The envoys, however, he dismissed at once, and only ordered his quaestor Leonas to proceed at rapid pace to Gaul with a letter which he had given him for Julian, in which he declared that he accepted none of the changes, but charged him, if he had any regard for his own life and that of his friends, to drop his swelling pride and keep within the bounds of a Caesar’s power.

And to the end that fear of his threats might bring this about the more easily, as an indication of confidence in his great strength in place of Florentius he promoted Nebridius, who was then quaestor of the aforesaid Caesar, to the rank of praetorian prefect, and the secretary Felix to that of master of the officies,By this disregard of Julian’s wishes as to appointments (see 8, 14, and 9, 8, below) he hoped to intimidate his rival. besides making some other appointments. And indeed Gomoarius had been advanced to the rank of commander-in-chief, as successor to Lupicinus, before Constantius knew anything of this kind.

Accordingly, Leonas,See § 4, above. having entered Paris, was received as an honoured and discreet person, and on the following day, when the prince had come to the field with a great number of soldiers and townsmen, whom he had purposely summoned, and was standing aloft on a tribunal in order to be more conspicuous from a high position, he ordered the letter to be handed to him. And after unrolling the scroll of the edict which had been sent, he began to read it from the beginning. And when he had come to the place where Constantius, rejecting all that had been done, declared that the power of a Caesar was enough for Julian, on all sides terrifying shouts arose:

Julianus Augustus, as was decreed by authority of the province, the soldiers, and the state—a state restored indeed, but still fearful of renewed raids of the savages.

On hearing this, Leonas returned in safety, with a letter of Julian to the same purport, and Nebridius alone was admitted to the prefecture; for Caesar in his letter had openly said that such an appointmentI.e. the appointment of a praetorian prefect; not of Nebridius, as appears from xxi. 5, 11, 12, below. would be in accordance with his wishes. As to the master of the offices, he had long before chosen for that office Anatolius, who previously had answered petitions, and some others, in accordance with what seemed to him expedient and safe.

But while matters were thus proceeding, Lupicinus was to be feared, although he was absent and even then in Britain, for he was a man of haughty and arrogant spiritCf. xx. 1, 2, note. and it was suspected that if he should learn of these things while across the sea, he would stir up material for a revolution; accordingly, a secretary was sent to Boulogne, to watch carefully and prevent anyone from crossing the strait. Because of this prohibition Lupicinus returned before hearing of anything that had happened, and so could cause no disturbance.

Julian, however, being now happier in his lofty station and in the confidence which the soldiers felt in him, in order not to become lukewarm or be accused of negligence and sloth, after sending envoys to Constantius set out for the frontier of Second Germany, and, thoroughly equipped with all the material that the business in hand demanded, drew near to the city of Tricensima.Modern Kellen; cf. xviii. 2, 4, note.

Then crossing the Rhine, he suddenly invaded the territory of those Franks known as Atthuarii, a restless people, who even then were lawlessly overrunning the frontiers of Gaul. Having attacked them unexpectedly, when they feared no hostile demonstration and were quite off their guard, because they could remember no invasion of their land as yet by any emperor, protected as they were by rough and difficult roads, he defeated them with slight trouble; and after having captured or killed a great many, when the rest who survived begged for peace, he granted it on his own conditions,ex arbitrio is rather a vague expression, but the context seems to make it clear. thinking this to be to the advantage of the neighbouring settlers.

From there he returned with equal speed by way of the river, and carefully examining and strengthening the defences of the frontier, he came as far as Augst; and there having recovered the places which the savages had formerly taken and were holding as their own, he fortified them with special care and went by way of Besançon to Vienne, to pass the winter.

Such was the series of events in Gaul. While they were going on so successfully and so wisely, Constantius sent for Arsaces, king of Armenia, and after entertaining him with the greatest generosity forewarned and urged him to continue to be faithful and friendly to us.

For he heard that he had often been worked upon by the Persian king with deception, with threats, and with guile, to induce him to give up his alliance with the Romans and involve himself in the Persian’s designs.

And the king, swearing with many an oath that he could sooner give up his life than his resolve, after receiving rewards returned to his kingdom with the retinue that he had brought with him; and after that he never dared to violate any of his promises, being bound to Constantius by many ties of gratitude, among which this was especially strong-that the emperor had given him to wife Olympias, daughter of Ablabius, a former praetorian prefect, and the betrothed of his brother Constans.