ARGUMENT.
I. Omens announcing the death of the Emperor Valens, and a disaster
to be inflicted by the Gauls.--II. A description of the abodes and
customs of the Huns, the Alani, and other tribes, natives of
Asiatic Scythia.--III. The Huns, either by arms or by treaties,
unite the Alani on the Don to themselves; invade the Goths, and
drive them from their country.--IV. The chief division of the
Goths, surnamed the Thuringians, having been expelled from their
homes, by permission of Valens are conducted by the Romans into
Thrace, on condition of promising obedience and a supply of
auxiliary troops. The Gruthungi also, who form the other division
of the Goths, secretly cross the Danube by a bridge of boats.--V.
The Thuringians being in great distress from hunger and the want of
supplies, under the command of their generals Alavivus and
Fritigern, revolt from Valens, and defeat Lupicinus and his
army.--VI. Why Sueridus and Colias, nobles of the Gothic nation,
after having been received in a friendly manner, revolted; and
after slaying the people of Hadrianopolis, united themselves to
Fritigern, and then turned to ravage Thrace.--VII. Profuturus,
Trajan, and Richomeres fought a drawn battle against the
Goths.--VIII. The Goths being hemmed in among the defiles at the
bottom of the Balkan, after the Romans by returning had let them
escape, invaded Thrace, plundering, massacring, ravishing, and
burning, and slay Barzimeres, the tribune of the Scutarii.--IX.
Frigeridus, Gratian's general, routs Farnobius at the head of a
large body of Goths and Taifalæ; sparing the rest, and giving them
some lands around the Po.--X. The Lentiensian Alemanni are
defeated in battle by the generals of the emperor Gratian, and
their king Priamis is slain. Afterwards, having yielded and
furnished Gratian with a body of recruits, they are allowed to
return to their own country.--XI. Sebastian surprises the Goths at
Beræa as they are returning home loaded with plunder, and defeats
them with great slaughter; a few saved themselves by flight.
Gratian hastens to his uncle Valens, to carry him aid against the
Goths.--XII. Valens, before the arrival of Gratian resolves to
fight the Goths.--XIII. All the Goths unite together, that is to
say, the Thuringians, under their king Fritigern. The Gruthungi,
under their dukes Alatheus and Salaces, encounter the Romans in a
pitched battle, rout their cavalry, and then falling on the
infantry when deprived of the support of their horse, and huddled
together in a dense body, they defeat them with enormous loss, and
put them to flight. Valens is slain, but his body cannot be
found.--XIV. The virtues and vices of Valens.--XV. The victorious
Goths besiege Hadrianopolis, where Valens had left his treasures
and his insignia of imperial rank, with the prefect and the members
of his council; but after trying every means to take the city,
without success, they at last retire.--XVI. The Goths, having by
bribes won over the forces of the Huns and of the Alani to join
them, make an attack upon Constantinople without success. The
device by which Julius, the commander of the forces beyond Mount
Taurus, delivered the eastern provinces from the Goths.
I.
A.D. 375.
§ 1. In the mean time the swift wheel of Fortune, which continually
alternates adversity with prosperity, was giving Bellona the Furies for
her allies, and arming her for war; and now transferred our disasters to
the East, as many presages and portents foreshowed by undoubted signs.
2. For after many true prophecies uttered by diviners and augurs, dogs
were seen to recoil from howling wolves, and the birds of night
constantly uttered querulous and mournful cries; and lurid sunrises made
the mornings dark. Also, at Antioch, among the tumults and squabbles of
the populace, it had come to be a custom for any one who fancied himself
ill treated to cry out in a licentious manner, "May Valens be burnt
alive!" And the voices of the criers were constantly heard ordering wood
to be carried to warm the baths of Valens, which had been built under
the supertendence of the emperor himself.
3. All which circumstances all but pointed out in express words that the
end of the emperor's life was at hand. Besides all these things, the
ghost of the king of Armenia, and the miserable shades of those who had
lately been put to death in the affair of Theodorus, agitated numbers of
people with terrible alarms, appearing to them in their sleep, and
shrieking out verses of horrible import.[189]
4. ... and its death indicated an extensive and general calamity arising
from public losses and deaths. Last of all, when the ancient walls of
Chalcedon were thrown down in order to build a bath at Constantinople,
and the stones were torn asunder, on one squared stone which was hidden
in the very centre of the walls these Greek verses were found engraved,
which gave a full revelation of what was to happen:--
+"All hopotan nymphai droserê kata astu choreiê
Terpomenai strepsôntai eusteeiphas kat' aguias
Kai teichos loutroio polustonon essetai alkai
Dê tote myria phyla polyspereôn anthrôpôn
Istrou kallirooio poron peraônta syn aichmê
Kai Skythikên olesei chôrên kai Musida gaian
Paioniês d' epibanta syn syn elpisi mainomenêsin
Autou kai bioto o telos kai dêris ephexei."+
TRANSLATION.
"But when young wives and damsels blithe, in dances that delight,
Shall glide along the city streets, with garlands gaily bright;
And when these walls, with sad regrets, shall fall to raise a bath,
Then shall the Huns in multitude break forth with might and wrath.
By force of arms the barrier-stream of Ister they shall cross,
O'er Scythic ground and Moesian lands spreading dismay and loss:
They shall Pannonian horsemen brave, and Gallic soldiers slay,
And nought but loss of life and breath their course shall ever stay."
II.
§ 1. The following circumstances were the original cause of all the
destruction and various calamities which the fury of Mars roused up,
throwing everything into confusion by his usual ruinous violence: the
people called Huns, slightly mentioned in the ancient records, live
beyond the Sea of Azov, on the border of the Frozen Ocean, and are a
race savage beyond all parallel.
2. At the very moment of their birth the cheeks of their infant children
are deeply marked by an iron, in order that the usual vigour of their
hair, instead of growing at the proper season, may be withered by the
wrinkled scars; and accordingly they grow up without beards, and
consequently without any beauty, like eunuchs, though they all have
closely-knit and strong limbs, and plump necks; they are of great size,
and low legged, so that you might fancy them two-legged beasts, or the
stout figures which are hewn out in a rude manner with an axe on the
posts at the end of bridges.
3. They are certainly in the shape of men, however uncouth, but are so
hardy that they neither require fire nor well-flavoured food, but live
on the roots of such herbs as they get in the fields, or on the half-raw
flesh of any animal, which they merely warm rapidly by placing it
between their own thighs and the backs of their horses.
4. They never shelter themselves under roofed houses, but avoid them as
people ordinarily avoid sepulchres as things not fitted for common use.
Nor is there even to be found among them a cabin thatched with reed; but
they wander about, roaming over the mountains and the woods and accustom
themselves to bear frost and hunger and thirst from their very cradles.
And even when abroad they never enter a house unless under the
compulsion of some extreme necessity; nor, indeed, do they think people
under roofs as safe as others.
5. They wear linen clothes, or else garments made of the skins of
field-mice: nor do they wear a different dress out of doors from that
which they wear at home; but after a tunic is once put round their
necks, however it becomes worn, it is never taken off or changed till,
from long decay, it becomes actually so ragged as to fall to pieces.
6. They cover their heads with round caps, and their shaggy legs with
the skins of kids; their shoes are not made on any lasts, but are so
unshapely as to hinder them from walking with a free gait. And for this
reason they are not well suited to infantry battles, but are nearly
always on horseback, their horses being ill-shaped, but hardy; and
sometimes they even sit upon them like women if they want to do anything
more conveniently. There is not a person in the whole nation who cannot
remain on his horse day and night. On horseback they buy and sell, they
take their meat and drink, and there they recline on the narrow neck of
their steed, and yield to sleep so deep as to indulge in every variety
of dream.
7. And when any deliberation is to take place on any weighty matter,
they all hold their common council on horseback. They are not under the
authority of a king, but are contented with the irregular government of
their nobles, and under their lead they force their way through all
obstacles.
8. Sometimes when provoked, they fight; and when they go into battle,
they form in a solid body, and utter all kinds of terrific yells. They
are very quick in their operations, of exceeding speed, and fond of
surprising their enemies. With a view to this, they suddenly disperse,
then reunite, and again, after having inflicted vast loss upon the
enemy, scatter themselves over the whole plain in irregular formations:
always avoiding a fort or an entrenchment.
9. And in one respect you may pronounce them the most formidable of all
warriors, for when at a distance they use missiles of various kinds
tipped with sharpened bones instead of the usual points of javelins, and
these bones are admirably fastened into the shaft of the javelin or
arrow; but when they are at close quarters they fight with the sword,
without any regard for their own safety; and often while their
antagonists are warding off their blows they entangle them with twisted
cords, so that, their hands being fettered, they lose all power of
either riding or walking.
10. None of them plough, or even touch a plough-handle: for they have no
settled abode, but are homeless and lawless, perpetually wandering with
their waggons, which they make their homes; in fact they seem to be
people always in flight. Their wives live in these waggons, and there
weave their miserable garments; and here too they sleep with their
husbands, and bring up their children till they reach the age of
puberty; nor, if asked, can any one of them tell you where he was born,
as he was conceived in one place, born in another at a great distance,
and brought up in another still more remote.
11. In truces they are treacherous and inconstant, being liable to
change their minds at every breeze of every fresh hope which presents
itself, giving themselves up wholly to the impulse and inclination of
the moment; and, like brute beasts, they are utterly ignorant of the
distinction between right and wrong. They express themselves with great
ambiguity and obscurity; have no respect for any religion or
superstition whatever; are immoderately covetous of gold; and are so
fickle and irascible, that they very often on the same day that they
quarrel with their companions without any provocation, again become
reconciled to them without any mediator.
12. This active and indomitable race, being excited by an unrestrainable
desire of plundering the possessions of others, went on ravaging and
slaughtering all the nations in their neighbourhood till they reached
the Alani, who were formerly called the Massagetæ; and from what country
these Alani come, or what territories they inhabit (since my subject has
led me thus far), it is expedient now to explain: after showing the
confusion existing in the accounts of the geographers, who ... at last
have found out ... of truth.
13. The Danube, which is greatly increased by other rivers falling into
it, passes through the territory of the Sauromatæ, which extends as far
as the river Don, the boundary between Asia and Europe. On the other
side of this river the Alani inhabit the enormous deserts of Scythia,
deriving their own name from the mountains around; and they, like the
Persians, having gradually subdued all the bordering nations by repeated
victories, have united them to themselves, and comprehended them under
their own name. Of these other tribes the Neuri inhabit the inland
districts, being near the highest mountain chains, which are both
precipitous and covered with the everlasting frost of the north. Next to
them are the Budini and the Geloni, a race of exceeding ferocity, who
flay the enemies they have slain in battle, and make of their skins
clothes for themselves and trappings for their horses. Next to the
Geloni are the Agathyrsi, who dye both their bodies and their hair of a
blue colour, the lower classes using spots few in number and small--the
nobles broad spots, close and thick, and of a deeper hue.
15. Next to these are the Melanchænæ and the Anthropophagi, who roam
about upon different tracts of land and live on human flesh. And these
men are so avoided on account of their horrid food, that all the tribes
which were their neighbours have removed to a distance from them. And in
this way the whole of that region to the north-east, till you come to
the Chinese, is uninhabited.
16. On the other side the Alani again extend to the east, near the
territories of the Amazons, and are scattered among many populous and
wealthy nations, stretching to the parts of Asia which, as I am told,
extend up to the Ganges, a river which passes through the country of the
Indians, and falls into the Southern Ocean.
17. Then the Alani, being thus divided among the two quarters of the
globe (the various tribes which make up the whole nation it is not worth
while to enumerate), although widely separated, wander, like the
Nomades, over enormous districts. But in the progress of time all these
tribes came to be united under one generic appellation, and are called
Alani....
18. They have no cottages, and never use the plough, but live solely on
meat and plenty of milk, mounted on their waggons, which they cover with
a curved awning made of the bark of trees, and then drive them through
their boundless deserts. And when they come to any pasture-land, they
pitch their waggons in a circle, and live like a herd of beasts, eating
up all the forage--carrying, as it were, their cities with them in their
waggons. In them the husbands sleep with their wives--in them their
children are born and brought up; these waggons, in short, are their
perpetual habitation, and wherever they fix them, that place they look
upon as their home.
19. They drive before them their flocks and herds to their pasturage;
and, above all other cattle, they are especially careful of their
horses. The fields in that country are always green, and are
interspersed with patches of fruit trees, so that, wherever they go,
there is no dearth either of food for themselves or fodder for their
cattle. And this is caused by the moisture of the soil, and the number
of the rivers which flow through these districts.
