CHAP.

XX.

MANY.

vade Gaul,

I. The ambassadors of the Alemanni had been offended by the harsh and haughty behaviour of Ursacius, master of the offices*; who, by an act of I. GERunseasonable parsimony, had diminished the value, The Aleas well as the quantity, of the presents, to which manni inthey were entitled, either from custom or treaty, on A. D. 365. 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 ensuing year, A. D. 36€. the military force of the whole nation, in deep and January. 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

Ammian. xxvi. 5. Valesius adds a long and good note on the master of the

offices.

XX.

CHAP. 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 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. The principal command was declined by Degalaiphus; 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 Their de- forces of the Barbarians. At the head of a welldisciplined army of cavalry, infantry, and light troops, Jovinus advanced, with cautious and rapid steps, to Scarponna, 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 his 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

feat.

XX.

the sound of the Roman trumpet; they saw the enemy CHAP.
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 detach-
ments 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 lieu-
tenant of Valentinian. The bloody and obstinate con-
flict lasted a whole summer's day, with equal valour,
and with alternate success. The Romans at length
prevailed, with the loss of about twelve hundred men.
Six thousand of the Alemanni were slain, four thou-
sand 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*. The triumph of July.
the Romans was indeed sullied by their treatment of
the captive king, whom they hung on a gibbet with-
out 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 de-
liberate 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;
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.

* The battles are described by Ammianus (xxvii. 2.), and by Zosimus (1. iv.
p. 209.); who supposes Valentinian to have been present.

CHAP.

XX.

Valenti

nian

passes

and forti

fies the

Rhine,

While the Alemanni appeared to be humbled by their recent calamities, the pride of Valentinian was mortified by the unexpected surprisal of Moguntiacum, or Mentz, the principal city of the Upper Germany. In the unsuspicious moment of a Christian A. D. 368. 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 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 armourbearer, and his helmet, magnificently enriched with gold and precious stones. At the signal of the neral 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; after their united forces had occupied the summit of the hill, they impetuously urged the Barbarians down

ge

and

XX.

the northern descent, where count Sebastian was CHAP. 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. 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. The banks of the 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 war. 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.

A. D. 371.

That prudent emperor, who diligently practised The Burthe wise maxims of Diocletian, was studious to fo- gundians, ment 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 people of the Vandal race, 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 dif ference 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