Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his _The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes)

descent 5 from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contended with

the monarchs of China. His features, according to the observation

of a Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his national origin; and

the portrait of Attila exhibits the genuine deformity of a modern

Calmuk; 6 a large head, a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated

eyes, a flat nose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad

shoulders, and a short square body, of nervous strength, though

of a disproportioned form. The haughty step and demeanor of the

king of the Huns expressed the consciousness of his superiority

above the rest of mankind; and he had a custom of fiercely

rolling his eyes, as if he wished to enjoy the terror which he

inspired. Yet this savage hero was not inaccessible to pity; his

suppliant enemies might confide in the assurance of peace or

pardon; and Attila was considered by his subjects as a just and

indulgent master. He delighted in war; but, after he had ascended

the throne in a mature age, his head, rather than his hand,

achieved the conquest of the North; and the fame of an

adventurous soldier was usefully exchanged for that of a prudent

and successful general. The effects of personal valor are so

inconsiderable, except in poetry or romance, that victory, even

among Barbarians, must depend on the degree of skill with which

the passions of the multitude are combined and guided for the

service of a single man. The Scythian conquerors, Attila and

Zingis, surpassed their rude countrymen in art rather than in

courage; and it may be observed that the monarchies, both of the

Huns and of the Moguls, were erected by their founders on the

basis of popular superstition. The miraculous conception, which

fraud and credulity ascribed to the virgin-mother of Zingis,

raised him above the level of human nature; and the naked

prophet, who in the name of the Deity invested him with the

empire of the earth, pointed the valor of the Moguls with

irresistible enthusiasm. 7 The religious arts of Attila were not

less skillfully adapted to the character of his age and country.

It was natural enough that the Scythians should adore, with

peculiar devotion, the god of war; but as they were incapable of

forming either an abstract idea, or a corporeal representation,

they worshipped their tutelar deity under the symbol of an iron

cimeter. 8 One of the shepherds of the Huns perceived, that a

heifer, who was grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and

curiously followed the track of the blood, till he discovered,

among the long grass, the point of an ancient sword, which he dug

out of the ground and presented to Attila. That magnanimous, or

rather that artful, prince accepted, with pious gratitude, this

celestial favor; and, as the rightful possessor of the sword of

Mars, asserted his divine and indefeasible claim to the dominion

of the earth. 9 If the rites of Scythia were practised on this

solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or rather pile of fagots, three

hundred yards in length and in breadth, was raised in a spacious

plain; and the sword of Mars was placed erect on the summit of

this rustic altar, which was annually consecrated by the blood of

sheep, horses, and of the hundredth captive. 10 Whether human

sacrifices formed any part of the worship of Attila, or whether

he propitiated the god of war with the victims which he

continually offered in the field of battle, the favorite of Mars

soon acquired a sacred character, which rendered his conquests

more easy and more permanent; and the Barbarian princes

confessed, in the language of devotion or flattery, that they

could not presume to gaze, with a steady eye, on the divine

majesty of the king of the Huns. 11 His brother Bleda, who

reigned over a considerable part of the nation, was compelled to

resign his sceptre and his life. Yet even this cruel act was

attributed to a supernatural impulse; and the vigor with which

Attila wielded the sword of Mars, convinced the world that it had

been reserved alone for his invincible arm. 12 But the extent of

his empire affords the only remaining evidence of the number and

importance of his victories; and the Scythian monarch, however

ignorant of the value of science and philosophy, might perhaps

lament that his illiterate subjects were destitute of the art

which could perpetuate the memory of his exploits.

5 (return) [ Priscus, p. 39. The modern Hungarians have deduced

his genealogy, which ascends, in the thirty-fifth degree, to Ham,

the son of Noah; yet they are ignorant of his father’s real name.

(De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 297.)]

6 (return) [ Compare Jornandes (c. 35, p. 661) with Buffon, Hist.

Naturelle, tom. iii. p. 380. The former had a right to observe,

originis suae sigua restituens. The character and portrait of

Attila are probably transcribed from Cassiodorus.]

7 (return) [ Abulpharag. Pocock, p. 281. Genealogical History of

the Tartars, by Abulghazi Bahader Khan, part iii c. 15, part iv

c. 3. Vie de Gengiscan, par Petit de la Croix, l. 1, c. 1, 6. The

relations of the missionaries, who visited Tartary in the

thirteenth century, (see the seventh volume of the Histoire des

Voyages,) express the popular language and opinions; Zingis is

styled the son of God, &c. &c.]

8 (return) [ Nec templum apud eos visitur, aut delubrum, ne

tugurium quidem culmo tectum cerni usquam potest; sed gladius

Barbarico ritu humi figitur nudus, eumque ut Martem regionum quas

circumcircant praesulem verecundius colunt. Ammian. Marcellin.

xxxi. 2, and the learned Notes of Lindenbrogius and Valesius.]

9 (return) [ Priscus relates this remarkable story, both in his

own text (p. 65) and in the quotation made by Jornandes, (c. 35,

p. 662.) He might have explained the tradition, or fable, which

characterized this famous sword, and the name, as well as

attributes, of the Scythian deity, whom he has translated into

the Mars of the Greeks and Romans.]

10 (return) [ Herodot. l. iv. c. 62. For the sake of economy, I

have calculated by the smallest stadium. In the human sacrifices,

they cut off the shoulder and arm of the victim, which they threw

up into the air, and drew omens and presages from the manner of

their falling on the pile]

11 (return) [ Priscus, p. 65. A more civilized hero, Augustus

himself, was pleased, if the person on whom he fixed his eyes

seemed unable to support their divine lustre. Sueton. in August.

c. 79.]

12 (return) [ The Count de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de l’Europe,

tom. vii. p. 428, 429) attempts to clear Attila from the murder

of his brother; and is almost inclined to reject the concurrent

testimony of Jornandes, and the contemporary Chronicles.]

If a line of separation were drawn between the civilized and the

savage climates of the globe; between the inhabitants of cities,

who cultivated the earth, and the hunters and shepherds, who

dwelt in tents, Attila might aspire to the title of supreme and

sole monarch of the Barbarians. 13 He alone, among the conquerors

of ancient and modern times, united the two mighty kingdoms of

Germany and Scythia; and those vague appellations, when they are

applied to his reign, may be understood with an ample latitude.

Thuringia, which stretched beyond its actual limits as far as the

Danube, was in the number of his provinces; he interposed, with

the weight of a powerful neighbor, in the domestic affairs of the

Franks; and one of his lieutenants chastised, and almost

exterminated, the Burgundians of the Rhine.

He subdued the islands of the ocean, the kingdoms of Scandinavia,

encompassed and divided by the waters of the Baltic; and the Huns

might derive a tribute of furs from that northern region, which

has been protected from all other conquerors by the severity of

the climate, and the courage of the natives. Towards the East, it

is difficult to circumscribe the dominion of Attila over the

Scythian deserts; yet we may be assured, that he reigned on the

banks of the Volga; that the king of the Huns was dreaded, not

only as a warrior, but as a magician; 14 that he insulted and

vanquished the khan of the formidable Geougen; and that he sent

ambassadors to negotiate an equal alliance with the empire of

China. In the proud review of the nations who acknowledged the

sovereignty of Attila, and who never entertained, during his

lifetime, the thought of a revolt, the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths

were distinguished by their numbers, their bravery, and the

personal merits of their chiefs. The renowned Ardaric, king of

the Gepidae, was the faithful and sagacious counsellor of the

monarch, who esteemed his intrepid genius, whilst he loved the

mild and discreet virtues of the noble Walamir, king of the

Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, the leaders of so many

martial tribes, who served under the standard of Attila, were

ranged in the submissive order of guards and domestics round the

person of their master. They watched his nod; they trembled at

his frown; and at the first signal of his will, they executed,

without murmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute commands. In

time of peace, the dependent princes, with their national troops,

attended the royal camp in regular succession; but when Attila

collected his military force, he was able to bring into the field

an army of five, or, according to another account, of seven

hundred thousand Barbarians. 15

13 (return) [ Fortissimarum gentium dominus, qui inaudita ante se

potentia colus Scythica et Germanica regna possedit. Jornandes,

c. 49, p. 684. Priscus, p. 64, 65. M. de Guignes, by his

knowledge of the Chinese, has acquired (tom. ii. p. 295-301) an

adequate idea of the empire of Attila.]

14 (return) [ See Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 296. The Geougen

believed that the Huns could excite, at pleasure, storms of wind

and rain. This phenomenon was produced by the stone Gezi; to

whose magic power the loss of a battle was ascribed by the

Mahometan Tartars of the fourteenth century. See Cherefeddin Ali,

Hist. de Timur Bec, tom. i. p. 82, 83.]

15 (return) [ Jornandes, c. 35, p. 661, c. 37, p. 667. See

Tillemont, Hist. dea Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 129, 138. Corneille

has represented the pride of Attila to his subject kings, and his

tragedy opens with these two ridiculous lines:—

Ils ne sont pas venus, nos deux rois! qu’on leur die Qu’ils se

font trop attendre, et qu’Attila s’ennuie.

The two kings of the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths are profound

politicians and sentimental lovers, and the whole piece exhibits

the defects without the genius, of the poet.]

The ambassadors of the Huns might awaken the attention of

Theodosius, by reminding him that they were his neighbors both in

Europe and Asia; since they touched the Danube on one hand, and

reached, with the other, as far as the Tanais. In the reign of

his father Arcadius, a band of adventurous Huns had ravaged the

provinces of the East; from whence they brought away rich spoils

and innumerable captives. 16 They advanced, by a secret path,

along the shores of the Caspian Sea; traversed the snowy

mountains of Armenia; passed the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the

Halys; recruited their weary cavalry with the generous breed of

Cappadocian horses; occupied the hilly country of Cilicia, and

disturbed the festal songs and dances of the citizens of Antioch.

Egypt trembled at their approach; and the monks and pilgrims of

the Holy Land prepared to escape their fury by a speedy

embarkation. The memory of this invasion was still recent in the

minds of the Orientals. The subjects of Attila might execute,

with superior forces, the design which these adventurers had so

boldly attempted; and it soon became the subject of anxious

conjecture, whether the tempest would fall on the dominions of

Rome, or of Persia. Some of the great vassals of the king of the

Huns, who were themselves in the rank of powerful princes, had

been sent to ratify an alliance and society of arms with the

emperor, or rather with the general of the West. They related,

during their residence at Rome, the circumstances of an

expedition, which they had lately made into the East. After

passing a desert and a morass, supposed by the Romans to be the

Lake Maeotis, they penetrated through the mountains, and arrived,

at the end of fifteen days’ march, on the confines of Media;

where they advanced as far as the unknown cities of Basic and

Cursic. 1611 They encountered the Persian army in the plains of

Media and the air, according to their own expression, was

darkened by a cloud of arrows. But the Huns were obliged to

retire before the numbers of the enemy. Their laborious retreat

was effected by a different road; they lost the greatest part of

their booty; and at length returned to the royal camp, with some

knowledge of the country, and an impatient desire of revenge. In

the free conversation of the Imperial ambassadors, who discussed,

at the court of Attila, the character and designs of their

formidable enemy, the ministers of Constantinople expressed their

hope, that his strength might be diverted and employed in a long

and doubtful contest with the princes of the house of Sassan. The

more sagacious Italians admonished their Eastern brethren of the

folly and danger of such a hope; and convinced them, that the

Medes and Persians were incapable of resisting the arms of the

Huns; and that the easy and important acquisition would exalt the

pride, as well as power, of the conqueror. Instead of contenting

himself with a moderate contribution, and a military title, which

equalled him only to the generals of Theodosius, Attila would

proceed to impose a disgraceful and intolerable yoke on the necks

of the prostrate and captive Romans, who would then be

encompassed, on all sides, by the empire of the Huns. 17

16 (return) [

Alii per Caspia claustra Armeniasque nives, inopino tramite ducti

Invadunt Orientis opes: jam pascua fumant Cappadocum, volucrumque

parens Argaeus equorum. Jam rubet altus Halys, nec se defendit

iniquo Monte Cilix; Syriae tractus vestantur amoeni Assuetumque

choris, et laeta plebe canorum, Proterit imbellem sonipes hostilis

Orontem. —-Claudian, in Rufin. l. ii. 28-35.

See likewise, in Eutrop. l. i. 243-251, and the strong

description of Jerom, who wrote from his feelings, tom. i. p. 26,

ad Heliodor. p. 200 ad Ocean. Philostorgius (l. ix. c. 8)

mentions this irruption.]

1611 (return) [ Gibbon has made a curious mistake; Basic and

Cursic were the names of the commanders of the Huns. Priscus,

edit. Bonn, p. 200.—M.]

17 (return) [ See the original conversation in Priscus, p. 64,

65.]

While the powers of Europe and Asia were solicitous to avert the

impending danger, the alliance of Attila maintained the Vandals

in the possession of Africa. An enterprise had been concerted

between the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople, for the

recovery of that valuable province; and the ports of Sicily were

already filled with the military and naval forces of Theodosius.