20. All their old people, and especially all the weaker sex, keep close
to the waggons, and occupy themselves in the lighter employments. But
the young men, who from their earliest childhood are trained to the use
of horses, think it beneath them to walk. They are also all trained by
careful discipline of various sorts to become skilful warriors. And this
is the reason why the Persians, who are originally of Scythian
extraction, are very skilful in war.
21. Nearly all the Alani are men of great stature and beauty; their hair
is somewhat yellow, their eyes are terribly fierce; the lightness of
their armour renders them rapid in their movements; and they are in
every respect equal to the Huns, only more civilized in their food and
their manner of life. They plunder and hunt as far as the Sea of Azov
and the Cimmerian Bosphorus, ravaging also Armenia and Media.
22. And as ease is a delightful thing to men of a quiet and placid
disposition, so danger and war are a pleasure to the Alani, and among
them that man is called happy who has lost his life in battle. For those
who grow old, or who go out of the world from accidental sicknesses,
they pursue with bitter reproaches as degenerate and cowardly. Nor is
there anything of which they boast with more pride than of having killed
a man: and the most glorious spoils they esteem the scalps which they
have torn from the heads of those whom they have slain, which they put
as trappings and ornaments on their war horses.
23. Not is there any temple or shrine seen in their country, nor even
any cabin thatched with straw, their only idea of religion being to
plunge a naked sword into the ground with barbaric ceremonies, and then
they worship that with great respect, as Mars, the presiding deity of
the regions over which they wander.
24. They presage the future in a most remarkable manner; for they
collect a number of straight twigs of osier, then with certain secret
incantations they separate them from one another on particular days; and
from them they learn clearly what is about to happen.
25. They have no idea of slavery, inasmuch as they themselves are all
born of noble families; and those whom even now they appoint to be
judges are always men of proved experience and skill in war. But now let
us return to the subject which we proposed to ourselves.
III.
§ 1. Therefore the Huns, after having traversed the territories of the
Alani, and especially of that tribe of them who border on the Gruthungi,
and who are called Tanaitæ, and having slain many of them and acquired
much plunder, they made a treaty of friendship and alliance with those
who remained. And when they had united them to themselves, with
increased boldness they made a sudden incursion into the extensive and
fertile districts of Ermenrichus, a very warlike prince, and one whom
his numerous gallant actions of every kind had rendered formidable to
all the neighbouring nations.
2. He was astonished at the violence of this sudden tempest, and
although, like a prince whose power was well established he long
attempted to hold his ground, he was at last overpowered by a dread of
the evils impending over his country, which were exaggerated by common
report, till he terminated his fear of great danger by a voluntary
death.
3. After his death Vithimiris was made king. He for some time maintained
a resistance to the Alani, relying on the aid of other tribes of the
Huns, whom by large promises of pay he had won over to his party; but,
after having suffered many losses, he was defeated by superior numbers
and slain in battle. He left an infant son named Viderichus, of whom
Alatheus and Saphrax undertook the guardianship, both generals of great
experience and proved courage. And when they, yielding to the
difficulties of the crisis, had given up all hope of being able to make
an effectual resistance, they retired with caution till they came to the
river Dniester, which lies between the Danube and the Dnieper, and flows
through a vast extent of country.
4. When Athanaric, the chief magistrate of the Thuringians (against
whom, as I have already mentioned, Valens had begun to wage war, to
punish him for having sent assistance to Procopius), had become informed
of these unexpected occurrences, he prepared to maintain his ground,
with a resolution to rise up in strength should he be assailed as the
others had been.
5. At last he pitched his camp at a distance in a very favourable spot
near the banks of the Dniester and the valleys of the Gruthungi, and
sent Muderic, who afterwards became Duke of the Arabian frontier, with
Lagarimanus and others of the nobles, with orders to advance for twenty
miles, to reconnoitre the approach of the enemy while in the mean time
he himself, without delay, marshalled his troops in line of battle.
6. However, things turned out in a manner very contrary to his
expectations. For the Huns (being very sagacious in conjectures)
suspecting that there must be a considerable multitude further off,
contrived to pass beyond those they had seen, and arranged themselves to
take their rest where there was nothing at hand to disturb them; and
then, when the moon dispelled the darkness of night, they forded the
river, which was the best plan that presented itself, and fearing lest
the piquets at the outposts might give the alarm to the distant camp,
they made all possible speed and advanced with the hope of surprising
Athanaric himself.
7. He was stupefied at the suddenness of their onset, and after losing
many of his men, was compelled to flee for refuge to the precipitous
mountains in the neighbourhood, where, being wholly bewildered with the
strangeness of this occurrence, and the fear of greater evils to come,
he began to fortify with lofty walls all the territory between the banks
of the river Pruth and the Danube, where it passes through the lands of
the Taifali, and he completed this line of fortification with great
diligence, thinking that by this step he should secure his own personal
safety.
8. While this important work was going on, the Huns kept pressing on his
traces with great speed, and they would have overtaken and destroyed him
if they had not been forced to abandon the pursuit from being impeded by
the great quantity of their booty. In the mean time a report spread
extensively through the other nations of the Goths, that a race of men,
hitherto unknown, had suddenly descended like a whirlwind from the lofty
mountains, as if they had risen from some secret recess of the earth,
and were ravaging and destroying everything which came in their way. And
then the greater part of the population which, because of their want of
necessaries had deserted Athanaric, resolved to flee and to seek a home
remote from all knowledge of the barbarians; and after a long
deliberation where to fix their abode, they resolved that a retreat into
Thrace was the most suitable for these two reasons: first of all,
because it is a district most fertile in grass; and also because, by the
great breadth of the Danube, it is wholly separated from the barbarians,
who were already exposed to the thunderbolts of foreign warfare. And the
whole population of the tribe adopted this resolution unanimously.
IV.
A.D. 376.
§ 1. Accordingly, under the command of their leader Alavivus, they
occupied the banks of the Danube; and having sent ambassadors to Valens,
they humbly entreated to be received by him as his subjects, promising
to live quietly, and to furnish a body of auxiliary troops if any
necessity for such a force should arise.
2. While these events were passing in foreign countries, a terrible
rumour arose that the tribes of the north were planning new and
unprecedented attacks upon us: and that over the whole region which
extends from the country of the Marcomanni and Quadi to Pontus, a
barbarian host composed of different distant nations, which had suddenly
been driven by force from their own country, was now, with all their
families, wandering about in different directions on the banks of the
river Danube.
3. At first this intelligence was lightly treated by our people, because
they were not in the habit of hearing of any wars in those remote
districts till they were terminated either by victory or by treaty.
4. But presently, as the belief in these occurrences grew stronger,
being confirmed, too, by the arrival of the foreign ambassadors, who,
with prayers and earnest entreaties, begged that the people thus driven
from their homes and now encamped on the other side of the river, might
be kindly received by us, the affair seemed a cause of joy rather than
of fear, according to the skilful flatterers who were always extolling
and exaggerating the good fortune of the emperor; congratulating him
that an embassy had come from the furthest corners of the earth
unexpectedly, offering him a large body of recruits; and that, by
combining the strength of his own nation with these foreign forces, he
would have an army absolutely invincible; observing further that, by the
yearly payment for military reinforcements which came in every year from
the provinces, a vast treasure of gold might be accumulated in his
coffers.
5. Full of this hope he sent forth several officers to bring this
ferocious people and their waggons into our territory. And such great
pains were taken to gratify this nation which was destined to overthrow
the empire of Rome, that not one was left behind, not even of those who
were stricken with mortal disease. Moreover, having obtained permission
of the emperor to cross the Danube and to cultivate some districts in
Thrace, they crossed the stream day and night, without ceasing,
embarking in troops on board ships and rafts, and canoes made of the
hollow trunks of trees, in which enterprise, as the Danube is the most
difficult of all rivers to navigate, and was at that time swollen with
continual rains, a great many were drowned, who, because they were too
numerous for the vessels, tried to swim across, and in spite of all
their exertions were swept away by the stream.
6. In this way, through the turbulent zeal of violent people, the ruin
of the Roman empire was brought on. This, at all events, is neither
obscure nor uncertain, that the unhappy officers who were intrusted with
the charge of conducting the multitude of the barbarians across the
river, though they repeatedly endeavoured to calculate their numbers, at
last abandoned the attempt as hopeless: and the man who would wish to
ascertain the number might as well (as the most illustrious of
poets[190] says) attempt to count the waves in the African sea, or the
grains of sand tossed about by the zephyr.
7. Let, however, the ancient annals be accredited which record that the
Persian host which was led into Greece, was, while encamped on the
shores of the Hellespont, and making a new and artificial sea,[191]
numbered in battalions at Doriscus; a computation which has been
unanimously regarded by all posterity as fabulous.
8. But after the innumerable multitudes of different nations, diffused
over all our provinces, and spreading themselves over the vast expanse
of our plains, who filled all the champaign country and all the mountain
ranges, are considered, the credibility of the ancient accounts is
confirmed by this modern instance. And first of all Fritigern was
received with Alavivus; and the emperor assigned them a temporary
provision for their immediate support, and ordered lands to be assigned
them to cultivate.
9. At that time the defences of our provinces were much exposed, and the
armies of barbarians spread over them like the lava of Mount Etna. The
imminence of our danger manifestly called for generals already
illustrious for their past achievements in war: but nevertheless, as if
some unpropitious deity had made the selection, the men who were sought
out for the chief military appointments were of tainted character. The
chief among them were Lupicinus and Maximus, the one being Count of
Thrace, the other a leader notoriously wicked--and both men of great
ignorance and rashness.
10. And their treacherous covetousness was the cause of all our
disasters. For (to pass over other matters in which the officers
aforesaid, or others with their unblushing connivance, displayed the
greatest profligacy in their injurious treatment of the foreigners
dwelling in our territory, against whom no crime could be alleged) this
one melancholy and unprecedented piece of conduct (which, even if they
were to choose their own judges, must appear wholly unpardonable) must
be mentioned.
11. When the barbarians who had been conducted across the river were in
great distress from want of provisions, those detested generals
conceived the idea of a most disgraceful traffic: and having collected
hounds from all quarters with the most insatiable rapacity, they
exchanged them for an equal number of slaves, among whom were several
sons of men of noble birth.
12. About this time also, Vitheric, the king of the Gruthungi, with
Alatheus and Saphrax, by whose influence he was mainly guided, and also
with Farnobius, approached the bank of the Danube, and sent envoys to
the emperor to entreat that he also might be received with the same
kindness that Alavivus and Fritigern had experienced.
13. But when, as seemed best for the interests of the state, these
ambassadors had been rejected, and were in great anxiety as to what they
should do, Athanaric, fearing similar treatment, departed; recollecting
that long ago when he was discussing a treaty of alliance with Valens,
he had treated that emperor with contempt, in affirming that he was
bound by a religious obligation never to set his foot on the Roman
territory; and that by this excuse he had compelled the emperor to
conclude a peace in the middle of the war. And he, fearing that the
grudge which Valens bore him for this conduct was still lasting,
withdrew with all his forces to Caucalandes, a place which, from the
height of its mountains and the thickness of its woods, is completely
inaccessible; and from which he had lately driven out the Sarmatians.
V.
§ 1. But the Thuringians, though they had some time since received
permission to cross the river, were still wandering up and down the
banks, being hindered by a twofold obstacle; first, that in consequence
of the mischievous dissimulation of the said generals they were not
supplied with the necessary provisions; and also because they were
designedly detained that they might the more easily be plundered under
the wicked semblance of traffic.
2. And when they ascertained these facts, they began to grumble, and
proposed to resist the evils which they apprehended from the treachery
of these men by open force; and Lupicinus, who feared that they would
resist, brought up his troops close to them, in order to compel them to
be gone with all possible rapidity.
3. The Gruthungi seized this as a favourable opportunity, and seeing
that the Roman soldiers were occupied in another quarter, and that the
vessels which used to go up and down, to prevent them from crossing,
were now stationary, crossed the river on roughly-made rafts, and
pitched their camp at a great distance from Fritigern.
4. But he, by his innate foresight, provided against everything that
could happen, and marching on slowly as well in obedience to the
commands he had received as to allow time for other powerful kings to
join him, came by slow marches to Marcianopolis, arriving later than he
was expected. And here another atrocious occurrence took place, which
kindled the torches of the Furies for general calamity.
5. Alavivus and Fritigern were invited to a banquet; while Lupicinus
drew up his soldiers against the chief host of the barbarians, and so
kept them at a distance from the walls of the town; though they with
humble perseverance implored admission in order so to procure necessary
provisions, professing themselves loyal and obedient subjects. At last a
serious strife arose between the citizens and the strangers who were
thus refused admittance, which gradually led to a regular battle. And
the barbarians, being excited to an unusual pitch of ferocity when they
saw their relations treated as enemies, began to plunder the soldiers
whom they had slain.
