 Chapter 26, Part 4, of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 2. This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Lizzie Driver. Chapter 26, Progress of the Huns, Part 4 One of the most dangerous inconveniences of the introduction of the barbarians into the army and the palace, was sensibly felt in their correspondence with their hostile countrymen, to whom they imprudently or maliciously revealed the weakness of the Roman Empire. A soldier of the lifeguards of Gratian was of the nation of the Almany, and of the tribe of the Lentiansis, who dwelt beyond the lake of Constance. Some domestic business obliged him to request a leave of absence. In a short visit to his family and friends, he was exposed to their curious inquiries, and to the vanity of the loquacious soldier, tempted him to display his intimate acquaintance with the secrets of the state and the designs of his master. The intelligence that Gratian was preparing to lead the military force of Gaul and of the West, to the assistance of his uncle Valens, pointed out to the restless spirits of the Almany, the moment and the mode of a successful invasion. The enterprise of some light detachments, who in the month of February passed the Rhine upon the ice, was the prelude of a more important war. The boldest hopes of raping, perhaps of conquest, outweighed the considerations of timid prudence or national faith. Every forest and every village poured forth a band of hardy adventurers, and the great army of the Almany, which, on their approach, was estimated at forty thousand men by the fear of the people, was after magnified to the number of seventy thousand by the vain and credulous flattery of the imperial court. The legions which had been ordered to march into Panonia were immediately recalled, or detained, for the defence of Gaul. The military command was divided between Nanny Ennis and Malo Baldis, and the youthful emperor, though he respected the long experience and sober wisdom of the former, was much more inclined to admire and to follow the martial ardour of his colleague, who was allowed to unite the incompatible characters of Count of the Domestics and of the King of the Franks. His rival, Priarius, King of the Almany, was guided, or rather impelled, by the same Hestrong Valor, and as the troops were animated by the spirit of their leaders, they met, they saw, they encountered each other, near the town of Argentaria, or Colmar, in the plains of Elska. The glory of the day was justly ascribed to the missile-weapons and well-practised evolutions of the Roman soldiers. The Almany, who long maintained their ground, were slaughtered with unrelenting fury. Five thousand only of the barbarians escaped to the woods in the mountains, and the glorious death of their king on the fields of battle saved him from the reproaches of the people, who were always disposed to accuse the justice, or policy, of an unsuccessful war. After this signal victory, which secured the peace of Gaul, and asserted the honour of the Roman arms, the Emperor Gratian appeared to proceed without delay on his eastern expedition. But as he approached the confines of the Almany, he suddenly inclined to the left, surprised them by his unexpected passage of the Rhine, and boldly advanced into the heart of their country. The barbarians opposed to his progress the obstacles of nature and courage, and still continued to retreat from one hill to another, till they were satisfied by repeated trials of the power and perseverance of their enemies. Their submission was accepted as a proof, not indeed of their sincere repentance, but of their actual distress, and a select number of their brave and robust youth were extracted from the faithless nation, as the most substantial pledge of their future moderation. The subjects of the Empire, who had so often experienced that the Almany could neither be subdued by arms, nor restrained by treaties, might not promise themselves any solid or lasting tranquility. But they discovered in the virtues of their young sovereign, the prospect of a long and auspicious reign, when the legions climbed the mountains and scaled the fortifications of the barbarians, the Valor of Gratian was distinguished in the foremost ranks, and the gilt and variegated armour of his guards was pierced and shattered by the blows which they had received in their constant attachment to the person of their sovereign. At the age of nineteen, the son of Valentinian seemed to possess the talents of peace and war, and his personal success against the Almany was interpreted as a sure presage of his gothic triumphs. While Gratian deserved and enjoyed the applause of his subjects, the Emperor Valens, who at length had removed his court and army from Antioch, was received by the people of Constantinople as the author of the public calamity. Before he had reposed himself ten days in the capital, he was urged by the licentious climbers of the hippodrome to march against the barbarians, whom he had invited into his dominions, and the citizens, who were always brave at a distance from any real danger, declared with confidence that if they were supplied with arms, they alone would undertake to deliver the province from the ravages of an insulting foe. The vain reproaches of an ignorant multitude hastened the downfall of the Roman Empire. They provoked the desperate rashness of Valens, who did not find, either in his reputation or his mind, any motives to support with firmness the public contempt. He was soon persuaded, by the successful achievements of his lieutenants, to despise the power of the Goths, who, by the diligence of Fritigun, were now collected in the neighbourhood of Hadrianopole. The march of the Tafaeli had been intercepted by the valiant frigate. The king of those licentious barbarians was slain in battle, and the suppliant captives were sent into distant exile to cultivate the lands of Italy, which were assigned for their settlement in the vacant territories of Modian and Parma. The exploits of Sebastian, who was recently engaged in the service of Valens, and promoted to the rank of master general of the infantry, were still more honourable to himself and useful to the Republic. He obtained the permission of selecting three hundred soldiers from each of the legions, and this separate detachment soon acquired the spirit of discipline and the exercise of arms, which were almost forgotten under the reign of Valens. By the rigor and conduct of Sebastian, a large body of Goths were surprised in their camp, and their immense spoil, which was recovered from their hands, filled the city of Hadrianopole and the adjacent plain. The splendid narratives, which the general transmitted of his own exploits, alarmed the imperial court by the appearance of superior merit. And though he cautiously insisted on the difficulties