civilized nation below the condition of savage cannibals. Several hundred, perhaps several thousand, victims, were annually slaughtered in the great cities of the empire; and the month of December, more peculiarly devoted to the combats of gladiators, still exhibited to the eyes of the Roman people a grateful spectacle of blood and cruelty. Amidst the general joy of the victory of Pollentia, a christian poet exhorted the emperor to extirpate, by his authority, the horrid custom which had so long resisted the voice of humanity and religion.1 The pathetic representations of Prudentius were less effectual than the generous boldness of Telemachus, an Asiatic monk, whose death was more useful to mankind than his life." The Romans were provoked by the interruption of their pleasures; and the rash monk, who had descended into the arena, to separate the gladiators, was overwhelmed under a shower of stones. But the madness of the people soon subsided; they respected the memory of Telemachus, who had deserved the honours of martyrdom; and they submitted, without a murmur, to the laws of Honorius, which abolished for ever the human sacrifices of the amphitheatre. The citizens, who adhered to the manners of their ancestors, might perhaps insinuate, that the last remains of a martial spirit were preserved in this school of fortitude, which accustomed the Romans to the sight of blood, and to the contempt of death: a vain and cruel prejudice, so nobly confuted by the valour of ancient Greece, and of modern Europe!" Honorius fixes his residence at Ravenna, A. D. 404. The recent danger, to which the person of the emperor had been exposed in the defenceless palace of Milan, urged him to seek a retreat in some inaccessible fortress of Italy, where he might securely remain, while the open country was covered by a deluge of barbarians. On the coast of the Hadriatic, about ten or twelve miles from the most southern of the seven mouths of the Po, the Thessalians had founded the ancient colony of RAVENNA, which they afterwards resigned to the natives of Umbria. Augustus, who had observed the opportunity of the place, prepared, at the distance of three miles from the old town, a capacious harbour, for the reception of two hundred and fifty ships of war. This naval establishment, which included the arsenals and magazines, the barracks of the troops, and the houses of the artificers, derived its origin and name from the permanent station of the Roman fleet; the intermediate space was soon filled with buildings 1 See the peroration of Prudentius, (in Symmach. 1. ii. 1121-1131.) who had doubtless read the eloquent invective of Lactantius. (Divin. Institut. 1. vi. c. 20.) The christian apologists have not spared these bloody games, which were introduced in the religious festivals of paganism. m Theodoret, 1. v. c. 26. I wish to believe the story of St. Telemachus. Yet no church has been dedicated, no altar has been erected, to the only monk who died a martyr in the cause of humanity. n Crudele gladiatorum spectaculum et inhumanum nonnullis videri solet, et haud scio an ita sit, ut nune fit. Cicero Tusculan. ii. 17. He faintly censures the abuse, and warmly defends the use, of these sports; oculis nulla poterat esse fortior contra dolorem et mortem disciplina. Seneca (epist. vii.) shows the feelings of a man. o This account of Ravenna is drawn from Strabo, (1. v. p. 327.) Pliny, (iii. 20.) Stephen of Byzantium, (sub voce Paßevva, p. 651. edit. Berkl.) Claudian, (in vi Cons. Honor. 494, &c.) Sidonius Apollinaris, and inhabitants, and the three extensive and populous quarters of Ravenna gradually contributed to form one of the most important cities of Italy. The principal canal of Augustus poured a copious stream of the waters of the Po through the midst of the city, to the entrance of the harbour; the same waters were introduced into the profound ditches that encompassed the walls; they were distributed, by a thousand subordinate canals, into every part of the city, which they divided into a variety of small islands; the communication was maintained only by the use of boats and bridges; and the houses of Ravenna, whose appearance may be compared to that of Venice, were raised on the foundation of wooden piles. The adjacent country, to the distance of many miles, was a deep and impassable morass; and the artificial causeway, which connected Ravenna with the continent, might be easily guarded, or destroyed, on the approach of an hostile army. These morasses were interspersed, however, with vineyards; and though the soil was exhausted by four or five crops, the town enjoyed a more plentiful supply of wine than of fresh water. The air, instead of receiving the sickly, and almost pestilential, exhalations of low and marshy grounds, was distinguished, like the neighbourhood of Alexandria, as uncommonly pure and salubrious; and this singular advantage was ascribed to the regular tides of the Hadriatic, which swept the canals, interrupted the unwholesome stagnation of the waters, and floated, every day, the vessels of the adjacent country into the heart of Ravenna. The gradual retreat of the sea has left the modern city at the distance of four miles from the Hadriatic; and as early as the fifth or sixth century of the Christian æra, the port of Augustus was converted into pleasant orchards; and a lonely grove of pines covered the ground where the Roman fleet once rode at anchor. Even this alteration contributed to increase the natural strength of the place; and the shallowness of the water was a sufficient barrier against the large ships of the enemy. This advantageous situation was fortified by art and labour; and in the twentieth year of his age, the emperor of the west, anxious only for his personal safety, retired to the perpetual confinement of the walls and morasses of Ravenna. The example of Honorius was imitated by his feeble successors, the Gothic kings, and afterwards the exarchs, who occupied the throne and palace of the emperors; and, till the middle of the eighth century, Ravenna was considered (1. i. epist. 