CHAP. and their army; and boldly fixed a hostile and ir dependent camp on the territories of the empire*.

XXI.

Revolt of the Goths in Mæsia, and their first vic. tories.

Under the name of judges, Alavivus and Fritigen were the leaders of the Visigoths in peace and war; and the authority which they derived from their birth was ratified by the free consent of the nation. Ina season of tranquillity, their power might have been equal, as well as their rank; but, as soon as thei countrymen were exasperated by hunger and oppres sion, the superior abilities of Fritigern assumed the military command, which he was qualified to exercise for the public welfare. He restrained the impatient spirit of the Visigoths, till the injuries and the insults of their tyrants should justify their resistance in the opinion of mankind: but he was not disposed to sacrifice any solid advantages for the empty prais of justice and moderation. Sensible of the benefits which would result from the union of the Gothic powers under the same standard, he secretly culti vated the friendship of the Ostrogoths; and while he professed an implicit obedience to the orders of the Roman generals, he proceeded by slow marches to wards Marcianopolis, the capital of the Lower Masia, about seventy miles from the banks of the Danube. On that fatal spot, the flames of discord and mutual hatred burst forth into a dreadful conflagration. Lupicinus had invited the Gothic chiefs to a splendid entertainment; and their martial train remained under arms at the entrance of the palace. But the gates of the city were strictly guarded, and the Barbarians were sternly excluded from the use of a plentiful market, to which they asserted their equal claim of subjects and allies. Their humble prayers were rejected with insolence and derision; and as their pa

*Ammianus, xxxi. 4, 5.

tience was now exhausted, the townsmen, the soldiers, and the Goths, were soon involved in a conflict of passionate altercation and angry reproaches. A blow was imprudently given; a sword was hastily drawn ; and the first blood that was spilt in this accidental Squarrel became the signal of a long and destructive war. In the midst of noise and brutal intemperance, Lupicinus was informed, by a secret messenger, that many of his soldiers were slain, and despoiled of their arms; and as he was already inflamed by wine, and oppressed by sleep, he issued a rash command, that their death should be revenged by the massacre of the guards of Fritigern and Alavivus. The clamorous shouts and dying groans apprised Fritigern of his extreme danger: and, as he possessed the calm and intrepid spirit of a hero, he saw that he was lost if he allowed a moment of deliberation to the man who had so deeply injured him. "A trifling dispute," said the Gothic leader, with a firm but gentle tone of voice, "appears to have arisen between the "two nations; but it may be productive of the most dangerous consequences, unless the tumult is im"mediately pacified by the assurance of our safety, "and the authority of our presence." At these words, Fritigern and his companions drew their swords, opened their passage through the unresisting crowd, which filled the palace, the streets, and the gates, of Marcianopolis, and, mounting their horses, hastily vanished from the eyes of the astonished Romans. The generals of the Goths were saluted by the fierce and joyful acclamations of the camp; war was 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. The weak and guilty Lupicinus, who had dared to pro

ba se

elix

66

BBS

CHAP.

XXI.

XXI.

CHAP. Voke, 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 pre vailing 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 Ro man 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 con"dition of strangers and exiles, assumed the charac "ter of citizens and masters, claimed an absolute "dominion over the possessors of land, and held, in “their own right, the northern provinces of the em

66

pire, which are bounded by the Danube." Such are the words of the Gothic historian, 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 em peror, 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 They pene- Lupicinus were expiated by the ruin of the peaceful husbandmen of Thrace, the conflagration of their vil lages, and the massacre, or captivity, of their inno cent 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 dis

trate into

Thrace.

to dest

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the R

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

375

XXI.

may, their own hasty imprudence contributed to in- CHAP. crease the forces of Fritigern, and the calamities of haithe province. Some time before the great emigratition, a numerous body of Goths, under the command of Suerid and Colias, had been received into the protection and service of the empire. They were enfund camped under the walls of Hadrianople: but the ministers of Valens were anxious to remove them the 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 der which they yielded to the order of their march might be considered as a proof of their fidelity; and their hr moderate request of a sufficient allowance of provithe&sions, and of a delay of only two days, was expressed in the most dutiful terms. But the first magistrate the pe 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, 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 signalized 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

1

imed

XXI.

CHAP. brave officers who had served their country in the execution of their duty were punished by the loss of their employments, and narrowly escaped the loss of their heads. The Imperial mandate was at length received for transporting over the Danube the whole body of the Gothic nation; but the execution of this order was a task of labour and difficulty. The stream of the Danube, which in those parts is above a mile broad, had been swelled by incessant rains; and, in this tumultuous passage, many were swept away, and drowned, by the rapid violence of the current. A large fleet of vessels, of boats, and of canoes, was pro vided: many days and nights they passed and repassed with indefatigable toil; and the most strenuous diligence was exerted by the officers of Valens, that not a single Barbarian, of those who were reserved to subvert the foundations of Rome, should be left on the opposite shore. It was thought expedient that an accurate account should be taken of their numbers; but the persons who were employed soon desisted, with amazement and dismay, from the prosecution of the endless and impracticable task and the principal historian of the age most seriously affirms, that the prodigious armies of Darius and Xerxes, which had so long been considered as the fables of vain and credulous antiquity, were now justified, in the eyes of mankind, by the evidence of fact and experience. A probable testimony has fixed the number of the Gothic warriors at two hundred thousand men; and if we can venture to add the just proportion of women, of children, and of slaves, the whole mass of people which composed this form dable emigration must have amounted to near a mil lion of persons, of both sexes, and of all ages. children of the Goths, those at least of a distinguished rank, were separated from the multitude. They were conducted, without delay, to the distant seats

The