on an embassy by the younger Theodosius, says this
among other things: "Crossing mighty rivers--namely,
the Tisia and Tibisia and Dricca--we came to the place
where long ago Vidigoia, bravest of the Goths, perished
by the guile of the Sarmatians. At no great distance
from that place we arrived at the village where King
Attila was dwelling,--a village, I say, like a great city
in which we found wooden walls made of smooth-shining
boards, whose joints so counterfeited solidity that the
union of the boards could scarcely be distinguished by
close scrutiny. There you might see dining halls of     179
large extent and porticoes planned with great beauty,
while the courtyard was bounded by so vast a circuit that
its very size showed it was the royal palace." This was
the abode of Attila, the king of all the barbarian world;
and he preferred this as a dwelling to the cities he
captured.

[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF ATTILA KING OF THE HUNS]

[Sidenote: Attila and Bleda joint kings 433-445]

[Sidenote: Attila sole king 445-453]

XXXV Now this Attila was the son of Mundiuch,     180
and his brothers were Octar and Ruas who are said to
have ruled before Attila, though not over quite so many
tribes as he. After their death he succeeded to the throne
of the Huns, together with his brother Bleda. In order
that he might first be equal to the expedition he was
preparing, he sought to increase his strength by murder.
Thus he proceeded from the destruction of his own kindred
to the menace of all others. But though he increased     181
his power by this shameful means, yet by the balance of
justice he received the hideous consequences of his own
cruelty. Now when his brother Bleda, who ruled over
a great part of the Huns, had been slain by his treachery,
Attila united all the people under his own rule. Gathering
also a host of the other tribes which he then held
under his sway, he sought to subdue the foremost nations
of the world--the Romans and the Visigoths. His army      182
is said to have numbered five hundred thousand men.
He was a man born into the world to shake the nations,
the scourge of all lands, who in some way terrified all
mankind by the dreadful rumors noised abroad concerning
him. He was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes
hither and thither, so that the power of his proud spirit
appeared in the movement of his body. He was indeed
a lover of war, yet restrained in action, mighty in counsel,
gracious to suppliants and lenient to those who were
once received into his protection. He was short of stature
with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were
small, his beard thin and sprinkled with gray; and he had
a flat nose and a swarthy complexion, showing the evidences
of his origin. And though his temper was such     183
that he always had great self-confidence, yet his assurance
was increased by finding the sword of Mars, always
esteemed sacred among the kings of the Scythians. The
historian Priscus says it was discovered under the following
circumstances: "When a certain shepherd beheld
one heifer of his flock limping and could find no cause
for this wound, he anxiously followed the trail of blood
and at length came to a sword it had unwittingly trampled
while nibbling the grass. He dug it up and took it
straight to Attila. He rejoiced at this gift and, being
ambitious, thought he had been appointed ruler of the
whole world, and that through the sword of Mars supremacy
in all wars was assured to him."

[Sidenote: GAISERIC INCITES HIM TO WAR WITH THE GOTHS]

XXXVI Now when Gaiseric, king of the Vandals,     184
whom we mentioned shortly before, learned that his mind
was bent on the devastation of the world, he incited
Attila by many gifts to make war on the Visigoths, for
he was afraid that Theodorid, king of the Visigoths,
would avenge the injury done to his daughter. She had
been joined in wedlock with Huneric, the son of Gaiseric,
and at first was happy in this union. But afterwards he
was cruel even to his own children, and because of the
mere suspicion that she was attempting to poison him, he
cut off her nose and mutilated her ears. He sent her
back to her father in Gaul thus despoiled of her natural
charms. So the wretched girl presented a pitiable aspect
ever after, and the cruelty which would stir even strangers
still more surely incited her father to vengeance.
Attila, therefore, in his efforts to bring about the wars     185
long ago instigated by the bribe of Gaiseric, sent ambassadors
into Italy to the Emperor Valentinian to sow
strife between the Goths and the Romans, thinking to
shatter by civil discord those whom he could not crush
in battle. He declared that he was in no way violating
his friendly relations with the Empire, but that he had a
quarrel with Theodorid, king of the Visigoths. As he
wished to be kindly received, he had filled the rest of the
letter with the visual flattering salutations, striving to win
credence for his falsehood. In like manner he despatched     186
a message to Theodorid, king of the Visigoths, urging
him to break his alliance with the Romans and reminding
him of the battles to which they had recently provoked
him. Beneath his great ferocity he was a subtle man,
and fought with craft before he made war.

