JORDANE'S
THE ORIGIN AND DEEDS OF THE GOTHS
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.
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.
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.