Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/28

 6 THE DECLINE AND FALL of possessing the fair Rosamond, and of insulting her family and nation. The arts of persuasion were tried without success ; and the impatient lover, by force and stratagem, obtained the object of his desires. War was the consequence which he foresaw and solicited ; but the Lombards could not long withstand the furious assault of the Gepida?, who were sustained by a Roman army. And, as the offer of marriage was rejected with contempt, Alboin was compelled to relinquish his prey, and to partake of the disgrace which he had inflicted on tlie house of Cunimund.'i The Lombards Whcu a public quarrcl is envenomed by private injuries, a dMtroy"he blow that is not mortal or decisive can be j)roductive only of a kiSfd'omof short truce, which allows the unsuccessful combatant to sharpen AD. 5«' "■ his arms for a new encounter. The strength of Alboin had been ^^^ found unequal to the gratification of his love, ambition, and revenge ; he condescended to implore the formidable aid of the chagan ; and the arguments that he employed are expressive of the art and policy of the barbarians. In the attack of the (jepida- he had been prompted by the just desire of extirpating a people whom their alliance with the Roman empire had rendered the common enemies of the nations and the personal adversaries f)f the chagan. If the forces of the Avars and the Lombards should unite in this glorious quarrel, the victory was secure, and the reward inestimable : the Danube, the Hebrus, Italy, and Constantinople would be exposed, without a barrier, to their invincible arms. Hut, if they hesitated or delayed to prevent the malice of the Romans, the .same spirit which had insulted, would pursue the Avars to the extremity of the earth. These specious reasons were heard by the chagan with coldness and disdain ; he detained the Lombard ambassadors in his camp, protracted the negotiation, and by turns alleged his want of inclination, or his want of ability, to undertake this important enterprise. At length he signified the ultimate price of his alliance, that the Lombards should immediately present him with the tithe of their cattle ; that the spoils and captives should be equally divided ; but that the lands of the Gepidae should become the sole patrimony of the Avars. Such hard conditions were eagerly accepted by the passions of Alboin ; and, as the Romans were dissatisfied with the ingratitude and perfidy of the Gepidae, Justin abandoned that incorrigible people to their fate, and remained the tranquil spectator of this un- '' The sloiy is lold by an iiii|joslor (Iheophylact. Siniocat. 1. vi. c. lo) ; but he had art enough to build his fictions on public and notorious facts.