for a little while on equal terms. But soon Visimar himself,
the king of the Vandals, was overthrown, together
with the greater part of his people. When Geberich, the     115
famous leader of the Goths, had conquered and spoiled
Vandals, he returned to his own place whence he had
come. Then the remnant of the Vandals who had escaped,
collecting a band of their unwarlike folk, left their
ill-fated country and asked the Emperor Constantine for
Pannonia. Here they made their home for about sixty
years and obeyed the commands of the emperors like
subjects. A long time afterward they were summoned
thence by Stilicho, Master of the Soldiery, Ex-Consul and
Patrician, and took possession of Gaul. Here they plundered
their neighbors and had no settled place of abode.

[Sidenote: CONQUEST OF THE HERCULI, VENETHI AND AESTI]

XXIII Soon Geberich, king of the Goths, departed     116
from human affairs and Hermanaric, noblest of the
Amali, succeeded to the throne. He subdued many warlike
peoples of the north and made them obey his laws,
and some of our ancestors have justly compared him to
Alexander the Great. Among the tribes he conquered
were the Golthescytha, Thiudos, Inaunxis, Vasinabroncae,
Merens, Mordens, Imniscaris, Rogas, Tadzans, Athaul,     117
Navego, Bubegenae and Coldae. But though famous
for his conquest of so many races, he gave himself no rest
until he had slain some in battle and then reduced to his
sway the remainder of the tribe of the Heruli, whose chief
was Alaric. Now the aforesaid race, as the historian
Ablabius tells us, dwelt near Lake Maeotis in swampy
places which the Greeks call _hel[=e]_; hence they were named
Heluri. They were a people swift of foot, and on that
account were the more swollen with pride, for there was     118
at that time no race that did not choose from them its
light-armed troops for battle. But though their quickness
often saved them from others who made war upon them,
yet they were overthrown by the slowness and steadiness
of the Goths; and the lot of fortune brought it to pass
that they, as well as the other tribes, had to serve Hermanaric,
king of the Getae. After the slaughter of the     119
Heruli, Hermanaric also took arms against the Venethi.
This people, though despised in war, was strong in numbers
and tried to resist him. But a multitude of cowards
is of no avail, particularly when God permits an armed
multitude to attack them. These people, as we started
to say at the beginning of our account or catalogue of
nations, though off-shoots from one stock, have now
three names, that is, Venethi, Antes and Sclaveni. Though
they now rage in war far and wide, in punishment for
our sins, yet at that time they were all obedient to Hermanaric's
commands. This ruler also subdued by his     120
wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who dwell on
the farthest shore of the German Ocean, and ruled all the
nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess
alone.

[Sidenote: ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE HUNS]

XXIV But after a short space of time, as Orosius      121
relates, the race of the Huns, fiercer than ferocity itself,
flamed forth against the Goths. We learn from old traditions
that their origin was as follows: Filimer, king of
the Goths, son of Gadaric the Great, who was the fifth in
succession to hold the rule of the Getae after their departure
from the island of Scandza,--and who, as we have
said, entered the land of Scythia with his tribe,--found
among his people certain witches, whom he called in his
native tongue Haliurunnae. Suspecting these women, he
expelled them from the midst of his race and compelled
them to wander in solitary exile afar from his army.
There the unclean spirits, who beheld them as they wandered     122
through the wilderness, bestowed their embraces
upon them and begat this savage race, which dwelt at
first in the swamps,--a stunted, foul and puny tribe,
scarcely human, and having no language save one which
bore slight resemblance to human speech. Such was
the descent of the Huns who came to the country of the
Goths.

