reign of Asia demanded the immediate presence of Licinius. Maximin
had been the secret ally of Maxentius, and without being discouraged by
his fate, he resolved to try the fortune of a civil war. He moved out
of Syria, towards the frontiers of Bithynia, in the depth of winter.
The season was severe and tempestuous; great numbers of men as well
as horses perished in the snow; and as the roads were broken up by
incessant rains, he was obliged to leave behind him a considerable part
of the heavy baggage, which was unable to follow the rapidity of his
forced marches. By this extraordinary effort of diligence, he arrived
with a harassed but formidable army, on the banks of the Thracian
Bosphorus before the lieutenants of Licinius were apprised of his
hostile intentions. Byzantium surrendered to the power of Maximin, after
a siege of eleven days. He was detained some days under the walls of
Heraclea; and he had no sooner taken possession of that city, than he
was alarmed by the intelligence, that Licinius had pitched his camp at
the distance of only eighteen miles. After a fruitless negotiation, in
which the two princes attempted to seduce the fidelity of each other's
adherents, they had recourse to arms. The emperor of the East commanded
a disciplined and veteran army of above seventy thousand men; and
Licinius, who had collected about thirty thousand Illyrians, was at
first oppressed by the superiority of numbers. His military skill, and
the firmness of his troops, restored the day, and obtained a decisive
victory. The incredible speed which Maximin exerted in his flight is
much more celebrated than his prowess in the battle. Twenty-four hours
afterwards he was seen, pale, trembling, and without his Imperial
ornaments, at Nicomedia, one hundred and sixty miles from the place
of his defeat. The wealth of Asia was yet unexhausted; and though the
flower of his veterans had fallen in the late action, he had still
power, if he could obtain time, to draw very numerous levies from Syria
and Egypt. But he survived his misfortune only three or four months. His
death, which happened at Tarsus, was variously ascribed to despair, to
poison, and to the divine justice. As Maximin was alike destitute of
abilities and of virtue, he was lamented neither by the people nor by
the soldiers. The provinces of the East, delivered from the terrors of
civil war, cheerfully acknowledged the authority of Licinius.

The vanquished emperor left behind h