6. But when Lupicinus, of whom we have already spoken, learnt by secret
intelligence that this was taking place, while he was engaged in an
extravagant entertainment, surrounded by buffoons, and almost overcome
by wine and sleep, he, fearing the issue, put to death all the guards
who, partly as a compliment and partly as a guard to the chiefs, were on
duty before the general's tent.
7. The people who were still around the walls heard of this with great
indignation, and rising up by degrees into a resolution to avenge their
kings, who, as they fancied, were being detained as prisoners, broke out
with furious threats. And Fritigern, being a man of great readiness of
resource, and fearing that perhaps he might be detained with the rest as
a hostage, exclaimed that there would be a terrible and destructive
conflict if he were not allowed to go forth with his companions in order
to pacify the multitude, who he said had broken out in this tumult from
believing that their leaders had been trepanned and murdered under show
of courtesy. Having obtained permission, they all went forth, and were
received with cheers and great delight; they then mounted their horses
and fled, in order to kindle wars in many quarters.
8. When Fame, ever the malignant nurse of bad news, bruited this
abroad, the whole nation of the Thuringians became suddenly inflamed
with a desire for war; and among many preparations which seemed to
betoken danger, the standards of war were raised according to custom,
and the trumpets poured forth sounds of evil omen; while the predatory
bands collected in troops plundering and burning villages, and throwing
everything that came in their way into alarm by their fearful
devastations.
9. Against these hosts, Lupicinus, having collected his forces with the
greatest possible rapidity, advanced with more rashness than prudence,
and halted in battle array nine miles from the city. The barbarians,
perceiving this, charged our battalions before we expected them, and
dashing upon the shields with which they covered their bodies, they cut
down all who fell in their way with their swords and spears; and urged
on by their bloodthirsty fury, they continued the slaughter, till they
had taken our standards, and the tribunes and the greater part of the
soldiers had fallen, with the exception of the unhappy general, who
could find nothing to do but, while all the rest were fighting, to
betake himself to flight, and return full gallop to the city. And then
the enemies, clothing themselves in the arms of the Romans whom they had
slain, pushed on their devastating march without hindrance.
10. And since, after recounting various other exploits, we have now come
to this portion of our subject, we call upon our readers (if we shall
ever have any) not to expect a minute detail of everything that took
place, or of the number of the slain, which indeed it would be utterly
impossible to give. It will be sufficient to abstain from concealing any
part of the truth by a lie, and to give the general outline of what took
place: since a faithful honesty of narration is always proper if one
would hand events down to the recollection of posterity.
11. Those who are ignorant of antiquity declare that the republic was
never so overwhelmed with the darkness of adverse fortune; but they are
deceived in consequence of the stupor into which they are thrown by
these calamities, which are still fresh in their memory. For if the
events of former ages, or even of those immediately preceding our own
times are considered, it will be plain that such melancholy events have
often happened, of which I will bring to mind several instances.
12. The Teutones and the Cimbri came suddenly from the remote shores of
the ocean, and overran Italy; but, after having inflicted enormous
disasters on the Roman republic, they were at last overcome by our
illustrious generals, and being wholly vanquished, learnt by their
ultimate destruction what martial valour, combined with skill, can
effect.
13. Again, in the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the insane fury
of a number of different nations combined together, after fearful wars
... would have left but a small part of them.
14. But, soon after these calamitous losses, the state was
re-established in all its former strength and prosperity; because the
soberness of our ancestry had not yet become infected with the luxury
and softness of a more effeminate way of life, and had not learnt to
indulge in splendid banquets, or the criminal acquisition of riches. But
both the highest classes and the lowest living in harmony, and imbued
with one unanimous spirit, eagerly embraced a glorious death in the
cause of the republic as a tranquil and quiet haven.
15. The great multitudes of the Scythian nations, having burst through
the Bosphorus, and made their way to the shores of the Sea of Azov with
2000 ships, inflicted fearful losses on us by land and sea; but also
lost a great portion of their own men, and so at last returned to their
own country.
16. Those great generals, the Decii, father and son, fell fighting
against the barbarians. The cities of Pamphylia were besieged, many
islands were laid waste; Macedon was ravaged with fire and sword. An
enormous host for a long time blockaded Thessalonica and Cyzicus. Arabia
also was taken; and so at the same time was Nicopolis, which had been
built by the Emperor Trajan as a monument of his victory over the
Dacians.
17. After many fearful losses had been both sustained and inflicted
Philippopolis was destroyed, and, unless our annals speak falsely,
100,000 men were slaughtered within its walls. Foreign enemies roved
unrestrained over Epirus, and Thessaly, and the whole of Greece; but
after that glorious general Claudius had been taken as a colleague in
the empire (though again lost to us by an honourable death), the enemy
was routed by Aurelian, an untiring leader, and a severe avenger of
injuries; and after that they remained quiet for a long time without
attempting anything, except that some bands of robbers now and then
ranged the districts in their own neighbourhood, always, however, to
their own injury. And now I will return to the main history from which I
have digressed.
VI.
§ 1. When this series of occurrences had been made generally known by
frequent messengers, Sueridus and Colias, two nobles of the Goths, who
had some time before been friendly received with their people, and had
been sent to Hadrianople to pass the winter in that city, thinking their
own safety the most important of all objects, looked on all the events
which were taking place with great indifference.
2. But, on a sudden, letters having arrived from the emperor, in which
they were ordered to cross over to the province of the Hellespont, they
asked, in a very modest manner, to be provided with money to defray the
expenses of their march, as well as provisions, and to be allowed a
respite of two days. But the chief magistrate of the city was indignant
at this request, being also out of humour with them on account of some
injury which had been done to property of his own in the suburbs, and
collected a great mob of the lowest of the people, with a body of
armourers, of whom there is a great number in that place, and led them
forth armed to hasten the departure of the Goths. And ordering the
trumpeters to sound an alarm, he menaced them with destruction unless
they at once departed with all speed, as they had been ordered.
3. The Goths, bewildered by this unexpected calamity, and alarmed at
this outbreak of the citizens, which looked more as if caused by a
sudden impulse than by any deliberate purpose, stood without moving. And
being assailed beyond all endurance by reproaches and manifestations of
ill will, and also by occasional missiles, they at last broke out into
open revolt; having slain several of those who had at first attacked
them with too much petulance, and having put the rest to flight, and
wounded many with all kinds of weapons, they stripped their corpses and
armed themselves with the spoils in the Roman fashion; and then, seeing
Fritigern near them, they united themselves to him as obedient allies,
and blockaded the city. They remained some time, maintaining this
difficult position and making promiscuous attacks, during which they
lost some of their number by their own audacity, without being able to
avenge them; while many were slain by arrows and large stones hurled
from slings.
4. Then Fritigern, perceiving that his men, who were unaccustomed to
sieges, were struggling in vain, and sustaining heavy losses, advised
his army to leave a force sufficient to maintain the blockade, and to
depart with the rest, acknowledging their failure, and saying that "He
did not war with stone walls." Advising them also to lay waste all the
fertile regions around without any distinction, and to plunder those
places which were not defended by any garrisons.
5. His counsel was approved, as his troops knew that he was always a
very able commander in bringing their plans to success; and then they
dispersed over the whole district of Thrace, advancing cautiously; while
those who came of their own accord to surrender, or those whom they had
taken prisoners, pointed out to them the richest towns, and especially
those where it was said that supplies of provisions could be found. And
in addition to their natural confidence they were greatly encouraged by
this circumstance, that a multitude of that nation came in daily to join
them who had formerly been sold as slaves by the merchants, with many
others whom, when at their first passage of the river they were
suffering from severe want, they had bartered for a little bad wine or
morsels of bread.
6. To these were added no inconsiderable number of men skilled in
tracing out veins of gold, but who were unable to endure the heavy
burden of their taxes; and who, having been received with the cheerful
consent of all, they were of great use to them while traversing strange
districts--showing them the secret stores of grain, the retreats of men,
and other hiding-places of divers kinds.
7. Nor while these men led them on as their guides did anything remain
untouched by them, except what was inaccessible or wholly out of the
way; for without any distinction of age or sex they went forward
destroying everything in one vast slaughter and conflagration: tearing
infants even from their mother's breast and slaying them; ravishing
their mothers; slaughtering women's husbands before the eyes of those
whom they thus made widows; while boys of tender and of adult age were
dragged over the corpses of their parents.
8. Lastly, numbers of old men, crying out that they had lived long
enough, having lost all their wealth, together with beautiful women, had
their hands bound behind their back, and were driven into banishment,
bewailing the ashes of their native homes.
VII.
A.D. 377.
§ 1. This news from Thrace was received with great sorrow, and caused
the Emperor Valens much anxiety.[192] He instantly sent Victor, the
commander of the cavalry, into Persia, to make such arrangements in
Armenia as were required by the impending danger. While he himself
prepared at once to quit Antioch and go to Constantinople, sending
before him Profuturus and Trajan, both officers of rank and ambition,
but of no great skill in war.
2. When they arrived at the place where it seemed most expedient to
combat this hostile multitude in detail and by ambuscades and surprises,
they very injudiciously adopted the ill-considered plan of opposing the
legions which had arrived from Armenia to barbarians who were still
raging like madmen. Though the legions had repeatedly proved equal to
the dangers of a pitched battle and regular warfare, they were not
suited to encounter an innumerable host which occupied all the chains of
the lofty hills, and also all the plains.
3. Our men had never yet experienced what can be effected by
indomitable rage united with despair, and so having driven back the
enemy beyond the abrupt precipices of the Balkan, they seized upon the
rugged defiles in order to hem in the barbarians on ground from which
they would be unable to find any exit, and where it seemed they might be
overcome by famine. They themselves intended to await the arrival of
Frigeridus, the duke, who was hastening towards them with the
auxiliaries from Pannonia and other countries, and whom, at the request
of Valens, Gratian had commanded to march to the camp to aid those who
were menaced with total destruction.
4. After him, Richomeres, at that time count of the domestics, who also,
by the command of Gratian, had moved forwards from Gaul, hastened
towards Thrace,[193] bringing with him some cohorts, which were cohorts
in name, though the greater portion of them had already deserted (if we
would believe some people), by the persuasion of Merobaudes, fearing
lest Gaul, now divested of all the troops, would be ravaged without
check after the barbarians had forced the passage of the Rhine.
5. But Frigeridus was prevented from moving by the gout, or at all
events (as some of his malicious detractors represented it), he pleaded
sickness as an excuse for not being present in the struggles which were
expected, and so Richomeres, being unanimously called to the chief
command, with Profuturus and Trajan for his colleagues, advanced towards
the town of Salices--at no great distance from which was a countless
host of barbarians, arranged in a circle, with a great multitude of
waggons for a rampart around them, behind which, as if protected by a
spacious wall, they enjoyed ease and an abundance of booty.
6. Filled with hopes of success, the Roman generals--resolved on some
gallant enterprise should fortune afford them an opportunity--were
carefully watching the movements of the Goths! having formed the
design--if they moved their camp in any other direction, which they were
very much in the habit of doing--to fall upon their rear, making no
doubt that they should slay many of them, and recover a great portion of
their spoil.
7. When the barbarians learnt this, probably through the information of
some deserter, from whom they obtained a knowledge of our operations,
they remained for some time in the same place; but at last, being
influenced by fear of the opposing army, and of the reinforcements which
might be expected to throng to them, they assembled, by a preconcerted
signal, the predatory bands dispersed in different districts, and which,
the moment they received the orders of their leaders, returned like
firebrands, with the swiftness of birds, to their "encampment of
chariots" (as they call it), and thus gave their countrymen confidence
to attempt greater enterprises.
8. After this there was no cessation of hostilities between the two
parties except what was afforded by a few short truces; for after those
men had returned to the camp whom necessity had forced to quit it, the
whole body which was crowded within the circuit of the encampment, being
full of fierce discontent, excitement, and a most ferocious spirit, and
now reduced to the greatest extremities, were eager for bloodshed: nor
did their chiefs, who were present with them, resist their desire; and
as the resolution to give battle was taken when the sun was sinking, and
when the approach of night invited the sullen and discontented troops to
rest, they took some food quietly, but remained all night sleepless.
9. On the other hand the Romans, knowing what was going on, kept
themselves also awake, fearing the enemy and their insane leaders as so
many furious wild beasts: nevertheless, with fearless minds they awaited
the result, which, though they acknowledged it to be doubtful in respect
of their inferiority in number, they still trusted would be propitious
because of the superior justice of their cause.
10. Therefore the next day, as soon as it was light, the signal for
taking arms having been given by the trumpets on both sides, the
barbarians, after having, in accordance with their usual custom, taken
an oath to remain faithful to their standards, attempted to gain the
higher ground, in order that from it they might descend down the steep
like wheels, overwhelming their enemy by the vigour of their attack.
