e rash enterprise of
extorting by violence what he might in vain solicit from the justice of
Constantine. But the vigilant emperor discovered the conspiracy before
it was ripe for execution; and after solemnly renouncing the alliance
of Bassianus, despoiled him of the purple, and inflicted the deserved
punishment on his treason and ingratitude. The haughty refusal of
Licinius, when he was required to deliver up the criminals who had taken
refuge in his dominions, confirmed the suspicions already entertained of
his perfidy; and the indignities offered at AEmona, on the frontiers
of Italy, to the statues of Constantine, became the signal of discord
between the two princes.

The first battle was fought near Cibalis, a city of Pannonia,
situated on the River Save, about fifty miles above Sirmium. From the
inconsiderable forces which in this important contest two such powerful
monarchs brought into the field, it may be inferred that the one was
suddenly provoked, and that the other was unexpectedly surprised. The
emperor of the West had only twenty thousand, and the sovereign of the
East no more than five and thirty thousand, men. The inferiority
of number was, however, compensated by the advantage of the ground.
Constantine had taken post in a defile about half a mile in breadth,
between a steep hill and a deep morass, and in that situation he
steadily expected and repulsed the first attack of the enemy. He pursued
his success, and advanced into the plain. But the veteran legions of
Illyricum rallied under the standard of a leader who had been trained to
arms in the school of Probus and Diocletian. The missile weapons on both
sides were soon exhausted; the two armies, with equal valor, rushed to
a closer engagement of swords and spears, and the doubtful contest had
already lasted from the dawn of the day to a late hour of the evening,
when the right wing, which Constantine led in person, made a vigorous
and decisive charge. The judicious retreat of Licinius saved the
remainder of his troops from a total defeat; but when he computed his
loss, which amounted to more than twenty thousand men, he thought it
unsafe to pass the night in the presence of an active and victorious
enemy. Abandoning his camp and magazines, he marched away with secrecy
and diligence at the head of the greatest part of his cavalry, and was
soon removed beyond the danger of a pursuit. His diligence preserved
his wife, his son, and his treasures, which he