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 chap, xxxvi] OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 41 renewed his alliance with the Visigoths of Gaul ; and the sons of the elder Theodoric, who successively reigned over that war- like nation, were easily persuaded, by the sense of interest, to forget the cruel affront which Genseric had inflicted on their sister. 100 The death of the emperor Majorian delivered Theo- doric the second from the restraint of fear, and perhaps of honour ; he violated his recent treaty with the Romans ; and the ample territory of Narbonne, which he firmly united to his [a.d. 462] dominions, became the immediate reward of his perfidy. The selfish policy of Eicimer encouraged him to invade the provinces which were in the possession of iEgidius, his rival; but the active count, by the defence of Aries and the victory of Orleans, saved Gaul, and checked, during his lifetime, the progress of the Visigoths. Their ambition was soon rekindled ; and the design of extinguishing the Roman empire in Spain and Gaul was con- ceived, and almost completed, in the reign of Euric, who as- sassinated his brother Theodoric, and displayed, with a more u.d. 466] savage temper, superior abilities both in peace and war. He passed the Pyrenees at the head of a numerous army, sub- dued the cities of Saragossa and Pampeluna, vanquished in battle the martial nobles of the Tarragonese province, carried his victorious arms into the heart of Lusitania, and permitted the Suevi to hold the kingdom of Gallicia under the Gothic mon- archy of Spain. 1 " 1 The efforts of Euric were not less vigorous or less successful in Gaul ; and, throughout the country that extends from the Pyrenees to the Rhone and the Loire, Berry [ A .d. 469- and Auvergne were the only cities, or dioceses, which refused 474] to acknowledge him as their master. 102 In the defence of Cler- mont, their principal town, the inhabitants of Auvergne sus- 100 Jornandes is our best guide through the reigns of Theodoric II. and Euric (de Kebus Geticis, c. 44, 45, 46, 47, p. 675-681). Idatius ends too soon, and Isidore is too sparing of the information which he might have given on the affairs of Spain. The events that relate to Gaul are laboriously illustrated in the third book of the Abbe Dubos, Hist. Critique, torn. i. p. 424-620. [For the reigns of Theodoric II. and Euric, see Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stiimme, i. 3, 251-270. For Euric, see also Tver, Euric, roi des Visigoths, in Etudes d'histoire du moyen age dediees a G. Monod, 1896.] 101 See Mariana, Hist. Hispan. torn. i. 1. v. c. 5, p. 162. [In 468 a.d. the Goths invaded Spain, probably occupied Lusitania, and plundered Asturia. Some years later, perhaps about 472 a.d., they conquered Tarreconensis. See Idatius, 245, 246, 250 ; Chron. Min. ii. p. 35 ; and Chron. Gall. 651, 652, ib. ii. pp. 664-5.] 102 An imperfect, but original, picture of Gaul, more especially of Auvergne, is shewn by Sidonius ; who, as a senator, and afterwards as a bishop, was deeply interested in the fate of his country. See 1. v. [leg. vii.] epist. i. 5, 9, &c.