advantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present times. Yet, when
the first emotions had subsided, and a fair estimate was made of the
real damage, the more learned and judicious contemporaries were forced
to confess that infant Rome had formerly received more essential injury
from the Gauls than she had now sustained from the Goths in her
declining age. The experience of eleven centuries has enabled posterity
to produce a much more singular parallel, and to affirm with confidence
that the ravages of the Barbarians, whom Alaric had led from the banks
of the Danube, were less destructive than the hostilities exercised by
the troops of Charles V, a Catholic prince, who styled himself Emperor
of the Romans.
The Goths evacuated the city at the end of six days, but Rome remained
above nine months in the possession of the Imperialists, and every hour
was stained by some atrocious act of cruelty, lust, and rapine. The
authority of Alaric preserved some order and moderation among the
ferocious multitude which acknowledged him for their leader and king;
but the constable of Bourbon had gloriously fallen in the attack of the
walls; and the death of the general removed every restraint of
discipline from an army which consisted of three independent nations,
the Italians, the Spaniards, and the Germans.
The retreat of the victorious Goths, who evacuated Rome on the sixth
day, might be the result of prudence; but it was not surely the effect
of fear. At the head of an army encumbered with rich and weighty spoils,
their intrepid leader advanced along the Appian way into the southern
provinces of Italy, destroying whatever dared to oppose his passage, and
contenting himself with the plunder of the unresisting country.
Above four years elapsed from the successful invasion of Italy by the
arms of Alaric to the voluntary retreat of the Goths under the conduct
of his successor Adolphus; and during the whole time they reigned
without control over a country which, in the opinion of the ancients,
had united all the various excellences of nature and art. The
prosperity, indeed, which Italy had attained in the auspicious age of
the Antonines had gradually declined with the decline of the Empire. The
fruits of a long peace perished under the rude grasp of the Barbarians;
and they themselves were incapable of tasting the more elegant
refinements of luxury which had been prepared for the use of the soft
and polished Italians. Each soldier, however, claimed an ample portion
of the substantial plenty, the corn and cattle, oil and wine that was
daily collected and consumed in the Gothic camp; and the principal
warriors insulted the villas and gardens, once inhabited by Lucullus and
Cicero, along the beauteous coast of Campania. Their trembling captives,
the sons and daughters of Roman senators, presented, in goblets of gold
and gems, large draughts of Falernian wine to the haughty victors, who
stretched their huge limbs under the shade of plane trees, artificially
disposed to exclude the scorching rays and to admit the genial warmth of
the sun. These delights were enhanced by the memory of past hardships;
the comparison of their native soil, the bleak and barren hills of
Scythia, and the frozen banks of the Elbe and Danube added new charms to
the felicity of the Italian climate.[18]
Whether fame or conquest or riches were the object of Alaric, he pursued
that object with an indefatigable ardor which could neither be quelled
by adversity nor satiated by success. No sooner had he reached the
extreme land of Italy than he was attracted by the neighboring prospect
of a fertile and peaceful island. Yet even the possession of Sicily he
considered only as an intermediate step to the important expedition
which he already meditated against the continent of Africa.
The whole design was defeated by the premature death of Alaric, which
fixed, after a short illness, the fatal term of his conquests. The
ferocious character of the Barbarians was displayed in the funeral of a
hero whose valor and fortune they celebrated with mournful applause. By
the labor of a captive multitude, they forcibly diverted the course of
the Busentinus, a small river that washes the walls of Consentia. The
royal sepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils and trophies of Rome,
was constructed in the vacant bed; the waters were then restored to
their natural channel, and the secret spot where the remains of Alaric
had been deposited was forever concealed by the inhuman massacre of the
prisoners who had been employed to execute the work.
