Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/441

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 417 The victory of Diocletian was remarkable for its sin- CHAP, gular mildness. A people accustomed to applaud the ^^^^' clemency of the conqueror, if the usual punishments ofHisclemen- death, exile, and confiscation were inflicted with any ^^^.^^ ^^^" degree of temper and equity, beheld, with the most pleasing astonishment, a civil war, the flames of which were extinguished in the field of battle. Diocletian received into his confidence Aristobulus, the principal minister of the house of Cams, respected the lives, the fortunes, and the dignity of his adversaries, and even continued in their respective stations the greater num- ber of the servants of Carinus'^. It is not improbable that motives of prudence might assist the humanity of the artful Dalmatian : of these servants, many had pur- chased his favour by secret treachery ; in others, he esteemed their grateful fidelity to an unfortunate mas- ter. The discerning judgement of Aurelian, of Pro- bus, and of Cams, had filled the several departments of the state and army with officers of approved merit, whose removal would have injured the public service, without promoting the interest of the successor. Such a conduct, however, displayed to the Roman world the fairest prospect of the new reign ; and the emperor af- fected to confirm this favourable prepossession, by de- claring, that, among all the virtues of his predecessors, he was the most ambitious of imitating the humane philosophy of Marcus Antoninus ^ The first considerable action of his reign seemed to Association evince his sincerity as well as his moderation. After ^"r1)f Max^- the example of Marcus, he gave himself a colleague in imian. the person of Maximian, on whom he bestowed at first April i. the title of Caesar, and afterwards that of Augustus*"; ^ In this encomium, Aurelius Victor seems to convey a just, though indi- rect, censure of the cruelty of Constantius. It appears from the Fasti, that Aristobulus remained prefect of the city, and that he ended vvith Diocle- tian the consulship which he had commenced with Carinus. e Aurelius Victor styles Diocletian, " Parentem polius quam dominura." See Hist. August, p. 30. ^ The question of the time when Maximian received the honours of Caesar and Augustus has divided modern critics, and given occasion to a great deal of learned wrangling. I have followed M. de Tillemont, (Histoire des VOL. I. E e