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Switzerland is nothing if not serious about seasonal decorating. Christmas is one of the few holidays I'm not a total hater about*, so I'm especially psyched to be here right now. The population of Davos is only about 11,000 people, but every shop, supermarket and town square is full of Christmas trees, decorations, poinsettias, LED light up animals and the most incredible variety of advent calendars I've ever seen (we got magnificent Kinder ones which made every day between the 1st and 25th of December An Event in itself**).
Hope the holidays have been jolly for you too, wherever you are in the world!
* understatement – Crimbo rules and Valentine's/Halloween etc drools, imo.
** Yeah, I'm 26 years old. No shame.
I bought one of these totally healthy poinsettias and killed it within just a couple of days, which might be a new personal best for me.
Adorable little pinecone dudes!
This is what a low crime rate looks like – at night they just leave the christmas trees outside and presumably no-one steals them??? Unimaginable at my local branch of Morrisons tbh.
Everyone goes all out with outdoor fairy lights so the dark early afternoons aren't even depressing, just chocolate-box beautiful.
Lovely, lovely Davos.


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We commend your government's determination to confront the harms of pornography: Letter of support to Iceland Government
Dear Mr. Jónasson,
We are writing to express our support for current efforts in Iceland to develop and implement legal limits on violent Internet pornography. As scholars, medical and public health professionals, social service providers, and community activists, we commend your government's determination to confront the harms of pornography. As part of a comprehensive approach to violence prevention, sex education, and public health, legally limiting Internet pornography will reduce the power of this multi-billion dollar global industry to distort and diminish the lives, opportunities, and relationships of Icelandic citizens.
Especially commendable is your government's commitment to protect children from the harms of pornography. We recognize in other contexts (e.g., advertising) that children's unique developmental needs mandate protecting them from predatory corporate interests. As pornography invades children's lives and psyches at ever earlier ages and with ever more distressing effects, this recognition must be applied to pornography. It is naïve and unrealistic to expect parents and schools to counter effectively the influence of this powerful and pervasive industry. Rather, society must act on its compelling interest in providing a safe and nourishing environment for children. We applaud your government's effort to exercise collective responsibility for children's well-being by placing limits on a toxic media environment from which they cannot otherwise be sufficiently shielded.
We are inspired by your boldness and innovation in protecting children, honoring women's rights to safety and equality, and maintaining the integrity of Icelandic culture against the onslaught of an unrestrained industry of sexual exploitation.
We understand that your deliberations remain at an early stage and that many important aspects of the proposed legislation remain to be worked out. That said, we commend your government's stated intention to define pornography narrowly (as sexual material involving violence and degradation), thus ensuring Icelandic citizens' access to the fullest possible range of online information onsistent with the protection of children and of women's civil right to equality. As your efforts continue to develop, we would urge you not to be dissuaded by dark invocations of totalitarianism or of an unregulated black market in pornography. The pornography industry could hardly be any less regulated than it is currently, nor could the motivations and methods of the Icelandic initiative differ more starkly from those of authoritarian governments.
From adopting the so-called "Nordic" approach to prostitution in 2009 to banning strip clubs in 2010, and having stood virtually alone among nations in holding banks to account in the wake of the global financial crisis, Iceland is a global leader both in gender equality and in confronting corporate power. We are inspired by your boldness and innovation in protecting children, honoring women's rights to safety and equality, and maintaining the integrity of Icelandic culture against the onslaught of an unrestrained industry of sexual exploitation. As a group of similarly committed scholars, activists, and professionals across the globe, we stand with you and look forward to seeing the final result of your efforts.
Dr. Esohe Aghatise, Executive Director, Associazione Iroko Onlus, Turin, Italy
Ruthanna Barnett, Human Rights Lawyer, Santa Cruz, California, USA/Oxford, England
Roseanne Barr, Actress, Producer ("Roseanne"), USA
Dr. Kathleen Barry, Author, "Female Sexual Slavery" and "Prostitution of Sexuality," Professor Emerita, Penn State University, USA
Angela Beausang, Chair, Roks (The National Organization for Women´s Shelters and Young Women's Shelters), Sweden
Julie Bindel, Journalist and Feminist Activist, London, England
Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Actress, Iceland
Dr. Ana Bridges, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas, USA
Anne Burns, Health Improvement Lead, Child & Maternal Health, Health Improvement Team NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Scotland, Scotland
Tanith Carey, Author, "Where Has My Little Girl Gone?" London, England
Vivien Caldwell, Solicitor, The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscals Service, Glasgow, Scotland, former Local Councillor, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Elaine Carr, Clinical Psychologist, Coathill Hospital, Coatbridge, Scotland
Vednita Carter, Founder and Executive Director, Breaking Free (Anti-Trafficking Organization), St. Paul, Minn., USA
Alexandra Charles, President, Ordförande, 1.6miljonerklubben, Stockholm, Sweden
Chris Cherry, Director of Communications, South Carolina Democratic Women's Council, USA
Collective Shout, Leading Anti-Pornography Organization, Australia
Dr. Deirdre Condit, Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Angie Conroy, Activist, Strategic Advisor, Strey Khmer, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Dr. Gail Dines, author of "Pornland," Professor of Sociology and Chair of American Studies, Wheelock College Boston, Mass., USA
Anni Donaldson, Violence Against Women Team Lead, West Dunbartonshire Violence Against Women Partnership, Glasgow, Scotland
Kezia Dugdale, Member, Scottish Parliament, Shadow Minister for Youth Employment, Lothian Region (Labour & Co-op) Scotland
Sharon Dunn, Scottish Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation
Matthew B. Ezzell, Ph, Assistant Professor of Sociology, James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Va., USA
Dr. Melissa Farley, Executive Director, Prostitution Research & Education, USA
The Feminist Party of Germany
Camilla Silva Floistrup, Project Manager, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark
Robert L. Franklin, MS, Sexual Violence Prevention Professional, Virginia, USA Fredrika-Bremer Association (Oldest Women's Movement Organisation in Sweden)
Dawn Fyffe, Say Women, Glasgow, Scotland
Marlyn Glen, Former Member, Scottish Parliament
Ruchira Gupta, President, Apne Aap Women Worldwide (sex trafficking), India
Sophie Gwyther, Team Leader, Children and Young People's Service, Fife Women's Aid, Scotland
Professor Simon Hackett and Dr. Nicole Westmarland, Durham University Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse (CRiVA), UK
Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, President, Federation of Icelandic Artists
Elizabeth Handsley (Northwestern) Professor of Law, Flinders University; President, Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM)
Birgitta Hansson, Union President, Sweden Union, Soroptimistklubbar
Maree Hawken, coordinator, Queensland Women's Health Network, Australia
Dr. Susan Hawthorne, Publisher, Spinifex Press, Adjunct Professor, James Cook University
Ann Hayne, Gender-Based Violence Manager, Coathill Hospital, Coatbridge, Scotland
Marta Torres Herrero, Violence Program Coordinator, Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain
Wiveca Holst, Swedish Expert, The Observatory European, Women's Lobby
Derrick Jensen, Author, "Endgame," Crescent City, California, USA
Cherie Jimenez, Director, Kim's Project (Anti-trafficking), Boston, Mass., USA
Dr. Jennifer A. Johnson, Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Hetty Johnston, Founder and Executive Director, Bravehearts (child abuse prevention), Australia
Dr. Sue Jones, Centre for Gender and Violence Research, School for Policy Studies, Bristol University, UK
Guðrún Jónsdóttir, Spokesperson for Stigamot, Reykjavík, Iceland
Jackson Katz, Ph.D., Director, MVP Strategies, Long Beach, Calif., USA
Dr. Liz Kelly, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University London, England
Jenny Kemp, Coordinator, Zero Tolerance Campaign, Scotland
Connie J. Kirkland, National Certified Counselor, Certified Trauma Specialist, Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists, Northern Virginia Community College, USA
Dr. Renate Klein, Associate Professor (retired), Women's Studies, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; Publisher, Spinifex Press
Elizabeth Koepping, Associate Director, CSWC, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Iluta Lace, Manager, Association Resource Centre for Women, MARTA, Riga, Latvia
Dr. David Levy, Professor and Chair, Business School, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA
Dr. Julia Long, Author, Activist, VAWG Services Manager, UK
Linda MacDonald, MEd, BN, RN, Nurse and Human Rights Defender for Women, Persons Against Non-State Torture, Nova Scotia, Canada
Finn Mackay, Founder, London Feminist Network; Centre for Gender and Violence Research, University of Bristol, UK
Jan Macleod, Senior Development Office, Women's Support Project, Glasgow, Scotland
Dr. Ramesh Manocha, Convenor and Chairman, "The Right to Childhood," CEO Healthed and Generation Next, Australia
Malka Marcovich, Mediterranean Network Against Trafficking in Women; International Coalition Zero Impunity
Dr. Betty McLellan, Coalition for a Feminist Agenda, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Robin Morgan, Author, Activist, USA
Kate Morrissey, Counselling and Supervision Services, Manchester; UK Feminist Network
Sarah Morton, Co-Director, Knowledge Exchange, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR), University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Wendy Murphy, JD, Professor of Sexual Violence Law, New England Law, Boston, Mass., USA; Former Sex Crimes Prosecutor
Pauline Myers, National Chairman, Townswomen's Guilds, Birmingham, England
The National Organization for Women's Shelter and Young Women's Shelters, Sweden
Rachel McPherson LLB (Hons) M.Res (Law), Institute for Society and Social Research, Glasgow, Caledonian University
Eleanor Mills, Associate Editor, The Sunday Times, England, UK
Bel Mooney, Author, Columnist, UK
Hiroshi Nakasatomi, Associate Professor, University of Tokushima, Japan
The Hon. Alastair Nicholson, AO RFD QC, Former Chief Justice of the Family Court and Founding Patron, Children's Rights International, Australia
Dr. Caroline Norma, RMIT University, Australia, School of Social, Urban and Global Studies
Dr. Lesley Orr, Feminist Historian, Theologian; Acting Chair, Zero Tolerance Trust (Fighting Male Violence Against Women), Scotland
Sue Palmer, Author of "Toxic Childhood," Edinburgh, Scotland
Bridget Penhale, Reader in Mental Health, School of Nursing Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Dianne Post, International Human Rights Attorney, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Dr. Helen Pringle, School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Norma Ramos, Esq. Executive Director, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Int'l.
