Medieval Sourcebook:
Jordanes :
Getica: The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, c. 551 CE
Introductory Note
Jordanes, as he himself tells us a couple of times, was of Gothic
descent and wrote this work as a summary of Cassiodorus' much longer
treatment of the history of the Goths. Because Cassiodorus' book no
longer survives, Jordanes' treatment is often our only source for
some of the Gothic history it describes. He wrote the Getica
during the later stages of the reign of Justinian, not too long after
the demise of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.
Jordanes divided his work, apart from the brief introduction and
conclusion, into four main sections (reflected in the contents
below). These are 1) a Geographical Introduction; 2) the United
Goths; 3) the Visigoths; 4) and the Ostrogoths. Other large sections,
such as the discussion of the Huns, he treats as digressions of a
sort (the more interesting or important of these have been added to
the contents below). Mierow prefaces his translation with a detailed
literary analysis of all the topics in the text; this is not,
however, reproduced here.
Contents
Preface
Geographical Introduction
The United Goths
The Goths in the Third Century
A.D.
Origin of the Huns
The Divided Goths (Visigoths)
Attila the Hun; The Battle of the
Catalaunian Fields
The Divided Goths (Ostrogoths)
Conclusion
Go to Chapter
I II III IV V VI VII VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII XIV XV XVI XVII
XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII
XXIII XXIV
XXV
XXVI XXVII
XXVIII XXIX
XXX
XXXI XXXII
XXXIII XXXIV
XXXV XXXVI
XXXVII XXXVIII
XXXIX XL XLI XLII
XLIII XLIV
XLV
XLVI XLVII
XLVIII XLIX
L
LI
LII
LIII LIV LV LVI LVII
LVIII LIX LX
(Preface)
(1) Though it had been my wish to glide in my little boat by the
shore of a peaceful coast and, as a certain writer says, to gather
little fishes from the pools of the ancients, you, brother Castalius,
bid me set my sails toward the deep. You urge me to leave the little
work I have in hand, that is, the abbreviation of the Chronicles, and
to condense in my own style in this small book the twelve volumes of
the Senator on the origin and deeds of the Getae from olden time to
the present day, descending through the generations of the kings. (2)
Truly a hard command, and imposed by one who seems unwilling to
realize the burden of the task. Nor do you note this, that my
utterance is too slight to fill so magnificent a trumpet of speech as
his. But above every burden is the fact that I have no access to his
books that I may follow his thought. Still--and let me lie not--I
have in times past read the books a second time by his steward's loan
for a three days' reading. The words I recall not, but the sense and
the deeds related I think I retain entire. (3) To this I have added
fitting matters from some Greek and Latin histories. I have also put
in an introduction and a conclusion, and have inserted many things of
my own authorship. Wherefore reproach me not, but receive and read
with gladness what you have asked me to write. If aught be
insufficiently spoken and you remember it, do you as a neighbor to
our race add to it, praying for me, dearest brother. The Lord be with
you. Amen.
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(Geographical Introduction)
I
(4) Our ancestors, as Orosius relates, were of the opinion that the
circle of the whole world was surrounded by the girdle of Ocean on
three sides. Its three parts they called Asia, Europe and Africa.
Concerning this threefold division of the earth's extent there are
almost innumerable writers, who not only explain the situations of
cities and places, but also measure out the number of miles and paces
to give more clearness. Moreover they locate the islands interspersed
amid the waves, both the greater and also the lesser islands, called
Cyclades or Sporades, as situated in the vast flood of the Great Sea.
(5) But the impassable farther bounds of Ocean not only has no one
attempted to describe, but no man has been allowed to reach; for by
reason of obstructing seaweed and the failing of the winds it is
plainly inaccessible and is unknown to any save to Him who made it.
(6) But the nearer border of this sea, which we call the circle of
the world, surrounds its coasts like a wreath. This has become
clearly known to men of inquiring mind, even to such as desired to
write about it. For not only is the coast itself inhabited, but
certain islands off in the sea are habitable. Thus there are to the
East in the Indian Ocean, Hippodes, Iamnesia, Solis Perusta (which
though not habitable, is yet of great length and breadth), besides
Taprobane, a fair island wherein there are towns or estates and ten
strongly fortified cities. But there is yet another, the lovely
Silefantina, and Theros also. (7) These, though not clearly described
by any writer, are nevertheless well filled with inhabitants. This
same Ocean has in its western region certain islands known to almost
everyone by reason of the great number of those that journey to and
fro. And there are two not far from the neighborhood of the Strait of
Gades, one the Blessed Isle and another called the Fortunate.
Although some reckon as islands of Ocean the twin promontories of
Galicia and Lusitania, where are still to be seen the Temple of
Hercules on one and Scipio's Monument on the other, yet since they
are joined to the extremity of the Galician country, they belong
rather to the great land of Europe than to the islands of Ocean. (8)
However, it has other islands deeper within its own tides, which are
called the Baleares; and yet another, Mevania, besides the Orcades,
thirty-three in number, though not all inhabited. (9) And at the
farthest bound of its western expanse it has another island
named Thule, of which the Mantuan bard makes mention:
"And Farthest Thule shall serve thee."
The same mighty sea has also in its arctic region, that is in the
north, a great island named Scandza, from which my tale (by God's
grace) shall take its beginning. For the race whose origin you ask to
know burst forth like a swarm of bees from the midst of this island
and came into the land of Europe. But how or in what wise we shall
explain hereafter, if it be the Lord's will.
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II
(10) But now let me speak briefly as I can concerning the island of
Britain, which is situated in the bosom of Ocean between Spain, Gaul
and Germany. Although Livy tells us that no one in former days sailed
around it, because of its great size, yet many writers have held
various opinions of it. It was long unapproached by Roman arms, until
Julius Caesar disclosed it by batttles fought for mere glory. In the
busy age which followed it became accessible to many through trade
and by other means. Thus it revealed more clearly its position, which
I shall here explain as I have found it in Greek and Latin authors.
(11) Most of them say it is like a triangle pointing between the
north and west. Its widest angle faces the mouths of the Rhine. Then
the island shrinks in breadth and recedes until it ends in two other
angles. Its long doubled side faces Gaul and Germany. Its greatest
breadth is said to be over two thousand three hundred and ten stadia,
and its length not more than seven thousand one hundred and
thirty-two stadia. (12) In some parts it is moorland, in others there
are wooded plains, and sometimes it rises into mountain peaks. The
island is surrounded by a sluggish sea, which neither gives readily
to the stroke of the oar nor runs high under the blasts of the wind.
I suppose this is because other lands are so far removed from it as
to cause no disturbance of the sea, which indeed is of greater width
here than anywhere else. Moreover Strabo, a famous writer of the
Greeks, relates that the island exhales such mists from its soil,
soaked by the frequent inroads of Ocean, that the sun is covered
throughout the whole of their disagreeable sort of day that passes as
fair, and so is hidden from sight.
(13) Cornelius also, the author of the Annals, says that in the
farthest part of Britain the night gets brighter and is very short.
He also says that the island abounds in metals, is well supplied with
grass and is more productive in all those things which feed beasts
rather than men. Moreover many large rivers flow through it, and the
tides are borne back into them, rolling along precious stones and
pearls. The Silures have swarthy features and are usually born with
curly black hair, but the inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair
and large loose-jointed bodies. They are like the Gauls or the
Spaniards, according as they are opposite either nation. (14) Hence
some have supposed that from these lands the island received its
inhabitants, alluring them by its nearness. All the people and their
kings are alike wild. Yet Dio, a most celebrated writer of annals,
assures us of the fact that they have all been combined under the
name of Caledonians and Maeatae. They live in wattled huts, a shelter
used in common with their flocks, and often the woods are their home.
They paint their bodies with iron-red, whether by way of adornment or
perhaps for some other reason. (15) They often wage war with one
another, either because they desire power or to increase their
possessions. They fight not only on horseback or on foot, but even
with scythed two-horse chariots, which they commonly call essedae.
Let it suffice to have said thus much on the shape of the island
of Britain.
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III
(16) Let us now return to the site of the island of Scandza,
which we left above. Claudius Ptolemaeus, an excellent describer of
the world, has made mention of it in the second book of his work,
saying: "There is a great island situated in the surge of the
northern Ocean, Scandza by name, in the shape of a juniper leaf with
bulging sides that taper down to a point at a long end." Pomponius
Mela also makes mention of it as situated in the Codan Gulf of the
sea, with Ocean lapping its shores. (17) This island lies in front of
the river Vistula, which rises in the Sarmatian mountains and flows
through its triple mouth into the northern Ocean in sight of Scandza,
separating Germany and Scythia. The island has in its eastern part a
vast lake in the bosom of the earth, whence the Vagus river springs
from the bowels of the earth and flows surging into the Ocean. And on
the west it is surrounded by an immense sea. On the north it is
bounded by the same vast unnavigable Ocean, from which by means of a
sort of projecting arm of land a bay is cut off and forms the German
Sea. (18) Here also there are said to be many small islands scattered
round about. If wolves cross over to these islands when the sea is
frozen by reason of the great cold, they are said to lose their
sight. Thus the land is not only inhospitable to men but cruel even
to wild beasts.
(19) Now in the island of Scandza, whereof I speak, there dwell
many and divers nations, though Ptolemaeus mentions the names of but
seven of them. There the honey-making swarms of bees are nowhere to
be found on account of the exceeding great cold. In the northern part
of the island the race of the Adogit live, who are said to have
continual light in midsummer for forty days and nights, and who
likewise have no clear light in the winter season for the same number
of days and nights. (20) By reason of this alternation of sorrow and
joy they are like no other race in their sufferings and blessings.
And why? Because during the longer days they see the sun returning to
the east along the rim of the horizon, but on the shorter days it is
not thus seen. The sun shows itself differently because it is passing
through the southern signs, and whereas to us the sun seem to rise
from below, it seems to go around them along the edge of the earth.
There also are other peoples. (21) There are the Screrefennae, who do
not seek grain for food but live on the flesh of wild beasts and
birds' eggs; for there are such multitudes of young game in the
swamps as to provide for the natural increase of their kind and to
afford satisfaction to the needs of the people. But still another
race dwells there, the Suehans, who, like the Thuringians, have
splendid horses. Here also are those who send through innumerable
other tribes the sappherine skins to trade for Roman use. They are a
people famed for the dark beauty of their furs and, though living in
poverty, are most richly clothed. (22) Then comes a throng of various
nations, Theustes, Vagoth, Bergio, Hallin, Liothida. All their
habitations are in one level and fertile region. Wherefore they are
disturbed there by the attacks of other tribes. Behind these are the
Ahelmil, Finnaithae, Fervir and Gauthigoth, a race of men bold and
quick to fight. Then come the Mixi, Evagre, and Otingis. All these
live like wild animals in rocks hewn out like castles. (23) And there
are beyond these the Ostrogoths, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, and the
most gentle Finns, milder than all the inhabitants of Scandza. Like
them are the Vinovilith also. The Suetidi are of this stock and excel
the rest in stature. However, the Dani, who trace their origin to the
same stock, drove from their homes the Heruli, who lay claim to
preëminence among all the nations of Scandza for their tallness.
(24) Furthermore there are in the same neighborhood the Grannii,
Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi, Arochi and Ranii, over whom Roduulf
was king not many years ago. But he despised his own kingdom and fled
to the embrace of Theodoric, king of the Goths, finding there what he
desired. All these nations surpassed the Germans in size and spirit,
and fought with the cruelty of wild beasts.
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(The United Goths)
IV
(25) Now from this island of Scandza, as from a hive of races or a
womb of nations, the Goths are said to have come forth long ago under
their king, Berig by name. As soon as they disembarked from their
ships and set foot on the land, they straightway gave their name to
the place. And even to-day it is said to be called Gothiscandza. (26)
Soon they moved from here to the abodes of the Ulmerugi, who then
dwelt on the shores of Ocean, where they pitched camp, joined battle
with them and drove them from their homes. Then they subdued their
neighbors, the Vandals, and thus added to their victories. But when
the number of the people increased greatly and Filimer, son of
Gadaric, reigned as king--about the fifth since Berig--he decided
that the army of the Goths with their families should move from that
region. (27) In search of suitable homes and pleasant places they
came to the land of Scythia, called Oium in that tongue. Here they
were delighted with the great richness of the country, and it is said
that when half the army had been brought over, the bridge whereby
they had crossed the river fell in utter ruin, nor could anyone
thereafter pass to or fro. For the place is said to be surrounded by
quaking bogs and an encircling abyss, so that by this double obstacle
nature has made it inaccessible. And even to-day one may hear in that
neighborhood the lowing of cattle and may find traces of men, if we
are to believe the stories of travellers, although we must grant that
they hear these things from afar.
(28) This part of the Goths, which is said to have crossed the
river and entered with Filimer into the country of Oium, came into
possession of the desired land, and there they soon came upon the
race of the Spali, joined battle with them and won the victory.
Thence the victors hastened to the farthest part of Scythia, which is
near the sea of Pontus; for so the story is generally told in their
early songs, in almost historic fashion. Ablabius also, a famous
chronicler of the Gothic race, confirms this in his most trustworthy
account. (29) Some of the ancient writers also agree with the tale.
Among these we may mention Josephus, a most reliable relator of
annals, who everywhere follows the rule of truth and unravels from
the beginning the origin of causes;--but why he has omitted the
beginnings of the race of the Goths, of which I have spoken, I do not
know. He barely mentions Magog of that stock, and says they were
Scythians by race and were called so by name.
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Before we enter on our history, we must describe the boundaries of
this land, as it lies.
V
(30) Now Scythia borders on the land of Germany as far as the source
of the river Ister and the expanse of the Morsian Swamp. It reaches
even to the rivers Tyra, Danaster and Vagosola, and the great
Danaper, extending to the Taurus range--not the mountains in Asia but
our own, that is, the Scythian Taurus--all the way to Lake Maeotis.
Beyond Lake Maeotis it spreads on the other side of the straits of
Bosphorus to the Caucasus Mountains and the river Araxes. Then it
bends back to the left behind the Caspian Sea, which comes from the
north-eastern ocean in the most distant parts of Asia, and so is
formed like a mushroom, at first narrow and then broad and round in
shape. It extends as far as the Huns, Albani and Seres. (31) This
land, I say,--namely, Scythia, stretching far and spreading
wide,--has on the east the Seres, a race that dwelt at the very
beginning of their history on the shore of the Caspian Sea. On the
west are the Germans and the river Vistula; on the arctic side,
namely the north, it is surrounded by Ocean; on the south by Persis,
Albania, Hiberia, Pontus and the farthest channel of the Ister, which
is called the Danube all the way from mouth to source. (32) But in
that region where Scythia touches the Pontic coast it is dotted with
towns of no mean fame:--Borysthenis, Olbia, Callipolis, Cherson,
Theodosia, Careon, Myrmicion and Trapezus. These towns the wild
Scythian tribes allowed the Greeks to build to afford them means of
trade. In the midst of Scythia is the place that separates Asia and
Europe, I mean the Rhipaeian mountains, from which the mighty Tanais
flows. This river enters Maeotis, a marsh having a circuit of one
hundred and forty-four miles and never subsiding to a depth of less
than eight fathoms.
(33) In the land of Scythia to the westward dwells, first of all,
the race of the Gepidae, surrounded by great and famous rivers. For
the Tisia flows through it on the north and northwest, and on the
southwest is the great Danube. On the east it is cut by the
Flutausis, a swiftly eddying stream that sweeps whirling into the
Ister's waters. (34) Within these rivers lies Dacia, encircled by the
lofty Alps as by a crown. Near their left ridge, which inclines
toward the north, and beginning at the source of the Vistula, the
populous race of the Venethi dwell, occupying a great expanse of
land. Though their names are now dispersed amid various clans and
places, yet they are chiefly called Sclaveni and Antes. (35) The
abode of the Sclaveni extends from the city of Noviodunum and the
lake called Mursianus to the Danaster, and northward as far as the
Vistula. They have swamps and forests for their cities. The Antes,
who are the bravest of these peoples dwelling in the curve of the sea
of Pontus, spread from the Danaster to the Danaper, rivers that are
many days' journey apart. (36) But on the shore of Ocean, where the
floods of the river Vistula empty from three mouths, the Vidivarii
dwell, a people gathered out of various tribes. Beyond them the
Aesti, a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean. To the south
dwell the Acatziri, a very brave tribe ignorant of agriculture, who
subsist on their flocks and by hunting. (37) Farther away and above
the Sea of Pontus are the abodes of the Bulgares, well known from the
wrongs done to them by reason of our oppression. From this region the
Huns, like a fruitful root of bravest races, sprouted into two hordes
of people. Some of these are called Altziagiri, others Sabiri; and
they have different dwelling places. The Altziagiri are near Cherson,
where the avaricious traders bring in the goods of Asia. In summer
they range the plains, their broad domains, wherever the pasturage
for their cattle invites them, and betake themselves in winter beyond
the Sea of Pontus. Now the Hunuguri are known to us from the fact
that they trade in marten skins. But they have been cowed by their
bolder neighbors.
(38) We read that on their first migration the Goths dwelt in the
land of Scythia near Lake Maeotis. On the second migration they went
to Moesia, Thrace and Dacia, and after their third they dwelt again
in Scythia, above the Sea of Pontus. Nor do we find anywhere in their
written records legends which tell of their subjection to slavery in
Britain or in some other island, or of their redemption by a certain
man at the cost of a single horse. Of course if anyone in our city
says that the Goths had an origin different from that I have related,
let him object. For myself, I prefer to believe what I have read,
rather than put trust in old wives' tales.
(39) To return, then, to my subject. The aforesaid race of which I
speak is known to have had Filimer as king while they remained in
their first home in Scythia near Maeotis. In their second home, that
is in the countries of Dacia, Thrace and Moesia, Zalmoxes reigned,
whom many writers of annals mention as a man of remarkable learning
in philosophy. Yet even before this they had a learned man Zeuta, and
after him Dicineus; and the third was Zalmoxes of whom I have made
mention above. Nor did they lack teachers of wisdom. (40) Wherefore
the Goths have ever been wiser than other barbarians and were nearly
like the Greeks, as Dio relates, who wrote their history and annals
with a Greek pen. He says that those of noble birth among them, from
whom their kings and priests were appointed, were called first
Tarabostesei and then Pilleati. Moreover so highly were the Getae
praised that Mars, whom the fables of poets call the god of war, was
reputed to have been born among them. Hence Virgil says:
"Father Gradivus rules the Getic fields."
(41) Now Mars has always been worshipped by the Goths with cruel
rites, and captives were slain as his victims. They thought that he
who is the lord of war ought to be appeased by the shedding of human
blood. To him they devoted the first share of the spoil, and in his
honor arms stripped from the foe were suspended from trees. And they
had more than all other races a deep spirit of religion, since the
worship of this god seemed to be really bestowed upon their ancestor.
