of personal merit, the prerogative of his birth, which he derived from the Anses, or demigods of the Gothic nation.21 The Gothic nation increases in its march. The fame of a great enterprise excited the bravest warriors from all the Vandalic states of Germany, many of whom are seen a few years afterwards combating under the common standard of the Goths.22 The first motions of the emigrants carried them to the banks of the Prypec, a river universally conceived by the ancients to be the southern branch of the Borysthenes.23 The windings of that great stream through the plains of Poland and Russia gave a direction to their line of march, and a constant supply of fresh water and pasturage to their numerous herds of cattle. They followed the unknown course of the river, confident in their valour, and careless of whatever power might oppose their progress. The Bastarnæ and the Venedi were the first who presented themselves; and the flower of their youth, either from choice or compulsion, increased the Gothic army. The Bastarna dwelt on the northern side of the Carpathian mountains; the immense tract of land that separated the Bastarnæ from the savages of Finland was possessed, or rather wasted, by the Venedi ;24 we have some reason to believe that the first of these nations, which distinguished itself in the Macedonian war,25 and was afterwards divided into the formidable tribes of the Peucini, the Borani, the Carpi, &c., derived its origin from the Germans. With better authority a Sarmatian extraction may be assigned to the Venedi, who rendered themselves so famous in the middle ages. 26 But the confusion of blood and manners on that doubtful frontier often perplexed the most accurate observers.27 As the Goths Distinction of Germans and Sarmatians. 21 Jornandes, c. 13, 14. See 22 The Heruli, and the Uregundi or Burgundi, are particularly mentioned. Mascou's History of the Germans, 1. v. A passage in the Augustan History, p. 28 [Capitol. M. Ant. Phil. c. 14], seems to allude to this great emigration. The Marcomannic war was partly occasioned by the pressure of barbarous tribes, who fled before the arms of more northern barbarians. 23 D'Anville, Géographie Ancienne, and the third part of his incomparable map of Europe. 24 Tacit. Germania, c. 46. 25 Cluver. Germ. Antiqua, 1. iii. c. 43. 26 The Venedi, the Slavi, and the Antes, were the three great tribes of the same people. Jornandes, c. 23. 27 Tacitus most assuredly deserves that title, and even his cautious suspense is a proof of his diligent inquiries. a It has been disputed between German and French philologists to which race of people the Bastarna belonged. Strabo (vii. p. 306), Pliny (iv. 14, s. 28), and Tacitus (Germ. c. 46) call them Germans. But, on the other hand, Polybius (xxvi. 9) calls them Gauls; and Livy, in one passage, calls Clondicus leader of the Bastarna (xl. 58), and in another leader of the Gauls (xliv. 26). Plutarch (Emil. Paul. cc. 9, 12, 13) and Diodorus Siculus (de Virtutibus et Vitiis, vol. ii. p. 580, ed. Wesseling) likewise call them Gauls. Dion Cassius vaguely names them Scythians (li. 23, p. 656). Whether Germans or Gauls, the Bastarna must have been immigrants, for the district in which we find them was no part of either the German or Celtic area. See Niebuhr, Kleine Schriften, vol. i. p. 385, seq.; Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme, p. 127, seq.-S. advanced near the Euxine Sea they encountered a purer race of Sarmatians, the Jazyges, the Alani," and the Roxolani; and they were probably the first Germans who saw the mouths of the Borysthenes and of the Tanais. If we inquire into the characteristic marks of the people of Germany and of Sarmatia, we shall discover that those two great portions of human kind were principally distinguished by fixed huts or moveable tents, by a close dress or flowing garments, by the marriage of one or of several wives, by a military force consisting, for the most part, either of infantry or cavalry; and, above all, by the use of the Teutonic or of the Sclavonian language; the last of which has been diffused by conquest from the confines of Italy to the neighbourhood of Japan. of the The Goths were now in possession of the Ukraine, a country of considerable extent and uncommon fertility, intersected Description with navigable rivers, which, from either side, discharge Ukraine. themselves into the Borysthenes; and interspersed with large and lofty forests of oaks. The plenty of game and fish, the innumerable beehives deposited in the hollow of old trees and in the cavities of rocks, and forming, even in that rude age, a valuable branch of commerce, the size of the cattle, the temperature of the air, the aptness of the soil for every species of grain, and the luxuriancy of the vegetation, all displayed the liberality of Nature and tempted the industry of man.28 But the Goths withstood all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idleness, of poverty, and of rapine. The Goths invade the The Scythian hordes, which, towards the east, bordered on the new settlements of the Goths, presented nothing to their arms, except the doubtful chance of an