GOTHS. 
710 
nothing appeared in arms except a defperate band, the 
only remnant of that formidable hofl: which had em¬ 
barked at the mouth of the Niefter. 
On the death of Claudius, in 270, and the recal of 
the Roman troops from mount Haemus, and the banks 
of the Danube, thefe barbarians appear to have been 
excited to new enterprifes. The Gothic and Vandalic 
tribes at once abandoned their fettlements of the Uk¬ 
raine, traverfed the rivers, and fwelled with new mul¬ 
titudes the dedroying hod of their countrymen. Their 
depredations were directed to the Roman frontier, which 
was laid wade with terrible dedrudtion. Their united 
Tuimbers were at lengtli encountered by Aurelian, and 
the bloody aitd doubtful conflift ended only with the 
approach of night. Exliauded and depreffed by the 
C.tlamities they had reciprocally endured and inflidled 
during a twenty year’s war, the Goths and the Romans 
now confented to a lading and benedcial treaty. Itw'as 
lolicited on the fide of the barbarians, and cheerfully 
ratified by the Roman legions, to whofe fudVage the 
prudence of Aurelian referred the deeifion of that im¬ 
portant quedion. The Gothic nation engaged inconfe- 
quence to fupply the armies of Rome with a body of 
two thoufand auxiliaries, confiding entirely of cavalry ; 
and Aurelian dipulated in return an undilhirbed retreat 
to the Goths, with a regular market as far as the Da¬ 
nube, provided by the emijcror’s care, but at their own 
expence. The treaty was obferved with fuch religious 
fidelity, that when a party of five hundred men firag- 
gled from tlie Gothic camp in quefi of plunder, the ge¬ 
neral of the barbarians commanded that the guilty 
leader fiiotild be appreliended and (hot to death with 
darts, as a fucrifice to the ran,(ftity of tlieir engagements. 
Jt is, liowever, not|Unlikeiy that tlie precaution of Au¬ 
relian, who Jiad exacted as hoftages the fons and daugh¬ 
ters of the Gothic chiefs, contributed fometliing to this 
pacific temper. The youths he trained in the exercife 
ot arms, and near ins own perfon : to the ladies he 
gave a liberal Roman education, and by beftowing them 
in marriage on fome of his principal officers, gradually 
introduced between the two nations the bonds of amity 
and friendfiiip. But the mofi important condition of 
the peace was, that Aurelian fhould withdraw tlie Ro¬ 
man forces from Dacia, and relinquifh that great pro¬ 
vince to the Goths and Vandals. His manly judgment 
convinced him of the folid advantages, and taught him 
to defpife the feeming dil'grace, of thus contracting tlie 
frontiers of the empire. This colony, which had fo 
long been a Roman province, readily acknowledged the 
authority of the Gothic tribe, and claimed the fancied 
honour of a Scandinavian origin. At the fame time 
the accidental refemblance of the name of Gteta, in- 
fufed among the credulous Goths a belief tliat, in a re¬ 
mote age, their own anceftors, feated in the Dacian pro¬ 
vinces, had received the inftruCtions of Zamolxis, and 
checked tlie arms of Sefofiris and Darius. 
From this period to the year 322, tiiefe northern 
hives, exhaufied for a time and weakened, appear to 
liave fneathed the fword, and refpeCted their treaty. 
But the ftrength of that warlike nation was now reftored 
by a peace of near fifty years ; a new generation had 
atifen, who no longer remembered the misfortunes of 
ancient days: the Sarmatians of the lake Moeotis fol¬ 
lowed the Gothic fiandani either as fubjects or as al¬ 
lies, and their united forces bui lt forth like a torrent 
upon the devoted countries of lllyticum. Campona, 
F/largus, and Bononia, appear to have been the icenes 
of feveral memorable fieges and battles; and though 
Conftautine encountered a very obftinate refifiance, he 
prevailed at length in the conteft, and tlie Goths were 
compelled to purchafe an ignominious retreat, by re- 
fioring the booty and prifoners which they had taken. 