Rape Crisis Scotland
Rape Crisis Glasgow, Scotland, Emma Ritch, Chair; Isabelle Kerr, Manager
Eha Reitelmann, General Secretary, Estonian Women's Associations Roundtable
Dr. John Sanbonmatsu, Associate Professor, Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Mass., USA
Amber Schalke, Feminist Party of Germany; Renate Schmidtsdorff-Aicher, Treasurer; Margot Müller, National Spokeswoman
Dr. Marsha Scott, Convener Engender, Scotland
Elaine Smith, Member, Scottish Parliament
Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, British Home Secretary (2007-09), UK
Gloria Steinem, Writer, Lecturer, Co-founder, Ms Magazine
Ane Stoe, Ottar (Feminst Organization), Norway
John Stoltenberg, MDiv, MFA, Author, Washington, DC, USA
Jacci Stoyle, Amnesty Paisley (Campaign Against Human Trafficking), Scotland
Swedish Medical Women's Association, Gothenburg, Sweden (Johanna Berg, National, Coordinator)
Swedish Women's Lobby, Gertrud Åström, President, Stockholm, Sweden
Melinda Tankard Reist, Editor, "Big Porn Inc.," Australia
Emily Thomson, Lecturer, Co-Director of Women in Scotland's Economy Research Centre, Glasgow, Caledonian University
Liane Timmermann, MillionWomenRise, Wales, UK
Linda Thompson, National Development Officer, Women's Support Project, Scotland
Teresa Ulloa Ziaurriz, Regional Director, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean; Winner, 2011 Gleitsman International Activist Award (Harvard)
Megan Walker, Executive Director, London Abused Women's Centre, London, Ontario. Canada
Vivien Walsh, Professor, Innovation Studies, University of Manchester, England, Author, "Whose Choice?"
Lori Watson, Associate Professor, Philosophy, University San Diego, Calif., USA
Karin Werkman, Researcher, The Netherlands
Maria Weston, Nurse, National Health Service, Nottingham, England, UK
Dr. Rebecca Whisnant, Associate Professor, Philosophy, University of Dayton, Ohio, USA
Women Graduates' Association, Dr. Catherine Dahlstrom, Associate Professor, Stockholm, Sweden
Women's Front of Norway, Agnete Strøm, International Coordinator
WOCAD: Women's Organisations Committee on Alcohol and Drug Issues, Stockholm, Sweden
John Woods, Consultant Psychotherapist, The Portman Clinic, London, England

subset: commoncrawl


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Don't tell the Stanley brothers that they're drug dealers, or stoners, or whatever else comes to mind when you hear that they grow marijuana - and a lot of it - on their Teller County spread near Divide.
The six brothers - Josh, Joel, Jesse, Jon, Jordan and Jared - are firm believers in the medical side of their marijuana business, and they've been making a name for themselves nationally with the strains of pot they've cultivated to lower the component that produces a high in favor of the component believed to help with seizures, migraines and other ailments.
"We are not a bunch of stoners, and we do not associate with the stereotypes of what people would like to associate with us," Joel Stanley said. "We care about what we do."
It may seem an unlikely business for a group of brothers that, with the exception of one, graduated from Colorado Springs Christian School. But to them, they are simply trying to live the faith and help people in need.
Two events coincided to get them into marijuana cultivation.
The first was a memorandum issued in 2009 by the U.S. Attorney's Office that provided "clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors in states that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana."
The second was the day Joel met cancer patients at a dispensary that Josh owned. The Stanleys held a meeting in their mother's living room that same day.
"We all felt compelled to be a part of the industry," Joel Stanley said. "We felt that it was the right time politically to begin."
Since that day four years ago, the brothers have built their business to include 45 employees in operations spread across Colorado. They have the farm and processing plant in Divide and a breeding lab in New Castle, west of Glenwood Springs. Jared co-owns two dispensaries in Colorado Springs, and Josh owns one in Denver and another in Fort Collins.
A rough beginning
Despite the growth of their business, it hasn't been easy for them, or the other people who got into the industry after Colorado voters approved Amendment 20, legalizing medical marijuana, in 2000.
Growers don't have access to traditional banks to finance capital projects, inventory and mortgages. A private investor footed the Stanley brothers' property loan, but the annual interest rate is 6.5 percent, making the monthly principal and interest payment nearly $8,300 a month.
Other state and federal bank regulations, designed to stop money laundering, prevent the Stanleys' business from obtaining credit cards and opening traditional checking and other accounts. Without traditional banking means, the Stanleys have to operate in a dangerous all-cash world.
In January 2012, one of their employees got a gash on his head and a mild concussion after he was attacked as he opened a dispensary.
"We are forced to operate like the late 1880s," said Josh Stanley,the oldest of the 11 Stanley children. "Yet, we are required to comply with every law and pay employees FICA and Medicare and wage withholding taxes, and we have to do all that with cash."
Without bank loans, the brothers quickly learned how to improvise. They built their first 6,000-square-footgreenhouse out of PVC pipe, Joel Stanley said. Income from the dispensaries helped pay for a second 10,000-square-foot greenhouse.
Then, to comply with state building codes, they had to tear down and rebuild the first greenhouse at a cost of about $40,000. They spent $12,000 on chain-link fencing and another $20,000 for nearly 100 security cameras that line their farm's perimeter and scan the rows of marijuana plants inside the greenhouses.
For the first couple of years, there was no such thing as payroll or even employees, Joel Stanley said. Since bringing on employees, the Stanleys have never missed a payroll.
"It is an excellent small business," he said, "but like every small business, it takes time and sacrifice to achieve stability."
Finding their niche
The Stanleys grow operation sits on 52 acres northwest of Divide, hidden by aspens and ponderosa pines. Their three climate-controlled greenhouses are filled with various strains of marijuana plants. Some are nearly 8 feet tall; others are as fat as a 50-gallon drum.
At first, the Stanleys grew what most other medical marijuana farmers were growing: pot with a good amount of THC, the psychoactive component that gets people high.
Then they realized there could be a market for a variety of pot that is low in THC, but high in cannabidiol, or CBD, a component believed to be a key to the medicinal properties of marijuana.
They developed their non-psychoactive plants through the cross-pollination of four varieties in a 1,200-square-foot laboratory in New Castle. It took nearly two years of breeding to create six low-THC, high-CDB plants. Today, the low-THC strains account for about 70 percent of the Stanleys' crop.
"Hippies can go charging through our fields all they want and smoke all they can, and they are not going to get high," Josh Stanley said.
The Stanleys have nearly 550 people to whom they can legally sell marijuana through their dispensaries. Most are 30 to 60 years old. But 40 are under age 18 - a target group for low-THC cannabis.
Their work has won them some fame nationally. Last year, they were featured in six of the 13 episodes of the National Geographic Channel show "American Weed," which chronicled some of the challenges they've faced in the business.
In August, Dr. Sanjay Gupta included the Stanleys in his heavily promoted CNN documentary, "Weed," tied to their growing involvement with pediatric patients - particularly Charlotte Figi, a 6-year-old from the Colorado Springs area who was born with a genetic condition that caused frequent, violent seizures and stole her ability to walk and talk.
After seeing how the Stanleys' low-THC, high-CBD sharply reduced Charlotte's seizures and helped her regain some of her physical abilities Gupta publicly apologized for speaking out against marijuana as medicine.
Last week, CNN was back on the brothers' farm doing a follow-up story, Joel Stanley said. The production company also talked with patients who moved to Colorado to access marijuana legally, he said.
"There is such an interesting dynamic here in Colorado, with basically medical 'refugees,' if you will," he said.
Nonprofit has greater reach
For most of the past four years, the Stanleys have poured themselves into their for-profit business, but they're turning more of their attention to The Realm of Caring, a nonprofit they started to counsel people looking for an alternative treatment to what ails them. The nonprofit also qualifies people for discounted medications from one of their dispensaries, and advocates for better research into marijuana's medicinal uses.
Joel Stanley said the nonprofit is the brothers' future. They want to take The Realm of Caring into all states where medical marijuana is legal.
"We realized that our business could only take care of so many people operating this way," he said. "That is why we founded the nonprofit organization, to invite others to help us help more patients.
"To be clear though, the nonprofit and the dispensary are very separate," he said. "The nonprofit is a resource for the patients and does not handle any medicine."
But the nonprofit is a natural extension of why they went into a business that still draws smirks and snarky comments from people who don't see the results the Stanleys have seen in treating patients like Charlotte Figi.
When asked how five brothers who went to a Christian school could sell marijuana, Joel Stanley said people should ask the question in reverse.
"If we were growing psychoactive plants for a bunch of potheads, then that would be the question," he said. "But what people should ask is 'How did a group of Christians come to grow a plant for sick people?'"
Contact Ned Hunter: 636-0275.


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Ron Rivera's Carolina Panthers stack up favorably to '85 Bears defense Rivera played on
When it comes to the gold standard of NFC defenses, it's 28 years later and we're still talking about those 1985 Chicago Bears.
You remember, right? They dominated and shuffled their way to a 15-1 season and 46-10 rout of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
MORE: Should Rex bench Geno? | Build around Big Ben | Must-see images
A member of that defense who helped beat the Patriots was a young linebacker named Ron Rivera. Now about to face the Patriots for the first time as head coach, his current team, the 2013 Carolina Panthers, stacks up well statistically to those '85 Bears.
Chicago allowed an average of 12.4 points per game then. Carolina, through nine games, is giving up 12.8 a game now. Against the run, it's a dead heat, too, as Chicago gave up 3.7 yards per carry and 82.4 per game, while Carolina is at 3.8 and 82.0.
No one rushed the passer like Richard Dent & Co. in Buddy Ryan's 46 defense (64 sacks), but the Panthers, with their elite edge combination of Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy (52), aren't far off the pace.
