no longer accompany his steps, he
trusted the event to valor and to fortune. In the neighborhood of Basil
he assembled and divided his army. [28] One body, which consisted of ten
thousand men, was directed under the command of Nevitta, general of the
cavalry, to advance through the midland parts of Rhaetia and Noricum.
A similar division of troops, under the orders of Jovius and Jovinus,
prepared to follow the oblique course of the highways, through the Alps,
and the northern confines of Italy. The instructions to the generals
were conceived with energy and precision: to hasten their march in close
and compact columns, which, according to the disposition of the ground,
might readily be changed into any order of battle; to secure themselves
against the surprises of the night by strong posts and vigilant guards;
to prevent resistance by their unexpected arrival; to elude examination
by their sudden departure; to spread the opinion of their strength, and
the terror of his name; and to join their sovereign under the walls
of Sirmium. For himself Julian had reserved a more difficult and
extraordinary part. He selected three thousand brave and active
volunteers, resolved, like their leader, to cast behind them every hope
of a retreat; at the head of this faithful band, he fearlessly plunged
into the recesses of the Marcian, or Black Forest, which conceals the
sources of the Danube; [29] and, for many days, the fate of Julian
was unknown to the world. The secrecy of his march, his diligence, and
vigor, surmounted every obstacle; he forced his way over mountains and
morasses, occupied the bridges or swam the rivers, pursued his direct
course, [30] without reflecting whether he traversed the territory of
the Romans or of the Barbarians, and at length emerged, between Ratisbon
and Vienna, at the place where he designed to embark his troops on
the Danube. By a well-concerted stratagem, he seized a fleet of light
brigantines, [31] as it lay at anchor; secured a apply of coarse
provisions sufficient to satisfy the indelicate, and voracious, appetite
of a Gallic army; and boldly committed himself to the stream of the
Danube. The labors of the mariners, who plied their oars with incessant
diligence, and the steady continuance of a favorable wind, carried his
fleet above seven hundred miles in eleven days; [32] and he had already
disembarked his troops at Bononia, [32a] only nineteen miles from
Sirmium, before his enemies could receive