Esthonia. Those distant inhabitants of the Baltic coast were supported by the labours of agriculture, enriched by the trade of amber, and consecrated by the peculiar worship of the mother of the gods. But the scarcity of iron obliged the Estian warriors to content themselves with wooden clubs; and the reduction of that wealthy country is ascribed to the prudence, rather than to the arms, of Hermanric. His dominions, which extended from the Danube to the Baltic, included the native seats, and the recent acquisitions, of the Goths; and he reigned over the greatest part of Germany and Scythia with the authority of a conqueror, and sometimes with the cruelty of a tyrant. But he reigned over a part of the globe incapable of perpetuating and adorning the glory of its heroes. The name of Hermanric is almost buried in oblivion; his exploits are imperfectly known; and the Romans themselves appeared unconscious of the progress of an aspiring power, which threatened the liberty of the north, and the peace of the empire.*

The cause of the
Gothic war,

| by Valens, or the generals of Valens, resisted their march, prevented their retreat, and intercepted their subsistence. The fierceness of the barbarians was tamed and suspended by hunger; they indignantly threw down their arms at the feet of the conqueror, who offered them food and chains; the numerous captives were distributed in all the cities of the east; and the provincials, who were soon familiarized with their savage appearance, ventured, by degrees, to measure their own strength with these formidable adversaries, whose name had so long been the object of their terror. The king of Scythia (and Hermanric alone could deserve so lofty a title) was grieved and exasperated by this national calamity. His ambassadors loudly complained, at the court of Valens, of the infraction of the ancient and solemn alliance, which had so long subsisted between the Romans and the Goths. They alleged, that they had fulfilled the duty of allies, by assisting the kinsman and successor of the emperor Julian; they required the immediate restitution of the noble captives; and they urged a very singular claim, that the Gothic generals, marching in arms, and in hostile array, were entitled to the sacred character and privileges of ambassadors. The decent, but peremptory, refusal of these extravagant demands, was signified to the barbarians by Victor, master-general of the cavalry; who expressed, with force and dignity, the just complaints of the emperor of the cast. The negociation was interrupted; and the manly exhortations of Valentinian encouraged his timid brother to vindicate the insulted majesty of the empire.i

Hostilities and

The Goths had contracted an hereditary attachment for the imperial A. D. 366. house of Constantine, of whose power and liberality they had received so many signal proofs. They respected the public peace: and if an hostile band sometimes presumed to pass the Roman limit, their irregular conduct was candidly ascribed to the ungovernable spirit of the barbarian youth. Their contempt for two new and obscure princes, who had been raised to the throne by a popular election, inspired the Goths with bolder hopes; and, while they agitated some design of marching their confederate force under the national The splendour and magnitude of standard, they were easily tempted to embrace the this Gothic war are celebrated by a peace, A. D. 367-369. party of Procopius; and to foment, by their danger-contemporary historian: but the events ous aid, the civil discord of the Romans. The public treaty might stipulate no more than ten thousand auxiliaries; but the design was so zealously adopted by the chiefs of the Visigoths, that the army which passed the Danube amounted to the number of thirty thousand men.s They marched with the proud confidence, that their invincible valour would decide the fate of the Roman empire; and the provinces of Thrace groaned under the weight of the barbarians, who displayed the insolence of masters, and the licentiousness of enemies. But the intemperance which gratified their appe-ignorance of the art of war was compensated by tites, retarded their progress; and before the Goths could receive any certain intelligence of the defeat and death of Procopius, they perceived, by the hostile state of the country, that the civil and military powers were resumed by his successful rival. A chain of posts and fortifications, skilfully disposed e Ammianus (xxxi. 3.) observes, in general terms: Ermenrichi . nobilissimi regis, et per multa variaque fortiter facta, vicinis gentibus formidati, &c. f Valens . . . . docetur relationibus Ducum, gentem Gothorum, eâ tempestate intactam ideoque sævissimam, conspirantem in unum, ad pervadendam parari collimitia Thraciarum. Ammian. xxvi. 6.

g M. de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. vi. p. 332.) has curiously ascertained the real number of these auxiliaries. The 3,000 of Ammianus, and the 10,000 of Zosimus, were only the first divisions of the Gothic army.