The biggest disparity is pass defense, but then again, teams pass a lot more now. Consider the high volume game that beat Chicago, from Miami's Dan Marino, happens in just about every game in the modern NFL. The Bears allowed just 176 passing yards per game to the Panthers' 201.3, but when you look at the net yards per attempt, it's only 4.8 vs. 5.4.
Obviously, at 6-3, the Panthers won't match the Bears' record. But given their play, they should already be inspired by the top AFC defense of all time, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, who went all the way to win Super Bowl XXXV as a wild card. Like the Bears and Ravens, with Mike Singletary and Ray Lewis respectively, the Panthers have that necessary do-everything, hardnosed anchor at middle linebacker, Luke Kuechly.
When it comes to passing challenges, what Marino was to the Bears, Tom Brady is to the Panthers. With Drew Brees also around the corner for a pair of games, we'll soon find out if Carolina could be finer than even the legendary Monsters of the Midway.


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Scotland Road Trip: Glasgow & Edinburgh
We walked around the city centre of Glasgow exploring for awhile and then headed to a place called Stereo for lunch. This is yet another vegan pub/cafe/music venue.
After lunch we went to the Lighthouse which is the national centre for design and architecture. They have a tower with a good view of the city.
Yeah the view was much better from the real lighthouse viewing point at the top of the tower. The tower used to be a water silo to use in case of fires as the building was the home of the newspaper The Glasgow Herald.
The Duke Wellington statue with the traffic cone on his head was much more entertaining than anything inside the GoMA.
The train fare we paid for the trip was such a good deal. We paid £40 return for both of us which is really cheap if you compare it to what it usually costs to travel to Edinburgh from Birmingham.
We would very highly recommend that anyone go on a Scotland road trip. It is one of the best road trips you could go on and you would not be disappointed.
Want to take this trip?
Check out our Itinerary "9 Day Itinerary for Road Tripping Around Scotland"


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Cross 'em off your Xmas list: Collective Shout releases blacklist of corporate sexploitation offenders
From Collective Shout Why you should spend your Christmas dollar elsewhere
You're about to be bombarded. Bombarded with junk mail, TV, radio and outdoor advertising all competing for your Christmas dollar. Before you purchase gifts for your friends and loved ones, lets remember those brands that have excelled in sexploitation this year, the brands and companies that do not deserve your hard earned money. Cross 'em off your Xmas list! For our third year running (see lists from 2010 and 2011) we are making it easier for you to make ethical decisions rejecting of companies which have not demonstrated corporate social responsibility.
As a first this year, we've added a positive alternative: Toward the Stars, an inspiring on-line global marketplace for products for girls. And we're hoping to be able to add our first major corporate to sign on to our Corporate Social Responsibility Pledge. (Watch this space!) Here's our list for 2012.
City Beach
The popular youth surf store continues to push pornified products to young people. City Beach sells what we've called 'porn t-shirts' -clothing with pornified images of naked and semi naked women.
The range extends to thongs, hats and at the start of the year even pencil cases
were available at its 'back to school' sale. We've held protests outside City Beach stores in Brisbane and Sydney.
We've taken City Beach to the Equal Opportunities Commission and yet they refuse to budge. While City Beach insist on pimping porn accessories to the youth market, you insist on taking your Christmas shopping elsewhere.
Jewellery and accessories retailer Diva began selling Playboy branded jewellery
in 2011 to its target market of tween girls. (also read: The Age)
A petition through change.org accumulated over 8000 signatures and Diva withdrew much of its Playboy advertising and stock from the shelves. But dodgy Diva continued to sell their Playboy range from underneath the counter and stock has slowly crept back out on display in stores again over the past year.
When challenged again, Diva defended their Playboy range as marketed to their 'mature' customers. No matter their age, girls and women deserve better than being sold the merchandise of the global sex industry – when it comes to your Christmas shopping, drop Diva.
Lynx, men's deodorant has continued to churn out their trademark sexist ads throughout 2012.
Lynx's 'controversial' promotions – including the "Rules of Rugby" and the 'Washes Your Balls' promotion – are the perfect demonstration of how a company can misuse advertising industry self-regulation to its advantage. Create a 'controversial ad', wait for the complaints to roll in, cross promote with sexist 'lads mags' then cash in the dollars from the increased exposure. Lynx seems to think this manoeuvre will stop us from speaking out – it won't.
More reasons to ditch Lynx – the Mouse pad stunt, 'Scrub away the skank', Can she make you lose control. Further examples here.
And while you're boycotting Lynx, you might want to give this brand a miss too…
What? Dove? The brand that brought us the campaign for real beauty? Absolutely! Dove is owned by Unilever, the same company who owns and markets Lynx. But the sexploitative hypocrisy doesn't just stop there – under the Dove label, Unilever also sell a number of 'skin whitening' products, as well as anti-cellulite, breast-firming and breast growth creams. Making money off body dissatisfaction, sexual objectification AND positive body image campaigns? We're not buying it Unilever.
In February this year, Mossimo ran a competition asking people to upload photographs to their Facebook "peep show" campaign. Images of Australia's Miss Universe contestant in her underwear were given as examples, with the 'peep' which received the most votes winning a digital camera.
Despite the clear references to the sex industry as well as (the crime of) keyhole peeping on women, Mossimo denied any wrongdoing. The Advertising Standards Board saw it differently, upholding complaints about the campaign. Read about the online protest (and how we won a lovely new Canon camera!) against Mossimo here.
General Pants
We wrote about General Pants explicit, sexist, and degrading advertising campaigns last year. They have a history of sex industry inspired stunts including live pole dance shows in their shop front windows. We have continued to hear from supporters about shop window displays and the images they display inside their change rooms. Give General Pants a miss.
The Buddy Ball
The Buddy Ball is the creation of AFL poster boy Lance "Buddy" Franklin. When Franklin's not busy flogging over priced footballs to youngsters, he spends his time 'co-directing' Nena &Pasadena, a line of overpriced porn-inspired shirts, popular in surf stores such as City Beach.
In the past 12 months Franklin has brought us (caution when opening links) this, this and this. Posing as a role model for young boys, and then selling them the degradation of women to wear across their chests? We're not buying it.
The AFL
Despite being aware of Lance Franklin's clothing line for almost two years, the AFL has refused to enforce their Respect and Responsibility policy and discipline Franklin. The AFL claims to be committed to addressing sexism and violence against women, but their silence and lack of action indicate they are not serious about these issues. Thinking of purchasing tickets, a membership or items from the AFL store? Think again.
Lovable is not so loveable following its 'Besties' campaign, which encouraged women to upload 'selfies' to its Facebook page. Jen Hawkins and fellow models, posed in their underwear, featured in the promotion. While the terms and conditions stated that participants didn't need to upload images of themselves in underwear, the promotion sent mixed messages about cyber safety, prompting the Ad Standards Board to ban the promotion on this basis.
Of course, this is not the first time Lovable has objectified women – previous campaigns have also been so sexualised that they've been featured in the now defunct 'FHM' magazine.
Typo's 'back to school' 2012 promotion pimped a wide range of porn-inspired travel mugs, iPod covers and notebooks to students. After parents complained and media caught on, Typo agreed to remove the 'Porn is my saviour" and "Dirty" ranges. While they withdrew these items, other items, including notebooks with sexual themes intended for school, remained in stores.
Typo are owned by the Cotton On group, who are serial offenders for selling porn t-shirts and sexploitative advertising campaigns.
Repeat offenders
These are companies that appeared on last year's 'crossed off' list last and which have continued to use sexploitation throughout 2012.
Roger David for sex slavery ad campaign and t-shirts featuring images of objectified women.
Supre for its ads featuring a topless girl and sexualised clothing for girls. Supre has been criticised for selling adult styled fashions in sizes small enough to fit children.
American Apparel for its pornography themed advertising.
Companies promoting Playboy brands
These companies continue to market the major brand of the global pornography industry, in effect normalizing the abuse and degradation of women.
Bras n things (read more here and here)
Adairs (read more here)
Priceline (see photo)
A positive alternative – Introducing Toward the Stars
Created by Inês Almeida, Toward the Stars is an online market place and a safe haven from the commercialisation and sexualisation of girlhood, from the toxic gender stereotypes that dominate the marketing, media, and products targeted to children and young adults. A place full of gifts that inspire and enable girls to reach for the stars. Offering a venue that motivates and supports artists, business and craftspeople to innovate and explore new products that have the potential to change the world.
If you're looking for gift ideas that will inspire and empower girls, check out Toward the Stars.
Now over to you!
Which stores will you be avoiding this year and why? Are there alternatives to the brands we've listed above? Please join the discussion in the comments section below and at Collective Shout.


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July 18, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University women's tennis program, WCC Player of the Year Christine Limbers, and three players from the Bronco men's team were honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for academic achievements this past season.
Senior Rick Ruso, junior Erich Chen and sophomore Ben Hidalgo were honored from the men's program and were among 200 honorees, while Limbers was honored with 300 other women across the country. All four Bronco student-athletes finished the academic year with a GPA of at least 3.50.The women's team was just one of 72 programs honored after finishing the 2003 season with a team GPA of at least a 3.20.
Chen, of nearby San Jose, led the Broncos at the top singles and doubles spots this season and finished the year with a 3.57 GPA. He is a two-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Athlete honoree and earned All-WCC honors this past year in singles. Chen posted 19 victories, and handed a ranked opponent his only loss of the season.
Ruso, of Visalia, graduated in the spring with a 3.51 GPA, but will attend graduate school while completing his final year of eligibility. He competed in singles and doubles for the Broncos this past season and is currently ninth in SCU career doubles victories, with 40.
Like Ruso, Hidalgo, of Plano, Texas, also graduated this spring 3.71, but will remain on campus as a graduate student to complete his eligibility. Hidalgo was a spark to the singles lineup throughout the season.
For Limbers, a native of Carefree, Ariz., finished her senior season with a 3.61 GPA. She earned the Bronco program's first WCC Player of the Year award and also earned first team All-WCC singles and doubles honors. She has led the Broncos the past four seasons at the top singles and doubles spots and was recently named to the Verizon Academic All-District VIII at-large third team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
As a team, the women finished with a 3.49 GPA, leading all 17 Bronco programs.
