 
 
355 HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 From Ancyra Jovian repaired to Dadaftana, a 
 fmall city, or town, on the frontiers of Galatia and 
 Bithynia, but which belonged to the firfl: of thefe 
 provinces *. There, if we credit Socrates, he re- 
 ceived the deputies from the fenate of Conflanti- 
 nople, who came to compliment him on his con- 
 fulftiip. Themiflius, the chief of the deputation, i 
 there pronounced, according to the fam.e hiftorian, 
 the panegyric of the Emperor, in which never- 
 thelefs are obferved all the marks of a difcourfe 
 pronounced the very day that Jovian took poffelTion 
 of the confular dignity. The piece, however, is 
 written with great elegance and dignity ; but, like 
 all that comes from the pen of Themiftius, is rather 
 too much loaded with learned allufions. Some 
 flrokes of flattery appear in it concerning the 
 eledlion of Jovian, and on the peace made with 
 Sapor. The author extolls, with much more juf- 
 tice, the patronage with which the prince honours 
 men of learning. The elogium principally turns 
 on his milduefs and equity with regard to matters 
 of religion. The fame orator gives him a commen- 
 dation which is alone worth a panegyric j namely, 
 that his elevation had made no change in his man- 
 ner of treating mankind. He neither forgot nor 
 flighted thofe who had been his equals. He did not 
 afFe^l to make his fuperiority perceived by thofe who 
 
 * The Itinerary of Antoninus fixes Dadaftana 125 Ro- 
 tnan miles from Nice, 1 1 7 from Ancyra, Wefleling, Itinerar. 
 p. 142. Gibbon. 
 
 might 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 25f 
 
 might have made him fenfible of theirs. His friends, 
 his benefaclors, did not difcern the change of his 
 fituation, but by the effe6ls of his gratitude and 
 liberality. He colle£\ed at his court the mofl vir- 
 tuous men in the empire : he invited thither, he 
 attached to his perfon, thofe whom difgrace, or 
 exile, had eflranged. *' There were feen," accord- 
 ing to the expreffion of Themiftius, '' watching 
 *' over the fafety of his reign, the wife Neilor, the 
 ** free and generous Diomed, the Chryfantus of Cy- 
 •* rus, and the Artabazus of Xerxes." I fufped that 
 Sallufl: the fecond is the Neftor -, Valentinian might 
 be the Diomed. I am not fufficiently acquainted 
 with the court of Jovian to guefs the two others. 
 It is not only in modern times that orators, by 
 way of being eloquent and figurative, exprefs 
 themfelves in a manner fometimes oenigmatical to 
 their contemporaries, and almoft always unintel- 
 ligible to pofterity. 
 
 The endowments of Jovian, acknovi'ledged by 
 the Pagans themfelves, his attention to find out 
 perfons of merit, and that talent, which in a prince 
 may fupply the place of all others, of knowing 
 mankind, of eftimating their worth, and properly 
 employing them, announced to the Romans a wife 
 government. Some faults, which 1 have not dif- 
 guifed, he committed. Raifed on a fudden from a 
 Itation of little eminence to the fupreme power, to 
 which he had never afpired even in a dream, in a 
 manner dazzled and feduced by the fatality of cir- 
 A a 4 cumftances. 
 
36q H I S T O R Y O F J O V I a N. 
 
 cumflances, he made fome flips on the rnoil rugged 
 and flippery ground in the world. But the fauhs 
 of inexperience and furprife often turn to the ad- 
 vantage of thofe who commit them, when they 
 have good fenfe and juft intentions. Jovian was 
 young : he might have acquired what he wanted, 
 Ammianus could not have had a mean opinion of 
 him, as, when he reproaches him with fome vices, 
 that author prefumes that he might have correfted 
 them through refpecl to his diadem. Every thing 
 may be hoped from a monarch who refpcdis himfelf 
 fo far as to find motives to become virtuous even in 
 independence, the ufual flumbling-block of virtue, 
 The choice, which Jovian made, of his confidents 
 and minifters, gives room to believe, that he was 
 capable of receiving advice; and, as it is obferved 
 by one of the greated men of the lad age, " flates 
 ** aie generally better governed under a prince of 
 *' moderate abilities, who knows how to hear and 
 •• follow good advice, than by a fovereign of a 
 ♦' fuperior genius, who is attached to his under- 
 *' danding, and thinks hinifelf infallible *." 
 
 The two capitals, the provinces, the armies, had 
 acknowledged Jovian. The church was about to 
 enjoy a profound peace : the date, united within 
 itfeif, hoped to repair its lodes : Jovian feemed 
 
 * Grotius, in his hiflory of the war of the Netherlands, 
 /. VII. lUKier the year 1598. Ufu compcrtum . . . !;2ul/a 
 fi^p} falubrius gejhi J'lih prlncipe qui alioru7n lenc rcpcrtis aurcs 
 ft jufja cotnmodarety qudm Ji cui faplaidi fidacia contumaciam 
 {tiUidiJj}t. B. 
 
 able 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN.' 361 
 
 able to promife himfelf a long and glorious reign. 
 Conflantinople was preparing to receive him mag- 
 nificently, and, impatient to poflefs him herfelf, 
 conjured him to get the flart of the prince his ion. 
 Rome, who alfo flattered herfelf with foon feeing 
 the Emperor, was already flriking medals to cele- 
 brate his arrival ; his wife was coming to meet 
 him with the pomp of an "emprefs ; when, in the 
 night between the i6th and 17th of February 
 [364], he was found dead in his bed, after having 
 reigned only feven months and twenty days. This 
 was the third Emperor who difappearcd in lefs than 
 three years and a half. 
 
 It is pretended that he was fuffocated by the 
 fumes of charcoal that was lighted in his chamber, 
 to warm it, and to dry the walls which had been 
 newly plaiftered *. The danger to which Julian had 
 been expofed at Paris f, might have put him on 
 his guard againfl a like accident. Oihers afcribe 
 his death to indigeflion |, or to the attack of an 
 apoplexy. The caufe was neglected to be afcer- 
 tained ; without doubt, becaufe it was thought na- 
 tural : but this very negligence made many imagine 
 it to be the effe£i of the wicked nefs of men. Am- 
 
 * See Ammianus Eutropius, uho might likewife be pre- 
 fent, Jerom, Orofius, Sozomen, Zolimus, and Zonaras. We 
 cannot expect a perfeiSl agreement, and we fhali not difcufs 
 minute differences. Gibbon. 
 
 t See the jMifopogon, Vol. I. p. 2^6. 
 
 X Occafioned either by the quantity of the wine, or the 
 quality of the muflirooms, which he had fwallowed in the 
 evening, Gieeon, 
 
 mianus. 
 
3^a HIS TO RY OF JO VI AN. 
 
 mianus, by faying, that *' his death, like that of 
 *' Scipio ^milianus, was followed by no enqui- 
 " lies/' Infinuates, that he loft his life by fome 
 fecret attack *. St. Chryfoftom fays exprefsly, 
 that ** Jovian was polfoned by his domeflics." 
 Would the eunuchs of the palace have formed a con- 
 fpiracy to deprive themfelves of a mafler who feemed 
 not to be of a temper to fuffer himfelf to be go- 
 verned, or were they fet at work by fome am. 
 bitious man, fuch as Procopius, who, neverthelefs, 
 did not avail himfelf of that crime ? Still it is cer- 
 tain, that the fufpicion could not fall on the (ac- 
 celfor of Jovian. It was not till after having of- 
 fered the empire to Salluft, born to deferve it, and 
 conftantly to rcfufe it -{^ -, it was not till after hav- 
 ing cafl: their eyes on various fubjefts, among others 
 on Januarius, a relation of Jovian, that the army 
 fuddenly determined [Feb. 26"], in favour of Va- 
 lentinian {, who was then abfent §. The Chrif- 
 
 tians 
 
 * Ammianus, unmindful of his ufual candour and good 
 fenfe, compares the death of the harmlefs Jovian to that 
 of the fecond Africanus, who had excited the fears and 
 refentment of the popular faction. Gibbon. 
 
 f He enjoyed the glory of a fecond refufal ; and when 
 the virtues of the father were alleged in favour of his fon, 
 the prsfedt, with the firmnefs of a difinterelled patriot, 
 declared to the eledors, that the feeble age of the one, and 
 the unexperienced youth of the other, were equally in- 
 capable of the laborious duties of government. 3u/. 
 
 * Vakntinian waii the fon of Count Gratian, a native 
 of Cibaiis, in Pannonia, who, from an obfcure condition, 
 had ralfed himfelf, by matchlefs flrength and dexterity, to 
 the military commands of Africa and Britain 5 from wliich 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 tians bitterly lamented Jovian, and thought that 
 God had only ftiewn him to the world, becaufe the 
 world was not worthy of him *. A proof that it 
 was not the fpirit of party that caufsd their tears 
 to flow, is the good that is faid of him by the Pa- 
 gans. Valentinian and Valens did not prevent the 
 fenate of Rome from placing him among the Gods f . 
 His corpfe was carried to Conftantinople into the 
 church of the Holy Apoflles |, where, long after, 
 his tomb was feen among ihofe of the other An- 
 gufti. 
 
