THE ORIGIN AND DEEDS OF THE GOTHS
Jordanes
6th-century
Translated by Charles
C. Mierow
Introductory Note
Jordanes, as he himself tells us
a couple of times, was of Gothic descent and wrote this work as a summary of
Cassiodorus' much longer treatment of the history of the Goths. Because
Cassiodorus' book no longer survives, Jordanes' treatment is often our only
source for some of the Gothic history it describes. He wrote the Getica during
the later stages of the reign of Justinian, not too long after the demise of the
Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy. Jordanes divided his work, apart from the brief
introduction and conclusion, into four main sections (reflected in the contents
below). These are 1) a Geographical Introduction; 2) the United Goths; 3) the
Visigoths; 4) and the Ostrogoths. Other large sections, such as the discussion
of the Huns, he treats as digressions of a sort (the more interesting or
important of these have been added to the contents below). Mierow prefaces his
translation with a detailed literary analysis of all the topics in the text;
this is not, however, reproduced here. The text of the translation presented
here was scanned from a printed copy of Mierow's book and checked carefully for
errors (a few misprints in that book have been corrected as well). This
hypertext version has been designed for the use of students of Ancient History
at the University of Calgary. I have included the (Roman) chapter and (arabic)
section numbers to facilitate specific citation (or to find a specific
reference; these numbers may be found in Mierow's translation as well, though
the section numbers are in his margins) and have added internal links for
purposes of navigation. J. Vanderspoel, Department of Greek, Latin and Ancient
History, University of Calgary
(Preface)
(1) Though
it had been my wish to glide in my little boat by the shore of a peaceful coast
and, as a certain writer says, to gather little fishes from the pools of the
ancients, you, brother Castalius, bid me set my sails toward the deep. You urge
me to leave the little work I have in hand, that is, the abbreviation of the
Chronicles, and to condense in my own style in this small book the twelve
volumes of the Senator on the origin and deeds of the Getae from olden time to
the present day, descending through the generations of the kings.
(2) Truly
a hard command, and imposed by one who seems unwilling to realize the burden of
the task. Nor do you note this, that my utterance is too slight to fill so
magnificent a trumpet of speech as his. But above every burden is the fact that
I have no access to his books that I may follow his thought. Still--and let me
lie not--I have in times past read the books a second time by his steward's
loan for a three days' reading. The words I recall not, but the sense and the
deeds related I think I retain entire.
(3) To
this I have added fitting matters from some Greek and Latin histories. I have
also put in an introduction and a conclusion, and have inserted many things of
my own authorship. Wherefore reproach me not, but receive and read with
gladness what you have asked me to write. If aught be insufficiently spoken and
you remember it, do you as a neighbor to our race add to it, praying for me,
dearest brother. The Lord be with you. Amen.
(Geographical Introduction) I
(4) Our
ancestors, as Orosius relates, were of the opinion that the circle of the whole
world was surrounded by the girdle of Ocean on three sides. Its three parts
they called Asia, Europe and Africa. Concerning this threefold division of the
earth's extent there are almost innumerable writers, who not only explain the
situations of cities and places, but also measure out the number of miles and
paces to give more clearness. Moreover they locate the islands interspersed
amid the waves, both the greater and also the lesser islands, called Cyclades
or Sporades, as situated in the vast flood of the Great Sea.
(5) But
the impassable farther bounds of Ocean not only has no one attempted to
describe, but no man has been allowed to reach; for by reason of obstructing
seaweed and the failing of the winds it is plainly inaccessible and is unknown
to any save to Him who made it.
(6) But
the nearer border of this sea, which we call the circle of the world, surrounds
its coasts like a wreath. This has become clearly known to men of inquiring
mind, even to such as desired to write about it. For not only is the coast
itself inhabited, but certain islands off in the sea are habitable. Thus there
are to the East in the Indian Ocean, Hippodes, Iamnesia, Solis Perusta (which
though not habitable, is yet of great length and breadth), besides Taprobane, a
fair island wherein there are towns or estates and ten strongly fortified
cities. But there is yet another, the lovely Silefantina, and Theros also.
(7) These,
though not clearly described by any writer, are nevertheless well filled with
inhabitants. This same Ocean has in its western region certain islands known to
almost everyone by reason of the great number of those that journey to and fro.
And there are two not far from the neighborhood of the Strait of Gades, one the
Blessed Isle and another called the Fortunate. Although some reckon as islands
of Ocean the twin promontories of Galicia and Lusitania, where are still to be
seen the Temple of Hercules on one and Scipio's Monument on the other, yet since
they are joined to the extremity of the Galician country, they belong rather to
the great land of Europe than to the islands of Ocean.
(8) However,
it has other islands deeper within its own tides, which are called the
Baleares; and yet another, Mevania, besides the Orcades, thirty-three in
number, though not all inhabited.
(9) And
at the farthest bound of its western expanse it has another island named Thule,
of which the Mantuan bard makes mention:
"And Farthest Thule shall serve thee." The same mighty sea has
also in its arctic region, that is in the north, a great island named Scandza,
from which my tale (by God's grace) shall take its beginning. For the race
whose origin you ask to know burst forth like a swarm of bees from the midst of
this island and came into the land of Europe. But how or in what wise we shall
explain hereafter, if it be the Lord's will.
II
(10) But
now let me speak briefly as I can concerning the island of Britain, which is
situated in the bosom of Ocean between Spain, Gaul and Germany. Although Livy
tells us that no one in former days sailed around it, because of its great
size, yet many writers have held various opinions of it. It was long
unapproached by Roman arms, until Julius Caesar disclosed it by batttles fought
for mere glory. In the busy age which followed it became accessible to many
through trade and by other means. Thus it revealed more clearly its position,
which I shall here explain as I have found it in Greek and Latin authors.
(11) Most
of them say it is like a triangle pointing between the north and west. Its
widest angle faces the mouths of the Rhine. Then the island shrinks in breadth
and recedes until it ends in two other angles. Its long doubled side faces Gaul
and Germany. Its greatest breadth is said to be over two thousand three hundred
and ten stadia, and its length not more than seven thousand one hundred and
thirty-two stadia.
(12) In
some parts it is moorland, in others there are wooded plains, and sometimes it
rises into mountain peaks. The island is surrounded by a sluggish sea, which
neither gives readily to the stroke of the oar nor runs high under the blasts
of the wind. I suppose this is because other lands are so far removed from it
as to cause no disturbance of the sea, which indeed is of greater width here than
anywhere else. Moreover Strabo, a famous writer of the Greeks, relates that the
island exhales such mists from its soil, soaked by the frequent inroads of
Ocean, that the sun is covered throughout the whole of their disagreeable sort
of day that passes as fair, and so is hidden from sight.
(13) Cornelius
also, the author of the Annals, says that in the farthest part of Britain the
night gets brighter and is very short. He also says that the island abounds in
metals, is well supplied with grass and is more productive in all those things
which feed beasts rather than men. Moreover many large rivers flow through it,
and the tides are borne back into them, rolling along precious stones and
pearls. The Silures have swarthy features and are usually born with curly black
hair, but the inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large
loose-jointed bodies. They are like the Gauls or the Spaniards, according as
they are opposite either nation.
(14) Hence
some have supposed that from these lands the island received its inhabitants,
alluring them by its nearness. All the people and their kings are alike wild.
Yet Dio, a most celebrated writer of annals, assures us of the fact that they
have all been combined under the name of Caledonians and Maeatae. They live in
wattled huts, a shelter used in common with their flocks, and often the woods
are their home. They paint their bodies with iron-red, whether by way of
adornment or perhaps for some other reason.
(15) They
often wage war with one another, either because they desire power or to
increase their possessions. They fight not only on horseback or on foot, but
even with scythed two-horse chariots, which they commonly call essedae. Let it
suffice to have said thus much on the shape of the island of Britain.
III
(16) Let
us now return to the site of the island of Scandza, which we left above.
Claudius Ptolemaeus, an excellent describer of the world, has made mention of
it in the second book of his work, saying: "There is a great island
situated in the surge of the northern Ocean, Scandza by name, in the shape of a
juniper leaf with bulging sides that taper down to a point at a long end."
Pomponius Mela also makes mention of it as situated in the Codan Gulf of the
sea, with Ocean lapping its shores.
(17) This
island lies in front of the river Vistula, which rises in the Sarmatian
mountains and flows through its triple mouth into the northern Ocean in sight
of Scandza, separating Germany and Scythia. The island has in its eastern part
a vast lake in the bosom of the earth, whence the Vagus river springs from the
bowels of the earth and flows surging into the Ocean. And on the west it is
surrounded by an immense sea. On the north it is bounded by the same vast
unnavigable Ocean, from which by means of a sort of projecting arm of land a
bay is cut off and forms the German Sea.
(18) Here
also there are said to be many small islands scattered round about. If wolves
cross over to these islands when the sea is frozen by reason of the great cold,
they are said to lose their sight. Thus the land is not only inhospitable to
men but cruel even to wild beasts.
(19) Now
in the island of Scandza, whereof I speak, there dwell many and divers nations,
though Ptolemaeus mentions the names of but seven of them. There the
honey-making swarms of bees are nowhere to be found on account of the exceeding
great cold. In the northern part of the island the race of the Adogit live, who
are said to have continual light in midsummer for forty days and nights, and
who likewise have no clear light in the winter season for the same number of
days and nights.
(20) By
reason of this alternation of sorrow and joy they are like no other race in
their sufferings and blessings. And why? Because during the longer days they
see the sun returning to the east along the rim of the horizon, but on the
shorter days it is not thus seen. The sun shows itself differently because it
is passing through the southern signs, and whereas to us the sun seem to rise
from below, it seems to go around them along the edge of the earth. There also
are other peoples.
(21) There
are the Screrefennae, who do not seek grain for food but live on the flesh of
wild beasts and birds' eggs; for there are such multitudes of young game in the
swamps as to provide for the natural increase of their kind and to afford
satisfaction to the needs of the people. But still another race dwells there,
the Suehans, who, like the Thuringians, have splendid horses. Here also are
those who send through innumerable other tribes the sappherine skins to trade
for Roman use. They are a people famed for the dark beauty of their furs and,
though living in poverty, are most richly clothed.
(22) Then
comes a throng of various nations, Theustes, Vagoth, Bergio, Hallin, Liothida.
All their habitations are in one level and fertile region. Wherefore they are
disturbed there by the attacks of other tribes. Behind these are the Ahelmil,
Finnaithae, Fervir and Gauthigoth, a race of men bold and quick to fight. Then
come the Mixi, Evagre, and Otingis. All these live like wild animals in rocks
hewn out like castles.
(23) And
there are beyond these the Ostrogoths, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, and the most
gentle Finns, milder than all the inhabitants of Scandza. Like them are the
Vinovilith also. The Suetidi are of this stock and excel the rest in stature.
However, the Dani, who trace their origin to the same stock, drove from their
homes the Heruli, who lay claim to preëminence among all the nations of Scandza
for their tallness.
(24) Furthermore
there are in the same neighborhood the Grannii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi,
Arochi and Ranii, over whom Roduulf was king not many years ago. But he
despised his own kingdom and fled to the embrace of Theodoric, king of the
Goths, finding there what he desired. All these nations surpassed the Germans
in size and spirit, and fought with the cruelty of wild beasts.
(The United Goths) IV
(25) Now
from this island of Scandza, as from a hive of races or a womb of nations, the
Goths are said to have come forth long ago under their king, Berig by name. As
soon as they disembarked from their ships and set foot on the land, they
straightway gave their name to the place. And even to-day it is said to be
called Gothiscandza.
(26) Soon
they moved from here to the abodes of the Ulmerugi, who then dwelt on the
shores of Ocean, where they pitched camp, joined battle with them and drove
them from their homes. Then they subdued their neighbors, the Vandals, and thus
added to their victories. But when the number of the people increased greatly
and Filimer, son of Gadaric, reigned as king-- about the fifth since Berig--he
decided that the army of the Goths with their families should move from that
region.
(27) In
search of suitable homes and pleasant places they came to the land of Scythia,
called Oium in that tongue. Here they were delighted with the great richness of
the country, and it is said that when half the army had been brought over, the
bridge whereby they had crossed the river fell in utter ruin, nor could anyone
thereafter pass to or fro. For the place is said to be surrounded by quaking
bogs and an encircling abyss, so that by this double obstacle nature has made
it inaccessible. And even to-day one may hear in that neighborhood the lowing
of cattle and may find traces of men, if we are to believe the stories of
travellers, although we must grant that they hear these things from afar.