(42) In their third dwelling place, which was above the Sea of
Pontus, they had now become more civilized and, as I have said
before, were more learned. Then the people were divided under ruling
families. The Visigoths served the family of the Balthi and the
Ostrogoths served the renowned Amali. (43) They were the first race
of men to string the bow with cords, as Lucan, who is more of a
historian than a poet, affirms:
"They string Armenian bows with Getic
cords."
In earliest times they sang of the deeds of their ancestors in
strains of song accompanied by the cithara; chanting of Eterpamara,
Hanala, Fritigern, Vidigoia and others whose fame among them is
great; such heroes as admiring antiquity scarce proclaims its own to
be. (44) Then, as the story goes, Vesosis waged a war disastrous to
himself against the Scythians, whom ancient tradition asserts to have
been the husbands of the Amazons. Concerning these female warriors
Orosius speaks in convincing language. Thus we can clearly prove that
Vesosis then fought with the Goths, since we know surely that he
waged war with the husbands of the Amazons. They dwelt at that time
along a bend of Lake Maeotis, from the river Borysthenes, which the
natives call the Danaper, to the stream of the Tanais. (45) By the
Tanais I mean the river which flows down from the Rhipaeian mountains
and rushes with so swift a current that when the neighboring streams
or Lake Maeotis and the Bosphorus are frozen fast, it is the only
river that is kept warm by the rugged mountains and is never
solidified by the Scythian cold. It is also famous as the boundary of
Asia and Europe. For the other Tanais is the one which rises in the
mountains of the Chrinni and flows into the Caspian Sea. (46) The
Danaper begins in a great marsh and issues from it as from its
mother. It is sweet and fit to drink as far as half-way down its
course. It also produces fish of a fine flavor and without
bones, having only cartilage as the frame-work of their bodies. But
as it approaches the Pontus it receives a little spring called
Exampaeus, so very bitter that although the river is navigable for
the length of a forty days' voyage, it is so altered by the water of
this scanty stream as to become tainted and unlike itself, and flows
thus tainted into the sea between the Greek towns of Callipidae and
Hypanis. At its mouth there is an island named Achilles. Between
these two rivers is a vast land filled with forests and treacherous
swamps.
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VI
(47) This was the region where the Goths dwelt when Vesosis, king of
the Egyptians, made war upon them. Their king at that time was
Tanausis. In a battle at the river Phasis (whence come the birds
called pheasants, which are found in abundance at the banquets of the
great all over the world) Tanausis, king of the Goths, met Vesosis,
king of the Egyptians, and there inflicted a severe defeat upon him,
pursuing him even to Egypt. Had he not been restrained by the waters
of the impassable Nile and the fortifications which Vesosis had long
ago ordered to be made against the raids of the Ethiopians, he would
have slain him in his own land. But finding he had no power to injure
him there, he returned and conquered almost all Asia and made it
subject and tributary to Sornus, king of the Medes, who was then his
dear friend. At that time some of his victorious army, seeing that
the subdued provinces were rich and fruitful, deserted their
companies and of their own accord remained in various parts of Asia.
(48) From their name or race Pompeius Trogus says the stock of the
Parthians had its origin. Hence even to-day in the Scythian tongue
they are called Parthi, that is, Deserters. And in consequence of
their descent they are archers--almost alone among all the nations of
Asia--and are very valiant warriors. Now in regard to the name,
though I have said they were called Parthi because they were
deserters, some have traced the derivation of the word otherwise,
saying that they were called Parthi because they fled from their
kinsmen. Now when Tanausis, king of the Goths, was dead, his people
worshipped him as one of their gods.
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VII (49) After his
death, while the army under his successors was engaged in an
expedition in other parts, a neighboring tribe attempted to carry off
women of the Goths as booty. But they made a brave resistance, as
they had been taught to do by their husbands, and routed in disgrace
the enemy who had come upon them. When they had won this victory,
they were inspired with greater daring. Mutually encouraging each
other, they took up arms and chose two of the bolder, Lampeto and
Marpesia, to act as their leaders. (50) While they were in command,
they cast lots both for the defense of their own country and the
devastation of other lands. So Lampeto remained to guard their native
land and Marpesia took a company of women and led this novel
army into Asia. After conquering various tribes in war and making
others their allies by treaties, she came to the Caucasus. There she
remained for some time and gave the place the name Rock of Marpesia,
of which also Virgil makes mention:
"Like to hard flint or the Marpesian
Cliff."
It was here Alexander the Great afterwards built gates and named
them the Caspian Gates, which now the tribe of the Lazi guard as a
Roman fortification. (51) Here, then, the Amazons remained for some
time and were much strengthened. Then they departed and crossed the
river Halys, which flows near the city of Gangra, and with equal
success subdued Armenia, Syria, Cilicia, Galatia, Pisidia and all the
places of Asia. Then they turned to Ionia and Aeolia, and made
provinces of them after their surrender. Here they ruled for some
time and even founded cities and camps bearing their name. At Ephesus
also they built a very costly and beautiful temple for Diana, because
of her delight in archery and the chase--arts to which they were
themselves devoted. (52) Then these Scythian-born women, who had by
such a chance gained control over the kingdoms of Asia, held them for
almost a hundred years, and at last came back to their own kinsfolk
in the Marpesian rocks I have mentioned above, namely the Caucasus
mountains.
Inasmuch as I have twice mentioned this mountain-range, I think it
not out of place to describe its extent and situation, for, as is
well known, it encompasses a great part of the earth with its
continuous chain. (53) Beginning at the Indian Ocean, where it faces
the south it is warm, giving off vapor in the sun; where it lies open
to the north it is exposed to chill winds and frost. Then bending
back into Syria with a curving turn, it not only sends forth many
other streams, but pours from its plenteous breasts into the
Vasianensian region the Euphrates and the Tigris, navigable rivers
famed for their unfailing springs. These rivers surround the land of
the Syrians and cause it to be called Mesopotamia, as it truly is.
Their waters empty into the bosom of the Red Sea. (54) Then turning
back to the north, the range I have spoken of passes with great bends
through the Scythian lands. There it sends forth very famous rivers
into the Caspian Sea--the Araxes, the Cyrus and the Cambyses. It goes
on in continuous range even to the Rhipaeian mountains. Thence it
descends from the north toward the Pontic Sea, furnishing a boundary
to the Scythian tribes by its ridge, and even touches the waters of
the Ister with its clustered hills. Being cut by this river, it
divides, and in Scythia is named Taurus also. (55) Such then is the
great range, almost the mightiest of mountain chains, rearing aloft
its summits and by its natural conformation supplying men with
impregnable strongholds. Here and there it divides where the ridge
breaks apart and leaves a deep gap, thus forming now the Caspian
Gates, and again the Armenian or the Cilician, or of whatever name
the place may be. Yet they are barely passable for a wagon, for both
sides are sharp and steep as well as very high. The range has
different names among various peoples. The Indian calls it Imaus and
in another part Paropamisus. The Parthian calls it first Choatras and
afterward Niphates; the Syrian and Armenian call it Taurus; the
Scythian names it Caucasus and Rhipaeus, and at its end calls it
Taurus. Many other tribes have given names to the range. Now that we
have devoted a few words to describing its extent, let us return to
the subject of the Amazons.
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VIII (56) Fearing their
race would fail, they sought marriage with neighboring tribes. They
appointed a day for meeting once in every year, so that when they
should return to the same place on that day in the following year
each mother might give over to the father whatever male child she had
borne, but should herself keep and train for warfare whatever
children of the female sex were born. Or else, as some maintain, they
exposed the males, destroying the life of the ill-fated child with a
hate like that of a stepmother. Among them childbearing was detested,
though everywhere else it is desired. (57) The terror of their
cruelty was increased by common rumor; for what hope, pray, would
there be for a captive, when it was considered wrong to spare even a
son? Hercules, they say, fought against them and overcame Menalippe,
yet more by guile than by valor. Theseus moreover, took Hippolyte
captive, and of her he begat Hippolytus. And in later times the
Amazons had a queen named Penthesilea, famed in the tales of the
Trojan war. These women are said to have kept their power even to the
time of Alexander the Great.
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IX
(58) But say not "Why does a story which deals with the men of the
Goths have so much to say of their women?" Hear, then, the tale of
the famous and glorious valor of the men. Now Dio, the historian and
diligent investigator of ancient times, who gave to his work the
title "Getica" (and the Getae we have proved in a previous passage to
be Goths, on the testimony of Orosius Paulus)--this Dio, I say, makes
mention of a later king of theirs named Telefus. Let no one
say that this name is quite foreign to the Gothic tongue, and let no
one who is ignorant cavil at the fact that the tribes of men make use
of many names, even as the Romans borrow from the Macedonians, the
Greeks from the Romans, the Sarmatians from the Germans, and the
Goths frequently from the Huns. (59) This Telefus, then, a son of
Hercules by Auge, and the husband of a sister of Priam, was of
towering stature and terrible strength. He matched his father's valor
by virtues of his own and also recalled the traits of Hercules by his
likeness in appearance. Our ancestors called his kingdom Moesia. This
province has on the east the mouths of the Danube, on the south
Macedonia, on the west Histria and on the north the Danube. (60) Now
this king we have mentioned carried on wars with the Greeks, and in
their course he slew in battle Thesander, the leader of Greece. But
while he was making a hostile attack upon Ajax and was pursuing
Ulysses, his horse became entangled in some vines and fell. He
himself was thrown and wounded in the thigh by a javelin of Achilles,
so that for a long time he could not be healed. Yet, despite his
wound, he drove the Greeks from his land. Now when Telefus died, his
son Eurypylus succeeded to the throne, being a son of the sister of
Priam, king of the Phrygians. For love of Cassandra he sought to take
part in the Trojan war, that he might come to the help of her parents
and his own father-in-law; but soon after his arrival he was killed.
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X
(61) Then Cyrus, king of the Persians, after a long interval of
almost exactly six hundred and thirty years (as Pompeius Trogus
relates), waged an unsuccessful war against Tomyris, Queen of the
Getae. Elated by his victories in Asia, he strove to conquer the
Getae, whose queen, as I have said, was Tomyris. Though she could
have stopped the approach of Cyrus at the river Araxes, yet she
permitted him to cross, preferring to overcome him in battle rather
than to thwart him by advantage of position. And so she did. (62) As
Cyrus approached, fortune at first so favored the Parthians that they
slew the son of Tomyris and most of the army. But when the battle was
renewed, the Getae and their queen defeated, conquered and
overwhelmed the Parthians and took rich plunder from them. There for
the first time the race of the Goths saw silken tents. After
achieving this victory and winning so much booty from her enemies,
Queen Tomyris crossed over into that part of Moesia which is now
called Lesser Scythia--a name borrowed from great Scythia,--and built
on the Moesian shore of Pontus the city of Tomi, named after herself.
(63) Afterwards Darius, king of the Persians, the son of
Hystaspes, demanded in marriage the daughter of Antyrus, king of the
Goths, asking for her hand and at the same time making threats in
case they did not fulfil his wish. The Goths spurned this alliance
and brought his embassy to naught. Inflamed with anger because his
offer had been rejected, he led an army of seven hundred thousand
armed men against them and sought to avenge his wounded feelings by
inflicting a public injury. Crossing on boats covered with boards and
joined like a bridge almost the whole way from Chalcedon to
Byzantium, he started for Thrace and Moesia. Later he built a bridge
over the Danube in like manner, but he was wearied by two brief
months of effort and lost eight thousand armed men among the Tapae.
Then, fearing the bridge over the Danube would be seized by his foes,
he marched back to Thrace in swift retreat, believing the land of
Moesia would not be safe for even a short sojourn there.
(64) After his death, his son Xerxes planned to avenge his
father's wrongs and so proceeded to undertake a war against the Goths
with seven hundred thousand of his own men and three hundred thousand
armed auxiliaries, twelve hundred ships of war and three thousand
transports. But he did not venture to try them in battle, being
overawed by their unyielding animosity. So he returned with his force
just as he had come, and without fighting a single battle.
(65) Then Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, made alliance
with the Goths and took to wife Medopa, the daughter of King Gudila,
so that he might render the kingdom of Macedon more secure by the
help of this marriage. It was at this time, as the historian Dio
relates, that Philip, suffering from need of money, determined to
lead out his forces and sack Odessus, a city of Moesia, which was
then subject to the Goths by reason of the neighboring city of Tomi.
Thereupon those priests of the Goths that are called the Holy Men
suddenly opened the gates of Odessus and came forth to meet them.
They bore harps and were clad in snowy robes, and chanted in
suppliant strains to the gods of their fathers that they might be
propitious and repel the Macedonians. When the Macedonians saw them
coming with such confidence to meet them, they were astonished and,
so to speak, the armed were terrified by the unarmed. Straightway
they broke the line they had formed for battle and not only refrained
from destroying the city, but even gave back those whom they had
captured outside by right of war. Then they made a truce and returned
to their own country.
(66) After a long time Sitalces, a famous leader of the Goths,
remembering this treacherous attempt, gathered a hundred and fifty
thousand men and made war upon the Athenians, fighting against
Perdiccas, King of Macedon. This Perdiccas had been left by Alexander
as his successor to rule Athens by hereditary right, when he drank
his destruction at Babylon through the treachery of an attendant. The
Goths engaged in a great battle with him and proved themselves to be
the stronger. Thus in return for the wrong which the Macedonians had
long before committed in Moesia, the Goths overran Greece and laid
waste the whole of Macedonia.
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XI
(67) Then when Buruista was king of the Goths, Dicineus came to
Gothia at the time when Sulla ruled the Romans. Buruista received
Dicineus and gave him almost royal power. It was by his advice the
Goths ravaged the lands of the Germans, which the Franks now possess.
(68) Then came Caesar, the first of all the Romans to assume imperial
power and to subdue almost the whole world, who conquered all
kingdoms and even seized islands lying beyond our world, reposing in
the bosom of Ocean. He made tributary to the Romans those that knew
not the Roman name even by hearsay, and yet was unable to prevail
against the Goths, despite his frequent attempts. Soon Gaius Tiberius
reigned as third emperor of the Romans, and yet the Goths continued
in their kingdom unharmed. (69) Their safety, their advantage, their
one hope lay in this, that whatever their counsellor Dicineus advised
should by all means be done; and they judged it expedient that they
should labor for its accomplishment. And when he saw that their minds
were obedient to him in all things and that they had natural ability,
he taught them almost the whole of philosophy, for he was a skilled
master of this subject. Thus by teaching them ethics he restrained
their barbarous customs; by imparting a knowledge of physics he made
them live naturally under laws of their own, which they possess in
written form to this day and call belagines. He taught them
logic and made them skilled in reasoning beyond all other races; he
showed them practical knowledge and so persuaded them to abound in
good works. By demonstrating theoretical knowledge he urged them to
contemplate the twelve signs and the courses of the planets passing
through them, and the whole of astronomy. He told them how the disc
of the moon gains increase or suffers loss, and showed them how much
the fiery globe of the sun exceeds in size our earthly planet. He
explained the names of the three hundred and forty-six stars and told
through what signs in the arching vault of the heavens they glide
swiftly from their rising to their setting. (70) Think, I pray you,
what pleasure it was for these brave men, when for a little space
they had leisure from warfare, to be instructed in the teachings of
philosophy! You might have seen one scanning the position of the
heavens and another investigating the nature of plants and bushes.
Here stood one who studied the waxing and waning of the moon, while
still another regarded the labors of the sun and observed how those
bodies which were hastening to go toward the east are whirled around
and borne back to the west by the rotation of the heavens. When they
had learned the reason, they were at rest. (71) These and various
other matters Dicineus taught the Goths in his wisdom and gained
marvellous repute among them, so that he ruled not only the common
men but their kings. He chose from among them those that were at that
time of noblest birth and superior wisdom and taught them theology,
bidding them worship certain divinities and holy places. He gave the
name of Pilleati to the priests he ordained, I suppose because they
offered sacrifice having their heads covered with tiaras, which we
otherwise call pillei. (72) But he bade them call the rest of
their race Capillati. This name the Goths accepted and prized highly,
and they retain it to this day in their songs.
(73) After the death of Dicineus, they held Comosicus in almost
equal honor, because he was not inferior in knowledge. By reason of
his wisdom he was accounted their priest and king, and he judged the
people with the greatest uprightness.
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XII When he too had
departed from human affairs, Coryllus ascended the throne as king of
the Goths and for forty years ruled his people in Dacia. I mean
ancient Dacia, which the race of the Gepidae now possess. (74) This
country lies across the Danube within sight of Moesia, and is
surrounded by a crown of mountains. It has only two ways of access,
one by way of the Boutae and the other by the Tapae. This Gothia,
which our ancestors called Dacia and now, as I have said, is called
Gepidia, was then bounded on the east by the Roxolani, on the west by
the Iazyges, on the north by the Sarmatians and Basternae and on the
south by the river Danube. The Iazyges are separated from the
Roxolani by the Aluta river only.
(75) And since mention has been made of the Danube, I think it not
out of place to make brief notice of so excellent a stream. Rising in
the fields of the Alamanni, it receives sixty streams which flow into
it here and there in the twelve hundred miles from its source to its
mouths in the Pontus, resembling a spine inwoven with ribs like a
basket. It is indeed a most vast river. In the language of the Bessi
it is called the Hister, and it has profound waters in its channel to
a depth of quite two hundred feet. This stream surpasses in size all
other rivers, except the Nile. Let this much suffice for the Danube.
But let us now with the Lord's help return to the subject from which
we have digressed.
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XIII (76) Now after a
long time, in the reign of the Emperor Domitian, the Goths, through
fear of his avarice, broke the truce they had long observed under
other emperors. They laid waste the bank of the Danube, so long held
by the Roman Empire, and slew the soldiers and their generals. Oppius
Sabinus was then in command of that province, succeeding Agrippa,
while Dorpaneus held command over the Goths. Thereupon the Goths made
war and conquered the Romans, cut off the head of Oppius Sabinus, and
invaded and boldly plundered many castles and cities belonging to the
Emperor. (77) In this plight of his countrymen Domitian hastened with
all his might to Illyricum, bringing with him the troops of almost
the entire empire. He sent Fuscus before him as his general with
picked soldiers. Then joining boats together like a bridge, he made
his soldiers cross the river Danube above the army of Dorpaneus. (78)
But the Goths were on the alert. They took up arms and presently
overwhelmed the Romans in the first encounter. They slew Fuscus, the
commander, and plundered the soldiers' camp of its treasure. And
because of the great victory they had won in this region, they
thereafter called their leaders, by whose good fortune they seemed to
have conquered, not mere men, but demigods, that is Ansis. Their
genealogy I shall run through briefly, telling the lineage of each
and the beginning and the end of this line. And do thou, O reader,
hear me without repining; for I speak truly.
