t full speed, and in every possible
direction, the cavalry of Persia was never more formidable than in
the moment of a rapid and disorderly flight. But the most certain and
irreparable loss of the Romans was that of time. The hardy veterans,
accustomed to the cold climate of Gaul and Germany, fainted under the
sultry heat of an Assyrian summer; their vigor was exhausted by the
incessant repetition of march and combat; and the progress of the army
was suspended by the precautions of a slow and dangerous retreat, in
the presence of an active enemy. Every day, every hour, as the supply
diminished, the value and price of subsistence increased in the Roman
camp. Julian, who always contented himself with such food as a hungry
soldier would have disdained, distributed, for the use of the troops,
the provisions of the Imperial household, and whatever could be spared,
from the sumpter-horses, of the tribunes and generals. But this feeble
relief served only to aggravate the sense of the public distress; and
the Romans began to entertain the most gloomy apprehensions that, before
they could reach the frontiers of the empire, they should all perish,
either by famine, or by the sword of the Barbarians.

While Julian struggled with the almost insuperable difficulties of his
situation, the silent hours of the night were still devoted to study
and contemplation. Whenever he closed his eyes in short and interrupted
slumbers, his mind was agitated with painful anxiety; nor can it be
thought surprising, that the Genius of the empire should once more
appear before him, covering with a funeral veil his head, and his horn
of abundance, and slowly retiring from the Imperial tent. The monarch
started from his couch, and stepping forth to refresh his wearied
spirits with the coolness of the midnight air, he beheld a fiery meteor,
which shot athwart the sky, and suddenly vanished. Julian was convinced
that he had seen the menacing countenance of the god of war; the council
which he summoned, of Tuscan Haruspices, unanimously pronounced that he
should abstain from action; but on this occasion, necessity and reason
were more prevalent than superstition; and the trumpets sounded at the
break of day. The army marched through a hilly country; and the hills
had been secretly occupied by the Persians. Julian led the van with
the skill and attention of a consummate general; he was alarmed by
the intelligence that his rear was suddenly attacked. The heat