 His wife furvived him feveral years; an inftance 
 as memorable, but fbill more llriking, of the in- 
 fiffnificance of what is ftyled grandeur. She had 
 loft: in a few months a father-in law, a father, a 
 hufband, of whofe elevation flie only heard to feel 
 more poignantly his lofs. That which is the re- 
 fource of all other mothers, completed her unhap- 
 pinefs. She had a fon; but a fon deprived of the 
 highefl hopes, and fufpicious to the government. 
 
 he retired with an ample fortune and fufpicious integrity. 
 The city of Nice in Bithynia was chofen for the place of 
 elc6lion. Valentinian aflbciated his brother Valens in the 
 empire, in one of the fuburbs of Conftantinople, thirty days 
 after his own elevation. Gibbon, 
 
 § In his quarters at Ancyra. 
 
 •^ Ojlcndunt terris banc tantum fata^ 7ieque ujtra 
 
 EJJe finunt. ViRG. 
 
 •}• This feems to me the meaning of thefe words of Eu- 
 tropius : hemgnitate frincipum qui ei fuccejferunt inter Divos 
 relatus ejl, B. 
 
 \ The fad proceliion was met on. the road by his wife 
 Charito, Gibbon. 
 
 The 
 
HISTORY OF JOVIAN. 
 
 The empire was eleclive, and young Varronian 
 not having been chofen C^far, had no right to 
 pretend to it. Befides, Jovian had not had time to 
 ingratiate many dependents. It was feared, how- 
 ever, that Varronian would fooner or later afpire 
 to the place which his father had filled. He was 
 flill living in the year 380. A barbarous policy 
 had already deprived him of an eye ; and his 
 mother conftantly trembled for the life of that 
 unfortunate child, who had no crime but that of 
 being the fon of an Emperor *. She was, without 
 doubt, a Chriftian, and no one had ever more need 
 of the folid confolations which Chriflianity alone can 
 give. It is not certain that Jovian had conferred 
 on her the title of Augujla. No medal of this 
 princefs now exifts, though thofe of Jovian are not 
 fcarce. She was placed, after her death, in the 
 tomb of her hufband. 
 
 * Chryfoftom, to7n. \. p. 336. ^i^/^. edit. Monffaucon. The 
 Chriftian orator attempts to comfort the widow by the ex- 
 amples of illuftrious misfortunes ; and obferves, that " of 
 " nine Emperors (including the Caefar Gallus) who had 
 " reigned in his time, only two (Conilantine and Con- 
 *' ftantius) died a natural death." Such vague confolations 
 have never wiped av/ay a fmgle tear. Gibbon. 
 
 An 
 
. An ABSTRACT of an ESSAY, 
 
 By the Abbe de la B L E T E R I E, 
 
 On the Rank and Power of the Roman 
 Emperors, in the Senate *. 
 
 From Les Memoir es de V Academie des Sciences et 
 Belles Lettres, at Paris, torn. XXIV. 
 
 '^ I ^ H E object of this Memoir is to (hew the 
 -■■ error of thofc who coniider the imperial go- 
 vernment as a monarchy, and to prove that it was 
 in faft an ariftocracy, the head of which, invefted 
 with the power of the civil and military magiftrates, 
 the confuls, tribunes, and generals of the ancient 
 republic, was, after all, only the firfl: magiftrate ; 
 powerful enough indeed to opprefs his country^ 
 when willing to expofe himfelf to the riflv of act- 
 ing the tyrant, but aifo liable to be puniihed as 
 fuch whenever (he could aflert her rights. With- 
 out admitting this point, the hiftory of the Em- 
 perors mud appear a heap of the grofTeft contra- 
 dictions, a confufed chaos of unaccountable facts 
 and events, a downright fchool of fanaticifm and 
 rebellion •, whereas, by adopting it, every obfcu- 
 rity vanifiies, every difTiculty is rem.oved ; and we 
 
 * The Abbe de la Eleterie delights to purfue the vefriges 
 of the old conftitution, and fomecimes finds them in his 
 copious fancy. Gibbox. 
 
 are 
 
The rank and P O W E H 
 
 are no longer furprifed at feeing the fenate pro- 
 ceed judicially againfl a Nero, and other fuch 
 monfters, both before and after their deaths. 
 
 In the fenate the Ernperor fat between the two 
 Confuls. His curule chair did not, by any thing 
 that appears, differ in any refpeft from theirs. 
 The privilege, granted to Caius *, of fitting on a 
 tribunal fo high that it was impollible to reach 
 him, did not defcend to his fucceffors. Neither 
 Tiberius nor Augufius had ever any guards in the 
 fenate. Tiberius, indeed, in the twentieth year of 
 his reign, afked leave to introduce with him Macro, 
 Pr^feft of the Pra:toriura, accompanied by a fmall 
 number of other officers ; and the fenate permitted 
 him to bring in as many military men as he thought 
 proper ; but this conceffion, of which that prince^ 
 as he never returned to Rome, never had occalion 
 to avail himfelf, became fo precarious, as to be re- 
 newed for Caius, and then for Claudius, after 
 whom the Emperors generally appeared in the 
 fenate with one or two Prsefe^ts of the Prte- 
 torium* 
 
 The meetings of the fenate were either ordinary^ 
 the number of which was fixed to two for every 
 month, or extraordinary, being called, as the exi- 
 gence of affairs feemed to require, by the Conful 
 in poffeffion of the fafceSy the Praetor, in the ab- 
 fence of the Confuls, or the Tribune, in certain 
 
 * Caligula, 
 
 cafes. 
 
OF. THE R O M A N EMPEROR S. 367 
 
 cafes, which it is not eafy to determine. The 
 Emperors, without being Confuls for the year, had 
 the privilege of calling extraordinary meetings of 
 the fenate ; iirft, as- invefted with the tribunician 
 power ; fecondl}', by virtue of the conceffion made 
 to Auguftus, A. U. C. 732; iriirdly, as perpetual 
 Confuls. Mod of the Emperors, when at Rome, 
 were prefent in the fenate ; and all, or almofl all 
 of them, acknowledged themfelves inferior to ir, 
 at ieaft in fome refpe^ts. They addrefled it as 
 fuppliants or petitioners. ** I pray you, I conjure 
 '* you, I befeech you, confcript Father^;/' are their 
 common expreffions. Some of them flyie the fe- 
 nators their lords and their patrons ; others call 
 them the princes of the world, and give them the 
 title of '* Your clemency, your majedy," Sec. The 
 Emperors chofen by the army always applied to 
 the fenate to confirm their eleclion. But what 
 were the prerogatives of the Emperor in this augud 
 aflembly ? 
 
 Either the Emperor was Conful for the time 
 being, or Conful ele£l, or neither the one nor the 
 other. In quality of Conful for the time being, 
 he convened the fenate, prefided in it, propofed 
 the affairs upon which it was to deliberate, col- 
 le£led the fuffrages, and finally difraiifed it; all 
 functions attached to the confular dignity : but it 
 was only alternately with the ocher Conful, his 
 collegue, that he performed them. For a long 
 time, the Prince, when in the exercife of the con- 
 fular 
 
S68 The RANK and POWER 
 
 fular power, wore the fame kind of robes as thei 
 other Confuls * ; which robes were kept in the 
 capitol, to fhew that both one and the other held 
 from Heaven, and their fellow-citizens, the powers 
 of which thofe robes v/ere the enfigns -f-. 
 
 As Conful-eleft, the Prince performed the func- 
 tions attached to that dignity. The Confuls eleft 
 gave their votes firft, and it appears that the Em- 
 peror fubmitted to this cuftom. In the early days 
 of Rome, the Confuls for the time being never 
 gave their votes in affairs of their own propofing ; 
 and if they fometimes voted during the Imperial 
 goverment, it was never but in matters which the 
 Emperor himfelf had laid before the fen ate. 
 
 The Emperor feldom prefided in the fenate, 
 though adually prefent, unlefs invefted with the 
 ordinary confular dignity. This the Abbe de la 
 ^ Bleterie proves by a pafTage in Pliny the younger, 
 
 who, fpeaking of IVIarcus Prifcus, fays, that Tra- 
 jan then prefided in the fenate, ** for he was 
 " Conful.'* The Prince was often prefent only in 
 quality of fenator. We read that feveral Emperors 
 reckoned it an honour to be members of the Senate, 
 and to pay the tax called ^/^^^t- fenatoria prajlatio, 
 
 * That diefs was a robe of purple, embroidered with 
 filk and gold, and fometimes ornamented with collly gems. 
 
 GlEEONi 
 
 f The Emperors themfelves, who difdained the faint 
 fliadow of the republic, were confcious that they acquired 
 an additional fplctidor and majeily as often as they afllimed 
 the annual honours of the confular dignity. Ibid* 
 
 They 
 
OF iHE R O M A N EMPEROR S. 369 
 
 They never left the houfe till the Conful had dlf- 
 tnilTed the fenators in the ufual form, by the words 
 " Nihil vos moramiiry Patres confcriptiJ'^ There 
 "are many inftances to prove, that the Emperor 
 iifed to give his opinion in the fen ate ; and that 
 the Conful called upon him for it. This is fufH- 
 cient to (hew the error of Salmafms and Muret, 
 who, from the EiTiperor's collecting the votes, con- 
 cluded, that he never gave any himfelf j it being 
 an eftablifhed cuflom, that whatever member col- 
 lected the votes never gave any him.felf, and the 
 prince was, befides, fuperior to all the other ma- 
 giftrates. But, as the prince did not always pre- 
 iide, neither did he always colle«5i: the votes, nor 
 was he fuperior to the ftate, of which the Conful 
 was both the organ and the reprefentative, when^ 
 as prefident of the allembly, he called upon the 
 members for their votes. Accordingly, the fenate 
 often decided againft the opinion of the Emperor, 
 and its decrees were always confidered as the voice 
 of the ftate. Sometimes, it is true, the will of 
 defpotic princes was blindly followed by the fena- 
 tors ; but even then the fenate deliberated and 
 decided fovereignly. On this occafion M. de la 
 Bleterie obferves, that authors, in general, are too 
 apt to exaggerate the abufe which the Roman Em- 
 perors made of their authority. From the year of 
 Rome 727, the epocha of the lawful authority 
 of Auguflus, to the firfl year of Diocletian, and 
 U. C. 1037, J^^sre elapfed 310 years. Now lee 
 Vol. II. B b us. 
 
