From A. D. 395. to History. battle against the assailants; but the steady valour and discipline of the Romans finally prevailed, forced the intrenchments of his camp, and drove him from the field at the head of his remaining cavalry. The spoils of Greece, which the Barbarians still carried about with them, rewarded the success of the conquerors; thousands of prisoners fell into their hands, and, among the rest, the wife of Alaric, still loaded with jewels and precious stones, and recently elated with the hope of Occupying the throne of the West. A. D. 410. Alaric A Truce. The Gothic Commander, superior to the caprice of arches to fortune, resolved to occupy the time which was spent by his enemies in congratulation, in the bold enterprise of seizing upon Rome itself, and thereby of indemnifying his soldiers for their loss at Polentia. His cavalry, which had retreated in tolerable order, was still equal to a rapid march across the Apennines; and hoping to take the Capital by surprise, he had no doubt of gratifying the avarice and revenge of his followers, before any considerable body of troops could be sent against him. But the vigilance of Stilicho could not be deceived. Rome was made aware of the danger which menaced it, and supplied with a garrison from the pre neighbouring territory. Disappointed a second time, ents him. the despair of the Barbarians might have impelled them to some rash attempt not less destructive to the country than a more regular triumph in the field; a consideration which induced the Roman General to propose a Truce, and to hold out to the invaders the means of retiring without further loss of honour or of property. The conditions were accepted on the part of Alaric; but as every concession had been wrung from him by the pressure of circumstances, or by the overwhelming influence of the Chieftains, who exercised a separate authority in his camp, he never cordially relinquished the determination which he expressed upon his entrance into Italy, of finding within its limits either a kingdom or a grave. It is upon a reference to such Aric fails feelings only that we can account for his attempt upon Verona while pursuing his retreat towards the Rhætian Alps. His intention was, by a sudden assault, to take that important city, the key of the fine country by which it is surrounded; but his design being made known by certain traitors who kept up a correspondence with Stilicho, he was attacked in front and flank by a superior force, and punished with a defeat not less severe than he had sustained at Polentia. On this occasion he owed his personal safety to the swiftness of his horse, and to an unskilful manœuvre on the part of the Alani, who, in their eagerness to conquer, broke their ranks, and thereby made an opening for the Gothic cavalry to charge. Alaric, although discomfited, continued to keep the field against Stilicho, until, finding his men sinking under the weight of disease and famine, he thought proper to listen to the advice of his captains, and embrace the opportunity which was held out to him for effecting a retreat.* 223 at on Farias ers Rome A. D. Rome, recently delivered from the terror of an assault, expressed an ardent desire to receive within her walls the son of Theodosius. After some delay he was induced to comply with the entreaties of the Senate; and, at length, in the month of December, 403, he entered the city with all the pomp of an ancient Triumph; having by his side in the same chariot the indefatigable Claud. de Bello Getico, v. 560. and VI. Cons. Hon. Commander, by whose talents and courage Italy was for a time relieved from the presence of a sanguinary foe. In the Games which followed, Honorius abolished, by a formal decree, the inhuman spectacle of Gladiators; following in this measure not only the counsels of Religion, but also the softer spirit of the Age, which had begun to take offence at the sight of blood so profitably and cruelly shed.* Roman Empire. From A. D. 395. to A. D. 410. at Ravenna. The Capital of Italy had not for many years been Fixes the regarded as the residence of her Sovereigns. During seat of his the preceding century, indeed, Rome had only three Government times witnessed the presence of an Emperor; and as the reasons assigned for transferring the Court to a position nearer the important frontier of the Pannonian Provinces, had reconciled the citizens to the change, no attempt seems to have been made to detain Honorius in the Palace of the Cæsars. The people of Milan solicited him to return to their city; but the alarm which he had suffered on the approach of Alaric determined him to make choice of a situation, where he might more easily obtain the means of defence, or of flight. He selected Ravenna, on the shores of the Adriatic, which, for more than three hundred years after, continued to be the seat of Government and the Metropolis of Italy.