r. [89]

[Footnote 88: Cibalis or Cibalae (whose name is still preserved in the
obscure ruins of Swilei) was situated about fifty miles from Sirmium,
the capital of Illyricum, and about one hundred from Taurunum, or
Belgrade, and the conflux of the Danube and the Save. The Roman
garrisons and cities on those rivers are finely illustrated by M.
d'Anville in a memoir inserted in l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom.
xxviii.]

[Footnote 89: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 90, 91) gives a very particular account
of this battle; but the descriptions of Zosimus are rhetorical rather
than military]

Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.--Part IV.

The plain of Mardia in Thrace was the theatre of a second battle no less
obstinate and bloody than the former. The troops on both sides displayed
the same valor and discipline; and the victory was once more decided
by the superior abilities of Constantine, who directed a body of five
thousand men to gain an advantageous height, from whence, during the
heat of the action, they attacked the rear of the enemy, and made a very
considerable slaughter. The troops of Licinius, however, presenting a
double front, still maintained their ground, till the approach of
night put an end to the combat, and secured their retreat towards the
mountains of Macedonia. [90] The loss of two battles, and of his bravest
veterans, reduced the fierce spirit of Licinius to sue for peace. His
ambassador Mistrianus was admitted to the audience of Constantine: he
expatiated on the common topics of moderation and humanity, which are
so familiar to the eloquence of the vanquished; represented in the most
insinuating language, that the event of the war was still doubtful,
whilst its inevitable calamities were alike pernicious to both the
contending parties; and declared that he was authorized to propose a
lasting and honorable peace in the name of the two emperors his
masters. Constantine received the mention of Valens with indignation and
contempt. "It was not for such a purpose," he sternly replied, "that we
have advanced from the shores of the western ocean in an uninterrupted
course of combats and victories, that, after rejecting an ungrateful
kinsman, we should accept for our colleague a contemptible slave. The
abdication of Valens is the first article of the treaty." [91] It was
necessary to accept this humiliating condition; and the unhappy Valens,
after a reign of a few days, was depriv