Constantius had intrusted the direction of his
conduct, the Caesar was informed of the siege and deliverance of
Autun. That large and ancient city, protected only by a ruined wall and
pusillanimous garrison, was saved by the generous resolution of a few
veterans, who resumed their arms for the defence of their country. In
his march from Autun, through the heart of the Gallic provinces, Julian
embraced with ardor the earliest opportunity of signalizing his courage.
At the head of a small body of archers and heavy cavalry, he preferred
the shorter but the more dangerous of two roads; [69a] and sometimes
eluding, and sometimes resisting, the attacks of the Barbarians, who
were masters of the field, he arrived with honor and safety at the camp
near Rheims, where the Roman troops had been ordered to assemble.
The aspect of their young prince revived the drooping spirits of the
soldiers, and they marched from Rheims in search of the enemy, with
a confidence which had almost proved fatal to them. The Alemanni,
familiarized to the knowledge of the country, secretly collected their
scattered forces, and seizing the opportunity of a dark and rainy day,
poured with unexpected fury on the rear-guard of the Romans. Before the
inevitable disorder could be remedied, two legions were destroyed; and
Julian was taught by experience that caution and vigilance are the most
important lessons of the art of war. In a second and more successful
action, he recovered and established his military fame; but as the
agility of the Barbarians saved them from the pursuit, his victory was
neither bloody nor decisive. He advanced, however, to the banks of
the Rhine, surveyed the ruins of Cologne, convinced himself of the
difficulties of the war, and retreated on the approach of winter,
discontented with the court, with his army, and with his own success.
[70] The power of the enemy was yet unbroken; and the Caesar had no
sooner separated his troops, and fixed his own quarters at Sens, in the
centre of Gaul, than he was surrounded and besieged, by a numerous host
of Germans. Reduced, in this extremity, to the resources of his own
mind, he displayed a prudent intrepidity, which compensated for all the
deficiencies of the place and garrison; and the Barbarians, at the end
of thirty days, were obliged to retire with disappointed rage.

[Footnote 69a: Aliis per Arbor--quibusdam per Sedelaucum et Coram in
debere firrantibus. Amm. Marc. xvi. 2. I do not know w