h The march, and subsequent negociation, are described in the Fragments of Eunapius. (Excerpt. Legat. p. 18. edit. Louvre.) The

scarcely deserve the attention of posterity, except as the preliminary steps of the approaching decline and fall of the empire. Instead of leading the nations of Germany and Scythia to the banks of the Danube, or even to the gates of Constantinople, the aged monarch of the Goths resigned to the brave Athanaric the danger and glory of a defensive war, against an enemy, who wielded with a feeble hand the powers of a mighty state. A bridge of boats was established upon the Danube; the presence of Valens animated his troops; and his

personal bravery, and a wise deference to the ad-
vice of Victor and Arintheus, his masters-general
of the cavalry and infantry. The operations of the
campaign were conducted by their skill and expe-
rience; but they found it impossible to drive the
Visigoths from their strong posts in the mountains;
provincials, who afterwards became familiar with the barbarians, found
that their strength was more apparent than real. They were tall of
stature; but their legs were clumsy, and their shoulders were narrow.
i Valens enim, ut consulto placuerat fratri, cujus regebatur arbitrio,
arma concussit in Gothos ratione justâ permotus. Ammianus (xxvii.
4.) then proceeds to describe, not the country of the Goths, but the
peaceful and obedient province of Thrace, which was not affected by
the war.

k Eunapius, in Excerpt. Legat. p. 18, 19. The Greek sophist must have considered as one and the same war, the whole series of Gothic history till the victories and peace of Theodosius.

north.1

A. D. 374.

and the devastation of the plains obliged the Ro- | appeared to issue from the frozen regions of the mans themselves to repass the Danube on the approach of winter. The incessant rains which swelled the waters of the river, produced a tacit suspension of arms, and confined the emperor Valens, during the whole course of the ensuing summer, to his camp of Marcianapolis. The third year of the war was more favourable to the Romans, and more pernicious to the Goths. The interruption of trade deprived the barbarians of the objects of luxury, which they already confounded with the necessaries of life; and the desolation of a very extensive tract of country threatened them with the horrors of famine. Athanaric was provoked, or compelled, to risk a battle, which he lost, in the plains; and the pursuit was rendered more bloody by the cruel precaution of the victorious generals, who had promised a large reward for the head of every Goth that was brought into the imperial camp. The submission of the barbarians appeased the resentment of Valens and his council; the emperor listened with satisfaction to the flattering and eloquent remonstrance of the senate of Constantinople, which assumed, for the first time, a share in the public deliberations; and the same generals, Victor and Arintheus, who had successfully directed the conduct of the war, were empowered to regulate the conditions of peace. The freedom of trade, which the Goths had hitherto enjoyed, was restricted to two cities on the Danube; the rashness of their leaders was severely punished by the suppression of their pensions and subsidies; and the exception, which was stipulated in favour of Athanaric alone, was more advantageous than honourable to the judge of the Visigoths. Athanaric, who, on this occasion, appears to have consulted his private interest, without expecting the orders of his sovereign, supported his own dignity, and that of his tribe, in the personal interview which was proposed by the ministers of Valens. He persisted in his declaration, that it was impossible for him, without incurring the guilt of perjury, ever to set his foot on the territory of the empire; and it is more than probable, that his regard for the sanctity of an oath was confirmed by the recent and fatal examples of Roman treachery. The Danube, which separated the dominions of the two independent nations, was chosen for the scene of the conference. The emperor of the east, and the judge of the Visigoths, accompanied by an equal number of armed followers, advanced in their respective barges to the middle of the stream. After the ratification of the treaty, and the delivery of hostages, Valens returned in triumph to Constantinople; and the Goths remained in a state of tranquillity about six years; till they were violently impelled against the Roman empire by an innumerable host of Scythians, who

The Gothic war is described by Ammianus, (xxvii. 5.) Zosimus, (1. iv. p. 211–214.) and Themistius. (Orat. x. p. 129-141.) The orator Themistius was sent from the senate of Constantinople to congratulate the victorious emperor; and his servile eloquence compares Valens on

