to

A. D. 410.

Retrospect events now

on the

recorded. Character of the Romans.

In reviewing the principal events recorded in this section, the reader of History is naturally seized with astonishment at the great change of character in the Roman people, as well as with the power, the military skill, and political prudence of the Northern nations, by whom they were so often defeated, and finally conquered. The spirit which established the Commonwealth, and extended the arms of Rome over the greater part of the Ancient World, had, in the days of Honorius, and even of his renowned father, given place to the love of ease, or to a pusillanimous dread of the fatigues and dangers of war. It was found impracticable to recruit the Legions, raised even for the defence of the Italian frontier, without having recourse to such means as at once disgraced the soldier, and proved that he was unfit for the duties to which he was called. A contemptible superstition, the first fruits of corrupted Christianity, had directed the attention of the thoughtful to mystic dreams and ridiculous rites; while the luxurious mode of living pursued by the great had vitiated the habits of the lower orders, and prepared them to become slaves to their appetites before they were compelled to become servants to the Goths. Rome, in truth, presented within her walls the condensed vice and misery of a large nation. Her Nobles, who could squander individually the wealth of a whole Province, had palaces, gardens, and even parks in the city, as if there had been no cultivated land beyond the fortifications; while the mass of the inhabitants, on the other hand, who could not find ground on which to erect dwelling-houses, were obliged to rear their buildings to an inconvenient height, piling floor over floor, and thereby exposing their families to disease and accident. Still the amusements and dissipation of the Capital presented to the degraded populace so many attractions, that a miserable garret, in a crowded street, brought a higher rent than a villa at a little distance in the country. Such men, it is obvious, were incapable of inheriting the glory, or of imitating the virtue of the ancient Romans: they trembled at the sound of the Gothic horn on the banks of the Tyber; and feeling themselves destitute of courage to fight for independence, they made haste to purchase, with the spoils which their ancestors had won, the clemency of their Barbarian conquerors.† The Scythians and Germans, on the contrary, who of the Goths. had profited by the discipline, the Arts, and tactics of Rome, were still comparatively free from the enervating effects of luxury. The scanty food and severe climate of their native deserts prepared them for the camp from their earliest days. The rich fields and mild skies of Italy afforded at all times an abundant meal, and an

Character

*Oros. lib. vii. c. 39. Personat latè in excidio urbis salutis tuba, omnesque etiam in abditis latentes invitat et pulsat. Quanto copiosius adgregantur Romani fugientes, tanto avidius circumfunduntur barbari defensores.

+ Vitruv. lib. ii. c. 8. Olympiador. apud Phot.

Roman Empire.

From

A. D. 395.

to

A. D.

410.

Christianit

agreeable canopy under which to repose after the fatigues of the battle or the march; and hence the Gothic armies uniformly preferred the free exercise which they could enjoy in the tented plain to the soft beds and dainty fare of the polished city. In point of morals, again, the few plain maxims which regulated their conduct had a greater efficacy in recommending Good and deterring from Evil, than the ambiguous system of Ethics, which was reared on the doctrines of Cicero and the precepts of Antoninus. Their Religion, too, although not very complete in point of tenets, was still unsullied by that pernicious enthusiasm which withdraws the duty of Man from the practical affairs of life, and places it on useless penances and mechanical devotion. The rules of the Gospel were made known to them, unconnected with any of those fanciful theories which had misled the Effects of judgment of Origen, and sometimes darkened the path on their of Hieronimus, while engaged in the search of Chris- manners tian truth. They had learned that Jesus Christ preached and prinhumanity, and that His Apostles inculcated forbearance ciples. and brotherly love; and these great principles impressed upon their minds, softened the barbarity of their manners, restrained their native ferocity in the field of battle, and opened their hearts to the claims of compassion, even amid the excitement and rage which attend the capture of a city. In fact, the moderation and clemency of the Goths in the Sack of Rome, has been regarded by several of the Fathers as the triumph of Christianity over the worst feelings of our corrupted nature. Tillemont, whose views of History are in general equally just and pious, takes much pleasure in repeating the testimonies of St. Augustin, Orosius, and Jerome on this head; and, in fact, he supplies so many proofs in support of his position, that there is no room left for doubt that the soldiers of Alaric displayed more unquestionable tokens of civilization than the depraved people whom they subdued.

tives.

