OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

231

the river .* 1 The arms of Julian had restored a chap.

free and secure navigation, which Constantius .

had offered to purchase at the expence of hisdignity, and of a tributary present of two thou-sand pounds of silver. The emperor parsimo-niously refused to his soldiers the sums whichlie granted with a lavish and trembling handto the barbarians. The dexterity, as well asthe firmness of Julian, was put to a severe trial,when lie took the field with a discontented ar-my, which had already served two campaigns,without receiving any regular pay or any ex-traordinary donative/

A tender regard for the peace and happiness civil ad-of his subjects was the ruling principle which uonof**directed, or seemed to direct, the administra- Julian ‘tion of Julian." He devoted the leisure of hiswinter-quarters to the offices of civil govern-ment; and affected to assume, with more plea-sure, the character of a magistrate, than that ofa general. Before he took the field, he devolv-ed on the provincial governors most of the pub-lic and private causes which had been referredto his tribunal; but, on his return, he carefullyrevised their proceedings, mitigated the rigour

s We may credit Julian himself, Orat. ad s. p. Q. Atheniensem,p. 280, who gives a very particular account of the transaction. Zosi-mus adds two hundred vessels more, 1. iii, p. 145. If we compute the000 corn ships of Julian at only seventy tons each, they were capableof exporting 120,000 quarters (see Arbuthnot’s Weights and Measures,p. 237); and the country which could bear so large an exportationmust already have attained an improved state of agriculture.

' The troops once broke out into a mutiny, immediately before thesecond passage of the Rhine. Ammian . xvii, 0.

■ Ammian . xvi, 5 ; xviii, 1. Mamertinus in Penegyr. Vet. xi, 4 .