The emperor of the west, who had War of the Quadi resigned to his brother the command and Sarmatians, of the Lower Danube, reserved for his immediate care the defence of the Rhætian and Illyrian provinces, which spread so many hundred miles along the greatest of the European rivers. The active policy of Valentinian was continually employed in adding new fortifications to the security of the frontier: bat the abuse of this policy provoked the just resentment of the barbarians. The Quadi complained, that the ground for an intended fortress had been marked out on their territories; and their complaints were urged with so much reason and moderation, that Equitius, mastergeneral of Illyricum, consented to suspend the prosecution of the work, till he should be more clearly informed of the will of his sovereign. This fair occasion of injuring a rival, and of advancing the fortune of his son, was eagerly embraced by the inhuman Maximin, the præfect, or rather tyrant, of Gaul. The passions of Valentinian were impatient of control; and he credulously listened to the assurances of his favourite, that if the government of Valeria, and the direction of the work, were intrusted to the zeal of his son Marcellinus, the emperor should no longer be importuned with the audacious remonstrances of the barbarians. The subjects of Rome, and the natives of Germany, were insulted by the arrogance of a young and worthless minister, who considered his rapid elevation as the proof and reward of his superior merit. He affected, however, to receive the modest application of Gabinius, king of the Quadi, with some attention and regard: but this artful civility concealed a dark and bloody design, and the credulous prince was persuaded to accept the pressing invitation of Marcellinus. I am at a loss how to vary the narrative of similar crimes; or how to relate, that, in the course of the same year, but in remote parts of the empire, the inhospitable table of two imperial generals was stained with the royal blood of two guests and allies, inhumanly murdered by their order, and in their presence. The fate of Gabinius and of Para was the same: but the cruel death of their sovereign was resented in a very different manner by the servile temper of the Armenians, and the free and daring spirit of the Germans. The Quadi were much declined from that formidable power, which, in the time of Marcus Antoninus, had spread terror to the gates of Rome. But they still possessed arms and courage; their courage was animated by despair, and they obtained the usual reinforcement of the cavalry of their Sarmatian allies. So improvident was the assassin Marcellinus, that he chose the moment when the bravest veterans had been drawn away, to suppress the revolt of Firmus ;

the Danube, to Achilles in the Scamander. Jornandes forgets a war peculiar to the Visi-Goths, and inglorious to the Gothic name. (Mascou's Hist. of the Germans, vii. 3.)

A. D. 375.

and the whole province was exposed, with a very | till the ensuing spring. He marched feeble defence, to the rage of the exasperated bar-in person, with a considerable part of barians. They invaded Pannonia in the season of the forces of Gaul, from the banks of the Moselle ; harvest; unmercifully destroyed every object of and to the suppliant ambassadors of the Sarmatians, plunder which they could not easily transport; and who met him on the way, he returned a doubtful aneither disregarded or demolished the empty fortifi- swer, that, as soon as he reached the scene of action, cations. The princess Constantia, the daughter of he should examine, and pronounce. When he arthe emperor Constantius, and the grand-daughter rived at Sirmium, he gave audience to the deputies of the great Constantine, very narrowly escaped. of the Illyrian provinces; who loudly congratulated That royal maid, who had innocently supported the their own felicity under the auspicious government of revolt of Procopius, was now the destined wife of Probus, his prætorian præfect." Valentinian, who the heir of the western empire. She traversed the was flattered by these demonstrations of their loyalty peaceful province with a splendid and unarmed and gratitude, imprudently asked the deputy of train. Her person was saved from danger, and the Epirus, a Cynic philosopher of intrepid sincerity, republic from disgrace, by the active zeal of Mes- whether he was freely sent by the wishes of the sala, governor of the provinces. As soon as he province ? "With tears and groans am I sent was informed that the village, where she stopped (replied Iphicles) by a reluctant people." The only to dine, was almost encompassed by the bar- emperor paused: but the impunity of his ministers barians, he hastily placed her in his own chariot, established the pernicious maxim, that they might and drove full speed till he reached the gates of oppress his subjects, without injuring his service. Sirmium, which were at the distance of six-and- A strict inquiry into their conduct would have retwenty miles. Even Sirmium might not have been lieved the public discontent. The severe condemsecure, if the Quadi and Sarmatians had diligently nation of the murder of Gabinius, was the only advanced during the general consternation of the measure which could restore the confidence of the magistrates and people. Their delay allowed Pro-Germans, and vindicate the honour of the Roman bus, the prætorian præfect, sufficient time to recover his own spirits, and to revive the courage of the citizens. He skilfully directed their strenuous efforts to repair and strengthen the decayed fortifications; and procured the seasonable and effectual assistance of a company of archers, to protect the capital of the Illyrian provinces. Disappointed in their attempts against the walls of Sirmium, the indignant barbarians turned their arms against the master-general of the frontier, to whom they unjustly attributed the murder of their king. Equitius could bring into the field no more than two legions; but they contained the veteran strength of the Mæsian and Pannonian bands. The obstinacy with which they disputed the vain honours of rank and precedency, was the cause of their destruction; and, while they acted with separate forces and divided councils, they were surprised and slaughtered by the active vigour of the Sarmatian horse. The success of this invasion provoked the emulation of the bordering tribes; and the province of Mæsia would infallibly have been lost, if young Theodosius, the duke, or military commander, of the frontier, had not signalized, in the defeat of the public enemy, an intrepid genius, worthy of his illustrious father, and of his future greatness."