The personal animosities and hereditary feuds of the Barbarians were
suspended by the strong necessity of their affairs, and the brave
Adolphus, the brother-in-law of the deceased monarch, was unanimously
elected to succeed to his throne. The character and political system of
the new King of the Goths may be best understood from his own
conversation with an illustrious citizen of Narbonne; who afterward, in
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, related it to St. Jerome, in the presence
of the historian Orosius. "In the full confidence of valor and victory,
I once aspired (said. Adolphus) to change the face of the universe; to
obliterate the name of Rome; to erect on its ruins the dominion of the
Goths; and to acquire, like Augustus, the immortal fame of the founder
of a new empire. By repeated experiments I was gradually convinced that
laws are essentially necessary to maintain and regulate a
well-constituted state; and that the fierce, untractable humor of the
Goths was incapable of bearing the salutary yoke of laws and civil
government. From that moment I proposed to myself a different object of
glory and ambition; and it is now my sincere wish that the gratitude of
future ages should acknowledge the merit of a stranger who employed the
sword of the Goths, not to subvert, but to restore and maintain, the
prosperity of the Roman Empire." With these pacific views, the successor
of Alaric suspended the operations of war, and seriously negotiated with
the Imperial court a treaty of friendship and alliance. It was the
interest of the ministers of Honorius, who were now released from, the
obligation of their extravagant oath, to deliver Italy from the
intolerable weight of the Gothic powers; and they readily accepted their
service against the tyrants and Barbarians who infested the provinces
beyond the Alps. Adolphus, assuming the character of a Roman general,
directed his march from the extremity of Campania to the southern
provinces of Gaul. His troops, either by force or agreement,
immediately occupied the cities of Narbonne, Toulouse, and Bordeaux; and
though they were repulsed by Count Boniface from the walls of
Marseilles, they soon extended their quarters from the Mediterranean to
the ocean. The oppressed provincials might exclaim that the miserable
remnant which the enemy had spared was cruelly ravished by their
pretended allies; yet some specious colors were not wanting to palliate,
or justify, the violence of the Goths. The cities of Gaul, which they
attacked, might perhaps be considered as in a state of rebellion against
the government of Honorius; the articles of the treaty or the secret
instructions of the court might sometimes be alleged in favor of the
seeming usurpations of Adolphus; and the guilt of any irregular,
unsuccessful act of hostility might always be imputed, with an
appearance of truth, to the ungovernable spirit of a Barbarian host,
impatient of peace or discipline. The luxury of Italy had been less
effectual to soften the temper than to relax the courage of the Goths;
and they had imbibed the vices, without imitating the arts and
institutions, of civilized society.
The professions of Adolphus were probably sincere, and his attachment to
the cause of the republic was secured by the ascendant which a Roman
princess had acquired over the heart and understanding of the Barbarian
king. Placidia, the daughter of the great Theodosius, and of Galla, his
second wife, had received a royal education in the palace of
Constantinople; but the eventful story of her life is connected with the
revolutions which agitated the Western Empire under the reign of her
brother Honorius. When Rome was first invested by the arms of Alaric,
Placidia, who was then about twenty years of age, resided in the city;
and her ready consent to the death of her cousin Serena has a cruel and
ungrateful appearance, which, according to the circumstances of the
action, may be aggravated, or excused, by the consideration of her
tender age. The victorious Barbarians detained, either as a hostage or a
captive, the sister of Honorius; but, while she was exposed to the
disgrace of following round Italy the motions of a Gothic camp, she
experienced, however, a decent and respectful treatment. The authority
of Jornandes, who praises the beauty of Placidia, may perhaps be
counterbalanced by the silence, the expressive silence, of her
flatterers; yet the splendor of her birth, the bloom of youth, the
elegance of manners, and the dexterous insinuation which she
condescended to employ, made a deep impression on the mind of Adolphus,
and the Gothic King aspired to call himself the brother of the Emperor.