(28) This
part of the Goths, which is said to have crossed the river and entered with
Filimer into the country of Oium, came into possession of the desired land, and
there they soon came upon the race of the Spali, joined battle with them and
won the victory. Thence the victors hastened to the farthest part of Scythia,
which is near the sea of Pontus; for so the story is generally told in their
early songs, in almost historic fashion. Ablabius also, a famous chronicler of
the Gothic race, confirms this in his most trustworthy account.
(29) Some
of the ancient writers also agree with the tale. Among these we may mention
Josephus, a most reliable relator of annals, who everywhere follows the rule of
truth and unravels from the beginning the origin of causes;--but why he has
omitted the beginnings of the race of the Goths, of which I have spoken, I do
not know. He barely mentions Magog of that stock, and says they were Scythians
by race and were called so by name. Before we enter on our history, we must
describe the boundaries of this land, as it lies.
V
(30) Now
Scythia borders on the land of Germany as far as the source of the river Ister
and the expanse of the Morsian Swamp. It reaches even to the rivers Tyra,
Danaster and Vagosola, and the great Danaper, extending to the Taurus
range--not the mountains in Asia but our own, that is, the Scythian Taurus--all
the way to Lake Maeotis. Beyond Lake Maeotis it spreads on the other side of
the straits of Bosphorus to the Caucasus Mountains and the river Araxes. Then
it bends back to the left behind the Caspian Sea, which comes from the north-
eastern ocean in the most distant parts of Asia, and so is formed like a
mushroom, at first narrow and then broad and round in shape. It extends as far
as the Huns, Albani and Seres.
(31) This
land, I say,-- namely, Scythia, stretching far and spreading wide,--has on the
east the Seres, a race that dwelt at the very beginning of their history on the
shore of the Caspian Sea. On the west are the Germans and the river Vistula; on
the arctic side, namely the north, it is surrounded by Ocean; on the south by
Persis, Albania, Hiberia, Pontus and the farthest channel of the Ister, which
is called the Danube all the way from mouth to source.
(32) But
in that region where Scythia touches the Pontic coast it is dotted with towns
of no mean fame:--Borysthenis, Olbia, Callipolis, Cherson, Theodosia, Careon,
Myrmicion and Trapezus. These towns the wild Scythian tribes allowed the Greeks
to build to afford them means of trade. In the midst of Scythia is the place
that separates Asia and Europe, I mean the Rhipaeian mountains, from which the
mighty Tanais flows. This river enters Maeotis, a marsh having a circuit of one
hundred and forty-four miles and never subsiding to a depth of less than eight
fathoms.
(33) In
the land of Scythia to the westward dwells, first of all, the race of the
Gepidae, surrounded by great and famous rivers. For the Tisia flows through it
on the north and northwest, and on the southwest is the great Danube. On the east
it is cut by the Flutausis, a swiftly eddying stream that sweeps whirling into
the Ister's waters.
(34) Within
these rivers lies Dacia, encircled by the lofty Alps as by a crown. Near their
left ridge, which inclines toward the north, and beginning at the source of the
Vistula, the populous race of the Venethi dwell, occupying a great expanse of
land. Though their names are now dispersed amid various clans and places, yet
they are chiefly called Sclaveni and Antes.
(35) The
abode of the Sclaveni extends from the city of Noviodunum and the lake called
Mursianus to the Danaster, and northward as far as the Vistula. They have
swamps and forests for their cities. The Antes, who are the bravest of these
peoples dwelling in the curve of the sea of Pontus, spread from the Danaster to
the Danaper, rivers that are many days' journey apart.
(36) But
on the shore of Ocean, where the floods of the river Vistula empty from three
mouths, the Vidivarii dwell, a people gathered out of various tribes. Beyond
them the Aesti, a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean. To the south
dwell the Acatziri, a very brave tribe ignorant of agriculture, who subsist on
their flocks and by hunting.
(37) Farther
away and above the Sea of Pontus are the abodes of the Bulgares, well known
from the wrongs done to them by reason of our oppression. From this region the
Huns, like a fruitful root of bravest races, sprouted into two hordes of
people. Some of these are called Altziagiri, others Sabiri; and they have
different dwelling places. The Altziagiri are near Cherson, where the
avaricious traders bring in the goods of Asia. In summer they range the plains,
their broad domains, wherever the pasturage for their cattle invites them, and
betake themselves in winter beyond the Sea of Pontus. Now the Hunuguri are
known to us from the fact that they trade in marten skins. But they have been
cowed by their bolder neighbors.
(38) We
read that on their first migration the Goths dwelt in the land of Scythia near
Lake Maeotis. On the second migration they went to Moesia, Thrace and Dacia,
and after their third they dwelt again in Scythia, above the Sea of Pontus. Nor
do we find anywhere in their written records legends which tell of their
subjection to slavery in Britain or in some other island, or of their redemption
by a certain man at the cost of a single horse. Of course if anyone in our city
says that the Goths had an origin different from that I have related, let him
object. For myself, I prefer to believe what I have read, rather than put trust
in old wives' tales.
(39) To
return, then, to my subject. The aforesaid race of which I speak is known to
have had Filimer as king while they remained in their first home in Scythia
near Maeotis. In their second home, that is in the countries of Dacia, Thrace
and Moesia, Zalmoxes reigned, whom many writers of annals mention as a man of
remarkable learning in philosophy. Yet even before this they had a learned man
Zeuta, and after him Dicineus; and the third was Zalmoxes of whom I have made
mention above. Nor did they lack teachers of wisdom.
(40) Wherefore
the Goths have ever been wiser than other barbarians and were nearly like the
Greeks, as Dio relates, who wrote their history and annals with a Greek pen. He
says that those of noble birth among them, from whom their kings and priests
were appointed, were called first Tarabostesei and then Pilleati. Moreover so
highly were the Getae praised that Mars, whom the fables of poets call the god
of war, was reputed to have been born among them. Hence Virgil says:
"Father Gradivus rules the Getic fields."
(41) Now
Mars has always been worshipped by the Goths with cruel rites, and captives
were slain as his victims. They thought that he who is the lord of war ought to
be appeased by the shedding of human blood. To him they devoted the first share
of the spoil, and in his honor arms stripped from the foe were suspended from
trees. And they had more than all other races a deep spirit of religion, since
the worship of this god seemed to be really bestowed upon their ancestor.
(42) In
their third dwelling place, which was above the Sea of Pontus, they had now
become more civilized and, as I have said before, were more learned. Then the
people were divided under ruling families. The Visigoths served the family of
the Balthi and the Ostrogoths served the renowned Amali.
(43) They
were the first race of men to string the bow with cords, as Lucan, who is more
of a historian than a poet, affirms: "They string Armenian bows with Getic
cords." In earliest times they sang of the deeds of their ancestors in
strains of song accompanied by the cithara; chanting of Eterpamara, Hanala,
Fritigern, Vidigoia and others whose fame among them is great; such heroes as
admiring antiquity scarce proclaims its own to be.
(44) Then,
as the story goes, Vesosis waged a war disastrous to himself against the
Scythians, whom ancient tradition asserts to have been the husbands of the
Amazons. Concerning these female warriors Orosius speaks in convincing
language. Thus we can clearly prove that Vesosis then fought with the Goths,
since we know surely that he waged war with the husbands of the Amazons. They
dwelt at that time along a bend of Lake Maeotis, from the river Borysthenes,
which the natives call the Danaper, to the stream of the Tanais.
(45) By
the Tanais I mean the river which flows down from the Rhipaeian mountains and
rushes with so swift a current that when the neighboring streams or Lake
Maeotis and the Bosphorus are frozen fast, it is the only river that is kept
warm by the rugged mountains and is never solidified by the Scythian cold. It
is also famous as the boundary of Asia and Europe. For the other Tanais is the
one which rises in the mountains of the Chrinni and flows into the Caspian Sea.
(46) The
Danaper begins in a great marsh and issues from it as from its mother. It is
sweet and fit to drink as far as half-way down its course. It also produces
fish of a fine flavor and without bones, having only cartilage as the
frame-work of their bodies. But as it approaches the Pontus it receives a
little spring called Exampaeus, so very bitter that although the river is
navigable for the length of a forty days' voyage, it is so altered by the water
of this scanty stream as to become tainted and unlike itself, and flows thus
tainted into the sea between the Greek towns of Callipidae and Hypanis. At its
mouth there is an island named Achilles. Between these two rivers is a vast
land filled with forests and treacherous swamps.
VI
(47) This
was the region where the Goths dwelt when Vesosis, king of the Egyptians, made
war upon them. Their king at that time was Tanausis. In a battle at the river
Phasis (whence come the birds called pheasants, which are found in abundance at
the banquets of the great all over the world) Tanausis, king of the Goths, met
Vesosis, king of the Egyptians, and there inflicted a severe defeat upon him,
pursuing him even to Egypt. Had he not been restrained by the waters of the
impassable Nile and the fortifications which Vesosis had long ago ordered to be
made against the raids of the Ethiopians, he would have slain him in his own
land. But finding he had no power to injure him there, he returned and
conquered almost all Asia and made it subject and tributary to Sornus, king of
the Medes, who was then his dear friend. At that time some of his victorious
army, seeing that the subdued provinces were rich and fruitful, deserted their
companies and of their own accord remained in various parts of Asia.
(48) From
their name or race Pompeius Trogus says the stock of the Parthians had its
origin. Hence even to-day in the Scythian tongue they are called Parthi, that
is, Deserters. And in consequence of their descent they are archers--almost
alone among all the nations of Asia-- and are very valiant warriors. Now in
regard to the name, though I have said they were called Parthi because they were
deserters, some have traced the derivation of the word otherwise, saying that
they were called Parthi because they fled from their kinsmen. Now when
Tanausis, king of the Goths, was dead, his people worshipped him as one of
their gods.
VII
(49) After
his death, while the army under his successors was engaged in an expedition in
other parts, a neighboring tribe attempted to carry off women of the Goths as
booty. But they made a brave resistance, as they had been taught to do by their
husbands, and routed in disgrace the enemy who had come upon them. When they
had won this victory, they were inspired with greater daring. Mutually
encouraging each other, they took up arms and chose two of the bolder, Lampeto
and Marpesia, to act as their leaders.
(50) While
they were in command, they cast lots both for the defense of their own country
and the devastation of other lands. So Lampeto remained to guard their native
land and Marpesia took a company of women and led this novel army into Asia.
After conquering various tribes in war and making others their allies by
treaties, she came to the Caucasus. There she remained for some time and gave
the place the name Rock of Marpesia, of which also Virgil makes mention:
"Like to hard flint or the Marpesian Cliff." It was here Alexander
the Great afterwards built gates and named them the Caspian Gates, which now
the tribe of the Lazi guard as a Roman fortification.
(51) Here,
then, the Amazons remained for some time and were much strengthened. Then they
departed and crossed the river Halys, which flows near the city of Gangra, and
with equal success subdued Armenia, Syria, Cilicia, Galatia, Pisidia and all
the places of Asia. Then they turned to Ionia and Aeolia, and made provinces of
them after their surrender. Here they ruled for some time and even founded
cities and camps bearing their name. At Ephesus also they built a very costly
and beautiful temple for Diana, because of her delight in archery and the
chase--arts to which they were themselves devoted.
(52) Then
these Scythian-born women, who had by such a chance gained control over the
kingdoms of Asia, held them for almost a hundred years, and at last came back
to their own kinsfolk in the Marpesian rocks I have mentioned above, namely the
Caucasus mountains. Inasmuch as I have twice mentioned this mountain-range, I
think it not out of place to describe its extent and situation, for, as is well
known, it encompasses a great part of the earth with its continuous chain.
(53) Beginning
at the Indian Ocean, where it faces the south it is warm, giving off vapor in
the sun; where it lies open to the north it is exposed to chill winds and
frost. Then bending back into Syria with a curving turn, it not only sends
forth many other streams, but pours from its plenteous breasts into the
Vasianensian region the Euphrates and the Tigris, navigable rivers famed for
their unfailing springs. These rivers surround the land of the Syrians and
cause it to be called Mesopotamia, as it truly is. Their waters empty into the
bosom of the Red Sea.
(54) Then
turning back to the north, the range I have spoken of passes with great bends
through the Scythian lands. There it sends forth very famous rivers into the
Caspian Sea-- the Araxes, the Cyrus and the Cambyses. It goes on in continuous
range even to the Rhipaeian mountains. Thence it descends from the north toward
the Pontic Sea, furnishing a boundary to the Scythian tribes by its ridge, and
even touches the waters of the Ister with its clustered hills. Being cut by
this river, it divides, and in Scythia is named Taurus also.