Z70 
 
 The rank and POWER 
 
 us, on the one hand, add together the reigns of 
 all the bad Emperors, and, on the other hand, the 
 reigns of thofe who were fometimes good and 
 fometimes bad, and we fhall not be able to make 
 out above 120 years of oppreflion for the Romans; 
 and even in this interval we fhall find proofs of the 
 Roman liberty fubfifling, at lead de jure, though 
 oppreffed ^^ //S'^i? ; lb that there remain 190 years, 
 during which the government was conform.able to 
 law, and favourable to liberty. This learned 
 Academician has, befides, obferved, in order to 
 invaUdate a fa£l related by Tertullian, that authors 
 are apt to infift too much on the flavifli fubjedlion 
 of the fenate to the will of Tiberius. That Em- 
 peror, having received from Paledine an account 
 of the miracles performed by Jefus Chrift, wrote 
 to the fenate to propofe placing him among the 
 Gods ; which propofal was rejefted. It is true, 
 indeed, that the fenate was, at that time, both the 
 inftrument and the vi6tim of that Emperor's cruelty, 
 and that, therefore, it would not have refufed to 
 comply with his defire, had he difcovered fuch 
 earneftnefs to have it granted as might have been 
 deemed an order. But the fenate, no doubt, was 
 aware, that, in order to amufe the people with a 
 iliadow of libert]^ he afked, with little earneflnefs, 
 what he was not folicitous to have granted. Nor 
 was much rcfolution requifite to humour this gri- 
 trace. 
 
 But 
 
OF THE R O M A N EMPEROR S. 37? 
 
 But if, on the one hand, the fenate had a right 
 to decide againfl die opinion of the Emperor, the 
 Eniperor, on the other, by virtue of his tribunitian 
 power, had a right, by his vetOy to hinder the de- 
 cifions of the fenate from being carried into exe- 
 cution. Befidcs, he prefided *' extraordinarily," 
 without being Conful, by virtue of a fpecial con- 
 ceilion, which conftituted one of the moft con- 
 fiderable branches of the Imperial power. This 
 prerogative is knov;n by the name o^ jus relationis, 
 or *' right of proposing matters in the fenate." 
 This was primitively the ordinary fun<5tion of the 
 Confuls, in the abfence of the Prsetors, and, in 
 certain cafes, of the Tribunes. When, in the } ear 
 of Rome 731, Auguftus diverted himfelf of the 
 Confulftiip, which he then exercifed for the 
 eleventh time, he iikewife refigned that confuiar 
 prerogative. Upon which, the fenate confirmed 
 to him, in perpetuity, the tribunitian power, with 
 the privilege of propofing, at every fitting, any 
 one fubjefl that he thought proper ; whereas the 
 Conful had an unlimited authority of propoiing 
 as many as he pleafed. Soon after, the fenate 
 conferred upon him the right of convening it as 
 often as he thought proper. In 735, the fenate 
 offered him, for life, the ordinary and extraor- 
 dinary powers of the confuKhip, and he accepted 
 them, but without affuming any title that indicated 
 fuch perpetual confulfhip J without depriving the 
 annual Conful of the right of performing the 
 B b a public 
 
D/ 
 
 The R a N K and P O W E K 
 
 public ceremonies, and propoiing affairs to the de- 
 liberation of the fenate, and perhaps too, without 
 accepting the hdtors and fafces, that were likewife 
 offered to him. He accepted, however, firft, the 
 precedence in the fenate; fecondly, a tribunal, 
 with a right of trying caufes, and, probably, the 
 general infpe61ion of the finances; and, thirdly, the 
 prerogative of acting as he thought proper in the 
 preinng exigencies of the flate, without waiting 
 for the orders of the fenate* 
 
 Auguflus confined himfelf to the prerogative, 
 that had been granted him, of propohng any one 
 fubje£l he thought proper, at every meeting, fo thar 
 neither he, nor his fuccelTors, unlefs they happened 
 xo be annual Confuls, ever enjoyed an unlimited 
 right of propoiing matters to the deliberation of 
 the fenate. Accordingly we find this right con- 
 ferred at every change, with fixed bounds. Jus ter- 
 tics, quart<2, quints relationis. As often as the 
 Emperor propofed any affair to the deliberation of 
 the fenate, he became Prefident of it, if he was 
 not fo already in quality of annual Conful, and 
 ufed to afli the votes as a mere Conful might have 
 done, but with one remarkable difference. Ori- 
 ginally, and even under the Emperors, the ma- 
 giflrates in office never gave their opinion in affairs, 
 of their own propofing. The Conful who pre- 
 fided, and propofed the bufmefs on which the 
 fenate was to deliberate, did not call upon his 
 collegue, nor the Praetors, nor any of the Curule 
 7 magiflratcs, 
 
OF THE R O M A N E M P E R O R S. 373 
 
 iTvagiftrates, for their opinion. He firfl: addreilcd 
 liimfelf to the Confuls eleO, to the Prince of the 
 fenate, or firft fenator, to the Prjctors, and other 
 magiflrates, eleft, in fhort, to all the members of 
 the fenate not actually in office. He might indeed 
 re-capitulate the arguments on both fides, and 
 weigh them one againft another, but without pre- 
 tending to conclude upon them ; which pre- 
 cautions were, no doubt, employed to fecure to all 
 the members a proper liberty of fpeech. But 
 wdien the Emperor propofed any affair, the Conuii 
 and other magiflrates were allowed to give their 
 opinion. This is exprefsly obfervcd by Tacirus^ 
 {Ann, III. ly.) in fpeaking of the charge brouglic 
 againft Pifo, and his wife Placina, for the murder 
 of Germanicus. The Abbe de la Bleterie is of 
 opinion, that this conceffion, to the Confuls, of 
 voting, was by way of compenfarion for the two 
 fpecial privileges they had before, one, of pro- 
 pofing any affair they thought proper, the other, of 
 hindering the fenate from deliberating upon it ; 
 and that this conceffion extended by degrees to the 
 other magiftrates. 
 
 This entertaining and inflruflive Memoir is fol- 
 lowed by another, containing *' an anfwer to fonie 
 " obje^lions." The firfl obje^'tion is, that the dc- 
 cifions of the lloman fenate might be, and were 
 fomeiimes, aclually amended^ and even refcinded, 
 by the judgements of the Emperor; and that the 
 Emperor continued in the polTelTion of this pre- 
 B b 3 rogativc 
 
374 The RANK and POWER 
 
 rogative till the reign of Hadrian, which began 
 140 years after that of Auguftus. This we find 
 in the Digeft, fciendum eji appellari afenatu non prjfs 
 principcm\ idque oratione Divi Hadriani effe^um *. 
 Till then, therefore, the decrees of the fenate 
 were fubie6^ to the revifion of the prince, whofe 
 authority, of courfe, ran ft have been fuperior to 
 that of the fenate, and the whole nation. 
 
 This prohibition of Hadrian, fays the Abbe de 
 la Bleterie, proves indeed that appeals ufed fome- 
 times to be made from the fenate to the Emperor, 
 and that the Emperor finally decided upon -hefe 
 appeals ; but it does not prove, that thefe ap- 
 peals, or the decifions given upon them, were ac- 
 cording to law. The legal authority of the Em- 
 peror refulted entirely from his power as both 
 Conful and Tribune. Now, neither the ordinary 
 power of the Conful, nor even the extraordinary 
 power, by virtue of which the Confuls might acl, 
 in preffing emergencies, without confulting the 
 fenate, gave him any right to alter the decrees of 
 the fenate, not even while the republic fubfifted 
 in its primitive form, when the fenate was only the 
 national council, and ftill lefs under its new form, 
 when the fenate reprefented the whole nation. As 
 Tribune, the Emperor had a right firft, to inter- 
 pofe both judicially and by force in favour of the 
 oppreiTed, and obftrufl the execution of all fen- 
 tences, even thofe that were national : fecondly, a 
 
 * i/^. XLix. Tit. 2, a quilus appellare, 
 
 new 
 
or THE R O M A N E M P E R O R S. 575 
 
 new right of trying all caufes brought into his 
 court, either in the firft inflance, or by appeal, 
 and of pardoning thofe who had been condemned 
 at any other tribunal whatever. But the author 
 has elfewhere proved, that the 'only appeals that 
 could be made from tlie fenate to the Emperor, 
 v/ere thofe which preceded a final fentence. Befides, 
 to pardon and to abfolve are different things, and, 
 in general, inflead of giving it himfelf, he ufed to 
 afl: the fenate for the pardon of criminals. 
 
