Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/404

 386 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, an armed multitude: and although Juhan, from his XIX -. . - '__ early habits of conversation and literature, was more familiarly acquainted with the beauties of the Greek language, he had attained a competent knowledge of the Latin tongue y. Since JuHan was Hot originally designed for the character of a legislator or a judge, it is probable that the civil jurisprudence of the Ro- mans had not engaged any considerable share of his attention : but he derived from his philosophic studies an inflexible regard for justice, tempered by a disposi- tion to clemency ; the knowledge of the general prin- ciples of equity and evidence, and the faculty of pa- tiently investigating the most intricate and tedious questions which could be proposed for his discussion. The measures of policy, and the operations of war, must submit to the various accidents of circumstance and character; and the unpractised student will often be perplexed in the application of the most perfect theory. But in the acquisition of this important science, Julian was assisted by the active vigour of his own genius, as well as by the wisdom and experience of Sallust, an officer of rank, who soon conceived a sincere attach- ment for a prince so worthy of his friendship ; and whose incorruptible integrity was adorned by the talent of insinuating the harshest truths, without wounding the delicacy of a royal ear ^ jjig fl,.5t Immediately after Julian had received the purple at campaign Milan, he was sent into Gaul, with a feeble retinue of A. D.356. three hundred and sixty soldiers. At Vienna, where he passed a painful and anxious winter, in the hands of those ministers to whom Constantius had intrusted the direction of his conduct, the Caesar was informed of y Aderat Latine quoque disserenti sufficiens sermo. Ammianus, xvi. 5. But Julian, educated in the schools of Greece, always considered the lan- guage of the Romans as a foreign and popular dialect, which he might use on necessary occasions. ^ We are ignorant of the actual office of tliis excellent minister, whom Julian afterwards created prefect of Gaul. Sallust was speedily recalled by the jealousy of the emperor ; and we may still read a sensible but pe- dantic discourse, (p. 240 — 252.) in which Julian deplores the loss of so valuable a friend, to whom he acknowledges himself indebted for his repu- tation. See la Bleterie, Preface a la Vie de Jovien, p. 20.