He the conquest of Italy, A. D. 489. "widows now lament that their lives were sacrificed to thy rash "ambition? Where is the wealth which thy soldiers possessed "when they were first allured from their native homes to enlist "under thy standard? Each of them was then master of three or "four horses; they now follow thee on foot like slaves, through "the deserts of Thrace; those men who were tempted by the hope "of measuring gold with a bushel, those brave men who are as "free and as noble as thyself." A language so well suited to the temper of the Goths excited clamour and discontent; and the son of Theodemir, apprehensive of being left alone, was compelled to embrace his brethren, and to imitate the example of Roman perfidy (12).* In every state of his fortune, the prudence and firmness of Theodoric were equally conspicuous; whether he threatened Constantinople at the head of the confederate Goths, or retreated with a faithful band to the mountains and sea-coast of Epirus. At length the accidental death of the son of Triarius (13) destroyed A. D. 481. the balance which the Romans had been so anxious to preserve, the whole nation acknowledged the supremacy of the Amali, and the Byzantine court subscribed an ignominious and oppressive treaty (14). The senate had already declared, that it was necessary to choose a party among the Goths, since the public was unequal to the support of their united forces; a subsidy of two thousand pounds of gold, with the ample pay of thirteen thousand men, were required for the least considerable of their armies (15); and the Isaurians, who guarded not the empire but the emperor, enjoyed, besides the privilege of rapine, an annual pension of five thousand pounds. The sagacious mind of Theodoric soon per→ ceived that he was odious to the Romans, and suspected by the Barbarians; he understood the popular murmur, that his subjects were exposed in their frozen huts to intolerable hardships, while their king was dissolved in the luxury of Greece, and he prevented the painful alternative of encountering the Goths, as the champion, (12) Jornandes (c. 56, 57. p. 696.) displays the services of Theodoric, confesses his rewards, but dissembles his revolt, of which such curious details have been preserved by Malchus (Excerpt. Legat, p. 78-97.). Marcellinus, a domestic of Justinian, under whose ivth consulship (A. D. 534) he composed his Chronicle (Scaliger, Thesaurus Temporum, P. ii. p. 34-57.), betrays his prejudice and passion in Græciam debacchantem. . . Zenonis munificentia pene pacatus. . . . . beneficiis nun quum satiatus, &c. (13) As he was riding in his own camp, an unruly horse threw him against the point of a spear which hung before a tent, or was fixed on a waggon (Marcellin. in Chron. Evagrius, l. iii. c. 25.). (14) See Malchus (p. 91.) and Evagrius (l. iii. c. 35.). (15) Malchus, p. 85. In a single action, which was decided by the skill and discipline of Sabinian, Theodoric could lose 5000 men. * Gibbon has omitted much of the complicated intrigues of the Byzantine court with the two Theodorics. The weak emperor attempted to play them one against the other, and was himself in turn insulted, and the empire ravaged, by both. The details of successive alliance and revolt, of hostility and of union, between the two Gothic chieftains, to dictate terms to the emperor, may be found in Malchus. — M. or of leading them to the field as the enemy, of Zeno. Embracing an enterprise worthy of his courage and ambition, Theodoric addressed the emperor in the following words: 66 Although your "servant is maintained in affluence by your liberality, graciously listen to the wishes of my heart! Italy, the inheritance of your "predecessors, and Rome itself, the head and mistress of the "world, now fluctuate under the violence and oppression of Odoa"cer the mercenary. Direct me, with my national troops, to "march against the tyrant. If I fall, you will be relieved from an "expensive and troublesome friend: if, with the Divine permission, "I succeed, I shall govern in your name, and to your glory, the "Roman senate, and the part of the republic delivered from sla669 very by my victorious arms." The proposal of Theodoric was accepted, and perhaps had been suggested, by the Byzantine court. But the forms of the commission, or grant, appear to have been expressed with a prudent ambiguity, which might be explained by the event; and it was left doubtful, whether the conqueror of Italy should reign as the lieutenant, the vassal, or the ally, of the empe ror of the East (16). The reputation both of the leader and of the war diffused an His march. universal ardour; the Walamirs were multiplied by the Gothic swarms already engaged in the service, or seated in the provinces, of the empire; and each bold Barbarian, who had heard of the wealth and beauty of Italy, was impatient to seek, through the most perilous adventures, the possession of such enchanting objects. The march of Theodoric must be considered as the emigration of an entire people; the wives and children of the Goths, their aged parents, and most precious effects, were carefully transported; and some idea may be formed of the heavy baggage that now followed the camp, by the loss of two thousand waggons, which had been sustained in a single action in the war of Epirus. For their subsistence, the Goths depended on the magazines of corn which was ground in portable mills by the hands of their women; on the milk and flesh of their flocks and herds; on the casual produce of the chase, and upon the contributions which they might impose on all who should presume to dispute the passage, or to refuse their friendly assistance. Notwithstanding these precautions, they were exposed to the danger, and almost to the distress of famine, in a march of seven hundred miles, which had been undertaken in the depth of a rigorous winter. Since the fall of the Roman power, Dacia and Pannonia no longer exhibited the rich prospect of populous cities, well cultivated fields, and convenient highways: the reign of barbarism and desolation was restored, and the tribes of (16) Jornandes (c. 57. p. 696, 697.) has abridged the great history of Cassiodorus. See, compare, and reconcile, Procopius (Gothic. 