Iordanes: De origine actibusque Getarum

1 Volentem me parvo subvectum navigio oram tranquilli litoris stringere et minutos de priscorum, ut quidam ait, stagnis pisciculos legere, in altum, frater Castali, laxari vela compellis relictoque opusculo, quod intra manus habeo, id est, de adbreviatione chronicorum, suades, ut nostris verbis duodecem Senatoris volumina de origine actusque Getarum ab olim et usque nunc per generationes regesque descendentem in uno et hoc parvo libello choartem: 2 dura satis imperia et tamquam ab eo, qui pondus operis huius scire nollit, inposita. Nec illud aspicis, quod tenuis mihi est spiritus ad inplendam eius tam magnificam dicendi tubam: super omne autem pondus, quod nec facultas eorundem librorum nobis datur, quatenus eius sensui inserviamus, sed, ut non mentiar, ad triduanam lectionem dispensatoris eius beneficio libros ipsos antehac relegi. Quorum quamvis verba non recolo, sensus tamen et res actas credo me integre retinere.

1 Wishing, borne in a small vessel, to skim the shore of a tranquil strand and, brother Castali, to loosen sails for the deep — and having left aside the little work that I hold in my hands, that is, concerning the abbreviation of the chronicles — you advise that in our words I make a choarte of the twelve volumes of the Senator on the origin and acts of the Getae, descending from of old even to now through generations and kings, into one and this small little book: 2 harsh enough commands and as if imposed by one who does not wish to know the weight of this work. Nor do you see that my spirit is slender to fill its so magnificent trumpet of speech; moreover over every burden, since the capacity of those same books is not granted to us to the extent that we might serve its sense — but, that I not lie, by the favour of its distributor’s three-day reading I have previously reread the books themselves. Of which, although I do not recall the words, I believe I retain the sense and the deeds performed intact.

3 Ad quos et ex nonnullis historiis Grecis ac Latinis addedi convenientia, initium finemque et plura in medio mea dictione permiscens. Quare sine contumelia quod exigisti suscipe libens, libentissime lege; et si quid parum dictum est et tu, ut vicinus genti, commemoras, adde, orans pro me, frater carissime. Dominus tecum.

3 To these I have also added suitable things from certain Greek and Latin histories, mingling beginning and end and many matters in the middle with my own diction. Wherefore, without offence, willingly receive what you demanded, and read most gladly; and if anything has been but little said, and you, as one near the people, recall it, add it — I beseech you for me, most dear brother. The Lord be with you.

Amen.

I.4 Maiores nostri, ut refert Orosius, totius terrae circulum Oceani limbo circumseptum triquadrum statuerunt eiusque tres partes Asiam, Eoropam et Africam vocaverunt. De quo trepertito orbis terrarum spatium innumerabiles pene scriptores existunt, qui non solum urbium locorumve positiones explanant, verum etiam et quod est liquidius, passuum miliariumque dimetiunt quantitatem, insulas quoque marinis fluctibus intermixtas, tam maiores quam etiam minores, quas Cycladas vel Sporadas cognominant, in inmenso maris magni pelagu sitas determinant. 5 Oceani vero intransmeabiles ulteriores fines non solum describere quis adgressus est, verum etiam nec cuiquam licuit transfretare, quia resistente ulva et ventorum spiramine quiescente inpermeabilis esse sentitur et nulli cognita nisi ei qui eam constituit.

I.4 Our ancestors, as Orosius relates, determined the circuit of the whole earth to be girded by the rim of the Ocean as a threefold enclosure, and called its three parts Asia, Europe and Africa. Concerning this tripartite expanse of the orb of lands there are almost innumerable writers, who not only explain the positions of cities and places, but also, and what is clearer, measure the quantity in paces and miles, and likewise determine the islands intermixed with the sea’s waves, both greater and lesser, which they name Cyclades or Sporades, as situated in the immense great sea (pelagus). 5 As for the further, untraversable bounds of the Ocean, not only did no one set out to describe them, but neither was it permitted to anyone to cross over them, because, with seaweed resisting and the breath of the winds lying still, it is felt to be impermeable and known to none except to him who established it.

6 Ceterior vero eius pelagi ripa, quam diximus totius mundi circulum, in modum coronae ambiens fines suos, curiosis hominibus et qui de hac re scribere voluerunt perquaquam innotuit, quia et terrae circulum ab incolis possidetur et nonnullae insule in eodem mare habitabiles sunt, ut in orientali plaga et Indico Oceano Hyppodem, Iamnesiam, Solis perustam quamvis inhabitabilem, tamen omnino sui spatio in longo latoque extensam; Taprobanem quoque, in qua (excepto oppida vel possessiones) decem munitissimas urbes decoram; 7 sed et aliam omnino gratissimam Silefantinam; nec non et Theron, licet non ab aliquo scriptore dilucidas, tamen suis possessoribus affatim refertas. Habet in parte occidua idem Oceanus aliquantas insulas et pene cunctis ob frequentiam euntium et redeuntium notas. Et sunt iuxta fretum Gaditanum haut procul una Beata et alia quae dicitur Fortunata.

6 The remaining shore of that sea, which we said surrounds the circle of the whole world in the manner of a crown, has become thoroughly known to curious men and to those who wished to write about this matter, because the circle of the earth is possessed by inhabitants and certain islands in the same sea are habitable, as in the eastern quarter and the Indian Ocean: Hyppodem, Iamnesia, founded by the Sun, though uninhabitable, yet altogether extended in its own space long and broad; Taprobane also, in which (excepting towns or possessions) ten very strongly fortified cities are fair; 7 and another entirely most pleasing Silefantina; nor lacking Theron, although not made clear by any writer, yet abundantly filled for its possessors. In the western part that same Ocean has several islands and known to nearly all by the frequency of those going and returning. And near the Strait of Gades not far off are one called Beata and another which is called Fortunata.

Quamvis nonnulli et illa gemina Galliciae et Lysitaniae promuntoria in Oceani insulas ponant, in quarum una templum Herculis, in alia monumentum adhuc conspicitur Scipiones, tamen, quia extremitatem Galiciae terrae continent, ad terram magnam Europae potius quam ad Oceani pertinent insulas. 8 Habet tamen et alias insulas interius in suo estu, quae dicuntur Baleares, habetque et alia Mevania, nec non Orcadas numero xxxiii quamvis non omnes excultas. 9 Habet et in ultimo plagae occidentalis aliam insulam nomine Thyle, de qua Mantuanus inter alia: 'tibi serviat ultima Thyle'. Habet quoque is ipse inmensus pelagus in parte artoa, id est septentrionali, amplam insulam nomine Scandzam, unde nobis sermo, si dominus iubaverit, est adsumpturus, quia gens, cuius originem flagitas, ab huius insulae gremio velut examen apium erumpens in terram Europae advinit: quomodo vero aut qualiter, in subsequentibus, si dominus donaverit, explanavimus.

Although some even place those twin promontories of Galicia and Lusitania among the islands of the Ocean, in one of which a temple of Hercules, in the other a monument of the Scipios is still conspicuous, nevertheless, because they contain the extremity of the land of Galicia, they pertain to the great land of Europe rather than to the islands of the Ocean. 8 It nevertheless has other islands inward in its estuary, which are called the Baleares, and it has also others, Mevania, and likewise the Orcades numbered xxxiii, although not all cultivated. 9 It has too, at the furthest verge of the west, another island named Thyle, of which Mantuanus among other things says: 'tibi serviat ultima Thyle'. This same immense sea also has in its narrow part, that is the northern, a broad island named Scandzam, whence our account, if the master wills, is to be taken up, because the people whose origin you ask, bursting forth from the bosom of that island like a swarm of bees, came into the land of Europe: how or in what manner, in the following (sections), if the master grants, we shall explain.

II.10 Nunc autem de Brittania insula, que in sino Oceani inter Spanias, Gallias et Germaniam sita est, ut potuero, paucis absolvam. Cuius licet magnitudine olim nemo, ut refert Libius, circumvectus est, multis tamen data est varia opinio de ea loquendi. Quae diu si quidem armis inaccensam Romanis Iulius Caesar proeliis ad gloriam tantum quesitis aperuit: pervia deinceps mercimoniis aliasque ob causas multis facta mortalibus non indiligenti, quae secuta est, aetati certius sui prodidit situm, quem, ut a Grecis Latinisque autoribus accepimus, persequimur.

2.10 Now concerning the island of Britain, which lies in the gulf of the Ocean between the Spains, the Gauls and Germany, I will, as I can, treat briefly. Although in former times no one, as Livy relates, sailed round it to test its magnitude, yet many varied opinions have been put forth by many about it. Which, though for a long while untouched by arms against the Romans, Julius Caesar revealed by battles undertaken for glory alone: afterwards, being made accessible to mortals by commerce and by many other causes not sparing, the succeeding age more certainly disclosed its situation, which, as we have taken from Greek and Latin authors, we now follow.

11 Triquadram eam plures dixere consimilem, inter septentrionalem occidentalemque plagam proiectam, uno, qui magnus est, angulo Reni hostia spectantem, dehinc correptam latitudine oblique retro abstractam in duos exire alios, geminoque latere longiorem Galliae praetendi atque Germaniae. In duobus milibus trecentis decem stadiis latitudo eius ubi patentior, longitudo non ultra septem mil. 12 Centum triginta duo stadia fertur extendi; modo vero dumosa, modo silvestrae iacere planitiae, montibus etiam nonnullis increscere: mari tardo circumfluam, quod nec remis facile inpellentibus cedat, nec ventorum flatibus intumescat, credo, quia remotae longius terrae causas motibus negant: quippe illic latius quam usquam aequor extenditur.

11 Many have called it triquadrate and similar, thrown out between the northern and the western region, with one large angle looking toward the mouth of the Rhine, thence taken up in breadth and obliquely drawn back so as to issue into two others, and with a twin side I stretch a longer side toward Gaul and Germany. Its breadth where more open is 2,310 stadia; its length not beyond 7,000. 12 It is said to extend 132 stadia; the plains lie at times thorny, at times wooded, and some mountains also rise up: it is bordered by a slow-flowing sea, which neither yields easily to those propelling with oars nor, I think, swells with blasts of wind, because they deny that distant lands are the causes of its motions—for there the sea spreads wider than anywhere.

Refert autem Strabo Grecorum nobilis scriptor tantas illam exalare nebulas, madefacta humo Oceani crebris excursibus, ut subtectus sol per illum pene totum fediorem, qui serenus est, diem negetur aspectui. 13 Noctem quoque clariorem in extrema eius parte minimamque Cornelius etiam annalium scriptor enarrat, metallis plurimis cupiosam, herbis frequentem et his feraciorem omnibus, que pecora magis quam homines alant: labi vero per eam multa quam maximae relabique flumina gemmas margaritasque volventia. Silorum colorati vultus; torti pleroque crine et nigro nascuntur; Calydoniam vero incolentibus rutilae cumae, corpora magna, sed fluuida: Gallis sive Spanis, ut quibusque obtenduntur, adsimiles.

Strabo, a noble writer of the Greeks, reports moreover that it raises up such great mists, the earth soaked by frequent incursions of the Ocean, that the sun, being veiled by them for nearly the whole of an otherwise fair day, is denied to the sight. 13 Cornelius likewise, an annalist, relates that the night is clearer in its remotest part and the day the least so, that the land is eager for very many metals, thick with herbs and more fertile in these than anywhere else, and that these feed flocks more than men: moreover through it many very large rivers glide and roll gems and pearls. The Silures have dark complexions; mostly born with twisted hair and black (hair); those inhabiting Caledonia, however, are ruddy of cheek, with large but lithe bodies: similar to Gauls or Spaniards, as variously described.

14 Vnde coniectavere nonnulli, quod ea ex his accolas contiguo vocatos acceperit. Inculti aeque omnes populi regesque populorum; cunctos tamen in Calydoniorum Meatarumque concessisse nomina Dio auctor est celeberrimus scriptor annalium. Virgeas habitant casas, communia tecta cum pecore, silveque illis saepe sunt domus.

14 Whence some have conjectured that it took its name from those called contiguous inhabitants. All the peoples and the kings of peoples alike are uncultivated; yet Dio, the most celebrated writer of annals, is the authority that assigned them all the names of the Calydonians and of the Meatarum. They inhabit virgae huts, communal roofs together with their cattle, and the woods are often their homes.

Ob decorem nescio an aliam quam ob rem ferro pingunt corpora. 15 Bellum inter se aut imperii cupidine, aut amplificandi quae possident, saepius gerunt, non tantum equitatu vel pedite, verum etiam bigis curribusque falcatis, quos more vulgare essedas vocant. Haec pauca de Brittaniae insulae forma dixisse sufficiat.

For ornament — I know not whether for this or for some other reason — they paint their bodies with iron. 15 They more often wage war among themselves either from a desire of empire or of amplifying what they possess, not only on horseback or on foot, but even with two-horse chariots and with scythe‑edged wagons, which by common custom they call esseda. Let these few things about the shape of the island of Britain suffice to have been said.

III.16 Ad Scandziae insulae situm, quod superius reliquimus, redeamus. De hac etenim in secundo sui operis libro Claudius Ptolomeus, orbis terrae discriptor egregius, meminit dicens: est in Oceani arctoi salo posita insula magna, nomine Scandza, in modum folii cetri, lateribus pandis, per longum ducta concludens se. De qua et Pomponius Mela in maris sinu Codano positam refert, cuius ripas influit Oceanus.

3.16 Let us return to the situation of the island Scandzia, which we left above. For of this, in the second book of his work, Claudius Ptolemy, an outstanding describer of the orb of the earth, remembers and says: there is placed in the sea of the Arctic Ocean a great island, by name Scandza, in the shape of the leaf of a cetra, its sides spread out, drawn long and enclosing itself. About which Pomponius Mela likewise reports it placed in the Codanian bay of the sea, into whose banks the Ocean flows.

17 Haec a fronte posita est Vistulae fluminis, qui Sarmaticis montibus ortus in conspectu Scandzae septentrionali Oceano trisulcus inlabitur, Germaniam Scythiamque disterminans. Haec ergo habet ab oriente vastissimum lacum in orbis terrae gremio, unde Vagi fluvius velut quodam ventrae generatus in Oceanum undosus evolvitur. Ab occidente namque inmensu pelago circumdatur, a septentrione quoque innavigabili eodem vastissimo concluditur Oceano, ex quo quasi quodam brachio exiente, sinu distento, Germanicum mare efficitur.

17 This lies opposite the mouth of the Vistula river, which, sprung from the Sarmatian mountains, flows into the northern Ocean before Scandza in threefold channels, separating Germany and Scythia. It therefore has to the east a most vast lake in the bosom of the world, whence the river Vagi, as if born from some belly, sinuously unrolls into the Ocean. For on the west it is girded by the immense sea, and on the north also it is shut in by that same most vast, unnavigable Ocean, from which, as if issuing a certain arm and with a bay expanded, the Germanic Sea is formed.

