gard her as a marine divinity. (Plut. Camill. 5; Ov. Fast. vi. 551, &c. ; Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 19, Tuscul. i. 12.) A temple had been dedicated to Matuta at Rome by king Servius, and was restored by the dictator, Camillus, after the taking of Veii. (Liv. v. 19, 23, xxv. 7, xli. 33.) Frequent mention of a temple of Matuta at Satricum is made by Livy (vi. 33, vii. 27, xxviii. 11). [L. S.] MAVORS. [MARS.] MAVOʻRTIUS, the name prefixed to a poem in the Latin Anthology on the judgment of Paris. It is a cento from the writings of Virgil, and breaks off abruptly at the end of 42 lines. The author is believed to be the Vettius Agorius Basilius Mavortius, who was consul A. D. 527, the same who, according to Bentley, arranged the works of Horace in their present form, and who is supposed by a recent critic, whose reasonings will not bear close investigation, to have interpolated a number of spurious pieces, and introduced other organic changes. (Burmann, Antholog. Lat. i. 147, or No. 282, ed. Meyer; Bentley, Praef. in Horat.; Peerlkamp, Praef. ad Horat.) [W.R.] MAURICIA/NUS, JU'NIUS, a Roman jurist, who wrote, according to the Florentine Index, six books, Ad Leges, by which is meant Ad Leg. Juliam et Papiam (Dig. 33. tit. 2. s. 23). The passage just cited shows that he was writing this work in the time of Antoninus Pius (A. D. 138161). There is one passage in the Digest from the second book of Mauricianus De Poenis (2. tit. 13. s. 3), which work is not mentioned in the Florentine Index. He also wrote notes on Julianus (2. tit. 14. s. 7. § 2; 7. tit. 1. s. 25. § 1), but in place of Mauricianus some manuscripts have Martianus or Marcianus in the two passages just cited. Mauricianus | is sometimes cited by other jurists. There are four excerpts from his writings in the Digest. [G. L.] MAURICIUS, according to Capitolinus (Gordian. tres, c. 7), was the name of the youth who headed the conspiracy in Africa against Maximinus I. [MAXIMINUS], and proposed the elevation of the proconsul, Gordian, and his son. Maurice spent his youth at the court of the emperor Justin II.; and although he undoubtedly served also in the army, his name does not become conspicuous in history previous to 578. At that period he was comes cubiculorum; and Tiberius had no sooner succeeded Justin (578) than he appointed Maurice magister militum, and gave him the command in Mesopotamia against the Persians, in place of the general Justinian, with whose military conduct the emperor was not satisfied. As Tiberius was considered to be the greatest captain of his time, he would not have entrusted so important a command to an inexperienced courtier, and consequently one cannot but infer that he was perfectly acquainted with the great capabilities of Maurice. The event fully justified the emperor's choice. A truce of three years had been made between Persia and the empire, extending to the whole of the frontier except Armenia, where war was carried on as before. But Chosroes violated the truce, and invaded Mesopotamia before the Romans were at all aware of his hostile intentions. At this critical moment Maurice arrived in Mesopotamia, and forthwith began by restoring the relaxed discipline of the troops: one of his first measures was the re-establishment of the ancient custom of the legions never going to rest at night before fortifying their camp. This custom had long since been neglected; and the favourite manoeuvre of the Persians of surprising the Romans in the night was thus rendered abortive. At the opening of the campaign, however, the Persian general, Tamchosroes, made himself master of the important fortress of Thomane, and pushed as far as Amida. Maurice soon drove him back, and in his turn invaded the province of Arzanene, sending some detachments beyond the Tigris. The first campaign ended without any decisive battle. In the second campaign, 579, Maurice and his excellent lieutenant Narses-who must not be confounded with Narses, the general of Justinian-made a successful invasion of Media, and took up their winter-quarters in Mesopotamia. In 580 he crossed the Euphrates at Circesium (Circessus or Cercusium), a town situated in the angle made by the Chaboras joining the Euphrates, with a view of marching across the desert upon Ctesiphon. His plan was frustrated through the treachery of some Arab allies, and he found himself unexpectedly compelled to make head against the main army of the Persians. The contest was sharp, and ended with a total overthrow of the Persians, who evacuated whatever places they held in Mesopotamia, and fled in confusion beyond the Euphrates. Now Chosroes offered peace, but Maurice peremptorily demanded the restoration of the great fortress of Dara, the bulwark of the empire, declining to accept any indemnity in money, and the war was renewed with more fury than before (581). A pitched battle, in which the Persian army was almost annihilated, and their commander, Tamchosroes, died the death of a hero, concluded the war, to the advantage of the