Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/315

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 291 and interspersed with large and lofty forests of oaks. CHAP. The plenty of game and fish, the innumerable bee- ' hives deposited in the hollow of old trees and in the cavities of rocks, and forming even in that rude age a valuable branch of commerce, the size of the cattle, the temperature of the air, the aptness of the soil for every species of grain, and the luxuriancy of the vege- tation, all displayed the liberality of nature, and tempt- ed the industry of man*. But the Goths withstood all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idle- ness, of poverty, and of rapine. The Scythian hordes, which towards the east bor- The Goths dered on the new settlements of the Goths, presented Roma^n pro- nothing to their arms, except the doubtful chance of vinces. an unprofitable victory. But the prospect of the Ro- man territories was far more alluring ; and the fields of Dacia were covered with rich harvests, sown by the hands of an industrious, and exposed to be gathered by those of a warlike people. It is probable that the conquests of Trajan, maintained by his successors, less for any real advantage than for ideal dignity, had con- tributed to weaken the empire on that side. The new and unsettled province of Dacia was neither strong enough to resist, nor rich enough to satiate the rapa- ciousness of the barbarians. As long as the remote banks of the Niester were considered as the boundary of the Roman power, the fortifications of the Lower Danube were more carelessly guarded ; and the inha- bitants of Maesia lived in supine security, fondly con- ceiving themselves at an inaccessible distance from any barbarian invaders. The irruptions of the Goths, under the reign of Philip, fatally convinced them of their mistake. The king or leader of that fierce nation traversed with contempt the province of Dacia, and passed both the Niester and the Danube without en- countering any opposition capable of retarding his pro- « Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 593. Mr. Bell (vol. ii. p. 379.) traversed the Ukraine in his journey from Petersburgh to Constantinople. The modern face of the country is a just representation of the ancient, since, in the hands of the Cossacks, it still remains in a state of nature. v2