But suddenly he developed traits of character which surprised every one. He entered the camp, shared the coarse food and the hardships of the meanest soldiers, and developed military ability of the highest order. At Strasburg on the Rhine, in command of but thirteen thousand men, he assailed, and after a terrific battle put to flight, thirty-five thousand of the fiercest barbarians of the North. In the heat of this hard-fought battle, six hundred Roman cuirassiers, overpowered by the enemy, in a panic fled. Julian punished them by dressing them in women’s robes, and marching them along his lines amidst the derision of the whole army. He crossed the Danube with his heroic troops, and advanced boldly into the almost unknown regions of the north, cutting down the German tribes mercilessly before him. He liberated, and restored to their homes, twenty thousand Roman captives who had been carried off as slaves into these wilds. Julian, on his return from this successful expedition, repaired to Paris for his winter quarters. Three centuries before this time, Julius Cæsar had found this now-renowned city a mere collection of fishermen’s huts on a small island in the Seine. It was called Lutetia, which signified _The Place of Mire_. Since then the wretched little village had gradually increased. The small, marshy island had become entirely covered with houses. Two wooden bridges connected it with the shore. Julian was much pleased with the place, and built him a palace there. Constantius was at this time in the Valley of the Euphrates, contending, as we have mentioned, against Sapor. He became jealous of the renown which Julian was acquiring. To weaken him, and thus to prevent his gaining any more victories, he ordered a large portion of his army to be withdrawn from Gaul, and sent to the Euphrates. Julian easily induced his soldiers to refuse to go. Clashing their weapons, they rallied around their commander, and, with loud huzzas, declared him to be their emperor. Constantius, foaming with rage, put his army in motion to march to Gaul for the destruction of his rival. He had but reached Tarsus in Cilicia, the birthplace of the apostle Paul, when he died. Such was the history of Julian before his assumption of the imperial diadem. He was at the head of his army, just entering the defiles of the Alps, hurrying to meet Constantius in battle, when he heard the welcome tidings of his death. Julian was then thirty-two years of age. With great eagerness he pressed on to Constantinople, where he was crowned emperor on the 11th of December, 361.