70S 
GOTHS. 
hand, fird appeared before Pityus, llie.iitmod limits of 
tile I^man provinces; a city provided with a conve¬ 
nient port, and fortified with a flrong wall. Here they 
tiiet with, a refiftance more oblliiiate tlian they had rea- 
fon to expctl. Tliey were repulfed; and their dilap- 
pointment feemed to diininidi the terror of the Gutiiic 
name. As long as Snccelliamis, an officer of fiiperior 
merit, defended that frontier, all theii' elforts were inel- 
feCtnai ; but as foon as he was remove;!, tliey returned 
the attack of Pityus ; and, by tlie delb uction of that 
city, obliterated the memory of their former difgrace. 
Circling round the eatlern extremity cf the Euxine 
fea, tlie navigation from Pityus to Trebizond is about 
three hundred miles. The courfe of the Goths carried 
them in fight of tlie country of Colchis, to famous by 
the expedition of the Argonauts; and they even at¬ 
tempted, though without fuccefs, to pillage a rich tem¬ 
ple at the mouth of the river Phafis. Trebizond, cele¬ 
brated in the retreat of Xenoplicn as an ancient colony 
of Greeks, derived its wealth from the munificence of 
the emperor Adrian, who had conftructed an artificial 
port on a coafl: left deltitute by nature of fecure har¬ 
bours. The city was large and populous; a double 
enclofure of walls feemed to defy the fury of tlie Goths, 
and the ulual garrifon had been firengtlieiied by a rein¬ 
forcement of ten thoufaiid men. But there are not any 
advantages capable of fupplying the abfence of diici- 
pline and vigilance. The numerous garrifon of Trebi¬ 
zond, dilfolved in riot and luxury, difdained to guard 
their impregnable fortifications. The Goths loon dil- 
covered the l'u}tine negligence of the befieged, ereiled a 
.lofty pile of fafcincs, afcendcd the walls in the filence 
or the night, and entered t,he dcfcncelcfs city I'word in 
hand. A general malTacre of the people cnfued, whilfi 
the aft'righted I'oldiers efcaped through the oppolite 
gates of the town,. The niolt holy temples, and the 
niofi: fplendid edifices, were involved in one common 
defirnition. The booty that fell into the hands of the 
Goths was imnienfe : the wealth, of the adjacent coun¬ 
tries had been depolited in Trebizond, as in afecure place 
of refuge. The number of captives was incredible, as 
tlie vieforious barbarians now ranged without oppoli- 
tiun tiirougli the exteiilive province of Pontus. The 
rich Ipoils of Trebizond filled a great fleet of Ihips that 
liad been found in the port. The robull youth of the 
lea-coall were chained to the oar; and the Goths, fatis- 
fied vvitii tlie hiccel's of their firit naval expedition, re¬ 
turned in triumph to tlieir new ellablilhments in the 
kingdom of Bolphorus. 
The fecond expedition cf the Goths was undertaken 
with greater powers of men and Ihips ; but they fleered 
a difl'erent courl'e, and, difdiiiiiing the exhaulted pro¬ 
vinces of Pontus, followed the welterii coafl of the Eiix- 
ine, paired before the wide mouths of the Boryllhenes, 
tlie Nieflci', and the Danube; and iiicrealiiig their fleet 
by the capture of a great number of fifhing barks, they 
approached the narrow flrait through which the Euxine 
fea pours its waters into the Mediterranean, and divides 
tlie continents of Europe and Alia. The garrifon of 
Chaicedon was encamped near the temple of Jupiter 
Urius, Oil a piomontory that couimaiided the entrance 
ot theftrait; audio inconfiderable were the dreaded 
invafionsuf the barbarians, that this body of troops fur- 
palled in number the Gothic army. But it w'as in num¬ 
bers alone that they ftirpafled it. They defcrted with 
precipitation the.r advantageous poll, and abandoned 
the town of Chaicedon, moll plentifully flored with 
arms and iho.iey, to the dilcriPion of the conquerors. 
