promoted from the obscure
station of a tribune, and a notary, to the joint command of the army of
Mesopotamia; the public opinion already named him as the successor of
a prince who was destitute of natural heirs; and a vain rumor was
propagated by his friends, or his enemies, that Julian, before the
altar of the Moon at Carrhae, had privately invested Procopius with
the Imperial purple. [35] He endeavored, by his dutiful and submissive
behavior, to disarm the jealousy of Jovian; resigned, without a
contest, his military command; and retired, with his wife and family,
to cultivate the ample patrimony which he possessed in the province of
Cappadocia. These useful and innocent occupations were interrupted by
the appearance of an officer with a band of soldiers, who, in the name
of his new sovereigns, Valentinian and Valens, was despatched to conduct
the unfortunate Procopius either to a perpetual prison or an ignominious
death. His presence of mind procured him a longer respite, and a more
splendid fate. Without presuming to dispute the royal mandate, he
requested the indulgence of a few moments to embrace his weeping
family; and while the vigilance of his guards was relaxed by a plentiful
entertainment, he dexterously escaped to the sea-coast of the Euxine,
from whence he passed over to the country of Bosphorus. In that
sequestered region he remained many months, exposed to the hardships of
exile, of solitude, and of want; his melancholy temper brooding over his
misfortunes, and his mind agitated by the just apprehension, that, if
any accident should discover his name, the faithless Barbarians would
violate, without much scruple, the laws of hospitality. In a moment of
impatience and despair, Procopius embarked in a merchant vessel, which
made sail for Constantinople; and boldly aspired to the rank of a
sovereign, because he was not allowed to enjoy the security of a
subject. At first he lurked in the villages of Bithynia, continually
changing his habitation and his disguise. [36] By degrees he ventured
into the capital, trusted his life and fortune to the fidelity of two
friends, a senator and a eunuch, and conceived some hopes of success,
from the intelligence which he obtained of the actual state of
public affairs. The body of the people was infected with a spirit of
discontent: they regretted the justice and the abilities of Sallust, who
had been imprudently dismissed from the praefecture of the East. They
despised th