Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/78

 58 THE DECLINE AND FALL which increased the military power of Hermanric, enlarged his ambitious designs. He invaded the adjacent countries of the North ; and twelve considerable nations, whose names and limits cannot be accurately defined, successively yielded to the supe- riority of the Ciothic arms.^"'^ The Heruli, who inhabited the marshy lands near the lake Ma-otis, were renowned for their strength and agility ; and the assistance of their light infantry was eagerly solicited, and highly esteemed, in all the wars of the Barbarians. But the active spirit of the Heruli was suIj- dued by the slow and steady perseverance of the Goths ; and, after a bloody action, in which the king was slain, the remains of that warlike tribe became an useful accession to the camp of Hermanric. He then marched against the Venedi ; unskilled in the use of arms, and formidable only by their numbers, which filled the wide extent of the plains of modern Poland. The victorious Goths, who were not inferior in numbers, prevailed in the contest, by the decisive advantages of exercise and disci- pline. After the submission of the Venedi, the conqueror ad- vanced, without resistance, as far as the confines of the A'lstii ; ^^ an ancient people, whose name is still preserved in the province of Esthonia. Those distant inhabitants of the Baltic coast were supported by the labours of agriculture, enriched by the trade of amber, and consecrated by the peculiar worship of the Mother of the Gods. But the scarcity of iron obliged the Ailstiau warriors to content themselves with wooden clubs ; and the reduction of that wealthy country is ascribed to the prudence, rather than to the arms, of Hermanric. His dominions, which extended from the Danube to the Baltic, included the native seats, and the recent acquisitions, of the Goths ; and he reigned over the greatest part of Gennany and Scythia with the authority of a conqueror, and sometimes with the cruelty of a tyrant. But he reigned over a part of the globe incapable of perpetuating and adorning the gloiy of its heroes. The name of Herman- ric is almost buried iu oblivion ; his exploits are imperfectly known ; and the Romans themselves appeared unconscious of i-i^M. de Buat (Hist, des Peuples de I'Europe, t. . p. 311-329) investigates, with more industry than success, the nations subdued by the arms of Hermanric. He denies the existence of the I'asinobronco', on account of the immoderate length of their name. Yet the French envoy to Ratisbon, or Dresden, must have traversed the countiTOf the Mediomatrici. '■•s The edition of Grotius (Jornandes, p. 642 [xxiii. § 120]) exhibits the name of yEstri. But reason and the Ambrosian Ms. have restored the y£stii, whose manners and situation are expressed by the pencil of Tacitus (Germania, c. 45).