us of the Empire should once more appear
before him, covering with a funeral veil his head and his horn of
abundance, and slowly retiring from the imperial tent. The monarch
started from his couch, and stepping forth to refresh his wearied
spirits with the coolness of the midnight air, he beheld a fiery meteor
which shot athwart the sky and suddenly vanished. Julian was convinced
that he had seen the menacing countenance of the god of war; the council
which he summoned of Tuscan Haruspices unanimously pronounced that he
should abstain from action; but on this occasion necessity and reason
were more prevalent than superstition, and the trumpets sounded at the
break of day. The army marched through a hilly country, and the hills
had been secretly occupied by the Persians. Julian led the van with the
skill and attention of a consummate general; he was alarmed by the
intelligence that his rear was suddenly attacked. The heat of the
weather had tempted him to lay aside his cuirass; but he snatched a
shield from one of his attendants and hastened with a sufficient
reinforcement to the relief of the rear guard. A similar danger recalled
the intrepid prince to the defense of the front; and as he galloped
between the columns, the centre of the left was attacked and almost
overpowered by a furious charge of the Persian cavalry and elephants.
This huge body was soon defeated by the well-timed evolution of the
light infantry, who aimed their weapons, with dexterity and effect,
against the backs of the horsemen and the legs of the elephants. The
Barbarians fled; and Julian, who was foremost in every danger, animated
the pursuit with his voice and gestures. His trembling guards, scattered
and oppressed by the disorderly throng of friends and enemies, reminded
their fearless sovereign that he was without armor, and conjured him to
decline the fall of the impending ruin. As they exclaimed, a cloud of
darts and arrows was discharged from the flying squadrons; and a
javelin, after razing the skin of his arm, transpierced the ribs and
fixed in the inferior part of the liver. Julian attempted to draw the
deadly weapon from his side, but his fingers were cut by the sharpness
of the steel, and he fell senseless from his horse. His guards flew to
his relief, and the wounded Emperor was gently raised from the ground
and conveyed out of the tumult of the battle into an adjacent tent. The
report of the melancholy event passed from rank to rank; bu