he honor and advantage of accepting a colony of soldiers,
at a time when it was much easier to obtain the pecuniary contributions
than the military service of the subjects of the empire. The Limigantes
were permitted to pass the Danube; and the emperor gave audience to the
multitude in a large plain near the modern city of Buda. They surrounded
the tribunal, and seemed to hear with respect an oration full of
mildness and dignity when one of the Barbarians, casting his shoe
into the air, exclaimed with a loud voice, Marha! Marha! * a word of
defiance, which was received as a signal of the tumult. They rushed with
fury to seize the person of the emperor; his royal throne and golden
couch were pillaged by these rude hands; but the faithful defence of
his guards, who died at his feet, allowed him a moment to mount a fleet
horse, and to escape from the confusion. The disgrace which had been
incurred by a treacherous surprise was soon retrieved by the numbers
and discipline of the Romans; and the combat was only terminated by the
extinction of the name and nation of the Limigantes. The free Sarmatians
were reinstated in the possession of their ancient seats; and although
Constantius distrusted the levity of their character, he entertained
some hopes that a sense of gratitude might influence their future
conduct. He had remarked the lofty stature and obsequious demeanor of
Zizais, one of the noblest of their chiefs. He conferred on him the
title of King; and Zizais proved that he was not unworthy to reign, by a
sincere and lasting attachment to the interests of his benefactor, who,
after this splendid success, received the name of Sarmaticus from the
acclamations of his victorious army.

Chapter XIX: Constantius Sole Emperor.--Part III.

While the Roman emperor and the Persian monarch, at the distance
of three thousand miles, defended their extreme limits against the
Barbarians of the Danube and of the Oxus, their intermediate frontier
experienced the vicissitudes of a languid war, and a precarious truce.
Two of the eastern ministers of Constantius, the Praetorian praefect
Musonian, whose abilities were disgraced by the want of truth and
integrity, and Cassian, duke of Mesopotamia, a hardy and veteran
soldier, opened a secret negotiation with the satrap Tamsapor. These
overtures of peace, translated into the servile and flattering language
of Asia, were transmitted to the camp of the Great King; who resolved to
signify, b