"I am very impressed with my team's academic success," women's tennis head coach Aby Ryan said. "A 3.49 GPA is outstanding by itself, so to have that as a team average is phenomenal. They work extremely hard to keep their grades up; even on our road trip to Hawaii they had voluntary study hours."


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Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 2, by Edward Gibbon, [1781], at sacred-texts.com
Julian Is Declared Emperor By The Legions Of Gaul. - His March And Success. - The Death Of Constantius. - Civil Administration Of Julian. While the Romans languished under the ignominious tyranny of eunuchs and bishops, the praises of Julian were repeated with transport in every part of the empire, except in the palace of Constantius. The barbarians of Germany had felt, and still dreaded, the arms of the young Caesar; his soldiers were the companions of his victory; the grateful provincials enjoyed the blessings of his reign; but the favorites, who had opposed his elevation, were offended by his virtues; and they justly considered the friend of the people as the enemy of the court. As long as the fame of Julian was doubtful, the buffoons of the palace, who were skilled in the language of satire, tried the efficacy of those arts which they had so often practised with success. They easily discovered, that his simplicity was not exempt from affectation: the ridiculous epithets of a hairy savage, of an ape invested with the purple, were applied to the dress and person of the philosophic warrior; and his modest despatches were stigmatized as the vain and elaborate fictions of a loquacious Greek, a speculative soldier, who had studied the art of war amidst the groves of the academy. 1 The voice of malicious folly was at length silenced by the shouts of victory; the conqueror of the Franks and Alemanni could no longer be painted as an object of contempt; and the monarch himself was meanly ambitious of stealing from his lieutenant the honorable reward of his labors. In the letters crowned with laurel, which, according to ancient custom, were addressed to the provinces, the name of Julian was omitted. "Constantius had made his dispositions in person; he had signalized his valor in the foremost ranks; his military conduct had secured the victory; and the captive king of the barbarians was presented to him on the field of battle," from which he was at that time distant about forty days' journey. 2 So extravagant a fable was incapable, however, of deceiving the public credulity, or even of satisfying the pride of the emperor himself. Secretly conscious that the applause and favor of the Romans accompanied the rising fortunes of Julian, his discontented mind was prepared to receive the subtle poison of those artful sycophants, who colored their mischievous designs with the fairest appearances of truth and candor. 3 Instead of depreciating the merits of Julian, they acknowledged, and even exaggerated, his popular fame, superior talents, and important services. But they darkly insinuated, that the virtues of the Caesar might instantly be converted into the most dangerous crimes, if the inconstant multitude should prefer their inclinations to their duty; or if the general of a victorious army should be tempted from his allegiance by the hopes of revenge and independent greatness. The personal fears of Constantius were interpreted by his council as a laudable anxiety for the public safety; whilst in private, and perhaps in his own breast, he disguised, under the less odious appellation of fear, the sentiments of hatred and envy, which he had secretly conceived for the inimitable virtues of Julian.
The apparent tranquillity of Gaul, and the imminent danger of the eastern provinces, offered a specious pretence for the design which was artfully concerted by the Imperial ministers. They resolved to disarm the Caesar; to recall those faithful troops who guarded his person and dignity; and to employ, in a distant war against the Persian monarch, the hardy veterans who had vanquished, on the banks of the Rhine, the fiercest nations of Germany. While Julian used the laborious hours of his winter quarters at Paris in the administration of power, which, in his hands, was the exercise of virtue, he was surprised by the hasty arrival of a tribune and a notary, with positive orders, from the emperor, which they were directed to execute, and he was commanded not to oppose. Constantius signified his pleasure, that four entire legions, the Celtae, and Petulants, the Heruli, and the Batavians, should be separated from the standard of Julian, under which they had acquired their fame and discipline; that in each of the remaining bands three hundred of the bravest youths should be selected; and that this numerous detachment, the strength of the Gallic army, should instantly begin their march, and exert their utmost diligence to arrive, before the opening of the campaign, on the frontiers of Persia. 4 The Caesar foresaw and lamented the consequences of this fatal mandate. Most of the auxiliaries, who engaged their voluntary service, had stipulated, that they should never be obliged to pass the Alps. The public faith of Rome, and the personal honor of Julian, had been pledged for the observance of this condition. Such an act of treachery and oppression would destroy the confidence, and excite the resentment, of the independent warriors of Germany, who considered truth as the noblest of their virtues, and freedom as the most valuable of their possessions. The legionaries, who enjoyed the title and privileges of Romans, were enlisted for the general defence of the republic; but those mercenary troops heard with cold indifference the antiquated names of the republic and of Rome. Attached, either from birth or long habit, to the climate and manners of Gaul, they loved and admired Julian; they despised, and perhaps hated, the emperor; they dreaded the laborious march, the Persian arrows, and the burning deserts of Asia. They claimed as their own the country which they had saved; and excused their want of spirit, by pleading the sacred and more immediate duty of protecting their families and friends. The apprehensions of the Gauls were derived from the knowledge of the impending and inevitable danger. As soon as the provinces were exhausted of their military strength, the Germans would violate a treaty which had been imposed on their fears; and notwithstanding the abilities and valor of Julian, the general of a nominal army, to whom the public calamities would be imputed, must find himself, after a vain resistance, either a prisoner in the camp of the barbarians, or a criminal in the palace of Constantius. If Julian complied with the orders which he had received, he subscribed his own destruction, and that of a people who deserved his affection. But a positive refusal was an act of rebellion, and a declaration of war. The inexorable jealousy of the emperor, the peremptory, and perhaps insidious, nature of his commands, left not any room for a fair apology, or candid interpretation; and the dependent station of the Caesar scarcely allowed him to pause or to deliberate. Solitude increased the perplexity of Julian; he could no longer apply to the faithful counsels of Sallust, who had been removed from his office by the judicious malice of the eunuchs: he could not even enforce his representations by the concurrence of the ministers, who would have been afraid or ashamed to approve the ruin of Gaul. The moment had been chosen, when Lupicinus, 5 the general of the cavalry, was despatched into Britain, to repulse the inroads of the Scots and Picts; and Florentius was occupied at Vienna by the assessment of the tribute. The latter, a crafty and corrupt statesman, declining to assume a responsible part on this dangerous occasion, eluded the pressing and repeated invitations of Julian, who represented to him, that in every important measure, the presence of the praefect was indispensable in the council of the prince. In the mean while the Caesar was oppressed by the rude and importunate solicitations of the Imperial messengers, who presumed to suggest, that if he expected the return of his ministers, he would charge himself with the guilt of the delay, and reserve for them the merit of the execution. Unable to resist, unwilling to comply, Julian expressed, in the most serious terms, his wish, and even his intention, of resigning the purple, which he could not preserve with honor, but which he could not abdicate with safety.
After a painful conflict, Julian was compelled to acknowledge, that obedience was the virtue of the most eminent subject, and that the sovereign alone was entitled to judge of the public welfare. He issued the necessary orders for carrying into execution the commands of Constantius; a part of the troops began their march for the Alps; and the detachments from the several garrisons moved towards their respective places of assembly. They advanced with difficulty through the trembling and affrighted crowds of provincials, who attempted to excite their pity by silent despair, or loud lamentations, while the wives of the soldiers, holding their infants in their arms, accused the desertion of their husbands, in the mixed language of grief, of tenderness, and of indignation. This scene of general distress afflicted the humanity of the Caesar; he granted a sufficient number of post-wagons to transport the wives and families of the soldiers, 6 endeavored to alleviate the hardships which he was constrained to inflict, and increased, by the most laudable arts, his own popularity, and the discontent of the exiled troops. The grief of an armed multitude is soon converted into rage; their licentious murmurs, which every hour were communicated from tent to tent with more boldness and effect, prepared their minds for the most daring acts of sedition; and by the connivance of their tribunes, a seasonable libel was secretly dispersed, which painted in lively colors the disgrace of the Caesar, the oppression of the Gallic army, and the feeble vices of the tyrant of Asia. The servants of Constantius were astonished and alarmed by the progress of this dangerous spirit. They pressed the Caesar to hasten the departure of the troops; but they imprudently rejected the honest and judicious advice of Julian; who proposed that they should not march through Paris, and suggested the danger and temptation of a last interview.
