to inspire and direct the feeble counsels of his brother. Perhaps the method of annals would more forcibly express the urgent and divided cares of the two emperors; but the attention of the reader, likewise, would be distracted by a tedious and desultory narrative. A separate view of the five great theatres of war; I. Germany; II. Britain; III. Africa; IV. The East; and, V. The Danube; will impress a more distinct image of the military state of the empire under the reigns of Valentinian and Valens. I. GER vade Gaul, A. D. 366. I. The ambassadors of the Alemanni had been offended MANY by the harsh and haughty behaviour of Ursacius, master manni in of the offices 88; who, by an act of unseasonable parsimony, A. D. 365. had diminished the value, as well as the quantity, of the presents, to which they were entitled, either from custom or treaty, on the accession of a new emperor. They expressed, and they communicated to their countrymen, their strong sense of the national affront. The irascible minds of the chiefs were exasperated by the suspicion of contempt; and the martial youth crowded to their standard. Before Valentinian could pass the Alps, the villages of Gaul were in flames; before his general Dagalaiphus could encounter the Alemanni, they had secured the captives and the spoil in the forests of Germany. In the beginning of the enJanuary. suing year, the military force of the whole nation, in deep and solid columns, broke through the barrier of the Rhine, during the severity of a northern winter. Two Roman counts were defeated and mortally wounded; and the standard of the Heruli and Batavians fell into the hands of the conquerors, who displayed, with insulting shouts and menaces, the trophy of their victory. The standard was recovered; but the Batavians had not redeemed the shame of their disgrace and flight in the eyes of their severe judge. It was the opinion of Valentinian, that his soldiers must learn to fear their commander, before they could cease to fear the enemy. The troops were solemnly assembled; and the trembling Batavians were inclosed within the circle of the Imperial army. Valentinian then ascended his tribunal; and, as if he disdained to punish cowardice with death, he inflicted a stain of indelible ignominy on the officers, whose misconduct and pusillanimity were found to be the first occasion of the defeat. The Batavians were degraded from their rank, stripped of their arms, and condemned to be sold for slaves to the highest bidder. At this tremendous sentence the troops fell prostrate on the ground, deprecated the indignation 88 Ammian. xxvi. 5. Valesius adds a long and good note on the master of the offices. of their sovereign, and protested, that, if he would indulge them in another trial, they would approve themselves not unworthy of the name of Romans, and of his soldiers. Valentinian, with affected reluctance, yielded to their entreaties; the Batavians resumed their arms; and, with their arms, the invincible resolution of wiping away their disgrace in the blood of the Alemanni.9 The principal command was declined by Dagalaiphus; and that experienced general, who had represented, perhaps with too much prudence, the extreme difficulties of the undertaking, had the mortification, before the end of the campaign, of seeing his rival Jovinus convert those difficulties into a decisive advantage over the scattered forces of the Barbarians. At the head of a well-disciplined army of Their cavalry, infantry, and light troops, Jovinus advanced, with defeat. cautious and rapid steps, to Scarponna 90*, in the territory of Metz, where he surprised a large division of the Alemanni, before they had time to run to their arms; and flushed his soldiers with the confidence of an easy and bloodless victory. Another division, or rather army, of the enemy, after the cruel and wanton devastation of the adjacent country, reposed themselves on the shady banks of the Moselle. Jovinus, who had viewed the ground with the eye of a general, made a silent approach through a deep and woody vale, till he could distinctly perceive the indolent security of the Germans. Some were bathing their huge limbs in the river; others were combing their long and flaxen hair; others again were swallowing large draughts of rich and delicious wine. On a sudden they heard the sound of the Roman trumpet; they saw the enemy in their camp. Astonishment produced disorder; disorder was followed by flight and dismay; and the confused multitude of the bravest warriors was pierced by the swords and javelins of the legionaries and auxiliaries. The fugitives escaped to the third, and most considerable, camp, in the Catalaunian plains, near Chalons in Champagne: the straggling detachments were hastily recalled to their standard; and the Barbarian chiefs, alarmed and admonished by the fate of their companions, prepared to encounter, in a decisive battle, the victorious forces of the lieutenant of Valentinian. The bloody and obstinate conflict lasted a whole summer's day, with SO Ammian. xxvii. 