of the Gothic war, his valor was praised, his advice was rejected, and Valens, who listened with pride and pleasure to the flattering suggestions of the eunuchs of the palace, was impatient to seize the glory of an easy and assured conquest. His army was strengthened by numerous reinforcement of veterans, and his march from Constantinople to Hadrianopole was conducted with so much military skill that he prevented the activity of the barbarians, who designed to occupy the immediate defiles, and to intercept either the troops themselves or their convoys of provisions. The camp of Valens, which he pitched under the walls of Hadrianopole, was fortified, according to the practice of the Romans, with a ditch and a rampart, and a most important council was summoned to decide the fate of the emperor and of the empire. The party of reason and of delay was strenuously maintained by Victor, who had corrected, by the lessons of experience, the native fierceness of the summation character, while Sebastian, with the flexible and ubiquitous eloquence of a courtier, represented every precaution and every measure that implied a doubt of immediate victory, as unworthy of the courage and majesty of their invincible monarch. The ruin of Valens was precipitated by the deceitful arts of Fritigun, and the prudent admonitions of the emperor of the west. The advantages of negotiating in the midst of war were perfectly understood by the general of the barbarians, and a Christian ecclesiastic was dispatched as the holy minister of peace to penetrate and to perplex the councils of the enemy. The misfortunes, as well as the provocations of the Gothic nation, were forcibly and truly described by their ambassador, who protested, in the name of Fritigun, that he was still disposed to lay down his arms, or to employ them only in the defence of the empire, if he could secure for his wandering countrymen a tranquil settlement on the wastelands of Thrace and a sufficient allowance of corn and cattle. But he added, in a whisper of confidential friendship, that the exasperated barbarians were averse to these reasonable conditions, and that Fritigun was doubtful whether he could accomplish the conclusion of the treaty, unless he found himself supported by the presence and terrors of an imperial army. About the same time Count Richimer returned from the west to announce a defeat and submission of the almanie, to inform Balens that his nephew advanced by rapid marches at the head of the veteran and victorious legions of Gaul, and to request, in the name of Gratian and of the Republic, that every dangerous and decisive measure might be suspended till the junction of the two emperors should ensure the success of the Gothic war. But the feeble sovereign of the east was actuated only by the fatal illusions of pride and jealousy. He disdained the importunate advice. He rejected the humiliating aid. He secretly compared the ignominious, at least the inglorious period of his own reign, with the fame of a beardless youth, and Balens rushed into the field to erect his imaginary troops before the diligence of his colleague could assert any share of the triumphs of the day. On the 9th of August, a day which deserved to be marked among the most inauspicious of the Roman calendar, the emperor Balens, leaving under a strong guard his baggage and military treasure, marched from Hadrian uphol to attack the Goths, who were encamped about twelve miles from the city. By some mistake of the orders, or some ignorance of the ground, the right wing, or column of cavalry, arrived in sight of the enemy whilst the left was still at a considerable distance. The soldiers were compelled in the sultry heat of summer to precipitate their pace, and the line of battle was formed with tedious confusion and irregular delay. The Gothic cavalry had been detached to forage in the adjacent country, and Fritigin still continued to practice his customary arts. He despatched messengers of peace, made proposals, required hostages, and wasted the hours till the Romans, exposed without shelter to the burning rays of the sun, were exhausted by thirst, hunger, and intolerable fatigue. The emperor was persuaded to send an ambassador to the Gothic camp. The zeal of Richimer, who alone had courage to accept the dangerous commission, was applauded. And the count of the domestics, adorned with the splendid ensigns of his dignity, had proceeded some way in the space between the two armies, when he was suddenly recalled by the alarm of battle. The hasty and imprudent attack was made by Baccharius, the Iberian who commanded a body of archers and targetiers, and as they advanced with rashness, they retreated with loss and disgrace. In the same moment, the flying squadrons of Alatheus and Saphrax, whose return was anxiously expected by the general of the Goths, descended like a whirlwind from the hills, swept across the plain, and added new terrors to the tumultuous but irresistible charge of the barbarian host. The event of the Battle of Hadrian-Apol, so fatal to Valens and the empire, may be described in a few words. The Roman cavalry fled. The infantry was abandoned, surrounded, and cut into pieces. The most skillful evolutions, the firmest courage, are scarcely sufficient to extract a body of foot, encompassed on an open plain, by superior numbers of horse. But the troops of Valens, oppressed by the weight of the enemy and their own fears, were crowded into a narrow space, where it was impossible for them to extend their ranks. Or even to use, with effect, their swords and javelins. In the midst of tumult, of slaughter and of dismay, the emperor, deserted by his guards and wounded as it was supposed with an arrow, sought protection among the Lanqueriae and the Materiae, who still maintained their ground with some appearance of order and firmness. His faithful generals, Trajan and Victor, who perceived his danger, largely exclaimed that all was lost, unless the person of the emperor could be saved. Some troops, animated by this exhortation, advanced to his relief. They found only a bloody spot, covered with a heap of broken arms and mangled bodies, without being able to discover their unfortunate prince, either among the living or the dead. Their search could not indeed be successful. If there is any truth in the circumstances with which some historians have related the death of the emperor. By the care of his attendants, Valen was removed from the field of battle to a neighbouring cottage, where they attempted to dress his wound and to provide for his future safety. But this humble retreat was instantly surrounded by the enemy. They tried to force the door. They were provoked by a discharge of arrows from the roof. Till, at length, impatient of delay, they set fire to a pile of dry faggots, and consumed the cottage with the Roman emperor and his