their enemies. Their mischievous disposition was shown ir. the destruction of every object which they wanted strength to remove or taste to enjoy; and they often consumed, with improvident rage, the harvests or the granaries, which soon afterwards became necessary for their own subsistence. A spirit of discord arose among the independent tribes and nations, which had been united only by the bands of a loose and voluntary alliance. The troops of the Huns and the Alani would naturally upbraid the flight of the Goths, who were not disposed to use with moderation the advantages of their fortune; the ancient jealousy of the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths could not long be suspended; and the haughty chiefs still remembered the insults and injuries which they had reciprocally offered or sustained, while the nation was seated in the countries beyond the Danube. The progress of domestic faction abated the more diffusive sentiment of national animosity; and the officers of Theodosius were instructed to purchase, with liberal gifts and promises, the retreat, or service, of the discontented party. The acquisition of Modar, a prince of the royal blood of the Amali, gave a bold and faithful champion to the cause of Rome. The illustrious deserter soon obtained the rank of mastergeneral, with an important command; surprised an army of his countrymen, who were immersed in wine and sleep; and, after a cruel slaughter of the astonished Goths, returned with an immense spoil, and four thousand wagons, to the imperial camp. In the hands of a skilful politician, the most different means may be successively applied to the same ends: and the peace of the empire, which had been forwarded by the divisions, was accomplished by the reunion of the Gothic nation. Athanaric, who had been a patient spectator of these extraordinary events, was at length driven, by the chance of arms, from the dark recesses of the woods of Caucaland. He no longer nesitated to pass the Danube; and a very consiberable part of the subjects of Fritigern, * * Zosimus (1. 4, p. 232) styles him a Scythian, a name which the more recent Greeks seem to have appropriated to the Goths. [See an explanatory note on this subject at p. 138. The different forms and sounds given to the two names in modern times, have veiled their original affinity. To Zosimus and "the more recent Greeks," the resemblance might yet be perceptible; and they evidently saw an identity of race as well as of early abode. But the regular course of migration was unobserved by them.-ED.] (STRUA) who already felt the inconveniences of anarchy, were easily persuaded to acknowledge for their king, a Gothic judge, whose birth they respected, and whose abilities they had frequently experienced. But age had chilled the daring spirit of Athanaric; and, instead of leading his people to the field of battle and victory, he wisely listened to the fair proposal of an honourable and advantageous treaty. Theodosius, who was acquainted with the merit and power of his new ally, condescended to meet him at the distance of several miles from Constantinople; and entertained him in the imperial city, with the confidence of a friend, and the magnificence of a monarch. The barbarian prince observed, with curious attention, the variety of objects which attracted his notice, and at last broke out into a sincere and passionate exclamation of wonder. "I now behold," (said he), "what I never could believe, the glories of this stupendous capital!" And as he cast his eyes around, he viewed, and he admired, the commanding situation of the city, the strength and beauty of the walls and public edifices, the capacious harbour, crowded with innumerable vessels, the perpetual concourse of distant nations, and the arms and discipline of the troops. "Indeed," (continued Athanaric), "the emperor of the Romans is a god upon earth; and the presumptuous man who dares to lift his hand against him, is guilty of his own blood."* The Gothic king did not long enjoy this splendid and honourable reception; and, as temperance was not the virtue of his nation, it may justly be suspected that his mortal disease was contracted amidst the pleasures of the imperial banquets. But the policy of Theodosius derived more solid benefit from the death, than he could have expected from the most faithful services, of his ally. The funeral of Athanaric was performed with solemn rites in the capital of the east; a stately monument * The reader will not be displeased to see the original words of Jornandes, or the author whom he transcribed. Regiam urbem ingressus est, miransque: En, inquit, cerno quod sæpe incredulus audiebam, famam videlicet tantæ urbis. Et huc illuc oculos volvens, nunc situm urbis commeatumque navium, nunc moenia clara prospectans, miratur; populosque diversarum gentium, quasi fonte in uno e diversis partibus scaturiente undâ, sic quoque militem ordinatum aspiciens. Deus, inquit, sine dubio est terrenus Imperator, et quisquis adversus eum manum moverit, ipse sui sanguinis reus existit. Jor nandes (c. 28, p. 650) proceeds to mention his death and funeral. A.D. 386.] DEFEAT OF THE GRUTHUNGI. 203 was erected to his memory; and his whole army, won by the liberal courtesy and decent grief of Theodosius, enlisted under the standard of the Roman empire.* The submission of so great a body of the Visigoths was productive of the most salutary consequences; and the mixed influence of force, of reason, and of corruption, became every day more powerful and more extensive. Each independent chieftain hastened to obtain a separate treaty, from the apprehension that an obstinate delay might expose him, alone and unprotected, to the revenge or justice of the conqueror. general, or rather the final, capitulation of the Goths, may be dated four years one month and twenty-five days after the defeat and death of the emperor Valens.t The The provinces of the Danube had been already relieved from the oppressive weight of the Gruthungi, or Ostrogoths, by the voluntary retreat of Alatheus and Saphrax; whose restless spirit had prompted them to seek new scenes of rapine and glory. Their destructive course was pointed towards the west; but we must be satisfied with a very obscure and imperfect knowledge of their various adventures. The Ostrogoths impelled several of the German tribes on the provinces of Gaul; concluded, and soon violated, a treaty with the emperor Gratian; advanced into the unknown countries of the north; and, after an interval of more than four years, returned, with accumulated force, to the banks of the Lower Danube. Their troops were recruited with the fiercest warriors of Germany and Scythia; * Jornandes, c. 28, p. 650. Even Zosimus (1. 