1. Zosimus, 1. iv. p. 208. The disgrace of the Batavians is suppressed by the contemporary soldier, from a regard for military honour, which could not affect a Greek rhetorician of the succeeding age. 90 See D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 587. The name of the Moselle, which is not specified by Ammianus, is clearly understood by Mascou (Hist. of the Ancient Germans, vii. 2.). * Charpeigne on the Moselle. Mannert.-M. July. Six equal valour, and with alternate success. The Romans at length prevailed, with the loss of about twelve hundred men. thousand of the Alemanni were slain, four thousand were wounded; and the brave Jovinus, after chasing the flying remnant of their host as far as the banks of the Rhine, returned to Paris, to receive the applause of his sovereign, and the ensigns of the consulship for the ensuing year.91 The triumph of the Romans was indeed sullied by their treatment of the captive king, whom they hung on a gibbet, without the knowledge of their indignant general. This disgraceful act of cruelty, which might be imputed to the fury of the troops, was followed by the deliberate murder of Withicab, the son of Vadomair; a German prince, of a weak and sickly constitution, but of a daring and formidable spirit. The domestic assassin was instigated and protected by the Romans 92; and the violation of the laws of humanity and justice betrayed their secret apprehension of the weakness of the declining empire. The use of the dagger is seldom adopted in public councils, as long as they retain any confidence in the power of the sword. Valentinian passes and Rhine, A. D. 368. While the Alemanni appeared to be humbled by their recent calamities, the pride of Valentinian was mortified fortifies the by the unexpected surprisal of Moguntiacum, or Mentz, the principal city of the Upper Germany. In the unsuspicious moment of a Christian festival*, Rando, a bold and artful chieftain, who had long meditated his attempt, suddenly passed the Rhine; entered the defenceless town, and retired with a multitude of captives of either sex. Valentinian resolved to execute severe vengeance on the whole body of the nation. Count Sebastian, with the bands of Italy and Illyricum, was ordered to invade their country, most probably on the side of Rhætia. The emperor in person, accompanied by his son Gratian, passed the Rhine at the head of a formidable army, which was supported on both flanks by Jovinus and Severus, the two masters-general of the cavalry and infantry of the West. The Alemanni, unable to prevent the devastation of their villages, fixed their camp on a lofty, and almost inaccessible, mountain, in the modern duchy of Wirtemberg, and resolutely expected the approach of the Romans. The life of Valentinian was exposed to imminent danger by the intrepid curiosity with which he persisted to explore some secret 91 The battles are described by Ammianus (xxvii. 2.), and by Zosimus (1. iv. p. 209.); who supposes Valentinian to have been present. 92 Studio solicitante nostrorum, occubuit. * Probably Easter. Ammian. xxvii. 10. Wagner.-M. and unguarded path. A troop of Barbarians suddenly rose from their ambuscade: and the emperor, who vigorously spurred his horse down a steep and slippery descent, was obliged to leave behind him his armour-bearer, and his helmet, magnificently enriched with gold and precious stones. At the signal of the general assault, the Roman troops encompassed and ascended the mountain of Solicinium on three different sides.* Every step which they gained, increased their ardour, and abated the resistance of the enemy and after their united forces had occupied the summit of the hill, they impetuously urged the Barbarians down the northern descent, where count Sebastian was posted to intercept their retreat. After this signal victory, Valentinian returned to his winter quarters at Treves; where he indulged the public joy by the exhibition of splendid and triumphal games.93 But the wise monarch, instead of aspiring to the conquest of Germany, confined his attention to the important and laborious defence of the Gallic frontier, against an enemy whose strength was renewed by a stream of daring volunteers, which incessantly flowed from the most distant tribes of the North.94 The banks of the 93 The expedition of Valentinian is related by Ammianus (xxvii. 