train. Valen's perished in the flames, and a youth, who dropped from the window, alone escaped, to attest the melancholy tale, and to inform the goths of the inestimable prize, which they had just lost by their own rashness. A great number of brave and distinguished officers perished in the battle of Hadronapole, which equalled in the actual loss, and far surpassed in the fatal consequences the misfortune which Rome had formally sustained in the fields of Cannes. Two master-generals of the cavalry and infantry, two great officers of the palace, and thirty-five tribunes were found among the slain, and the death of Sebastian might satisfy the world, that he was the victim, as well as the author of the public calamity. Above two-thirds of the Roman army were destroyed, and the darkness of the night was esteemed a very favourable circumstance, as it served to conceal the flight of the multitude, and protect the more orderly retreat of Victor and Richemire, who alone, amidst the general consternation, maintained the advantage of calm courage and regular discipline. While the impressions of grief and terror were still recent in the minds of men, the most celebrated rhetorician of the age, composed of the funeral oratation of a vanquished army, and of an unpopular prince, whose throne was already occupied by a stranger. They are not wanting, said the candid Libyanus, those who arraign the prudence of the emperor, or who impute the public misfortune to the want of courage and discipline in the troops. For my own part, I reverence the memory of their former exploits. I reverence the glorious death which they bravely received, standing and fighting in their ranks. I reverence the field of battle stained with their blood, and the blood of the barbarians. Those honourable marks had been already washed away by the rains. But the lofty monuments of their bones, the bones of generals, of centurions, and of valiant warriors, claim a longer period of duration. The king himself fought and fell in the foremost ranks of the battle. His attendants presented him with the flitest horses of the imperial stable, that would soon have carried him beyond the pursuit of the enemy. They vainly pressed him to reserve his important life for the future service of the Republic. He still declared that he was unworthy to survive so many of the bravest and most faithful of his subjects. And the monarch was nobly buried under a mountain of the slain. Let none, therefore, presumed to ascribe the victory of the barbarians to the fear, the weakness, or the imprudence of the Roman troops. The chiefs and the soldiers were animated by the virtue of their ancestors, whom they equalled in discipline and the arts of war. Their generous emulsion was opposed by the love of glory, which prompted them to contend at the same time with heat and thirst, with fire and sword, and cheerfully to embrace an honourable death as their refuge against flight and infamy. The indignation of the gods has been the only cause of the success of our enemies. The truth of history may disclaim some parts of this panageric, which cannot strictly be reconciled with the character of valens or the circumstances of the battle. But the fairest commendation is due to the eloquence and still more the generosity of the suffice of Antioch. The pride of the gods was elated by this memorable victory. But their avarice was disappointed by the mortifying discovery that the richest part of the imperial spoil had been within the walls of Hadronapole. They hastened to possess the reward of their valour, but they were encountered by the remains of a vanquished army with an intrepid resolution, which was the effect of their despair and the only hope of their safety. The walls of the city and the ramparts of the adjacent camp were lined with military engines, led through stones of an enormous weight and astonished the ignorant barbarians by the noise and velocity, still more than by the real effects of the discharge. The soldiers, the citizens, the provincials, the domestics of the palace were united in the danger and in the defence. The furious assault of the Goths was repulsed, their secret arts of treachery and treason were discovered, and after an obstinate conflict of many hours they retired to their tents, convinced by experience that it would be far more advisable to observe the treaty, which their sagacious leader had tactily stipulated with the fortifications of great and popular cities. With a hasty and impolitic massacre of three hundred deserters, an act of justice extremely useful to the discipline of the Roman armies, the Goths indignantly razed the siege of Hadronapole. The scene of war and tumult was instantly converted into a silent solitude. The multitude suddenly disappeared. The secret paths of the woods and mountains were marked with the footsteps of the trembling fugitives, who sought refuge in the distant cities of Illyricrum and Macedonia. And the faithful officers of the household and the treachery cautiously proceeded in search of the emperor, of whose death they were still ignorant. The tide of the Gothic inundation rolled from the walls of Hadronapole to the suburbs of Constantinople. The barbarians were surprised with the splendid appearance of the capital of the east, the height and extent of the walls, the myriads of wealthy and affrighted citizens who crowded the ramparts, and the various prospect of the sea and land. While they gazed with hopeless desire on the inaccessible beauties of Constantinople, a sally was made from one of the gates by a party of Saracens, who had been fortunately engaged in the service of valens. The cavalry of Scythia was forced to yield to the admirable swiftness and spirit of the Arabian horses. Their riders were skilled in the evolutions of irregular war, and the northern barbarians were astonished and dismayed by the inhuman ferocity of the barbarians of the south. The Gothic soldier was slain by the dagger of an Arab, and the hairy naked savage, applying his lips to the wound, expressed a horrid delight while he sucked the blood of his vanquished enemy. The army of the Goths, laden with the spoils of the wealthy suburbs and the adjacent territory, slowly moved from the Bosphorus to the mountains which formed the western boundary of Thrace. The important pass of Scythia was betrayed by the fear, or the misconduct, of Marys, and the barbarians, who no longer had any resistance to apprehend from the scattered and vanquished troops of the east, spread themselves over the face of a fertile and cultivated country. As far as the confines of Italy and the Hadriatic Sea, the Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mentioned the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserved their compassion and their eloquence for their own sufferings, when the provinces were invaded