The mind of Valentinian, who then

The expedition, resided at Treves, was deeply affected by the calamities of Illyricum; but the lateness of the season suspended the execution of his designs

Ammianus, (xxix. 6.) and Zosimus, (1. iv. p. 219, 220.) carefully mark the origin and progress of the Quadic and Sarmatian war.

n Ammianus, (xxx. 5.) who acknowledges the merit, has censured, with becoming asperity, the oppressive administration, of Petronius Probus. When Jerom translated, and continued, the chronicle of Eusebius, (A. D. 380. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xii. p. 53, 626.) he expressed the truth, or at least the public opinion of his country, in the following words: "Probus P. P. Illyrici iniquissimis tributorum exactionibus, ante provincias quas regebat, quam a barbaris vastarentur, erasit." (Chron. edit. Scaliger, p. 187. Animadvers. p.

name. But the haughty monarch was incapable of the magnanimity which dares to acknowledge a fault. He forgot the provocation, remembered only | the injury, and advanced into the country of the Quadi with an insatiate thirst of blood and revenge. The extreme devastation, and promiscuous massacre, of a savage war, were justified in the eyes of the emperor, and perhaps in those of the world, by the cruel equity of retaliation: and such was the discipline of the Romans, and the consternation of the enemy, that Valentinian repassed the Danube without the loss of a single man. As he had resolved to complete the destruction of the Quadi by a second campaign, he fixed his winter-quarters at Bregetio, on the Danube, near the Hungarian city of Presburg. While the operations of war were suspended by the severity of the weather, the Quadi made an humble attempt to deprecate the wrath of their conqueror; and, at the earnest persuasion of Equitius, their ambassadors were introduced into the imperial council. They approached the throne with bended bodies, and dejected countenances; and, without daring to complain of the murder of their king, they affirmed, with solemn oaths, that the late invasion was the crime of some irregular robbers, which the public council of the nation condemned and abhorred. The answer of the emperor left them but little to hope from his clemency or compassion. He reviled, in the most intemperate language, their baseness, their ingratitude, their 259.) The saint afterwards formed an intimate and tender friendship with the widow of Probus; and the name of count Equitius, with less propriety, but without much injustice, has been substituted in the

text.

o Julian (Orat. vi. p. 198.) represents his friend Iphicles as a man of virtue and merit, who had made himself ridiculous and unhappy, by adopting the extravagant dress and manners of the Cynics.

p Ammian. xxx. 5. Jerom, who exaggerates the misfortune of Valentinian, refuses him even this last consolation of revenge. Genitali vastato solo, et inultam patriam derelinquens, (tom. i. p. 26.)

insolence. His eyes, his voice, his colour, his ges- | sanctified by time, religion, and the reverence of the tures, expressed the violence of his ungoverned fury; and, while his whole frame was agitated with convulsive passion, a large blood-vessel suddenly burst in his body; and Valentinian fell speechless into the arms of his attendants. Their pious care im-❘ mediately concealed his situation from the crowd; and death of Va. but, in a few minutes, the emperor of

people. At the death of his father, the royal youth was in the seventeenth year of his age; and his virtues already justified the favourable opinion of the army and people. But Gratian resided, without apprehension, in the palace of Treves; whilst, at the distance of many hundred miles, Valentinian suddenly expired in the camp of Bregetio. The passions, which had been so long suppressed by the presence of a master, immediately revived in the imperial council; and the ambitious design of reigning in the name of an infant, was artfully excouch. Valentinian was about fifty-ecuted by Mellobaudes and Equitius, who com

lentinian, the west expired in an agony of pain, retaining his senses till the last; and struggling, without success, to declare his intentions to the generals and ministers, who surrounded the royal