proportion to the measure of his fortune: and the most timid, who had already embarked their valuable effects, meditated their escape to the island of Sicily or the African coast. The public distress was aggravated by the fears and reproaches of superstition.32 Every hour produced some horrid tale of strange and portentous accidents: the Pagans deplored the neglect of omens and the interruption of sacrifices; but the Christians still derived some comfort from the powerful intercession of the saints and martyrs.33 flies from Milan, A.D. 403. The emperor Honorius was distinguished, above his subjects, by the pre-eminence of fear, as well as of rank. The pride Honorius and luxury in which he was educated had not allowed him to suspect that there existed on the earth any power presumptuous enough to invade the repose of the successor of Augustus. The arts of flattery concealed the impending danger till Alaric approached the palace of Milan. But when the sound of war had awakened the young emperor, instead of flying to arms with the spirit, or even the rashness, of his age, he eagerly listened to those timid counsellors who proposed to convey his sacred person and his faithful attendants to some secure and distant station in the provinces of Gaul. Stilicho alone3 had courage and authority to resist this disgraceful measure, which would have abandoned Rome and Italy to the barbarians; but as the troops of the palace had been lately detached to the Rhætian frontier, and as the resource of new levies was slow and precarious, the general of the West could only promise, that, if the court of Milan would maintain their ground during his absence, he would soon return with an army equal to the encounter of the Gothic king. Without losing a moment (while each moment was so important to the public safety), Stilicho hastily embarked on the Larian lake, ascended the mountains of ice and snow amidst the severity of an Alpine winter, and suddenly repressed, by his unexpected presence, the enemy, who had disturbed the tranquillity of Rhætia. The barbarians, perhaps some tribes of the Alemanni, respected the firmness of a chief who still assumed the language of command; and the choice which he condescended to make of a select number of their bravest youth was considered as a mark of his 32 Claudian de Bell. Get. 199-266. He may seem prolix: but fear and superstition occupied as large a space in the minds of the Italians. 33 From the passages of Paulinus which Baronius has produced (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 403, No. 51) it is manifest that the general alarm had pervaded all Italy, as far as Nola in Campania, where that famous penitent had fixed his abode. 34 Solus erat Stilicho, &c., is the exclusive commendation which Claudian bestows (de Bell. Get. 267), without condescending to except the emperor. How insignificant must Honorius have appeared in his own court! 35 The face of the country and the hardiness of Stilicho are finely described (de Bell. Get. 340-363). VOL. IV. D esteem and favour. The cohorts, who were delivered from the neighbouring foe, diligently repaired to the Imperial standard; and Stilicho issued his orders to the most remote troops of the West, to advance, by rapid marches, to the defence of Honorius and of Italy. The fortresses of the Rhine were abandoned; and the safety of Gaul was protected only by the faith of the Germans, and the ancient terror of the Roman name. Even the legion which had been stationed to guard the wall of Britain against the Caledonians of the North was hastily recalled; 36 and a numerous body of the cavalry of the Alani was persuaded to engage in the service of the emperor, who anxiously expected the return of his general. The prudence and vigour of Stilicho were conspicuous on this occasion, which revealed, at the same time, the weakness of the falling empire. The legions of Rome, which had long since languished in the gradual decay of discipline and courage, were exterminated by the Gothic and civil wars; and it was found impossible, without exhausting and exposing the provinces, to assemble an army for the defence of Italy. by the Goths. When Stilicho seemed to abandon his sovereign in the unguarded palace of Milan, he had probably calculated the term of his He is pursued and besieged absence, the distance of the enemy, and the obstacles that might retard their march. He principally depended on the rivers of Italy, the Adige, the Mincius, the Oglio, and the Addua, which, in the winter or spring, by the fall of rains, or by the melting of the snows, are commonly swelled into broad and impetuous torrents.37 But the season happened to be