and desolated by the arms of the successful barbarians. The simple circumstantial narrative did such a narrative exist, of the ruin of a single town, of the misfortune of a single family, might exhibit an interesting and instructive picture of human manners. But the tedious repetition of vague and declamatory complaints would fatigue the attention of the most patient reader. The same censure may be applied, though not perhaps in an equal degree, to the pain and ecclesiastical writers of this unhappy period, that their minds were inflamed by popular and religious animosity, and that the true size and colour of every object is falsified by the exaggerations of their corrupt eloquence. The vehement Jerome might justly deplore the calamities inflicted by the Goths and their barbarous allies on his native country of Pannonia and to the wide extent of the provinces from the walls of Constantinople to the foot of the Julian Alps, the rapes, the massacres, the conflagrations, and, above all, the profanation of the churches that were turned into stables, and the contemptuous treatment of the relics of holy martyrs. But the saint is surely transported beyond the limits of nature and history, when he affirms that in those desolate countries nothing was left except the sky and the earth. That, after the destruction of the cities and the extropation of the human race, the land was overgrown with thick forests and in extricable brambles, and that the universal desolation, announced by the prophet Zephaniah, was accomplished in the scarcity of the beasts, the birds, and even of the fish. These complaints were pronounced about twenty years after the death of Valens, and the Ilarian provinces, which were constantly exposed to the invasion and passage of the barbarians, still continued after a calamitous period of ten centuries to supply new materials for raping and destruction. Could it even be supposed that a large tract of country had been left without cultivation and without inhabitants? The consequences might not have been so fatal to the inferior productions of animated nature. The useful and feeble animals, which are nourished by the hands of man, might suffer and perish if they were deprived of his protection. But the beasts of the forest, his enemies or his victims, would multiply in the free and undisturbed possession of their solitary domain. The various tribes that people the air or the waters are still less connected with the fate of the human species. And it is highly probable that the fish of the Danube would have felt more terror and distress from the approach of a voracious pike than from the hostile inroad of a gothic army. End of section 26 part 4 Chapter 26 part 5 of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, volume 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lizzie Driver Chapter 26 Progress of the Huns Part 5 Whatever may have been just the measure of the calamities of Europe, there was reason to fear that the same calamities would soon extend to the peaceful countries of Asia. The sons of the Goths had been judiciously distributed through the cities of the east, and the arts of education were employed to polish and subdue the native fierceness of their temper. In the space of about twelve years their numbers had continually increased and the children, who in the first emigration were sent over the helispont, had attained with rapid growth the strength and spirit of perfect manhood. It was impossible to conceal from their knowledge the events of the Gothic War, and as those daring youths had not studied the language of dissimulation, they betrayed their wish, their desire, perhaps their intention, to emulate the glorious example of their fathers. The danger of the time seemed to justify the jealous suspicion of the provincials, and these suspicions were admitted as unquestionable evidence that the Goths of Asia had formed a secret and dangerous conspiracy against the public safety. The death of Valens had left the east without a sovereign, and Julius, who filled the important station of Master-General of the troops with a high reputation of diligence and ability, thought it his duty to consult the Senate of Constantinople, which he considered during the vacancy of the throne as the representative council of the nation. As soon as he had obtained the discretionary power of acting as he should judge most expedient for the good of the Republic, he assembled the principal officers and privately concerted effectual measures for the execution of his bloody design. An order was immediately promulgated that, on a stated day, the Gothic youth should assemble in the capital cities of their respective provinces, and, as the report was industrially circulated, that they were summoned to receive a liberal gift of lands and money, the pleasing hyperlade the fury of their resentment, and, perhaps, suspended the motions of the conspiracy. On the appointed day, the unarmed crowd of the Gothic youth was carefully collected in the square or forum. The streets and avenues were occupied by the Roman troops, and the ruse of the houses of the marchers and slingers. At the same hour, in all the cities of the east, the signal was given of indiscriminate slaughter, and the provinces of Asia were delivered by the cruel prudence of Julius from a domestic enemy who, in a few months, might have carried fire and sword from the helispont to the Euphrates. The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorise the violation of every positive law. How far that, or any other consideration, may operate to dissolve the natural obligations of humanity and justice is a doctrine of which I still desire to remain ignorant. The Emperor Gratian was far advanced on his march towards the plains of Hadrianapole, when he was informed, at first by the confused voice of fame, and afterwards by the more accurate reports of Victor and Richemere, that his impatient colleague had been slain in battle, and that two-thirds of the Roman army were exterminated by the sword of the victorious Goths. Whatever resentment the rash and jealous vanity of his uncle might deserve, the resentment of a generous mind is easily subdued by the softer emotions of grief and compassion, and even the sense of pity was soon lost in the serious and alarming consideration of the State of the Republic. Gratian was too late to assist. He was too weak to revenge his unfortunate colleague, and the valiant and modest youth felt himself unequal to the support of a sinking world. A formidable tempest of the barbarians of Germany seemed ready to burst over the provinces of Gaul, and the mind of Gratian was oppressed and distracted by the administration of the Western Empire. In this important crisis and the conduct of the Gothic War required the undivided attention of a hero and a statesman. A subject invested