g the many evils which he had caused by his
general maxims of administration. But even those maxims were less
the effect of choice than of necessity. And if we except the death of
Maximian, the reign of Constantine in Gaul seems to have been the
most innocent and even virtuous period of his life. The provinces were
protected by his presence from the inroads of the barbarians, who either
dreaded or experienced his active valor. After a signal victory over the
Franks and Alemanni, several of their princes were exposed by his order
to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of Treves, and the people seem to
have enjoyed the spectacle, without discovering, in such a treatment of
royal captives, any thing that was repugnant to the laws of nations or
of humanity. *

The virtues of Constantine were rendered more illustrious by the vices
of Maxentius. Whilst the Gallic provinces enjoyed as much happiness as
the condition of the times was capable of receiving, Italy and Africa
groaned under the dominion of a tyrant, as contemptible as he was
odious. The zeal of flattery and faction has indeed too frequently
sacrificed the reputation of the vanquished to the glory of their
successful rivals; but even those writers who have revealed, with
the most freedom and pleasure, the faults of Constantine, unanimously
confess that Maxentius was cruel, rapacious, and profligate. He had the
good fortune to suppress a slight rebellion in Africa. The governor and
a few adherents had been guilty; the province suffered for their crime.
The flourishing cities of Cirtha and Carthage, and the whole extent
of that fertile country, were wasted by fire and sword. The abuse of
victory was followed by the abuse of law and justice. A formidable army
of sycophants and delators invaded Africa; the rich and the noble were
easily convicted of a connection with the rebels; and those among
them who experienced the emperor's clemency, were only punished by the
confiscation of their estates. So signal a victory was celebrated by a
magnificent triumph, and Maxentius exposed to the eyes of the people the
spoils and captives of a Roman province. The state of the capital was
no less deserving of compassion than that of Africa. The wealth of Rome
supplied an inexhaustible fund for his vain and prodigal expenses, and
the ministers of his revenue were skilled in the arts of rapine. It
was under his reign that the method of exacting a free gift from the
senators was first inv