When this was seen, our soldiers all flocked to their proper regiments,
and then stood firm, neither turning aside nor in any instance even
leaving their ranks to rush forward.
11. Therefore when the armies on both sides, advancing more cautiously,
at last halted and stood immovable, the warriors, with mutual sternness,
surveying each other with fierce looks. The Romans in every part of
their line sang warlike songs, with a voice rising from a lower to a
higher key, which they call barritus,[194] and so encouraged themselves
to gallant exertions. But the barbarians, with dissonant clamour,
shouted out the praises of their ancestors, and amid their various
discordant cries, tried occasional light skirmishes.
12. And now each army began to assail the other with javelins and other
similar missiles; and then with threatening shouts rushed on to close
combat, and packing their shields together like a testudo, they came
foot to foot with their foes. The barbarians, active, and easily
rallied, hurled huge bludgeons, burnt at one end, against our men, and
vigorously thrust their swords against the opposing breasts of the
Romans, till they broke our left wing; but as it recoiled, it fell back
on a strong body of reserve which was vigorously brought up on their
flank, and supported them just as they were on the very point of
destruction.
13. Therefore, while the battle raged with vast slaughter, each
individual soldier rushing fiercely on the dense ranks of the enemy, the
arrows and javelins flew like hail; the blows of swords were equally
rapid; while the cavalry, too, pressed on, cutting down all who fled
with terrible and mighty wounds on their backs; as also on both sides
did the infantry, slaughtering and hamstringing those who had fallen
down, and through fear were unable to fly.
14. And when the whole place was filled with corpses, some also lay
among them still half alive, vainly cherishing a hope of life, some of
them having been pierced with bullets hurled from slings, others with
arrows barbed with iron. Some again had their heads cloven in half with
blows of swords, so that one side of their heads hung down on each
shoulder in a most horrible manner.
15. Meanwhile, stubborn as the conflict was, neither party was wearied,
but they still fought on with equal valour and equal fortune, nor did
any one relax in his sternness as long as his courage could give him
strength for exertion. But at last the day yielded to the evening, and
put an end to the deadly contest: the barbarians all withdrew, in no
order, each taking his own path, and our men returned sorrowfully to
their tents.
16. Then having paid the honours of burial to some among the dead, as
well as the time and place permitted, the rest of the corpses were left
as a banquet to the ill-omened birds, which at that time were accustomed
to feed on carcases--as is even now shown by the places which are still
white with bones. It is quite certain that the Romans, who were
comparatively few, and contending with vastly superior numbers, suffered
serious losses, while at the same time the barbarians did not escape
without much lamentable slaughter.
VIII.
§ 1. Upon the melancholy termination of this battle, our men sought a
retreat in the neighbouring city of Marcianopolis. The Goths, of their
own accord, fell back behind the ramparts formed by their waggons, and
for seven days they never once ventured to come forth or show
themselves. So our soldiers, seizing the opportunity, raised a barrier,
and shut in some other vast multitudes of the barbarians among the
defiles of the Balkan, in hope, forsooth, that this destructive host
being thus hemmed in between the Danube and the desert, and having no
road by which to escape, must perish by famine, since everything which
could serve to sustain life had been conveyed into the fortified cities,
and these cities were safe from any attempt of the barbarians to besiege
them, since they were wholly ignorant of the use of warlike engines.
2. After this Richomeres returned to Gaul, to convey reinforcements to
that country, where a fresh war of greater importance than ever, was
anticipated. These events took place in the fourth consulship of
Gratian, and the first of Merobaudes, towards the autumn of the year.
3. In the mean time Valens, having heard of the miserable result of
these wars and devastations, gave Saturninus the command of the
cavalry, and sent him to carry aid to Trajan and Profuturus.
4. At that time, throughout the whole countries of Scythia and Moesia,
everything which could be eaten had been consumed; and so, urged equally
by their natural ferocity and by hunger, the barbarians made desperate
efforts to force their way out of the position in which they were
enclosed but though they made frequent attempts, they were constantly
overwhelmed by the vigour of our men, who made an effectual resistance
by the aid of the rugged ground which they occupied; and at last, being
reduced to the extremity of distress, they allured some of the Huns and
Alani to their alliance by the hope of extensive plunder.
5. When this was known, Saturninus (for by this time he had arrived and
was busy in arranging the outposts and military stations in the country)
gradually collected his men, and was preparing to retreat, in pursuance
of a sufficiently well-devised plan, lest the multitude of barbarians by
some sudden movement (like a river which had burst its barriers by the
violence of a flood) should easily overthrow his whole force, which had
now been for some time watching the place from which danger was
suspected.
6. The moment that, by the seasonable retreat of our men, the passage of
these defiles was opened, the barbarians, in no regular order, but
wherever each individual could find a passage, rushed forth without
hindrance to spread confusion among us; and raging with a desire for
devastation and plunder, spread themselves with impunity over the whole
region of Thrace, from the districts watered by the Danube, to Mount
Rhodope and the strait which separates the Ægean from the Black Sea,
spreading ravage, slaughter, bloodshed, and conflagration, and throwing
everything into the foulest disorder by all sorts of acts of violence
committed even on the free-born.
7. Then one might see, with grief, actions equally horrible to behold
and to speak of: women panic-stricken, beaten with cracking scourges;
some even in pregnancy, whose very offspring, before they were born, had
to endure countless horrors: here were seen children twining round their
mothers; there one might hear the lamentations of noble youths and
maidens all seized and doomed to captivity.
8. Again, grown-up virgins and chaste matrons were dragged along with
countenances disfigured by bitter weeping, wishing to avoid the
violation of their modesty by any death however agonizing. Here some
wealthy nobleman was dragged along like a wild beast, complaining, of
fortune as merciless and blind, who in a brief moment had stripped him
of his riches, of his beloved relations, and his home; had made him see
his house reduced to ashes, and had reduced him to expect either to be
torn limb from limb himself, or else to be exposed to scourging and
torture, as the slave of a ferocious conqueror.
9. But the barbarians, like beasts who had broken loose from their
cages, pouring unrestrainedly over the vast extent of country, marched
upon a town called Dibaltum, where they found Barzimeres, a tribune of
the Scutarii, with his battalion, and some of the Cornuti legion, and
several other bodies of infantry pitching a camp, like a veteran general
of great experience as he was.
10. Instantly (as the only means of avoiding immediate destruction) he
ordered the trumpet to give the signal for battle; and strengthening his
flanks, rushed forward with his little army in perfect order. And he
made so gallant a struggle, that the barbarians would have obtained no
advantage over him, if a strong body of cavalry had not come round upon
him from behind, while his men were panting and weary with their
exertions: so at last he fell, but not without having inflicted great
slaughter on the barbarians, though the vastness of their numbers made
their losses less observed.
IX.
§ 1. After this affair had terminated, the Goths, being uncertain what
next to do, went in quest of Frigeridus, with the resolution to destroy
him wherever they could find him, as a formidable obstacle to their
success; and having rested for a while to refresh themselves with sleep
and better food than usual, they then pursued him like so many wild
beasts, having learnt that by Gratian's order he had returned into
Thrace, and had pitched his camp near Beræa, intending to wait there to
see how affairs would turn out.
2. They hastened accordingly, that by a rapid march they might carry
out their proposed plan; but Frigeridus, who knew as well how to command
as to preserve his troops, either suspected their plans, or else
obtained accurate information respecting them from the scouts whom he
had sent out; and therefore returned over the mountains and through the
thick forests into Illyricum; being full of joy at the success which an
unexpected chance threw in his way.
3. For as he was retreating, and moving on steadily with his force in a
solid column, he came upon Farnobius, one of the chieftains of the
Goths, who was roaming about at random with a large predatory band, and
a body of the Taifali, with whom he had lately made an alliance, and who
(if it is worth mentioning), when our soldiers were all dispersed for
fear of the strange nations which were threatening them, had taken
advantage of their dispersion to cross the river, in order to plunder
the country thus left without defenders.
4. When their troops thus suddenly came in sight, our general with great
prudence prepared to bring on a battle at close quarters, and, in spite
of their ferocious threats, at once attacked the combined leaders of the
two nations; and would have slain them all, not leaving a single one of
them to convey news of their disaster, if, after Farnobius, hitherto the
much-dreaded cause of all these troubles, had been slain, with a great
number of his men, he had not voluntarily spared the rest on their own
earnest supplication; and then he distributed those to whom he had thus
granted their lives in the districts around the Italian towns of Modena,
Reggio, and Parma, which he allotted to them to cultivate.
5. It is said that this nation of the Taifali was so profligate, and so
immersed in the foulest obscenities of life, that they indulged in all
kinds of unnatural lusts, exhausting the vigour both of youth and
manhood in the most polluted defilements of debauchery. But if any adult
caught a boar or slew a bear single-handed, he was then exempted from
all compulsion of submitting to such ignominious pollution.
X.
§ 1. It was when autumn was passing into winter that terrible whirlwinds
swept over Thrace; and as if the Furies were throwing everything into
confusion, awful storms extended even into distant regions.
2. And now the people of the Allemanni, belonging to the district of
Lintz, who border on the Tyrol, having by treacherous incursions
violated the treaty which had been made with them some time before,
began to make attempts upon our frontier; and this calamity had the
following lamentable beginning.
3. One of this nation who was serving among the guards of the emperor,
returned home at the call of some private business of his own; and being
a very talkative person, when he was continually asked what was doing in
the palace, he told them that Valens, his uncle, had sent for Gratian to
conduct the campaign in the East, in order that by their combined forces
they might drive back the inhabitants of the countries on our eastern
frontier, who had all conspired for the overthrow of the Roman state.
4. The people of Lintz greedily swallowed this intelligence, looking on
it as if it concerned themselves also as neighbours, being so rapid and
active in their movements; and so they assembled, in predatory bands,
and when the Rhine was sufficiently frozen over to be passable, in the
month of February.... The Celtæ, with the Petulantes legion, repulsed
them, but not without considerable loss.
5. These Germans, though thus compelled to retreat, being aware that the
greater part of our army had been despatched into Illyricum, where the
emperor was about to follow to assume the command, became more bold than
ever, and conceived the idea of greater enterprises. Having collected
the inhabitants of all the adjacent countries into one body, and with
40,000 armed men, or 70,000, as some, who seek to enhance the renown of
the emperor, have boasted, they with great arrogance and confidence
burst into our territories.
6. Gratian, when he heard of this event, was greatly alarmed, and
recalling the cohorts which he had sent on before into Pannonia, and
collecting others whom he had prudently retained in Gaul, he committed
the affair to the conduct of Nannienus, a leader of great prudence and
skill, joining with him as his colleague with equal power, Mellobaudes,
the count-commander of the domestics and king of the Franks, a man of
great courage and renown in war.[195]
7. Nannienus took into his consideration the variable chances of
fortune, and therefore voted for acting slowly and with caution, while
Mellobaudes, hurried away by a fierce desire for fighting, according to
his usual custom, was eager at once to march against the enemy; and
would not brook delay.
8. Presently a horrid shout was raised by the enemy, and the trumpeters
on our side also gave the signal for battle, upon which a fierce
engagement began near Colmar. On both sides numbers fell beneath the
blows of arrows and hurled javelins.
9. But while the battle was raging, the multitude of the enemy appeared
so countless, that our soldiers, avoiding a conflict with them on the
open field, dispersed as best they could among the different narrow
paths overgrown with trees; but they afterwards stood their ground
firmly, and by the boldness of their carriage and the dazzling splendour
of their arms, when seen from a distance, made the barbarians fear that
the emperor himself was at hand.
10. And they suddenly turned their backs, still offering occasional
resistance, to leave no chance for safety untried; but at last they were
routed with such slaughter that of their whole number not above 9,000,
as was reckoned, escaped, and these owed their safety to the thickness
of the woods. Among the many bold and gallant men who perished was their
king, Priarius, who had been the principal cause of this ruinous war.
11. Gratian was greatly delighted and encouraged by this success; and
intending now to proceed to the East, he secretly crossed the Rhine, and
turned his march to the left, being full of sanguine hopes, and
resolving, if fortune should only favour his enterprise, to destroy the
whole of this treacherous and turbulent nation.
12. And as intelligence of this design was conveyed to the people of
Lintz by repeated messengers, they, who had already been reduced to
great weakness by the almost entire destruction of their forces, and
were now greatly alarmed at the expected approach of the emperor,
hesitated what to do, and as neither by resistance, nor by anything
which they could do or devise, did they perceive any possibility of
obtaining ever so brief a respite, they withdrew with speed to their
hills, which were almost inaccessible from the steepness of their
precipices, and reaching the most inaccessible rocks by a winding path,
they conveyed thither their riches and their families, and prepared to
defend them with all their might.
