 Chapter 34, Part 2 of the D-Line and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 3. 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 Monsbruhe Helsingfors Finland. Chapter 34, Attila, Part 2. It may be affirmed with bolder assurance that the Huns depopulated the provinces of the Empire by the number of Roman subjects whom they led away into captivity. In the hands of a wise legislator, such an industrious colony might have contributed to diffuse through the deserts of Skeetia the rudiments of the useful and ornamental arts, but these captives, who had been taken in war, were accidentally dispersed among the hordes that obeyed the Empire of Attila. The estimate of their respective value was formed by the simple judgment of uneducated and unprejudiced barbarians. Perhaps they might not understand the merit of a two-logian, profoundly skilled in the controversies of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Yet they respected the ministers of ever-religion and the active zeal of the Christian missionaries, without approaching the person or the palace of the monarch successfully labored in the propagation of the gospel. The pastel tribes, who were ignorant of the distinction of the land and the property, must have disregarded the use as well as the abuse of civil jurisprudence and the skill of an eloquent lawyer could excite only their contempt or their abhorrence. The perpetual intercourse of the Huns and the Goths had communicated the familiar knowledge of the two national dialects, and the barbarians were ambitious of conversing in Latin, the military idiom even of the Eastern Empire. But they disdained the language and the sciences of the Greeks, and the vain sophist or grave philosopher, who had enjoyed the flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to find that his robust servant was a captive of more value and importance than himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged and esteemed as they tended to satisfy the wants of the Huns. An architect in the service of oneegasius, one of the favourites of Attila, was employed to construct a bath, but this work was a rare example of private luxury. And the trades of the smith, the carpenter, the armorer, were much more adapted to supply a wandering people with the useful instruments of peace and war. But the merit of the physician was received with universal favour and respect. The barbarians, who despised death, might be apprehensive of disease, and a haughty conqueror trembled in the presence of a captive, to whom he ascribed perhaps an imaginary power of prolonging or preserving his life. The Huns might be provoked to insult the misery of their slaves, over whom they exercised the despotic command. But the manners were not susceptible to a refined system of oppression, and the efforts of courage and diligence were often recompensed by the gift of freedom. The historian Priscus, whose embassy is a source of curious instruction, was accosted in the camp of Attila by a stranger, who saluted him in the Greek language, but whose dress and figure displayed the appearance of a wealthy Schetian. In the siege of Viminiacum, he had lost, according to his own account, his fortune and liberty. He became the slave of an Igatius, but his faithful services against the Romans and the Akatsires had gradually raised him to the rank of the native Huns, to whom he was attached by the domestic pledges of a new wife and several children. The spoils of war had restored and improved his private property. He was admitted to the table of his former lord, and the Apostate Greek blessed the hour of his captivity, since it had been the introduction to a happy and independent state, which he held by the honorable tenure of military service. This reflection naturally produced a dispute on the advantages and defects of the Roman government, which was severely arraigned by the Apostate and defended by Priscus in a prolix and feeble declamation. The freed man of one Igatius exposed, in true and lively colors, the vices of a delining empire, of which he had so long been the victim. The cruel absurdity of the Roman princes, unable to protect their subjects against the public enemy, unwilling to trust them with arms for their own defense. The intolerable weight of taxes rendered still more oppressive by the intricate and arbitrary modes of collection. The obscurity of numerous and contradictory laws, the tedious and expensive forms of judicial proceedings, the partial administration of justice, and universal corruption, which increased the influence of the rich and aggravated the misfortunes of the poor. A sentiment of patriotic sympathy was at length revived in the breast of the fortunate exile, and he lamented, with the flood of tears, the guilt or weakness of those magistrates, would pervert the wisest and most salutary institutions. The timid or selfish policy of the western Romans had abandoned the eastern empire to the Huns. The loss of armies and the want of discipline of virtue were not supplied by the personal character of the monarch. Therosius might still affect the style as well as the title of invincible Augustus, but he was reduced to solicit the clemency of Attila, who imperiously dictated these harsh and humiliating conditions of peace. 1. The emperor of the east resigned by an express or ticket convention, an extensive and important territory which stretched along the southern banks of the Danube, from Singidumum or Belgrade as far as Nové in the diocese of Trache. The breadth was defined by the vague computation of 15 days' journey, but from the proposal of Attila to remove the situation of the national market, it soon appeared that he comprehended the ruined city of Naissus within limits of his diminutions. 2. The king of the Huns required and obtained that his tribute or subsidy should be augmented from 700 pounds of gold to the annual sum of 2100 and his stipulated the immediate payment of 6000 pounds of gold to defray the expenses or to expiate the guilt of the war. One might imagine that such a demand, which scarcely equaled the measure of private wealth, would have been readily discharged by the opulent empire of the east, and the public distress affords remarkable proof of the impoverished or at least of the disorderedly state or the finances. A large proportion of the taxes exalted from the people was detained and intercepted in their passage through the foulest channels to the treasury of Constantinople. The revenue was dissipated by Theodosius and his favourites in wasteful and profuse luxury, which was disguised by the names of imperial magnificence or Christian charity. The immediate supplies had been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of military preparations. A personal contribution, rigorously but capriciously imposed on the members of the senatorial order, was the only expedient that could disarm, without loss of time, the impatient avarice of Attila, and the poverty of the nobles compelled them to adopt the scandalous resource of exposing to public auction the jewels of their wives and the hereditary ornaments of their palaces. Three, the king of the Huns appears to have established as a principle of national jurisprudence that he could never lose the property which he had once acquired in the persons who had yielded either a voluntary or reluctant submission to his authority. From this principle he concluded, and the conclusions of Attila were irrevocable laws, that the Huns, who had been taken prisoner in war, should be released without delay and without ransom, that every Roman captive, who had presumed to escape, should purchase his right to freedom at the price of 12 pieces of gold, and that all the barbarians who had deserted the standard of Attila should be restored without any promise or stipulation of pardon. In the execution of this cruel and ignominious treaty, the imperial officers were forced to massacre several lawyer and noble deserters who refused to devote themselves to certain death, and the Romans forfeited all reasonable claims to the friendship of any Skitian people by this public confession, that they were destitute either of faith or power to protect the supplement, with embraced the throne of Theodosius. The firmness of a single town so obscure that, except on this occasion, it has never been mentioned by any historian or geographer, expressed the disgrace of the emperor and the empire. Asimus, or Asimuntium, a small city of Trachea on the Illyrian border, had been distinguished by the martial spirit of its youth, the skill and reputation of the leaders whom they had chosen, and their daring exploits against the innumerable hosts of the barbarians. Instead of tamely expecting their approach, the Asimuntians attacked in frequent and successful sallies the troops of the Huns who gradually declined the dangerous neighborhood, rescued from their hands the spoiled and the captives, and recruited their domestic force by the voluntary association of fugitives and deserters. After the conclusion of the treaty, Attila still managed the empire with implacable war, as the Asimuntians were persuaded or compelled to comply with the conditions which their sovereign had accepted. The ministers of Theodosius confessed with shame and with truth that they no longer possessed any authority over the society of men who were bravely asserted their natural independence, and the king of the Huns condescended to negotiate an equal exchange with the citizens of Asimus. They demanded the restitution of some shepherds and their cattle had been accidentally surprised. A strict, though fruitless inquiry was allowed, but the Huns were obliged to swear that they did not detain any prisoners belonging to the city before they could recover two surviving countrymen whom the Asimuntians had reserved as pledges for the safety of their lost companions. Attila on his side was satisfied and deceived by their solemn assertion that the rest of the captives had been put to the sword and that it was their constant practice to dismiss the Romans and the deserters who had obtained the security of the public faith. This prudent and officious dissimulation may be condemned or excused by the casuists as they inclined to the rigid degree of St. Augustine or the milder sentiment of St. Jerome and St. Chrysostom. But every soldier, every statement must acknowledge that if the race of the Asimuntians had been encouraged and multiplied the barbarians would have seized the trample on the majesty of the empire. It would have been strange indeed if Theodosius had purchased by the loss of honour a secure and solid tranquility or if his tameness had not invited the repetition of injuries. The Byzantine court was insulted by five or six successive embassies and the ministers of Attila were uniformly instructed to press the tardior imperfect execution of the last treaty to produce the names of fugitives and deserters who were still protected by the empire and to declare with seeming moderation that unless their sovereign obtained complete and immediate satisfaction it would be impossible for him, but it even his wish to check the dissentment of his warlike tribes. Besides the motives of pride and interest which might prompt the king of the hunts to continue this train of negotiation he was influenced by the less honourable view and his favourites at the expense of his enemies. The imperial treasury was exhausted to procure the friendly offices of the ambassadors and their principal attendants whose favourable report might conduce to the maintenance of peace. The barbarian monarch was flattered by the liberal reception of his ministers. He computed with pleasure the value and splendour of their gifts rigorously exacted the performance of every promise which would contribute to their private emulment and as an important business of state the marriage of his secretary Constantius. That gallic adventurer who was recommended by Aetius to the king of the hunts had engaged the service to the ministers of Constantinople for the stipulated reward of a wealthy and noble wife and the daughter of Count Saturninus was chosen to discharge the obligations of her country. The reluctance of the victim, some domestic troubles and the unjust confiscation of her fortune cooled the ardour of her interested lover but he still demanded in the name of Attila an equivalent alliance and after many ambiguous delays and excuses the Byzantine court was compelled to sacrifice to this insolent stranger the widow of Armatius whose birth, opulence and beauty placed her in the most illustrious rank of the Roman matrons. For these unfortunate and oppressive embassies Attila claimed a suitable return he weighed with suspicious pride the character and station of the imperial envoys but he condescended the promise that he would advance as far as Sardica to receive any ministers who had been invested with the consular dignity the council of Dodosius eluded this proposal by representing the desolate and ruined condition of Sardica and even ventured to insinuate