This cruel tribe, as Priscus the historian relates, settled     123
on the farther bank of the Maeotic swamp. They
were fond of hunting and had no skill in any other
art. After they had grown to a nation, they disturbed
the peace of neighboring races by theft and rapine. At
one time, while hunters of their tribe were as usual seeking
for game on the farthest edge of Maeotis, they
saw a doe unexpectedly appear to their sight and enter
the swamp, acting as guide of the way; now advancing
and again standing still. The hunters followed and     124
crossed on foot the Maeotic swamp, which they had
supposed was impassable as the sea. Presently the
unknown land of Scythia disclosed itself and the doe
disappeared. Now in my opinion the evil spirits, from
whom the Huns are descended, did this from envy of the
Scythians. And the Huns, who had been wholly ignorant     125
that there was another world beyond Maeotis, were now
filled with admiration for the Scythian land. As they
were quick of mind, they believed that this path, utterly
unknown to any age of the past, had been divinely revealed
to them. They returned to their tribe, told them
what had happened, praised Scythia and persuaded the
people to hasten thither along the way they had found
by the guidance of the doe. As many as they captured,
when they thus entered Scythia for the first time, they
sacrificed to Victory. The remainder they conquered
and made subject to themselves. Like a whirlwind of     126
nations they swept across the great swamp and at once
fell upon the Alpidzuri, Alcildzuri, Itimari, Tuncarsi and
Boisci, who bordered on that part of Scythia. The Alani
also, who were their equals in battle, but unlike them in
civilization, manners and appearance, they exhausted by
their incessant attacks and subdued. For by the terror     127
of their features they inspired great fear in those whom
perhaps they did not really surpass in war. They made
their foes flee in horror because their swarthy aspect was
fearful, and they had, if I may call it so, a sort of shapeless
lump, not a head, with pin-holes rather than eyes.
Their hardihood is evident in their wild appearance, and
they are beings who are cruel to their children on the
very clay they are born. For they cut the cheeks of the
males with a sword, so that before they receive the nourishment
of milk they must learn to endure wounds.
Hence they grow old beardless and their young men are     128
without comeliness, because a face furrowed by the sword
spoils by its scars the natural beauty of a beard. They
are short in stature, quick in bodily movement, alert
horsemen, broad shouldered, ready in the use of bow and
arrow, and have firm-set necks which are ever erect in
pride. Though they live in the form of men, they have
the cruelty of wild beasts.

[Sidenote: FIRST IRRUPTION OF THE HUNS as early as 375]

When the Getae beheld this active race that had invaded     129
many nations, they took fright and consulted with
their king how they might escape from such a foe. Now
although Hermanaric, king of the Goths, was the conqueror
of many tribes, as we have said above, yet while
he was deliberating on this invasion of the Huns, the
treacherous tribe of the Rosomoni, who at that time were
among those who owed him their homage, took this
chance to catch him unawares. For when the king had
given orders that a certain woman of the tribe I have
mentioned, Sunilda by name, should be bound to wild
horses and torn apart by driving them at full speed in
opposite directions (for he was roused to fury by her
husband's treachery to him), her brothers Sarus and
Immius came to avenge their sister's death and plunged
a sword into Hermanaric's side. Enfeebled by this blow,
he dragged out a miserable existence in bodily weakness.
Balamber, king of the Huns, took advantage of his ill     130
health to move an army into the country of the Ostrogoths,
from whom the Visigoths had already separated
because of some dispute. Meanwhile Hermanaric, who
was unable to endure either the pain of his wound or the
inroads of the Huns, died full of days at the great age of
one hundred and ten years. The fact of his death enabled
the Huns to prevail over those Goths who, as we have
said, dwelt in the East and were called Ostrogoths.

(The Divided Goths: Visigoths)

[Sidenote: Valentinian I 364-375]

[Sidenote: THE VISIGOTHS SETTLE IN THRACE AND MOESIA 376]

[Sidenote: Valens 364-378]