Romans, and Maurice hastened to Constantinople to surprise the emperor and the nation with the welcome news that the most dangerous enemy of Greece was humbled, said to have and peace restored to the East. This was more than what even Tiberius expected; and Maurice having gained universal popularity by his brilliant victories, the emperor invited him to enter Constantinople in triumph (582). [W. R.] MAURICIUS (Mavрíkios), FLA'VIUS TIBE'RIUS, one of the greatest emperors of Constantinople (A. D. 582-620), was descended from an ancient Roman family which settled in Asia Minor, perhaps some centuries previous to his birth, which took place about A. D. 539, in the town of Arabissus, in Cappadocia. We give the genealogy of his family so far as it is known: 2. Petrus, dux 3. Gordiana, 4. Theo. 5. Damiana. Curopalata; murdered by Phocas 602. pus, or Philippicus, dux Orientis. ctista. His mature age (43) was a guarantee to the nation that the rapid fortune of their new master was not likely to turn his head; and indeed he did not deceive their expectation, although his reign | was an uninterrupted series of wars. We shall first speak of the Persian war. Soon afterwards the brave Tiberius fell danger-peror's affairs in the East. They refused to acously ill; and feeling his end approach, assembled knowledge Priscus, forced Germanus to take the the senate, and proposed Maurice as his successor. supreme command, and deposed all officers with His touching speech met with no opposition; Con- whom they were displeased, choosing others in stantinople was in rapture; and the dying em- their stead. In this emergency Aristobulus arperor increased the joy of his subjects by giving rived, whom Maurice had sent into Mesopotamia, his eldest daughter Constantina in marriage to immediately upon being informed of the mutiny; Maurice. A few days afterwards Tiberius died and this able man having gained some ascendancy (13th of August, 582); and the fortunate Maurice over the rioters, availed himself of his advantage, now ascended the throne. and together with Heraclius led the army, who were then encamped under the walls of Martyropolis (on the Nymphius, in Sophene) against the main body of the Persians, who approached to besiege that great fortress. The Romans carried the day; but in the pride of victory the soldiers once more raised the standard of rebellion. At this critical time, Gregory, bishop of Antioch, arrived, as the emperor's plenipotentiary, and he at last succeeded in soothing the turbulent spirit of the legions, and prevailed upon them to obey Philippicus as their commander-in-chief. This was exactly what this ambitious man wished for; but as he was unable to do honour to his important function, when he had obtained it in a fair way, he was found to be still less competent now his mind was inflated by unfair success (589). His first act of incompetency was the loss of Martyropolis, of which the Persians made themselves master by a stratagem; and the recapture of the fortress became next to impossible, when, through his carelessness, a strong body of Persians was allowed to relieve the garrison. Maurice was extremely vexed at these proceedings, and full of rancour against all those who had promoted the mutiny; he showed no further indulgence to his brother-in-law, but deprived him of his post, and appointed Comentiolus in his place. This was the very man who commanded those legions which first mutinied in 588. This faithless and incompetent general would have made a sorry figure but for the aid of the gallant Heraclius: at the battle of Sisarbene he was among the first who took to flight; and the Romans seemed to be lost when Heraclius restored order, and gained one of the most glorious victories ever obtained over the Persians: the camp of the enemy was taken, and an immense booty sent to Constantinople, creating the most unlimited satisfaction and joy in the court as well as in the town. Soon afterwards Acbas was re-taken by Heraclius; and affairs speedily took a turn in favour of the Romans, by a commotion in Persia, which, on account of its important consequences for the empire, deserves a short explanation. While the Roman arms became more and more dangerous, Hormisdas concluded an alliance with the Turks in Bactriana (Turkistan), whose khan consequently came to his apparent relief with a host of some hundred thousand marauders on horseback. They behaved like allies till they had quartered themselves on the frontier of Media, when they altered their conduct, and it became manifest that they had made a secret alliance with Maurice; and being now in the heart of Persia, were ready to fall upon the rear of the royal armies engaged in Mesopotamia. In this extremity Persia was saved by Baram, a general highly distinguished for his former campaigns against the Romans, who attacked the Turks in the passes of the Hyrcanian mountain, and gave them such a bloody lesson, that they desisted from further hostile attempts. Baram was rewarded with ingratitude, for he was deprived of