Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/119

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 99 quarters of cantonment through the interior provinces. As they were conscious how ill they had deserved the respect, or confidence, of the Barbarians, they diligently collected, from every side, a military force, that might urge the tardy and reluctant march of a people who had not yet renounced the title, or the duties, of Roman subjects. But the generals of Valens, while their attention was solely directed to the discon- tented Visigoths, imprudently disarmed the ships and fortifi- cations which constituted the defence of the Danube. The fatal oversight was observed and improved by Alatheus and Saphrax, who anxiously watched the favourable moment of escaping from the pursuit of the Huns. By the help of such rafts and vessels as could be hastily procured, the leaders of the Ostrogoths transported, without opposition, their king and their army ; and boldly fixed an hostile and independent* camp on the territories of the empire.'^^ Under the name of judges, Alavivus and Fritigern were theKevoitofthe leaders of the Visigoths in peace and war; and the authority M^'sil/^nd which they derived from their birth was ratified by the free'victriJf consent of the nation. In a season of tranquillity, their power might have been equal, as well as their rank ; but, as soon as their countrymen were exasperated by hunger and oppression, the superior abilities of Fritigern assumed the military command, which he was qualified to exercise for the public welfare. He restrained the impatient spirit of the Visigoths, till the injuries and the insults of their tyrants should justify their resistance in the opinion of mankind; but he was not disposed to sacrifice any solid advantages for the empty praise of justice and moderation. Sensible of the benefits which would result from the union of the Gothic powers under the same standard, he secretly cultivated the friendship of the Ostrogoths ; and, while he professed an implicit obedience to the orders of the Roman generals, he proceeded by slow marches towards Marcianopolis, the capital of the Lower Maesia, about seventy [shumia] mdes from the banks of the Danube. On that fatal spot, the flames of discord and mutual hatred burst forth into a dreadful [a.d, 377] conflagration. Lupicinus had invited the Gothic chiefs to a splendid entertainment ; and their martial train remained under arms at the entrance of the palace. But the gates of the city were strictly guarded ; and the Barbarians were sternly excluded from the use of a plentiful market, to which they ^^Ammian. xxxi. 4, 5.