(55) Such
then is the great range, almost the mightiest of mountain chains, rearing aloft
its summits and by its natural conformation supplying men with impregnable
strongholds. Here and there it divides where the ridge breaks apart and leaves
a deep gap, thus forming now the Caspian Gates, and again the Armenian or the
Cilician, or of whatever name the place may be. Yet they are barely passable
for a wagon, for both sides are sharp and steep as well as very high. The range
has different names among various peoples. The Indian calls it Imaus and in
another part Paropamisus. The Parthian calls it first Choatras and afterward
Niphates; the Syrian and Armenian call it Taurus; the Scythian names it
Caucasus and Rhipaeus, and at its end calls it Taurus. Many other tribes have
given names to the range. Now that we have devoted a few words to describing
its extent, let us return to the subject of the Amazons.
VIII
(56) Fearing
their race would fail, they sought marriage with neighboring tribes. They
appointed a day for meeting once in every year, so that when they should return
to the same place on that day in the following year each mother might give over
to the father whatever male child she had borne, but should herself keep and
train for warfare whatever children of the female sex were born. Or else, as
some maintain, they exposed the males, destroying the life of the ill-fated
child with a hate like that of a stepmother. Among them childbearing was
detested, though everywhere else it is desired.
The terror of their cruelty was
increased by common rumor; for what hope, pray, would there be for a captive,
when it was considered wrong to spare even a son? Hercules, they say, fought
against them and overcame Menalippe, yet more by guile than by valor. Theseus moreover,
took Hippolyte captive, and of her he begat Hippolytus. And in later times the
Amazons had a queen named Penthesilea, famed in the tales of the Trojan war.
These women are said to have kept their power even to the time of Alexander the
Great. IX (58) But say not "Why does a story which deals with the men of
the Goths have so much to say of their women?" Hear, then, the tale of the
famous and glorious valor of the men. Now Dio, the historian and diligent
investigator of ancient times, who gave to his work the title
"Getica" (and the Getae we have proved in a previous passage to be
Goths, on the testimony of Orosius Paulus)--this Dio, I say, makes mention of a
later king of theirs named Telefus. Let no one say that this name is quite
foreign to the Gothic tongue, and let no one who is ignorant cavil at the fact
that the tribes of men make use of many names, even as the Romans borrow from
the Macedonians, the Greeks from the Romans, the Sarmatians from the Germans,
and the Goths frequently from the Huns. (59) This Telefus, then, a son of
Hercules by Auge, and the husband of a sister of Priam, was of towering stature
and terrible strength. He matched his father's valor by virtues of his own and
also recalled the traits of Hercules by his likeness in appearance. Our
ancestors called his kingdom Moesia. This province has on the east the mouths
of the Danube, on the south Macedonia, on the west Histria and on the north the
Danube. (60) Now this king we have mentioned carried on wars with the Greeks,
and in their course he slew in battle Thesander, the leader of Greece. But
while he was making a hostile attack upon Ajax and was pursuing Ulysses, his
horse became entangled in some vines and fell. He himself was thrown and
wounded in the thigh by a javelin of Achilles, so that for a long time he could
not be healed. Yet, despite his wound, he drove the Greeks from his land. Now
when Telefus died, his son Eurypylus succeeded to the throne, being a son of
the sister of Priam, king of the Phrygians. For love of Cassandra he sought to
take part in the Trojan war, that he might come to the help of her parents and
his own father-in-law; but soon after his arrival he was killed. X (61) Then
Cyrus, king of the Persians, after a long interval of almost exactly six
hundred and thirty years (as Pompeius Trogus relates), waged an unsuccessful
war against Tomyris, Queen of the Getae. Elated by his victories in Asia, he
strove to conquer the Getae, whose queen, as I have said, was Tomyris. Though
she could have stopped the approach of Cyrus at the river Araxes, yet she
permitted him to cross, preferring to overcome him in battle rather than to
thwart him by advantage of position. And so she did. (62) As Cyrus approached,
fortune at first so favored the Parthians that they slew the son of Tomyris and
most of the army. But when the battle was renewed, the Getae and their queen
defeated, conquered and overwhelmed the Parthians and took rich plunder from
them. There for the first time the race of the Goths saw silken tents. After
achieving this victory and winning so much booty from her enemies, Queen
Tomyris crossed over into that part of Moesia which is now called Lesser
Scythia--a name borrowed from great Scythia,--and built on the Moesian shore of
Pontus the city of Tomi, named after herself. (63) Afterwards Darius, king of
the Persians, the son of Hystaspes, demanded in marriage the daughter of
Antyrus, king of the Goths, asking for her hand and at the same time making
threats in case they did not fulfil his wish. The Goths spurned this alliance
and brought his embassy to naught. Inflamed with anger because his offer had
been rejected, he led an army of seven hundred thousand armed men against them
and sought to avenge his wounded feelings by inflicting a public injury.
Crossing on boats covered with boards and joined like a bridge almost the whole
way from Chalcedon to Byzantium, he started for Thrace and Moesia. Later he
built a bridge over the Danube in like manner, but he was wearied by two brief
months of effort and lost eight thousand armed men among the Tapae. Then,
fearing the bridge over the Danube would be seized by his foes, he marched back
to Thrace in swift retreat, believing the land of Moesia would not be safe for
even a short sojourn there. (64) After his death, his son Xerxes planned to
avenge his father's wrongs and so proceeded to undertake a war against the
Goths with seven hundred thousand of his own men and three hundred thousand
armed auxiliaries, twelve hundred ships of war and three thousand transports.
But he did not venture to try them in battle, being overawed by their
unyielding animosity. So he returned with his force just as he had come, and
without fighting a single battle. (65) Then Philip, the father of Alexander the
Great, made alliance with the Goths and took to wife Medopa, the daughter of
King Gudila, so that he might render the kingdom of Macedon more secure by the
help of this marriage. It was at this time, as the historian Dio relates, that
Philip, suffering from need of money, determined to lead out his forces and
sack Odessus, a city of Moesia, which was then subject to the Goths by reason
of the neighboring city of Tomi. Thereupon those priests of the Goths that are
called the Holy Men suddenly opened the gates of Odessus and came forth to meet
them. They bore harps and were clad in snowy robes, and chanted in suppliant
strains to the gods of their fathers that they might be propitious and repel
the Macedonians. When the Macedonians saw them coming with such confidence to
meet them, they were astonished and, so to speak, the armed were terrified by
the unarmed. Straightway they broke the line they had formed for battle and not
only refrained from destroying the city, but even gave back those whom they had
captured outside by right of war. Then they made a truce and returned to their
own country. (66) After a long time Sitalces, a famous leader of the Goths,
remembering this treacherous attempt, gathered a hundred and fifty thousand men
and made war upon the Athenians, fighting against Perdiccas, King of Macedon.
This Perdiccas had been left by Alexander as his successor to rule Athens by
hereditary right, when he drank his destruction at Babylon through the
treachery of an attendant. The Goths engaged in a great battle with him and
proved themselves to be the stronger. Thus in return for the wrong which the
Macedonians had long before committed in Moesia, the Goths overran Greece and
laid waste the whole of Macedonia. XI (67) Then when Buruista was king of the
Goths, Dicineus came to Gothia at the time when Sulla ruled the Romans.
Buruista received Dicineus and gave him almost royal power. It was by his
advice the Goths ravaged the lands of the Germans, which the Franks now
possess. (68) Then came Caesar, the first of all the Romans to assume imperial
power and to subdue almost the whole world, who conquered all kingdoms and even
seized islands lying beyond our world, reposing in the bosom of Ocean. He made
tributary to the Romans those that knew not the Roman name even by hearsay, and
yet was unable to prevail against the Goths, despite his frequent attempts.
Soon Gaius Tiberius reigned as third emperor of the Romans, and yet the Goths
continued in their kingdom unharmed. (69) Their safety, their advantage, their
one hope lay in this, that whatever their counsellor Dicineus advised should by
all means be done; and they judged it expedient that they should labor for its
accomplishment. And when he saw that their minds were obedient to him in all
things and that they had natural ability, he taught them almost the whole of
philosophy, for he was a skilled master of this subject. Thus by teaching them
ethics he restrained their barbarous customs; by imparting a knowledge of
physics he made them live naturally under laws of their own, which they possess
in written form to this day and call belagines. He taught them logic and made
them skilled in reasoning beyond all other races; he showed them practical
knowledge and so persuaded them to abound in good works. By demonstrating
theoretical knowledge he urged them to contemplate the twelve signs and the
courses of the planets passing through them, and the whole of astronomy. He
told them how the disc of the moon gains increase or suffers loss, and showed
them how much the fiery globe of the sun exceeds in size our earthly planet. He
explained the names of the three hundred and forty-six stars and told through
what signs in the arching vault of the heavens they glide swiftly from their
rising to their setting. (70) Think, I pray you, what pleasure it was for these
brave men, when for a little space they had leisure from warfare, to be
instructed in the teachings of philosophy! You might have seen one scanning the
position of the heavens and another investigating the nature of plants and
bushes. Here stood one who studied the waxing and waning of the moon, while
still another regarded the labors of the sun and observed how those bodies
which were hastening to go toward the east are whirled around and borne back to
the west by the rotation of the heavens. When they had learned the reason, they
were at rest. (71) These and various other matters Dicineus taught the Goths in
his wisdom and gained marvellous repute among them, so that he ruled not only
the common men but their kings. He chose from among them those that were at
that time of noblest birth and superior wisdom and taught them theology,
bidding them worship certain divinities and holy places. He gave the name of
Pilleati to the priests he ordained, I suppose because they offered sacrifice
having their heads covered with tiaras, which we otherwise call pillei. (72)
But he bade them call the rest of their race Capillati. This name the Goths
accepted and prized highly, and they retain it to this day in their songs. (73)
After the death of Dicineus, they held Comosicus in almost equal honor, because
he was not inferior in knowledge. By reason of his wisdom he was accounted
their priest and king, and he judged the people with the greatest uprightness.
XII When he too had departed from human affairs, Coryllus ascended the throne
as king of the Goths and for forty years ruled his people in Dacia. I mean
ancient Dacia, which the race of the Gepidae now possess. (74) This country
lies across the Danube within sight of Moesia, and is surrounded by a crown of
mountains. It has only two ways of access, one by way of the Boutae and the
other by the Tapae. This Gothia, which our ancestors called Dacia and now, as I
have said, is called Gepidia, was then bounded on the east by the Roxolani, on
the west by the Iazyges, on the north by the Sarmatians and Basternae and on
the south by the river Danube. The Iazyges are separated from the Roxolani by
the Aluta river only. (75) And since mention has been made of the Danube, I
think it not out of place to make brief notice of so excellent a stream. Rising
in the fields of the Alamanni, it receives sixty streams which flow into it
here and there in the twelve hundred miles from its source to its mouths in the
Pontus, resembling a spine inwoven with ribs like a basket. It is indeed a most
vast river. In the language of the Bessi it is called the Hister, and it has
profound waters in its channel to a depth of quite two hundred feet. This
stream surpasses in size all other rivers, except the Nile. Let this much
suffice for the Danube. But let us now with the Lord's help return to the
subject from which we have digressed. XIII (76) Now after a long time, in the
reign of the Emperor Domitian, the Goths, through fear of his avarice, broke
the truce they had long observed under other emperors. They laid waste the bank
of the Danube, so long held by the Roman Empire, and slew the soldiers and
their generals. Oppius Sabinus was then in command of that province, succeeding
Agrippa, while Dorpaneus held command over the Goths. Thereupon the Goths made
war and conquered the Romans, cut off the head of Oppius Sabinus, and invaded
and boldly plundered many castles and cities belonging to the Emperor. (77) In
this plight of his countrymen Domitian hastened with all his might to
Illyricum, bringing with him the troops of almost the entire empire. He sent
Fuscus before him as his general with picked soldiers. Then joining boats
together like a bridge, he made his soldiers cross the river Danube above the
army of Dorpaneus. (78) But the Goths were on the alert. They took up arms and
presently overwhelmed the Romans in the first encounter. They slew Fuscus, the
commander, and plundered the soldiers' camp of its treasure. And because of the
great victory they had won in this region, they thereafter called their leaders,
by whose good fortune they seemed to have conquered, not mere men, but
demigods, that is Ansis. Their genealogy I shall run through briefly, telling
the lineage of each and the beginning and the end of this line. And do thou, O
reader, hear me without repining; for I speak truly. XIV (79) Now the first of
these heroes, as they themselves relate in their legends, was Gapt, who begat
Hulmul. And Hulmul begat Augis; and Augis begat him who was called Amal, from
whom the name of the Amali comes. This Amal begat Hisarnis. Hisarnis moreover
begat Ostrogotha, and Ostrogotha begat Hunuil, and Hunuil likewise begat Athal.
