Page:Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus.djvu/176

164 15. But when they reached the lands of those kings who were still hostile, they went on invincibly through the midst of their rebellious country, laying waste with fire and sword, and plundering everything. And after their frail houses were destroyed by fire, and a vast number of men had been slain, and the army, having nothing to face but corpses and suppliants, had arrived in the region called Capellatum, or Palas, where there are boundary stones marking the frontiers of the Allemanni and the Burgundians; the army pitched its camp, in order that Macrianus and Hariobaudus, brothers, and both kings, might be received by us, and delivered from their fears. Since they, thinking their destruction imminent, were coming with great anxiety to sue for peace.

16. And immediately after them King Vadomarius also came, whose abode was opposite Augst: and having produced some letters of the Emperor Constantius, in which he was strictly recommended to the protection of the Romans, he was courteously received, as became one who had been admitted by the emperor as a client of the Roman empire.

17. And Macrianus and his brother, being admitted among our eagles and standards, marvelled at the imposing appearance of our arms, and various resources which they had never seen before. And they offered up petitions on behalf of their people. But Vadomarius, who had met us before, since he was close to our frontier, admired indeed the appointments of our daring expedition, but remembered that he had often seen such before, ever since his childhood.

18. At last, after long deliberation, with the unanimous consent of all, peace was granted to Macrianus and Hariobaudus; but an answer could not be given to Vadomarius, who had come to secure his own safety, and also as an ambassador to intercede for the kings Urius, Ursicinus, and Vestralpus, imploring peace for them also; lest, as the barbarians are men of wavering faith, they might recover their spirits when our army was withdrawn, and refuse adherence to conditions procured by the agency of others.

19. But when they also, after their crops and houses had been burnt, and many of their soldiers had been slain