It would seem that people are wrong in thinking it strange that Constantine should also have appointed Dalmatius and Hannibalianus. He did it, not because they had any claims; but without doubt that he might be able, if any dissensions should arise between his sons, to throw one weight more into the scale; so that his family might, at all events be kept on the throne. His wish to promote harmony was not, however, fulfilled. The causes of the outbreak are by no means clear, nor do we know how it happened that the provisions of the will were not adhered to: the statements which have been made about it, may have some truth in them, but they sound rather apocryphal. Just as little can we make out how far Constantius was guilty: heathens and orthodox Christians unite in their hatred against him, which is perhaps the reason why he seems to us still blacker than he really was. In short, there broke out a military insurrection at Constantinople; the will of Constantine was declared to be a forgery; the brothers of Constantine, and the two princes Dalmatius and Hannibalianus were killed, and with them the _præfectus prætorio_ Ablavius, and many other followers of Constantine. The division was now made in the manner which we have already seen in the times of Aurelian and Diocletian: Constantine, the eldest brother, who was twenty-one years of age, got the West, and had Gaul, Spain, and Britain; Constans, who was twenty, the _præfectura Italiæ_, and also Illyricum; and Constantius, who was a youth of seventeen, the _præfectura orientis_. Constantius was soon involved in a war with Sapor king of Persia, which lasted with uninterrupted ill success from 337 to 361. Constantine and Constans likewise soon became at feud, as the former demanded from his brother the cession of Africa as a compensation to maintain the balance of power, because Constans had Illyricum and Dalmatia:—it seems that Constantine likewise had Rhætia and Noricum. Constantine (who on coins is called _junior_) burst upon the states of Constans from the Norican frontier; but soon met with a decisive overthrow, and lost his life. Constans now took possession of the West, for which Constantius may have had a slight compensation in Illyricum. Constans enjoyed his triumph for some years, but at last had his reward. He was a worthless prince. Of the three brothers, Constantius seems to have been the most bearable, although he himself also was not good for much: he was entirely under the government of his chamberlains the eunuchs, who, quite in the Persian fashion, held the first place in his court. Constans was a profligate, violent man, and thus he gave rise to much exasperation in Gaul where he resided. In that country lived Magnentius, a general of barbarian origin, altogether rude and illiterate, who very likely could not even read nor write:—such a thing would have been impossible in the second century, and it is a proof of the utter degeneracy of the times, that such ignorant people could