His Destruction Was The Consequence.

As an instance of his wealth and luxury, Vopiscus relates that he had squares of glass fixed with bitumen in his house.

The Roman commerce suffered considerably during the reign of Dioclesian by the revolt of Britain, under Carausius, who, by his skill and superiority, especially in naval affairs, which enabled him to defeat a powerful Roman fleet fitted out against him, obtained and secured his independence. Carausius was murdered by Alectus: against the latter the emperor Constantine sailed with a powerful fleet, and having effected a landing in Britain, Alectus was defeated and slain. This fleet requires to be particularly noticed from two considerations. In the first place, it sailed with a side wind, and when the weather was rather rough, - circumstances so unusual, if not unprecedented, that they were deemed worthy of an express and peculiar panegyric: and, secondly, this fleet was not equipped and ready for sea till after four years' preparation, whereas, in the first Punic war, "within sixty days after the first stroke of the axe had been given in the forest, a fleet of 160 galleys proudly rode at anchor in the sea."

Soon after this event, we are furnished with materials, from which we may judge of the comparative opulence, commerce, and shipping of the several countries which bordered on the Mediterranean. Constantine and Licinius were contending for the Roman empire; and as the contest mainly depended on superiority at sea, each exerted himself to the utmost to fit out a formidable and numerous fleet. Licinius was emperor of the east: his fleet consisted of 380 gallies, of three ranks of oars; eighty were furnished by Egypt, eighty by Phoenicia, sixty by Ionia and Doria, thirty by Cyprus, twenty by Caria, thirty by Bithynia, and fifty by Africa. At this period there seems to have been no vessels larger than triremes. The naval preparations of Constantine were in every respect inferior to those of his rival: he seems to have got no ships from Italy: indeed, the fleets which Augustus had ordered to be permanently kept up at Misenum and Ravenna, were no longer in existence. Greece supplied the most if not all Constantine's vessels: the maritime cities of this country sent their respective quotas to the Piraeus; and their united forces only amounted to 200 small vessels. This was a feeble armament compared with the numerous and powerful fleets that Athens equipped and maintained during the Peloponnesian war. While this republic was mistress of the sea, her fleet consisted of 300, and afterwards of 400 gallies, of three ranks of oars, all ready, in every respect, for immediate service. The scene of the naval battle between Licinius and Constantine was in the vicinity of Byzantium: as this city was in possession of the former, Constantine gave positive orders to force the passage of the Hellespont: the battle lasted two days, and terminated in the complete defeat of Licinius. Shortly after this decisive victory, the Roman world was again united under one emperor, and the imperial residence and seat of government was fixed by Constantine at Byzantium, which thenceforth obtained the name of Constantinople.

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