5. 8.) Jornandes, (de Reb. Get. c. 29.) Procopius, (de Bell Gothic. I. i. c. 1. p. 309. edit. Louvre,) and Cluverius, (Ital. Antiq. tom. i. p. 301-307.) Yet I still want a local antiquarian, and a good topographical map. p Martial (epigram iii. 56, 57.) plays on the trick of the knave, who had sold him wine instead of water; but he seriously declares, that cistern at Ravenna is more valuable than a vineyard. Sidonius com plains that the town is destitute of fountains and aqueducts; and ranks the want of fresh water among the local evils, such as the croaking of frogs, the stinging of gnats, &c. The fable of Theodore and Honoria, which Dryden has so admira bly transplanted from Boccaccio, (Giornata, iii. novell. vii.) was acted in the wood of Chiassi, a corrupt word from Classis, the naval station which, with the intermediate road, or suburb, the Via Cæsaris, co stituted the triple city of Ravenna. as the seat of government, and the capital of | during the summer, on the fruitful banks of the Italy.' The revolutions of Scythia, A. D. 400. The fears of Honorius were not without foundation, nor were his precautions without effect. While Italy rejoiced in her deliverance from the Goths, a furious tempest was excited among the nations of Germany, who yielded to the irresistible impulse that appears to have been gradually communicated from the eastern extremity of the continent of Asia. The Chinese annals, as they have been interpreted by the learned industry of the present age, may be usefully applied to reveal the secret and remote causes of the fall of the Roman empire. The extensive territory to the north of the great wall was possessed, after the flight of the Huns, by the victorious Sienpi; who were sometimes broken into independent tribes, and sometimes re-united under a supreme chief; till at length styling themselves Topa, or masters of the earth, they acquired a more solid consistence, and a more formidable power. The Topa soon compelled the pastoral nations of the eastern desert to acknowledge the superiority of their arms; they invaded China in a period of weakness and intestine discord; and these fortunate Tartars, adopting the laws and manners of the vanquished people, founded an imperial dynasty, which reigned near one hundred and sixty years over the northern provinces of the monarchy. Some generations before they ascended the throne of China, one of the Topa princes had enlisted in his cavalry a slave of the name of Moko, renowned for his valour; but who was tempted, by the fear of punishment, to desert his standard, and to range the desert at the head of a hundred followers. This gang of robbers and outlaws swelled into a camp, a tribe, a numerous people, distinguished by the appellation of Geougen; and their hereditary chieftains, the posterity of Moko the slave, assumed their rank among the Scythian monarchs. The youth of Toulun, the greatest of his descendants, was exercised by those misfortunes which are the school of heroes. He bravely struggled with adversity, broke the imperious yoke of the Topa, and became the legislator of his nation, and the conqueror of Tartary. His troops were distributed into regular bands of a hundred and of a thousand men; cowards were stoned to death; the most splendid honours were proposed as the reward of valour; and Toulun, who had knowledge enough to despise the learning of China, adopted only such arts and institutions as were favourable to the military spirit of his government. His tents, which he removed in the winter season to a more southern latitude, were pitched, From the year 404, the dates of the Theodosian Code become se dentary at Constantinople and Ravenna. of the Laws, tom. i. p. cxlviii, &c. See Godefroy's Chronology See M. de Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 179–189. tom. ii. p. 295. 334-338. Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. 