† A series of events about this period distracted the Invasion o. Western Empire; but they are so indistinctly arranged Italy by Raby Zosimus, the only regular Historian to whom we dagaisus. can refer, that it is somewhat difficult to ascertain their order. It was, probably, in the second year after the repulse of Alaric, that a German Prince, named Radagaisus, descended from the shores of the Baltic at the head of a powerful host of Vandals, Suevians, and Burgundians, to attack Italy and Gaul. This mighty army, consisting of more than two hundred thousand warriors, was divided into three parts; one section of which, under the personal command of the Sovereign, advanced towards the Upper Danube, with the view of pouring down upon the hereditary dominions of Honorius. The safety of Rome and the defence of the Empire were once more intrusted to the prudent valour of Stilicho; but so unexpected was the inroad upon Pannonia, and so reluctant had the people of Italy become to the exercise of arms, that it was found impossible to attempt the protection of a distant frontier, or even to occupy the passes of the Alps. The Legions were accordingly reinforced with large bodies of Barbarian auxiliaries, Huns, Goths, and Alans, who appear to have engaged on either side indifferently, and to have chosen the standard of Stilicho or of Radagaisus, according to their individual preferences.‡ It was the policy of the Roman General to make no Destruction resistance to the progress of the enemy until he could of his army attack him with his whole assembled force, and in an by Stilicho. advantageous position. In his camp at Pavia he received intelligence that the Germans had issued from the mountains, crossed the Po, and even advanced to the city of Florence, which they were preparing to besiege. It grieved him to hear that several of the finest towns in the upper Provinces were pillaged and and horror of those combats; and Telemachus, a monk, raised his Prudentius, in his Poem against Symmachus, described the sin voice against them in the Amphitheatre. See ENCYCLOPEDIA, Misc. Div. GLADIATORS. Prud. in Sym. lib. ii. v. 1121. Theod. lib. v. c. 26. +Claud. VI. Cons. Hon. 494. Procop. de Bello Getico, lib. i. c. 1. Zos. lib. v. c. 26. From A. D. 395. to A. D. 410. History. destroyed; but as his arrangements were not yet completed, he confined his exertions to the increase and discipline of his army. At length, when the Barbarians had for some time wasted their strength against the walls of Florence, he advanced to complete their destruction. He began by surrounding their camp with a deep ditch and rampart, which at once cut them off from retreat and from a supply of provisions. Several skirmishes, indeed, appear to have taken place during the progress of the work, which were attended with various success; but, in the end, Radagaisus found himself confined to a narrow space of ground between the city and the circumvallation with which he was invested, and rendered alike incapable of commanding a field in which to fight, or an opening by which to retire. He resolved, therefore, to have recourse to a treaty, or rather, perhaps, to listen to a proposal to that effect made by his prudent antagonist; who, as he found it very difficult to recruit his Legions, avoided every occasion of sacrificing the lives of his men. But whatever might be the motives in which it originated, the negotiation was followed by an issue fatal to the life of the German Prince and to the fame of Stilicho. Under some pretence, which has not been explained, Death of Radagaisus was disgracefully beheaded, and his people Radagaisus. were sold for slaves, and scattered over the face of the surrounding country.' The remainder of his army invades Gaul. Insurrection in Britain. The other divisions of the grand army, which had descended to the borders of the Empire, turned their line of march towards the West, crossed the Rhine, and entered the Northern Provinces of Gaul. This invasion is the more memorable from the fact that the mixed host of Vandals, Burgundians, Alans, and Suevians never afterwards retreated, but made a final settlement in the country which they overran. To save Italy, the fatherin-law of Honorius, as has been already mentioned, successively withdrew the regular troops from the more distant parts of the Empire, leaving all the Countries beyond the Alps, from the Danube to the Forth, to the chances of Barbarian warfare. The forts on the Rhine were dismantled, the garrisons were removed, and the interests of Rome, on that important frontier, were confided to the arms of the friendly Tribes who had accepted the alliance of her Generals. Hence the German invaders met with no effectual resistance in their march through the seventeen Provinces of Gaul. Two or three cities might, perhaps, withstand a siege; and, in some places, the raw levies which were raised on the spur of the occasion, might dispute a strong pass with the vanguard of the conquerors; but, in the annals of that period, so few indications remain