Through his authority and his decisions based upon justice and truth the outbreak which was stirred up by the quarrels of the ChristiansCf. 3, 11 f. was quelled, and after the banishment of Ursinus profound quiet reigned, which most suited the wishproposito = votis, Wagner. of the citizens of Rome; and the fame of this illustrious ruler increased because of his many salutary measures.

For he removed all the Maeniana,Balconies on houses, or colonnades, at first constructed for viewing the games in the Forum by a certain Maenius, and named from him; cf. Pseud.-Asconius on Cic. , 16, 50. the building of which in Rome was forbidden by early laws also, and he separated from the sacred buildings the walls of private houses, which had been irreverently built against them. He established standard weights in every quarter of the city, since otherwise the greed of many, who rigged up their balances after their own inclination, could not be dealt with. And in the examination of legal cases he deserved above all others the distinction which Cicero mentions in the commendation of Brutus, 10, 34. that although he did nothing to gain favour, yet everything that he did was looked upon with favour.

At about this same time, Valentinian had begun his campaign with wariness,The narrative returns to the war with the Alamanni; see 2. The date is 368. as he himself thought, when a prince of the Alamanni called Rando, after long preparation for his design, with a lightarmed band equipped for plundering, secretly made his way into Mogontiacus,Mainz. which had no garrison.

And since he chanced to find that a festival of the Christian religionPerhaps Easter. was being celebrated, he was not hindered in carrying off defenceless men and women of every kind of station along with no small amount of household goods.

Then, after a brief interval, the hope of better fortune unexpectedly dawned upon the Roman state. For since King Vithicabius, son of Vadomarius, who was somewhat weak and sickly in appearance, but valiant and vigorous, again and again kindled the flames of war against us, no efforts were spared to dispose of him by any possible manner of death.

And because after several attempts he could in no way be overcome or treacherously surrendered, he was slain by the perfidy of an attendant on his private lifeCf. xiv. 1, 7; xxi. 16, 6. through the earnest solicitation of our men; and after his death the enemy’s raids slackened somewhat. But the assassin, through fear of the punishment which he dreaded in case the affair should become known, hastened to take refuge on Roman soil.