4, p. 246) is compelled to approve the generosity of Theodosius, so honourable to himself, and so beneficial to the public. The short, but authentic, hints in the Fasti of Idatius (Chron. Scaliger. p. 52), are stained with contemporary passion. The fourteenth oration of Themistius is a compliment to peace and the consul Saturninus, (A.D. 383.) [Yet within sixteen years after this "final capitulation," the Visigoths came forth more powerful than ever, with Alaric as their king. How often, in ancient history, do we find the defeat of an army or submission of a horde, magnified into a total annihilation of independence, or even the entire extinction of a people. It will be seen how other Goths, ever coming forward, recruited this western division, and were included under its designation.-ED.] The name of Gruthungi is evidently a corruption of Guthungi and Guttones, in which form it appears in other writers and at other times; and all these are only Latin variations of Guten. This is the only satisfactory solution of the difficulties created by the various opinions on this subject, most of which are given by Cellarius, vol. i, p. 385. 406, and in Burman's Note and the soldiers, or at least the historians, of the empire, no longer recognised the name and countenances of their former enemies. The general who commanded the military and naval powers of the Thracian frontier, soon perceived that his superiority would be disadvantageous to the public service; and that the barbarians, awed by the presence of his fleet and legions, would probably defer the passage of the river till the approaching winter. The dexterity of the spies, whom he sent into the Gothic camp, allured the barbarians into a fatal snare. They were persuaded, that, by a bold attempt, they might surprise, in the silence and darkness of the night, the sleeping army of the Romans; and the whole multitude was hastily embarked in a fleet of three thousand canoes. The bravest of the Ostrogoths led the van; the main body consisted of the remainder of their subjects and soldiers; and the women and children securely followed in the rear. One of the nights without a moon had been selected for the execution of their design; and they had almost reached the southern bank of the Danube, in the firm confidence that they should find an easy landing, and an unguarded camp. But the progress of the barbarians was suddenly stopped by an unexpected obstacle a triple line of vessels, strongly connected with each other, and which formed an impenetrable chain of two miles and a half along the river. While they struggled to force their way in the unequal conflict, their right flank was overwhelmed by the irresistible attack of a fleet of galleys, which were urged down the stream by the united impulse of oars and of the tide. The weight and velocity of those ships of war broke, and sunk, and dispersed, the rude and feeble canoes of the barbarians: their valour was ineffectual; and Alatheus, the king or general of the Ostrogoths, perished, with his bravest troops, either by the sword of the Romans, or in the * Εθνος τὸ Σκύθικον on Claudian's line, quoted below.-ED. Ausi Danubium quondam tranare Gruthungi Per fluvium plenæ cuneis immanibus alni. Claudian, in 4 Cons. Hon. 623. A.D. 383-395.] SETTLEMENT OF THE GOTHS. 205 waves of the Danube. The last division of this unfortunate fleet might regain the opposite shore; but the distress and disorder of the multitude rendered them alike incapable either of action or counsel; and they soon implored the clemency of the victorious enemy. On this occasion, as well as on many others, it is a difficult task to reconcile the passions and prejudices of the writers of the age of Theodosius. The partial and malignant historian who misrepresents every action of his reign, affirms that the emperor did not appear in the field of battle till the barbarians had been vanquished by the valour and conduct of his lieutenant Promotus.* The flattering poet, who celebrated, in the court of Honorius, the glory of the father and of the son, ascribes the victory to the personal prowess of Theodosius; and almost insinuates that the king of the Ostrogoths was slain by the hand of the emperor. The truth of history might perhaps be found in a just medium between these extreme and contradictory assertions. The original treaty, which fixed the settlement of the Goths, ascertained their privileges, and stipulated their obligations, would illustrate the history of Theodosius and his successors. The series of their history has imperfectly preserved the spirit and substance of this singular agreement. The ravages of war and tyranny had provided many large tracts of fertile but uncultivated land, for the use of those barbarians who might not disdain the practice of agriculture. A numerous colony of the Visigoths was seated in Thrace the remains of the Ostrogoths were planted in Phrygia and Lydia; their immediate wants were supplied by a distribution of corn and cattle; and their future : Zosimus, 1. 4, p. 252-255. He too frequently betrays his poverty of judgment, by disgracing the most serious narratives with trifling and incredible circumstances. The opima were the spoils which a Roman general could only win from the king or general of the enemy, whom he had slain with his own hands and no more than three such examples are celebrated in the victorious ages of Rome. See Themistius, Orat. 16, p. 211. Claudian (in Eutrop. 1. 2, 152) mentions the Phrygian colony: -Ostrogothis colitur mistisque Gruthungis Phryx ager and then proceeds to name the rivers of Lydia, the Pactolus and Hermus. |