The ministers of Honorius rejected with disdain the proposal of an
alliance so injurious to every sentiment of Roman pride, and repeatedly
urged the restitution of Placidia as an indispensable condition of the
treaty of peace. But the daughter of Theodosius submitted, without
reluctance, to the desires of the conqueror, a young and valiant prince,
who yielded to Alaric in loftiness of stature, but who excelled in the
more attractive qualities of grace and beauty. The marriage of Adolphus
and Placidia was consummated before the Goths retired from Italy; and
the solemn, perhaps the anniversary, day of their nuptials was afterward
celebrated in the house of Ingenuus, one of the most illustrious
citizens of Narbonne in Gaul. The bride, attired and adorned like a
Roman empress, was placed on a throne of state; and the King of the
Goths, who assumed, on this occasion, the Roman habit, contented himself
with a less honorable seat by her side. The nuptial gift which,
according to the custom of his nation, was offered to Placidia,
consisted of the rare and magnificent spoils of her country. Fifty
beautiful youths, in silken robes, carried a basin in each hand; and one
of these basins was filled with pieces of gold, the other with precious
stones of an inestimable value. Attalus, so long the sport of fortune
and of the Goths, was appointed to lead the chorus of the hymeneal song;
and the degraded Emperor might aspire to the praise of a skilful
musician. The Barbarians enjoyed the insolence of their triumph; and the
provincials rejoiced in this alliance, which tempered, by the mild
influence of love and reason, the fierce spirit of their Gothic lord.
After the deliverance of Italy from the oppression of the Goths, some
secret counsellor was permitted, amid the factions of the palace, to
heal the wounds of that afflicted country. By a wise and humane
regulation the eight provinces which had been the most deeply injured,
Campania, Tuscany, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Calabria, Bruttium, and
Lucania, obtained an indulgence of five years; the ordinary tribute was
reduced to one-fifth, and even that fifth was destined to restore and
support the useful institution of the public posts. By another law, the
lands which had been left without inhabitants or cultivation were
granted, with some diminution of taxes, to the neighbors who should
occupy or the strangers who should solicit them; and the new possessors
were secured against the future claims of the fugitive proprietors.
About the same time a general amnesty was published in the name of
Honorius, to abolish the guilt and memory of all the _involuntary_
offences which had been committed by his unhappy subjects during the
term of the public disorder and calamity. A decent and respectful
attention was paid to the restoration of the capital; the citizens were
encouraged to rebuild the edifices which had been destroyed or damaged
by hostile fire; and extraordinary supplies of corn were imported from
the coast of Africa. The crowds that so lately fled before the sword of
the Barbarians were soon recalled by the hopes of plenty and pleasure;
and Albinus, prefect of Rome, informed the Court, with some anxiety and
surprise, that in a single day he had taken an account of the arrival of
fourteen thousand strangers. In less than seven years the vestiges of
the Gothic invasion were almost obliterated, and the city appeared to
resume its former splendor and tranquillity. The venerable matron
replaced her crown of laurel, which had been ruffled by the storms of
war; and was still amused, in the last moment of her decay, with the
prophecies of revenge, of victory, and of eternal dominion.
FOOTNOTE:
[18]
"The prostrate South to the destroyer yields
Her boasted titles and her golden fields;
With grim delight the brood of winter view
A brighter day and skies of azure hue;
Scent the new fragrance of the opening rose,
And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows."
See Gray's _Poems_, published by Mr. Mason, p. 197.
HUNS INVADE THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
ATTILA DICTATES A TREATY OF PEACE
A.D. 441
EDWARD GIBBON
Beyond the Great Wall of China, erected to secure the empire from
their encroachments, were numerous tribes of troublesome Hiongnou
who, becoming united under one head, were successful in an invasion
of that country. These confederated tribes became known as the
Huns. Until the advent of M. Deguignes all was dark concerning
them. That learned and laborious scholar conceived the idea that
the Huns might be thus identified, and has written the history from
Chinese sources, of those who since that time have poured down upon
the civilized countries of Asia and Europe and wasted them. Boulger
also identifies these tribes with the Huns of Attila. After driving
the Alani across the Danube and compelling them to seek an asylum
within the borders of the Roman Empire, the terrible Huns had
halted in their march westward for something more than a
generation. They were hovering, meantime, on the eastern frontiers
of the empire, "taking part like other barbarians in its
disturbances and alliances." Emperors paid them tribute, and Roman
generals kept up a politic or a questionable correspondence with
them. Stilicho had detachments of Huns in the armies which fought
against Alaric, King of the Goths, the greatest Roman soldier after
Stilicho--and, like Stilicho, of barbarian parentage--Aetius, who
was to be their most formidable antagonist, had been a hostage and
messmate in their camps. All historians agree that the influx of
these barbaric peoples hastened, more than any other cause, the
rapid decline of the great empire which the Romans had built up.