 Suetonius, it is true, feems to fay, that Tibe- 
 rius cancelled fome decrees of the fenate, co'^fti- 
 tutiones qua/dam fenatus refcidit\ but, perhaps, thefc 
 decrees had not as yet gone through the ufual 
 forms. For example, 2i fenatus confidtiim was con- 
 iidercd as little better than the proje<rt of a law, 
 till it had been depofited in the JErnrium. In fuch 
 cafes, therefore, the oppofition of the Emperor 
 did not exceed the bounds of his authority as Tri- 
 bune. Perhaps too the hlHiorian means no more 
 than that Tiberiii:> engaged the fenators to alrer 
 fome of its decrees; an interpretation which no way 
 clalhes either with the text or the ftyleof Suetonius. 
 For example, he tells us, in another place *, that 
 Vitellius, uncle to the Emperor of the fame name, 
 *' accufed Pifo of the murder of Germanicus, and 
 *' condemned him," accufavit, condemnavitqtie. Now, 
 the fame perfon could not be both judge and ,ac- 
 cufcr J and it is, befides, well known that Pifo was 
 
 * In VitelL c. II, 2. 
 
 B b 4 con- 
 
376 The HANK an-d P O W E R 
 
 condemned by the fcnate on the accufatlon of Vi- 
 tellius. This therefore muft have been the mean- 
 ing of Suetonius; and the word refcidit \y\\\ admit 
 of the fame latitude. Befides, the paffage of Sue- 
 tonius can only be underftood of the beginning of 
 the reign of Tiberius, who not being as yet firmly 
 feated on the throne, and being, befides, under ap- 
 prehenfions from Gcrmanicus, would hardly have 
 ventured to give any umbrage to the fenate by an- 
 nulling its decrees. 
 
 Suetonius, likewife tells us, that Vefpafian can- 
 celled the decree *, by which the fenate had voted, 
 divine honours to Galba + ; dccretum Vefpajianus 
 ahokvit. The Abbe de la Bleterie, by combining 
 what Tacitus and Suetonius have faid on this fub- 
 ]tdi, proves, that, at the requcft of the younger 
 Domitian, the fenate by way of reparation for the 
 
 * Here we mayobferve that the fiiperioi-ity of the fenate 
 over the Emperor, if we may truil: to Father Hardouin, 
 is proved by the decrees of that body granting divine ho- 
 nours to thefe princes. Nequc enbn confecrat^ fays he, aut 
 in D'l'JOs repordt^ niji potejlas Superior co qui confccratur ; a 
 principle, from which he has drawn the following conclu- 
 fion, v/hich M. de la Bleterie has corroborated by fo many 
 other proofs : Atq^ue hinc intelUgis zV, quod multis aliunde con- 
 Jiat argumentis ^ Imperatores Romanos fenatui fuijje fubjeBos, a 
 quo utique conjecrabantur i'l^ qui hunc Jihi pojl ohitum deferri ho' 
 Tiorcm in 'vitd meruijjlnt. Note i8. on the xxxvith book of 
 Pliny, Sed. 14. 
 
 This argument fcarce proves the fuperiority of the fenate 
 to the living reigning prince. All that can well be deduced 
 from it is, that the fenate was fuperior to the Emperors 
 when they were dead, according to the old adage, A 
 living dog, &c. 
 
 f Galba, c. xxiii. 
 
 infults 
 
OF THE R O M A N E M P E R O R S. 377 
 
 infults offered to Galba, ordered, firft, that his 
 ilatues fhould be ere61ed again ; and, fecondly, 
 that a column and a new ftatue fhould be erected 
 to him in the forum : that Tacitus mentions pnlvr 
 the firft of thefe orders, and Suetonius only the 
 fccond. The firll: was executed ; the fecond re- 
 c]uired time; and Vefpafian, who fufpefted Galba 
 of having formed a defign upon his life, gave him- 
 felf no trouble to haften the execution of it ; and 
 the fenate, being informed of the Emperor's fuf- 
 picions, fuffered the projefl of the (latue and the 
 column to drop ; (0 that this part of its decree was 
 abolifhed by the mere non-execution of it ; and 
 the term employed by Suetonius may fignify no 
 more, and not a formal abrogation. 
 
 By a Ihort view, which our learned author take?, 
 of all the Emperors before Hadrian, it appears 
 that Caligula v/as the only one among them who 
 can be proved to have made any encroachment on 
 the jurifdi<5lion of the fenate; and it was, no doubr, 
 in order to prevent fuch encroachments for the 
 future, that Hadrian, who was perfetTtly well ac- 
 quainted with the rights of the Kom.an people, 
 and never decided any important quedion without 
 the advice of the fenate, whofe intereft he had 
 very much at heart, brought in the law mentioned 
 in the Digefl:. After all, this law only forbade 
 appeals, after judgement had been formally given 
 by the fenate ; till then, the parties might appeal 
 from the fenate to the Emperor, who, in quality 
 
 pf 
 
378 The RANK amd P O W E R 
 
 of Tribune, might interpofe, of liimfelf, ex officisy 
 fo as to hinder the fenate from ever proceeding to 
 judgement, though he had no right to judge him- 
 felf, or call the affair to his own tribunal. 
 
 The fecond obje£tion to this dodrine of the 
 Abbe de la Bieterie is drawn from an epiflle 
 quoted by Julius Capitolinus. Macrinus, Prcefeft 
 of the Prsetorium, having caufed Antoninus Cara- 
 calla to be affaHinated, was chofen Emperor by 
 the army *, who did not believe him acceffary to 
 that murder. This elefi:ion required confirmation 
 by a national a^. The decree of the fenate, as re- 
 prefenting the nation, that conferred on the new 
 prince all the prerogatives of which the Imperial 
 authority was the refulr, was flyled, firfl:, lex im- 
 perliy and afterwards, under Juftlnian, lex regja> 
 Macrinus, therefore, wrote to the fenate, requeft- 
 ino- them to ratify what had been done by the 
 army. He fays, in his epiftle, that in conjumfl-ioH 
 with the troops, he had decreed divine honours to 
 Caracalla, adding, " You will likewife decree them 
 <^ to him, confcript Fathers : we have a right, as 
 ** Emperor, to coramrmd you to do it -, neverthe- 
 " lefs, we only requeil it of you." Et vos, Patres 
 confcript if ut decernaiis^ cum poJfi?nus imperatorio jur6 
 pr^-ccipere, tarn en rogamus. 
 
 But this epiftle bears fo many marks of forgery, 
 that it is furprifmg M. de Tillemonf (hould have 
 been the only one who has difcovered the impofture; 
 
 * Sec the Caefar?, Vo). I. p. 163.' 
 
 though 
 
OF THE R O M A N E M P E R O R S. 379 
 
 though Tilleraont, neverdielefs, for want of having 
 narrowly examined the nature of the Imperial 
 government, confidered the Emperors as real mo- 
 narclis. 
 
 Our learned Academician ihews, that this pre- 
 tended epiftle is full of contradiftions, and of ex- 
 preffions, which not only clafli with probabiliry, 
 but cuflom, and even truth. He alfo proves, that it 
 mufl have been forged by forae friend of Elaga- 
 balus, an implacable enemy of Macrinus and his 
 fon Diadumenu^. We likewife find, in the hiilory 
 of Auguflus, two epiflles afcribed to the lafi-, 
 though it is evident that they were forged v*'ith a 
 defign to blacken Diaduraenus, and to make hini 
 pafs for a monfler, of which Elagabalus did well 
 to rid the world. 
 
 For farther particulars the reader muu: be re- 
 ferred to the Memoir itielf, in which he will meet 
 with deep refearches, folid reiI;;;£lions5 and great 
 purity of flyle. 
 
 ADD I- 
 
C 381 3 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 P. H. 1. 18. Carteriiis. * 
 
 * Libanius, in his Lite, p. 59, mentions a Carterius, v^-ho 
 ivas in many refpecls notorious for his folly, particularly ia 
 daring to offend the angufl Emperors. The perfon above- 
 named muft probably have offended Conftantius, or he 
 •vvouid not have v/anted the interell of Julian, and the affil- 
 tance of Araxius. Libanius alfo mentions another Carte- 
 rius, in his ccxLVJiith Epiftle (probably the fon of the 
 former) as an orator whom the fenators of Arce in Phoe- 
 nicia had enrolled among them. And in his DLxxth he 
 apologifes to Maximus for his deferting the Mufes, and 
 following Mars. Araxius was prefect of Paleiiine, Li- 
 banius has fix Epiftles to him. 
 
 P. 121. note -j-. 
 
 To the " Rhodian fhower of gold" Libanius alfo allude; 
 in his DcccLxxiiid Epiftle ; and Ammianus, xvii. 7. 
 
 P. 149. To note * m.ay be fubftituted this. 
 
 * Julian has here in view that paffage of Homer, in the 
 £rft book of the Iliad, [ver. 607.] where he fays, thac 
 *' every God has his manlion and throne f fabricated by 
 '• Vulcan with his own hands ;" and which he repeats m 
 another place. Spanheim. 
 
 lb. ]. 18. When therefore they rife at the entrance of 
 their Father j Sec. 
 
 X This is alfo taken from a paffage of Horner, in the 
 fame book [ver. 533.] to this effecfl ; that " at the approach 
 *' of their Father Jupiter all the Gods rife from their 
 *' feats, and go to meet him, and that bo one; waits for 
 ** him." I find, however, that the poet fays the fame 
 thing of Apollo, in the Hymn which is afcribed to him, in. 
 praife of that God. J^iJ. 
 