[Sidenote: LEAGUE OF THE VISIGOTHS AND ROMANS AGAINST ATTILA 451]

Then the Emperor Valentinian sent an embassy to the
Visigoths and their king Theodorid, with this message:
"Bravest of nations, it is the part of prudence for us to     187
unite against the lord of the earth who wishes to enslave
the whole world; who requires no just cause for battle,
but supposes whatever he does is right. He measures
his ambition by his might. License satisfies his pride.
Despising law and right, he shows himself an enemy to
Nature herself. And thus he, who clearly is the common
foe of each, deserves the hatred of all. Pray remember--what     188
you surely cannot forget--that the Huns do not
overthrow nations by means of war, where there is an
equal chance, but assail them by treachery, which is a
greater cause for anxiety. To say nothing about ourselves,
can you suffer such insolence to go unpunished?
Since you are mighty in arms, give heed to your own
danger and join hands with us in common. Bear aid
also to the Empire, of which you hold a part. If you
would learn how needful such an alliance is for us, look
into the plans of the foe."

[Sidenote: THE FORCES OF THE ALLIES]

By these and like arguments the ambassadors of Valentinian     189
prevailed upon King Theodorid. He answered
them, saying "Romans, you have attained your desire;
you have made Attila our foe also. We will pursue
him wherever he summons us, and though he is puffed
up by his victories over divers races, yet the Goths know
how to fight this haughty foe. I call no war dangerous
save one whose cause it weak; for he fears no ill on
whom Majesty has smiled." The nobles shouted assent     190
to the reply and the multitude gladly followed. All were
fierce for battle and longed to meet the Huns, their foe.
And so a countless host was led forth by Theodorid, king
of the Visigoths, who sent home four of his sons, namely
Friderich and Eurich, Retemer and Himnerith, taking
with him only the two elder sons, Thorismud and Theodorid,
as partners of his toil. O brave array, sure defense
and sweet comradeship! having as its solace the
peril of those whose one joy is the endurance of the same
dangers.

On the side of the Romans stood the Patrician Aetius,     191
on whom at that time the whole Empire of the West depended;
a man of such wisdom that he had assembled
warriors from everywhere to meet them on equal terms.
Now these were his auxiliaries: Franks, Sarmatians,
Armoricians, Liticians, Burgundians, Saxons, Riparians
Olibriones (once Roman soldiers and now the flower of
the allied forces), and some other Celtic or German tribes.
And so they met in the Catalaunian Plains, which are     192
also called Mauriacian, extending in length one hundred
_leuva_, as the Gauls express it, and seventy in width. Now
a Gallic _leuva_ measures a distance of fifteen hundred
paces. That portion of the earth accordingly became
the threshing-floor of countless races. The two hosts
bravely joined battle. Nothing was done under cover,
but they contended in open fight. What just cause can     193
be found for the encounter of so many nations, or what
hatred inspired them all to take arms against each other?
It is proof that the human race lives for its kings, for it is
at the mad impulse of one mind a slaughter of nations
takes place, and at the whim of a haughty ruler that
which nature has taken ages to produce perishes in a
moment.

