ad been established on
the throne. The cause was solemnly pleaded before the Praetorian guards;
and those troops, who dreaded the severity of the old emperor, espoused
the party of Maxentius. The life and freedom of Maximian were, however,
respected, and he retired from Italy into Illyricum, affecting to lament
his past conduct, and secretly contriving new mischiefs. But Galerius,
who was well acquainted with his character, soon obliged him to leave
his dominions, and the last refuge of the disappointed Maximian was the
court of his son-in-law Constantine. He was received with respect by
that artful prince, and with the appearance of filial tenderness by the
empress Fausta. That he might remove every suspicion, he resigned the
Imperial purple a second time, professing himself at length convinced
of the vanity of greatness and ambition. Had he persevered in this
resolution, he might have ended his life with less dignity, indeed, than
in his first retirement, yet, however, with comfort and reputation. But
the near prospect of a throne brought back to his remembrance the state
from whence he was fallen, and he resolved, by a desperate effort
either to reign or to perish. An incursion of the Franks had summoned
Constantine, with a part of his army, to the banks of the Rhine; the
remainder of the troops were stationed in the southern provinces of
Gaul, which lay exposed to the enterprises of the Italian emperor, and
a considerable treasure was deposited in the city of Arles. Maximian
either craftily invented, or easily credited, a vain report of the death
of Constantine. Without hesitation he ascended the throne, seized the
treasure, and scattering it with his accustomed profusion among the
soldiers, endeavored to awake in their minds the memory of his ancient
dignity and exploits. Before he could establish his authority, or finish
the negotiation which he appears to have entered into with his son
Maxentius, the celerity of Constantine defeated all his hopes. On the
first news of his perfidy and ingratitude, that prince returned by rapid
marches from the Rhine to the Saone, embarked on the last mentioned
river at Chalons, and at Lyons trusting himself to the rapidity of the
Rhone, arrived at the gates of Arles, with a military force which it was
impossible for Maximian to resist, and which scarcely permitted him to
take refuge in the neighboring city of Marseilles. The narrow neck of
land which joined that place to the contine