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SECTION II

 
Time's immortal garlands twine
O'er desolation's mournful shrine.
Like youth's embrace around decline. —Malcolm.
 

1. Al'aric, posted on the confines of Italy, watched the distractions of the peninsula with secret joy; he had been unwisely irritated by the delay of the subsidy which had formerly been promised him, and when payment was finally refused, he once more led his followers into Italy.

A.D. 408.

2. The feeble successors of Stil'icho had made no preparations for resistance; they retired with their master into the fortress of Raven'na, while the Goths, spreading ruin in their march, advanced to the very walls of Rome. Six hundred years had now elapsed since an enemy had appeared to threaten THE ETERNAL CITY; a worse foe than Hannibal was now at their gates, and the citizens were more disabled by luxury from attempting a defence, than their ancestors had been by the carnage of Can'næ.²⁰⁹ 3. The strength of the walls deterred the Goth from attempting a regular siege, but he subjected the city to a strict blockade. Famine, and its usual attendant, pestilence, soon began to waste the miserable Romans; but even the extreme of misery could not induce them to sally forth, and try their fortune in the field. They purchased the retreat of Al'aric by the sacrifice of their wealth; and the victorious Goth formed his winter quarters in Tuscany, where his army was reinforced by more than forty thousand of his countrymen who had been enslaved by the Romans.

4. The presence of a victorious leader, with one hundred thousand men, in the very centre of Italy, ought to have taught the imperial court at Raven'na prudence and moderation; but such was their incredible folly that they not only violated their engagements with Al'aric, but added personal insult to injury. Rome was once more besieged, and as Al'aric had seized the provisions at Os'tia, on which the citizens depended for subsistence, the Romans were forced to surrender at discretion. 5. At the instigation of the Gothic king, At'talus, the prefect of the city, was invested with the imperial purple, and measures were taken to compel Hono'rius to resign in his favour. But At'talus proved utterly unworthy of a throne, and after a brief reign was publicly degraded; the rest of his life was passed in obscurity under the protection of the Goths. 6. A favourable opportunity of effecting a peace was now offered, but it was again insolently rejected by the wretched Hono'rius, and a herald publicly proclaimed that in consequence of the guilt of Al'aric, he was for ever excluded from the friendship and alliance of the emperor.

7. For the third time Al'aric proceeded to revenge the insults of the emperor on the unfortunate city of Rome. The trembling senate made some preparations for defence but they were rendered ineffectual by the treachery of a slave, who betrayed one of the gates to the Gothic legions. That city which had been for ages the mistress of the world, became the prey of ruthless barbarians, who spared, indeed, the churches and sanctuaries, but placed no other bound to their savage passions. For six successive days the Goths revelled in the sack of the city; at the end of that period they followed Al'aric to new conquests and new devastations. 8. The entire south of Italy rapidly followed the fate of the capital, and Al'aric determined to add Sicily to the list of his triumphs. Before, however, his army could pass the Strait, he was seized with an incurable disease, and his premature death protracted for a season the existence of the Western empire.²¹⁰ 9. Al'aric was succeeded by his brother Adol'phus, who immediately commenced negociations for a treaty; the peace was cemented by a marriage between the Gothic king and Placid'ia, the sister of the emperor. The army of the invaders evacuated Italy, and Adol'phus, leading his soldiers into Spain, founded the kingdom of the Visigoths. 10. Adolphus did not long survive his triumphs; Placid'ia returned to her brother's court, and was persuaded to bestow her hand on Constan'tius, the general who had suppressed the rebellion of Constan'tine. Britain, Spain, and part of Gaul had been now irrecoverably lost; Constan'tius, whose abilities might have checked the progress of ruin, died, after the birth of his second child; Placid'ia retired to the court of Constantinople, and at length Hono'rius, after a disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years, terminated his wretched life.

11. The next heir to the throne was Valenti'nian, the son of Placid'ia; but John, the late emperor's secretary, took advantage of Placid'ia's absence in the east, to seize on the government. The court of Constantinople promptly sent a body of troops against the usurper, and John was surprised and taken prisoner at Raven'na. 12. Valenti'nian III., then in the sixth year of his age, was proclaimed emperor, and the regency entrusted to his mother, Placid'ia. The two best generals of the age, Æ'tius and Bon'iface, were at the head of the army, but, unfortunately, their mutual jealousies led them to involve the empire in civil war.

