Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/474

452 THE DECLINE AND FALL pline to the Romans. ^^ The two armies expected the signal of a decisive action ; but the generals, who were conscious of each other's force, and doubtful of their own superiority, prudently sheathed their swords in the field of battle ; and their recon- ciliation was permanent and sincere, 'i'heodoric, king of the Visigoths, appears to have deserved the love of his subjects, the confidence of his allies, and the esteem of mankind. His throne was surrounded by six valiant sons, who were educated with equal care in the exercises of the Barbarian camp and in those of the Gallic schools ; from the study of the Roman juris- prudence, they acquired the theory, at least, of law and justice ; and the harmonious sense of Virgil contributed to soften the asperity of their native manners. ^^ The two daughtei-s of the Gothic king were given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi and of the Vandals, who reigned in Spain and Africa ; but these illustrious alliances were pregnant with guilt and discord. The queen of the Suevi bewailed the death of an husband, inhumanly massacred by her brother. The princess of the Vandals was the victim of a jealous tyrant, whom she called her father. The cruel Genseric suspected that his son's wife had conspired to poison him ; the sup- posed crime was punished by the amputation of her nose and ears ; and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was ignominiously returned to the court of Toulouse in that de- formed and mutilated condition. This horrid act, which must seem incredible to a civilized age, drew tears from every specta- tor ; but Theodoric was urged, by the feelings of a parent and a king, to revenge such irreparable injuries. The Imperial ministers, who always cherished the discord of the Barbarians, would have supplied the Goths with arms and ships and 13 Capto terrarum damna patebant Litorio ; in Rhodanum proprios producere fines, Theudoridas fixum ; nee erat pugnare necesse, Sed migrare Getis. Rabidam trux asperat iram Victor ; quod sensit Scythicum sub mcenibus hostem, Imputat ; et nihil est gravius, si forsitan unquam Vincere contingat, trepido . Panegyr. Avit. 300, &c. Sidonius then proceeds, according to the duty of a panegyrist, to transfer the whole merit from Aetius to his minister Avitus. !■* Theodoric II. revered, in the person of Avitus, the character of his preceptor. Mihi Romula dudum Per te jura placent, parvumque ediscere jussit Ad tua verba pater, docili quo prisca Afnronis Carmine molliret Scythicos mihi pagina mores. Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 495, &c.