nd when he had inflicted a severe revenge,
condescended to give peace to the suppliant Goths, on condition that, as
often as they were required, they should supply his armies with a body
of forty thousand soldiers. Exploits like these were no doubt honorable
to Constantine, and beneficial to the state; but it may surely be
questioned, whether they can justify the exaggerated assertion of
Eusebius, that all Scythia, as far as the extremity of the North,
divided as it was into so many names and nations of the most various
and savage manners, had been added by his victorious arms to the Roman
empire.

In this exalted state of glory, it was impossible that Constantine
should any longer endure a partner in the empire. Confiding in the
superiority of his genius and military power, he determined, without any
previous injury, to exert them for the destruction of Licinius, whose
advanced age and unpopular vices seemed to offer a very easy conquest.
But the old emperor, awakened by the approaching danger, deceived the
expectations of his friends, as well as of his enemies. Calling forth
that spirit and those abilities by which he had deserved the friendship
of Galerius and the Imperial purple, he prepared himself for the
contest, collected the forces of the East, and soon filled the plains of
Hadrianople with his troops, and the Straits of the Hellespont with his
fleet. The army consisted of one hundred and fifty thousand foot, and
fifteen thousand horse; and as the cavalry was drawn, for the most part,
from Phrygia and Cappadocia, we may conceive a more favorable opinion
of the beauty of the horses, than of the courage and dexterity of their
riders. The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty galleys of
three ranks of oars. A hundred and thirty of these were furnished by
Egypt and the adjacent coast of Africa. A hundred and ten sailed
from the ports of Phoenicia and the Isle of Cyprus; and the maritime
countries of Bithynia, Ionia, and Caria, were likewise obliged to
provide a hundred and ten galleys. The troops of Constantine were
ordered to a rendezvous at Thessalonica; they amounted to above a
hundred and twenty thousand horse and foot. Their emperor was satisfied
with their martial appearance, and his army contained more soldiers,
though fewer men, than that of his eastern competitor. The legions of
Constantine were levied in the warlike provinces of Europe; action had
confirmed their discipline, victory had elevated t