erona Illustrata, part i. p. 142 150.]

[Footnote 58: They wanted chains for so great a multitude of captives;
and the whole council was at a loss; but the sagacious conqueror
imagined the happy expedient of converting into fetters the swords of
the vanquished. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.]

[Footnote 59: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.]

While Constantine signalized his conduct and valor in the field, the
sovereign of Italy appeared insensible of the calamities and danger of
a civil war which reigned in the heart of his dominions. Pleasure was
still the only business of Maxentius. Concealing, or at least attempting
to conceal, from the public knowledge the misfortunes of his arms, [60]
he indulged himself in a vain confidence which deferred the remedies of
the approaching evil, without deferring the evil itself. [61] The rapid
progress of Constantine [62] was scarcely sufficient to awaken him
from his fatal security; he flattered himself, that his well-known
liberality, and the majesty of the Roman name, which had already
delivered him from two invasions, would dissipate with the same facility
the rebellious army of Gaul. The officers of experience and ability, who
had served under the banners of Maximian, were at length compelled
to inform his effeminate son of the imminent danger to which he was
reduced; and, with a freedom that at once surprised and convinced him,
to urge the necessity of preventing his ruin, by a vigorous exertion of
his remaining power. The resources of Maxentius, both of men and money,
were still considerable. The Praetorian guards felt how strongly their
own interest and safety were connected with his cause; and a third army
was soon collected, more numerous than those which had been lost in
the battles of Turin and Verona. It was far from the intention of the
emperor to lead his troops in person. A stranger to the exercises of
war, he trembled at the apprehension of so dangerous a contest; and as
fear is commonly superstitious, he listened with melancholy attention
to the rumors of omens and presages which seemed to menace his life and
empire. Shame at length supplied the place of courage, and forced him
to take the field. He was unable to sustain the contempt of the Roman
people. The circus resounded with their indignant clamors, and
they tumultuously besieged the gates of the palace, reproaching the
pusillanimity of their indolent sovereign, and celebrating the heroic
spirit of Constantine. [63] Before Maxe