1. i. c. i.), the Valesian Fragment (p. 718.), Theophanes (p. 113.), and Marcellinus (in Chron.). The three AD 28 Bulgarians, Gepidæ, and Sarmatians, who had occupied the vacant province, were prompted by their native fierceness, or the solicitations of Odoacer, to resist the progress of his enemy. In many obscure though bloody battles, Theodoric fought and vanquished; till at length, surmounting every obstacle by skilful conduct and persevering courage, he descended from the Julian Alps; and displayed his invincible banners on the confines of Italy (17). Odoacer, a rival not unworthy of his arms, had already occupied the advantageous and well-known post of the river Sontius, near the ruins of Aquileia, at the head of a powerful host, whose independent kings (18) or leaders disdained the duties of subordination and the prudence of delays. No sooner had Theodoric granted a short repose and refreshment to his wearied cavalry, than he boldly attacked the fortifications of the enemy; the Ostrogoths showed more ardour to acquire, than the mercenaries to defend, the lands of Italy; and the reward of the first victory was the possession of the Venetian province as far as the walls of Verona. In the neighbourhood of that city, on the steep banks of the rapid Adige, he was opposed by a new army, reinforced in its numbers, and not impaired in its courage: the contest was more obstinate, but the event was still more decisive; Odoacer fled to Ravenna, Theodoric advanced to Milan, and the vanquished troops saluted their conqueror with loud acclamations of respect and fidelity. But their want either of constancy or of faith soon exposed him to the most imminent danger; his vanguard, with several Gothic counts, which had been rashly entrusted to a deserter, was betrayed and destroyed near Faenza by his double treachery; Odoacer again appeared master of the field, and the invader, strongly entrenched in his camp of Pavia, was reduced to solicit the aid of a kindred nation, the Visigoths of Gaul. In the course of this history, the most voracious appetite for war will be abundantly satiated; nor can I much lament that our dark and imperfect materials do not afford a more ample narrative of the distress of Italy, and of the fierce conflict, which was finally decided by the abilities, experience, and valour of the Gothic king. Immediately before the battle of Verona, he visited the tent of his mother (19) and sister, and requested, that on a day, the most illustrious festival of his life, (17) Theodoric's march is supplied and illustrated by Eunodius (p. 1598-1602.), when the bombast of the oration is translated into the language of commou sense. (18) Tot reges, &c. (Ennodius, p. 1602.). We must recollect how much the royal title was multiplied and degraded, and that the mercenaries of Italy were the fragments of many tribes and nations. (19) See Ennodius, p. 1603, 1604. Since the orator, in the king's presence, could mention and praise his mother, we may conclude that the magnanimity of Theodoric was not hurt by the vulgar reproaches of concubine and bastard.* * Gibbon here assumes that the mother of Theodoric was the concubine of Theodomir, which he leaves doubtful in the text.-M. they would adorn him with the rich garments which they had worked with their own hands. "Our glory," said he, "is mu"tual and inseparable. You are known to the world as the mo"ther of Theodoric; and it becomes me to prove, that I am the "genuine offspring of those heroes from whom I claim my descent." The wife or concubine of Theodemir was inspired with the spirit of the German matrons, who esteemed their sons' honour far above their safety; and it is reported, that in a desperate action, when Theodoric himself was hurried along by the torrent of a flying crowd, she boldly met them at the entrance of the camp, and, by her generous reproaches, drove them back on the swords of the enemy (20). From the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, Theodoric reigned by the right of conquest: the Vandal ambassadors surrendered the island of Sicily, as a lawful appendage of his kingdom; and he was accepted as the deliverer of Rome by the senate and people, who had shut their gates against the flying usurper (21). Ravenna alone, secure in the fortifications of art and nature, still sustained a siege of almost three years; and the daring sallies of Odoacer carried slaughter and dismay into the Gothic camp. At length, destitute of provisions and hopeless of relief, that unfortunate monarch yielded to the groans of his subjects and the clamours of his soldiers. A treaty of peace was negotiated by the bishop of Ravenna; the Ostrogoths were admitted into the city, and the hostile kings consented, under the sanction of an oath, to rule with equal and undivided authority