About A.D. 433 Attila, equally famous in history and legend, became
the King of the Huns. The attraction of his daring character, and
of his genius for the war which nomadic tribes delight in, gave him
absolute ascendency over his nation, and over the Teutonic and
Slavonic tribes near him. Like other conquerors of his race he
imagined and attempted an empire of ravage and desolation, a vast
hunting ground and preserve, in which men and their works should
supply the objects and zest of the chase.
The gradual encroachments of the Huns on the northern frontiers of
the Roman domain led to a terrific war in 441. Attila was king. His
first assault upon the Roman power was directed against the
Eastern Empire. The court at Constantinople had been duly
obsequious to him, but he found a pretext for war. The dreadful
ravages of his hordes and the shameful treaty which he forced upon
the empire form a thrilling yet terrible chapter in the history of
the world.
The western world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who fled
before the Huns; but the achievements of the Huns themselves were not
adequate to their power and prosperity. Their victorious hordes had
spread from the Volga to the Danube; but the public force was exhausted
by the discord of independent chieftains; their valor was idly consumed
in obscure and predatory excursions; and they often degraded their
national dignity by condescending, for the hopes of spoil, to enlist
under the banners of their fugitive enemies. In the reign of Attila the
Huns again became the terror of the world; and I shall now describe the
character and actions of that formidable Barbarian; who alternately
insulted and invaded the East and the West, and urged the rapid downfall
of the Roman Empire.
In the tide of emigration which impetuously rolled from the confines of
China to those of Germany, the most powerful and populous tribes may
commonly be found on the verge of the Roman provinces. The accumulated
weight was sustained for a while by artificial barriers; and the easy
condescension of the emperors invited, without satisfying, the insolent
demands of the Barbarians, who had acquired an eager appetite for the
luxuries of civilized life. The Hungarians, who ambitiously insert the
name of Attila among their native kings, may affirm with truth that the
hordes, which were subject to his uncle Roas, or Rugilas, had formed
their encampments within the limits of modern Hungary,[19] in a fertile
country, which liberally supplied the wants of a nation of hunters and
shepherds. In this advantageous situation, Rugilas and his valiant
brothers, who continually added to their power and reputation,
commanded the alternative of peace or war with the two empires. His
alliance with the Romans of the West was cemented by his personal
friendship for the great Aetius, who was always secure of finding, in
the Barbarian camp, a hospitable reception and a powerful support. At
his solicitation, and in the name of John the Usurper, sixty thousand
Huns advanced to the confines of Italy; their march and their retreat
were alike expensive to the State; and the grateful policy of Aetius
abandoned the possession of Pannonia to his faithful confederates.
The Romans of the East were not less apprehensive of the arms of
Rugilas, which threatened the provinces, or even the capital. Some
ecclesiastical historians have destroyed the Barbarians with lightning
and pestilence; but Theodosius was reduced to the more humble expedient
of stipulating an annual payment of three hundred and fifty pounds of
gold, and of disguising this dishonorable tribute by the title of
general, which the King of the Huns condescended to accept. The public
tranquillity was frequently interrupted by the fierce impatience of the
Barbarians and the perfidious intrigues of the Byzantine court. Four
dependent nations, among whom we may distinguish the Bavarians,
disclaimed the sovereignty of the Huns; and their revolt was encouraged
and protected by a Roman alliance, till the just claims and formidable
power of Rugilas were effectually urged by the voice of Eslaw his
ambassador. Peace was the unanimous wish of the senate: their decree was
ratified by the Emperor; and two ambassadors were named, Plinthas, a
general of Scythian extraction, but of consular rank; and the quæstor
Epigenes, a wise and experienced statesman, who was recommended to that
office by his ambitious colleague.
