XXVI.

CHAP. rank; but, as soon as their countrymen were exasperated by hunger and oppression, the superior abilities of Fritigern assumed the military command, which he was qualified to exercise for the public welfare. He restrained the impatient spirit of the Visigoths, till the injuries and the insults of their tyrants should justify their resistance in the opinion of mankind; but he was not disposed to sacrifice any solid advantages for the empty praise of justice and moderation. Sensible of the benefits which would result from the union of the. Gothic powers under the same standard, he secretly cultivated the friendship of the Ostrogoths; and while he professed an im plicit obedience to the orders of the Roman generals, he proceeded by slow marches towards Marcianopolis, the capital of the Lower Mæsia, about seventy miles from the banks of the Danube. On that fatal spot, the flames of discord and mutual hatred burst forth into a dreadful conflagration. Lupicinus had invited the Gothic chiefs to a splendid entertainment; and their martial train remained under arms at the entrance of the palace. But the gates of the city were strictly guarded; and the Barbarians were sternly excluded from the use of a plentiful market, to which they asserted their equal claim of subjects and allies. Their humble prayers were rejected with insolence and derision; and as their patience was now exhausted, the townsmen, the soldiers, and the Goths, were soon involved in a conflict of passionate altercation and angry re

proaches.

XXVI.

proaches. A blow was imprudently given; a CHAP. sword was hastily drawn ; and the first blood that was spilt in this accidental quarrel, became the signal of a long and destructive war. In the midst of noise and brutal intemperance, Lupicinus was informed, by a secret messenger, that many of his soldiers were slain, and despoiled of their arms; and as he was already inflamed by wine, and oppressed by sleep, he issued a rash command, that their death should be revenged by the massacre of the guards of Fritigern and Alavivus. The clamorous shouts and dying groans apprised Fritigern of his extreme danger : and, as he possessed the calm and intrepid spirit of a hero, he saw that he was lost if he allowed a moment of deliberation to the man who had so

deeply injured him. "A trifling dispute," said the Gothic leader, with a firm but gentle tone of voice," appears to have arisen between the "two nations; but it may be productive of the "most dangerous consequences, unless the tu

mult is immediately pacified by the assurance "of our safety, and the authority of our pre"sence." At these words, Fritigern and his companions drew their swords, opened their passage through the unresisting crowd, which filled the palace, the streets, and the gates of Marcianopolis, and, mounting their horses, hastily vanished from the eyes of the astonished Romans. The generals of the Goths were saluted by the fierce and joyful acclamations of the camp: war was instantly resolved, and the resolution was executed

Cc 3

XXVI.

CHAP. executed without delay: the banners of the nation were displayed according to the custom of their ancestors; and the air resounded with the harsh and mournful music of the Barbarian trumpet *. The weak and guilty Lupicinus, who had dared to provoke, who had neglected to destroy, and who still presumed to despise, his formidable enemy, marched against the Goths, at the head of such a military force as could be collected on this sudden emergency. The Barbarians expected his approach about nine miles from Marcianopolis ; and on this occasion the talents of the general were found to be of more prevailing efficacy than the weapons and discipline of the troops. The valour of the Goths was so ably directed by the genius of Fritigern, that they broke, by a close and vigorous attack, the ranks of the Roman legions. Lupicinus left his arms and standards, his tribunes and his bravest soldiers, on the field of battle; and their useless courage served only. to protect the ignominious flight of their leader. "That successful day put an end to the distress "of the Barbarians, and the security of the Ro"mans: from that day, the Goths, renouncing "the precarious condition of strangers and exiles, "assumed the character of citizens and masters, "claimed an absolute dominion over the pos"sessors of land, and held, in their own right, "the northern provinces of the empire, which

cr

cis.

are bounded by the Danube." Such are the words

* Vexillis de more sublatis, auditisque triste sonantibus classiAmmiap. xxxi. 5. These are the rauca cornua of Clau

dian

XXVI.

They pene

words of the Gothic historian *, who celebrates, CHAP. with rude eloquence, the glory of his countrymen. But the dominion of the Barbarians was exercised only for the purposes of rapine and destruction. As they had been deprived, by the ministers of the emperor, of the common benefits of nature, and the fair intercourse of social life, they retaliated the injustice on the subjects of the empire; and the crimes of Lupicinus were expiated by the ruin of the peaceful husbandmen of Thrace, the conflagration of their villages, and the massacre, or captivity, of their innocent families. The report of the Gothic victory was soon diffused over the adjacent country; and while it filled the minds of the Romans with terror and dismay, their own hasty prudence contributed to increase the forces of Fritigern, and the calamities of the province. Some time before the great emigration, a numerous body of Goths, under the command of Suerid and Colias, had been received into the protection and service of Cc4 the

dian (in Rufin. ii. 57.), the large horns of the Uri, or wild bull; such as have been more recently used by the Swiss Cantons of Uri and Underwald (Simler de Republicâ Helvet. l. ii. p. 201. edit. Fuselin. Tigur. 1734.). The military horn is finely, though perhaps casually, introduced in an original narrative of the battle of Nancy (A. D. 1477.). "Attendant "le combat le dit cor fut corné par trois fois, tant que le vent ❝ du souffleur pouvoit durer: ce qui esbahit fort Monsieur de "Bourgoigne; car deja à Morat l'avoit ouy." (Sec、the Piéces Justificatives, in the 4to edition of Philippe de Comines, tom. iii. p. 493.).

*Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 26. p. 648. edit. Grot. These splendidi panni (they are comparatively such) are undoubtedly transcribed from the larger histories of Priscus, Ablavius, or Cassiodorius.

trate into

Thrace.

XXVI.

CHAP. the empire *. They were encamped under the walls of Hadrianople: but the ministers of Valens were anxious to remove them beyond the Hellespont, at a distance from the dangerous temptation which might so easily be communicated by the neighbourhood, and the success, of their countrymen. The respectful submission with which they yielded to the order of their march, might be considered as a proof of their fidelity; and their moderate request of a sufficient allowance of provisions, and of a delay of only two days, was expressed in the most dutiful terms. But the first magistrate of Hadrianople, incensed by some disorders which had been committed at his country-house, refused this indulgence; and arming against them the inhabitants and manufacturers of a populous city, he urged, with hos tile threats, their instant departure. The Barbarians stood silent and amazed, till they were exasperated by the insulting clamours, and missile weapons, of the populace: but when patience or contempt was fatigued, they crushed the undisciplined multitude, inflicted many a shameful wound on the backs of their flying enemies, and despoiled them of the splendid armour †, which they were unworthy to bear. The resemblance of their sufferings and their actions soon united this victorious detachment to the nation of the Visigoths;

* Cum populis suis longe ante suscepti. We are ignorant of the precise date and circumstances of their transmigration.

+ An imperial manufacture of shields, &c. was established at Hadrianople; and the populace were headed by the Fabri censes, or workmen (Vales, ad Ammian. xxxi. 6.).