Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/374

 35G THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, as an act of wanton cruelty, but as a dangerous insult ^^^' on the supreme majesty of Constantius. Two ministers of illustrious rank, Domitian, the oriental prefect, and Montius, quajstor of the palace, were empowered by a special commission to visit and reform the state of the east. They were instructed to behave towards Gallus with moderation and respect, and, by the gentlest arts of persuasion, to engage him to comply with the in- vitation of his brother and colleague. The rashness of the prefect disappointed these prudent measures, and hastened his own ruin, as well as that of his enemy. On his arrival at Antioch, Domitian passed disdain- fully before the gates of the palace, and alleging a slight pretence of indisposition, continued several days in sullen retirement, to prepare an inflammatory me- morial, which he transmitted to the imperial court. Yielding at length to the pressing solicitations of Gal- lus, the prefect condescended to take his seat in coun- cil; but his first step was to signify a concise and haughty mandate, importing that the Caesar should im- mediately repair to Italy, and threatening that he him- self would punish his delay or hesitation, by suspending the usual allowance of his household. The nephew and daughter of Constantine, who could ill brook the insolence of a subject, expressed their resentment by instantly delivei'ing Domitian to the custody of a guard. The quarrel still admitted of some terms of accommo- dation. They were rendered impracticable by the imprudent behaviour of Montius, a statesman, whose art and experience were frequently betrayed by the levity of his disposition ". The quaestor reproached Gallus in haughty language, that a prince who was scarcely authorised to remove a municipal magistrate, should presume to imprison a pretorian prefect ; con- " In the present text of Ammianus, we read, asper, quidem, sed ad leni- tatem propensior ; which forms a sentence of contradictory nonsense. With the aid of an old manuscript, Valesius has rectified the first of these corrup- tions, and we perceive a ray of light in the substitution of the word vcifer. If we venture to change leniiatem into levitatem, this alteration of a single letter will render the whole passage clear and consistent.