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XIV (79) Now the first
of these heroes, as they themselves relate in their legends, was
Gapt, who begat Hulmul. And Hulmul begat Augis; and Augis begat him
who was called Amal, from whom the name of the Amali comes. This Amal
begat Hisarnis. Hisarnis moreover begat Ostrogotha, and Ostrogotha
begat Hunuil, and Hunuil likewise begat Athal. Athal begat Achiulf
and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat Ansila and Ediulf, Vultuulf and
Hermanaric. And Vultuulf begat Valaravans and Valaravans begat
Vinitharius. Vinitharius moreover begat Vandalarius; (80) Vandalarius
begat Thiudimer and Valamir and Vidimer; and Thiudimer begat
Theodoric. Theodoric begat Amalasuentha; Amalasuentha bore Athalaric
and Mathesuentha to her husband Eutharic, whose race was thus joined
to hers in kinship. (81) For the aforesaid Hermanaric, the son of
Achiulf, begat Hunimund, and Hunimund begat Thorismud. Now Thorismud
begat Beremud, Beremud begat Veteric, and Veteric likewise begat
Eutharic, who married Amalasuentha and begat Athalaric and
Mathesuentha. Athalaric died in the years of his childhood, and
Mathesuentha married Vitiges, to whom she bore no child. Both of
them were taken together by Belisarius to Constantinople. When
Vitiges passed from human affairs, Germanus the patrician, a cousin
of the Emperor Justinian, took Mathesuentha in marriage and made her
a Patrician Ordinary. And of her he begat a son, also called
Germanus. But upon the death of Germanus, she determined to remain a
widow. Now how and in what wise the kingdom of the Amali was
overthrown we shall keep to tell in its proper place, if the Lord
help us.
(82) But let us now return to the point
whence we made our digression and tell how the stock of this people
of whom I speak reached the end of its course. Now Ablabius the
historian relates that in Scythia, where we have said that they were
dwelling above an arm of the Pontic Sea, part of them who held the
eastern region and whose king was Ostrogotha, were called Ostrogoths,
that is, eastern Goths, either from his name or from the place. But
the rest were called Visigoths, that is, the Goths of the western
country.
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XV (83) As already said, they crossed the Danube
and dwelt a little while in Moesia and Thrace. From the remnant of
these came Maximinus, the Emperor succeeding Alexander the son of
Mama. For Symmachus relates it thus in the fifth book of his history,
saying that upon the death of Caesar Alexander, Maximinus was made
Emperor by the army; a man born in Thrace of most humble parentage,
his father being a Goth named Micca, and his mother a woman of the
Alani called Ababa. He reigned three years and lost alike his empire
and his life while making war on the Christians. (84) Now after his
first years spent in rustic life, he had come from his flocks to
military service in the reign of the Emperor Severus and at the time
when he was celebrating his son's birthday. It happened that the
Emperor was giving military games. When Maximinus saw this, although
he was a semi-barbarian youth, he besought the Emperor in his native
tongue to give him permission to wrestle with the trained soldiers
for the prizes offered. (85) Severus marvelling much at his
great size--for his stature, it is said, was more than eight
feet,--bade him contend in wrestling with the camp followers, in
order that no injury might befall his soldiers at the hands of this
wild fellow. Thereupon Maximinus threw sixteen attendants with so
great ease that he conquered them one by one without taking any rest
by pausing between the bouts. So then, when he had won the prizes, it
was ordered that he should be sent into the army and should take his
first campaign with the cavalry. On the third day after this, when
the Emperor went out to the field, he saw him coursing about in
barbarian fashion and bade a tribune restrain him and teach him Roman
discipline. But when he understood it was the Emperor who was
speaking about him, he came forward and began to run ahead of him as
he rode. (86) Then the Emperor spurred on his horse to a slow
trot and wheeled in many a circle hither and thither with various
turns, until he was weary. And then he said to him "Are you willing
to wrestle now after your running, my little Thracian?" "As much as
you like, O Emperor," he answered. So Severus leaped from his horse
and ordered the freshest soldiers to wrestle with him. But he threw
to the ground seven very powerful youths, even as before, taking no
breathing space between the bouts. So he alone was given prizes of
silver and a golden necklace by Caesar. Then he was bidden to serve
in the body guard of the Emperor. (87) After this he was an officer
under Antoninus Caracalla, often increasing his fame by his deeds,
and rose to many military grades and finally to the centurionship as
the reward of his active service. Yet afterwards, when Macrinus
became Emperor, he refused military service for almost three years,
and though he held the office of tribune, he never came into the
presence of Macrinus, thinking his rule shameful because he had won
it by committing a crime. (88) Then he returned to Eliogabalus,
believing him to be the son of Antoninus, and entered upon his
tribuneship. After his reign, he fought with marvellous success
against the Parthians, under Alexander the son of Mama. When he was
slain in an uprising of the soldiers at Mogontiacum, Maximinus
himself was made Emperor by a vote of the army, without a decree of
the senate. But he marred all his good deeds by persecuting the
Christians in accordance with an evil vow and, being slain by
Pupienus at Aquileia, left the kingdom to Philip. These matters we
have borrowed from the history of Symmachus for this our little book,
in order to show that the race of which we speak attained to the very
highest station in the Roman Empire. But our subject requires us to
return in due order to the point whence we digressed.
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XVI (89) Now the Gothic
race gained great fame in the region where they were then dwelling,
that is in the Scythian land on the shore of Pontus, holding
undisputed sway over great stretches of country, many arms of the sea
and many river courses. By their strong right arm the Vandals were
often laid low, the Marcomanni held their footing by paying tribute
and the princes of the Quadi were reduced to slavery. Now when the
aforesaid Philip--who, with his son Philip, was the only Christian
emperor before Constantine--ruled over the Romans, in the second year
of his reign Rome completed its one thousandth year. He withheld from
the Goths the tribute due them; whereupon they were naturally enraged
and instead of friends became his foes. For though they dwelt apart
under their own kings, yet they had been allied to the Roman state
and received annual gifts. (90) And what more? Ostrogotha and his men
soon crossed the Danube and ravaged Moesia and Thrace. Philip sent
the senator Decius against him. And since he could do nothing against
the Getae, he released his own soldiers from military service and
sent them back to private life, as though it had been by their
neglect that the Goths had crossed the Danube. When, as he supposed,
he had thus taken vengeance on his soldiers, he returned to Philip.
But when the soldiers found themselves expelled from the army after
so many hardships, in their anger they had recourse to the protection
of Ostrogotha, king of the Goths. (91) He received them, was aroused
by their words and presently led out three hundred thousand armed
men, having as allies for this war some of the Taifali and Astringi
and also three thousand of the Carpi, a race of men very ready to
make war and frequently hostile to the Romans. But in later times
when Diocletian and Maximian were Emperors, the Caesar Galerius
Maximianus conquered them and made them tributary to the Roman
Empire. Besides these tribes, Ostrogotha had Goths and Peucini from
the island of Peuce, which lies in the mouths of the Danube where
they empty into the Sea of Pontus. He placed in command Argaithus and
Guntheric, the noblest leaders of his race. (92) They speedily
crossed the Danube, devastated Moesia a second time and approached
Marcianople, the famed metropolis of that land. Yet after a long
siege they departed, upon receiving money from the inhabitants.
(93) Now since we have mentioned Marcianople, we may briefly
relate a few matters in connection with its founding. They say that
the Emperor Trajan built this city for the following reason. While
his sister's daughter Marcia was bathing in the stream called
Potamus--a river of great clearness and purity that rises in the
midst of the city--she wished to draw some water from it and by
chance dropped into its depths the golden pitcher she was carrying.
Yet though very heavy from its weight of metal, it emerged from the
waves a long time afterwards. It surely is not a usual thing for an
empty vessel to sink; much less that, when once swallowed up, it
should be cast up by the waves and float again. Trajan marvelled at
hearing this and believed there was some divinity in the stream. So
he built a city and called it Marcianople after the name of his
sister.
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XVII (94) From this city, then, as we were saying,
the Getae returned after a long siege to their own land, enriched by
the ransom they had received. Now the race of the Gepidae was moved
with envy when they saw them laden with booty and so suddenly
victorious everywhere, and made war on their kinsmen. Should you ask
how the Getae and Gepidae are kinsmen, I can tell you in a few words.
You surely remember that in the beginning I said the Goths went forth
from the bosom of the island of Scandza with Berig, their king,
sailing in only three ships toward the hither shore of Ocean, namely
to Gothiscandza. (95) One of these three ships proved to be slower
than the others, as is usually the case, and thus is said to have
given the tribe their name, for in their language gepanta
means slow. Hence it came to pass that gradually and by
corruption the name Gepidae was coined for them by way of reproach.
For undoubtedly they too trace their origin from the stock of the
Goths, but because, as I have said, gepanta means something
slow and stolid, the word Gepidae arose as a gratuitous name of
reproach. I do not believe this is very far wrong, for they are slow
of thought and too sluggish for quick movement of their bodies.
(96) These Gepidae were then smitten by envy while they dwelt in
the province of Spesis on an island surrounded by the shallow waters
of the Vistula. This island they called, in the speech of their
fathers, Gepedoios; but it is now inhabited by the race of the
Vividarii, since the Gepidae themselves have moved to better lands.
The Vividarii are gathered from various races into this one asylum,
if I may call it so, and thus they form a nation. (97) So then, as we
were saying, Fastida, king of the Gepidae, stirred up his quiet
people to enlarge their boundaries by war. He overwhelmed the
Burgundians, almost annihilating them, and conquered a number of
other races also. He unjustly provoked the Goths, being the first to
break the bonds of kinship by unseemly strife. He was greatly puffed
up with vain glory, but in seeking to acquire new lands for his
growing nation, he only reduced the numbers of his own countrymen.
(98) For he sent ambassadors to Ostrogotha, to whose rule Ostrogoths
and Visigoths alike, that is, the two peoples of the same tribe, were
still subject. Complaining that he was hemmed in by rugged mountains
and dense forests, he demanded one of two things,--that Ostrogotha
should either prepare for war or give up part of his lands to them.
(99) Then Ostrogotha, king of the Goths, who was a man of firm mind,
answered the ambassadors that he did indeed dread such a war and that
it would be a grievous and infamous thing to join battle with their
kin,--but he would not give up his lands. And why say more? The
Gepidae hastened to take arms and Ostrogotha likewise moved his
forces against them, lest he should seem a coward. They met at the
town of Galtis, near which the river Auha flows, and there both sides
fought with great valor; indeed the similarity of their arms and of
their manner of fighting turned them against their own men. But the
better cause and their natural alertness aided the Goths. (100)
Finally night put an end to the battle as a part of the Gepidae were
giving way. Then Fastida, king of the Gepidae, left the field of
slaughter and hastened to his own land, as much humiliated with shame
and disgrace as formerly he had been elated with pride. The Goths
returned victorious, content with the retreat of the Gepidae, and
dwelt in peace and happiness in their own land so long as Ostrogotha
was their leader.
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XVIII (101) After his
death, Cniva divided the army into two parts and sent some to waste
Moesia, knowing that it was undefended through the neglect of the
emperors. He himself with seventy thousand men hastened to Euscia,
that is, Novae. When driven from this place by the general Gallus, he
approached Nicopolis, a very famous town situated near the Iatrus
river. This city Trajan built when he conquered the Sarmatians and
named it the City of Victory. When the Emperor Decius drew near,
Cniva at last withdrew to the regions of Haemus, which were not far
distant. Thence he hastened to Philippopolis, with his forces in good
array. (102) When the Emperor Decius learned of his departure, he was
eager to bring relief to his own city and, crossing Mount Haemus,
came to Beroa. While he was resting his horses and his weary army in
that place, all at once Cniva and his Goths fell upon him like a
thunderbolt. He cut the Roman army to pieces and drove the Emperor,
with a few who had succeeded in escaping, across the Alps again to
Euscia in Moesia, where Gallus was then stationed with a large force
of soldiers as guardian of the frontier. Collecting an army from this
region as well as from Oescus, he prepared for the conflict of the
coming war. (103) But Cniva took Philippopolis after a long siege and
then, laden with spoil, allied himself to Priscus, the commander in
the city, to fight against Decius. In the battle that followed they
quickly pierced the son of Decius with an arrow and cruelly slew him.
The father saw this, and although he is said to have exclaimed, to
cheer the hearts of his soldiers: "Let no one mourn; the death of one
soldier is not a great loss to the republic", he was yet unable to
endure it, because of his love for his son. So he rode against the
foe, demanding either death or vengeance, and when he came to
Abrittus, a city of Moesia, he was himself cut off by the Goths and
slain, thus making an end of his dominion and of his life. This place
is to-day called the Altar of Decius, because he there offered
strange sacrifices to idols before the battle.
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XIX (104) Then upon the
death of Decius, Gallus and Volusianus succeeded to the Roman Empire.
At this time a destructive plague, almost like death itself, such as
we suffered nine years ago, blighted the face of the whole earth and
especially devastated Alexandria and all the land of Egypt. The
historian Dionysius gives a mournful account of it and Cyprian, our
own bishop and venerable martyr in Christ, also describes it in his
book entitled "On Mortality". At this time the Goths frequently
ravaged Moesia, through the neglect of the Emperors. (105) When a
certain Aemilianus saw that they were free to do this, and that they
could not be dislodged by anyone without great cost to the republic,
he thought that he too might be able to achieve fame and fortune. So
he seized the rule in Moesia and, taking all the soldiers he could
gather, began to plunder cities and people. In the next few months,
while an armed host was being gathered against him, he wrought no
small harm to the state. Yet he died almost at the beginning of his
evil attempt, thus losing at once his life and the power he coveted.
(106) Now though Gallus and Volusianus, the Emperors we have
mentioned, departed this life after remaining in power for barely two
years, yet during this space of two years which they spent on earth
they reigned amid universal peace and favor. Only one thing was laid
to their charge, namely the great plague. But this was an accusation
made by ignorant slanderers, whose custom it is to wound the lives of
others with their malicious bite. Soon after they came to power they
made a treaty with the race of the Goths. When both rulers were dead,
it was no long time before Gallienus usurped the throne.
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XX
(107) While he was given over to luxurious living of every sort,
Respa, Veduc and Thuruar, leaders of the Goths, took ship and sailed
across the strait of the Hellespont to Asia. There they laid waste
many populous cities and set fire to the renowned temple of Diana at
Ephesus, which, as we said before, the Amazons built. Being driven
from the neighborhood of Bithynia, they destroyed Chalcedon, which
Cornelius Avitus afterwards restored to some extent. Yet even to-day,
though it is happily situated near the royal city, it still shows
some traces of its ruin as a witness to posterity. (108) After their
success, the Goths recrossed the strait of the Hellespont, laden with
booty and spoil, and returned along the same route by which they had
entered the lands of Asia, sacking Troy and Ilium on the way. These
cities, which had scarce recovered a little from the famous war with
Agamemnon, were thus destroyed anew by the hostile sword. After the
Goths had thus devastated Asia, Thrace next felt their ferocity. For
they went thither and presently attacked Anchiali, a city at the foot
of Haemus and not far from the sea. Sardanapalus, king of the
Parthians, had built this city long ago between an inlet of the sea
and the base of Haemus. (109) There they are said to have stayed for
many days, enjoying the baths of the hot springs which are situated
about twelve miles from the city of Anchiali. There they gush from
the depths of their fiery source, and among the innumerable hot
springs of the world they are esteemed as specially famous and
efficacious for their healing virtues.
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XXI (110) After these events, the Goths had
already returned home when they were summoned at the request of the
Emperor Maximian to aid the Romans against the Parthians. They fought
for him faithfully, serving as auxiliaries. But after Caesar Maximian
by their aid had routed Narseus, king of the Persians, the grandson
of Sapor the Great, taking as spoil all his possessions, together
with his wives and his sons, and when Diocletian had conquered
Achilles in Alexandria and Maximianus Herculius had broken the
Quinquegentiani in Africa, thus winning peace for the empire, they
began rather to neglect the Goths.
(111) Now it had long been a hard matter for the Roman army to
fight against any nations whatsoever without them. This is evident
from the way in which the Goths were so frequently called upon. Thus
they were summoned by Constantine to bear arms against his kinsman
Licinius. Later, when he was vanquished and shut up in Thessalonica
and deprived of his power, they slew him with the sword of
Constantine the victor. (112) In like manner it was the aid of the
Goths that enabled him to build the famous city that is named after
him, the rival of Rome, inasmuch as they entered into a truce with
the Emperor and furnished him forty thousand men to aid him against
various peoples. This body of men, namely, the Allies, and the
service they rendered in war are still spoken of in the land to this
day. Now at that time they prospered under the rule of their kings
Ariaric and Aoric. Upon their death Geberich appeared as successor to
the throne, a man renowned for his valor and noble birth.
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XXII (113) For he was
the son of Hilderith, who was the son of Ovida, who was the son of
Nidada; and by his illustrious deeds he equalled the glory of his
race. Soon he sought to enlarge his country's narrow bounds at the
expense of the race of the Vandals and Visimar, their king. This
Visimar was of the stock of the Asdingi, which is eminent among them
and indicates a most warlike descent, as Dexippus the historian
relates. He states furthermore that by reason of the great extent of
their country they could scarcely come from Ocean to our frontier in
a year's time. At that time they dwelt in the land where the Gepidae
now live, near the rivers Marisia, Miliare, Gilpil and the Grisia,
which exceeds in size all previously mentioned. (114) They then had
on the east the Goths, on the west the Marcomanni, on the north the
Hermunduli and on the south the Hister, which is also called the
Danube. At the time when the Vandals were dwelling in this region,
war was begun against them by Geberich, king of the Goths, on the
shore of the river Marisia which I have mentioned. Here the battle
raged for a little while on equal terms. But soon Visimar himself,
the king of the Vandals, was overthrown, together with the greater
part of his people. (115) When Geberich, the famous leader of the
Goths, had conquered and spoiled the Vandals, he returned to his own
place whence he had come. Then the remnant of the Vandals who had
escaped, collecting a band of their unwarlike folk, left their
ill-fated country and asked the Emperor Constantine for Pannonia.
Here they made their home for about sixty years and obeyed the
commands of the emperors like subjects. A long time afterward they
were summoned thence by Stilicho, Master of the Soldiery, Ex-Consul
and Patrician, and took possession of Gaul. Here they plundered their
neighbors and had no settled place of abode.
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XXIII (116) Soon
Geberich, king of the Goths, departed from human affairs and
Hermanaric, noblest of the Amali, succeeded to the throne. He subdued
many warlike peoples of the north and made them obey his laws, and
some of our ancestors have justly compared him to Alexander the
Great. Among the tribes he conquered were the Golthescytha, Thiudos,
Inaunxis, Vasinabroncae, Merens, Mordens, Imniscaris, Rogas, Tadzans,
Athaul, Navego, Bubegenae and Coldae. (117) But though famous for his
conquest of so many races, he gave himself no rest until he had slain
some in battle and then reduced to his sway the remainder of the
tribe of the Heruli, whose chief was Alaric. Now the aforesaid race,
as the historian Ablabius tells us, dwelt near Lake Maeotis in swampy
places which the Greeks call hele; hence they were
named Heluri. They were a people swift of foot, and on that account
were the more swollen with pride, (118) for there was at that time no
race that did not choose from them its light-armed troops for battle.