Athal begat Achiulf and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat Ansila and Ediulf, Vultuulf
and Hermanaric. And Vultuulf begat Valaravans and Valaravans begat Vinitharius.
Vinitharius moreover begat Vandalarius; (80) Vandalarius begat Thiudimer and
Valamir and Vidimer; and Thiudimer begat Theodoric. Theodoric begat
Amalasuentha; Amalasuentha bore Athalaric and Mathesuentha to her husband
Eutharic, whose race was thus joined to hers in kinship. (81) For the aforesaid
Hermanaric, the son of Achiulf, begat Hunimund, and Hunimund begat Thorismud.
Now Thorismud begat Beremud, Beremud begat Veteric, and Veteric likewise begat
Eutharic, who married Amalasuentha and begat Athalaric and Mathesuentha.
Athalaric died in the years of his childhood, and Mathesuentha married Vitiges,
to whom she bore no child. Both of them were taken together by Belisarius to
Constantinople. When Vitiges passed from human affairs, Germanus the patrician,
a cousin of the Emperor Justinian, took Mathesuentha in marriage and made her a
Patrician Ordinary. And of her he begat a son, also called Germanus. But upon
the death of Germanus, she determined to remain a widow. Now how and in what
wise the kingdom of the Amali was overthrown we shall keep to tell in its
proper place, if the Lord help us. (82) But let us now return to the point
whence we made our digression and tell how the stock of this people of whom I
speak reached the end of its course. Now Ablabius the historian relates that in
Scythia, where we have said that they were dwelling above an arm of the Pontic
Sea, part of them who held the eastern region and whose king was Ostrogotha,
were called Ostrogoths, that is, eastern Goths, either from his name or from
the place. But the rest were called Visigoths, that is, the Goths of the
western country. XV (83) As already said, they crossed the Danube and dwelt a
little while in Moesia and Thrace. From the remnant of these came Maximinus,
the Emperor succeeding Alexander the son of Mama. For Symmachus relates it thus
in the fifth book of his history, saying that upon the death of Caesar
Alexander, Maximinus was made Emperor by the army; a man born in Thrace of most
humble parentage, his father being a Goth named Micca, and his mother a woman
of the Alani called Ababa. He reigned three years and lost alike his empire and
his life while making war on the Christians. (84) Now after his first years
spent in rustic life, he had come from his flocks to military service in the
reign of the Emperor Severus and at the time when he was celebrating his son's
birthday. It happened that the Emperor was giving military games. When
Maximinus saw this, although he was a semi-barbarian youth, he besought the
Emperor in his native tongue to give him permission to wrestle with the trained
soldiers for the prizes offered. (85) Severus marvelling much at his great
size--for his stature, it is said, was more than eight feet,-- bade him contend
in wrestling with the camp followers, in order that no injury might befall his
soldiers at the hands of this wild fellow. Thereupon Maximinus threw sixteen
attendants with so great ease that he conquered them one by one without taking
any rest by pausing between the bouts. So then, when he had won the prizes, it
was ordered that he should be sent into the army and should take his first
campaign with the cavalry. On the third day after this, when the Emperor went
out to the field, he saw him coursing about in barbarian fashion and bade a tribune
restrain him and teach him Roman discipline. But when he understood it was the
Emperor who was speaking about him, he came forward and began to run ahead of
him as he rode. (86) Then the Emperor spurred on his horse to a slow trot and
wheeled in many a circle hither and thither with various turns, until he was
weary. And then he said to him "Are you willing to wrestle now after your
running, my little Thracian?" "As much as you like, O Emperor,"
he answered. So Severus leaped from his horse and ordered the freshest soldiers
to wrestle with him. But he threw to the ground seven very powerful youths,
even as before, taking no breathing space between the bouts. So he alone was
given prizes of silver and a golden necklace by Caesar. Then he was bidden to serve
in the body guard of the Emperor. (87) After this he was an officer under
Antoninus Caracalla, often increasing his fame by his deeds, and rose to many
military grades and finally to the centurionship as the reward of his active
service. Yet afterwards, when Macrinus became Emperor, he refused military
service for almost three years, and though he held the office of tribune, he
never came into the presence of Macrinus, thinking his rule shameful because he
had won it by committing a crime. (88) Then he returned to Eliogabalus,
believing him to be the son of Antoninus, and entered upon his tribuneship.
After his reign, he fought with marvellous success against the Parthians, under
Alexander the son of Mama. When he was slain in an uprising of the soldiers at
Mogontiacum, Maximinus himself was made Emperor by a vote of the army, without
a decree of the senate. But he marred all his good deeds by persecuting the
Christians in accordance with an evil vow and, being slain by Pupienus at
Aquileia, left the kingdom to Philip. These matters we have borrowed from the
history of Symmachus for this our little book, in order to show that the race
of which we speak attained to the very highest station in the Roman Empire. But
our subject requires us to return in due order to the point whence we
digressed. XVI (89) Now the Gothic race gained great fame in the region where
they were then dwelling, that is in the Scythian land on the shore of Pontus,
holding undisputed sway over great stretches of country, many arms of the sea
and many river courses. By their strong right arm the Vandals were often laid
low, the Marcomanni held their footing by paying tribute and the princes of the
Quadi were reduced to slavery. Now when the aforesaid Philip--who, with his son
Philip, was the only Christian emperor before Constantine--ruled over the
Romans, in the second year of his reign Rome completed its one thousandth year.
He withheld from the Goths the tribute due them; whereupon they were naturally
enraged and instead of friends became his foes. For though they dwelt apart
under their own kings, yet they had been allied to the Roman state and received
annual gifts. (90) And what more? Ostrogotha and his men soon crossed the
Danube and ravaged Moesia and Thrace. Philip sent the senator Decius against
him. And since he could do nothing against the Getae, he released his own
soldiers from military service and sent them back to private life, as though it
had been by their neglect that the Goths had crossed the Danube. When, as he
supposed, he had thus taken vengeance on his soldiers, he returned to Philip.
But when the soldiers found themselves expelled from the army after so many
hardships, in their anger they had recourse to the protection of Ostrogotha,
king of the Goths. (91) He received them, was aroused by their words and
presently led out three hundred thousand armed men, having as allies for this
war some of the Taifali and Astringi and also three thousand of the Carpi, a
race of men very ready to make war and frequently hostile to the Romans. But in
later times when Diocletian and Maximian were Emperors, the Caesar Galerius
Maximianus conquered them and made them tributary to the Roman Empire. Besides
these tribes, Ostrogotha had Goths and Peucini from the island of Peuce, which
lies in the mouths of the Danube where they empty into the Sea of Pontus. He
placed in command Argaithus and Guntheric, the noblest leaders of his race.
(92) They speedily crossed the Danube, devastated Moesia a second time and
approached Marcianople, the famed metropolis of that land. Yet after a long
siege they departed, upon receiving money from the inhabitants. (93) Now since
we have mentioned Marcianople, we may briefly relate a few matters in
connection with its founding. They say that the Emperor Trajan built this city
for the following reason. While his sister's daughter Marcia was bathing in the
stream called Potamus--a river of great clearness and purity that rises in the
midst of the city- -she wished to draw some water from it and by chance dropped
into its depths the golden pitcher she was carrying. Yet though very heavy from
its weight of metal, it emerged from the waves a long time afterwards. It
surely is not a usual thing for an empty vessel to sink; much less that, when
once swallowed up, it should be cast up by the waves and float again. Trajan
marvelled at hearing this and believed there was some divinity in the stream.
So he built a city and called it Marcianople after the name of his sister. XVII
(94) From this city, then, as we were saying, the Getae returned after a long
siege to their own land, enriched by the ransom they had received. Now the race
of the Gepidae was moved with envy when they saw them laden with booty and so
suddenly victorious everywhere, and made war on their kinsmen. Should you ask
how the Getae and Gepidae are kinsmen, I can tell you in a few words. You
surely remember that in the beginning I said the Goths went forth from the
bosom of the island of Scandza with Berig, their king, sailing in only three
ships toward the hither shore of Ocean, namely to Gothiscandza. (95) One of
these three ships proved to be slower than the others, as is usually the case,
and thus is said to have given the tribe their name, for in their language
gepanta means slow. Hence it came to pass that gradually and by corruption the
name Gepidae was coined for them by way of reproach. For undoubtedly they too
trace their origin from the stock of the Goths, but because, as I have said,
gepanta means something slow and stolid, the word Gepidae arose as a gratuitous
name of reproach. I do not believe this is very far wrong, for they are slow of
thought and too sluggish for quick movement of their bodies. (96) These Gepidae
were then smitten by envy while they dwelt in the province of Spesis on an island
surrounded by the shallow waters of the Vistula. This island they called, in
the speech of their fathers, Gepedoios; but it is now inhabited by the race of
the Vividarii, since the Gepidae themselves have moved to better lands. The
Vividarii are gathered from various races into this one asylum, if I may call
it so, and thus they form a nation. (97) So then, as we were saying, Fastida,
king of the Gepidae, stirred up his quiet people to enlarge their boundaries by
war. He overwhelmed the Burgundians, almost annihilating them, and conquered a
number of other races also. He unjustly provoked the Goths, being the first to
break the bonds of kinship by unseemly strife. He was greatly puffed up with
vain glory, but in seeking to acquire new lands for his growing nation, he only
reduced the numbers of his own countrymen. (98) For he sent ambassadors to
Ostrogotha, to whose rule Ostrogoths and Visigoths alike, that is, the two
peoples of the same tribe, were still subject. Complaining that he was hemmed
in by rugged mountains and dense forests, he demanded one of two things,-- that
Ostrogotha should either prepare for war or give up part of his lands to them.
(99) Then Ostrogotha, king of the Goths, who was a man of firm mind, answered
the ambassadors that he did indeed dread such a war and that it would be a
grievous and infamous thing to join battle with their kin,--but he would not
give up his lands. And why say more? The Gepidae hastened to take arms and
Ostrogotha likewise moved his forces against them, lest he should seem a
coward. They met at the town of Galtis, near which the river Auha flows, and
there both sides fought with great valor; indeed the similarity of their arms
and of their manner of fighting turned them against their own men. But the
better cause and their natural alertness aided the Goths. (100) Finally night
put an end to the battle as a part of the Gepidae were giving way. Then
Fastida, king of the Gepidae, left the field of slaughter and hastened to his
own land, as much humiliated with shame and disgrace as formerly he had been
elated with pride. The Goths returned victorious, content with the retreat of
the Gepidae, and dwelt in peace and happiness in their own land so long as
Ostrogotha was their leader. XVIII (101) After his death, Cniva divided the
army into two parts and sent some to waste Moesia, knowing that it was
undefended through the neglect of the emperors. He himself with seventy
thousand men hastened to Euscia, that is, Novae. When driven from this place by
the general Gallus, he approached Nicopolis, a very famous town situated near
the Iatrus river. This city Trajan built when he conquered the Sarmatians and
named it the City of Victory. When the Emperor Decius drew near, Cniva at last
withdrew to the regions of Haemus, which were not far distant. Thence he
hastened to Philippopolis, with his forces in good array. (102) When the
Emperor Decius learned of his departure, he was eager to bring relief to his
own city and, crossing Mount Haemus, came to Beroa. While he was resting his horses
and his weary army in that place, all at once Cniva and his Goths fell upon him
like a thunderbolt. He cut the Roman army to pieces and drove the Emperor, with
a few who had succeeded in escaping, across the Alps again to Euscia in Moesia,
where Gallus was then stationed with a large force of soldiers as guardian of
the frontier. Collecting an army from this region as well as from Oescus, he
prepared for the conflict of the coming war. (103) But Cniva took Philippopolis
after a long siege and then, laden with spoil, allied himself to Priscus, the
commander in the city, to fight against Decius. In the battle that followed
they quickly pierced the son of Decius with an arrow and cruelly slew him. The
father saw this, and although he is said to have exclaimed, to cheer the hearts
of his soldiers: "Let no one mourn; the death of one soldier is not a
great loss to the republic", he was yet unable to endure it, because of
his love for his son. So he rode against the foe, demanding either death or vengeance,
and when he came to Abrittus, a city of Moesia, he was himself cut off by the
Goths and slain, thus making an end of his dominion and of his life. This place
is to-day called the Altar of Decius, because he there offered strange
sacrifices to idols before the battle. XIX (104) Then upon the death of Decius,
Gallus and Volusianus succeeded to the Roman Empire. At this time a destructive
plague, almost like death itself, such as we suffered nine years ago, blighted
the face of the whole earth and especially devastated Alexandria and all the
land of Egypt. The historian Dionysius gives a mournful account of it and
Cyprian, our own bishop and venerable martyr in Christ, also describes it in
his book entitled "On Mortality". At this time the Goths frequently
ravaged Moesia, through the neglect of the Emperors. (105) When a certain
Aemilianus saw that they were free to do this, and that they could not be
dislodged by anyone without great cost to the republic, he thought that he too
might be able to achieve fame and fortune. So he seized the rule in Moesia and,
taking all the soldiers he could gather, began to plunder cities and people. In
the next few months, while an armed host was being gathered against him, he
wrought no small harm to the state. Yet he died almost at the beginning of his
evil attempt, thus losing at once his life and the power he coveted. (106) Now
though Gallus and Volusianus, the Emperors we have mentioned, departed this
life after remaining in power for barely two years, yet during this space of
two years which they spent on earth they reigned amid universal peace and
favor. Only one thing was laid to their charge, namely the great plague. But
this was an accusation made by ignorant slanderers, whose custom it is to wound
the lives of others with their malicious bite. Soon after they came to power
they made a treaty with the race of the Goths. When both rulers were dead, it
was no long time before Gallienus usurped the throne. XX (107) While he was
given over to luxurious living of every sort, Respa, Veduc and Thuruar, leaders
of the Goths, took ship and sailed across the strait of the Hellespont to Asia.
