The cause was solemnly pleaded before the Praetorian guards;
and those troops, who dreaded the severity of the old emperor, espoused
the party of Maxentius. [32] The life and freedom of Maximian were,
however, respected, and he retired from Italy into Illyricum, affecting
to lament his past conduct, and secretly contriving new mischiefs. But
Galerius, who was well acquainted with his character, soon obliged him
to leave his dominions, and the last refuge of the disappointed Maximian
was the court of his son-in-law Constantine. [33] He was received with
respect by that artful prince, and with the appearance of filial
tenderness by the empress Fausta. That he might remove every suspicion,
he resigned the Imperial purple a second time, [34] professing himself
at length convinced of the vanity of greatness and ambition. Had he
persevered in this resolution, he might have ended his life with less
dignity, indeed, than in his first retirement, yet, however, with
comfort and reputation. But the near prospect of a throne brought back
to his remembrance the state from whence he was fallen, and he resolved,
by a desperate effort either to reign or to perish. An incursion of the
Franks had summoned Constantine, with a part of his army, to the banks
of the Rhine; the remainder of the troops were stationed in the southern
provinces of Gaul, which lay exposed to the enterprises of the Italian
emperor, and a considerable treasure was deposited in the city of Arles.
Maximian either craftily invented, or easily credited, a vain report of
the death of Constantine. Without hesitation he ascended the throne,
seized the treasure, and scattering it with his accustomed profusion
among the soldiers, endeavored to awake in their minds the memory of his
ancient dignity and exploits. Before he could establish his authority,
or finish the negotiation which he appears to have entered into with his
son Maxentius, the celerity of Constantine defeated all his hopes. On
the first news of his perfidy and ingratitude, that prince returned by
rapid marches from the Rhine to the Saone, embarked on the last
mentioned river at Chalons, and at Lyons trusting himself to the
rapidity of the Rhone, arrived at the gates of Arles, with a military
force which it was impossible for Maximian to resist, and which scarcely
permitted him to take refuge in the neighboring city of Marseilles. The
narrow neck of land which joined that place to the continent was
fortified ag