The history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire - Ganino.com

—•6THE TISIG0TH8 IN THE[CH. XTiV.Bupported by uncommon vigour, both of mind and body. Impatientof his narrow limits, Theodoric aspired to the possessionof Aries, the wealthy seat of government and commerce ;but the city was saved by the timely approach of ^tius ; andthe Gothic king, who had raised the siege with some lossand disgrace, was persuaded, for an adequate subsidy, todivert the martial valour of his subjects in a Spanish war.Tet Theodoric still watched, and eagerly seized the favourablemoment of renewing his hostile attempts. The Gothsbesieged Narboune, while the Belgic provinces were invadedby the Burgundians ; and the public safety was threatenedon every side by the apparent union of the enemies of!Rome. On every side, the activity of ^tius and his Scythiancavalry, opposed a firm and successful resistance.Twenty thousand Burgundians were slain in battle, and theremains of the nation humbly accepted a dependent seat inthe mountains of Savoy.* The walls of Narbonne had beenshaken by the battering engines, and the inhabitants hadendured the last extremities of famine, when count Litorius,approaching in silence, and directing each horseman tocarry behind him two sacks of flour, cut his way throughthe intreuchmeuts of the besiegers. The siege was immediatelyraised, and the more decisive victory, which isascribed to the personal conduct of ^tius himself, wasmarked with the blood of eight thousand Goths. But inthe absence of the patrician, who was hastily summoned toItaly by some public or private interest, count LitoriusQuHe noster peccavit avus, quern fuscat id unum,Quod te, Roma, capit.Sidon. Panegyric. Avit. 505.This character, applicable only to the great Alaric, establishes thegenealogy of the Gothic kings, which has hitherto been unnoticed.[There is no evidence of Alaric having left a son, and the expressionused by Sidonius is too indefinite to warrant the inference. TheodosiusI. was an old man in 451, when he fell at the battle of Chalona(matura senectute, Jorn. c. 40). If he had been the rightful heir tothe throne, he would not have been supplanted by his uncle Adolphus,in 410, nor by Wallia in 415. Ed.]* The name of Sapaudia, the origin of Savoy, is first mentioned byAmmianus Marcellinus ; and two military posts are ascertained, bythe Notitia, within the limits of that province ; a cohort was stationedat Grenoble in Dauphine ; and Ebredunum, or Iverdun, sheltered afleet of small vessels, which commanded the lake of Neufchiitel. SeeValesius, Notlt. Galliarum, p. 503. D'Anville, Notice do FAucieuneGaule, p. 284. 579. [The Burgundians ever aud anon come before us,slaughtered, exterminated, or expelled ;yet re-appeai- in full strength