[Sidenote: THE BEGINNING OF THE STRIFE]

XXXVII But before we set forth the order of the     194
battle itself, it seems needful to relate what had already
happened in the course of the campaign, for it was not
only a famous struggle but one that was complicated and
confused. Well then, Sangiban, king of the Alani, smitten
with fear of what might come to pass, had promised
to surrender to Attila, and to give into his keeping Aureliani,
a city of Gaul wherein he then dwelt. When Theodorid     195
and Aetius learned of this, they cast up great earthworks
around that city before Attila's arrival and kept
watch over the suspected Sangiban, placing him with his
tribe in the midst of their auxiliaries. Then Attila, king
of the Huns, was taken aback by this event and lost confidence
in his own troops, so that he feared to begin the
conflict. While he was meditating on flight--a greater
calamity than death itself--he decided to inquire into the
future through soothsayers. So, as was their custom,     196
they examined the entrails of cattle and certain streaks in
bones that had been scraped, and foretold disaster to the
Huns. Yet as a slight consolation they prophesied that
the chief commander of the foe they were to meet should
fall and mar by his death the rest of the victory and the
triumph. Now Attila deemed the death of Aetius a thing
to be desired even at the cost of his own life, for Aetius
stood in the way of his plans. So although he was disturbed
by this prophecy, yet inasmuch as he was a man
who sought counsel of omens in all warfare, he began
the battle with anxious heart at about the ninth hour of
the day, in order that the impending darkness might come
to his aid if the outcome should be disastrous.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF THE CATALAUNIAN PLAINS A.D. 451]

XXXVIII The armies met, as we have said, in the     197
Catalaunian Plains. The battle field was a plain rising
by a sharp slope to a ridge, which both armies sought to
gain; for advantage of position is a great help. The
Huns with their forces seized the right side, the Romans,
the Visigoths and their allies the left, and then began a
struggle for the yet untaken crest. Now Theodorid with
the Visigoths held the right wing and Aetius with the
Romans the left. They placed in the centre Sangiban
(who, as said before, was in command of the Alani),
thus contriving with military caution to surround by a
host of faithful troops the man in whose loyalty they had
little confidence. For one who has difficulties placed in
the way of his flight readily submits to the necessity of     198
fighting. On the other side, however, the battle line of
the Huns was so arranged that Attila and his bravest
followers were stationed in the centre. In arranging
them thus the king had chiefly his own safety in view,
since by his position in the very midst of his race he
would be kept out of the way of threatening danger.
The innumerable peoples of divers tribes, which he had
subjected to his sway, formed the wings. Amid them     199
was conspicuous the army of the Ostrogoths under the
leadership of the brothers Valamir, Thiudimer and Vidimer,
nobler even than the king they served, for the might
of the family of the Amali rendered them glorious. The
renowned king of the Gepidae, Ardaric, was there also
with a countless host, and because of his great loyalty to
Attila, he shared his plans. For Attila, comparing them
in his wisdom, prized him and Valamir, king of the Ostrogoths,
above all the other chieftains. Valamir was a     200
good keeper of secrets, bland of speech and skilled in
wiles, and Ardaric, as we have said, was famed for his
loyalty and wisdom. Attila might well feel sure that
they would fight against the Visigoths, their kinsmen.
Now the rest of the crowd of kings (if we may call them
so) and the leaders of various nations hung upon Attila's
nod like slaves, and when he gave a sign even by a glance,
without a murmur each stood forth in fear and trembling,
or at all events did as he was bid. Attila alone was     201
king of all kings over all and concerned for all.

So then the struggle began for the advantage of position
we have mentioned. Attila sent his men to take the
summit of the mountain, but was outstripped by Thorismud
and Aetius, who in their effort to gain the top of the
hill reached higher ground and through this advantage
of position easily routed the Huns as they came up.

[Sidenote: ATTILA ADDRESSES HIS MEN]