But the sufferings of the Romans, although exempted Sufferings from the extremes of military execution, were such as to of the fug excite universal commiseration. Many fled from the city in the first alarm, and took refuge in some of the small islands contiguous to the Tuscan shore; others allowed their fears to carry them to a greater distance, to the coasts of Egypt, Syria, and Africa, where they were compelled, by their necessities, to stoop to a voluntary servitude. St. Jerome relates that every day witnessed the arrival, at Bethlehem, of men and women of the highest birth, and who had passed their lives in abundance, who were obliged to beg for food. All the people of the East, says Augustin, mourned the fall of Rome, and in the remotest Countries which had acknowledged her sway, the large cities exhibited public tokens of their affliction and pity. The news of this sad event made the tongue of the learned commentator first named cleave to the roof of his mouth, and his pen fall from his hand; while the Bishop of Hippo, equally grieved and provoked by the insulting language of the Pagans, who ascribed the fate of Rome to the introduction of Christianity, could never banish the recollection of it from his mind as long as he lived.*

* Hier. Epist. xii. Aug. de Civit. lib. i. c. 32.

History.

From

A. D.

410.

A. D.

455.

Alaric rava

HAVING granted to his troops the full license of plunder during the greater part of a week, Alaric withdrew them from a scene wherein their morals and discipline were in equal danger of being impaired. Orosius says, that the Gothic Prince left Rome on the third day, but other authorities are unanimous in extending his residence in the Capital to double that period; various reasons being assigned by the different Historians for a gally. step which, however, presented nothing at variance with the policy he had all along pursued. He directed his march Southwards through the fertile Provinces which extend between the Tyber and the Straits of Rhegium; plundering the country and destroying such of the cities as presumed to oppose his progress. The beauty or riches of Sicily tempted the eyes of his followers; and he resolved to gratify them by the conquest of an island which had contributed so much to the fame and luxury of the Romans. But this enterprise, easy and unimportant when compared with the other exploits of Alaric, baffled the skill of his rude soldiers, and excited among them a degree of apprehension to which they had ever been strangers in the midst of greater perils. His death. At this juncture, too, the death of their renowned Chief increased their fears and perplexity. Despairing of success they relinquished the undertaking, and directed all their cares to the funeral of their King. That his obsequies might be worthy of his character and fortune they turned aside the stream of a small river, dug a spacious cavern under its vacant bed, adorned the sepulchre with the jewels and precious stones of which they had stripped the inhabitants of Rome; and when they had deposited the remains of Alaric, they slew the persons employed to construct his tomb, admitted again the waters of the Barentinus, and thereby effectually concealed the spot wherein the conqueror of Italy reposes.*

bracceed

ed by his brother-inlaw, Adaol

phus.

The command of the Goths was confided to his brother-in-law, Adaolphus, upon whom was also conferred the regal dignity, which appears to have been at that time strictly elective. Inheriting the moderate pacific views of his predecessor, he at once resumed negotiations with the Court of Ravenna to effect a permanent and honourable Peace. We nowhere find the details of this Treaty recorded; but it is probable that his overtures were favourably received, and that he was

✦ Jornandes, de Rebus Geticis, c. 30. Idat. Chron. Oros. lib. vii. c. 43.

Roman

From A. D. 410.

to

A. D.

even acknowledged as a Roman General, because he immediately afterwards led his army into the Southern Pro- Empire. vinces of Gaul, where he took possession of Narbonne, Thoulouse, and Bourdeaux, in the name of Honorius. His alliance with the Imperial interests was soon still further strengthened by his marriage with Placidia, the daughter of the great Theodosius, whom he found as a hostage or a captive in the train of Alaric. The pride which might, perhaps, become the successors of Augustus, opposed for a time a serious obstacle to this union of a Princess with a Chief of Barbarians; but, as the wishes of the maiden herself were not averse to the match, the wedding was celebrated with a degree of magnificence and expense which exceed even the fictions of a Fairy Tale.*

455.

vinces.