1. i. c. iii. p. 182.) has observed an emigration from the Palus Mæotis to the north of Germany, which he ascribes to famine. But his views of ancient history are strangely darkened by ignorance and error. Zosimus (1. v. p. 331.) uses the general description of the nations beyond the Danube and the Rhine. Their situation, and consequently Selinga. His conquests stretched from Corea far beyond the river Irtish. He vanquished, in the country to the north of the Caspian sea, the nation of the Huns; and the new title of Khan, or Cagan, expressed the fame and power which he derived from this memorable victory. the northern Germans, A. D. 405. The chain of events is interrupted, Emigration of or rather is concealed, as it passes from the Volga to the Vistula, through the dark interval which separates the extreme limits of the Chinese, and of the Roman, geography. Yet the temper of the barbarians, and the experience of successive emigrations, sufficiently declare, that the Huns, who were oppressed by the arms of the Geougen, soon withdrew from the presence of an insulting victor. The countries towards the Euxine were already occupied by their kindred tribes; and their hasty flight, which they soon converted into a bold attack, would more naturally be directed towards the rich and level plains, through which the Vistula gently flows into the Baltic sea. The north must again have been alarmed and agitated by the invasion of the Huns; and the nations who retreated before them must have pressed with incumbent weight on the confines of Germany. The inhabitants of these regions, which the ancients have assigned to the Suevi, the Vandals, and the Burgundians, might embrace the resolution of abandoning to the fugitives of Sarmatia their woods and morasses; or at least of discharging their superfluous numbers on the provinces of the Roman empire." About four years after the victorious Toulun had assumed the title of Khan of the Geougen, another barbarian, the haughty Rhodogast, or Radagaisus, marched from the northern extremities of Germany almost to the gates of Rome, and left the remains of his army to achieve the destruction of the west. The Vandals, the Suevi, and the Burgundians, formed the strength of this mighty host; but the Alani, who had found an hospitable reception in their new seats, added their active cavalry to the heavy infantry of the Germans; and the Gothic adventurers crowded so eagerly to the standard of Radagaisus, that, by some historians, he has been styled the King of the Goths. Twelve thousand warriors, distinguished above the vulgar by their noble birth, or their valiant deeds, glittered in the van ; and the whole multitude, which was not less than two hundred thousand fighting men, might be increased, by the accession of women, of children, and of slaves, to the amount of four hundred thousand persons. This formidable emigration issued from the same their names, are manifestly shown, even in the various epithets which each ancient writer may have casually added. xThe name of Rhadagast was that of a local deity of the Obotrites, (in Mecklenburgh.) A hero might naturally assume the appellation of his tutelar god; but it is not probable that the barbarians should wor ship an unsuccessful hero. See Mascou, Hist. of the Germans, viii. 14. y Olympiodorus (apud Photium, p. 180.) uses the Greek word, OTTIμATO; which does not convey any precise idea. I suspect that they were the princes and nobles, with their faithful companions; the knights with their squires, as they would have been styled some cen turies afterwards. coast of the Baltic, which had poured forth the | The king of the confederate Germans passed, withmyriads of the Cimbri and Teutones, to assault Rome and Italy in the vigour of the republic, After the departure of those barbarians, their native country, which was marked by the vestiges of their greatness, long ramparts, and gigantic moles," remained, during some ages, a vast and dreary solitude; till the human species was renewed by the powers of generation, and the vacancy was filled by the influx of new inhabitants. The nations who now usurp an extent of land, which they are unable to cultivate, would soon be assisted by the industrious poverty of their neighbours, if the government of Europe did not protect the claims of dominion and property. rence, out resistance, the Alps, the Po, and the Apennine; might escape the knowledge of the court of Ra-soldier, the leader of a disciplined army; who venna; till the dark cloud, which was collected along the coast of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the Upper Danube. The emperor of the west, if his ministers disturbed his amusements by the news of the impending danger, was satisfied with being the occasion, and the spectator, of the war. The safety of Rome was intrusted to the counsels, and the sword, of Stilicho; but such was the feeble and exhausted state of the empire, that it was impossible to restore the fortifications of the Danube, or to prevent, by a vigorous effort, the invasion of the Germans. The hopes of the vigilant minister of Honorius were confined to the defence of Italy. He once more abandoned the provinces, recalled the troops, pressed the new levies, which were rigorously exacted, and pusillanimously eluded; employed the most efficacious means to arrest, or allure, the deserters; and offered the gift of freedom, and of two pieces of gold, to all the slaves who would enlist.c By these efforts he painfully collected, from the subjects of a great empire, an army of thirty or forty thousand men, which, in the days of Scipio or Camillus, would have been instantly furnished by the free citizens of the territory of Rome. The thirty legions of Stilicho were reinforced by a large body of barbarian auxiliaries; the faithful Alani were personally attached to his scrvice; and the troops of Huns and of Goths, who marched under the banners of their native princes, Huldin and Sarus, were animated by interest and resentment to oppose the ambition of Radagaisus. z Tacit. de Moribus Germanorum, c. 37. Cujus agendi Spectator vel causa fui. a - Claudian, vi. Cons. Hon. 439. is the modest language of Honorius, in speaking of the Gothic war, which he had seen somewhat nearer. b Zosimus (1. v. p. 331.) transports the war, and the victory of Stilicho, beyond the Danube. A strange error, which is awkwardly and imperfectly cured, by reading Apvor for Ispov. (Tillemont, Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p. 807.) In good policy, we must use the service of Zosimus, without esteeming or trusting him. c Codex Theodos. 