.Nor was this advantage j'ufficient to fatisfy the indigna- 
Jiou of the emperor. At the head of his legions he 
pafied the Danube, penetrated into the firongeft recefies 
of Dacia, and not till he had infliCted a fevere revenge 
condefeended to give peace to the Iiippliant Goths. 
Among barbaric tribes, the fiiaring of the fpoil, and 
the recriminations after a defeat, equally fiir up difien- 
fions between them. Thus it happened with the Sar¬ 
matians and Goths : the latter, by wearing the longnCr 
fword, were difpofed to carve largely for theml’elves, 
without admitting a breath of reftrittion from their 
v/eaker allies. Hence the Vandal princes were (timu- 
lated by envy and revenge, when they beheld the Go¬ 
thic kings afpiiing to extend their dominion from the 
Euxine to the frontiers of Germany ; and the waters of 
the Maros, a river which falls into the Teyfs, were li¬ 
terally fiained with the blood of the contending barba¬ 
rians. After experiencing the fuperior firength and 
numbers of their adverfaries, the Sarmatians implored 
tlie protedtion of the Roman monarch, who beheld with 
pleafure the difeord of thefe rapacious nations, but 
who was juftly alarmed by this new progrefs of the 
Gothic arms. As foon as Conftantine had declared him- 
felf in favour of the weaker party, the haughty Araric 
king of the Goths, inftead of waiting the attack of the 
Rom:\ns, boldly palfed the Danube, and fpread terror 
and devafiation through the province of Masha. To 
oppofe the inroad of this deftroying lioft, the aged em¬ 
peror, A.D. 332, again took the field; but on this 
occalion his fortune betrayed the glory which lie 
had acquired in fo many former adtions. He iiad the 
mortification of feeing his troops fly before an inconfi- 
derable detachment of the Goth.s, who purfued tliem 
to the edge of their fortified camp, and obliged him to 
confult his fafety by a precipitate and ignominious re¬ 
treat. The event of a fecond and more fuccefsful ac. 
tion retrieved the honour of the Roman name ; and tlie 
force of difeipline prevailed, after an obftinate conteft^ 
over the eftbrts of irregular valour. The broken army 
of the Goths abandoned the field of battle, fled from 
the waited province, and, flying before the victor^, 
quickly repafi'ed the Danube. 
The emperor improved this advantage by his nego- 
ciations with the warlike people of Cherfonefus. "I'lie 
Cherfonites were animated againft the Goths, by tiie 
memory of the wars, which, in the preceding century, 
they had maintained with unequal forces againft thofe 
invaders of their country. Obedient to the requifition 
of Conftantine, they prepared a confiderable army, of 
which the principal ftrength coiififted in crofs-bows and 
military chariots. The Goths, now vanqtiilhed on every 
fide, were driven into the mountains, where, in the 
courfe of a fevere campaign, above an hundred thoii- 
I'and were computed to have perilhed by cold and hun¬ 
ger. Peace was at le-ngth granted ; the eldelt Ion of 
Araric was accepted as an hoftage ; and Conftantine 
once more endeavoured to convince thefe chiefs, by a 
liberal diftribution of honours and rewards, how far the 
friendfhip of the Romans was preferable to their enmity. 
The Goths now for a fuccellion of years cultivated 
a firm attachntent to the imperial iioufe of Conftantine, 
of whole liberality they Jiad received fo many lignal 
proofs. But, in the year 366, their contempt for two 
new and obfeure princes, v« ho had been railed to the 
imperial throne by a popular election, opened to the 
afpiiing Goths a field or new enterprifes ; and, while 
they agitated the delign of marching their confederate 
forces under the national llandard, they were refolvcd 
to embrace the party of Procopius. I'he treaty might 
ftipulate no more than ten thoufand auxiliaries; but 
tlie delign was fo zealoufly adopted by tlie chiefs of the 
Viligotlis, that tlie army wliich palled the Danube is 
faid to have amounted to thirty thoufand men. They 
marched with the confidence that their valour would 
decide the fate-of the Roman empire; and the pro¬ 
vinces of Thrace groaned under the weight ot tiiefe 
barbarians. 
t 
