730 GO 
lent' neighbours^ and his jiiffice might claim the lands 
v/hich they opprelFed, either as a part of his kingdom, 
or as the inheritance of his father. The greatnels of a 
fervant, who was called perfidious becaufe he was fuc- 
cefsfiil, awakened the jealoivfy of the emperor Anafta- 
fats ; and a war was kindled on the Dacian frontier, by 
the protection which the Gothic king, in the viciditude 
of human affairs, liad granted to one of the defeendants 
of Attila, Sabinian, an iMufirious general, advanced at 
the head of ten thoufand Romans ; and the provifions 
and arms, wliich filled a long train of waggons, were 
diftribnted to the fiercefi: of the Bulgarian tribes. But, 
in th.; fields of Margus, the ealfern powers were defeat¬ 
ed by tiie inferior forces of the Goths .and Huns ; the 
flower and even the hope of the Roman armies was irre¬ 
trievably deftroyed j and fiichwas the temperance with 
which Theodoric had infpired his victorious troops, 
that as their leader had not given the fignal of pillage, 
the rich fpoils of the enemy lay untouched at their feet. 
E^.xafperated by this difgrace, the Byzantine court dif- 
patched two hundred fliips and eight thoufand men to 
plunder the fea-coaft of Calabria and Apulia ; they af- 
laulted the ancient city of Tarentura, interrupted the 
trade and agriculture of the country, and failed back to 
the Hellel'pont, proud of their victory over a people 
whom they flill prefumed to confideras t\\t\r Roman bre¬ 
thren. Their retreat was haftened by the prudent ac¬ 
tivity of Tiieodoric; Italy was covered by a fleet of a 
thoufand veflels, which he conltruCted witii incredible 
difpatch ; and his firm moderation was foon rewarded 
by a Iblid and honourable peace. He maintained with a 
powerful hand the balance of the Welt, till it was at 
length overthrown by the genius of Clovis ; and al¬ 
though unable to give effedtual alliltance to his kinf- 
rnan the king of the Vifigoths, he faved the remains of 
his family and people, and checked the Franks in the 
midlt of their infidious career. Under this refpebtable 
charafter, the king of Italy reltored the prjetorian pra:- 
fedture of the Gauls, reformed fome abufes in the civil 
government of Spain, and accepted the annual tribute 
and apparent fubmiflion of its military governor, who 
wifely refufed to truft his perfon in the palace of Ra¬ 
venna. The Gothic fovereignty of Italy was eftablilhed 
from Sieily to the Danube, from Sirmium or Belgrade 
to the Atlantic Ocean; and the Greeks themlelves 
Tiave acknowledged that Theodoric reigned over the 
Jaireft portion of the weftern empire. 
In the feventhyear of hisreign,Theodoric vifited thean- 
cieiU capital of the weltern world ; the fenate and people 
advanced in folemn proceflion to falute a fecond Trajan, 
a new Valcntinian ; and he nobly fupported that cha- 
raftcr by the alfurance of a jultand legal government, in 
a difeourfe which he was not afraid to pronounce in pub¬ 
lic, and to infcribe on a tablet of brafs. During a refi- 
dence of fix months in Rome, the fame, the perfon, and 
the courteousdemeanour, ofthe Gothic king, excited the 
admiration of the people; and he contemplated, with equal 
ciiriofity and furprile, the monuments that remained of 
their ancient greatnefs, lie imprinted the footfteps of a 
conqueror on the Capitoline hill, and frankly confelled 
that eac^i day he viewed with frefh wonder the forum 
oi Trajan and his lofty column. The theatre of Pom- 
pey appeared, even in its decay, as a huge mountain ar¬ 
tificially hollowed and polilhed, and adorned by human 
indultry ; and he vaguely computed, that a river of gold 
mult have been drained to eredt the coloflal amphithea. 
tre of Titus. The Gothic kings, injurioufly accufed 
of the ruin of antiquity, were anxious to preferve the 
monuments cf the nation whom they had fubdued. 
