Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/365

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 341 of rapacious barbarians. It was against those barba- CHAP, rians, he declared, that he intended to point the first ' effort of their arms. Tetricus might reign for a while over the west, and even Zenobia might preserve the dominion of the east . These usurpers were his per- sonal adversaries ; nor could he think of indulging any private resentment till he had saved an empire, whose impending ruin would, unless it was timely prevented, crush both the army and the people. The various nations of Germany and Sarmatia, who A. D. 269. fought under the Gothic standard, had already col- ,nvade"the lected an armament more formidable than any which empire. had yet issued from the Euxine. On the banks of the Niester, one of the great rivers that discharge them- selves into that sea, they constructed a fleet of two thou- sand, or even of six thousand vessels^; numbers which, however incredible they may seem, would have been insufficient to transport their pretended army of three hundred and twenty thousand barbarians. Whatever might be the real strength of the Goths, the vigour and success of the expedition were not adequate to the greatness of the preparations. In their passage through the Bosphorus, the unskilful pilots were overpowered by the violence of the current ; and while the multitude of their ships were crowded in a narrow channel, many were dashed against each other, or against the shore. The barbarians made several descents on the coasts both of Europe and Asia ; but the open country was already plundered, and they were repulsed with shame and loss from the fortified cities which they assaulted. A* spirit of discouragement and division arose in the fleet, and some of their chiefs sailed away towards the islands of Crete and Cyprus ; but the main body, pursu- ing sL more steady course, anchored at length near the foot of mount Athos, and assaulted the city of Thessa- ^ Zonaras on this occasion mentions Posthumus j but the registers of the senate (Hist. August, p. 203.) prove that Tetricus was already emperor of the western provinces. ' The Augustan History mentions the smaller, Zonaras the larger num- ber : the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to prefer the latter.