with such ample command would not long have preserved his vitality to a distant benefactor, and the Imperial Council embraced the wise and manly resolution of conferring an obligation rather than of yielding to an insult. It was the wish of Gratian to bestow the purple as the reward for the virtue. But at the age of nineteen it is not easy for a prince educated in the supreme rank to understand the true characters of his ministers and generals. He attempted to weigh, with an impartial hand, their various merits and defects, and whilst he checked the rash confidence of ambition, he distrusted the cautious wisdom which dispaired of the Republic. As each moment of delay diminished something of the power and resources of the future sovereign of the East the situation of the times would not allow a tedious debate. The choice of Gratian was soon declared in favour of an exile whose father, only three years before, had suffered under the sanction of his authority an unjust and ignominious death. The great Theodosius, a name celebrated in history by the Catholic Church was summoned to the Imperial Court which had gradually retreated from the confines of Thrace to the more secure station of Sermium. Five months after the death of Valens the Emperor Gratian produced before the assembled troops his colleague and their master who, after a modest perhaps a sincere resistance was compelled to accept amidst the general acclamations the Deoden the Purple and the equal title of Augustus. The provinces of Thrace Asia and Egypt over which Valens had reigned were resigned to the administration of the new Emperor but as he was specially entrusted with the conduct of the Gothic War the Elarian prefecture was dismembered and the two great dioses of Dacia and Macedonia were added to the dominions of the Eastern Empire. The same province and perhaps the same city which had given to the throne the virtues of Trajan and the talents of Hadrian was the original seat of another family of Spaniards who, in a less fortunate age possessed near four score years the declining empire of Rome. They emerged from the obscurity of municipal honours by the active spirit of the elder Theodosius a general whose exploits in Britain and Africa have formed one of the most splendid parts of the annals of Valentinian the son of that general who likewise bore the name of Theodosius was educated by skillful perceptors and the liberal studies of youth but he was instructed in the art of war by the tender care and severe discipline of his father under the standard of such a leader Theodosius sought glory and knowledge in the most distant scenes of military action and he heard his constitution to the difference of seasons and climates distinguished his valor by sea and land and observed the various warfare of the Scots, the Saxons and the Moors. His own merit and the recommendation of the conqueror of Africa soon raised him to a separate command and in the station of the Duke of Macia he vanquished an army of summations saved the province deserved the love of the soldiers and provoked the envy of the court his rising fortunes were soon blasted by the disgrace and execution of his illustrious father and Theodosius obtained as a favour the permission of retiring to a private life in his native province of Spain he displayed a firm and temperate character the ease with which he adapted himself to this new situation his time was almost equally divided between the town and country the spirit which had animated his public conduct was shown in the active and affectionate performance of every social duty and the diligence of the soldier was profitably converted to the improvement of his ample patrimony which lay between Valladolid and Segovia the fruitful district still famous for a more exquisite breed of sheep from the innocent but humble labours of his farm Theodosius was transported in less than four months to the throne of the eastern empire and the whole period of the history of the world will not perhaps afford a similar example of an elevation at the same time so pure and so honourable the princes who peaceably inherited the scepter of their fathers claim and enjoy a legal right the more secure as it is absolutely distinct from the merits of their personal characters the subjects who in a monarchy or a popular state acquire the possession of supreme power may have raised themselves by the superiority either of genius or virtue above the heads of their equals but their virtue is seldom exempt from ambition and the cause of the successful candidate is frequently stained by the guilt of conspiracy or civil war even in those governments which allow the reigning monarch to declare a colleague or a successor his partial choice which may be influenced by the blindest passions is often directed to an unworthy object but the most suspicious malignity cannot ascribe to Theodosius in his obscure solitude of Kalka the arts, the desires or even the hopes of an ambitious statesman and the name of the exile was long since been forgotten if his genuine and distinguished virtues had not left a deep impression in the imperial court during the season of prosperity he had been neglected but in the public distress his superior merit was universally felt and acknowledged what confidence must have been reposed in his integrity since Gratian could trust that the pious son would forgive for the sake of the republic the murder of his father what expectations must have been formed of his abilities to encourage the hope that a single man could save and restore the empire of the east Theodosius was invested with the purple in the state of the capital the capital of the capital the capital of the capital was invested with the purple in the thirty-third year of his age the vulgar gazed with admiration on the manly beauty of his face and the graceful majesty of his person which they were pleased to compare with the pictures and medals of the emperor Tarjan whilst intelligent observers discovered in the qualities of his heart and understanding a more important resemblance to the best and greatest of the roman princes it is not without the most clear regret that I must now take leave of an accurate and faithful guide who has composed the history of his own times without indulging the prejudices and passions which usually affect the mind of a contemporary Omanius Marcellenius who terminates his useful work with the defeat and death of Valens recommends the more glorious subject of the ensuing reign to a youthful vigor and eloquence of the rising generation the rising generation was not disposed to accept his advice or to imitate his example and in the study of the reign of Theodosius we are reduced to illustrate the partial narrative of Zosimus by the obscure hints of fragments and chronicles by the figurative style of poetry or Panagyric