13. Bon'iface was recalled from the government of Africa through the intrigues of his rival, and when he hesitated to comply, was proclaimed a traitor. Unfortunately the African prefect, unable to depend on his own forces, invited the Vandals to his assistance. Gen'seric, the king of that nation, passed over from Spain, which his barbarous forces had already wasted, and the African provinces were now subjected to the same calamities that afflicted the rest of the empire. 14. Bon'iface became too late sensible of his error; he attempted to check the progress of the Vandals, but was defeated, and Africa finally wrested from the empire. He returned to Italy, and was pardoned by Placid'ia; but the jealous Æ'tius led an army to drive his rival from the court; a battle ensued, in which Æ'tius was defeated; but Bon'iface died in the arms of victory. Placid'ia was at first determined to punish Æ'tius as a rebel; but his power was too formidable, and his abilities too necessary in the new dangers that threatened the empire; he was not only pardoned, but invested with more than his former authority.

15. The hordes of Huns that had seized on the ancient territory of the Goths, had now become united under the ferocious At'tila, whose devastations procured him the formidable name of "The Scourge of God." The Eastern empire, unable to protect itself from his ravages, purchased peace by the payment of a yearly tribute, and he directed his forces against the western provinces, which promised richer plunder. He was instigated also by secret letters from the princess Hono'ria, the sister of the emperor, who solicited a matrimonial alliance with the barbarous chieftain. Æ'tius being supported by the king of the Goths, and some other auxiliary forces, attacked the Huns in the Catalaunian plains, near the modern city of Chalons in France. 16. After a fierce engagement the Huns were routed, and it was not without great difficulty that At'tila effected his retreat. The following year he invaded Italy with more success; peace, however, was purchased by bestowing on him the hand of the princess Hono'ria, with an immense dowry. Before the marriage could be consummated, At'tila was found, dead in his bed, having burst a blood-vessel during the night.

17. The brave Æ'tius was badly rewarded by the wretched emperor for his eminent services; Valentinian, yielding to his cowardly suspicions, assassinated the general with his own hand. 18. This crime was followed by an injury to Max'imus, an eminent senator, who, eager for revenge, joined in a conspiracy with the friends of Æ'tius; they attacked the emperor publicly, in the midst of his guards, and slew him.

19. The twenty years which intervened between the assassination of Valentinian, and the final destruction of the Western empire, were nearly one continued series of intestine revolutions. 20. Even in the age of Cicero, when the empire of Rome, seemed likely to last for ever, it was stated by the augurs that the twelve vultures seen by Romulus,²¹¹ represented the twelve centuries assigned for the fatal period of the city. This strange prediction, forgotten in ages of peace and prosperity, was recalled to the minds of men when events, at the close of the twelfth century, showed that the prophecy was about to be accomplished. It is not, of course, our meaning, that the ominous flight of birds, the prophetic interpretation, and its almost literal fulfilment, were any thing more than an accidental coincidence; but, it must be confessed, that it was one of the most remarkable on record.

21. Maximus succeeded to the imperial throne, and found that the first day of his reign was the last of his happiness. On the death of his wife, whose wrongs he had so severely revenged, he endeavoured to compel Eudox'ia, the widow of the murdered emperor, to become his spouse. In her indignation at this insulting proposal, Eudox'ia did not hesitate to apply for aid to Gen'seric, king of those Vandals that had seized Africa; and the barbarian king, glad of such a fair pretence, soon appeared with a powerful fleet in the Tiber. 22. Max'imus was murdered in an insurrection, occasioned by these tidings; and Gen'seric, advancing to Rome, became master of the city, which was, for fourteen days pillaged by the Moors and Vandals. Eudox'ia had reason to lament her imprudent conduct; she was carried off a captive by the ferocious Vandal, along with her two daughters, the last of the family of the great Theo'dosius and many thousand Romans were at the same time dragged into slavery.

23. The army in Gaul saluted their general, Avi'tus, emperor, and the Roman senate and people at first acquiesced in the choice. Rut Avi'tus was soon found unfit to hold the reins of power at a time of so much danger and difficulty; the senate, influenced by Ri'cimer, the commander of the barbarian auxiliaries, voted his deposition. He died shortly after, whether by disease or violence is uncertain.

