OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

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Gallic legions gave way, and insinuated, withsome presence of mind, that the glorious eventhad been revealed to him by an angel. Thegrateful emperor ascribed his success to themerits and intercession of the bishop of Mursa,whose faith had deserved the public and mira-culous approbation of heaven , 5 The arians,who considered as their own the victory of Con-stantius, preferred his glory to that of his fa-ther . 1 Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem , immediatelycomposed the description of a celestial cross,encircled with a splendid rainbow, which, dur-ing the festival of Pentecost, about the thirdhour of the day, had appeared over the mountof Olives, to the edification of the devout pil-grims, and the people of the holy city." Thesize of the meteor was gradually magnified; andthe arian historian has ventured to affirm, thatit was conspicuous to the two armies in theplains of Pannonia; and that the tyrant, whois purposely represented as an idolater, fledbefore the auspicious sign of orthodox Christi-anity . 1

• Sulpicius Severus , in Hist. Sacra. 1. ii, p. 405, 406.

1 Cyril (apud Baron, a. d. 353, No. 26), expressly observes, thatin the reign of Constantine the cross had been found in the bowelsof the earth ; but that it had appeared, in the reign of Constantins,in the midst of the heavens. This opposition evidently proves, thatCyril was ignorant of the stupendous miracle to which the conversionof Constantine is attributed ; and this ignorance is the more sur-prising, since it was no more than twelve years after his death thatCyril was consecrated bishop of Jemsalem, by the immediate suc-cessor of Eusebius of Caesarea . See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii,p. 715.

u It is not easy to determine bow far the ingenuity of Cyril might beassisted by some natural appearances of a solar halo.

* Philostorgius , 1. iii, c. 26. He is followed by the author of the

Alexandrian

CHAP.

XXI.