124

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

XVIII.

A. D. 332,April 20.

tic wars. He bad the mortification of seeinghis troops fly before an inconsiderable detach-ment of the barbarians, who pursued them tothe edge of their fortified camp, and obligedhim to consult his safety by a precipitate andignominious retreat. The event of a secondand more successful action retrieved the ho-nour of the Roman name; and the powers ofart and discipline prevailed, after an obstinatecontest, over the efforts of irregular valour.The broken army of the Goths abandoned thefield of battle, the wasted province, and the pas-sage of the Danube : and although the eldest ofthe sons of Constantine was permitted to sup-ply the place of his father, the merit of the victory,which diffused universal joy,w as ascribed to theauspicious counsels of the emperor himself.

He contributed at least to improve this ad-vantage, by his negotiations with the free andwarlike people of Chersonesus, 1 whose capital ,situate on the western coast of theTauric or Cri-mean peninsula, still retained some vestiges ofa Grecian colony, and was governed by aperpetual magistrate, assisted by a council ofsenators, emphatically styled the Fathers of theCity. The Chersonites were animated against

1 I may stand in need of some apology for having used, withoutscuiplo, the authority of Constantine Porphyrogenitus , in all that relates to the wars and negociations of the Chersonites. I am awaretiiat he was a Greek of the tenth century, and that his accounts of an-cient history are frequently confused and fabulous. But on this occa-sion his narrative is, for the most part, consistent and probable ; nor isthere much difficulty in conceiving that an emperor might have accessto some secret archives, which had escaped the diligence of meanerhistorians. For the situation and history of Chersone, see I’cyssoneides Peoples barbares qui ont habitd Ics Bords du Danube, c. xvi,p. 81 -tK).