his command, and Maurice had scarcely ascended the throne, and given proof of his forbearance, by pardoning instead of punishing various persons who had been guilty of treason, when news came from the Persian frontier that Hormisdas, the son of Chosroes, had broken the peace, and attacked the empire. Before the end of the year (582) John Mystacon, the commander-in-chief in those quarters, engaged in a pitched battle with the Persians near the junction of the Nymphius and the Tigris; but although the Romans fought with great valour, the day was lost, through the jealousy of one of their generals, Curs, and their army was dispersed. They suffered another defeat at Acbas, and Mystacon was compelled, through misfortune and illness, to spend the whole season of 583 on the defensive. Maurice, dissatisfied with his conduct, recalled him, and sent Philippus or Philippicus in his stead, having previously given him his sister Gordia in marriage. This general would have ventured some decisive blow in 584, but his army was decimated by famine, diseases, and fatigues; he took the offensive in 585, but performed nothing particular. In 586 Philippicus at last brought the enemy to a stand at Solacon, not far from Dara, and obtained a decisive victory, which he owed especially to his infantry, which, until the time of Maurice, was made little use of in the later wars in the East. The Persian army was nearly destroyed. A strong body of their veterans, however, reached safely a hill at some distance from the field of battle, where they entrenched themselves, but were routed, with great slaughter, by the Roman, Stephanus. Now Philippicus invaded Arzanene. He was in sight of another Persian army, and ready to fight them, when some trifling circumstance caused such a panic among his troops, that they gave way to the impulse, and fled in the utmost confusion. The Persians followed them without loss of time, took and plundered the baggage, and pursued them as far as Amida. Philippicus fell ill through grief, for the fruit of his great victory at Solacon seemed to be entirely lost; and being unable to appear in the field, he gave the command to Heraclius, An- | dreas, and Theodore of Addea. Heraclius, who afterwards became emperor, retrieved the fortune of the Romans, and gave such splendid proofs of his military skill, that, Philippicus having been recalled in 588, he was entrusted with the temporary command-in-chief till the arrival of Priscus, whom the emperor had despatched to supersede Philippicus. The latter was so extremely jealous of his successor, that he employed treason in order to avenge himself for the insult, and kindled a rebellion among the troops which threatened to ruin the em insulted in a most poignant manner. Compelled | In appointing him, Maurice committed either a to rebel or to lose his head, he took up arms great blunder or secretly wished to ruin him. Coagainst the king, and a general defection ensued, mentiolus had no sooner taken the field, when he during which Hormisdas was seized and blinded suffered a severe defeat from the chagan: 12,000 by Bindoes, a prince of royal blood, who had been Romans remained prisoners of war with the Avars. ill-treated by his master. Chosroes, the son of We shall speak hereafter of their fate, an event Hormisdas, now ascended the throne, with the con- intimately connected with that of the emperor. sent of Bindoes, and prepared for marching against The honour of the Roman arms was restored in Baram. The royal troops were defeated, Chosroes five successful battles by the gallant Priscus, but fled into the Roman territory, and during the en- Comentiolus thwarted his plans by intrigues and suing troubles in Persia the blinded king, Hormis- treacherous manoeuvres, and at last Priscus was das, was murdered by Bindoes, or, as Theophy- again put at the head of the army. In the autumn lact states, beaten to death by order of his own of 602 he intended to winter along the southern son, Chosroes. Gibbon rejects the latter account. bank of the Danube, when Maurice ordered him to When Chosroes, with a few attendants, suddenly take up his quarters on the northern side, where arrived at the gates of Circesium, the Roman com- they would have been exposed to the attacks of the mander would scarcely trust his own eyes, and Avars. Some pretend that Maurice gave this order immediately requested him to remove to the more for the purpose of sparing the magazines within stately city of Hierapolis, whence the king sent a the empire; but it would seem as if he rather intouching letter to Maurice, imploring his generous tended to punish those troops for previous acts of aid for the recovery of his throne. When our pride disobedience and mutiny, by assigning them winis flattered, our honour satisfied, and our heart ter-quarters in an inhospitable country. However moved at one and the same time, human nature this may be, the measure was imprudent, and seldom withstands the dictates of its better feel- proved the ruin of the emperor. ings; Maurice shed