bracing moisture, and that they enjoy the freshness of a purer atmosphere; and that they are the first of all tribes to feel the rays of the morning sun, which are instinct with life, before they become tainted with any of the foulness arising from human things. Having discussed this matter let us now return to our original narrative.

V.

§ 1. After Procopius had been overpowered in Phrygia, and all material for domestic discords had thus been removed, Victor, the commander of the cavalry, was sent to the Goths to inquire, without disguise, why a nation friendly to the Romans, and bound to it by treaties of equitable peace, had given the support of its arms to a man who was waging war against their lawful emperor. And they, to excuse their conduct by a valid defence, produced the letters from the above-mentioned Procopius, in which he alleged that he had assumed the sovereignty as this due, as the nearest relation to Constantine's family; and they asserted that this was a fair excuse for their error.

2. When Victor reported this allegation of theirs, Valens disregarding it as a frivolous excuse, marched against them, they having already got information of his approach. And at the beginning of spring he assembled his army in a great body, and pitched his camp near a fortress named Daphne, where having made a bridge of boats he crossed the Danube without meeting any resistance.

3. And being now full of elation and confidence, as while traversing the country in every direction he met with no enemy to be either defeated or even alarmed by his advance; they having all been so terrified at the approach of so formidable a host, that they had fled to the high mountains of the Serri, which were inaccessible to all except those who knew the country.

4. Therefore, that he might not waste the whole summer, and return without having effected anything, he sent forward Arinthæus, the captain of the infantry, with some light forces, who seized on a portion of their families, which were overtaken as they were wandering over the plains before coming to the steep and winding defiles of the mountains. And having obtained this advantage, which chance put in his way, he returned with his men without

having suffered any loss, and indeed without having inflicted any.

5. The next year he attempted with equal vigour again to invade the country of the enemy; but being checked in his advance by the inundations of the Danube, which covered a wide extent of country, he remained near the town of Capri, where he pitched a camp in which he remained till the autumn. And from thence, as he was prevented from undertaking any operations on account of the magnitude of the floods, he retired to Marcianopolis into winter quarters.

6. With similar perseverance he again invaded the land of the barbarians a third year, having crossed the river by a bridge of boats at Nivors; and by a rapid march he attacked the Gruthungi, a warlike and very remote tribe, and after some trivial skirmishes, he defeated Athanaric, at that time the most powerful man of the tribe, who dared to resist him with what he fancied an adequate force, but was compelled to flee for his life. And then he returned himself with his army to Marcianopolis to spend the winter there, as the cold was but slight in that district.

7. After many various events in the campaigns of three years, there arose at last some very strong reasons in the minds of the barbarians for terminating the war. In the first place, because the fear of the enemy was increased by the continued stay made by the emperor in that country. Secondly, because as all their commerce was cut off they began to feel great want of necessaries. So that they sent several embassies with submissive entreaties for pardon and peace.

8. The emperor was as yet inexperienced, but still he was a very just observer of events, till having been captivated by the pernicious allurements of flattery, he subsequently involved the republic in an ever-to-be-lamented disaster; and now taking counsel for the common good, he determined that it was right to grant them peace.

9. And in his turn he sent to them Victor and Arinthæus, who at that time were the commanders of his infantry and cavalry; and when they sent him letters truly stating that the Goths were willing to agree to the conditions which they had proposed, he appointed a suitable place for finally

settling the terms of the peace. And since Athanaric alleged that he was bound by a most dreadful oath, and also forbidden by the strict commands of his father ever to set foot on the Roman territory, and as he could not be brought to do so, while, on the other hand, it would be unbecoming and degrading for the emperor to cross over to him, it was decided by negotiation that some boats should be rowed into the middle of the river, on which the emperor should embark with an armed guard, and that there also the chief of the enemy should meet him with his people, and conclude a peace as had been arranged.

10. When this had been arranged, and hostages had been given, Valens returned to Constantinople, whither afterwards Athanaric fled, when he was driven from his native land by a faction among his kinsmen; and he died in that city, and was buried with splendid ceremony according to the Roman fashion.

VI.

§ 1. In the mean time, Valentinian being attacked with a violent sickness and at the point of death, at a secret entertainment of the Gauls who were present in the emperor's army, Rusticus Julianus, at that time master of the records, was proposed as the future emperor; a man as greedy of human blood as a wild beast, seeming to be smitten with some frenzy, as had been shown while governing Africa as proconsul.