XXV The Visigoths, who were their other allies and     131
inhabitants of the western country, were terrified as their
kinsmen had been, and knew not how to plan for safety
against the race of the Huns. After long deliberation by
common consent they finally sent ambassadors into Romania
to the Emperor Valens, brother of Valentinian,
the elder Emperor, to say that if he would give them part
of Thrace or Moesia to keep, they would submit themselves
to his laws and commands. That he might have
greater confidence in them, they promised to become
Christians, if he would give them teachers who spoke
their language. When Valens learned this, he gladly and     132
promptly granted what he had himself intended to ask.
He received the Getae into the region of Moesia and
placed them there as a wall of defense for his kingdom
against other tribes. And since at that time the Emperor
Valens, who was infected with the Arian perfidy, had
closed all the churches of our party, he sent as preachers
to them those who favored his sect. They came and
straightway filled a rude and ignorant people with the
poison of their heresy. Thus the Emperor Valens made
the Visigoths Arians rather than Christians. Moreover     133
from the love they bore them, they preached the gospel
both to the Ostrogoths and to their kinsmen the Gepidae,
teaching them to reverence this heresy, and they invited
all people of their speech everywhere to attach themselves
to this sect. They themselves as we have said, crossed
the Danube and settled Dacia Ripensis, Moesia and
Thrace by permission of the Emperor.

[Sidenote: FAMINE 376-377]

XXVI Soon famine and want came upon them, as     134
often happens to a people not yet well settled in a country.
Their princes and the leaders who ruled them in
place of kings, that is Fritigern, Alatheus and Safrac,
began to lament the plight of their army and begged
Lupicinus and Maximus, the Roman commanders, to
open a market. But to what will not the "cursed lust for
gold" compel men to assent? The generals, swayed by
avarice, sold them at a high price not only the flesh of
sheep and oxen, but even the carcasses of dogs and unclean
animals, so that a slave would be bartered for a loaf
of bread or ten pounds of meat. When their goods and     135
chattels failed, the greedy trader demanded their sons in
return for the necessities of life. And the parents consented
even to this, in order to provide for the safety of
their children, arguing that it was better to lose liberty
than life; and indeed it is better that one be sold, if he
will be mercifully fed, than that he should be kept free
only to die.

[Sidenote: TREACHERY OF THE ROMANS]

Now it came to pass in that troublous time that Lupicinus,
the Roman general, invited Fritigern, a chieftain
of the Goths, to a feast and, as the event revealed,
devised a plot against him. But Fritigern, thinking    136
evil came to the feast with a few followers. While
he was dining in the praetorium he heard the dying
cries of his ill-fated men, for, by order of the general,
the soldiers were slaying his companions who were shut
up in another part of the house. The loud cries of the
dying fell upon ears already suspicious, and Fritigern at
once perceived the treacherous trick. He drew his sword
and with great courage dashed quickly from the banqueting-hall,
rescued his men from their threatening doom
and incited them to slay the Romans. Thus these valiant     137
men gained the chance they had longed for--to be free to
die in battle rather than to perish of hunger--and immediately
took arms to kill the generals Lupicinus and
Maximus. Thus that day put an end to the famine of the
Goths and the safety of the Romans, for the Goths no
longer as strangers and pilgrims, but as citizens and lords,
began to rule the inhabitants and to hold in their own
right all the northern country as far as the Danube.

[Sidenote: EMPEROR VALENS DEFEATED AND SLAIN A.D. 378]

When the Emperor Valens heard of this at Antioch,     138
he made ready an army at once and set out for the country
of Thrace. Here a grievous battle took place and the
Goths prevailed. The Emperor himself was wounded and
fled to a farm near Hadrianople. The Goths, not knowing
that an emperor lay hidden in so poor a hut, set fire
to it (as is customary in dealing with a cruel foe), and
thus he was cremated in royal splendor. Plainly it was
a direct judgment of God that he should be burned with
fire by the very men whom he had perfidiously led astray
when they sought the true faith, turning them aside from
the flame of love into the fire of hell. From this time the
Visigoths, in consequence of their glorious victory, possessed
Thrace and Dacia Ripensis as if it were their native
land.