It is pleasing to observe that the Ministers of Hono- Measures rius, who had neither the courage nor the prudence to for the relief avert the calamities of war, had yet enough of feeling of the conand political wisdom to adopt means for compensating quered Prothose parts of Italy which had suffered the most from the ravages of the Goths. The wasted Provinces were gradually restored to wealth and security; the Capital was adorned with new buildings, and strengthened by the daily arrival of additional inhabitants; and it was remarked that, after the lapse of a few years, the traces of invasion and conquest could no longer be perceived, either in the city or in the fields. The tranquillity of so extensive an Empire, however, could not remain long undisturbed. Count Heraclion, who had so faithfully supported the cause of his master when oppressed by Insurrec the arms of Alaric, was, in the year 413, induc d by tion of some of his ambitious retainers to display the Standard Heracion. of Rebellion in Africa, and to assume the title of Emperor. Embarking with a considerable army he landed at the mouth of the Tyber, and proceeded towards Rome; but being met by Constantius, one of the Imperial Commanders, a battle ensued, in which the rebel was completely routed, and compelled to seek safety in a disgraceful flight. If we may credit Orosius, the armament with which he left Carthage consisted of more than three thousand ships; but his retreat was so precipitate, that he returned to his Province with only a single vessel and very few attendants. The Africans, who had instantly repented of their treason, despised the pusillanimity of their Governor, and regretted not Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 4. Zos. lib. vi. c. 12. Olympiador. apud Phot. p. 185.

History. to see his crime punished by the sacrifice of his life. He was beheaded in the Temple of Memory, his private fortune was confiscated, and his public deeds cancelled from the national record.*

From A. D. 410.

to

A. D.
455.

Revolt and death of Jovinus.

Fidelity of Adaolphus.

His death.

Is succeed

lia.

The feeble administration of Honorius naturally provoked insurrection in the remoter Provinces, where his name was neither feared nor respected. We have already mentioned the revolt of Constantine in Britain and the subsequent commotions in Gaul. No sooner was his rebellion quashed by the valour of Constantius, than Jovinus, another usurper, assumed the Purple in Germany, whence he advanced with a powerful army to the banks of the Rhone, and claimed the allegiance of the contiguous Provinces. The General of Honorius temporized, and the King of the Goths looked on with apparent approbation: meanwhile Jovinus associated his brother Sebastian in the Empire, and prepared to assert his pretensions on both sides of the Alps. At length Adaolphus, enraged at the favourable reception of Sarus, the hereditary enemy of his House, in the camp of the usurpers, took the field against them, defeated them in battle, and sent to the Emperor, at Ravenna, the heads of the two brothers. Thus, in the space of five years, seven Pretenders yielded to the fortune of a Prince who was incapable of leading a cohort to action, or even of presiding in the deliberations of his Council.

If the fidelity of Adaolphus ever wavered, it was completely restored by the issue of the war against Jovinus. The allegiance of Gaul was the first fruit of his victory; immediately after which he prepared an armament for the recovery of Spain from the arms of the Vandals and Suevi, who had been induced to pursue their success beyond the limits of the Pyrenees. He began by reducing Barcelona, where he took up his residence, and where also he had the satisfaction to be informed of the birth of a son, whom he named Theodosius, after the renowned father of Placidia. His rejoicings, however, were not of long duration, for the infant died at the age of a few weeks, and he himself was assassinated in the Palace of the same city, by one of the followers of Sarus, whom he had taken into his service. To complete the misfortunes of his family, Singeric, the brother of Sarus, who was raised to the Gothic throne, signalized the commencement of his reign by murdering the six children of his predecessor, born to him by a former wife. Placidia, likewise, endured much suffering and indignity, being compelled to march on foot among a crowd of captives, and do reverence to the Barbarian who had assassinated her husband; but the Goths soon avenged the cause of humanity, for, being disgusted with the tyranny of their new Sovereign, they put an end to his life on the seventh day after his accession to the kingly power.†

