rected at
Rome, the old emperor broke from the retirement where the authority of
Diocletian had condemned him to pass a life of melancholy and solitude,
and concealed his returning ambition under the disguise of paternal
tenderness. At the request of his son and of the senate, he condescended
to reassume the purple. His ancient dignity, his experience, and his
fame in arms, added strength as well as reputation to the party of
Maxentius. [22]

[Footnote 22: The sixth Panegyric represents the conduct of Maximian
in the most favorable light, and the ambiguous expression of Aurelius
Victor, "retractante diu," may signify either that he contrived, or that
he opposed, the conspiracy. See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, and Lactantius
de M. P. c. 26.]

According to the advice, or rather the orders, of his colleague, the
emperor Severus immediately hastened to Rome, in the full confidence,
that, by his unexpected celerity, he should easily suppress the tumult
of an unwarlike populace, commanded by a licentious youth. But he found
on his arrival the gates of the city shut against him, the walls filled
with men and arms, an experienced general at the head of the rebels, and
his own troops without spirit or affection. A large body of Moors
deserted to the enemy, allured by the promise of a large donative; and,
if it be true that they had been levied by Maximian in his African war,
preferring the natural feelings of gratitude to the artificial ties of
allegiance. Anulinus, the Praetorian praefect, declared himself in favor
of Maxentius, and drew after him the most considerable part of the
troops, accustomed to obey his commands.

Rome, according to the expression of an orator, recalled her armies; and
the unfortunate Severus, destitute of force and of counsel, retired, or
rather fled, with precipitation, to Ravenna.

Here he might for some time have been safe. The fortifications of
Ravenna were able to resist the attempts, and the morasses that
surrounded the town, were sufficient to prevent the approach, of the
Italian army. The sea, which Severus commanded with a powerful fleet,
secured him an inexhaustible supply of provisions, and gave a free
entrance to the legions, which, on the return of spring, would advance
to his assistance from Illyricum and the East. Maximian, who conducted
the siege in person, was soon convinced that he might waste his time and
his army in the fruitless enterprise, and that he had nothing to hope
either fr