that every officer of the army or household was qualified to treat with the most powerful princes of Scutia. Maximian, a respectable courtier whose abilities had been long exercised in civil and military employments accepted with reluctance the troublesome and perhaps dangerous commission of reconciling the angry spirit of the king of the Huns his friend, the historian Priscus embraced the opportunity of observing the barbarian hero in the peaceful and domestic scenes of life but the secret of the embassy, a fatal and guilty secret was entrusted only to the interpreter Vigilius the last two ambassadors of the Huns Orestes, a noble subject of the Pannonian province and Edicon, a valiant chieftain in the tribe of the Scurri returned at the same time from Constantinople to the royal camp their obscure names were afterwards illustrated by the extraordinary fortune and the contrast of their sons the two servants of Attila became the fathers of the last Roman emperor of the west and of the first barbarian king of Italy the ambassadors who were followed by a numerous train of men and horses made their first halt at Sardica at the distance of 350 miles or 13 days journey from Constantinople as the remains of Sardica were still included within the limits of the empire it was incumbent on the Romans to exercise the duties of hospitality they provided with the assistance of the provincials a sufficient number of sheep and oxen and invited the Huns to a splendid, or at least a plentiful supper but the harmony of the entertainment was soon disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion the greatness of the emperor and the empire was warmly maintained by the ministers the Huns, with equal order, asserted the superiority of their victorious monarch the dispute was inflamed by the rationed, unseasonable flattery of Vigilius who passionately rejected the comparison of a mere mortal with the divine Theodosius and it was with extreme difficulty that Maximian and Priscous were able to divert the conversation or to soothe the angry minds of the barbarians when they rose from the table the imperial ambassador presented Idycon and Orestes with rich gifts of silk robes and India pearls which they thankfully accepted yet Orestes could not forbear insinuating that he had not always been treated with such respect and liberality and the offensive distinction which was implied between his civil office and the hereditary rank of his colleague seems to have made Idycon a doubtful friend Orestes an irreconcilable enemy after disentertainment they travelled about 100 miles from Sardica to Isis that flourishing city which had given birth to the great Constantine was levelled with the ground the inhabitants were destroyed or dispersed and the appearance of some sick persons were still permitted to exist among the ruins of the churches served only to increase the horror of the prospect the surface of the country was covered with the bones of the slain and the ambassadors who directed their course to the northwest were obliged to pass the hills of modern Serbia before they descended into the flattened marshy grounds which are terminated by the Danube the Huns were masters of the great river their navigation was performed in large canoes hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree the ministers of Theodosius were safely landed on the opposite bank and the barbarian associates immediately hastened to the camp of Attila which was equally prepared for the amusements of hunting or a war no sooner had Maximine advanced about 2 miles from the Danube than he began to experience the fastidious insolence of the conqueror he was eternally forbidden to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley lest he should infringe the distant ore that was due to the royal mansion the ministers of Attila pressed them to communicate the business and the instructions which he deserved for the ear of their sovereign when Maximine temporarily urged the contrary practice of nations he was still more confounded to find that the resolutions of the sacred consistory those secrets, says Priscus, which should not be revealed to the gods themselves had been treacherously disclosed to the public enemy on his refusal to comply with such anonymous terms the imperial enemy was commanded instantly to depart the order was recalled, it was again repeated and the hunts renewed their ineffectual attempts to subdue the patient firmness of Maximine at length, by the intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onigesius whose friendship had been purchased by liberal gift he was admitted to the royal presence but instead of obtaining a decisive answer he was compelled to undertake a remote journey towards the north that Attila might enjoy the proud satisfaction of receiving in the same camp, the ambassadors of the eastern and western empires his journey was regulated by the guides who obliged him to halt, to hasten his march or to deviate from the common road as it best suited the convenience of the king the Romans who traversed the plains of Hungary supposed that they passed several navigable rivers either in canoes or portable boats but there is reason to suspect that the winding streams of the Tays or Tibiscus might present itself in different places under different names from the contiguous villages they received a plentiful and regular supply of provisions meat instead of wine, millet in the place of bread and a certain liquor called camus which according to the report of Priscus was distilled from barley such fare might appear coarse and indelicate to men who had tasted the luxury of Constantinople but in their accidental distress they were relieved by the gentleness and hospitality of the same barbarians so terrible and so merciless in war the ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large morris a violent tempest of wind and rain of thunder and lightning overturned their tents immersed their baggage and furniture and water and scattered their retinue wounded in the darkness of the night uncertain of their road and apprehensive of some unknown danger till they awakened by their cries the inhabitants of a neighboring village the property of the widow of Bleda a bright illumination and in a few moments the people of Bleda's reeds was kindled by their officious benevolence the wands and even the desires of the Romans were liberally satisfied and they seemed to have been embarrassed by the singular politeness of Bleda's widow who added to her other favours the gift or at least the loan of a sufficient number of beautiful and obeseque U.S. damsels the sunshine of the succeeding day was dedicated to repose to collect and dry the baggage and to the refreshments of the men and horses the evening before they pursued the journey the ambassadors expressed their gratitude to the bounteous lady of the village by a very acceptable present of silver cups red fleeces, dried fruits and indian pepper soon after this adventure they rejoined the March of Attila from whom they had been separated about six days and slowly proceeded to the capital of an empire which did not contain in the space of several thousand miles a single city as far as we may ascertain the vague and obscure geography of Priscus this capital appears to have been seated between the Danube the Thace and the Carpathian Hills in the plains of Upper Hungary and most probably in the neighbourhood of Jesperin, Agria or Tokai in its origin it could be no more than an accidental camp which by the long and frequent residents of Attila and insensibly swelled into a huge village for the reception of his court of the troops who followed this person and of the various multitude of idle or industrious slaves and retainers the bats, constructed by Onegasius were the only edifice of stone the materials had been transported from Pannonia and since the adjacent country was destitute even of large timber it may be presumed that the meaner inhabitations of the royal village consisted of straw, omad or of canvas the wooden houses of the more illustrious hunts were built and adorned with rude magnificence according to the rank, the fortune or the taste of the proprietors they seem to have been distributed with some degree of order and symmetry and each spot became more honourable as it approached the person of the sovereign the palace of Attila which surpassed all other houses in its dominions was built entirely of wood and covered an ample space of ground the outward enclosure was a lofty wall or palisade of smooth square timber intersected with high towers but intended rather for ornament and defence this wall which seems to have encircled the declivity of a hill comprehended a great variety of wooden edifices adapted for the use of royalty a separate house was assigned to each of the numerous wives of Attila and instead of the rigid and illiberal confinement imposed by Asiatic jealousy they politely admitted the Roman ambassadors to their presence their tables and even to the freedom of an innocent embrace when Maximine offered his presence to Kirka the principal queen he admired the singular architecture of her mansion the height of the round columns the size and beauty of the wood which was curiously shaped or turned or polished or carved and his attentivy was able to discover some taste in the ornaments and some regularity in the proportions after passing through the guards who watched before the gate the ambassadors were introduced to the private apartment of Kirka the wife of Attila received their visit sitting or rather lying on a soft coach the floor was covered with a carpet the domestics formed a circle around the queen and her damsels seated on the ground were employed in working the variegated embroidery which adorned the dress of the barbaric warriors the hunts were ambitious of displaying those riches which were the fruit and evidence of their victories the trappings of their horses the clothing of their shoes were studded with golden precious stones and their tables were profusely spread with plates and goblets and vases of golden silver which had been fashioned by the labour of Grecian artists the monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to the simplicity of his skeetian ancestors the dress of Attila, his arms and the furniture of his horse were plain without ornament and of a single colour was served in wooden cups and platters flesh was his only food and the conqueror of the north never tasted the luxury of bread when Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on the banks of the Danube his tent was encompassed with a formidable guard the monarch himself was seated in a wooden chair his stern countenance, angry gestures and impatient tone astonished the firmness of Maximine but Virgilius had more reason to tremble since he distinctly understood the menace that if Attila did not respect the law of nations he would nail the deceitful interpreter to the cross and leave his body to the vultures the barbarian condescended by producing an accurate list to expose the bold falsehood of Virgilius who had affirmed that no more than 17 desserters could be found but he arrogantly declared that he apprehended only the disgrace of contending with his fugitive slaves since he despised their impotent efforts to defend the provinces which Theodosius had entrusted to their arms for what fortress added Attila what city, in the wide extent of the Roman Empire can hope to exist secure and impregnable if it is our pleasure that it should be erased from the earth he dismissed however the interpreter who returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demand of more complete restitution and a more splendid embassy the anger gradually subsided and this domestic satisfaction in the marriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of Eslan might perhaps contribute to modify the native fierceness of his temper the entrance of Attila into the royal village was marked by a very singular ceremony a numerous group of women came out to meet their hero and their king they marched before him they distributed into long and regular files the intervals between the files were filled by white veils of thin linen which the women on either side bore aloft in their hands which formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins who chanted hymns and songs in the Skeetian language the wife of his favorite Onigesius with a train of female attendants saluted Attila at the door of her own house on his way to the palace and offered according to the custom of the country her respectful homage by entreating him to taste the wine and meat which she had prepared for his reception as soon as the monarch had graciously accepted her hospitable gift his domestics lifted a small silver table to a convenient height as he sat on horseback and Attila when he had touched the goblet with his lips again saluted the wife of Onigesius and continued his march during his residence at the seat of empire his hours were not wasted in the recluse idleness of Siraglio and the king of the