2. For in his prefecture of the city, a post which he was filling when he died, fearing a change in the tyranny through the exercise of which he, as if in a dearth of worthy men, had been raised to that dignity, he was compelled to appear more gentle and merciful.

3. Against his partisans others with higher aims were exerting themselves in favour of Severus, who at that time was captain of the infantry, as a man very fit for such a dignity, who, although rough and unpopular, seemed yet more tolerable than the other, and worthy of being preferred to him by any means that could be devised.

4. But all these plans were formed to no purpose; for in the mean time, the emperor, through the variety of remedies applied, recovered, and would scarcely believe that his

life had been saved with difficulty. And he proposed to invest his son Gratian, who was now on the point of arriving at manhood, with the ensigns of the imperial authority.

5. And when everything was prepared, and the consent of the soldiers secured, in order that all men might willingly accept the new emperor, immediately upon the arrival of Gratian, Valentinian advancing into the open space, mounted the tribune, and surrounded by a splendid circle of nobles and princes, and holding the boy by his right hand, showed him to them all, and in the following formal harangue recommended their intended sovereign to the army.

6.This imperial robe which I wear is a happy indication of your good will towards me when you adjudged me superior to many illustrious men. Now, with you as the partners of my counsels and the favourers of my wishes, I will proceed to a seasonable work of affection, relying on the protecting promises of God, to whose eternal assistance it is owing that the Roman state stands and ever shall stand unshaken.

7. Listen, I beseech you, O most gallant men, with willing minds to my desire, recollecting that these things which the laws of natural affection sanction, we have in this instance not only wished to accomplish with your perfect cognizance, but we have also desired to have them confirmed by you as what is proper for us and likely prove beneficial.

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8. This, my grown-up son Gratian, to whom all of you bear affection as a common pledge, who has long lived among your own children, I am, for the sake of securing the public tranquillity on all sides, about to take as my colleague in the imperial authority, if the propitious will of the ruler of heaven and of your dignity, shall co-operate with a parent's affection. He has not been trained by a rigid education from his very cradle as we ourselves have; nor has he been equally taught to endure hardships; nor is he as yet, as you see, able to endure the toils of war; but in his disposition he is not unworthy of the glorious reputation of his family, or the mighty deeds of his ancestors, and, I venture to say, he is likely to grow up equal to still greater actions.

9. "For as I often think when contemplating, as I an

wont to do, his manners and passions though not yet come to maturity, he is so furnished with the liberal sciences, and in all accomplishments and graces, that even now, while only entering on manhood, he will be able to form an accurate judgment of virtuous and vicious actions. He will so conduct himself that virtuous men may see that they are appreciated; he will be eager in the performance of noble actions; he will never desert the military standards and eagles; he will cheerfully bear heat, snow, frost, and thirst; he will, if necessity should arise, never shrink from fighting in defence of his country; he will expose his life to save his comrades from danger, and (and this is the highest and greatest work of piety) he will love the republic as his own paternal and ancestral home."

10. Before he had finished his speech, every soldier hastened to anticipate his comrades as well as his position permitted him, in showing that these words of the emperor met with their cheerful assent. And so, as partakers in his joy, and as convinced of the advantage of his proposal, they declared Gratian emperor, mingling the propitious clashing of their arms with the loud roar of the trumpets.

11. When Valentinian saw this, his confidence increased; he adorned his son with a crown and with the robes befitting his now supreme rank, and kissed him; and then thus addressed him, brilliant as he appeared, and giving careful attention to all his words :

12. You wear now," said he, "my Gratian, the imperial robe, as we have all desired, which has been conferred on you with favourable auspices by my will and that of our comrades. Therefore now, considering the weight of the affairs which press upon us, gird yourself up as the colleague of your father and your uncle; and accustom yourself to pass fearlessly with the infantry over the Danube and the Rhine, which are made passable by the frost, to keep close to your soldiers, to devote your blood and your very life with all skill and deliberation for the safety of those under your command; to think nothing unworthy of your attention which concerns any portion of the Roman empire.

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13. This is enough by way of admonition to you at the present moment, at other times I will not fail to give