But though their quickness often saved them from others who made war
upon them, yet they were overthrown by the slowness and steadiness of
the Goths; and the lot of fortune brought it to pass that they, as
well as the other tribes, had to serve Hermanaric, king of the Getae.
(119) After the slaughter of the Heruli, Hermanaric also took arms
against the Venethi. This people, though despised in war, was strong
in numbers and tried to resist him. But a multitude of cowards is of
no avail, particularly when God permits an armed multitude to attack
them. These people, as we started to say at the beginning of our
account or catalogue of nations, though off-shoots from one stock,
have now three names, that is, Venethi, Antes and Sclaveni. Though
they now rage in war far and wide, in punishment for our sins, yet at
that time they were all obedient to Hermanaric's commands. (120) This
ruler also subdued by his wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who
dwell on the farthest shore of the German Ocean, and ruled all the
nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone.
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XXIV
(121) But after a short space of time, as Orosius
relates, the race of the Huns, fiercer than ferocity itself, flamed
forth against the Goths. We learn from old traditions that their
origin was as follows: Filimer, king of the Goths, son of Gadaric the
Great, who was the fifth in succession to hold the rule of the Getae
after their departure from the island of Scandza,--and who, as we
have said, entered the land of Scythia with his tribe,--found among
his people certain witches, whom he called in his native tongue
Haliurunnae. Suspecting these women, he expelled them from the midst
of his race and compelled them to wander in solitary exile afar from
his army. (122) There the unclean spirits, who beheld them as they
wandered through the wilderness, bestowed their embraces upon them
and begat this savage race, which dwelt at first in the swamps,--a
stunted, foul and puny tribe, scarcely human, and having no language
save one which bore but slight resemblance to human speech. Such was
the descent of the Huns who came to the country of the Goths.
(123) This cruel tribe, as Priscus the historian relates, settled
on the farther bank of the Maeotic swamp. They were fond of hunting
and had no skill in any other art. After they had grown to a nation,
they disturbed the peace of neighboring races by theft and rapine. At
one time, while hunters of their tribe were as usual seeking for game
on the farthest edge of Maeotis, they saw a doe unexpectedly appear
to their sight and enter the swamp, acting as guide of the way; now
advancing and again standing still. (124) The hunters followed and
crossed on foot the Maeotic swamp, which they had supposed was
impassable as the sea. Presently the unknown land of Scythia
disclosed itself and the doe disappeared. Now in my opinion the evil
spirits, from whom the Huns are descended, did this from envy of the
Scythians. (125) And the Huns, who had been wholly ignorant that
there was another world beyond Maeotis, were now filled with
admiration for the Scythian land. As they were quick of mind, they
believed that this path, utterly unknown to any age of the past, had
been divinely revealed to them. They returned to their tribe, told
them what had happened, praised Scythia and persuaded the people to
hasten thither along the way they had found by the guidance of the
doe. As many as they captured, when they thus entered Scythia for the
first time, they sacrificed to Victory. The remainder they conquered
and made subject to themselves. (126) Like a whirlwind of nations
they swept across the great swamp and at once fell upon the
Alpidzuri, Alcildzuri, Itimari, Tuncarsi and Boisci, who bordered on
that part of Scythia. The Alani also, who were their equals in
battle, but unlike them in civilization, manners and appearance, they
exhausted by their incessant attacks and subdued. (127) For by the
terror of their features they inspired great fear in those whom
perhaps they did not really surpass in war. They made their foes flee
in horror because their swarthy aspect was fearful, and they had, if
I may call it so, a sort of shapeless lump, not a head, with
pin-holes rather than eyes. Their hardihood is evident in their wild
appearance, and they are beings who are cruel to their children on
the very day they are born. For they cut the cheeks of the males with
a sword, so that before they receive the nourishment of milk they
must learn to endure wounds. (128) Hence they grow old beardless and
their young men are without comeliness, because a face furrowed by
the sword spoils by its scars the natural beauty of a beard. They are
short in stature, quick in bodily movement, alert horsemen, broad
shouldered, ready in the use of bow and arrow, and have firm-set
necks which are ever erect in pride. Though they live in the form of
men, they have the cruelty of wild beasts.
(129) When the Getae beheld this active race that had invaded many
nations, they took fright and consulted with their king how they
might escape from such a foe. Now although Hermanaric, king of the
Goths, was the conqueror of many tribes, as we have said above, yet
while he was deliberating on this invasion of the Huns, the
treacherous tribe of the Rosomoni, who at that time were among those
who owed him their homage, took this chance to catch him unawares.
For when the king had given orders that a certain woman of the tribe
I have mentioned, Sunilda by name, should be bound to wild horses and
torn apart by driving them at full speed in opposite directions (for
he was roused to fury by her husband's treachery to him), her
brothers Sarus and Ammius came to avenge their sister's death and
plunged a sword into Hermanaric's side. Enfeebled by this blow, he
dragged out a miserable existence in bodily weakness. (130) Balamber,
king of the Huns, took advantage of his ill health to move an army
into the country of the Ostrogoths, from whom the Visigoths had
already separated because of some dispute. Meanwhile Hermanaric, who
was unable to endure either the pain of his wound or the inroads of
the Huns, died full of days at the great age of one hundred and ten
years. The fact of his death enabled the Huns to prevail over those
Goths who, as we have said, dwelt in the East and were called
Ostrogoths.
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(The Divided Goths: Visigoths)
XXV (131) The Visigoths,
who were their other allies and inhabitants of the western country,
were terrified as their kinsmen had been, and knew not how to plan
for safety against the race of the Huns. After long deliberation by
common consent they finally sent ambassadors into Romania to the
Emperor Valens, brother of Valentinian, the elder Emperor, to say
that if he would give them part of Thrace or Moesia to keep, they
would submit themselves to his laws and commands. That he might have
greater confidence in them, they promised to become Christians, if he
would give them teachers who spoke their language. (132) When Valens
learned this, he gladly and promptly granted what he had himself
intended to ask. He received the Getae into the region of Moesia and
placed them there as a wall of defense for his kingdom against other
tribes. And since at that time the Emperor Valens, who was infected
with the Arian perfidy, had closed all the churches of our party, he
sent as preachers to them those who favored his sect. They came and
straightway filled a rude and ignorant people with the poison of
their heresy. Thus the Emperor Valens made the Visigoths Arians
rather than Christians. (133) Moreover, from the love they bore them,
they preached the gospel both to the Ostrogoths and to their kinsmen
the Gepidae, teaching them to reverence this heresy, and they invited
all people of their speech everywhere to attach themselves to this
sect. They themselves as we have said, crossed the Danube and settled
Dacia Ripensis, Moesia and Thrace by permission of the Emperor.
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XXVI (134) Soon famine and want came upon them, as
often happens to a people not yet well settled in a country. Their
princes and the leaders who ruled them in place of kings, that is
Fritigern, Alatheus and Safrac, began to lament the plight of their
army and begged Lupicinus and Maximus, the Roman commanders, to open
a market. But to what will not the "cursed lust for gold" compel men
to assent? The generals, swayed by avarice, sold them at a high price
not only the flesh of sheep and oxen, but even the carcasses of dogs
and unclean animals, so that a slave would be bartered for a loaf of
bread or ten pounds of meat. (135) When their goods and chattels
failed, the greedy trader demanded their sons in return for the
necessities of life. And the parents consented even to this, in order
to provide for the safety of their children, arguing that it was
better to lose liberty than life; and indeed it is better that one be
sold, if he will be mercifully fed, than that he should be kept free
only to die.
Now it came to pass in that troubIous time that Lupicinus, the
Roman general, invited Fritigern, a chieftain of the Goths, to a
feast and, as the event revealed, devised a plot against him. (136)
But Fritigern, thinking no evil, came to the feast with a few
followers. While he was dining in the praetorium he heard the dying
cries of his ill-fated men, for, by order of the general, the
soldiers were slaying his companions who were shut up in another part
of the house. The loud cries of the dying fell upon ears already
suspicious, and Fritigern at once perceived the treacherous trick. He
drew his sword and with great courage dashed quickly from the
banqueting-hall, rescued his men from their threatening doom and
incited them to slay the Romans. (137) Thus these valiant men gained
the chance they had longed for--to be free to die in battle rather
than to perish of hunger--and immediately took arms to kill the
generals Lupicinus and Maximus. Thus that day put an end to the
famine of the Goths and the safety of the Romans, for the Goths no
longer as strangers and pilgrims, but as citizens and lords, began to
rule the inhabitants and to hold in their own right all the northern
country as far as the Danube.
(138) When the Emperor Valens heard of this at Antioch, he made
ready an army at once and set out for the country of Thrace. Here a
grievous battle took place and the Goths prevailed. The Emperor
himself was wounded and fled to a farm near Hadrianople. The Goths,
not knowing that an emperor lay hidden in so poor a hut, set fire to
it (as is customary in dealing with a cruel foe), and thus he was
cremated in royal splendor. Plainly it was a direct judgment of God
that he should be burned with fire by the very men whom he had
perfidiously led astray when they sought the true faith, turning them
aside from the flame of love into the fire of hell. From this time
the Visigoths, in consequence of their glorious victory, possessed
Thrace and Dacia Ripensis as if it were their native land.
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XXVII (139) Now in the
place of Valens, his uncle, the Emperor Gratian established
Theodosius the Spaniard in the Eastern Empire. Military discipline
was soon restored to a high level, and the Goth, perceiving that the
cowardice and sloth of former princes was ended, became afraid. For
the Emperor was famed alike for his acuteness and discretion. By
stern commands and by generosity and kindness he encouraged a
demoralized army to deeds of daring. (140) But when the soldiers, who
had obtained a better leader by the change, gained new confidence,
they sought to attack the Goths and drive them from the borders of
Thrace. But as the Emperor Theodosius fell so sick at this time that
his life was almost despaired of, the Goths were again inspired with
courage. Dividing the Gothic army, Fritigern set out to plunder
Thessaly, Epirus and Achaia, while Alatheus and Safrac with the rest
of the troops made for Pannonia. (141) Now the Emperor Gratian had at
this time retreated from Rome to Gaul because of the invasions of the
Vandals. When he learned that the Goths were acting with greater
boldness because Theodosius was in despair of his life, he quickly
gathered an army and came against them. Yet he put no trust in arms,
but sought to conquer them by kindness and gifts. So he entered on a
truce with them and made peace, giving them provisions.
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XXVIII (142) When the
Emperor Theodosius afterwards recovered and learned that the Emperor
Gratian had made a compact between the Goths and the Romans, as he
had himself desired, he took it very graciously and gave his assent.
He gave gifts to King Athanaric, who had succeeded Fritigern, made an
alliance with him and in the most gracious manner invited him to
visit him in Constantinople. (143) Athanaric very gladly consented
and as he entered the royal city exclaimed in wonder "Lo, now I see
what I have often heard of with unbelieving ears," meaning the great
and famous city. Turning his eyes hither and thither, he marvelled as
he beheld the situation of the city, the coming and going of the
ships, the splendid walls, and the people of divers nations gathered
like a flood of waters streaming from different regions into one
basin. So too, when he saw the army in array, he said "Truly the
Emperor is a god on earth, and whoso raises a hand against him is
guilty of his own blood." (144) In the midst of his admiration and
the enjoyment of even greater honors at the hand of the emperor, he
departed this life after the space of a few months. The emperor had
such affection for him that he honored Athanaric even more when he
was dead than during his life-time, for he not only gave him a worthy
burial, but himself walked before the bier at the funeral. (145) Now
when Athanaric was dead, his whole army continued in the service of
the Emperor Theodosius and submitted to the Roman rule, forming as it
were one body with the imperial soldiery. The former service of the
Allies under the Emperor Constantine was now renewed and they were
again called Allies. And since the Emperor knew that they were
faithful to him and his friends, he took from their number more than
twenty thousand warriors to serve against the tyrant Eugenius who had
slain Gratian and seized Gaul. After winning the victory over this
usurper, he wreaked his vengeance upon him.
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XXIX (146) But after
Theodosius, the lover of peace and of the Gothic race, had passed
from human cares, his sons began to ruin both empires by their
luxurious living and to deprive their Allies, that is to say the
Goths, of the customary gifts. The contempt of the Goths for the
Romans soon increased, and for fear their valor would be destroyed by
long peace, they appointed Alaric king over them. He was of a famous
stock, and his nobility was second only to that of the Amali, for he
came from the family of the Balthi, who because of their daring valor
had long ago received among their race the name Baltha, that
is, The Bold. (147) Now when this Alaric was made king, he took
counsel with his men and persuaded them to seek a kingdom by their
own exertions rather than serve others in idleness. In the consulship
of Stilicho and Aurelian he raised an army and entered Italy, which
seemed to be bare of defenders, and came through Pannonia and Sirmium
along the right side. Without meeting any resistance, he reached the
bridge of the river Candidianus at the third milestone from the royal
city of Ravenna.
(148) This city lies amid the streams of the Po between swamps and
the sea, and is accessible only on one side. Its ancient inhabitants,
as our ancestors relate, were called Ainetoi, that is,
"Laudable". Situated in a corner of the Roman Empire above the Ionian
Sea, it is hemmed in like an island by a flood of rushing waters.
(149) On the east it has the sea, and one who sails straight to it
from the region of Corcyra and those parts of Hellas sweeps with his
oars along the right hand coast, first touching Epirus, then
Dalmatia, Liburnia and Histria and at last the Venetian Isles. But on
the west it has swamps through which a sort of door has been left by
a very narrow entrance. To the north is an arm of the Po, called the
Fossa Asconis. (150) On the south likewise is the Po itself, which
they call the King of the rivers of Italy; and it has also the name
Eridanus. This river was turned aside by the Emperor Augustus into a
very broad canal which flows through the midst of the city with a
seventh part of its stream, affording a pleasant harbor at its mouth.
Men believed in ancient times, as Dio relates, that it would hold a
fleet of two hundred and fifty vessels in its safe anchorage. (151)
Fabius says that this, which was once a harbor, now displays itself
like a spacious garden full of trees; but from them hang not sails
but apples. The city itself boasts of three names and is happily
placed in its threefold location. I mean to say the first is called
Ravenna and the most distant part Classis; while midway between the
city and the sea is Caesarea, full of luxury. The sand of the beach
is fine and suited for riding.
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XXX (152) But as I was
saying, when the army of the Visigoths had come into the neighborhood
of this city, they sent an embassy to the Emperor Honorius, who dwelt
within. They said that if he would permit the Goths to settle
peaceably in Italy, they would so live with the Roman people that men
might believe them both to be of one race; but if not, whoever
prevailed in war should drive out the other, and the victor should
henceforth rule unmolested. But the Emperor Honorius feared to make
either promise. So he took counsel with his Senate and considered how
he might drive them from the Italian borders. (153) He finally
decided that Alaric and his race, if they were able to do so, should
be allowed to seize for their own home the provinces farthest away,
namely, Gaul and Spain. For at this time he had almost lost them, and
moreover they had been devastated by the invasion of Gaiseric, king
of the Vandals. The grant was confirmed by an imperial rescript, and
the Goths, consenting to the arrangement, set out for the country
given them.
(154) When they had gone away without doing any harm in Italy,
Stilicho, the Patrician and father-in-law of the Emperor
Honorius,--for the Emperor had married both his daughters, Maria and
Thermantia, in succession, but God called both from this world in
their virgin purity--this Stilicho, I say, treacherously hurried to
Pollentia, a city in the Cottian Alps. There he fell upon the
unsuspecting Goths in battle, to the ruin of all Italy and his own
disgrace. (155) When the Goths suddenly beheld him, at first they
were terrified. Soon regaining their courage and arousing each other
by brave shouting, as is their custom, they turned to flight the
entire army of Stilicho and almost exterminated it. Then forsaking
the journey they had undertaken, the Goths with hearts full of rage
returned again to Liguria whence they had set out. When they had
plundered and spoiled it, they also laid waste AemiIia, and then
hastened toward the city of Rome along the Flaminian Way, which runs
between Picenum and Tuscia, taking as booty whatever they found on
either hand. (156) When they finally entered Rome, by Alaric's
express command they merely sacked it and did not set the city on
fire, as wild peoples usually do, nor did they permit serious damage
to be done to the holy places. Thence they departed to bring like
ruin upon Campania and Lucania, and then came to Bruttii. Here they
remained a long time and planned to go to Sicily and thence to the
countries of Africa.
Now the land of the Bruttii is at the extreme southern bound of
Italy, and a corner of it marks the beginning of the Apennine
mountains. It stretches out like a tongue into the Adriatic Sea and
separates it from the Tyrrhenian waters. It chanced to receive its
name in ancient times from a Queen Bruttia. (157) To this place came
Alaric, king of the Visigoths, with the wealth of all Italy which he
had taken as spoil, and from there, as we have said, he intended to
cross over by way of Sicily to the quiet land of Africa. But since
man is not free to do anything he wishes without the will of God,
that dread strait sunk several of his ships and threw all into
confusion. Alaric was cast down by his reverse and, while
deliberating what he should do, was suddenly overtaken by an untimely
death and departed from human cares. (158) His people mourned for him
with the utmost affection. Then turning from its course the river
Busentus near the city of Consentia--for this stream flows with its
wholesome waters from the foot of a mountain near that city--they led
a band of captives into the midst of its bed to dig out a place for
his grave. In the depths of this pit they buried Alaric, together
with many treasures, and then turned the waters back into their
channel. And that none might ever know the place, they put to death
all the diggers. They bestowed the kingdom of the Visigoths on
Athavulf his kinsman, a man of imposing beauty and great spirit; for
though not tall of stature, he was distinguished for beauty of face
and form.
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XXXI (159) When
Athavulf became king, he returned again to Rome, and whatever had
escaped the first sack his Goths stripped bare like locusts, not
merely despoiling Italy of its private wealth, but even of its public
resources. The Emperor Honorius was powerless to resist even when his
sister Placidia, the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius by his second
wife, was led away captive from the city. But Athavulf was attracted
by her nobility, beauty and chaste purity, and so he took her to wife
in lawful marriage at Forum Julii, a city of Aemilia. When the
barbarians learned of this alliance, they were the more effectually
terrified, since the Empire and the Goths now seemed to be made one.
Then Athavulf set out for Gaul, leaving Honorius Augustus stripped of
his wealth, to be sure, yet pleased at heart because he was now a
sort of kinsman of his. (161) Upon his arrival the neighboring tribes
who had long made cruel raids into Gaul,--Franks and Burgundians
alike,--were terrified and began to keep within their own borders.
Now the Vandals and the Alani, as we have said before, had been
dwelling in both Pannonias by permission of the Roman Emperors. Yet
fearing they would not be safe even here if the Goths should return,
they crossed over into Gaul. (162) But no long time after they had
taken possession of Gaul they fled thence and shut themselves up in
Spain, for they still remembered from the tales of their forefathers
what ruin Geberich, king of the Goths, had long ago brought on their
race, and how by his valor he had driven them from their native land.
And thus it happened that Gaul lay open to Athavulf when he came.
