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CHAP.
XXVI.

Earth-
quakes,

A. D. 365,
July 21.

CHAP. XXVI.

Manners of the Pastoral Nations.-Progress of the Huns, from China to Europe.-Flight of the Goths. -They pass the Danube.-Gothic war.-Defeat and Death of Valens.-Gratian invests Theodosius with the Eastern Empire.-His Character and Success.-Peace and Settlement of the Goths.

N the second year of the reign of Valentinian and Valens, on the morning of the twentyfirst day of July, the greatest part of the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake. The impression was communicated to the waters; the shores of the Mediterranean were left dry, by the sudden retreat of the sea; great quantities of fish were caught with the hand; large vessels were stranded on the mud; and a curious spectator* amused his eye, or rather his fancy, by contemplating the various appearance of valleys and mountains, which had never, since the formation of the globe, been exposed to the

But the tide soon returned, with the weight of an immense and irresistible deluge, which was severely felt on the coast of Sicily, of Dalmatia, of Greece, and of Egypt: large boats were transported, and lodged on the roofs of houses, or

at

*Such is the bad taste of Ammianus (xxvi. 10.), that it is not easy to distinguish his facts from his metaphors. Yet he positively affirms, that he saw the rotten carcase of a ship, ad secundum lapidem, at Methone, or Modon, in Peloponnesus.

XXVI.

at the distance of two miles from the shore; the CHAP. people, with their habitations, were swept away by the waters; and the city of Alexandria annually commemorated the fatal day, on which fifty thousand persons had lost their lives in the inundation. This calamity, the report of which was magnified from one province to another, astonished and terrified the subjects of Rome; and their affrighted imagination enlarged the real extent of a momentary evil. They recollected the preceding earthquakes, which had subverted the cities of Palestine and Bithynia: they considered these alarming strokes as the prelude only of still more dreadful calamities, and their fearful vanity was disposed to confound the symptoms of a declining empire, and a sinking world *. It was the fashion of the times, to attribute every remarkable event to the particular will of the Deity; the alterations of nature were connected, by an invisible chain, with the moral and metaphysical opinions of the human mind; and the most sagacious divines could distinguish, according to the colour of their respective prejudices, that the establishment of heresy tended to produce an earthquake; or that a deluge was the

Z 2

The earthquakes and inundations are variously described by Libanius (Orat. de ulciscendâ Juliani nece, c. x. in Fabricius, Bibl. Græc. tom. vii. p. 158. with a learned note of Olearius), Zosimus (1. iv. p. 221.), Sozomen (1. vi. c. 2.), Cedrenus (p. 310. 314.), and Jerom. (in. Chron. p. 186. and t. i. p. 250. in Vit. Hilarion.). Epidaurus must have been overwhelmed, had not the prudent citizens placed St Hilarion, an Egyptian monk, on the beach. He made the sign of the cross! the mountain wave stopped, bowed, and returned.

XXVI.

CHAP. the inevitable consequence of the progress of sin and error. Without presuming to discuss the truth or propriety of these lofty speculations, the historian may content himself with an observation, which seems to be justified by experience, that man has much more to fear from the passions of his fellow-creatures, than from the convulsions of the elements *. The mischievous effects of an earthquake, or deluge, a hurricane, or the eruption of a volcano, bear a very inconsiderable proportion to the ordinary calamities of war; as they are now moderated by the prudence or humanity of the princes of Europe, who amuse their own leisure, and exercise the courage of their subjects, in the practice of the military art. But the laws and manners of modern nations protect the safety and freedom of the vanquished soldier; and the peaceful citizen has seldom reason to complain, that his life, or even his fortune, is exposed to the rage of war. In the disastrous period of the fall of the Roman empire, which may justly be dated from the reign of Valens, the happiness and security of each individual were personally attacked; and the arts and labours of ages were rudely defaced by the Barbarians of Scythia and Germany. The invasion of the Huns precipitated on the provinces of the West the Gothic nation, which advanced, in less than forty years, from the Danube to the Atlantic, and opened a way, by the success of their arms,

The Huns and Goths,

A D. 376.

to

* Dicæarchus, the Peripatetic, composed a formal treatise, to prove this obvious truth; which is not the most honourable to the human species. Cicero, de Officiis, ii. 5.

to the inroads of so many hostile tribes, more sa-
vage than themselves.
The original principle
of motion was concealed in the remote countries
of the North; and the curious observation of the
pastoral life of the Scythians, or Tartars t,
will illustrate the latent cause of these destructive
emigrations.

The different characters that mark the civilized nations of the globe, may be ascribed to the use, and the abuse, of reason; which so variously shapes, and so artificially composes, the manners and opinions of an European, or a Chinese. But the operation of instinct is more sure and simple than that of reason: it is much easier to ascertain the appetites of a quadruped, than the speculations of a philosopher; and the savage tribes of mankind, as they approach nearer to the condition of animals, preserve a stronger resemblance to themselves and to each other. The uniform stability of their manners is the natural consequence of the imperfection of their faculties. Reduced to a similar situation, their wants,

Z 3

The original Scythians of Herodotus (1. iv. c. 47-57. 99-101.) were confined by the Danube and the Palus Mæotis, within a square of 4000 stadia (400 Roman miles). See d'Anville (Mém. de l'Academie, tom. xxxv. p. 573–591. Diodorus Siculus (tom. i. 1. ii. p. 155. edit. Wesseling) has -marked the gradual progress of the name and nation.

+ The Tatars, or Tartars, were a primitive tribe, the ri vals, and at length the subjects, of the Moguls. In the victorious armies of Zinghis Khan, and his successors, the Tartars formed the vanguard; and the name, which first reached the ears of foreigners, was applied to the whole nation (Freret, in the Hist. de l'Academie, tom. xviii. p. 60.). In speaking of all, or any, of the northern shepherds of Europe, or Asia, I indifferently use the appellations of Scythians, or Tartars.

CHAP.
XXVI.

The pasteners of the Scythians,

ral man

or Tartars.

XXVI.

CHAP wants, their desires, their enjoyments, still continue the same: and the influence of food or climate, which, in a more improved state of society, is suspended, or subdued, by so many moral causes, most powerfully contributes to form, and to maintain, the national character of Barbarians. In every age, the immense plains of Scythia, or Tartary, have been inhabited by vagrant tribes of hunters and shepherds, whose indolence refuses to cultivate the earth, and whose restless spirit disdains the confinement of a sedentary life. In every age, the Scythians, and

Tartars, have been renowned for their invincible courage, and rapid conquests. The thrones of Asia have been repeatedly overturned by the shepherds of the North; and their arms have spread terror and devastation over the most fertile and warlike countries of Europe. On this occasion, as well as on many others, the sober historian is forcibly awakened from a pleasing vision; and is compelled, with some reluctance, to confess, that the pastoral manners, which have been adorned with the fairest attributes of peace and innocence, are much better adapted to the fierce and cruel habits of a military life. To illustrate this observation, I shall now proceed to consider a nation of shepherds and of warriors,

in

* Imperium Asiæ ter quæsivere; ipsi perpetuo ab alieno imperio, aut intacti, aut invicti, mansere. Since the time of Justin (ii. 2.), they have multiplied this account. Voltaire, in a few words (tom. x. p. 64. Hist. Generale, c. 156.), has abridged the Tartar conquests.

Oft o'er the trembling nations from afar,
Has Scythia breath'd the living cloud of war,

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