108 THE DECLINE AND FALL Colmar/s in the plains of Alsace. The glory of the day was justly ascribed to the missile weapons and well-practised evolutions of the Roman soldiers ; the Alemanni, who long maintained their ground, were slaughtered with unrelenting fury ; five thousand only of the Barbarians escaped to the woods and mountains ; and the glorious death of their king on the field of battle saved him from the reproaches of the people, who are always disposed to accuse the justice, or policy, of an un- successful war. After this signal victory, which secured the peace of Gaul and asserted the honour of the Roman arms, the emperor Gratian appeared to proceed without delay on his Eastern expedition ; but, as he approached the confines of the Alemanni, he suddenly inclined to the left, surprised them by his unexpected passage of the Rhine, and boldly advanced into the heart of their country. The Barbarians opposed to his pro- gress the obstacles of nature and of courage ; and still continued to retreat from one hill to another, till they were satisfied, by repeated trials, of the power and perseverance of their enemies. Their submission was accepted as a proof, not indeed of their sincere repentance, but of their actual distress ; and a select number of their brave and robust youth was exacted from the faithless nation, as the most substantial pledge of their future moderation. The subjects of the empire, who had so often experienced that the Alemanni could neither be subdued by arms nor restrained by treaties, might not promise themselves any solid or lasting tranquillity : but they discovered, in the virtues of their young sovereign, the prospect of a long and auspicious reign. When the legions climbed the moimtains, and scaled the fortifications, of the Barbarians, the valour of Gratian was distinguished in the foremost ranks ; and the gilt and variegated armour of his guards was pierced and shattered by the blows which they had received in their constant attachment to the person of their sovereign. At the age of nineteen, the son of Valentinian seemed to possess the talents of peace and war ; and his personal success against the Alemanni was inter- preted as a sure presage of his Gothic triumphs. ^-^
- The field of battle, Ar^entaria or Argcntovaria, is accurately fixed by M.
d'Anville (Notice de I'Ancienne Gaul, p. 96-99)31 twenty-three Gallic leagues, or thirty-four and a half Roman miles, to the south of Strasburg. From its ruins the adjacent town of Colmar has arisen. 89 The full and impartial narrative of Ammianus (xxxi. lo) may derive some additional light from the Epitome of Victor, the Chronicle of Jerora, and the History of Orosius (1. vii. c. 33, p. 552, edit. Havercamp).