The Gothic sceptre was next placed in the hands of ed by Wal- Wallia, whose talents and ambition pointed him out as worthy to succeed the great Alaric. As soon, accordingly, as he found himself at the head of a powerful army, he opened his mind to magnificent schemes of universal dominion. He overran Spain, and then cast his eyes upon the wealthy Provinces of Africa, which stretched along the opposite shore; but failing in an attempt to transport part of his troops, he

Theod. Cod. lib. xi. tit. 27. Oros. lib. vii. c. 42. Zos. lib. vi. c. 8-10. Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 5, 6. Soz. lib. ix. c. 12, 13. Oros. lib. vii. c. 41. Jornandes, de Rebus Geticis, c. 33.

From A. D. 410.

to

A. D.

455.

was the more inclined to listen to the proposals of Roman the Roman Government, which was desirous to secure Empire. his services at almost any price. To strengthen their arguments, the ambassadors from Ravenna informed him that Constantius was on his march to attack the Goths with an overwhelming force. The pressure of famine, too, had already begun to afflict the soldiers of Wallia, and prepared them to receive the overtures of Honorius with less reluctance. A Treaty was completed in due form, by which were stipulated, on the one side, the restoration of Placidia to the Court of her brother, and the military allegiance of all the Goths in Gaul and Spain; and, on the other, the immediate delivery of 600,000 measures of wheat, and a regular supply of pay, arms, provisions, and clothing for the future.

No sooner did Wallia pledge his faith to the Empire, Who rethan he directed the whole force of his warlike followers covers Spain to to effect the delivery of the Spanish Provinces from the the Empire domination of the German invaders. In the course of three years he exterminated several Tribes, and compelled the remainder to acknowledge the sovereignty of Honorius. The Alani, who lost their King in battle, sought protection among the Suevi and Vandals, who, in their turn, were glad to shun the victorious arms of the Goths, and seek for shelter among the fortresses of the highest mountains. The successes of Wallia were duly reported to the Emperor, who was induced to celebrate them by a triumphal entry into his Capital, eight years after it was sacked by the hands of the same people whose victories had just reestablished his authority in the fairest Provinces of his transalpine dominions.*

settle in

Gaul.

But whatever might be the effect of the Gothic The Goths triumphs on the happiness and stability of the general Government, they produced no advantage to the unfortunate Provincials. A change of masters, and a slight difference in the mode of exacting tribute, were the only circumstances which varied the oppression to which they had been long accustomed. The soldiers of Alaric, who, like himself, preferred the mild climate and rich plains of the South to the severer sky and barren regions whence they emigrated, were disposed to settle in the Countries which they had overrun; and it would appear that, among the other conditions granted to Wallia, when he embraced the Imperial cause in Spain, was permission to choose lands for his veterans in a favourite Province of Gaul. The maritime district which stretches between the Garonne and the Loire was conceded to him; whereupon he issued an order to displace the original occupants, or, at least, to seize the best of their fields for the use of his people. Proceeding under the mask of law and even of friendship, the Gothic colonists denominated themselves the guests of the proprietors whose grounds they took, and whose houses they entered; and, while they pillaged the subjects of Honorius, they failed not to magnify his authority, to boast of their own allegiance, and to place their greatest honour in acting under his commission. Gaul, Spain, and Germany, in short, were oppressed and dismembered by Barbarian Chiefs, who, acting as the Lieutenants of the Emperor, ventured not to assume an independent authority; while he, satisfied with a nominal sovereignty over Provinces which had long been wrested from his actual government, permitted the foundations to be laid of

Olympiador, apud Phot. Oros. lib. vii. c. 43. Jornand. 31, 32. Oros. ubi suprà. Olympiador. Chron.

