History. From A. D. 455. to A. D. 476. to the Se Western Empire. His contemporaries are loud and unanimous in his praise, and the panegyrics of the orators of the Court, which might not be admitted without very reasonable suspicion, are corroborated by the less doubtful eulogies of disinterested Historians. The Epistle which the new Emperor addressed to the Senate, on his investiture with the Purple at Ravenna, is still extant, and gives a fair promise of the exercise of those Hs Epistle Royal virtues in which Procopius assures us that the Monarch in truth excelled all his predecessors.* In this Letter he entreats assistance from the Gods, to guide him in his administration of that power to which indeed he had not aspired, but which he would have been forgetful of civic duties if he had refused when tendered. He calls upon the Conscript Fathers for support, and urges them to aid the Prince whom they had created, and to join their efforts with his own in promoting the happiness of the Empire. His sole denunciations are addressed to the base rabble of informers, (delatores,) who had long fattened on the richest blood of Rome. These he had condemned as a subject, and as a Prince he determined to punish. "You now understand," concludes Majorianus, in this address worthy of the better times of his Country," the maxims of my Go vernment you may confide in the faithful love and sincere assurances of a Prince who has formerly been your companion, who still glories in the name of Senator, and who is anxious that you should never repent of the judgment which you have pronounced in his favour."t His wise ertions. The labours of Majorianus to revive the authority of laws, and Law, to rekindle among the youth of Italy a martial patriotic ex- spirit, and to arrest the decay of the Imperial city, manifested a disposition which, had he succeeded immediately to the great Theodosius, might have preserved, during another century, the splendour of Rome and the integrity of the Empire. But good laws were of little avail when opposed to universal corruption of manners, and the example of a warlike Prince made no impression upon the minds of a people who were said to tremble at the sound of the trumpet. He was more successful in his endeavours to lessen and equalize the taxes, which in most places had become disproportionate to the ability of the inhabitants, as also in the plans which he adopted for restoring the coin to its proper weight and standard. The severest of his laws were directed against the dilapidation of the public edifices in Rome, which had lately suffered more from the hands of the citizens than from those of the Barbarian conquerors; and he attempted, by similar means, to enforce the duties of marriage and of chastity, in order that the Republic might be supplied with numerous subjects, trained up in virtuous maxims, and with a veneration for the manners of purer times.‡ He prepares He carried his arms into Gaul, and gained several deadvantages over Theodoric, whom, however, he treated more like an ally than an enemy. He pursued his course across the Pyrenees, and restored to the obedience of the Empire several nations of Barbarian origin, which affected independence. But his main object was the recovery of Africa, which was still held by Genseric and his Vandals; for he well knew that the Romans continued to regret exceedingly the loss of a Province from which they had derived so much of their wealth Roman Empire. From A. D. 455. to A. D. 476. and luxury. To accomplish this important end, Majorianus prepared a large fleet in the harbour of Carthagena, and collected a formidable army from among the Ostrogoths, the Rugians, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the Alani, which he intended to embark with the first fair wind. But Genseric, who had tried all the arts of negotiation without success, was delivered from impending destruction by treachery on the part of the Romans themselves. Some disaffected individuals offered their service to the King of the Vandals and enabled him to attack by surprise the immense flotilla which had excited his fears, and to destroy the greater number of the ships. This event contributed to shorten the reign of Majorianus. His various efforts to reform the abuses of the times had created in many quarters a strong feeling of enmity; and Ricimer, who found his own power diminished by the genius of the Emperor, agitated the inconstant passions of the people and urged them to demand an abdication. He had reached the foot of the Alps on his return towards Italy when His abdica the sedition which broke out in his camp dictated the tion and step which it behoved him to take. He laid aside the death, AuPurple without regret; and his death, said variously to have been the effect of disease, or of poison administered by command of Ricimer, followed at the distance of only five days.