1. vii. tit. xiii. leg. 16. The date of this law (A. D. 406. May 18.) satisfies me, as it had done Godefroy, (tom. ii. p. 387.) of the true year of the invasion of Radagaisus. Tillemont, Pagi, and Muratori, prefer the preceding year; but they are bound, by certain obligations of civility and respect, to St. Paulinus of Nola. d Soon after Rome had been taken by the Gauls, the senate, on a sudden emergency, armed ten legions, 3,000 horse, and 42,000 foot; a force which the city could not have sent forth under Augustus. (Livy, Rome. understood the laws of war, who respected the struction of his army by Stilicho, A. D. 406. Florence was reduced to the last Defeat and deextremity; and the fainting courage of the citizens was supported only by the authority of St. Ambrose, who had communicated, in a dream, the promise of a speedy deliverance. On a sudden, they beheld, from their walls, the banners of Stilicho, who advanced, with his united force, to the relief of the faithful city; vii. 25.) This declaration may puzzle an antiquary, but it is clearly explained by Montesquieu. Machiavel has explained, at least as a philosopher, the origin of Florence, which insensibly descended, for the benefit of trade, from the rock of Fasule to the banks of the Arno. (Istoria Florentin, tom. i. ii. p. 36. Londra, 1747.) The triumvirs sent a colony to Florence, which, under Tiberius, (Tacit. Annal. i. 79.) deserved the reputation and name of a flourishing city. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. tom. i. P. 507, &c. 'Yet the Jupiter of Radagaisus, who worshipped Thor and Woden, was very different from the Olympic or Capitoline Jove. The accom modating temper of polytheism might unite those various and remote deities; but the genuine Romans abhorred the human sacrifices of Gaul and Germany. g Paulínus (in Vit. Ambros. c. 50.) relates this story, which he received from the mouth of Pansophia herself, a religious matron of Florence. Yet the archbishop soon ceased to take an active part in the business of the world, and never became a popular saint. and who soon marked that fatal spot for the grave of the barbarian host. The apparent contradictions of those writers who variously relate the defeat of Radagaisus, may be reconciled, without offering much violence to their respective testimonies. Orosius and Augustin, who were intimately connected by friendship and religion, ascribe this miraculous victory to the providence of God, rather than to the valour of man. They strictly exclude every idea of chance, or even of bloodshed; and positively affirm, that the Romans, whose camp was the scene of plenty and idleness, enjoyed the distress of the barbarians, slowly expiring on the sharp and barren ridge of the hills of Fæsulæ, which rise above the city of Florence. Their extravagant assertion, that not a single soldier of the christian army was killed, or even wounded, may be dismissed with silent contempt; but the rest of the narrative of Augustin and Orosius is consistent with the state of the war, and the character of Stilicho. Conscious that he commanded the last army of the republic, his prudence would not expose it, in the open field, to the headstrong fury of the Germans. The method of surrounding the enemy with strong lines of circumvallation, which he had twice employed against the Gothic king, was repeated on a larger scale, and with more considerable effect. The examples of Cæsar must have been familiar to the most illiterate of the Roman warriors; and the fortifications of Dyrrachium, which connected twenty-four castles, by a perpetual ditch and rampart of fifteen miles, afforded the model of an intrenchment which might confine, and starve, the most numerous host of barbarians. The Roman troops had less degenerated from the industry, than from the valour, of * their ancestors; and if the servile and laborious work offended the pride of the soldiers, Tuscany could supply many thousand peasants, who would labour, though, perhaps, they would not fight, for the salvation of their native country. The impri#soned multitude of horses and menk was gradually destroyed by famine, rather than by the sword; but the Romans were exposed, during the progress of such an extensive work, to the frequent attacks of an impatient enemy. The despair of the hungry barbarians would precipitate them against the fortifications of Stilicho; the general might sometimes indulge the ardour of his brave auxiliaries, who eagerly pressed to assault the camp of the Germans; and these various incidents might produce 2 i Franguntur montes, planumque per ardua Cæsar Yet the simplicity