hunts could maintain the dignity without concealing his person from the public view he frequently assembled his council and gave audience to the ambassadors of the nations and his people might appear to the supreme tribunal which he held at state at times and according to the eastern custom before the principal gate of his wooden palace the Romans both of the east and the west were twice invited to the banquets where Attila feasted with the princes and the nobles of Skeetia Maximine and his colleagues were stopped on the threshold and made a devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of the hunts and were conducted after this ceremony to their respective seats in a spacious hall the royal table and couch covered with carpets and fine linen was raised by several steps in the middle of the hall and the son and uncle or perhaps a favorite king were admitted to share the simple and homely repast of Attila two lines of small tables each of which contained three or four guests were arranged in order on either hand the right was esteemed the most honorable but the Romans ingeniously confess that they were placed on the left and that Beric an unknown chieftain most probably of the Gothic race preceded the representatives of Theodorsus and Valentinian the barbarian monarch received from his cupbearer a goblet filled with wine and cautiously drank to the health of the most distinguished guest who rose from his seat and expressed in the same manner his loyal and respectful vows this ceremony was successively performed for all or at least for the illustrious persons of the assembly and the considerable time must have been consumed since it was tries repeated as each course or service was placed on the table but the wine still remained after the meat had been removed and the hunts continued to indulge their intemperance long after the sober and decent ambassadors of the two empires had withdrawn themselves from the nocturnal banquet yet before they retired they enjoyed a singular opportunity of observing the manners of the nation in their combi mill and amusement two skeetians stood before the couch of Attila and decided the verses which they had composed to celebrate his valor and his victories a profound silence prevailed in the hall and the attention of the guests was captivated by the vocal harmony which revived and perpetuated the memory of their own exploits a martial ardor flashed from the eyes of the warriors who were impatient for battle and the tears of the old men expressed their generous despair that they could no longer partake the danger and glory of the field this entertainment which might be considered as a school of military virtue was succeeded by a farce that debased the dignity of human nature a moorish and a skeetian buffoon successively excited the mirth of the rude spectators by their deformed figure dressed in his dress antique gestures and his strange unintelligible confusion of the Latin, the Gothic and the Hunnic languages and the whole resounded with loud and licentious beels or laughter in the midst of this intemperate riot Attila alone, without a change of continents maintained his steadfast and inflexible gravity which was never relaxed except on the entrance of Irnak the youngest of his sons he embraced the boy with a smile of paternal tenderness gently pinched him by the cheek and betrayed a partial affection which was justified by the assurance of his prophets that Irnak would be the future support of his family and the empire two days afterwards the ambassadors received a second invitation and they had reasoned to praise the politeness as well as the hospitality of Attila the king of the hunts held a long family conversation with Maximine but his civility was interrupted by rude expressions and haughty approaches by a motive of interest to support with unbecoming zeal the private claims of his secretary Constantius the emperor said Attila has promised him a rich wife Constantius must not be disappointed nor should the Roman Empire deserve the name of a liar and the third day the ambassadors were dismissed the freedom of several captives was granted for a moderate ransom to their pressing entreaties and besides the royal presence they were permitted to accept and ensure the Scudian nobles the honorable and useful gift of a horse Maximine returned by the same road to Constantinople and though he was involved in an accidental dispute with Biric the new ambassador of Attila he flattered himself and he had contributed by the laborious journey to confirm the peace and the alliance of the two nations End of chapter 34 part 2 recording by Monsbrew Helsingfors Finland chapter 34 part 3 of the D-line and fall of the Roman Empire volume 3 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 Monsbrew Helsingfors Finland chapter 34 Attila part 3 The ambassador was ignorant of the treacherous design which had been concealed under the mask of the public faith the surprise and satisfaction of Edikon when he contemplated the splendor of Constantinople had encouraged the interpreter Vigilius to procure for him a secret interview with the eunuch Krusafius who governed the emperor and the empire after some previous conversation and a mutual oath of secrecy the eunuch were not from his own feelings or experience imbibed any exalted notions of ministerial virtue ventured to propose the death of Attila as an important service by which Edikon might deserve a liberal share of the wealth and luxury which he had admired the ambassador of the Huns listened to the tempting offer and professed with apparent zeal his ability as well as readiness to execute the bloody deed the design was communicated to the mastery officers and the devout Theodosius consented to the assassination of his invincible enemy but this perfidious conspiracy was defeated by the dissimulation or the repentance of Edikon and though he might exaggerate his inward abhorrence for the treason which he seemed to approve he dexterously assumed merit of an early and voluntary confession if we now review the embassy of Maximine and the behavior of Attila we must applaud the barbarian who expected the loss of hospitality and generously entertained and dismissed the minister of a prince who had conspired against his life but the rashness of Vigilius will appear still more extraordinary since he returned conscious of his guilt and danger to the royal camp accompanied by his son and carrying with him a weighty purse of gold which the favor of the eunuch had furnished to satisfy the demands of Edikon and to corrupt the fidelity of the guards the interpreter was instantly seized and dragged before the tribunal of Attila where he asserted his innocence with specious firmness till the threat of inflicting instant death on his son exhorted from him a sincere discovery of the criminal transaction under the name of Ransom or confiscation the rapacious king of the hunts accepted 200 pounds of gold for the life of a traitor whom he disdained to punish he pointed his just indignation against the noble object his ambassadors Eslo and Orestes were immediately dispatched to Constantinople with a peremptory instruction which it was much safer for them to execute than to disobey they boldly entered the imperial presence with the fatal purse hanging down on the neck of Orestes who interrogated the eunuch Crisapius as he stood beside the throne whether he recognized the evidence of his guilt but the office of reproof was reserved for the superior dignity of his colleague Eslo who gravely addressed the emperor of the east in the following words Theodosius is the son of an illustrious and respectable parent Attila likewise is descended from a noble race and he has supported by his actions the dignity which he inherited from his father Mundstuk but Theodosius has forfeited his paternal honors and by consenting to pay tribute has degraded himself to the condition of a slave he thought just that he should reverence the man whom fortune and merit have placed above him instead of attempting like a wicked slave clandestinely to conspire against his master the son of Arcadius who was accustomed only to the voice of flattery heard with astonishment the severe language of truth he blushed and trembled nor did he presume directly to refuse the head of Crisapius which Eslo and Orestes were instructed to demand a solemn ambassie armed with full powers and magnificent gifts was hastily sent to deprecate the wrath of Attila and his pride was gratified by the choice of Nomius and Anatolius to a ministerial consul of who the one was great treasurer and the other was master general of the armies of the east he condescended to meet these ambassadors on the banks of the river Drinco and though he at first affected a stern and haughty demeanour his anger was insensibly modified by the eloquence and liberality he condescended to pardon the emperor the eunuch and the interpreter bound himself by an oath to observe the conditions of peace released a great number of captives abandoned the fugitives and deserters to their fate and assigned a large territory to the south of the Danube which he had already exhaust of its wealth and inhabitants but this treaty was purchased at an expense which might have supported a vigorous successful war and the subjects of Theodosius were compelled to redeem the safety of a worthless favourite by oppressive taxes which they would more cheerfully have paid for his destruction the emperor Theodosius did not long survive the most humiliating circumstance of an inglorious life as he was riding or hunting in the neighbourhood of Constantinople he was thrown from his horse into the river Lycus the spine of the back was injured some days afterwards in the 58th year of his age and the 43rd of his reign his sister Pulcheria whose authority had been controlled both in civil and ecclesiastic affairs by the pernicious influence of the eunuchs was unanimously proclaimed empress of the east and the Romans for the first time submitted to a female reign no sooner had Pulcheria ascended to the throne than she indulged her own and the public resentment by an act of popular justice without an illegal trial the eunuch Chrysaphus was executed before the gates of the city and the immense riches which had been accumulated by the repatious favourite so known only to Haston and to justify his punishment amidst the general acclamations of the clergy and people the emperors did not forget the prejudice and disadvantage to which her sex was exposed and she wisely resolved to prevent their murmurs by the choice of a colleague who would always respect the superior rank and virginity of his wife she gave her hand to Marcian about 6 years of age and the nominal husband of Pulcheria was solemnly invested with the imperial purple the zeal which she displayed for the orthodox creed as it was established by the council of Calcedon would alone have inspired the grateful eloquence of the Catholics but the behaviour of Marcian in a private life and the words on the throne may support a more rational belief that he was qualified to restore and invigorate an empire which had been almost dissolved by the successive weakness of two hereditary monarchs he was born in Trachy and educated to the profession of arms but Marcian's youth had been severely exercised by poverty and misfortune since his only resource when he first arrived at Constantinople consisted in 200 pieces of gold which he had borrowed of a friend he passed 19 years in the domestic and military service of Aspar and his son Ardaburius followed those powerful generals to the Persian and African wars and obtained by their influence the honorable rank of tribune and senator his mild disposition and useful talents without alarming the jealousy recommended Marcian to the esteem and favour of his patrons yet seen, perhaps he had felt the abuses of a venal and oppressive administration and his own example gave weight and energy to the loss which he promulgated for the reformation of manners End of Chapter 34 Part 3 Recording by Monsbruh Helsingfors Finland For more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org The Decline and Follow the Roman Empire Volume 3 by Edward Gibbon Chapter 35 Invasion by Attila Part 1 Invasion of Gaul by Attila He is repulsed by Aetius and the Visigoths Attila invades and evacuates Italy the deaths of Attila, Aetius and Valentinian III It was the opinion of Marcian that war should be avoided as long as it is possible to preserve a secure and honourable peace but it was likewise his opinion that peace cannot be honourable or secure if the sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war This temperate courage dictated his reply to the demands of Attila who insolently pressed the payment of the annual tribute The Emperor signified to the barbarians that they must no longer insult Rome by the mention of a tribute that he was disposed to reward with becoming liberality the faithful friendship of his allies but that if they presumed to violate the public peace they should feel that he possessed