Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/355

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 337 the whole extent of the two great prefectures of Gaul CHAP. XVIII ' ami Italy; and the usurper prepared, by every act of_ '_ oppression, to collect a treasure, which might discharge the obligation of an immense donative, and supply the expenses of a civil war. The martial countries of Illy- ricum, from the Danube to the extremity of Greece, had long obeyed the government of Vetranio, an aged general, beloved for the simplicity of his manners, and who had acquired some reputation by his experience and services in war'*. Attached by habit, by duty, and by gratitude, to the house of Constantine, he im- mediately gave the strongest assurances to the only surviving son of his late master, that he would expose, with unshaken fidelity, his person and his troops, to inflict a just revenge on the traitors of Gaul. But the legions of Vetranio were seduced, rather than provoked, by the example of rebellion; their leader soon betrayed a want of firmness, or a want of sincerity; and his am- bition derived a specious pretence from the approbation of the princess Constantina. That cruel and aspiring woman, who had obtained from the great Constantine her father the rank of * Augusta,' placed the diadem with her own hands on the head of the Illyrian general; and seemed to expect from his victory, the accomplish- ment of those unbounded hopes, of which she had been disappointed by the death of her husband Hannibalia- nus. Perhaps it was without the consent of Constan- tina, that the new emperor formed a necessary, though dishonourable, alliance with the usurper of the west, whose purple was so recently stained with her brother's blood*. The intelligence of these important events, which so Constantius deeply affected the honour and safety of the imperial |^'"^^* ^" house, recalled the arms of Constantius from the in- A, D. 350. ^ Eutropius (x. 10.) describes Vetranio with more temper, and probably with more truth, than either of the two Victors. Vetranio was born of ob- scure parents in the wildest parts of Maesia ; and so much had his education been neglected, that, after his elevation, he studied the alphabet. e Ihe doubtful, fluctuating conduct of Vetranio is described by Julian in his first oration, and accurately explained by Spanheim, who discusses the situation and behaviour of Constantina. VOL. IT. Z