Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/330

 cation. 312 THE DECLINE AND FALL C Fl A ]'. insult of capricious tyranny. The use of such a title, vr|i| _J '__ even as it appears under the reign of Constanline, is a strange and unconnected fact, which can scarcely be admitted on the joint authority of imperial medals and contemporary writers *". Their edu^ The whole empire was deeply interested in the edu- cation of these five youths, the acknowledged succes- sors of Constantine. The exercises of the body pre- pared them for the fatigues of war, and the duties of active life. Those who occasionally mention the edu- cation or talents of Constantius, allow that he excelled in the gymnastic arts of leaping and running; that he was a dexterous archer, a skilful horseman, and a master of all the different weapons used in the service either of the cavalry or of the infantry '. The same assidu- ous cultivation was bestowed, though not perhaps with equal success, to improve the minds of the sons and nephews of Constantine *". The most celebrated pro- fessors of the christian faith, of the Grecian philosophy, and of the Roman jurisprudence, were invited by the liberality of the emperor, who reserved for himself the important task of instructing the royal youths in the science of government, and the knowledge of mankind. But the genius of Constantine himself had been formed by adversity and experience. In the free intercourse of private life, and amidst the dangers of the court of Galerius, he had learned to command his own passions, to encounter those of his equals, and to depend for his present safety and future greatness on the prudence and firmness of his personal conduct. His destined successors had the misfortune of being born and edu- o ^ Adstruunt nummi veteres ac singulares. Spanheim de Usu Numismat. Dissertat. xii. vol. ii. p. 357. Ammianus speaks of this Roman king, 1. xiv. c. 1. and Valesius ad loc. The Valesian fragment styles him king of kings; and the Paschal Chronicle, (p. 286.) by employing the word 'Pi7ya, acquires the weight of Latin evidence. ' His dexterity in martial exercises is celebrated by Julian, (Orat. i. p. 1 1. Orat. ii. p. 53.) and allowed by Ammianus, 1. xxi. c. 16. ^ Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. 1. iv. c. 51 ; Julian, Orat. i. p. II — 16. with Spanheini's elaborate Commentary; Libanius, Orat. iii. p. 109. Constantius studied with laudable diligence ; but the dulness of his fancy prevented bim from succeeding in the art of poetry, or even of rhetoric.