is manners were cheerful and engaging; nor would he sometimes
disdain, in the license of convivial mirth, to vie with the pantomimes
themselves, in the exercises of their ridiculous profession. But when
the trumpet summoned him to arms; when he mounted his horse, and,
bending down (for such was his singular practice) almost upon the neck,
fiercely rolled his large animated eyes round the field, Constantius
then struck terror into his foes, and inspired his soldiers with the
assurance of victory. He had received from the court of Ravenna the
important commission of extirpating rebellion in the provinces of the
West; and the pretended emperor Constantine, after enjoying a short and
anxious respite, was again besieged in his capital by the arms of a
more formidable enemy. Yet this interval allowed time for a successful
negotiation with the Franks and Alemanni and his ambassador, Edobic,
soon returned at the head of an army, to disturb the operations of the
siege of Arles. The Roman general, instead of expecting the attack in
his lines, boldly and perhaps wisely, resolved to pass the Rhone, and to
meet the Barbarians. His measures were conducted with so much skill and
secrecy, that, while they engaged the infantry of Constantius in the
front, they were suddenly attacked, surrounded, and destroyed, by
the cavalry of his lieutenant Ulphilas, who had silently gained an
advantageous post in their rear. The remains of the army of Edobic were
preserved by flight or submission, and their leader escaped from the
field of battle to the house of a faithless friend; who too clearly
understood, that the head of his obnoxious guest would be an acceptable
and lucrative present for the Imperial general. On this occasion,
Constantius behaved with the magnanimity of a genuine Roman. Subduing,
or suppressing, every sentiment of jealousy, he publicly acknowledged
the merit and services of Ulphilas; but he turned with horror from the
assassin of Edobic; and sternly intimated his commands, that the camp
should no longer be polluted by the presence of an ungrateful wretch,
who had violated the laws of friendship and hospitality. The usurper,
who beheld, from the walls of Arles, the ruin of his last hopes, was
tempted to place some confidence in so generous a conqueror. He
required a solemn promise for his security; and after receiving, by the
imposition of hands, the sacred character of a Christian Presbyter, he
ventured to open the gates of the c