the provinces of Italy. The event of such an agreement may be easily foreseen. After some days had been devoted to the semblance of joy and friendship, Odoacer, in the midst of a solemn banquet, was stabbed by the hand, or at least by the command, of his rival. Secret and effectual orders had been previously despatched; the faithless and rapacious mercenaries, at the same moment, and without resistance, were universally massacred; and the royalty of Theodoric was proclaimed by the Goths, with the tardy, reluctant, ambiguous consent of the emperor of the East. The design of a conspiracy was imputed, according to the usual forms, to the prostrate tyrant; but his innocence, and the guilt of his conqueror (22), are sufficiently proved by the advantageous (20) This anecdote is related on the modern but respectable authority of Sigonius (Op. tom. i. p. 580. De Occident. Imp. 1. xv.): his words are curious: - "Would you return?" &c. She presented and almost displayed the original recess.* (21) Hist. Miscell. 1. xv. a Roman history from Janus to the ixth century, an Epitome of Eutropius, Paulus Diaconus, and Theophanes, which Muratori has published from a MSS. in the Ambrosian library (Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. i. p. 100.). (22) Procopius (Gothic. l. i. c. i.) approves himself an impartial sceptic; paoì... Soλεpã tрónw EXTELVE. Cassiodorus (in Chron.) and Ennodius (p. 1604.) are loyal and credulous, and the testi *The authority of Sigonius would scarcely anecdote. I have a recollection of a similar have weighed with Gibbon except for an indecent story in some of the Italian wars. ·— M. His capitulation and death, March 5. A. D. 493, Theodoric A. D. 493, Aug. 30. treaty which force would not sincerely have granted, nor weakness have rashly infringed. The jealousy of power, and the mischiefs of discord, may suggest a more decent apology, and a sentence less rigorous may be pronounced against a crime which was necessary Reign of to introduce into Italy a generation of public felicity. The living king of Italy; author of this felicity was audaciously praised in his own presence March. 5.- by sacred and profane orators (23); but history (in his time she was A. D. 526, mute and inglorious) has not left any just representation of the events which displayed, or of the defects which clouded, the virtues of Theodoric (24). One record of his fame, the volume of public epistles composed by Cassiodorus in the royal name, is still extant, and has obtained more implicit credit than it seems to deserve (25). They exhibit the forms, rather than the substance, of his government; and we should vainly search for the pure and spontaneous sentiments of the Barbarian amidst the declamation and learning of a sophist, the wishes of a Roman senator, the precedents of office, and the vague professions, which, in every court and on every occasion, compose the language of discreet ministers. The reputation of Theodoric may repose with more confidence on the visible peace and prosperity of a reign of thirty-three years; the unanimous esteem of his own times, and the memory of his wisdom and courage, his justice and humanity, which was deeply impressed on the minds of the Goths and Italians. Partition of lands. * The partition of the lands of Italy, of which Theodoric assigned the third part to his soldiers, is honourably arraigned as the sole injustice of his life. And even this act may be fairly justified by the example of Odoacer, the rights of conquest, the true interest of the Italians, and the sacred duty of subsisting a whole people, who, on the faith of his promises, had transported themselves into a mony of the Valesian Fragment (p. 718.) may justify their belief. Marcellinus spits the venom of a Greek subject-perjuriis illectus, interfectusque est (in Chron.). (23) The sonorous and servile oration of Ennodius was pronounced at Milan or Ravenna in the years 507 or 508 (Sirmond, tom. i. p. 1615.). Two or three years afterwards, the orator was rewarded with the bishopric of Pavia, which he held till his death in the year 521. (Dupin. Bibliot. Ecclés. tom. v. p. 11-14. See Saxii Onomasticon, tom. ii. p. 12.). (24) Our best materials are occasional hints from Procopius and the Valesian Fragment, which was discovered by Sirmond, and is published at the end of Ammianus Marcellinus. The author's name is unknown, and his style is barbarous; but in his various facts he exhibits the knowledge, without the passions, of a contemporary. The president Montesquieu had formed the plan of an history of Theodoric, which at a distance might appear a rich and interesting subject. (25) The best edition of the Variarum Libri xii. is that of Joh. Garretius (Rotomagi, 1679, in Opp. Cassiodor. 2 vols. in fol.); but they deserved and required such an editor as the marquis Scipio Maffei, who thought of publishing them at Verona. The Barbara Eleganza (as it is ingeniously named by Tiraboschi) is never simple, and seldom perspicuous. *Compare Gibbon, ch. xxxvi. p. 209, &c. Manso observes that this division was conducted not in a violent and irregular, but in a legal and orderly, manner. The Barbarian, who could not show a title of grant from the officers of Theodoric appointed for that purpose, or a prescriptive right of 30 years, in case he had obtained the property before the Ostrogothic conquest, was ejected from the estate. He conceives that estates too small to bear division paid a third of their produce.-Geschichte des Ost Gothischen Reiches, p. 82.-M. |