The person and property of a Roman knight, who had mutilated his two sons, were sold at public auction by order of Augustus. (Suetonius in Augustus c. 24.) The moderation of that artful usurper proves that this example of severity was justified by the spirit of the times. Ammianus makes a distinction between the effeminate Italians and the hardy Gauls (1. xv. c. 12). Yet only fifteen years afterwards, Valentinian in a law addressed to the praefect of Gaul, is obliged to enact that these cowardly deserters shall be burnt alive. (Cod. Theod. l. vii. tit. xiii. leg. 5.) Their numbers in Illyricum were so considerable that the province complained of a scarcity of recruits. (Id. leg. 10.)