[Sidenote: Gratian 367-383]

[Sidenote: HOSTILE RELATIONS WITH ROME ENDED BY A TRUCE]

[Sidenote: Theodosius 379-305]

XXVII  Now in the place of Valens, his uncle, the     139
Emperor Gratian established Theodosius the Spaniard in
the Eastern Empire. Military discipline was soon restored
to a high level, and the Goth, perceiving that the
cowardice and sloth of former princes was ended, became
afraid. For the Emperor was famed alike for his acuteness
and discretion. By stern commands and by generosity
and kindness he encouraged a demoralized army to
deeds of daring. But when the soldiers, who had obtained     140
a better leader by the change, gained new confidence,
they sought to attack the Goths and drive them
from the borders of Thrace. But as the Emperor Theodosius
fell so sick at this time that his life was almost
despaired of, the Goths were again inspired with courage.
Dividing the Gothic army, Fritigern set out to plunder
Thessaly, Epirus and Achaia, while Alatheus and Safrac
with the rest of the troops made for Pannonia. Now the     141
Emperor Gratian had at this time retreated from Rome to
Gaul because of the invasions of the Vandals. When he
learned that the Goths were acting with greater boldness
because Theodosius was in despair of his life, he quickly
gathered an army and came against them. Yet he put no
trust in arms, but sought to conquer them by kindness and
gifts. So he entered on a truce with them and made
peace, giving them provisions.

[Sidenote: PEACE CONFIRMED BY THEODOSIUS 380]

[Sidenote: DEATH OF KING ATHANARIC AT CONSTANTINOPLE 381]

XXVIII When the Emperor Theodosius afterwards     142
recovered and learned that the Emperor Gratian had
made a compact between the Goths and the Romans, as
he had himself desired, he took it very graciously and
gave his assent. He gave gifts to King Athanaric, who
had succeeded Fritigern, made an alliance with him and
in the most gracious manner invited him to visit him in
Constantinople. Athanaric very gladly consented and     143
as he entered the royal city exclaimed in wonder "Lo,
now I see what I have often heard of with unbelieving
ears," meaning the great and famous city. Turning his
eyes hither and thither, he marvelled as he beheld the
situation of the city, the coming and going of the ships,
the splendid walls, and the people of divers nations gathered
like a flood of waters streaming from different regions
into one basin. So too, when he saw the army in
array, he said "Truly the Emperor is a god on earth, and
whoso raises a hand against him is guilty of his own
blood." In the midst of his admiration and the enjoyment     144
of even greater honors at the hand of the emperor,
he departed this life after the space of a few months.
The emperor had such affection for him that he honored
Athanaric even more when he was dead than during his
life-time, for he not only gave him a worthy burial, but
himself walked before the bier at the funeral. Now when     145
Athanaric was dead, his whole army continued in the
service of the Emperor Theodosius and submitted to the
Roman rule, forming as it were one body with the imperial
soldiery. The former service of the Allies under the
Emperor Constantine was now renewed and they were
again called Allies. And since the Emperor knew that
they were faithful to him and his friends, he took from
their number more than twenty thousand warriors to
serve against the tyrant Eugenius who had slain Gratian
and seized Gaul. After winning the victory over this
usurper, he wreaked his vengeance upon him.

[Sidenote: ALARIC I KING OF THE GOTHS 395-410]

[Sidenote: Stilicho and Aurelian Consuls in 400]

XXIX But after Theodosius, the lover of peace and     146
of the Gothic race, had passed from human cares, his
sons began to ruin both empires by their luxurious living
and to deprive their Allies, that is to say the Goths, of the
customary gifts. The contempt of the Goths for the
Romans soon increased, and for fear their valor would be
destroyed by long peace, they appointed Alaric king over
them. He was of a famous stock, and his nobility was
second only to that of the Amali, for he came from the
family of the Balthi, who because of their daring valor
had long ago received among their race the name _Baltha_,     147
that is, The Bold. Now when this Alaric was made king,
he took counsel with his men and persuaded them to seek
a kingdom by their own exertions rather than serve others
in idleness. In the consulship of Stilicho and Aurelian
he raised an army and entered Italy, which seemed to be
bare of defenders, and came through Pannonia and Sirmium
along the right side. Without meeting any resistance,
he reached the bridge of the river Candidianus at
the third milestone from the royal city of Ravenna.