* gust, A. D. 461. Severus. The Count again exercised his influence in the ap- Accession pointment of a Sovereign; but remembering the error of Libius which he had committed on the former occasion, he selected a person who would neither oppose his measures nor eclipse his talents. Libius Severus is hardly mentioned in History except as the tool which Ricimer employed to cover his ambition and to accomplish its objects. It is not stated even how long he lived nor what was the manner of his death; but it is probable that he survived till the year 467, when Anthemius, recommended by the Emperor of the East, was invited to occupy the Italian throne. The veil which Ricimer threw over his plot was so thin and transparent that his selfish motives were fully appreciated by most of the principal Officers at home and in the Provinces. Marcellinus in Dalmatia, for example, and Ægidius in Gaul, refused to acknowledge the authority of a Prince who possessed no freedom either of thought or of action. The former, who had not renounced Paganism, Insurrecexclusive of the ascendancy which he had established tion of Mar by great military prowess, and by learning extraordinary cellinus. in a soldier, was regarded with a superstitious reverence by the adherents of the abolished worship, as being gifted with mysterious powers of divination. Prompted more, doubtless, by his natural sagacity than by any supernatural assistance from the Gods whom he supported, Marcellinus had early placed himself beyond the reach of the tyranny of Valentinianus. The mild sway of Majorianus had retained him in nominal obedience to the Empire; but the death of that Prince, and the treacherous artifices by which Ricimer endeavoured to seduce his mercenaries from their fidelity, at length compelled him to assert his independence, and quitting his Government of Sicily, he established himself as Sovereign of Dalmatia. The Adriatic was swept by his fleets, and his power was acknowledged by an embassy from Leo, who prevailed upon him to leave the Romans unmolested. Ægidius, the Master- And of Ægi Procop. de Bell. Vandal. lib. i. c. 8. Idat. Chron, sub. ann. Sidon. lib. i. Ep. ii. 2 x dius. From A. D. 455. to History. General of Gaul, denounced Ricimer as the murderer of his Sovereign. Beyond the Alps he remained in security, and, during an interval of four years, he presented the singular spectacle of a Roman King on the Throne of the Franks, that people having elected him on the banishment of Childeric. The restoration of the native Prince terminated the Royalty but not the power of Ægidius, and he continued to defy the open violence with which Ricimer was desirous to overwhelm him, till, as was confidently believed by his friends, he fell a victim to the secret and more sure arts of poison. A. D. 476. Piracies of But the evil which pressed with the greatest severity the Vandals. on the Government of Severus was the incessant hostility of the Vandals; who, being masters of the sea and accustomed to live on plunder, equipped every year a predatory armament and laid the shores of Italy under contribution. Having no fleet, Ricimer could not meet the pirates before they landed, nor even anticipate the spot against which they might direct their force; and as the Barbarians generally embarked horsemen as well as foot soldiers in their ships, they spread their ravages along the coast with incredible rapidity, and set at defiance the most diligent movements of a regular army. It was a consideration of these circumstances which induced the Count to apply to Leo, then on the Throne of Constantinople, to assume the administration of the West, or to nominate a Prince with whom he might be pleased to cooperate in the defence of the Italian Provinces.* This step appeared the more necessary, as Genseric, whose eldest son had obtained the hand of Eudoxia, the daughter of Valentinianus, perpetrated his attacks on the Roman territory under the specious claim of an hereditary right now vested in his family. Accession of Anthemius. A. D 467. Leo, whose importance was not a little increased by this application, made choice of Anthemius, an Officer of great wealth, and who had married one of the daughters of the Emperor Marcianus. The election of the Eastern monarch was approved by the Senate of Rome, and Anthemius, who repaired to his Capital with great pomp, was solemnly inaugurated in the month of April 467. Ricimer, the malign influence of whose ambition had blasted the prosperity of the two former reigns, was gratified by becoming the son-in-law of the new Sovereign; an event which was regarded by all as likely to prove a firm basis of security and happiness to the State.† Expedition Preparations were now made in both Empires for into Africa. the reduction of the Vandalic power in Africa, which the enterprising spirit of Genseric had rendered so formidable. Constantinople sent forth eleven hundred and thirteen ships, on board of which the number of soldiers and mariners amounted to more than a hundred thousand. Marcellinus, too, who made haste to offer his allegiance to Anthemius, appeared in the Adriatic with a considerable fleet, well manned with experienced sailors. But the command of this important expedition was intrusted to Basiliscus, the brother-in-law of Leo, whose want of ability or of heartiness in the cause, rendered the whole abortive. He landed at a convenient fort about forty miles from Carthage, where, being supported by Marcellinus and by the Præfect Heraclius, who had crossed the Desert from the borders *Sidon. Panegyr. Anthem. v 317, Procopius de