As soon as the approach of the troops was announced, the Caesar went out to meet them, and ascended his tribunal, which had been erected in a plain before the gates of the city. After distinguishing the officers and soldiers, who by their rank or merit deserved a peculiar attention, Julian addressed himself in a studied oration to the surrounding multitude: he celebrated their exploits with grateful applause; encouraged them to accept, with alacrity, the honor of serving under the eye of a powerful and liberal monarch; and admonished them, that the commands of Augustus required an instant and cheerful obedience. The soldiers, who were apprehensive of offending their general by an indecent clamor, or of belying their sentiments by false and venal acclamations, maintained an obstinate silence; and after a short pause, were dismissed to their quarters. The principal officers were entertained by the Caesar, who professed, in the warmest language of friendship, his desire and his inability to reward, according to their deserts, the brave companions of his victories. They retired from the feast, full of grief and perplexity; and lamented the hardship of their fate, which tore them from their beloved general and their native country. The only expedient which could prevent their separation was boldly agitated and approved the popular resentment was insensibly moulded into a regular conspiracy; their just reasons of complaint were heightened by passion, and their passions were inflamed by wine; as, on the eve of their departure, the troops were indulged in licentious festivity. At the hour of midnight, the impetuous multitude, with swords, and bows, and torches in their hands, rushed into the suburbs; encompassed the palace; 7 and, careless of future dangers, pronounced the fatal and irrevocable words, Julian Augustus! The prince, whose anxious suspense was interrupted by their disorderly acclamations, secured the doors against their intrusion; and as long as it was in his power, secluded his person and dignity from the accidents of a nocturnal tumult. At the dawn of day, the soldiers, whose zeal was irritated by opposition, forcibly entered the palace, seized, with respectful violence, the object of their choice, guarded Julian with drawn swords through the streets of Paris, placed him on the tribunal, and with repeated shouts saluted him as their emperor. Prudence, as well as loyalty, inculcated the propriety of resisting their treasonable designs; and of preparing, for his oppressed virtue, the excuse of violence. Addressing himself by turns to the multitude and to individuals, he sometimes implored their mercy, and sometimes expressed his indignation; conjured them not to sully the fame of their immortal victories; and ventured to promise, that if they would immediately return to their allegiance, he would undertake to obtain from the emperor not only a free and gracious pardon, but even the revocation of the orders which had excited their resentment. But the soldiers, who were conscious of their guilt, chose rather to depend on the gratitude of Julian, than on the clemency of the emperor. Their zeal was insensibly turned into impatience, and their impatience into rage. The inflexible Caesar sustained, till the third hour of the day, their prayers, their reproaches, and their menaces; nor did he yield, till he had been repeatedly assured, that if he wished to live, he must consent to reign. He was exalted on a shield in the presence, and amidst the unanimous acclamations, of the troops; a rich military collar, which was offered by chance, supplied the want of a diadem; 8 the ceremony was concluded by the promise of a moderate donative; and the new emperor, overwhelmed with real or affected grief retired into the most secret recesses of his apartment. 9 10
The grief of Julian could proceed only from his innocence; out his innocence must appear extremely doubtful 11 in the eyes of those who have learned to suspect the motives and the professions of princes. His lively and active mind was susceptible of the various impressions of hope and fear, of gratitude and revenge, of duty and of ambition, of the love of fame, and of the fear of reproach. But it is impossible for us to calculate the respective weight and operation of these sentiments; or to ascertain the principles of action which might escape the observation, while they guided, or rather impelled, the steps of Julian himself. The discontent of the troops was produced by the malice of his enemies; their tumult was the natural effect of interest and of passion; and if Julian had tried to conceal a deep design under the appearances of chance, he must have employed the most consummate artifice without necessity, and probably without success. He solemnly declares, in the presence of Jupiter, of the Sun, of Mars, of Minerva, and of all the other deities, that till the close of the evening which preceded his elevation, he was utterly ignorant of the designs of the soldiers; 12 and it may seem ungenerous to distrust the honor of a hero and the truth of a philosopher. Yet the superstitious confidence that Constantius was the enemy, and that he himself was the favorite, of the gods, might prompt him to desire, to solicit, and even to hasten the auspicious moment of his reign, which was predestined to restore the ancient religion of mankind. When Julian had received the intelligence of the conspiracy, he resigned himself to a short slumber; and afterwards related to his friends that he had seen the genius of the empire waiting with some impatience at his door, pressing for admittance, and reproaching his want of spirit and ambition. 13 Astonished and perplexed, he addressed his prayers to the great Jupiter, who immediately signified, by a clear and manifest omen, that he should submit to the will of heaven and of the army. The conduct which disclaims the ordinary maxims of reason, excites our suspicion and eludes our inquiry. Whenever the spirit of fanaticism, at once so credulous and so crafty, has insinuated itself into a noble mind, it insensibly corrodes the vital principles of virtue and veracity.
To moderate the zeal of his party, to protect the persons of his enemies, 14 to defeat and to despise the secret enterprises which were formed against his life and dignity, were the cares which employed the first days of the reign of the new emperor. Although he was firmly resolved to maintain the station which he had assumed, he was still desirous of saving his country from the calamities of civil war, of declining a contest with the superior forces of Constantius, and of preserving his own character from the reproach of perfidy and ingratitude. Adorned with the ensigns of military and imperial pomp, Julian showed himself in the field of Mars to the soldiers, who glowed with ardent enthusiasm in the cause of their pupil, their leader, and their friend. He recapitulated their victories, lamented their sufferings, applauded their resolution, animated their hopes, and checked their impetuosity; nor did he dismiss the assembly, till he had obtained a solemn promise from the troops, that if the emperor of the East would subscribe an equitable treaty, they would renounce any views of conquest, and satisfy themselves with the tranquil possession of the Gallic provinces. On this foundation he composed, in his own name, and in that of the army, a specious and moderate epistle, 15 which was delivered to Pentadius, his master of the offices, and to his chamberlain Eutherius; two ambassadors whom he appointed to receive the answer, and observe the dispositions of Constantius. This epistle is inscribed with the modest appellation of Caesar; but Julian solicits in a peremptory, though respectful, manner, the confirmation of the title of Augustus. He acknowledges the irregularity of his own election, while he justifies, in some measure, the resentment and violence of the troops which had extorted his reluctant consent. He allows the supremacy of his brother Constantius; and engages to send him an annual present of Spanish horses, to recruit his army with a select number of barbarian youths, and to accept from his choice a Praetorian praefect of approved discretion and fidelity. But he reserves for himself the nomination of his other civil and military officers, with the troops, the revenue, and the sovereignty of the provinces beyond the Alps. He admonishes the emperor to consult the dictates of justice; to distrust the arts of those venal flatterers, who subsist only by the discord of princes; and to embrace the offer of a fair and honorable treaty, equally advantageous to the republic and to the house of Constantine. In this negotiation Julian claimed no more than he already possessed. The delegated authority which he had long exercised over the provinces of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, was still obeyed under a name more independent and august. The soldiers and the people rejoiced in a revolution which was not stained even with the blood of the guilty. Florentius was a fugitive; Lupicinus a prisoner. The persons who were disaffected to the new government were disarmed and secured; and the vacant offices were distributed, according to the recommendation of merit, by a prince who despised the intrigues of the palace, and the clamors of the soldiers. 16
The negotiations of peace were accompanied and supported by the most vigorous preparations for war. The army, which Julian held in readiness for immediate action, was recruited and augmented by the disorders of the times. The cruel persecutions of the faction of Magnentius had filled Gaul with numerous bands of outlaws and robbers. They cheerfully accepted the offer of a general pardon from a prince whom they could trust, submitted to the restraints of military discipline, and retained only their implacable hatred to the person and government of Constantius. 17 As soon as the season of the year permitted Julian to take the field, he appeared at the head of his legions; threw a bridge over the Rhine in the neighborhood of Cleves; and prepared to chastise the perfidy of the Attuarii, a tribe of Franks, who presumed that they might ravage, with impunity, the frontiers of a divided empire. The difficulty, as well as glory, of this enterprise, consisted in a laborious march; and Julian had conquered, as soon as he could penetrate into a country, which former princes had considered as inaccessible. After he had given peace to the Barbarians, the emperor carefully visited the fortifications along the Qhine from Cleves to Basil; surveyed, with peculiar attention, the territories which he had recovered from the hands of the Alemanni, passed through Besancon, 18 which had severely suffered from their fury, and fixed his headquarters at Vienna for the ensuing winter. The barrier of Gaul was improved and strengthened with additional fortifications; and Julian entertained some hopes that the Germans, whom he had so often vanquished, might, in his absence, be restrained by the terror of his name. Vadomair 19 was the only prince of the Alemanni whom he esteemed or feared and while the subtle Barbarian affected to observe the faith of treaties, the progress of his arms threatened the state with an unseasonable and dangerous war. The policy of Julian condescended to surprise the prince of the Alemanni by his own arts: and Vadomair, who, in the character of a friend, had incautiously accepted an invitation from the Roman governors, was seized in the midst of the entertainment, and sent away prisoner into the heart of Spain. Before the Barbarians were recovered from their amazement, the emperor appeared in arms on the banks of the Rhine, and, once more crossing the river, renewed the deep impressions of terror and respect which had been already made by four preceding expeditions. 20
1 Omnes qui plus poterant in palatio, adulandi professores jam docti, recte consulta, prospereque completa vertebant in deridiculum: talia sine modo strepentes insulse; in odium venit cum victoriis suis; capella, non homo; ut hirsutum Julianum carpentes, appellantesque loquacem talpam, et purpuratam simiam, et litterionem Graecum: et his congruentia plurima atque vernacula principi resonantes, audire haec taliaque gestienti, virtutes ejus obruere verbis impudentibus conabantur, et segnem incessentes et timidum et umbratilem, gestaque secus verbis comptioribus exornantem. Ammianus, s. xvii. 11.
Note: The philosophers retaliated on the courtiers. Marius (says Eunapius in a newly-discovered fragment) was wont to call his antagonist Sylla a beast half lion and half fox. Constantius had nothing of the lion, but was surrounded by a whole litter of foxes. Mai. Script. Byz. Nov. Col. ii. 238. Niebuhr. Byzant. Hist. 66. - M.
2 Ammian. xvi. 12. The orator Themistius (iv. p. 56, 57) believed whatever was contained in the Imperial letters, which were addressed to the senate of Constantinople Aurelius Victor, who published his Abridgment in the last year of Constantius, ascribes the German victories to the wisdom of the emperor, and the fortune of the Caesar. Yet the historian, soon afterwards, was indebted to the favor or esteem of Julian for the honor of a brass statue, and the important offices of consular of the second Pannonia, and praefect of the city, Ammian. xxi. 10.
3 Callido nocendi artificio, accusatoriam diritatem laudum titulis peragebant. . . Hae voces fuerunt ad inflammanda odia probria omnibus potentiores. See Mamertin, in Actione Gratiarum in Vet Panegyr. xi. 5, 6.
4 The minute interval, which may be interposed, between the hyeme adulta and the primo vere of Ammianus, (xx. l. 4,) instead of allowing a sufficient space for a march of three thousand miles, would render the orders of Constantius as extravagant as they were unjust. The troops of Gaul could not have reached Syria till the end of autumn. The memory of Ammianus must have been inaccurate, and his language incorrect.
Note: The late editor of Ammianus attempts to vindicate his author from the charge of inaccuracy. "It is clear, from the whole course of the narrative, that Constantius entertained this design of demanding his troops from Julian, immediately after the taking of Amida, in the autumn of the preceding year, and had transmitted his orders into Gaul, before it was known that Lupicinus had gone into Britain with the Herulians and Batavians." Wagner, note to Amm. xx. 4. But it seems also clear that the troops were in winter quarters (hiemabant) when the orders arrived. Ammianus can scarcely be acquitted of incorrectness in his language at least. - M
5 Ammianus, xx. l. The valor of Lupicinus, and his military skill, are acknowledged by the historian, who, in his affected language, accuses the general of exalting the horns of his pride, bellowing in a tragic tone, and exciting a doubt whether he was more cruel or avaricious. The danger from the Scots and Picts was so serious that Julian himself had some thoughts of passing over into the island.