24. The powerful Ri'cimer now placed upon the throne Ju'lian Majo'rian, who united in an eminent degree the qualities of a brave soldier and a wise statesman. The coasts of Italy had long been wasted by Gen'seric, king of the Vandals, and in order to put an end to their incursions, the emperor determined to attack the pirates in Africa, the seat of their power. The judicious preparations which he made were disconcerted by treason; Ri'cimer, who had hoped to rule the empire while Majo'rian enjoyed the empty title of monarch, was disappointed by the abilities which the new emperor displayed. Some of his creatures betrayed the Roman fleet to the torches of the Vandals; and Ri'cimer took advantage of the popular discontent occasioned by this disaster, to procure the dethronement of his former friend. Majo'rian died five years after his deposition, and the humble tomb which covered his remains was consecrated by the respect and gratitude of succeeding generations.

25. Ri'cimer's next choice was more prudent; at his instigation the obsequious senate raised to the throne Lib'ius Sev'erus, of whom history records little more than his elevation, and his death, which occurred in the fifth year after his election. During the nominal reign of Sev'erus and the interregnum that followed, the entire power of the state was possessed by Ri'cimer, whom barbarian descent alone prevented from being acknowledged emperor. He was unable, however, to protect Italy from the devastations of the Vandals; and to obtain the aid of Le'o, the Eastern emperor, he was forced to acknowledge Anthe'mius, who was nominated to the throne of the West by the court of Constantinople.

26. The perfidious Ricimer soon became dissatisfied with Anthe'mius, and raised the standard of revolt. Marching to Rome he easily became master of the city, and Anthe'mius was slain in the tumult. The unhappy Romans were again subjected to all the miseries that military licentiousness could inflict; for forty days Ricimer exulted in the havoc and ruin of the imperial city; but a disease, occasioned by excessive intemperance, seized on his vitals, and death freed Rome from the tyrant.

27. Olyb'ius, the successor of Anthe'mius, dying after a short reign of three months, Glyce'rius, an obscure soldier, assumed the purple at Raven'na, but was soon dethroned by Ju'lius Ne'pos, whom the court of Constantinople supported. A treaty by which the most faithful provinces of Gaul were yielded to the Visigoths, produced so much popular discontent, that Ores'tes, a general of barbarian auxiliaries, was encouraged to revolt, and Ne'pos, unable to defend the throne, abdicated, and spent the remainder of his unhonoured life in obscurity.

A.D. 476.

28. Ores'tes placed the crown on the head of his son Rom'ulus Momyl'lus, better known in history by the name of Augus'tulus. He was the last of the emperors; before he had enjoyed his elevation many months, he was dethroned by Odoa'cer, a leader, of the barbarian troops, and banished to a villa that once belonged to the wealthy Lucul'lus, where he was supported by a pension allowed him by the conqueror²¹². 29. Odoa'cer assumed the title of king of Italy, but after a reign of fourteen years, he was forced to yield to the superior genius of Theod'oric, king of the Ostrogoths, under whose prudent government Italy enjoyed the blessings of peace and prosperity, to which the country had been long a stranger.

30. Thus finally fell the Roman empire of the west, while that of the east survived a thousand years, notwithstanding its fierce internal dissensions, which alone would have sufficed to destroy any other; and the hosts of barbarians by which it was assailed. The almost impregnable situation of its capital, whose fate usually decides that of such empires, joined to its despotism, which gave unity to the little strength it retained, can alone explain a phenomenon unparalleled in the annals of history. At length, on the 29th of May, 1453, Constantinople was taken by Mohammed the Second, and the government and religion established by the great Constantine, trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors.

Questions for Examination.

1. What induced Alaric to invade Italy a second time?

2. Did the emperor and his ministers make adequate preparations for resistance?

3. How was Alaric induced to raise the siege of Rome?

4. Why did Alaric besiege Rome a second time?

5. Whom did the Goths make emperor?

6. What favourable opportunity of making peace did Honorius lose?

7. By what means did the Goths become masters of Rome?

8. Where did Alaric die?

9. What events marked the reign of Adolphus?

10. What remarkable persons died nearly at the same time?

11. What was the fate of the usurper John?

12. To whom was the government entrusted during Valentinian's minority?

13. By whom were the Vandals invited to Africa?

14. What was the fate of Boniface?

15. How were the Huns instigated to invade Italy?

16. Under what circumstances did Attila die?

17. Of what great crimes was Valentinian III. guilty?

18. How was Valentinian slain?

19. 20. What strange prophecy was now about to be fulfilled?

