17.  From this battle the ruin of the Roman empire may be dated; the loss of one hundred thousand of its best and bravest soldiers could not be repaired, and never again did any emperor possess a veteran army equal to that which fell on the fatal plains of Mur’sa.  The defeat of Magnen’tius induced the Italian and African provinces to return to their allegiance; the Gauls, wearied out by the exactions which distress forced the usurper to levy, refused to acknowledge his authority, and at length his own soldiers raised the cry of “God save Constan’tius.”  To avoid the disgrace of a public execution, Magnen’tius committed suicide, and several members of his family imitated his example.  The victor punished with relentless severity all who had shared in the guilt of this rebellion; and several who had been compelled to join in it by force shared the fate of those by whom it had been planned.

18.  The Roman, empire was now once more united under a single monarch; but as that prince was wholly destitute of merit, his victory served only to establish the reign of worthless favourites.  Of these the most distinguished was the chamberlain, Euse’bius, whose influence was so great that he was considered the master of the emperor; and to whose instigation many of the crimes committed by Constan’tius must be attributed.

19 Gal’lus and Ju’lian, who had escaped in the general massacre of the Flavian family, were detained as prisoners of state in a strong castle, which had once been the residence of the kings of Cappado’cia.  Their education had not been neglected, and they had been assigned a household proportionate to the dignity of their birth.  At length the emergencies of the state compelled Constan’tius to nominate an associate in the government of the empire; and Gal’lus now in the twenty-fifth year of his age, was summoned from his retirement, invested with the title of Caesar, and married to the princess Constan’tina. 20.  The latter circumstance proved his ruin; stimulated by the cruel ambition of his wife, he committed deeds of tyranny, which alienated the affections of his subjects, and acts bordering on treason, that roused the jealousy of Constan’tius.  He was summoned to appear at the imperial court to explain his conduct, but was seized on his journey, made a close prisoner, and transmitted to Po’la a town in Ist’ria, where he was put to death.

21.  Julian, the last remnant of the Flavian family, was, through the powerful intercession of the empress, spared, and permitted to pursue his studies in Athens.  In that city, where the Pagan philosophy was still publicly taught, the future emperor imbibed the doctrines of the heathens, and thus acquired the epithet of Apostate, by which he is unenviably known to posterity.  Julian was soon recalled from his retirement, and elevated to the station which his unfortunate brother had enjoyed.  His investiture with the royal purple took place at Milan, whither Constantius had proceeded to quell a new insurrection in the western provinces.