OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 335 was reserved for the more ignoble hand of a domestic chap. traitor. The pernicious tendency of the system intro- duced by Constantine, was displayed in the feeble ad- ministration of his sons ; who, by their vices and weak- ness, soon lost the esteem and affections of their people. The pride assumed by Constans, from the unmerited success of his arms, was rendered more contemptible by his want of abilities and application. His fond ]mr- tiality towards some German captives, distinguished only by the charms of youth, was an object of scandal .to the people ^ ; and Magnentius, an ambitious soldier, who was himself of barbarian extraction, was encou- raged by the public discontent to assert the honour of the Roman name. The chosen bands of Jovians and Herculians, who acknowledged Magnentius as their leader, maintained the most respectable and important station in the imperial camp. The friendship of Mar- cellinus, count of the sacred largesses, supplied with a liberal hand the means of seduction. The soldiers were convinced by the most specious arguments, that the republic summoned them to break the bonds of hereditary servitude ; and, by the choice of an active and vigilant prince, to reward the same virtues which had raised the ancestors of the degenerate Constans from a private condition to the throne of the world. As soon as the conspiracy was ripe for execution, Mar- cellinus, under the pretence of celebrating his son's birthday, gave a splendid entertainment to the illustri- ous and honourable persons of the court of Gaul, which then resided in the city of Autun. The intemperance of the feast was artfully protracted till a very late hour
- Quarum (gentium) obsides pretio quaesitos pueros venustiores, quod
cultius habuerat, libidine hujusmodi arsisse pro certo habetur. Had not the depraved taste of Constans been publicl)' avowed, the elder Victor, who held a considerable office in his brother's reign, would not have asserted it in such positive terms.
- Julian, Oral. i. and ii. ; Zosim. 1. ii. p. 134 ; A'ictor in Epitome. There
is reason to believe, that Magnentius was born in one of those barbarian colonies which Constantius Chlorus had established in Gaul. See this His- tory, vol. i. p. 429. His behaviour may remind us of the patriot earl of Lei- cester, the famous Simon de Montfort, who could persuade the good people of England, that he, a Frenchman by birth, had taken arms to deliver them from foreign favourites.
