The Barbarians opposed to his progress the obthe obstacles of nature and of courage; and still continued to retreat from one hill to another, till they were satisfied, by repeated trials, of the power and perseverance of their enemies. Their submission was accepted, as a proof, not indeed of their sincere repentance, but of their actual distress; and a select number of their brave and robust youth was exacted from the faithless na-tion, as the most substantial pledge of their future moderation. The subjects of the empire, who had so often experienced that the Alemanni could neither be subdued by arms, nor restrained by treaties, might not promise themselves any solid or lasting tranquillity: but they discovered, in the virtues of their young sovereign, the pro spect of a long and auspicious reign. When the legions climbed the mountains, and scaled the fortifications, of the Barbarians, the valour of Gratian was distinguished in the foremost ranks; and the gilt and variegated armour of his guards was pierced and shattered by the blows, which they had received in their constant attachment to the person of their sovereign. At the age of nineteen, the son of Valentinian seemed to possess the talents of peace and war; and his personal success against the Alemanni was interpreted as a sure presage of his Gothic triumphs *.

The full and impartial narrative of Ammianus (xxxi. 10.) may derive some additional light from the epitome of Victor the chronicle of Jerom, and the History of Orosius (1. vii e. 33. p. 552. edit. Havercamp).

СНАР. XXVI. -Valens

marches a

gainst the

Goths,

A. D. 378.

May 30-
June 11.

While Gratian deserved and enjoyed the ap plause of his subjects, the emperor Valens, who, at length, had removed his court and army from Antioch, was received by the people of Constan. tinople as the author of the public calamity. Before he had reposed himself ten days in the capital, he was urged, by the licentious clamours of the Hippodrome, to march against the Barbarians, whom he had invited into his dominions: and the citizens, who are always brave at a distance from any real danger, declared, with confidence, that, if they were supplied with arms, they alone would undertake to deliver the province from the ravages of an insulting foe*. The vain reproaches of an ignorant multitude hastened the downfal of the Roman empire; they provoked the desperate rashness of Valens; who did not find, either in his reputation, or in his mind, any motives to support with firmness the public contempt. He was soon persuaded, by the successful achievements of his lieutenants, to despise the power of the Goths, who, by the diligence of Fritigern, were now collected in the neighbourhood of Hadrianople. The march of the Taifale had been intercepted by the valiant Frigerid; the king of those licentious Barbarians was slain in battle; and the suppliant captives were sent into distant exile to cultivate the lands of Italy, which were assigned for their setflement, in the vacant territories of Modena and Parma.

Moratus paucissimos dies, seditione popularium levium pulsus. Ammian. xxxi. 11. Socrates (1. iv. c. 38.) supplies the dates and some circumstances.

XXVI.

Parma *. The exploits of Sebastian †, who was CHAP recently engaged in the service of Valens, and promoted to the rank of master-general of the infantry, were still more honourable to himself, and useful to the republic. He obtained the permission of selecting three hundred soldiers from each of the legions; and this separate detachment soon acquired the spirit of discipline, and the exercise of arms, which were almost forgotten under the reign of Valens. By the vigour and conduct of Sebastian, a large body of the Goths was surprised in their camp: and the immense spoil, which was recovered from their hands, filled the city of Hadrianople, and the adjacent plain. The splendid narratives, which the general transmitted of his own exploits, alarmed the imperial court by the appearance of superior merit; and though he cautiously insisted on the difficulties of the Gothic war, his valour was praised, his advice was rejected; and Valens, who listened with pride and pleasure to the flattering suggestions of the eunuchs of the palace, was impatient to seize the glory of an easy and Dd3 assured

* Vivosque omnes circa Mutinam, Regiumque, et Parmam, Italica oppida, ruro culturos exterminavit. Ammianus xxxi. 9. Those cities and districts, about ten years after the colony of the Taifale, appear in a very desolate state. See Muratori, Dissertazioni, sopra le Antichità Italiana, tom. i. Dissertat. xxi. p. 354.

+ Ammian. xxxi. 11. Zosimus, 1. iv. p. 228-230. The latter expatiates on the desultory exploits of Sebastian, and dispatches, in a few lines, the important battle of Hadrianople. According to the ecclesiastical critics, who hate Sebastian, the praise of Zosimus is disgrace (Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 121.). His prejudice and ignorance undoubtedly render him a very questionable judge of merit,

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CHAP. assured conquest. His army was strengthened by a numerous reinforcement of veterans; and his march from Constantinople to Hadrianople was conducted with so much military skill, that he prevented the activity of the Barbarians, who designed to occupy the intermediate defiles, and to intercept either the troops themselves, or their convoys of provisions. The camp of Valens, which he pitched under the walls of Hadrianople, was fortified, according to the practice of the Romans, with a ditch and rampart; and a most important council was summoned, to decide the fate of the emperor and of the empire. The party of reason and of delay was strenuously maintained by Victor, who had corrected, by the lessons of experience, the native fierceness of the Sarmatian character; while Sebastian, with the flexible and obsequious eloquence of a courtier, represented every precaution, and every measure, that implied a doubt of immediate victory, as unworthy of the courage and majesty of their invincible monarch. The ruin of Valens was precipitated by the deceitful arts of Fritigern, and the prudent admonitions of the emperor of the West. The advantages of negociating in the midst of war, were perfectly understood by the general of the Barbarians; and a Christian ecclesiastic was dispatched, as the holy minister of peace, to penetrate, and to perplex, the councils of the enemy. The misfortunes, as well as the provocations, of the Gothic nation, were forcibly and truly described by their ambassador; who protested,

protested, in the name of Fritigern, that he was still-disposed to lay down his arms, or to employ them only in the defence of the empire; if he could secure, for his wandering countrymen, a tranquil settlement on the waste lands of Thrace, and a sufficient allowance of corn and cattle. But he added, in a whisper of confidential friendship, that the exasperated Barbarians were averse to these reasonable conditions; and, that Friti ern was doubtful whether he could accomplish the conclusion of the treaty, unless he found himself supported by the presence, and terrors, of an imperial army. About the same time, Count Richomer returned from the West, to announce the defeat and submission of the Alemanni; to inform Valens, that his nephew advanced by rapid marches at the head of the veteran and victorious legions of Gaul; and to request, in the name of Gratian and of the republic, that every dangerous and decisive measure might be suspended, till the junction of the two emperors should ensure the success of the Gothic war. But the feeble sovereign of the East was actuated only by the fatal illusions of pride and jealousy. He disdained the importunate advice; he rejected the humiliating aid; he secretly compared the ignominious, or at least the inglorious, period of his own reign, with the fame of a beardless youth: and Valens rushed into the field, to erect his imaginary trophy, before the diligence of his colleague could usurp any share of the triumphs of the day.

CHAP.

XXVI.