he evening, at Samara, on the banks of the
Tigris, about one hundred miles above Ctesiphon. On the ensuing day,
the Barbarians, instead of harassing the march, attacked the camp, of
Jovian; which had been seated in a deep and sequestered valley. From
the hills, the archers of Persia insulted and annoyed the wearied
legionaries; and a body of cavalry, which had penetrated with desperate
courage through the Praetorian gate, was cut in pieces, after a doubtful
conflict, near the Imperial tent. In the succeeding night, the camp
of Carche was protected by the lofty dikes of the river; and the
Roman army, though incessantly exposed to the vexatious pursuit of the
Saracens, pitched their tents near the city of Dura, four days after
the death of Julian. The Tigris was still on their left; their hopes
and provisions were almost consumed; and the impatient soldiers, who had
fondly persuaded themselves that the frontiers of the empire were not
far distant, requested their new sovereign, that they might be permitted
to hazard the passage of the river. With the assistance of his wisest
officers, Jovian endeavored to check their rashness; by representing,
that if they possessed sufficient skill and vigor to stem the torrent
of a deep and rapid stream, they would only deliver themselves naked
and defenceless to the Barbarians, who had occupied the opposite banks,
Yielding at length to their clamorous importunities, he consented, with
reluctance, that five hundred Gauls and Germans, accustomed from their
infancy to the waters of the Rhine and Danube, should attempt the
bold adventure, which might serve either as an encouragement, or as a
warning, for the rest of the army. In the silence of the night, they
swam the Tigris, surprised an unguarded post of the enemy, and displayed
at the dawn of day the signal of their resolution and fortune. The
success of this trial disposed the emperor to listen to the promises
of his architects, who propose to construct a floating bridge of the
inflated skins of sheep, oxen, and goats, covered with a floor of earth
and fascines. Two important days were spent in the ineffectual labor;
and the Romans, who already endured the miseries of famine, cast a look
of despair on the Tigris, and upon the Barbarians; whose numbers and
obstinacy increased with the distress of the Imperial army.

In this hopeless condition, the fainting spirits of the Romans were
revived by the sound of peace. The transient presumptio