18 Vbi etiam parvae quidem, sed plures perhibentur insulae esse dispositae, ad quas si congelato mari ob nimium frigus lupi transierint, luminibus feruntur orbari. Ita non solum inhospitalis hominibus, verum etiam beluis terra crudelis est. 19 In Scandza vero insula, unde nobis sermo est, licet multae et diversae maneant nationes, septem tamen eorum nomina meminit Ptolemaeus.

18 There too are said to be islands, indeed small but rather numerous, arranged—toward which, if wolves have crossed over on the sea congealed by excessive cold, they are reported to be stricken blind in their eyes. Thus the land is cruel not only to inhospitable men but even to beasts. 19 In the island Scandza, however, whence our account comes, although many and diverse nations dwell, Ptolemy nevertheless records the names of seven of them.

Apium ibi turba mellifica ob nimium frigore nusquam repperitur. In cuius parte arctoa gens Adogit consistit, quae fertur in aestate media quadraginta diebus et noctibus luces habere continuas, itemque brumali tempore eodem dierum noctiumque numero luce clara nescire. 20 Ita alternato merore cum gaudio benificio aliis damnoque impar est.

There a swarm of honey-bearing bees is nowhere found because of excessive cold. In the northern part of it the Arctoa people Adogit dwell, who are said in mid-summer to have continuous light for forty days and nights, and likewise in the wintry season, for the same number of days and nights, to know no clear light. 20 Thus, with sorrow and joy alternating, it is by blessing unequal to some and by harm to others.

Et hoc quare? Quia prolixioribus diebus solem ad orientem per axis marginem vident redeuntem, brevioribus vero non sic conspicitur apud illos, sed aliter, quia austrinis signis percurrit, et quod nobis videtur sol ab imo surgere, illos per terrae marginem dicitur circuire. 21 Aliae vero ibi sunt gentes Screrefennae, que frumentorum non queritant victum, sed carnibus ferarum atque ovis avium vivunt; ubi tanta paludibus fetura ponitur, ut et augmentum prestent generi et satietatem ad cupiam genti.

And why is this? Because in the longer days they see the sun returning to the east along the edge of the axis, whereas in the shorter days it is not so observed among them, but otherwise, because it runs through the southern signs, and that which to us appears the sun to rise from beneath, to them is said to circle along the margin of the earth. 21 Moreover there are peoples there called Screrefennae, who do not seek their sustenance from grains, but live on the flesh of wild beasts and the eggs of birds; where such a brood is laid in the marshes, that they both furnish increase to the stock and satiety to the covetous people.

Alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis. Hi quoque sunt, qui in usibus Romanorum sappherinas pelles commercio interveniente per alias innumeras gentes transmittunt, famosi pellium decora nigridine. Hi cum inopes vivunt, ditissime vestiuntur.

Another people dwelling there are the Suehans, who, like the Thyringi, make use of excellent horses. These also are those who, with commerce intervening, transmit sapphire furs through countless other peoples, famed for the dark hue as the ornament of their pelts. Though they live impoverished, they are most richly clothed.

22 Sequitur deinde diversarum turba nationum, Theustes, Vagoth, Bergio, Hallin, Liothida, quorum omnium sedes sub uno plani ac fertilis, et propterea inibi aliarum gentium incursionibus infestantur. Post hos Ahelmil, Finnaithae, Fervir, Ganthigoth, acre hominum genus et at bella prumtissimum. Dehinc Mixi, Evagre, Otingis.

22 Next follows a throng of diverse nations: Theustes, Vagoth, Bergio, Hallin, Liothida, whose seats are all beneath one plain and fertile, and therefore there they are troubled by incursions of other peoples. After these come Ahelmil, Finnaithae, Fervir, Ganthigoth, a fierce race of men and most ready for war. Then Mixi, Evagre, Otingis.

Hi omnes excisis rupibus quasi castellis inhabitant ritu beluino. 23 Sunt et his exteriores Ostrogothae, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, Finni mitissimi, Scandzae cultoribus omnibus mitiores; nec non et pares eorum Vinoviloth; Suetidi, cogniti in hac gente reliquis corpore eminentiores: quamvis et Dani, ex ipsorum stirpe progressi, Herulos propriis sedibus expulerunt, qui inter omnes Scandiae nationes nomen sibi ob nimia proceritate affectant praecipuum. 24 Sunt quamquam et horum positura Grannii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi, Arochi, Ranii, quibus non ante multos annos Roduulf rex fuit, qui contempto proprio regno ad Theodorici Gothorum regis gremio convolavit et, ut desiderabat, invenit.

These all dwell in cleft rocks like fortresses, in a beast-like manner. 23 Outside these are also the Ostrogothae, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, the very mild Finns, the Scandzae gentler than all cultivators; and likewise their peers the Vinoviloth; the Suetidi, known among this people as more eminent in bodily stature than the rest: although the Dani, sprung from their stock, drove the Heruli from their own seats, who among all the nations of Scandia claim for themselves a foremost name on account of excessive tallness. 24 There are moreover among them the Grannii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi, Arochi, Ranii, over whom not many years ago Roduulf was king, who, having scorned his own kingdom, threw himself into the lap of Theodoric, king of the Goths, and, as he desired, found it.

Hae itaque gentes, Germanis corpore et animo grandiores, pugnabant beluina saevitia.

These, therefore, nations—greater than the Germans in body and in spirit—fought with beastly savagery.

IV.25 Ex hac igitur Scandza insula quasi officina gentium aut certe velut vagina nationum cum rege suo nomine Berig Gothi quondam memorantur egressi: qui ut primum e navibus exientes terras attigerunt, ilico nomen loci dederunt. Nam odieque illic, ut fertur, Gothiscandza vocatur. 26 Vnde mox promoventes ad sedes Vlmerugorum, qui tunc Oceani ripas insidebant, castra metati sunt eosque commisso proelio propriis sedibus pepulerunt, eorumque vicinos Vandalos iam tunc subiugantes suis aplicavere victoriis.

CHAPTER 4. 25 From this Scandza island therefore, as from a workshop of peoples or certainly as from a sheath of nations, with their king named Berig, the Goths are said once to have gone forth: who, as soon as, departing from their ships, they touched the lands, straightaway gave the place its name. For even to this day there it is called, as is said, Gothiscandza. 26 Whence soon advancing to the seats of the Ulmerugi, who then dwelt upon the shores of the Ocean, they pitched camp against them and, with battle joined, drove them from their own abodes, and, already then subjugating their neighboring Vandals, attached those victories to themselves.

Vbi vero magna populi numerositate crescente et iam pene quinto rege regnante post Berig Filimer, filio Gadarigis, consilio sedit, ut exinde cum familiis Gothorum promoveret exercitus. 27 Qui aptissimas sedes locaquae dum quereret congrua, pervenit ad Scythiae terras, quae lingua eorum Oium vocabantur: ubi delectatus magna ubertate regionum et exercitus mediaetate transposita pons dicitur, unde amnem traiecerat, inreparabiliter corruisse, nec ulterius iam cuidam licuit ire aut redire. Nam is locus, ut fertur, tremulis paludibus voragine circumiecta concluditur, quem utraque confusione natura reddidit inpervium.

Where, however, the people increasing greatly in number and now with nearly the fifth king reigning after Berig, Filimer, son of Gadarig, resolved by council to sit, that thenceforth he should lead forth the army with the households of the Goths. 27 While he sought the most fit seats and suitable places, he came to the lands of Scythia, which in their tongue were called Oium: where, delighted by the great fertility of the regions, and after the army had crossed the midpoint, the bridge—by which they had passed the river—is said to have fallen in irreparably, nor thereafter was it any longer possible for anyone to go or return. For that place, as is reported, is enclosed by trembling marshes and a surrounding chasm, which by a twofold mingling nature made impassable.

Verumtamen hodieque illic et voces armentorum audiri et indicia hominum depraehendi commeantium attestationem, quamvis a longe audientium, credere licet. 28 Haec ergo pars Gothorum, quae apud Filemer dicitur in terras Oium emenso amne transposita, optatum potiti solum. Nec mora ilico ad gentem Spalorum adveniunt consertoque proelio victoriam adipiscunt, exindeque iam velut victores ad extremam Scythiae partem, que Ponto mari vicina est, properant.

Nevertheless even today there one may believe the testimony of those who, hearing from afar, report both the voices of the herds and the signs of men moving about as detectable; 28 this therefore part of the Goths, which is said by Filemer to have, after crossing the river, been transplanted into the lands of Oium, obtained the wished-for soil. Nor was there delay: straightaway they come to the people of the Spali and, with battle joined, win the victory, and thence now, as if victors, hasten to the farthest part of Scythia, which is near the Pontic Sea.

Quemadmodum et in priscis eorum carminibus pene storicu ritu in commune recolitur: quod et Ablavius descriptor Gothorum gentis egregius verissima adtestatur historia. 29 In quam sententiam et nonnulli consensere maiorum: Ioseppus quoque annalium relator verissimus dum ubique veritatis conservet regulam et origines causarum a principio revolvat. Haec vero quae diximus de gente Gothorum principia cur omiserit, ignoramus: sed tantum Magog eorum stirpe comemorans, Scythas eos et natione et vocabulo asserit appellatos.

As is likewise recalled in their ancient songs, almost in a storical rite, which Ablavius, an outstanding recorder of the Gothic people, attests as the most truthful history. 29 To this opinion some of the elders have likewise consented: Josephus too, the most truthful relator of annals, everywhere preserving the rule of truth and unfolding the origins of causes from the beginning. Why he omitted the beginnings which we spoke of concerning the Gothic people, we do not know: but mentioning only Magog as their stock, he asserts that they were called Scythians both by nation and by name.

Cuius soli terminos, antequam aliud ad medium deducamus, necesse est, ut iacent, edicere.

It is necessary to declare where the boundaries of that land lie, before we draw anything else toward the middle.

V.30 Scythia si quidem Germaniae terre confines eo tenus, ubi Ister oritur amnis vel stagnus dilatatur Morsianus, tendens usque ad flumina Tyram, Danastrum et Vagosolam, magnumque illu Danaprum Taurumque montem, non illum Asiae, sed proprium, id est Scythicum, per omnem Meotidis aditum, ultraque Meotida per angustias Bosfori usque ad Caucasum montem amnemque Araxem ac deinde in sinistram partem reflexa post mare Caspium, quae in extremis Asiae finibus ab Oceano eoroboro in modum fungi primum tenuis, post haec latissima et rotunda forma exoritur, vergens ad Hunnus, Albanos et Seres usque digreditur. 31 Haec, inquam, patria, id est Scythia, longe se tendens lateque aperiens, habet ab oriente Seres, in ipso sui principio litus Caspii maris commanentes; ab occidente Germanos et flumen Vistulae; ab arctu, id est septentrionali, circumdatur oceano, a meridiae Persida, AIbania, Hiberia, Ponto atque extremo alveo Istri, qui dicitur Danubius ab ostea sua usque ad fontem. 32 In eo vero latere, qua Ponticum litus attingit, oppidis haut obscuris involvitur, Boristhenide, Olbia, Callipolida, Chersona, Theodosia, Careon, Myrmicion et Trapezunta, quas indomiti Scytharum nationes Grecis permiserunt condere, sibimet commercia prestaturos.

5. Scythia, if indeed it borders on the lands of Germania to that extent where the river Ister rises or the Morsian marsh is widened, stretching as far as the rivers Tyra, Dniester and Vagosola, and that great Danaprus and the Taurus mountain — not that Taurus of Asia, but the one proper, that is Scythian — through the whole approach to the Meotis, and beyond the Meotis through the narrows of the Bosporus as far as the Caucasus mountain and the river Araxes, and then turning to the left after the Caspian Sea, which at the farthest bounds of Asia from the Ocean at first rises thin like a mushroom, afterwards most broad and rounded in form, inclining and extending as far as the Huns, the Albani and the Seres.31 This, I say, is the fatherland, that is Scythia, stretching far and widely, and it has on its east the Seres dwelling on the very shore of the Caspian Sea at its beginning; on the west the Germans and the river Vistula; on the north, that is from the Arctic, it is girded by the ocean; to the south Persia, Albania, Iberia, Pontus and the outer channel of the Ister, which is called the Danube from its mouth to its source. 32 On that side where it reaches the Pontic shore it is studded with not obscure towns: Boristhenes, Olbia, Callipolis, Chersonesus, Theodosia, Caraeon, Myrmicion and Trapezus, which the indomitable nations of the Scythians allowed the Greeks to found, to furnish themselves with commerce.

In cuius Scythiae medium est locus, qui Asiam Europamque ab alterutro dividit, Riphei scilicet montes, qui Thanain vastissimum fundunt intrantem Meotida cuius paludis circuitus passuum mil. cxliiii, nusquam octo ulnis altius subsidentis. 33 In qua Scythia prima ab occidente gens residet Gepidarum, que magnis opinatisque ambitur fluminibus.

In the middle of that Scythia is a place which divides Asia and Europe from one another, namely the Riphean mountains, which give rise to the very vast Tanais flowing into the Meotis, whose marsh has a circuit of 1,144 paces, nowhere subsiding to a depth of more than eight cubits. 33 In that Scythia, first from the west, the nation of the Gepidae dwells, which is surrounded by great and ample rivers.

Nam Tisia per aquilonem eius chorumque discurrit; ab africo vero magnus ipse Danubius, ab eoo Flutausis secat, qui rapidus ac verticosus in Istri fluenta furens divolvitur. 34 Introrsus illis Dacia est, ad coronae speciem arduis Alpibus emunita, iuxta quorum sinistrum latus, qui in aquilone vergit, ab ortu Vistulae fluminis per inmensa spatia Venetharum natio populosa consedit, quorum nomina licet nunc per varias familias et loca mutentur, principaliter tamen Sclaveni et Antes nominantur. 35 Sclaveni a civitate Novietunense et laco qui appellatur Mursiano usque ad Danastrum et in boream Viscla tenus commorantur: hi paludes silvasque pro civitatibus habent.

For the Tisia runs toward the north and disperses its channels; but from the southwest the great Danube himself, from the east, cuts Flutausis, which, rapid and whirling, raging, is torn apart into the currents of the Ister. 34 Inland from these is Dacia, fortified with steep Alps like a crown, beside whose left flank, which faces north, from the rising of the Vistula river across immense spaces the populous nation of the Venethi settled, whose names, although now altered through diverse families and places, are principally called Sclaveni and Antes. 35 The Sclaveni dwell from the city Novietunense and the lake called Mursian as far as the Danastrum and to the northern Viscla: these have marshes and woods in place of cities.

Antes vero, qui sunt eorum fortissimi, qua Ponticum mare curvatur, a Danastro extenduntur usque ad Danaprum, quae flumina multis mansionibus ab invicem absunt. 36 Ad litus autem Oceani, ubi tribus faucibus fluenta Vistulae fluminis ebibuntur, Vidivarii resident, ex diversis nationibus adgregati; post quos ripam Oceani item Aesti tenent, pacatum hominum genus omnino. Quibus in austrum adsidet gens Acatzirorum fortissima, frugum ignara, quae pecoribus et venationibus victitat.

