ss weight, perhaps, in a military question, is confirmed by the cool
judgment of an experienced soldier, who was himself spectator of the
conflagration, and who could not disapprove the reluctant murmurs of
the troops. Yet there are not wanting some specious, and perhaps solid,
reasons, which might justify the resolution of Julian. The navigation of
the Euphrates never ascended above Babylon, nor that of the Tigris above
Opis. The distance of the last-mentioned city from the Roman camp was
not very considerable: and Julian must soon have renounced the vain
and impracticable attempt of forcing upwards a great fleet against the
stream of a rapid river, which in several places was embarrassed
by natural or artificial cataracts. The power of sails and oars was
insufficient; it became necessary to tow the ships against the current
of the river; the strength of twenty thousand soldiers was exhausted
in this tedious and servile labor, and if the Romans continued to march
along the banks of the Tigris, they could only expect to return home
without achieving any enterprise worthy of the genius or fortune of
their leader. If, on the contrary, it was advisable to advance into the
inland country, the destruction of the fleet and magazines was the
only measure which could save that valuable prize from the hands of the
numerous and active troops which might suddenly be poured from the gates
of Ctesiphon. Had the arms of Julian been victorious, we should now
admire the conduct, as well as the courage, of a hero, who, by depriving
his soldiers of the hopes of a retreat, left them only the alternative
of death or conquest.

The cumbersome train of artillery and wagons, which retards the
operations of a modern army, were in a great measure unknown in the
camps of the Romans. Yet, in every age, the subsistence of sixty
thousand men must have been one of the most important cares of a prudent
general; and that subsistence could only be drawn from his own or from
the enemy's country. Had it been possible for Julian to maintain a
bridge of communication on the Tigris, and to preserve the conquered
places of Assyria, a desolated province could not afford any large or
regular supplies, in a season of the year when the lands were covered
by the inundation of the Euphrates, and the unwholesome air was darkened
with swarms of innumerable insects. The appearance of the hostile
country was far more inviting. The extensive region that lies between
th