and by the precarious assistance of the ecclesiastical writers who, in the heat of religious faction are apt to despise the profane virtues of sincerity and moderation conscious of these disadvantages which will continue to involve a considerable portion of the decline and full of the Roman Empire I shall proceed with doubtful and timorous steps yet I may boldly pronounce that the battle of Hadrianapole was never avenged by any signal or decisive victory of Theodosius over the barbarians and the expressive silence of his venial orators may be confirmed by the observation of the condition and circumstances of the times the fabric of a mighty state which had been reared by the labours of successive ages could not be overturned by the misfortune of a single day if the fatal power of the imagination did not exaggerate the real measure of the calamity the loss of 40,000 Romans who fell in the plains of Hadrianapole might have soon been recruited in the populous provinces of the east which contained so many millions of inhabitants the courage of a soldier is found to be the cheapest and most common quality of human nature and sufficient skill to encounter an undisciplined force might have been speedily taught by the care of the surviving centurions if the barbarians were mounted on the horses and equipped with the armour of their vanquished enemies the numerous studs of Cappadocia and Spain would have supplied new squadrons of cavalry the 34 arsenals of the empire were plentifully stored with magazines of offensive and defensive arms and the wealth of Asia might still have yielded an ample fund for the expenses of war but the effects which were produced by the battle of Hadrianapole on the minds of the barbarians and of the Romans extended the victory of the former and the defeat of the latter far beyond the limits of a single day a gothic chief was heard to declare with insolent moderation that for his own part he was fatigued with slaughter but that he was astonished how a people who fled before him like a flock of sheep could still presume to dispute with the barbarians could still presume to dispute the possession of their treasures and provinces the same terrors which the name of the Huns had spread among the gothic tribes were inspired by the formidable name of the Goths among the subjects and soldiers of the Roman Empire if Theodosius hastily collecting his scattered forces had led them into the field to encounter a victorious enemy his army would have been vanquished by their own fears and his rationers could not have been excused by the chance of success but Theodosius an epithet which he honorably deserved on this momentous occasion conducted himself as the firm and faithful guardian of the Republic he fixed his headquarters at Thessaloniki the capital of the Macedonian diocese from whence he could watch the irregular motions of the barbarians and direct the operations of his lieutenants from the gates of Constantinople to the shores of the Hadriatic the fortifications and garrisons of the city were strengthened and the troops among whom a sense of order and discipline was revived were insensibly emboldened by the confidence of their own safety from these secure stations they were encouraged to make frequent sallies on the barbarians who infested the adjacent country and as they were seldom allowed to engage without some decisive superiority either of ground or of numbers their enterprises were for the most part successful and they were soon convinced by their own experience of the possibility of vanquishing their invincible enemies the detachments of these separate garrisons were generally united into small armies the same cautious measures were pursued according to an extensive and well-concerted plan of operations the events of each day added strength and spirit to the Roman arms and the artful diligence of the Emperor who circulated the most favourable reports of the success of the war contributed to subdue the pride of the barbarians and animate the hopes and courage of the subjects if, instead of this faint and imperfect outline we could accurately represent the council's and actions of Theodosius in four successive campaigns there is reason to believe that his consummate skill would deserve the applause of every military reader the republic had formally been saved by the delays of Fabius and while the splendid trovees of Scipio and the field of Zama attract the eyes of posterity the camps and marches of the dictator among the hills of Campania may claim a just a proportion of the solid and independent fame which the general is not compelled to share either with fortune or with his troops such was likewise the merit of Theodosius and the infirmities of his body which most unseasonably languished under a long and dangerous disease could not oppress the vigor of his mind or divert his attention from the public service the deliverance and peace of the Roman provinces was the work of prudence rather than a valour the prudence of Theodosius was seconded by fortune and the emperor never failed to seize and to improve every favourable circumstance as long as the superior genius of Fritigan preserved the union and directed the motions of the barbarians their power was not inadequate to the conquest of a great empire the death of that hero the predecessor and master of the renowned Alaric relieved an impatient multitude from the intolerable yoke of discipline and discretion the barbarians who had been restrained by his authority abandoned themselves to the dictates of their passions and their passions were seldom uniform or consistent an army of conquerors was broken into many assortedly bands of savage robbers and their blind and irregular fury was no less pernicious to themselves than to their enemies their mischievous disposition was shown in the destruction of every object which they wanted strength to remove or taste to enjoy and they often consumed with improvident rage the harvests or the granaries which soon afterwards became necessary for their own substance a spirit of discord arose among the independent tribes and nations which had been united only by the bands of a loose and voluntary alliance the troops of the Huns and the Alani would naturally abrade the flight of the Goths who were not disposed to use with moderation the advantages of their fortune the ancient jealousy of the Ostrogoths and the Visgoths could not belong suspended and the haughty chiefs still remembered the insults and injuries which they had reciprocally offered or sustained while the nation was seated in the countries beyond the Danube the progress of domestic faction abated the more diffuse sentiment of national animosity and the officers of Theodosius were instructed to purchase with liberal gifts and promises the retreat or service of the discontented party the