unprofitable victory. But the prospect of the Roman territories was far more provinces. alluring; and the fields of Dacia were covered with rich harvests, sown by the hands of an industrious, and exposed to be gathered by those of a warlike, people. It is probable that the conquests of Trajan, maintained by his successors less for any real advantage than for ideal dignity, had contributed to weaken the empire on that side. The new and unsettled province of Dacia was neither strong enough to resist, nor rich enough to satiate, the rapaciousness of the barbarians. As long as the remote banks of the Dniester were considered as the boundary of the Roman power, the fortifi 28 Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 593. Mr. Bell (vol. ii. p. 379) traversed the Ukraine in his journey from Petersburgh to Constantinople. The modern face of the country is a just representation of the ancient, since, in the hands of the Cossacks, it still remains in a state of nature. a On the Alani see ch. xxvi, note 55.-S. cations of the Lower Danube were more carelessly guarded, and the inhabitants of Mæsia lived in supine security, fondly conceiving themselves at an inaccessible distance from any barbarian invaders. The irruptions of the Goths, under the reign of Philip, fatally convinced them of their mistake. The king, or leader, of that fierce nation, traversed with contempt the province of Dacia, and passed both the Dniester and the Danube without encountering any opposition capable of retarding his progress. The relaxed discipline of the Roman troops betrayed the most important posts where they were stationed, and the fear of deserved punishment induced great numbers of them to enlist under the Gothic standard. The various multitude of barbarians appeared, at length, under the walls of Marcianopolis, a city built by Trajan in honour of his sister, and at that time the capital of the second Mæsia.29 The inhabitants consented to ransom their lives and property by the payment of a large sum of money, and the invaders retreated back into their deserts, animated, rather than satisfied, with the first success of their arms against an opulent but feeble country. Intelligence was soon transmitted to the emperor Decius, that Cniva, king of the Goths, had passed the Danube a second time, with more considerable forces; that his numerous detachments scattered devastation over the province of Masia, whilst the main body of the army, consisting of seventy thousand Germans and Sarmatians, a force equal to the most daring achievements, required the presence of the Roman monarch, and the exertion of his military power. events of the Gothic war. A.D. 250. Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, on the Jatrus, Various one of the many monuments of Trajan's victories.30 On his approach they raised the siege, but with a design only of marching away to a conquest of greater importance, the siege of Philippopolis, a city of Thrace, founded by the father of Alexander, near the foot of Mount Hæmus. 31 Decius followed them through a difficult country, and by forced marches; but when he imagined himself at a considerable distance from the rear of the Goths, Cniva turned with rapid fury on his pursuers. The camp of 29 In the sixteenth chapter of Jornandes, instead of secundo Mæsiam, we may venture to substitute secundum, the second Masia, of which Marcianopolis was certainly the capital (see Hierocles de Provinciis, and Wesseling ad locum, p. 636. Itinerar.). It is surprising how this palpable error of the scribe could escape the judicious correction of Grotius." 30 The place is still called Nicop. D'Anville, Géographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 307. The little stream, on whose banks it stood, falls into the Danube. 31 Stephan. Byzant. de Urbibus, p. 740. Wesseling, Itinerar. p. 136. Zonaras, by an odd mistake, ascribes the foundation of Philippopolis to the immediate predecessor of Decius. Luden has observed that Jornandes this relates to the second irruption into mentions two passages over the Danube; Masia. Geschichte des T. V. ii. p. 448.— M. the Romans was surprised and pillaged, and, for the first time, their emperor fled in disorder before a troop of half-armed barbarians. After a long resistance Philippopolis, destitute of succour, was taken by storm. A hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack of that great city.32 Many prisoners of consequence became a valuable accession to the spoil; and Priscus, a brother of the late emperor Philip, blushed not to assume the purple under the protection of the barbarous enemies of Rome.33 The time, however, consumed in that tedious siege, enabled Decius to revive the courage, restore the discipline, and recruit the numbers of his troops. He intercepted several parties of Carpi, and other Germans, who were hastening to share the victory of their countrymen,34 intrusted the passes of the mountains to officers of approved valour and fidelity, repaired and strengthened the fortifications of the Danube, and exerted his utmost vigilance to oppose either the progress or the retreat of the Goths. Encouraged by the