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 12 THE DECLINE AND FALL the impatient besieger had bound himself by a tremendous oath that age, and sex, and dignity should be confounded in a general massacre. The aid of famine at length enabled him to execute his bloody vow ; but, as Alboin entered the gate, his horse stumbled, fell, and could not be raised from the ground. One of his attendants was prompted by compassion, or piety, to interpret this miraculous sign of the wrath of Heaven ; the conqueror paused and relented ; he sheathed his sword, and, j)eacefully reposing himself in the palace of Theodoric, pro- claimed to the trembling multitude that they should live and obey. Delighted with the situation of a city which was en- deared to his ))ride by the difficulty of the purchase, the prince of the Lombards disdained the ancient glories of Milan ; and Pavia, during some ages, M'as respected as the capital of the kingdom of Italy. -^ Alboin is The reign of the founder was splendid and transient; and, hia wife Rosa- before he could regulate his new conquests, Alboin fell a sae- 573, June 28* rificc to doHicstic trcasoii and female revenge. In a palace near Verona, which had not been erected for the barbarians, he feasted the comj)anions of his arms ; intoxication was the reward of valour, and the king himself was tempted by appetite, or vanity, to exceed the ordinary measure of his intemperance. After draining many capacious bowls of Rhaetian or Falernian wine, he called for the skull of (!unimund, the noblest and most j)recious ornament of his sideboard. The cu]) of victory was accepted with horrid applause by the circle of the I>ombard chiefs. " Fill it again with wine," exclaimed the inhuman con- queror, " fill it to the brim ; carry this goblet to the queen, and request, in my name, that she would rejoice with her father. In an agony of grief and rage, Rosamond had strength to utter " Let the will of my lord be obeyed ! " and, touching it with her lips, pronounced a silent imprecation, that the insult should be washed away in the blood of Alboin. Some indulgence might be due to the resentment of a daughter, if she had not already violated the duties of a wife. Implacable in her enmity, or inconstant in her love, the queen of Italy had stooped from the throne to the arms of a subject, and Helmichis, the king's armour-bearer, was the secret minister of her pleasure and - For the conquest of Italy, see the original materials of Paul (1. ii. c. 7-10, 12, 14, 25, 26, 27), the eloquent narrative of Sigonius (torn. ii. de Regno Italinp, 1. i. p. 13-19), and the correct and critical review of Muratori (Annali d'ltalia, toni. v. p. 164-180). [A chronological buniniary of the Lombard conquest is added in Appendix 3. J