[Sidenote: DESCRIPTION OF RAVENNA]

This city lies amid the streams of the Po between     148
swamps and the sea, and is accessible only on one side.
Its ancient inhabitants, as our ancestors relate, were
called _Ainetoi_, that is, "Laudable". Situated in a corner
of the Roman Empire above the Ionian Sea, it is hemmed
in like an island by a flood of rushing waters. On the     149
east it has the sea, and one who sails straight to it from
the region of Corcyra and those parts of Hellas sweeps
with his oars along the right hand coast, first touching
Epirus, then Dalmatia, Liburnia and Histria and at last
the Venetian Isles. But on the west it has swamps
through which a sort of door has been left by a very
narrow entrance. To the north is an arm of the Po,
called the Fossa Asconis. On the south likewise is the     150
Po itself, which they call the King of the rivers of Italy;
and it has also the name Eridanus. This river was turned
aside by the Emperor Augustus into a very broad canal
which flows through the midst of the city with a seventh
part of its stream, affording a pleasant harbor at its
mouth. Men believed in ancient times, as Dio relates,
that it would hold a fleet of two hundred and fifty vessels
in its safe anchorage. Fabius says that this, which was     151
once a harbor, now displays itself like a spacious garden
full of trees; but from them hang not sails but apples.
The city itself boasts of three names and is happily placed
in its threefold location. I mean to say the first is called
Ravenna and the most distant part Classis; while midway
between the city and the sea is Caesarea, full of luxury.
The sand of the beach is fine and suited for riding.

[Sidenote: Honorius 393-423]

[Sidenote: HONORIUS GRANTS THE GOTHS LANDS IN GAUL AND SPAIN]

XXX But as I was saying, when the army of the     152
Visigoths had come into the neighborhood of this city,
they sent an embassy to the Emperor Honorius, who
dwelt within. They said that if he would permit the
Goths to settle peaceably in Italy, they would so live with
the Roman people that men might believe them both to
be of one race; but if not, whoever prevailed in war
should drive out the other, and the victor should henceforth
rule unmolested. But the Emperor Honorius feared
to make either promise. So he took counsel with his
Senate and considered how he might drive them from the
Italian borders. He finally decided that Alaric and his     153
race, if they were able to do so, should be allowed to
seize for their own home the provinces farthest away,
namely, Gaul and Spain. For at this time he had almost
lost them, and moreover they had been devastated by the
invasion of Gaiseric, king of the Vandals. The grant
was confirmed by an imperial rescript, and the Goths,
consenting to the arrangement, set out for the count
given them.

[Sidenote: STILICHO'S TREACHEROUS ATTACK 402]

[Sidenote: ALARIC I SACKS ROME A.D. 410]

When they had gone away without doing any harm     154
in Italy, Stilicho, the Patrician and father-in-law of
the Emperor Honorius,--for the Emperor had married
both his daughters, Maria and Thermantia, in succession,
but God called both from this world in their virgin
purity--this Stilicho, I say, treacherously hurried
to Pollentia, a city in the Cottian Alps. There he fell
upon the unsuspecting Goths in battle, to the ruin of all
Italy and his own disgrace. When the Goths suddenly     155
beheld him, at first they were terrified. Soon regaining
their courage and arousing each other by brave shouting,
as is their custom, they turned to flight the entire army
of Stilicho and almost exterminated it. Then forsaking
the journey they had undertaken, the Goths with hearts
full of rage returned again to Liguria whence they
had set out. When they had plundered and spoiled it,
they also laid waste Aemilia, and then hastened toward
the city of Rome along the Flaminian Way, which runs
between Picenum and Tuscia, taking as booty whatever     156
they found on either hand. When they finally entered
Rome, by Alaric's express command they merely
sacked it and did not set the city on fire, as wild peoples
usually do, nor did they permit serious damage to be done
to the holy places. Thence they departed to bring like
ruin upon Campania and Lucania, and then came to
Bruttii. Here they remained a long time and planned to
go to Sicily and thence to the countries of Africa.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF ALARIC I A.D. 410]