Bell, Vandal. lib. i. c. 6. + Sidon. Panegyr. Anthem, v. 67. Roman From A. D. 455. to A. D. 476. of Egypt, he gained several advantages over the Vandals. Had he pushed on to the Capital and Empire. availed himself of the consternation into which the inhabitants were thrown, he might have terminated the campaign by extinguishing the Kingdom of Genseric; but being betrayed by the wily Barbarian into a negotiation, he gradually forfeited all his advantages, saw the natives recover their confidence, while his own soldiers were surrounded with difficulties which increased every day. At length the plan, meditated by Genseric during this hollow truce, was ready to be accomplished. The wind shifted round to a favourable point; when he, having filled some of his largest vessels with combustibles, ran them, under the cloud Defeat of of night, into the centre of the Imperial fleet and pro- the Romans duced a general conflagration. A fearful carnage ensued both on board the galleys and on the adjoining shore, and thousands escaped from the flames only to fall into the hands of an infuriated enemy. Basiliscus himself with part of his ships reached the Straits of the Hellespont, where he was received with the utmost indignation and scorn. More than half of the seamen and troops whom he had under his command, were left on the coast of Africa, either to perish in an unequal war with Barbarians, or to linger out a miserable life in the most revolting servitude. The brother of the Empress took refuge in one of the churches of Constantinople, until her tears had softened the resentment of Leo, who saw, in the triumph of the Vandals, the disgrace of the East and the speedy extinction of the Western Empire. The brave Heraclius fell back into the Desert and effected his retreat to the Province of Cyrene; while Marcellinus, whose fleet appears to have suffered less than that of the Greeks, sailed back to the island of Sicily, where he was soon afterwards assassinated.* This attempt to subdue the Vandals only added to Policy of their strength and increased their enmity. They im- Genseric, mediately resumed their piratical war along the coasts. of Italy, Greece, and the Lesser Asia, subjected the islands of the Mediterranean to their dominion, and extended their establishments on the African shore towards the mouth of the Nile. But the policy of Genseric did not confine itself to the resources of his own Kingdom. He entered into an alliance with the Visigoths in Spain, whose ambition he frequently directed to the accomplishment of objects closely connected with his peculiar interests. His marriage with a daughter of Theodoric, the successor of Alaric, admitted him to the councils of the Court of Thoulouse ; while his power at sea recommended him as a useful ally in every attempt made by his brothers-in-law on the Spanish Provinces, which they eagerly desired to incorporate with their territory at the foot of the Pyrenees.† in Gaul a After the death of Majorianus the power of the Visi- Progress goths extended rapidly both in Gaul and in Spain. the Goths The unpopularity of the government exercised by Spain. Ricimer, during the reign of Severus, had alienated from the Empire the important district which was placed under the inspection of Ægidius; and the accession of Anthemius, so far from reviving the authority of Rome beyond the Alps, rather gave spirit to the Goths and increased the despair of the Provincials. Procop. lib. i. c. 6. Theophanes, p. 99. Zonares, lib. xiv. Procop. de Bell. Vandal. lib. i. c. 6. From A. D. 455. to A. D. 476. History. Euric, the third son of the first Theodoric, had ascended the throne of Thoulouse by the murder of his brother, and already made great progress in the reduction of Spain. Having crossed the Pyrenees with a large army, he defeated the Chiefs of the various nations into which that Country was then divided; and carrying his conquests to the shores of the Western Ocean, he laid the foundations of the Gothic monarchy, the fortunes of which form so interesting an episode in the History of Europe. His success in Gaul was hardly less brilliant; and had he not been opposed by the fortifications of some of the stronger cities in the South, he would have rendered himself master of all the frontier Provinces, and thereby cut off the connection between Rome and the best of her Transalpine dependencies.* Disputes between adRicimer. The weakness of the Imperial Government was still further increased by the dissensions which prevailed Anthemius between Anthemius and his son-in-law Ricimer. The latter, who seemed determined to rule whoever should be on the Throne, finding himself thwarted by the obstinacy of the Emperor, withdrew from Rome and fixed his head-quarters at Milan; where he might be ready to intrigue with his warlike countrymen who occupied the extensive region between the Alps and the Danube. To avert the evils which could not fail to attack a divided Country, the Bishop of Pavia interposed his good office with the view of effecting a reconciliation; but although both parties professed a readiness to sacrifice personal feeling to the public good, it was obvious that neither was sincere, and that each would embrace the earliest opportunity for crushing the other. Ricimer, accordingly, as soon as his plans were matured, advanced towards the Capital with an army of Barbarians, prepared to depose Anthemius, and to establish a successor.