(163) Now when the Goth had established his kingdom in Gaul, he began
to grieve for the plight of the Spaniards and planned to save them
from the attacks of the Vandals. So Athavulf left at Barcelona his
treasures and the men who were unfit for war, and entered the
interior of Spain with a few faithful followers. Here he fought
frequently with the Vandals and, in the third year after he had
subdued Gaul and Spain, fell pierced through the groin by the sword
of Euervulf, a man whose short stature he had been wont to mock.
After his death Segeric was appointed king, but he too was slain by
the treachery of his own men and lost both his kingdom and his life
even more quickly than Athavulf.
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XXXII (164) Then Valia, the fourth from Alaric, was
made king, and he was an exceeding stern and prudent man.The Emperor
Honorius sent an army against him under Constantius, who was famed
for his achievements in war and distinguished in many battles, for he
feared that Valia would break the treaty long ago made with Athavulf
and that, after driving out the neighboring tribes, he would again
plot evil against the Empire. Moreover Honorius was eager to free his
sister Placidia from the disgrace of servitude, and made an agreement
with Constantius that if by peace or war or any means soever he could
bring her back to the kingdom, he should have her in marriage. (165)
Pleased with this promise, Constantius set out for Spain with an
armed force and in almost royal splendor. Valia, king of the Goths,
met him at a pass in the Pyrenees with as great a force. Hereupon
embassies were sent by both sides and it was decided to make peace on
the following terms, namely that Valia should give up Placidia, the
Emperor's sister, and should not refuse to aid the Roman Empire when
occasion demanded.
Now at that time a certain Constantine usurped imperial power in
Gaul and appointed as Caesar his son Constans, who was formerly a
monk. But when he had held for a short time the Empire he had seized,
he was himself slain at Arelate and his son at Vienne. Jovinus and
Sebastian succeeded them with equal presumption and thought they
might seize the imperial power; but they perished by a like fate.
(166) Now in the twelfth year of Valia's reign the Huns were
driven out of Pannonia by the Romans and Goths, almost fifty years
after they had taken possession of it. Then Valia found that the
Vandals had come forth with bold audacity from the interior of
Galicia, whither Athavulf had long ago driven them, and were
devastating and plundering everywhere in his own territories, namely
in the land of Spain. So he made no delay but moved his army against
them at once, at about the time when Hierius and Ardabures had become
consuls.
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XXXIII (167) But
Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, had already been invited into Africa
by Boniface, who had fallen into a dispute with the Emperor
Valentinian and was able to obtain revenge only by injuring the
empire. So he invited them urgently and brought them across the
narrow strait known as the Strait of Gades, scarcely seven miles
wide, which divides Africa from Spain and unites the mouth of the
Tyrrhenian Sea with the waters of Ocean. (168) Gaiseric, still famous
in the City for the disaster of the Romans, was a man of moderate
height and lame in consequence of a fall from his horse. He was a man
of deep thought and few words, holding luxury in disdain, furious in
his anger, greedy for gain, shrewd in winning over the barbarians and
skilled in sowing the seeds of dissension to arouse enmity. (169)
Such was he who, as we have said, came at the solicitous invitation
of Boniface to the country of Africa. There he reigned for a long
time, receiving authority, as they say, from God Himself. Before his
death he summoned the band of his sons and ordained that there should
be no strife among them because of desire for the kingdom, but that
each should reign in his own rank and order as he survived the
others; that is, the next younger should succeed his elder brother,
and he in turn should be followed by his junior. By giving heed to
this command they ruled their kingdom in happiness for the space of
many years and were not disgraced by civil war, as is usual among
other nations; one after the other receiving the kingdom and ruling
the people in peace.
(170) Now this is their order of succession: first, Gaiseric who
was father and lord, next, Huneric, the third Gunthamund, the fourth
Thrasamund, and the fifth Ilderich. He was driven from the throne and
slain by Gelimer, who destroyed his race by disregarding his
ancestor's advice and setting up a tyranny. (171) But what he had
done did not remain unpunished, for soon the vengeance of the Emperor
Justinian was manifested against him. With his whole family and that
wealth over which he gloated like a robber, he was taken to
Constantinople by that most renowned warrior Belisarius, Master of
the Soldiery of the East, Ex-Consul Ordinary and Patrician. Here he
afforded a great spectacle to the people in the Circus. His
repentance, when he beheld himself cast down from his royal state,
came too late. He died as a mere subject and in retirement, though he
had formerly been unwilling to submit to private life. (172) Thus
after a century Africa, which in the division of the earth's surface
is regarded as the third part of the world, was delivered from the
yoke of the Vandals and brought back to the liberty of the Roman
Empire. The country which the hand of the heathen had long ago cut
off from the body of the Roman Empire, by reason of the cowardice of
emperors and the treachery of generals, was now restored by a wise
prince and a faithful leader and to-day is happily flourishing. And
though, even after this, it had to deplore the misery of civil war
and the treachery of the Moors, yet the triumph of the Emperor
Justinian, vouchsafed him by God, brought to a peaceful conclusion
what he had begun. But why need we speak of what the subject does not
require? Let us return to our theme.
(173) Now Valia, king of the Goths, and his army fought so
fiercely against the Vandals that he would have pursued them even
into Africa, had not such a misfortune recalled him as befell Alaric
when he was setting out for Africa. So when he had won great fame in
Spain, he returned after a bloodless victory to Tolosa, turning over
to the Roman Empire, as he had promised, a number of provinces which
he had rid of his foes. A long time after this he was seized by
sickness and departed this life. (174) Just at that time Beremud, the
son of Thorismud, whom we have mentioned above in the genealogy of
the family of the Amali, departed with his son Veteric from the
Ostrogoths, who still submitted to the oppression of the Huns in the
land of Scythia, and came to the kingdom of the Visigoths. Well aware
of his valor and noble birth, he believed that the kingdom would be
the more readily bestowed upon him by his kinsmen, inasmuch as he was
known to be the heir of many kings. And who would hesitate to choose
one of the Amali, if there were an empty throne? But he was not
himself eager to make known who he was, and so upon the death of
Valia the Visigoths made Theodorid his successor. (175) Beremud came
to him and, with the strength of mind for which he was noted,
concealed his noble birth by prudent silence, for he knew that those
of royal lineage are always distrusted by kings. So he suffered
himself to remain unknown, that he might not bring the established
order into confusion. King Theodorid received him and his son with
special honor and made him partner in his counsels and a companion at
his board; not for his noble birth, which he knew not, but for his
brave spirit and strong mind, which Beremud could not conceal.
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XXXIV (176) And what more? Valia (to repeat what we
have said) had but little success against the Gauls, but when he died
the more fortunate and prosperous Theodorid succeeded to the throne.
He was a man of the greatest moderation and notable for vigor of mind
and body. In the consulship of Theodosius and Festus the Romans broke
the truce and took up arms against him in Gaul, with the Huns as
their auxiliaries. For a band of the Gallic Allies, led by Count
Gaina, had aroused the Romans by throwing Constantinople into a
panic. Now at that time the Patrician Aëtius was in command of
the army. He was of the bravest Moesian stock, born of his father
Gaudentius in the city of Durostorum. He was a man fitted to endure
the toils of war, born expressly to serve the Roman state; and by
inflicting crushing defeats he had compelled the proud Suavi and
barbarous Franks to submit to Roman sway. (177) So then, with the
Huns as allies under their leader Litorius, the Roman army moved in
array against the Goths. When the battle lines of both sides had been
standing for a long time opposite each other, both being brave and
neither side the weaker, they struck a truce and returned to their
ancient alliance. And after the treaty had been confirmed by both and
an honest peace was established, they both withdrew.
(178) During this peace Attila was lord over
all the Huns and almost the sole earthly ruler of all the tribes of
Scythia; a man marvellous for his glorious fame among all nations.
The historian Priscus, who was sent to him on an embassy by the
younger Theodosius, says this among other things: "Crossing mighty
rivers--namely, the Tisia and Tibisia and Dricca--we came to the
place where long ago Vidigoia, bravest of the Goths, perished by the
guile of the Sarmatians. At no great distance from that place we
arrived at the village where King Attila was dwelling,--a village, I
say, like a great city, in which we found wooden walls made of
smooth-shining boards, whose joints so counterfeited solidity that
the union of the boards could scarcely be distinguished by close
scrutiny. (179) There you might see dining halls of large extent and
porticoes planned with great beauty, while the courtyard was bounded
by so vast a circuit that its very size showed it was the royal
palace." This was the abode of Attila, the king of all the barbarian
world; and he preferred this as a dwelling to the cities he captured.
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XXXV (180) Now this
Attila was the son of Mundiuch, and his brothers were Octar and Ruas
who are said to have ruled before Attila, though not over quite so
many tribes as he. After their death he succeeded to the throne of
the Huns, together with his brother Bleda. In order that he might
first be equal to the expedition he was preparing, he sought to
increase his strength by murder. Thus he proceeded from the
destruction of his own kindred to the menace of all others. (181) But
though he increased his power by this shameful means, yet by the
balance of justice he received the hideous consequences of his own
cruelty. Now when his brother Bleda, who ruled over a great part of
the Huns, had been slain by his treachery, Attila united all the
people under his own rule. Gathering also a host of the other tribes
which he then held under his sway, he sought to subdue the foremost
nations of the world--the Romans and the Visigoths. (182) His army is
said to have numbered five hundred thousand men. He was a man born
into the world to shake the nations, the scourge of all lands, who in
some way terrified all mankind by the dreadful rumors noised abroad
concerning him. He was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes hither
and thither, so that the power of his proud spirit appeared in the
movement of his body. He was indeed a lover of war, yet restrained in
action, mighty in counsel, gracious to suppliants and lenient to
those who were once received into his protection. He was short of
stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small,
his beard thin and sprinkled with gray; and he had a flat nose and a
swarthy complexion, showing the evidences of his origin. (183) And
though his temper was such that he always had great self-confidence,
yet his assurance was increased by finding the sword of Mars, always
esteemed sacred among the kings of the Scythians. The historian
Priscus says it was discovered under the following circumstances:
"When a certain shepherd beheld one heifer of his flock limping and
could find no cause for this wound, he anxiously followed the trail
of blood and at length came to a sword it had unwittingly trampled
while nibbling the grass. He dug it up and took it straight to
Attila. He rejoiced at this gift and, being ambitious, thought he had
been appointed ruler of the whole world, and that through the sword
of Mars supremacy in all wars was assured to him."
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XXXVI (184) Now when Gaiseric, king of the
Vandals, whom we mentioned shortly before, learned that his mind was
bent on the devastation of the world, he incited Attila by many gifts
to make war on the Visigoths, for he was afraid that Theodorid, king
of the Visigoths, would avenge the injury done to his daughter. She
had been joined in wedlock with Huneric, the son of Gaiseric, and at
first was happy in this union. But afterwards he was cruel even to
his own children, and because of the mere suspicion that she was
attempting to poison him, he cut off her nose and mutilated her ears.
He sent her back to her father in Gaul thus despoiled of her natural
charms. So the wretched girl presented a pitiable aspect ever after,
and the cruelty which would stir even strangers still more surely
incited her father to vengeance. (185) Attila, therefore, in his
efforts to bring about the wars long ago instigated by the bribe of
Gaiseric, sent ambassadors into Italy to the Emperor Valentinian to
sow strife between the Goths and the Romans, thinking to shatter by
civil discord those whom he could not crush in battle. He declared
that he was in no way violating his friendly relations with the
Empire, but that he had a quarrel with Theodorid, king of the
Visigoths. As he wished to be kindly received, he filled the rest of
the letter with the usual flattering salutations, striving to win
credence for his falsehood. (186) In like manner he despatched a
message to Theodorid, king of the Visigoths, urging him to break his
alliance with the Romans and reminding him of the battles to which
they had recently provoked him. Beneath his great ferocity he was a
subtle man, and fought with craft before he made war.
Then the Emperor Valentinian sent an embassy to the Visigoths and
their king Theodorid, with this message: (187) "Bravest of nations,
it is the part of prudence for us to unite against the lord of the
earth who wishes to enslave the whole world; who requires no just
cause for battle, but supposes whatever he does is right. He measures
his ambition by his might. License satisfies his pride. Despising law
and right, he shows himself an enemy to Nature herself. And thus he,
who clearly is the common foe of each, deserves the hatred of all.
(188) Pray remember--what you surely cannot forget--that the Huns do
not overthrow nations by means of war, where there is an equal
chance, but assail them by treachery, which is a greater cause for
anxiety. To say nothing about ourselves, can you suffer such
insolence to go unpunished? Since you are mighty in arms, give heed
to your own danger and join hands with us in common. Bear aid also to
the Empire, of which you hold a part. If you would learn how such an
alliance should be sought and welcomed by us, look into the plans of
the foe."
(189) By these and like arguments the ambassadors of Valentinian
prevailed upon King Theodorid. He answered them, saying: "Romans, you
have attained your desire; you have made Attila our foe also. We will
pursue him wherever he summons us, and though he is puffed up by his
victories over divers races, yet the Goths know how to fight this
haughty foe. I call no war dangerous save one whose cause is weak;
for he fears no ill on whom Majesty has smiled." (190) The nobles
shouted assent to the reply and the multitude gladly followed. All
were fierce for battle and longed to meet the Huns, their foe. And so
a countless host was led forth by Theodorid, king of the Visigoths,
who sent home four of his sons, namely Friderich and Eurich, Retemer
and Mimnerith, taking with him only the two elder sons, Thorismud and
Theodorid, as partners of his toil. O brave array, sure defense and
sweet comradeship, having the aid of those who delight to share in
the same dangers!
(191) On the side of the Romans stood the Patrician Aëtius,
on whom at that time the whole Empire of the West depended; a man of
such wisdom that he had assembled warriors from everywhere to meet
them on equal terms. Now these were his auxiliaries: Franks,
Sarmatians, Armoricians, Liticians, Burgundians, Saxons, Riparians,
Olibriones (once Romans soldiers and now the flower of the allied
forces), and some other Celtic or German tribes. (192) And so they
met in the Catalaunian Plains, which are also called Mauriacian,
extending in length one hundred leuva, as the Gauls express
it, and seventy in width. Now a Gallic leuva measures a
distance of fifteen hundred paces. That portion of the earth
accordingly became the threshing-floor of countless races. The two
hosts bravely joined battle. Nothing was done under cover, but they
contended in open fight. (193) What just cause can be found for the
encounter of so many nations, or what hatred inspired them all to
take arms against each other? It is proof that the human race lives
for its kings, for it is at the mad impulse of one mind a slaughter
of nations takes place, and at the whim of a haughty ruler that which
nature has taken ages to produce perishes in a moment.
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XXXVII (194) But before we set forth the
order of the battle itself, it seems needful to relate what had
already happened in the course of the campaign, for it was not only a
famous struggle but one that was complicated and confused. Well then,
Sangiban, king of the Alani, smitten with fear of what might come to
pass, had promised to surrender to Attila, and to give into his
keeping Aureliani, a city of Gaul wherein he dwelt. (195) When
Theodorid and Aëtius learned of this, they cast up great
earthworks around that city before Attila's arrival and kept watch
over the suspected Sangiban, placing him with his tribe in the midst
of their auxiliaries. Then Attila, king of the Huns, was taken aback
by this event and lost confidence in his own troops, so that he
feared to begin the conflict. While he was meditating on flight--a
greater calamity than death itself--he decided to inquire into the
future through soothsayers. (196) So, as was their custom, they
examined the entrails of cattle and certain streaks in bones that had
been scraped, and foretold disaster to the Huns. Yet as a slight
consolation they prophesied that the chief commander of the foe they
were to meet should fall and mar by his death the rest of the victory
and the triumph. Now Attila deemed the death of Aëtius a thing
to be desired even at the cost of his own life, for Aëtius stood
in the way of his plans. So although he was disturbed by this
prophecy, yet inasmuch as he was a man who sought counsel of omens in
all warfare, he began the battle with anxious heart at about the
ninth hour of the day, in order that the impending darkness might
come to his aid if the outcome should be disastrous.
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XXXVIII (197) The armies met, as we have
said, in the Catalaunian Plains. The battle field was a plain rising
by a sharp slope to a ridge, which both armies sought to gain; for
advantage of position is a great help. The Huns with their forces
seized the right side, the Romans, the Visigoths and their allies the
left, and then began a struggle for the yet untaken crest. Now
Theodorid with the Visigoths held the right wing and Aëtius with
the Romans the left. They placed in the centre Sangiban (who, as said
before, was in command of the Alani), thus contriving with military
caution to surround by a host of faithful troops the man in whose
loyalty they had little confidence. For one who has difficulties
placed in the way of his flight readily submits to the necessity of
fighting. (198) On the other side, however, the battle line of the
Huns was arranged so that Attila and his bravest followers were
stationed in the centre. In arranging them thus the king had chiefly
his own safety in view, since by his position in the very midst of
his race he would be kept out of the way of threatening danger. The
innumerable peoples of the divers tribes, which he had subjected to
his sway, formed the wings. (199) Amid them was conspicuous the army
of the Ostrogoths under the leadership of the brothers Valamir,
Thiudimer and Vidimer, nobler even than the king they served, for the
might of the family of the Amali rendered them glorious. The renowned
king of the Gepidae, Ardaric, was there also with a countless host,
and because of his great loyalty to Attila, he shared his plans. For
Attila, comparing them in his wisdom, prized him and Valamir, king of
the Ostrogoths, above all the other chieftains. (200) Valamir was a
good keeper of secrets, bland of speech and skilled in wiles, and
Ardaric, as we have said, was famed for his loyalty and wisdom.
Attila might well feel sure that they would fight against the
Visigoths, their kinsmen. Now the rest of the crowd of kings (if we
may call them so) and the leaders of various nations hung upon
Attila's nod like slaves, and when he gave a sign even by a glance,
without a murmur each stood forth in fear and trembling, or at all
events did as he was bid. (201) Attila alone was king of all kings
over all and concerned for all.
So then the struggle began for the advantage of position we have
mentioned. Attila sent his men to take the summit of the mountain,
but was outstripped by Thorismud and Aëtius, who in their effort
to gain the top of the hill reached higher ground and through this
advantage of position easily routed the Huns as they came up.
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XXXIX (202) Now when Attila saw his army
was thrown into confusion by this event, he thought it best to
encourage them by an extemporaneous address on this wise: "Here you
stand, after conquering mighty nations and subduing the world. I
therefore think it foolish for me to goad you with words, as though
you were men who had not been proved in action. Let a new leader or
an untried army resort to that. (203) It is not right for me to say
anything common, nor ought you to listen. For what is war but your
usual custom? Or what is sweeter for a brave man than to seek revenge
with his own hand? It is a right of nature to glut the soul with
vengeance. (204) Let us then attack the foe eagerly; for they are
ever the bolder who make the attack. Despise this union of discordant
races! To defend oneself by alliance is proof of cowardice. See, even
before our attack they are smitten with terror. They seek the
heights, they seize the hills and, repenting too late, clamor for
protection against battle in the open fields. You know how slight a
matter the Roman attack is. While they are still gathering in order
and forming in one line with locked shields, they are checked, I will
not say by the first wound, but even by the dust of battle. (205)
Then on to the fray with stout hearts, as is your wont. Despise their
battle line. Attack the Alani, smite the Visigoths! Seek swift
victory in that spot where the battle rages. For when the sinews are
cut the limbs soon relax, nor can a body stand when you have taken
away the bones. Let your courage rise and your own fury burst forth!