of a resolute defence or a protracted struggle, that we follow the advance of the Burgundians and their allies from the river to the Pyrenees, as if they were marching through a peaceful territory + A similar cause produced a similar effect in Britain. The principal stations in that Island were stripped of the troops which usually kept the surrounding country in awe; upon which the Provincials, who had long been impatient of a foreign yoke, rushed to arms, and asserted for a moment a precarious independence. They raised to the British throne two Emperors, whom they almost immediately afterwards deposed and murdered. Fasci Roman Empire From A. D. 395. to A. D. 410. Constan of Britain nated by the mere sound of a name, they next exalted to the Imperial dignity a private soldier called Constantine, who had neither talents nor experience to qualify him for his high office. But he had, nevertheless, penetration enough to perceive that his safety would be most effectually secured by giving employment to his rude subjects, and by directing their impetuous valour against a people whom they had been taught to regard as their natural enemies. He conducted a large body of them across the Channel into Gaul, where he announced tinus raised himself as the Sovereign of the West, and invited the to the allegiance of all the districts which were not under the throne immediate control of the German conquerors. He then marched against the Vandals and Burgundians, over whom, as he generally surprised them in detached bodies, he gained repeated advantages. He even foiled the Imperial General whom Honorius commanded to send his head to Ravenna; and, finally, pursuing his fortune into Spain, he succeeded in establishing his authority among all the nations of that fine Peninsula. The son of Theodosius, who despaired of subduing him, admitted his claims to the Sovereignty of the West, and even asked his assistance to expel the Goths from Italy, to the fairest parts of which they now began to maintain an hereditary right.* and Gaul. It would appear that Constantine crossed the Alps to Revolt of cooperate with his Imperial ally against their common Gerontius enemy; but the result of the expedition, whatever it in Spain. may have been, is concealed in the turbulent scenes which followed, Spain was excited to insurrection by the Count Gerontius, one of the bravest Generals of the British monarch; and, hence, Constantine had no sooner returned to Arles, the seat of his Government, than he found his title disputed by Maximus, (whom the rebellious Commander had invested with the Purple,) and his Capital besieged. While Gerontius lay before the walls of Arles, a Roman army, which had passed the mountains, appeared under the banners of Constantius, whose commission instructed him to depose both pretenders, and to restore Spain and Gaul to the sceptre of Honorius. The insurgent Chief escaped across the Pyrenees, where he put himself to death; Maximus soon afterwards fell into the hands of the enemy, and underwent a similar fate; and, consequently, none remained but Constantine, who had to contend with a captain far his superior in courage and military science. Sensible of Downfal the dangers which environed him, the King of Britain and death and Gaul entered into a negotiation with the Franks of Constanand Alemanni, who engaged to assist him with a nume- tinus, rous army; but Constantius anticipated the motions of these allies, met them in their own country, and visited them with a tremendous defeat. The usurper, unable to take the field, threw himself upon the generosity of the conqueror; and, having obtained a promise of personal safety, he set out in company with his son on the way to Ravenna. To excite the veneration or fears of the Emperor, the deposed monarch caused himself to be clothed with the character of a Priest, an expedient, however, which did not avail; for when he and the young Prince had nearly attained the end of their journey, an order from the Palace consigned them both to the hands of an assassin.† Oros. lib. vii. c. 40. Claud. I. Cons. Stilich, lib. vii. c. 40. Claud I. Cons. Stilich. lib. ii. v. 250. Zos. lib. v. c. 2-6 Oros. + Soz. lib. vii. p. 379. Zos. lib. vi. c. 5, 6. 