XXXIX Now when Attila saw his army was thrown     202
into confusion by this event, he thought it best to encourage
them by an extemporaneous address on this wise:
"Here you stand, after conquering mighty nations and
subduing the world. I therefore think it foolish for me
to goad you with words, as though you were men who
had not been proved in action. Let a new leader or an
untried army resort to that. It is not right for me to     203
say anything common, nor ought you to listen. For what
is war but your usual custom? Or what is sweeter for a
brave man than to seek revenge with his own hand? It
is a right of nature to glut the soul with vengeance. Let     204
us then attack the foe eagerly; for they are ever the
bolder who make the attack. Despise this union of discordant
races! To defend oneself by alliance is proof of
cowardice. See, even before our attack they are smitten
with terror. They seek the heights, they seize the hills
and, repenting too late, clamor for protection against
battle in the open fields. You know how slight a matter
the Roman attack is. While they are still gathering in
order and forming in one line with locked shields, they
are checked, I will not say by the first wound, but even
by the dust of battle. Then on to the fray with stout     205
hearts, as is your wont. Despise their battle line. Attack
the Alani, smite the Visigoths! Seek swift victory in
that spot where the battle rages. For when the sinews
are cut the limbs soon relax, nor can a body stand when
you have taken away the bones. Let your courage rise
and your own fury burst forth! Now show your cunning,
Huns, now your deeds of arms! Let the wounded
exact in return the death of his foe; let the unwounded     206
revel in slaughter of the enemy. No spear shall harm
those who are sure to live; and those who are sure to die
Fate overtakes even in peace. And finally, why should
fortune have made the Huns victorious over so many
nations, unless it were to prepare them for the joy of
this conflict. Who was it revealed to our sires the
path through the Maeotian swamp, for so many ages
closed secret? Who, moreover, made armed men yield
to you, when you were as yet unarmed? Even a mass of
federated nations could not endure the sight of the Huns.
I am not deceived in the issue;--here is the field so many
victories have promised us. I shall hurl the first spear
at the foe. If any can stand at rest while Attila fights,
he is a dead man." Inflamed by these words, they all
dashed into battle.

[Sidenote: FIERCE FIGHTING]

XL And although the situation was itself fearful, yet     207
the presence of their king dispelled anxiety and hesitation.
Hand to hand they clashed in battle, and the fight
grew fierce, confused, monstrous, unrelenting--a fight
whose like no ancient time has ever recorded. There such
deeds were done that a brave man who missed this marvellous
spectacle could not hope to see anything so wonderful
all his life long. For, if we may believe our     208
elders, a brook flowing between low banks through the
plain was greatly increased by blood from the wounds
of the slain. It was not flooded by showers, as brooks
usually rise, but was swollen by a strange stream and
turned into a torrent by the increase of blood. Those
whose wounds drove them to slake their parching thirst
drank water mingled with gore. In their wretched plight
they were forced to drink what they thought was the
blood they had poured from their own wounds.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF KING THEODORID I IN THE BATTLE]

Here King Theodorid, while riding by to encourage     209
his army, was thrown from his horse and trampled under
foot by his own men, thus ending his days at a ripe old
age. But others say he was slain by the spear of Andag
of the host of the Ostrogoths, who were then under the
sway of Attila. This was what the soothsayers had told
to Attila in prophecy, though he understood it of Aetius.
Then the Visigoths, separating from the Alani, fell upon     210
the horde of the Huns and nearly slew Attila. But he
prudently took flight and straightway shut himself and
his companions within the barriers of the camp, which
he had fortified with wagons. A frail defence indeed;
yet there they sought refuge for their lives, whom but a
little while before no walls of earth could withstand.
But Thorismud, the son of King Theodorid, who with     211
Aetius had seized the hill and repulsed the enemy from
the higher ground, came unwittingly to the wagons of
the enemy in the darkness of night, thinking he had
reached his own lines. As he was fighting bravely, someone
wounded him in the head and dragged him from his
horse. Then he was rescued by the watchful care of his
followers and withdrew from the fierce conflict. Aetius     212
also became separated from his men in the confusion of
night and wandered about in the midst of the enemy.
Fearing disaster had happened, he went about in search
of the Goths. At last he reached the camp of his allies
and passed the remainder of the night in the protection
of their shields.