21. What terminated the brief reign of Maximus?

22. Had Eudoxia reason to lament her invitation to the Vandals?

23. Why was the emperor Avitus dethroned?

24. How did Ricimer procure the deposition of Majorian?

25. What changes followed on the death of Majorian?

26. How did Ricimer terminate his destructive career?

27. What changes took place after the death of Arthemius?

28. Who was the last Roman emperor?

29. What kingdoms were founded on the ruins of the western empire?

20. How was the existence of the eastern empire prolonged?

CHAPTER XXVII.
HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BARBAROUS TRIBES THAT AIDED IN DESTROYING THE ROMAN EMPIRE

 
Lo! from the frozen forests of the north,
The sons of slaughter pour in myriads forth!
Who shall awake the mighty? Will thy woe,
City of thrones, disturb the world below?
Call on the dead to hear thee! let thy cries
Summon their shadowy legions to arise,
Array the ghosts of conquerors on thy walls
Barbarians revel in their ancient halls!
And their lost children bend the subject knee,
Amidst the proud tombs and trophies of the free! —Anon.
 

1. We have already mentioned that the barbarous nations which joined in the destruction of the Roman empire, were invited to come within its precincts through the weakness or folly of successive sovereigns who recruited their armies from those hardy tribes, in preference to their own subjects, enervated by luxury and indolence. The grants of land, and the rich donations by which the emperors endeavoured to secure the fidelity of these dangerous auxiliaries, encouraged them to regard the Roman territories as their prey; and being alternately the objects of lavish extravagance and wanton insult, their power was increased at the same time that their resentment was provoked. 2. Towards the close of the year 406, the Vandals, the Suevi, and the Alans, first sounded the tocsin of invasion, and their example was followed by the Goths, the Burgundians, the Alleman'ni, the Franks, the Huns, the Angli, the Saxons, the Heruli, and the Longobar'di, or Lombards. The chief of these nations, with the exception of the Huns were of German origin. It is not easy in every instance to discover the original seat of these several tribes, and trace their successive migrations, because, being ignorant of letters, they only retained some vague traditions of their wanderings.

THE VANDALS AND ALANS

3. This tribe was, like the Burgundians and Lombards, a branch of the ancient Sue'vi, and inhabited that part of Germany which lies between the Elbe and the Vis'tula. Being joined by some warriors from Scandinavia, they advanced towards the south, and established themselves in that part of Da'cia which included the modern province of Transylva'nia, and part of Hungary. Being oppressed in their new settlement by the Goths, they sought the protection of Constantine the Great, and obtained from him a grant of lands in Pannonia, on condition of their rendering military service to the Romans. 4. About the commencement of the fifth century, they were joined by the ALANS, a people originally from mount Cau'casus, and the ancient Scythia: a branch of which having settled in Sarma'tia, near the source of the Borysthenes (Dnieper), had advanced as far as the Danube, and there made a formidable stand against the Romans. In their passage through Germany, the Vandals and Alans were joined by a portion of the Suevi, and the confederate tribes entering Gaul, spread desolation over the entire country.

5. From thence the barbarians passed into Spain and settled in the province, from them named Vandalu'sia, since corrupted to Andalusia. On the invitation of Count Boniface, the Vandals proceeded from Spain to Africa, where they founded a formidable empire. After remaining masters of the western Mediterranean for nearly a century, the eastern emperor Justinian sent a formidable force against them under the command of the celebrated Belisa'rius. This great leader not only destroyed the power of these pirates, but erased the very name of Vandals from the list of nations.

THE GOTHS.

6. The Goths, the most powerful of these destructive nations, are said to have come originally from Scandina'via; but when they first began to attract the notice of historians, we find them settled on the banks of the Danube. Those who inhabited the districts towards the east, and the Euxine sea, between the Ty'ras (Dniester) the Borys'thenes (Dnieper) and the Tan'ais (Don) were called Ostrogoths; the Visigoths extended westwards over ancient Dacia, and the regions between the Ty'ras, the Danube, and the Vistula.

