n, and of Vesta, Augur, Quindecemvir, Hierophant,
&c., &c. In the other, 1. Quaestor candidatus, more probably titular. 2.
Praetor. 3. Corrector of Tuscany and Umbria. 4. Consular of Lusitania.
5. Proconsul of Achaia. 6. Praefect of Rome. 7. Praetorian praefect
of Italy. 8. Of Illyricum. 9. Consul elect; but he died before the
beginning of the year 385. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom v. p.
241, 736.]

[Footnote 87: Facite me Romanae urbis episcopum; et ero protinus
Christianus (Jerom, tom. ii. p. 165.) It is more than probable that
Damasus would not have purchased his conversion at such a price.]

Chapter XXV: Reigns Of Jovian And Valentinian, Division Of The
Empire.--Part IV.

When the suffrage of the generals and of the army committed the sceptre
of the Roman empire to the hands of Valentinian, his reputation in
arms, his military skill and experience, and his rigid attachment to
the forms, as well as spirit, of ancient discipline, were the principal
motives of their judicious choice.

The eagerness of the troops, who pressed him to nominate his colleague,
was justified by the dangerous situation of public affairs; and
Valentinian himself was conscious, that the abilities of the most active
mind were unequal to the defence of the distant frontiers of an invaded
monarchy. As soon as the death of Julian had relieved the Barbarians
from the terror of his name, the most sanguine hopes of rapine and
conquest excited the nations of the East, of the North, and of the
South. Their inroads were often vexatious, and sometimes formidable;
but, during the twelve years of the reign of Valentinian, his firmness
and vigilance protected his own dominions; and his powerful genius
seemed to inspire and direct the feeble counsels of his brother. Perhaps
the method of annals would more forcibly express the urgent and divided
cares of the two emperors; but the attention of the reader, likewise,
would be distracted by a tedious and desultory narrative. A separate
view of the five great theatres of war; I. Germany; II. Britain; III.
Africa; IV. The East; and, V. The Danube; will impress a more
distinct image of the military state of the empire under the reigns of
Valentinian and Valens.

I. The ambassadors of the Alemanni had been offended by the harsh and
haughty behavior of Ursacius, master of the offices; [88] who by an
act of unseasonable parsimony, had diminished the value, as well as
the quantity, of the presents