There they laid waste many populous cities and set fire to the renowned temple
of Diana at Ephesus, which, as we said before, the Amazons built. Being driven
from the neighborhood of Bithynia, they destroyed Chalcedon, which Cornelius
Avitus afterwards restored to some extent. Yet even to-day, though it is
happily situated near the royal city, it still shows some traces of its ruin as
a witness to posterity. (108) After their success, the Goths recrossed the
strait of the Hellespont, laden with booty and spoil, and returned along the
same route by which they had entered the lands of Asia, sacking Troy and Ilium
on the way. These cities, which had scarce recovered a little from the famous
war with Agamemnon, were thus destroyed anew by the hostile sword. After the
Goths had thus devastated Asia, Thrace next felt their ferocity. For they went
thither and presently attacked Anchiali, a city at the foot of Haemus and not
far from the sea. Sardanapalus, king of the Parthians, had built this city long
ago between an inlet of the sea and the base of Haemus. (109) There they are
said to have stayed for many days, enjoying the baths of the hot springs which are
situated about twelve miles from the city of Anchiali. There they gush from the
depths of their fiery source, and among the innumerable hot springs of the
world they are esteemed as specially famous and efficacious for their healing
virtues. XXI (110) After these events, the Goths had already returned home when
they were summoned at the request of the Emperor Maximian to aid the Romans
against the Parthians. They fought for him faithfully, serving as auxiliaries.
But after Caesar Maximian by their aid had routed Narseus, king of the
Persians, the grandson of Sapor the Great, taking as spoil all his possessions,
together with his wives and his sons, and when Diocletian had conquered
Achilles in Alexandria and Maximianus Herculius had broken the Quinquegentiani
in Africa, thus winning peace for the empire, they began rather to neglect the
Goths. (111) Now it had long been a hard matter for the Roman army to fight
against any nations whatsoever without them. This is evident from the way in
which the Goths were so frequently called upon. Thus they were summoned by
Constantine to bear arms against his kinsman Licinius. Later, when he was
vanquished and shut up in Thessalonica and deprived of his power, they slew him
with the sword of Constantine the victor. (112) In like manner it was the aid
of the Goths that enabled him to build the famous city that is named after him,
the rival of Rome, inasmuch as they entered into a truce with the Emperor and
furnished him forty thousand men to aid him against various peoples. This body
of men, namely, the Allies, and the service they rendered in war are still
spoken of in the land to this day. Now at that time they prospered under the
rule of their kings Ariaric and Aoric. Upon their death Geberich appeared as
successor to the throne, a man renowned for his valor and noble birth. XXII
(113) For he was the son of Hilderith, who was the son of Ovida, who was the
son of Nidada; and by his illustrious deeds he equalled the glory of his race.
Soon he sought to enlarge his country's narrow bounds at the expense of the
race of the Vandals and Visimar, their king. This Visimar was of the stock of
the Asdingi, which is eminent among them and indicates a most warlike descent,
as Dexippus the historian relates. He states furthermore that by reason of the
great extent of their country they could scarcely come from Ocean to our
frontier in a year's time. At that time they dwelt in the land where the
Gepidae now live, near the rivers Marisia, Miliare, Gilpil and the Grisia,
which exceeds in size all previously mentioned. (114) They then had on the east
the Goths, on the west the Marcomanni, on the north the Hermunduli and on the
south the Hister, which is also called the Danube. At the time when the Vandals
were dwelling in this region, war was begun against them by Geberich, king of
the Goths, on the shore of the river Marisia which I have mentioned. Here the
battle raged 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. (115) When Geberich, the famous leader of the Goths, had conquered and
spoiled the 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.
XXIII (116) Soon Geberich, king of the Goths, departed 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, Navego, Bubegenae and Coldae.
(117) 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 hele ; hence they were named Heluri. They were a
people swift of foot, and on that account were the more swollen with pride,
(118) for there was 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. (119)
After the slaughter of the 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. (120) This ruler also subdued
by his 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. XXIV (121) But after a short space of time, as Orosius
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. (122) There the unclean spirits, who beheld them as they wandered 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 but slight resemblance to
human speech. Such was the descent of the Huns who came to the country of the
Goths. (123) This cruel tribe, as Priscus the historian relates, settled 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. (124) The hunters followed
and 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. (125) And the Huns, who had
been wholly ignorant 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. (126) Like a whirlwind
of 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. (127) For by the terror 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 day 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. (128) Hence they grow old beardless
and their young men are 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. (129) When the Getae beheld this active race that had invaded 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 Ammius 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. (130)
Balamber, king of the Huns, took advantage of his ill 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) XXV (131) The
Visigoths, who were their other allies and 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. (132) When Valens
learned this, he gladly and 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. (133) Moreover, 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. XXVI (134) Soon famine and want came upon them, as 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. (135) When their goods and
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. Now it came to
pass in that troubIous 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. (136) But Fritigern, thinking no 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. (137) Thus these valiant 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. (138) When the Emperor Valens heard of
this at Antioch, 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. XXVII (139) Now in the place of
Valens, his uncle, the 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. (140) But when the soldiers, who had
obtained 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. (141) Now the 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.
XXVIII (142) When the Emperor Theodosius afterwards 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.
(143) Athanaric very gladly consented and 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." (144) In the midst of his admiration and the enjoyment 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.
(145) Now when 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. XXIX (146) But after Theodosius,
the lover of peace and 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, that is, The Bold. (147) 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.
(148) This city lies amid the streams of the Po between 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. (149) On the 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. (150) On
the south likewise is the 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. (151) Fabius says
that this, which was 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. XXX (152) But as I was saying, when the army of
the 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. (153) He finally decided that Alaric and his 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 country given them. (154) When
they had gone away without doing any harm 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. (155) When the
Goths suddenly 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 AemiIia, and then hastened toward the city of
Rome along the Flaminian Way, which runs between Picenum and Tuscia, taking as
booty whatever they found on either hand. (156) 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. 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. (157) To this place came
Alaric, king of the 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. (158) His people mourned for 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. XXXI (159) When Athavulf became
king, he returned 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 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. (161) Upon his arrival the
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. (162)
But no long time after they had taken possession of Gaul 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. (163) Now when
the 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. XXXII (164) 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. (165) Pleased with this promise, Constantius 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. Hereupon
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.
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. (166) Now in the twelfth year of Valia's reign the Huns 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. XXXIII (167) But Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, had already
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. (168)
Gaiseric, still famous in the City for the disaster 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. (169) Such was he who, 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. (170) Now this is their order of
succession: first, Gaiseric 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. (171) But 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 life. (172) 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. (173) Now Valia, king of
the Goths, and his army fought so 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.
(174) Just at 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.
(175) Beremud came to 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. XXXIV (176) And what more? Valia (to repeat what we 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 the 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 Aëtius 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. (177) So then, with
the Huns as 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. (178) During this peace Attila was lord over all the Huns 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 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. (179) There you might see dining halls of
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. XXXV (180) Now
this Attila was the son of Mundiuch, 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. (181) But
though he increased 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. (182) His army
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. (183) And though his temper was such 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." XXXVI
(184) Now when Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, 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. (185) Attila, therefore, in his efforts
to bring about the wars 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 filled the rest of the
letter with the usual flattering salutations, striving to win credence for his
falsehood. (186) In like manner he despatched 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. Then
the Emperor Valentinian sent an embassy to the Visigoths and their king
Theodorid, with this message: (187) "Bravest of nations, it is the part of
prudence for us to 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.
(188) Pray remember--what 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 such
an alliance should be sought and welcomed by us, look into the plans of the
foe." (189) By these and like arguments the ambassadors of Valentinian
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 is weak; for he fears no ill on whom Majesty has
smiled." (190) The nobles shouted assent 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 Mimnerith,
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 the aid
of those who delight to share in the same dangers! (191) On the side of the
Romans stood the Patrician Aëtius, 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 Romans soldiers and now the flower of the allied forces), and some other
Celtic or German tribes. (192) And so they met in the Catalaunian Plains, which
are 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. (193) What just
cause can 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. XXXVII (194) But before we set
forth the order of the 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 dwelt. (195) When Theodorid and Aëtius 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. (196) So, as was their
custom, 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 Aëtius a thing to be desired even at the cost of
his own life, for Aëtius 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. XXXVIII (197) The armies met, as we have
said, in the 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 Aëtius
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 fighting. (198) On the other side, however,
the battle line of the Huns was arranged so 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 the divers tribes, which he had subjected to his sway, formed the
wings. (199) Amid them 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. (200) Valamir was a 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. (201) Attila alone was 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 Aëtius, 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. XXXIX (202) Now when Attila saw his army was thrown 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. (203) It is not right for
me to 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. (204) Let 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. (205) Then on to the fray with stout 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 revel in slaughter of the enemy. (206) 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 a 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. XL (207) And although the situation
was itself fearful, yet 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. (208) For, if we may believe our 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. (209) Here King Theodorid, while
riding by to encourage 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 Aëtius. (210) Then the Visigoths,
separating from the Alani, fell upon 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. (211) But Thorismud,
the son of King Theodorid, who with Aëtius 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. (212) Aëtius 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. (213) Therefore the Goths and 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. XLI (214) Now during these delays in
the siege, the Visigoths 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. (215) And so the Goths, still
continuing the 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 Aëtius
(for he was an older man and of more mature wisdom) with regard to what he
ought to do next. (216) But Aëtius feared that if the 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.
(217) Thus while human frailty rushes into 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. (218) Now when Attila learned of the retreat of the Goths, 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. 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. XLII (219 But
Attila took occasion from the withdrawal 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. (220) The siege was long and
fierce, but of no avail, 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. (221)
Being 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. (222) Then growing
bolder 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. 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. (223) Therefore while Attila's spirit was
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. (224) For it was said 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 her brother's power;--a shameful thing,
indeed, to get license for her passion at the cost of the public weal. XLIII
(225) So Attila returned to his own country, seeming 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. (226) But here 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. (227) But Thorismud, king of the Visigoths, with like 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. (228)
Now after the bands 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. XLIV (229) After
his death, his brother Theodorid succeeded 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. (230) The Suavi
formerly occupied as their country Galicia and 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. (231) Theodorid, 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. (232) They came to
battle near the river 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. (233) When Theodorid had become
the victor, he spared the 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. (234) As soon as 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. XLV (235) His brother Eurich succeeded him with such 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. (236) After him Majorian undertook
the government 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. (237) Now Eurich, king of
the Visigoths, perceived the frequent 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. (238) Eurich, king of the 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. (239) Engaged in fierce war with his son-in-law Ricimer, he had worn
out Rome and was himself finally slain by his son-in-law and yielded the rule
to Olybrius. 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. (240) When Eurich, as we have already
said, beheld these 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. (241) When 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. XLVI (242) Now
when Augustulus had been appointed Emperor by his father Orestes in Ravenna, it
was not long before Odoacer, king of the Torcilingi, invaded Italy, as leader
of the Sciri, the Heruli and allies of various races. He put Orestes to death,
drove his son Augustulus from the throne and condemned him to the punishment of
exile in the Castle of Lucullus in Campania. (243) Thus the Western Empire of
the Roman race, which Octavianus Augustus, the first of the Augusti, began to
govern in the seven hundred and ninth year from the founding of the city,
perished with this Augustulus in the five hundred and twenty second year from
the beginning of the rule of his predecessors and those before them, and from
this time onward kings of the Goths held Rome and Italy. Meanwhile Odoacer,
king of nations, subdued all Italy and then at the very outset of his reign
slew Count Bracila at Ravenna that he might inspire a fear of himself among the
Romans. He strengthened his kingdom and held it for almost thirteen years, even
until the appearance of Theodoric, of whom we shall speak hereafter. XLVII
(244) But first let us return to that order from which we have digressed and
tell how Eurich, king of the Visigoths, beheld the tottering of the Roman
Empire and reduced Arelate and Massilia to his own sway. Gaiseric, king of the
Vandals, enticed him by gifts to do these things, to the end that he himself
might forestall the plots which Leo and Zeno had contrived against him.