The Antes, however, who are the most valiant of them, extend from where the Pontic Sea curves, from the Danastro as far as the Danaprum, those rivers being distant from one another by many settlements. 36 On the shore of the Ocean, where the three mouths the currents of the Vistula river pour out, the Vidivarii dwell, aggregated from diverse nations; after whom the Aesti likewise occupy the Ocean's shore, a people altogether peaceful. To their south sits the very brave nation of the Acatziri, ignorant of crops, who subsist by cattle and by hunting.

37 Vltra quos distendunt supra mare Ponticum Bulgarum sedes, quos notissimos peccatorum nostrorum mala fecerunt. Hinc iam Hunni quasi fortissimorum gentium fecundissimus cespes bifariam populorum rabiem pullularunt. Nam alii Altziagiri, alii Saviri nuncupantur, qui tamen sedes habent divisas: iuxta Chersonam Altziagiri, quo Asiae bona avidus mercator importat, qui aestate campos pervagant effusas sedes, prout armentorum invitaverint pabula, hieme supra mare Ponticum se referentes.

37 Beyond them stretch, above the Pontic Sea, the seats of the Bulgars, whom the evils of our sins have made most notorious. From here already the Huns, as it were the most valiant of peoples, in a twofold manner sprang up, a most fertile sod producing the rage of peoples. For some are named Altziagiri, others Saviri, who nevertheless have their settlements divided: the Altziagiri dwell beside Cherson, to whom the merchant, eager for the goods of Asia, brings imports; these in summer roam the fields, their scattered dwellings following wherever the pastures invite their herds, withdrawing in winter toward the Pontic Sea.

Hunuguri autem hinc sunt noti, quia ab ipsis pellium murinarum venit commercium: quos tantorum virorum formidavit audacia. 38 Quorum mansione prima in Scythiae solo iuxta paludem Meotidem, secundo in Mysiam Thraciamque et Daciam, tertio supra mare Ponticum rursus in Scythia legimus habitasse: nec eorum fabulas alicubi repperimus scriptas, qui eos dicunt in Brittania vel in unaqualibet insularum in servitute redactos et in unius caballi praetio a quodam ereptos. Aut certe si quis eos aliter dixerit in nostro urbe, quam quod nos diximus, fuisse exortos, nobis aliquid obstrepebit: nos enim potius lectioni credimus quam fabulis anilibus consentimus.

Hunuguri, moreover, are known from here, because trade in mouse-skins comes from them: whose audacity struck terror into such great men. 38 Of whom we read that their first settlement lived on the soil of Scythia beside the Maeotian marsh, the second in Mysia and Thrace and Dacia, the third again above the Pontic sea in Scythia; nor have we found anywhere the tales of those who say they were reduced to servitude in Britain or in any one of the islands and were rescued by a certain man for the price of a single horse. Or certainly, if anyone in our city should say that they rose up otherwise than as we have stated, he will make some clamor against us: for we rather trust the reading than consent to aged women’s fables.

39 Vt ergo ad nostrum propositum redeamus, in prima sede Scythiae iuxta Meotidem commanentes praefati, unde loquimur, Filimer regem habuisse noscuntur. In secunda, id est Daciae, Thraciaeque et Mysiae solo Zalmoxen, quem mirae philosophiae eruditionis fuisse testantur plerique scriptores annalium. Nam et Zeutam prius habuerunt eruditum, post etiam Dicineum, tertium Zalmoxen, de quo superius diximus.

39 So then, to return to our purpose: in the first seat of Scythia beside the Maeotian marsh, those aforesaid in whose regard we speak are known to have had King Filimer. In the second, that is on the soil of Dacia, Thracia, and Mysia, Zalmoxis, whom many writers of annals testify to have been of wondrous philosophical learning. For they first had Zeuta, learned, then Dicineus, and thirdly Zalmoxis, of whom we said above.

Nec defuerunt, qui eos sapientiam erudirent. 40 Vnde et pene omnibus barbaris Gothi sapientiores semper extiterunt Grecisque pene consimiles, ut refert Dio, qui historias eorum annalesque Greco stilo composuit. Qui dicit primum Tarabosteseos, deinde vocatos Pilleatos hos, qui inter eos generosi extabant, ex quibus eis et reges et sacerdotes ordinabantur.

Nor were there wanting those who instructed them in wisdom. 40 Hence among almost all barbarians the Goths have always proved the more wise and almost similar to the Greeks, as Dio relates, who composed their histories and annals in a Greek style. He says first the Tarabostes, then those called the Pilleati — these who among them were the nobles, from whom both kings and priests were appointed.

Adeo ergo fuere laudati Gaetae, ut dudum Martem, quem poetarum fallacia deum belli pronuntiat, apud eos fuisse dicant exortum. Vnde et Vergilius: 'gradivumque patrem, Geticis qui praesidet arvis'. 41 Quem Martem Gothi semper asperrima placavere cultura (nam victimae eius mortes fuere captorum), opinantes bellorum praesulem apte humani sanguinis effusione placandum. Huic praede primordia vovebantur, huic truncis suspendebantur exubiae, eratque illis religionis preter ceteros insinuatus affectus, cum parenti devotio numinis videretur inpendi.

Thus Gaeta were so praised that long ago they say Mars, whom the poets by their fallacy pronounce the god of war, had arisen among them. Whence Virgil: 'and the marching father, who presides o'er the Getic fields'. 41 This Mars the Goths always appeased with the most severe cult (for his victims were the deaths of captives), believing that the leader of wars was fittingly placated by the pouring out of human blood. To him the first fruits of booty were vowed, to him spoils were hung from trunks, and a devotion of religion above the rest was instilled in them, since a filial devotion to the divinity seemed to be expended.

42 Tertia vero sede super mare Ponticum iam humaniores et, ut superius diximus, prudentiores effecti, divisi per familias populi, Vesegothae familiae Balthorum, Ostrogothae praeclaris Amalis serviebant.

42 At the third seat indeed on the Pontic Sea, now become more humane and, as we said above, more prudent, divided into the families of the people, the Vesi-Goths served the family of the Balthi, the Ostrogoths served the illustrious Amali.

43 Quorum studium fuit primum inter alias gentes vicinas arcum intendere nervis, Lucano plus storico quam poeta testante: 'Armeniosque arcus Geticis intendite nervis'. Ante quos etiam cantu maiorum facta modulationibus citharisque canebant, Eterpamara, Hanale, Fridigerni, Vidigoiae et aliorum, quorum in hac gente magna opinio est, quales vix heroas fuisse miranda iactat antiquitas. 44 Tunc, ut fertur, Vesosis Scythis lacrimabile sibi potius intulit bellum, eis videlicet, quos Amazonarum viros prisca tradit auctoritas, de quas et feminas bellatrices Orosius in primo volumine professa voce testatur. Vnde cum Gothis eum tunc dimicasse evidenter probamus, quem cum Amazonarum viris absolute pugnasse cognoscimus, qui tunc a Borysthene amne, quem accolae Danaprum vocant, usque ad Thanain fluvium circa sinum paludis Meotidis consedebant.

43 Their chief zeal was, above other neighboring peoples, to bend the bow with sinews, Lucan — more historian than poet — bearing witness: 'Armeniosque arcus Geticis intendite nervis' — and before whom also they sang the deeds of their ancestors with modulations and citharas, Eterpamara, Hanale, Fridigerni, Vidigoiae and others, of whom in this people there is a great repute, which antiquity brags as if they were scarcely less than heroes to be marveled at. 44 Then, as is said, the Vesoses brought upon the Scythians a lamentable war for themselves rather — namely upon those whom ancient authority hands down as the men of the Amazons, of whom Orosius in his first book testifies with plain voice that the women were warriors. Whence, since we clearly prove that he then fought with the Goths, whom we recognize to have fought outright against the men of the Amazons, who then dwelt from the Borysthenes river (which the locals call Danapris) as far as the Tanais river about the bay of the Maeotian marsh.

45 Thanain vero hunc dico, qui ex Ripheis montibus deiectus adeo preceps ruit, ut, cum vicina flumina sive Meotis et Bosforus gelu solidentur, solus amnium confragosis montibus vaporatus, numquam Scythico duriscit algore. Hic Asiae Europaeque terminus famosus habetur. Nam alter est ille, qui montibus Chrinnorum oriens, in Caspium mare dilabitur.

45 But this one I call the Thana (Thanain), which, cast down from the Riphean mountains, rushes so headlong that, while the neighboring rivers — whether the Meotis and the Bosporus — are congealed by frost, it alone, its streams warmed by the fractured mountains, never stiffens with Scythian cold. This is held to be the famous boundary of Asia and Europe. For the other is that which, rising from the Chrinnian mountains, pours away into the Caspian Sea.

46 Danaper autem ortus grande palude, quasi ex matre profunditur. Hic usque ad medium sui dulcis est et potabilis, piscesque nimii saporis gignit, ossa carentibus chartellagine tantum habentes in corporis continentiam. Sed ubi fit Ponto vicinior, parvum fontem suscipit, cui Exampheo cognomen est, adeo amarum, ut, cum sit quadraginta dierum itinere navigabilis, huius aquis exiguis inmutetur, infectusque ac dissimilis sui inter Greca oppida Callipidas et Hypannis in mare defluat.

46 The Danaper has its rise from a great marsh, as if poured forth from a mother. Here it is sweet and drinkable as far as its middle, and yields fish of too great flavor, their bodies lacking bones and having only a cartilaginous parchment for corporal support. But when it grows nearer to the Pontus it receives a small spring, surnamed Exampheo, so bitter that, although the river is navigable for a voyage of forty days, it is altered by the scant waters of this spring, and, tainted and unlike itself, discharges into the sea between the Greek towns Callipidas and Hypannis.

Ad cuius ostia insula est in fronte, Achillis nomine. Inter hos terra vastissima, silvis consita, paludibus dubia.

At whose mouths an island stands opposite, by the name Achilles. Between these a very vast land, sown with woods, dubious because of its marshes.

VI.47 Hic ergo Gothis morantibus Vesosis, Aegyptiorum rex, in bellum inruit, quibus tunc Tanausis rex erat. Quod proelio ad Phasim fluvium, a quo Fasides aves exortae in totum mundum epulis potentum exuberant, Thanausis Gothorum rex Vesosi Aegyptiorum occurrit, eumque graviter debellans in Aegypto usque persecutus est, et nisi Nili amnis intransmeabilis obstetissent fluenta vel munitiones, quas dudum sibi ob incursiones Aethiopum Vesosis fieri praecepisset, ibi in eius eum patria extinxisset. Sed dum eum ibi positum non valuisset laedere, revertens pene omnem Asiam subiugavit et sibi tunc caro amico Sorno, regi Medorum, ad persolvendum tributum subditos fecit.

VI.47 While the Goths were therefore staying at Vesosi, the king of the Egyptians burst into war against them, to whom then Tanausis was king. In that battle by the Phasis river — from which the Fasides, birds having arisen, abound throughout the world at the banquets of the mighty — Thanausis, king of the Goths, met the Egyptian Vesosis, and having routed him grievously pursued him even into Egypt; and if the impassable stream of the Nile or the fortifications, which Vesosis long before had caused to be made for himself on account of incursions of the Aethiopians, had not opposed the waters, he would there have extinguished him in his own country. But while he could not harm him when thus posted there, returning he subdued almost all Asia, and then made subject peoples to him and to his dear friend Sornus, king of the Medes, for the payment of tribute.

Ex cuius exercitu victores tunc nonnulli provincias subditas contuentes et in omni fertilitate pollentes deserta suorum agmina sponte in Asiae partibus residerunt. 48 Ex quorum nomine vel genere Pompeius Trogus Parthorum dicit extitisse prosapiem. Vnde etiam hodieque lingua Scythica fugaces quod est, Parthi dicuntur, suoque generi respondentes inter omnes pene Asiae nationes soli sagittarii sunt et acerrimi bellatores.

From whose army some victors then, seeing provinces subject and abounding in every fertility, and their own ranks deserted, of their own accord settled back in parts of Asia. 48 From whose name or stock Pompeius Trogus says the lineage of the Parthians arose. Whence even today in the Scythian tongue they are called Parthi, which means “the fugitives,” and answering to their own race they alone among almost all the nations of Asia are archers and most fierce warriors.

De nomine vero, quod diximus eos Parthos, fugaces, ita aliquanti aethymologiam traxerunt, ut dicerent Parthi, quia suos refugerunt parentes. Hunc ergo Thanausim regem Gothorum mortuum inter numina sui populi coluerunt.

Concerning the name indeed — that we called them Parthi, “the fugitives” — some thus drew an etymology, saying Parthi because they fled from their parents. Therefore they venerated this Thanausis, king of the Goths, dead, among the numina of their people.

VII.49 Post cuius decessum et exercitu eius cum successores ipsius in aliis partibus expeditione gerentibus feminae Gothorum a quadam vicina gente temptantur in praeda. Quae doctae a viris fortiter resisterunt hostesque super se venientes cum magna verecundia abigerunt.

VII.49 After whose death, and his army meanwhile with his successors conducting expedition in other parts, the women of the Goths were assailed for plunder by a certain neighboring people. But these, taught by the men, resisted bravely and drove off the enemies who came upon them with great modesty.

Qua patratae victoria fretaeque maioris audacia invicem se cohortantes arma arripiunt elegentesque duas audentiores Lampeto et Marpesia principatui subrogarunt. 50 Quae dum curam gerunt, ut et propria defenderent et aliena vastarent, sortitae Lampeto restitit fines patrios tuendo, Marpesia vero feminarum agmine sumpta novum genus exercitui duxit in Asiam, diversasque gentes bello superans, alios vero pace concilians, ad Cauchasum venit, ibique certum tempus demorans loci nomen dedit Saxum Marpesiae, unde et Vergilius: 'ac si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes', in eo loco, ubi post haec Alexander Magnus portas constituens Pylas Caspias nominavit, quod nunc Lazorum gens custodit pro munitione Romana. 51 Hic ergo certum temporis Amazonas commanentes confortati sunt.

When victory had been won and the bolder daring of the fleet encouraged one another, they took up arms and entrusted the command to two more daring and elegant women, Lampeto and Marpesia. 50 While they cared for affairs, both to defend their own and to ravage others, by lot Lampeto remained, resisting and guarding the fatherland’s borders; Marpesia, however, chosen as leader of the women’s host, led a new sort of army into Asia, overcoming diverse peoples by war and reconciling others by peace, came to the Cauchasus, and there, delaying for a certain time, gave the place the name Saxum Marpesiae, whence also Vergil: 'ac si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes', in that spot where afterward Alexander the Great, setting up gates, named the Caspian Gates Pylas, which now the people of the Laz defend as a Roman fortification. 51 Here therefore the Amazons, remaining for a certain time, were strengthened.