† Ricimer roposes A. D. 472. The candidate selected on this occasion by the factious Count possessed some claims to the dignity to which brius as he was taught to aspire. Olybrius, for this was his Emperor. name, had married Placidia, the youngest daughter of Valentinianus, who was carried away captive from Rome by Genseric in the year 455, and afterwards restored with her mother Eudoxia to the Court of Constantinople. His pretensions were supported by the Vandals, who had suddenly become the advocates of hereditary right, and by Leo, who, for some reason which is not recorded, had withdrawn his favour from Anthemius. But the Senate and People, jealous of the restless spirit of Ricimer, and unwilling that their ancient sceptre should be transferred from hand to hand at his pleasure, shut their gates against him, and expressed their resolution to submit to the horrors of a Civil war rather than to his haughty dictation.‡ ece of The siege of Rome, which continued three months, and terminated once more in the sack of the city and in the death of the Emperor. Cruelty and intemperance disgraced the triumph of Ricimer; and the successor of Anthemius ascended the Throne amidst the tears and execrations of the whole people. Nor did Olybrius long possess the dignity which was purchased by him at the expense of so much blood and desolation; for about three months after his entry into the Capital over the bodies of the citizens, he Roman From was carried out a corpse, leaving only one child, a daughter, the offspring of his marriage with Placidia. Empire. The turbulent Ricimer had paid the debt of nature a short time previously; but, as if with the view of perpetuating the power of his family and the means of disturbing the Government, he left the command of the army to his nephew Gundobald, a Burgundian Prince, who had assisted him in the reduction of Rome. A. D. 455. to A. D. 476. cerius. A. D. 473. In virtue of the right which thus appeared to de- Death of scend to him, the young soldier elevated to the supreme Olybrius. authority an obscure person whose name was Glycerius, Accession and who possessed none of the qualities which could of Glyrecommend him to the nation over which he was appointed to rule. But, in the mean time, the Court of the East had chosen for the successor of Olybrius, a relative of the Empress and a nephew of Marcellinus, and sent him at the head of a respectable force to demand the allegiance of his Italian subjects. Julius Nepos, upon his arrival at Ravenna, found that the And of Julius Nepos. active policy of Gundobald had anticipated the more A. D. leisurely decisions of Leo, and that it might be necessary to fight for the occupation of a throne which he had been invited to accept. It soon appeared, however, that, as Glycerius had not acquired any hold upon the affections of the Romans, and as the Burgundian Prince was called away by the duties of his station beyond the Alps, the dangers of the field might be averted by a private negotiation. The Emperor of the West accepted the Bishopric of Salona, and willingly resigned to Nepos the cares and perils of royalty.* 474. Insurrection The new reign promised happiness and security to the Empire, and began to remove those painful apprehensions which clouded the views of every patriot, relative to its independence and perpetuity. The Visigoths, it is true, pursued their course of victory in Gaul, and had already seized upon the finest Provinces of that Country; but as their ambition was soothed in the mean time by the cession of Auvergne, a sacrifice which could no longer be withheld, it was hoped that they would, in return, prove a barrier against the inroad of more hostile Barbarians who continued to advance from the North. These visions of tranquillity were not realized. The mixed army, raised for the defence of Italy and recruited chiefly in the Countries between the of Orestes. Alps and the Danube, was always more ready to obey the command of one of their own blood than that of any puppet which might be set up to occupy the Imperial Throne. Orestes had served under Attila, and even represented his person in repeated embassies to the Court of Constantinople. Upon the death of that renowned Autocrat, the Pannonian Chief transferred his allegiance to the Sovereigns of Rome, to whose fortunes he adhered with laudable constancy, and even received from the hands of Nepos himself the dignity of Patrician and the office of Master-General of the troops, cavalry and infantry. It is extremely doubtful whether the seditious impulse began with the commander or with the soldiers; but, before any assistance could be procured from the East, Orestes was on his march towards Ravenna, to terminate the reign of the effeminate Greek. Julius fled to Dalmatia, where he appears to have resumed, during two or three years, the govern- Julius ment of his Principality, and afterwards to have fallen Nepos. by the hand of an assassin.