84. His lineages therefore, was enough to cover the man with glory, but no one, in attempting a biography of Constantine himself, would be wrong if he referred to him as an Achilles. Just as that hero’s family had a mighty origin — his grandfather was Aeacus, who the myths say was begotten of Zeus, and his father was Peleus, whom the Greek stories exalt and represent as a husband of Thetis, herself a goddess of the sea — and yet Achilles’ own deeds surpassed the glories of his fathers, and far from Achilles being honoured because of those who begat him, it is they who win renown from the fact that he was their progeny; so it was also in the case of Duke Constantine who must be the next emperor in my history. Brilliant as the early records of his family were, still more brilliant are the deeds that had their origin in his own nature and moral purpose.
85. But the story of his reign must wait a little. While he was still living as an ordinary citizen, he rivalled even the greatest emperors, as far as aptitude for government was concerned, or pride of lineage. Above all other things, he strove to live prudently, to avoid giving offense to his neighbors or treating anyone with a patronizing and lordly condescension. He was most careful to prove his loyalty to the reigning emperors, while his own brilliance, like the sun behind clouds, was kept in obscurity, to avoid attracting attention to himself.
Splendid successes
86. I say these things, not on the evidence of other men, but relying on my own senses and my own opinions, after personal observation of a careful and quite exceptional nature. Others may boast of his many splendid successes, but so far as I myself am concerned, one thing counterbalances all the rest: the fact that this man, who was so admirable, not only in appearance, but in reality, should place more confidence in my judgment than in the scheming of my rivals.
Whether he had noticed somewhat more evidence of wisdom in my opinions than in those of the others, or whether it was because my character pleased him, I know not, but he was so much attached to me, and loved me so much more than the rest, that he listened intently to every word that I uttered, depended on me absolutely for spiritual advice, and entrusted to my personal care his most precious possessions.
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