Vnde egressi et Alem fluvium, quod iuxta Gargaram civitatem praeterfluit, transeuntes, Armeniam, Syriam Ciliciamque, Galatiam, Pisidiam omniaque Asiae loca aequa felicitate domuerunt; Ioniam Eoliamque conversae deditas sibi provincias effecerunt. Vbi diutius dominantes etiam civitates castraque suo in nomine dicaverunt. Ephesi quoque templum Dianae ob sagittandi ac venandi studium, quibus se artibus tradidissent, effusis opibus mirae pulchritudinis condiderunt.

Whence, having set out and crossing the river Alem, which flows by the city Gargara, they passed into Armenia, Syria and Cilicia, Galatia, Pisidia and all the places of Asia, and subdued them with even good fortune; they made Ionia and Aeolia, turned to them, provinces devoted to themselves. Where, ruling for a long time, they even dedicated cities and camps in their name. In Ephesus also they founded a temple of Diana, because of their zeal for archery and hunting, the arts to which they had devoted themselves, lavishing resources in a structure of wondrous beauty.

52 Tale ergo Scythiae genitae feminae casu Asiae regna potitae per centum pene annos tenuerunt et sic demum ad proprias socias in cautes Marpesios, quas superius diximus, repedarunt, in montem scilicet Caucasi. Cuius montis quia facta iterum mentio est, non ab re arbitror eius tractum situmque describere, quando maximam partem orbis noscitur circuire iugo continuo. 53 Is namque ab Indico mare surgens, qua meridiem respicit, sole vaporatus ardescit; qua septentrione patet, rigentibus ventis est obnoxius et pruinis.

52 Thus the woman, born of Scythia, by chance having obtained the kingdoms of Asia, held them for nearly a hundred years, and so at last retired back to her own comrades into the Marpesian rocks, which we mentioned above, namely into the mountain Caucasus. Since mention has again been made of that mountain, I do not think it fitting to describe its extent and situation, seeing that it is known to gird the greater part of the world with a continuous ridge. 53 For it rises from the Indian Sea; on the side that looks south it is warmed and scorched by the sun; on the side that faces north it is subject to freezing winds and frosts.

Mox in Syriam curvato angulo reflexus, licet amnium plurimos emittat, in Vasianensem tamen regionem Eufratem Tigrimque navigeros ad opinionem maximam perennium fontium cupiosis fundit uberibus. Qui amplexantes terras Syrorum Mesopotamiam et appellari faciunt et videri, in sinum rubri maris fluenta deponentes. 54 Tunc in boream revertens Scythicas terras iugus antefatus magnis flexibus pervagatur atque ibidem opinatissima flumina in Caspium mare profundens Araxem, Cysum et Cambisen continuatoque iugo ad Ripheos usque in montes extenditur.

Soon, having rounded the corner into Syria, though it issues forth very many rivers, it nevertheless pours the Euphrates and the Tigris into the Vasian region for mariners eager for perennial springs of greatest renown, filling it with abundant sources. Those rivers, embracing the lands of the Syrians, make and cause the land to be called and seen Mesopotamia, depositing their streams into the bay of the Red Sea. 54 Then turning back to the north, the afore‑said ridge traverses the Scythian lands with great bends, and there, plunging the most celebrated rivers into the Caspian Sea — the Araxes, the Cysus and the Cambyses — it extends, with the ridge continued, even to the Riphean mountains.

Indeque Scythicis gentibus dorso suo terminum praebens ad Pontum usque discendit, consertisque collibus Histri quoque fluenta contingit, quo amne scissus dehiscens Scythia quoque Taurus vocatur. 55 Talis ergo tantusque et pene omnium montium maximus excelsas suas erigens summitates naturali constructione praestat gentibus inexpugnanda munimina. Nam locatim recisus, qua disrupto iugo vallis hiatu patescit, nunc Caspias portas, nunc Armenias, nunc Cilicas, vel secundum locum quale fuerit, facit, vix tamen plaustro meabilis, lateribus in altitudinem utremque desectis, qui pro gentium varietate diverso vocabulo nuncupatur.

Thence, affording an ending with its ridge to the Scythian peoples, it descends as far as the Pontus, and, the hills joined together, it even touches the streams of the Ister, at which river cleft and gaping Scythia is also called Taurus. 55 Such therefore, so great and almost the greatest of all mountains, raising up its lofty summits, by natural construction offers to the peoples impregnable ramparts. For, being in places severed, where with the ridge broken the valley gapes open, it now makes the Caspian gates, now the Armenian, now the Cilician, or, according to the place, whatever each may be; scarcely fordable even by wagon, its sides cut away to height on either hand, which, from the diversity of peoples, is named by different appellations.

Hunc enim Lammum, mox Propanissimum Indus appellat; Parthus primum Castram, post Nifatem edicit; Syrus et Armenus Taurum, Scytha Cauchasum ac Rifeum, iterumque in fine Taurum cognominat; aliaeque conplurimae gentes huic iugo dedere vocabulo. Et quia de eius continuatione pauca libabimus, ad Amazonas, unde divertimus, redeamus.

For the Indians soon call this Lammus Propanissimus; the Parthian first names it Castram, afterwards Nifatem; the Syrian and the Armenian call it Taurum, the Scythian Cauchasum and Rifeum, and again at the end surnames it Taurum; very many other peoples gave this ridge a name. And because we shall say little about its continuation, let us return to the Amazons, whence we turned aside.

VIII.56 Quae veritae, ne eorum prolis rarisceret, vicinis gentibus concubitum petierunt, facta nundina semel in anno, ita ut futuri temporis eadem die revertentibus in id ipsum, quidquid partus masculum edidisset, patri redderet, quidquid vero feminei sexus nasceretur, mater ad arma bellica erudiret: sive, ut quibusdam placet, editis maribus novercali odio infantis miserandi fata rumpebant. Ita apud illas detestabile puerperium erat, quod ubique constat esse votivum.

VIII.56 Those fearing that their progeny might grow scarce sought intercourse with neighboring peoples, the custom being a market‑day once a year, so that on that same day in the future, returning to that very place, whatever birth had produced a male would be delivered to the father, whereas whatever of the female sex was born the mother would train to warlike arms: or, as some prefer, when males were born they, with stepmotherly hatred, would break the pitiable fate of the infant. Thus among them childbirth was detestable, which everywhere is said to be votive.

57 Quae crudelitas illis terrorem maximum comulabat opinionis vulgatae. Nam quae, rogo, spes esset capto, ubi indulgi vel filio nefas habebatur? Contra has, ut fertur, pugnavit Herculis, et Melanis pene plus dolo quam virtute subegit.

57 Such cruelty heaped the greatest terror upon their widespread reputation. For what, I ask, would be the hope of one taken captive, where it was held nefas even to show indulgence to a son? Against these, as is reported, Hercules fought, and Melanis subdued them almost more by guile than by valor.

Theseus vero Hippoliten in praeda tulit, de qua et genuit Hypolitum. Hae quoque Amazones post haec habuere reginam nomine Penthesileam, cuius Troiano bello extant clarissima documenta. Nam hae feminae usque ad Alexandrum Magnum referuntur tenuisse regimen.

Theseus, however, carried off Hippolyte as spoil, by whom he also begot Hippolytus. These Amazons likewise afterward had a queen named Penthesilea, of whom very famous testimonies remain in the Trojan War. For these women are reported to have held rule down to Alexander the Great.

IX.58 Sed ne dicas: de viris Gothorum sermo adsumptus cur in feminas tamdiu perseverat? Audi et virorum insignem et laudabilem fortitudinem. Dio storicus et antiquitatum diligentissimus inquisitor, qui operi suo Getica titulum dedit (quos Getas iam superiori loco Gothos esse probavimus, Orosio Paulo dicente) – hic Dio regem illis post tempora multa commemorat nomine Telefum.

IX.58 But lest you say: the discourse having been taken up about the men of the Goths, why does it persist so long on the women? Hear also of the men's remarkable and laudable fortitude. Dio, the historian and most diligent investigator of antiquities, who gave the title Getica to his work (whom we have already proved in the earlier place to be the Getae — that is, the Goths, Paulus Orosius saying) — this Dio mentions for them, after many times, a king by the name Telefum.

Ne vero quis dicat hoc nomen a lingua Gothica omnino peregrinum esse, nemo qui nesciat animadvertat usu pleraque nomina gentes amplecti, ut Romani Macedonum, Greci Romanorum, Sarmatae Germanorum, Gothi plerumque mutuantur Hunnorum. 59 Is ergo Telefus, Herculis filius natus ex Auge, sororis Priami coniugio copulatus, procerus quidem corpore, sed plus vigore terribilis, qui paternam fortitudinem propriis virtutibus aequans Herculis genium formae quoque similitudinem referebat. Huius itaque regnum Moesiam appellavere maiores.

But let no one say that this name is entirely foreign to the Gothic tongue; let anyone who does not know observe that by usage peoples adopt many names, as the Romans (borrow from) the Macedonians, the Greeks (from) the Romans, the Sarmatae (from) the Germans, the Goths for the most part borrow from the Huns. 59 Therefore this Telefus, son of Hercules born of Auge, joined in marriage to the sister of Priam, tall indeed in body, but more terrible in vigour, who, equalling his paternal courage by his own virtues, bore the genius of Hercules and even a likeness of his form. Hence our ancestors called his kingdom Moesia.

Quae provincia habet ab oriente ostia fluminis Danubii, a meridie Macedonia, ab occasu Histria, a septentrione Danubium. 60 Is ergo antefatus habuit bellum cum Danais, in qua pugna Thesandrum ducem Greciae interemit et dum Aiacem infestus invadit Vliximque persequitur, vitibus equo cadente ipse corruit Achillisque iaculo femur sauciatus diu mederi nequivit; Grecos tamen, quamvis iam saucius, e suis finibus proturbavit. Thelepho vero defuncto Euryphylus filius successit in regno, ex Priami Frygum regi germana progenitus.

This province has on the east the mouths of the river Danube, on the south Macedonia, on the west Histria, on the north the Danube. 60 He therefore, above-mentioned, had war with the Danaans, in which battle he slew Thesander, leader of Greece, and while fiercely attacking Ajax and pursuing Ulysses, with his horse falling among the vines he himself collapsed and, wounded in the thigh by Achilles’ javelin, could not be healed for a long time; yet he drove the Greeks, albeit now wounded, from his borders. But on Thelepho’s death Euryphylus his son succeeded to the kingdom, born of Priam’s sister to the Phrygian king.

Qui ob Casandrae amorem bello interesse Troiano, ut parentibus soceroque ferret auxilium, cupiens, mox venisset extinctus est.

Who, on account of his love for Cassandra, desiring to take part in the Trojan War, that he might bring aid to his parents and to his father-in-law, soon came and was slain.

X.61 Tunc Cyrus, rex Persarum, post grande intervallum et pene post dcxxx annorum tempore (Pompeio Trogo testante) Getarum reginae Thomyre sibi exitiabile intulit bellum. Qui elatus ex Asiae victoriis Getas nititur subiugare, quibus, ut diximus, regina erat Thomyris. Quae cum Abraxem amnem Cyri arcere potuisset accessum, transitum tamen permisit, elegens armis eum vincere quam locorum beneficio submovere; quod et factum est.

X.61 Then Cyrus, king of the Persians, after a great interval and almost after 630 years’ time (Pompeius Trogus testifying), brought a fatal war upon the Getae’s queen Thomyris. He, elated by the victories in Asia, endeavored to subjugate the Getae, of whom, as we said, Thomyris was queen. She, although she could have checked Cyrus’s advance at the Abraxas river, nevertheless permitted the crossing, preferring to conquer him by arms rather than to dislodge him by advantage of place; and so it came to pass.

62 Et veniente Cyro prima cessit fortuna Parthis in tantum, ut et filium Thomyris et plurimum exercitum trucidarent. Sed iterato Marte Getae cum sua regina Parthos devictos superant atque prosternunt opimamque praedam de eis auferunt, ibique primum Gothorum gens sirica vidit tentoria. Tunc Thomyris regina aucta victoria tantaque praeda de inimicis potita, in partem Moesiae, quae nunc a magna Scythia nomen mutuatum minor Scythia appellatur, transiens, ibi in Ponti Moesiaco litore Thomes civitatem suo de nomine aedificavit.

62 And when Cyrus arrived, at first fortune gave way to the Parthians so much that they slew both Thomyris’s son and the greater part of the army. But with war renewed the Getae, with their queen, conquered the Parthians, routed them, and carried off rich booty from them, and there for the first time the Siric tribe of the Goths saw tents. Then Queen Thomyris, her victory increased and having obtained so great a prey from the enemies, crossing into the part of Moesia—which is now called Lesser Scythia, the name borrowed from Greater Scythia—there on the Pontic Moesian shore founded the city Thomes from her own name.

63 Dehinc Darius, rex Persarum, Hystaspis filius, Antyri, regis Gothorum, filiam in matrimonio postulavit, rogans pariter atque deterrens, nisi suam peragerent voluntatem. Cuius affinitatem Gothi spernentes, legationem eius frustrarunt. Qui repulsus dolore flammatus est et dcc milia armatorum contra ipsos produxit exercitum, verecundiam suam malo publico vindicare contendens; navibusque pene a Chalcedona usque ad Bizantium in instar pontium tabulatis atque consertis Thraciam petit et Moesiam; pontemque rursus in Danubio pari modo constructum duobus mensibus crebris fatigatus in Tapis viii milia perdidit armatorum, timensque, ne pons Danubii ab eius adversariis occuparetur, celeri fuga in Thracia repedavit, nec Mysiae solum sibi credens tutum fore aliquantulum remorandi.

63 Then Darius, king of the Persians, son of Hystaspes, demanded in marriage the daughter of Antyrus, king of the Goths, both petitioning and threatening, unless they performed his will. The Goths, scorning this alliance, frustrated his embassy. He, repulsed, was inflamed with grief and marshaled an army of 700,000 armed men against them, striving to vindicate his honor by a public calamity; and by ships, almost from Chalcedon as far as Byzantium, with planks laid and joined like a causeway, he made for Thrace and Moesia; and a bridge again built on the Danube in the same fashion, worn out by frequent toil in two months, he lost 8,000 armed men in the Tapis, and fearing that the Danube bridge might be seized by his adversaries, he withdrew with swift flight into Thrace, not believing that even a short delay in Mysia alone would be safe for him.

64 Post cuius decessum iterum Xerses filius eius paternas iniurias ulcisci se aestimans, cum sua septingenta et auxiliarium ccc milia armatorum, rostratas naves mille ducentas, onerarias tria milia, super Gothos ad bellum profectus nec temptare in conflictu praevaluit, eorum animositate et constantia superatus. Sic namque ut venerat, absque aliquo certamine suo cum robore recessit. 65 Philippus quoque, pater Alexandri Magni, cum Gothis amicitias copulans Medopam Gudilae regis filiam accepit uxorem, ut tali affinitate roboratus Macedonum regna firmaret.