troops and arms and resolution to repel their attacks The same language even in the camp of the Huns was used by his ambassador Apollonius whose bold refusal to deliver the presence till he had been admitted to a personal interview displayed with the presence of dignity and a contempt of danger which Attila was not prepared to expect from the degenerate Romans He threatened to chastise the rash successor of Theodosius but he hesitated whether he should first direct his invincible arms against the eastern or the western empire While mankind awaited his decision with awful suspense he sent an equal defiance to the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople and his ministers saluted the same haughty declaration Attila, my lord, and thy lord commands thee to provide a palace for his immediate reception But as the barbarian despised or affected to despise the Romans of the east whom he had so often vanquished he soon declared his resolution of suspending the easy conquest till he had achieved a more glorious and important enterprise In the memorable invasions of Gaul and Italy the Huns were naturally attracted by the wealth and fertility of those provinces but the particular motives and provocations of Attila can only be explained by the state of the western empire under the reign of Valentinian or to speak more correctly under the administration of Etius After the death of his rival, Boniface Etius had prudently retired to the tents of the Huns and he was indebted to their alliance for his safety and his restoration Instead of the suppliant language of a guilty exile he solicited his pardon at the head of sixty thousand barbarians and the empress Placidia confessed, by a feeble resistance that the condescension which might have been ascribed to clemency was the effect of weakness or fear She delivered herself, her son Valentinian and the western empire into the hands of an insolent subject Nor could Placidia protect the son-in-law of Boniface the virtuous and faithful Sebastian from the implacable persecution which urged him from one kingdom to another till he miserably perished in the service of the vandals The fortunate Etius, who was immediately promoted to the rank of patrician and Thrice invested with the honors of the consulship, assumed with the title of master of the cavalry and infantry, the whole military power of the state, and he is sometimes styled, by contemporary writers the Duke or general of the Romans of the west His prudence, rather than his virtue engaged him to leave the grandson of Etius in the possession of the purple and Valentinian was permitted to enjoy the peace and luxury of Italy while the patrician appeared in the glorious light of a hero and a patriot who supported near twenty years the ruin of the western empire The gothic historian ingeniously confesses that Etius was born for the salvation of the Roman Republic and the following portrait though it is drawn in the fairest colors must be allowed to contain a much larger proportion of truth than a flattery His mother was a wealthy and noble Italian and his father, Gaudentius who held a distinguished rank in the province of Scythia gradually rose from the station of a military domestic to the dignity of master of the cavalry Their son, who was enrolled almost in his infancy in the guards was given as a hostage, first to Alaric and afterwards to the Huns and he successively obtained the civil and military honors for which he was equally qualified by superior merit The graceful figure of Etius was not above the middle stature but his manly limbs were admirably formed for strength, beauty and agility and he excelled in the martial exercises of managing a horse drawing the bow and darting the javelin He could patiently endure the want of food or of sleep and his mind and body were alike capable of the most laborious efforts He possessed the genuine courage to advise not only dangers but injuries and it was impossible either to corrupt or deceive or intimidate the firm integrity of his soul The barbarians who had seated themselves in the western provinces were insensibly taught to respect the faith and valor of the patrician Etius He soothed their passions consulted their prejudices balanced their interest and checked their ambition A seasonable treaty which he concluded with Gensaric protected Italy from the invasions of the vandals The independent Britons implored and acknowledged his salutary aid The imperial authority was restored and maintained in Gaul and Spain and he compelled the Franks and the Suévy whom he had vanquished in the field to become the useful confederates of the Republic From a principle of interest as well as gratitude, Etius assiduously cultivated the alliance of the Huns While he resided in their tents as a hostage or an exile, he had familiarly conversed with Attila himself the nephew of his benefactor and the two famous antagonists appeared to have been connected by a personal and military friendship which they afterwards confirmed by mutual gifts frequent embassies and the education of Carpelio the son of Etius in the camp of Attila By the specious profession of gratitude and voluntary attachment the patrician might disguise his apprehensions of the Scythian conqueror who pressed the two empires of his innumerable armies His demands were obeyed or eluded When he claimed the spoils of a vanquished city some vases of gold which had been fraudulently embezzled the civil and military governors of Noricum were immediately dispatched to satisfy his complaints and it is evident from their conversation with Maximon and Prisces in the royal village that the valor and prudence of Etius had not saved the rest in Romans from the common ignomy of tribute The monstrous policy prolonged the advantages of a salutary peace and a numerous army of Huns and Alani whom he had attached to his person was employed in the defense of Gaul Two colonies of these barbarians were judiciously fixed in the territories of Valens and Orléans and their active cavalry secured the important passages of the Rhône and the Loire These savage allies were not indeed less formidable to the subjects than to the enemies of Rome The original settlement was enforced with a licentious violence of conquest and the province through which they marched was exposed to all the calamities of a hostile invasion Strangers to the emperor or to the republic the Alani of Gaul was devoted to the ambition of Etius and though he might suspect that in a contest with Attila himself they would revolt to the standard of their national king the patrician labored to restrain rather than to excite their zeal the Burgundians and the Franks The kingdom established by the Visigoths in the southern provinces of Gaul had gradually acquired strength and maturity and the conduct of those ambitious barbarians either in peace or war engaged the perpetual vigilance of Etius After the death of Valia the Gothic sector devolved to Theodoric the son of the great Alaric and his prosperous reign of more than thirty years over a turbulent people may be allowed to prove that his prudence was supported by uncommon vigor both of mind and body impatient of his narrow limits Theodoric aspired to the possessions of Aarau the wealthy seat of government and commerce but the city was saved by the timely approach of Etius and the Gothic king who had raised the siege with some loss and disgrace was persuaded for an adequate subsidy to divert the martial valor of his subjects in a Spanish war Yet Theodoric still watched and eagerly seized the favorable moment of renewing his hostile attempts The Goths besieged Narbonne while the Belgic provinces were invaded by the Burgundians and the public safety was threatened on every side by the apparent union of the enemies of Rome On every side the activity of Etius and his Scythian cavalry opposed a firm and successful resistance Twenty thousand Burgundians were slain in battle and the remains of the nation humbly accepted the inhabitants' seat in the mountains of Savoy The walls of Narbonne had been shaken by the battering engines and the inhabitants had endured the last extremities of famine when Count Latourius, approaching in silence and directing each horseman to carry behind him two sacks of flour cut his way through the entrenchments of the besiegers The siege was immediately raised and the more decisive victory which is ascribed to the personal conduct of Etius himself was marked with the blood of eight thousand Goths but in the absence of the patrician who was hastily summoned to Italy by some public or private interest Count Latourius succeeded to the command and his presumption soon discovered that far different talents are required to lead a wing of cavalry or to direct the operations of an important war At the head of an army of Huns he rashly advanced to the gates of Toulouse full of careless contempt for an enemy whom his misfortunes had rendered prudent and his situation made desperate The predictions of the augurs had inspired Latourius with the profane confidence that he should enter the Gothic capital in triumph and the trust which he reposed in his pagan allies encouraged him to reject the fair conditions of peace which were repeatedly proposed by the bishops in the name of Theodoric The king of the Goths exhibited in his distress the edifying contrast of Christian piety and moderation nor did he lay aside his sackcloth and ashes till he was prepared to arm for the combat His soldiers, animated with martial and religious enthusiasm assaulted the camp of Latourius The conflict was obstinate the slaughter was mutual The Roman general, after a total defeat which could be imputed only to his unskillful rashness was actually led through the streets of Toulouse not in his own but in a hostile triumph and the misery which he experienced in a long and ignomious captivity excited the compassion of the barbarians themselves Such a loss in a country whose spirit and finances were long since exhausted could not be easily repaired and the Goths, assuming in their turn the sentiments of ambition and revenge would have planted their victorious standards on the banks of the Rhône if the presence of Etius had not restored strength and discipline to the Romans The two armies expected the signal of a decisive action but the generals who were conscious of each other's force and doubtful of their own superiority prudently sheed their swords in the field of battle and their reconciliation was permanent and sincere Theodoric king of the Visigoths appears to have deserved the love of his subjects the confidence of his allies and the esteem of mankind His throne was surrounded by six valiant sons who were educated with equal care in the exercises of the barbarian camp and in those of the Gallic schools from the study of the Roman jurisprudence they acquired the theory at least of law and justice and the harmonious sense of Virgil contributed to soften the asperity of their native manners The two daughters of the Gothic king were given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi and of the Vandals who reigned in Spain and Africa but these illustrious alliances were pregnant with guilt and discord The queen of the Suevi bewailed the death of a husband inhumanely massacred by her brother The princess of the Vandals was the victim of a jealous tyrant whom she called her father The cruel Genceric suspected that his son's wife had conspired to poison him The supposed crime was punished by the amputation of her nose and ears and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was ignomiously returned to the court of Toulouse in that deformed and mutilated condition This horrid act which must seem incredible to a civilized age drew tears from every spectator but Theodoric was urged by the feelings of a parent and a king to revenge such irreparable injuries The imperial ministers who always cherished the discord of the barbarians would have supplied the Goths with arms and ships and treasures for the African war and the cruel tree of Genceric might have been fatal to himself if the artful vandal had not armed in his cause the formidable power of the Huns His rich gifts and pressing solicitations inflamed the ambition of Attila and the designs of Aetius and Theodoric by the invasion of Gaul The Franks whose monarchy was still confined to the neighborhood of the Lower Rhine had wisely established the right of hereditary succession in the noble family of the Merovingians These princes were elevated on a buckler the symbol of military command and the royal fashion of long hair was the ensign of their birth and dignity Their flaxen locks which they combed and dressed with singular care hung down in flowing ringlets on their back and shoulders while the rest of the nation were obliged either by law or custom to shave the hindre part of their head to comb their hair over their forehead and to content themselves with the ornament of two small whiskers The lofty stature of the Franks and their blue eyes denoted a Germanic origin Their close apparel