Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/64

 XIV. 46 THE DECLINE AND FALL ClfAP. the school of Probus and Diocletian. The missile weapons on both sides were soon exhausted ; the two armies, with equal valour, rushed to a closer engage- ment of swords and spears ; and the doubtful contest had already lasted from the dawn of the day to a late hour of the evening, when the right wing, which Con- stantine led in person, made a vigorous and decisive charge. The judicious i*etreat of Licinius saved the remainder of his troops from a total defeat ; but when he computed his loss, which amounted to more than twenty thousand men, he thought it unsafe to pass the night in the presence of an active and victorious enemy. Abandoning his camp and magazines, he marched away with secrecy and diligence at the head of the greatest part of his cavalry, and was soon re- moved beyond the danger of a pursuit. His diligence preserved his wife, his son, and his treasures, which he had deposited at Sirmium. Licinius yjassed through that city, and breaking down the bridge on the Save, hastened to collect a new army in Dacia and Thrace. In his flight he bestowed the precarious title of Cassar on Valens, his general of the Illyrian frontier". Battle of The plain of Mardia in Thrace was the theatre of a second battle, no less obstinate and bloody than the former. The troops on both sides displayed the same valour and discipline ; and the victory was once more decided by the superior abilities of Constantine, who directed a body of five thousand men to gain an advan- tageous height, from whence, during the heat of the action, they attacked the rear of the enemy, and made a very considerable slaughter. The troops of Licinius, however, presenting a double front, still maintained their ground, till the approach of night put an end to the combat, and secured their retreat towards the mountains of Macedonia''. The loss of two battles, " Zosimus (1. ii. p. 90, 91.) gives a very particular account of this battle ; but the descriptions of Zosimus are rhetorical rather than military. ^ Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 92, 93; Anonym. Valesian. p. 713. The epitomes furnish some circumstances ; but they frequently confound the two wars be- tvveen Licinius and Constantine. Mardia.