But the subtle Genseric, who spread his negotiations round the

world, prevented their designs, by exciting the king of the Huns

to invade the Eastern empire; and a trifling incident soon became

the motive, or pretence, of a destructive war. 18 Under the faith

of the treaty of Margus, a free market was held on the Northern

side of the Danube, which was protected by a Roman fortress

surnamed Constantia. A troop of Barbarians violated the

commercial security; killed, or dispersed, the unsuspecting

traders; and levelled the fortress with the ground. The Huns

justified this outrage as an act of reprisal; alleged, that the

bishop of Margus had entered their territories, to discover and

steal a secret treasure of their kings; and sternly demanded the

guilty prelate, the sacrilegious spoil, and the fugitive

subjects, who had escaped from the justice of Attila. The refusal

of the Byzantine court was the signal of war; and the Maesians at

first applauded the generous firmness of their sovereign. But

they were soon intimidated by the destruction of Viminiacum and

the adjacent towns; and the people was persuaded to adopt the

convenient maxim, that a private citizen, however innocent or

respectable, may be justly sacrificed to the safety of his

country. The bishop of Margus, who did not possess the spirit of

a martyr, resolved to prevent the designs which he suspected. He

boldly treated with the princes of the Huns: secured, by solemn

oaths, his pardon and reward; posted a numerous detachment of

Barbarians, in silent ambush, on the banks of the Danube; and, at

the appointed hour, opened, with his own hand, the gates of his

episcopal city. This advantage, which had been obtained by

treachery, served as a prelude to more honorable and decisive

victories. The Illyrian frontier was covered by a line of castles

and fortresses; and though the greatest part of them consisted

only of a single tower, with a small garrison, they were commonly

sufficient to repel, or to intercept, the inroads of an enemy,

who was ignorant of the art, and impatient of the delay, of a

regular siege. But these slight obstacles were instantly swept

away by the inundation of the Huns. 19 They destroyed, with fire

and sword, the populous cities of Sirmium and Singidunum, of

Ratiaria and Marcianopolis, of Naissus and Sardica; where every

circumstance of the discipline of the people, and the

construction of the buildings, had been gradually adapted to the

sole purpose of defence. The whole breadth of Europe, as it

extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the

Hadriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated, by

the myriads of Barbarians whom Attila led into the field. The

public danger and distress could not, however, provoke Theodosius

to interrupt his amusements and devotion, or to appear in person

at the head of the Roman legions. But the troops, which had been

sent against Genseric, were hastily recalled from Sicily; the

garrisons, on the side of Persia, were exhausted; and a military

force was collected in Europe, formidable by their arms and

numbers, if the generals had understood the science of command,

and the soldiers the duty of obedience. The armies of the Eastern

empire were vanquished in three successive engagements; and the

progress of Attila may be traced by the fields of battle.

The two former, on the banks of the Utus, and under the walls of

Marcianopolis, were fought in the extensive plains between the

Danube and Mount Haemus. As the Romans were pressed by a

victorious enemy, they gradually, and unskilfully, retired

towards the Chersonesus of Thrace; and that narrow peninsula, the

last extremity of the land, was marked by their third, and

irreparable, defeat. By the destruction of this army, Attila

acquired the indisputable possession of the field. From the

Hellespont to Thermopylae, and the suburbs of Constantinople, he

ravaged, without resistance, and without mercy, the provinces of

Thrace and Macedonia. Heraclea and Hadrianople might, perhaps,

escape this dreadful irruption of the Huns; but the words, the

most expressive of total extirpation and erasure, are applied to

the calamities which they inflicted on seventy cities of the

Eastern empire. 20 Theodosius, his court, and the unwarlike

people, were protected by the walls of Constantinople; but those

walls had been shaken by a recent earthquake, and the fall of

fifty-eight towers had opened a large and tremendous breach. The

damage indeed was speedily repaired; but this accident was

aggravated by a superstitious fear, that Heaven itself had

delivered the Imperial city to the shepherds of Scythia, who were

strangers to the laws, the language, and the religion, of the

Romans. 21

18 (return) [ Priscus, p. 331. His history contained a copious

and elegant account of the war, (Evagrius, l. i. c. 17;) but the

extracts which relate to the embassies are the only parts that

have reached our times. The original work was accessible,

however, to the writers from whom we borrow our imperfect

knowledge, Jornandes, Theophanes, Count Marcellinus,

Prosper-Tyro, and the author of the Alexandrian, or Paschal,

Chronicle. M. de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de l’Europe, tom. vii.

c. xv.) has examined the cause, the circumstances, and the

duration of this war; and will not allow it to extend beyond the

year 44.]

19 (return) [ Procopius, de Edificiis, l. 4, c. 5. These

fortresses were afterwards restored, strengthened, and enlarged

by the emperor Justinian, but they were soon destroyed by the

Abares, who succeeded to the power and possessions of the Huns.]

20 (return) [ Septuaginta civitates (says Prosper-Tyro)

depredatione vastatoe. The language of Count Marcellinus is still

more forcible. Pene totam Europam, invasis excisisque civitatibus

atque castellis, conrasit.]

21 (return) [ Tillemont (Hist des Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 106,

107) has paid great attention to this memorable earthquake; which

was felt as far from Constantinople as Antioch and Alexandria,

and is celebrated by all the ecclesiastical writers. In the hands

of a popular preacher, an earthquake is an engine of admirable

effect.]

In all their invasions of the civilized empires of the South, the

Scythian shepherds have been uniformly actuated by a savage and

destructive spirit. The laws of war, that restrain the exercise

of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of

substantial interest: the knowledge of the permanent benefits

which may be obtained by a moderate use of conquest; and a just

apprehension, lest the desolation which we inflict on the enemy’s

country may be retaliated on our own. But these considerations of

hope and fear are almost unknown in the pastoral state of

nations. The Huns of Attila may, without injustice, be compared

to the Moguls and Tartars, before their primitive manners were

changed by religion and luxury; and the evidence of Oriental

history may reflect some light on the short and imperfect annals

of Rome. After the Moguls had subdued the northern provinces of

China, it was seriously proposed, not in the hour of victory and

passion, but in calm deliberate council, to exterminate all the

inhabitants of that populous country, that the vacant land might

be converted to the pasture of cattle. The firmness of a Chinese

mandarin, 22 who insinuated some principles of rational policy

into the mind of Zingis, diverted him from the execution of this

horrid design. But in the cities of Asia, which yielded to the

Moguls, the inhuman abuse of the rights of war was exercised with

a regular form of discipline, which may, with equal reason,

though not with equal authority, be imputed to the victorious

Huns. The inhabitants, who had submitted to their discretion,

were ordered to evacuate their houses, and to assemble in some

plain adjacent to the city; where a division was made of the

vanquished into three parts. The first class consisted of the

soldiers of the garrison, and of the young men capable of bearing

arms; and their fate was instantly decided: they were either

enlisted among the Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot by

the troops, who, with pointed spears and bended bows, had formed

a circle round the captive multitude. The second class, composed

of the young and beautiful women, of the artificers of every rank

and profession, and of the more wealthy or honorable citizens,

from whom a private ransom might be expected, was distributed in

equal or proportionable lots. The remainder, whose life or death

was alike useless to the conquerors, were permitted to return to

the city; which, in the mean while, had been stripped of its

valuable furniture; and a tax was imposed on those wretched

inhabitants for the indulgence of breathing their native air.

Such was the behavior of the Moguls, when they were not conscious

of any extraordinary rigor. 23 But the most casual provocation,

the slightest motive of caprice or convenience, often provoked

them to involve a whole people in an indiscriminate massacre; and

the ruin of some flourishing cities was executed with such

unrelenting perseverance, that, according to their own

expression, horses might run, without stumbling, over the ground

where they had once stood. The three great capitals of Khorasan,

Maru, Neisabour, and Herat, were destroyed by the armies of

Zingis; and the exact account which was taken of the slain

amounted to four millions three hundred and forty-seven thousand

persons. 24 Timur, or Tamerlane, was educated in a less barbarous

age, and in the profession of the Mahometan religion; yet, if

Attila equalled the hostile ravages of Tamerlane, 25 either the

Tartar or the Hun might deserve the epithet of the Scourge of

God. 26

22 (return) [ He represented to the emperor of the Moguls that

the four provinces, (Petcheli, Chantong, Chansi, and

Leaotong,)which he already possessed, might annually produce,

under a mild administration, 500,000 ounces of silver, 400,000

measures of rice, and 800,000 pieces of silk. Gaubil, Hist. de la

Dynastie des Mongous, p. 58, 59. Yelut chousay (such was the name

of the mandarin) was a wise and virtuous minister, who saved his

country, and civilized the conquerors. * Note: Compare the life

of this remarkable man, translated from the Chinese by M. Abel

Remusat. Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques, t. ii. p. 64.—M]

23 (return) [ Particular instances would be endless; but the

curious reader may consult the life of Gengiscan, by Petit de la

Croix, the Histoire des Mongous, and the fifteenth book of the

History of the Huns.]

24 (return) [ At Maru, 1,300,000; at Herat, 1,600,000; at

Neisabour, 1,747,000. D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, p. 380,

381. I use the orthography of D’Anville’s maps. It must, however,

be allowed, that the Persians were disposed to exaggerate their

losses and the Moguls to magnify their exploits.]

25 (return) [ Cherefeddin Ali, his servile panegyrist, would

afford us many horrid examples. In his camp before Delhi, Timour

massacred 100,000 Indian prisoners, who had smiled when the army

of their countrymen appeared in sight, (Hist. de Timur Bec, tom.

iii. p. 90.) The people of Ispahan supplied 70,000 human skulls

for the structure of several lofty towers, (id. tom. i. p. 434.)

A similar tax was levied on the revolt of Bagdad, (tom. iii. p.

370;) and the exact account, which Cherefeddin was not able to

procure from the proper officers, is stated by another historian

(Ahmed Arabsiada, tom. ii. p. 175, vera Manger) at 90,000 heads.]

26 (return) [ The ancients, Jornandes, Priscus, &c., are ignorant

of this epithet. The modern Hungarians have imagined, that it was

applied, by a hermit of Gaul, to Attila, who was pleased to

insert it among the titles of his royal dignity. Mascou, ix. 23,

and Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 143.]

Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part II.

It may be affirmed, with bolder assurance, that the Huns

depopulated the provinces of the empire, by the number of Roman

subjects whom they led away into captivity. In the hands of a

wise legislator, such an industrious colony might have

contributed to diffuse through the deserts of Scythia the

rudiments of the useful and ornamental arts; but these captives,

who had been taken in war, were accidentally dispersed among the

hordes that obeyed the empire of Attila. The estimate of their

respective value was formed by the simple judgment of

unenlightened and unprejudiced Barbarians. Perhaps they might not

understand the merit of a theologian, profoundly skilled in the

controversies of the Trinity and the Incarnation; yet they

respected the ministers of every religion; and the active zeal of

the Christian missionaries, without approaching the person or the

palace of the monarch, successfully labored in the propagation of

the gospel. 27 The pastoral tribes, who were ignorant of the

distinction of landed property, must have disregarded the use, as

well as the abuse, of civil jurisprudence; and the skill of an

eloquent lawyer could excite only their contempt or their

abhorrence. 28 The perpetual intercourse of the Huns and the

Goths had communicated the familiar knowledge of the two national

dialects; and the Barbarians were ambitious of conversing in

Latin, the military idiom even of the Eastern empire. 29 But they

disdained the language and the sciences of the Greeks; and the

vain sophist, or grave philosopher, who had enjoyed the

flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to find that

his robust servant was a captive of more value and importance

than himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged and esteemed, as

they tended to satisfy the wants of the Huns. An architect in the

service of Onegesius, one of the favorites of Attila, was

employed to construct a bath; but this work was a rare example of

private luxury; and the trades of the smith, the carpenter, the

armorer, were much more adapted to supply a wandering people with

the useful instruments of peace and war. But the merit of the

physician was received with universal favor and respect: the

Barbarians, who despised death, might be apprehensive of disease;

and the haughty conqueror trembled in the presence of a captive,

to whom he ascribed, perhaps, an imaginary power of prolonging or

preserving his life. 30 The Huns might be provoked to insult the

misery of their slaves, over whom they exercised a despotic

command; 31 but their manners were not susceptible of a refined

system of oppression; and the efforts of courage and diligence

were often recompensed by the gift of freedom. The historian

Priscus, whose embassy is a source of curious instruction, was

accosted in the camp of Attila by a stranger, who saluted him in

the Greek language, but whose dress and figure displayed the

appearance of a wealthy Scythian. In the siege of Viminiacum, he

had lost, according to his own account, his fortune and liberty;

he became the slave of Onegesius; but his faithful services,

against the Romans and the Acatzires, had gradually raised him to

the rank of the native Huns; to whom he was attached by the

domestic pledges of a new wife and several children. The spoils

of war had restored and improved his private property; he was

admitted to the table of his former lord; and the apostate Greek

blessed the hour of his captivity, since it had been the

introduction to a happy and independent state; which he held by

the honorable tenure of military service. This reflection

naturally produced a dispute on the advantages and defects of the

Roman government, which was severely arraigned by the apostate,

and defended by Priscus in a prolix and feeble declamation. The

freedman of Onegesius exposed, in true and lively colors, the

vices of a declining empire, of which he had so long been the

victim; the cruel absurdity of the Roman princes, unable to

protect their subjects against the public enemy, unwilling to

trust them with arms for their own defence; the intolerable

weight of taxes, rendered still more oppressive by the intricate

or arbitrary modes of collection; the obscurity of numerous and

contradictory laws; the tedious and expensive forms of judicial

proceedings; the partial administration of justice; and the

universal corruption, which increased the influence of the rich,

and aggravated the misfortunes of the poor. A sentiment of

patriotic sympathy was at length revived in the breast of the

fortunate exile; and he lamented, with a flood of tears, the

guilt or weakness of those magistrates who had perverted the

wisest and most salutary institutions. 32

27 (return) [ The missionaries of St. Chrysostom had converted

great numbers of the Scythians, who dwelt beyond the Danube in

tents and wagons. Theodoret, l. v. c. 31. Photius, p. 1517. The

Mahometans, the Nestorians, and the Latin Christians, thought

themselves secure of gaining the sons and grandsons of Zingis,

who treated the rival missionaries with impartial favor.]