accurately expressed the figure of their limbs a weighty sword was suspended from a broad belt their bodies were protected by a large shield and these war-like barbarians were trained from their earliest youth to run, to leap, to swim to dart the javelin or battle-axe with unerring aim to advance without hesitation against a superior enemy and to maintain, either in life or death the invincible reputation of their ancestors Claudian, the first of their long-haired kings whose name and actions are mentioned in authentic history held his residence at Dispargum a village or fortress which may be assigned between Louvain and Brussels From the report of his spies the king of the Franks was informed that the defenseless state of the second Belgique must yield on the slightest attack to the valor of his subjects He boldly penetrated through the thickets and morasses of the carbonarian forest occupied Tournai and Cambrai the only cities which existed in the 5th century and extended his con-quests as far as the river Somme and the country whose cultivation and populousness are the effects of more recent industry While Claudian lay encamped on the plains of Artois and celebrated with vain and ostentatious security the marriage, perhaps, of his son the nuptial feast was interrupted by the unexpected and unwelcome presence of Etius who had passed the Somme at the head of his light cavalry The tables which had been spread under the shelter of a hill along the banks of a pleasant stream were rudely overturned the Franks were oppressed before they could recover their arms or their ranks and their unavailing valor was fatal only to themselves The loaded wagons which had followed their march afforded a rich booty and the virgin bride with her female attendants submitted to the new-lovers who were imposed on them by the chance of war This advance which had been obtained by the skill and activity of Etius might reflect some disgrace on the military prudence of Claudian but the king of the Franks soon regained his strength and reputation and still maintained the possession of his Gaulic kingdom from the Rhine to the Somme Under his reign and most probably from the enterprising spirit of his subjects his three capitals, Mence, Trev and Colonia experienced the effects of hostile cruelty and avarice The distress of Colonia was prolonged by the perpetual domination of the same barbarians who evacuated the ruins of Trev and Trev which in the space of forty years had been four times besieged and pillaged was disposed to lose the memory of her afflictions in the vain amusements of the circus The death of Claudian after a reign of twenty years exposed his kingdom to the discord and ambition of his two sons Meroves, the younger, was persuaded to implore the protection of Rome He was received at the imperial court as the ally of Valentinian and the adopted son of the patrician Etius and dismissed to his native country with splendid gifts and the strongest assurance of friendship and support During his absence his elder brother had solicited with equal ardor the formidable aid of Attila and the king of the Huns embraced an alliance which facilitated the passions of the Rhine and justified by a specious and honorable pretense the invasion of Gaul End of Chapter 35 Part 1 Chapter 35 Part 2 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 by Edward Gibbon Chapter 35 Invasion by Attila Part 2 When Attila declared his resolution of supporting the cause of his allies the Vandals and the Franks at the same time and almost in the spirit of romantic chivalry the savage monarch professed himself the lover and the champion of the Princess Honoria The sister of Valentinian was educated in the palace of Ravenna and as her marriage might be productive of some danger to the state she was raised by the title of Augusta above the hopes of the most presumptuous subject But the fair Honoria had no sooner attained the sixteenth year of her age than she detested the importunate greatness which must forever exclude her from the comforts of honorable love In the midst of vain and unsatisfactory pomp Honoria's side yielded to the impulse of nature and threw herself into the arms of her chamberlain Eugenius Her guilt and shame, such is the absurd language of imperious man were soon betrayed by the appearances of pregnancy but the disgrace of the royal family was published to the world by the imprudence of the Empress Placidia who dismissed her daughter after a strict and shameful confinement to a remote exile at Constantinople The unhappy princess passed twelve or fourteen years in the irksome society of the sisters of Theodosius and their chosen virgins to whose crown Honoria could no longer aspire and whose monastic assiduity of prayer, fasting, and vigils she reluctantly imitated Her impatience of long and hopeless celibacy urged her to embrace a strange and desperate resolution The name of Attila was familiar and formidable at Constantinople and his frequent embassies entertained a perpetual intercourse between his camp and the imperial palace In the pursuit of love, or rather of revenge the daughter of Placidia sacrificed every duty and every prejudice and offered to deliver her person to the arms of a barbarian of whose language she was ignorant whose figure was scarcely human and whose religion and manners she abhorred By the ministry of a faithful eunuch she transmitted to Attila a ring the pledge of her affection and earnestly conjured him to claim her as a lawful spouse to whom he had been secretly betrothed These indecent advances were received, however, with coldness and disdain and the King of the Huns continued to multiply the number of his wives till his love was awakened by the more forcible passions of an ambition and avarice The invasion of Gaul was preceded and justified by a formal demand of the princess Anoria with a just and equal share of the imperial patrimony His predecessors, the ancient Tangus had often addressed in the same hostile and peremptory manner the daughters of China and the pretensions of Attila were not less offensive to the majesty of Rome A firm but temperate refusal was communicated to his ambassadors The right of female succession, though it might derive a specious argument from the recent examples of Placidia and Pulcheria was strenuously denied and the indissoluble engagements of Anoria were opposed to the claims of her Scythian lover On the discovery of her connection with the King of the Huns the guilty princess had been sent away as an object of horror from Constantinople to Italy Her life was spared, but the ceremony of her marriage was performed with some obscure and nominal husband before she was immured in a perpetual prison Whale those crimes and misfortunes which Anoria might have escaped had she not been born the daughter of an emperor A native of Gaul and a contemporary, the learned and eloquent Sidonius who was afterwards Bishop of Claremont had made a promise to one of his friends that he would compose a regular history of the War of Attila If the modesty of Sidonius had not discouraged him from the prosecution of this interesting work the historian would have related, with the simplicity of truth those memorable events to which the poet, in vague and doubtful metaphors has concisely alluded The kings and nations of Germany and Scythia from the Volga, perhaps to the Danube obeyed the warlike summons of Attila From the royal village in the plains of Hungary his standard moved towards the west and after a march of seven or eight hundred miles he reached the conflicts of the Rhine and the Necar where he was joined by the Franks who adhered to his ally, the elder of the sons of Clodion A troop of light barbarians who roamed in quest of plunder might choose the winter for the convenience of passing the river on the ice but the innumerable cavalry of the Huns required such plenty of forage and provisions as could be procured only in a milder season The Hercinian forests supplied materials for a bridge of boats and the hostile myriads were poured with resistless violence into the Belgic provinces The consternation of Gaul was universal and the various fortunes of its cities have been adorned by tradition with martyrdoms and miracles Troy was saved by the merits of St. Lupus St. Servatius was removed from the world that he might not behold the ruin of Tongra and the prayers of St. Genevieve diverted the march of Attila from the neighborhood of Paris But as the greatest part of the Gallic cities were alike destitute of saints and soldiers they were besieged and stormed by the Huns who practiced in the example of Metz their customary maxims of war They involved in a promiscuous massacre the priests who had served at the altar and the infants who in the hour of danger had been providently baptized by the bishop The flourishing city was delivered to the flames and a solitary chapel of St. Stephen marked the place where it formerly stood From the Rhine and the Moselle Attila advanced into the heart of Gall crossed the Seine at Euxerre and after a long and laborious march fixed his camp under the walls of Orléans He was desirous of securing his conquest by the possession of an avantageous post which commanded the passage of the Loire and he depended on the secret invitation of Sangaban king of the Elani who had promised to betray the city and to revolt from the service of the empire But this treacherous conspiracy was detected and disappointed Orléans had been strengthened with recent fortifications and the assaults of the Huns were vigorously repelled by the faithful valor of the soldiers or citizens who defended the place The pastoral diligence of Aeneanus a bishop of primitive sanctity and consummate prudence exhausted every art of religious policy to support their courage till the arrival of the expected suckers After an obstinate siege when the walls were shaken by the battering rams the Huns had already occupied the suburbs and the people who were incapable of bearing arms lay prostrate in prayer Aeneanus who anxiously counted the days and hours dispatched a trusty messenger to observe from the rampart the face of the distant country He returned twice without any intelligence that could inspire hope or comfort But in his third report he mentioned a small cloud which he had faintly described at the extremity of the horizon It is the aid of God exclaimed the bishop in a tone of pious confidence and the whole multitude repeated after him It is the aid of God The remote object on which every eye was fixed became each moment larger and more distinct The Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived and a favorable wind blowing aside the dust discovered in deep array the impatient squadrons of Aetius and Theodoric who pressed forwards to the relief of Orléans The facility with which Attila had penetrated into the heart of Gaul may be ascribed to his insidious policy as well as to the terror of arms His public declarations were skillfully mitigated by his private assurances He alternately sued then threatened the Romans and the Goths and the courts of Ravenna and Toulouse mutually suspicious of each other's intentions beheld with supine indifference the approach of their common enemy Aetius was the sole guardian of the public safety but his wisest measures were embarrassed by affection which, since the death of Placidia infested the imperial palace the youth of Italy trembled at the sound of the trumpet and the barbarians, who from fear or affection were inclined to the cause of Attila awaited with doubtful and venal faith the event of the war The patrician passed the Alps at the head of some troops who strengthened numbers scarcely deserved the name of an army but on his arrival at Arles or Lyon he was confounded by the intelligence that the Visigoths refusing to embrace the defense of Gaul had determined to expect within their own territories the formidable invader whom they professed to despise The senator Aetius, who after the honourable exercise of the Praetorian Prefecture had retired to his estate in Auveun was persuaded to accept the important embassy which he executed with ability and success He represented to Theodoric that an ambitious conqueror who aspired to the dominion of the earth could be resisted only by the firm and unanimous alliance of the powers whom he laboured to oppress The lively eloquence of Aetius inflamed the Gothic warriors by the description of the injuries which their ancestors had suffered from the Huns whose implacable fury still pursued them from the Danube to the foot of the Pyrenees He strenuously urged that it was the duty of every Christian to save from sacrilegious violation, the churches of God and the relics of the saints that it was the interest of every barbarian who had acquired a settlement in Gaul to defend the fields and vineyards which were cultivated for his use against the desolation of the Scythian shepherds Theodoric yielded to the evidence of truth adopted the measure at once the most prudent and the most honourable and declared that as the faithful