† Sidon. lib. v. Ep. xvi. + Ennod. in Sirmon. tom. i. p. 1665. Malch. apud Phot. Death of History. From A. D. 455. - to A. D. 476. Accession of Augustulus. Conduct of Odoacer. Orestes, now the master of Italy, refused the Purple, which, however, he allowed to be conferred upon his son Augustulus, the last Emperor of the West. But, although the General might be satisfied with his distribution of honour and power, the troops who accomplished the revolution complained that their interests had not been consulted in the settlement of affairs. They, therefore, insisted that one-third part of Italy should be assigned to them as a permanent residence; a grant which they maintained to be necessary to place them on an equal footing with their countrymen in Gaul, Africa, and Spain. Orestes, who figured to himself the misery which must result from the expatriation of so large a number of the inhabitants, refused to comply with the demand of his Barbarian mercenaries; upon which they turned their eyes to Odoacer, an ambitious par tisan, who encouraged their importunity and promised them success. The individual now named was the son of Edecon, the ambassador of Attila, who, at the Court of Theodosius, listened to the proposal of Chrysaphius to take away the life of his master. It must for ever remain doubtful whether the colleague of Orestes, on that remarkable occasion, was seduced, even for a moment, from his duty to the King of the Huns, or whether he did not, from the very first, intend to expose the duplicity of the Imperial Ministers. At all events, the subsequent conduct of Edecon justifies the more favourable alternative, as he adhered to the cause of Attila when it was most depressed, and fell in battle with the flower of his Tribe, in a last effort to support the family of his Sovereign against the overwhelming power of the Ostrogoths. His two sons Onulf and Odoacer became soldiers of fortune, and obtained an honourable service in the armies of the Empire. The latter, in particular, rose to a high rank in the Guards, and was at length appointed General of those united bands the Heruli, the Alani, the Scyrri, and the Rugians, which, at the period in question, constituted the military force of Italy. When opposed by Orestes in their demand for a grant of territory, they assembled round the standard of Odoacer, and marched to attack the Patrician in the Palace of his son. Orestes fled to Pavia, whither he was pursued and finally put to death. A battle was fought near the walls of Ravenna, in which His success. the loyal troops were beaten or dispersed, and Augustulus was obliged to throw himself on the clemency of the conqueror.† We are unacquainted with the reasons which induced Procop. de Bell. Goth. lib. i. c. 1. From A. D. 455. to A. D. Odoacer to decline the gift of Sovereign power, which Roman his triumphant followers urged him to accept. The Empire. melancholy fate of all the successors of Valentinianus might indeed have taught him that the Throne of the West could no longer be held with safety, except by a Prince who should lead his life in a camp, and convert his subjects once more into Roman soldiers. The jealousy, too, of Imperial authority, which had sunk deeply 476. into the minds of the Barbarian Chiefs, and which was certainly the reason why Ricimer and Orestes chose to rule through the medium of a second person, might have no small influence in deterring the son of Edecon from an experiment which had proved so fatal to others. But he had resolved that no one else should enjoy the preferment which he deemed it expedient to refuse. He provided liberally for the youth whom he had stripped of the Purple, and bestowed upon him one of the villas of Lucullus, in the beautiful coast of Campania; after which, he made known his determination that Augustulus should have no successor, but that the Imperial dignity in the West should be brought to a close. The Extinction Eastern Emperor, after some hesitation, acceded to this of the proposal; allowed himself to be addressed as sole Western monarch of the Roman world; and finally received Empire. from the hands of the ambassadors, sent by the Senate, the Imperial insignia and the ornaments of the Palace, which were no longer required for the more humble office of a deputy or vicegerent. These envoys were instructed to inform Zeno, now on the Throne of Constantinople, that the Senators of Rome were decidedly establishes of opinion that one Emperor was sufficient for the Go- himself in vernment both of the East and of the West; that they Italy. had the utmost confidence in the talents of Odoacer, as a Commander and as a Statesman; and that, as they now relinquished the privilege of choosing their own ruler, they petitioned that he would be pleased to invest him with the title of Patrician, and to intrust to his administration the Provinces of Italy.