64 After whose death Xerxes, his son, deeming himself to avenge his father's injuries, having set out against the Goths for war with his own 700,000 and auxiliaries 300,000 armed men, rostrated ships 1,200, and transport ships 3,000, did not prevail in attempting the conflict, being overcome by their spiritedness and constancy. Thus indeed as he had come, he withdrew with his force without any engagement. 65 Philip also, father of Alexander the Great, forming friendships with the Goths, took Medopa, daughter of King Gudila, as his wife, so that, strengthened by such an affinity, he might make firm the realms of the Macedonians.

Qua tempestate Dio storico dicente Philippus inopia pecuniae passus, Odyssitanam Moesiae civitatem instructis copiis vastare deliberat, quae tunc propter vicinam Thomes Gothis erat subiecta. Vnde et sacerdotes Gothorum illi qui pii vocabantur subito patefactis portis cum citharis et vestibus candidis obviam egressi patriis diis, ut sibi propitii Macedonas repellerent, voce supplici modulantes. Quos Macedones sic fiducialiter sibi occurrere contuentes stupiscent et, si dici fas est, ab inermibus terrentur armati.

At that time, Dio the historian says, Philip, having suffered want of money, resolved to lay waste the Odyssitan city of Moesia with troops drawn up, which then, because of nearby Thomes, was subject to the Goths. Whereupon even the priests of the Goths, those called the pious, with the gates suddenly thrown open went forth to meet him with citharas and white garments, chanting in a suppliant voice to the ancestral gods that they might propitiously drive off the Macedonians for them. The Macedonians, beholding that they so trustingly came to meet them, stand amazed and, if it may be said, are frightened by the unarmed as though by armed men.

Nec mora soluta acie quam ad bellandum construxerant, non tantum ab urbis excidio abstinuerunt, verum etiam et quos foris fuerant iure belli adepti, reddiderunt, foedusque inito ad sua reversi sunt. 66 Quod dolum post longum tempus reminiscens egregius Gothorum ductor Sithalcus, cl virorum milibus congregatis Atheniensibus intulit bellum adversus Perdiccam Macedoniae regem, quem Alexander apud Babylloniam ministri insidiis potans interitum Atheniensium principatui hereditario iure reliquerat successorem. Magno proelio cum hoc inito Gothi superiores inventi sunt, et sic pro iniuria, qua illi in Moesia dudum fecissent, isti in Grecia discurrentes cunctam Macedoniam vastaverunt.

Nor did they, having broken up the battle-line they had constructed for fighting, delay; not only did they refrain from the city's destruction, abstinuerunt, but also returned those whom they had taken outside by the right of war, and with a treaty concluded they returned to their own. 66 The distinguished leader of the Goths, Sithalcus, remembering that ruse after a long time, having gathered thousands of men, brought war against Perdiccas, king of Macedonia, whom Alexander, at Babylon, by the treachery of his ministers having perished, had left as successor to the Athenian principate by hereditary right. In a great battle with him the Goths proved superior, and thus, in requital for the injury which those men long before had done to them in Moesia, these, ranging through Greece, laid waste all Macedonia.

XI.67 Dehinc regnante Gothis Buruista Dicineus venit in Gothiam, quo tempore Romanorum Sylla potitus est principatum. Quem Dicineum suscipiens Buruista dedit ei pene regiam potestatem; cuius consilio Gothi Germanorum terras, quas nunc Franci optinent, populati sunt. 68 Caesar vero, qui sibi primus omnium Romanum vindicavit imperium et pene omnem mundum suae dicioni subegit omniaque regna perdomuit, adeo ut extra nostro urbe in oceani sinu repositas insulas occuparet, et nec nomen Romanorum auditu qui noverant, eos Romanis tributarios faceret, Gothos tamen crebro pertemptans nequivit subicere.

11.67 Then, Buruista reigning over the Goths, Dicineus came into Gothia, at which time Sulla obtained the principate for the Romans. Receiving this Dicineus, Buruista gave him almost royal power; by whose counsel the Goths devastated the lands of the Germans, which now the Franks occupy. 68 Caesar, however, who first of all claimed the Roman imperium for himself and subjected nearly the whole world to his dominion and subdued all kingdoms, so that he occupied islands placed in the gulf of the ocean outside our city, and made those who had heard the name of the Romans tributary to the Romans, nevertheless, though repeatedly trying to assay the Goths, could not subdue them.

Gaius Tiberius iam tertius regnat Romanis: Gothi tamen suo regno incolume perseverant. 69 Quibus hoc erat salubre, hoc adcommodum, hoc votivum, ut, quidquid Dicineus eorum consiliarius precepisset, hoc modis omnibus expetendum, hoc utile iudicantes, effectui manciparent. Qui cernens eorum animos sibi in omnibus oboedire et naturalem eos habere ingenium, omnem pene phylosophiam eos instruxit: erat namque huius rei magister peritus.

Gaius Tiberius now the third rules the Romans: the Goths, however, continue in their kingdom unharmed. 69 For them this was salutary, this convenient, this votive, that whatever Dicineus, their consiliarius (counsellor), had prescribed, they should by all ways seek after, deeming it useful, and bind it to effect. He, seeing that their minds obeyed him in all things and that they possessed a natural ingenuousness, instructed them in almost the whole of philosophy: for he was a skilled master in this matter.

Nam ethicam eos erudiens barbaricos mores conpescuit; fysicam tradens naturaliter propriis legibus vivere fecit, quas usque nunc conscriptas belagines nuncupant; logicam instruens rationis eos supra ceteras gentes fecit expertes; practicen ostendens in bonis actibus conversare suasit; theoreticen demonstrans signorum duodecem et per ea planetarum cursus omnemque astronomiam contemplari edocuit, et quomodo lunaris urbis augmentum sustinet aut patitur detrimentum, edixit, solisque globum igneum quantum terreno orbe in mensura excedat, ostendit, aut quibus nominibus vel quibus signis in polo caeli vergente et revergente trecentae quadraginta et sex stellae ab ortu in occasu precipites ruant, exposuit. 70 Qualis erat, rogo, voluptas, ut viri fortissimi, quando ab armis quantolumcumque vacassent, doctrinis philosophicis inbuebantur? Videris unum caeli positionem, alium herbarum fruticumque explorare naturas, istum lunae commoda incommodaque, illum solis labores adtendere et quomodo rotatu caeli raptos retro reduci ad partem occiduam, qui ad orientalem plagam ire festinant, ratione accepta quiescere.

For teaching them ethics he repressed their barbaric mores; by imparting physics he made them live naturally by proper laws, which even now they call the written belagines; instructing them in logic he made them expert above other peoples in reason; showing the practical he persuaded them to engage in good deeds; demonstrating the theoretical he taught the twelve signs and thereby to contemplate the courses of the planets and all astronomy, and declared how the moon’s disk sustains increase or suffers diminution, and showed how much the sun’s fiery globe exceeds the terrestrial orb in measure, and explained by what names or by what signs, with the pole of the sky inclining and recoiling, three hundred and forty-six stars rush headlong from east to west. 70 What a delight, I ask, that was, that the most valiant men, when at any time freed from arms, were imbued with philosophical doctrines? You will see one note the positions of the heavens, another explore the natures of herbs and shrubs, this one the advantages and disadvantages of the moon, that one attend to the labors of the sun and how, by the rotation of the sky, those swept up are carried back to the western part, who hasten to go to the eastern quarter, and, having grasped reason, rest.

71 Haec et alia nonnulla Dicineus Gothis sua peritia tradens mirabilis apud eos enituit, ut non solu mediocribus, immo et regibus imperaret. Elegit namque ex eis tunc nobilissimos prudentioresque viros, quos theologiam instruens, numina quaedam et sacella venerare suasit fecitque sacerdotes, nomen illis pilleatorum contradens, ut reor, quia opertis capitibus tyaris, quos pilleos alio nomine nuncupamus, litabant: 72 reliquam vero gentem capillatos dicere iussit, quod nomen Gothi pro magno suscipientes adhuc odie suis cantionibus reminiscent.

71 These and some other things Dicineus, handing over to the Gothi by his expertise, shone wondrously among them, so that he not only ruled the middling, but indeed even commanded kings. For he chose then from them the most noble and prudent men, instructing them in theology, persuading them to venerate certain numina and sacella, and made them priests, giving them the name pilleatorum, I think, because with their heads covered they worshipped tyars (tiaras), which we call pilleos by another name; 72 moreover he ordered the remaining people to be called capillatos, a name which the Gothi, receiving it as something great, still even to this day recall in their songs.

XII.73 Decedente vero Dicineo pene pari veneratione habuerunt Comosicum, quia nec inpar erat sollertiae. Hic etenim et rex illis et pontifex ob suam peritiam habebatur et in summa iustitia populos iudicabat.

12.73 With Dicineus having departed, they held Comosicus with nearly equal veneration, for he was not inferior in cleverness. For he was esteemed by them both as king and as pontiff on account of his skill, and in utmost justice he judged the peoples.

Et hoc rebus excedente humanis Coryllus rex Gothorum in regno conscendit et per quadraginta annos in Dacia suis gentibus imperavit. Daciam dico antiquam, quam nunc Gepidarum populi possidere noscuntur. 74 Quae patria in conspectu Moesiae sita trans Danubium corona montium cingitur, duos tantum habens accessus, unum per Boutas, alterum per Tapas.

And this, human affairs passing by, Coryllus, king of the Goths, ascended to the kingdom and for forty years ruled in Dacia over his peoples. I mean ancient Dacia, which now is known to be possessed by the people of the Gepids. 74 Which homeland, situated opposite Moesia across the Danube, is girded by a crown of mountains, having only two approaches, one by Boutas, the other by Tapas.

Haec Gotia, quam Daciam appellavere maiores, quae nunc, ut diximus, Gepidia dicitur, tunc ab oriente Aroxolani, ab occasu Iazyges, a septentrione Sarmatae et Basternae, a meridiae amnis Danubii terminabant. Nam Iazyges ab Aroxolanis Aluta tantum fluvio segregantur. 75 Et quia Danubii mentio facta est, non ab re iudico pauca de tali amne egregio indicare.

This Gotia, which our ancestors called Dacia, which now, as we have said, is named Gepidia, was then bounded on the east by the Aroxolani, on the west by the Iazyges, on the north by the Sarmatae and Basternae, and on the south by the river Danube. For the Iazyges are separated from the Aroxolani by the river Aluta alone. 75 And since mention has been made of the Danube, I do not judge it out of place to set down a few things about that notable stream.

Nam hic in Alamannicis arvis exoriens sexaginta a fonte suo usque ad ostia in Ponto mergentia per mille ducentorum passuum milia hinc inde suscipiens flumina in modum spinae, quem costas ut cratem intexunt, omnino amplissimus est. Qui lingua Bessorum Hister vocatur, ducentis tantum pedibus in altum aquam in alveo habet profundam. Hic etenim amnis inter cetera flumina in magnum omnes superans praeter Nilum.

For here, rising in the Alamannic fields and running sixty [milia] from its source to mouths that plunge into the Pontus, taking up on this side and that rivers like ribs, which they interweave the coasts with as with a wickerwork, is altogether very broad. This river, called Hister in the tongue of the Bessi, has in its channel a depth of only two hundred feet of water. For this stream indeed, among other rivers, surpasses all in greatness except the Nile.

Haec de Danubio dixisse sufficiat. Ad propositum vero, unde nos digressimus, iubante domino redeamus.

Let what has been said about the Danube suffice. But to the matter proposed, from where we set out, let us return at our lord’s bidding.

XIII.76 Longum namque post intervallum Domitiano imperatore regnante eiusque avaritiam metuentes foedus, quod dudum cum aliis principibus pepigerant, Gothi solventes, ripam Danubii iam longe possessam ab imperio Romano deletis militibus cum eorum ducibus vastaverunt. Cui provinciae tunc post Agrippam Oppius praeerat Savinus, Gothis autem Dorpaneus principatum agebat, quando bello commisso Gothi, Romanos devictos, Oppii Savini caput abscisum, multa castella et civitates invadentes de parte imperatoris publice depraedarunt.

13.76 For after a long interval, Domitian being emperor and they fearing his avarice, the Goths, breaking the treaty which long before they had pledged with other chiefs, laid waste the bank of the Danube — already long held by the Roman power — the soldiers having been destroyed, and with their leaders they devastated it. At that time Oppius Savinus was governor of that province after Agrippa, and the Goth Dorpaneus exercised the chief command; when war was joined the Goths, the Romans having been overcome, cut off the head of Oppius Savinus, and, invading many forts and cities, plundered publicly on the emperor’s account.

77 Qua necessitate suorum Domitianus cum omni virtute sua Illyricum properavit et totius pene rei publicae militibus ductore Fusco praelato cum lectissimis viris amnem Danubii consertis navibus ad instar pontis transmeare coegit super exercitum Dorpanei. 78 Tum Gothi haut segnes reperti arma capessunt primoque conflictu mox Romanos devincunt, Fuscoque duce extincto divitias de castris militum spoliant magnaque potiti per loca victoria iam proceres suos, quorum quasi fortuna vincebant, non puros homines, sed semideos id est Ansis vocaverunt. Quorum genealogia ut paucis percurram vel quis quo parente genitus est aut unde origo coepta, ubi finem effecit, absque invidia, qui legis, vera dicentem ausculta.

77 By what necessity of his men Domitian, with all his vigor, hastened into Illyricum, and with Fuscus appointed commander of nearly the whole republic’s soldiers, with the choicest men, forced the river Danube, the ships joined together like a bridge, to be crossed opposite the army of Dorpaneus. 78 Then the Goths, found not inactive, took up arms and in the first engagement soon routed the Romans, and with Fuscus their leader slain plundered riches from the soldiers’ camps; having secured great victory throughout the region they now called their chiefs, whom they conquered as if by fortune, not mere men but semi-gods, that is, Ansis. Whose genealogy, that I may run over in few words—whether any was born of which parent, or whence the origin began, or where it ended—listen, without envy, you who read, to one speaking the truth.

XIV.79 Horum ergo heroum, ut ipsi suis in fabulis referunt, primus fuit Gapt, qui genuit Hulmul. Hulmul vero genuit Augis: at Augis genuit eum, qui dictus est Amal, a quo et origo Amalorum decurrit: qui Amal genuit Hisarna: Hisarnis autem genuit Ostrogotha: Ostrogotha autem genuit Hunuil: Hunuil item genuit Athal: Athal genuit Achiulf et Oduulf: Achiulf autem genuit Ansila et Ediulf, Vultuulf et Hermenerig: Vultuulf vero genuit Valaravans: Valaravans autem genuit Vinitharium: Vinitharius quoque genuit Vandiliarium: 80 Vandalarius genuit Thiudemer et Valamir et Vidimir: Thiudimir genuit Theodericum: Theodericus genuit Amalasuentham: Amalasuentha genuit Athalaricum et Matesuentham de Eutharico viro suo, cuius affinitas generis sic ad eam coniuncta est.