ally of Aetius he was ready to expose his life and kingdom for the common safety of Gaul The Visigoths who at that time were in the mature vigor of their fame and power obeyed with alacrity the signal of war prepared their arms and horses and assembled under the standard of their aged king who was resolved with his two eldest sons Taurusmont and Theodoric to command in person his numerous and valiant people The example of the Goths determined several tribes or nations that seemed to fluctuate between the Huns and the Romans The indefatagable diligence of the patrician gradually collected the troops of Gaul and Germany who had formerly acknowledged themselves the subjects or soldiers of the Republic but who now claimed the rewards of voluntary service and the rank of independent allies the Letti, the Amoricans, the Braeons, the Saxons the Burgundians, the Sarmatians or Alana the Rippurians, and the Franks who followed Merovis as their lawful prince Such was the various army which under the conduct of Etius and Theodoric advanced by rapid marches to relieve Orléans and to give battle to the innumerable host of Attila On their approach the king of the Huns immediately raised the siege and sounded a retreat to recall the foremost of his troops from the pillage of a city which they had already entered The valor of Attila was always guided by his prudence and as he foresaw the fatal consequences of a defeat in the heart of Gaul he re-passed the Sen and expected the enemy in the plains of Chalon whose smooth and level surface was adapted to the operations of his Scythian cavalry But in this tumultary retreat the vanguard of the Romans and their allies continually pressed and sometimes engaged the troops whom Attila had posted in the rear The hostile columns in the darkness of the night and the perplexity of the roads might encounter each other without design and the bloody conflict of the Franks and Gepidae in which 15,000 barbarians were slain was a prelude to a more general and decisive action The Catalonian fields spread themselves around Chalon and extend according to the vague measurement of Jordanus to the length of 150 and the breadth of 100 miles over the whole province which is entitled to the appellation of a Champagne country This spacious plain was distinguished, however, by some inequalities of ground and the importance of a height which commanded the camp of Attila was understood and disputed by the two generals The young and valiant Torsemond first occupied the summit The Goths rushed with irresistible weight on the Huns who labored to ascend from the opposite side and the possession of this advantageous post inspired both the troops and their leaders with a fair assurance of victory The anxiety of Attila prompted him to consult his priests and herespecies It was reported that after scrutinizing the entrails of victims and scraping their bones they revealed in mysterious language his own defeat with the death of his principal adversary and that the barbarians, by accepting the equivalent expressed his involuntary esteem for the superior merit of Etius But the unusual despondency which seemed to prevail among the Huns engaged Attila to use the expedient so familiar to the generals of antiquity of animating his troops by military oration and his language was that of a king who had often fought and conquered at their head He pressed them to consider their past glory their actual danger and their future hopes The same fortune which opened the deserts and morasses of Scythia to their unarmed valor which had laid so many warlike nations prostrate at their feet had reserved the joys of this memorable field for the consummation of their victories The cautious steps of their enemies their strict alliance their advantageous posts he artfully represented as the effects not of prudence but of fear The Visigoths alone were the strength and nerves of the opposite army and the Huns might securely trample on the degenerate Romans whose close and compact order betrayed their own apprehensions and who were equally incapable of supporting the dangers or the fatigues of a day of battle The doctrine of predestination so favorable to martial virtue was carefully inculcated by the king of the Huns who assured his subjects that the warriors protected by heaven were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy but that the unerring fates would strike their victims in the bosom of inglorious peace I myself, continued Attila will throw the first javelin and the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his sovereign is devoted to inevitable death The spirit of the barbarians was rekindled by the presence, the voice and the example of their intrepid leader and Attila, yielding to their impatience immediately formed his order of battle At the head of his brave and faithful Huns he occupied in person the center of the line The nations subject to his empire the Rugeans, the Heruli, the Thuringians the Franks, the Burgundians were extended on either hand over the ample space of the Catalonian fields the right wing was commanded by Alderic king of the Gepide and the three valiant brothers who reigned over the Ostrogoths were posted on the left to oppose the kindred tribes of the Visigoths The disposition of the allies was regulated by a different principle Sangaban, the faithless king of the Elani was placed in the center where his motions might be strictly watched and that the treachery might be instantly punished Antius assumed the command of the left and the adorak of the right wing while Taurusmen still continued to occupy the heights which appear to have stretched on the flank and perhaps the rear of the Scythian army The nations from the Volga to the Atlantic were assembled on the plain of Shalom but many of these nations had been divided by faction or conquest or immigration and the appearance of similar arms and ensigns which threatened each other presented the image of a civil war The discipline and tactics of the Greeks and Romans form an interesting part of their national manners The attentive study of the military operations of Xenophon or Caesar or Frederick when they are described by the same genius which conceived and executed them may tend to improve, if such improvement can be wished the art of destroying the human species But the battle of Shalom can only excite our curiosity by the magnitude of the object since it was decided by the blind impetuosity of barbarians and has been related by partial writers whose civil or ecclesiastical professions secluded them from the knowledge of military affairs Cassiodorus, however, had familiarly conversed with many Gothic warriors who served in that memorable engagement a conflict, as they informed him fierce, various, obstinate and bloody such as could not be paralleled either in the present or in past ages The number of the slain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand or, according to another account, three hundred thousand persons and these incredible exaggerations suppose a real and effective loss sufficient to justify the historian's remark that whole generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour After the mutual and repeated discharge of missile weapons in which the archers of Scythia might signalize their superior dexterity the cavalry and infantry of the two armies were furiously mingled in closer combat The Huns, who fought under the eyes of their king pierced through the feeble and doubtful centre of the allies separated their wings from each other and, wheeling with a rapid effort to the left directed their whole force against the Visigoths As Theodoric rode along the ranks to animate his troops he received a mortal stroke from the javelin of Andegas a noble Ostrogoth and immediately fell from his horse The wounded king was oppressed in the general disorder and trampled under the feet of his own cavalry and this important death served to explain the ambiguous prophecy of the Harris pieces Attila already exalted in the confidence of victory when the valiant Taurisman descended from the hills and verified the remainder of the prediction The Visigoths, who had been thrown into confusion by the flight or defection of the Elani gradually restored their order of battle and the Huns were undoubtedly vanquished since Attila was compelled to retreat He had exposed his person with the rashness of a private soldier but the intrepid troops of the centre had pushed forwards beyond the rest of the line their attack was faintly supported their flanks were unguarded and the conquerors of Scythia and Germany were saved by the approach of the knight from a total defeat They retired within the circle of wagons that fortified their camp The dismounted squadrons prepared themselves for a defence to which neither their arms nor their temper were adapted The event was doubtful but Attila had secured a last and honourable resource The saddles and rich furniture of the cavalry were collected by his order into a funeral pile and the magnanimous barbarian had resolved if his entrenchments should be forced to rush headlong into the flames and to deprive his enemies of the glory which they might have acquired by the death or captivity of Attila But his enemies had passed the night in equal disorder and anxiety The inconsiderate courage of Turisman was tempted to urge the pursuit till he unexpectedly found himself with a few followers in the midst of the Scythian wagons In the confusion of an nocturnal combat he was thrown from his horse and the Gothic Prince must have perished like his father if his youthful strength and the intrepid zeal of his companions had not rescued him from this dangerous situation In the same manner but on the left of the line Etius himself, separated from his allies ignorant of their victory and anxious for their fate encountered and escaped the hostile troops that were scattered over the plains of Chalon and at length reached the camp of the Goths which he could only fortify with a slight rampart of shields till the dawn of day The Imperial General was soon satisfied of the defeat of Attila who still remained inactive within his entrenchments and when he contemplated the bloody scene he observed with secret satisfaction that the loss had principally fallen on the barbarians The body of Theodoric, pierced with honourable wounds was discovered under a heap of the slain His subjects bewailed the death of their king and father but their tears were mingled with songs and acclamations and his funeral rites were performed in the face of a vanquished enemy The Goths, clashing their arms elevated on a buckler his eldest son, Taurismond to whom they justly ascribed the glory of their success and the new king accepted the obligation of revenge as a sacred portion of his paternal inheritance Yet the Goths themselves were astonished by the fierce and undaunted aspect of their formidable antagonist and their historian has compared Attila to a lion encompassed in his den and threatening his hunters with redoubled fury The kings and nations who might have deserted his standard in the hour of distress were made sensible that the displeasure of their monarch was the most eminent and inevitable danger All his instruments of martial music incessantly sounded a loud and animating strain of defiance and the foremost troops who advanced to the assault were checked or destroyed by showers of arrows from every side of the entrenchments It was determined in a general council of war to besiege the king of the Huns in his camp to intercept his provisions and to reduce him to the alternative of a disgraceful treaty or an unequal combat But the impatience of the barbarians soon disdained these cautious and dilatory measures and the mature policy of Etias was apprehensive that after the extirpation of the Huns the Republic would be oppressed by the pride and power of the Gothic nation The patrician exerted the superior ascendant of authority and reason to calm the passions which the son of Theodoric considered as a duty represented with seeming affection and real truth the dangers of absence and delay and persuaded Turisman to disappoint by his speedy return the ambiguous designs of his brothers who might occupy the throne and treasures of Toulouse After the departure of the Goths and the separation of the Allied army Attila was surprised at the vast silence that reigned over the plains of Chalot The suspicion of some hostile stratagem detained him several days within the circle of his wagons and his retreat beyond the Rhine he addressed the last victory which was achieved in the name of the Western Empire Morovius and his Franks observing a prudent distance and magnifying the opinion of their strength by the numerous fires which they kindled every night continued to follow the rear of the Huns till they reached the confines of Thuringia The Thuringians served in the army of Attila they traversed both in their march and in their return the territories of the Franks and it was perhaps in this war that the cruelty switch about four score