return of fortune, he anxiously waited for an opportunity to retrieve, by a great and decisive blow, his own glory, and that of the Roman arms. At the same time when Decius was struggling with the violence of the tempest, his mind, calm and deliberate amidst the tumult of war, investigated the more general causes that, since the age of the Antonines, had so impetuously urged the decline of the Roman greatness. He soon discovered of Valerian. that it was impossible to replace that greatness on a permanent basis, without restoring public virtue, ancient principles and manners, and the oppressed majesty of the laws. To execute this noble but arduous design, he first resolved to revive the obsolete office of censor; an office which, as long as it had subsisted in its pristine integrity, had so much contributed to the perpetuity of the state,37 till it was usurped and gradually neglected by the Cæsars.38 Conscious that the favour of the sovereign may confer power, but that the esteem of the people can alone bestow authority, he submitted the choice of 33 Aurel. Victor [de Cæsar.] c. 29. 32 Ammian. xxxi. 5. Decius re vives the is th censor in the person 36 34 Victoria Carpica, on some medals of Decius, insinuate these advantages. 35 Claudius (who afterwards reigned with so much glory) was posted in the pass of Thermopyla with 200 Dardanians, 100 heavy and 160 light horse, 60 Cretan archers, and 1000 well-armed recruits. See an original letter from the emperor to his officer, in the Augustan History, p. 208. [Treb. Poll. in Claud. c. 16.] 36 Jornandes, c. 16-18. Zosimus, 1. i. [c. 23] p. 22. In the general account of this war it is easy to discover the opposite prejudices of the Gothic and the Grecian writer. In carelessness alone they are alike. 37 Montesquieu, Grandeur et Décadence des Romains, c. viii. He illustrates the nature and use of the censorship with his usual ingenuity, and with uncommon precision. 38 Vespasian and Titus were the last censors (Pliny, Hist. Natur. vii. 49 [50]. Censorinus de Die Natali). The modesty of Trajan refused an honour which he deserved, and his example became a law to the Antonines. See Pliny's Panegyric, c. 45 and 60. A.D. 251, Oct. 27. the censor to the unbiassed voice of the senate. By their unanimous votes, or rather acclamations, Valerian, who was afterwards emperor, and who then served with distinction in the army of Decius, was declared the most worthy of that exalted honour. As soon as the decree of the senate was transmitted to the emperor, he assembled a great council in his camp, and, before the investiture of the censor elect, he apprised him of the difficulty and importance of his great office. "Happy Valerian," said the prince to his distinguished subject, "happy in the general approbation of the senate "and of the Roman republic! Accept the censorship of mankind; "and judge of our manners. You will select those who deserve to "continue members of the senate; you will restore the equestrian "order to its ancient splendour; you will improve the revenue, yet "moderate the public burdens. You will distinguish into regular "classes the various and infinite multitude of citizens, and accurately "review the military strength, the wealth, the virtue, and the resources "of Rome. Your decisions shall obtain the force of laws. The "army, the palace, the ministers of justice, and the great officers of "the empire, are all subject to your tribunal. None are exempted, "excepting only the ordinary consuls, 39 the præfect of the city, the "king of the sacrifices, and (as long as she preserves her chastity "inviolate) the eldest of the vestal virgins. Even these few, who "may not dread the severity, will anxiously solicit the esteem, of the "Roman censor. impracticable, and without 9940 A magistrate invested with such extensive powers would have The design appeared not so much the minister as the colleague of his sovereign. 41 Valerian justly dreaded an elevation so full effect. of envy and of suspicion. He modestly urged the alarming greatness of the trust, his own insufficiency, and the incurable corruption of the times. He artfully insinuated that the office of censor was inseparable from the Imperial dignity, and that the feeble hands of a subject were unequal to the support of such an immense weight of cares and of power. 42 The approaching event of war soon put an end to the prosecution of a project so specious but so impracticable; and, whilst it preserved Valerian from the danger, saved the emperor Decius from the disappointment, which would most probably have attended it. A censor may maintain, he can never restore, the 39 Yet, in spite of this exemption, Pompey appeared before that tribunal during his consulship. The occasion indeed was equally singular and honourable. Plutarch, in Pomp. [c. 22] p. 630. 40 See the original speech in the Augustan Hist. p. 173, 174. [Treb. Poll. in Valerian, c. 2.] 41 This transaction might deceive Zonaras, who supposes that Valerian was actually declared the colleague of Decius, 1. xii. c. 20, p. 625, ed. Paris [p. 585, ed. Bonn]. 42 Hist. August. p. 174. [Treb. Poll. 1. c.] The emperor's reply is omitted. |