172

THE DECLINE AND FALL

chap, was an ancient palace, the residence of the kingsof Cappadocia ; the situation was pleasant, thebuilding stately, the inclosure spacious. Theypursued their studies, and practised their exer-cises, under the tuition of the most skilful mas-ters ; and the numerous household appointedto.attend, or rather to guard, the nephews ofConstantine , was not unworthy of the diguityof their birth. But they could not disguise tothemselves that they were deprived of fortune,of freedom, and of safety; secluded from thesociety of all whom they could trust or esteem,and condemned to pass their melancholy hoursin the company of slaves, devoted to the com-mands of a tyrant, who had already injured thembeyond the hope of reconciliation. At length,however, the emergencies of the state compelledthe emperor, or rather his eunuchs, to investGaiiusde- Gallus, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, withc^iecio-^e title of Caesar, and to cement this politicalMarchs’ connection by his marriage with the princessConstantina . After a formal interview, in whichthe two princes mutually engaged their faith ne-ver to undertake any thing to the prejudice ofeach other, they repaired without delay to theirrespective stations. Constantius continued hismarch towards the west, and Gallus fixed hisresidence at Antioch, from whence, with a dele-gated authority, he administered the five greatdioceses of the eastern prefecture . 11 In this for*

“ For the promotion of Gallus, see Idatius'Zosimus , and the twoVictors. According to Philostorgius (1. iv, c. 1J, Theophilus, an Arianbishop, was the witness, and, as it were, the guarantee, of this solemnengagement. He supported that character with generous firmness;

but