They penetrate into Thrace.

instantly resolved, and the resolution was executed without delay: the banners of the nation were displayed according to the custom of their ancestors; and the air resounded with the harsh and mournful music of the Barbarian trumpet (71). The weak and guilty Lupicinus, who had dared to provoke, who had neglected to destroy, and who still presumed to despise, his formidable enemy, marched against the Goths, at the head of such a military force as could be collected on this sudden emergency. The Barbarians expected his approach about nine miles from Marcianopolis; and on this occasion the talents of the general were found to be of more prevailing efficacy than the weapons and discipline of the troops. The valour of the Goths was so ably directed by the genius of Fritigern, that they broke, by a close and vigorous attack, the ranks of the Roman legions. Lupicinus left his arms and standards, his tribunes and his bravest soldiers, on the field of battle; and their useless courage served only to protect the ignominious flight of their leader. "That successful day put an end to the distress of "the Barbarians, and the security of the Romans: from that day, "the Goths, renouncing the precarious condition of strangers and "exiles, assumed the character of citizens and masters, claimed an "absolute dominion over the possessors of land, and held, in their "own right, the northern provinces of the empire, which are "bounded by the Danube." Such are the words of the Gothic historian (72), who celebrates, with rude eloquence, the glory of his countrymen. But the dominion of the Barbarians was exercised only for the purposes of rapine and destruction. As they had been deprived, by the ministers of the emperor, of the common benefits of nature, and the fair intercourse of social life, they retaliated the injustice on the subjects of the empire; and the crimes of Lupicinus were expiated by the ruin of the peaceful husbandmen of Thrace, the conflagration of their villages, and the massacre, or captivity, of their innocent families. The report of the Gothic victory was soon diffused over the adjacent country; and while it filled the minds of the Romans with terror and dismay, their own hasty imprudence contributed to increase the forces of Fritigern, and the calamities of the province. Some time before the great emigration, a numerous body of Goths, under the command of Suerid and

(71) Vexillis de more sublatis, auditisque triste sonantibus classicis. Ammian. xxxi. 5. These are the rauca cornua of Claudian (in Rufin. ii. 57.), the large horns of the Uri, or wild bull; such as have been more recently used by the Swiss Cantons of Uri and Underwald (Simler, de Republica Helvet. 1. ii. p. 201. edit. Fuselin. Tigur. 1734.). Their military horn is finely, though perhaps casually, introduced in an original narrative of the battle of Nancy (A. D. 1477.). "Attendant le "combat le dit cor fut corné par trois fois, tant que le vent du souffleur pouvoit durer : ce qui "esbahit fort Monsieur de Bourgoigne; car déjà à Morat l'avoit ouy." (See the Pièces Justificatives in the 4to edition of Philippe de Comines, tom. iii. p. 493.).

(72) Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 26. p. 648. edit. Grot. These splendidi panni (they are comparatively such) are undoubtedly transcribed from the larger histories of Priscus, Ablavius, or Cassiodorus.

Colias, had been received into the protection and service of the empire (73). They were encamped under the walls of Hadrianople: but the ministers of Valens were anxious to remove them beyond the Hellespont, at a distance from the dangerous temptation which might so easily be communicated by the neighbourhood, and the success, of their countrymen. The respectful submission with which they yielded to the order of their march, might be considered as a proof of their fidelity; and their moderate request.of a sufficient allowance of provisions, and of a delay of only two days, was expressed in the most dutiful terms. But the first magistrate of Hadrianople, incensed by some disorders which had been committed at his country-house, refused this indulgence; and arming against them the inhabitants and manufacturers of a populous city, he urged, with hostile threats, their instant departure. The Barbarians stood silent and amazed, till they were exasperated by the insulting clamours, and missile weapons, of the populace: but when patience or contempt was fatigued, they crushed the undisciplined multitude, inflicted many a shameful wound on the backs of their flying enemies, and despoiled them of the splendid armour (74), which they were unworthy to bear. The resemblance of their sufferings and their actions soon united this victorious detachment to the nation of the Visigoths; the troops of Colias and Suerid expected the approach of the great Fritigern, ranged themselves under his standard, and signalised their ardour in the siege of Hadrianople. But the resistance of the garrison informed the Barbarians, that, in the attack of regular fortifications, the efforts of unskilful courage are seldom effectual. Their general acknowledged his error, raised the siege, declared that "he was at peace with stone walls (75),” and revenged his disappointment on the adjacent country. He accepted, with pleasure, the useful reinforcement of hardy workmen, who laboured in the gold mines of Thrace (76), for the emolumení, and under the lash, of an unfeeling master (77): and these new associates conducted the Barbarians, through the secret paths, to the most sequestered places, which had been chosen to secure the inhabitants, the cattle, and the magazines of corn. With the assistance

(73) Cum populis suis longe ante suscepti. We are ignorant of the precise date and circumstances of their transmigration.