14.79 Of these heroes, as they themselves relate in their own fables, the first was Gapt, who begot Hulmul. Hulmul indeed begot Augis: and Augis begot him who was called Amal, from whom also the origin of the Amali runs: Amal begot Hisarna: Hisarna begot Ostrogotha: Ostrogotha begot Hunuil: Hunuil likewise begot Athal: Athal begot Achiulf and Oduulf: Achiulf however begot Ansila and Ediulf, Vultuulf and Hermenerig: Vultuulf indeed begot Valaravans: Valaravans begot Vinitharius: Vinitharius likewise begot Vandiliarius: 80 Vandalarius begot Thiudemer and Valamir and Vidimir: Thiudimir begot Theoderic: Theoderic begot Amalasuentham: Amalasuentha begot Athalaric and Matesuentham by her husband Eutharic, whose affinity is thus joined to that lineage.

81 Nam supra dictus Hermanaricus, filius Achiulf, genuit Hunimundum: Hunimundus autem genuit Thorismundo: Thorismund vero genuit Berimud: Berimud autem genuit Vetericum: Vetericus item genuit Eutharicum, qui coniunctus Amalasuinthae genuit Athalaricum et Mathesuentam, mortuoque in puerilibus annis Athalarico Mathesuenthae Vitigis est copulatus, de quo non suscepit liberum; adductique simul a Belesario Constantinopolim: et Vitigis rebus excedente humanis Germanus patricius fratruelis Iustiniani imp. eam in conubio sumens patriciam ordinariam fecit; de qua et genuit filium item Germanum nomine. Germano vero defuncto ipsa vidua perseverare disponit.

81 For the above-named Hermanaricus, son of Achiulf, begat Hunimund: Hunimund in turn begat Thorismund: Thorismund begat Berimud: Berimud begat Vetericum: Vetericus likewise begat Eutharic, who, joined to Amalasuentha, begat Athalaric and Mathesuentha; and after Athalaric died in his boyhood years, Mathesuentha was married to Vitigis, by whom she had no child; both were brought together to Constantinople by Belisarius: and with Vitigis withdrawing from worldly affairs, Germanus, a patrician and cousin of the emperor Justinian, taking her in marriage made her a patrician of the ordinary rank; of whom he likewise begat a son named Germanus. On Germanus’s death the widow herself resolved to remain so.

Quomodo autem aut qualiter regnum Amalorum distructum est, loco suo, si dominus iubaverit, edicimus.

How, moreover, or in what manner, the kingdom of the Amali was destroyed, in its proper place, we shall relate, if the lord orders.

82 Nunc autem ad id, unde digressum fecimus, redeamus doceamusque, quomodo ordo gentis, unde agimus, cursus sui metam explevit. Ablabius enim storicus refert, quia ibi super limbum Ponti, ubi eos diximus in Scythia commanere, ibi pars eorum, qui orientali plaga tenebat, eisque praeerat Ostrogotha, utrum ab ipsius nomine, an a loco, id est orientales, dicti sunt Ostrogothae, residui vero Vesegothae, id est a parte occidua.

82 Now, however, let us return to that from which we departed and explain how the order of the nation of which we treat fulfilled the term of its course. For the historian Ablabius relates that there, on the shore of the Pontus, where we said they dwelt in Scythia, a part of them, which held the eastern region and was led by Ostrogotha — whether from his own name or from the place, that is, the eastern ones — were called Ostrogothae, the remainder however Vesegothae, that is, from the western part.

XV.83 Et quia iam superius diximus eos transito Danubio aliquantum temporis in Mysiam Thraciamque vixisse, ex eorum reliquiis fuit et Maximinus imp. post Alexandrum Mamaeae. Nam, ut dicit Symmachus in quinto suae historiae libro, Maximinus, inquiens, Caesar mortuo Alexandro ab exercitu effectus est imp., ex infimis parentibus in Thracia natus, a patre Gotho nomine Micca, matre Halana, quae Ababa dicebatur.

15.83 And because we have already said above that, after crossing the Danube, they lived for some time in Mysia and Thrace, from their remnants there also came Maximinus, emperor after Alexander Mamaea. For, as Symmachus says in the fifth book of his history, Maximinus, they say, after the death of the Caesar Alexander was by the army made emperor, born of the lowest parents in Thrace, by a father a Goth named Micca, and a mother Halana, who was called Ababa.

Is triennio regnans, dum in Christianos arma commoveret, imperium simul et vitam amisit. 84 Nam hic Severo imp. regnante et natalis die filii celebrante, post prima aetate et rusticana vita de pascuis in militiam venit.

He, reigning for three years, while he stirred up arms against the Christians, lost both the imperial power and his life at the same time. 84 For this man, with Emperor Severus reigning and the natal day of his son being celebrated, after a first youth and a rustic life on the pastures, entered the military.

Princeps si quidem militares dederat ludos; quod cernens Maximinus, quamvis semibarbarus aduliscens, propositis praemiis patria lingua petit ab imperatore, ut sibi luctandi cum expertis militibus licentiam daret. 85 Severus, ammodum miratus magnitudinem formae – erat enim, ut fertur, statura eius procera ultra octo pedes – iussit eum lixis corporis nexu contendere, ne quid a rudi homine militaribus viris eveniret iniuriae. Tum Maximinus sedecim lixas tanta felicitate prostravit, ut vincendo singulos nullam sibi requiem per intercapidinem temporis daret.

The princeps had indeed given games to the soldiers; and seeing this Maximinus, although a semi-barbarous youth, in his native tongue besought the emperor, with prizes proposed, that he might be granted leave to wrestle with experienced soldiers. 85 Severus, much admiring the largeness of his form — for he was, as is said, of a stature towering beyond eight feet — ordered him to contend with lixas bound by the girdle of their bodies, lest any injury should befall the military men from the rude fellow. Then Maximinus felled sixteen lixas with such good fortune that, by conquering them one by one, he allowed himself no rest in the intervals of time.

Hic captis praemiis iussus in militiam mitti, primaque ei stipendia equestria fuere. Tertia post haec die, cum imperator prodiret ad campum, vidit eum exultantem more barbarico iussitque tribuno, ut eum cohercitum ad Romanam inbueret disciplinam. Ille vero, ubi de se intellexit principem loqui, accessit ad eum equitantemque praeire pedibus coepit.

Having been given the promised rewards, he was ordered sent into the military, and his first service-pay was with the cavalry. On the third day after this, when the emperor rode out to the field, he saw him rejoicing in a barbaric fashion and ordered the tribune to have him, once restrained, imbued with Roman discipline. But when he understood that the prince was speaking of him, he came up to him and, riding, began to outpace those on foot.

86 Tum imperator equo ad lentum cursum calcaribus incitato multos urbes huc atque illuc usque ad suam defatigationem variis deflexibus impedivit ac deinde ait illi: 'Num quid vis post cursum, Thracisce, luctare?' Respondit: 'Quantum libet, imperator'. Ita Severus, ex equo desiliens, recentissimos militum cum eo decertari iussit. At ille septem valentissimos iuvenes ad terram elisit, ita ut antea nihil per intervalla respiraret, solusque a Caesare et argenteis praemiis et aureo torque donatus est; iussus deinde inter stipatores degere corporis principalis. 87 Post haec sub Antonino Caracalla ordines duxit ac saepe famam factis extendens plures militiae grados centuriatumque strenuitatis suae praetium tulit.

86 Then the emperor, having urged his horse with his spurs to a slow course, detained many towns here and there by various detours until his own weariness, and then said to him: 'Do you wish after the course, Thracian, to wrestle?' He answered: 'As much as you please, emperor.' Thus Severus, dismounting from his horse, ordered the freshest of the soldiers to contest with him. But he hurled seven of the most vigorous young men to the ground, so that beforehand he took no breath between intervals, and alone from the Caesar he was gifted both with silver prizes and a golden torque; then ordered to dwell among the emperor’s attendants as the principal man's bodyguard. 87 After these things, under Antoninus Caracalla, he commanded ranks and, often extending his renown by deeds, he won many grades of the soldiery and the centurionate as the reward of his valour.

Macrino tamen postea in regno ingresso recusavit militiam pene triennio, tribunatusque habens honore numquam se oculis Macrini optulit, indignum ducens eius imperium, qui perpetrato facinus fuerat adquisitum. 88 Ad Eliogabalum dehinc quasi ad Antonini filium revertens tribunatum suum adiit et post hunc sub Alexandrum Mamaeae contra Parthos mirabiliter dimicavit. Eoque Mogontiaco militari tumulto occiso ipse exercitus electione absque senatus consultu effectus est imperator, qui cuncta bona sua in persecutione Christianorum malo voto foedavit, occisusque Aquileia a Puppione, regnum reliquid Philippo.

Macrinus, however, afterwards on entering the kingdom refused military service for nearly three years, and though holding the tribunate with honour he never presented himself to the eyes of Macrinus, deeming his rule unworthy, since it had been acquired by a perpetrated crime. 88 Then, reverting to Elagabalus as it were to the son of Antoninus, he resumed his tribunate, and after him, under Alexander, fought wondrously for Mamaea against the Parthians. And with the Mogontiacan military tumult having been quelled by death, he himself was made emperor by the election of the army without the senate's decree — he who stained all his goods with an evil vow in the persecution of the Christians — and, having been slain at Aquileia by Puppienus, left the kingdom to Philip.

Quod nos idcirco huic nostro opusculo de Symmachi hystoria mutuavimus, quatenus gentem, unde agimus, ostenderemus ad regni Romani fastigium usque venisse. Ceterum causa exegit, ad id, unde digressimus, ordine redeamus.

Which thing we therefore borrowed into this little work of ours on the history of Symmachus, insofar as we might show that the gens from which we proceed had come all the way to the summit of the Roman realm. Moreover the occasion demanded that we return, in order, to that point from which we departed.

XVI.89 Nam gens ista mirum in modum in ea parte, qua versabatur, id est Ponti in litore Scythiae soli, enituit, sine dubio tanta spatia tenens terrarum, tot sinos maris, tot fluminum cursus, sub cuius saepe dextera Vandalus iacuit, stetit sub praetio Marcomannus, Quadorum principes in servitute redacti sunt. Philippo namque ante dicto regnante Romanis, qui solus ante Constantinum Christianus cum Philippo idem filio fuit, cuius et secundo anno regni Roma millesimum annum explevit, Gothi, ut adsolet, subtracta sibi stipendia sua aegre ferentes, de amicis effecti sunt inimici.

XVI.89 For that people marvelously flourished in that part in which it dwelt, that is on the shore of the Pontus in the land of Scythia, doubtless holding such expanses of lands, so many sinuses of the sea, so many courses of rivers; under whose right hand the Vandal often lay, the Marcomannus stood under tribute, the princes of the Quadi were reduced into servitude. For under the above‑named Philip ruling the Romans, who alone before Constantine was Christian together with Philip his namesake son, in whose second year of rule Rome completed its thousandth year, the Goths, as is their custom, having had their stipends withdrawn and bearing it ill, were made enemies out of friends.

Nam quamvis remoti sub regibus viverent suis, rei publicae tamen Romanae foederati erant et annua munera percipiebant. 90 Quid multa? Transiens tunc Ostrogotha cum suis Danubio Moesiam Thraciasque vastavit.

For although they lived remote under their own kings, yet they were allies of the Roman republic and received annual gifts. 90 What need of many words? Then passing, Ostrogotha with his men devastated Moesia and Thrace as far as the Danube.

Ad quem rebellandum Decius senator a Philippo dirigitur. Qui veniens dum Getis nihil praevalet, milites proprios exemptos a militia fecit vitae privatae degi, quasi eorum neglectu Gothi Danubium transfretassent, factaque ut puta in suis vindicta ad Philippnm revertitvr. Milites vero videntes se post tot labores militia pulsos, indignati ad Ostrogothae regis Gothorum auxilium confugerunt.

Against whom to rebel, the senator Decius is sent by Philip. He, coming and while he prevailed nothing among the Getae, caused his own soldiers, withdrawn from service, to be reduced to private life, as if by their neglect the Goths had crossed the Danube, and so, as if in vengeance upon his own men, he returned to Philip. The soldiers, however, seeing themselves after so many labors driven from military service, indignant, sought refuge with the aid of the Ostrogoth king of the Goths.

91 Qui excipiens eos eorumque verbis accensus mox tricenta milia suorum armata produxit ad bellum adhibitis sibi Taifalis et Astringis nonnullis, sed et Carporum trea milia, genus hominum ad bella nimis expeditum, qui saepe fuere Romanis infesti; quos tamen post haec imperante Dioclitiano et Maximiano Galerius Maximinus Caesar devicit et rei publicae Romanae subegit. His ergo addens Gothos et Peucinos ab insula Peucis, quae in ostia Danubii Ponto mergentia iacet, Argaithum et Gunthericum nobilissimos suae gentis doctores praefecit. 92 Qui mox Danubium vadati et de secundo Moesiam populati, Marcianopolim eiusdem patriae urbem famosam metropolim adgrediuntur, diuque obsessam accepta pecunia ab his qui inerant reliquerunt.

91 Receiving them and inflamed by their words, he soon led forth three hundred thousand of his armed men to war, having enlisted for himself some Taifali and Astringi, and also three thousand Carpi, a people very apt for war, who had often been hostile to the Romans; whom, however, after these things, with Diocletian and Maximian reigning, Galerius Maximinus Caesar defeated and subjected to the Roman republic. To these, therefore, adding the Goths and Peucini from the island Peucis, which lies plunging into the mouth of the Danube toward the Pontus, he put in command Argaithus and Gunthericus, the most noble leaders of his people. 92 These soon, having forded the Danube and again ravaging Moesia, assailed Marcianopolis, the famous metropolis of that homeland, and after long besieging it they left when money was received from those who were inside.

93 Et quia Marcianopolim nominavimus, libet aliqua de eius situ breviter intimare. Nam hanc urbem Traianus imperator hac re, ut fertur, aedificavit, eo quod Marciae sororis suae puella, dum lavat in flumine illo qui nimii limpiditatis saporisque in media urbe oritur Potami cognomento, exindeque vellit aquam haurire, casu vas aureum quod ferebat in profundum decidit, metalli pondere praegravatum longeque post ab imis emersit; quod certe non erat usitatum aut vacuum sorberi aut certe semel voratum undis respuentibus enatare. His Traianus sub admiratione conpertis fontique numinis quoddam inesse credens conditam civitatem germanae suae in nomine Marcianopolim nuncupavit.

93 And since we have named Marcianopolis, it is fitting to intimate briefly something of its situation. For this city Emperor Trajan, so it is said, built on account of this: that a maiden of his sister Marcia, while she was washing in that river called Potamius, which rises with an excessive clearness and flavor in the middle of the town, and thence sought to draw up water, by chance let fall the golden vessel she was carrying into the deep, and, weighed down by the metal, it long afterward emerged from the lowest depths; which certainly was not usual either to be sucked up empty or, once swallowed, to spring forth again rejecting the waves. These things Trajan, having learned with admiration and believing that a certain numen of the spring was present, called the city he founded after his sister Marciana, Marcianopolis.

