228

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

XIX.

imposed on the meanest of the soldiers. Thevillages on either side of the Meyn, which wereplentifully stored with corn and cattle, felt theravages of an invading army. The principalhouses, constructed with some imitation of Ro-man elegance, were consumed by the flames;and the Caesar boldly advanced about ten miles,till his progress was stopped by a dark and im-penetrable forest, undermined by subterraneouspassages, which threatened, with secret snaresand ambush, every step of the assailant. Theground was already covered with snow ; andJulian, after repairing an ancient castle whichhad been erected by Trajan , granted a truce often months to the submissive barbarians. Atthe expiration of the truce, Julian undertook asecond expedition beyond the Rhine , to hum-ble the pride of Surmar and Hortaire, two ofthe kings of the Alciuanni, who had been pre-sent at the battle of Strasburg. They promisedto restore all the Roman captives who yet re-mained alive; and as the Caesar had procuredan exact account, from the cities and villagesof Gaul, of the inhabitants whom they had lost,he detected every attempt to deceive him witha degree of readiness and accuracy, which al-most established the belief of his supernaturalknowledge. His third expedition w'as stillmore splendid and important than the two for-mer. The Germans had collected their mili-tary powers, and moved along the oppositebanks of the river, with a design of destroyingthe bridge, and of preventing the passage of the