(74) An Imperial manufacture of shields, &c. was established at Hadrianople; and the populace were headed by the Fabricenses, or workmen (Vales. ad Ammian. xxxi. 6.).

(75) Pacem sibi esse cum parietibus memorans. Ammian. xxxi. 7.

(76) These mines were in the country of the Bessi, in the ridge of mountaius, the Rhodope, that runs between Philippi and Philippopolis; two Macedonian cities, which derived their name and origin from the father of Alexander. From the mines of Thrace he annually received the value, not the weight, of a thousand talents (200,000l.); a revenue which paid the phalanx, and corrupted the orators of Greece. See Diodor. Siculus, tom. ii. 1. xvi. p. 88. edit. Wesseling. Godefroy's Commentary on the Theodosian Code, tom. iii. p. 496. Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq. tom. i. p. 676. 857. D'Anville, Géographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 336.

(77) As those unhappy workmen often ran away, Valens had enacted severe laws to drag them from their hiding-places. Cod. Theodosian 1. x. tit. xix. leg. 5. 7.

Operations of

war.

of such guides, nothing could remain impervious or inaccessible: resistance was fatal; flight was impracticable; and the patient submission of helpless innocence seldom found mercy from the Barbarian conqueror. In the course of these depredations, a great number of the children of the Goths, who had been sold into capti vity, were restored to the embraces of their afflicted parents; but these tender interviews, which might have revived and cherished in their minds some sentiments of humanity, tended only to stimulate their native fierceness by the desire of revenge. They listened, with eager attention, to the complaints of their captive children, who had suffered the most cruel indignities from the lustful or angry passions of their masters, and the same cruelties, the same indignities, were severely retaliated on the sons and daughters of the Romans (78).

The imprudence of Valens and his ministers had introduced into the Gothic the heart of the empire a nation of enemies; but the Visigoths might A. D. 377. even yet have been reconciled, by the manly confession of past errors, and the sincere performance of former engagements. These healing and temperate measures seemed to concur with the timorous disposition of the sovereign of the East: but, on this occasion alone, Valens was brave; and his unseasonable bravery was fatal to himself and to his subjects. He declared his intention of marching from Antioch to Constantinople, to subdue this dangerous rebellion; and, as he was not ignorant of the difficulties of the enterprise, he solicited the assistance of his nephew, the emperor Gratian, who commanded all the forces of the West. The veteran troops were hastily recalled from the defence of Armenia; that important frontier was abandoned to the discretion of Sapor; and the immediate conduct of the Gothic war was entrusted, during the absence of Valens, to his lieutenants Trajan and Profuturus, two generals who indulged themselves in a very false and favourable opinion of their own abilities. On their arrival in Thrace, they were joined by Richomer, count of the domestics; and the auxiliaries of the West, that marched under his banner, were composed of the Gallic legions, reduced indeed by a spirit of desertion, to the vain appearances of strength and numbers. In a council of war, which was influenced by pride, rather than by reason, it was resolved to seek, and to encounter, the Barbarians; who lay encamped in the spacious and fertile meadows, near the most southern of the six mouths of the Danube (79). Their camp was surrounded by the usual fortifica, tion of waggons (80); and the Barbarians, secure within the vast

(78) See Ammianus, xxxi. 5, 6. The historian of the Gothic war loses time and space, by an unseasonable recapitulation of the ancient inroads of the Barbarians.

(79) The Itinerary of Antoninus (p. 226, 227. edit. Wesseling) marks the situation of this place about sixty miles north of Tomi, Ovid's exile: and the name of Salices (the willows) expresses the nature of the soil.

(80) This circle of waggons, the Carrago, was the usual fortification of the Barbarians (Vegetius de