7. Attacked in these vast countries by the Huns, as has been mentioned in a preceding chapter, some were subjugated, and others compelled to abandon their habitations. They obtained settlements from the emperors, but being unwisely provoked to revolt, they became the most formidable enemies of the Romans. After having twice ravaged Italy and plundered Rome, they ended their conquests by establishing themselves in Gaul and Spain.

8. The Spanish monarchy of the Visigoths, which in its flourishing state comprised, besides the entire peninsula, the province of Septima'nia (Langucaoc) in Gaul, and Mauritania, Tingeta'na, (north-western Africa) on the opposite coasts of the Mediterranean, lasted from the middle of the fifth to the commencement of the eighth century, when it was overthrown by the Moors. 9. The Thuringians, whom we find established in the heart of Germany, in the middle of the fifth century, appear to have been a branch of the Visigoths.

THE FRANKS.

10. A number of petty German tribes having entered into a confederacy to maintain their mutual independence, took the name of Franks, or Freemen. The tribes which thus associated, principally inhabited the districts lying between the Rhine and the Weser, including the greater part of Holland and Westphalia. 11. In the middle of the third century, they invaded Gaul, but were defeated by Aurelian, who afterwards became emperor. In the fourth, and towards the beginning of the fifth century, they permanently established themselves as a nation, and gave the name of Francia, or France, to the provinces lying between the Rhine, the Weser, the Maine, and the Elbe; but about the sixth century that name was transferred to ancient Gaul, when it was conquered by the Franks.

THE ALLEMANNI.

12. The Alleman'ni were another confederation of German tribes, which took its name from including a great variety of nations. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the name is compounded of the words all and man which still continue unchanged in our language. Their territories extended between the Danube, the Rhine, and the Maine, and they rendered themselves formidable to the Romans by their frequent inroads into Gaul and Italy during the third and fourth centuries.

THE SAXONS AND ANGLES.

13. The Saxons began to be conspicuous about the close of the second century. They were then settled beyond the Elbe, in modern Holstein; having for their neighbours the ANGLI, or ANGLES, inhabiting Sleswick. These nations were early distinguished as pirates, and their plundering expeditions kept the shores of western Europe in constant alarm. Being invited by the Britons to assist in repelling the invasions of the Picts, they subdued the southern part of the island, which has ever since retained the name of England, from its conquerors the An'gli. When the Franks penetrated into Gaul, the Saxons passed the Elbe, and seizing on the vacated territory, gave the name of Saxony to ancient France.

THE HUNS.

14. The Huns were the most ferocious and sanguinary of the barbarians. They seem to have been originally Kalmuck or Mongolian Tartars, and, during the period of their supremacy, seem never to have laid aside the savage customs which they brought from their native deserts. 15. After having expelled the Goths from the banks of the Danube, they fell upon the eastern empire, and compelled the court of Constantinople to pay them tribute. They then, under the guidance of Attila, invaded Italy, and after devastating the peninsula, captured and plundered Rome. After the death of Attila, the Huns were broken up into a number of petty states, which maintained their independence until the close of the eighth century, when they were subdued by Charlemagne.

THE BURGUNDIANS.

16. The Burgundians were originally inhabitants of the countries situated between the Oder and the Vistula. They followed nearly the track of the Visigoths, and at the beginning of the fifth century had established themselves on the Upper Rhine and in Switzerland. On the dissolution of the empire, they seized on that part of Gaul, which from them retains the name of Burgundy.

THE LOMBARDS, THE GEPIDÆ, AND THE AVARS.

17. The Lombards, more properly called Longo-bardi, from the length of their beards, are supposed by some to have been a branch of the Sue'vi, and by others to have migrated from Scandina'via. They joined with the Avars, a fierce Asiatic people, in attacking the Gep'idæ, then in possession of that part of Dacia lying on the left bank of the Danube, but who are supposed to have come thither from some more northern country. The Avars and Lombards triumphed, but the former soon turned their arms against their allies, and compelled them to seek new habitations. 18. About the middle of the sixth century they invaded Italy, which the Eastern emperors had just before wrested from the Turks, and made themselves masters of the northern part; which has since borne the name of Lombardy.

