OP THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

in the court and army; the barbarians of Ger-many , who filled the ranks of the legions, wereof a careless temper, which acquiesced withoutresistance in the religion of their commander;and when they passed the Alps, it may fairlybe presumed, that a great number of the sol-diers had already consecrated their swords tothe service of Christ and of Constantine . 11 Thehabits of mankind, and the interest of religion,gradually abated the horror of war and blood-shed, which had so long prevailed among theChristians ; and in the councils which were as-sembled under the gracious protection of Con-stantine, the authority of the bishops was sea-sonably employed to ratify the obligation of themilitary oath, and to inflict the penalty of ex-communication on those soldiers who threwaway their arms during the peace of the church.'While Constantine, in his own dominions, in-creased the number and zeal of his faithful ad-herents, he could depend on the support of apowerful faction in those provinces, which werestill possessed or usurped by his rivals. A se-cret disaffection was diffused among the Chris-tian subjects of Maxentius and Licinius ; andthe resentment which the latter did not attemptto conceal, served only to engage them stillmore deeply in the interest of his competitor.

b This careless temper of the Germans appears almost uniformly inthe history of the conversion of each of the tribes. The legions of Con-stantine were recruited with Germans (Zosimus , 1. ii, p. 86); and thecourt even of his father had been filled with Christians . See the firstbook of the life of Constantine, by Eusebius .

e De his qui arma projiciunt in puce , placuit eos abstinere a commit*nione. Concil. Arelat. Cauou iii. The best critics apply these word#to the peace qf the church.

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CHAP.

XX.