o the banks of the Tyber, which covered their
rear, and forbade their retreat. We are informed, and we may believe,
that Constantine disposed his troops with consummate skill, and that
he chose for himself the post of honor and danger. Distinguished by the
splendor of his arms, he charged in person the cavalry of his rival; and
his irresistible attack determined the fortune of the day. The cavalry
of Maxentius was principally composed either of unwieldy cuirassiers,
or of light Moors and Numidians. They yielded to the vigor of the Gallic
horse, which possessed more activity than the one, more firmness than
the other. The defeat of the two wings left the infantry without any
protection on its flanks, and the undisciplined Italians fled without
reluctance from the standard of a tyrant whom they had always hated,
and whom they no longer feared. The Praetorians, conscious that their
offences were beyond the reach of mercy, were animated by revenge and
despair. Notwithstanding their repeated efforts, those brave veterans
were unable to recover the victory: they obtained, however, an honorable
death; and it was observed that their bodies covered the same ground
which had been occupied by their ranks. The confusion then became
general, and the dismayed troops of Maxentius, pursued by an implacable
enemy, rushed by thousands into the deep and rapid stream of the Tyber.
The emperor himself attempted to escape back into the city over the
Milvian bridge; but the crowds which pressed together through that
narrow passage forced him into the river, where he was immediately
drowned by the weight of his armor. His body, which had sunk very deep
into the mud, was found with some difficulty the next day. The sight of
his head, when it was exposed to the eyes of the people, convinced them
of their deliverance, and admonished them to receive with acclamations
of loyalty and gratitude the fortunate Constantine, who thus achieved by
his valor and ability the most splendid enterprise of his life.

In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the praise of
clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigor. He inflicted the
same treatment to which a defeat would have exposed his own person
and family, put to death the two sons of the tyrant, and carefully
extirpated his whole race. The most distinguished adherents of Maxentius
must have expected to share his fate, as they had shared his prosperity
and his crimes; but when the Roman p