tears when he read the letter, and granted his protection to the royal fugitive. A powerful army, under the command of Narses, was assembled on the frontier; loyal Persians flocked to the Roman camp to serve their legitimate sovereign; Narses and Chosroes entered Persia; and in a decisive battle at Balarath they routed the rebel Baram, whose troops were dispersed, while he himself fled into Turkistan, where he met with an untimely death, either by poison or grief. Chosroes now re-ascended the throne of his ancestors (591), and peace and friendship reigned henceforth between Persia and the empire as long as Maurice sat on the throne. Dara and Martyropolis, the bulwarks of Mesopotamia, and the objects of so many a bloody contest, were given to Maurice as a reward or on condition of his assistance. L We now turn to the war with the Avars, of which our account must be brief. The first war against the chagan or khan of these barbarians, who ruled over an extent of country nearly equal to that which once obeyed Attila, broke out in 587. Comentiolus, who commanded against them, being unfortunate, Mystacon was sent to supersede him, although he could not boast of much success in Persia. But his lieutenant Droctulf, a German, who had long served in the imperial armies, watched over the blunders of his chief, and in a pitched battle so utterly discomfited the Avars, that the khan refrained from any incursion during the following five years. The next war broke out some time after the peace with Persia, and Maurice had leisure to withdraw a great portion of his forces from Asia, and employ them against the Avars. He intended to put himself at their head, but it was already customary at the court of Constantinople that the emperor should not command in the field, and he consequently gave way to the remonstrances of the senate, and sent Priscus in his stead, who, however, was soon superseded by the emperor's brother Peter. The choice was a bad one, and as early as 598 Priscus resumed the supreme command. He was less successful than was expected, though he was an excellent general, and in 600 the army received a new commander in the person of Comentiolus, that faithless and cowardly intriguer, whose conduct had been so very suspicious in Asia. VOL. II. Gibbon observes with great justness, that, while in the camp alone the emperors ought to have exercised a despotic command, it was only in the camps that his authority was disobeyed and insulted. The spirit of mutiny and arrogance in the army, that hereditary cancer of Roman administration, reigned unabated when Maurice took the reins of government, and he who met with blind obedience when a mere magister militum, had to encounter that dangerous mutiny of his Persian army immediately upon exchanging the baton for the sceptre. Nor was this the only outbreak, though the others were of less magnitude. It has been told above that 12,000 Romans were made prisoners of war by the Avars. The trifling sum of 6000 pieces of gold was demanded for their ransom. Maurice, moved by avarice, as some say, refused to pay it, and now 12,000 veterans were put to death by their captors. The army and the nation were deeply indignant at this atrocious deed, and cursed Maurice for his abominable conduct. However, in acting as he did, the emperor had a powerful though secret motive: those 12,000 were the soldiers of Comentiolus, it was they who had chiefly caused the great mutiny during the Persian war; and in abandoning them to the fury of barbarians, he at once assuaged his resentment and got rid of a band of dangerous mercenaries. But his conscience continually reproached him with this barbarous act. this barbarous act. He wrote to the most eminent divines of his realm, to receive consolation from their censure or their indulgence; he tried to forget his pangs by redoubled activity in the cabinet. It was all in vain: he neither recovered the peace of his soul nor the love of his subjects; and the army bore such hatred against him, that they only seemed to wait for a suitable pretext to break out in open rebellion. His own imprudence furnished them with an opportunity, by ordering them, in the autumn of 602, to take up their winter-quarters on the Avarian side of the Danube. They complained that the emperor desired to sacrifice them, like their 12,000 brethren. They held tumultuous meetings, which the emperor's brother Peter tried in vain to counteract; and Phocas having been chosen by them for the command-in-chief, Peter had no alternative left but escaping secretly, and 3 R . involved in the wholesale murder of the imperial family. Maurice is said to have loved money too much; but he was so far from oppressing his subjects from taxes, that, on the contrary, he lowered them considerably; on one occasion he took off one-third of the land-tax. Arts and sciences were protected by this great emperor, who possessed considerable learning. Maurice wrote twelve books on the military art, which have fortunately come down to posterity. They are entitled тpaтnyiká, and were published with a Latin version, together with Arrian's "Tactica," by John Scheffer, Upsala, 1664, 8vo. The text contains 382 half pages, and the version as much; the editor added 157 pages of notes, and a few pages with very curious representations of the different battle arrays spoken of in the work. (Theophylact. Simocatta, Vita Mauricii; Evagr. lib. v. vi. ; Theoph. p. 213, &c.; Cedren. p. 394, &c.; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 70, &c. ; Menander, p. 124, &c.; Niceph. Call. xviii. 