ny of
soldiers, at a time when it was much easier to obtain the pecuniary
contributions than the military service of the subjects of the empire.
The Limigantes were permitted to pass the Danube; and the emperor gave
audience to the multitude in a large plain near the modern city of Buda.
They surrounded the tribunal, and seemed to hear with respect an oration
full of mildness and dignity when one of the Barbarians, casting his
shoe into the air, exclaimed with a loud voice, Marha! Marha! [47a] a
word of defiance, which was received as a signal of the tumult. They
rushed with fury to seize the person of the emperor; his royal throne
and golden couch were pillaged by these rude hands; but the faithful
defence of his guards, who died at his feet, allowed him a moment to
mount a fleet horse, and to escape from the confusion. The disgrace
which had been incurred by a treacherous surprise was soon retrieved
by the numbers and discipline of the Romans; and the combat was only
terminated by the extinction of the name and nation of the Limigantes.
The free Sarmatians were reinstated in the possession of their
ancient seats; and although Constantius distrusted the levity of their
character, he entertained some hopes that a sense of gratitude might
influence their future conduct. He had remarked the lofty stature and
obsequious demeanor of Zizais, one of the noblest of their chiefs. He
conferred on him the title of King; and Zizais proved that he was not
unworthy to reign, by a sincere and lasting attachment to the interests
of his benefactor, who, after this splendid success, received the name
of Sarmaticus from the acclamations of his victorious army. [48]

[Footnote 47: The events of this Quadian and Sarmatian war are related
by Ammianus, xvi. 10, xvii. 12, 13, xix. 11]

[Footnote 47a: Reinesius reads Warrha, Warrha, Guerre, War. Wagner note
as a mm. Marc xix. ll.--M.]

[Footnote 48: Genti Sarmatarum magno decori confidens apud eos regem
dedit. Aurelius Victor. In a pompous oration pronounced by Constantius
himself, he expatiates on his own exploits with much vanity, and some
truth]

Chapter XIX: Constantius Sole Emperor.--Part III.

While the Roman emperor and the Persian monarch, at the distance
of three thousand miles, defended their extreme limits against the
Barbarians of the Danube and of the Oxus, their intermediate frontier
experienced the vicissitudes of a languid war, and a precarious truce.
Two of the eas