69. A very idle rumour soon prevailed, that Maxentius, who
had not taken any precaution for his own retreat, had
contrived a very artful snare to destroy the army of the
pursuers; but that the Doden bridge, which was to have been
loosened on the approach of Constantine, unluckily broke
down under the weight of the flying Italians. M. de
Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. p. 576)
very seriously examines whether, in contradiction to common
sense, the testimony of Eusebius and Zosimus ought to
prevail over the silence of Lactantius, Nazarius, and the
anonymous but contemporary orator who composed the ninth
Panegyric.