of truth (Cæsar, de Bell. Civ. iii. 44.) is far greater than the amplifications of Lucan. (Pharsal. I. vi. 29-63.) The thetorical expressions of Orosius," In arido et aspero montis jugo;"" in unum ac parvum verticem;" are not very suitable to the encampment of a great army. But Fasulæ, only three miles from Florence, might afford space for the head-quarters of Radagaisus, and would be comprehended within the circuit of the Roman lines. the sharp and bloody conflicts which dignify the narrative of Zosimus, and the Chronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus. A seasonable supply of men and provisions had been introduced into the walls of Florence, and the famished host of Radagaisus was in its turn besieged. The proud monarch of so many warlike nations, after the loss of his bravest warriors, was reduced to confide either in the faith of a capitulation, or in the clemency of Stilicho. But the death of the royal captive, who was ignominiously beheaded, disgraced the triumph of Rome and of christianity; and the short delay of his execution was sufficient to brand the conqueror with the guilt of cool and deliberate cruelty." The famished Germans, who escaped the fury of the auxiliaries, were sold as slaves, at the contemptible price of as many single pieces of gold; but the difference of food and climate swept away great numbers of those unhappy strangers; and it was observed, that the inhuman purchasers, instead of reaping the fruits of their labour, were soon obliged to provide the expense of their interment. Stilicho informed the emperor and the senate of his success; and deserved, a second time, the glorious title of Deliverer of Italy." invade Gaul, A. D. 406. The fame of the victory, and more The remainder especially of the miracle, has en- of the Germans couraged a vain persuasion, that the whole army, or rather nation, of Germans, who migrated from the shores of the Baltic, miserably perished under the walls of Florence. Such indeed was the fate of Radagaisus himself, of his brave and faithful companions, and of more than one third of the various multitude of Sueves and Vandals, of Alani and Burgundians, who adbered to the standard of their general.P The union of such an army might excite our surprise, but the causes of separation are obvious and forcible; the pride of birth, the insolence of valour, the jealousy of command, the impatience of subordination, and the obstinate conflict of opinions, of interests, and of passions, among so many kings and warriors, who were untaught to yield, or to obey. After the defeat of Radagaisus, two parts of the German host, which must have exceeded the number of one hundred thousand men, still remained in arms, between the Apennine and the Alps, or between the Alps and the Danube. It is uncertain whether they attempted to revenge the death of their general; but their irregular fury was soon diverted by the 1 See Zosimus, 1. v. p. 331. and the Chronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus. m Olympiodorus (apud Photium, p. 180.) uses an expression (πpoσПTαipioaтo) which would denote a strict and friendly alliance, and render Stilicho still more criminal. The paulisper detentus, deinde interfectus, of Orosius, is sufficiently odious. n Orosius, piously inhuman, sacrifices the king and people, Agag and the Amalekites, without a symptom of compassion. The bloody actor is less detestable than the cool unfeeling historian. And Claudian's muse, was she asleep? had she been ill paid! Methinks the seventh consulship of Honorius (A. D. 407.) would have furnished the subject of a noble poem. Before it was discovered that the state could no longer be saved, Stilicho (after Romulus, Camillus, and Marius) might have been worthily surnamed the fourth founder of Rome. PA luminous passage of Prosper's Chronicle, "In tres partes, per diversos principes, divisus exercitus," reduces the miracle of Florence, and connects the history of Italy, Gaul, and Germany. prudence and firmness of Stilicho, who opposed their march, and facilitated their retreat; who considered the safety of Rome and Italy as the great object of his care, and who sacrificed, with too much indifference, the wealth and tranquillity of the distant provinces. The barbarians acquired, from the junction of some Pannonian deserters, the knowledge of the country, and of the roads; and the invasion of Gaul, which Alaric had designed, was executed by the remains of the great army of Radagaisus. Yet if they expected to derive any assistance from the tribes of Germany, who inhabited the banks of the Rhine, their hopes were disappointed. The Alemanni preserved a state of inactive neutrality; and the Franks distinguished their zeal and courage in the defence of the empire. In the rapid progress down the Rhine, which was the first act of the administration of Stilicho, he had applied himself, with peculiar attention, to secure the alliance of the warlike Franks, and to remove the irreconcilable enemies of peace and of the republic. Marcomir, one of their kings, was publicly convicted, before the tribunal of the Roman magistrate, of violating the faith of treaties. He was sentenced to a mild, but distant, exile, in the province of Tuscany; and this degradation of the regal dignity was so far from exciting the