ge the adjacent country, and had even presumed, though
without success, to besiege the important city of Seleucia, which was
defended by a garrison of three Roman legions. Above all, the Persian
monarch, elated by victory, again threatened the peace of Asia, and the
presence of the emperor was indispensably required, both in the West
and in the East. For the first time, Constantius sincerely acknowledged,
that his single strength was unequal to such an extent of care and of
dominion. [30] Insensible to the voice of flattery, which assured
him that his all-powerful virtue, and celestial fortune, would still
continue to triumph over every obstacle, he listened with complacency to
the advice of Eusebia, which gratified his indolence, without offending
his suspicious pride. As she perceived that the remembrance of Gallus
dwelt on the emperor's mind, she artfully turned his attention to the
opposite characters of the two brothers, which from their infancy had
been compared to those of Domitian and of Titus. [31] She accustomed
her husband to consider Julian as a youth of a mild, unambitious
disposition, whose allegiance and gratitude might be secured by the gift
of the purple, and who was qualified to fill with honor a subordinate
station, without aspiring to dispute the commands, or to shade the
glories, of his sovereign and benefactor. After an obstinate, though
secret struggle, the opposition of the favorite eunuchs submitted to
the ascendency of the empress; and it was resolved that Julian, after
celebrating his nuptials with Helena, sister of Constantius, should be
appointed, with the title of Caesar, to reign over the countries beyond
the Alps. [32]

[Footnote 30: Succumbere tot necessitatibus tamque crebris unum se,
quod nunquam fecerat, aperte demonstrans. Ammian. l. xv. c. 8. He
then expresses, in their own words, the fattering assurances of the
courtiers.]

[Footnote 31: Tantum a temperatis moribus Juliani differens fratris
quantum inter Vespasiani filios fuit, Domitianum et Titum. Ammian. l.
xiv. c. 11. The circumstances and education of the two brothers, were so
nearly the same, as to afford a strong example of the innate difference
of characters.]

[Footnote 32: Ammianus, l. xv. c. 8. Zosimus, l. iii. p. 137, 138.]

Although the order which recalled him to court was probably accompanied
by some intimation of his approaching greatness, he appeals to the
people of Athens to witness his tears of undissembled so