CHAP. XIV.
Alps were then guarded by nature, they are now fortified by art. Citadels, constructed with no less skill
than labour and expense, command every avenue into
the plain, and on that side render Italy almost inaccessible to the enemies of the king of Sardinia[1]. But
in the course of the intermediate period, the generals
who have attempted the passage have seldom experienced any difficulty or resistance. In the age of
Constantine, the peasants of the mountains were civilized and obedient subjects; the country was plentifully
stocked with provisions, and the stupendous highways
which the Romans had carried over the Alps, opened
several comnumications between Gaul and Italy[2]. Constantine preferred the road of the Cottian Alps, or, as
it is now called, of mount Cenis, and led his troops
with such active diligence, that he descended into the
plain of Piedmont before the court of Maxentius had
received any certain intelligence of his departure from
the banks of the Rhine. The city of Susa, however,
which is situated at the foot of mount Cenis, was surrounded with walls, and provided with a garrison sufficiently numerous to check the progress of an invader;
but the impatience of Constantine's troops disdained
the tedious forms of a siege. The same day that they
appealed before Susa, they applied fire to the gates,
and ladders to the walls; and mounting to the assault
amidst a shower of stones and arrows, they entered the
place sword in hand, and cut in pieces the greatest
part of the garrison. The flames were extinguished
by the care of Constantine, and the remains of Susa
preserved from total destruction.
Battle of Turin
About forty miles
from thence a more severe contest awaited him. A
numerous army of Italians was assembled under the
- ↑ La Brunette near Suse, Dcmont, Exiles, Fenestrelles, Coni, etc.
- ↑ See Ammian. .Marcellin. xv. 10. His description of the roads over the Alps is clear, lively, and accurate.
de Folard (Polybe, torn, iv.) and M. d'Anville have led him over mount Genevre. But notwithstanding the authority of an experienced officer and a learned geographer, the pretensions of mount Cenis are supported in a specious, not to say a convincing manner, by M. Grosley, Observations sur l'Italie, tom. i. p. 40, etc.