Therefore he stirred the Ostrogoths to lay waste the Eastern Empire and the
Visigoths the Western, so that while his foes were battling in both empires, he
might himself reign peacefully in Africa. Eurich perceived this with gladness
and, as he already held all of Spain and Gaul by his own right, proceeded to
subdue the Burgundians also. In the nineteenth year of his reign he was
deprived of his life at Arelate, where he then dwelt. (245) He was succeeded by
his own son Alaric, the ninth in succession from the famous Alaric the Great to
receive the kingdom of the Visigoths. For even as it happened to the line of
the Augusti, as we have stated above, so too it appears in the line of the
Alarici, that kingdoms often come to an end in kings who bear the same name as
those at the beginning. Meanwhile let us leave this subject, and weave together
the whole story of the origin of the Goths, as we promised. (The Divided Goths:
Ostrogoths) XLVIII (246) Since I have followed the stories of my ancestors and
retold to the best of my ability the tale of the period when both tribes,
Ostrogoths and Visigoths, were united, and then clearly treated of the
Visigoths apart from the Ostrogoths, I must now return to those ancient
Scythian abodes and set forth in like manner the ancestry and deeds of the
Ostrogoths. It appears that at the death of their king, Hermanaric, they were
made a separate people by the departure of the Visigoths, and remained in their
country subject to the sway of the Huns; yet Vinitharius of the Amali retained
the insignia of his rule. (247) He rivalled the valor of his grandfather Vultuulf,
although he had not the good fortune of Hermanaric. But disliking to remain
under the rule of the Huns, he withdrew a little from them and strove to show
his courage by moving his forces against the country of the Antes. When he
attacked them, he was beaten in the first encounter. Thereafter he did
valiantly and, as a terrible example, crucified their king, named Boz, together
with his sons and seventy nobles, and left their bodies hanging there to double
the fear of those who had surrendered. (248) When he had ruled with such
license for barely a year, Balamber, king of the Huns, would no longer endure
it, but sent for Gesimund, son of Hunimund the Great. Now Gesimund, together
with a great part of the Goths, remained under the rule of the Huns, being mindful
of his oath of fidelity. Balamber renewed his alliance with him and led his
army up against Vinitharius. After a long contest, Vinitharius prevailed in the
first and in the second conflict, nor can any say how great a slaughter he made
of the army of the Huns. (249) But in the third battle, when they met each
other unexpectedly at the river named Erac, Balamber shot an arrow and wounded
Vinitharius in the head, so that he died. Then Balamber took to himself in
marriage Vadamerca, the grand-daughter of Vinitharius, and finally ruled all
the people of the Goths as his peaceful subjects, but in such a way that one
ruler of their own number always held the power over the Gothic race, though
subject to the Huns. (250) And later, after the death of Vinitharius, Hunimund
ruled them, the son of Hermanaric, a mighty king of yore; a man fierce in war
and of famous personal beauty, who afterwards fought successfully against the
race of the Suavi. And when he died, his son Thorismud succeeded him, in the
very bloom of youth. In the second year of his rule he moved an army against
the Gepidae and won a great victory over them, but is said to have been killed
by falling from his horse. (251) When he was dead, the Ostrogoths mourned for
him so deeply that for forty years no other king succeeded in his place, and
during all this time they had ever on their lips the tale of his memory. Now as
time went on, Valamir grew to man's estate. He was the son of Thorismud's
cousin Vandalarius. For his son Beremud, as we have said before, at last grew
to despise the race of the Ostrogoths because of the overlordship of the Huns,
and so had followed the tribe of the Visigoths to the western country, and it
was from him Veteric was descended. Veteric also had a son Eutharic, who married
Amalasuentha, the daughter of Theodoric, thus uniting again the stock of the
Amali which had divided long ago. Eutharic begat Athalaric and Mathesuentha.
But since Athalaric died in the years of his boyhood, Mathesuentha was taken to
Constantinople by her second husband, namely Germanus, a cousin of the Emperor
Justinian, and bore a posthumous son, whom she named Germanus. (252) But that
the order we have taken for our history may run its due course, we must return
to the stock of Vandalarius, which put forth three branches. This Vandalarius,
the son of a brother of Hermanaric and cousin of the aforesaid Thorismud,
vaunted himself among the race of the Amali because he had begotten three sons,
Valamir, Thiudimer and Vidimer. Of these Valamir ascended the throne after his
parents, though the Huns as yet held the power over the Goths in general as
among other nations. (253) It was pleasant to behold the concord of these three
brothers; for the admirable Thiudimer served as a soldier for the empire of his
brother Valamir, and Valamir bade honors be given him, while Vidimer was eager
to serve them both. Thus regarding one another with common affection, not one
was wholly deprived of the kingdom which two of them held in mutual peace. Yet,
as has often been said, they ruled in such a way that they respected the
dominion of Attila, king or the Huns. Indeed they could not have refused to
fight against their kinsmen the Visigoths, and they must even have committed
parricide at their lord's command. There was no way whereby any Scythian tribe
could have been wrested from the power of the Huns, save by the death of
Attila,--an event the Romans and all other nations desired. Now his death was
as base as his life was marvellous. XLIX (254) Shortly before he died, as the
historian Priscus relates, he took in marriage a very beautiful girl named
Ildico, after countless other wives, as was the custom of his race. He had
given himself up to excessive joy at his wedding, and as he lay on his back,
heavy with wine and sleep, a rush of superfluous blood, which would ordinarily
have flowed from his nose, streamed in deadly course down his throat and killed
him, since it was hindered in the usual passages. Thus did drunkenness put a
disgraceful end to a king renowned in war. On the following day, when a great
part of the morning was spent, the royal attendants suspected some ill and,
after a great uproar, broke in the doors. There they found the death of Attila
accomplished by an effusion of blood, without any wound, and the girl with
downcast face weeping beneath her veil. (255) Then, as is the custom of that
race, they plucked out the hair of their heads and made their faces hideous
with deep wounds, that the renowned warrior might be mourned, not by effeminate
wailings and tears, but by the blood of men. Moreover a wondrous thing took
place in connection with Attila's death. For in a dream some god stood at the
side of Marcian, Emperor of the East, while he was disquieted about his fierce
foe, and showed him the bow of Attila broken in that same night, as if to
intimate that the race of Huns owed much to that weapon. This account the
historian Priscus says he accepts upon truthful evidence. For so terrible was
Attila thought to be to great empires that the gods announced his death to
rulers as a special boon. (256) We shall not omit to say a few words about the
many ways in which his shade was honored by his race. His body was placed in
the midst of a plain and lay in state in a silken tent as a sight for men's
admiration. The best horsemen of the entire tribe of the Huns rode around in
circles, after the manner of circus games, in the place to which he had been
brought and told of his deeds in a funeral dirge in the following manner: (257)
"The chief of the Huns, King Attila, born of his sire Mundiuch, lord of
bravest tribes, sole possessor of the Scythian and German realms--powers
unknown before--captured cities and terrified both empires of the Roman world
and, appeased by their prayers, took annual tribute to save the rest from plunder.
And when he had accomplished all this by the favor of fortune, he fell, not by
wound of the foe, nor by treachery of friends, but in the midst of his nation
at peace, happy in his joy and without sense of pain. Who can rate this as
death, when none believes it calls for vengeance?" (258) When they had
mourned him with such lamentations, a strava , as they call it, was celebrated
over his tomb with great revelling. They gave way in turn to the extremes of
feeling and displayed funereal grief alternating with joy. Then in the secrecy
of night they buried his body in the earth. They bound his coffins, the first
with gold, the second with silver and the third with the strength of iron,
showing by such means that these three things suited the mightiest of kings;
iron because he subdued the nations, gold and silver because he received the
honors of both empires. They also added the arms of foemen won in the fight,
trappings of rare worth, sparkling with various gems, and ornaments of all
sorts whereby princely state is maintained. And that so great riches might be
kept from human curiosity, they slew those appointed to the work--a dreadful
pay for their labor; and thus sudden death was the lot of those who buried him
as well as of him who was buried. L (259) After they had fulfilled these rites,
a contest for the highest place arose among Attila's successors,--for the minds
of young men are wont to be inflamed by ambition for power,--and in their rash
eagerness to rule they all alike destroyed his empire. Thus kingdoms are often
weighed down by a superfluity rather than by a lack of successors. For the sons
of Attila, who through the license of his lust formed almost a people of
themselves, were clamoring that the nations should be divided among them
equally and that warlike kings with their peoples should be apportioned to them
by lot like a family estate. (260) When Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, learned
this, he became enraged because so many nations were being treated like slaves
of the basest condition, and was the first to rise against the sons of Attila.
Good fortune attended him, and he effaced the disgrace of servitude that rested
upon him. For by his revolt he freed not only his own tribe, but all the others
who were equally oppressed; since all readily strive for that which is sought
for the general advantage. They took up arms against the destruction that
menaced all and joined battle with the Huns in Pannonia, near a river called
Nedao. (261) There an encounter took place between the various nations Attila
had held under his sway. Kingdoms with their peoples were divided, and out of
one body were made many members not responding to a common impulse. Being
deprived of their head, they madly strove against each other. They never found
their equals ranged against them without harming each other by wounds mutually
given. And so the bravest nations tore themselves to pieces. For then, I think,
must have occurred a most remarkable spectacle, where one might see the Goths
fighting with pikes, the Gepidae raging with the sword, the Rugi breaking off
the spears in their own wounds, the Suavi fighting on foot, the Huns with bows,
the Alani drawing up a battle-line of heavy-armed and the Heruli of light-
armed warriors. (262) Finally, after many bitter conflicts, victory fell
unexpectedly to the Gepidae. For the sword and conspiracy of Ardaric destroyed
almost thirty thousand men, Huns as well as those of the other nations who
brought them aid. In this battle fell Ellac, the elder son of Attila, whom his
father is said to have loved so much more than all the rest that he preferred
him to any child or even to all the children of his kingdom. But fortune was
not in accord with his father's wish. For after slaying many of the foe, it
appears that he met his death so bravely that, if his father had lived, he
would have rejoiced at his glorious end. (263) When Ellac was slain, his
remaining brothers were put to flight near the shore of the Sea of Pontus,
where we have said the Goths first settled. Thus did the Huns give way, a race
to which men thought the whole world must yield. So baneful a thing is
division, that they who used to inspire terror when their strength was united,
were overthrown separately. The cause of Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was
fortunate for the various nations who were unwillingly subject to the rule of
the Huns, for it raised their long downcast spirits to the glad hope of
freedom. Many sent ambassadors to the Roman territory, where they were most
graciously received by Marcian, who was then emperor, and took the abodes
allotted them to dwell in. (264) But the Gepidae by their own might won for
themselves the territory of the Huns and ruled as victors over the extent of
all Dacia, demanding of the Roman Empire nothing more than peace and an annual
gift as a pledge of their friendly alliance. This the Emperor freely granted at
the time, and to this day that race receives its customary gifts from the Roman
Emperor. Now when the Goths saw the Gepidae defending for themselves the
territory of the Huns and the people of the Huns dwelling again in their
ancient abodes, they preferred to ask for lands from the Roman Empire, rather
than invade the lands of others with danger to themselves. So they received
Pannonia, which stretches in a long plain, being bounded on the east by Upper
Moesia, on the south by Dalmatia, on the west by Noricum and on the north by
the Danube. This land is adorned with many cities, the first of which is
Sirmium and the last Vindobona. (265) But the Sauromatae, whom we call Sarmatians,
and the Cemandri and certain of the Huns dwelt in Castra Martis, a city given
them in the region of Illyricum. Of this race was Blivila, Duke of Pentapolis,
and his brother Froila and also Bessa, a Patrician in our time. The Sciri,
moreover, and the Sadagarii and certain of the Alani with their leader, Candac
by name, received Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia. (266) Paria, the father of my
father Alanoviiamuth (that is to say, my grandfather), was secretary to this
Candac as long as he lived. To his sister's son Gunthigis, also called Baza,
the Master of the Soldiery, who was the son of Andag the son of Andela, who was
descended from the stock of the Amali, I also, Jordanes, although an unlearned
man before my conversion, was secretary. The Rugi, however, and some other
races asked that they might inhabit Bizye and Arcadiopolis. Hernac, the younger
son of Attila, with his followers, chose a home in the most distant part of
Lesser Scythia. Emnetzur and Ultzindur, kinsmen of his, won Oescus and Utus and
Almus in Dacia on the bank of the Danube, and many of the Huns, then swarming
everywhere, betook themselves into Romania, and from them the Sacromontisi and
the Fossatisii of this day are said to be descended. LI (267) There were other
Goths also, called the Lesser, a great people whose priest and primate was
Vulfila, who is said to have taught them to write. And to-day they are in
Moesia, inhabiting the Nicopolitan region as far as the base of Mount Haemus.