 '\' In this paflage Hornet mentions only their oianfion, or faoufe, Suf^a- 
 
 — — their itarry domes — 
 The fliinin^ monuments ot Vulcjn's art, P«?«, 778. 
 
 The 
 
S82 ADbiT [ON AL NOTES, 
 
 The fhining fynod of th' immortals wait 
 
 The coming God, and from their thrones of ftate 
 
 Arifing filent, wrapt in hoi)- fear. 
 
 Before jhe majefty of heaven appear, &c. Pope, 690. 
 
 P. 151. To note f add. 
 
 f The authority of Julian, no doubt, is highly refpe£lab!e; 
 but if a perfon in youth carry the marks of a bad difpo- 
 fition, and deliberately conr,rnit atrocious actions, when his 
 interefl required them, we are ilill warranted to queftion 
 the fincerity of his converlion, though, in a different ilate 
 of his intereft, even the whole ^tenor of his life fhauld 
 change. Ferguson'. 
 
 P. 290. To note f add. 
 
 Thel'e Abantes are alfo mentioned by Libanius in his 
 Orat. XIX. 
 
 P. 305. To note f add. 
 
 The Jupiter, who laments with tears of blood the death 
 of Sarpedon, his fori, had a very imperfect notion of hap- 
 pinefs, or glory, beyond the grave. Gibbon. 
 
 Libanius, " on hearing of the death of Julian," repeats 
 this allufion, by faying, " I looked up to heaven, expefting 
 ** tears mixed with blood, fuch as Jupiter fhed upon Sar- 
 *' pedon ; but I did not fee them ; though perhaps he 
 *' poured them on tht corple, and, like the dull and blood 
 " attendant on a battle, they were (een by few." 1% Jul, 
 Imp. Necem. 
 
 P. 312. note J. Ofr' Ev Xoyw kt' ev atpi0/iti). Subflitute this. 
 
 Libanius quotes this oracle again in his Mcxvith Epiille : 
 *' But now he who is ignorant of the laws is truly an 
 *' ^gian ^, of no name or rank." On which the tranf- 
 lator has the following note: 
 
 * AiyifUj.] In the IMS incorredly AjyEv,-, called Aiyuv,-, from 
 A»7io», a city of Achala, as we learn from Stephens de 
 Urbibus, p. 36, who quotes this oracle given to them, 
 
 T,u«,- ^'A»yi££,- j/Ie Tploi, sis Tilzfloi, 
 to which others add the following, 
 
 Compare Th, de Pinedo on this palfage, p. 36. To this 
 our author refers. Erafmus, in his Adages, p. 393, ap- 
 plies this to the ^Eginenfians, deceived by the limilitude of 
 the name. Wolfius. 
 
 The fcholiafl on Theocritus applies it to the inhabitants 
 of Megara. 
 
 Y/*«f y*/ Msyxfucf M. T. \, 
 
 P.^316. 
 
A D D I T I O N A L N O T £ S. 383 
 
 P. 316. note *. 
 
 Calliopius, it appear? from fevcral other Epillles, was 
 alfo an affiftant to Libjnius in his inftrudion of youth, one 
 -of his ufiiers. 
 
 P. 324. 1. 8. Calliope is alfo honoured, &:c, 
 
 ■f See Vol. II. p. 251. note *. 
 
 V .0 L U M E II. 
 
 p. 14. Epiille VIII. " You are come, Telemiclnis.* 
 
 Libanius begins his Legacion to Julian (Trpo-bstliJto,- vf»s 
 IvT^icctov) with the fame quotation. 
 
 P. 45. Epiftle XXI!. To Leontius *. 
 
 * Confular of Palcftine in 363, as appears by thetitleof 
 a law, XII Cod. Tijeod. tit. 55. De Decurioidhus. 
 
 This Leontius feems to he that governor of P.fleftine 
 whom at that time, together with Alypius, Julian is laid hy 
 Ammianus to have given a fruitlcfs commilHon to re-build 
 the temple of Jerufalem. [See p. 74. note.] To the fame 
 there are fcveral Epillles of Libanius. He afterwards go- 
 verned Paleftine as Pro-conful under Thcodofras the Great. 
 
 GODtFKOI. 
 
 P. 46. Epiftle XXIIL To Kermogenes f. 
 
 -}■ Libanius often mentions an Hern;iogenes, as Pri<;tnr 
 of Syria, and llyles him in his Life, p. 39, " the bell of 
 " maturates." Ke has alfo two Epiftles to him, viz. the 
 MDXHxth of Wolfius, and the xiith of Zamljicari, 1. i£i. 
 By the latter he appears to have had a houfe at Corinth. 
 Ammianus too mentions him^ xix. 12. See Valois on the 
 paflage, and Godefroi in the profopographia of his Theo- 
 dolian Code, p. 36^. 
 
 P. 69. 1. i5. The garden *. 
 
 * The ftiort deliription, which Julian here give?, of this 
 Syrian garden, may be added to the few particulars of an- 
 cient gardens which i\ir. Burgh has collected in a note on 
 Mr. Mafon's Englilh Garden, p. 13c. The extent is rsot 
 mentioned, but by its compariiou to that of Laertes it mud 
 have been fmall. Of its dilpofition, however, vte are in- 
 formed, which was far from happy. The pot-herba and 
 fruit-trees were planted in the middle, the latter, in th.it 
 
 hat 
 
384 A D D I T I O N A L N O T E S. 
 
 hot climate, not requiring walls to force them, and there 
 was not only a grove of cypreffes, but a row of thofe trees 
 xvas alfo ranged along the walls, it being, like the Italiati 
 gardens defcribed by Bifhop Burnet, walled round, and 
 by this double fortification, as it were, completely excluded 
 from a view of the country. 
 
 P. 90. 1. 2. 
 
 " Diogenes," fays Libanius, " was a native of Synope, 
 *' and the uncle of Arillophanes." See Vol. I. p. 317, 
 
 r. 148. 1. 7.fu'allows f. 
 
 f In like manner his mafter Libanius (Ep. XLIV.) com- 
 pares chattering and long letters to fwallows, birds that 
 are noify in the fummer, and fly to and fro. Wolfius, 
 
 P. 199. Add to note *. 
 
 By the Epiftles above-mentioned of Libanius, Eutherius 
 appears to have been prjefect of Armenia, and to have had 
 a fon under his tuition. 
 
 P. 227. Add to the fecond paragraph of the note : 
 
 In a fubfequent work Libanms deems both thefe events 
 prefages of the death of Julian. " This,'* fays he, " was 
 *' predifted by the temple of Apollo deftroyed by fire. 
 *' The God forfook the earth, as it was foon to be pol- 
 " luted. This was alfo foretold by the earthquakes con- 
 *' vulfing ail the ground as harbingers of approaching 
 *' difturbance and confufion." In Jul. Imp. Nccem^ p. 258. 
 
 P. 246. Among the gardens of antiquity to which 
 Milton, b. IV. compares and prefers his " Paradifc of 
 *' Eden," is 
 
 " That fvveet grove 
 
 " Of Daphne by Orontes.** 
 
 P. 247. Add to note *. 
 
 Libanius in his Life, p. 47, 8. mentions the Olympics 
 which were celebrated on his 50th birth-day, which mufV 
 have been in the year 364, the year after the death of 
 Julian. " At thefe," fays he, " I had an ardent defire to 
 *' be prefent ; but on the firll: day was imprifoned, not by 
 ♦* the Prajtor, but by % fevere attack of the gout.'* 
 
 INDEX. 
 
J N D E X 
 
 T O 
 
 VOLUME IL 
 
 A. Page 
 
 2T?TIUS^ bifhop, Julian writes to him 78 
 
 •^■^-^ a note on that Epiitle, by Fabricius 200 
 
 Alexander^ the Great, his figure in miniature i^. the 
 founder of Alexandria 20. his elleem for Homer 
 30. note) conlpip<;d againft by Herxnolaus 166. 
 his cruelties 167 
 
 j^lexandriaKS, Julian writes to them 19. 64. 136. 155. 
 
