Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/495

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 473 If we enquire into the cause of his treachery, the Spaniards will repeat the popular story of his daughter Cava ; ^^^ of a virgin who was seduced, or ravished, by her sovereign ; of a father who sacrificed his religion and country to the thirst of re- venge. The passions of princes have often been licentious and destructive ; but this well-known tale, romantic in itself, is indif- ferently supported by external evidence ; and the history of Spain will suggest some motives of interest and policy, more congenial to the breast of a veteran statesman. "'^'^ After the decease or deposition of Witiza, his two sons were supplanted by the ambition of Roderic, a noble Goth, whose father, the duke or governor of a province, had fallen a victim to the preceding tyranny. The monarchy was still elective ; but the sons of Witiza, state of educated on the steps of the throne, were impatient of a private monarchy station. Their resentment was the more dangerous, as it was varnished with the dissimulation of courts ; their followers were excited by the remembrance of favours and the promise of a re- volution ; and their uncle Oppas, archbishop of Toledo and Seville, was the first person in the church, and the second in the state. It is probable that Julian was involved in the disgrace of the unsuccessful faction ; that he had little to hope and much to fear from the new reign ; and that the imprudent king could not forget or forgive the injuries which Roderic and his family had sustained. The merit and influence of the count rendered him an useful or formidable subject ; his estates were ample, his followers bold and numerous ; and it was too fatally shewn that, by his Andalusian and Mauritanian commands, he held in his hand the keys of the Spanish monarchy. Too feeble, however, to meet his sovereign in arms, he sought the aid of a foreign power ; and his rash invitation of the Moors and Arabs produced the calamities of eight hundred years. In his epistles, or in a personal interview, he revealed the wealth and nakedness of his countr}- ; the weakness of an unpopular prince ; the degeneracy of an effeminate people. The Goths were no longer the victori- ous barbarians who had humbled the pride of Rome, despoiled 199 Le viol (says Voltaire) est aussi difficile a faire qu'a prouver. Des Eveques se seroient-ils liguf5s pour une fille? (Hist. G^n6rale, c. xxvi. ). His argument is not logically conclusive. 200 In the story of Cava, Mariana (1. vi. c. 21, p. 241, 242) seems to vie with the Lucretia of Livy. Like the ancients, he seldom quotes ; and the oldest testi- mony of Baronius (Annal. Eccles. ..D. 713, No. 19), that of Lucas Tudensis, a Gallician deacon of the xiiith century, only says. Cava quam pro concubin^ utebatur.