They are a numerous people, but poor and unwarlike, rich in nothing save flocks
of various kinds and pasture-lands for cattle and forests for wood. Their
country is not fruitful in wheat and other sorts of grain. Certain of them do
not know that vineyards exist elsewhere, and they buy their wine from neighboring
countries. But most of them drink milk. LII (268) Let us now return to the
tribe with which we started, namely the Ostrogoths, who were dwelling in
Pannonia under their king Valamir and his brothers Thiudimer and Vidimer.
Although their territories were separate, yet their plans were one. For Valamir
dwelt between the rivers Scarniunga and Aqua Nigra, Thiudimer near Lake Pelso
and Vidimer between them both. Now it happened that the sons of Attila,
regarding the Goths as deserters from their rule, came against them as though
they were seeking fugitive slaves, and attacked Valamir alone, when his
brothers knew nothing of it. (269) He sustained their attack, though he had but
few supporters, and after harassing them a long time, so utterly overwhelmed
them that scarcely any portion of the enemy remained. The remnant turned in
flight and sought the parts of Scythia which border on the stream of the river
Danaper, which the Huns call in their own tongue the Var. Thereupon he sent a
messenger of good tidings to his brother Thiudimer, and on the very day the
messenger arrived he found even greater joy in the house of Thiudimer. For on
that day his son Theodoric was born, of a concubine Erelieva indeed, and yet a
child of good hope. (270) Now after no great time King Valamir and his brothers
Thiudimer and Vidimer sent an embassy to the Emperor Marcian, because the usual
gifts which they received like a New Year's present from the Emperor, to
preserve the compact of peace, were slow in arriving. And they found that Theodoric,
son of Triarius, a man of Gothic blood also, but born of another stock, not of
the Amali, was in great favor, together with his followers. He was allied in
friendship with the Romans and obtained an annual bounty, while they themselves
were merely held in disdain. (271) Thereat they were aroused to frenzy and took
up arms. They roved through almost the whole of Illyricum and laid it waste in
their search for spoil. Then the Emperor quickly changed his mind and returned
to his former state of friendship. He sent an embassy to give them the past
gifts, as well as those now due, and furthermore promised to give these gifts
in future without any dispute. From the Goths the Romans received as a hostage
of peace Theodoric, the young child of Thiudimer, whom we have mentioned above.
He had now attained the age of seven years and was entering upon his eighth.
While his father hesitated about giving him up, his uncle Valamir besought him
to do it, hoping that peace between the Romans and the Goths might thus be
assured. Therefore Theodoric was given as a hostage by the Goths and brought to
the city of Constantinople to the Emperor Leo and, being a goodly child,
deservedly gained the imperial favor. LIII (272) Now after firm peace was
established between Goths and Romans, the Goths found that the possessions they
had received from the Emperor were not sufficient for them. Furthermore, they
were eager to display their wonted valor, and so began to plunder the
neighboring races round about them, first attacking the Sadagis who held the
interior of Pannonia. When Dintzic, king of the Huns, a son of Attila, learned
this, he gathered to him the few who still seemed to have remained under his
sway, namely, the Ultzinzures, and Angisciri, the Bittugures and the Bardores.
Coming to Bassiana, a city of Pannonia, he beleaguered it and began to plunder
its territory. (273) Then the Goths at once abandoned the expedition they had
planned against the Sadagis, turned upon the Huns and drove them so
ingloriously from their own land that those who remained have been in dread of
the arms of the Goths from that time down to the present day. When the tribe of
the Huns was at last subdued by the Goths, Hunimund, chief of the Suavi, who
was crossing over to plunder Dalmatia, carried off some cattle of the Goths
which were straying over the plains; for Dalmatia was near Suavia and not far
distant from the territory of Pannonia, especially that part where the Goths
were then staying. (274) So then, as Hunimund was returning with the Suavi to
his own country, after he had devastated Dalmatia, Thiudimer the brother of
Valamir, king of the Goths, kept watch on their line of march. Not that he
grieved so much over the loss of his cattle, but he feared that if the Suavi
obtained this plunder with impunity, they would proceed to greater license. So
in the dead of night, while they were asleep, he made an unexpected attack upon
them, near Lake Pelso. Here he so completely crushed them that he took captive
and sent into slavery under the Goths even Hunimund, their king, and all of his
army who had escaped the sword. Yet as he was a great lover of mercy, he
granted pardon after taking vengeance and became reconciled to the Suavi. He
adopted as his son the same man whom he had taken captive, and sent him back
with his followers into Suavia. (275) But Hunimund was unmindful of his adopted
father's kindness. After some time he brought forth a plot he had contrived and
aroused the tribe of the Sciri, who then dwelt above the Danube and abode
peaceably with the Goths. So the Sciri broke off their alliance with them, took
up arms, joined themselves to Hunimund and went out to attack the race of the
Goths. Thus war came upon the Goths who were expecting no evil, because they
relied upon both of their neighbors as friends. Constrained by necessity they
took up arms and avenged themselves and their injuries by recourse to battle.
(276) In this battle, as King Valamir rode on his horse before the line to
encourage his men, the horse was wounded and fell, overthrowing its rider.
Valamir was quickly pierced by his enemies' spears and slain. Thereupon the
Goths proceeded to exact vengeance for the death of their king, as well as for
the injury done them by the rebels. They fought in such wise that there
remained of all the race of the Sciri only a few who bore the name, and they
with disgrace. Thus were all destroyed. LIV (277) The kings [of the Suavi],
Hunimund and Alaric, fearing the destruction that had come upon the Sciri, next
made war upon the Goths, relying upon the aid of the Sarmatians, who had come
to them as auxiliaries with their kings Beuca and Babai. They summoned the last
remnants of the Sciri, with Edica and Hunuulf, their chieftains, thinking they
would fight the more desperately to avenge themselves. They had on their side
the Gepidae also, as well as no small reënforcements from the race of the Rugi
and from others gathered here and there. Thus they brought together a great
host at the river Bolia in Pannonia and encamped there. (278) Now when Valamir
was dead, the Goths fled to Thiudimer, his brother. Although he had long ruled
along with his brothers, yet he took the insignia of his increased authority
and summoned his younger brother Vidimer and shared with him the cares of war,
resorting to arms under compulsion. A battle was fought and the party of the
Goths was found to be so much the stronger that the plain was drenched in the
blood of their fallen foes and looked like a crimson sea. Weapons and corpses,
piled up like hills, covered the plain for more than ten miles. (279) When the
Goths saw this, they rejoiced with joy unspeakable, because by this great
slaughter of their foes they had avenged the blood of Valamir their king and
the injury done themselves. But those of the innumerable and motley throng of
the foe who were able to escape, though they got away, nevertheless came to
their own land with difficulty and without glory. LV (280) After a certain
time, when the wintry cold was at hand, the river Danube was frozen over as
usual. For a river like this freezes so hard that it will support like a solid
rock an army of foot- soldiers and wagons and carts and whatsoever vehicles
there may be,-- nor is there need of skiffs and boats. So when Thiudimer, king
of the Goths, saw that it was frozen, he led his army across the Danube and
appeared unexpectedly to the Suavi from the rear. Now this country of the Suavi
has on the east the Baiovari, on the west the Franks, on the south the
Burgundians and on the north the Thuringians. (281) With the Suavi there were
present the Alamanni, then their confederates, who also ruled the Alpine
heights, whence several streams flow into the Danube, pouring in with a great
rushing sound. Into a place thus fortified King Thiudimer led his army in the
winter-time and conquered, plundered and almost subdued the race of the Suavi
as well as the Alamanni, who were mutually banded together. Thence he returned
as victor to his own home in Pannonia and joyfully received his son Theodoric,
once given as hostage to Constantinople and now sent back by the Emperor Leo
with great gifts. (282) Now Theodoric had reached man's estate, for he was
eighteen years of age and his boyhood was ended. So he summoned certain of his
father's adherents and took to himself from the people his friends and
retainers,--almost six thousand men. With these he crossed the Danube, without
his father's knowledge, and marched against Babai, king of the Sarmatians, who
had just won a victory over Camundus, a general of the Romans, and was ruling
with insolent pride. Theodoric came upon him and slew him, and taking as booty
his slaves and treasure, returned victorious to his father. Next he invaded the
city of Singidunum, which the Sarmatians themselves had seized, and did not
return it to the Romans, but reduced it to his own sway LVI (283) Then as the spoil taken from one
and another of the neighboring tribes diminished, the Goths began to lack food
and clothing, and peace became distasteful to men for whom war had long
furnished the necessaries of life. So all the Goths approached their king
Thiudimer and, with great outcry, begged him to lead forth his army in
whatsoever direction he might wish. He summoned his brother and, after casting
lots, bade him go into the country of Italy, where at this time Glycerius ruled
as emperor, saying that he himself as the mightier would go to the east against
a mightier empire. And so it happened. (284) Thereupon Vidimer entered the land
of Italy, but soon paid the last debt of fate and departed from earthly
affairs, leaving his son and namesake Vidimer to succeed him. The Emperor
Glycerius bestowed gifts upon Vidimer and persuaded him to go from Italy to
Gaul, which was then harassed on all sides by various races, saying that their
own kinsmen, the Visigoths, there ruled a neighboring kingdom. And what more?
Vidimer accepted the gifts and, obeying the command of the Emperor Glycerius,
pressed on to Gaul. Joining with his kinsmen the Visigoths, they again formed
one body, as they had been long ago. Thus they held Gaul and Spain by their own
right and so defended them that no other race won the mastery there. (285) But
Thiudimer, the elder brother, crossed the river Savus with his men, threatening
the Sarmatians and their soldiers with war if any should resist him. From fear of
this they kept quiet; moreover they were powerless in the face of so great a
host. Thiudimer, seeing prosperity everywhere awaiting him, invaded Naissus,
the first city of Illyricum. He was joined by his son Theodoric and the Counts
Astat and Invilia, and sent them to Ulpiana by way of Castrum Herculis. (286)
Upon their arrival the town surrendered, as did Stobi later; and several places
of Illyricum, inaccessible to them at first, were thus made easy of approach.
For they first plundered and then ruled by right of war Heraclea and Larissa,
cities of Thessaly. But Thiudimer the king, perceiving his own good fortune and
that of his son, was not content with this alone, but set forth from the city
of Naissus, leaving only a few men behind as a guard. He himself advanced to
Thessalonica, where Hilarianus the Patrician, appointed by the Emperor, was
stationed with his army. (287) When Hilarianus beheld Thessalonica surrounded
by an entrenchment and saw that he could not resist attack, he sent an embassy
to Thiudimer the king and by the offer of gifts turned him aside from
destroying the city. Then the Roman general entered upon a truce with the Goths
and of his own accord handed over to them those places they inhabited, namely
Cyrrhus, Pella, Europus, Methone, Pydna, Beroea, and another which is called
Dium. (288) So the Goths and their king laid aside their arms, consented to
peace and became quiet. Soon after these events, King Thiudimer was seized with
a mortal illness in the city of Cyrrhus. He called the Goths to himself,
appointed Theodoric his son as heir of his kingdom and presently departed this
life. LVII (289) When the Emperor Zeno heard that Theodoric had been appointed
king over his own people, he received the news with pleasure and invited him to
come and visit him in the city, appointing an escort of honor. Receiving
Theodoric with all due respect, he placed him among the princes of his palace.
