OF THK HOMAN EMP1KE.

ness these female deputies, whose wealth anddignity were displayed in the magnificence oftheir dress and ornaments: he admired theirinflexible resolution of following their belovedpastor to the most distant regions of the earth;and consented that the two bishops, Liberius and Faelix should govern in peace their respec-tive congregations. But the ideas of tolerationwere so repugnant to the practice, and even tothe sentiments of those times, that when the an-swer of Constantins was publicly read in thecircus of Rome , so reasonable a project of ac-commodation was rejected with contempt andridicule. The eager vehemence which animat-ed the spectators in the decisive moment of ahorse-race, was now directed towards a differ-ent object; and the circus resounded with theshouts of thousands, who repeatedly exclaimed,

“ One God, one Christ, one bishop .” The zealof the Roman people in the cause of Liberius ,was not confined to words alone; and the dan-gerous and bloody sedition which they excitedsoon after the departure of Constantius , deter-mined that prince to accept the submission ofthe exiled prelate, and to restore him to theundivided dominion of thecapital. After someineffectual resistance, his rival was expelledfrom the city by the permission of the emperor,and the power of the opposite faction; the ad.herents of Faelix were inhumanly murdered inthe streets, in the public places, in the baths,and even in the churches; and the face of Rome ,upon the return of a Christian bishop, renew ed

389

CHAP.

XXI.