At dawn on the following day, when the Romans
saw the fields were piled high with bodies and that
the Huns did not venture forth, they thought the victory
was theirs, but knew that Attila would not flee from
the battle unless overwhelmed by a great disaster. Yet
he did nothing cowardly, like one that is overcome, but
with clash of arms sounded the trumpets and threatened
an attack. He was like a lion pierced by hunting
spears, who paces to and fro before the mouth of his
den and dares not spring, but ceases not to terrify the
neighborhood by his roaring. Even so this warlike king
at bay terrified his conquerors. Therefore the Goths and     213
Romans assembled and considered what to do with the
vanquished Attila. They determined to wear him out by
a siege, because he had no supply of provisions and was
hindered from approaching by a shower of arrows from
the bowmen placed within the confines of the Roman
camp. But it was said that the king remained supremely
brave even in this extremity and had heaped up a funeral
pyre of horse trappings, so that if the enemy should attack
him, he was determined to cast himself into the
flames, that none might have the joy of wounding him
and that the lord of so many races might not fall into
the hands of his foes.

[Sidenote: RESULTS OF THE BATTLE]

XLI Now during these delays in the siege, the Visigoths     214
sought their king and the king's sons their father,
wondering at his absence when success had been attained.
When, after a long search, they found him where the
dead lay thickest, as happens with brave men, they honored
him with songs and bore him away in the sight of
the enemy. You might have seen bands of Goths shouting
with dissonant cries and paying the honors of death
while the battle still raged. Tears were shed, but such
as they were accustomed to devote to brave men. It was
death indeed, but the Huns are witness that it was a
glorious one. It was a death whereby one might well
suppose the pride of the enemy would be lowered, when
they beheld the body of so great a king borne forth with
fitting honors. And so the Goths, still continuing the     215
rites due to Theodorid, bore forth the royal majesty with
sounding arms, and valiant Thorismud, as befitted a son,
honored the glorious spirit of his dear father by following
his remains.

When this was done, Thorismud was eager to take
vengeance for his father's death on the remaining Huns,
being moved to this both by the pain of bereavement and
the impulse of that valor for which he was noted. Yet
he consulted with the Patrician Aetius (for he was an
older man and of more mature wisdom) with regard to
what he ought to do next. But Aetius feared that if the     216
Huns were totally destroyed by the Goths, the Roman
Empire would be overwhelmed, and urgently advised him
to return to his own dominions to take up the rule which
his father had left. Otherwise his brothers might seize
their father's possessions and obtain the power over the
Visigoths. In this case Thorismud would have to fight
fiercely and, what is worse, disastrously with his own
countrymen. Thorismud accepted the advice without
perceiving its double meaning, but followed it with an
eye toward his own advantage. So he left the Huns and
returned to Gaul. Thus while human frailty rushes into     217
suspicion, it often loses an opportunity of doing great
things.

In this most famous war of the bravest tribes, one hundred
and sixty five thousand are said to have been slain on
both sides, leaving out of account fifteen thousand of the
Gepidae and Franks, who met each other the night before
the general engagement and fell by wounds mutually received,
the Franks fighting for the Romans and the Gepidae
for the Huns.

Now when Attila learned of the retreat of the Goths,     218
he thought it a ruse of the enemy,--for so men are wont
to believe when the unexpected happens--and remained
for some time in his camp. But when a long silence followed
the absence of the foe, the spirit of the mighty
king was aroused to the thought of victory and the anticipation
of pleasure, and his mind turned to the old oracles
of his destiny.

[Sidenote: THORISMUD 451-453]

Thorismud, however, after the death of his father on
the Catalaunian Plains where he had fought, advanced in
royal state and entered Tolosa. Here although the throng
of his brothers and brave companions were still rejoicing
over the victory he yet began to rule so mildly that no one
strove with him for the succession to the kingdom.

[Sidenote: THE SIEGE AND FALL OF AQUILEIA 452]