acquisition of Modar prince of the royal blood of the Amali gave a bold and faithful companion to the cause of Rome the illustrious deserter soon obtained the rank of master general with an important command surprised an army of his countrymen who were immersed in wine and sleep and after a cruel slaughter of the astonished Goths returned with an immense amount and 4,000 wagons to the imperial camp in the hands of a skillful politician the most different means may be successfully applied to the same ends and the peace of the empire which had been forwarded by the divisions was accomplished by the reunion of the Gothic nation Althannaric who had been a patient spectator of these extraordinary events was at length driven by the chance of arms from the dark recesses of the woods of Karkaland he no longer hesitated to pass the Danube and a very considerable part of the subjects of Fritigin who already felt the inconveniences of Anarchy were easily persuaded to acknowledge for their king a Gothic judge whose birth they respected and whose abilities they had frequently experienced but age had chilled the daring spirit of Althannaric and instead of leading his people to the field of battle and victory he wisely listened to the fair proposal of an honorable and advantageous treaty Theodosius who was acquainted with the merit and power of his new ally condescended to meet him at a distance of several miles from Constantinople and entertained him in the imperial city with the confidence of a friend and the magnificence of a monarch The barbarian prince observed with curious attention the variety of objects which attracted his notice and at last broke out into a sincere and passionate explanation of wonder I now behold said he what I never could believe the glories of this stupendous capital and as he cast his eyes around he viewed and he admired the commanding situation of the city the strength and beauty of the walls and public edifices the capacious harbor crowded with innumerable vessels the perpetual concourse of distant nations and the arms and discipline of the troops Indeed continued Althannaric the emperor of the Romans is a god upon earth and the presumptuous man who dares to lift his hand against him is guilty of his own blood the Gothic king did not long enjoy this splendid and honourable reception and as temperance was not the virtue of his nation it may justly be suspected that his mortal disease was contracted amidst the pleasures of the imperial banquets but the policy of Theodosius deserved more solid benefit from the death than he could have expected in the most faithful services of his ally the funeral of Althannaric was performed with solemn rites in the capital of the east a stately monument was erected to his memory and his whole army won by the liberal courtesy and decent grief of Theodosius enlisted under the standard of the Roman Empire the submission of so greater body of the viscoths was productive of the most salutary consequences and the mixed influence of force of reason and of corruption became every day more powerful and more extensive each independent chieftain hastened to obtain a separate treaty from the apprehension that an obstinate delay might expose him alone and unprotected to the revenge or justice of the conqueror the general or rather the final capitulation of the Goths may be dated four years one month and twenty-five days after the defeat and death of the Emperor Valens the provinces of the Danube had been already relieved from the oppressive weight of the Gothangi or Ostergoths by the voluntary retreat of Alotheus and Sapharax whose restless spirit had prompted them to seek new scenes of raping and glory their destructive course was pointed towards the west but we must be satisfied with the very obscure and imperfect knowledge of their various adventures the Ostergoths impaled several of the German tribes and the provinces of Gaul concluded and soon violated a treaty with the Emperor Gratian advanced into the unknown countries of the north and after an interval of more than four years returned with accumulated force of the lower Danube their troops were recruited with the fiercest warriors of Germany and Cythia and the soldiers or at least the historians of the Empire no longer recognized the name and countenance of their former enemies the general who commanded the military and naval powers of the Thracian frontier soon perceived that his superiority would be disadvantageous to the public service and that the barbarians awed by the presence of his fleet and legions would probably defer the passage of the river till the approaching winter the dexterity of the spies whom he sent into the Gothic camp allured the barbarians into a fatal snare they were persuaded that by a bold attempt they might surprise in the silence and darkness of the night the sleeping army of the Romans and the whole multitude was hastily embarked in a fleet of three thousand canoes the bravest of the Ostrogoths led the van the main body consisted of the remainder of their subjects and soldiers and the women and children securely followed in the rear one of the knights without a moon had been selected for the execution of their design and they had almost reached the southern bank of the Danube in the firm confidence that they should find an easy landing and an unguarded camp but the progress of the barbarians was suddenly stopped by an unexpected obstacle a triple line of vessels strongly connected with each other and which formed an impenetrable chain of two miles and a half along the river while they struggled to enforce their way in the unequal conflict their right flank was overwhelmed by the irresistible attack of a fleet of galleys which were urged down the stream by the united impulse of oars and of the tide the weight and velocity of those ships of war broke and sunk and dispersed the rude and feeble canoes of the barbarians their valour was ineffectual and Alotheus the king or general of the Ostrogoths perished with his bravest troops either by the sword of the Romans or in the ways of the Danube the last division of this unfortunate fleet might regain the opposite shore but the distress and disorder of the multitude rendered them alike incapable either of action or council and they soon implored the clemency of the victorious enemy on this occasion as well as on many others it is difficult to reconcile the passions and prejudices of the writers of the Age of Theodosius the partial and malignant historian who misrepresents every action of his reign affirms that the emperor did not appear in the field of battle till the barbarians had been vanquished by the valour and conduct of his lieutenant promotus the flattering poet who celebrated in the court of Honorius the glory of the father and of the son ascribes the victory to the personal prowess of