remarkably dry; and the Goths could traverse, without impediment, the wide and stony beds, whose centre was faintly marked by the course of a shallow stream. The bridge and passage of the Addua were secured by a strong detachment of the Gothic army; and as Alaric approached the walls, or rather the suburbs, of Milan, he enjoyed the proud satisfaction of seeing the emperor of the Romans fly before him. Honorius, accompanied by a feeble train of statesmen and eunuchs, hastily retreated towards the Alps, with a design of securing his person in the city of Arles, which 35 Venit et extremis legio prætenta Britannis De Bell. Get. 416. Yet the most rapid march from Edinburgh, or Newcastle, to Milan, must have required a longer space of time than Claudian seems willing to allow for the duration of the Gothic war. 37 Every traveller must recollect the face of Lombardy (see Fontenelle, tom. v. p. 279), which is often tormented by the capricious and irregular abundance of waters. The Austrians before Genoa were encamped in the dry bed of the Polcevera. "Ne "sarebbe" (says Muratori) "mai passato per mente a que' buoni Alemanni, che quel "picciolo torrente potesse, per così dire, in un instante cangiarsi in un terribil "gigante." (Annal. d'Italia, tom. xvi. p. 443, Milan, 1753, 8vo. edit.) 38 had often been the royal residence of his predecessors. But Honorius had scarcely passed the Po before he was overtaken by the speed of the Gothic cavalry; 39 since the urgency of the danger compelled him to seek a temporary shelter within the fortification of Asta, a town of Liguria or Piemont, situate on the banks of the Tanarus.40 a The siege of an obscure place, which contained so rich a prize, and seemed incapable of a long resistance, was instantly formed, and indefatigably pressed, by the king of the Goths; and the bold declaration, which the emperor might afterwards make, that his breast had never been susceptible of fear, did not probably obtain much credit even in his own court. In the last and almost hopeless extremity, after the barbarians had already proposed the indignity of a capitulation, the Imperial captive was suddenly relieved by the fame, the approach, and at length the presence, of the hero whom he had so long expected. At the head of a chosen and intrepid vanguard, Stilicho swam the stream of the Addua, to gain the time which he must have lost in the attack of the bridge; the passage of the Po was an enterprise of much less hazard and difficulty; and the successful action, in which he cut his way through the Gothic camp under the walls of Asta, revived the hopes and vindicated the honour of Rome. Instead of grasping the fruit of his victory, the barbarian was gradually invested, on every side, by the troops of the West, who successively issued through all the passes of the Alps; his quarters were straitened; his convoys were intercepted; and the vigilance of the Romans prepared to form a chain of fortifications, and to besiege the lines of the 38 Claudian does not clearly answer our question, Where was Honorius himself? Yet the flight is marked by the pursuit; and my idea of the Gothic war is justified by the Italian critics, Sigonius (tom. i. p. ii. p. 369, de Imp. Occident. 1. x.) and Muratori (Annali d'Italia, tom. iv. p. 45). 39 One of the roads may be traced in the Itineraries (p. 98, 288, 294, with Wesseling's Notes). Asta lay some miles on the right hand. 40 Asta, or Asti, a Roman colony, is now the capital of a pleasant county, which, in the sixteenth century, devolved to the dukes of Savoy (Leandro Alberti, Descrizzione d'Italia, p. 382). 41 Nec me timor impulit ullus. He might hold this proud language the next year at Rome, five hundred miles from the scene of danger (vi. Cons. Hon. 449). a There is no authority for Gibbon's statement that Honorius, on his way to Arles, took refuge in Asta. It is simply an hypothesis to account for the presence of Alaric in Liguria, and rests only upon Claudian's mention of Asta in conjunction with Pollentia: "nec plus Pollentia rebus Contulit Ausoniis, aut monia vindicis Astæ." vi. Cons. Hon. 203. We have decisive evidence from the dates of laws in the Codex Theodosianus that Honorius was in Ravenna in December 402, and in February 403; and there can therefore be no reasonable doubt that Honorius fled straight from Milan to Ravenna, where he was at the time of the battle of Pollentia. After this battle Claudian (vi. Cons. Hon. 493) represents him as setting out from Ravenna on his journey towards Rome. See Aschbach, Gesch. der Westgothen, p. 72, and note 62.