legions. As soon as the
legions gave way, the lighter and more active squadrons of the second
line rode sword in hand into the intervals, and completed the disorder.
In the mean while, the huge bodies of the Germans were exposed almost
naked to the dexterity of the Oriental archers; and whole troops of
those Barbarians were urged by anguish and despair to precipitate
themselves into the broad and rapid stream of the Drave. [85] The number
of the slain was computed at fifty-four thousand men, and the slaughter
of the conquerors was more considerable than that of the vanquished;
[86] a circumstance which proves the obstinacy of the contest, and
justifies the observation of an ancient writer, that the forces of the
empire were consumed in the fatal battle of Mursa, by the loss of a
veteran army, sufficient to defend the frontiers, or to add new triumphs
to the glory of Rome. [87] Notwithstanding the invectives of a servile
orator, there is not the least reason to believe that the tyrant
deserted his own standard in the beginning of the engagement. He seems
to have displayed the virtues of a general and of a soldier till the
day was irrecoverably lost, and his camp in the possession of the enemy.
Magnentius then consulted his safety, and throwing away the Imperial
ornaments, escaped with some difficulty from the pursuit of the light
horse, who incessantly followed his rapid flight from the banks of the
Drave to the foot of the Julian Alps. [88]

[Footnote 82: This remarkable bridge, which is flanked with towers, and
supported on large wooden piles, was constructed A. D. 1566, by Sultan
Soliman, to facilitate the march of his armies into Hungary.]

[Footnote 83: This position, and the subsequent evolutions, are clearly,
though concisely, described by Julian, Orat. i. p. 36.]

[Footnote 84: Sulpicius Severus, l. ii. p. 405. The emperor passed the
day in prayer with Valens, the Arian bishop of Mursa, who gained his
confidence by announcing the success of the battle. M. de Tillemont
(Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 1110) very properly remarks the
silence of Julian with regard to the personal prowess of Constantius in
the battle of Mursa. The silence of flattery is sometimes equal to the
most positive and authentic evidence.]

[Footnote 85: Julian. Orat. i. p. 36, 37; and Orat. ii. p. 59, 60.
Zonaras, tom ii. l. xiii. p. 17. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 130-133.
The last of these celebrates the dexterity of the archer Menelaus,
who c