[Sidenote: Athavulf 410-415]

Now the land of the Bruttii is at the extreme southern
bound of Italy, and a corner of it marks the beginning of
the Apennine mountains. It stretches out like a tongue
into the Adriatic Sea and separates it from the Tyrrhenian
waters. It chanced to receive its name in ancient times
from a Queen Bruttia. To this place came Alaric, king of     157
Visigoths, with the wealth of all Italy which he had
taken as spoil, and from there, as we have said, he intended
to cross over by way of Sicily to the quiet land of
Africa. But since man is not free to do anything he
wishes without the will of God, that dread strait sunk several
of his ships and threw all into confusion. Alaric was
cast down by his reverse and, while deliberating what he
should do, was suddenly overtaken by an untimely death
and departed from human cares. His people mourned for     158
him with the utmost affection. Then turning from its
course the river Busentus near the city of Consentia--for
this stream flows with its wholesome waters from the foot
of a mountain near that city--they led a band of captives
into the midst of its bed to dig out a place for his grave.
In the depths of this pit they buried Alaric, together with
many treasures, and then turned the waters back into
their channel. And that none might ever know the place,
they put to death all the diggers. They bestowed the
kingdom of the Visigoths on Athavulf his kinsman, a
man of imposing beauty and great spirit; for though not
tall of stature, he was distinguished for beauty of face
and form.

[Sidenote: DEEDS OF KING ATHAVULF]

[Sidenote: Marries Galla Placidia 414]

[Sidenote: KING SEGERIC 415]

XXXI When Athavulf became king, he returned     159
again to Rome, and whatever had escaped the first sack
his Goths stripped bare like locusts, not merely despoiling
Italy of its private wealth, but even of its public
resources. The Emperor Honorius was powerless to
resist even when his sister Placidia, the daughter of the
Emperor Theodosius by his second wife, was led away
captive from the city. But Athavulf was attracted by her     160
nobility, beauty and chaste purity, and so he took her to
wife in lawful marriage at Forum Julii, a city of Aemilia.
When the barbarians learned of this alliance, they were
the more effectually terrified, since the Empire and the
Goths now seemed to be made one. Then Athavulf set
out for Gaul, leaving Honorius Augustus stripped of his
wealth, to be sure, yet pleased at heart because he was
now a sort of kinsman of his. Upon his arrival the     161
neighboring tribes who had long made cruel raids into
Gaul,--Franks and Burgundians alike,--were terrified
and began to keep within their own borders. Now the
Vandals and the Alani, as we have said before, had been
dwelling in both Pannonias by permission of the Roman
Emperors. Yet fearing they would not be safe even here
if the Goths should return, they crossed over into Gaul.
But no long time after they had taken possession of Gaul     162
they fled thence and shut themselves up in Spain, for they
still remembered from the tales of their forefathers what
ruin Geberich, king of the Goths, had long ago brought
on their race, and how by his valor he had driven them
from their native land. And thus it happened that Gaul
lay open to Athavulf when he came. Now when the     163
Goth had established his kingdom in Gaul, he began to
grieve for the plight of the Spaniards and planned to
save them from the attacks of the Vandals. So Athavulf
left at Barcelona his treasures and the men who were
unfit for war, and entered the interior of Spain with a
few faithful followers. Here he fought frequently with
the Vandals and, in the third year after he had subdued
Gaul and Spain, fell pierced through the groin by the
sword of Euervulf, a man whose short stature he had
been wont to mock. After his death Segeric was appointed
king, but he too was slain by the treachery of his
own men and lost both his kingdom and his life even more
quickly than Athavulf.     164

[Sidenote: KING VALIA 415-419]

