XXV. CHAP. cepted, or anticipated, the invitation of Jovian. The venerable figure of Athanasius, his calm courage, and insinuating eloquence, sustained the reputation which he had already acquired in the courts of four successive princes. As soon as he had gained the confidence, and secured the faith, of the Christian emperor, he returned in triumph to his diocese, and continued, with mature counsels, and undiminished vigour, to direct, ten years longer, the ecclesiastical government of Alexandria, Egypt, and the Catholic church. Before his departure from Antioch, he assured Jovian that his orthodox devotion would be rewarded with a long and peaceful reign. Athanasius had reason to hope, that he should be allowed either the merit of a successful prediction, or the excuse of a grateful, though ineffectual, prayer.' · proclaims f Jovian The slightest force, when it is applied to asuniversal sist and guide the natural descent of its object, toleration. operates with irresistible weight; and Jovian had the good fortune to embrace the religious * Athanasius, at the court of Antioch, is agreeably represented by La Bleterie, (Hist. de Jovien, tom. i, p. 121-148): he translates the singular and original conferences of the emperor, the primate of Egypt, and the Arian deputies. The Abbe is not satisfied with the coarse pleasantry of Jovian; but his partiality for Athanasius assumes, in his eyes, the character of justice. f The true era of his death is perplexed with some difficulties, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii, p. 719-723). But the date (A. D. 373, May 2) which seems the most consistent with history and reason, is ratified by his authentic life, (Massei Osservazioni Letteraire, tom. iii, p. 81). * See the observations of Valesius and Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv, p. 38) on the original letter of Athanasins; which is preserved by Theodoret, (1. iv, c. 3). In some MSS. this indiscreet promise is omitted: perhaps by the Catholics, jealous of the prophetic fame of their leader. XXV. opinions which were supported by the spirit of CHAP. the times, and the zeal and numbers of the most powerful sect. Under his reign, Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory; and as soon as the sinile of royal patronage was withdrawn, the genius of paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust. In many cities, the temples were shut or deserted; the philosophers, who had abused their transient favour, thought it prudent to shave their beards, and disguise their profession; and the Christians rejoiced, that they were now in a condition to forgive, or to revenge, the injuries which they had suffered under the preceding reign.'The consternation of the pagan world was dispelled by a wise and gracious edict of toleration; in which Jovian explicitly declared, that although he should severely punish the sacrilegious rites of magic, his subjects might exercise, with freedom and safety, the ceremonies of the ancient worship. The memory of this law has been preserved by the orator Themistius, who was deputed by the senate of Constantinople to express their loyal devotion for the new emperor. Themistius expatiates on the clemen Athanasius (apud Theodoret, 1. iv, c. 3) magnifies the number of the orthodox, who composed the whole world, wapeę oλzywv twV Ta Agiu Poveτv. This assertion was verified in the space of thirty or forty years. i Socrates, 1. iii, c. 24. Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv, p. 131), and Libanius, (Orat. Parentalis, c. 148, p. 369), express the living sentiments of their respective factions. CHAP. cy of the Divine Nature, the facility of human XXV. His progress from Antioch, A. D. 363, October. error, the rights of conscience, and the independence of the mind: aud, with some eloquence, inculcates the principles of philosophical toleration; whose aid Superstition herself, in the hour of her distress, is not ashamed to implore. He justly observes, that, in the recent changes, both religions had been alternately disgraced by the seeming acquisition of worthless proselytes, of those votaries of the reigning purple, who could pass, without a reason, and without a blush, from the church to the temple, and from the altars of Jupiter to the sacred table of the Christians.