After some time Zeno increased his dignity by adopting him as his son-at-arms
and gave him a triumph in the city at his expense. Theodoric was made Consul
Ordinary also, which is well known to be the supreme good and highest honor in
the world. Nor was this all, for Zeno set up before the royal palace an
equestrian statue to the glory of this great man. (290) Now while Theodoric was
in alliance by treaty with the Empire of Zeno and was himself enjoying every
comfort in the city, he heard that his tribe, dwelling as we have said in
Illyricum, was not altogether satisfied or content. So he chose rather to seek
a living by his own exertions, after the manner customary to his race, rather
than to enjoy the advantages of the Roman Empire in luxurious ease while his
tribe lived in want. After pondering these matters, he said to the Emperor:
"Though I lack nothing in serving your Empire, yet if Your Piety deem it
worthy, be pleased to hear the desire of my heart." (291) And when as
usual he had been granted permission to speak freely, he said: "The
western country, long ago governed by the rule of your ancestors and predecessors,
and that city which was the head and mistress of the world,--wherefore is it
now shaken by the tyranny of the Torcilingi and the Rugi? Send me there with my
race. Thus if you but say the word, you may be freed from the burden of expense
here, and, if by the Lord's help I shall conquer, the fame of Your Piety shall
be glorious there. For it is better that I, your servant and your son, should
rule that kingdom, receiving it as a gift from you if I conquer, than that one
whom you do not recognize should oppress your Senate with his tyrannical yoke
and a part of the republic with slavery. For if I prevail, I shall retain it as
your grant and gift; if I am conquered, Your Piety will lose nothing--nay, as I
have said, it will save the expense I now entail." (292) Although the
Emperor was grieved that he should go, yet when he heard this he granted what
Theodoric asked, for he was unwilling to cause him sorrow. He sent him forth
enriched by great gifts and commended to his charge the Senate and the Roman People.
Therefore Theodoric departed from the royal city and returned to his own
people. In company with the whole tribe of the Goths, who gave him their
unanimous consent, he set out for Hesperia. He went in straight march through
Sirmium to the places bordering on Pannonia and, advancing into the territory
of Venetia as far as the bridge of the Sontius, encamped there. (293) When he
had halted there for some time to rest the bodies of his men and pack-animals,
Odoacer sent an armed force against him, which he met on the plains of Verona
and destroyed with great slaughter. Then he broke camp and advanced through
Italy with greater boldness. Crossing the river Po, he pitched camp near the
royal city of Ravenna, about the third milestone from the city in the place
called Pineta. When Odoacer saw this, he fortified himself within the city. He
frequently harassed the army of the Goths at night, sallying forth stealthily
with his men, and this not once or twice, but often; and thus he struggled for
almost three whole years. (294) But he labored in vain, for all Italy at last
called Theodoric its lord and the Empire obeyed his nod. But Odoacer, with his
few adherents and the Romans who were present, suffered daily from war and
famine in Ravenna. Since he accomplished nothing, he sent an embassy and begged
for mercy. (295) Theodoric first granted it and afterwards deprived him of his
life. It was in the third year after his entrance into Italy, as we have said,
that Theodoric, by advice of the Emperor Zeno, laid aside the garb of a private
citizen and the dress of his race and assumed a costume with a royal mantle, as
he had now become the ruler over both Goths and Romans. He sent an embassy to
Lodoin, king of the Franks, and asked for his daughter Audefleda in marriage.
(296) Lodoin freely and gladly gave her, and also his sons Celdebert and
Heldebert and Thiudebert, believing that by this alliance a league would be
formed and that they would be associated with the race of the Goths. But that
union was of no avail for peace and harmony, for they fought fiercely with each
other again and again for the lands of the Goths; but never did the Goths yield
to the Franks while Theodoric lived. LVIII (297) Now before he had a child from
Audefleda, Theodoric had children of a concubine, daughters begotten in Moesia,
one named Thiudigoto and another Ostrogotho. Soon after he came to Italy, he
gave them in marriage to neighboring kings, one to Alaric, king of the
Visigoths, and the other to Sigismund, king of the Burgundians. (298) Now
Alaric begat Amalaric. While his grandfather Theodoric cared for and protected
him--for he had lost both parents in the years of childhood--he found that
Eutharic, the son of Veteric, grandchild of Beremud and Thorismud, and a
descendant of the race of the Amali, was living in Spain, a young man strong in
wisdom and valor and health of body. Theodoric sent for him and gave him his
daughter Amalasuentha in marriage. (299) And that he might extend his family as
much as possible, he sent his sister Amalafrida (the mother of Theodahad, who
was afterwards king) to Africa as wife of Thrasamund, king of the Vandals, and
her daughter Amalaberga, who was his own niece, he united with Herminefred,
king of the Thuringians. (300) Now he sent his Count Pitza, chosen from among
the chief men of his kingdom, to hold the city of Sirmium. He got possession of
it by driving out its king Thrasaric, son of Thraustila, and keeping his mother
captive. Thence he came with two thousand infantry and five hundred horsemen to
aid Mundo against Sabinian, Master of the Soldiery of Illyricum, who at that
time had made ready to fight with Mundo near the city named Margoplanum, which
lies between the Danube and Margus rivers, and destroyed the Army of Illyricum.
(301) For this Mundo, who traced his descent from the Attilani of old, had put
to flight the tribe of the Gepidae and was roaming beyond the Danube in waste
places where no man tilled the soil. He had gathered around him many outlaws
and ruffians and robbers from all sides and had seized a tower called Herta,
situated on the bank of the Danube. There he plundered his neighbors in wild
license and made himself king over his vagabonds. Now Pitza came upon him when
he was nearly reduced to desperation and was already thinking of surrender. So
he rescued him from the hands of Sabinian and made him a grateful subject of
his king Theodoric. (302) Theodoric won an equally great victory over the
Franks through his Count Ibba in Gaul, when more than thirty thousand Franks
were slain in battle. Moreover, after the death of his son-in-law Alaric,
Theodoric appointed Thiudis, his armor-bearer, guardian of his grandson
Amalaric in Spain. But Amalaric was ensnared by the plots of the Franks in
early youth and lost at once his kingdom and his life. Then his guardian
Thiudis, advancing from the same kingdom, assailed the Franks and delivered the
Spaniards from their disgraceful treachery. So long as he lived he kept the
Visigoths united. (303) After him Thiudigisclus obtained the kingdom and,
ruling but a short time, met his death at the hands of his own followers. He
was succeeded by Agil, who holds the kingdom to the present day. Athanagild has
rebelled against him and is even now provoking the might of the Roman Empire.
So Liberius the Patrician is on the way with an army to oppose him. Now there
was not a tribe in the west that did not serve Theodoric while he lived, either
in friendship or by conquest. LIX (304) When he had reached old age and knew
that he should soon depart this life, he called together the Gothic counts and
chieftains of his race and appointed Athalaric as king. He was a boy scarce ten
years old, the son of his daughter Amalasuentha, and he had lost his father
Eutharic. As though uttering his last will and testament Theodoric adjured and
commanded them to honor their king, to love the Senate and Roman People and to
make sure of the peace and good will of the Emperor of the East, as next after
God. (305) They kept this command fully so long as Athalaric their king and his
mother lived, and ruled in peace for almost eight years. But as the Franks put
no confidence in the rule of a child and furthermore held him in contempt, and
were also plotting war, he gave back to them those parts of Gaul which his
father and grandfather had seized. He possessed all the rest in peace and
quiet. Therefore when Athalaric was approaching the age of manhood, he
entrusted to the Emperor of the East both his own youth and his mother's
widowhood. But in a short time the ill-fated boy was carried off by an untimely
death and departed from earthly affairs. (306) His mother feared she might be
despised by the Goths on account of the weakness of her sex. So after much
thought she decided, for the sake of relationship, to summon her cousin
Theodahad from Tuscany, where he led a retired life at home, and thus she
established him on the throne. But he was unmindful of their kinship and, after
a little time, had her taken from the palace at Ravenna to an island of the
Bulsinian lake where he kept her in exile. After spending a very few days there
in sorrow, she was strangled in the bath by his hirelings. LX (307) When
Justinian, the Emperor of the East, heard this, he was aroused as if he had
suffered personal injury in the death of his wards. Now at that time he had won
a triumph over the Vandals in Africa, through his most faithful Patrician
Belisarius. Without delay he sent his army under this leader against the Goths
at the very time when his arms were yet dripping with the blood of the Vandals.
(308) This sagacious general believed he could not overcome the Gothic nation,
unless he should first seize Sicily, their nursing-mother. Accordingly he did
so. As soon as he entered Trinacria, the Goths, who were besieging the town of
Syracuse, found that they were not succeeding and surrendered of their own
accord to Belisarius, with their leader Sinderith. When the Roman general
reached Sicily, Theodahad sought out Evermud, his son-in-law, and sent him with
an army to guard the strait which lies between Campania and Sicily and sweeps
from a bend of the Tyrrhenian Sea into the vast tide of the Adriatic. (309)
When Evermud arrived, he pitched his camp by the town of Rhegium. He soon saw
that his side was the weaker. Coming over with a few close and faithful
followers to the side of the victor and willingly casting himself at the feet
of Belisarius, he decided to serve the rulers of the Roman Empire. When the
army of the Goths perceived this, they distrusted Theodahad and clamored for
his expulsion from the kingdom and for the appointment as king of their leader
Vitiges, who had been his armor bearer. (310) This was done; and presently
Vitiges was raised to the office of king on the Barbarian Plains. He entered
Rome and sent on to Ravenna the men most faithful to him to demand the death of
Theodahad. They came and executed his command. After King Theodahad was slain,
a messenger came from the king--for he was already king in the Barbarian
Plains--to proclaim Vitiges to the people. (311) Meanwhile the Roman army
crossed the strait and marched toward Campania. They took Naples and pressed on
to Rome. Now a few days before they arrived, King Vitiges had set forth from
Rome, arrived at Ravenna and married Mathesuentha, the daughter of Amalasuentha
and grand-daughter of Theodoric, the former king. While he was celebrating his
new marriage and holding court at Ravenna, the imperial army advanced from Rome
and attacked the strongholds in both parts of Tuscany. When Vitiges learned of
this through messengers, he sent a force under Hunila, a leader of the Goths,
to Perusia which was beleaguered by them. (312) While they were endeavoring by
a long siege to dislodge Count Magnus, who was holding the place with a small
force, the Roman army came upon them, and they themselves were driven away and
utterly exterminated. When Vitiges heard the news, he raged like a lion and
assembled all the host of the Goths. He advanced from Ravenna and harassed the
walls of Rome with a long siege. But after fourteen months his courage was
broken and he raised the siege of the city of Rome and prepared to overwhelm
Ariminum. (313) Here he was baffled in like manner and put to flight; and so he
retreated to Ravenna. When besieged there, he quickly and willingly surrendered
himself to the victorious side, together with his wife Mathesuentha and the
royal treasure. And thus a famous kingdom and most valiant race, which had long
held sway, was at last overcome in almost its two thousand and thirtieth year
by that conquerer of many nations, the Emperor Justinian, through his most
faithful consul Belisarius. He gave Vitiges the title of Patrician and took him
to Constantinople, where he dwelt for more than two years, bound by ties of
affection to the Emperor, and then departed this life. (314) But his consort
Mathesuentha was bestowed by the Emperor upon the Patrician Germanus, his
cousin. And of them was born a son (also called Germanus) after the death of
his father Germanus. This union of the race of the Anicii with the stock of the
Amali gives hopeful promise, under the Lord's favor, to both peoples.
(Conclusion) (315) And now we have recited the origin of the Goths, the noble
line of the Amali and the deeds of brave men. This glorious race yielded to a
more glorious prince and surrendered to a more valiant leader, whose fame shall
be silenced by no ages or cycles of years; for the victorious and triumphant
Emperor Justinian and his consul Belisarius shall be named and known as
Vandalicus, Africanus and Geticus. (316) Thou who readest this, know that I
have followed the writings of my ancestors, and have culled a few flowers from
their broad meadows to weave a chaplet for him who cares to know these things.
Let no one believe that to the advantage of the race of which I have
spoken--though indeed I trace my own descent from it--I have added aught
besides what I have read or learned by inquiry. Even thus I have not included
all that is written or told about them, nor spoken so much to their praise as
to the glory of him who conquered them.