XXXII Then Valia, the fourth from Alaric, was
made king, and he was an exceeding stern and prudent
man. The Emperor Honorius sent an army against him
under Constantius, who was famed for his achievements
in war and distinguished in many battles, for he feared
that Valia would break the treaty long ago made with
Athavulf and that, after driving out the neighboring
tribes, he would again plot evil against the Empire.
Moreover Honorius was eager to free his sister Placidia
from the disgrace of servitude, and made an agreement
with Constantius that if by peace or war or any means
soever he could bring her back to the kingdom, he should
have her in marriage. Pleased with this promise, Constantius     165
set out for Spain with an armed force and in
almost royal splendor. Valia, king of the Goths, met him
at a pass in the Pyrenees with as great a force. Here-upon
embassies were sent by both sides and it was decided
to make peace on the following terms, namely that Valia
should give up Placidia, the Emperor's sister, and should
not refuse to aid the Roman Empire when occasion
demanded.

[Sidenote: Constantine III 407-411]

[Sidenote: Constans 407-411]

[Sidenote: Jovinus 411-413]

[Sidenote: Sebastian 412]

Now at that time a certain Constantine usurped imperial
power in Gaul and appointed as Caesar his son Constans,
who was formerly a monk. But when he had held
for a short time the Empire he had seized, he was himself
slain at Arelate and his son at Vienne. Jovinus and
Sebastian succeeded them with equal presumption and
thought they might seize the imperial power; but they
perished by a like fate.

[Sidenote: VALIA MOVES AGAINST THE VANDALS 427]

Now in the twelfth year of Valia's reign the Huns     166
were driven out of Pannonia by the Romans and Goths,
almost fifty years after they had taken possession of it.
Then Valia found that the Vandals had come forth with
bold audacity from the interior of Galicia, whither Athavulf
had long ago driven them, and were devastating and
plundering everywhere in his own territories, namely in
the land of Spain. So he made no delay but moved his
army against them at once, at about the time when Hierius
and Ardabures had become consuls.

[Sidenote: VALENTINIAN III 425-455]

[Sidenote: THE VANDALS AND GAISERIC THEIR KING 427-477]

XXXIII But Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, had already     167
been invited into Africa by Boniface, who had
fallen into a dispute with the Emperor Valentinian and
was able to obtain revenge only by injuring the empire.
So he invited them urgently and brought them across the
narrow strait known as the Strait of Gades, scarcely seven
miles wide, which divides Africa from Spain and unites
the mouth of the Tyrrhenian Sea with the waters of
Ocean. Gaiseric, still famous in the City for the disaster     168
of the Romans, was a man of moderate height and lame
in consequence of a fall from his horse. He was a man
of deep thought and few words, holding luxury in disdain,
furious in his anger, greedy for gain, shrewd in
winning over the barbarians and skilled in sowing the
seeds of dissension to arouse enmity. Such was he who,     169
as we have said, came at the solicitous invitation of Boniface
to the country of Africa. There he reigned for a
long time, receiving authority, as they say, from God
Himself. Before his death he summoned the band of his
sons and ordained that there should be no strife among
them because of desire for the kingdom, but that each
should reign in his own rank and order as he survived
the others; that is, the next younger should succeed his
elder brother, and he in turn should be followed by his
junior. By giving heed to this command they ruled their
kingdom in happiness for the space of many years and
were not disgraced by civil war, as is usual among other
nations; one after the other receiving the kingdom and
ruling the people in peace.

[Sidenote: The six kings of the Vandals 427-534]

[Sidenote: KINGDOM OF THE VANDALS MADE SUBJECT TO ROME]

