hich he had already
acquired on the banks of the Rhine. The celerity and success with which
he executed an important commission, recommended him to the favor of
Jovian; and to the honorable command of the second school, or company,
of Targetiers, of the domestic guards. In the march from Antioch, he
had reached his quarters at Ancyra, when he was unexpectedly summoned,
without guilt and without intrigue, to assume, in the forty-third year
of his age, the absolute government of the Roman empire.

The invitation of the ministers and generals at Nice was of little
moment, unless it were confirmed by the voice of the army. The aged
Sallust, who had long observed the irregular fluctuations of popular
assemblies, proposed, under pain of death, that none of those persons,
whose rank in the service might excite a party in their favor, should
appear in public on the day of the inauguration. Yet such was the
prevalence of ancient superstition, that a whole day was voluntarily
added to this dangerous interval, because it happened to be the
intercalation of the Bissextile. At length, when the hour was supposed
to be propitious, Valentinian showed himself from a lofty tribunal; the
judicious choice was applauded; and the new prince was solemnly invested
with the diadem and the purple, amidst the acclamation of the troops,
who were disposed in martial order round the tribunal. But when he
stretched forth his hand to address the armed multitude, a busy whisper
was accidentally started in the ranks, and insensibly swelled into
a loud and imperious clamor, that he should name, without delay, a
colleague in the empire. The intrepid calmness of Valentinian obtained
silence, and commanded respect; and he thus addressed the assembly: "A
few minutes since it was in your power, fellow-soldiers, to have left me
in the obscurity of a private station. Judging, from the testimony of my
past life, that I deserved to reign, you have placed me on the throne.
It is now my duty to consult the safety and interest of the republic.
The weight of the universe is undoubtedly too great for the hands of
a feeble mortal. I am conscious of the limits of my abilities, and the
uncertainty of my life; and far from declining, I am anxious to solicit,
the assistance of a worthy colleague. But, where discord may be
fatal, the choice of a faithful friend requires mature and serious
deliberation. That deliberation shall be my care. Let your conduct be
dutiful and cons