28 (return) [ The Germans, who exterminated Varus and his

legions, had been particularly offended with the Roman laws and

lawyers. One of the Barbarians, after the effectual precautions

of cutting out the tongue of an advocate, and sewing up his

mouth, observed, with much satisfaction, that the viper could no

longer hiss. Florus, iv. 12.]

29 (return) [ Priscus, p. 59. It should seem that the Huns

preferred the Gothic and Latin languages to their own; which was

probably a harsh and barren idiom.]

30 (return) [ Philip de Comines, in his admirable picture of the

last moments of Lewis XI., (Mémoires, l. vi. c. 12,) represents

the insolence of his physician, who, in five months, extorted

54,000 crowns, and a rich bishopric, from the stern, avaricious

tyrant.]

31 (return) [ Priscus (p. 61) extols the equity of the Roman

laws, which protected the life of a slave. Occidere solent (says

Tacitus of the Germans) non disciplina et severitate, sed impetu

et ira, ut inimicum, nisi quod impune. De Moribus Germ. c. 25.

The Heruli, who were the subjects of Attila, claimed, and

exercised, the power of life and death over their slaves. See a

remarkable instance in the second book of Agathias]

32 (return) [ See the whole conversation in Priscus, p. 59-62.]

The timid or selfish policy of the Western Romans had abandoned

the Eastern empire to the Huns. 33 The loss of armies, and the

want of discipline or virtue, were not supplied by the personal

character of the monarch. Theodosius might still affect the

style, as well as the title, of Invincible Augustus; but he was

reduced to solicit the clemency of Attila, who imperiously

dictated these harsh and humiliating conditions of peace. I. The

emperor of the East resigned, by an express or tacit convention,

an extensive and important territory, which stretched along the

southern banks of the Danube, from Singidunum, or Belgrade, as

far as Novae, in the diocese of Thrace. The breadth was defined

by the vague computation of fifteen 3311 days’ journey; but, from

the proposal of Attila to remove the situation of the national

market, it soon appeared, that he comprehended the ruined city of

Naissus within the limits of his dominions. II. The king of the

Huns required and obtained, that his tribute or subsidy should be

augmented from seven hundred pounds of gold to the annual sum of

two thousand one hundred; and he stipulated the immediate payment

of six thousand pounds of gold, to defray the expenses, or to

expiate the guilt, of the war. One might imagine, that such a

demand, which scarcely equalled the measure of private wealth,

would have been readily discharged by the opulent empire of the

East; and the public distress affords a remarkable proof of the

impoverished, or at least of the disorderly, state of the

finances. A large proportion of the taxes extorted from the

people was detained and intercepted in their passage, though the

foulest channels, to the treasury of Constantinople. The revenue

was dissipated by Theodosius and his favorites in wasteful and

profuse luxury; which was disguised by the names of Imperial

magnificence, or Christian charity. The immediate supplies had

been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of military

preparations. A personal contribution, rigorously, but

capriciously, imposed on the members of the senatorian order, was

the only expedient that could disarm, without loss of time, the

impatient avarice of Attila; and the poverty of the nobles

compelled them to adopt the scandalous resource of exposing to

public auction the jewels of their wives, and the hereditary

ornaments of their palaces. 34 III. The king of the Huns appears

to have established, as a principle of national jurisprudence,

that he could never lose the property, which he had once

acquired, in the persons who had yielded either a voluntary, or

reluctant, submission to his authority. From this principle he

concluded, and the conclusions of Attila were irrevocable laws,

that the Huns, who had been taken prisoner in war, should be

released without delay, and without ransom; that every Roman

captive, who had presumed to escape, should purchase his right to

freedom at the price of twelve pieces of gold; and that all the

Barbarians, who had deserted the standard of Attila, should be

restored, without any promise or stipulation of pardon.

In the execution of this cruel and ignominious treaty, the

Imperial officers were forced to massacre several loyal and noble

deserters, who refused to devote themselves to certain death; and

the Romans forfeited all reasonable claims to the friendship of

any Scythian people, by this public confession, that they were

destitute either of faith, or power, to protect the suppliant,

who had embraced the throne of Theodosius. 35

33 (return) [ Nova iterum Orienti assurgit ruina... quum nulla ab

Cocidentalibus ferrentur auxilia. Prosper Tyro composed his

Chronicle in the West; and his observation implies a censure.]

3311 (return) [ Five in the last edition of Priscus. Niebuhr,

Byz. Hist. p 147—M]

34 (return) [ According to the description, or rather invective,

of Chrysostom, an auction of Byzantine luxury must have been very

productive. Every wealthy house possessed a semicircular table of

massy silver such as two men could scarcely lift, a vase of solid

gold of the weight of forty pounds, cups, dishes, of the same

metal, &c.]

35 (return) [ The articles of the treaty, expressed without much

order or precision, may be found in Priscus, (p. 34, 35, 36, 37,

53, &c.) Count Marcellinus dispenses some comfort, by observing,

1. That Attila himself solicited the peace and presents, which he

had formerly refused; and, 2dly, That, about the same time, the

ambassadors of India presented a fine large tame tiger to the

emperor Theodosius.]

The firmness of a single town, so obscure, that, except on this

occasion, it has never been mentioned by any historian or

geographer, exposed the disgrace of the emperor and empire.

Azimus, or Azimuntium, a small city of Thrace on the Illyrian

borders, 36 had been distinguished by the martial spirit of its

youth, the skill and reputation of the leaders whom they had

chosen, and their daring exploits against the innumerable host of

the Barbarians. Instead of tamely expecting their approach, the

Azimuntines attacked, in frequent and successful sallies, the

troops of the Huns, who gradually declined the dangerous

neighborhood, rescued from their hands the spoil and the

captives, and recruited their domestic force by the voluntary

association of fugitives and deserters. After the conclusion of

the treaty, Attila still menaced the empire with implacable war,

unless the Azimuntines were persuaded, or compelled, to comply

with the conditions which their sovereign had accepted. The

ministers of Theodosius confessed with shame, and with truth,

that they no longer possessed any authority over a society of

men, who so bravely asserted their natural independence; and the

king of the Huns condescended to negotiate an equal exchange with

the citizens of Azimus. They demanded the restitution of some

shepherds, who, with their cattle, had been accidentally

surprised. A strict, though fruitless, inquiry was allowed: but

the Huns were obliged to swear, that they did not detain any

prisoners belonging to the city, before they could recover two

surviving countrymen, whom the Azimuntines had reserved as

pledges for the safety of their lost companions. Attila, on his

side, was satisfied, and deceived, by their solemn asseveration,

that the rest of the captives had been put to the sword; and that

it was their constant practice, immediately to dismiss the Romans

and the deserters, who had obtained the security of the public

faith. This prudent and officious dissimulation may be condemned,

or excused, by the casuists, as they incline to the rigid decree

of St. Augustin, or to the milder sentiment of St. Jerom and St.

Chrysostom: but every soldier, every statesman, must acknowledge,

that, if the race of the Azimuntines had been encouraged and

multiplied, the Barbarians would have ceased to trample on the

majesty of the empire. 37

36 (return) [ Priscus, p. 35, 36. Among the hundred and

eighty-two forts, or castles, of Thrace, enumerated by Procopius,

(de Edificiis, l. iv. c. xi. tom. ii. p. 92, edit. Paris,) there

is one of the name of Esimontou, whose position is doubtfully

marked, in the neighborhood of Anchialus and the Euxine Sea. The

name and walls of Azimuntium might subsist till the reign of

Justinian; but the race of its brave defenders had been carefully

extirpated by the jealousy of the Roman princes]

37 (return) [ The peevish dispute of St. Jerom and St. Augustin,

who labored, by different expedients, to reconcile the seeming

quarrel of the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, depends on

the solution of an important question, (Middleton’s Works, vol.

ii. p. 5-20,) which has been frequently agitated by Catholic and

Protestant divines, and even by lawyers and philosophers of every

age.]

It would have been strange, indeed, if Theodosius had purchased,

by the loss of honor, a secure and solid tranquillity, or if his

tameness had not invited the repetition of injuries. The

Byzantine court was insulted by five or six successive embassies;

38 and the ministers of Attila were uniformly instructed to press

the tardy or imperfect execution of the last treaty; to produce

the names of fugitives and deserters, who were still protected by

the empire; and to declare, with seeming moderation, that, unless

their sovereign obtained complete and immediate satisfaction, it

would be impossible for him, were it even his wish, to check the

resentment of his warlike tribes. Besides the motives of pride

and interest, which might prompt the king of the Huns to continue

this train of negotiation, he was influenced by the less

honorable view of enriching his favorites at the expense of his

enemies. The Imperial treasury was exhausted, to procure the

friendly offices of the ambassadors and their principal

attendants, whose favorable report might conduce to the

maintenance of peace. The Barbarian monarch was flattered by the

liberal reception of his ministers; he computed, with pleasure,

the value and splendor of their gifts, rigorously exacted the

performance of every promise which would contribute to their

private emolument, and treated as an important business of state

the marriage of his secretary Constantius. 39 That Gallic

adventurer, who was recommended by Ætius to the king of the Huns,

had engaged his service to the ministers of Constantinople, for

the stipulated reward of a wealthy and noble wife; and the

daughter of Count Saturninus was chosen to discharge the

obligations of her country. The reluctance of the victim, some

domestic troubles, and the unjust confiscation of her fortune,

cooled the ardor of her interested lover; but he still demanded,

in the name of Attila, an equivalent alliance; and, after many

ambiguous delays and excuses, the Byzantine court was compelled

to sacrifice to this insolent stranger the widow of Armatius,

whose birth, opulence, and beauty, placed her in the most

illustrious rank of the Roman matrons. For these importunate and

oppressive embassies, Attila claimed a suitable return: he

weighed, with suspicious pride, the character and station of the

Imperial envoys; but he condescended to promise that he would

advance as far as Sardica to receive any ministers who had been

invested with the consular dignity. The council of Theodosius

eluded this proposal, by representing the desolate and ruined

condition of Sardica, and even ventured to insinuate that every

officer of the army or household was qualified to treat with the

most powerful princes of Scythia. Maximin, 40 a respectable

courtier, whose abilities had been long exercised in civil and

military employments, accepted, with reluctance, the troublesome,

and perhaps dangerous, commission of reconciling the angry spirit

of the king of the Huns. His friend, the historian Priscus, 41

embraced the opportunity of observing the Barbarian hero in the

peaceful and domestic scenes of life: but the secret of the

embassy, a fatal and guilty secret, was intrusted only to the

interpreter Vigilius. The two last ambassadors of the Huns,

Orestes, a noble subject of the Pannonian province, and Edecon, a

valiant chieftain of the tribe of the Scyrri, returned at the

same time from Constantinople to the royal camp. Their obscure

names were afterwards illustrated by the extraordinary fortune

and the contrast of their sons: the two servants of Attila became

the fathers of the last Roman emperor of the West, and of the

first Barbarian king of Italy.

38 (return) [ Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur, &c. c.

xix.) has delineated, with a bold and easy pencil, some of the

most striking circumstances of the pride of Attila, and the

disgrace of the Romans. He deserves the praise of having read the

Fragments of Priscus, which have been too much disregarded.]

39 (return) [ See Priscus, p. 69, 71, 72, &c. I would fain

believe, that this adventurer was afterwards crucified by the

order of Attila, on a suspicion of treasonable practices; but

Priscus (p. 57) has too plainly distinguished two persons of the

name of Constantius, who, from the similar events of their lives,

might have been easily confounded.]

40 (return) [ In the Persian treaty, concluded in the year 422,

the wise and eloquent Maximin had been the assessor of

Ardaburius, (Socrates, l. vii. c. 20.) When Marcian ascended the

throne, the office of Great Chamberlain was bestowed on Maximin,

who is ranked, in the public edict, among the four principal

ministers of state, (Novell. ad Calc. Cod. Theod. p. 31.) He

executed a civil and military commission in the Eastern

provinces; and his death was lamented by the savages of Æthiopia,

whose incursions he had repressed. See Priscus, p. 40, 41.]

41 (return) [ Priscus was a native of Panium in Thrace, and

deserved, by his eloquence, an honorable place among the sophists

of the age. His Byzantine history, which related to his own

times, was comprised in seven books. See Fabricius, Bibliot.

