Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/213

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the chronicles of Eusebius we read of an emperor who governed the Roman people with the greatest equity, sparing none, whether rich or poor; but measuring the punishment according to the extent of the crime. The factious senators however deposed him; and expelled every poor person from the kingdom. Immediately he fled to Constantine, and entering into a close compact with him, on all occasions, conducted himself so boldly and prudently that he succeeded him to the sovereignty of the empire. Then assembling an army, he besieged the city of Rome; and so vigilantly did he watch the motions of the Roman people, that both ingress and egress were equally precluded. By this means,