Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/33

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 15 sence and abilities of Galerius. At the lieatl of a pow- Cii A P. erful army collected from lUyricum and the east, he ^^^' entered Italy, resolved to revenge the death of Seve- rus, and to chastise the rebellious Romans; or, as he expressed his intentions, in the furious lanjxuaoe of a barbarian, to extirpate the senate, and to destroy the people by the sword. But the skill of Maximian had concerted a prudent system of defence. The invader found every place hostile, fortified, and inaccessible; and though he forced his way as far as Narni, within sixty miles of Rome, his dominion in Italy was confined to the narrow limits of his camp. Sensible of the in- creasing difficulties of his enterprise, the haughty Ga- lerius made the first advances towards a reconciliation, and despatched two of his most considerable officers to tempt the Roman princes by the offer of a conference, and the declaration of his paternal regard for Maxen- tius, who might obtain much more from his liberality than he could hope from the doubtful chance of war ^ The offers of Galerius were rejected with firmness, his perfidious friendship refused with contempt; and it was not long before he discovered, that, unless he provided for his safety by a timely retreat, he had some reason to apprehend the fate of Severus. The wealth which the Romans defended against his rapacious tyranny, they freely contributed for his destruction. The name of Maximian, the popular arts of his son, the secret distribution of large sums, and the promise of still more liberal rewards, checked the ardour and cor- rupted the fidelity of the Illyrian legions ; and when Galerius at length gave the signal of the retreat, it was with some difficulty that he could prevail on his veter- ans not to desert a banner which had so often con- ducted them to victory and honour. A contemporary writer assigns two other causes for the failure of the expedition; but they are both of such a nature, that ^ With regard to this negociation, see the fragments of an anonymous his- torian, published by Valesius at the end of his edition of Ammianus Marcel- linus, [). 711. These fragments have furnislied us witii several curious, and, as it should seem, authentic anecdotes.