Theodosius and almost insinuates that the king of the Ostrogoths was slain by the hand of the emperor the truth of history might perhaps be found in a just medium between these extreme and contradictory assertions the original treaty which fixed the settlement of the Goths ascertained their privileges and stipulated their obligations would illustrate the history of Theodosius and his successes the series of their history has imperfectly preserved the spirit and subsidence of this single agreement the ravages of war and tyranny had provided many large tracts of fertile but uncultivated land for the use of those barbarians who might not disdain the practice of agriculture a numerous colony of the Viscoths was settled in Thrace the remains of the Ostrogoths were planted in Phrygia and Lydia their immediate once were supplied by a distribution of corn and cattle and their future industry was encouraged by an exemption from tribute during a certain term of years the barbarians would have deserved to fill the cruel and profidious policy of the imperial court if they had suffered themselves to be dispersed through the provinces they required and they obtained the sole possession of the villages and districts assigned for their residence they still cherished and propagated their native manners and language asserted in the boson of despotism the freedom of their domestic government and acknowledged the sovereignty of the emperor without submitting to the inferior jurisdiction of the laws and magistrates of Rome the hereditary treat of the tribes and families were still permitted to command their followers in peace and war but the royal dignity was abolished and the generals of the Goths were appointed and removed at the pleasure of the emperor an army of 40,000 Goths was maintained for the perpetual service of the emperor of the east and those haughty troops who assumed the title of federati or allies were distinguished by their gold collars liberal pay and licentious privileges their native courage was improved by the use of arms and the knowledge of discipline and while the republic was guarded or threatened by the doubtful sword of the barbarians the last sparks of the military flame were finally extinguished in the minds of the Romans Theodosius had the address to persuade his allies that the conditions of peace which had been exhorted from him by prudence and necessity were the voluntary expressions of his sincere friendship for the Gothic nation a different mode of indication or apology was opposed to the complaints of the people who loudly censured these shameful and dangerous concessions the calamities of the war were painted in the most lively colours and the first symptoms of the return of order of plenty and security were diligently exaggerated The advocates of Theodosius could affirm the some appearance of truth and reason that it was impossible to extirpate so many warlike tribes who were rendered desperate by the loss of their native country and that the exhausted provinces should be revived by fresh supply of soldiers and husbandmen the barbarians still wore an angry and hostile aspect but the experience of past times might encourage the hope that they would acquire the habits of history and obedience that their manners would be polished by time, education and the influence of Christianity and that their posterity would insensibly blend with the great body of the Roman people notwithstanding these specious arguments and these sanguine expectations it was apparent to every discerning eye that the Goths would long remain the enemies and might soon become the conquerors of the Empire their rude and insolent behaviour expressed their contempt of the citizens and provincials whom they insulted with impunity to the zeal and valor of the barbarians Theodosius was indebted for the success of his arms but their assistance was precarious and they were sometimes seduced by a treacherous and inconsistent disposition to abandon his standard at the moment when their service was the most essential During the civil wars against Maximus a great number of Gothic deserters retired into the moroseness of Macedonia wasted the adjacent provinces and obliged the intrepid monarch to express his person and exert his power to suppress the rising flame of rebellion The public apprehensions were fortified by the strong suspicion that these termalts were not of accidental passion but the result of deep and premeditated design It was generally believed that the Goths had signed the Treaty of Peace with a hostile and insidious spirit and that their chiefs had previously bound to themselves by a solemn and secret oath never to keep faith with the Romans to maintain the fairest show of loyalty and friendship and to watch the favourable moment of raping, of conquest and of revenge But, as the minds of barbarians were not insensible to the power of gratitude several of the Gothic leaders sincerely devoted themselves to the service of the Empire or at least of the Emperor The whole nation was insensibly divided into two opposite factions and much sophistry was employed in conversation and dispute to compare the obligations of their first engagements The Goths who consider themselves as the friends of peace, of justice and of Rome were directed by the authority of Revita a valiant and honourable youth distinguished above the rest of his countrymen by the politeness of his manners the liberality of his sentiments and the mild virtues of social life But the monumerous faction adhered to the fierce and faithless pre-elf their passions and asserted the independence of his warlike followers On one of the solemn festivals when the chiefs of both parties were invited to the imperial table they were insensibly eated by wine till they forgot the usual restraints of discretion and respect and betrayed, in the presence of Theodosius the fatal secret of their domestic disputes The Emperor who had been the reluctant witness of extraordinary controversy dismembered his fears and resentment and soon dismissed the tumultuous assembly Revita alarmed and exasperated by the insolence of his rival whose departure from the palace might have been the signal of a civil war boldly followed him and, drawing his sword laid pre-elf dead at his feet Their companions flew to arms and the faithful champion of Rome would have been oppressed by superior numbers if he had not been protected by the seasonable interposition of the imperial guards such were the scenes of barbaric rage which disgraced the palace and table of the Roman Emperor and, as the impatient Goths could only be restrained by the firm and temperate character of Theodosius the public safety seemed to depend on the life and abilities of a single man End of Chapter 26 Part 5 End of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 2 by Edward Gibbon