5, carrying the news of the revolt to the emperor in | Among the papers of the murdered emperor was found his will, which he had made in the fifteenth year of his reign (597), and by which he left Constantinople and the East to Theodosius; Rome, Italy and the Islands, to his second son Tiberius. Maurice was indeed preparing for wresting Italy from the Lombards, and might have carried his plan into execution, but for the great wars against the Persians and the Avars. Although greater as a general than as a king, Maurice was yet one of the best emperors of the East. Constantly active, he knew no other pleasure than that which arises from doing one's duty; he was firm without being obstinate, bold yet prudent, and both severe or forbearing according to circumstances. He was completely master of his passions and appetites, sober to the extreme, a loving and virtuous husband and father, and full of filial piety. No sooner was he informed of the intentions of the emperor Tiberius towards him, than he entreated his father Paulus and his mother Joanna to come to Constantinople, and they were both present at his marriage with the princess Constantina. They continued to live at his court, and his father became one of his most influential ministers: the fame of Paulus as a wise and well-disposed man spread abroad, and the views of Maurice upon Italy being likely to lead to either an alliance or a war with the Franks in Gaul, their king Childebert wrote a letter to Paulus on that subject, which is given in Hist. Francor. vol. i. p. 869. A natural and timely death in 593 saved Paulus from being [W.P.] MAUʼRICUS, JU'NIUS, called in some manuscripts both of Tacitus and Pliny Maricus, was an intimate friend of Pliny, who says (Ep. iv. 22) of him, "quo viro nihil firmius, nihil verius." Mauricus showed his independence by the question which he dared to ask Domitian in the senate, at the accession of Vespasian, A. D. 70 (Tac. Hist. iv. 40), which is the first time that his name is mentioned; and it is therefore not surprising that he was banished during the reign of Domitian. He was recalled from exile by Nerva, and an anecdote related by Pliny (Ep. l. c.) and Aurelius Victor (Epit. 12) shows with what freedom he spoke to the latter emperor. (Tac. Agric. 45; Plin. Ep. i. 5, § 10, iii. 11, § 3.) Mauricus was the brother of Arulenus Rusticus (Plin. Ep. i. 14). [RUSTICUS.] Three of Pliny's epistles are addressed to Mauricus (i. 14, ii. 18, vi. 14). MÁU'ROPUS, JOANNES. [JOANNES, No. 58.] MAUSOLUS (Μαύσωλος οι Μαύσωλος, the latter form is that found on his coins), king or dynast of Caria, was the eldest son of Hecatomnus, whom he succeeded in the sovereignty. If the chronology of Diodorus be correct, his accession may be placed in B. c. 377. But the first occasion on which he appears in history is not till long afterwards, in B. C. 362, when he took part in the general revolt of the satraps against Artaxerxes Mnemon. (Diod. xv. 90.) He is said to have at that time already possessed several strong fortresses and flourishing cities, of which his capital, Halicarnassus, was the most conspicuous; but he appears to have availed himself of the opportunity of that war to extend his dominions by conquest, having overrun great part of Lydia and Ionia as far as Miletus, and made himself master of several of the neighbouring islands. (Lucian. Dial. Mort. xxiv. ; and comp. Polyaen. vii. 23. § 2.) His dissolute habits, was altogether passed over in the division of the empire which followed the abdication of his father and Diocletian in A. D. 305. A strong feeling of disaffection towards the existing government prevailed at this time in Rome, arising from the pressure of increased taxation upon the nobles and wealthier classes, from the discontent of the praetorians who had been recently deprived of all their exclusive privileges, and from the indignation which pervaded the whole community, in consequence of the degradation of the ancient metropolis by the selection of Nicomedeia and Milan as the residences of the Augusti. It proved no difficult task for the neglected prince to turn this angry spirit to his own advantage, and to place himself at the head of the party who styled themselves patriots. A regular conspiracy was soon organised and eagerly supported by men of all ranks, the standard of open revolt was raised, the feeble re ambition was next turned towards the more important acquisitions of Rhodes and Cos; and it was apparently as a preliminary step to that object that