The royal cdi6ts were framed to prevent the abufes, 
the negleiit, or the depredations, of the citizens them- 
leives ; and to a profelfed architeft, the annual finn of 
two hundred pounds of gold, twenty-five thoufand tiles; 
and the receipt of cultoms from the Lucrine port, were 
aflignedfor the ordinary repairs of the walls and public 
T H S. 
edifices. A fimilar care was extended to the flatues of 
metal or marble of men or animals. The fpirit of the 
horfes, which have given a modern name to the Quirinal, 
was applauded by the barbarians ; the brazen elephants 
of the Via facra were diligently reftored ; the famous 
heifer of Myron deceived the cattle, as they were driven 
through the forum of peace ; and an officer was created 
to protect thofe works of art, which Theodoric conli- 
dered as the nobleft ornament of his kingdom. 
After tlie example of the laft emperors, Theodoric 
preferred the refidence of Ravenna, where he cultivated 
an orchard with his own hands. As often as the peace 
of his kingdom was tlireatened by the barbarians, he 
removed his court to Verona on the northern frontier; 
and the image of his palace, ftill extant on a coin, re- 
prefents the oldefl and moll: authentic mode! of Gothic 
architefture. Thefe two capitals, as well as Pavia, 
Spoleto, Naples, and the reflof the Italian cities, acquired 
under his reign the ufefiil or fplendid decorations of 
churches, aquedudbs, baths, porticoes, and palaces. But 
the happinefs of the fubjeCl was more truly confpicuous 
in the bufy feene of labour and luxury, in the rapid in- 
creal'e and enjoyment of national W'ealth. Agriculture re¬ 
vived under the blellings of peace, and the number of 
hulbandinen was multiplied by the redemption of cap¬ 
tives. Whenever the feafons were lefs propitious, the 
precautions of forming magazines of corn, of fixing the 
price, and prohibiting the exportation, attefted at lead 
the benevolence of the flate; but fuch was the extraor¬ 
dinary plenty which an indiiftrious people produced 
from a grateful foil, that a gallon of wine was ihen fold 
in Italy for lefs than three farthings, and a quarter of 
wheat at about five (hillings and fixpence. A country 
polfefTed of fo many objefts of commerce, foon attra(ded 
the merchants of the world, whofe beneficial traffic was 
encouraged and protefled by the liberal fpirit of Theo- 
djoric. The free intercourfe of the provinces by land 
and water was reftored and extended ; the city gates 
were never ftiut either by day or by night ; and the com¬ 
mon faying, that a purfe of gold might be fafely left iia 
the fields, was expreflive of the confeious fecurity of 
the inhabitants of Italy. 
It mult be with a mingled ftiare of fiirprife and plea- 
fure, that the reader will contemplate the many plivate 
virtues and public aits of impartial juftice, manifefted 
to the admiring world during fo long a reign of a Gothic 
barbarian. Yet the fair piofpeit v/as overcaft with the 
blacked clouds ; and the declining age of Theodoric was 
ftained wifh the guilt of lacrificing innocent blood, la 
tlie exultations of vittory, he had been templed to de- 
prive the whole party of Odoacer of the civil and even 
the natural rights of fociety ; a tax unfeafonably im- 
pofed after the calamities of war, would have criifhed 
the fifing agriculture ot Riguria ; a rigid pre-emption 
ot corn, which was intended for the public relief, imift 
have aggravated the diftrefs of Campania. Thele dan¬ 
gerous projefts were defeated by the virtue and elo¬ 
quence of Boethius, who, in the prefence of Theodoric, 
fuecel'sfully pleaded the caufe of the people. But to¬ 
wards the clofe of the reign of Theodoric, a difaft'etlion 
to his perfon and government was intended or (ufpeGed, 
The fenator Albiiuiswa&accufed, and convifted oihoping^^ 
as it tvas (aid, the liberty of Rotue. “ If Albinas be cri¬ 
minal,” exclaimed theorator, “ the fenate,and myfelfare 
all guilty of the fame crime. If we are innocent, Albi¬ 
nas is equally entitled to the protedlion of the law-s.” 
The advocate of Albinus was at once involved in the 
danger of his client; their (ignature, which they denied 
as a forgery, was affixed to the original addrefs, inviting 
the emperor Juftin to deliver Italy from the Goths 5 
and three witneiTes, perhaps of i'nfamous reputation, at- 
tefted the treafonable defigns of the Roman patrician.. 
Yet his innocence muft be prelumed, lince he was de¬ 
prived by Theodoric of the means of juftification, and 
rigoronfly exiled and confined in the tower of Pavia, 
wiulc 
