Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/361

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 343 cut in pieces a numerous detachment, which he had C II A I'. aUured into the narrow passes of Adarne. During _J '_ the greater part of the summer, the tyrant of Gaul showed himself master of the field. The troops of Constantius were harassed and dispirited; his reputa- tion declined in the eye of the world ; and his pride condescended to solicit a treaty of peace, which would have resigned to the assassin of Constans the sove- reignty of the provinces beyond the Alps. These offers were enforced by the eloquence of Philip, the imperial ambassador; and the council as well as the army of JVIagnentius were disposed to accept them. But the haughty usurper, careless of the remonstrances of his friends, gave orders that Philip should be de- tained as a captive, or at least as a hostage ; while he despatched an officer to reproach Constantius with the weakness of his reign, and to insult him by the promise of a pardon, if he would instantly abdicate the purple. " That he should confide in the justice of his cause, and the protection of an avenging Deity," was the only answer which honour permitted the emperor to return. But he was so sensible of the difficulties of his situa- tion, that he no longer dared to retaliate the indignity which had been offered to his representative. The negociation of Philip was not, however, ineffectual ; since he determined Sylvanus the Frank, a general of merit and reputation, to desert with a consider- able body of cavalry, a few days before the battle of Mursa. The city of Mursa, or Essek, celebrated in modern Battle of times for a bridge of boats five miles in length, over^^y'^g,^ the river Drave and the adjacent morasses ", has been Sept. 28. always considered as a place of importance in the wars of Hungary. Magnentivis, directing his march towards Mursa, set fire to the gates, and, by a sudden assault, had almost scaled the walls of the town. The " This remarkable bridge, which is flanked with towers, ami supported on large wooden piles, was constructed, A. D. 1566, by sultan Soliman, to facilitate the march of his armies into Hungary. See l^rowne's Travels, and liusching's System of Geography, vol. li. p. 90.