he overthrew the democracy in the former island, and established there an oligarchical government in the hands of his own friends. (Dem. de Rhod. Lib. pp. 191, 198.) Shortly after (B. c. 358) | he joined with the Rhodians, Byzantians, and Chians in the war waged by them against the Athenians, known by the name of the Social War, of which indeed he was, according to Demosthenes, the prime mover and instigator, though we do not hear of his taking any farther part in it than sending a body of troops to assist in the defence of Chios. (Dem. l. c.; Diod. xvi. 7.) He died, according to Diodorus (xvi. 36) in B. c. 353, after a reign of twenty-four years, leaving no children, and was succeeded by his wife and sister Artemisia. The extravagant grief of. the latter for his death, and the honours she paid to his memory-sistance of the few magistrates who remained true especially by the erection of the costly monument, which was called from him the Mausoleum, and was accounted one of the seven wonders of the world-are well known. [ARTEMISIA.] On occasion of the consecration of that monument, a prize was proposed by Artemisia for the best panegyric of her husband, and the praises of Mausolus were celebrated by rival orators, among whom Theopompus was the successful candidate. (Gell. x. 18.) Nevertheless, the character transmitted to us of the Carian prince is by no means one of unmixed praise. He is said to have been very greedy of monéy, which he sought to accumulate by every means in his power, and thus amassed vast treasures at the expense of his subjects. The sums thus accumulated were in great part expended upon the decoration of his new capital, Halicarnassus, to which he had transferred the seat of government from Mylasa, the residence of the former princes of Caria, and where he not only constructed a splendid palace for himself, but adorned the city with a new agora, temples, and many other public works. So much taste and judgment, as well as magnificence, were displayed by him in these improvements, that they are cited by Vitruvius as a model in their kind. (Vitruv. ii. 8. §§ 11, 13.) The reception afforded by him to the astronomer Eudoxus (Diog. Laërt. viii. 87) is also a sign that he was not without tastes of an elevated character. (Strab. xiv. p. 656; Lucian. 1. c.; Theopomp. ap. Harpocrat. et Suid. s. vv. Maúowλos, 'Apreμioía; Polyaen. vii. 23. § 1; Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 6.) Concerning the chronology of his reign see Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 286. [E. H. B.] to their allegiance was easily overcome, Maxentius was proclaimed emperor on the 28th of October, A. D. 306, amidst the most enthusiastic demonstrations of zeal by the senate, the populace, and the soldiery; all Italy followed the example of the capital; and Africa, acquiescing in the choice, struck medals in honour of the new ruler. Severus [SEVERUS FLAVIUS VALERIUS], to whom the guardianship of these provinces had been committed, straightway marched upon Rome to suppress what he vainly deemed a trifling insurrection; but a large body of his troops having deserted to their old commander, Maximianus, who, upon the invitation of his son, had quitted his retreat in Lucania, and had again assumed the purple, the Caesar was compelled to retreat in all haste to Ravenna, hotly pursued by the veteran. In an evil hour he was persuaded by treacherous representations to quit this almost impregnable stronghold, and to trust to the clemency of his foe, who, having once obtained possession of his person, granted him nothing save the liberty of choosing the manner of his death (A. D. 307). Galerius, enraged by these disasters, hastened, at the head of a numerous host, drawn from Illyria and the East, to chastise the usurper; but the military talents of Maximianus devised a system of defence which paralysed the energies of his opponent. The invader found himself in a desert, the whole population had quitted the open country, every town capable of resistance shut its gates, and thus, although he penetrated almost unmolested to within less than a hundred miles of the city, the embarrassments by which he was surrounded, from want of supplies, from enemies in his rear, and from the doubtful fidelity of his soldiers, proved so numerous, that he considered it prudent to make overtures of peace; and when they were contemptuously rejected, commenced a hasty retreat. Maxentius, relieved from these imminent dangers, proceeded to disentangle himself from the control which his father sought to exercise; and having succeeded in driving him from the court [MAXIMIANUS], turned his arms against Africa, where a certain Alexander had established an independent sway. The contest was quickly terminated by the destruction of the pretender, and the victory was savagely abused. The whole country was ravaged with fire and sword; Carthage, at that epoch one of the most splendid cities in the world, was made the scene of a general conflagration and massacre, after which the conqueror |