Graec. tom. vi. p. 235, 236. Notwithstanding the charitable

judgment of the critics, I suspect that Priscus was a Pagan. *

Note: Niebuhr concurs in this opinion. Life of Priscus in the new

edition of the Byzantine historians.—M]

The ambassadors, who were followed by a numerous train of men and

horses, made their first halt at Sardica, at the distance of

three hundred and fifty miles, or thirteen days’ journey, from

Constantinople. As the remains of Sardica were still included

within the limits of the empire, it was incumbent on the Romans

to exercise the duties of hospitality. They provided, with the

assistance of the provincials, a sufficient number of sheep and

oxen, and invited the Huns to a splendid, or at least, a

plentiful supper. But the harmony of the entertainment was soon

disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The greatness of

the emperor and the empire was warmly maintained by their

ministers; the Huns, with equal ardor, asserted the superiority

of their victorious monarch: the dispute was inflamed by the rash

and unseasonable flattery of Vigilius, who passionately rejected

the comparison of a mere mortal with the divine Theodosius; and

it was with extreme difficulty that Maximin and Priscus were able

to divert the conversation, or to soothe the angry minds, of the

Barbarians. When they rose from table, the Imperial ambassador

presented Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of silk robes and

Indian pearls, which they thankfully accepted. Yet Orestes could

not forbear insinuating that he had not always been treated with

such respect and liberality: and the offensive distinction which

was implied, between his civil office and the hereditary rank of

his colleague seems to have made Edecon a doubtful friend, and

Orestes an irreconcilable enemy. After this entertainment, they

travelled about one hundred miles from Sardica to Naissus. That

flourishing city, which has given birth to the great Constantine,

was levelled with the ground: the inhabitants were destroyed or

dispersed; and the appearance of some sick persons, who were

still permitted to exist among the ruins of the churches, served

only to increase the horror of the prospect. The surface of the

country was covered with the bones of the slain; and the

ambassadors, who directed their course to the north-west, were

obliged to pass the hills of modern Servia, before they descended

into the flat and marshy grounds which are terminated by the

Danube. The Huns were masters of the great river: their

navigation was performed in large canoes, hollowed out of the

trunk of a single tree; the ministers of Theodosius were safely

landed on the opposite bank; and their Barbarian associates

immediately hastened to the camp of Attila, which was equally

prepared for the amusements of hunting or of war. No sooner had

Maximin advanced about two miles 4111 from the Danube, than he

began to experience the fastidious insolence of the conqueror. He

was sternly forbid to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley, lest

he should infringe the distant awe that was due to the royal

mansion. 4112 The ministers of Attila pressed them to communicate

the business, and the instructions, which he reserved for the ear

of their sovereign. When Maximin temperately urged the contrary

practice of nations, he was still more confounded to find that

the resolutions of the Sacred Consistory, those secrets (says

Priscus) which should not be revealed to the gods themselves, had

been treacherously disclosed to the public enemy. On his refusal

to comply with such ignominious terms, the Imperial envoy was

commanded instantly to depart; the order was recalled; it was

again repeated; and the Huns renewed their ineffectual attempts

to subdue the patient firmness of Maximin. At length, by the

intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onegesius, whose

friendship had been purchased by a liberal gift, he was admitted

to the royal presence; but, instead of obtaining a decisive

answer, he was compelled to undertake a remote journey towards

the north, that Attila might enjoy the proud satisfaction of

receiving, in the same camp, the ambassadors of the Eastern and

Western empires. His journey was regulated by the guides, who

obliged him to halt, to hasten his march, or to deviate from the

common road, as it best suited the convenience of the king. The

Romans, who traversed the plains of Hungary, suppose that they

passed several navigable rivers, either in canoes or portable

boats; but there is reason to suspect that the winding stream of

the Teyss, or Tibiscus, might present itself in different places

under different names. From the contiguous villages they received

a plentiful and regular supply of provisions; mead instead of

wine, millet in the place of bread, and a certain liquor named

camus, which according to the report of Priscus, was distilled

from barley. 42 Such fare might appear coarse and indelicate to

men who had tasted the luxury of Constantinople; but, in their

accidental distress, they were relieved by the gentleness and

hospitality of the same Barbarians, so terrible and so merciless

in war. The ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large

morass. A violent tempest of wind and rain, of thunder and

lightning, overturned their tents, immersed their baggage and

furniture in the water, and scattered their retinue, who wandered

in the darkness of the night, uncertain of their road, and

apprehensive of some unknown danger, till they awakened by their

cries the inhabitants of a neighboring village, the property of

the widow of Bleda. A bright illumination, and, in a few moments,

a comfortable fire of reeds, was kindled by their officious

benevolence; the wants, and even the desires, of the Romans were

liberally satisfied; and they seem to have been embarrassed by

the singular politeness of Bleda’s widow, who added to her other

favors the gift, or at least the loan, of a sufficient number of

beautiful and obsequious damsels. The sunshine of the succeeding

day was dedicated to repose, to collect and dry the baggage, and

to the refreshment of the men and horses: but, in the evening,

before they pursued their journey, the ambassadors expressed

their gratitude to the bounteous lady of the village, by a very

acceptable present of silver cups, red fleeces, dried fruits, and

Indian pepper. Soon after this adventure, they rejoined the march

of Attila, from whom they had been separated about six days, and

slowly proceeded to the capital of an empire, which did not

contain, in the space of several thousand miles, a single city.

4111 (return) [ 70 stadia. Priscus, 173.—M.]

4112 (return) [ He was forbidden to pitch his tents on an

eminence because Attila’s were below on the plain. Ibid.—M.]

42 (return) [ The Huns themselves still continued to despise the

labors of agriculture: they abused the privilege of a victorious

nation; and the Goths, their industrious subjects, who cultivated

the earth, dreaded their neighborhood, like that of so many

ravenous wolves, (Priscus, p. 45.) In the same manner the Sarts

and Tadgics provide for their own subsistence, and for that of

the Usbec Tartars, their lazy and rapacious sovereigns. See

Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 423 455, &c.]

As far as we may ascertain the vague and obscure geography of

Priscus, this capital appears to have been seated between the

Danube, the Teyss, and the Carpathian hills, in the plains of

Upper Hungary, and most probably in the neighborhood of Jezberin,

Agria, or Tokay. 43 In its origin it could be no more than an

accidental camp, which, by the long and frequent residence of

Attila, had insensibly swelled into a huge village, for the

reception of his court, of the troops who followed his person,

and of the various multitude of idle or industrious slaves and

retainers. 44 The baths, constructed by Onegesius, were the only

edifice of stone; the materials had been transported from

Pannonia; and since the adjacent country was destitute even of

large timber, it may be presumed, that the meaner habitations of

the royal village consisted of straw, or mud, or of canvass. The

wooden houses of the more illustrious Huns were built and adorned

with rude magnificence, according to the rank, the fortune, or

the taste of the proprietors. They seem to have been distributed

with some degree of order and symmetry; and each spot became more

honorable as it approached the person of the sovereign. The

palace of Attila, which surpassed all other houses in his

dominions, was built entirely of wood, and covered an ample space

of ground. The outward enclosure was a lofty wall, or palisade,

of smooth square timber, intersected with high towers, but

intended rather for ornament than defence. This wall, which seems

to have encircled the declivity of a hill, comprehended a great

variety of wooden edifices, adapted to the uses of royalty.

A separate house was assigned to each of the numerous wives of

Attila; and, instead of the rigid and illiberal confinement

imposed by Asiatic jealousy they politely admitted the Roman

ambassadors to their presence, their table, and even to the

freedom of an innocent embrace. When Maximin offered his presents

to Cerca, 4411 the principal queen, he admired the singular

architecture on her mansion, the height of the round columns, the

size and beauty of the wood, which was curiously shaped or turned

or polished or carved; and his attentive eye was able to discover

some taste in the ornaments and some regularity in the

proportions. After passing through the guards, who watched before

the gate, the ambassadors were introduced into the private

apartment of Cerca. The wife of Attila received their visit

sitting, or rather lying, on a soft couch; the floor was covered

with a carpet; the domestics formed a circle round the queen; and

her damsels, seated on the ground, were employed in working the

variegated embroidery which adorned the dress of the Barbaric

warriors. The Huns were ambitious of displaying those riches

which were the fruit and evidence of their victories: the

trappings of their horses, their swords, and even their shoes,

were studded with gold and precious stones; and their tables were

profusely spread with plates, and goblets, and vases of gold and

silver, which had been fashioned by the labor of Grecian artists.

The monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to

the simplicity of his Scythian ancestors. 45 The dress of Attila,

his arms, and the furniture of his horse, were plain, without

ornament, and of a single color. The royal table was served in

wooden cups and platters; flesh was his only food; and the

conqueror of the North never tasted the luxury of bread.

43 (return) [ It is evident that Priscus passed the Danube and

the Teyss, and that he did not reach the foot of the Carpathian

hills. Agria, Tokay, and Jazberin, are situated in the plains

circumscribed by this definition. M. de Buat (Histoire des

Peuples, &c., tom. vii. p. 461) has chosen Tokay; Otrokosci, (p.

180, apud Mascou, ix. 23,) a learned Hungarian, has preferred

Jazberin, a place about thirty-six miles westward of Buda and the

Danube. * Note: M. St. Martin considers the narrative of Priscus,

the only authority of M. de Buat and of Gibbon, too vague to fix

the position of Attila’s camp. “It is worthy of remark, that in

the Hungarian traditions collected by Thwrocz, l. 2, c. 17,

precisely on the left branch of the Danube, where Attila’s

residence was situated, in the same parallel stands the present

city of Buda, in Hungarian Buduvur. It is for this reason that

this city has retained for a long time among the Germans of

Hungary the name of Etzelnburgh or Etzela-burgh, i. e., the city

of Attila. The distance of Buda from the place where Priscus

crossed the Danube, on his way from Naissus, is equal to that

which he traversed to reach the residence of the king of the

Huns. I see no good reason for not acceding to the relations of

the Hungarian historians.” St. Martin, vi. 191.—M]

44 (return) [ The royal village of Attila may be compared to the

city of Karacorum, the residence of the successors of Zingis;

which, though it appears to have been a more stable habitation,

did not equal the size or splendor of the town and abbey of St.

Denys, in the 13th century. (See Rubruquis, in the Histoire

Generale des Voyages, tom. vii p. 286.) The camp of Aurengzebe,

as it is so agreeably described by Bernier, (tom. ii. p.

217-235,) blended the manners of Scythia with the magnificence

and luxury of Hindostan.]

4411 (return) [ The name of this queen occurs three times in

Priscus, and always in a different form—Cerca, Creca, and Rheca.

The Scandinavian poets have preserved her memory under the name

of Herkia. St. Martin, vi. 192.—M.]

45 (return) [ When the Moguls displayed the spoils of Asia, in

the diet of Toncat, the throne of Zingis was still covered with

the original black felt carpet, on which he had been seated, when

he was raised to the command of his warlike countrymen. See Vie

de Gengiscan, v. c. 9.]

When Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on the

banks of the Danube, his tent was encompassed with a formidable

guard. The monarch himself was seated in a wooden chair. His

stern countenance, angry gestures, and impatient tone, astonished

the firmness of Maximin; but Vigilius had more reason to tremble,

since he distinctly understood the menace, that if Attila did not

respect the law of nations, he would nail the deceitful

interpreter to the cross. and leave his body to the vultures. The

Barbarian condescended, by producing an accurate list, to expose

the bold falsehood of Vigilius, who had affirmed that no more

than seventeen deserters could be found. But he arrogantly

declared, that he apprehended only the disgrace of contending

with his fugitive slaves; since he despised their impotent

efforts to defend the provinces which Theodosius had intrusted to

their arms: “For what fortress,” (added Attila,) “what city, in

the wide extent of the Roman empire, can hope to exist, secure

and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should be erased

from the earth?” He dismissed, however, the interpreter, who

returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demand of more

complete restitution, and a more splendid embassy.

His anger gradually subsided, and his domestic satisfaction in a

marriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of

Eslam, 4511 might perhaps contribute to mollify the native

fierceness of his temper. The entrance of Attila into the royal

village was marked by a very singular ceremony. A numerous troop

of women came out to meet their hero and their king. They marched

before him, distributed into long and regular files; the

intervals between the files were filled by white veils of thin

linen, which the women on either side bore aloft in their hands,

and which formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins, who

chanted hymns and songs in the Scythian language. The wife of his

favorite Onegesius, with a train of female attendants, saluted

Attila at the door of her own house, on his way to the palace;

and offered, according to the custom of the country, her

respectful homage, by entreating him to taste the wine and meat

which she had prepared for his reception. As soon as the monarch

had graciously accepted her hospitable gift, his domestics lifted

a small silver table to a convenient height, as he sat on

horseback; and Attila, when he had touched the goblet with his

lips, again saluted the wife of Onegesius, and continued his

march. During his residence at the seat of empire, his hours were

not wasted in the recluse idleness of a seraglio; and the king of

the Huns could maintain his superior dignity, without concealing

his person from the public view. He frequently assembled his

council, and gave audience to the ambassadors of the nations; and

his people might appeal to the supreme tribunal, which he held at

stated times, and, according to the Eastern custom, before the

principal gate of his wooden palace. The Romans, both of the East

and of the West, were twice invited to the banquets, where Attila

feasted with the princes and nobles of Scythia. Maximin and his

colleagues were stopped on the threshold, till they had made a

devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of the

Huns; and were conducted, after this ceremony, to their

respective seats in a spacious hall. The royal table and couch,

covered with carpets and fine linen, was raised by several steps

in the midst of the hall; and a son, an uncle, or perhaps a

favorite king, were admitted to share the simple and homely

repast of Attila. Two lines of small tables, each of which

contained three or four guests, were ranged in order on either

hand; the right was esteemed the most honorable, but the Romans

ingenuously confess, that they were placed on the left; and that

Beric, an unknown chieftain, most probably of the Gothic race,

preceded the representatives of Theodosius and Valentinian. The

Barbarian monarch received from his cup-bearer a goblet filled

with wine, and courteously drank to the health of the most

distinguished guest; who rose from his seat, and expressed, in

the same manner, his loyal and respectful vows. This ceremony was

successively performed for all, or at least for the illustrious

persons of the assembly; and a considerable time must have been

consumed, since it was thrice repeated as each course or service

was placed on the table. But the wine still remained after the

meat had been removed; and the Huns continued to indulge their

intemperance long after the sober and decent ambassadors of the

two empires had withdrawn themselves from the nocturnal banquet.