10.); and celebrated by Ausonius (Mosell. 421, &c.), who foolishly supposes, that the Romans were ignorant of the sources of the Danube. 94 Immanis enim natio, jam inde ab incunabulis primis varietate casuum imminuta ; ita sæpius adolescit, ut fuisse longis sæculis æstimetur intacta. Ammian, xxviii. 5. The count de Buat (Hist, des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. vi. p. 370.) ascribes the fecundity of the Alemanni to their easy adoption of strangers. † "thirty years. The propriety and even "the necessity of applying this rate of "increase to the inhabitants of ancient 66 Germany, will strikingly appear from "that most valuable picture of their manners which has been left us by Tacitus "(Tac. de Mor. Germ. 16. to 20.) "With these manners, and a habit of en"terprise and emigration, which would "naturally remove all fears about pro"viding for a family, it is difficult to con"ceive a society with a stronger principle "of increase in it, and we see at once that "prolific source of armies and colonies "against which the force of the Roman "empire so long struggled with difficulty, "and under which it ultimately sunk. It is not probable that, for two periods to"gether, or even for one, the population "within the confines of Germany ever "doubled itself in twenty-five years. Their "perpetual wars, the rude state of agri"culture, and particularly the very strange "custom adopted by most of the tribes of "marking their barriers by extensive de * Rhine from its source to the straits of the ocean, were closely planted with strong castles and convenient towers; new works, and new arms, were invented by the ingenuity of a prince who was skilled in the mechanical arts; and his numerous levies of Roman and Barbarian youth were severely trained in all the exercises of The progress of the work, which was sometimes opposed by modest representations, and sometimes by hostile attempts, secured the tranquillity of Gaul during the nine subsequent years of the administration of Valentinian.95 war. The Burgundians, That prudent emperor, who diligently practised the A. D. 371. wise maxims of Diocletian, was studious to foment and excite the intestine divisions of the tribes of Germany. About the middle of the fourth century, the countries, perhaps of Lusace and Thuringia, on either side of the Elbe, were occupied by the vague dominion of the BURGUNDIANS; a warlike and numerous peoplet, of the Vandal race 96, whose obscure name insensibly swelled into a powerful kingdom, and has finally settled on a flourishing province. The most remarkable circumstance in the ancient manners of the Burgundians, appears to have been the difference of their civil and ecclesiastical constitution. The appellation of Hendinos was given to the king or general, and the title of Sinistus to the high-priest, of the nation. The person of the priest was sacred, and his dignity perpetual; but the temporal government was held by a very precarious tenure. If the events of war accused the courage or conduct of the king, he was immediately deposed; and the injustice of his subjects made him re 95 Ammian. xxviii. 2. Zosimus, 1. iv. p. 214. The younger Victor mentions the mechanical genius of Valentinian, nova arma meditari; fingere terrâ seu limo simulacra. 96 Bellicosos et pubis immensæ viribus affluentes; et ideo metuendos finitimis universis. Ammian. xxviii. 5. "serts, would prevent any very great "actual increase of numbers. At no one "period could the country be called well "peopled, though it was often redundant "in population. * Instead of clearing "their forests, draining their swamps, and "rendering their soil fit to support an ex"tended population, they found it more "congenial to their martial habits and im"patient dispositions to go in quest of "food, of plunder, or of glory, into other "countries." Malthus on Population, i. p. 128.-G. The course of the wise strongly guarded. eulogy of Symmachus Necker was like- Necker first became known to the Romans by the conquests and fortifications of Valentinian. Nunc primum victoriis tuis externus fluvius publicatur. Gaudeat servitute, captivus innotuit. Symm. Orat. p. 22. — M. According to the general opinion the Burgundians formed a Gothic or Vandalic tribe, who from the banks of the lower Vistula, made incursions, on one side towards Transylvania, on the other towards the centre of Germany. All that remains of the Burgundian language is Gothic. Nothing in their customs indicates a different origin. Malte Brun, Geog. tom. i. p. 396. (edit. 1831). — M. * |