XVII.94 Abhinc ergo, ut dicebamus, post longam obsidionem accepto praemio ditatus Geta recessit ad propria. Quem cernens Gepidarum natio subito ubique vincentem praedisque ditatum, invidia ductus arma in parentibus movit.

17.94 Therefore henceforth, as we said, after a long siege Geta, enriched by having received the reward, withdrew to his own possessions. Seeing him, the nation of the Gepidae, suddenly everywhere prevailing and enriched with estates, driven by envy, took up arms against his parents.

Quomodo vero Getae Gepidasque sint parentes si quaeris, paucis absolvam. Meminisse debes me in initio de Scandzae insulae gremio Gothos dixisse egressos cum Berich rege suo, tribus tantum navibus vectos ad ripam Oceani citerioris, id est Gothiscandza. 95 Quarum trium una navis, ut adsolet, tardior nancta nomen genti fertur dedisse; nam lingua eorum pigra gepanta dicitur.

How, however, the Getae and the Gepidae are parents, if you ask, I will briefly explain. You must remember that I said at the beginning that the Goths disembarked from the lap of the island Scandza with their king Berich, carried in only three ships to the shore of the nearer Ocean, that is Gothiscandza. 95 Of these three one ship, as is customary, the slower, having been left behind, is said to have given its name to the people; for in their tongue the slow (one) is called gepanta.

Hinc factum est, ut paulatim et corruptae nomen eis ex convicio nasceretur Gepidas. Nam sine dubio ex Gothorum prosapie et hi trahent originem; sed quia, ut dixi, gepanta pigrum aliquid tardumque designat, pro gratuito convicio Gepidarum nomen exortum est, quod nec ipsud credo falsissimum: sunt etenim tardioris ingenii et graviores corporum velocitate. 96 Hi ergo Gepidae tacti invidia, dum Spesis provincia commanerent in insulam Visclae amnis vadibus circumactam, quam patrio sermone dicebant Gepedoios.

From this it came about that gradually, from the taunt, the name Gepidas arose for them. For without doubt they also draw their origin from the stock of the Goths; but because, as I said, gepanta denotes something sluggish or slow, from the derisive epithet the name Gepids arose, which I do not believe to be wholly false: for they are indeed of a more sluggish mind and heavier of body in nimbleness. 96 Thus the Gepids, struck by envy, while they remained in the province of Spesis on the island encircled by the shallows of the Vistula river, which in the native tongue they called Gepedoios.

Nunc eam, ut fertur, insulam gens Vividaria incolit ipsis ad meliores terras meantibus. Qui Vividarii ex diversis nationibus ac si in unum asylum collecti sunt et gentem fecisse noscantur. 97 Ergo, ut dicebamus, Gepidarum rex Fastida quietam gentem excitans patrios fines per arma dilatavit.

Nam Burgundzones pene usque ad internicionem delevit aliasque nonnullas gentes perdomuit. Gothos quoque male provocans consanguinitatis foedus prius inportuna concertatione violavit superba admodum elatione iactatus, crescenti populo dum terras coepit addere, incolas patrios reddidit rariores. 98 Is ergo missis legatis ad Ostrogotham, cuius adhuc imperio tam Ostrogothae quam Vesegothae, id est utrique eiusdem gentes populi, subiacebant, inclusum se montium quaeritans asperitate silvarumque densitate constrictum, unum poscens e duobus, ut aut bellum sibi aut locorum suorum spatia praepararet.

For the Burgundzones destroyed them almost to extermination and subdued by force several other peoples. Also, ill-provoking the Goths, he first violated the bond of consanguinity by an inopportune quarrel; being much puffed up with proud elation, while his people grew and began to add lands, he made the native inhabitants more scarce. 98 He therefore, having sent legates to the Ostrogoth—under whose rule even both the Ostrogothae and the Vesegothae, that is both branches of the same people, were subject—seeking himself enclosed by the mountains, hemmed in by the roughness and density of woods, demanded one of two things: that they either furnish him with war or with spaces of their lands, so that he might prepare for himself either war or room for his people.

99 Tunc Ostrogotha rex Gothorum ut erat solidi animi, respondit legatis bellum se quidem talem horrere durumque fore et omnino scelestum armis confligere cum propinquis, loca vero non cedere. Quid multa? Gepidas in bella inruunt, contra quos, ne minor iudicaretur, movit et Ostrogotha procinctum, conveniuntque ad oppidum Galtis, iuxta quod currit fluvius Auha, ibique magna partium virtute certatum est, quippe quos in se et armorum et pugnandi similitudo commoverat; sed causa melior vivacitasque ingenii iubit Gothos.

99 Then Ostrogotha, king of the Goths, being of firm/resolute mind, answered the envoys that war indeed would be so dreadful and hard and altogether wicked to be waged in arms against kinsmen, but that he would not yield the lands. What more need be said? They rushed the Gepids into battle, against whom, lest he be judged lesser, Ostrogotha likewise put himself in arms and they met at the town Galtis, beside which runs the river Auha, and there it was fought with great valor on both sides, for the likeness of arms and of fighting had stirred them to clash; but the better cause and the liveliness of spirit favored the Goths.

100 Inclinata denique parte Gepidarum proelium nox diremit. Tunc relicta suorum strage Fastida rex Gepidarum properavit ad patriam, tam pudendis obprobriis humiliatus, quam fuerat elationis erectus. Redeunt victores Gothi Gepidarum discessione contenti, suaque in patria feliciter in pace versantur, usque dum eorum praevius existeret Ostrogotha.

100 Finally, with the Gepids’ side having given way, night broke off the battle. Then Fastida, king of the Gepids, his men’s slaughter left behind, hastened to his fatherland, humbled by shameful reproaches as much as he had once been lifted by elation. The victorious Goths return, content with the Gepids’ withdrawal, and dwell happily in their fatherland in peace, until Ostrogotha should appear before them.

XVIII.101 Pos cuius decessum Cniva, exercitum dividens in duas partes, nonnullos ad vastandum Moesiam dirigit, sciens eam neglegentibus principibus defensoribus destitutam; ipse vero cum lxx milibus ad Eusciam, id est Novas conscendit. Vnde a Gallo duce remotus Nicopolim accedit, quae iuxta Iatrum fluvium est constituta notissima; quam devictis Sarmatis Traianus et fabricavit et appellavit Victoriae civitatem.

18.101 After his death, Cniva, dividing the army into two parts, sent some to ravage Moesia, knowing it to be abandoned of defenders by negligent princes; he himself, however, with 70,000 men embarked for Euscia, that is Novae. From there, separated from the Gothic leader Gallo, he advanced on Nicopolis, which is most famous, set beside the river Iatrus; which, the Sarmatians having been conquered, Traianus both built and named the city of Victoria.

Vbi Decio superveniente imperatore tandem Cniva in Hemi partibus, quae non longe aberant, recessit, unde apparatu disposito Philippopolim ire festinans. 102 Cuius secessu Decius imperator cognoscens et ipsius urbis ferre subsidium gestiens iugum Hemi montis transacto ad Beroam venit. Ibique dum equos exercitumque lassum refoveret, ilico Cniva cum Gothis in modum fulminis ruit, vastatoque Romano exercitu imperatorem cum pauculis, qui fugere quiverant, ad Eusciam rursus trans Alpes in Mysia proturbavit, ubi tunc Gallus dux limitis cum plurima manu bellantium morabatur; collectoque tam exinde quam de Vsco exercitu, futuri belli se parat in aciae.

Whereupon, Decius arriving as emperor, at last Cniva withdrew into the Hemi parts, which were not far off, whence, his apparatus arranged, he hurried to go to Philippopolis. 102 On whose withdrawal Decius the emperor, perceiving it and eager to bring relief to that very city, after crossing the ridge of Mount Hemi came to Beroea. There, while he refreshed his horses and his weary army, immediately Cniva with the Goths rushed like lightning, and, the Roman army having been laid waste, drove the emperor with the few who had been able to flee back to Euscia across the Alps into Mysia, where then Gallus, duke of the frontier, was lingering with a very large band of fighters; and having gathered forces both thence and from the Vsco army, he arrayed himself in battle-lines for the coming war.

103 Cniva vero diu obsessam invadit Philippopolim praedaque potitus Prisco duce qui inerat sibi foederavit quasi cum Decio pugnaturum. Venientesque ad conflictum ilico Decii filium sagitta saucium crudeli funere confodiunt. Quod pater animadvertens licet ad confortandos animos militum fertur dixisse: 'Nemo tristetur: perditio unius militis non est rei publicae deminutio', tamen, paterno affectu non ferens, hostes invadit, aut mortem aut ultionem fili exposcens, veniensque ad Abritto Moesiae civitatem circumseptus a Gothis et ipse extinguitur imperii finem vitaeque terminum faciens.

103 Cniva, however, after long besieging Philippopolis, entered it and, having gotten the plunder, made a compact with Priscus the commander who was present, as if he were to fight Decius. And when they came to the conflict, straightaway they transfix Decius’s son, wounded by an arrow, with a cruel death. The father, noticing this, is said, albeit to hearten the soldiers’ spirits, to have said: "Let no one be sad: the loss of one soldier is not a diminution of the republic", yet, not enduring it with fatherly feeling, he attacked the enemies, demanding either death or vengeance for his son; and coming to Abrittus, a city of Moesia, he was surrounded by the Goths and himself was cut off, making an end of his rule and a termination of his life.

Qui locus hodieque Decii ara dicitur, eo quod ibi ante pugnam mirabiliter idolis immolasset.

Which place even today is called Decius's altar, because there before the battle he had wondrously sacrificed to idols.

XIX.104 Defuncto tunc Decio Gallus et Volusianus regnum potiti sunt Romanorum, quando et pestilens morbus, pene istius necessitatis consimilis. quod nos ante hos novem annos experti sumus, faciem totius orbis foedavit, supra modum tamen Alexandriam totiusque Aegypti loca devastans, Dionysio storico super hanc cladem lacrimaviliter exponente, quod et noster conscribit venerabilis martyr Christi et episcopus Cyprianus in libro, cuius titulus est 'de mortalitate'. 105 Tunc et Emilianus quidam Gothis saepe ob principum neglegentiam Mysiam devastantibus, ut vidit licere nec a quoquam sine magno rei publicae dispendio removeri, similiter suae fortunae arbitratus posse venire, tyrannidem in Moesia arripuit omneque manu militari ascita coepit urbes et populos devastare.

19.104 With Decius then dead, Gallus and Volusianus obtained the rule of the Romans, when a pestilential disease, almost like that necessity, which we experienced nine years before these things, disfigured the face of the whole world, ravaging beyond measure Alexandria and the regions of all Egypt, Dionysius the historian tearfully recounting this disaster, which also our venerable martyr of Christ and bishop Cyprian records in a book whose title is 'de mortalitate'. 105 Then likewise a certain Emilian, seeing the Goths often laying waste Mysia through the negligence of the princes, and that it seemed permitted and could not be removed by anyone without great loss to the res publica, judging that he might likewise come to his own fortune, seized tyranny in Moesia and, with every force taken up by military hand, began to devastate cities and peoples.

Contra quem intra paucos menses dum multitudo apparatus adcresceret, non minimum incomodum rei publicae parturivit; qui tamen in ipso pene nefario conatus sui initio extinctus et vitam et imperium, quod inhiabat, amisit: 106 supra dicti vero Gallus et Volusianus imperatores, quamvis vix biennio in imperio perseverantes ab hac luce migrarunt, tamen ipsud biennium, quod affuerunt, ubique pacati, ubique regnaverunt gratiosi, praeter quod unum eorum fortunae reputatum est, id est generalis morbus, sed hoc ab imperitis et calumniatoribus, qui vitam solent aliorum dente maledico lacerare. Hi ergo mox imperio adepti sunt, foedus cum gente pepigerunt Gothorum. Et nec longo intervallo utrisque regibus occumbentibus Gallienus arripuit principatum.

Against whom, within a few months, while the multitude and apparatus were increasing, no small inconvenience befell the republic; who, however, in that almost nefarious attempt, being put down at its very beginning, lost both life and the imperium which he coveted: 106 The above‑named Gallus and Volusianus, indeed emperors, although scarcely enduring two years in the imperium, departed this life, yet that very two‑year period during which they were present they were everywhere peaceful, everywhere ruled graciously, except that one thing was ascribed to the fortune of one of them, namely a general disease — but this by the unskilled and by calumniators, who are wont to tear other men’s lives with the tooth of malediction. These therefore soon obtained the empire, and concluded a treaty with the Gothic people. And not long afterward, both kings having died, Gallienus snatched the principate.

XX.107 Quod in omni lascivia resoluto Respa et Veduco Tharuaroque duces Gothorum sumptis navibus Asiam transierunt, fretum Ellispontiacum transvecti, ubi multas eius provinciae civitates populatas opinatissimum illud Ephesiae Dianae templum, quod dudum dixeramus Amazonas condidisse, igne succendunt. Partibusque Bithiniae delati Chalcedonam subverterunt, quam post Cornelius Abitus aliqua parte reparavit, quae hodieque, quamvis regiae urbis vicinitate congaudeat, signa tamen ruinarum suarum aliquanta ad indicium retinet posteritatis. 108 Hac ergo felicitate Gothi, qua intraverunt partibus Asiae, praedas spoliaque potiti, Hellispontiacum fretum retranseunt, vastantes itinere suo Troiam Iliumque, quae vix a bello illo Agamemnoniaco quantulum se reparantes rursus hostili mucrone deletae sunt.

XX.107 Which, with all restraint of licentiousness cast off, Respa and Veduco and Tharuaro, chiefs of the Goths, having taken ships, crossed into Asia, having passed over the Hellespontic strait, where they set many cities of that province on fire and kindled the very famous temple of Diana of Ephesus, which we long ago said the Amazons had founded. And being carried into the parts of Bithynia they overthrew Chalcedon, which afterward Cornelius Abitus in some part repaired, which even today, although it rejoices in the vicinity of the royal city, nevertheless retains some signs of its ruins as a token for posterity. 108 With this good fortune, then, the Goths, as they entered the regions of Asia and obtained booty and spoils, returned across the Hellespontic strait, devastating on their way Troy and Ilium, which, scarcely in any degree repaired from that Agamemnonian war, were again destroyed by the hostile blade.

Post Asiae ergo tale excidium Thracia eorum experta est feritatem. Nam ibi ad radices Emi montis et mari vicinam Anchialos civitatem adgressi mox adeunt, urbem, quam dudum Sardanaphalus, rex Parthorum, inter limbum maris et Emi radices locasset. 109 Ibi ergo multis feruntur mansisse diebus aquarum calidarum delectati lavacris, quae duodecimo miliario Anchialitanae civitatis sunt siti, ab imo suae fontis ignei scaturrientes, et inter reliqua totius mundi thermarum innumerabilium loca omnino precipua et ad sanitatem infirmorum efficacissima.

