Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/331

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 313 cated in the imperial purple. Incessantly surrounded ^!'/^ ^'• with a train of flatterers, they passed their youth in the L enjoyment of luxury and the expectation of a throne; nor would the dignity of their rank permit them to descend from that elevated station from whence the various characters of human nature appear to wear a smooth and uniform aspect. The indulgence of Con- stantine admitted them, at a very tender age, to share the administration of the empire ; and they studied the art of reigning at the expense of the people intrusted to their care. The younger Constantine was appointed to hold his court in Gaul ; and his brother Constantius exchanged that department, the ancient patrimony of their father, for the moi'e opulent, but less martial, countries of the east. Italy, the western Illyricum, and Africa, were accustomed to revere Constans, the third of his sons, as the representative of the great Con- stantine. He fixed Dalmatius on the Gothic frontier, to which he annexed the government of Thrace, Ma- cedonia, and Greece. The city of Ceesarea was chosen for the residence of Hannibalianus ; and the provinces of Pontus, Cappadocia, and the Lesser Armenia, were designed to form the extent of his new kingdom. For each of these princes a suitable establishment was pro- vided. A just proportion of guards, of legions, and of auxiliaries, was allotted for their respective dignity and defence. The ministers and generals who were placed about their persons, were such as Constantine could trust to assist, and even to control, these youth- ful sovereigns in the exercise of their delegated power. As they advanced in years and experience, the limits of their authority were insensibly enlarged : but the emperor always reserved for himself the title of Au- gustus; and while he showed the Cajsars to the ar- mies and provinces, he maintained every part of the empire in equal obedience to its supreme head '. The ' Eusebius (1. iv. c. 51, 52.) with a design of exalting the authority and glory of Constantine, affirms, that he divided the Roman empire as a pri- vate citizen might have divided his patrimony. His distribution of the