d carried over the Alps, opened
several communications between Gaul and Italy. Constantine preferred the
road of the Cottian Alps, or, as it is now called, of Mount Cenis, and
led his troops with such active diligence, that he descended into the
plain of Piedmont before the court of Maxentius had received any certain
intelligence of his departure from the banks of the Rhine. The city
of Susa, however, which is situated at the foot of Mount Cenis, was
surrounded with walls, and provided with a garrison sufficiently
numerous to check the progress of an invader; but the impatience of
Constantine's troops disdained the tedious forms of a siege. The same
day that they appeared before Susa, they applied fire to the gates, and
ladders to the walls; and mounting to the assault amidst a shower of
stones and arrows, they entered the place sword in hand, and cut in
pieces the greatest part of the garrison. The flames were extinguished
by the care of Constantine, and the remains of Susa preserved from
total destruction. About forty miles from thence, a more severe contest
awaited him. A numerous army of Italians was assembled under the
lieutenants of Maxentius, in the plains of Turin. Its principal strength
consisted in a species of heavy cavalry, which the Romans, since the
decline of their discipline, had borrowed from the nations of the East.
The horses, as well as the men, were clothed in complete armor, the
joints of which were artfully adapted to the motions of their bodies.
The aspect of this cavalry was formidable, their weight almost
irresistible; and as, on this occasion, their generals had drawn them
up in a compact column or wedge, with a sharp point, and with spreading
flanks, they flattered themselves that they could easily break and
trample down the army of Constantine. They might, perhaps, have
succeeded in their design, had not their experienced adversary embraced
the same method of defence, which in similar circumstances had been
practised by Aurelian. The skilful evolutions of Constantine divided and
baffled this massy column of cavalry. The troops of Maxentius fled in
confusion towards Turin; and as the gates of the city were shut against
them, very few escaped the sword of the victorious pursuers. By this
important service, Turin deserved to experience the clemency and even
favor of the conqueror. He made his entry into the Imperial palace of
Milan, and almost all the cities of Italy between the Alps and the Po