Now show your cunning, Huns, now your deeds of arms! Let the wounded
exact in return the death of his foe; let the unwounded revel in
slaughter of the enemy. (206) No spear shall harm those who are sure
to live; and those who are sure to die Fate overtakes even in peace.
And finally, why should Fortune have made the Huns victorious over so
many nations, unless it were to prepare them for the joy of this
conflict. Who was it revealed to our sires the path through the
Maeotian swamp, for so many ages a closed secret? Who, moreover, made
armed men yield to you, when you were as yet unarmed? Even a mass of
federated nations could not endure the sight of the Huns. I am not
deceived in the issue;--here is the field so many victories have
promised us. I shall hurl the first spear at the foe. If any can
stand at rest while Attila fights, he is a dead man." Inflamed by
these words, they all dashed into battle.
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XL
(207) And although the situation was itself fearful, yet the presence
of their king dispelled anxiety and hesitation. Hand to hand they
clashed in battle, and the fight grew fierce, confused, monstrous,
unrelenting--a fight whose like no ancient time has ever recorded.
There such deeds were done that a brave man who missed this
marvellous spectacle could not hope to see anything so wonderful all
his life long. (208) For, if we may believe our elders, a brook
flowing between low banks through the plain was greatly increased by
blood from the wounds of the slain. It was not flooded by showers, as
brooks usually rise, but was swollen by a strange stream and turned
into a torrent by the increase of blood. Those whose wounds drove
them to slake their parching thirst drank water mingled with gore. In
their wretched plight they were forced to drink what they thought was
the blood they had poured from their own wounds.
(209) Here King Theodorid, while riding by to encourage his army,
was thrown from his horse and trampled under foot by his own men,
thus ending his days at a ripe old age. But others say he was slain
by the spear of Andag of the host of the Ostrogoths, who were then
under the sway of Attila. This was what the soothsayers had told to
Attila in prophecy, though he understood it of Aëtius. (210)
Then the Visigoths, separating from the Alani, fell upon the horde of
the Huns and nearly slew Attila. But he prudently took flight and
straightway shut himself and his companions within the barriers of
the camp, which he had fortified with wagons. A frail defence indeed;
yet there they sought refuge for their lives, whom but a little while
before no walls of earth could withstand. (211) But Thorismud, the
son of King Theodorid, who with Aëtius had seized the hill and
repulsed the enemy from the higher ground, came unwittingly to the
wagons of the enemy in the darkness of night, thinking he had reached
his own lines. As he was fighting bravely, someone wounded him in the
head and dragged him from his horse. Then he was rescued by the
watchful care of his followers and withdrew from the fierce conflict.
(212) Aëtius also became separated from his men in the confusion
of night and wandered about in the midst of the enemy. Fearing
disaster had happened, he went about in search of the Goths. At last
he reached the camp of his allies and passed the remainder of the
night in the protection of their shields.
At dawn on the following day, when the Romans saw the fields were
piled high with bodies and that the Huns did not venture forth, they
thought the victory was theirs, but knew that Attila would not flee
from the battle unless overwhelmed by a great disaster. Yet he did
nothing cowardly, like one that is overcome, but with clash of arms
sounded the trumpets and threatened an attack. He was like a lion
pierced by hunting spears, who paces to and fro before the mouth of
his den and dares not spring, but ceases not to terrify the
neighborhood by his roaring. Even so this warlike king at bay
terrified his conquerors. (213) Therefore the Goths and Romans
assembled and considered what to do with the vanquished Attila. They
determined to wear him out by a siege, because he had no supply of
provisions and was hindered from approaching by a shower of arrows
from the bowmen placed within the confines of the Roman camp. But it
was said that the king remained supremely brave even in this
extremity and had heaped up a funeral pyre of horse trappings, so
that if the enemy should attack him, he was determined to cast
himself into the flames, that none might have the joy of wounding him
and that the lord of so many races might not fall into the hands of
his foes.
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XLI (214) Now during
these delays in the siege, the Visigoths sought their king and the
king's sons their father, wondering at his absence when success had
been attained. When, after a long search, they found him where the
dead lay thickest, as happens with brave men, they honored him with
songs and bore him away in the sight of the enemy. You might have
seen bands of Goths shouting with dissonant cries and paying the
honors of death while the battle still raged. Tears were shed, but
such as they were accustomed to devote to brave men. It was death
indeed, but the Huns are witness that it was a glorious one. It was a
death whereby one might well suppose the pride of the enemy would be
lowered, when they beheld the body of so great a king borne forth
with fitting honors. (215) And so the Goths, still continuing the
rites due to Theodorid, bore forth the royal majesty with sounding
arms, and valiant Thorismud, as befitted a son, honored the glorious
spirit of his dear father by following his remains.
When this was done, Thorismud was eager to take vengeance for his
father's death on the remaining Huns, being moved to this both by the
pain of bereavement and the impulse of that valor for which he was
noted. Yet he consulted with the Patrician Aëtius (for he was an
older man and of more mature wisdom) with regard to what he ought to
do next. (216) But Aëtius feared that if the Huns were totally
destroyed by the Goths, the Roman Empire would be overwhelmed, and
urgently advised him to return to his own dominions to take up the
rule which his father had left. Otherwise his brothers might seize
their father's possessions and obtain the power over the Visigoths.
In this case Thorismud would have to fight fiercely and, what is
worse, disastrously with his own countrymen. Thorismud accepted the
advice without perceiving its double meaning, but followed it with an
eye toward his own advantage. So he left the Huns and returned to
Gaul. (217) Thus while human frailty rushes into suspicion, it often
loses an opportunity of doing great things.
In this most famous war of the bravest tribes, one hundred and
sixty five thousand are said to have been slain on both sides,
leaving out of account fifteen thousand of the Gepidae and Franks,
who met each other the night before the general engagement and fell
by wounds mutually received, the Franks fighting for the Romans and
the Gepidae for the Huns.
(218) Now when Attila learned of the retreat of the Goths, he
thought it a ruse of the enemy,--for so men are wont to believe when
the unexpected happens--and remained for some time in his camp. But
when a long silence followed the absence of the foe, the spirit of
the mighty king was aroused to the thought of victory and the
anticipation of pleasure, and his mind turned to the old oracles of
his destiny.
Thorismud, however, after the death of his father on the
Catalaunian Plains where he had fought, advanced in royal state and
entered Tolosa. Here although the throng of his brothers and brave
companions were still rejoicing over the victory he yet began to rule
so mildly that no one strove with him for the succession to the
kingdom.
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XLII (219 But Attila
took occasion from the withdrawal of the Visigoths, observing what he
had often desired--that his enemies were divided. At length feeling
secure, he moved forward his array to attack the Romans. As his first
move he besieged the city of Aquileia, the metropolis of Venetia,
which is situated on a point or tongue of land by the Adriatic Sea.
On the eastern side its walls are washed by the river Natissa,
flowing from Mount Piccis. (220) The siege was long and fierce, but
of no avail, since the bravest soldiers of the Romans withstood him
from within. At last his army was discontented and eager to withdraw.
Attila chanced to be walking around the walls, considering whether to
break camp or delay longer, and noticed that the white birds, namely,
the storks, who build their nests in the gables of houses, were
bearing their young from the city and, contrary to their custom, were
carrying them out into the country. (221) Being a shrewd observer of
events, he understood this and said to his soldiers: "You see the
birds foresee the future. They are leaving the city sure to perish
and are forsaking strongholds doomed to fall by reason of imminent
peril. Do not think this a meaningless or uncertain sign; fear,
arising from the things they foresee, has changed their custom." Why
say more? He inflamed the hearts of his soldiers to attack Aquileia
again. Constructing battering rams and bringing to bear all manner of
engines of war, they quickly forced their way into the city, laid it
waste, divided the spoil and so cruelly devastated it as scarcely to
leave a trace to be seen. (222) Then growing bolder and still
thirsting for Roman blood, the Huns raged madly through the remaining
cities of the Veneti. They also laid waste Mediolanum, the metropolis
of Liguria, once an imperial city, and gave over Ticinum to a like
fate. Then they destroyed the neighboring country in their frenzy and
demolished almost the whole of Italy.
Attila's mind had been bent on going to Rome. But his followers,
as the historian Priscus relates, took him away, not out of regard
for the city to which they were hostile, but because they remembered
the case of Alaric, the former king of the Visigoths. They distrusted
the good fortune of their own king, inasmuch as Alaric did not live
long after the sack of Rome, but straightway departed this life.
(223) Therefore while Attila's spirit was wavering in doubt between
going and not going, and he still lingered to ponder the matter, an
embassy came to him from Rome to seek peace. Pope Leo himself came to
meet him in the Ambuleian district of the Veneti at the
well-travelled ford of the river Mincius. Then Attila quickly put
aside his usual fury, turned back on the way he had advanced from
beyond the Danube and departed with the promise of peace. But above
all he declared and avowed with threats that he would bring worse
things upon Italy, unless they sent him Honoria, the sister of the
Emperor Valentinian and daughter of Augusta Placidia, with her due
share of the royal wealth. (224) For it was said that Honoria,
although bound to chastity for the honor of the imperial court and
kept in constraint by command of her brother, had secretly despatched
a eunuch to summon Attila that she might have his protection against
her brother's power;--a shameful thing, indeed, to get license for
her passion at the cost of the public weal.
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XLIII (225) So Attila
returned to his own country, seeming to regret the peace and to be
vexed at the cessation of war. For he sent ambassadors to Marcian,
Emperor of the East, threatening to devastate the provinces, because
that which had been promised him by Theodosius, a former emperor, was
in no wise performed, and saying that he would show himself more
cruel to his foes than ever. But as he was shrewd and crafty, he
threatened in one direction and moved his army in another; for in the
midst of these preparations he turned his face toward the Visigoths
who had yet to feel his vengeance. (226) But here he had not the same
success as against the Romans. Hastening back by a different way than
before, he decided to reduce to his sway that part of the Alani which
was settled across the river Loire, in order that by attacking them,
and thus changing the aspect of the war, he might become a more
terrible menace to the Visigoths. Accordingly he started from the
provinces of Dacia and Pannonia, where the Huns were then dwelling
with various subject peoples, and moved his array against the Alani.
(227) But Thorismud, king of the Visigoths, with like quickness of
thought perceived Attila's trick. By forced marches he came to the
Alani before him, and was well prepared to check the advance of
Attila when he came after him. They joined battle in almost the same
way as before at the Catalaunian Plains, and Thorismud dashed his
hopes of victory, for he routed him and drove him from the land
without a triumph, compelling him to flee to his own country. Thus
while Attila, the famous leader and lord of many victories, sought to
blot out the fame of his destroyer and in this way to annul what he
had suffered at the hands of the Visigoths, he met a second defeat
and retreated ingloriously. (228) Now after the bands of the Huns had
been repulsed by the Alani, without any hurt to his own men,
Thorismud departed for Tolosa. There he established a settled peace
for his people and in the third year of his reign fell sick. While
letting blood from a vein, he was betrayed to his death by Ascalc, a
client, who told his foes that his weapons were out of reach. Yet
grasping a foot-stool in the one hand he had free, he became the
avenger of his own blood by slaying several of those that were lying
in wait for him.
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XLIV (229) After his
death, his brother Theodorid succeeded to the kingdom of the
Visigoths and soon found that Riciarius his kinsman, the king of the
Suavi, was hostile to him. For Riciarius, presuming on his
relationship to Theodorid, believed that he might seize almost the
whole of Spain, thinking the disturbed beginning of Theodorid's reign
made the time opportune for his trick. (230) The Suavi formerly
occupied as their country Galicia and Lusitania, which extend on the
right side of Spain along the shore of Ocean. To the east is
Austrogonia, to the west, on a promontory, is the sacred Monument of
the Roman general Scipio, to the north Ocean, and to the south
Lusitania and the Tagus river, which mingles golden grains in its
sands and thus carries wealth in its worthless mud. So then
Riciarius, king of the Suavi, set forth and strove to seize the whole
of Spain. (231) Theodorid, his kinsman, a man of moderation, sent
ambassadors to him and told him quietly that he must not only
withdraw from the territories that were not his own, but furthermore
that he should not presume to make such an attempt, as he was
becoming hated for his ambition. But with arrogant spirit he replied:
"If you murmur here and find fault with my coming, I shall come to
Tolosa where you dwell. Resist me there, if you can." When he heard
this, Theodorid was angry and, making a compact with all the other
tribes, moved his array against the Suavi. He had as his close allies
Gundiuch and Hilperic, kings of the Burgundians. (232) They came to
battle near the river Ulbius, which flows between Asturica and
Hiberia, and in the engagement Theodorid with the Visigoths, who
fought for the right, came off victorious, overthrowing the entire
tribe of the Suavi and almost exterminating them. Their king
Riciarius fled from the dread foe and embarked upon a ship. But he
was beaten back by another foe, the adverse wind of the Tyrrhenian
Sea, and so fell into the hands of the Visigoths. Thus though he
changed from sea to land, the wretched man did not avert his death.
(233) When Theodorid had become the victor, he spared the
conquered and did not suffer the rage of conflict to continue, but
placed over the Suavi whom he had conquered one of his own retainers,
named Agrivulf. But Agrivulf soon treacherously changed his mind,
through the persuasion of the Suavi, and failed to fulfil his duty.
For he was quite puffed up with tyrannical pride, believing he had
obtained the province as a reward for the valor by which he and his
lord had recently subjugated it. Now he was a man born of the stock
of the Varni, far below the nobility of Gothic blood, and so was
neither zealous for liberty nor faithful toward his patron. (234) As
soon as Theodorid heard of this, he gathered a force to cast him out
from the kingdom he had usurped. They came quickly and conquered him
in the first battle, inflicting a punishment befitting his deeds. For
he was captured, taken from his friends and beheaded. Thus at last he
was made aware of the wrath of the master he thought might be
despised because he was kind. Now when the Suavi beheld the death of
their leader, they sent priests of their country to Theodorid as
suppliants. He received them with the reverence due their office and
not only granted the Suavi exemption from punishment, but was moved
by compassion and allowed them to choose a ruler of their own race
for themselves. The Suavi did so, taking Rimismund as their prince.
When this was done and peace was everywhere assured, Theodorid died
in the thirteenth year of his reign.
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XLV (235) His brother
Eurich succeeded him with such eager haste that he fell under dark
suspicion. Now while these and various other matters were happening
among the people of the Visigoths, the Emperor Valentinian was slain
by the treachery of Maximus, and Maximus himself, like a tyrant,
usurped the rule. Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, heard of this and
came from Africa to Italy with ships of war, entered Rome and laid it
waste. Maximus fled and was slain by a certain Ursus, a Roman
soldier. (236) After him Majorian undertook the government of the
Western Empire at the bidding of Marcian, Emperor of the East. But he
too ruled but a short time. For when he had moved his forces against
the Alani who were harassing Gaul, he was killed at Dertona near the
river named Ira. Severus succeeded him and died at Rome in the third
year of his reign. When the Emperor Leo, who had succeeded Marcian in
the Eastern Empire, learned of this, he chose as emperor his
Patrician Anthemius and sent him to Rome. Upon his arrival he sent
against the Alani his son-in-law Ricimer, who was an excellent man
and almost the only one in Italy at that time fit to command the
army. In the very first engagement he conquered and destroyed the
host of the Alani, together with their king, Beorg.
(237) Now Eurich, king of the Visigoths, perceived the frequent
change of Roman Emperors and strove to hold Gaul by his own right.
The Emperor Anthemius heard of it and asked the Brittones for aid.
Their King Riotimus came with twelve thousand men into the state of
the Bituriges by the way of Ocean, and was received as he disembarked
from his ships. (238) Eurich, king of the Visigoths, came against
them with an innumerable army, and after a long fight he routed
Riotimus, king of the Brittones, before the Romans could join him. So
when he had lost a great part of his army, he fled with all the men
he could gather together, and came to the Burgundians, a neighboring
tribe then allied to the Romans. But Eurich, king of the Visigoths,
seized the Gallic city of Arverna; for the Emperor Anthemius was now
dead. (239) Engaged in fierce war with his son-in-law Ricimer, he had
worn out Rome and was himself finally slain by his son-in-law and
yielded the rule to Olybrius.
At that time Aspar, first of the Patricians and a famous man of
the Gothic race was wounded by the swords of the eunuchs in his
palace at Constantinople and died. With him were slain his sons
Ardabures and Patriciolus, the one long a Patrician, and the other
styled a Caesar and son-in-law of the Emperor Leo. Now Olybrius died
barely eight months after he had entered upon his reign, and
Glycerius was made Caesar at Ravenna, rather by usurpation than by
election. Hardly had a year been ended when Nepos, the son of the
sister of Marcellinus, once a Patrician, deposed him from his office
and ordained him bishop at the Port of Rome.
(240) When Eurich, as we have already said, beheld these great and
various changes, he seized the city of Arverna, where the Roman
general Ecdicius was at that time in command. He was a senator of
most renowned family and the son of Avitus, a recent emperor who had
usurped the reign for a few days--for Avitus held the rule for a few
days before Olybrius, and then withdrew of his own accord to
Placentia, where he was ordained bishop. His son Ecdicius strove for
a long time with the Visigoths, but had not the power to prevail. So
he left the country and (what was more important) the city of Arverna
to the enemy and betook himself to safer regions. (241) When the
Emperor Nepos heard of this, he ordered Ecdicius to leave Gaul and
come to him, appointing Orestes in his stead as Master of the
Soldiery. This Orestes thereupon received the army, set out from Rome
against the enemy and came to Ravenna. Here he tarried while he made
his son Romulus Augustulus emperor. When Nepos learned of this, he
fled to Dalmatia and died there, deprived of his throne, in the very
place where Glycerius, who was formerly emperor, held at that time
the bishopric of Salona.
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XLVI (242) Now when
Augustulus had been appointed Emperor by his father Orestes in
Ravenna, it was not long before Odoacer, king of the Torcilingi,
invaded Italy, as leader of the Sciri, the Heruli and allies of
various races. He put Orestes to death, drove his son Augustulus from
the throne and condemned him to the punishment of exile in the Castle
of Lucullus in Campania. (243) Thus the Western Empire of the Roman
race, which Octavianus Augustus, the first of the Augusti, began to
govern in the seven hundred and ninth year from the founding of the
city, perished with this Augustulus in the five hundred and twenty
second year from the beginning of the rule of his predecessors and
those before them, and from this time onward kings of the Goths held
Rome and Italy. Meanwhile Odoacer, king of nations, subdued all Italy
and then at the very outset of his reign slew Count Bracila at
Ravenna that he might inspire a fear of himself among the Romans. He
strengthened his kingdom and held it for almost thirteen years, even
until the appearance of Theodoric, of whom we shall speak hereafter.
