nd Greeks, except that they knew the roads and had
friendly lands much nearer. Their choice fell on a plain, honest
Christian soldier named Jovian, who did his best by making a treaty with
Sapor, giving up all claim to any lands beyond the Tigris, and
surrendering the brave city of Nisibis which had held out so
gallantly--a great grief to the Eastern Christians. The first thing
Jovian did was to have Athanasius recalled, but his reign did not last a
year, and he died on the way to Constantinople.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

VALENTINIAN AND HIS FAMILY.

364-392.

When Jovian died, the army chose another soldier named Valentinian, a
stout, brave, rough man, with little education, rude and passionate, but
a Catholic Christian. As soon as he reached Constantinople, he divided
the empire with his brother Valens, whom he left to rule the East, while
he himself went to govern the West, chiefly from Milan, for the Emperors
were not fond of living at Rome, partly because the remains of the
Senate interfered with their full grandeur, and partly because there
were old customs that were inconvenient to a Christian Emperor. He was
in general just and honest in his dealings, but when he was angry he
could be cruel, and it is said he had two bears to whom criminals were
thrown. His brother Valens was a weaker and less able man, and was an
Arian, who banished Athanasius once more for the fifth time; but the
Church of Alexandria prevailed, and he was allowed to remain and die in
peace. The Creed that bears his name is not thought to be of his
writing, but to convey what he taught. There was great talk at this time
all over the cities about the questions between the Catholics and
Arians, and good men were shocked by hearing the holiest mysteries of
the faith gossiped about by the idlers in baths and market-places.

[Illustration: ALEXANDRIA.]

At this time Damasus, the Pope, desired a very learned deacon of his
church, named Jerome, to make a good translation of the whole of the
Scriptures into Latin, comparing the best versions, and giving an
account of the books. For this purpose Jerome went to the Holy Land, and
lived in a cell at Bethlehem, happy to be out of the way of the quarrels
at Rome and Constantinople. There, too, was made the first translation
of the Gospels into one of the Teutonic languages, namely, the Gothic.
The Goths were a great people, of the same Teutonic race as the Germans,
Franks, and Saxons--tall, fair, brav