13. M History. From A. D. 395. to A. D. 410. Alaric resunes his "ews on But the course of events recalls us to the History of Alarie, who was about to occupy a distinguished place among the characters of that interesting drama which preceded the downfal of the Western Empire. On his retreat from Italy after the defeat at Verona, he is described as having suffered many privations, and lost a great part of his army; but the King of the Goths had long been exercised in all the casualties which belong to war, and could bear them with equanimity, while his ranks received an immediate accession from his migrating countrymen who hung on the limits of the Empire, and whom the fame of his exploits and the hope of plunder attracted to his standard. He was, therefore, very soon in a capacity to take the field either as the enemy or as the ally of Honorius. In virtue of the office which he held under the Eastern Empire, as Master-General of the further Illyricum, he was entitled to maintain a considerable military force; and as his secret object was to extend his power on both sides of the Adriatic, it seems to have been to him a matter of the utmost indifference whether he should begin by attacking the Sovereign of Ravenna, or his feeble brother at Constantinople. Stilicho, who joined to the experience of a warrior the penetration and wisdom of a consummate politician, determined to gain the Gothic King, by raising him to an honourable station in Italy, and by pointing out a profitable employment for his plated arms. Alaric was accordingly nominated to the chief command of the Roman armies in the Illyrian Præfecture, and directed, at the same time, to make an inroad into the territories of Arcadius, to which, for certain reasons of state, Stilicho thought it expedient to revive the claims of his master. He accepted the appointment, and pretended to obey the orders communicated to him from the Court of Ravenna; but discovering, perhaps, the true motive which guided the policy of the Prime Minister, he soon relinquished his enterprise against Thessaly and Epirus, and removed his camp to the confines of Italy. Actuated by the most various and inconsistent motives, Alaric now demanded a reward for his services in the East; insinuating, in no ambiguous language, that, if Honorius did not immediately accede to his wishes, he would without delay indemnify himself and his followers by seizing upon the wealth of the adjoining Provinces.* keut ralens Hs forbear In this very difficult crisis, Stilicho anticipated some spur advantage from consulting the Senate. He repaired to Jased by the promise Rome, whither, also, he appears to have conducted the of 4000 Emperor; and there, in the Palace of the Caesars, he pads of laid before the collected wisdom of the nation the state of public affairs, and solicited the aid of such advice as might enable him to save at once the honour and peace of the Country. The spirit of Brutus seemed to revive, for a moment, within the walls of the Senate-house. The Members, generally, denounced the system of government which had put the weapons of the Romans into the hands of the Goths, and brought on the disgraceful alternative either of purchasing forbearance, or of violating the national faith. Stilicho applauded the patriotism of the Senators, and approved the display of independent sentiments which animated their deliberations; but he reminded them, at the same time, that the Gothic camp overlooked the richest plains of Italy, that it was full of soldiers to whom war had become a pastime * Zos, lib. v. c. 29. Soz. lib. viii. c. 25. lib. ix. c. 4. Soc. lib. vii. e. 10. and death of Stilicho, A. D. 408. The manifest tendency of the principles adopted in Disgrace the government of Stilicho, was to exalt the power of the Goths by conceding too much to the pusillanimous feelings which prevailed among the Italians. The Barbarian auxiliaries were now, in fact, become the standing army of the Empire; and nothing seemed wanting to complete the extinction of the Roman name, but the elevation of a Gothic Prince to the throne of Augustus. Perhaps it was the fear of this disgraceful result, which excited against the Minister that suspicion or hatred which soon afterwards terminated in the loss of his influence and of his life. His authority was gradually undermined in the Palace by the crafty measures of Olympius, who irritated the pride and alarmed the fears of Honorius, by representing to him that the absolute rule, exercised by his father-in-law, diminished the splendour of the Imperial dignity, and was, probably, meant to pave the way, on the part of the General, for the assumption of a title of which he had long enjoyed all the privileges. Similar intrigues propagated similar apprehensions in the camp at Pavia, where the remains of the Roman army continued to practise the forms of ancient discipline. The friends of Stilicho were the first victims of insurrection; and among them were the most distinguished persons of the State and the principal Officers of Government. At length, the hero himself, who had repaired to Ravenna, was seduced from the altar under an oath of protection, and instantly beheaded by the sword of Count Heraclion.