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To him, therefore, God granted, from heaven above, the deserved
fruit of piety, the trophies of victory over the impious, and he cast
the guilty one with all his counselors and friends prostrate at the feet
of Constantine. For when Licinius carried his madness to the last
extreme, the emperor, the friend of God, thinking that he ought no
longer to be tolerated, acting upon the basis of sound judgment, and
mingling the firm principles of justice with humanity, gladly
determined to come to the protection of those who were oppressed by the
tyrant, and undertook, by putting a few destroyers out of the way, to
save the greater part of the human race. For when he had formerly
exercised humanity alone and had shown mercy to him who was not worthy
of sympathy, nothing was accomplished; for Licinius did not renounce
his wickedness, but rather increased his fury against the peoples that
were subject to him, and there was left to the afflicted no hope of
salvation, oppressed as they were by a savage beast. Wherefore, the
protector of the virtuous, mingling hatred for evil with love for
good, went forth with his son Crispus, a most beneficent prince, and
extended a saving right hand to all that were perishing. Both of
them, father and son, under the protection, as it were, of God,
the universal King, with the Son of God, the Saviour of all, as
their leader and ally, drew up their forces on all sides against the
enemies of the Deity and won an easy victory; God having prospered
them in the battle in all respects according to their wish. Thus,
suddenly, and sooner than can be told, those who yesterday and the day
before breathed death and threatening were no more, and not even their
names were remembered, but their inscriptions and their honors suffered
the merited disgrace. And the things which Licinius with his own eyes
had seen come upon the former impious tyrants he himself likewise
suffered, because he did not receive instruction nor learn wisdom from
the chastisements of his neighbors, but followed the same path of
impiety which they had trod, and was justly hurled over the same
precipice.
Thus he lay prostrate. But Constantine, the mightiest victor,
adorned with every virtue of piety, together with his son Crispus, a
most God-beloved prince, and in all respects like his father,
recovered the East which belonged to them; and they formed one united
Roman empire as of old, bringing under their peaceful sway the whole
world from the rising of the sun to the opposite quarter, both north
and south, even to the extremities of the declining day. All fear
therefore of those who had formerly afflicted them was taken away from
men, and they celebrated splendid and festive days. Everything was
filled with light, and those who before were downcast beheld each other
with smiling faces and beaming eyes. With dances and hymns, in city
and country, they glorified first of all God the universal King,
because they had been thus taught, and then the pious emperor with his
God-beloved children. There was oblivion of past evils and
forgetfulness of every deed of impiety; there was enjoyment of present
benefits and expectation of those yet to come. Edicts full of clemency
and laws containing tokens of benevolence and true piety were issued in
every place by the victorious emperor. Thus after all tyranny had been
purged away, the empire which belonged to them was preserved firm and
without a rival for Constantine and his sons alone. And having
obliterated the godlessness of their predecessors, recognizing the
benefits conferred upon them by God, they exhibited their love of
virtue and their love of God, and their piety and gratitude to the
Deity, by the deeds which they performed in the sight of all men.
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