Note 020 In the present text of Ammianus [xiv. 7] we read Asper, quidem, sed ad lenitatem propensior; which forms a sentence of contradictory nonsense With the aid of an old manuscript, Valesius has rectified the first of these corruptions, and we perceive a ray of light in the substitution of the word vafer. If we venture to change lenitatem into levitatem, this alteration of a single letter will render the whole passage clear and consistent.

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Note to Chapter 19 of DECLINE & FALL by Gibbon