resentment of his subjects, that they punished with death the turbulent Sunno, who attempted to revenge his brother; and maintained a dutiful allegiance to the princes, who were established on the throne by the choice of Stilicho. When the limits of Gaul and Germany were shaken by the northern emigration, the Franks bravely encountered the single force of the Vandals; who, regardless of the lessons of adversity, had again separated their troops from the standard of their barbarian allies. They paid the penalty of their rashness; and twenty thousand Vandals, with their king Godigisclus, were slain in the field of battle. The whole people must have been extirpated, if the squadrons of the Alani, advancing to their relief, had not trampled down the infantry of the Franks; who, after an honourable resistance, were compelled to relinquish the unequal contest. The victorious confederates pursued their march, and on the last day of the year, in a season when the waters of the Rhine were most probably frozen, they entered, Orosius and Jerom positively charge him with instigating the invasion. "Excitatæ a Stilichone gentes," &c. They must mean indirectly. He saved Italy at the expense of Gaul. The count de Buat is satisfied, that the Germans who invaded Gaul were the two-thirds that yet remained of the army of Radagaisus. See the Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l'Europe; (tom. vii. p. 87 -121. Paris, 1772.) an elaborate work, which I had not the advantage of perusing till the year 1777. As early as 1771, I find the same idea expressed in a rough draught of the present History. I have since observed a similar intimation in Mascou, (viii. 15.) Such agreement, without mutual communication, may add some weight to our common sentiment. Expellet citius fasces, quam Francia reges Claudian (i Cons. Stil. 1. i. 235, &c.) is clear and satisfactory. These kings of France are unknown to Gregory of Tours; but the author of the Gesta Francorum mentions both Sunno and Marcomir, and names the latter as the father of Pharamond, (in tom. ii. p. 543.) He seems to write from good materials, which he did not understand. t See Zosimus, (1. vi. p. 373.) Orosius, (1. vii. c. 40. p. 576.) and the Chronicles. Gregory of Tours (1. ii. c. 9. p. 165. in the second volume A. D. 407, &c. While the peace of Germany was Desolation of secured by the attachment of the Gaul, Franks, and the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of their approaching calamities, enjoyed the state of quiet and prosperity, which had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and herds were permitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians; their huntsmen penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the Hercynian wood." The banks of the Rhine were crowned, like those of the Tiber, with elegant houses, and well-cultivated farms; and if a poet descended the river, he might express his doubt, on which side was situated the territory of the Romans. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly changed into a desert, and the prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the desolation of man. The flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand christians were inhumanly massacred in the church. Worms perished after a long and obstinate siege; Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras, Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the German yoke; and the consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was delivered to the barbarians, who drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and altars. The ecclesiastics, to whom we are indebted for this vague description of the public calamities, embraced the opportunity of exhorting the christians to repent of the sins which had provoked the Divine Justice, and to renounce the perishable goods of a wretched and deceitful world. But as the Pelagian controversy. which attempts to sound the abyss of grace and preof the Historians of France) has preserved a valuable fragment of Re natus Profuturus Frigeridus, whose three names denote a christian, a Roman subject, and a semi-barbarian. u Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. I. i. 221, &c. l. ii. 186) describes the peace and prosperity of the Gallic frontier. The Abbé Dubois (Hist Critique, &c. tom. i. p. 174.) would read Alba (a nameless rivulet of the Ardennes) instead of Albis; and expatiates on the danger of the Gallie cattle grazing beyond the Elbe. Foolish enough! In poetical geography, the Etbe, and the Hercynian, signify any river, or any wood, in Germany. Claudian is not prepared for the strict exami nation of our antiquaries. x Geminasque viator Cum videat ripas, quae sit Romana requirat. y Jerom, tom. i. p. 93. See in the first vol. of the Historians of France, p. 777. 782. the proper extracts from the Carmen de Providen tiâ Divina, and Salvian. The anonymous poet was himself a captive, with his bishop and fellow-citizens. z The Pelagian doctrine, which was first agitated A. D. 405. was com demned, in the space of ten years, at Rome and Carthage. St. Angus fought and conquered: but the Greek church was favourable to his ad versaries; and (what is singular enough) the people did not take any part in a dispute which they could not understand. |