 Ah'fius, of Antioch, Julian writes to him 73. 76 
 
 ■ commiffioned by Juliun to re-build the temple 
 
 of Jerufalcm 74 (note) 
 
 — — — banifhed by Yalens ihJJ. 229 (note) 
 
 author of a geographical work -jb 
 
 Amerius^ Julian writes to him 93 
 
 Amida^ city of, is enlarged. Jovian builds a fuburb 
 
 there for the inhabitants of Nifibis 308 
 
 Ammianus^ Marcellir^us, his opinion of the treaty of 
 
 Dura 280 
 
 A>nogila, Julian intercedes for hei" 200 
 
 Amfhio>i, fragment on 207 
 
 AnacreoHy quotation from 38 
 
 Ancyra^ Jovian celebrates there the folemnity of his 
 
 confrJfliip 356 
 
 Antiozh^ people of, Julian writes to them i8g. rejoice 
 at his death 293. the ftay that Jovinn makes 
 there 311. fchilm of the church 314. their 
 \invvorthy treatmer.t of Jovian 348 
 
 Vol. II. C c Amiecius^ 
 
jg^ INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 ^ntlochiii-y tutor of Julian's fens (fo called) ig6 
 
 j^pis^ grief at his death 241 
 
 Apollo^ Daphnaan, flatue of defcribed 249. dellroyed 250 
 Areus^ a friend ■>£ Auguilus 1 39 
 
 jlrgi'vcs, Julian intercedes for them 83 
 
 Arianifmy a cruel and pt-.rfecuting fetS 314 
 
 Arintheus^ a great general, fent by Jovian to Sapor 276 
 
 ■ I — receives baptifm 277 (note) 
 
 Ariji^netus, pracfed of Eithynia 218. Monody on by 
 
 Libanius 227 (note) his death 237 
 
 Arijiomencs, Julian writes to him 7 
 
 AriJit^haneSf quotation from 47 
 
 — — of Corinth 193 
 
 Arifiotlc^ quotation from 49 
 
 Arfaccs^ fatrap of Armenia, Julian writes to him 186 
 
 this epiftle probably is fpurions 187 (note) ' 
 deferved to be difgraced by Julian, and why 281 
 
 is abandoned by Jovian ihid. his death ihlct. (note) 
 >^r/^a«i, high-prieft of Galatia, Julian writes to him 127 
 Arfahius^ Julian writes to him 13 
 
 .^/f)'^'^'"^-^? proverbially, a felf-commender 27. 159 
 
 Atbanafiiis^ archbifhop of Alexandria, banifhed by Ju- 
 lian 64, 1;, recalled by Jovian, who writes to him 
 330. anfwers Jovian 333. comes to Antioch 334. 
 his chara£ter 335. compared to Arnauld 338. 
 (note) returns to Alexandria 347. his death ib. (note) 
 Athens^ its foundation by Cecrops 232. named by 
 
 Minerva 233 (note) 
 
 Augujlus^ the tribunitian power confirmed to him in 
 
 perpetuity 371 
 
 B. 
 
 Baronlus., his brutal bigotry exploded 352 (note) 
 
 BaJil(not the Great), Julian writes to him i6 
 
 Batna defcribed 63, 69. 383 
 
 BcreUy city of, Julian arrives there 66. attempts in 
 vain to pervert the fenate 67. firmnefs of one of 
 the chief citizens ibid. {x\Gic) 
 
 Befan^on, city of 97 (note) 
 
 Bincjes^ a Perfian fatrap 282 (note) takes poffefljon 
 
 of Nifibis ^97, 8 
 
 BUtgricy John Philip Rene de la, account of 397 
 
 Bojire' 
 
INDEX. 3$^ 
 
 Page 
 
 Boflrenlans, Julian writes to them J42 
 
 Boys, ordered by Julian to be inftrudcd in facred 
 
 mufic 1^3 
 
 EyzafitiKes, Julian writes to them 24. Perhaps Bi- 
 
 fanthians 25 (note) 
 
 c. 
 
 C'aliguJa, the only Emperor who encroached on the 
 
 jurifdiiilion of the fenate 377 
 
 Callimachus, quotation from 77 
 
 Callippus, the Athenian, deceived Plato i6i 
 
 C-alUxene, prieftefs of Ceres. Julian \vrites to her 43 
 
 Cappadocians, Julian is dilgufted with them, and why 8 (bote) 
 their religion 9 (note) 
 
 Can-h<x^ inhabitants of, murder the meflenger who 
 
 announced the death of Julian 291, % 
 
 Celts, explained . 31 (note) 
 
 Chahrias, a fable of 160 
 
 Chamber of juftice 46 (note) 59 (note) 
 
 Charito, wife of Jovian 349, 50. goes to meet him 
 361.it is not thought that he gave her the title 
 of AugUjla 364 
 
 Chrijiians pradtife all virtues by the confeffion of Ju- 
 lian 128. long abftained from blood, and from 
 things {Irangled 182 (note) their joy at the death 
 of Julian 292. their divilions 313. their dil'putes 
 are renewed 317. lament Jovian 363 
 
 Chrifiianlty, neceffary to mankind 131 (note) 
 
 Church, ftate of, when Jovian came to the empire 314, &c. 
 Cimmerian darknefs 140 
 
 Cimon, a natural fon of Libanius - 222 (note) 
 
 Conjians, Emperor 159 
 
 Conjiantinople , people of Julian, writes to them 184 
 
 this epiftle afcribed by Wolfius to Libanius ih. (note) 
 QonftantiuSy Emperor 28. 46. 78, 197 
 
 Confuls, their fundions 368 
 
 Corduenne, its fituation 260 
 
 Corinth, its origin and deftruftion 231, 2 
 
 Corinthians opprefs the Argives 85, &c. 
 
 §!eundloi Ancioch 339 
 
 C c 2 Dada- 
 
388 Index. 
 
 .» 
 
 D. Page 
 
 Dadafiaaai, city cf, Jovian receives there the deputies 
 
 from the lenate of Conrtahtinople 358 
 
 Damafcus^ praifes of 51 
 
 Daniel^ a prophecy of, perverted perhaps by Julian 58 (note) 
 Daphmedn temple of Apollo burnt 243 (note) 250, 8ic. 
 
 defcribeci 249, &:c. 
 
 Daphne^ its beauty 68. 246 
 
 Dead, ciirtom of the Pagaiis in funerals 309 
 
 Delany^ Dr. 3S6 (note) 
 
 Democritus^ his confolation of Darius 94 
 
 Didymaan oracle, quoted 177 
 
 DioJorus, bifliop of Tarfiis 20^ 
 
 Diogcnesy the philofopher 90. Jul'an writes to him 201 
 Dionjji-us^ Julian writes to him 158. his cowardice 163 
 
 his drunken^ abufe 165. his blunders 169. per- 
 haps coriimatider in Greece 210 (note) 
 jDi'vinatioH of Heathens under Valens 219. inquiiition 
 
 irito It ib, (note) 
 
 Donatljls, furious fehifrftatics 316 
 
 DoJithettSy Julian writes to him 79f 
 
 Dura, city of, Julian lofes four days there 275. igno- 
 minious treaty of 2S0 
 
 E. 
 
 jEf^iV;»j, pfscfe6t of JEgypt, Julian writes to him 11. 17, 
 
 134. 15? 
 Eteiolus, the fophrft, Julian writes to him 39 
 
 chief magiftrate of Edefla, Jiiilian writes to 
 him 1 1 8 
 
 Ec/.'o, the wife of Pan 151 
 
 iL.ili'JJa, city of, perlecuted by Julian ii3. zeal of its 
 inhabitants for the Chriilian religion 1 19 (ul)tc) 
 Jovian arrives there • 31a 
 
 EdiH of Julian relating to phyficiahs 63. to profeffors 1 10 
 forbidding the Chriftians to teach polite literature 112, 
 relating to profaners of tombs, and concerning 
 funerals 189 
 
 Elcujinian pOntifF 50 (note) 
 
 Elpiiiius, the philofopher, Julian writes to him 1 54. 
 
 EthMauhs, chiefs of the Jews till the beginning of the 
 
 Vth century 58 (note) 
 
 j5»^^friW, Julian writes to him 127, 
 
 5 Ehi.lid^ 
 
I N D E X. 3?^ 
 
 ■ . ^ Page 
 
 Euclid, the philofopher, Julian writes to him 204 
 
 EugeniHS, the philofopher, Julian writes to him 38 
 
 Ritmenius and Pharianus, Julian writes to them iqa 
 Euripides, quotations from 164. (note) 237 (no'c) 247 
 
 Eufcbius and Jiardion, eunuchs of Conrtantius 346 
 
 ^uzoiusj ah Arian bifhop of Antioch 33g 
 
 F. 
 
 Eabriclus John Albert, his Lux EvangelH 193 (note) 
 
 ig6 (note) his Life of Libanius tranflated ii6 — 226 
 Fame, a DEcmon 164 
 
 Fragments oi Epillles 207 — 2H 
 
 Florentius^ prxfedt of Gaul, Julian complains of him 361 
 
 Galen, quotation from 49 (note) 
 
 Gaul, army offends deputies to Jovian 35$ 
 
 Gfor^f, archbifliop of Alexandria, his library 17. 92. his 
 
 rriafTacre 18 (note) 
 
 •r- the Catholic, Julian writes to him 14. i;;r 
 
 Qrafshoppers defcribed no (note) loquacious 16^ 
 Greeks, the ten thoufand, retreat of 259. 2S3 (note) 
 Gregofy, duke, Julian -rviites to him 73 
 Nazfanzen, his difcourfe agairiH Julian 291. 312 
 
 H. 
 
 Hadrian, t.mj>troTf builds a temple to Trajan 349 
 
 Hatra, city of, Jovian arrives there 28^ 
 
 - — - its hiftory 286 
 
 tJeBor, fon of Parmenio, drowned 167 
 
 Hercjriian forei^y fragment on . ; 21 1 
 
 Hermogey.es, late praefeiil of ^gypt, Julian writes to 
 
 him 46. praetor of Syria 383 
 
 Herodotus, quotatioiVs from 45. 47. fragment on 208. 
 
 account of ibid, (note) 
 
 Hejiod, quotations from 4r. 87. 
 
 Hippocrates, quotations from 49, 16 r. miftaken by 
 
 Julian 262 (note) 
 
 C c -? Ho.'t^r' 
 
390 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 Horner^ Quotations from 14. 16. 33. 39. 40. 41. 45. 48. p. 54. 
 5,'. 56. 82. 94. 100. 106. 108 (note) 110 (note) 114 
 (note) 121. 124. 130. 133, 148. 149 (note) 150 (note) 
 164 (note) 168. 195. 203. 229 (note) 230 (note) 238 
 (note) 247 (note) 249 (note). 
 Hundred, preferable to all other numbers, and why 53 
 
 J. and I. 
 
 yamhl:chus^]\iy\\n writes to him 80. loi. 107. 148. 171. J74. 
 
