Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	elder_a	young_a	youth_n	44	3	7.5048	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67859	The new history of Count Zosimus, sometime advocate of the treasury of the Roman Empire with the notes of the Oxford edition, in six books : to which is prefixed Leunclavius's Apology for the author : newly Englished.; Historia nova. English	Zosimus.; Leunclavius, Johannes, 1533?-1593. Apologia pro Zosimo. English.	1684 (1684)	Wing Z16; ESTC R8792	190,775	458

multitude of men and beasts Besides a great deal of the Sea is turn'd into dry Land where Piles are driven into the ground and Houses built upon 'em enough to make a good big City of themselves And truly I have often wondered since the City of Byzantium is grown so great that no other can compare with it either in happiness or bigness why our Fathers had no prophesie concerning its good Fortune And having employ'd my thoughts a long time about it turn'd over a great many Historians and collections of Oracles and spent some time in the explanation of them I at last with much ado light upon an Oracle which is attributed to Sibylla Erythraea or Phaello of Epirus for they say that she being inspired gave out some Oracles upon which Nicomedes the Son of Prusias relying and interpreting to his own advantage he by the advice of Attalus made War against his Father Prusias and it is this Thou among Sheep Oh! King of Thrace shalt dwell But breed a savage Lion fierce and fell Who all the product of thy Land shall spoil And reap thy fruitful harvest without toil But thou shalt not enjoy thy Honour long Torn by wild Dogs which shall about thee throng Then a mad hungry sleeping Wolf shalt thou Awake to whom thy conquer'd neck shall bow Next a whole herd of Wolves Bythinias Land Shall vex by Joves permission and that hand To whom the Byzantines Obedience yield Shall in short time her royal Scepter weild Bless'd Hellespont whose buildings by the hand Of Heaven were rais'd and by their order stand Yet shall that cruel Wolf my forces fear For all Wights know me who inhabit here My Sires mind I no longer will reveal But Heavens intent in Oracles reveal Thrace shall e're long a monstrous birth produce Baneful to all by tract of time and use And a swoln Vlcer by the Sea shall grow Which when it breaks with putrid gore shall flow Now this same Oracle does though obscurely point out I had almost said all the particular mischiefs which were to befal Bythinia through the heavy Impositions that were laid upon 'em as also how the Government was to be devolved upon them to whom the Byzantines were then in subjection in that Distich and the Hand To whom the Byzantines Obedience yield Shall in short time her Royal Scepter weild And though the things foretold did not fall out till many Ages after let not any man for all that suppose that it was spoken of any other place For all time is short in respect of God who always is and always will be And this is my conjecture both from the words of the Prophesie and the event also But if any one believes there is any other meaning in it let him enjoy his own thoughts When Constantine had done thus he not onely perpetually wasted the Revenue of the Empire in unnecessary Expences and Presents which were bestow'd upon unworthy and vile Persons but he likewise oppressed those that paid the Tribute and enrich'd those that were of no use or service in the Government For * We must confess that Constantine was extravagant in his Expences from whence arose that Jeer of Julian in his Book called Caesares where he brings in Constantine as if he were ask'd by Mercury And what do you think is a commendable thing That a Man says Constantine who has a great deal should give a great deal away he mistook Prodigality for Magnificence He also laid a Tax of Gold and Silver upon all Merchants and Tradesmen even to the meanest of all * See Evagrius l. 3. Hist Eccl. c. 39. where he mightily commends Anastasius in whose Reign this Tax was taken off But he inveighs against Zosimus for saying that Constantine was the Author of it in these words Who would wonder that this should be done in the very infancy of Christianity when his Holiness the Pope suffers the very same things even now it is grown to riper years nor did he spare so much as the poorest Whore Insomuch that upon the return of every fourth year when the Tax was to be paid a man could hear nothing but lamentation and complaints through all the whole City And when the time came there was nothing but Whips and Torments provided for them who by reason of their extream poverty could not pay the money Nay Mothers were fain to part with their Children and Fathers to prostitute their Daughters for money to satisfie the Collectors of this Gold and Silver exaction And because he had a mind to invent some plague for the richer sort of People he call'd 'em all forth and made 'em Praetors for which Dignity he demanded of 'em a vast sum of money For which reason when they whose business it was to manage this Affair came into any of the Cities you might see the People run all away into other Countreys for fear of gaining that honour with the loss of all they had Now he had a Particular of all the best Estates and so imposed a Tribute upon each one of 'em which he called a Purse And with such Exactions he exhausted all the Towns for they endur'd so long even after Constantine's time that the Money was all drain'd clear out of the Cities and many of 'em forsaken by the Inhabitants When Constantine had oppress'd and plagued the Government all these several ways he died of a Distemper and his Sons succeeded him who were three of 'em not begotten of Fausta the Daughter of Herculius Maximianus but of another Woman whom he had put to Death for Adultery but they devoted themselves to the pleasures of Youth more than to publick Service For in the first place they divide the Nations among 'em of which Constantine the eldest and Constans the youngest had all beyond the Alps together with Italy and Illyricum for their share as also all the Countreys upon the Euxine Sea and whatever belong'd to Carthage in Africa whereas Constantius had all Asia the East and Egypt But there were also others that were a kind of Partners in the Government as Dalmatius whom Constantine made Caesar Constantius his Brother and Anaballianus who all wore a Purple Robe with golden Guards and were promoted to the Order of Nobilissimate as they call it or Nobility by Constantine himself out of respect to their being of his Family But when the Empire was thus divided Constantius who seemed to take pains not to fall short of his Fathers impiety began at home to prove himself a Man by spilling the blood of his nearest Relations And first he caused Constantius his Fathers Brother to be murther'd by the Soldiers next to whom he served Dalmatius Caesar in the same kind as also Optatus whom Constantine had raised to the honour of being a Patrician For Constantine indeed first introduced that Order of Men and made a Law that whoever was a Patrician should sit above the very Prefects of the Court. At that time also was