† his friends. The blind rage which thus deprived the Empire of its The perselast defence, could not be satisfied while any one sur- cution of vived who bore the name or blood of Stilicho. His son Eucherius, whom it was said he meant to raise to the Sovereign power, was pursued and put to death. His personal adherents were persecuted under various pretexts, and chiefly on the ground of their being privy to a conspiracy, the object of which was supposed to be The the deposition of the weak-minded Honorius. vindictive temper of Olympius allowed no individual to escape who had contributed to the fame or shared the bounty of the Master General of the West; and we find, accordingly, that Claudian the Poet, whose muse was never silent when the arms of Stilicho were successful, was involved in the calamities which overtook the fortunes of the latter. He employed his wit against a powerful courtier who rose upon the ruins of his patron, and thereby exposed himself to a degree of danger which could only be averted by a humiliating acknowledgment of his offence. A cloud, indeed, hangs over the close of his history, but there is no doubt that his last days were embittered by the enmity of those who hated him for the love which he expressed for the conqueror of the Goths.‡ *Oros. lib. vii. c. 38. Zos. lib. v. c. 29, 30. Soz. lib. ix. c. 4. Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 3. Zos. lib. v. c. 31-34. Oros. lib. vii. c. 38. Zos. lib. v. c. 34, 35 Oros. lib. vii, c. 38. History. From A. D. 395. to A. D. Alaric prepares to march to Itome. Crosses the Po, and takes several cities. While the infatuated Ministers of Honorius were pursuing the objects of their private revenge, or gratifying the cupidity of their partisans, Alaric, who no longer dreaded the Italian Legions, resumed his intention of marching to Rome. The subsidy which had been voted by the Senate was not yet paid; and the wily Barbarian, who still retained his position at Emona, had penetration enough to perceive that the failure of the Imperial treasurer in regard to the main condition of the Treaty, supplied him with a pretext for invading Italy, which might be turned to much greater advantage than he could gain from the four thousand pounds of gold. He covered his ambitious designs, however, with a fair show of moderation. He listened to the excuses which were urged by the Ministers of Honorius, and expressed his readiness to grant delay, on condition that two young noblemen should be sent to his camp, as pledges for the sincerity of their fathers. The Court of Ravenna, still ignorant of the character from whom they had so much to fear, attributed the negotiations of Alaric to his sense of weakness, and to the remembrance of his late disasters; but while they were cherishing this groundless persuasion, the Gothic King descended from the Alps, passed the Po, and reduced some of the most opulent cities in the North of Italy. Aquileia, Altinum, Concordia, and Cremona opened their gates at his approach; while the numerous bands of his countrymen who had entered the service of the Empire, ashamed of the apathy which had sunk down upon their leaders, and smitten at the same time with the desire of sharing the triumphs of their native Prince, crowded to his standard, to the amount of thirty thousand. Not choosing to incur delay by attacking Ravenna, he pushed on his columns till he had secured the passes of the Apennines; from which, without the slightest interruption, he continued his march to the walls of Rome.* When the Capital of the Western World was first bepopulation sieged by Alaric, its inhabitants amounted to not less than twelve hundred thousand, including all ages and both sexes; and as the principal supplies of food were conveyed by water, and usually from a great distance, the miseries incident to an interruption of the usual communication by the Tyber, could not fail to prove extremely distressing. The Gothic General, aware of the circumstances in which the citizens were placed, did not attempt to batter down their walls nor storm their ramparts; but, trusting to the surer operation of famine and disease, satisfied himself with watching their gates, and stopping the passage of the river. The Romans, at first indignant that a Barbarian should presume to make himself master of their magnificent city, were soon brought to feel that the pride of name and of ancient race is of no avail if unaccompanied with valour; and they had the mortification to perceive that the skill and prudence which formerly distinguished the Commanders of the Commonwealth, were now inherited by an illiterate Scythian. In their impotent rage they took away the life of Serena, the widow of Stilicho, whom they accused of holding a traitorous correspondence with the enemy; but used no means to drive from before their walls the Barbarian host, whose presence they regarded as at once a disgrace and a terror.