peace, he
was encompassed by the glittering arms of the numerous squadrons of his
guards and cuirassiers. Their streaming banners of silk, embossed with
gold, and shaped in the form of dragons, waved round the person of the
emperor. Constantius sat alone in a lofty car, resplendent with gold
and precious gems; and, except when he bowed his head to pass under the
gates of the cities, he affected a stately demeanor of inflexible, and,
as it might seem, of insensible gravity. The severe discipline of the
Persian youth had been introduced by the eunuchs into the Imperial
palace; and such were the habits of patience which they had inculcated,
that during a slow and sultry march, he was never seen to move his hand
towards his face, or to turn his eyes either to the right or to the
left. He was received by the magistrates and senate of Rome; and the
emperor surveyed, with attention, the civil honors of the republic, and
the consular images of the noble families. The streets were lined with
an innumerable multitude. Their repeated acclamations expressed their
joy at beholding, after an absence of thirty-two years, the sacred
person of their sovereign, and Constantius himself expressed, with
some pleasantry, he affected surprise that the human race should thus
suddenly be collected on the same spot. The son of Constantine was
lodged in the ancient palace of Augustus: he presided in the senate,
harangued the people from the tribunal which Cicero had so often
ascended, assisted with unusual courtesy at the games of the Circus, and
accepted the crowns of gold, as well as the Panegyrics which had been
prepared for the ceremony by the deputies of the principal cities. His
short visit of thirty days was employed in viewing the monuments of art
and power which were scattered over the seven hills and the interjacent
valleys. He admired the awful majesty of the Capitol, the vast extent
of the baths of Caracalla and Diocletian, the severe simplicity of the
Pantheon, the massy greatness of the amphitheatre of Titus, the elegant
architecture of the theatre of Pompey and the Temple of Peace, and,
above all, the stately structure of the Forum and column of Trajan;
acknowledging that the voice of fame, so prone to invent and to magnify,
had made an inadequate report of the metropolis of the world. The
traveller, who has contemplated the ruins of ancient Rome, may conceive
some imperfect idea of the sentiments which they must have inspired when