102. The ecclesiastical historians, Socrates (1. iii.c. 22),
Sozomen (1. vi. c. 3), and Theodoret (1. iv. c. 1), ascribe
to Jovian the merit of a confessor under the preceding
reign, and piously suppose that he refused the purple till
the whole army unanimously exclaimed that they were
Christians. Ammianus, calmly pursuing his narrative,
overthrows the legend by a single sentence. Hostiis pro
Joviano extisque inspectis, pronuntiatum est, etc. (xxv. 6).