of the Gothic invasion, a new host of Barbarians rushed from the shores of the Baltic, bore down before them all opposition in Germany and Gaul; and had passed the Alps, the Po, and the Apennines, ere an army could be assem bled to resist them. 17. Radagai'sus, the leader of these hordes, was a more formidable enemy even than Al'aric; the Goths had embraced Christianity, and their fierce passions were in some degree moderated by the mild precepts of the Gospel; but Radagai'sus was a stranger to any religion but the cruel creed of his fathers, which taught that the favour of the gods could only be propitiated by human sacrifices. 18. The wealthy city of Florence was besieged by the Barbarians; but its bishop, St. Ambrose, by his zealous exhortations, and by holding out the hope of divine assistance, prevented the garrison from yielding to despair. Stil'icho a second time earned the title of the Deliverer of Italy: Radagai'sus was defeated and slain; but the remains of his forces escaped into Gaul, and spread desolation over that entire province, from which the garrisons had been withdrawn for the defence of Italy. An usurper, named Constantine, about this time appeared in Britain, and soon established his authority both in Gaul and Spain, which had been virtually deserted by the emperor. Al'aric offered his services to repress the rebellion, and to purchase either his assistance or his forbearance; a large subsidy was voted to him by the senate, through the influence of Stil'icho. 20. But the reign of this great man was drawing fast to a close: Olym'pius, a miserable favourite, who owed his first elevation to Stil'icho, filled the emperor's mind with suspicion, and a secret resolution to destroy the minister was adopted. 21. By exciting the jealousy of the legions against the auxiliary forces that Stil'icho employed, Olym'pius was enabled to gain the army to his side, and the last great supporter of the Roman name fell by the swords of those soldiers whom he had so often led to victory. His friends, including the 19. ; best and bravest generals of the army, shared his fate many of them were racked, to extort from them a confession of a conspiracy which never existed; and their silence under the tortures at once proved their own innocence and that of their leader. Questions for Examination. 1. What division was made of the Roman empire between the sons of "Theodosius? 2. By what enemies was the western empire assailed? 3. What was the internal condition of the state? 4. To what ministers did the emperors trust the administration? 5. How did Stilicho prevail over Rufinus? 6. What instances of savage cruelty were exhibited by the murderers of Rufinus? 7. Did Stilicho derive any advantage from the death of his rival ? 8. What rivalry broke out between the subjects of the eastern and western empire? 9. How did the revolt of Gildo in Africa end? 10. Why did the Goths attack the eastern empire? 11. How did the Gothic invasion of Greece end? 12. Did the western emperor display any courage when Italy was invaded? 13. How was Honorius saved from ruin? 14. Was this defeat destructive of the Gothic power? 15. Where did Honorius fix the seat of his government? 16. What new hordes invaded Italy? 17. Why were the northern barbarians more formidable than the Goths? 18. How was Florence saved? 19. On what occasion was a subsidy voted to Alaric? 20. Who conspired against Stilicho? 21. In what manner was Stilicho slain ? SECTION II. Oh! where are now the dreams of fame, MALCOLM. 7. Ruth'less, a. cruel, void of pity. 16. Dow'ry, s. marriage portion. 19. Coinci'dence, s. the concurrence in time of two events, not necessarily connected. 25. Obse'quious, a. slavishly obedient. 17. Invei'gled, v. enticed by false repre- 30. Mos'lem, a. professing the religion sentations. of Mohammed. 1. AL ́ARIC, posted on the confines of Italy, watched the distractions of the peninsula with secret joy; he had been unwisely irritated by the delay of the subsidy which had formerly been promised him, and when payment was finally refused, he once more led his followers into Italy. 2. The feeble successors of Stil'icho had made no pre- A.D. parations for resistance; they retired with their 408. master into the fortress of Raven'na, while the Goths, spreading ruin in their march, advanced to the very walls of Rome. Six hundred years had now elapsed since an enemy had appeared to threaten the ETERNAL CITY; a worse foe than Hannibal was now at their gates, and the citizens were more disabled by luxury from attempting a defence, than their ancestors had been by the carnage of Can'næ1. 