nt of the Gothic war.]

In this exalted state of glory, it was impossible that Constantine
should any longer endure a partner in the empire. Confiding in the
superiority of his genius and military power, he determined, without any
previous injury, to exert them for the destruction of Licinius, whose
advanced age and unpopular vices seemed to offer a very easy conquest.
[103] But the old emperor, awakened by the approaching danger, deceived
the expectations of his friends, as well as of his enemies. Calling
forth that spirit and those abilities by which he had deserved the
friendship of Galerius and the Imperial purple, he prepared himself
for the contest, collected the forces of the East, and soon filled the
plains of Hadrianople with his troops, and the Straits of the Hellespont
with his fleet. The army consisted of one hundred and fifty thousand
foot, and fifteen thousand horse; and as the cavalry was drawn, for the
most part, from Phrygia and Cappadocia, we may conceive a more favorable
opinion of the beauty of the horses, than of the courage and dexterity
of their riders. The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty
galleys of three ranks of oars. A hundred and thirty of these were
furnished by Egypt and the adjacent coast of Africa. A hundred and
ten sailed from the ports of Phoenicia and the Isle of Cyprus; and the
maritime countries of Bithynia, Ionia, and Caria, were likewise obliged
to provide a hundred and ten galleys. The troops of Constantine were
ordered to a rendezvous at Thessalonica; they amounted to above a
hundred and twenty thousand horse and foot. [104] Their emperor was
satisfied with their martial appearance, and his army contained more
soldiers, though fewer men, than that of his eastern competitor. The
legions of Constantine were levied in the warlike provinces of Europe;
action had confirmed their discipline, victory had elevated their
hopes, and there were among them a great number of veterans, who, after
seventeen glorious campaigns under the same leader, prepared themselves
to deserve an honorable dismission by a last effort of their valor. [105]
But the naval preparations of Constantine were in every respect much
inferior to those of Licinius. The maritime cities of Greece sent their
respective quotas of men and ships to the celebrated harbor of Piraeus,
and their united forces consisted of no more than two hundred small
vessels--a very feeble armament, if it is compared with those formi