Yet before they retired, they enjoyed a singular opportunity of

observing the manners of the nation in their convivial

amusements. Two Scythians stood before the couch of Attila, and

recited the verses which they had composed, to celebrate his

valor and his victories. 4512 A profound silence prevailed in the

hall; and the attention of the guests was captivated by the vocal

harmony, which revived and perpetuated the memory of their own

exploits; a martial ardor flashed from the eyes of the warriors,

who were impatient for battle; and the tears of the old men

expressed their generous despair, that they could no longer

partake the danger and glory of the field. 46 This entertainment,

which might be considered as a school of military virtue, was

succeeded by a farce, that debased the dignity of human nature. A

Moorish and a Scythian buffoon successively excited the mirth of

the rude spectators, by their deformed figure, ridiculous dress,

antic gestures, absurd speeches, and the strange, unintelligible

confusion of the Latin, the Gothic, and the Hunnic languages; and

the hall resounded with loud and licentious peals of laughter. In

the midst of this intemperate riot, Attila alone, without a

change of countenance, maintained his steadfast and inflexible

gravity; which was never relaxed, except on the entrance of

Irnac, the youngest of his sons: he embraced the boy with a smile

of paternal tenderness, gently pinched him by the cheek, and

betrayed a partial affection, which was justified by the

assurance of his prophets, that Irnac would be the future support

of his family and empire. Two days afterwards, the ambassadors

received a second invitation; and they had reason to praise the

politeness, as well as the hospitality, of Attila. The king of

the Huns held a long and familiar conversation with Maximin; but

his civility was interrupted by rude expressions and haughty

reproaches; and he was provoked, by a motive of interest, to

support, with unbecoming zeal, the private claims of his

secretary Constantius.

“The emperor” (said Attila) “has long promised him a rich wife:

Constantius must not be disappointed; nor should a Roman emperor

deserve the name of liar.” On the third day, the ambassadors were

dismissed; the freedom of several captives was granted, for a

moderate ransom, to their pressing entreaties; and, besides the

royal presents, they were permitted to accept from each of the

Scythian nobles the honorable and useful gift of a horse. Maximin

returned, by the same road, to Constantinople; and though he was

involved in an accidental dispute with Beric, the new ambassador

of Attila, he flattered himself that he had contributed, by the

laborious journey, to confirm the peace and alliance of the two

nations.

4511 (return) [ Was this his own daughter, or the daughter of a

person named Escam? (Gibbon has written incorrectly Eslam, an

unknown name. The officer of Attila, called Eslas.) In either

case the construction is imperfect: a good Greek writer would

have introduced an article to determine the sense. Nor is it

quite clear, whether Scythian usage is adduced to excuse the

polygamy, or a marriage, which would be considered incestuous in

other countries. The Latin version has carefully preserved the

ambiguity, filiam Escam uxorem. I am not inclined to construe it

‘his own daughter’ though I have too little confidence in the

uniformity of the grammatical idioms of the Byzantines (though

Priscus is one of the best) to express myself without

hesitation.—M.]

4512 (return) [ This passage is remarkable from the connection of

the name of Attila with that extraordinary cycle of poetry, which

is found in different forms in almost all the Teutonic

languages.]

A Latin poem, de prima expeditione Attilæ, Regis Hunnorum, in

Gallias, was published in the year 1780, by Fischer at Leipsic.

It contains, with the continuation, 1452 lines. It abounds in

metrical faults, but is occasionally not without some rude spirit

and some copiousness of fancy in the variation of the

circumstances in the different combats of the hero Walther,

prince of Aquitania. It contains little which can be supposed

historical, and still less which is characteristic concerning

Attila. It relates to a first expedition of Attila into Europe

which cannot be traced in history, during which the kings of the

Franks, of the Burgundians, and of Aquitaine, submit themselves,

and give hostages to Attila: the king of the Franks, a personage

who seems the same with the Hagen of Teutonic romance; the king

of Burgundy, his daughter Heldgund; the king of Aquitaine, his

son Walther. The main subject of the poem is the escape of

Walther and Heldgund from the camp of Attila, and the combat

between Walther and Gunthar, king of the Franks. with his twelve

peers, among whom is Hagen. Walther had been betrayed while he

passed through Worms, the city of the Frankish king, by paying

for his ferry over the Rhine with some strange fish, which he had

caught during his flight, and which were unknown in the waters of

the Rhine. Gunthar was desirous of plundering him of the

treasure, which Walther had carried off from the camp of Attila.

The author of this poem is unknown, nor can I, on the vague and

rather doubtful allusion to Thule, as Iceland, venture to assign

its date. It was, evidently, recited in a monastery, as appears

by the first line; and no doubt composed there. The faults of

metre would point out a late date; and it may have been formed

upon some local tradition, as Walther, the hero, seems to have

turned monk.

This poem, however, in its character and its incidents, bears no

relation to the Teutonic cycle, of which the Nibelungen Lied is

the most complete form. In this, in the Heldenbuch, in some of

the Danish Sagas. in countess lays and ballads in all the

dialects of Scandinavia, appears King Etzel (Attila) in strife

with the Burgundians and the Franks. With these appears, by a

poetic anachronism, Dietrich of Berne. (Theodoric of Verona,) the

celebrated Ostrogothic king; and many other very singular

coincidences of historic names, which appear in the poems. (See

Lachman Kritik der Sage in his volume of various readings to the

Nibelungen; Berlin, 1836, p. 336.)

Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part III.

I must acknowledge myself unable to form any satisfactory theory

as to the connection of these poems with the history of the time,

or the period, from which they may date their origin;

notwithstanding the laborious investigations and critical

sagacity of the Schlegels, the Grimms, of P. E. Muller and

Lachman, and a whole host of German critics and antiquaries; not

to omit our own countryman, Mr. Herbert, whose theory concerning

Attila is certainly neither deficient in boldness nor

originality. I conceive the only way to obtain any thing like a

clear conception on this point would be what Lachman has begun,

(see above,) patiently to collect and compare the various forms

which the traditions have assumed, without any preconceived,

either mythical or poetical, theory, and, if possible, to

discover the original basis of the whole rich and fantastic

legend. One point, which to me is strongly in favor of the

antiquity of this poetic cycle, is, that the manners are so

clearly anterior to chivalry, and to the influence exercised on

the poetic literature of Europe by the chivalrous poems and

romances. I think I find some traces of that influence in the

Latin poem, though strained through the imagination of a monk.

The English reader will find an amusing account of the German

Nibelungen and Heldenbuch, and of some of the Scandinavian Sagas,

in the volume of Northern Antiquities published by Weber, the

friend of Sir Walter Scott. Scott himself contributed a

considerable, no doubt far the most valuable, part to the work.

4612 4712

See also the various German editions of the Nibelungen, to which

Lachman, with true German perseverance, has compiled a thick

volume of various readings; the Heldenbuch, the old Danish poems

by Grimm, the Eddas, &c. Herbert’s Attila, p. 510, et seq.—M.]

46 (return) [ If we may believe Plutarch, (in Demetrio, tom. v.

p. 24,) it was the custom of the Scythians, when they indulged in

the pleasures of the table, to awaken their languid courage by

the martial harmony of twanging their bow-strings.]

4612 (return) [ The Scythian was an idiot or lunatic; the Moor a

regular buffoon—M.]

4712 (return) [ The curious narrative of this embassy, which

required few observations, and was not susceptible of any

collateral evidence, may be found in Priscus, p. 49-70. But I

have not confined myself to the same order; and I had previously

extracted the historical circumstances, which were less

intimately connected with the journey, and business, of the Roman

ambassadors.]

But the Roman ambassador was ignorant of the treacherous design,

which had been concealed under the mask of the public faith. The

surprise and satisfaction of Edecon, when he contemplated the

splendor of Constantinople, had encouraged the interpreter

Vigilius to procure for him a secret interview with the eunuch

Chrysaphius, 48 who governed the emperor and the empire. After

some previous conversation, and a mutual oath of secrecy, the

eunuch, who had not, from his own feelings or experience, imbibed

any exalted notions of ministerial virtue, ventured to propose

the death of Attila, as an important service, by which Edecon

might deserve a liberal share of the wealth and luxury which he

admired. The ambassador of the Huns listened to the tempting

offer; and professed, with apparent zeal, his ability, as well as

readiness, to execute the bloody deed; the design was

communicated to the master of the offices, and the devout

Theodosius consented to the assassination of his invincible

enemy. But this perfidious conspiracy was defeated by the

dissimulation, or the repentance, of Edecon; and though he might

exaggerate his inward abhorrence for the treason, which he seemed

to approve, he dexterously assumed the merit of an early and

voluntary confession. If we now review the embassy of Maximin,

and the behavior of Attila, we must applaud the Barbarian, who

respected the laws of hospitality, and generously entertained and

dismissed the minister of a prince who had conspired against his

life. But the rashness of Vigilius will appear still more

extraordinary, since he returned, conscious of his guilt and

danger, to the royal camp, accompanied by his son, and carrying

with him a weighty purse of gold, which the favorite eunuch had

furnished, to satisfy the demands of Edecon, and to corrupt the

fidelity of the guards. The interpreter was instantly seized, and

dragged before the tribunal of Attila, where he asserted his

innocence with specious firmness, till the threat of inflicting

instant death on his son extorted from him a sincere discovery of

the criminal transaction. Under the name of ransom, or

confiscation, the rapacious king of the Huns accepted two hundred

pounds of gold for the life of a traitor, whom he disdained to

punish. He pointed his just indignation against a nobler object.

His ambassadors, Eslaw and Orestes, were immediately despatched

to Constantinople, with a peremptory instruction, which it was

much safer for them to execute than to disobey. They boldly

entered the Imperial presence, with the fatal purse hanging down

from the neck of Orestes; who interrogated the eunuch

Chrysaphius, as he stood beside the throne, whether he recognized

the evidence of his guilt. But the office of reproof was reserved

for the superior dignity of his colleague Eslaw, who gravely

addressed the emperor of the East in the following words:

“Theodosius is the son of an illustrious and respectable parent:

Attila likewise is descended from a noble race; and he has

supported, by his actions, the dignity which he inherited from

his father Mundzuk. But Theodosius has forfeited his paternal

honors, and, by consenting to pay tribute has degraded himself to

the condition of a slave. It is therefore just, that he should

reverence the man whom fortune and merit have placed above him;

instead of attempting, like a wicked slave, clandestinely to

conspire against his master.” The son of Arcadius, who was

accustomed only to the voice of flattery, heard with astonishment

the severe language of truth: he blushed and trembled; nor did he

presume directly to refuse the head of Chrysaphius, which Eslaw

and Orestes were instructed to demand. A solemn embassy, armed

with full powers and magnificent gifts, was hastily sent to

deprecate the wrath of Attila; and his pride was gratified by the

choice of Nomius and Anatolius, two ministers of consular or

patrician rank, of whom the one was great treasurer, and the

other was master-general of the armies of the East. He

condescended to meet these ambassadors on the banks of the River

Drenco; and though he at first affected a stern and haughty

demeanor, his anger was insensibly mollified by their eloquence

and liberality. He condescended to pardon the emperor, the

eunuch, and the interpreter; bound himself by an oath to observe

the conditions of peace; released a great number of captives;

abandoned the fugitives and deserters to their fate; and resigned

a large territory, to the south of the Danube, which he had

already exhausted of its wealth and inhabitants. But this treaty

was purchased at an expense which might have supported a vigorous

and successful war; and the subjects of Theodosius were compelled

to redeem the safety of a worthless favorite by oppressive taxes,

which they would more cheerfully have paid for his destruction.

48 (return) [ M. de Tillemont has very properly given the

succession of chamberlains, who reigned in the name of

Theodosius. Chrysaphius was the last, and, according to the

unanimous evidence of history, the worst of these favorites, (see

Hist. des Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 117-119. Mem. Eccles. tom. xv.

p. 438.) His partiality for his godfather the heresiarch

Eutyches, engaged him to persecute the orthodox party]

49 (return) [ This secret conspiracy and its important

consequences, may be traced in the fragments of Priscus, p. 37,

38, 39, 54, 70, 71, 72. The chronology of that historian is not

fixed by any precise date; but the series of negotiations between

Attila and the Eastern empire must be included within the three

or four years which are terminated, A.D. 450. by the death of

Theodosius.]