13. Having deliberated on this difficulty, our general selected 500 men
of proved experience in war out of each legion, to station opposite to
the entrances to this wall of rock. And they, being further encouraged
by the fact that the emperor himself was continually seen actively
employed among the front rank, endeavoured to scale the precipices, not
doubting but that if they could once set foot upon the rocks they should
instantly catch the barbarians, like so much game, without any conflict;
and so an engagement was commenced towards the approach of noon, and
lasted even to the darkness of night.
14. Both sides experienced heavy losses. Our men slew numbers, and fell
in numbers; and the armour of the emperor's body-guard, glittering with
gold and brilliant colours, was crushed beneath the weight of the heavy
missiles hurled upon them.
15. Gratian held a long deliberation with his chief officers; and it
seemed to them fruitless and mischievous to contend with unreasonable
obstinacy against these rugged and overhanging rocks; at last (as is
usual in such affairs), after various opinions had been delivered, it
was determined, without making any more active efforts, to blockade the
barbarians and reduce them by famine; since against all active
enterprises the character of the ground which they occupied was a
sufficient defence.
16. But the Germans still held out with unflinching obstinacy, and being
thoroughly acquainted with the country, retreated to other mountains
still more lofty than those which they occupied at first. Thither also
the emperor turned with his army, with the same energy as before,
seeking for a path which might lead him to the heights.
17. And when the barbarians saw him thus with unwearied perseverance
intent upon their destruction, they surrendered; and having by humble
supplication obtained mercy, they furnished a reinforcement of the
flower of their youth to be mingled with our recruits, and were
permitted to retire in safety to their native land.
18. It is beyond all belief how much vigour and rapidity of action
Gratian, by the favour of the eternal Deity, displayed in gaining this
seasonable and beneficial victory, which broke the power of the Western
tribes at a time when he was preparing to hasten in another direction.
He was indeed a young prince of admirable disposition, eloquent,
moderate, warlike, and merciful, rivalling the most admirable of his
predecessors, even while the down of youth was still upon his cheeks;
the only drawback to his character being that he was sometimes drawn
into ridiculous actions, when, in consequence of temptations held out by
his minions and favourites, he imitated the vain pursuits of Cæsar
Commodus; but he was never bloodthirsty.
19. For as that prince, because he had been accustomed to slay numbers
of wild beasts with his javelins in the sight of the people, and prided
himself beyond measure on the skill with which he slew a hundred lions
let loose at the same time in the amphitheatre with different missiles,
and without ever having to repeat his shot; so Gratian, in the
enclosures called preserves, slew wild beasts with his arrows,
neglecting much serious business for this amusement, and this at a time
when if Marcus Antoninus had resumed the empire he would have found it
hard, without colleagues of equal genius to his own, and without the
most serious deliberation of counsel, to remedy the grievous disasters
of the republic.
20. Therefore having made all the arrangements which the time would
permit for the affairs of Gaul, and having punished the traitor of the
Scutarii who had betrayed to the barbarians the intelligence that the
emperor was about to depart with all speed for Illyricum, Gratianus
quitted the army, and passing through the fortress known as that of
Arbor Felix, he proceeded by forced marches to carry his assistance to
those who needed it.
21. About this time, while Frigeridus was with great wisdom devising
many schemes likely to prove of advantage to the general safety, and was
preparing to fortify the defiles of the Succi, to prevent the enemy
(who, by the rapidity of their movements and their fondness for sallies,
were always threatening the northern provinces like a torrent) from
extending their inroads any further he was superseded by a count named
Maurus, a man cruel, ferocious, fickle, and untrustworthy. This man, as
we have related in our account of preceding transactions being one of
Julian's body-guard to whom the defence of the palace was expressly
committed, while that prince was doubting about accepting the imperial
authority, took the chain from his own neck and offered it to him for a
diadem.
22. Thus, in the most critical aspect of our difficulties, a cautious
and energetic general was removed, when, even if he had previously
retired into private life, he ought, from the greatness of the affairs
which required his superintendence, to have been brought back again to
the camp.
XI.
A.D. 378.
§ 1. About the same time Valens quitted Antioch, and, after a long
journey, came to Constantinople, where he stayed a few days, being made
anxious by a trifling sedition among the citizens. He intrusted the
command of the infantry, which had previously been committed to Trajan,
to Sebastian, who at his request had been lately sent to him from Italy,
being a general of well-known vigilance; and he himself went to
Melanthias, a country palace belonging to the emperors, where he
conciliated the soldiers by giving them their pay, furnishing them with
provisions, and frequently addressing them in courteous speeches.
2. Having left this place, he proceeded according to the stages he had
marked out, and came to a station named Nice, where he learnt from
intelligence brought by his scouts, that the barbarians, who had
collected a rich booty, were returning loaded with it from the districts
about Mount Rhodope, and were now near Hadrianople. They, hearing of
the approach of the emperor with a numerous force, were hastening to
join their countrymen, who were in strong positions around Beræa and
Nicopolis; and immediately (as the ripeness of the opportunity thus
thrown in his way required) the emperor ordered Sebastian to hasten on
with three hundred picked soldiers of each legion, to do something (as
he promised) of signal advantage to the commonweal.
3. Sebastian pushed on by forced marches, and came in sight of the enemy
near Hadrianople; but as the gates were barred against him, he was
unable to approach nearer, since the garrison feared that he had been
taken prisoner by the enemy, and won over by them: so that something to
the injury of the city might happen, like what had formerly taken place
in the case of Count Actus, who had been cunningly taken prisoner by the
soldiers of Magnentius, and who thus caused the opening of the passes of
the Julian Alps.
4. At last, though late, they recognized Sebastian, and allowed him to
enter the city. He, then, as well as he could, refreshed the troops
under his command with food and rest, and next morning secretly issued
forth, and towards evening, being partially concealed by the rising
ground and some trees, he suddenly caught sight of the predatory bands
of the Goths near the river Maritza, where, favoured by the darkness of
night, he charged them while in disorder and unprepared, routing them so
completely that, with the exception of a few whom swiftness of foot
saved from death, the whole body were slain, and he recovered such an
enormous quantity of booty, that neither the city, nor the extensive
plains around could contain it.
5. Fritigern was greatly alarmed; and fearing lest this general, who as
we have often heard succeeded in all his undertakings, should surprise
and utterly destroy his different detachments, which were scattered at
random over the country, intent only on plunder, he called in all his
men near the town of Cabyle, and at once made off, in order to gain the
open country, where he would not be liable to be straitened for want of
provisions, or harassed by secret ambuscades.
6. While these events were proceeding in Thrace, Gratian having sent
letters to inform his uncle of the energy with which he had overcome the
Allemanni, and forwarded his baggage by land, himself, with a picked
band of his quickest troops, crossed the Danube, reached Bononia, and
afterwards Sirmium, where he halted four days. He then descended the
river to the Camp of Mars, where he was laid up by an intermittent
fever, and, being suddenly assailed by the Alani, lost a few of his
followers.
XII.
§ 1. At this time Valens was disturbed by a twofold anxiety, having
learned that the people of Lintz had been defeated, and also because
Sebastian, in the letters which he sent from time to time, exaggerated
what had taken place by his pompous language. Therefore he advanced from
Melanthias, being eager by some glorious exploit to equal his youthful
nephew, by whose virtue he was greatly excited. He was at the head of a
numerous force, neither unwarlike nor contemptible, and had united with
them many veteran bands, among whom were several officers of high rank,
especially Trajan, who a little while before had been commander of the
forces.
2. And as by means of spies and observation it was ascertained that the
enemy were intending to blockade the different roads by which the
necessary supplies must come, with strong divisions, he sent a
sufficient force to prevent this, despatching a body of the archers of
the infantry and a squadron of cavalry, with all speed, to occupy the
narrow passes in the neighbourhood.
3. Three days afterwards, when the barbarians, who were advancing
slowly, because they feared an attack in the unfavourable ground which
they were traversing, arrived within fifteen miles from the station of
Nice, which was the aim of their march, the emperor, with wanton
impetuosity, resolved on attacking them instantly, because those who had
been sent forward to reconnoitre (what led to such a mistake is unknown)
affirmed that their entire body did not exceed ten thousand men.
4. Marching on with his army in battle array, he came near the suburb
of Hadrianople, where he pitched his camp, strengthening it with a
rampart of palisades, and then impatiently waited for Gratian. While
here, Richomeres, Count of the Domestici, arrived, who had been sent on
by that emperor with letters announcing his immediate approach.
5. And imploring Valens to wait a little while for him that he might
share his danger, and not rashly face the danger before him single
handed, he took counsel with his officers as to what was best to be
done.
6. Some, following the advice of Sebastian, recommended with urgency
that he should at once go forth to battle; while Victor, master-general
of the cavalry, a Sarmatian by birth, but a man of slow and cautious
temper, recommended him to wait for his imperial colleague, and this
advice was supported by several other officers, who suggested that the
reinforcement of the Gallic army would be likely to awe the fiery
arrogance of the barbarians.
7. However, the fatal obstinacy of the emperor prevailed, fortified by
the flattery of some of the princes, who advised him to hasten with all
speed, so that Gratian might have no share in a victory which, as they
fancied, was already almost gained.
8. And while all necessary preparations were being made for the battle,
a presbyter of the Christian religion (as he called himself), having
been sent by Fritigern as his ambassador, came, with some colleagues of
low rank, to the emperor's camp; and having been received with courtesy,
he presented a letter from that chieftain, openly requesting that the
emperor would grant to him and to his followers, who were now exiles
from their native homes, from which they had been driven by the rapid
invasions of savage nations, Thrace, with all its flocks and all its
crops, for a habitation. And if Valens would consent to this, Fritigern
would agree to a perpetual peace.
9. In addition to this message, the same Christian, as one acquainted
with his commander's secrets, and well trusted, produced other secret
letters from his chieftain who, being full of craft and every resource
of deceit, informed Valens, as one who was hereafter to be his friend
and ally, that he had no other means to appease the ferocity of his
countrymen, or to induce them to accept conditions advantageous to the
Roman state, unless from time to time he showed them an army under arms
close at hand, and by frightening them with the name of the emperor,
recalled them from their mischievous eagerness for fighting. The
ambassadors retired unsuccessful, having been looked on as suspicious
characters by the emperor.
10. When the day broke which the annals mark as the fifth of the Ides of
August, the Roman standards were advanced with haste, the baggage having
been placed close to the walls of Hadrianople, under a sufficient guard
of soldiers of the legions; the treasures and the chief insignia of the
emperor's rank were within the walls, with the prefect and the principal
members of the council.
11. Then, having traversed the broken ground which divided the two
armies, as the burning day was progressing towards noon, at last, after
marching eight miles, our men came in sight of the waggons of the enemy,
which had been stated by the scouts to be all arranged in a circle.
According to their custom, the barbarian host raised a fierce and
hideous yell, while the Roman generals marshalled their line of battle.
The right wing of the cavalry was placed in front; the chief portion of
the infantry was kept in reserve.
12. But the left wing of the cavalry, of which a considerable number
were still straggling on the road, were advancing with speed, though
with great difficulty; and while this wing was deploying, not as yet
meeting with any obstacle, the barbarians being alarmed at the terrible
clang of their arms and the threatening crash of their shields (since a
large portion of their own army was still at a distance, under Alatheus
and Saphrax, and, though sent for, had not yet arrived), again sent
ambassadors to ask for peace.
13. The emperor was offended at the lowness of their rank, and replied,
that if they wished to make a lasting treaty, they must send him nobles
of sufficient dignity. They designedly delayed, in order by the
fallacious truce which subsisted during the negotiation to give time for
their cavalry to return, whom they looked upon as close at hand; and for
our soldiers, already suffering from the summer heat, to become parched
and exhausted by the conflagration of the vast plain; as the enemy had,
with this object, set fire to the crops by means of burning faggots and
fuel. To this evil another was added, that both men and cattle were
suffering from extreme hunger.
14. In the meantime Fritigern, being skilful in divining the future, and
fearing a doubtful struggle, of his own head sent one of his men as a
herald, requesting that some nobles and picked men should at once be
sent to him as hostages for his safety, when he himself would fearlessly
bring us both military aid and supplies.
15. The proposition of this formidable chief was received with praise
and approbation, and the tribune Equitius, a relation of Valens, who was
at that time high steward of the palace, was appointed, with general
consent, to go with all speed to the barbarians as a hostage. But he
refused, because he had once been taken prisoner by the enemy, and had
escaped from Dibaltum, so that he feared their vengeful anger; upon this
Richomeres voluntarily offered himself, and willingly undertook to go,
thinking it a bold action, and one becoming a brave man; and so he set
out, bearing vouchers of his rank and high birth.