* In the space of seven months, the Roman troops, who were now returned to Antioch, had derformed a march of fifteen hundred miles; in which they had endured all the hardships of war, of famine, and of climate. Notwithstanding their services, their fatigues, and the approach of winter, the timid and impatient Jovian allowed only, to the men and horses, a re spite of six weeks. The emperor could not sustain the indiscreet and malicious raillery of the people of Antioch.' He was impatient te * Themistius, Orat. v, p. 63-71, edit. Hurduin, Paris, 1684. The Abbe de la Bleterie judiciously remarks, (Hist. de Jovien, tom. i, p. 199), that Sozomen has forgot the general toleration; and Themistius the establishment of the Catholic religion. Each of them turned away from the object which he disliked; and wished to suppress the part of the edict the least honourable, in his opinion, to the emperor Jovian. 1 Οι δε Αντιοχεις εχ ήδέως διέκειντο προς αυτόν; αλλ' επεσκοπτον αυτον ωδαις καὶ παρωδίαιο. καὶ τοις καλυμενοις φαμωσσοις (famosis libellis). Johan. Antiochen. in Excerpt. Valesian. p. 815. The libels of Antioch may be admitted on very slight evidence. XXV possess the palace of Constantinople; and to CHAP. prevent the ambition of some competitor. who might occupy the vacant allegiance of Europe. But he soon received the grateful intelligence, that his authority was acknowledged from the Thracian Bosphorus to the Atlantic ocean.By the first letters which he dispatched from the camp of Mesopotamia, he had delegated the military command of Gaul and Illyricum to Malarich, a brave and faithful officer of the nation of the Franks; and to his father-in-law, Count Lucillian, who had formerly distinguished his courage and conduct in the defence of Nisibis. Malarich had declined an office to which he thought himself unequal; and Lucillian was massacred at Rheims, in an accidental mutiny of the Batavian cohorts." But the moderation of Jovinus, master-general of the cavalry, who forgave the intention of his disgrace, soon appeased the tumult, and confirmed the uncertain minds of the soldiers. The oath of fidelity was administered, and taken with loyal acclamations; and the deputies of the Western armies" saluted their new sovereign as he descended from Mount Taurus to the city of Tyana, in Cappadocia. From Tyana he continued his hasty march to Ancyra, capital of the province of Galatia; where Jovian assumed, with his infant son, the name and Compare Ammianus, (xxv, 10), who omits the name of the Batavians, with Zosimus, (l. iil, p. 197), who removes the scene of action from Rheims to Sirmium. " Quos capita scholarum ordo castrensis appellat. Ammian. xxv 10, and Vales. ad locum. CHAP. ensigns of the consulship. XXV. Dadastana," an ob scure town, almost at an equal distance between A D. 361, Ancyra and Nice, was marked for the fatal January term of his journey and his life. After indulging himself with a plentiful, perhaps an intem 1.. perate, supper, he retired to rest; and the next morning the emperor Jovian was found dead in Death of his bed. The cause of this sudden death was Jovian, Feb. 17. variously understood. By some it was ascrib ed to the consequences of an indigestion, occasioned either by the quantity of the wine, or the quality of the mushrooms, which he had swallowed in the evening. According to others, he was suffocated in his sleep by the vapour of charcoal; which extracted from the walls ofthe apartment the unwholesome moisture of the fresh plaster. But the want of a regular enquiry into the death of a prince, whose reign and person were soon forgotten, appears to have been the only circumstance which countenanced the malicious whispers of poison and domestic guilt. The body of Jovian was sent q Cujus vagitus, pertinaciter reluctantis, ne in curuli sellâ veheretur ex more, id quod mox accidit protendebat. Augustus and his successors respectfully solicited a dispensation of age for the sons or nephews whom they raised to the consulship. But the curule chair of the first Brutus had never been dishonoured by an infant. P The Itinerary of Antonius fixes Dadastana 125 Roman miles from Nice; 117 from Ancyra, (Wesseling, Itinerar. p. 142). The pilgrim of Bourdeaux, by omitting some stages, reduces the whole space from 242 to 181 miles. Wesseling, p. 574. ¶ See Ammianus, (xxv, 10); Eutropius, (x, 18), who might likewise be present; Jerom, (tom. i, p. 26, and Heliodorum); Orosius, (vii, 31); Sozomen, (1. vi, c. 6); Zosimus, (1. iii, p. 197, 198), and Zonaras, (tom. ii, 1. xiii, p. 28, 29). We cannot expect a perfect agreement, and we shall not discuss minute differences. Ammianus, unmindful of his usual candour and good sense, compares the death of the harmless Jovian to that of the second Africanus, who had excited the fears and resentment of the popular faction. |