The emperor Theodosius did not long survive the most humiliating

circumstance of an inglorious life. As he was riding, or hunting,

in the neighborhood of Constantinople, he was thrown from his

horse into the River Lycus: the spine of the back was injured by

the fall; and he expired some days afterwards, in the fiftieth

year of his age, and the forty-third of his reign. 50 His sister

Pulcheria, whose authority had been controlled both in civil and

ecclesiastical affairs by the pernicious influence of the

eunuchs, was unanimously proclaimed Empress of the East; and the

Romans, for the first time, submitted to a female reign. No

sooner had Pulcheria ascended the throne, than she indulged her

own and the public resentment, by an act of popular justice.

Without any legal trial, the eunuch Chrysaphius was executed

before the gates of the city; and the immense riches which had

been accumulated by the rapacious favorite, served only to hasten

and to justify his punishment. 51 Amidst the general acclamations

of the clergy and people, the empress did not forget the

prejudice and disadvantage to which her sex was exposed; and she

wisely resolved to prevent their murmurs by the choice of a

colleague, who would always respect the superior rank and virgin

chastity of his wife. She gave her hand to Marcian, a senator,

about sixty years of age; and the nominal husband of Pulcheria

was solemnly invested with the Imperial purple. The zeal which he

displayed for the orthodox creed, as it was established by the

council of Chalcedon, would alone have inspired the grateful

eloquence of the Catholics. But the behavior of Marcian in a

private life, and afterwards on the throne, may support a more

rational belief, that he was qualified to restore and invigorate

an empire, which had been almost dissolved by the successive

weakness of two hereditary monarchs. He was born in Thrace, and

educated to the profession of arms; but Marcian’s youth had been

severely exercised by poverty and misfortune, since his only

resource, when he first arrived at Constantinople, consisted in

two hundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed of a friend. He

passed nineteen years in the domestic and military service of

Aspar, and his son Ardaburius; followed those powerful generals

to the Persian and African wars; and obtained, by their

influence, the honorable rank of tribune and senator. His mild

disposition, and useful talents, without alarming the jealousy,

recommended Marcian to the esteem and favor of his patrons; he

had seen, perhaps he had felt, the abuses of a venal and

oppressive administration; and his own example gave weight and

energy to the laws, which he promulgated for the reformation of

manners. 52

50 (return) [ Theodorus the Reader, (see Vales. Hist. Eccles.

tom. iii. p. 563,) and the Paschal Chronicle, mention the fall,

without specifying the injury: but the consequence was so likely

to happen, and so unlikely to be invented, that we may safely

give credit to Nicephorus Callistus, a Greek of the fourteenth

century.]

51 (return) [ Pulcheriae nutu (says Count Marcellinus) sua cum

avaritia interemptus est. She abandoned the eunuch to the pious

revenge of a son, whose father had suffered at his instigation.

Note: Might not the execution of Chrysaphius have been a

sacrifice to avert the anger of Attila, whose assassination the

eunuch had attempted to contrive?—M.]

52 (return) [ de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 4. Evagrius, l. ii. c. 1.

Theophanes, p. 90, 91. Novell. ad Calcem. Cod. Theod. tom. vi. p.

30. The praises which St. Leo and the Catholics have bestowed on

Marcian, are diligently transcribed by Baronius, as an

encouragement for future princes.]

Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part I.

Invasion Of Gaul By Attila.—He Is Repulsed By Ætius And The

Visigoths.—Attila Invades And Evacuates Italy.—The Deaths Of

Attila, Ætius, And Valentinian The Third.

It was the opinion of Marcian, that war should be avoided, as

long as it is possible to preserve a secure and honorable peace;

but it was likewise his opinion, that peace cannot be honorable

or secure, if the sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to

war. This temperate courage dictated his reply to the demands of

Attila, who insolently pressed the payment of the annual tribute.

The emperor signified to the Barbarians, that they must no longer

insult the majesty of Rome by the mention of a tribute; that he

was disposed to reward, with becoming liberality, the faithful

friendship of his allies; but that, if they presumed to violate

the public peace, they should feel that he possessed troops, and

arms, and resolution, to repel their attacks. The same language,

even in the camp of the Huns, was used by his ambassador

Apollonius, whose bold refusal to deliver the presents, till he

had been admitted to a personal interview, displayed a sense of

dignity, and a contempt of danger, which Attila was not prepared

to expect from the degenerate Romans. 1 He threatened to chastise

the rash successor of Theodosius; but he hesitated whether he

should first direct his invincible arms against the Eastern or

the Western empire. While mankind awaited his decision with awful

suspense, he sent an equal defiance to the courts of Ravenna and

Constantinople; and his ministers saluted the two emperors with

the same haughty declaration. “Attila, my lord, and thy lord,

commands thee to provide a palace for his immediate reception.” 2

But as the Barbarian despised, or affected to despise, the Romans

of the East, whom he had so often vanquished, he soon declared

his resolution of suspending the easy conquest, till he had

achieved a more glorious and important enterprise. In the

memorable invasions of Gaul and Italy, the Huns were naturally

attracted by the wealth and fertility of those provinces; but the

particular motives and provocations of Attila can only be

explained by the state of the Western empire under the reign of

Valentinian, or, to speak more correctly, under the

administration of Ætius. 3

1 (return) [ See Priscus, p. 39, 72.]

2 (return) [ The Alexandrian or Paschal Chronicle, which

introduces this haughty message, during the lifetime of

Theodosius, may have anticipated the date; but the dull annalist

was incapable of inventing the original and genuine style of

Attila.]

3 (return) [ The second book of the Histoire Critique de

l’Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise tom. i. p. 189-424,

throws great light on the state of Gaul, when it was invaded by

Attila; but the ingenious author, the Abbe Dubos, too often

bewilders himself in system and conjecture.]

After the death of his rival Boniface, Ætius had prudently

retired to the tents of the Huns; and he was indebted to their

alliance for his safety and his restoration. Instead of the

suppliant language of a guilty exile, he solicited his pardon at

the head of sixty thousand Barbarians; and the empress Placidia

confessed, by a feeble resistance, that the condescension, which

might have been ascribed to clemency, was the effect of weakness

or fear. She delivered herself, her son Valentinian, and the

Western empire, into the hands of an insolent subject; nor could

Placidia protect the son-in-law of Boniface, the virtuous and

faithful Sebastian, 4 from the implacable persecution which urged

him from one kingdom to another, till he miserably perished in

the service of the Vandals. The fortunate Ætius, who was

immediately promoted to the rank of patrician, and thrice

invested with the honors of the consulship, assumed, with the

title of master of the cavalry and infantry, the whole military

power of the state; and he is sometimes styled, by contemporary

writers, the duke, or general, of the Romans of the West. His

prudence, rather than his virtue, engaged him to leave the

grandson of Theodosius in the possession of the purple; and

Valentinian was permitted to enjoy the peace and luxury of Italy,

while the patrician appeared in the glorious light of a hero and

a patriot, who supported near twenty years the ruins of the

Western empire. The Gothic historian ingenuously confesses, that

Ætius was born for the salvation of the Roman republic; 5 and the

following portrait, though it is drawn in the fairest colors,

must be allowed to contain a much larger proportion of truth than

of flattery. 411 “His mother was a wealthy and noble Italian, and

his father Gaudentius, who held a distinguished rank in the

province of Scythia, gradually rose from the station of a

military domestic, to the dignity of master of the cavalry. Their

son, who was enrolled almost in his infancy in the guards, was

given as a hostage, first to Alaric, and afterwards to the Huns;

412 and he successively obtained the civil and military honors of

the palace, for which he was equally qualified by superior merit.

The graceful figure of Ætius was not above the middle stature;

but his manly limbs were admirably formed for strength, beauty,

and agility; and he excelled in the martial exercises of managing

a horse, drawing the bow, and darting the javelin. He could

patiently endure the want of food, or of sleep; and his mind and

body were alike capable of the most laborious efforts. He

possessed the genuine courage that can despise not only dangers,

but injuries: and it was impossible either to corrupt, or

deceive, or intimidate the firm integrity of his soul.” 6 The

Barbarians, who had seated themselves in the Western provinces,

were insensibly taught to respect the faith and valor of the

patrician Ætius. He soothed their passions, consulted their

prejudices, balanced their interests, and checked their ambition.

611 A seasonable treaty, which he concluded with Genseric,

protected Italy from the depredations of the Vandals; the

independent Britons implored and acknowledged his salutary aid;

the Imperial authority was restored and maintained in Gaul and

Spain; and he compelled the Franks and the Suevi, whom he had

vanquished in the field, to become the useful confederates of the

republic.

4 (return) [ Victor Vitensis (de Persecut. Vandal. l. i. 6, p. 8,

edit. Ruinart) calls him, acer consilio et strenuus in bello: but

his courage, when he became unfortunate, was censured as

desperate rashness; and Sebastian deserved, or obtained, the

epithet of proeceps, (Sidon. Apollinar Carmen ix. 181.) His

adventures in Constantinople, in Sicily, Gaul, Spain, and Africa,

are faintly marked in the Chronicles of Marcellinus and Idatius.

In his distress he was always followed by a numerous train; since

he could ravage the Hellespont and Propontis, and seize the city

of Barcelona.]

5 (return) [ Reipublicae Romanae singulariter natus, qui

superbiam Suevorum, Francorumque barbariem immensis caedibus

servire Imperio Romano coegisset. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c.

34, p. 660.]

411 (return) [ Some valuable fragments of a poetical panegyric on

Ætius by Merobaudes, a Spaniard, have been recovered from a

palimpsest MS. by the sagacity and industry of Niebuhr. They have

been reprinted in the new edition of the Byzantine Historians.

The poet speaks in glowing terms of the long (annosa) peace

enjoyed under the administration of Ætius. The verses are very

spirited. The poet was rewarded by a statue publicly dedicated to

his honor in Rome.

Danuvii cum pace redit, Tanaimque furore Exuit, et nigro candentes

aethere terras Marte suo caruisse jubet. Dedit otia ferro

Caucasus, et saevi condemnant praelia reges. Addidit hiberni

famulantia foedera Rhenus Orbis...... Lustrat Aremoricos jam

mitior incola saltus; Perdidit et mores tellus, adsuetaque saevo

Crimine quaesitas silvis celare rapinas, Discit inexpertis Cererem

committere campis; Caesareoque diu manus obluctata labori Sustinet

acceptas nostro sub consule leges; Et quamvis Geticis sulcum

confundat aratris, Barbara vicinae refugit consortia gentis.

—Merobaudes, p. 1]

412 (return) [—cum Scythicis succumberet ensibus orbis,

Telaque Tarpeias premerent Arctoa secures, Hostilem fregit rabiem,

pignus quesuperbi Foederis et mundi pretium fuit. Hinc modo voti

Rata fides, validis quod dux premat impiger armis Edomuit quos

pace puer; bellumque repressit Ignarus quid bella forent.

Stupuere feroces In tenero jam membra Getae. Rex ipse, verendum

Miratus pueri decus et prodentia fatum Lumina, primaevas dederat

gestare faretras, Laudabatque manus librantem et tela gerentem

Oblitus quod noster erat Pro nescia regis Corda, feris quanto

populis discrimine constet Quod Latium docet arma ducem.

—Merobaudes, Panegyr. p. 15.—M.]

6 (return) [ This portrait is drawn by Renetus Profuturus

Frigeridus, a contemporary historian, known only by some

extracts, which are preserved by Gregory of Tours, (l. ii. c. 8,

in tom. ii. p. 163.) It was probably the duty, or at least the

interest, of Renatus, to magnify the virtues of Ætius; but he

would have shown more dexterity if he had not insisted on his

patient, forgiving disposition.]

611 (return) [

Insessor Libyes, quamvis, fatalibus armis Ausus Elisaei solium

rescindere regni, Milibus Arctois Tyrias compleverat arces, Nunc

hostem exutus pactis proprioribus arsit

Romanam vincire fidem, Latiosque parentes Adnumerare sib,

sociamque intexere prolem. —-Merobaudes, p. 12.—M.]

From a principle of interest, as well as gratitude, Ætius

assiduously cultivated the alliance of the Huns. While he resided

in their tents as a hostage, or an exile, he had familiarly

conversed with Attila himself, the nephew of his benefactor; and

the two famous antagonists appeared to have been connected by a

personal and military friendship, which they afterwards confirmed

by mutual gifts, frequent embassies, and the education of

Carpilio, the son of Ætius, in the camp of Attila. By the

specious professions of gratitude and voluntary attachment, the

patrician might disguise his apprehensions of the Scythian

conqueror, who pressed the two empires with his innumerable

armies. His demands were obeyed or eluded. When he claimed the

spoils of a vanquished city, some vases of gold, which had been

fraudulently embezzled, the civil and military governors of

Noricum were immediately despatched to satisfy his complaints: 7

and it is evident, from their conversation with Maximin and

Priscus, in the royal village, that the valor and prudence of

Ætius had not saved the Western Romans from the common ignominy

of tribute. Yet his dexterous policy prolonged the advantages of

a salutary peace; and a numerous army of Huns and Alani, whom he

had attached to his person, was employed in the defence of Gaul.