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XLVII (244) But first
let us return to that order from which we have digressed and tell how
Eurich, king of the Visigoths, beheld the tottering of the Roman
Empire and reduced Arelate and Massilia to his own sway. Gaiseric,
king of the Vandals, enticed him by gifts to do these things, to the
end that he himself might forestall the plots which Leo and Zeno had
contrived against him. Therefore he stirred the Ostrogoths to lay
waste the Eastern Empire and the Visigoths the Western, so that while
his foes were battling in both empires, he might himself reign
peacefully in Africa. Eurich perceived this with gladness and, as he
already held all of Spain and Gaul by his own right, proceeded to
subdue the Burgundians also. In the nineteenth year of his reign he
was deprived of his life at Arelate, where he then dwelt. (245) He
was succeeded by his own son Alaric, the ninth in succession from the
famous Alaric the Great to receive the kingdom of the Visigoths. For
even as it happened to the line of the Augusti, as we have stated
above, so too it appears in the line of the Alarici, that kingdoms
often come to an end in kings who bear the same name as those at the
beginning. Meanwhile let us leave this subject, and weave together
the whole story of the origin of the Goths, as we promised.
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(The Divided Goths: Ostrogoths)
XLVIII (246) Since I
have followed the stories of my ancestors and retold to the best of
my ability the tale of the period when both tribes, Ostrogoths and
Visigoths, were united, and then clearly treated of the Visigoths
apart from the Ostrogoths, I must now return to those ancient
Scythian abodes and set forth in like manner the ancestry and deeds
of the Ostrogoths. It appears that at the death of their king,
Hermanaric, they were made a separate people by the departure of the
Visigoths, and remained in their country subject to the sway of the
Huns; yet Vinitharius of the Amali retained the insignia of his rule.
(247) He rivalled the valor of his grandfather Vultuulf, although he
had not the good fortune of Hermanaric. But disliking to remain under
the rule of the Huns, he withdrew a little from them and strove to
show his courage by moving his forces against the country of the
Antes. When he attacked them, he was beaten in the first encounter.
Thereafter he did valiantly and, as a terrible example, crucified
their king, named Boz, together with his sons and seventy nobles, and
left their bodies hanging there to double the fear of those who had
surrendered. (248) When he had ruled with such license for barely a
year, Balamber, king of the Huns, would no longer endure it, but sent
for Gesimund, son of Hunimund the Great. Now Gesimund, together with
a great part of the Goths, remained under the rule of the Huns, being
mindful of his oath of fidelity. Balamber renewed his alliance with
him and led his army up against Vinitharius. After a long contest,
Vinitharius prevailed in the first and in the second conflict, nor
can any say how great a slaughter he made of the army of the Huns.
(249) But in the third battle, when they met each other unexpectedly
at the river named Erac, Balamber shot an arrow and wounded
Vinitharius in the head, so that he died. Then Balamber took to
himself in marriage Vadamerca, the grand-daughter of Vinitharius, and
finally ruled all the people of the Goths as his peaceful subjects,
but in such a way that one ruler of their own number always held the
power over the Gothic race, though subject to the Huns.
(250) And later, after the death of Vinitharius, Hunimund ruled
them, the son of Hermanaric, a mighty king of yore; a man fierce in
war and of famous personal beauty, who afterwards fought successfully
against the race of the Suavi. And when he died, his son Thorismud
succeeded him, in the very bloom of youth. In the second year of his
rule he moved an army against the Gepidae and won a great victory
over them, but is said to have been killed by falling from his horse.
(251) When he was dead, the Ostrogoths mourned for him so deeply that
for forty years no other king succeeded in his place, and during all
this time they had ever on their lips the tale of his memory. Now as
time went on, Valamir grew to man's estate. He was the son of
Thorismud's cousin Vandalarius. For his son Beremud, as we have said
before, at last grew to despise the race of the Ostrogoths because of
the overlordship of the Huns, and so had followed the tribe of the
Visigoths to the western country, and it was from him Veteric was
descended. Veteric also had a son Eutharic, who married Amalasuentha,
the daughter of Theodoric, thus uniting again the stock of the Amali
which had divided long ago. Eutharic begat Athalaric and
Mathesuentha. But since Athalaric died in the years of his boyhood,
Mathesuentha was taken to Constantinople by her second husband,
namely Germanus, a cousin of the Emperor Justinian, and bore a
posthumous son, whom she named Germanus.
(252) But that the order we have taken for our history may run its
due course, we must return to the stock of Vandalarius, which put
forth three branches. This Vandalarius, the son of a brother of
Hermanaric and cousin of the aforesaid Thorismud, vaunted himself
among the race of the Amali because he had begotten three sons,
Valamir, Thiudimer and Vidimer. Of these Valamir ascended the throne
after his parents, though the Huns as yet held the power over the
Goths in general as among other nations. (253) It was pleasant to
behold the concord of these three brothers; for the admirable
Thiudimer served as a soldier for the empire of his brother Valamir,
and Valamir bade honors be given him, while Vidimer was eager to
serve them both. Thus regarding one another with common affection,
not one was wholly deprived of the kingdom which two of them held in
mutual peace. Yet, as has often been said, they ruled in such a way
that they respected the dominion of Attila, king or the Huns. Indeed
they could not have refused to fight against their kinsmen the
Visigoths, and they must even have committed parricide at their
lord's command. There was no way whereby any Scythian tribe could
have been wrested from the power of the Huns, save by the death of
Attila,--an event the Romans and all other nations desired. Now his
death was as base as his life was marvellous.
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XLIX (254) Shortly
before he died, as the historian Priscus relates, he took in marriage
a very beautiful girl named Ildico, after countless other wives, as
was the custom of his race. He had given himself up to excessive joy
at his wedding, and as he lay on his back, heavy with wine and sleep,
a rush of superfluous blood, which would ordinarily have flowed from
his nose, streamed in deadly course down his throat and killed him,
since it was hindered in the usual passages. Thus did drunkenness put
a disgraceful end to a king renowned in war. On the following day,
when a great part of the morning was spent, the royal attendants
suspected some ill and, after a great uproar, broke in the doors.
There they found the death of Attila accomplished by an effusion of
blood, without any wound, and the girl with downcast face weeping
beneath her veil. (255) Then, as is the custom of that race, they
plucked out the hair of their heads and made their faces hideous with
deep wounds, that the renowned warrior might be mourned, not by
effeminate wailings and tears, but by the blood of men. Moreover a
wondrous thing took place in connection with Attila's death. For in a
dream some god stood at the side of Marcian, Emperor of the East,
while he was disquieted about his fierce foe, and showed him the bow
of Attila broken in that same night, as if to intimate that the race
of Huns owed much to that weapon. This account the historian Priscus
says he accepts upon truthful evidence. For so terrible was Attila
thought to be to great empires that the gods announced his death to
rulers as a special boon.
(256) We shall not omit to say a few words about the many ways in
which his shade was honored by his race. His body was placed in the
midst of a plain and lay in state in a silken tent as a sight for
men's admiration. The best horsemen of the entire tribe of the Huns
rode around in circles, after the manner of circus games, in the
place to which he had been brought and told of his deeds in a funeral
dirge in the following manner: (257) "The chief of the Huns, King
Attila, born of his sire Mundiuch, lord of bravest tribes, sole
possessor of the Scythian and German realms--powers unknown
before--captured cities and terrified both empires of the Roman world
and, appeased by their prayers, took annual tribute to save the rest
from plunder. And when he had accomplished all this by the favor of
fortune, he fell, not by wound of the foe, nor by treachery of
friends, but in the midst of his nation at peace, happy in his joy
and without sense of pain. Who can rate this as death, when none
believes it calls for vengeance?" (258) When they had mourned him
with such lamentations, a strava, as they call it, was
celebrated over his tomb with great revelling. They gave way in turn
to the extremes of feeling and displayed funereal grief alternating
with joy. Then in the secrecy of night they buried his body in the
earth. They bound his coffins, the first with gold, the second with
silver and the third with the strength of iron, showing by such means
that these three things suited the mightiest of kings; iron because
he subdued the nations, gold and silver because he received the
honors of both empires. They also added the arms of foemen won in the
fight, trappings of rare worth, sparkling with various gems, and
ornaments of all sorts whereby princely state is maintained. And that
so great riches might be kept from human curiosity, they slew those
appointed to the work--a dreadful pay for their labor; and thus
sudden death was the lot of those who buried him as well as of him
who was buried.
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L
(259) After they had fulfilled these rites, a contest for the highest
place arose among Attila's successors,--for the minds of young men
are wont to be inflamed by ambition for power,--and in their rash
eagerness to rule they all alike destroyed his empire. Thus kingdoms
are often weighed down by a superfluity rather than by a lack of
successors. For the sons of Attila, who through the license of his
lust formed almost a people of themselves, were clamoring that the
nations should be divided among them equally and that warlike kings
with their peoples should be apportioned to them by lot like a family
estate. (260) When Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, learned this, he
became enraged because so many nations were being treated like slaves
of the basest condition, and was the first to rise against the sons
of Attila. Good fortune attended him, and he effaced the disgrace of
servitude that rested upon him. For by his revolt he freed not only
his own tribe, but all the others who were equally oppressed; since
all readily strive for that which is sought for the general
advantage. They took up arms against the destruction that menaced all
and joined battle with the Huns in Pannonia, near a river called
Nedao. (261) There an encounter took place between the various
nations Attila had held under his sway. Kingdoms with their peoples
were divided, and out of one body were made many members not
responding to a common impulse. Being deprived of their head, they
madly strove against each other. They never found their equals ranged
against them without harming each other by wounds mutually given. And
so the bravest nations tore themselves to pieces. For then, I think,
must have occurred a most remarkable spectacle, where one might see
the Goths fighting with pikes, the Gepidae raging with the sword, the
Rugi breaking off the spears in their own wounds, the Suavi fighting
on foot, the Huns with bows, the Alani drawing up a battle-line of
heavy-armed and the Heruli of light-armed warriors.
(262) Finally, after many bitter conflicts, victory fell
unexpectedly to the Gepidae. For the sword and conspiracy of Ardaric
destroyed almost thirty thousand men, Huns as well as those of the
other nations who brought them aid. In this battle fell Ellac, the
elder son of Attila, whom his father is said to have loved so much
more than all the rest that he preferred him to any child or even to
all the children of his kingdom. But fortune was not in accord with
his father's wish. For after slaying many of the foe, it appears that
he met his death so bravely that, if his father had lived, he would
have rejoiced at his glorious end. (263) When Ellac was slain, his
remaining brothers were put to flight near the shore of the Sea of
Pontus, where we have said the Goths first settled. Thus did the Huns
give way, a race to which men thought the whole world must yield. So
baneful a thing is division, that they who used to inspire terror
when their strength was united, were overthrown separately. The cause
of Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was fortunate for the various
nations who were unwillingly subject to the rule of the Huns, for it
raised their long downcast spirits to the glad hope of freedom. Many
sent ambassadors to the Roman territory, where they were most
graciously received by Marcian, who was then emperor, and took the
abodes allotted them to dwell in. (264) But the Gepidae by their own
might won for themselves the territory of the Huns and ruled as
victors over the extent of all Dacia, demanding of the Roman Empire
nothing more than peace and an annual gift as a pledge of their
friendly alliance. This the Emperor freely granted at the time, and
to this day that race receives its customary gifts from the Roman
Emperor.
Now when the Goths saw the Gepidae defending for themselves the
territory of the Huns and the people of the Huns dwelling again in
their ancient abodes, they preferred to ask for lands from the Roman
Empire, rather than invade the lands of others with danger to
themselves. So they received Pannonia, which stretches in a long
plain, being bounded on the east by Upper Moesia, on the south by
Dalmatia, on the west by Noricum and on the north by the Danube. This
land is adorned with many cities, the first of which is Sirmium and
the last Vindobona. (265) But the Sauromatae, whom we call
Sarmatians, and the Cemandri and certain of the Huns dwelt in Castra
Martis, a city given them in the region of Illyricum. Of this race
was Blivila, Duke of Pentapolis, and his brother Froila and also
Bessa, a Patrician in our time. The Sciri, moreover, and the
Sadagarii and certain of the Alani with their leader, Candac by name,
received Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia. (266) Paria, the father of
my father Alanoviiamuth (that is to say, my grandfather), was
secretary to this Candac as long as he lived. To his sister's son
Gunthigis, also called Baza, the Master of the Soldiery, who was the
son of Andag the son of Andela, who was descended from the stock of
the Amali, I also, Jordanes, although an unlearned man before my
conversion, was secretary. The Rugi, however, and some other races
asked that they might inhabit Bizye and Arcadiopolis. Hernac, the
younger son of Attila, with his followers, chose a home in the most
distant part of Lesser Scythia. Emnetzur and Ultzindur, kinsmen of
his, won Oescus and Utus and Almus in Dacia on the bank of the
Danube, and many of the Huns, then swarming everywhere, betook
themselves into Romania, and from them the Sacromontisi and the
Fossatisii of this day are said to be descended.
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LI
(267) There were other Goths also, called the Lesser, a great people
whose priest and primate was Vulfila, who is said to have taught them
to write. And to-day they are in Moesia, inhabiting the Nicopolitan
region as far as the base of Mount Haemus. They are a numerous
people, but poor and unwarlike, rich in nothing save flocks of
various kinds and pasture-lands for cattle and forests for wood.
Their country is not fruitful in wheat and other sorts of grain.
Certain of them do not know that vineyards exist elsewhere, and they
buy their wine from neighboring countries. But most of them drink
milk.
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LII (268) Let us now
return to the tribe with which we started, namely the Ostrogoths, who
were dwelling in Pannonia under their king Valamir and his brothers
Thiudimer and Vidimer. Although their territories were separate, yet
their plans were one. For Valamir dwelt between the rivers Scarniunga
and Aqua Nigra, Thiudimer near Lake Pelso and Vidimer between them
both. Now it happened that the sons of Attila, regarding the Goths as
deserters from their rule, came against them as though they were
seeking fugitive slaves, and attacked Valamir alone, when his
brothers knew nothing of it. (269) He sustained their attack, though
he had but few supporters, and after harassing them a long time, so
utterly overwhelmed them that scarcely any portion of the enemy
remained. The remnant turned in flight and sought the parts of
Scythia which border on the stream of the river Danaper, which the
Huns call in their own tongue the Var. Thereupon he sent a messenger
of good tidings to his brother Thiudimer, and on the very day the
messenger arrived he found even greater joy in the house of
Thiudimer. For on that day his son Theodoric was born, of a concubine
Erelieva indeed, and yet a child of good hope.
(270) Now after no great time King Valamir and his brothers
Thiudimer and Vidimer sent an embassy to the Emperor Marcian, because
the usual gifts which they received like a New Year's present from
the Emperor, to preserve the compact of peace, were slow in arriving.
And they found that Theodoric, son of Triarius, a man of Gothic blood
also, but born of another stock, not of the Amali, was in great
favor, together with his followers. He was allied in friendship with
the Romans and obtained an annual bounty, while they themselves were
merely held in disdain. (271) Thereat they were aroused to frenzy and
took up arms. They roved through almost the whole of Illyricum and
laid it waste in their search for spoil. Then the Emperor quickly
changed his mind and returned to his former state of friendship. He
sent an embassy to give them the past gifts, as well as those now
due, and furthermore promised to give these gifts in future without
any dispute. From the Goths the Romans received as a hostage of peace
Theodoric, the young child of Thiudimer, whom we have mentioned
above. He had now attained the age of seven years and was entering
upon his eighth. While his father hesitated about giving him up, his
uncle Valamir besought him to do it, hoping that peace between the
Romans and the Goths might thus be assured. Therefore Theodoric was
given as a hostage by the Goths and brought to the city of
Constantinople to the Emperor Leo and, being a goodly child,
deservedly gained the imperial favor.
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LIII (272) Now after
firm peace was established between Goths and Romans, the Goths found
that the possessions they had received from the Emperor were not
sufficient for them. Furthermore, they were eager to display their
wonted valor, and so began to plunder the neighboring races round
about them, first attacking the Sadagis who held the interior of
Pannonia. When Dintzic, king of the Huns, a son of Attila, learned
this, he gathered to him the few who still seemed to have remained
under his sway, namely, the Ultzinzures, and Angisciri, the
Bittugures and the Bardores. Coming to Bassiana, a city of Pannonia,
he beleaguered it and began to plunder its territory. (273) Then the
Goths at once abandoned the expedition they had planned against the
Sadagis, turned upon the Huns and drove them so ingloriously from
their own land that those who remained have been in dread of the arms
of the Goths from that time down to the present day.
When the tribe of the Huns was at last subdued by the Goths,
Hunimund, chief of the Suavi, who was crossing over to plunder
Dalmatia, carried off some cattle of the Goths which were straying
over the plains; for Dalmatia was near Suavia and not far distant
from the territory of Pannonia, especially that part where the Goths
were then staying. (274) So then, as Hunimund was returning with the
Suavi to his own country, after he had devastated Dalmatia, Thiudimer
the brother of Valamir, king of the Goths, kept watch on their line
of march. Not that he grieved so much over the loss of his cattle,
but he feared that if the Suavi obtained this plunder with impunity,
they would proceed to greater license. So in the dead of night, while
they were asleep, he made an unexpected attack upon them, near Lake
Pelso. Here he so completely crushed them that he took captive and
sent into slavery under the Goths even Hunimund, their king, and all
of his army who had escaped the sword. Yet as he was a great lover of
mercy, he granted pardon after taking vengeance and became reconciled
to the Suavi. He adopted as his son the same man whom he had taken
captive, and sent him back with his followers into Suavia. (275) But
Hunimund was unmindful of his adopted father's kindness. After some
time he brought forth a plot he had contrived and aroused the tribe
of the Sciri, who then dwelt above the Danube and abode peaceably
with the Goths. So the Sciri broke off their alliance with them, took
up arms, joined themselves to Hunimund and went out to attack the
race of the Goths. Thus war came upon the Goths who were expecting no
evil, because they relied upon both of their neighbors as friends.
Constrained by necessity they took up arms and avenged themselves and
their injuries by recourse to battle. (276) In this battle, as King
Valamir rode on his horse before the line to encourage his men, the
horse was wounded and fell, overthrowing its rider. Valamir was
quickly pierced by his enemies' spears and slain. Thereupon the Goths
proceeded to exact vengeance for the death of their king, as well as
for the injury done them by the rebels. They fought in such wise that
there remained of all the race of the Sciri only a few who bore the
name, and they with disgrace. Thus were all destroyed.
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LIV (277) The kings [of the Suavi], Hunimund and
Alaric, fearing the destruction that had come upon the Sciri, next
made war upon the Goths, relying upon the aid of the Sarmatians, who
had come to them as auxiliaries with their kings Beuca and Babai.