Now this is their order of succession: first, Gaiseric     170
who was father and lord, next, Huneric, the third
Gunthamund, the fourth Thrasamund, and the fifth
Ilderich. He was driven from the throne and slain
by Gelimer, who destroyed his race by disregarding
his ancestor's advice and setting up a tyranny. But     171
what he had done did not remain unpunished, for soon
the vengeance of the Emperor Justinian was manifested
against him. With his whole family and that
wealth over which he gloated like a robber, he was taken
to Constantinople by that most renowned warrior Belisarius,
Master of the Soldiery of the East, Ex-Consul
Ordinary and Patrician. Here he afforded a great spectacle
to the people in the Circus. His repentance, when
he beheld himself cast down from his royal state, came
too late. He died as a mere subject and in retirement,
though he had formerly been unwilling to submit to private     172
life. Thus after a century Africa, which in the
division of the earth's surface is regarded as the third
part of the world, was delivered from the yoke of the
Vandals and brought back to the liberty of the Roman
Empire. The country which the hand of the heathen had
long ago cut off from the body of the Roman Empire,
by reason of the cowardice of emperors and the treachery
of generals, was now restored by a wise prince and a
faithful leader and to-day is happily flourishing. And
though, even after this, it had to deplore the misery of
civil war and the treachery of the Moors, yet the triumph
of the Emperor Justinian, vouchsafed him by God.
brought to a peaceful conclusion what he had begun. But
why need we speak of what the subject does not require?
Let us return to our theme.

[Sidenote: MIGRATION or THE AMALI TO THE VISIGOTHS]

[Sidenote: THEODORID I 419-451]

Now Valia, king of the Goths, and his army fought so     173
fiercely against the Vandals that he would have pursued
them even into Africa, had not such a misfortune recalled
him as befell Alaric when he was setting out for Africa.
So when he had won great fame in Spain, he returned
after a bloodless victory to Tolosa, turning over to the
Roman Empire, as he had promised, a number of provinces
which he had rid of his foes. A long time after this
he was seized by sickness and departed this life. Just at     174
that time Beremud, the son of Thorismud, whom we have
mentioned above in the genealogy of the family of the
Amali, departed with his son Veteric from the Ostrogoths,
who still submitted to the oppression of the Huns
in the land of Scythia, and came to the kingdom of the
Visigoths. Well aware of his valor and noble birth, he
believed that the kingdom would be the more readily
bestowed upon him by his kinsmen, inasmuch as he was
known to be the heir of many kings. And who would
hesitate to choose one of the Amali, if there were an empty
throne? But he was not himself eager to make known
who he was, and so upon the death of Valia the Visigoths
made Theodorid his successor. Beremud came to     175
him and, with the strength of mind for which he was
noted, concealed his noble birth by prudent silence, for he
knew that those of royal lineage are always distrusted by
kings. So he suffered himself to remain unknown, that
he might not bring the established order into confusion.
King Theodorid received him and his son with special
honor and made him partner in his counsels and a companion
at his board; not for his noble birth, which he
knew not, but for his brave spirit and strong mind, which
Beremud could not conceal.

[Sidenote: Consulship of Theodosius 439]

[Sidenote: FIRST BREACH BETWEEN THEODORID I AND THE ROMANS]

[Sidenote: The Truce 439]

XXXIV And what more? Valia (to repeat what we     176
have said) had but little success against the Gauls, but
when he died the more fortunate and prosperous Theodorid
succeeded to the throne. He was a man of the
greatest moderation and notable for vigor of mind and
body. In consulship of Theodosius and Festus the
Romans broke the truce and took up arms against him in
Gaul, with the Huns as their auxiliaries. For a band of
the Gallic Allies, led by Count Gaina, had aroused the
Romans by throwing Constantinople into a panic. Now
at that time the Patrician Aetius was in command of the
army. He was of the bravest Moesian stock, born of his
father Gaudentius in the city of Durostorum. He was a man
fitted to endure the toils of war, born expressly to
serve the Roman state; and by inflicting crushing defeats
he had compelled the proud Suavi and barbarous Franks
to submit to Roman sway. So then, with the Huns as     177
allies under their leader Litorius, the Roman army
moved in array against the Goths. When the battle
lines of both sides had been standing for a long time
opposite each other, both being brave and neither side the
weaker, they struck a truce and returned to their ancient
alliance. And after the treaty had been confirmed by
both and an honest peace was established, they both withdrew.

[Sidenote: Embassy to Attila 448]

During this peace Attila was lord over all the Huns     178
and almost the sole earthly ruler of all the tribes of
Scythia; a man marvellous for his glorious fame among
all nations. The historian Priscus, who was sent to him