Two colonies of these Barbarians were judiciously fixed in the

territories of Valens and Orleans; 8 and their active cavalry

secured the important passages of the Rhone and of the Loire.

These savage allies were not indeed less formidable to the

subjects than to the enemies of Rome. Their original settlement

was enforced with the licentious violence of conquest; and the

province through which they marched was exposed to all the

calamities of a hostile invasion. 9 Strangers to the emperor or

the republic, the Alani of Gaul were devoted to the ambition of

Ætius, and though he might suspect, that, in a contest with

Attila himself, they would revolt to the standard of their

national king, the patrician labored to restrain, rather than to

excite, their zeal and resentment against the Goths, the

Burgundians, and the Franks.

7 (return) [ The embassy consisted of Count Romulus; of Promotus,

president of Noricum; and of Romanus, the military duke. They

were accompanied by Tatullus, an illustrious citizen of Petovio,

in the same province, and father of Orestes, who had married the

daughter of Count Romulus. See Priscus, p. 57, 65. Cassiodorus

(Variar. i. 4) mentions another embassy, which was executed by

his father and Carpilio, the son of Ætius; and, as Attila was no

more, he could safely boast of their manly, intrepid behavior in

his presence.]

8 (return) [ Deserta Valentinae urbis rura Alanis partienda

traduntur. Prosper. Tyronis Chron. in Historiens de France, tom.

i. p. 639. A few lines afterwards, Prosper observes, that lands

in the ulterior Gaul were assigned to the Alani. Without

admitting the correction of Dubos, (tom. i. p. 300,) the

reasonable supposition of two colonies or garrisons of Alani will

confirm his arguments, and remove his objections.]

9 (return) [ See Prosper. Tyro, p. 639. Sidonius (Panegyr. Avit.

246) complains, in the name of Auvergne, his native country,

Litorius Scythicos equites tunc forte subacto Celsus Aremorico,

Geticum rapiebat in agmen Per terras, Averne, tuas, qui proxima

quaedue Discursu, flammis, ferro, feritate, rapinis, Delebant;

pacis fallentes nomen inane.

another poet, Paulinus of Perigord, confirms the complaint:—

Nam socium vix ferre queas, qui durior hoste. —-See Dubos, tom. i.

p. 330.]

The kingdom established by the Visigoths in the southern

provinces of Gaul, had gradually acquired strength and maturity;

and the conduct of those ambitious Barbarians, either in peace or

war, engaged the perpetual vigilance of Ætius. After the death of

Wallia, the Gothic sceptre devolved to Theodoric, the son of the

great Alaric; 10 and his prosperous reign of more than thirty

years, over a turbulent people, may be allowed to prove, that his

prudence was supported by uncommon vigor, both of mind and body.

Impatient of his narrow limits, Theodoric aspired to the

possession of Arles, the wealthy seat of government and commerce;

but the city was saved by the timely approach of Ætius; and the

Gothic king, who had raised the siege with some loss and

disgrace, was persuaded, for an adequate subsidy, to divert the

martial valor of his subjects in a Spanish war. Yet Theodoric

still watched, and eagerly seized, the favorable moment of

renewing his hostile attempts. The Goths besieged Narbonne, while

the Belgic provinces were invaded by the Burgundians; and the

public safety was threatened on every side by the apparent union

of the enemies of Rome. On every side, the activity of Ætius, and

his Scythian cavalry, opposed a firm and successful resistance.

Twenty thousand Burgundians were slain in battle; and the remains

of the nation humbly accepted a dependent seat in the mountains

of Savoy. 11 The walls of Narbonne had been shaken by the

battering engines, and the inhabitants had endured the last

extremities of famine, when Count Litorius, approaching in

silence, and directing each horseman to carry behind him two

sacks of flour, cut his way through the intrenchments of the

besiegers. The siege was immediately raised; and the more

decisive victory, which is ascribed to the personal conduct of

Ætius himself, was marked with the blood of eight thousand Goths.

But in the absence of the patrician, who was hastily summoned to

Italy by some public or private interest, Count Litorius

succeeded to the command; and his presumption soon discovered

that far different talents are required to lead a wing of

cavalry, or to direct the operations of an important war. At the

head of an army of Huns, he rashly advanced to the gates of

Thoulouse, full of careless contempt for an enemy whom his

misfortunes had rendered prudent, and his situation made

desperate. The predictions of the augurs had inspired Litorius

with the profane confidence that he should enter the Gothic

capital in triumph; and the trust which he reposed in his Pagan

allies, encouraged him to reject the fair conditions of peace,

which were repeatedly proposed by the bishops in the name of

Theodoric. The king of the Goths exhibited in his distress the

edifying contrast of Christian piety and moderation; nor did he

lay aside his sackcloth and ashes till he was prepared to arm for

the combat. His soldiers, animated with martial and religious

enthusiasm, assaulted the camp of Litorius. The conflict was

obstinate; the slaughter was mutual. The Roman general, after a

total defeat, which could be imputed only to his unskilful

rashness, was actually led through the streets of Thoulouse, not

in his own, but in a hostile triumph; and the misery which he

experienced, in a long and ignominious captivity, excited the

compassion of the Barbarians themselves. 12 Such a loss, in a

country whose spirit and finances were long since exhausted,

could not easily be repaired; and the Goths, assuming, in their

turn, the sentiments of ambition and revenge, would have planted

their victorious standards on the banks of the Rhone, if the

presence of Ætius had not restored strength and discipline to the

Romans. 13 The two armies expected the signal of a decisive

action; but the generals, who were conscious of each other’s

force, and doubtful of their own superiority, prudently sheathed

their swords in the field of battle; and their reconciliation was

permanent and sincere. Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, appears

to have deserved the love of his subjects, the confidence of his

allies, and the esteem of mankind. His throne was surrounded by

six valiant sons, who were educated with equal care in the

exercises of the Barbarian camp, and in those of the Gallic

schools: from the study of the Roman jurisprudence, they acquired

the theory, at least, of law and justice; and the harmonious

sense of Virgil contributed to soften the asperity of their

native manners. 14 The two daughters of the Gothic king were

given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi

and of the Vandals, who reigned in Spain and Africa: but these

illustrious alliances were pregnant with guilt and discord. The

queen of the Suevi bewailed the death of a husband inhumanly

massacred by her brother. The princess of the Vandals was the

victim of a jealous tyrant, whom she called her father. The cruel

Genseric suspected that his son’s wife had conspired to poison

him; the supposed crime was punished by the amputation of her

nose and ears; and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was

ignominiously returned to the court of Thoulouse in that deformed

and mutilated condition. This horrid act, which must seem

incredible to a civilized age drew tears from every spectator;

but Theodoric was urged, by the feelings of a parent and a king,

to revenge such irreparable injuries. The Imperial ministers, who

always cherished the discord of the Barbarians, would have

supplied the Goths with arms, and ships, and treasures, for the

African war; and the cruelty of Genseric might have been fatal to

himself, if the artful Vandal had not armed, in his cause, the

formidable power of the Huns. His rich gifts and pressing

solicitations inflamed the ambition of Attila; and the designs of

Ætius and Theodoric were prevented by the invasion of Gaul. 15

10 (return) [ Theodoric II., the son of Theodoric I., declares to

Avitus his resolution of repairing, or expiating, the faults

which his grandfather had committed,—

Quae noster peccavit avus, quem fuscat id unum, Quod te, Roma,

capit.

Sidon. Panegyric. Avit. 505.

This character, applicable only to the great Alaric, establishes

the genealogy of the Gothic kings, which has hitherto been

unnoticed.]

11 (return) [ The name of Sapaudia, the origin of Savoy, is first

mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus; and two military posts are

ascertained by the Notitia, within the limits of that province; a

cohort was stationed at Grenoble in Dauphine; and Ebredunum, or

Iverdun, sheltered a fleet of small vessels, which commanded the

Lake of Neufchatel. See Valesius, Notit. Galliarum, p. 503.

D’Anville, Notice de l’Ancienne Gaule, p. 284, 579.]

12 (return) [ Salvian has attempted to explain the moral

government of the Deity; a task which may be readily performed by

supposing that the calamities of the wicked are judgments, and

those of the righteous, trials.]

13 (return) [

—Capto terrarum damna patebant Litorio, in Rhodanum proprios

producere fines, Thendoridae fixum; nec erat pugnare necesse, Sed

migrare Getis; rabidam trux asperat iram Victor; quod sensit

Scythicum sub moenibus hostem Imputat, et nihil estgravius, si

forsitan unquam Vincerecontingat, trepido. —Panegyr. Avit. 300,

&c.

Sitionius then proceeds, according to the duty of a panegyrist,

to transfer the whole merit from Ætius to his minister Avitus.]

14 (return) [ Theodoric II. revered, in the person of Avitus, the

character of his preceptor.

Mihi Romula dudum Per te jura placent; parvumque ediscere jussit

Ad tua verba pater, docili quo prisca Maronis Carmine molliret

Scythicos mihi pagina mores. —-Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 495 &c.]

15 (return) [ Our authorities for the reign of Theodoric I. are,

Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 34, 36, and the Chronicles of

Idatius, and the two Prospers, inserted in the historians of

France, tom. i. p. 612-640. To these we may add Salvian de

Gubernatione Dei, l. vii. p. 243, 244, 245, and the panegyric of

Avitus, by Sidonius.]

The Franks, whose monarchy was still confined to the neighborhood

of the Lower Rhine, had wisely established the right of

hereditary succession in the noble family of the Merovingians. 16

These princes were elevated on a buckler, the symbol of military

command; 17 and the royal fashion of long hair was the ensign of

their birth and dignity. Their flaxen locks, which they combed

and dressed with singular care, hung down in flowing ringlets on

their back and shoulders; while the rest of the nation were

obliged, either by law or custom, to shave the hinder part of

their head, to comb their hair over the forehead, and to content

themselves with the ornament of two small whiskers. 18 The lofty

stature of the Franks, and their blue eyes, denoted a Germanic

origin; their close apparel accurately expressed the figure of

their limbs; a weighty sword was suspended from a broad belt;

their bodies were protected by a large shield; and these warlike

Barbarians were trained, from their earliest youth, to run, to

leap, to swim; to dart the javelin, or battle-axe, with unerring

aim; to advance, without hesitation, against a superior enemy;

and to maintain, either in life or death, the invincible

reputation of their ancestors. 19 Clodion, the first of their

long-haired kings, whose name and actions are mentioned in

authentic history, held his residence at Dispargum, 20 a village

or fortress, whose place may be assigned between Louvain and

Brussels. From the report of his spies, the king of the Franks

was informed, that the defenceless state of the second Belgic

must yield, on the slightest attack, to the valor of his

subjects. He boldly penetrated through the thickets and morasses

of the Carbonarian forest; 21 occupied Tournay and Cambray, the

only cities which existed in the fifth century, and extended his

conquests as far as the River Somme, over a desolate country,

whose cultivation and populousness are the effects of more recent

industry. 22 While Clodion lay encamped in the plains of Artois,

23 and celebrated, with vain and ostentatious security, the

marriage, perhaps, of his son, the nuptial feast was interrupted

by the unexpected and unwelcome presence of Ætius, who had passed

the Somme at the head of his light cavalry. The tables, which had

been spread under the shelter of a hill, along the banks of a

pleasant stream, were rudely overturned; the Franks were

oppressed before they could recover their arms, or their ranks;

and their unavailing valor was fatal only to themselves. The

loaded wagons, which had followed their march, afforded a rich

booty; and the virgin-bride, with her female attendants,

submitted to the new lovers, who were imposed on them by the

chance of war. This advance, which had been obtained by the skill

and activity of Ætius, might reflect some disgrace on the

military prudence of Clodion; but the king of the Franks soon

regained his strength and reputation, and still maintained the

possession of his Gallic kingdom from the Rhine to the Somme. 24

Under his reign, and most probably from the enterprising spirit

of his subjects, his three capitals, Mentz, Treves, and Cologne,

experienced the effects of hostile cruelty and avarice. The

distress of Cologne was prolonged by the perpetual dominion of

the same Barbarians, who evacuated the ruins of Treves; and

Treves, which in the space of forty years had been four times

besieged and pillaged, was disposed to lose the memory of her

afflictions in the vain amusements of the Circus. 25 The death of

Clodion, after a reign of twenty years, exposed his kingdom to

the discord and ambition of his two sons. Meroveus, the younger,

26 was persuaded to implore the protection of Rome; he was

received at the Imperial court, as the ally of Valentinian, and

the adopted son of the patrician Ætius; and dismissed to his

native country, with splendid gifts, and the strongest assurances

of friendship and support. During his absence, his elder brother

had solicited, with equal ardor, the formidable aid of Attila;

and the king of the Huns embraced an alliance, which facilitated

the passage of the Rhine, and justified, by a specious and

honorable pretence, the invasion of Gaul. 27

16 (return) [ Reges Crinitos se creavisse de prima, et ut ita

dicam nobiliori suorum familia, (Greg. Turon. l. ii. c. 9, p.