History, several powerful Kingdoms, which have since eclipsed, in wealth, science, learning, and all the higher qualities of social life, even the mighty Republic over which it was his fortune to reign.

From A. D.

410.

to

A. D.

455.

State of

Gaul.

State of

Britain.

The middle of the Vth century presents to the Historian and Lawyer many subjects of the greatest interest; for, at that period, several of those Institutions which distinguish the polity of modern from ancient nations, are known to have assumed a silent origin, and to have arisen, in fact, from the peculiar circumstances into which the decline of the Roman State, and the ascendancy of the Gothic interests had thrown the greater part of the South of Europe. The comparative freedom which prevailed in the camps of the Northern nations, extended gradually to the government of the cities and territory which fell into their hands; and, hence, even in the latter years of Honorius, we perceive the rudiments of the Representative system assuming a somewhat regular form, and applied to the administration of considerable Provinces. In those districts of Gaul, for example, which are bounded by the Western Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean, an annual Assembly, under the authority of the Emperor, was held for the framing of laws, for the equal imposition of taxes, for interpreting and executing the Imperial Edicts, and for consulting, generally, on the public affairs of the Country. The constituent Members were the Prætorian Præfect, the Provincial Governors, the magistrates and clergy of about sixty cities, and a certain number of the occupiers of land. Here were the elements of a free Constitution generated by the weakness and tyranny of a despotic Government; and nothing was wanting but zeal and mutual confidence to restore the power of Rome to a higher pitch than it had reached even in the days of Augustus. The Romans, however, were incapable of appreciating the advantages which were thus held out to them. The representatives of the National Council, who could derive from it neither honour nor gain, refused to sacrifice their time to idle deliberations; and, although their attendance was compelled by a heavy fine, they still showed much reluctance in accepting the boon for which, as Honorius reasonably expected, they ought to have expressed the deepest gratitude.*

Similar advances towards political improvement were observable even in Britain. After the usurper Constantine withdrew the Legions to prosecute his ambitious schemes in Gaul, the natives, who had borrowed from their Roman masters the knowledge of letters and of Civil institutions, laboured to perfect the plan of municipal government which they had established in the principal cities. It is not easy to determine the precise period at which the armies of the Empire left this island as conquerors; whether they at any time afterwards visited it merely as allies, and whether, in the final war against the Picts and Caledonians, they attempted to recover the Province for themselves, or only to secure it entire for their late tributaries, the Britons. But it, nevertheless, admits not of any doubt that the inhabitants of the larger towns, in the reign of Honorius, had attained to a considerable degree of political importance, and even attracted the respect of the Imperial Court. During the period between the retirement of the Romans and the invasion of the Saxon pirates, the hereditary chiefs of the ancient British families reassumed some portion of the influence and dignity which *Sidon. Apollin. p. 147.

From

A. D. 410.

had belonged to their ancestors, repaired their castles, Roman and placed themselves at the head of their followers; Empire. while, in the larger cities, the Clerical Order, already risen to authority, with the Council of magistrates and freemen, now annually elected, maintained the weight which was due to the best informed classes of the people. But we must not allow these reflections, on a state of things which so soon passed away, to divert us from the main object of this section, which is to give an outline of the military and political events which preceded the subversion of the Western Empire.*

to

A. D.

455.

