11. The three Cæsars and sons of Constantine the Great, Constantine, 337—340; Constantius, 337—361; and Constans, 337—350; had been carefully educated, and yet resembled one another as much in their vices as they did in their names. They indeed divided the empire again upon the death of their father; but were so eager after territory, which neither of them was qualified to govern, that a series of wars followed for the next twelve years, till at last Constantius was left master of the whole; and by the murder of most of his relations secured the throne to himself.
In the partition of the empire Constantine obtained the præfectura Galliarum, Constans the præfectura Italiæ et Illyrici, and Constantius the præfectura Orientis. But as Constantine desired to add Italy and Africa to his portion, he attacked Constans, and thereby lost his life, so that Constans came into thee possession of the western countries. In consequence, however, of his wretched misgovernment, Magnentius, a general, proclaimed himself emperor in Gaul, and Constans was slain in endeavouring to escape, 350. A war with Constantius, who was then occupied in the east, became inevitable, and broke out 351. The usurper was defeated first at Mursa in Pannonia, then retreating into Gaul he was again defeated, 353; upon which he slew himself, together with his family.
Constantius alone.
351.
354.
12. As Constantius, however—sunk in effeminacy and debauchery, and surrounded and governed by eunuchs—was unable to sustain the weight of government alone, he took his cousin Constantius Gallus, hitherto a state prisoner, and whose father he had formerly slain, to his assistance, created him Cæsar, and sent him into the east against the Parthians. But his excessive arrogance, which was fomented by his wife Constantina, rendered him so dangerous that Constantius recalled him, and caused him, upon his return, to be put to death in Istria. His younger brother Fl. Julian, from whom the suspicious Constantius believed he had nothing to fear, was Nov. 6, 355. promoted in his place, created Cæsar, and sent to defend the frontiers on the Rhine. Although Julian passed suddenly from study to warfare, he not only fought against the Germans with success, but also made a deep inroad into their country. In the mean time Constantius, after his generals had been beaten by the Persians, who wished to reconquer the provinces they had ceded, was preparing an expedition against them in person, and with that view endeavoured gradually to withdraw the troops of Julian, in consequence of which the latter, suspecting his design, was induced to accept the diadem presented 361. by his soldiers. While marching, however, along the Danube against Constantius, he received information of that prince's death in Asia.
Julian, March, 360—June 25, 363.
13. Fl. Julian, (the apostate,) who reigned from his twenty-ninth to his thirty-second year, was the last and most highly gifted prince of the house of Constantine. Instructed by misfortunes and study, he yet had some faults, though certainly free from great vices. He began with reforming the luxury of the court. His abjuration of the religion now become dominant, and which he wished to annihilate by degrees, was an error in policy, which he must have discovered to his cost had his reign been prolonged. Wishing, however, to terminate the war against the Persians, he penetrated as far as the Tigris, where he lost his life in an engagement, after a reign of three years.
† The Emperor Julian and his Times, by August. Neander. Leipsic, 1812. An historical sketch.
Jovian, June 25, 363—Feb. 24, 364.
14. Fl. Jovianus, now thirty-three years of age, was immediately raised to the purple by the army. He concluded a peace with the Persians, by which he restored them all the territory that had been conquered from them since the year 297. After a short reign of eight months he was carried off by a sudden disorder; and the army proclaimed Fl. Valentinian at Nice in his stead, Valentinian almost immediately associated his Valentinian and Valens. brother Valens with himself in the government, and divided the empire by giving him the præfectura Orientis, and retaining the rest for himself.
Valentinian Feb. 26, 364—Nov. 17, 375.