† State and of Rome. Death of Serena. Roman From 395. degree for the dastardly conduct of the Senators, in their quality of soldiers and as the natural leaders of Empire. the people. Famine had rendered all classes of the inhabitants familiar with the greatest evils which can afflict human nature. Thousands had died from want, or from the use of improper food; and a pestilence, created by the stench of putrid bodies, rapidly thinned the remaining population. In this distressing crisis, a resolution was adopted by the Senate to address the clemency or the avarice of Alaric. Two ambassadors proceeded to his camp, and made known to him the willingness of the great Council of the Empire to enter into a Treaty with him, founded on such terms as might be compatible with the honour of Romans, and with the dignity of an Imperial city. They reminded him of the formidable numbers who still peopled the streets of the Capital, and of their determination to die with arms in their hands, rather than submit to a disgraceful capitulation. The Goth listened to their harangue with a smile of contempt, and cooly replied, the "thicker the hay, the more easily is it mowed." This remark he accompanied with a loud laugh; after which he condescended to return to the question of Peace, and informed the envoys that he would remove from their city on condition of receiving all the gold it contained, all the silver, the richest of their furniture, and all the slaves of Barbarian extraction. "If you take these things from us," said one of the ambassadors, "what may it be your pleasure to leave to us?" "Your lives," rejoined the haughty conqueror. This answer shut their mouths, Reply of and seemed to banish all hope. They requested per- he condithe mission to return to the city to receive further instruc- tions agreed tions from their constituents. Alaric consented to this upon. proposal, and even granted a short truce, in order that the Senate might deliberate in perfect security. Despairing of all assistance from without, and unable to resist any longer the progress of disease within the walls, the Magistrates of Rome yielded to the necessity of their situation, and begged to be informed by their enemy on what conditions he would relieve them from his presence. In reply, he insisted upon the immediate payment of five thousand pounds of gold, of thirty thousand pounds of silver, of four thousand robes of silk, of three thousand pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and of three thousand pounds weight of pepper. Having obtained this costly ransom he withdrew his army into the Tuscan Province, where he intended to pass the winter; having at the same time the satisfaction to find his ranks increased by the accession of forty thousand slaves whom he had liberated from their Roman masters. Alaric, and In the following year, when he saw himself surrounded Moderation by a hundred thousand devoted warriors, Alaric might of the Goth King, at once have resumed the conquest of Italy, and even aspired to the supreme power over the whole of the Western Empire. But, instead of following up his advantages with a strong hand, he showed himself ready to listen to terms for a lasting Peace. In fact, he had all along declared himself the friend of tranquillity and of Rome; and even in the moment of his most splendid successes, he seems to have aimed at nothing more lofty than the appointment of Master-General of the Italian Provinces. The facility, too, with which he had uniformly opened his ears to the offers of Stilicho, *Zos. lib. v. c. 40-42. Soz. lib. ix. c. 6. A. D. 395. to A. D. History, and had withdrawn from the very heart of the Country, while the tide of fortune was still running high in his From favour, presents a remarkable proof in support of his sincerity; while, on the occasion now more immedidiately before us, instead of pursuing the course of victory which lay open before him, he proffered to Honorius the support of his arms, on the easy conditions of being invested with the military office already mentioned, of being supplied with a small subsidy of corn and money, and of being allowed to exercise a separate command in Dalmatia, Venetia, and Noricum. In point of territory he would even have been satisfied with Noricum alone, rather than involve the Empire again in the perils of 410. cacy laric ad inces 210 Ey. war. It is not easy to discover a motive for such conduct on the part of the Gothic Prince. That he had his eye fixed on the Sovereignty of some portion of Italy, from the first hour that he entered it, is certain from the resolution, which he repeatedly expressed, of finding in it either a kingdom or a grave; and that he continued to cherish this lofty ambition admits of little doubt, from the perseverance with which he renewed his invasion whenever he could find a pretext for attacking Honorius. But it may be presumed that neither his hopes nor his wishes, in the first instance, extended to the occupation of all the Italian Provinces; and, moreover, that, either from superstition, or an undefined feeling of reverence for the Metropolis of the Roman World, he was desirous to abstain from violating the sanctity of her walls. The city of the Caesars was already the chief seat of Christianity Westward of the Adriatic; was hallowed by many sacred associations connected with the History of the true faith, as well as with the labours and sufferings of its most distinguished ministers; and contained, besides, many relics of the