he army is
the most forcible engine of absolute power, Julian applied himself, with
peculiar diligence, to corrupt the religion of his troops, without whose
hearty concurrence every measure must be dangerous and unsuccessful;
and the natural temper of soldiers made this conquest as easy as it was
important. The legions of Gaul devoted themselves to the faith, as well
as to the fortunes, of their victorious leader; and even before the
death of Constantius, he had the satisfaction of announcing to his
friends, that they assisted with fervent devotion, and voracious
appetite, at the sacrifices, which were repeatedly offered in his camp,
of whole hecatombs of fat oxen. The armies of the East, which had been
trained under the standard of the cross, and of Constantius, required a
more artful and expensive mode of persuasion. On the days of solemn
and public festivals, the emperor received the homage, and rewarded
the merit, of the troops. His throne of state was encircled with the
military ensigns of Rome and the republic; the holy name of Christ was
erased from the Labarum; and the symbols of war, of majesty, and of
pagan superstition, were so dexterously blended, that the faithful
subject incurred the guilt of idolatry, when he respectfully saluted the
person or image of his sovereign. The soldiers passed successively in
review; and each of them, before he received from the hand of Julian a
liberal donative, proportioned to his rank and services, was required to
cast a few grains of incense into the flame which burnt upon the altar.
Some Christian confessors might resist, and others might repent; but
the far greater number, allured by the prospect of gold, and awed by the
presence of the emperor, contracted the criminal engagement; and their
future perseverance in the worship of the gods was enforced by every
consideration of duty and of interest. By the frequent repetition of
these arts, and at the expense of sums which would have purchased the
service of half the nations of Scythia, Julian gradually acquired for
his troops the imaginary protection of the gods, and for himself the
firm and effectual support of the Roman legions. It is indeed more than
probable, that the restoration and encouragement of Paganism revealed
a multitude of pretended Christians, who, from motives of temporal
advantage, had acquiesced in the religion of the former reign; and who
afterwards returned, with the same flexibility of conscience, to the