GOTHS, 
7:*4 
wr.en the Hnns were vanquiflied, ar.d Attila was com- 
p,'’ied to ’.oti’eat. He l\ad expof'ed his perfou with tlie 
raflincfs ot a private foidier; but liis intrepid troops of 
the centre had puflted forwards beyond the reft of the 
lin-:-; their attack was but faintly fupported; their 
ftar.ks were uii”r,;)rded ; and the troops of Attila v'ere 
iaved by the approacli of the night from a total defeat. 
They retired w ithin the circle of vvaggens that fortified 
lheir (Minji; and tlie difmounted fqnadrons prepared 
tiiemfelveb for a di-fence, to w'hicii nei'her their arms 
nor I heir teniper were .-.dapted. Tlie event wias doubt¬ 
ful ; but the king of the Huns had fecured a dreadful 
lelource. The faddles and rich furniture of the cavalry 
were coll Cted by his order into a funeral pile ; and tlie 
nuignanimous barbarian liad refolvcd, if his intrencli- 
tneiits Ihould be forced, to rulh headlong into the flames, 
to deprive his enemies of the glory whicli tliey might 
ha.ve acquired by tlie death or captivity ot Attila. 
But his enemies had palled the night in equal anxiety 
and perturbation. Tiie inconiiderate courage ot Toiil- 
Hiond was tempted to urge tlie purfuit till lie unexpect¬ 
edly found himielf, with a few followers, in the midft 
of the Scytiiian waggons. In the contulion of a no6tur- 
iial comb. It, lie was thrown from jiis lior'fe ; and the 
Goth.ic prince iiiufi; have periflied like his tiivher, if Ins 
yoiitlii'ul (frength, and the intrepid zeal ot liis compa¬ 
nions, had n.it refeued liim from this dangerous fiiuu- 
tion. In the fame manner, but on the left ot tlie line, 
Aitius was teparated from his allies, ignorant ot their 
victoi'y, and anxious for their fate ; and it was liis to^- 
tuiie to encounter and el'cape 'the hottile troops that 
Wire feattered over tlie plain's of Chalons : aird he at 
length rei, cited the camp of the Goths, whicli he could 
only fortify wirli a fligiit rampart of (liield.s, till tlie 
thiwn of day. The imperial general was then fatisfied 
of the defeat of Attila, wlio frill remained inactive with¬ 
in ills intrenciiinents ; and when he contemplated tlie 
bloody I’cene, he obferved, with fccret fatistaCtion, that 
the lots had principally fallen on tlie barbajdans. '1 he 
body of Tlieodoric, pierced with wounds, was difeo- 
vered under a heap of tlie flain : his fubjecls bewailed 
the deatii of their king and fatlicr; and his tuncral rites 
were performed in the face of a vanquiflied enemy. The 
Goths, clathing their anus, elevated on a buckler his 
eldetl: foil 'I'oiifmond, to wliom they juftly atciibed the 
glory of tlieir i'uccefs ; and the new king accepted the 
obligation of revenge, as a facred portion ot his pa¬ 
ternal inhei iiaiice. Yet the Goths thenifelves wet e afio- 
jiitlied by the fierce and undaunted afpetd ot their tor- 
iiiidabie aiitagonift ; and their hiftorian has compared 
Attila to a lion enconipafled in his den, and threatening 
his hunters with redoubled fury. All bis infirumeiits 
of martial mufic iiiceli'antly founded a loaid and animat¬ 
ing firain of defiance ; and the foreniofl; troops w ho ad¬ 
vanced to the alfault, were checked, or dethoyed, by 
f.iowers of arrows from every fide of the inirenchmems. 
it was determitied in a general council of war, to betiege 
the king of the Huns in his camp, to intercept his pio- 
viliotis, and to reduce him to the alternative or a dif- 
gracefiil treaty, or an unequal combat. But the inipa- 
tie.ice of tlie barbarians foon difdained tltefe cautious 
and dilatory mealtires: and tiie mature polity of oEtius 
was appreheiitive, that, after the extirpation of the 
Huns, the republic would be opprelied by tlie pride and 
power of tlie Gorliic nation. Th.e patrician exerted tlie 
fiiperior atcendaiit of authority and reafon, to calm the 
paflions, wJiicIi the fon of Tlieodoric contidered as a 
duty; reprefented, with feeming atfebtioii, and real 
trinh, the dangers of abicnee and delay ; and perluaaed 
'J oriiinond to difappoirit, by his fpeedy return, the am¬ 
bitious dcfigns of Jiis brothers, who might occupy the 
tlirone and treafuies of Thoiiioiile. After the departure 
of tiie Goths, and the reparation of the allied army, 
Attila was fiirpriltd at the vail liience that reigned over 
the plains ot Chalons; and tlie I'ufpition of fome .'loitile 
firatagem detained him feveral days witliin the circle of 
his v/aggons, before he ventured upon his retreat be- 
yond the Rhine. Toilfinond, with more atftive vigi¬ 
lance, liafiened to airemble his court at Tliouloufe, 
where lie fell a vi-ftlm to tlie ambitious nieafures he was 
preparing to j’lit in force. 