6 He granted them the permission of the cursus clavularis, or clabularis. These post-wagons are often mentioned in the Code, and were supposed to carry fifteen hundred pounds weight. See Vales. ad Ammian. xx. 4.
7 Most probably the palace of the baths, (Thermarum,) of which a solid and lofty hall still subsists in the Rue de la Harpe. The buildings covered a considerable space of the modern quarter of the university; and the gardens, under the Merovingian kings, communicated with the abbey of St. Germain des Prez. By the injuries of time and the Normans, this ancient palace was reduced, in the twelfth century, to a maze of ruins, whose dark recesses were the scene of licentious love.
Explicat aula sinus montemque amplectitur alis; Multiplici latebra scelerum tersura ruborem. .... pereuntis saepe pudoris Celatura nefas, Venerisque accommoda furtis.
(These lines are quoted from the Architrenius, l. iv. c. 8, a poetical work of John de Hauteville, or Hanville, a monk of St. Alban's, about the year 1190. See Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. dissert. ii.) Yet such thefts might be less pernicious to mankind than the theological disputes of the Sorbonne, which have been since agitated on the same ground. Bonamy, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xv. p. 678-632
8 Even in this tumultuous moment, Julian attended to the forms of superstitious ceremony, and obstinately refused the inauspicious use of a female necklace, or a horse collar, which the impatient soldiers would have employed in the room of a diadem.
9 An equal proportion of gold and silver, five pieces of the former one pound of the latter; the whole amounting to about five pounds ten shillings of our money.
10 For the whole narrative of this revolt, we may appeal to authentic and original materials; Julian himself, (ad S. P. Q. Atheniensem, p. 282, 283, 284,) Libanius, (Orat. Parental. c. 44-48, in Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. vii. p. 269-273,) Ammianus, (xx. 4,) and Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 151, 152, 153.) who, in the reign of Julian, appears to follow the more respectable authority of Eunapius. With such guides we might neglect the abbreviators and ecclesiastical historians.
11 Eutropius, a respectable witness, uses a doubtful expression, "consensu militum." (x. 15.) Gregory Nazianzen, whose ignorance night excuse his fanaticism, directly charges the apostate with presumption, madness, and impious rebellion, Orat. iii. p. 67.
12 Julian. ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 284. The devout Abbe de la Bleterie (Vie de Julien, p. 159) is almost inclined to respect the devout protestations of a Pagan.
13 Ammian. xx. 5, with the note of Lindenbrogius on the Genius of the empire. Julian himself, in a confidential letter to his friend and physician, Oribasius, (Epist. xvii. p. 384,) mentions another dream, to which, before the event, he gave credit; of a stately tree thrown to the ground, of a small plant striking a deep root into the earth. Even in his sleep, the mind of the Caesar must have been agitated by the hopes and fears of his fortune. Zosimus (l. iii. p. 155) relates a subsequent dream.
14 The difficult situation of the prince of a rebellious army is finely described by Tacitus, (Hist. 1, 80-85.) But Otho had much more guilt, and much less abilities, than Julian.
15 To this ostensible epistle he added, says Ammianus, private letters, objurgatorias et mordaces, which the historian had not seen, and would not have published. Perhaps they never existed.
16 See the first transactions of his reign, in Julian. ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 285, 286. Ammianus, xx. 5, 8. Liban. Orat. Parent. c. 49, 50, p. 273-275.
17 Liban. Orat. Parent. c. 50, p. 275, 276. A strange disorder, since it continued above seven years. In the factions of the Greek republics, the exiles amounted to 20,000 persons; and Isocrates assures Philip, that it would be easier to raise an army from the vagabonds than from the cities. See Hume's Essays, tom. i. p. 426, 427.
18 Julian (Epist. xxxviii. p. 414) gives a short description of Vesontio, or Besancon; a rocky peninsula almost encircled by the River Doux; once a magnificent city, filled with temples, &c., now reduced to a small town, emerging, however, from its ruins.
19 Vadomair entered into the Roman service, and was promoted from a barbarian kingdom to the military rank of duke of Phoenicia. He still retained the same artful character, (Ammian. xxi. 4;) but under the reign of Valens, he signalized his valor in the Armenian war, (xxix. 1.)
20 Ammian. xx. 10, xxi. 3, 4. Zosimus, l. iii. p. 155.


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Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 2, by Edward Gibbon, [1781], at sacred-texts.com
The fields of Assyria were devoted by Julian to the calamities of war; and the philosopher retaliated on a guiltless people the acts of rapine and cruelty which had been committed by their haughty master in the Roman provinces. The trembling Assyrians summoned the rivers to their assistance; and completed, with their own hands, the ruin of their country. The roads were rendered impracticable; a flood of waters was poured into the camp; and, during several days, the troops of Julian were obliged to contend with the most discouraging hardships. But every obstacle was surmounted by the perseverance of the legionaries, who were inured to toil as well as to danger, and who felt themselves animated by the spirit of their leader. The damage was gradually repaired; the waters were restored to their proper channels; whole groves of palm-trees were cut down, and placed along the broken parts of the road; and the army passed over the broad and deeper canals, on bridges of floating rafts, which were supported by the help of bladders. Two cities of Assyria presumed to resist the arms of a Roman emperor: and they both paid the severe penalty of their rashness. At the distance of fifty miles from the royal residence of Ctesiphon, Perisabor, *_0065 or Anbar, held the second rank in the province; a city, large, populous, and well fortified, surrounded with a double wall, almost encompassed by a branch of the Euphrates, and defended by the valor of a numerous garrison. The exhortations of Hormisdas were repulsed with contempt; and the ears of the Persian prince were wounded by a just reproach, that, unmindful of his royal birth, he conducted an army of strangers against his king and country. The Assyrians maintained their loyalty by a skilful, as well as vigorous, defence; till the lucky stroke of a battering-ram, having opened a large breach, by shattering one of the angles of the wall, they hastily retired into the fortifications of the interior citadel. The soldiers of Julian rushed impetuously into the town, and after the full gratification of every military appetite, Perisabor was reduced to ashes; and the engines which assaulted the citadel were planted on the ruins of the smoking houses. The contest was continued by an incessant and mutual discharge of missile weapons; and the superiority which the Romans might derive from the mechanical powers of their balistae and catapultae was counterbalanced by the advantage of the ground on the side of the besieged. But as soon as an Helepolis had been constructed, which could engage on equal terms with the loftiest ramparts, the tremendous aspect of a moving turret, that would leave no hope of resistance or mercy, terrified the defenders of the citadel into an humble submission; and the place was surrendered only two days after Julian first appeared under the walls of Perisabor. Two thousand five hundred persons, of both sexes, the feeble remnant of a flourishing people, were permitted to retire; the plentiful magazines of corn, of arms, and of splendid furniture, were partly distributed among the troops, and partly reserved for the public service; the useless stores were destroyed by fire or thrown into the stream of the Euphrates; and the fate of Amida was revenged by the total ruin of Perisabor.