circle of the inclosure, enjoyed the fruits of their valour, and the spoils of the province. In the midst of riotous intemperance, the watchful Fritigern observed the motions, and penetrated the designs, of the Romans. He perceived that the numbers of the enemy were continually increasing; and, as he understood their intention of attacking his rear, as soon as the scarcity of forage should oblige him to remove his camp, he recalled to their standard his predatory detachments, which covered the adjacent country. As soon as they descried the flaming beacons (81), they obeyed, with incredible speed, the signal of their leader; the camp was filled with the martial crowd of Barbarians; their impatient clamours demanded the battle, and their tumultuous zeal was approved and animated by the spirit of their chiefs. The evening was already far advanced; and the two armies prepared themselves for the approaching combat, which was deferred only till the dawn of day. While the trumpets sounded to arms, the undaunted courage of the Goths was confirmed by the mutual obligation of a solemn oath; and as they advanced to meet the enemy, the rude songs, which celebrated the glory of their forefathers, were mingled with their fierce and dissonant outcries; and opposed to the artificial harmony of the Roman shout. Some military skill was displayed by Fritigern to gain the advantage of a commanding eminence; but the bloody conflict, which began and ended with the light, was maintained, on either side, by the personal and obstinate efforts of strength, valour, and agility. The legions of Armenia supported their fame in arms; but they were oppressed by the irresistible weight of the hostile multitude: the left wing of the Romans was thrown into disorder, and the field was strewed with their mangled carcasses. This partial defeat was balanced, however, by partial success; and when the two armies, at a late hour of the evening, retreated. to their respective camps, neither of them could claim the honours, or the effects, of a decisive victory The real loss was more severely felt by the Romans, in proportion to the smallness of their numbers; but the Goths were so deeply confounded and dismayed by this vigorous, and perhaps unexpected, resistance, that they remained seven days within the circle of their fortifications. Such funeral rites, as the circumstances of time and place would admit, were piously discharged to some officers of distinguished rank; but the indiscriminate vulgar was left unburied on the plain. Their flesh was greedily devoured by the birds prey, who in that age enjoyed very frequent and delicious feasts; and several years afterwards the white and naked bones, which co

of

Re Militari, l. iii. c. 10. Valesius ad Ammian. xxxi 7.). The practice and the name were preserved by their descendants, as late as the fifteenth century. The Charroy, which surrounded the Ost, is a word familiar to the readers of Froissard, or Comines.

(81) Statim ut accensi malleoli. I have used the literal sense of real torches or beacons : but I almost suspect, that it is only one of those turgid metaphors, those false ornaments, that perpe tually disfigure the style of Ammianus.

Union of the
Goths with

vered the wide extent of the fields, presented to the eyes of Ammianusa dreadful monument of the battle of Salices (82).

The progress of the Goths had been checked by the doubtful the Huus, event of that bloody day; and the Imperial generals, whose army Alani, &c. would have been consumed by the repetition of such a contest, embraced the more rational plan, of destroying the Barbarians, by the wants and pressure of their own multitudes. They prepared to confine the Visigoths in the narrow angle of land, between the Danube, the desert of Scythia, and the mountains of Hamus, till their strength and spirit should be insensibly wasted by the inevitable operation of famine. The design was prosecuted with some conduct and success; the Barbarians had almost exhausted their own magazines, and the harvests of the country; and the diligence of Saturninus, the master-general of the cavalry, was employed to improve the strength, and to contract the extent, of the Roman fortifications. His labours were interrupted by the alarming intelligence, that new swarms of Barbarians had passed the unguarded Danube, either to support the cause, or to imitate the example, of Fritigern. The just apprehension, that he himself might be surrounded, and overwhelmed, by the arms of hostile and unknown nations, compelled Saturninus to relinquish the siege of the Gothic camp; and the indignant Visigoths, breaking from their confinement, satiated their hunger and revenge by, the repeated devastation of the fruitful country, which extends above three hundred miles from the banks of the Danube to the streights of the Hellespont (83). The sagacious Fritigern had successfully appealed to the passions, as well as to the interest, of his Barbarian allies; and the love of rapine, and the hatred of Rome, seconded, or even prevented, the eloquence of his ambassadors. He cemented a strict and useful alliance with the great body of his countrymen, who obeyed Alatheus and Saphrax as the guardians of their infant king: the long animosity of rival tribes was suspended by the sense of their common interest; the independent part of the nation was associated under one standard; and the chiefs of the Ostrogoths appear to have yielded to the superior genius of the general of the Visigoths. He obtained the formidable aid of the Taifala, whose military renown

*

(82) Indicant nunc usque albentes ossibus campi. Ammian. xxxi. 7. The historian might have viewed these plains, either as a soldier, or as a traveller. But his modesty has suppressed the adventures of his own life subsequent to the Persian wars of Constantius and Julian. We are ignorant of the time when he quitted the service, and retired to Rome, where he appears to have composed his History of his Own Times.

(83) Ammian. xxxi. 8.

The Taifale, who at this period inhabited the country which now forms the principality of Wallachia, were, in my opinion, the last remains of the great and powerful nation of the Dacians (Daci or Daha), which has given its name to these regions, over which they had ruled so long.

1

The Taifale passed with the Goths into the territory of the empire. A great number of them entered the Roman service, and were quartered in different provinces. They are mentioned in the Notitia Imperii. There was a considerable body in the country of the Pictavi, now Poitou. They