years afterwards were revenged by the son of Clovis They massacred their hostages as well as their captives 200 young maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelenting rage their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses or their bones were crushed under the weight of rolling wagons and their unburied limbs were abandoned on the public roads as a prey to dogs and vultures Such were those savage ancestors whose imaginary virtues have sometimes excited the praise and envy of civilized ages End of Chapter 35 Part 2 Chapter 35 Part 3 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 by Edward Gibbon Chapter 35 Invasion by Attila Part 3 Neither the spirit nor the forces nor the reputation of Attila were impaired by the failure of the Golic expedition In the ensuing spring he repeated his demand of the princess Anoria and her patrimonial treasures The demand was again rejected or eluded and the indignant lover immediately took the field the Alps invaded Italy and besieged Aquilea with an innumerable host of barbarians Those barbarians were unskilled in the methods of conducting a regular siege which, even among the ancients, required some knowledge or at least some practice of the mechanical arts But the labor of many thousand provincials and captives whose lives were sacrificed without pity might execute the most painful and dangerous work The skill of the Roman artists might be corrupted to the destruction of their country The walls of Aquilea were assaulted by a formidable train of battering rams movable turrets and engines that threw stones, darts and fire and the monarch of the Huns employed the forcible impulse of hope, fear, emulation and interest to subvert the only barrier which delayed the conquest of Italy Aquilea was, at that period, one of the richest, the most populous and the strongest of the maritime cities of the Adriatic coast The Gothic auxiliaries who appeared to have served under their native princes Alaric and Antela communicated their intrepid spirit and the citizens still remembered the glorious and successful resistance which their ancestors had opposed to a fierce, inexorable barbarian who disgraced the majesty of the Roman purple Three months were consumed without effect in the siege of the Aquilea till the want of provisions and the clamors of his army compelled Attila to relinquish the enterprise and reluctantly to issue his orders that the troops should strike their tents the next morning and begin their retreat But as he rode round the walls, pensive, angry and disappointed he observed a stork preparing to leave her nest in one of the towers and to fly with her infant family towards the country He seized with the ready penetration of a satesman this trifling incident which Chance had offered to superstition and exclaimed in a loud and cheerful tone that such a domestic bird, so constantly attached to human society would never have abandoned her ancient seats unless those towers had been devoted to impending ruin and solitude The favorable omen inspired an assurance of victory The siege was renewed and prosecuted with fresh vigor A large breach was made in the part of the wall from whence the stork had taken her flight The Huns mounted to the assault with irresistible fury and the succeeding generation could scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia After this dreadful chastisement, Attila pursued his march and as he passed the cities of Altenham, Concordia and Padua were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes The inland towns, Vincenza, Verona and Bergamo were exposed to the rapacious cruelty of the Huns Milan and Pavia submitted without resistance to the loss of their wealth and applauded the unusual clemency which preserved from the flames the public as well as private buildings and spared the lives of the captive multitude The popular traditions of Coma, Turin or Medina may justly be suspected yet they concur with more authentic evidence to prove that Attila spread his ravages over the rich plains of modern Lombardy which are divided by the Poe and bounded by the Alps and the Apennine When he took possession of the royal palace of Milan he was surprised and offended at the sight of a picture which represented the Caesars seated on their throne and the princes of Scythia prostrated their feet The revenge which Attila inflicted on this monument of Roman vanity was harmless and ingenious He commanded a painter to reverse the figures and the attitudes and the emperors were delineated on the same canvas approaching in a suppliant posture to empty their bags of tributary gold before the throne of the Scythian monarch The spectators must have confessed the truth and propriety of the alteration and were perhaps tempted to apply, on this singular occasion the well-known fable of the dispute between the lion and the man It is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot where his horse had trod Yet the savage destroyer undesignedly laid the foundation of a republic which revived in the feudal state of Europe the art and spirit of commercial industry The celebrated name of Venice, or Venezia, was formally diffused over a large infertile province of Italy from the convines of Panonia to the river Agua and from the Po to the Ration and the Julian Alps Before the interruption of the barbarians fifty Venetian cities flourished in peace and prosperity Aquileia was placed in the most conspicuous station but the ancient dignity of Padua was supported by agriculture and manufacturers and the property of five hundred citizens who were entitled to the equestrian rank must have amounted at the strictest computation to one million seven hundred thousand pounds Many families of Aquileia, Padua, and the adjacent towns who had fled from the sword of the Huns found a safe, though obscure, refuge in the neighboring islands At the extremity of the gulf where the Adriatic feebly imitates the tides of the ocean near a hundred small islands are separated by shallow water from the continent and protected from the waves by several long slips of land which admit the entrance of vessels through some secret and narrow channels Till the middle of the fifth century these remote and sequestered spots remained without cultivation with few inhabitants and almost without a name But the manners of the Venetian fugitives, their arts and their government were gradually formed by their new situation and one of the epistles of Cassiodorus which describes their condition about seventy years afterwards may be considered as the primitive monument of the Republic The minister of Theodoric compares them in his quaint, declamatory style to Waterfowl who had fixed their nests on the bosom of the waves and though he allows that the Venetian provinces had formerly contained many noble families he insinuates that they were now reduced by misfortune to the same level of humble poverty Fish was the common and almost the universal food of every rank Their only treasure consisted in the plenty of salt which they extracted from the sea and the exchange of that commodity, so essential to human life was substituted in the neighboring markets to the currency of gold and silver a people whose habitations might doubtfully assigned to the earth or water soon became alike familiar with the two elements and the demands of avarice succeeded to those of necessity The islanders who, from Grado to Ciozza, were intimately connected with each other penetrated into the heart of Italy by the secure, though laborious, navigation of the rivers and inland canals Their vessels which were continually increasing in size and number visited all the harbors of the Gulf and the marriage which Venice annually celebrates with the Adriatic was contracted in her early infancy The epistle of Cassiodorus, the Praetorian Prefect, is addressed to the maritime tribunes and he exhorts them in a mild tone of authority to animate the zeal of their countrymen for the public service which required their assistance to transport the magazines of wine and oil from the province of Istria to the royal city of Ravenna The ambiguous office of these magistrates is explained by the tradition that in the twelve principal islands twelve tribunes or judges were created by annual and popular election The existence of the Venetian Republic under the Gothic Kingdom of Italy is attested by the same authentic record which annihilates their lofty claim of original and perpetual independence The Italians who had long since renounced the exercise of arms were surprised after forty years peace by the approach of a formidable barbarian whom they abhorred as the enemy of their religion as well as of their republic Amidst the general consternation Aetius alone was incapable of fear but it was impossible that he should achieve, alone and unassisted any military exploits worthy of his former renown The barbarians who had defended Gaul refused to march the relief of Italy and the suckers promised by the Eastern Emperor were distant and doubtful Since Aetius at the head of his domestic troops still maintained the field and harassed or retarded the march of Attila he never showed himself more truly great than at the time when his conduct was blamed by an ignorant and ungrateful people If the mind of Valentinian had been susceptible of any generous sentiments he would have chosen such a general for his example and his guide But the timid grandson of the Aedotius, instead of sharing the dangers escaped from the sound of war and his hasty retreat from Mervena to Rome from an impregnable fortress to an open capital betrayed his secret intention of abandoning Italy as soon as the danger should approach his imperial person This shameful abdication was suspended, however, by the spirit of doubt and delay which commonly adheres to pusillaneous councils and sometimes corrects their pernicious tendency The Western Emperor with the Senate and people of Rome embraced the more salutary resolution of deprecating by a solemn and supple an embassy, the wrath of Attila This important commission was accepted by Avinius, who from his birth and riches, his consular dignity the numerous train of his clients and his personal abilities held the first rank in the Roman Senate The specious and artful character of Avinius was admirably qualified to conduct a negotiation either of public or private interest His colleague, Tragicius, had exercised the praetorian prefecture of Italy and Leo, Bishop of Rome, consented to expose his life for the safety of his flock The genius of Leo was exercised and displayed in the public misfortunes and he has deserved the appellation of great by the successful zeal with which he labored to establish his opinions and his authority under the venerable names of orthodox fate and ecclesiastical discipline The Roman ambassadors were introduced to the tent of Attila as he lay encamped at the place where the slow winding Atticius is lost in the foaming waves of Lake Benacus and trampled with his Scythian cavalry the farms of Catilus and Virgil The barbarian monarch listened with favourable and even respectful attention and the deliverance of Italy was purchased by the immense ransom or dowry of the princess Anoria The state of his army might facilitate the treaty and hasten his retreat Their martial spirit was relaxed by the wealth and indolence of a warm climate The shepherds of the north whose ordinary food consisted of milk and raw flesh indulged themselves too freely in the use of bread, of wine, and of meat prepared and seasoned by the arts of cookery and the progress of disease revenged in some measure the injuries of the Italians When Attila declared his resolution of carrying his victorious arms to the gates of Rome he was admonished by his friends as well as by his enemies that Alaric had not long survived the conquest of the eternal city His mind superior to real danger was assaulted by imaginary terrors nor could he escape the influence of superstition which had so often been subservient to his designs The pressing eloquence of Leo, his majestic aspect and sassardodal robes excited the veneration of Attila for the spiritual father of the Christians The apparition of the two apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul who menaced the barbarian with instant death if he rejected the prayer of their successor is one of the noblest legends of ecclesiastical tradition The safety of Rome might deserve the interposition of celestial beings and some indulgence is due to a fable which has been represented by the pencil of Raphael and the chisel of Algardi Before the king of the Huns evacuated Italy he threatened to return more dreadful and more implacable if his bride, the princess Anoria, were not delivered to his ambassadors within the term stipulated by the treaty Yet in the meanwhile Attila relieved his tender anxiety by adding a beautiful maid whose name was Idicchio to the list of his innumerable wives Their marriage was celebrated with barbaric pomp and festivity at his wooden palace beyond the Danube and the