ervations. See likewise l. v. tit. 7, 8.]

[Footnote 94: Omnia foris placita, domi prospera, annonae ubertate,
fructuum copia, &c. Panegyr. Vet. x. 38. This oration of Nazarius was
pronounced on the day of the Quinquennalia of the Caesars, the 1st of
March, A. D. 321.]

[Footnote 95: See the edict of Constantine, addressed
to the Roman people, in the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. 24, tom. iii.
p. 189.]

[Footnote 96: His son very fairly assigns the true reason of the repeal:
"Na sub specie atrocioris judicii aliqua in ulciscendo crimine dilatio
nae ceretur." Cod. Theod. tom. iii. p. 193]

[Footnote 97: Eusebius (in Vita Constant. l. iii. c. 1) chooses to
affirm, that in the reign of this hero, the sword of justice hung idle
in the hands of the magistrates. Eusebius himself, (l. iv. c. 29, 54,)
and the Theodosian Code, will inform us that this excessive lenity was
not owing to the want either of atrocious criminals or of penal laws.]

The civil administration was sometimes interrupted by the military
defence of the empire. Crispus, a youth of the most amiable character,
who had received with the title of Caesar the command of the Rhine,
distinguished his conduct, as well as valor, in several victories over
the Franks and Alemanni, and taught the barbarians of that frontier to
dread the eldest son of Constantine, and the grandson of Constantius.
[98] The emperor himself had assumed the more difficult and important
province of the Danube. The Goths, who in the time of Claudius and
Aurelian had felt the weight of the Roman arms, respected the power
of the empire, even in the midst of its intestine divisions. But the
strength of that warlike nation was now restored by a peace of near
fifty years; a new generation had arisen, who no longer remembered the
misfortunes of ancient days; the Sarmatians of the Lake Maeotis followed
the Gothic standard either as subjects or as allies, and their united
force was poured upon the countries of Illyricum. Campona, Margus, and
Benonia, [981] appear to have been the scenes of several memorable sieges
and battles; [99] and though Constantine encountered a very obstinate
resistance, he prevailed at length in the contest, and the Goths were
compelled to purchased an ignominious retreat, by restoring the booty
and prisoners which they had taken. Nor was this advantage sufficient to
satisfy the indignation of the emperor. He resolved to chastise as
well as to repulse the insolent barbarians