Whim the Gothic chiefs helitated whether they Ihould 
prefer the (ea or land, Ei’.rope or Alia, for the fcene of 
their hoflilities, a perfidious fugitive pointed out Nico- 
incdia, once the capital of the kings of Bithyiiia, as a 
rich and ealy conquell. He guided the march, which 
was only .fixty miles from tlie camp of Clialcedoii, di- 
reded the relifllefs attack, and partook of tlie booty ; 
for the Gotlis had learned fufficient policy to reward 
the traitor whom they detefled. Nice, Prufa, A|'asm,xa, 
Cius, cities that had foiiietimes rivalled the fplendour 
of Nicomedia, were involved in the fame calamity, 
wliich, in a few weeks, raged without controu! through 
the whole province of Bithyiiia. I'liree hundred’ years 
of vieace, enjoyed by the luxuri.mt iiifi. bitanls'of Alia, 
had aboiilhed the exercif’e of arms, and removed the 
apprehenfion of danger. The ancient walls were I'ufl'er- 
ed to moulder away, and the reVeiiue of the inofl opu¬ 
lent cities was referved for the conllruition of baths, 
temples, and tjie.itres. 
From the fack of Prufa, tlie Goths advanced witliin 
eighteen miles of Cyzicus, iv liich tliey had devoted to 
dellriiflion ; but the ruin of that city was delayed by a 
fortunate accident. The feafon was rainy, and tlie lake 
A polloiiiates, the refervoir of all the f’priiigs of Mount 
Olympus, rofe to ah ttnufual height. The little river 
of Rhyudactis, vrhicli iflues fiont the lake, fwelled into 
a broad and rapid fiream, and flopped the progrefs of 
the Gotlis. Their retreat to tlie maritime city of He- 
raclea, where the fleet had probably been flationed, was 
attended by a long train of waggons, laden with the 
fpoils of Bithyiiia, and was marked by the flames of 
Mice and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. 
Some obfeure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat 
that fecured their retreat. But even a complete viihorv 
would have been of little moment, as the approach of 
the autumnal equinox fui'iunotied them to liaflen their 
return. To navigate tlie Euxine before the month of 
Alay, or after that of September, would have likien ef- 
teemed the highell inllaiice of rafliiiefs and folly. 
When we are informed tii,.t the third fleet equipped 
by the Goths in the ports of Borphorus, coiififled of five 
hundred fail of fliips, our imagination naturally com¬ 
putes and multiplies the formidable artuament; but, as 
we are alTiired by the judicious Strabo, tliat the pirati¬ 
cal veffels ufed by the barbarians of Pontus and the 
Lell'er Scythia were not capable of containing more than 
twenty-five or thirty men, w'e may fafely afiinii, that 
fifteen tliou.fitnd warriors, at tlie inofl, embarked in tliis 
great expedition, Jinpatient of tlie limits of the Etix. 
ine, tliey fleered tiieir courfe from tlie Cimmerian to 
tlie Tliracian Bofphorus. When tliey had almoil gained 
tiic middle of tlie Straits, they were fuddeiily driven 
back to tiie entrance of tliem ; till a favourable wind 
fpringing up the next day, carried them in a few hours 
into the lake of tlie Propontis. Tlieir landing on the 
ifland of Cyzicus,' was now attended witii tlie ruin of 
tliat ancient and noble city. From tlience ilfuing again 
tiirougli the narrow padage of tlie Hellefpont, they pur- 
fucHl tiieir winditig navigation aniidil the numerous 
iflands icattered over the Arcliipelago, or tlie Higean 
Sea. Tlie adillance of captives and deierters mult iiave 
been very necelfary to pilot tlieir vedels, and to direct 
tlieir various incurlions, as well on the coafl of Greece 
as on that of Afia. At length tlie Gotliic fleet andiored 
in tlie port of Piraeusj rive miles dillant from Atlieiis, • 
vvliicli iiad attempted to make I'ome preparations for a 
vigorous defence. Cleodaintt's, one of tlie engineers em¬ 
ployed by tlie emperor’s orders to fortify the maritime 
cities againll tlie Goths, liad already begun to repair 
the ancient walls, fallen to decay lince the cimeof Sylla. 
The efforts of his Ikili were inefi’edtual, and the barba¬ 
rians became miilfer:> of this native feat of the mufes and 
the arts. But while the conquerors abandoned them- 
felves to the licence of plunder and intemperance, tlieir 
fleet,, that lay with a liender guard in the harbour of 
Piraeus, was unexpcftedly attacked by the brave Dexip- 
pus, who, flying wiilrthe engineer Cleod.uiius from the 
lack of Athens, cclledted a lially band of volunteers, 
pealants as well as foldlers, and la lome degree avenged 
the calamities of his country. 
But this exploit, whatever luftre it miglit flied on the 
declining age of Athens, lerved rather to irritate than 
to 