The city or rather fortress, of Maogamalcha, which was defended by sixteen large towers, a deep ditch, and two strong and solid walls of brick and bitumen, appears to have been constructed at the distance of eleven miles, as the safeguard of the capital of Persia. The emperor, apprehensive of leaving such an important fortress in his rear, immediately formed the siege of Maogamalcha; and the Roman army was distributed, for that purpose, into three divisions. Victor, at the head of the cavalry, and of a detachment of heavy-armed foot, was ordered to clear the country, as far as the banks of the Tigris, and the suburbs of Ctesiphon. The conduct of the attack was assumed by Julian himself, who seemed to place his whole dependence in the military engines which he erected against the walls; while he secretly contrived a more efficacious method of introducing his troops into the heart of the city Under the direction of Nevitta and Dagalaiphus, the trenches were opened at a considerable distance, and gradually prolonged as far as the edge of the ditch. The ditch was speedily filled with earth; and, by the incessant labor of the troops, a mine was carried under the foundations of the walls, and sustained, at sufficient intervals, by props of timber. Three chosen cohorts, advancing in a single file, silently explored the dark and dangerous passage; till their intrepid leader whispered back the intelligence, that he was ready to issue from his confinement into the streets of the hostile city. Julian checked their ardor, that he might insure their success; and immediately diverted the attention of the garrison, by the tumult and clamor of a general assault. The Persians, who, from their walls, contemptuously beheld the progress of an impotent attack, celebrated with songs of triumph the glory of Sapor; and ventured to assure the emperor, that he might ascend the starry mansion of Ormusd, before he could hope to take the impregnable city of Maogamalcha. The city was already taken. History has recorded the name of a private soldier the first who ascended from the mine into a deserted tower. The passage was widened by his companions, who pressed forwards with impatient valor. Fifteen hundred enemies were already in the midst of the city. The astonished garrison abandoned the walls, and their only hope of safety; the gates were instantly burst open; and the revenge of the soldier, unless it were suspended by lust or avarice, was satiated by an undistinguishing massacre. The governor, who had yielded on a promise of mercy, was burnt alive, a few days afterwards, on a charge of having uttered some disrespectful words against the honor of Prince Hormisdas. *_0066 The fortifications were razed to the ground; and not a vestige was left, that the city of Maogamalcha had ever existed. The neighborhood of the capital of Persia was adorned with three stately palaces, laboriously enriched with every production that could gratify the luxury and pride of an Eastern monarch. The pleasant situation of the gardens along the banks of the Tigris, was improved, according to the Persian taste, by the symmetry of flowers, fountains, and shady walks: and spacious parks were enclosed for the reception of the bears, lions, and wild boars, which were maintained at a considerable expense for the pleasure of the royal chase. The park walls were broken down, the savage game was abandoned to the darts of the soldiers, and the palaces of Sapor were reduced to ashes, by the command of the Roman emperor. Julian, on this occasion, showed himself ignorant, or careless, of the laws of civility, which the prudence and refinement of polished ages have established between hostile princes. Yet these wanton ravages need not excite in our breasts any vehement emotions of pity or resentment. A simple, naked statue, finished by the hand of a Grecian artist, is of more genuine value than all these rude and costly monuments of Barbaric labor; and, if we are more deeply affected by the ruin of a palace than by the conflagration of a cottage, our humanity must have formed a very erroneous estimate of the miseries of human life. 57
Julian was an object of hatred and terror to the Persian and the painters of that nation represented the invader of their country under the emblem of a furious lion, who vomited from his mouth a consuming fire. 58 To his friends and soldiers the philosophic hero appeared in a more amiable light; and his virtues were never more conspicuously displayed, than in the last and most active period of his life. He practised, without effort, and almost without merit, the habitual qualities of temperance and sobriety. According to the dictates of that artificial wisdom, which assumes an absolute dominion over the mind and body, he sternly refused himself the indulgence of the most natural appetites. 59 In the warm climate of Assyria, which solicited a luxurious people to the gratification of every sensual desire, 60 a youthful conqueror preserved his chastity pure and inviolate; nor was Julian ever tempted, even by a motive of curiosity, to visit his female captives of exquisite beauty, 61 who, instead of resisting his power, would have disputed with each other the honor of his embraces. With the same firmness that he resisted the allurements of love, he sustained the hardships of war. When the Romans marched through the flat and flooded country, their sovereign, on foot, at the head of his legions, shared their fatigues and animated their diligence. In every useful labor, the hand of Julian was prompt and strenuous; and the Imperial purple was wet and dirty as the coarse garment of the meanest soldier. The two sieges allowed him some remarkable opportunities of signalizing his personal valor, which, in the improved state of the military art, can seldom be exerted by a prudent general. The emperor stood before the citadel before the citadel of Perisabor, insensible of his extreme danger, and encouraged his troops to burst open the gates of iron, till he was almost overwhelmed under a cloud of missile weapons and huge stones, that were directed against his person. As he examined the exterior fortifications of Maogamalcha, two Persians, devoting themselves for their country, suddenly rushed upon him with drawn cimeters: the emperor dexterously received their blows on his uplifted shield; and, with a steady and well-aimed thrust, laid one of his adversaries dead at his feet. The esteem of a prince who possesses the virtues which he approves, is the noblest recompense of a deserving subject; and the authority which Julian derived from his personal merit, enabled him to revive and enforce the rigor of ancient discipline. He punished with death or ignominy the misbehavior of three troops of horse, who, in a skirmish with the Surenas, had lost their honor and one of their standards: and he distinguished with obsidional 62 crowns the valor of the foremost soldiers, who had ascended into the city of Maogamalcha. After the siege of Perisabor, the firmness of the emperor was exercised by the insolent avarice of the army, who loudly complained, that their services were rewarded by a trifling donative of one hundred pieces of silver. His just indignation was expressed in the grave and manly language of a Roman. "Riches are the object of your desires; those riches are in the hands of the Persians; and the spoils of this fruitful country are proposed as the prize of your valor and discipline. Believe me," added Julian, "the Roman republic, which formerly possessed such immense treasures, is now reduced to want and wretchedness once our princes have been persuaded, by weak and interested ministers, to purchase with gold the tranquillity of the Barbarians. The revenue is exhausted; the cities are ruined; the provinces are dispeopled. For myself, the only inheritance that I have received from my royal ancestors is a soul incapable of fear; and as long as I am convinced that every real advantage is seated in the mind, I shall not blush to acknowledge an honorable poverty, which, in the days of ancient virtue, was considered as the glory of Fabricius. That glory, and that virtue, may be your own, if you will listen to the voice of Heaven and of your leader. But if you will rashly persist, if you are determined to renew the shameful and mischievous examples of old seditions, proceed. As it becomes an emperor who has filled the first rank among men, I am prepared to die, standing; and to despise a precarious life, which, every hour, may depend on an accidental fever. If I have been found unworthy of the command, there are now among you, (I speak it with pride and pleasure,) there are many chiefs whose merit and experience are equal to the conduct of the most important war. Such has been the temper of my reign, that I can retire, without regret, and without apprehension, to the obscurity of a private station" 63 The modest resolution of Julian was answered by the unanimous applause and cheerful obedience of the Romans, who declared their confidence of victory, while they fought under the banners of their heroic prince. Their courage was kindled by his frequent and familiar asseverations, (for such wishes were the oaths of Julian,) "So may I reduce the Persians under the yoke!" "Thus may I restore the strength and splendor of the republic!" The love of fame was the ardent passion of his soul: but it was not before he trampled on the ruins of Maogamalcha, that he allowed himself to say, "We have now provided some materials for the sophist of Antioch." 64
The successful valor of Julian had triumphed over all the obstacles that opposed his march to the gates of Ctesiphon. But the reduction, or even the siege, of the capital of Persia, was still at a distance: nor can the military conduct of the emperor be clearly apprehended, without a knowledge of the country which was the theatre of his bold and skilful operations. 65 Twenty miles to the south of Bagdad, and on the eastern bank of the Tigris, the curiosity of travellers has observed some ruins of the palaces of Ctesiphon, which, in the time of Julian, was a great and populous city. The name and glory of the adjacent Seleucia were forever extinguished; and the only remaining quarter of that Greek colony had resumed, with the Assyrian language and manners, the primitive appellation of Coche. Coche was situate on the western side of the Tigris; but it was naturally considered as a suburb of Ctesiphon, with which we may suppose it to have been connected by a permanent bridge of boats. The united parts contribute to form the common epithet of Al Modain, the cities, which the Orientals have bestowed on the winter residence of the Sassinadees; and the whole circumference of the Persian capital was strongly fortified by the waters of the river, by lofty walls, and by impracticable morasses. Near the ruins of Seleucia, the camp of Julian was fixed, and secured, by a ditch and rampart, against the sallies of the numerous and enterprising garrison of Coche. In this fruitful and pleasant country, the Romans were plentifully supplied with water and forage: and several forts, which might have embarrassed the motions of the army, submitted, after some resistance, to the efforts of their valor. The fleet passed from the Euphrates into an artificial derivation of that river, which pours a copious and navigable stream into the Tigris, at a small distance below the great city. If they had followed this royal canal, which bore the name of Nahar-Malcha, 66 the intermediate situation of Coche would have separated the fleet and army of Julian; and the rash attempt of steering against the current of the Tigris, and forcing their way through the midst of a hostile capital, must have been attended with the total destruction of the Roman navy. The prudence of the emperor foresaw the danger, and provided the remedy. As he had minutely studied the operations of Trajan in the same country, he soon recollected that his warlike predecessor had dug a new and navigable canal, which, leaving Coche on the right hand, conveyed the waters of the Nahar- Malcha into the river Tigris, at some distance above the cities. From the information of the peasants, Julian ascertained the vestiges of this ancient work, which were almost obliterated by design or accident. By the indefatigable labor of the soldiers, a broad and deep channel was speedily prepared for the reception of the Euphrates. A strong dike was constructed to interrupt the ordinary current of the Nahar-Malcha: a flood of waters rushed impetuously into their new bed; and the Roman fleet, steering their triumphant course into the Tigris, derided the vain and ineffectual barriers which the Persians of Ctesiphon had erected to oppose their passage.