XLII But Attila took occasion from the withdrawal     219
of the Visigoths, observing what he had often desired
that his enemies were divided. At length feeling secure,
he moved forward his array to attack the Romans. As
his first move he besieged the city of Aquileia, the metropolis
of Venetia, which is situated on a point or tongue
of land by the Adriatic Sea. On the eastern side its walls
are washed by the river Natissa, flowing from Mount
Piccis. The siege was long and fierce, but of no avail,     220
since the bravest soldiers of the Romans withstood him
from within. At last his army was discontented and
eager to withdraw. Attila chanced to be walking around
the walls, considering whether to break camp or delay
longer, and noticed that the white birds, namely, the
storks, who build their nests in the gables of houses, were
bearing their young from the city and, contrary to their
custom, were carrying them out into the country. Being     221
a shrewd observer of events, he understood this and said
to his soldiers: "You see the birds foresee the future.
They are leaving the city sure to perish and are forsaking
strongholds doomed to fall by reason of imminent peril.
Do not think this a meaningless or uncertain sign; fear,
arising from the things they foresee, has changed their
custom." Why say more? He inflamed the hearts of
his soldiers to attack Aquileia again. Constructing battering
rams and bringing to bear all manner of engines
of war, they quickly forced their way into the city, laid it
waste, divided the spoil and so cruelly devastated it as
scarcely to leave a trace to be seen. Then growing bolder     222
and still thirsting for Roman blood, the Huns raged
madly through the remaining cities of the Veneti. They
also laid waste Mediolanum, the metropolis of Liguria,
once an imperial city, and gave over Ticinum to a like
fate. Then they destroyed the neighboring country in
their frenzy and demolished almost the whole of Italy.

[Sidenote: POPE LEO INTERVENES TO SAVE ROME 452]

Attila's mind had been bent on going to Rome. But
his followers, as the historian Priscus relates, took him
away, not out of regard for the city to which they were
hostile, but because they remembered the case of Alaric,
the former king of the Visigoths. They distrusted the
good fortune of their own king, inasmuch as Alaric did
not live long after the sack of Rome, but straightway
departed this life. Therefore while Attila's spirit was     223
wavering in doubt between going and not going, and he
still lingered to ponder the matter, an embassy came to
him from Rome to seek peace. Pope Leo himself came
to meet him in the Ambuleian district of the Veneti at the
well-travelled ford of the river Mincius. Then Attila
quickly put aside his usual fury, turned back on the way
he had advanced from beyond the Danube and departed
with the promise of peace. But above all he declared and
avowed with threats that he would bring worse things
upon Italy, unless they sent him Honoria, the sister of the
Emperor Valentinian and daughter of Augusta Placidia,
with her due share of the royal wealth. For it was said     224
that Honoria, although bound to chastity for the honor
of the imperial court and kept in constraint by command
of her brother, had secretly despatched a eunuch to summon
Attila that she might have his protection against he
brother's power;--a shameful thing, indeed, to get licens
for her passion at the cost of the public weal.

[Sidenote: MARCIAN 450-457]

[Sidenote: ATTILA DEFEATED BY THORISMUD]

XLIII So Attila returned to his own country, seeming     225
to regret the peace and to be vexed at the cessation of
war. For he sent ambassadors to Marcian, Emperor of
the East, threatening to devastate the provinces, because
that which had been promised him by Theodosius, a former
emperor, was in no wise performed, and saying that
he would show himself more cruel to his foes than ever.
But as he was shrewd and crafty, he threatened in one
direction and moved his army in another; for in the
midst of these preparations he turned his face toward the
Visigoths who had yet to feel his vengeance. But here     226
he had not the same success as against the Romans.
Hastening back by a different way than before, he decided
to reduce to his sway that part of the Alani which
was settled across the river Loire, in order that by attacking
them, and thus changing the aspect of the war, he
might become a more terrible menace to the Visigoths.
Accordingly he started from the provinces of Dacia and
Pannonia, where the Huns were then dwelling with various
subject peoples, and moved his array against the
Alani. But Thorismud, king of the Visigoths, with like     227
quickness of thought perceived Attila's trick. By forced
marches he came to the Alani before him, and was well
prepared to check the advance of Attila when he came
after him. They joined battle in almost the same way as
before at the Catalaunian Plains, and Thorismud dashed
his hopes of victory, for he routed him and drove him
from the land without a triumph, compelling him to flee
to his own country. Thus while Attila, the famous leader
and lord of many victories, sought to blot out the fame
of his destroyer and in this way to annul what he had
suffered at the hands of the Visigoths, he met a second
defeat and retreated ingloriously. Now after the bands     228
of the Huns had been repulsed by the Alani, without any
hurt to his own men, Thorismud departed for Tolosa.
There he established a settled peace for his people and in
the third year of his reign fell sick. While letting blood
from a vein, he was betrayed to his death by Ascalc, a
client, who told his foes that his weapons were out of
reach. Yet grasping a foot-stool in the one hand he had
free, he became the avenger of his own blood by slaying
several of those that were lying in wait for him.