Tlieodoric II. is faid to have acquired the Gothic 
feeprre in tlie year 453, bv tlie murder of liis hrotlier 
Torifniond ; and he juftified this tUrocious deed by the 
deiign which his prodecelfor had formed of vioL.tiiig his 
alliance with the empire. Tlieodoric, after lliis foul 
deed, formed a ciofe alliance with, the emperor Avini : ; 
and offered his rerfon and his forces, as a faithful fol- 
dier of the republic. The exploits of Tlieodoric II. 
foon convinced the world, that he had not degenerated 
from the warlike virtues of liis anceflbrs. After tlie 
e.fiablilliment of the Goths in Aquitttin, and the paffare 
of the Vandals into Africa, the Stievi, wlto h;id fixed 
their kingdom in Gallicia, afpired to the conqutfl; of 
Spain, and threatened to extinguifli the feeble remains 
ot the Roman dominion. The provincials of Cartha- 
geiia and 'I'arragona, afflicted by an hoftiie invalion, re- 
prefented their injuries and thsir apprehenfions. Count 
Frorito was difpatched, in the name of tlie emperor Avi- 
ttis, with advantageous offers of peace and alliance ; 
and Tlieodoric iiiterpofed his mediation, to declare, 
tliat, unlefs hi/ brother-in-law, the king of tlie Suevi, 
immediately rt-tired, lie (liould be obliged to arm in the 
caufe of iuftice and of Rome. “Tell him,” replied the 
haughty Rcchiarius, “ that 1 defpife his ft iciid/hip and 
his arms ; but that I fhall foon try wlietlier he will dare 
to expect my arrival utidcr the walls of lliottloufe.” 
Such a chalienge urged Tlieodoric to prevent tlie bold 
deiign^ of ills enemy : he palled rhe Pyrenees at the head 
of the Vilig'oths: tlie Franks and Burgundians I'crved 
under his Itandard ; and thougli he profelFed hinifelf to 
be the general of Avitus, lie privately liipulated for 
hinifelf and his fuccelibrs, the ablblure poiR flion of liis 
Spaiiilli conquclls. The tw’o armies--encountered each 
Ollier on the batiks'bf tlie river Urbicus, about twelve 
miles from Allorga ; and the decifive victory of tiie 
Goths appeared fora while to have extirpated the luiine 
and kingdom of the Suevi. From the field of battle 
1 lieodbric advanced to Braga, tlieir metropolis, wliich 
dill retained tiie velfiges of its ancient commerce and 
dignity, liis entrance was not polluted with blood, and 
tlie Gotlis refpected the diallity of their female can- 
lives, more el'pecially of tlie confecrated virgins. The 
unfortunate king of the Suevi had efcaped to one of the 
ports of the ocean; but the obftinacy of the winds op- 
pol'ed his flight; he was delivered to his implacable 
rival; and Rechiarius, w ]io neither defired norexpetted 
mercy, received, with manly conftaiicy, tlie death which 
he would probably have inflicted. After tliis bloody 
lacrifice to policy or refentment, Tlieodoric carried his 
vieforious arms as far as Merida, the princip;,] town of 
Lulitania, w’lthout meeting any relillance; but he v/as 
Itopped in the fiill career of fuccels, and recalled from 
Spam, before he could provide for the I'ecurity of his 
conquefts. In his retreat towards the Pj-renees, lie re¬ 
venged liis difappointment on the couiiti y tiirough w iiich 
he paired, and in the fack of Poilentia and Afiorga, he 
Ihcwed hinifelf a faitlilels all)-, as well as a cruel e'n,-;rny. 
Whilli: the king of the Viligoths fouglit and vanquilhed 
in the name of c\vitus, the reign of Avitus had expired. 
He w as depoled on the i6th of Oitlober 456. 
After the depofition and death of Avitus, the de/ign 
of extinguilhing the Roman empire in Spain and Gaul, 
was conceived, and almol't completed, by Kuric, w-ho, 
in turn, alfallinated his brother Tlieodoric II. and dil. 
played, with a more favage temper', luperior abilities, 
both in peace and war. He palled the Pyrenees at the 
head of a niinierous army, liibdued the cities of Sara- 
goffa and Pampeiuna, vanquilhed in battle the martial 
nobles of the Tarragoaefe province, carried his vibto- 
riuws 
