heir hopes, and
there were among them a great number of veterans, who, after seventeen
glorious campaigns under the same leader, prepared themselves to deserve
an honorable dismission by a last effort of their valor. But the naval
preparations of Constantine were in every respect much inferior to those
of Licinius. The maritime cities of Greece sent their respective quotas
of men and ships to the celebrated harbor of Piraeus, and their united
forces consisted of no more than two hundred small vessels--a very
feeble armament, if it is compared with those formidable fleets which
were equipped and maintained by the republic of Athens during the
Peloponnesian war. Since Italy was no longer the seat of government,
the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna had been gradually
neglected; and as the shipping and mariners of the empire were supported
by commerce rather than by war, it was natural that they should the
most abound in the industrious provinces of Egypt and Asia. It is
only surprising that the eastern emperor, who possessed so great a
superiority at sea, should have neglected the opportunity of carrying an
offensive war into the centre of his rival's dominions.

Instead of embracing such an active resolution, which might have changed
the whole face of the war, the prudent Licinius expected the approach
of his rival in a camp near Hadrianople, which he had fortified with an
anxious care, that betrayed his apprehension of the event. Constantine
directed his march from Thessalonica towards that part of Thrace, till
he found himself stopped by the broad and rapid stream of the Hebrus,
and discovered the numerous army of Licinius, which filled the steep
ascent of the hill, from the river to the city of Hadrianople. Many
days were spent in doubtful and distant skirmishes; but at length the
obstacles of the passage and of the attack were removed by the intrepid
conduct of Constantine. In this place we might relate a wonderful
exploit of Constantine, which, though it can scarcely be paralleled
either in poetry or romance, is celebrated, not by a venal orator
devoted to his fortune, but by an historian, the partial enemy of his
fame. We are assured that the valiant emperor threw himself into the
River Hebrus, accompanied only by twelve horsemen, and that by the
effort or terror of his invincible arm, he broke, slaughtered, and put
to flight a host of a hundred and fifty thousand men. The credulity of
Zosimus prevailed s