OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 151

whose purple was so recently stained with her chap.brother’s blood.®

The intelligence of these important events, Constan-which so deeply affected the honour and safety to U treat. Se *of the imperial house, recalled the arms of Con- AD - 350 -stantius from the inglorious prosecution of thePersian war. He recommended the care of theEast to his lieutenants, and afterwards to hiscousin Gallus, whom he raised from a prisonto a throne; and marched towards Europe , witha mind agitated by the conflict of hope and fear,of grief and indignation. On his arrival at He-raclea in Thrace , the emperor gave audience tothe ambassadors of Magnentius and Vetranio.

The first author of the conspiracy, Marcelliuus,who in some measure had bestowed the purpleon his new master, boldly accepted this dan-gerous commission : and his three colleagueswere selected from the illustrious personages ofthe state and army. These deputies were in-structed to soothe the resentment, and to alarmthe fears, of Constantius . They were empower-ed to offer him the friendship and alliance of thewestern princes, to cement their union by adouble marriage; of Constantius with the daugh-ter of Magnentius, and of Magnentius himselfwith the ambitious Constantina ; and to ac-knowledge in the treaty the pre-eminence ofrank which might justly be claimed by the em-peror of the East. Should pride and mistakenpiety urge him to refuse these equitable condi-

6 The doubtful, fluctuating conduct of Vetranio is described by Ja -Man in his lust oration, and accurately explained by Spanbeim, whodiscusses the situation and behaviour of Constantina ,