3. The strength of the walls deterred the Goth from attempting a regular siege, but he subjected the city to a strict blockade. Famine and its usual attendant, pestilence, soon began to waste the miserable Romans; but even the extreme of misery could not induce them to sally 1 See Chapter XV. Sect. ii. forth, and try their fortune in the field. They purchased the retreat of Al'aric by the sacrifice of their wealth; and the victorious Goth formed his winter quarters in Tuscany, where his army was reinforced by more than forty thousand of his countrymen who had been enslaved by the Romans. 4. The presence of a victorious leader, with one hundred thousand men, in the very centre of Italy, ought to have taught the imperial court at Raven'na prudence and moderation; but such was their incredible folly, that they not only violated their engagements with Al'aric, but added personal insult to injury. Rome was once more besieged, and as Al'aric had seized the provisions at Os'tia, on which the citizens depended for subsistence, the Romans were forced to surrender at discretion. 5. At the instigation of the Gothic king, At'talus, the prefect of the city, was invested with the imperial purple, and measures were taken to compel Honorius to resign in his favour. But At'talus proved utterly unworthy of a throne, and after a brief reign was publicly degraded; the rest of his life was passed in obscurity under the protection of the Goths. 6. A favourable opportunity of effecting peace was now offered, but it was again insolently rejected by the wretched Hono'rius, and a herald publicly proclaimed that in consequence of the guilt of Al'aric, he was for ever excluded from the friendship and alliance of the emperor. 7. For the third time Al'aric proceeded to revenge the insults of the emperor on the unfortunate city of Rome. The trembling senate made some preparations for defence, but they were rendered ineffectual by the treachery of a slave, who betrayed one of the gates to the Gothic legions. That city, which had been for ages the mistress of the world, became the prey of ruthless barbarians, who spared, indeed, the churches and sanctuaries, but placed no other bound to their savage passions. For six successive days the Goths revelled in the sack of the city; at the end of that period they followed Al'aric to new conquests and new devastations. 8. The entire south of Italy rapidly followed the fate of the capital, and Al'aric determined to add Sicily to the list of his triumphs. Before, however, his army could pass the Strait, he was seized with an incurable disease, and his premature death protracted for a season the existence of the Western empire'. 9. Al'aric was succeeded by his brother Adolphus, who immediately commenced negociations for a treaty; the peace was cemented by a marriage between the Gothic king and Placid'ia, the sister of the emperor. The army of the invaders evacuated Italy, and Adolphus, leading his soldiers into Spain, founded the kingdom of the Visigoths. 10. Adolphus did not long survive his triumphs, Placid'ia returned to her brother's court; and was persuaded to bestow her hand on Constan'tius, the general who had suppressed the rebellion of Constantine. Britain, Spain, and part of Gaul, had been now irrecoverably lost; Constan'tius, whose abilities might have checked the progress of ruin, died, after the birth of his second child, Placid ́ia retired to the court of Constantinople, and at length Hono'rius, after a disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years, terminated his wretched life. 11. The next heir to the throne was Valenti'nian, the son of Placid'ia, but John, the late emperor's secretary, took advantage of Placid'ia's absence in the East, to seize on the government. The court of Constantinople promptly sent a body of troops against the usurper, and John was surprised and taken prisoner in Raven'na. 12. Valenti. 1 The ferocious character of the barbarians was displayed in the funeral of their chief. The unhappy captives were compelled to divert the stream of the river Busenti'nus, which washed the walls of Consen'tia (now Cosenza, in farther Cala'bria, Italy,) in the bed of which the royal sepulchre was formed with the body were deposited much of the wealth, and many of the trophies obtained at Rome. The river was then permitted to return to its accustomed channel, and the prisoners employed in the work were inhumanly massacred, to conceal the |