16. And as he was on his way towards the enemy's camp, the accompanying
archers and Scutarii, who on that occasion were under the command of
Bacurius, a native of Iberia, and of Cassio, yielded, while on their
march, to an indiscreet impetuosity, and on approaching the enemy, first
attacked them rashly, and then by a cowardly flight disgraced the
beginning of the campaign.
17. This ill-timed attack frustrated the willing services of Richomeres,
as he was not permitted to proceed; in the mean time the cavalry of the
Goths had returned with Alatheus and Saphrax, and with them a battalion
of Alani; these descending from the mountains like a thunderbolt, spread
confusion and slaughter among all whom in their rapid charge they came
across.
XIII.
§ 1. And while arms and missiles of all kinds were meeting in fierce
conflict, and Bellona, blowing her mournful trumpet, was raging more
fiercely than usual, to inflict disaster on the Romans, our men began to
retreat; but presently, roused by the reproaches of their officers, they
made a fresh stand, and the battle increased like a conflagration,
terrifying our soldiers, numbers of whom were pierced by strokes from
the javelins hurled at them, and from arrows.
2. Then the two lines of battle dashed against each other, like the
beaks (or rams) of ships, and thrusting with all their might, were
tossed to and fro, like the waves of the sea. Our left wing had advanced
actually up to the waggons, with the intent to push on still further if
they were properly supported; but they were deserted by the rest of the
cavalry, and so pressed upon by the superior numbers of the enemy, that
they were overwhelmed and beaten down, like the ruin of a vast rampart.
Presently our infantry also was left unsupported, while the different
companies became so huddled together that a soldier could hardly draw
his sword, or withdraw his hand after he had once stretched it out. And
by this time such clouds of dust arose that it was scarcely possible to
see the sky, which resounded with horrible cries; and in consequence,
the darts, which were bearing death on every side, reached their mark,
and fell with deadly effect, because no one could see them beforehand so
as to guard against them.
3. But when the barbarians, rushing on with their enormous host, beat
down our horses and men, and left no spot to which our ranks could fall
back to deploy, while they were so closely packed that it was impossible
to escape by forcing a way through them, our men at last began to
despise death, and again took to their swords and slew all they
encountered, while with mutual blows of battle-axes, helmets and
breastplates were dashed in pieces.
4. Then you might see the barbarian towering in his fierceness, hissing
or shouting, fall with his legs pierced through, or his right hand cut
off, sword and all, or his side transfixed, and still, in the last gasp
of life, casting round him defiant glances. The plain was covered with
carcases, strewing the mutual ruin of the combatants; while the groans
of the dying, or of men fearfully wounded, were intense, and caused
great dismay all around.
5. Amidst all this great tumult and confusion, our infantry were
exhausted by toil and danger, till at last they had neither strength
left to fight, nor spirits to plan anything; their spears were broken by
the frequent collisions, so that they were forced to content themselves
with their drawn swords, which they thrust into the dense battalions of
the enemy, disregarding their own safety, and seeing that every
possibility of escape was cut off from them.
6. The ground, covered with streams of blood, made their feet slip, so
that all that they endeavoured to do was to sell their lives as dearly
as possible; and with such vehemence did they resist their enemies who
pressed on them, that some were even killed by their own weapons. At
last one black pool of blood disfigured everything, and wherever the eye
turned, it could see nothing but piled-up heaps of dead, and lifeless
corpses trampled on without mercy.
7. The sun being now high in the heavens, having traversed the sign of
Leo, and reached the abode of the heavenly Virgo, scorched the Romans,
who were emaciated by hunger, worn out with toil, and scarcely able to
support even the weight of their armour. At last our columns were
entirely beaten back by the overpowering weight of the barbarians, and
so they took to disorderly flight, which is the only resource in
extremity, each man trying to save himself as well as he could.
8. While they were all flying and scattering themselves over roads with
which they were unacquainted, the emperor, bewildered with terrible
fear, made his way over heaps of dead, and fled to the battalions of the
Lancearii and the Mattiarii, who, till the superior numbers of the enemy
became wholly irresistible, stood firm and immovable. As soon as he saw
him. Trajan exclaimed that all hope was lost, unless the emperor, thus
deserted by his guards, could be protected by the aid of his foreign
allies.
9. When this exclamation was heard, a count named Victor hastened to
bring up with all speed the Batavians, who were placed in the reserve,
and who ought to have been near at hand, to the emperor's assistance;
but as none of them could be found, he too retreated, and in a similar
manner Richomeres and Saturninus saved themselves from danger.
10. So now, with rage flashing in their eyes, the barbarians pursued our
men, who were in a state of torpor, the warmth of their veins having
deserted them. Many were slain without knowing who smote them; some were
overwhelmed by the mere weight of the crowd which pressed upon them; and
some were slain by wounds inflicted by their own comrades. The
barbarians spared neither those who yielded nor those who resisted.
11. Besides these, many half slain lay blocking up the roads, unable to
endure the torture of their wounds; and heaps of dead horses were piled
up and filled the plain with their carcases. At last a dark moonless
night put an end to the irremediable disaster which cost the Roman state
so dear.
12. Just when it first became dark, the emperor being among a crowd of
common soldiers, as it was believed--for no one said either that he had
seen him, or been near him--was mortally wounded with an arrow, and,
very shortly after, died, though his body was never found. For as some
of the enemy loitered for a long time about the field in order to
plunder the dead, none of the defeated army or of the inhabitants
ventured to go to them.
13. A similar fate befell the Cæsar Decius, when fighting vigorously
against the barbarians; for he was thrown by his horse falling, which he
had been unable to hold, and was plunged into a swamp, out of which he
could never emerge, nor could his body be found.
14. Others report that Valens did not die immediately, but that he was
borne by a small body of picked soldiers and eunuchs to a cabin in the
neighbourhood, which was strongly built, with two stories; and that
while these unskilful hands were tending his wounds, the cottage was
surrounded by the enemy, though they did not know who was in it; still,
however, he was saved from the disgrace of being made a prisoner.
15. For when his pursuers, while vainly attempting to force the barred
doors, were assailed with arrows from the roof, they, not to lose by so
inconvenient a delay the opportunity of collecting plunder, gathered
some faggots and stubble, and setting fire to them, burnt down the
building, with those who were in it.
16. But one of the soldiers dropped from the windows, and, being taken
prisoner by the barbarians, revealed to them what had taken place, which
caused them great concern, because they looked upon themselves as
defrauded of great glory in not having taken the ruler of the Roman
state alive. This same young man afterwards secretly returned to our
people, and gave this account of the affair.
17. When Spain had been recovered after a similar disaster, we are told
that one of the Scipios was lost in a fire, the tower in which he had
taken refuge having been burnt. At all events it is certain that neither
Scipio nor Valens enjoyed that last honour of the dead--a regular
funeral.
18. Many illustrious men fell in this disastrous defeat, and among them
one of the most remarkable was Trajan, and another was Sebastian; there
perished also thirty-five tribunes who had no particular command, many
captains of battalions, and Valerianus and Equitius, one of whom was
master of the horse and the other high steward. Potentius, too, tribune
of the promoted officers, fell in the flower of his age, a man respected
by all persons of virtue, and recommended by the merits of his father,
Ursicinus, who had formerly been commander of the forces, as well as by
his own. Scarcely one-third of the whole army escaped.
19. Nor, except the battle of Cannæ, is so destructive a slaughter
recorded in our annals; though, even in the times of their prosperity,
the Romans have more than once had to deplore the uncertainty of war,
and have for a time succumbed to evil Fortune; while the well-known
dirges of the Greeks have bewailed many disastrous battles.
XIV.
§ 1. Such was the death of Valens, when he was about fifty years old,
and had reigned rather less than fourteen years. We will now describe
his virtues, which were known to many, and his vices.
2. He was a faithful and steady friend--a severe chastiser of
ambition--a rigid upholder of both military and civil discipline--always
careful that no one should assume importance on account of any
relationship to himself; slow both in conferring office, and in taking
it away; a very just ruler of the provinces, all of which he protected
from injury, as if each had been his own house; devoting singular care
to the lessening the burdens of the state, and never permitting any
increase of taxation. He was very moderate in the exaction of debts due
to the state, but a vehement and implacable foe to all thieves, and to
every one convicted of peculations; nor in affairs of this kind was the
East, by its own confession, ever better treated under any other
emperor.
3. Besides all this, he was liberal with due regard to moderation, of
which quality there are many examples, one of which it will be
sufficient to mention here:--As in palaces there are always some persons
covetous of the possessions of others, if any one petitioned for lapsed
property, or anything else which it was usual to apply for, he made a
proper distinction between just and unjust claims, and when he gave it
to the petitioner, while reserving full liberty to any one to raise
objections, he often associated the successful candidate with three or
four partners, in order that those covetous suitors might conduct
themselves with more moderation, when they saw the profits for which
they were so eager diminished by this device.
4. Of the edifices, which in the different cities and towns he either
repaired or built from their foundations, I will say nothing (to avoid
prolixity), allowing those things to speak for themselves. These
qualities, in my opinion, deserve the imitation of all good men. Now let
us enumerate his vices.
5. He was an immoderate coveter of great wealth; impatient of labour, he
affected an extreme severity, and was too much inclined to cruelty; his
behaviour was rude and rough; and he was little imbued with skill either
in war or in the liberal arts. He willingly sought profit and advantage
in the miseries of others, and was more than ever intolerable in
straining ordinary offences into sedition or treason; he cruelly
encompassed the death or ruin of wealthy nobles.
6. This also was unendurable, that while he wished to have it appear
that all actions and suits were decided according to the law, and while
the investigation of such affairs was delegated to judges especially
selected as the most proper to decide them, he still would not allow any
decision to be given which was contrary to his own pleasure. He was also
insulting, passionate, and always willing to listen to all informers,
without the least distinction as to whether the charges which they
advanced were true or false. And this vice is one very much to be
dreaded, even in private affairs of everyday occurrence.
7. He was dilatory and sluggish; of a swarthy complexion; had a cast in
one eye, a blemish, however, which was not visible at a distance; his
limbs were well set; his figure was neither tall nor short; he was
knock-kneed, and rather pot-bellied.
8. This is enough to say about Valens: and the recollection of his
contemporaries will fully testify that this account is a true one. But
we must not omit to mention that when he had learnt that the oracle of
the tripod, which we have related to have been moved by Patricius and
Hilanus, contained those three prophetic lines, the last of which is,--
+"En pedioisi Mimantos alalkomenoisin arêa."+
"Repelling murd'rous war in Mimas' plain;"
--he, being void of accomplishments and illiterate, despised them at
first; but as his calamities increased, he became filled with abject
fear, and, from a recollection of this same prophecy, began to dread the
very name of Asia, where he had been informed by learned men that both
Homer and Cicero had spoken of the Mountain of Mimas over the town of
Erythræ.
9. Lastly,--after his death, and the departure of the enemy, it is said
that a monument was found near the spot where he is believed to have
died, with a stone fixed into it inscribed with Greek characters,
indicating that some ancient noble of the name of Mimas was buried
there.
XV.
§ 1. After this disastrous battle, when night had veiled the earth in
darkness, those who survived fled, some to the right, some to the left,
or wherever fear guided them, each man seeking refuge among his
relations, as no one could think of anything but himself, while all
fancied the lances of the enemy sticking in their backs. And far off
were heard the miserable wailings of those who were left behind--the
sobs of the dying, and the agonizing groans of the wounded.
2. But when daylight returned, the conquerors, like wild beasts rendered
still more savage by the blood they had tasted, and allured by the
temptations of groundless hope, marched in a dense column upon
Hadrianople, resolved to run any risk in order to take it, having been
informed by traitors and deserters that the principal officers of State,
the insignia of the imperial authority, and the treasures of Valens had
all been placed there for safety, as in an impregnable fortress.
3. And to prevent the ardour of the soldiers from being cooled by delay,
the whole city was blockaded by the fourth hour; and the siege from that
time was carried on with great vigour, the besiegers, from their innate
ferocity, pressing in to complete its destruction, while, on the other
hand, the garrison was stimulated to great exertions by their natural
courage.
4. And while the vast number of soldiers and grooms, who were prohibited
from entering the city with their beasts, kept close to the walls and to
the houses which joined them, and fought gallantly, considering the
disadvantages under which they laboured from the lowness of the ground
which they occupied, and baffled the rage of their assailants till the
ninth hour of the day, on a sudden three hundred of our infantry, of
those who were nearest the battlements, formed themselves into a solid
body, and deserted to the barbarians, who seized upon them with avidity,
and (it is not known on what account) at once slaughtered them all. And
from that time forth it was remarked that no one, even in the extremity
of despair, adopted any similar conduct.