They summoned the last remnants of the Sciri, with Edica and Hunuulf,
their chieftains, thinking they would fight the more desperately to
avenge themselves. They had on their side the Gepidae also, as well
as no small reënforcements from the race of the Rugi and from
others gathered here and there. Thus they brought together a great
host at the river Bolia in Pannonia and encamped there. (278) Now
when Valamir was dead, the Goths fled to Thiudimer, his brother.
Although he had long ruled along with his brothers, yet he took the
insignia of his increased authority and summoned his younger brother
Vidimer and shared with him the cares of war, resorting to arms under
compulsion. A battle was fought and the party of the Goths was found
to be so much the stronger that the plain was drenched in the blood
of their fallen foes and looked like a crimson sea. Weapons and
corpses, piled up like hills, covered the plain for more than ten
miles. (279) When the Goths saw this, they rejoiced with joy
unspeakable, because by this great slaughter of their foes they had
avenged the blood of Valamir their king and the injury done
themselves. But those of the innumerable and motley throng of the foe
who were able to escape, though they got away, nevertheless came to
their own land with difficulty and without glory.
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LV
(280) After a certain time, when the wintry cold was at hand, the
river Danube was frozen over as usual. For a river like this freezes
so hard that it will support like a solid rock an army of
foot-soldiers and wagons and carts and whatsoever vehicles there may
be,--nor is there need of skiffs and boats. So when Thiudimer, king
of the Goths, saw that it was frozen, he led his army across the
Danube and appeared unexpectedly to the Suavi from the rear. Now this
country of the Suavi has on the east the Baiovari, on the west the
Franks, on the south the Burgundians and on the north the
Thuringians. (281) With the Suavi there were present the Alamanni,
then their confederates, who also ruled the Alpine heights, whence
several streams flow into the Danube, pouring in with a great rushing
sound. Into a place thus fortified King Thiudimer led his army in the
winter-time and conquered, plundered and almost subdued the race of
the Suavi as well as the Alamanni, who were mutually banded together.
Thence he returned as victor to his own home in Pannonia and joyfully
received his son Theodoric, once given as hostage to Constantinople
and now sent back by the Emperor Leo with great gifts. (282) Now
Theodoric had reached man's estate, for he was eighteen years of age
and his boyhood was ended. So he summoned certain of his father's
adherents and took to himself from the people his friends and
retainers,--almost six thousand men. With these he crossed the
Danube, without his father's knowledge, and marched against Babai,
king of the Sarmatians, who had just won a victory over Camundus, a
general of the Romans, and was ruling with insolent pride. Theodoric
came upon him and slew him, and taking as booty his slaves and
treasure, returned victorious to his father. Next he invaded the city
of Singidunum, which the Sarmatians themselves had seized, and did
not return it to the Romans, but reduced it to his own sway.
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LVI (283) Then as the
spoil taken from one and another of the neighboring tribes
diminished, the Goths began to lack food and clothing, and peace
became distasteful to men for whom war had long furnished the
necessaries of life. So all the Goths approached their king Thiudimer
and, with great outcry, begged him to lead forth his army in
whatsoever direction he might wish. He summoned his brother and,
after casting lots, bade him go into the country of Italy, where at
this time Glycerius ruled as emperor, saying that he himself as the
mightier would go to the east against a mightier empire. And so it
happened. (284) Thereupon Vidimer entered the land of Italy, but soon
paid the last debt of fate and departed from earthly affairs, leaving
his son and namesake Vidimer to succeed him. The Emperor Glycerius
bestowed gifts upon Vidimer and persuaded him to go from Italy to
Gaul, which was then harassed on all sides by various races, saying
that their own kinsmen, the Visigoths, there ruled a neighboring
kingdom. And what more? Vidimer accepted the gifts and, obeying the
command of the Emperor Glycerius, pressed on to Gaul. Joining with
his kinsmen the Visigoths, they again formed one body, as they had
been long ago. Thus they held Gaul and Spain by their own right and
so defended them that no other race won the mastery there.
(285) But Thiudimer, the elder brother, crossed the river Savus
with his men, threatening the Sarmatians and their soldiers with war
if any should resist him. From fear of this they kept quiet; moreover
they were powerless in the face of so great a host. Thiudimer, seeing
prosperity everywhere awaiting him, invaded Naissus, the first city
of Illyricum. He was joined by his son Theodoric and the Counts Astat
and Invilia, and sent them to Ulpiana by way of Castrum Herculis.
(286) Upon their arrival the town surrendered, as did Stobi later;
and several places of Illyricum, inaccessible to them at first, were
thus made easy of approach. For they first plundered and then ruled
by right of war Heraclea and Larissa, cities of Thessaly. But
Thiudimer the king, perceiving his own good fortune and that of his
son, was not content with this alone, but set forth from the city of
Naissus, leaving only a few men behind as a guard. He himself
advanced to Thessalonica, where Hilarianus the Patrician, appointed
by the Emperor, was stationed with his army. (287) When Hilarianus
beheld Thessalonica surrounded by an entrenchment and saw that he
could not resist attack, he sent an embassy to Thiudimer the king and
by the offer of gifts turned him aside from destroying the city. Then
the Roman general entered upon a truce with the Goths and of his own
accord handed over to them those places they inhabited, namely
Cyrrhus, Pella, Europus, Methone, Pydna, Beroea, and another which is
called Dium. (288) So the Goths and their king laid aside their arms,
consented to peace and became quiet. Soon after these events, King
Thiudimer was seized with a mortal illness in the city of Cyrrhus. He
called the Goths to himself, appointed Theodoric his son as heir of
his kingdom and presently departed this life.
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LVII (289) When the
Emperor Zeno heard that Theodoric had been appointed king over his
own people, he received the news with pleasure and invited him to
come and visit him in the city, appointing an escort of honor.
Receiving Theodoric with all due respect, he placed him among the
princes of his palace. After some time Zeno increased his dignity by
adopting him as his son-at-arms and gave him a triumph in the city at
his expense. Theodoric was made Consul Ordinary also, which is well
known to be the supreme good and highest honor in the world. Nor was
this all, for Zeno set up before the royal palace an equestrian
statue to the glory of this great man.
(290) Now while Theodoric was in alliance by treaty with the
Empire of Zeno and was himself enjoying every comfort in the city, he
heard that his tribe, dwelling as we have said in Illyricum, was not
altogether satisfied or content. So he chose rather to seek a living
by his own exertions, after the manner customary to his race, rather
than to enjoy the advantages of the Roman Empire in luxurious ease
while his tribe lived in want. After pondering these matters, he said
to the Emperor: "Though I lack nothing in serving your Empire, yet if
Your Piety deem it worthy, be pleased to hear the desire of my
heart." (291) And when as usual he had been granted permission to
speak freely, he said: "The western country, long ago governed by the
rule of your ancestors and predecessors, and that city which was the
head and mistress of the world,--wherefore is it now shaken by the
tyranny of the Torcilingi and the Rugi? Send me there with my race.
Thus if you but say the word, you may be freed from the burden of
expense here, and, if by the Lord's help I shall conquer, the fame of
Your Piety shall be glorious there. For it is better that I, your
servant and your son, should rule that kingdom, receiving it as a
gift from you if I conquer, than that one whom you do not recognize
should oppress your Senate with his tyrannical yoke and a part of the
republic with slavery. For if I prevail, I shall retain it as your
grant and gift; if I am conquered, Your Piety will lose nothing--nay,
as I have said, it will save the expense I now entail." (292)
Although the Emperor was grieved that he should go, yet when he heard
this he granted what Theodoric asked, for he was unwilling to cause
him sorrow. He sent him forth enriched by great gifts and commended
to his charge the Senate and the Roman People.
Therefore Theodoric departed from the royal city and returned to
his own people. In company with the whole tribe of the Goths, who
gave him their unanimous consent, he set out for Hesperia. He went in
straight march through Sirmium to the places bordering on Pannonia
and, advancing into the territory of Venetia as far as the bridge of
the Sontius, encamped there. (293) When he had halted there for some
time to rest the bodies of his men and pack-animals, Odoacer sent an
armed force against him, which he met on the plains of Verona and
destroyed with great slaughter. Then he broke camp and advanced
through Italy with greater boldness. Crossing the river Po, he
pitched camp near the royal city of Ravenna, about the third
milestone from the city in the place called Pineta. When Odoacer saw
this, he fortified himself within the city. He frequently harassed
the army of the Goths at night, sallying forth stealthily with his
men, and this not once or twice, but often; and thus he struggled for
almost three whole years. (294) But he labored in vain, for all Italy
at last called Theodoric its lord and the Empire obeyed his nod. But
Odoacer, with his few adherents and the Romans who were present,
suffered daily from war and famine in Ravenna. Since he accomplished
nothing, he sent an embassy and begged for mercy. (295) Theodoric
first granted it and afterwards deprived him of his life.
It was in the third year after his entrance into Italy, as we have
said, that Theodoric, by advice of the Emperor Zeno, laid aside the
garb of a private citizen and the dress of his race and assumed a
costume with a royal mantle, as he had now become the ruler over both
Goths and Romans. He sent an embassy to Lodoin, king of the Franks,
and asked for his daughter Audefleda in marriage. (296) Lodoin freely
and gladly gave her, and also his sons Celdebert and Heldebert and
Thiudebert, believing that by this alliance a league would be formed
and that they would be associated with the race of the Goths. But
that union was of no avail for peace and harmony, for they fought
fiercely with each other again and again for the lands of the Goths;
but never did the Goths yield to the Franks while Theodoric lived.
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LVIII (297) Now before
he had a child from Audefleda, Theodoric had children of a concubine,
daughters begotten in Moesia, one named Thiudigoto and another
Ostrogotho. Soon after he came to Italy, he gave them in marriage to
neighboring kings, one to Alaric, king of the Visigoths, and the
other to Sigismund, king of the Burgundians. (298) Now Alaric begat
Amalaric. While his grandfather Theodoric cared for and protected
him--for he had lost both parents in the years of childhood--he found
that Eutharic, the son of Veteric, grandchild of Beremud and
Thorismud, and a descendant of the race of the Amali, was living in
Spain, a young man strong in wisdom and valor and health of body.
Theodoric sent for him and gave him his daughter Amalasuentha in
marriage. (299) And that he might extend his family as much as
possible, he sent his sister Amalafrida (the mother of Theodahad, who
was afterwards king) to Africa as wife of Thrasamund, king of the
Vandals, and her daughter Amalaberga, who was his own niece, he
united with Herminefred, king of the Thuringians.
(300) Now he sent his Count Pitza, chosen from among the chief men
of his kingdom, to hold the city of Sirmium. He got possession of it
by driving out its king Thrasaric, son of Thraustila, and keeping his
mother captive. Thence he came with two thousand infantry and five
hundred horsemen to aid Mundo against Sabinian, Master of the
Soldiery of Illyricum, who at that time had made ready to fight with
Mundo near the city named Margoplanum, which lies between the Danube
and Margus rivers, and destroyed the Army of Illyricum. (301) For
this Mundo, who traced his descent from the Attilani of old, had put
to flight the tribe of the Gepidae and was roaming beyond the Danube
in waste places where no man tilled the soil. He had gathered around
him many outlaws and ruffians and robbers from all sides and had
seized a tower called Herta, situated on the bank of the Danube.
There he plundered his neighbors in wild license and made himself
king over his vagabonds. Now Pitza came upon him when he was nearly
reduced to desperation and was already thinking of surrender. So he
rescued him from the hands of Sabinian and made him a grateful
subject of his king Theodoric.
(302) Theodoric won an equally great victory over the Franks
through his Count Ibba in Gaul, when more than thirty thousand Franks
were slain in battle. Moreover, after the death of his son-in-law
Alaric, Theodoric appointed Thiudis, his armor-bearer, guardian of
his grandson Amalaric in Spain. But Amalaric was ensnared by the
plots of the Franks in early youth and lost at once his kingdom and
his life. Then his guardian Thiudis, advancing from the same kingdom,
assailed the Franks and delivered the Spaniards from their
disgraceful treachery. So long as he lived he kept the Visigoths
united. (303) After him Thiudigisclus obtained the kingdom and,
ruling but a short time, met his death at the hands of his own
followers. He was succeeded by Agil, who holds the kingdom to the
present day. Athanagild has rebelled against him and is even now
provoking the might of the Roman Empire. So Liberius the Patrician is
on the way with an army to oppose him. Now there was not a tribe in
the west that did not serve Theodoric while he lived, either in
friendship or by conquest.
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LIX (304) When he had
reached old age and knew that he should soon depart this life, he
called together the Gothic counts and chieftains of his race and
appointed Athalaric as king. He was a boy scarce ten years old, the
son of his daughter Amalasuentha, and he had lost his father
Eutharic. As though uttering his last will and testament Theodoric
adjured and commanded them to honor their king, to love the Senate
and Roman People and to make sure of the peace and good will of the
Emperor of the East, as next after God.
(305) They kept this command fully so long as Athalaric their king
and his mother lived, and ruled in peace for almost eight years. But
as the Franks put no confidence in the rule of a child and
furthermore held him in contempt, and were also plotting war, he gave
back to them those parts of Gaul which his father and grandfather had
seized. He possessed all the rest in peace and quiet. Therefore when
Athalaric was approaching the age of manhood, he entrusted to the
Emperor of the East both his own youth and his mother's widowhood.
But in a short time the ill-fated boy was carried off by an untimely
death and departed from earthly affairs. (306) His mother feared she
might be despised by the Goths on account of the weakness of her sex.
So after much thought she decided, for the sake of relationship, to
summon her cousin Theodahad from Tuscany, where he led a retired life
at home, and thus she established him on the throne. But he was
unmindful of their kinship and, after a little time, had her taken
from the palace at Ravenna to an island of the Bulsinian lake where
he kept her in exile. After spending a very few days there in sorrow,
she was strangled in the bath by his hirelings.
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LX
(307) When Justinian, the Emperor of the East, heard this, he was
aroused as if he had suffered personal injury in the death of his
wards. Now at that time he had won a triumph over the Vandals in
Africa, through his most faithful Patrician Belisarius. Without delay
he sent his army under this leader against the Goths at the very time
when his arms were yet dripping with the blood of the Vandals. (308)
This sagacious general believed he could not overcome the Gothic
nation, unless he should first seize Sicily, their nursing-mother.
Accordingly he did so. As soon as he entered Trinacria, the Goths,
who were besieging the town of Syracuse, found that they were not
succeeding and surrendered of their own accord to Belisarius, with
their leader Sinderith. When the Roman general reached Sicily,
Theodahad sought out Evermud, his son-in-law, and sent him with an
army to guard the strait which lies between Campania and Sicily and
sweeps from a bend of the Tyrrhenian Sea into the vast tide of the
Adriatic. (309) When Evermud arrived, he pitched his camp by the town
of Rhegium. He soon saw that his side was the weaker. Coming over
with a few close and faithful followers to the side of the victor and
willingly casting himself at the feet of Belisarius, he decided to
serve the rulers of the Roman Empire. When the army of the Goths
perceived this, they distrusted Theodahad and clamored for his
expulsion from the kingdom and for the appointment as king of their
leader Vitiges, who had been his armor bearer. (310) This was done;
and presently Vitiges was raised to the office of king on the
Barbarian Plains. He entered Rome and sent on to Ravenna the men most
faithful to him to demand the death of Theodahad. They came and
executed his command. After King Theodahad was slain, a messenger
came from the king--for he was already king in the Barbarian
Plains--to proclaim Vitiges to the people.
(311) Meanwhile the Roman army crossed the strait and marched
toward Campania. They took Naples and pressed on to Rome. Now a few
days before they arrived, King Vitiges had set forth from Rome,
arrived at Ravenna and married Mathesuentha, the daughter of
Amalasuentha and grand-daughter of Theodoric, the former king. While
he was celebrating his new marriage and holding court at Ravenna, the
imperial army advanced from Rome and attacked the strongholds in both
parts of Tuscany. When Vitiges learned of this through messengers, he
sent a force under Hunila, a leader of the Goths, to Perusia which
was beleaguered by them. (312) While they were endeavoring by a long
siege to dislodge Count Magnus, who was holding the place with a
small force, the Roman army came upon them, and they themselves were
driven away and utterly exterminated. When Vitiges heard the news, he
raged like a lion and assembled all the host of the Goths. He
advanced from Ravenna and harassed the walls of Rome with a long
siege. But after fourteen months his courage was broken and he raised
the siege of the city of Rome and prepared to overwhelm Ariminum.
(313) Here he was baffled in like manner and put to flight; and so he
retreated to Ravenna. When besieged there, he quickly and willingly
surrendered himself to the victorious side, together with his wife
Mathesuentha and the royal treasure.
And thus a famous kingdom and most valiant race, which had long
held sway, was at last overcome in almost its two thousand and
thirtieth year by that conquerer of many nations, the Emperor
Justinian, through his most faithful consul Belisarius. He gave
Vitiges the title of Patrician and took him to Constantinople, where
he dwelt for more than two years, bound by ties of affection to the
Emperor, and then departed this life. (314) But his consort
Mathesuentha was bestowed by the Emperor upon the Patrician Germanus,
his cousin. And of them was born a son (also called Germanus) after
the death of his father Germanus. This union of the race of the
Anicii with the stock of the Amali gives hopeful promise, under the
Lord's favor, to both peoples.
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(Conclusion)
(315) And now we have recited the origin of the Goths, the noble
line of the Amali and the deeds of brave men. This glorious race
yielded to a more glorious prince and surrendered to a more valiant
leader, whose fame shall be silenced by no ages or cycles of years;
for the victorious and triumphant Emperor Justinian and his consul
Belisarius shall be named and known as Vandalicus, Africanus and
Geticus.
(316) Thou who readest this, know that I have followed the
writings of my ancestors, and have culled a few flowers from their
broad meadows to weave a chaplet for him who cares to know these
things. Let no one believe that to the advantage of the race of which
I have spoken--though indeed I trace my own descent from it--I have
added aught besides what I have read or learned by inquiry. Even thus
I have not included all that is written or told about them, nor
spoken so much to their praise as to the glory of him who conquered
them.
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Source. Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths, translated by Charles C. Mierow. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1908.
The text of the translation presented here was scanned
from a printed copy of Charle C Mierow's translation and checked carefully for errors
(a few misprints in that book have been corrected as well). This
hypertext version has been designed for the use of students of
Ancient History at the University of Calgary. I have included the
(Roman) chapter and (arabic) section numbers to facilitate specific
citation (or to find a specific reference; these numbers may be found
in Mierow's translation as well, though the section numbers are in
his margins) and have added internal links for purposes of
navigation. [ J. Vanderspoel, Department of Greek, Latin
and Ancient History, University of Calgary.]
A scanned PDF of the 1915 edition of book is available at https://archive.org/details/gothichistoryofj00jorduoft/page/n4
This text is part of the Internet
Medieval Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
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[Electronic format] Paul Halsall, 2019
ihsp@fordham.edu
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© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 November 2024 [CV]
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