 Two philofophers muft be diflinguiflied of that 
 
 name 70 (note) 80 (note). 
 
 Januarius, a relation of Jovian, thought of for Emperor 362 
 
 Jcrufalem, temple of, attempt to re-build, defeated 61, 62 
 
 (note) 74 (note) 
 
 Jenxjs, community of, Julian addreffes them 57. lefs 
 
 odious to the Pagans than the Chriftians, and 
 
 why 183 (note) 
 
 Imperial government, an ariftocracy 365 
 
 John of Antioch, his hiHory 349 
 
 Jovian, conduces the corpfe of Conftantius to Con- 
 
 flantinople, 262. rather choofes to quit the fer- 
 
 vice than renounce his faith, 263. His charader, 
 
 264. chofen Emperor, 265. declares that he 
 
 cannot command Pagans, 266. liftens to the pro- 
 
 pofals of Sapor, 276. reafons which induce him 
 
 to accept the peace, 281, 2. pafTes the Tigris, 
 
 284. caufes his eieftion to be announced to the 
 
 provinces of the Weft, 289. encamps under the 
 
 walls of Nifibis, and obliges the inhabitants to 
 
 evacii..te it, 296, &c. enters Antioch, 311. re-" 
 
 gulates matters of religion, 319. makes a law 
 
 to allow liberty of confcience, ihid, reftri^tions 
 
 which he puts upon that liberty, 322, 3. treats 
 
 with fome refpe(5l the philofophers who were ia 
 
 the train of Julian, 325. writes in favour of the 
 
 Chriftians, 327. recalls thofe who were baniflied 
 
 on account of religion, and reftores to the 
 
 churches their privileges, 328, makes a law 
 
 in favour of the virgins confecrated to God, 
 
 ihid. writes to Athanafius, and invites him to 
 
 court, 330, &c. gives three audiences to the 
 
 Arians, 
 
INDEX. 391 
 
 Page 
 
 Arians, s+t-^. is defpifcd by the inhabitants of 
 Antioch, 348. celebrates the funeral of Julian at 
 Tarfiis, 351. orders bis tomb to be decorated, 
 352. palFes through Tyana, in Cappadocia, and 
 hears news from the Weft, 354.. enters Ancyra, 
 and celebrates the Iblemnity of his confulfliip, 
 having taken his fon Varronian for his coUegue, 
 356, Sic. his death, 361. his apotheofis, 363. 
 ^(;i;/^««j, a diilinguiflied officer, his tragic J death 297 
 
 Jovians, a body o\ troops 263 
 
 J.ovinus, commander of the troops in the Gau's 289. 356 
 IJihmian games fupported by the Corinthians 86 
 
 Julian, Emperor, collects the library of George, 17. 92 
 believes in dreams, 34. attempts in vain to re- 
 build the temple of Jerufalem 61, 2 (note) 74 
 (note) leaves Antioch, pafles through Litarbs, 
 Berca, and Batns, and arrives at Hierapolis, 
 65 — 71. an accident vvhich happened to him at 
 Hierapolis 72 (note) believes in theurgy, 98 con- 
 fifcates the effefts of the church of Edelfa, 118. 
 makes a prefent of a country-houfe to one of 
 his friends, 12:. pays an honourable teftimony 
 to Chriftians, 128. wifaes to eftablifh in Pa- 
 gan ifm the difcipline of the church, ibid, at- 
 tacks Chriftianity vfith weak arguments, 137, &c. \ 
 perfecutes the Chrifiians, 145. fends for an 
 obclilk to decorate Conftantinople, 155. believes 
 the immortality of the foul, detefts the materialifrs 
 and free-thinkers, 179, 80. ill treats Arfaces king 
 of Armciiia, iS'b (note) dcflroys his own fleet, 
 25S. ftate of his arm)' at his death, 260. idea that 
 the Perfians had of him, 267. various opinions of 
 his death, 269. his funeral, 309. bad confequences 
 of his government, 312. he is interred atTarfus, 
 351. his tomb is decorated by three Chriltian 
 princes, 352. he is placed in the number of the 
 Gods 3^2 
 
 Julian Count. The Emperor Julian writes to him 27 
 
 Julus^ Patriarch of the Jews 60. m?ilakcn by Fa- 
 
 bricius 200 (note) 
 
 Labarum, 
 
592 INDEX. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lalarum, Jovian replaces in it the monogram of Jefus 
 
 Chrift 327. defcribed ibiJ. (note) 
 
 Lanlne^r^ Dr. doubts the triith of the fiery eruption 
 
 62 (note) his reafons . ihid, 
 
 " hemnian misfortunes ^40. proverbial ih. (note)' 
 
 Leontius^ Julian writes to him 4^. confufar of Pa- 
 
 lelline 383" 
 
 Ljihanius, the fophiil, Julian writes to him 6, 28. 65. 
 120. 195. 203. his life by Fabricius 216 — 226. 
 his monody on Nicomedia 227 — 242. his monody 
 on Daphne 243 — 21^1. his thoughts on the death of 
 Julian 269. is inclined to kill himfelf 290. com- 
 pofes two difcourfcs in honour of Julian 291. 
 complains of ih6 feveriti'es exefcifed agaihfl; the 
 Pagans 323' 
 
 l.ucian, the fophiil, Julian writes to him 79 
 
 Lucillian^ Count, father in law of Jovian, his defence 
 of Nihbis 364. fent to Milan 209. 354. is killed 
 at Rheims 35^ 
 
 Lucius^ an Arian bifliop, chofen to fucceed George 
 340. fent to Jovian /(iiV. Jovian extricates him- 
 felf from him i^ 
 
 M. 
 
 Macedanlans (heretics) their fequeft to Jovian 33g( 
 
 Macr'inus^ Emperor, a forged epillle of 37S 
 
 ilf^^«f;ii/K5,, his ufurpation 159 (note) 288 
 
 Magyius^ Count, burns the church of Beryta 329. is 
 pardoned 330. his characfter ih'ul, his cruelties 
 
 ibid, (note) 
 Malarich^^L Frank officez", appointed comm.ander of ^e 
 troops in the Gauls 289. refufes that employ- 
 '■"ent 354 
 
 Markland^ Mr. refers to a palTage of Julian 50 (note)' 
 
 Maxinms^ the perverter of Julian, that prince writes 
 to him 29; 51. 96. 100. is perff.cuted vrnder 
 Valehs, and put to death, 30 (note) 220 (note) 
 
 324 (note) 
 j^fc7f////j and Paulinus, bifliops of Antioch 315 (note)' 
 
 Memoridus^ a tribune, fent into the Weil; 288." gives an 
 
 account of his commilTioa 354' 
 
 Momusy 
 
1 N b E X.\ 
 
 Page 
 
 Mnmus^ his farcafm on the fandal of Venus i66 
 
 Morell, Frederick, his tranllation of Libanius faulty 223 
 
 (note) 233 (note) 236 (note) his intenfe applica- 
 tioit to it 223 (note) his plagiarifm 224 (note 
 
 Muret, error of 369 
 
 MufoniKs^ fragment on 210" 
 
 N. 
 Nejnean games, defrayed by the Argive? 86' 
 
 Neptune, his deftructioB of the Grecian wall 230. re - 
 
 prJmanded by Libanius 230. 2 3i 
 
 Nevitia, a general 47 (note) 261 
 
 Nn'.'ton, bifliop, defends the fiery eruption 62 (note) 
 
 Nicomcdes I. founder of Nicomedia 230, I 
 
 iV/iw;W/^ defcribed 227 (riote) 233, &c. hiftory of 231 
 
 deftroyed by an earthquake 228 (note) 237, Sec. 
 Kilcy the rifing of 154. c3ufc of it ijc; (note) 
 
 Nijibis, city of, its hrftory 299. con {Vernation of its 
 
 inhabitants on being forced by Jovian to quit it 
 
 504. they alk but are refufcd permillion to de. 
 
 fend themfelves 305. they retire to Amida 30? 
 
 Novaiians (heretics) their tenets ji6i 
 
 0'. 
 
 Oljfmpic games, fupported by the Eleans 86 
 
 ' of Antioch 247 
 
 Orihajius, phyfician to Julian, that ptince writes to 
 
 him 33. his works 34 (note)' 
 
 P. 
 
 Paganifmhad no morality 131 (note) properly fpeak« 
 ing, had no dogmas 322, the msthods Cuii- 
 ftantine employed to undermine it Ii;ia. 
 
