OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 116
writers of the pagan as well as of the Christian chap.
religion, there xnay still remain some reason to_^
believe, or at least to suspect, that Fausta escaped the blind and suspicious cruelty of herhusband. The deaths of a son, and of a nephew,with the execution of a great number of respect-able, and perhaps innocent friends/ who wereinvolved in their fall, may be sufficient, however,to justify the discontent of the Roman people,and to explain the satirical verses affixed to thepalace-gate, comparing the splendid and bloodyreigns of Constantine and Nero.®
By the death of Crispus , the inheritance of the Tiie son*empire seemed to devolve on the three sons ofpilcws^ofFausta , who have been already mentioned under £ onstanthe names of Constantine, of Constantius , andof Constans . These young princes were suc-cessively invested with the title of Caesar; andthe dates of their promotion may be referred tothe tenth, the twentieth, and the thirtieth yearsof the reign of their father/ This conduct,though it tended to multiply the future mastersof the Roman world, might be excused by thepartiality of paternal affection; but it is noteasy to understand the motives of the emperor,
f Interfecit numerosos amicos. Eutrop. xx, G.
e Saturni aurea saecula qnis requirat ?
Sunt haec gemmea, scd Nerouiana.
It is somewhat singular, that these satirical lines should be attributed,not to an obscure libeller, or a disappointed patriot, but to Ablavius,prime.minister and favourite of the emperor. We may now perceivethat the imprecations of the Roman people were dictated by humanity,as well as by superstition. Zosim. I. ii, p. 105.
1 Euseb. Orat. in Constantin, c. 3. These dates are sufficientlycorrect to justify the orator.