Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/274

 254 THE DECLINE AND FALL Alaric had pitched in the neighbourhood of Pollentia,'** was throvn into confusion by the sudden and impetuous charge of [Pouenzo] the Imperial cavalry ; but, in a few moments, the undaunted genius of their leader gave them an order, and a field, of battle ; and, as soon as they had recovered from their astonishment, the pious confidence, that the God of the Christians would assert their cause, added new strength to their native valour. In this engagement, which was long maintained with equal courage [SiniM] and success, the chief of the Alani, whose diminutive and savage form concealed a magnanimous soul, approved his suspected loyalty by the zeal with which he fought, and fell, in the sen'ice of the republic ; and the fame of this gallant Barbarian has been imperfectly preserved in the verses of Claudian, since the poet, who celebrates his virtue, has omitted the mention of his name. His death was followed by the flight and dismay of the squadrons which he commanded ; and the defeat of the wing of cavalry might have decided the victory of Alaric, if Stilicho had not immediately led the Roman and Barbarian infantiT to the attack. The skill of the general and the braveiy of the soldiers surmounted eveiy oljstacle. In the evening of the bloody day, the Goths retreated from the field of battle ; the intrenchments of their camp were forced, and the scene of rapine and slaughter made some atonement for the calamities Avhich they had inflicted on the subjects of the empire. ^^ The magnificent spoils of Corinth and Argos enriched the veterans of the West ; the captive wife of Alaric, who had impatiently claimed his promise of Roman jewels and Patrician handmaids,*** was reduced to implore the mercy of the insulting foe ; and many thousand prisoners, released from the Gothic chains, dispersed through the provinces of Italy the praises of their t/;-/'.s [River Urbis = Borbo; see Tillemont, H. des Emp. v. 530], in the same neighbourhood, was a royal chace of the Kings of Lombardy, and a small river, which excused the prediction, " penetrabis ad urbem ". Cluver. ItaL Antiq. torn. i. p. 83-85. •'SOrosius wishes, in doubtful words, to insinuate the defeat of the Romans. " Pugnantes vicimus, victores victi sumus." Prosper (in Chron.) makes it an equal and bloody battle ; but the Gothic Titers, Cassiodorius (in Chron. ) and Jornandes (de Reb. Get. c. 29) claim a decisive victory. [The Goths may have been slightly victorious on the field of battle ; but they clearly received a decisive strategic defeat.] •1® Demens Ausonidum gemmata monilia matrum, Romanasque aha famulas cervice petebat. De BelL Get. 627. [The capture of Alaric's wife is a totally unjustifiable inference from these lines. Cp. Von Wietersheim, Gesch. dcr V'blkerwanderung (ed. Dahn), 2, 189.]
 * The vestiges of Pollentia are twenly-five miles to the south-east of Turin.