The empire was now divided between Constantine and Licinius, and the ambition of the two princes rendered peace impossible.  In the years 315 and 323 civil conflict broke out, ending, after the battle of Adrianople and the siege of Byzantium, in a culminating victory for Constantine in the field of Chrysopolis, in September.  Licinius, taken prisoner, laid himself and his purple at the feet of his lord and master, and was duly executed.

By successive steps, from his first assuming the purple at York, to the resignation of Licinius, Constantine had reached the undivided sovereignty of the Roman world.  His success contributed to the decline of the empire by the expense of blood and treasure, and by the perpetual increase as well of the taxes as of the military establishments.  The foundation of Constantinople and the establishment of the Christian religion were the immediate and memorable consequences of this revolution.

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Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire—­II

I.—­Decay of the Empire under Constantine

The unfortunate Licinius was the last rival who opposed the greatness of Constantine.  After a tranquil and prosperous reign, the conqueror bequeathed to his family the inheritance of the Roman Empire; a new capital, a new policy, and a new religion; and the innovations which he established have been embraced, and consecrated, by succeeding generations.

Byzantium, which, under the more august name of Constantinople, was destined to preserve the shadow of the Roman power for nearly a thousand years after it had been extinguished by Rome herself, was the site selected for the new capital.  Its boundary was traced by the emperor, and its circumference measured some sixteen miles.  In a general decay of the arts no architect could be found worthy to decorate the new capital, and the cities of Greece and Asia were despoiled of their most valuable ornaments to supply this want of ability.  In the course of eight or ten years the city, with its beautiful forum, its circus, its imperial palace, its theatres, baths, churches, and houses, was completed with more haste than care.  The dedication of the new Rome was performed with all due pomp and ceremony, and a population was provided by the expedient of summoning some of the wealthiest families in the empire to take up their residence within its walls.

The gradual decay of Rome had eliminated that simplicity of manners which was the just pride of the ancient republic.  Under the autocratic system of Diocletian, a hierarchy of dependents had sprung up.  The rank of each was marked with the most scrupulous exactness, and the purity of the Latin language was debased by the invention of the deceitful titles of your Sincerity, your Excellency, your Illustrious and Magnificent Highness.