uitless enterprise, and that he had
nothing to hope either from force or famine. With an art more suitable
to the character of Diocletian than to his own, he directed his attack,
not so much against the walls of Ravenna, as against the mind of
Severus. The treachery which he had experienced disposed that unhappy
prince to distrust the most sincere of his friends and adherents. The
emissaries of Maximian easily persuaded his credulity, that a conspiracy
was formed to betray the town, and prevailed upon his fears not to
expose himself to the discretion of an irritated conqueror, but to
accept the faith of an honorable capitulation. He was at first received
with humanity and treated with respect. Maximian conducted the captive
emperor to Rome, and gave him the most solemn assurances that he had
secured his life by the resignation of the purple. But Severus, could
obtain only an easy death and an Imperial funeral. When the sentence was
signified to him, the manner of executing it was left to his own choice;
he preferred the favorite mode of the ancients, that of opening his
veins; and as soon as he expired, his body was carried to the sepulchre
which had been constructed for the family of Gallienus.

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

Though the characters of Constantine and Maxentius had very little
affinity with each other, their situation and interest were the same;
and prudence seemed to require that they should unite their forces
against the common enemy. Notwithstanding the superiority of his age
and dignity, the indefatigable Maximian passed the Alps, and, courting
a personal interview with the sovereign of Gaul, carried with him his
daughter Fausta as the pledge of the new alliance. The marriage was
celebrated at Arles with every circumstance of magnificence; and the
ancient colleague of Diocletian, who again asserted his claim to the
Western empire, conferred on his son-in-law and ally the title of
Augustus. By consenting to receive that honor from Maximian, Constantine
seemed to embrace the cause of Rome and of the senate; but his
professions were ambiguous, and his assistance slow and ineffectual. He
considered with attention the approaching contest between the masters of
Italy and the emperor of the East, and was prepared to consult his own
safety or ambition in the event of the war.

The importance of the occasion called for the presence and abilities of
Galeriu