Note 051 I have related this singular anecdote on the authority of Philostorgius,1. ii. c. 16. But if such a pretext was ever used by Constantius and his adherents, it was laid aside with contempt as soon as it served their immediate purpose. Athanasius (tom. i. p. 856) mentions the oath which Constantius had taken for the security of his kinsmen.

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Note to Chapter 18 of DECLINE & FALL by Gibbon