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 448 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xliii Curnae 76 above a year against the forces of the Romans. Their industry had scooped the Sibyll's cave 76 into a prodigious mine ; combustible materials were introduced to consume the temporary props ; the wall and the gate of Cumae sunk into the cavern, but the ruins formed a deep and inaccessible precipice. On the fragment of a rock Aligern stood alone and unshaken, till he calmly surveyed the hopeless condition of his country, and judged it more honourable to be the friend of Narses than the slave of the Franks. 77 After the death of Teias, the Roman general separated his troops to reduce the cities of Italy ; Lucca sustained a long and vigorous siege ; and such was the humanity or the prudence of Narses that the repeated perfidy of the in- habitants could not provoke him to exact the forfeit lives of their hostages. These hostages were dismissed in safety ; and their grateful zeal at length subdued the obstinacy of their countrymen. 78 invasion of Before Lucca had surrendered, Italy was overwhelmed by Pranks and a new deluge of Barbarians. A feeble youth, the grandson of Alemanni , a.d. 553. ' Clovis, reigned over the Austrasians or oriental Franks. 79 The August guardians of Theodebald entertained with coldness and reluc- tance the magnificent promises of the Gothic ambassadors. But the spirit of a martial people outstripped the timid counsels of [Leutharis] the court : two brothers, Lothaire and Buccelin, 80 the dukes of 75 I leave Scaliger (Animadvers. in Euseb. p. 59) and Salmasius (Exeroitat. Pliman. p. 51, 52) to quarrel about the origin of Cumae, the oldest of the Greek colonies in Italy (Strab. 1. v. p. 372 [4, § 4]. Velleius Paterculus, 1. i. c. 4), already vacant in Juvenal's time (Satir. in.), and now in ruins. 78 Agathias (1. i. c. [leg. p.] 21 [c. 10]) settles the Sibyll's cave under the wall of Cumae ; he agrees with Servius (ad 1. vi. vEneid.) ; nor can I perceive why their opinion should be rejected by Heyne, the excellent editor of Virgil (torn. ii. p. 650, 651). In urbe media secreta religio 1 But Cumae was not yet built ; and the lines (1. vi. 96, 97) would become ridiculous, if ^Eneas were actually in a Greek city. [Cp. Beloch, Campanien, p. 160. There is no reason to suppose that the cave which is now shown as the Sibyl's grotto, south of L. Avernus, had any ancient tradition associated with it.] 77 [The surrender of Cumae was subsequent to that of Lucca.] 78 There is some difficulty in connecting the 35th chapter of the ivth book of the Gothic war of Procopius with the first book of the history of Agathias. We must now relinquish a statesman and soldier, to attend the footsteps of a poet and rhetorician (1. i. p. 11 ; 1. ii. p. 51, edit. Louvre). [Procopius ends in March, and Agathias begins in April with the 27th year of Justinian.] 79 [Theudebald had succeeded Theudebert in a.d. 548.] 80 Among the fabulous exploits of Buccelin, he discomfited and slew Belisarius, subdued Italy and Sicily, &c. See in the historians of France, Gregory of Tours (torn. ii. 1. iii. c. 32, p. 203), and Aimoin (torn. iii. 1. ii. de GeBtis Francorum, c. 23, p. 59).