CHAPTER V

DEATH OF THE EMPEROR

AFTER having distinguished the commencement of his reign by the enactment of such laws, Jovian left Antioch to go towards the Bosphorus. When he had arrived at Dadastana, a village lying between Bithynia and Galatia, he died. He was well prepared for quitting this life; but his death caused great grief to all who had experienced the mildness of his administration. I think that the Supreme Ruler of the universe exhibits blessings to our gaze, and then deprives us of them, in order to repress the evil that is in us, and to teach us how easily He can bestow whatever He thinks fit; thus proving to us that we are unworthy of blessings, and urging us on to a better course of life.