mistake in Gibbon. St Martin, note to Le Beau. i. 324.--M.]

He contributed at least to improve this advantage, by his negotiations
with the free and warlike people of Chersonesus, [44] whose capital,
situate on the western coast of the Tauric or Crimaean peninsula,
still retained some vestiges of a Grecian colony, and was governed by
a perpetual magistrate, assisted by a council of senators, emphatically
styled the Fathers of the City.

The Chersonites were animated against the Goths, by the memory of the
wars, which, in the preceding century, they had maintained with unequal
forces against the invaders of their country. They were connected with
the Romans by the mutual benefits of commerce; as they were supplied
from the provinces of Asia with corn and manufactures, which they
purchased with their only productions, salt, wax, and hides. Obedient
to the requisition of Constantine, they prepared, under the conduct of
their magistrate Diogenes, a considerable army, of which the principal
strength consisted in cross-bows and military chariots. The speedy march
and intrepid attack of the Chersonites, by diverting the attention of
the Goths, assisted the operations of the Imperial generals. The Goths,
vanquished on every side, were driven into the mountains, where, in the
course of a severe campaign, above a hundred thousand were computed to
have perished by cold and hunger Peace was at length granted to their
humble supplications; the eldest son of Araric was accepted as the most
valuable hostage; and Constantine endeavored to convince their chiefs,
by a liberal distribution of honors and rewards, how far the friendship
of the Romans was preferable to their enmity. In the expressions of his
gratitude towards the faithful Chersonites, the emperor was still more
magnificent. The pride of the nation was gratified by the splendid
and almost royal decorations bestowed on their magistrate and his
successors. A perpetual exemption from all duties was stipulated for
their vessels which traded to the ports of the Black Sea. A regular
subsidy was promised, of iron, corn, oil, and of every supply which
could be useful either in peace or war. But it was thought that
the Sarmatians were sufficiently rewarded by their deliverance from
impending ruin; and the emperor, perhaps with too strict an economy,
deducted some part of the expenses of the war from the customary
gratifications which were allowed to that turbulent nation.

[Footnot