The death of Rugilas suspended the progress of the treaty. His two
nephews, Attila and Bleda, who succeeded to the throne of their uncle,
consented to a personal interview with the ambassadors of
Constantinople; but as they proudly refused to dismount, the business
was transacted on horseback, in a spacious plain near the city of
Margus, in the Upper Mæsia. The kings of the Huns assumed the solid
benefits, as well as the vain honors, of the negotiation. They dictated
the conditions of peace, and each condition was an insult on the majesty
of the empire. Besides the freedom of a safe and plentiful market on
the banks of the Danube, they required that the annual contribution
should be augmented from three hundred and fifty to seven hundred pounds
of gold; that a fine or ransom of eight pieces of gold should be paid
for every Roman captive who had escaped from his Barbarian master; that
the Emperor should renounce all treaties and engagements with the
enemies of the Huns; and that all the fugitives who had taken refuge in
the court or provinces of Theodosius should be delivered to the justice
of their offended sovereign. This justice was rigorously inflicted on
some unfortunate youths of a royal race. They were crucified on the
territories of the empire, by the command of Attila: and as soon as the
King of the Huns had impressed the Romans with the terror of his name,
he indulged them in a short and arbitrary respite, while he subdued the
rebellious or independent nations of Scythia and Germany.
Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his noble, perhaps his regal,
descent from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contended with the
monarchs of China. His features, according to the observation of a
Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his national origin; and the
portrait of Attila exhibits the genuine deformity of a modern Calmuk; a
large head, a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, a flat nose,
a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square
body, of nervous strength, though of a disproportioned form. The haughty
step and demeanor of the King of the Huns expressed the consciousness of
his superiority above the rest of mankind; and he had a custom of
fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he wished to enjoy the terror which he
inspired. Yet this savage hero was not inaccessible to pity; his
suppliant enemies might confide in the assurance of peace or pardon; and
Attila was considered by his subjects as a just and indulgent master.
He delighted in war; but, after he had ascended the throne in a mature
age, his head, rather than his hand, achieved the conquest of the North;
and the fame of an adventurous soldier was usefully exchanged for that
of a prudent and successful general. The effects of personal valor are
so inconsiderable, except in poetry or romance, that victory, even among
Barbarians, must depend on the degree of skill with which the passions
of the multitude are combined and guided for the service of a single
man. The Scythian conquerors, Attila and Zingis, surpassed their rude
countrymen in art rather than in courage; and it may be observed that
the monarchies, both of the Huns and of the Moguls, were erected by
their founders on the basis of popular superstition. The miraculous
conception, which fraud and credulity ascribed to the virgin-mother of
Zingis, raised him above the level of human nature; and the naked
prophet, who in the name of the Deity invested him with the empire of
the earth, pointed the valor of the Moguls with irresistible enthusiasm.
The religious arts of Attila were not less skilfully adapted to the
character of his age and country. It was natural enough that the
Scythians should adore, with peculiar devotion, the god of war; but as
they were incapable of forming either an abstract idea or a corporeal
representation, they worshipped their tutelar deity under the symbol of
an iron cimeter. One of the shepherds of the Huns perceived, that a
heifer, who was grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and curiously
followed the track of the blood, till he discovered, among the long
grass, the point of an ancient sword, which he dug out of the ground and
presented to Attila. That magnanimous, or rather that artful, prince
accepted, with pious gratitude, this celestial favor, and, as the
rightful possessor of the _sword of Mars,_ asserted his divine and
indefeasible claim to the dominion of the earth. If the rites of Scythia
were practised on this solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or rather pile of
fagots, three hundred yards in length and in breadth, was raised in a
spacious plain; and the sword of Mars was placed erect on the summit of
this rustic altar, which was annually consecrated by the blood of sheep,
horses, and of the hundredth captive.