* Were it not that the Romans, towards the end of the Vth century, had ceased to appreciate or to be worthy of the blessings of liberty, no reader could peruse the narrative which we have just concluded without the deepest emotion. But the spirit of patriotism and the love of independence had been long unknown on the banks of the Tiber, or on the shores of the Adriatic; and the extinction of the Western Empire resembled the death of a man whose vital powers had been gradually oppressed by an irresistible disease, and who at length shut his eyes upon the sun, the light of which he could not any longer endure. * Cassiad. Chron. A. D. 476. Malch. in Excerpt. Legat. p. 93. Odoacer A. D. 476. HISTORY. History. Western Empire. CHAPTER XLIX. OUTLINE OF THE STATE OF EUROPE AT THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE WEST. A. D. 476.. HAVING, in our preceding pages, contemplated the long agony and inglorious dissolution of the Roman A. D. Empire of the West, we pause on the boundary which 476. is usually defined to separate the History of the ancient Fall of the and the modern World. The line thus drawn by the common agreement of Historians is merely conventional: but the division is not altogether imaginary. The fall of the gigantic fabric of Roman Sovereignty presents the most stupendous vicissitude in the political fortunes of the universe. It put a final period to that mighty power, which had for seven hundred years overshadowed the Earth with its universal dominion; and, at the distance of fourteen centuries more, the growth, the rise, and the origin of all the existing institutions of civilized Government and Society remain to be traced up to the same determinate and memorable epoch. The extinction or suppression of the polity, the jurisprudence, and the manners of classical antiquity; the sudden substitution of new laws and customs, new Orders of men, and even new principles and feelings, throughout the mass of the European communities; the last rude shock which overthrew the crumbling edifice of the old world's grandeur and glory; and the settlement on its ruins of the Barbarian nations, which the lapse of succeeding Ages was to expand and consolidate into the enduring monarchies of these latter times; all identify the appropriate commencement of Modern History, with the Fall of the Western Empire of the Romans. Before the consummation of that event, we have seen that the hardy Barbarians of the North had already Barba spread their victorious swarms over the greatest portion of the Roman world. Every movement of these hordes was the migration of an entire people with their families, their most valuable effects, and all the dages of their rude association. Wherever they penetrated, they successively overthrew and subjected either the Imperial forces, or the less powerful Tribes who had preceded them in the march of conquest; and, fixing themselves in their new possessions, they converted them into the permanent settlements of their nations, and rivetted their strong yoke upon the servile necks of the old population. rigin and ents of nations. appen To many of the most famous races of these Northern Barbarians, the faint light of tradition, and the more authentic probabilities of Geographical position unite in * of the Nations. A. D. 476. assigning a common source. Whether we believe the Settlement obscure legends of romance, that the infancy of these mighty nations was cradled in the dark forests of Barbarian Scandinavia,* or admit only the certain evidence of their contiguous expansion in the Age of Tacitus over the Northern shores of Germany,t there is every reason to conclude that the numerous Tribes of the Goths and Vandals all sprang from one great stock. The principal division of the former name into Ostrogoths and Visigoths-Eastern and Western Goths-equally marks their original relative position, and describes the track of their subsequent conquests: but the main host of the Vandals was a part only of a numerous race, of whose collateral branches two chiefly became afterwards known, by the monarchies which they founded, under their appellations of Burgundians and Lombards. Of all those fierce Tribes which seized on the various I. The Vanfragments of the Western Empire, the Vandals were dals in foremost in the rapid flight of migration and conquest. Africa. After forcing their way in a few years from the coasts of the Northern Ocean to those of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and overrunning the extent of the Spanish Peninsula, they had been impelled by the onward pressure of the Visigothic power from the Pyrenees, and invited by the treason of a Roman Governor, to cross over into Africa. There, subjugating the Imperial Provinces, they erected a new Kingdom, and, before the middle of the Vth century, made Carthage a second time the Capital of an independent State.§ About II. The Vitwenty years later, the Visigoths, already seated in the sigoths in beautiful Provinces of South-Western France, had Spain and filled the vacant traces of the Vandals without desert- Aquitaine. ing their former possessions; and they thus established the power and extent of their monarchy on both sides of the Pyrenees, from the banks of the Rhone and the Loire, to the maritime limits of the Spanish Peninsula.|| III. The The Ostrogoths, on the other hand, gathering from the Ostrogoths Danube, overhung the Alps like a thunder-cloud, which in Italy. Jornandes, De Rebus Geticis, c. 4. Paulus Warnefridus, (Diaconus,) De Gestis Langobardis, lih. i. c. 2. Tacitus, Annales, lib. ii. c. 62. So also the later authority of Ptolemy, In Europe Tab. 4. Procopius, De Bello Vandal. lib. i. c. 1. Jornandes, De Reb, Get. c. 45-47. 269 |