Honorius, who never waged any foreign war, was exempted from the alarms of domestic insurrection during the latter years of his reign. His sister Placidia, to whom fortune had presented herself under so many various aspects, became, at length, the wife of the brave Constantius, a faithful Counsellor and an able General. His services entitled him to this mark of Imperial favour; and as the widow of Adaolphus had been accustomed to the titles and privileges of royalty, she prevailed upon her brother to accept a colleague in the person of her new husband. But the death of Constantius, which took place soon after his accession to power, left the son of Theodosius once more the sole possessor of the Italian throne; upon which, becoming impatient of the ascendancy which Placidia had acquired at Court and among the Gothic soldiers who surrounded the Palace, he compelled her to seek an asylum in the territories of her nephew, the Emperor of the East. She met with a cordial reception at Constantinople from the young Theodosius, who eagerly embraced the opportunity of renewing some connection with the politics of the West; for, as Honorius had no children to succeed him in the government of Rome, and as Valentinianus, the son of Placidia by Constantius, was still a mere infant, he could not fail to anticipate a crisis which might call for the exercise of his authority, and, perhaps, add to the boundaries of his Empire. Accordingly, a Death of few months only elapsed when the throne of the West be. Honorius. came vacant by the demise of his uncle. It was seized, indeed, by the principal Secretary, John, (better known in History as John the Notary,) and an attempt was made by the usurper to maintain, by arms, the power which he had assumed; but a numerous army commanded by the best Generals of Theodosius, and accompanied by Placidia and her children to the banks of the Po, defeated the tumultuary levies which were brought against them, deprived the traitor of life, and removed all obstacles to the accession of the legitimate heir, Valentinianus III.†

To secure the advantage of connection we will pursue a little longer the History of the West, before we resume the narrative of Eastern affairs, which was interrupted by the death of Arcadius. After the lapse of a few years a common danger, the invasion of the Huns, unites for a time the interests of the two great divisions of the Roman world, and presents a point at which their annals naturally converge. Till we arrive at that epoch, therefore, our attention shall be restricted to the events which occurred under the Regency of Placidia, who, in the name of her son, governed the Provinces Westward of the Adriatic during the space of twenty-five years.

Procop. de Bell. Vandal. lib. i. c. 2. Zos. lib. vi. c. 11. Rutil. Hiner. p. 126. + Olympiador. apud Phot. p. 192-200. Soz. lib. ix. c. 16. Soc. lib. vii. c. 23. Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 10, 11. Procop, de Bell. Van dal. lib. i. c. 3. Theophan. in Chronograph. p. 72.

A. D. 423.

History.

From

A. D.

410.

⚫ to

A. D. 455. Accession of Valenti

When the rebellion excited by the usurpation of John was completely subdued, the Emperor Theodosius consented to place on the throne of Ravenna his young cousin Valentinianus. The very natural desire of uniting once more under one sceptre the spacious dominions possessed by his ancestors, seems to have distracted for a moment the Councils of the Eastern Monarch; but the prudential motives which were addressed to his consideration by the most experienced of his Ministers, nianus III. induced him to relinquish the empty title of ruling distant Countries which had long abjured all allegiance to the Government of Constantinople. He satisfied his ambition by detaching from the Italian Crown the Western Illyricum, the maritime districts of Dalmatia, and the Provinces of Pannonia and Noricum. To this arrangement no objection appears to have been urged; and it was at the same time stipulated that all laws which might be thenceforth passed by either Sovereign, should be confined to the limits of their respective dominions.*

A. D. 425.

Admini

stration of

Placidia.

The Gene

rals Etius

and Boniface.

Vandals in

A. D.

428.

Valentinianus was only six years old when he was permitted to assume the title of Augustus, and to succeed his uncle. The administration of affairs was directed by his mother, who confided chiefly in the assistance of Etius and Boniface, two Generals of established reputation. The latter had approved his fidelity to the House of Theodosius when the attempt was made, on the demise of the late Emperor, to transfer the succession to the person of a traitor; but the other, more versatile in his attachment, had, it is said, promised to support the claims of John by bringing to his aid a numerous army of Huns from the banks of the Danube. Boniface commanded in Africa; Etius was Master-General of the Legions in the Provinces of Italy; and, as each was jealous of the influence which the other was supposed to exercise over the measures adopted at Court, the Empire was doomed to suffer from their quarrels a serious loss both of troops and territory. The fears of the African Præfect were industriously raised by the intrigues of his rival, who, by means of false letters addressed to him on the one hand, and to Placidia on the other, contrived to destroy their mutual confidence, and, finally, to drive the unsuspecting soldier into actual rebellion.†