THE SLA'VI.

19. These were the last of the barbarian hordes, and are not mentioned by any author before the sixth century. They first appeared in the east of Europe, and spreading themselves over the central provinces, occupied the greater part of the countries that now constitute the dominions of Austria. The Sla'vi warred chiefly against the Eastern empire, and their contest with the Grecian forces on the Danube, in the sixth and seventh centuries, shook the throne of Constantinople. The VENE'DI and the AN'TES were tribes of the Slavi.

THE NORMANS.

20. The piratical inhabitants of Norway and Denmark were called by the Franks, Normans, or, Men of the North; in Ireland they were named Ostmen, or, Men of the East. Their depredations began to attract notice early in the seventh century, but did not become formidable before the ninth: when they obtained possession of that part of France now called Normandy. In the two following centuries they wrested England from the Saxons, and established kingdoms in Sicily and southern Italy.

THE BULGARIANS.

21. The Bulgarians were of Scythian or Tartar origin, and became formidable to the Eastern empire in the latter part of the seventh century. In the beginning of the ninth, Cruni'nus, their king, advanced to the gates of Constantinople; but the city proving too strong, he seized Adrianople, and returned home loaded with booty. The successors of Cruni'nus did not inherit his abilities, and the Bulgarians soon sunk into comparative insignificance.

THE SARACENS MOORS AND TURKS.

22. In concluding this chapter, it may be proper to give some account of the subverters of the Eastern empire, and of their irruption into Europe. The Arabs, called in the middle ages Saracens, are supposed to be descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. During all the changes of dynasties and empires in the eastern and western world, they retained their independence, though almost constantly at war with the surrounding states. "Their hand was against every man, and every man's hand was against them." In the beginning of the seventh century, Mohammed, a native of Mecca, descended from a noble family, laid claim to the title of a prophet, and being aided by a renegade Christian, formed a religious system, which, after encountering great opposition, was finally adopted by the principal tribes of Arabia. The successors of Mohammed, called Caliphs, resolved to propagate the new religion by the sword, and conquered an empire, more extensive than that of the Romans had been. The entire of central and southern Asia, including Persia, India, and the provinces of the Eastern empire owned their sway; northern Africa was soon after subdued, and in the beginning of the eighth century, the Saracenic Moors established their dominion in Spain. 23. It is probable, even, that all Europe would have submitted to their yoke, if the French hero, Charles Martel,²¹³ had not arrested their victorious career, and defeated their numerous armies on the plains of Poitiers, A.D. 732.²¹⁴

24. The empire of the Caliphs soon declined from its original splendour, and its ruin finally proceeded from the same cause that produced the downfall of Rome, the employment of barbarian mercenaries. The soldiers levied by the Caliphs, were selected from the Tartar tribes that had embraced the religion of Mohammed; they were called Turcomans or Turks, from Turkistan, the proper name of western Tartary. These brave, but ferocious warriors, soon wrested the sceptre from the feeble caliphs, and completed the conquest of western Asia. The crusades for a time delayed the fate of the Greek empire, but finally the Turks crossed the Hellespont, and having taken Constantinople, (A.D. 1453,) established their cruel despotism over the fairest portion of Europe.

Questions for Examination.

1. How were the barbarians first brought into the Roman empire?

2. When did the first great movement of the Northern tribes take place?

3. Where did the Vandals first settle?

4. From whence did the Alans come?

5. In what countries did the Vandals establish their power?

6. Where did we first find the Goths settled?

7. To what countries did the Goths remove?

8. How long did the kingdom of the Visigoths continue?

9. What branch of the Goths settled in Germany?

10. From what did the Franks derive their name?

11. Which was the ancient, and which the modern France?

12. What is the history of the Allemanni?

13. In what countries did the Saxons and Angles settle?

14. Whence did the Huns come?

15. How far did their ravages extend?

16. What territory did the Burgundians seize?

17. How did the alliance between the Lombards and Avars injure the former people?

18. Where was the kingdom of the Lombards established?

19. What is told respecting the Slavi?

20. Who were the Normans?

21. What is the history of the Bulgarians?

22. What great conquests were achieved by the Arabs under Mohammed and his successors?

23. By whom was the Saracenic career of victory checked?

24. How was the empire of the Turks established?