As it became necessary to transport the Roman army over the Tigris, another labor presented itself, of less toil, but of more danger, than the preceding expedition. The stream was broad and rapid; the ascent steep and difficult; and the intrenchments which had been formed on the ridge of the opposite bank, were lined with a numerous army of heavy cuirrasiers, dexterous archers, and huge elephants; who (according to the extravagant hyperbole of Libanius) could trample with the same ease a field of corn, or a legion of Romans. 67 In the presence of such an enemy, the construction of a bridge was impracticable; and the intrepid prince, who instantly seized the only possible expedient, concealed his design, till the moment of execution, from the knowledge of the Barbarians, of his own troops, and even of his generals themselves. Under the specious pretence of examining the state of the magazines, fourscore vessels *_0067 were gradually unladen; and a select detachment, apparently destined for some secret expedition, was ordered to stand to their arms on the first signal. Julian disguised the silent anxiety of his own mind with smiles of confidence and joy; and amused the hostile nations with the spectacle of military games, which he insultingly celebrated under the walls of Coche. The day was consecrated to pleasure; but, as soon as the hour of supper was passed, the emperor summoned the generals to his tent, and acquainted them that he had fixed that night for the passage of the Tigris. They stood in silent and respectful astonishment; but, when the venerable Sallust assumed the privilege of his age and experience, the rest of the chiefs supported with freedom the weight of his prudent remonstrances. 68 Julian contented himself with observing, that conquest and safety depended on the attempt; that instead of diminishing, the number of their enemies would be increased, by successive reenforcements; and that a longer delay would neither contract the breadth of the stream, nor level the height of the bank. The signal was instantly given, and obeyed; the most impatient of the legionaries leaped into five vessels that lay nearest to the bank; and as they plied their oars with intrepid diligence, they were lost, after a few moments, in the darkness of the night. A flame arose on the opposite side; and Julian, who too clearly understood that his foremost vessels, in attempting to land, had been fired by the enemy, dexterously converted their extreme danger into a presage of victory. "Our fellow-soldiers," he eagerly exclaimed, "are already masters of the bank; see - they make the appointed signal; let us hasten to emulate and assist their courage." The united and rapid motion of a great fleet broke the violence of the current, and they reached the eastern shore of the Tigris with sufficient speed to extinguish the flames, and rescue their adventurous companions. The difficulties of a steep and lofty ascent were increased by the weight of armor, and the darkness of the night. A shower of stones, darts, and fire, was incessantly discharged on the heads of the assailants; who, after an arduous struggle, climbed the bank and stood victorious upon the rampart. As soon as they possessed a more equal field, Julian, who, with his light infantry, had led the attack, 69 darted through the ranks a skilful and experienced eye: his bravest soldiers, according to the precepts of Homer, 70 were distributed in the front and rear: and all the trumpets of the Imperial army sounded to battle. The Romans, after sending up a military shout, advanced in measured steps to the animating notes of martial music; launched their formidable javelins; and rushed forwards with drawn swords, to deprive the Barbarians, by a closer onset, of the advantage of their missile weapons. The whole engagement lasted above twelve hours; till the gradual retreat of the Persians was changed into a disorderly flight, of which the shameful example was given by the principal leader, and the Surenas himself. They were pursued to the gates of Ctesiphon; and the conquerors might have entered the dismayed city, 71 if their general, Victor, who was dangerously wounded with an arrow, had not conjured them to desist from a rash attempt, which must be fatal, if it were not successful. On their side, the Romans acknowledged the loss of only seventy-five men; while they affirmed, that the Barbarians had left on the field of battle two thousand five hundred, or even six thousand, of their bravest soldiers. The spoil was such as might be expected from the riches and luxury of an Oriental camp; large quantities of silver and gold, splendid arms and trappings, and beds and tables of massy silver. **_0067 The victorious emperor distributed, as the rewards of valor, some honorable gifts, civic, and mural, and naval crowns; which he, and perhaps he alone, esteemed more precious than the wealth of Asia. A solemn sacrifice was offered to the god of war, but the appearances of the victims threatened the most inauspicious events; and Julian soon discovered, by less ambiguous signs, that he had now reached the term of his prosperity. 72
On the second day after the battle, the domestic guards, the Jovians and Herculians, and the remaining troops, which composed near two thirds of the whole army, were securely wafted over the Tigris. 73 While the Persians beheld from the walls of Ctesiphon the desolation of the adjacent country, Julian cast many an anxious look towards the North, in full expectation, that as he himself had victoriously penetrated to the capital of Sapor, the march and junction of his lieutenants, Sebastian and Procopius, would be executed with the same courage and diligence. His expectations were disappointed by the treachery of the Armenian king, who permitted, and most probably directed, the desertion of his auxiliary troops from the camp of the Romans; 74 and by the dissensions of the two generals, who were incapable of forming or executing any plan for the public service. When the emperor had relinquished the hope of this important reenforcement, he condescended to hold a council of war, and approved, after a full debate, the sentiment of those generals, who dissuaded the siege of Ctesiphon, as a fruitless and pernicious undertaking. It is not easy for us to conceive, by what arts of fortification a city thrice besieged and taken by the predecessors of Julian could be rendered impregnable against an army of sixty thousand Romans, commanded by a brave and experienced general, and abundantly supplied with ships, provisions, battering engines, and military stores. But we may rest assured, from the love of glory, and contempt of danger, which formed the character of Julian, that he was not discouraged by any trivial or imaginary obstacles. 75 At the very time when he declined the siege of Ctesiphon, he rejected, with obstinacy and disdain, the most flattering offers of a negotiation of peace. Sapor, who had been so long accustomed to the tardy ostentation of Constantius, was surprised by the intrepid diligence of his successor. As far as the confines of India and Scythia, the satraps of the distant provinces were ordered to assemble their troops, and to march, without delay, to the assistance of their monarch. But their preparations were dilatory, their motions slow; and before Sapor could lead an army into the field, he received the melancholy intelligence of the devastation of Assyria, the ruin of his palaces, and the slaughter of his bravest troops, who defended the passage of the Tigris. The pride of royalty was humbled in the dust; he took his repasts on the ground; and the disorder of his hair expressed the grief and anxiety of his mind. Perhaps he would not have refused to purchase, with one half of his kingdom, the safety of the remainder; and he would have gladly subscribed himself, in a treaty of peace, the faithful and dependent ally of the Roman conqueror. Under the pretence of private business, a minister of rank and confidence was secretly despatched to embrace the knees of Hormisdas, and to request, in the language of a suppliant, that he might be introduced into the presence of the emperor. The Sassanian prince, whether he listened to the voice of pride or humanity, whether he consulted the sentiments of his birth, or the duties of his situation, was equally inclined to promote a salutary measure, which would terminate the calamities of Persia, and secure the triumph of Rome. He was astonished by the inflexible firmness of a hero, who remembered, most unfortunately for himself and for his country, that Alexander had uniformly rejected the propositions of Darius. But as Julian was sensible, that the hope of a safe and honorable peace might cool the ardor of his troops, he earnestly requested that Hormisdas would privately dismiss the minister of Sapor, and conceal this dangerous temptation from the knowledge of the camp. 76
*_0065 Libanius says that it was a great city of Assyria, called after the name of the reigning king. The orator of Antioch is not mistaken. The Persians and Syrians called it Fyrouz Schapour or Fyrouz Schahbour; in Persian, the victory of Schahpour. It owed that name to Sapor the First. It was before called Anbar St. Martin, iii. 85. - M.
*_0066 And as guilty of a double treachery, having first engaged to surrender the city, and afterwards valiantly defended it. Gibbon, perhaps, should have noticed this charge, though he may have rejected it as improbable Compare Zosimus. iii. 23. - M.
57 The operations of the Assyrian war are circumstantially related by Ammianus, (xxiv. 2, 3, 4, 5,) Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 112- 123, p. 335-347,) Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 168-180,) and Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat iv. p. 113, 144.) The military criticisms of the saint are devoutly copied by Tillemont, his faithful slave.
58 Libanius de ulciscenda Juliani nece, c. 13, p. 162.
59 The famous examples of Cyrus, Alexander, and Scipio, were acts of justice. Julian's chastity was voluntary, and, in his opinion, meritorious.
60 Sallust (ap. Vet. Scholiast. Juvenal. Satir. i. 104) observes, that nihil corruptius moribus. The matrons and virgins of Babylon freely mingled with the men in licentious banquets; and as they felt the intoxication of wine and love, they gradually, and almost completely, threw aside the encumbrance of dress; ad ultimum ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Q. Curtius, v. 1.
61 Ex virginibus autem quae speciosae sunt captae, et in Perside, ubi faeminarum pulchritudo excellit, nec contrectare aliquam votuit nec videre. Ammian. xxiv. 4. The native race of Persians is small and ugly; but it has been improved by the perpetual mixture of Circassian blood, (Herodot. l. iii. c. 97. Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. iii. p. 420.)
62 Obsidionalibus coronis donati. Ammian. xxiv. 4. Either Julian or his historian were unskillful antiquaries. He should have given mural crowns. The obsidional were the reward of a general who had delivered a besieged city, (Aulus Gellius, Noct. Attic. v. 6.)
63 I give this speech as original and genuine. Ammianus might hear, could transcribe, and was incapable of inventing, it. I have used some slight freedoms, and conclude with the most forcibic sentence.
64 Ammian. xxiv. 3. Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. 122, p. 346.
65 M. d'Anville, (Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxxviii p. 246-259) has ascertained the true position and distance of Babylon, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Bagdad, &c. The Roman traveller, Pietro della Valle, (tom. i. lett. xvii. p. 650-780,) seems to be the most intelligent spectator of that famous province. He is a gentleman and a scholar, but intolerably vain and prolix.
66 The Royal Canal (Nahar-Malcha) might be successively restored, altered, divided, &c., (Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 453;) and these changes may serve to explain the seeming contradictions of antiquity. In the time of Julian, it must have fallen into the Euphrates below Ctesiphon.
67 Rien n'est beau que le vrai; a maxim which should be inscribed on the desk of every rhetorician.
*_0067 This is a mistake; each vessel (according to Zosimus two, according to Ammianus five) had eighty men. Amm. xxiv. 6, with Wagner's note. Gibbon must have read octogenas for octogenis. The five vessels selected for this service were remarkably large and strong provision transports. The strength of the fleet remained with Julian to carry over the army - M.
68 Libanius alludes to the most powerful of the generals. I have ventured to name Sallust. Ammianus says, of all the leaders, quod acri metu territ acrimetu territi duces concordi precatu precaut fieri prohibere tentarent.
Note: It is evident that Gibbon has mistaken the sense of Libanius; his words can only apply to a commander of a detachment, not to so eminent a person as the Praefect of the East. St. Martin, iii. 313. - M.
69 Hinc Imperator . . . . (says Ammianus) ipse cum levis armaturae auxiliis per prima postremaque discurrens, &c. Yet Zosimus, his friend, does not allow him to pass the river till two days after the battle.
70 Secundum Homericam dispositionem. A similar disposition is ascribed to the wise Nestor, in the fourth book of the Iliad; and Homer was never absent from the mind of Julian.
71 Persas terrore subito miscuerunt, versisque agminibus totius gentis, apertas Ctesiphontis portas victor miles intrasset, ni major praedarum occasio fuisset, quam cura victoriae, (Sextus Rufus de Provinciis c. 28.) Their avarice might dispose them to hear the advice of Victor.
**_0067 The suburbs of Ctesiphon, according to a new fragment of Eunapius, were so full of provisions, that the soldiers were in danger of suffering from excess. Mai, p. 260. Eunapius in Niebuhr. Nov. Byz. Coll. 68. Julian exhibited warlike dances and games in his camp to recreate the soldiers Ibid. - M.
72 The labor of the canal, the passage of the Tigris, and the victory, are described by Ammianus, (xxiv. 5, 6,) Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 124-128, p. 347-353,) Greg. Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 115,) Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 181-183,) and Sextus Rufus, (de Provinciis, c. 28.)
73 The fleet and army were formed in three divisions, of which the first only had passed during the night.
74 Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. l. iii. c. 15, p. 246) supplies us with a national tradition, and a spurious letter. I have borrowed only the leading circumstance, which is consistent with truth, probability, and Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 131, p. 355.)
75 Civitas inexpugnabilis, facinus audax et importunum. Ammianus, xxiv. 7. His fellow-soldier, Eutropius, turns aside from the difficulty, Assyriamque populatus, castra apud Ctesiphontem stativa aliquandiu habuit: remeansbue victor, &c. x. 16. Zosimus is artful or ignorant, and Socrates inaccurate.
76 Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. 130, p. 354, c. 139, p. 361. Socrates, l. iii. c. 21. The ecclesiastical historian imputes the refusal of peace to the advice of Maximus. Such advice was unworthy of a philosopher; but the philosopher was likewise a magician, who flattered the hopes and passions of his master.


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