5. Now while all these misfortunes were at their height, suddenly there
came a violent thunderstorm, and rain pouring down from the black clouds
dispersed the bands of soldiers who were raging around; and they
returned to their camp, which was measured out in a circle by their
waggons; and being more elated and haughty than ever, they sent
threatening letters to our men ... and an ambassador ... on condition of
safety to him.
6. But as the messenger did not dare to enter the city, the letters were
at last brought in by a certain Christian; and when they had been read
and considered with all proper attention, the rest of the day and the
whole of the night was devoted to preparing for defence. For inside the
city the gates were blocked up with huge stones; the weak parts of the
walls were strengthened, and engines to hurl javelins or stones were
fixed on all convenient places, and a sufficient supply of water was
also provided; for the day before some of the combatants had been
distressed almost to death by thirst.
7. On the other hand the Goths, considering the difficulty and
uncertainty of all warlike transactions, and becoming anxious at seeing
their bravest warriors wounded and slain, and their strength gradually
diminished, devised and adopted a crafty counsel, which, however, was
revealed to us by Justice herself.
8. They seduced some picked soldiers of our army, who had revolted to
them the day before, to pretend to escape back to their former comrades,
and thus gain admittance within the walls; and after they had effected
their entrance, they were secretly to set fire to some part of the city,
so that the conflagration might serve as a secret signal, and while the
garrison and citizens were occupied in extinguishing it, the walls might
be left undefended, and so be easily stormed.
9. The traitors did as they were commanded; and when they came near the
ditch they stretched out their hands, and with entreaties requested to
be admitted into the city as Romans. When they were admitted, however
(since no suspicion existed to hinder their admission), and were
questioned as to the plans of the enemy, they varied in their tale: and
in consequence they were put to the torture, and having formally
confessed what they had undertaken to do, they were all beheaded.
10. Accordingly, every resource of war having been prepared, the
barbarians, at the third watch discarding all fear from past failures,
rushed in enormous numbers against the blocked-up entrances of the city,
their officers urging them with great obstinacy. But the provincials and
imperial guards, with the rest of the garrison, rose with fearless
courage to repel them, and their missiles of every kind, even when shot
at random among so vast a crowd, could not fall harmless. Our men
perceived that the barbarians were using the same weapons which we
ourselves had shot at them: and accordingly an order was given that the
strings which fastened the iron points to the javelins and arrows should
be cut before they were hurled or shot; so that while flying they should
preserve their efficacy, but when they pierced a body or fell on the
ground they should come asunder.
11. While affairs were in this critical state an unexpected accident had
a considerable influence on the result. A scorpion, a military engine
which in ordinary language is also known as the wild-ass, being
stationed opposite the dense array of the enemy, hurled forth a huge
stone, which, although it fell harmless on the ground, yet by the mere
sight of it terrified them so greatly, that in alarm at the strange
spectacle they all fell back and endeavoured to retreat.
12. But their officers ordering the trumpets to sound a charge, the
battle was renewed; and the Romans, as before, got the advantage, not a
single javelin or bullet hurled by a slinger failing of its effect. For
the troops of the generals who led the vanguard, and who were inflamed
by the desire of possessing themselves of the treasures which Valens had
so wickedly acquired, were followed closely by others who were vain of
exposing themselves to as much danger as those of greater renown. And
some were wounded almost to death: others were struck down, crushed by
huge weights, or pierced through their breasts with javelins; some who
carried ladders and attempted to scale the walls on different sides were
buried under their own burthens, being beaten down by stones which were
hurled upon them, and by fragments of pillars and cylinders.
13. And yet, horrible as the sight of this bloodshed was, so great was
their ardour that no one relaxed in his gallant exertions till the
evening, being encouraged by seeing many of the garrison also fall by
various wounds. So, without rest or relaxation, both the besiegers and
the besieged fought with unwearied courage.
14. And now no kind of order was observed by the enemy, but they fought
in detached bands and in skirmishes (which is the sign of the extremity
of despair); and at last, when evening came on, they all returned to
their tents, sorrowfully, each man accusing his neighbour of
inconsiderate rashness, because they had not taken the advice of
Fritigern, and avoided the labours and dangers of a siege.
XVI.
§ 1. After the battle, the soldiers devoted the whole night (which, as
it was summer, was not long) to tending the wounded with all the
remedies known to their nations, and when daylight returned they began
to discuss various plans, doubting what to do. And after many plans had
been proposed and objected to, they at last decided to occupy Perinthus,
and then, every place where they could hear that any treasures were
stored up, the deserters and fugitives having given them all the
information they required, so that they learnt what was in every house,
to say nothing of what was in every city. Adopting this resolution
unanimously, which they thought the best, they advanced by slow marches,
ravaging and burning everything as they passed.
2. But those who had been besieged in Hadrianople, after the barbarians
had departed, as soon as scouts of approved fidelity had reported that
the whole place was free from enemies, issued forth at midnight, and
avoiding the public causeways, took out-of-way roads through the woods,
and withdrew, some to Philippopolis, and from thence to Serdica, others
to Macedonia; with all the wealth which they had saved undiminished, and
pressing on with the greatest exertion and celerity, as if they were
likely to find Valens in those regions, since they were wholly ignorant
that he had perished in battle, or else certainly (as is rather
believed) burnt to death in the cottage.
3. Meanwhile the Goths, combining with the Huns and Alani, both brave
and warlike tribes, and inured to toil and hardship, whom Fritigern had
with great ability won over to his side by the temptation of great
rewards--fixed their camp near Perinthus; but recollecting their
previous losses, they did not venture to come close to the city, or make
any attempt to take it; they, however, devastated and entirely stripped
the fertile territory surrounding it, slaying or making prisoners of the
inhabitants.
4. From hence they marched with speed to Constantinople in battle array,
from fear of ambuscades; being eager to make themselves masters of its
ample riches, and resolved to try every means to take that illustrious
city. But while giving way to extravagant pride, and beating almost
against the barriers of the gates, they were repulsed in this instance
by the Deity.
5. A body of Saracens (a nation of whose origin and manners we have
already given a full account in several places), being more suited for
sallies and skirmishes than for pitched battles, had been lately
introduced into the city; and, as soon as they saw the barbarian host,
they sallied out boldly from the city to attack it. There was a stubborn
fight for some time; and at last both armies parted on equal terms.
6. But a strange and unprecedented incident gave the final advantage to
the eastern warriors; for one of them with long hair, naked--with the
exception of a covering round his waist--shouting a hoarse and
melancholy cry, drew his dagger and plunged into the middle of the
Gothic host, and after he had slain an enemy, put his lips to his
throat, and sucked his blood. The barbarians were terrified at this
marvellous prodigy, and from that time forth, when they proceeded on any
enterprise, displayed none of their former and usual ferocity, but
advanced with hesitating steps.
7. As time went on their ardour damped, and they began to take into
consideration the vast circuit of the walls (which was the greater on
account of the large space occupied by mansions with gardens within it),
the inaccessible beauties of the city, and the immensity of its
population; also the vicinity of the strait which divides the Black Sea
from the Ægean. Then after destroying the works which they had
constructed, having sustained greater losses than they had inflicted,
they raised the siege, and roamed at random over the northern provinces,
which they traversed without restraint as far as the Julian Alps, which
the ancients used to call the Venetian Alps.
8. At this time the energy and promptitude of Julius, the commander of
the forces on the other side of Mount Taurus, was particularly
distinguished; for when he learnt what had happened in Thrace, he sent
secret letters to all the governors of the different cities and forts,
who were all Romans (which at this time is not very common), requesting
them, on one and the same day, as at a concerted signal, to put to death
all the Goths who had previously been admitted into the places under
their charge; first luring them into the suburbs, in expectation of
receiving the pay which had been promised to them. This wise plan was
carried out without any disturbance or any delay; and thus the Eastern
provinces were delivered from great dangers.
9. Thus have I, a Greek by birth, and formerly a soldier, related all
the events from the accession of Nerva to the death of Valens, to the
best of my abilities; professing above all things to tell the truth,
which, as I believe, I have never knowingly perverted, either by silence
or by falsehood. Let better men in the flower of their age, and of
eminent accomplishments, relate the subsequent events. But if it should
please them to undertake the task, I warn them to sharpen their tongues
to a loftier style.
[189] The text is unusually mutilated here. It has been proposed to
insert: "A little goat with its throat cut was found dead in the
street."
[190] Virg. Georg., II. 106.
[191] Ammianus here alludes to the canal out through Mount Athos.
[192] See Gibbon, vol. ii., p. 215 (Bohn's edition).
[193] See Gibbon, vol. iii., p. 229 (Bohn).
[194] Barritus is the word used for the trumpeting of an elephant.
[195] See Gibbon, vol. iii., p. 181 (Bohn).
INDEX.
A.
Abanni, a people of Africa, 533
Abarne, a town in Mesopotamia, noted for its hot springs, 182
Abdera, the birthplace of Protagoras and Democritus, 286
Abdigidus, a tribune, 173
Abienus, a senator, 477, 478
Abii, a people of Persia, 339
Abladius, prefect of the prætorium, 236
Abora, or Chaboras, a river in Mesopotamia, 111
Abydos, 287
Abydum, a town in Thebais, 208
Achæi, a Caspian tribe, 290
Achaiacala, a fort on an island in the Euphrates, 350
Acheron, the river, 289
Acherusian, the cave, 289
Acilius Glabrio, the first Roman to whom a statue was erected, 16
Acimincum, a town in Hungary, 205
Acone, a port on the Euxine Sea, 289
Acontiæ, a species of serpent in Egypt, 311
Acontisma, a narrow defile between Thrace and Macedonia, 443
Acrapatena, a province of Media, 335
Adaces, a Persian Satrap, killed, 374
Addense, 531
Adelphius, prefect of Rome, 92
Adiabas, a river in Assyria, 334
Adiabene, a province of Assyria, 176, 320, 333
Adonis, 186
Adrastea, the goddess of retribution, called also Nemesis, 42, 281
Adrastus, king of the Argives, 41
Ædesius, keeper of the records, 56, 58
Ægean Sea, 286
Ælian, Count, 182, 183;
crucified by the Persians, 200
Ænus, a city of Thrace, 286, 444
Africanus, Governor of the second Pannonia, 50, 95
Agabana, a fortress in Persia, 463
Agathocles, king of Sicily, 44
Agathyrsi, a tribe near the Palus Mæotis, 291
Agazaca, a city of the Paropanisatæ, 342
Agenarichus, king of the Allemanni, 113
Agilimundus, a chieftain of the Quadi, 151
Agilo, an equerry, 34, 266;