[Sidenote: THE REIGN OF KING THEODORID II 453-466]

[Sidenote: Battle near the Ulbius 456]

XLIV After his death, his brother Theodorid succeeded      229
to the kingdom of the Visigoths and soon found
that Riciarius his kinsman, the king of the Suavi, was
hostile to him. For Riciarius, presuming on his relationship
to Theodorid, believed that he might seize almost the
whole of Spain, thinking the disturbed beginning of
Theodorid's reign made the time opportune for his trick.
The Suavi formerly occupied as their country Galicia and    230
Lusitania, which extend on the right side of Spain along
the shore of Ocean. To the east is Austrogonia, to the
west, on a promontory, is the sacred Monument of the
Roman general Scipio, to the north Ocean, and to the
south Lusitania and the Tagus river, which mingles
golden grains in its sands and thus carries wealth in its
worthless mud. So then Riciarius, king of the Suavi, set
forth and strove to seize the whole of Spain. Theodorid,    231
his kinsman, a man of moderation, sent ambassadors to
him and told him quietly that he must not only withdraw
from the territories that were not his own, but furthermore
that he should not presume to make such an attempt,
as he was becoming hated for his ambition. But with
arrogant spirit he replied: "If you murmur here and
find fault with my coming, I shall come to Tolosa where
you dwell. Resist me there, if you can." When he heard
this, Theodorid was angry and, making a compact with
all the other tribes, moved his array against the Suavi.
He had as his close allies Gundiuch and Hilperic, kings
of the Burgundians. They came to battle near the river     232
Ulbius, which flows between Asturica and Hiberia, and
in the engagement Theodorid with the Visigoths, who
fought for the right, came off victorious, overthrowing
the entire tribe of the Suavi and almost exterminating
them. Their king Riciarius fled from the dread foe and
embarked upon a ship. But he was beaten back by another
foe, the adverse wind of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and
so fell into the hands of the Visigoths. Thus though
he changed from sea to land, the wretched man did not
avert his death.

When Theodorid had become the victor, he spared the     233
conquered and did not suffer the rage of conflict to continue,
but placed over the Suavi whom he had conquered
one of his own retainers, named Agrivulf. But Agrivulf
soon treacherously changed his mind, through the persuasion
of the Suavi, and failed to fulfil his duty. For
he was quite puffed up with tyrannical pride, believing
he had obtained the province as a reward for the valor
by which he and his lord had recently subjugated it. Now
he was a man born of the stock of the Varni, far below
the nobility of Gothic blood, and so was neither zealous
for liberty nor faithful toward his patron. As soon as     234
Theodorid heard of this, he gathered a force to cast him
out from the kingdom he had usurped. They came
quickly and conquered him in the first battle, inflicting a
punishment befitting his deeds. For he was captured,
taken from his friends and beheaded. Thus at last he
was made aware of the wrath of the master he thought
might be despised because he was kind. Now when the
Suavi beheld the death of their leader, they sent priests
of their country to Theodorid as suppliants. He received
them with the reverence due their office and not only
granted the Suavi exemption from punishment, but was
moved by compassion and allowed them to choose a ruler
of their own race for themselves. The Suavi did so,
taking Rimismund as their prince. When this was done
and peace was everywhere assured, Theodorid died in
the thirteenth year of his reign.