Apostles, and buildings consecrated to their memories. His respect for the authority of Religion was, indeed, fully manifested, when he finally obtained possession of Rome; and the fear of sacrilege was found to check the avarice of his followers in cases where the most rigid military discipline would have been entirely disregarded. But the moderation of Alaric, from whatever cause Honorius. it may have proceeded, produced not the proper effect on the foolish Ministers of Honorius. Viewing the invader's abstinence as a proof of weakness, they received ards the his proposals with contempt, and answered them with insolence; and, in order to bind themselves to an undeviating system of hostility, they swore by the life of the Emperor, that they would not in any circumstances listen to any terms of peace with the Barbarian who had dared to dishonour them by offering to treat on a footing of equality. The Gothic Ruler had the means of revenge in his own hands. The Emperor and his Court, it is true, were defended by the marshes of Ravenna, and, if hard pressed, could make their escape by sea; but Rome was left exposed to the resentment of Alaric, and the whole country, from the Alps to the Straits of Sicily, had neither garrisons nor armies_to withstand the progress of his warlike multitudes. Instead, however, of renewing the siege of the city, he resolved at once to cut off its supplies, by taking possession of Ostia, its principal port, situated at the mouth of the river. The terror of famine, on this occasion, brought the inhabitants to an immediate sub Zos. lib. v. c. 44. 395. to A. D. 410. Alaric soon discovered that the tool which he meant to employ in the person of Attalus could not be used either with safety or advantage; and finding, besides, that his elevation to the Purple would prove an insuper- Attalus deable obstacle to the pacific arrangements which he posed. The professed to have in view, he reduced him once more Goths still offer peace. to a private station. In a large plain near Rimini, and in the presence of a great multitude of persons, Goths and Romans, the new Emperor was publicly stripped of the diadem and robe of State, which were sent to Honorius as a pledge of friendship and Peace. But no concessions made by the Sovereign of the Visigoths could gain the confidence of the Imperial Ministers. On the contrary, they prevailed upon their master to publish, by the voice of a herald, that the guilt of Alaric could never be effaced, and that it had for ever excluded him from the most distant hope of accomplishing an alliance with the Head of the Roman Empire.† Rome the The indignant Prince immediately turned the van of Alaric his army, for the third time, towards Rome, where he marches to meant to punish the arrogance of Honorius and the third time, infatuation of his counsellors. The Senate, aware of takes, and the provocation which had been heaped upon the in- sacks it. vader, made preparations to defend the walls until relief could be brought to them from the nearest military station; from Ravenna, or even from Africa; but the people at large, remembering the horrors of the former siege, and dissatisfied with the conduct of their Government, could not be induced to cooperate with this sudden patriotism on the part of the Nobles. In the course of the night one of the gates was opened, by which the Goths rushed in and took possession of the city without resistance; and, consequently, in the first instance, without bloodshed. Their Chief had given the most ample permission to seize upon the riches of the vanquished wherever they could find them; but he commanded his soldiers, at the same time, to respect every building and utensil dedicated to the service of Religion; and, above all, to spare the lives of those who appeared in the streets unarmed. There is but too much reason, however, to suspect that the enormities usual upon the sacking of a large town disgraced, in some measure, the triumph of Alaric. Among his followers there were many who looked for authority and example to their immediate leaders, who, again, acknowledged but a very slight dependence upon the Sovereign under whose banners they fought; and hence, whatever might be the humane policy of Alaric, we cannot refuse our belief to the statements of Procopius and St. Jerome, both of whom assure us that the slaughter of the Romans was very great. Thousands, too, were reduced to indigence and servitude; for, in order to prevent murder, liberty was granted to the Goths to expose their prisoners to sale. But, upon the whole, it cannot be denied that the professions of Alaric in favour of Peace and of Rome were justified to a great extent by his conduct on this memorable occasion; and Zos. lib. v. c. 45. Soz. lib. ix. c. 7. Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 3. + Oros. lib. vii. c. 42. Soc. lib. vii. c. 10. Oros. lib. vii. c. 39-42. Zos. lib. vi. c. 13. Procop. de Bell. Vand, lib. i. c. 2. 2 K VOL. XI. |