OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

tion, perhaps, of a guilty wife. They ascribethe misfortunes of Crispus to the arts of hisstepmother Fausta , whose implacable hatred,or whose disappointed love, renewed in the pa-lace of Constantine the ancient tragedy of Hip-politus and of Phaedra . 1 Like the daughter ofMinos, the daughter of Maximian accused herson-in-law of an incestuous attempt on the chas-tity of his father’s wife; and easily obtained,from the jealousy of the emperor, a sentence ofdeath against a young prince, whom she consi-dered with reason as the most formidable rivalof her own children. But Helena, the agedmother of Constantine , lamented and revengedthe untimely fate of her grandson Crispus : norwas it long before a real or pretended discoverywas made, that Fausta herself entertained acriminal connection with a slave belonging tothe imperial stables. b Her condemnation andpunishment were the instant consequences ofthe charge; and the adulteress was suffocatedby the steam of a bath, which for that purposehad been heated to an extraordinary degree.'

* Zosimus (1. ii, p. 103) may be considered as our original. The in-genuity of the moderns, assisted by a few hints from the ancients, hasillustrated and improved his obscure and imperfect narrative.

b Philostorgius, 1. ii, c. 4. Zosimus (1. ii, p. 101-116) imputes toConstantine the death of two wives, of the innocent Fausta , and of anadulteress who was the mother of his three successors. According toJerom, three or four years elapsed between the death of Crispus andthat of Fausta . The elder Victor is prudently silent.

c If Fausta was put to death, it is reasonable to believe that the pri-vate apartments of the palace were the scene of her execution. Theorator Chrysostom indulges his fancy by exposing the naked empresson a desert mountain, to be devoured by wild beasts.

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