Page:An Account of Corsica (1769).djvu/105

 like their other provinces, governed by a praetor. It was alſo made to ſerve for a place of exile; and was very proper for what they called 'Relegatio in inſulam, baniſhment to an iſland.' But the Romans never had a firm hold of this country, where that ſpirit of liberty, which tyrants call rebellion, was ever breaking forth.

On the irruption of the barbarous nations, Corſica ſhared the ſame fate with the other dominions of the ruined empire. It fell a prey to the Goths, who eſtabliſhed there the feudal ſyſtem, as they did in every other country to which their arms penetrated. Some authours ſay, that Corſica was conquered by Alarick, the firſt king of the Goths; but according to Procopius, it was conquered by a detachment ſent out by Totilas.

From this period, the hiſtory of Corſica is for many ages a continued ſeries of wars, ravage and deſtruction, by a variety of contending powers. We are here very much in the dark, without any ſufficient clew to guide us. We find in many authours detached remarks concerning the iſland; but it is difficult to arrange them in tolerable