 Pagana^ virtues' rare among them 131 (note) their de- 
 
 fpair at the death of Julian 292 
 
 Painter^ Julian writes to one 1.85 
 
 Patriarch (of Antroch) Julian writes to him 200' 
 
 Paul, his caluipny and punifliment 194 (note) 
 
 Pkadon of Elis 162 
 
 Phadrus of Plato 203 
 
 Phalarls^ his epiftles, fabricated perhaps by Libanius 
 
 226 (note) 
 PhiJlaSf 
 
394 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 Phidias, the fculptor, his excellence i<; 
 
 Philip^ Julian writes to him 197 
 
 Philofcphers^ alarmed at the acceffion of Jovian 312 
 
 perfecuted under Valens 323 (note) well treated 
 by Jovian 325 
 
 Photinum, Juliani Epiftola ad, 205. bifhop of Sirmium, 
 
 his temerity and degradation ihid. (note) 
 
 Phyficians, exemptions granted to them 63 
 
 Pindar, quotations from 39. 55. 104. 125 
 
 Plato, referred to 160, 161. deceived by Dionylius 161 
 Pccock, Dr. his defcription of Nicomedia 234. (note) 
 
 Porphyry, treafurer-general of ^gypt, Julian writes 
 
 to him 92 
 
 Priefi, a heathen, cenfured and fufpended by Julian 177 
 Prifcus, the philofopher 6. Julian writes to him 202 
 
 Probatius, great chamberlain to Jovian 346 
 
 Procopius, a relation of Julian, commands in Mefo- 
 potamia, is fufpefted by Jovian 276, &c. acknow- 
 ledges Jovian 296. conduits the corpfe of Julian 
 to Tarius 309. fecretes himfelf 310. his revolt 
 and death 221 (note) 
 
 '■ — fecretary of flate 288 
 
 ProfeJJors, regulated, and Chriflians forbidden to teach 112 
 Proharejlus, a Chriilian fophifl, Julian writes to him 5 
 
 Proteus, an impoftor 81 
 
 Pythian games, fup^orted by the Delphians 86 
 
 R. 
 
 Rhcims, city of 355 
 
 JLhifie, the people bordering on that river plunge their 
 
 infants into it, and why 31 
 
 Rhodian fhower of gold 381 
 
 jR^^arar^, Frederick, his c©lle£lions 193 (note) 225 (note) 
 
 S. 
 
 Sahinus, a citizen of Nifibis, fpeaks boldly to Jovian 305 
 Salluji (afterwards Prjefeft of Gaul) extolled by Julian 37 
 
 - the fecond (afterwards Prxfedof the Eaft) prefi- 
 
 dent of the council of Chalcedon 47 (note) refiifes 
 the tmpire after the dtath of Julian 261. i» feot 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 to Sapor 276. quells a tumnlt at Antioch 348 
 
 refuies the empire a'gain after the deach 
 of Jovian 362 
 
 Salntajius, an error of 369 
 
 Sappho, quotations from 39. 40. 173 
 
 Sapor I. king ot Perin, bnrnt'Antioch 24.5 
 
 Sapor II. hears of the death of Julian 267. attacks 
 the Roman army ibid, makes the fin' overtures 
 for a peace 275. thinks it ftrange that the death 
 of Julian is not revenged 277 
 
 Sebajiian, Count, comes to pay his duty to Jovian 296 
 
 Sepulchres, pimifhmcnt of thofe '.vho profaned them, 
 excefles of lome Chriftians, laws on that fubject 
 
 190, &c. (note) 
 Sei-apion, a fenator, Julian writes to him 47 
 
 Simo7tities, an expreflion of 55 
 
 Singara, city of, oemanded by Sapor 280. Jovian 
 
 makes the inhabitancs quit it 308 
 
 Sopater^ the difciplc of Jamblichus 7c. 149 
 
 Sojipater, (probably the fame) Julian writes to him 196 
 SoTomen^ rhe hiftorian, his murderous doctrine 271 
 
 Suetonius, a palfage of explained 377 
 
 Sun, his bleilings 139 
 
 Surena, the general of the Perfian cavalry, fent to 
 
 Jovian by Sapor 275 
 
 ^Tv^w-^o^j, a poetical idea 37 (note) 
 
 Sylofon, ill rewarded by Darius 73 
 
 Symmachus, a Roman orator, extolled by Julian 163 
 
 T. 
 
 Tckhin, a name for Apollo 248 
 
 Telchines, inhabitants of Rhodes, their ingenuity ih. (note) 
 Temenus, the eldeft of the Heraclid:£ 84 
 
 Tertulliav, a fa^rt related by him invalidated 370 
 
 Themifiius, fenator of Conitantinople, pronounces the 
 panegyric of Jovian 319. part of that elogium 
 ibid. &c. fubftance ot it 32 f 
 
 ^jcocritus, quotation from 7 
 
 7heedora, Julian writes to her to. a letter to her 
 
 from Libanius Hid. (note) 
 
 Theodore^ a hjgh priell, Juljan wrues to him 178 
 
 Theodorus^ 
 
 395 
 
Sf6 INDEX. 
 
 Thec^orus^ named in a divination, and put to death 
 
 220 (note) 
 Theophraflus^ quotation from 50 
 
 Tberapcuta:, their fuperftition 1^6 (note) 
 
 Thifalphata^ the name of the place where Jovian re- 
 -^ entered the Roman territories 296 
 
 ^l:racwnsy Julian writes to them 12; 
 
 Tiberiusy Emperor, his propofal for placing Jefus Chn^: 
 
 among the Gods rejected 370 
 
 Titus, bifliop of BoHraa, Julian endeavours to prejudice 
 him iq the minds of the people 145. his tenets 
 
 ibiJ. (note) 
 TraJaHf Emperor 286. 3.^9 
 
 V. and U. 
 
 F'alentlnlan accompanies Lucillian into th? Gauls 35^^ 
 
 is in danger of his life 355. is made captain of 
 
 the guards 356. fucceeds Jovian 362, alTociates 
 
 his brother Valens in the empire 363 (note) 
 
 i^alenthiia?is, heretics 11^ 
 
 Varronian^ Count, father of Jovian 263. dies conful 
 
 ele6t 290 
 
 - — - an infant, fon of Jovian, chofen conful in 
 
 the room of his grandfather 3157. his unhappy fate 36^ 
 ^ehlcUsy public, their danger and inconvenience 203 
 
 Vefontio (now Befan^on) dtfcribed 97 
 
 Yetranio^ his revolt 288 (note) 
 
 Ur, a caftle of Mefopqtamia 2S7 
 
 W. 
 
 Warlurion, bifhop, his *' Julian" 6t (note) 62 (note) 
 
 M'oljiusy John Chriftopher, his edition of the Epiftles 
 
 of Libanius 225 (note) 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zamlicari, Francis, bis Latin Epiflles of Libanius 225, (note) 
 Zmo, a, celebrated phyfician, Julian \Yritcs to him 121 
 
 Since 
 
[ 397 ] 
 
 *.v.* Since this woik has been printed off, I am 
 enabled, by the Nouveau Didionnaire Hijiorique *, 
 (jifine edition, 6 tomes y Sx'o, a Caen, 1779), to add 
 the following account of a writer to whom I am 
 n.iuch obliged. 
 
 Bleterie (John Philip Rene de la), born at 
 Rennes, died in an advanced age, in 1772. He 
 was a man of learning, was much attached to 
 religion, and his morals did not belie his prin- 
 ciples. His knowledge, being folid and diverfified, 
 rendered his converfation intcrefting and improv- 
 ing. He publilhed feveral works, which have 
 been well received by the public, i. The Hijlory 
 of Julian the Apojlate +, Paris, 1735. 1746. izmo.' 
 a curious performance, well written, and dif- 
 linguifhed at once by its impartiality, precifion, 
 elegance, and judgement. 2. The Hijlory of the 
 Emperor Jovian, with tranflations of fome works 
 of the Emperor Julian, Paris, 1748, 2 vols. izmo. 
 
 * The work fo ftyled, ou Hifioire ahrcgee de fous les 
 hov:mfs qiu fe font fait un nomme par Ic Genie, les Talens, les 
 p'ertus, les Krreurs, i^e. depuis le commencement du monde ju/'j" ^ 
 710S jours, par unc Societe deGens dc lettres, is of itfelf a library, 
 
 f This work, it is obfervable, is not fo entitled by the 
 author, but folely Fie de PEmpereur Julien, 
 
 Vol. II. D d 
 
ERRATA in VOL. IL 
 
 fage 
 17. note f 1. 1. r. '* Juliart 
 
 •' was truly" 
 i6. note t !• ^' r. ' xf^'^'^** 
 31. note ■* I. 2. r. " common 
 
 *' reading" 
 6^. 1. 13;. r. * Chalcis' 
 60. is mifpagcd 
 S2. notc*I. 3. r. * ft/piVToiV 
 95. notc*l. 7. r. * jD5-ft)^i»(T-' 
 
 ^7. note + 1. 7. * F. Mar- 
 tinius, ' &:c. belongs to the 
 next note 
 I02. note •)- 1. J. r. * waiJif^i.* 
 124. 1. 13. After 'friends' add 
 X and prefix the fame re- 
 ference to the note be- 
 ginning " Julian, it ap- 
 pears/* &c. 
 
 Page 
 
 159. 1. 5. r. * Conftans* 
 
 165. note * 1. 3. r. * Pha?don* 
 
 169. note * 1. I. r. * *^a^i»* 
 
 206. 1. the laft, r. * confedafn' 
 
 214. 1. 4. r. (21) 
 
 240. note * 1. the lalt, r. 
 
 » Chiliades' ^ 
 259. is mifpaged 
 279. note • 1. 3. r. ' to whom* 
 284. 1. 3. fr. the bottom, r. 
 * as were' 
 
 note f 1. 3. r. * a Latin' 
 note -j- 1. 3. r. * Tairi* 
 1. 17. r. ' Bernicius* 
 to note f add B. 
 n6te * 1. I. after ' Arn- 
 mianus', add a comma 
 
 291 
 333 
 
 361, 
 
 il 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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