or THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

211

val. Sabinian fixed his indolent station underthe walls of Edessa; and while he amused him-self with the idle parade of military exercise,and moved to the sound of flutes in the Pyrrhicdance, the public defence was abandoned tothe boldness and diligence of the former gene-ral of the East. JBut whenever Ursicinus re-commended any vigorous plan of operations;when he proposed, at the head of a light andactive army, to wheel round the foot of themountains, to intercept the convoys of the ene-my, to harass the wide extent of the Persianlines, and to relieve the distress of Aniida, thetimid and envious commander alleged, that hewas restrained by his positive orders from en-dangering the safety of the troops. Amida wasat length taken; its bravest defenders, who hadescaped the sword of the barbarians, died inthe Roman camp by the hand of the execu-tioner; and Ursicinus himself, after supportingthe disgrace of a partial inquiry, was punishedfor the misconduct of Sabinian by the loss ofhis military rank. But Constantius soon ex-perienced the truth of the prediction which ho-nest indignation had extorted from his injuredlieutenant, that as long as such maxims of go-vernment were suffered to prevail, the emperorhimself would find it no easy task to defend hiseastern dominions from the invasion of a foreignenemy. When he had subdued or pacified thebarbarians of the Danube, Constantius proceed-ed by slow marches into the East; and after hehad wept over the smoking ruins of Amida, heformed, with a powerful army, the siege of Be

CHAP.

XIX.