dable
fleets which were equipped and maintained by the republic of Athens
during the Peloponnesian war. [106] Since Italy was no longer the seat
of government, the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna had been
gradually neglected; and as the shipping and mariners of the empire
were supported by commerce rather than by war, it was natural that they
should the most abound in the industrious provinces of Egypt and Asia.
It is only surprising that the eastern emperor, who possessed so great a
superiority at sea, should have neglected the opportunity of carrying an
offensive war into the centre of his rival's dominions.

[Footnote 103: Constantinus tamen, vir ingens, et omnia efficere nitens
quae animo praeparasset, simul principatum totius urbis affectans,
Licinio bellum intulit. Eutropius, x. 5. Zosimus, l. ii. p 89. The
reasons which they have assigned for the first civil war, may, with more
propriety, be applied to the second.]

[Footnote 104: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 94, 95.]

[Footnote 105: Constantine was very attentive to the privileges and
comforts of his fellow-veterans, (Conveterani,) as he now began to style
them. See the Theodosian Code, l. vii. tit. 10, tom. ii. p. 419, 429.]

[Footnote 106: Whilst the Athenians maintained the empire of the sea,
their fleet consisted of three, and afterwards of four, hundred galleys
of three ranks of oars, all completely equipped and ready for immediate
service. The arsenal in the port of Piraeus had cost the republic a
thousand talents, about two hundred and sixteen thousand pounds. See
Thucydides de Bel. Pelopon. l. ii. c. 13, and Meursius de Fortuna
Attica, c. 19.]

Instead of embracing such an active resolution, which might have changed
the whole face of the war, the prudent Licinius expected the approach of
his rival in a camp near Hadrianople, which he had fortified with an
anxious care, that betrayed his apprehension of the event. Constantine
directed his march from Thessalonica towards that part of Thrace, till
he found himself stopped by the broad and rapid stream of the Hebrus,
and discovered the numerous army of Licinius, which filled the steep
ascent of the hill, from the river to the city of Hadrianople. Many days
were spent in doubtful and distant skirmishes; but at length the
obstacles of the passage and of the attack were removed by the intrepid
conduct of Constantine. In this place we might relate a wonderful
exploit of Constantine, which, though it can s