[Sidenote: KING EURICH 66-485]

[Sidenote: THE WESTERN EMPIRE FROM THE DEATH OF VALENTINIAN III TO
ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS]

[Sidenote: Maximus 455]

[Sidenote: GAISERIC SACKS ROME 455]

[Sidenote: Majorian 457-461]

[Sidenote: Livius Severus 461-465]

[Sidenote: Leo I 457-474]

[Sidenote: Anthemius 467-472]

XLV His brother Eurich succeeded him with such     235
eager haste that he fell under dark suspicion. Now while
these and various other matters were happening among
the people of the Visigoths, the Emperor Valentinian was
slain by the treachery of Maximus, and Maximus himself,
like a tyrant, usurped the rule. Gaiseric, king of the
Vandals, heard of this and came from Africa to Italy
with ships of war, entered Rome and laid it waste.
Maximus fled and was slain by a certain Ursus, a Roman
soldier. After him Majorian undertook the government     236
of the Western Empire at the bidding of Marcian, Emperor
of the East. But he too ruled but a short time.
For when he had moved his forces against the Alani who
were harassing Gaul, he was killed at Dertona near the
river named Ira. Severus succeeded him and died at
Rome in the third year of his reign. When the Emperor
Leo, who had succeeded Marcian in the Eastern Empire,
learned of this, he chose as emperor his Patrician Anthemius
and sent him to Rome. Upon his arrival he sent
against the Alani his son-in-law Ricimer, who was an
excellent man and almost the only one in Italy at that
time fit to command the army. In the very first engagement
he conquered and destroyed the host of the Alani,
together with their king, Beorg.

[Sidenote: Olybrius 472]

Now Eurich, king of the Visigoths, perceived the frequent     237
change of Roman Emperors and strove to hold
Gaul by his own right. The Emperor Anthemius heard
of it and asked the Brittones for aid. Their King
Riotimus came with twelve thousand men into the state
of the Bituriges by the way of Ocean, and was received
as he disembarked from his ships. Eurich, king of the     238
Visigoths, came against them with an innumerable army,
and after a long fight he routed Riotimus, king of the
Brittones, before the Romans could join him. So when
he had lost a great part of his army, he fled with all the
men he could gather together, and came to the Burgundians,
a neighboring tribe then allied to the Romans. But
Eurich, king of the Visigoths, seized the Gallic city of
Arverna; for the Emperor Anthemius was now dead.
Engaged in fierce war with his son-in-law Ricimer, he     239
had worn out Rome and was himself finally slain by his
son-in-law and yielded the rule to Olybrius.

[Sidenote: Glycerius 473]

[Sidenote: Nepos 474]

At that time Aspar, first of the Patricians and a famous
man of the Gothic race was wounded by the swords of
the eunuchs in his palace at Constantinople and died.
With him were slain his sons Ardabures and Patriciolus,
the one long a Patrician, and the other styled a Caesar
and son-in-law of the Emperor Leo. Now Olybrius died
barely eight months after he had entered upon his reign,
and Glycerius was made Caesar at Ravenna, rather by
usurpation than by election. Hardly had a year been
ended when Nepos, the son of the sister of Marcellinus,
once a Patrician, deposed him from his office and ordained
him bishop at the Port of Rome.

[Sidenote: Romulus Augustulus 476]

When Eurich, as we have already said, beheld these     240
great and various changes, he seized the city of Arverna,
where the Roman general Ecdicius was at that time in
command. He was a senator of most renowned family
and the son of Avitus, a recent emperor who had usurped
the reign for a few days--for Avitus held the rule for a
few days before Olybrius, and then withdrew of his own
accord to Placentia, where he was ordained bishop. His
son Ecdicius strove for a long time with the Visigoths,
but had not the power to prevail. So he left the country
and (what was more important) the city of Arverna to
the enemy and betook himself to safer regions. When    241
the Emperor Nepos heard of this, he ordered Ecdicius
to leave Gaul and come to him, appointing Orestes in his
stead as Master of the Soldiery. This Orestes thereupon
received the army, set out from Rome against the
enemy and came to Ravenna. Here he tarried while he
made his son Romulus Augustulus emperor. When
Nepos learned of this, he fled to Dalmatia and died there,
deprived of his throne, in the very place where Glycerius,
who was formerly emperor, held at that time the bishopric
of Salona.

[Sidenote: THE RULE OF ODOACER 476-493]