-S. besiegers. A military council was assembled of the long-haired chiefs of the Gothic nation; of aged warriors, whose bodies were wrapped in furs, and whose stern countenances were marked with honourable wounds. They weighed the glory of persisting in their attempt against the advantage of securing their plunder; and they recommended the prudent measure of a seasonable retreat. In this important debate, Alaric displayed the spirit of the conqueror of Rome; and after he had reminded his countrymen of their achievements and of their designs, he concluded his animating speech by the solemn and positive assurance that he was resolved to find in Italy either a kingdom or a grave.42 Battle of March 29. The loose discipline of the barbarians always exposed them to the danger of a surprise; but, instead of choosing the dissolute hours of riot and intemperance, Stilicho resolved to attack the Christian Goths whilst they were devoutly employed in celebrating the festival of Easter.13 The execution of the stratagem, or, as it was termed by the clergy, of the sacrilege, was intrusted to Saul, a barbarian and a Pagan, who had served, however, with distinguished reputation among the veteran generals of Theodosius. The camp of the Goths, which Alaric had pitched in the neighbourhood of Pollentia," was thrown into confusion by the sudden and impetuous charge of 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 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 service 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 42 Hanc ego vel victor regno, vel morte tenebo The speeches (de Bell. Get. 479-549) of the Gothic Nestor and Achilles are strong, characteristic, adapted to the circumstances, and possibly not less genuine than those of Livy. 43 Orosius (1. vii. c. 37) is shocked at the impiety of the Romans, who attacked on Easter Sunday such pious Christians. Yet, at the same time, public prayers were offered at the shrine of St. Thomas of Edessa for the destruction of the Arian robber. See Tillemont (Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p. 529), who quotes a homily which has been erroneously ascribed to St. Chrysostom. Urbs, 44 The vestiges of Pollentia are twenty-five miles to the south-east of Turin. 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. tom. i. p. 83-85.) 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 infantry to the attack. The skill of the general, and the bravery of the soldiers, surmounted every obstacle. In the evening of the bloody day, the Goths retreated from the field of battle; the entrenchments of their camp were forced, and the scene of rapine and slaughter made some atonement for the calamities which they had inflicted on the subjects of the empire. 45 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 heroic deliverer. The triumph of Stilicho17 was compared by the poet, and perhaps by the public, to that of Marius; who, in the same part of Italy, had encountered and destroyed another army of Northern barbarians. The huge bones and the empty helmets of the Cimbri and of the Goths would easily be confounded by succeeding generations; and posterity might erect a common trophy to the memory of the two most illustrious generals, who had vanquished, on the same memorable ground, the two most formidable enemies of Rome. 48 46 Boldness and The eloquence of Claudian1 has celebrated, with lavish applause, the victory of Pollentia, one of the most glorious days in the life of his patron; but his reluctant and partial muse bestows retreat of more genuine praise on the character of the Gothic king. His name is, indeed, branded with the reproachful epithets of pirate and robber, to which the conquerors of every age are so justly Alaric. 45 Orosius 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 writers, Cassiodorus (in Chron.) and Jornandes (de Reb. Get. c. 30), claim a decisive victory. 46 Demens Ausonidum gemmata monilia matrum, De Bell. Get. 627. 47 Claudian (de Bell. Get. 580-647) and Prudentius (in Symmach. 1. ii. 694-719) celebrate, without ambiguity, the Roman victory of Pollentia. They are poetical and party writers; yet some credit is due to the most suspicious witnesses who are checked by the recent notoriety of facts. 48 Claudian's peroration is strong and elegant; but the identity of the Cimbric and Gothic fields must be understood (like Virgil's Philippi, Georgic i. 490) according to the loose geography of a poet. Vercella and Pollentia are sixty miles from each other; and the latitude is still greater if the Cimbri were defeated in the wide and barren plain of Verona (Maffei, Verona Illustrata, p. i. p. 54-62). 49 Claudian and Prudentius must be strictly examined, to reduce the figures and extort the historic sense of those poets. |