promoted to the prefecture by Julian, 279;
recalled to military service by Procopius, 422;
intercedes for his father-in-law Araxius, 432
Aginatius put to death by Maximin, 474
Aiadalthes, a tribune, 181
Alani, a Scythian tribe, 291, 328, 580, 581, 599, 611
Alatheus, 583, 587, 611
Alavivus, a general of the Goths, 585, 587
Albani, allies of the Persians, 176, 187, 332
Albinus of Etruria, 56
Alexander the Great, 41, 46, 89
Alexander of Heliopolis, 319
Alexandria, a village near Rome, 131
---- in Egypt, 300;
described, 313;
its temples and library, 314;
its schools, 315
---- a city in Arachosia, 343
---- in Ariana, 342
---- in Carmania, 339
---- an island in Persia, 338
---- a town in Sogdiana, 340
Alfenus, a distinguished lawyer, 556
Alicodra, a city in Bactria, 340
Aligildus, a count, 271, 277
Aliso, a tribune, 427
Alitrophagi, a Scythian tribe, 341
Allemanni, or Germans--these names are used promiscuously by
Ammianus--defeated at the battle of Strasburg, 118, 247;
lay waste Gaul and Rhætia, 413, 414;
defeated by Jovinus, 438, 567;
make incursions into the Roman territory, 602;
are defeated, 604
Allobroges, a nation of Gaul, 81
Alpheus, a river rising in Arcadia, 53
Alps, the Cottian, 75;
the Julian, 259;
the Grecian, 76;
the Penine, 76;
Hannibal's passage of the, 77
Alypius of Antioch, 317, 514
---- a Roman noble, 471
Amantius, a soothsayer, 472
Amanus, a mountain range in Cilicia, 27
Amardus, a river in Media, 337
Amastris, a city in Paphlagonia, 289
Amazons, one of the Caspian tribes, 291;
defeated by the Athenians, 289
Amida, a city of Mesopotamia, 174;
besieged by Sapor, 185;
betrayed by a deserter, 192;
courage of the garrison, 195;
a sortie of the Gallic troops, from, 195, 236
Amiens (Ambians), a city in Belgium, 79, 453
Aminias, a Persian general, 369
Amisus, a city in Pontus, 289
Ammianus, his noble birth, 199;
placed under Ursicinus, governor of Nisibis, by the Emperor
Constantius, 30;
returns to Italy, 37;
his industry, 45;
sent into Gaul, 60;
sent back to the East, 103;
visits Thebes, 130;
recalled, 171;
escapes from Nisibis, 173;
sent to Jovinianus, satrap of Corduena, 175;
narrow escape of, 181;
arrives at Antioch, 200;
accompanies Julian in his expedition against the Persians, 326;
returns with Jovian, 402;
his advice to future historians, 623
Ampelius, prefect of Otricoli, 472
Amphiaraus, an ancient seer, 4
Amphilochius, a Paphlagonian, 252
Amphisbæna, a serpent, 311
Amphitheatre at Rome, 102, 411
Amphitus, a Spartan, the charioteer of Castor and Pollux, 290
Amudis, a fort in Mesopotamia, 173
Amycus, king of the Bebrycii, 288
Anaphe, an island in the Ægean Sea, 139
Anatha, a fortress in Mesopotamia, 347
Anatolius, prefect of Illyricum, 204;
master of the offices, 234;
his death, 253;
an officer of the palace, 504
Anaxagoras the philosopher, 287;
predicted the fall of stones and earthquakes, 315
Anaximander, a Milesian philosopher, 139
Anazarbus, a city of Cilicia, 27
Anchialos, a city of Thrace, 293, 444
Ancorarius, a mountain of Mauritania, 531
Ancyra, a city of Galatia, 296, 403, 426
Andernach (Antumacum), 161
Andocides, a Grecian orator, 554
Andriscus of Adramyttium, 44, 421
Andronicus, a poet, 209
Anepsia, wife of Victorinus, 475, 478
Anicenses, a Sarmatian tribe, 154
Anicii, the, a noble family at Rome, 98
Annib, a mountain in Scythia, 341
Anthemusia, a province of Mesopotamia, 10
Anthropophagi, a Scythian tribe, 580
Antibes (Antipolis), a town in Gaul, 79
Antinopolis, a town in Mesopotamia, built by Constantius, 182
Antinous, a city in Egypt, 312
Antioch in Syria, 28;
visited by the Emperor Julian, 297;
by Jovian, 401
Antiochia, in Persia, 339
Antiphon, a Greek orator, 554
Antoninus, a wealthy merchant, afterwards one of the protectors, 168;
his treachery, 169
Antonius, a tribune, 415
Anzaba, a river in Mesopotamia, 175
Apamia, a city in Assyria, 334, 338
---- a city in Thrace, 287
Apamia, a city in Syria, 28
Apis, the sacred Egyptian bull, 306
Apodemius, the secretary for the provinces, 41, 46;
sentenced to be burnt alive, 280
Apollinarii, father and son, the former governor of Phoenicia, the
latter steward of the palace, 26
Apollo, the Cumæan, 334;
of Daphne, 303;
the Palatine, 320;
the Sminthius, 286
Apollonia, a city of Thrace, 293
---- in Assyria, 334
Apollonius of Tyana, 270
Apronianus, prefect of Rome, 317;
suppresses the magicians, 411
Aprunculus Gallus, an orator and soothsayer, afterwards governor of
Narbonne, 277
Aquileia, the capital of Venetia, 261;
besieged by Julian, 261;
surrenders, 264
Aquitani, a nation of Gaul, 78
Arabia reduced to a Roman province by the Emperor Trajan, 29;
Arabia Felix, 338
Arabis, a river in the country of the Drangiani, 342
Aracha, a town in Susiana, 335, 337
Arachosia, a Persian province, 342
Arachotoscrene, a marsh in Arachosia, 343
Aradius, count of the east, 317
Araharius, a Sarmatian chief, 149
Arar, a river in Gaul (the Saône), 80
Arator, duke, 481
Aratus the poet, 299, 386
Araxates, a river in Sogdiana, 340
Araxius, prefect of the prætorium, 422
Arbaca, a city in Arachosia, 343
Arbela, a city in Adiabene, 334
Arbetio, 36, 47, 92;
made consul, 71, 213
Arboreus, high chamberlain, 49
Arbor Felix, fortress of, 605
Arcadius, a river of the Euxine, 289
Archelaus, a general of King Mithridates, 116
Archimedes the mathematician, 407
Ardea, a town in Persia, 338
Areans, a sect, 485
Areopagus, 518
Arethusa, a town in Thrace, the burial-place of Euripides, 443
Argæus, a mountain in Cappadocia, 233
Argonauts, the, 27
Ariana, a province of Persia, 342
Arias, a river in Arcana, 342
Ariaspe, a town in the province of Drangiana, 342
Arimaspi, a fierce one-eyed nation bordering on Persia, 332
Arimphæi, a nation bordering on the Euxine, 292
Arinchi, a savage tribe near the Euxine, 291
Arintheus, a tribune, 54;
commands the left wing of the army under Julian, 347;
ambassador to the Persians, 393, 446
Aristænetus, prefect of Bithynia, lost his life in an earthquake, 138
Aristarchus the grammarian, 314
Aristides, 558
Aristobulus consul with Diocletian, 317
Arles (Arelate), a town on the Rhone, 79
Armenia conquered by Galerius, 134;
its restoration to the Persians demanded by Sapor, 135;
abandoned by Jovian in the treaty of Dura, 394, 549
Armonius, a mountain in Asia Minor, 289
Arsaces, the first king of the Parthians, 330
---- king of Armenia,
an ally of Constantius, 235;
of Julian, 318;
taken prisoner by the Persians, 394;
put to death, 463
Arsacia, a city of Media, 337
Arsiana, a city of Susiana, 335
Arsinoë, a city of Cyrene, anciently called Tauchira, and now Tochira, 312
Artabannes, a Persian satrap, 463
Artabius, a river in Gedrosia, a district of Persia, 343
Artacana, a city of Parthia, 338
Artemis, a river in Bactria, 340
Artemisia, queen of Caria, 487
Artemius, deputy-governor of Rome, 146
---- duke of Egypt, 300
Artogerassa, a city of Armenia, 464
Arzanena, a province of Mesopotamia, 393
Ascalon, a city of Palestine, 29
Ascanimia, a mountain in Scythia, 340
Asclepiades the philosopher, 304
Asclepiodotus, count, 65
Asia Minor, description of, 289
Asmira, a mountain in Serica, 341
Asp, the largest species of serpent in Egypt, 311
Aspabota, a city of Scythia, 341
Aspacaræ, a tribe of the Seres, 341
Aspacuras, a Persian satrap, 466
Asparata, a city of the Betæ, 341
Assanite Saracens, 350
Assyria, the wife of Barbatio, 165
---- a province of Persia, in the time of Ammianus called Adiabene, 333
Astacea, a city of Bactria, 340
Astacus, a city in Bithynia, also called Nicomedia, 287
Atacotti harass the Britons, 413
Athagoræ, a Scythian tribe, 341
Athanaric, a Gothic chief, 447, 583
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, his character, 67
Athos, a mountain in Macedonia, 286
Athribis, a city of Egypt, 313
Athyras, a port in the Propontis, 287
Ati, a people near the cataracts of the Nile, 308
Atlas, a mountain in Africa, 50
Attuarii, a tribe of Franks, 235
Auch (Ausci), a town in Aquitania, 79
Augury, modes of, 245
Augusta (Londinium), the capital of Roman Britain, 483
Augustamnica, a province of Egypt, 312
Augustus, Emperor, his correction of the calendar, 408
Aulon, a cave near the Euxine, 290
Aurelian, the Emperor, 570
Aureolus, a conspirator against Constantius, 274
Austoriani, a people of Mauritania, 413
Autun (Augustodunum), the chief town of the Ædui, 79
Auxerre (Autosidorum), a city in Gaul, 85
Avenche (Aventicum), the capital of the Helvetii, 79
Avernus, a lake in Campania, 489
Avitianus, deputy-governor of Africa, 451
Axius, a river of Macedonia, 258
Azmorna, a city of Hyrcania, 339
Azov, sea of (Palus Mæotis), 288, 577, 582
B.
Babylon, 334
Bacchus, 290
Bacchylides, the lyric poet, 383
Bactra, a river in Bactria, 340
Bactrians, 339
Bætica, a consular province of Spain, 473
Bagrada, a river in Persia, 337
Bainobaudes, a tribune of the Scutarii, 39, 105;
(2) a tribune of the Cornuti, 106;
killed in the battle of Strasburg, 121
Balista, a military engine for discharging stones, described, 322
Bappo, a tribune, commander of the Promoti, 54
Baraba, a town in Arabia Felix, 338
Barbatio, count of the domestics, 40;
promoted to the command of the infantry, 104, 136;
a swarm of bees on his house regarded as a bad omen, 165;
an arrogant and treacherous man, 166;
beheaded, 166
Barbitani, mountains in Persia lying towards India, 343
Barchalbas, a tribune, 430
Bards, the poets of Gaul, 74
Barzala, a fort in Mesopotamia, 179
Barzimeres, tribune of the Scutarii, 546
Basilica of Sicininus in Rome, probably the church of Santa Maria
Maggiore, 441
Basilina, mother of the Emperor Julian, 383
Basilisk, a kind of Egyptian serpent, 311
Bassianus, a Roman of noble family, 515
Bassus, prefect of Rome, 146
Batne, a town near the Euphrates, where an annual fair was held, 10
Battus, a Spartan, the founder of Cyrene, 312
Bautis, a river in Serica, 341
Bazas (Vasatæ), a town in Gaul, 79
Bebase, a town in Mesopotamia, 178
Bebrycia, a district in Bithynia, 288
Belgæ, the most warlike people of Gaul, 78
Belias, a river of Mesopotamia which falls into the Euphrates, 321
Bellovædius, a tribune given as a hostage to the Persians, 394
Beræa, a city of Thrace, 444
Berenice, also called Hesperides, a town in Libya, 312
Berytus, a city of Phoenicia (the modern Beirut), 28
Besa, the name of an Egyptian deity, 208
Besançon, a city of the Sequani, 79, 253
Besbicus, an island in the Propontis, 287
Bessi, a Thracian tribe, 444
Betæ, a people in Serica, 341
Bezabde, a town on the Tigris formerly called Phoenice, 225, 266;
captured by Sapor, 227;
unsuccessfully besieged by Constantius, 237-239
Bineses, a Persian satrap, 394
Bingen (Bingium), a town in Germany, 161
Bisula, a river (the Weichsel), 292
Bitaxa, a town of the Ariani, 342
Bitheridus, a German noble, 525
Bithynia, 288
Bizes, a river of the Euxine, 288
Blemmyæ, a people near the cataracts of the Nile, 11
Boæ, an island on the coast of Dalmatia, 279
Bonitus, a Frank, the father of Silvanus, 63
Bonmunster (Bononia), a town in Pannonia, 257
Bonn (Bonna), a town in Germany, 161
Bordeaux (Burdegala), a city in Aquitania, 79
Borion, a promontory in Egypt, 307
Bosporus, the Thracian (the Straits of Constantinople), 288
---- the Cimmerian (Straits of Yene-Kali), 70
Bostra, a city of Arabia, 29
Boulogne (Bononia), a town in Gaul, 212
Brahmans, 336, 470
Branchidæ, an oracle in the Milesian territory, 511
Briançon (Virgantia), 76
Brigantia (the lake of Constance), 52
Brisoana, a Persian river, 337
Britain, corn exported to Rome, 161;
pearls found in the British sea, 345;
suffers from the incursions of the Picts and Sects, 212, 453;
invaded by the Saxons, 413;
distress of, 453;
Theodosius goes to assist, 483
Bruchion, a quarter in Alexandria, inhabited by opulent persons, 314
Brumat (Brocomagus), a city of Germany, 86
Bucenobantes, a tribe of the Allemanni, 524
Buffaloes in Egypt, 309
Bura, a town destroyed by an earthquake, 140
Burgundians, 495;
their kings called Hendinos, 495;
their chief priest called the Sinistus, 496
Busan, a fort in Mesopotamia, 183
Byzantium (Constantinople), 287
Byzares, a people near the Euxine, 290
C.
Cabillonum (Châlons sur Marne), 98, 436
Cabyle, a town in Thrace, 607
Cadusii, a tribe on the Caspian Sea, 332
Cæni Gallici, a station in Bithynia, 38
Cæla, a town near the Hellespont, 287
Cæranius, a philosopher, 520
Cæsarea, formerly Mazaca, a town in Cappadocia, 233
---- a town in Mauritania, 534
---- a town in Palestine, 29
Cæsariensis, a province of Mauritania, 526