foot of the tribunal. "This man," said he, "is the
murderer of Numerian;" and without giving him time to enter on a
dangerous justification, drew his sword, and buried it in the breast of
the unfortunate praefect. A charge supported by such decisive proof
was admitted without contradiction, and the legions, with repeated
acclamations, acknowledged the justice and authority of the emperor
Diocletian. [107]

[Footnote 104: We are obliged to the Alexandrian Chronicle, p. 274, for
the knowledge of the time and place where Diocletian was elected
emperor.]

[Footnote 105: Hist. August. p. 251. Eutrop. ix. 88. Hieronym. in Chron.
According to these judicious writers, the death of Numerian was
discovered by the stench of his dead body. Could no aromatics be found
in the Imperial household?]

[Footnote 106: Aurel. Victor. Eutropius, ix. 20. Hieronym. in Chron.]

[Footnote 107: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 252. The reason why
Diocletian killed Aper, (a wild boar,) was founded on a prophecy and a
pun, as foolish as they are well known.]

Before we enter upon the memorable reign of that prince, it will be
proper to punish and dismiss the unworthy brother of Numerian. Carinus
possessed arms and treasures sufficient to support his legal title to
the empire. But his personal vices overbalanced every advantage of birth
and situation. The most faithful servants of the father despised the
incapacity, and dreaded the cruel arrogance, of the son. The hearts of
the people were engaged in favor of his rival, and even the senate
was inclined to prefer a usurper to a tyrant. The arts of Diocletian
inflamed the general discontent; and the winter was employed in secret
intrigues, and open preparations for a civil war. In the spring, the
forces of the East and of the West encountered each other in the plains
of Margus, a small city of Maesia, in the neighborhood of the Danube.
[108] The troops, so lately returned from the Persian war, had acquired
their glory at the expense of health and numbers; nor were they in a
condition to contend with the unexhausted strength of the legions of
Europe. Their ranks were broken, and, for a moment, Diocletian despaired
of the purple and of life. But the advantage which Carinus had obtained
by the valor of his soldiers, he quickly lost by the infidelity of his
officers. A tribune, whose wife he had seduced, seized the opportunity
of revenge, and, by a single blow, extinguished civil discord in the
blood o