monarch oppressed with wine and sleep retired at a late hour from the banquet to the nuptial bed His attendants continued to respect his pleasures or his repose the greatest part of the ensuing day till the unusual silence alarmed their fears and suspicions and after attempting to awaken Attila by loud and repeated cries they at length broke into the royal apartment They found the trembling bride sitting by the bedside hiding her face with her veil and lamenting her own danger as well as the death of the king who had expired during the night An artery had suddenly burst and as Attila lay in a supine posture he was suffocated by a torrent of blood which instead of finding a passage through the nostrils regurgitated into the lungs and stomach His body was solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain under a silk and pavilion and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling round in measured evolutions chanted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious in life, invincible in his death the father of his people, the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world According to their national customs the barbarians cut off a part of their hair gashed their faces with unseemly wounds and bewailed their valiant leader as he deserved not with the tears of women but with the blood of warriors The remains of Attila were enclosed within three coffins of gold, of silver, and of iron and privately buried in the night The spoils of nations were thrown into his grave the captives who had opened the ground were inhumanely massacred and the same Huns who had indulged such excessive grief feasted with disillute and intemperate mirth about the recent sepulchre of their king It was reported at Constantinople that on the fortunate night on which he expired Marcian beheld in a dream the bow of Attila broken asunder and the report may be allowed to prove how seldom the image of that formidable barbarian was absent from the mind of a Roman emperor The revolution which subverted the empire of the Huns established the fame of Attila whose genius alone had sustained the huge and disjointed fabric After his death the boldest chieftains aspired to the rank of kings the most powerful kings refused to acknowledge a superior and the numerous sons whom so many various mothers bore to the deceased monarch divided and disputed like a private inheritance the sovereign command of the nations of Germany and Scythia The bold Ardarec felt and represented the disgrace of this servile partition and his subjects the warlike Gepidae with the Ostrogos under the conduct of three valiant brothers encouraged their allies to vindicate the rights of freedom and royalty In a bloody and decisive conflict on the banks of the river Natad in Pannonia the lands of the Gepidae, the sword of the Goths, the arrows of the Huns the Swayvik infantry, the light arms of the Heruli and the heavy weapons of the Elani encountered or supported each other and the victory of the Ardarec was accompanied with the slaughter of 30,000 of his enemies Elik, the eldest son of Attila, lost his life and crown in the memorable battle of Natad His early valor had raised him to the throne of the Akhat series, a Scythian people whom he subdued and his father, who loved the superior merit, would have envied the death of Elik His brother, Dangasish, with an army of Huns, still formidable in their flight and ruin maintained his ground above 15 years on the banks of the Danube The palace of Attila, with the old country of Dacia, from the Carpathian hills to the Yucsin became the seat of a new power which was erected by Ardarec, king of the Gepidae The Pannonian conquests from Vienna to Sirmium were occupied by the Ostrogoths and the settlement of the tribes who had so bravely asserted their native freedom were irregularly distributed according to the measure of their respective strength Surrounded and oppressed by the multitude of his father's slaves, the kingdom of Dangasish was confined to the circle of his wagons His desperate courage urged him to invade the Eastern Empire He fell in battle and his head, ignomiously exposed in the Hippodrome exhibited a grateful spectacle to the people of Constantinople Attila had fondly or superstitiously believed that Irnak, the youngest of his sons was destined to perpetuate the glories of his race The character of that prince, who attempted to moderate the rashness of his brother Dangasish was more suitable to the declining condition of the Huns and Irnak, with his subject wards, retired into the heart of the lesser Scythia They were soon overwhelmed by a torrent of new barbarians who followed the same road which their own ancestors had formerly discovered The Gauguin, or Avars, whose residence is assigned by the Greek riders to the shores of the ocean impelled the adjacent tribes till at length the eagles of the north issuing from the cold Siberian regions which produced the most valuable furs spread themselves over the desert as far as the Boristhenes and the Caspian gates and finally extinguishing the empire of the Huns Such an event might contribute to the safety of the Eastern Empire under the reign of a prince who conciliated the friendship without forfeiting the esteem of the barbarians But the emperor of the west, the feeble and dissolute Valentinian who had reached his thirty-fifth year without attaining the age of reason or courage abused this apparent security to undermine the foundations of his own throne by the murder of the patrician Aetius From the instinct of a base and jealous mind he hated the man who was universally celebrated as the terror of the barbarians and the support of the republic and his new favorite, the eunuch Heraclius, awakened the emperor from the supine lethargy which might be disguised during the life of Placidia by the excuse of filial piety The fame of Aetius, his wealth and dignity the numerous and martial train of barbarian followers his powerful dependence who filled the civil offices of the state and the hopes of his son, Gaudentius, who was already contracted to Eudoxia the emperor's daughter had raised him above the rank of a subject The ambitious designs of which he was secretly accused excited the fears as well as the resentment of Valentinian Aetius himself, supported by the consciousness of his merit his services and perhaps his innocence seems to have maintained a haughty and indiscreet behavior The patrician offended his sovereign by hostile declaration he aggravated the offense by compelling him to ratify with a solemn oath a treaty of reconciliation and alliance he proclaimed his suspicions he neglected his safety and from a vain confidence that the enemy whom he despised was incapable even of a manly crime he rashly ventured his person in the palace of Rome Whilst he urged, perhaps with intemperate vehemence, the marriage of his son Valentinian, drawing his sword, the first sword he had ever drawn pledged it in the breast of a general who had saved his empire his courtiers and eunuchs ambitiously struggled to imitate their master and Aetius, pierced with a hundred wounds, fell dead in the royal presence Bothius, the Praetorian prefect, was killed at the same moment and before the event could be divulged the principal friends of the patrician were summoned to the palace and separately murdered the horrid deed, palliated by the specious names of justice and necessity was immediately communicated by the emperor to his soldiers, his subjects, and his allies the nations who were strangers or enemies to Aetius generously deplored the unworthy fate of a hero the barbarians who had been attached to his service dissembled their grief and resentment and the public contempt which had been so long entertained for Valentinian was at once converted into deep and universal abhorrence such sentiments seldom pervade the walls of a palace yet the emperor was confounded by the honest reply of a Roman whose approbation he had not disdained to solicit I am ignorant, sir, of your motives or provocations I only know that you have acted like a man who cuts off his right hand with his left The luxury of Rome seems to have attracted the long and frequent visits of Valentinian who was consequently more despised at Rome than in any other part of his dominions A republican spirit was insensibly revived in the senate as their authority and even their supplies became necessary for the support of his feeble government The stately demeanor of an hereditary monarch offended their pride and the pleasures of Valentinian were injurious to the peace and honour of noble families The birth of the empress Eudoxia was equal to his own and her charms and tender affection deserved those testimonies of love which her inconstant husband dissipated in vague and unlawful amours The Tronius Maximus, a wealthy senator of the Anishin family who had been twice consul, was possessed of a chaste and beautiful wife Her obstinate resistance served only to irritate the desires of Valentinian and he resolved to accomplish them either by stratagem or force Deep gaming was one of the vices of the court The emperor, who by chance or contrivance had gained from Maximus a considerable sum uncourteously exacted his ring as a security for the debt and sent it by a trusty messenger to his wife with an order in her husband's name that she should immediately attend the empress Eudoxia The unsuspecting wife of Maximus was conveyed in her litter to the imperial palace The emissaries of her impatient lover conducted her to a remote and silent bed-chamber and Valentinian violated, without remorse, the laws of hospitality Her tears when she returned home, her deep affliction and her bitter reproaches against a husband whom she considered as the accomplice of his own shame excited Maximus to adjust revenge The desire of revenge was stimulated by ambition and he might reasonably aspire by the free suffrage of the Roman senate to the throne of a detested and despicable rival Valentinian, who supposed that every human breast was devoid, like his own, of friendship and gratitude had imprudently admitted among his guards several domestics and followers of Etias Two of these, of barbarian race, were persuaded to execute a sacred and honorable duty by punishing with death the assassin of their patron and their intrepid courage did not long expect a favorable moment Whilst Valentinian amused himself in the field of Mars with the spectacle of some military sports they suddenly rushed upon him with drawn weapons, dispatched the guilty Heraclius and stabbed the emperor to the heart without the least opposition from his numerous train who seemed to rejoice in the tyrant's death Such was the fate of Valentinian III, the last Roman emperor of the family of Theodosius He faithfully imitated the hereditary weakness of his cousin and his two uncles without inheriting the gentleness, the purity, the innocence which alleviate in their characters the want of spirit and ability Valentinian was less excusable since he had passions without virtues even his religion was questionable and though he never deviated into the paths of heresy he scandalized the pious Christians by his attachment to the profane arts of magic and divination As early as the time of Cicero and Varro it was the opinion of the Roman augurs that the twelve vultures which Romulus had seen represented the twelve centuries assigned for the fateful period of his city This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the season of health and prosperity inspired the people with gloomy apprehensions when the twelfth century clouded with disgrace and misfortune was almost elapsed and even posterity must acknowledge with some surprise that the arbitrary interpretation of an accidental or fabulous circumstance has been seriously verified in the downfall of the western empire But its fall was announced by a clearer omen than the flight of vultures The Roman government appeared every day less formidable to its enemies more odious and oppressive to its subjects The taxes were multiplied with the public distress economy was neglected in proportion as it became necessary and the injustice of the rich shifted the unequal burden from themselves to the people whom they defrauded of the indulgences that might sometimes have alleviated their misery The severe inquisitions which confiscated their goods and tortured their persons compelled the subjects of Valentinian to prefer the more simple tyranny of the barbarians or to embrace the vile and abject condition of mercenary servants They abjured and abhorred the name of Roman citizens which had formerly excited the ambition of mankind The Amorican provinces of Gaul and the greatest part of Spain were thrown into a state of disorderly independence by the confederations of the Bogade Imperial ministers pursued with prescriptive laws and ineffectual arms the rebels whom they had made If all the barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the west And if Rome still survived, she survived the loss of freedom, of virtue, and of honor