The Vandals and Suevi, although greatly reduced in vade Africa. number by the repeated victories of the Goths, still retained a footing in the mountainous parts of Spain. The first-named of these Tribes, which had received the remains of the Alani into their camp, had also added to its strength by compelling the submission of the other, as well as by a decisive triumph over a Roman army sent against them by Honorius. Boniface despatched to the King of this warlike people a trusty messenger, who was desired to make an offer of a strict alliance, as also of an advantageous settlement in the richest parts of Africa. The Vandals listened to the flattering proposal; and no sooner did the course of hostilities bring their wandering bands within sight of the sea, than they seized the ships which they found at Carthagena, transported themselves to the island of Majorca, and, finally, displayed their standard, as the allies of Count Boniface, on the Southern shores of the Mediterranean.‡

Roman Empire.

From

A. D. 410.

to

A. D.

455.

A. D.

Genseric was King of the Vandals when they landed on the coast of Mauritania. The character of this Prince, which combined the ambition of Alaric with the austerity of Attila, inspired terror rather than respect; and when he first appeared among the natives of Africa, they viewed him as an enemy who had come to deprive them of their lands, and not as a confederate on whose cooperation they might rely. Jornandes describes him as passionate and revengeful, of a deep and Genseric impenetrable mind, capable of lofty designs, and alto- wages war gether unscrupulous about the means which might be with the necessary to accomplish them. He could court the Romans, alliance of Tribes which he hated, provided their assistance were useful to his immediate purposes, and scatter among his enemies the seeds of contention and war. In the present instance, he clearly foresaw that he would soon have to contend in the field of battle with the very General who had solicited his alliance, and either to retain as a conquest the lands which he had been invited to occupy, or to cultivate them as a slave. Under this impression he laboured to gain the affection of the Moors, the natural enemies of the Roman name, and to increase his ranks by putting arms into the hands of the savage multitude which traversed the desert between the sea and mount Atlas.*

429.

Boniface, who in the mean while had discovered the Boniface treachery by which he was seduced, soon repented of defeated. the rash step by which Africa had been thrown open to the Vandals. He had no difficulty in recalling to their duty the citizens of Carthage and the Roman soldiers who served in different parts of the Province; but he could not induce the crafty Genseric to reimbark his Barbarian forces, nor to pledge his faith that they should be employed only in the service of the Empire. Finding argument of no avail he marched against him at the head of his best troops, with the view of compelling him to relinquish his prey; but the Vandals greatly outnumbered the regular soldiers of Boniface, and were, therefore, able at once to repel his attack, and to visit him with a severe defeat. On a sudden, the whole country from Tangier to Tripoli was overrun by the conquerors, who laid waste the face of the soil, rooted up the olives and other fruit-trees, murdered their prisoners, and afflicted the inhabitants with every species of indignity and torture. The fierce spirit of Genseric was so irritated by opposition and inflamed by religious bigotry, that he resolved to avenge his losses by the ruin of every city which refused to open its gates; and so fully in this respect did he realize his savage purpose, that Carthage, Cirta, and Hippo were the only places of strength which could resist his arms.†

second de

feat of th

Into the last of the cities now named, did Boniface Siege of retire, after having been defeated by the Vandalic forces. Hippo, an He was immediately besieged by Genseric, who knew that, as long as the Count lived, his possession of Africa Romans. could not be secure. But the ignorance of the Vandals in the art of reducing fortifications, and a free access to the Ocean, whence abundant supplies were obtained, enabled the defenders of Hippo to foil the efforts of their Barbarian foes, during the long period of fourteen months. Famine, at length, compelled the assailants to withdraw from before its walls; and, in the mean time, Placidia importuned her nephew Theodosius to send a reinforce

* Jornandes, de Reb. Ext. c. 33. Procop. de Bell. Vandal, lib. i. c. 5. lib. ii. c. 6.

Procop. de Bell. Vandal. lib. i. c. 5. lib. ii. c. 6.