ed
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, &c. ----The dissertation of
Messrs. Cramer and Wickham has clearly shown that the Little St. Bernard
must claim the honor of Hannibal's passage. Mr. Long (London, 1831) has
added some sensible corrections re Hannibal's march to the Alps.--M]

[Footnote 54: La Brunette near Suse, Demont, Exiles, Fenestrelles, Coni,
&c.]

[Footnote 55: See Ammian. Marcellin. xv. 10. His description of the
roads over the Alps is clear, lively, and accurate.]

[Footnote 56: Zosimus as well as Eusebius hasten from the passage of
the Alps to the decisive action near Rome. We must apply to the two
Panegyrics for the intermediate actions of Constantine.]

From Milan to Rome, the Aemilian and Flaminian highways offered an easy
march of about four hundred miles; but though Constantine was impatient
to encounter the tyrant, he prudently directed his operations against
another army of Italians, who, by their strength and position, might
either oppose his progress, or, in case of a misfortune, might intercept
his retreat. Ruricius Pompeianus, a general distinguished by his valor
and ability, had under his command the city of Verona, and all the
troops that were stationed in the province of Venetia. As soon as he was
informed that Constantine was advancing towards him, he detached a large
body of cavalry which was defeated in an engagement near Brescia,
and pursued by the Gallic legions as far as the gates of Verona. The
necessity, the importance, and the difficulties of the siege of Verona,
immediately presented themselves to the sagacious mind of Constantine.
[57] The city was accessible only by a narrow peninsula towards the west,
as the other three sides were surrounded by the Adige, a rapid river,
which covered the province of Venetia, from whence the besieged derived
an inexhaustible supply of men and provisions. It was not without great
difficulty, and after several fruitless attempts, that Constantine found
means to pass the river at some distance above the city, and in a place
where the torrent was less violent. He then encompassed Verona with
strong lines, pushed his attacks with prudent vigor, and repelled a
desperate sally of Pompeianus. That intrepid general, when he had used
every means of defence that the strength of the place or that of the
garri