166, of the second volume of the Historians of France.) Gregory

himself does not mention the Merovingian name, which may be

traced, however, to the beginning of the seventh century, as the

distinctive appellation of the royal family, and even of the

French monarchy. An ingenious critic has deduced the Merovingians

from the great Maroboduus; and he has clearly proved, that the

prince, who gave his name to the first race, was more ancient

than the father of Childeric. See Mémoires de l’Academie des

Inscriptions, tom. xx. p. 52-90, tom. xxx. p. 557-587.]

17 (return) [ This German custom, which may be traced from

Tacitus to Gregory of Tours, was at length adopted by the

emperors of Constantinople. From a MS. of the tenth century,

Montfaucon has delineated the representation of a similar

ceremony, which the ignorance of the age had applied to King

David. See Monumens de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. i. Discours

Preliminaire.]

18 (return) [ Caesaries prolixa... crinium flagellis per terga

dimissis, &c. See the Preface to the third volume of the

Historians of France, and the Abbe Le Boeuf, (Dissertat. tom.

iii. p. 47-79.) This peculiar fashion of the Merovingians has

been remarked by natives and strangers; by Priscus, (tom. i. p.

608,) by Agathias, (tom. ii. p. 49,) and by Gregory of Tours, (l.

viii. 18, vi. 24, viii. 10, tom. ii. p. 196, 278, 316.)]

19 (return) [ See an original picture of the figure, dress, arms,

and temper of the ancient Franks, in Sidonius Apollinaris,

(Panegyr. Majorian. 238-254;) and such pictures, though coarsely

drawn, have a real and intrinsic value. Father Daniel (History de

la Milice Francoise, tom. i. p. 2-7) has illustrated the

description.]

20 (return) [ Dubos, Hist. Critique, &c., tom. i. p. 271, 272.

Some geographers have placed Dispargum on the German side of the

Rhine. See a note of the Benedictine Editors, to the Historians

of France, tom. ii p. 166.]

21 (return) [ The Carbonarian wood was that part of the great

forest of the Ardennes which lay between the Escaut, or Scheldt,

and the Meuse. Vales. Notit. Gall. p. 126.]

22 (return) [ Gregor. Turon. l. ii. c. 9, in tom. ii. p. 166,

167. Fredegar. Epitom. c. 9, p. 395. Gesta Reg. Francor. c. 5, in

tom. ii. p. 544. Vit St. Remig. ab Hincmar, in tom. iii. p. 373.]

23 (return) [

—Francus qua Cloio patentes Atrebatum terras pervaserat. —Panegyr.

Majorian 213

The precise spot was a town or village, called Vicus Helena; and

both the name and place are discovered by modern geographers at

Lens See Vales. Notit. Gall. p. 246. Longuerue, Description de la

France tom. ii. p. 88.]

24 (return) [ See a vague account of the action in Sidonius.

Panegyr. Majorian 212-230. The French critics, impatient to

establish their monarchy in Gaul, have drawn a strong argument

from the silence of Sidonius, who dares not insinuate, that the

vanquished Franks were compelled to repass the Rhine. Dubos, tom.

i. p. 322.]

25 (return) [ Salvian (de Gubernat. Dei, l. vi.) has expressed,

in vague and declamatory language, the misfortunes of these three

cities, which are distinctly ascertained by the learned Mascou,

Hist. of the Ancient Germans, ix. 21.]

26 (return) [ Priscus, in relating the contest, does not name the

two brothers; the second of whom he had seen at Rome, a beardless

youth, with long, flowing hair, (Historians of France, tom. i. p.

607, 608.) The Benedictine Editors are inclined to believe, that

they were the sons of some unknown king of the Franks, who

reigned on the banks of the Neckar; but the arguments of M. de

Foncemagne (Mem. de l’Academie, tom. viii. p. 464) seem to prove

that the succession of Clodion was disputed by his two sons, and

that the younger was Meroveus, the father of Childeric. * Note:

The relationship of Meroveus to Clodion is extremely doubtful.—By

some he is called an illegitimate son; by others merely of his

race. Tur ii. c. 9, in Sismondi, Hist. des Francais, i. 177. See

Mezeray.]

27 (return) [ Under the Merovingian race, the throne was

hereditary; but all the sons of the deceased monarch were equally

entitled to their share of his treasures and territories. See the

Dissertations of M. de Foncemagne, in the sixth and eighth

volumes of the Mémoires de l’Academie.]

Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part II.

When Attila declared his resolution of supporting the cause of

his allies, the Vandals and the Franks, at the same time, and

almost in the spirit of romantic chivalry, the savage monarch

professed himself the lover and the champion of the princess

Honoria. The sister of Valentinian was educated in the palace of

Ravenna; and as her marriage might be productive of some danger

to the state, she was raised, by the title of Augusta, 28 above

the hopes of the most presumptuous subject. But the fair Honoria

had no sooner attained the sixteenth year of her age, than she

detested the importunate greatness which must forever exclude her

from the comforts of honorable love; in the midst of vain and

unsatisfactory pomp, Honoria sighed, yielded to the impulse of

nature, and threw herself into the arms of her chamberlain

Eugenius. Her guilt and shame (such is the absurd language of

imperious man) were soon betrayed by the appearances of

pregnancy; but the disgrace of the royal family was published to

the world by the imprudence of the empress Placidia who dismissed

her daughter, after a strict and shameful confinement, to a

remote exile at Constantinople. The unhappy princess passed

twelve or fourteen years in the irksome society of the sisters of

Theodosius, and their chosen virgins; to whose crown Honoria

could no longer aspire, and whose monastic assiduity of prayer,

fasting, and vigils, she reluctantly imitated. Her impatience of

long and hopeless celibacy urged her to embrace a strange and

desperate resolution. The name of Attila was familiar and

formidable at Constantinople; and his frequent embassies

entertained a perpetual intercourse between his camp and the

Imperial palace. In the pursuit of love, or rather of revenge,

the daughter of Placidia sacrificed every duty and every

prejudice; and offered to deliver her person into the arms of a

Barbarian, of whose language she was ignorant, whose figure was

scarcely human, and whose religion and manners she abhorred. By

the ministry of a faithful eunuch, she transmitted to Attila a

ring, the pledge of her affection; and earnestly conjured him to

claim her as a lawful spouse, to whom he had been secretly

betrothed. These indecent advances were received, however, with

coldness and disdain; and the king of the Huns continued to

multiply the number of his wives, till his love was awakened by

the more forcible passions of ambition and avarice. The invasion

of Gaul was preceded, and justified, by a formal demand of the

princess Honoria, with a just and equal share of the Imperial

patrimony. His predecessors, the ancient Tanjous, had often

addressed, in the same hostile and peremptory manner, the

daughters of China; and the pretensions of Attila were not less

offensive to the majesty of Rome. A firm, but temperate, refusal

was communicated to his ambassadors. The right of female

succession, though it might derive a specious argument from the

recent examples of Placidia and Pulcheria, was strenuously

denied; and the indissoluble engagements of Honoria were opposed

to the claims of her Scythian lover. 29 On the discovery of her

connection with the king of the Huns, the guilty princess had

been sent away, as an object of horror, from Constantinople to

Italy: her life was spared; but the ceremony of her marriage was

performed with some obscure and nominal husband, before she was

immured in a perpetual prison, to bewail those crimes and

misfortunes, which Honoria might have escaped, had she not been

born the daughter of an emperor. 30

28 (return) [ A medal is still extant, which exhibits the

pleasing countenance of Honoria, with the title of Augusta; and

on the reverse, the improper legend of Salus Reipublicoe round

the monogram of Christ. See Ducange, Famil. Byzantin. p. 67, 73.]

29 (return) [ See Priscus, p, 39, 40. It might be fairly alleged,

that if females could succeed to the throne, Valentinian himself,

who had married the daughter and heiress of the younger

Theodosius, would have asserted her right to the Eastern empire.]

30 (return) [ The adventures of Honoria are imperfectly related

by Jornandes, de Successione Regn. c. 97, and de Reb. Get. c. 42,

p. 674; and in the Chronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus; but

they cannot be made consistent, or probable, unless we separate,

by an interval of time and place, her intrigue with Eugenius, and

her invitation of Attila.]

A native of Gaul, and a contemporary, the learned and eloquent

Sidonius, who was afterwards bishop of Clermont, had made a

promise to one of his friends, that he would compose a regular

history of the war of Attila. If the modesty of Sidonius had not

discouraged him from the prosecution of this interesting work, 31

the historian would have related, with the simplicity of truth,

those memorable events, to which the poet, in vague and doubtful

metaphors, has concisely alluded. 32 The kings and nations of

Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to the Danube, obeyed

the warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village, in the

plains of Hungary his standard moved towards the West; and after

a march of seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux

of the Rhine and the Neckar, where he was joined by the Franks,

who adhered to his ally, the elder of the sons of Clodion. A

troop of light Barbarians, who roamed in quest of plunder, might

choose the winter for the convenience of passing the river on the

ice; but the innumerable cavalry of the Huns required such plenty

of forage and provisions, as could be procured only in a milder

season; the Hercynian forest supplied materials for a bridge of

boats; and the hostile myriads were poured, with resistless

violence, into the Belgic provinces. 33 The consternation of Gaul

was universal; and the various fortunes of its cities have been

adorned by tradition with martyrdoms and miracles. 34 Troyes was

saved by the merits of St. Lupus; St. Servatius was removed from

the world, that he might not behold the ruin of Tongres; and the

prayers of St. Genevieve diverted the march of Attila from the

neighborhood of Paris. But as the greatest part of the Gallic

cities were alike destitute of saints and soldiers, they were

besieged and stormed by the Huns; who practised, in the example

of Metz, 35 their customary maxims of war. They involved, in a

promiscuous massacre, the priests who served at the altar, and

the infants, who, in the hour of danger, had been providently

baptized by the bishop; the flourishing city was delivered to the

flames, and a solitary chapel of St. Stephen marked the place

where it formerly stood. From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila

advanced into the heart of Gaul; crossed the Seine at Auxerre;

and, after a long and laborious march, fixed his camp under the

walls of Orleans. He was desirous of securing his conquests by

the possession of an advantageous post, which commanded the

passage of the Loire; and he depended on the secret invitation of

Sangiban, king of the Alani, who had promised to betray the city,

and to revolt from the service of the empire. But this

treacherous conspiracy was detected and disappointed: Orleans had

been strengthened with recent fortifications; and the assaults of

the Huns were vigorously repelled by the faithful valor of the

soldiers, or citizens, who defended the place. The pastoral

diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity and

consummate prudence, exhausted every art of religious policy to

support their courage, till the arrival of the expected succors.

After an obstinate siege, the walls were shaken by the battering

rams; the Huns had already occupied the suburbs; and the people,

who were incapable of bearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer.

Anianus, who anxiously counted the days and hours, despatched a

trusty messenger to observe, from the rampart, the face of the

distant country. He returned twice, without any intelligence that

could inspire hope or comfort; but, in his third report, he

mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at the

extremity of the horizon. “It is the aid of God!” exclaimed the

bishop, in a tone of pious confidence; and the whole multitude

repeated after him, “It is the aid of God.” The remote object, on

which every eye was fixed, became each moment larger, and more

distinct; the Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived;

and a favorable wind blowing aside the dust, discovered, in deep

array, the impatient squadrons of Ætius and Theodoric, who

pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans.

31 (return) [ Exegeras mihi, ut promitterem tibi, Attilæ bellum

stylo me posteris intimaturum.... coeperam scribere, sed operis

arrepti fasce perspecto, taeduit inchoasse. Sidon. Apoll. l.

viii. epist. 15, p. 235]

32 (return) [

Subito cum rupta tumultu Barbaries totas in te transfuderat

Arctos,

Gallia. Pugnacem Rugum comitante Gelono, Gepida trux sequitur;

Scyrum Burgundio cogit:

Chunus, Bellonotus, Neurus, Basterna, Toringus,

Bructerus, ulvosa vel quem Nicer abluit unda

Prorumpit Francus. Cecidit cito secta bipenni Hercynia in

lintres, et Rhenum texuit alno. Et jam terrificis diffuderat

Attila turmis In campos se, Belga, tuos. Panegyr. Avit.]

33 (return) [ The most authentic and circumstantial account of

this war is contained in Jornandes, (de Reb. Geticis, c. 36-41,

p. 662-672,) who has sometimes abridged, and sometimes

transcribed, the larger history of Cassiodorus. Jornandes, a

quotation which it would be superfluous to repeat, may be

corrected and illustrated by Gregory of Tours, l. ii. c. 5, 6, 7,

and the Chronicles of Idatius, Isidore, and the two Prospers. All

the ancient testimonies are collected and inserted in the

Historians of France; but the reader should be cautioned against

a supposed extract from the Chronicle of Idatius, (among the

fragments of Fredegarius, tom. ii. p. 462,) which often

contradicts the genuine text of the Gallician bishop.]

34 (return) [ The ancient legendaries deserve some regard, as

they are obliged to connect their fables with the real history of

their own times. See the lives of St. Lupus, St. Anianus, the

bishops of Metz, Ste. Genevieve, &c., in the Historians of

France, tom. i. p. 644, 645, 649, tom. iii. p. 369.]

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) · 第 36 / 79 章

Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his noble, perhaps his regal,