After the devastation of Asia therefore Thrace experienced their ferocity. For there, having attacked Anchialos, the city by the sea at the roots of Mount Emi, they soon came to it — the city which long before Sardanaphalus, king of the Parthians, had placed between the sea's margin and the roots of Emi. 109 There, then, they are reported to have remained many days, delighted by the hot waters and their baths, which are situated at the twelfth mile of the city of Anchialos, gushing from the very bottom of their fiery spring, and among the countless thermal sites of the whole world wholly preeminent and most effective for the health of the sick.

XXI.110 Exinde ergo ad proprias sedes regressi post haec a Maximiano imperatore rediguntur in auxilio Romanorum contra Parthos rogati, ubi omnino datis auxiliariis fideliter decertati sunt. Sed postquam Caesar Maximinus pene cum eorum solacia Narseum regem Persarum Saporis magni nepotem fugasset eiusque omnes opes simulque uxores et filios depraedasset Achillemque in Alexandria Dioclitianus superasset et Maximianus Herculius in Africa Quinquegentianos adtrivisset, pacem rei publicae nancti coeperunt quasi Gothos neglegere.

21.110 Thence having returned to their own seats, afterward at the request of the emperor Maximian they were drawn back into the aid of the Romans against the Parthians, where, auxiliaries having been wholly supplied, they fought faithfully. But after Caesar Maximinus, with their comforts almost, had put to flight Narseus, king of the Persians, the grandson of the great Sapor, and had plundered all his wealth together with his wives and sons, and Diocletian had overcome Achilleus in Alexandria, and Maximian Herculius had crushed the Quinquegentiani in Africa, having obtained peace for the republic they began as though to neglect the Goths.

111 Nam sine ipsos dudum contra quasvis gentes Romanus exercitus difficile decertatus est. Apparet namque frequenter, quomodo invitabantur sic: ut et sub Constantino rogati sunt et contra cognatum eius Licinium arma tulerunt eumque devictum et in Thessalonica clausum privatum ab imperio Constantini victoris gladio trucidarunt. 112 Nam et ut famosissimam et Romae emulam in suo nomine conderet civitatem, Gothorum interfuit operatio, qui foedus inito cum imperatore quadraginta suorum milia illi in solacio contra gentes varias obtulere; quorum et numerus et militia usque ad praesens in re publica nominatur, id est foederati.

111 For without them for a long time the Roman army was hard-pressed in fighting against any peoples. For it appears often how they were thus invited: under Constantine they were both solicited and took up arms against his kinsman Licinius, and when he was defeated and confined in Thessalonica as a private man they slew him with the sword of Constantine the victor, removed from imperial power. 112 And moreover, that he might found a very famous city rivaling Rome in his own name, the operation of the Goths bore part: having entered into a foedus with the emperor they offered him forty thousand of their men as succor against various peoples; the number and military service of whom even to the present are named in the res publica, that is, foederati.

Tunc etenim sub Ariarici et Aorici regum suorum florebant imperio. Post quorum decessum successor regni extitit Geberich virtutis et nobilitatis eximius.

Then indeed under Ariarici and Aorici, their kings, they flourished in power. After their death the successor of the kingdom was Geberich, outstanding in virtue and nobility.

XXII.113 Nam hic Hilderith patre natus, avo Ovida, proavo Nidada, gloriam generis sui factis illustribus exaequavit. Primitias regni sui mox in Vandalica gente extendere cupiens contra Visimar eorum rege qui Asdingorum stirpe, quod inter eos eminet genusque indicat bellicosissimum, Deuxippo storico referente, qui eos ab Oceano ad nostrum limitem vix in anni spatio pervenisse testatur prae nimia terrarum inmensitate.

22.113 For this Hilderith, born of a father, with grandfather Ovid and great-grandfather Nidada, equalled the glory of his lineage by illustrious deeds. Desiring soon to extend the first fruits of his rule among the Vandal people, he opposed Visimar, their king, who was of the Asding stock, which among them is preeminent and marks a most warlike kind, the historian Deuxippo relating, who testifies that they scarcely reached from the Ocean to our frontier in the space of a year, because of the excessive vastness of the lands.

Quo tempore erant in eo loco manentes, ubi nunc Gepidas sedent, iuxta flumina Marisia, Miliare et Gilpil et Grisia, qui omnes supra dictos excedet. 114 Erat namque illis tunc ab oriente Gothus, ab occidente Marcomanus, a septentrione Hermundolus, a meridie Histrum, qui et Danubius dicitur. Hic ergo Vandalis commorantibus bellum indictum est a Geberich rege Gothorum ad litus praedicti amnis Marisiae, ubi nec diu certatum est ex aequali, sed mox ipse rex Vandalorum Visimar magna parte cum gentis suae prosternitur.

At that time they were staying in that place where the Gepids now sit, beside the rivers Marisia, Miliare and Gilpil and Grisia, which all surpass those mentioned above. 114 For then to them on the east was a Goth, on the west a Marcomannus, on the north a Hermundolus, on the south the Histrum, who is also called the Danube. Therefore, while the Vandals were dwelling here, war was declared against them by Geberich, king of the Goths, at the shore of the aforesaid river Marisia, where the contest was not long evenly matched, but soon the Vandal king himself, Visimar, with a great part of his people was overthrown.

115 Geberich vero Gothorum ductor eximius superatis depraedatisque Vandalis ad propria loca, unde exierat, remeavit. Tunc perpauci Vandali, qui evasissent, collecta inbellium suorum manu, infortunata patria relinquentes Pannoniam sibi a Constantino principe petierunt ibique per lx annos plus minus sedibus locatis imperatorum decretis ut incolae famularunt. Vnde iam post longum ab Stiliconae mag.

115 Geberich, however, the outstanding leader of the Goths, having overcome and despoiled the Vandals, returned to his own lands, whence he had come forth. Then very few Vandals who had escaped, having gathered into a war-band, leaving their ill-fated fatherland, sought Pannonia for themselves from the prince Constantine, and there for about 60 years, more or less, with settlements assigned by imperial decrees, they dwelt, serving as residents. Whence now, after a long time since Stilicho the magister...

mil. et ex consule atque patricio invitati Gallias occupaverunt, ubi finitimos depraedantes non adeo fixas sedes habuerunt.

XXIII.116 Nam Gothorum rege Geberich rebus humanis excedente post temporis aliquod Hermanaricus nobilissimus Amalorum in regno successit, qui multas et bellicosissimas arctoi gentes perdomuit suisque parere legibus fecit. Quem merito nonnulli Alexandro Magno conparavere maiores.

XXIII.116 For after the king of the Goths, Geberich, withdrew from human affairs, after some time Hermanaricus, most noble of the Amali, succeeded in the kingdom, who subdued many and very warlike Arctic peoples and forced them to obey his laws. Whom rightly some of the ancients compared to Alexander the Great.

Habebat si quidem quos domuerat Golthescytha Thiudos Inaunxis Vasinabroncas Merens Mordens Imniscaris Rogas Tadzans Athaul Navego Bubegenas Coldas. 117 Sed cum tantorum servitio clarus haberetur, non passus est nisi et gentem Herulorum, quibus praeerat Halaricus, magna ex parte trucidatam reliquam suae subegeret dicioni. Nam praedicta gens, Ablavio istorico referente, iuxta Meotida palude inhabitans in locis stagnantibus, quas Greci ele vocant, Eluri nominati sunt, gens quantum velox, eo amplius superbissima.

He had, indeed, those whom he had subdued: Golthescytha, Thiudos, Inaunxis, Vasinabroncas, Merens, Mordens, Imniscaris, Rogas, Tadzans, Athaul, Navego, Bubegenas, Coldas. 117 But since he was held famous for so great service, he did not permit that, save also the nation of the Heruli, over whom Halaricus ruled, the greater part having been slaughtered, he should not subject the remainder to his dominion. For the aforesaid people, Ablavius the historian reports, dwelling by the Maeotian marsh in stagnant places which the Greeks call ele, were named Eluri, a people as swift as any, and thereby the more haughty.

118 Nulla si quidem erat tunc gens, quae non levem armaturam in acie sua ex ipsis elegeret. Sed quamvis velocitas eorum ab aliis crebro bellantibus evagaret, Gothorum tamen stabilitate subiacuit et tarditati, fecitque causa fortunae, ut et ipsi inter reliquas gentes Getarum regi Hermanarico servirent. 119 Post Herulorum cede item Hermanaricus in Venethos arma commovit, qui, quamvis armis despecti, sed numerositate pollentes, primum resistere conabantur.

118 There was indeed no people then that did not choose light armour in its battle-line from among themselves. But although their swiftness outstripped others who fought more frequently, it nevertheless succumbed to the Goths’ steadiness and slowness, and fortune made this the cause that they themselves among the remaining peoples of the Getae would serve King Hermanaric. 119 After the surrender of the Heruli likewise Hermanaric put arms in motion against the Venethi, who, although despised in arms, yet mighty in numbers, at first strove to resist.

Sed nihil valet multitudo inbellium, praesertim ubi et deus permittit et multitudo armata advenerit. Nam hi, ut in initio expositionis vel catalogo gentium dicere coepimus, ab una stirpe exorti, tria nunc nomina ediderunt, id est Venethi, Antes, Sclaveni; qui quamvis nunc, ita facientibus peccatis nostris, ubique deseviunt, tamen tunc omnes Hermanarici imperiis servierunt. 120 Aestorum quoque similiter nationem, qui longissimam ripam Oceani Germanici insident, idem ipse prudentia et virtute subegit omnibusque Scythiae et Germaniae nationibus ac si propriis lavoribus imperavit.

But the multitude of the unwarlike avails nothing, especially where both God permits and an armed multitude has arrived. For these, as we began to say at the beginning of the exposition or catalogue of peoples, having sprung from one stock, have produced three names now, that is Venethi, Antes, Sclaveni; who although now, by our sins doing thus, are scattered everywhere, yet then all served under the dominions of Hermanaric. 120 Likewise he subdued by prudence and virtue the nation of the Aesti, who dwell on the very longest shore of the Germanic Ocean, and he compelled all the nations of Scythia and Germany to his own labors.

XXIV.121 Post autem non longi temporis intervallo, ut refert Orosius, Hunnorum gens omni ferocitate atrocior exarsit in Gothos. Nam hos, ut refert antiquitas, ita extitisse conperimus.

24.121 After not a long interval of time, as Orosius relates, the nation of the Huns burst forth against the Goths, more savage in every ferocity. For these, as antiquity reports, we have found that they existed thus.

Filimer rex Gothorum et Gadarici magni filius qui post egressu Scandzae insulae iam quinto loco tenens principatum Getarum, qui et terras Scythicas cum sua gente introisse superius a nobis dictum est, repperit in populo suo quasdam magas mulieres, quas patrio sermone Haliurunnas is ipse cognominat, easque habens suspectas de medio sui proturbat longeque ab exercitu suo fugatas in solitudinem coegit errare. 122 Quas spiritus inmundi per herimum vagantes dum vidissent et eorum conplexibus in coitu miscuissent, genus hoc ferocissimum ediderunt, quae fuit primum inter paludes, minutum tetrum atque exile quasi hominum genus nec alia voce notum nisi quod humani sermonis imaginem adsignabat. Tali igitur Hunni stirpe creati Gothorum finibus advenerunt.

Filimer, king of the Goths, and Gadaricus, his great son, who after their leaving of the island Scandza then held the principate of the Getae in the fifth place, he who, as we have said above, had also led his people into the Scythian lands, found in his people certain magic women, whom in the native speech he himself surnamed Haliurunnas; and deeming them suspect he expelled them from his midst and drove them, put to flight far from his army, to wander in the wilderness. 122 Which unclean spirits, wandering through the marshes, when they had seen them and mingled with them in embraces in coitus, begat this most fierce stock, which first lived among the marshes, small, grim, and lean, as if a kind of men and known by no other name except that it bore the likeness of human speech. Thus, sprung from such a Hun lineage, they came into the bounds of the Goths.

123 Quorum natio saeva, ut Priscus istoricus refert, Meotida palude ulteriore ripa insidens, venationi tantum nec alio labore experta, nisi quod, postquam crevisset in populis, fraudibus et rapinis vicinarum gentium quiete conturbans. Huius ergo gentis, ut adsolet, venatores, dum in interioris Meotidae ripam venationes inquirent, animadvertunt, quomodo ex inproviso cerva se illis optulit ingressaque paludem nunc progrediens nunc subsistens index viae se tribuit. 124 Quam secuti venatores paludem Meotidam, quem inpervium ut pelagus aestimant, pedibus transierunt.

123 Their nation fierce, as the historian Priscus reports, dwelling on the farther bank of the Maeotian marsh, practised only in hunting and no other toil, except that, when it had grown among peoples, it disturbed the peace of neighboring nations by frauds and plunder. The hunters, therefore, of this people, as is customary, while they sought game on the inner bank of the Maeotian marsh, perceived how a hind suddenly offered herself to them and, having entered the marsh, now advancing, now standing, served as a guide of the way. 124 Having followed her, the hunters crossed the Maeotian marsh on foot, which they regard as impassable, like a sea.

Mox quoque Scythica terra ignotis apparuit, cerva disparuit. Quod, credo, spiritus illi, unde progeniem trahunt, ad Scytharum invidia id egerunt. 125 Illi vero, qui praeter Meotidam alium mundum esse paenitus ignorabant, admiratione ducti terrae Scythicae et, ut sunt sollertes, iter illud nullae ante aetati notissimum divinitus sibi ostensum rati, ad suos redeunt, rei gestum edocent, Scythiam laudant persuasaque gente sua via, qua cerva indice dedicerant, ad Scythiam properant, et quantoscumque prius in ingressu Scytharum habuerunt, litavere victoriae, reliquos perdomitos subegerunt.

Soon also the Scythian land appeared to the unknown ones, and the hind vanished. Which, I believe, those spirits, from whom they trace their progeny, did out of envy against the Scythians. 125 Those, however, who utterly were ignorant that any world existed beyond the Meotian, led by admiration of the Scythian land and, as they are clever, thinking that that journey had been divinely shown to them and unknown to any earlier age, return to their own people, relate the deed, praise Scythia, and, having persuaded their people by the route which the hind as guide had revealed, hasten to Scythia; and as many as they had previously at the Scythians’ entry they offered as a votive of victory, the rest they subdued and brought under domination.

126 Nam mox ingentem illam paludem transierunt, ilico Alpidzuros, Alcildzuros, Itimaros, Tuncarsos et Boiscos, qui ripae istius Scythiae insedebant, quasi quaedam turbo gentium rapuerunt. Halanos quoque pugna sibi pares, sed humanitate, victu formaque dissimiles, frequenti certamine fatigantes, subiugaverunt. 127 Nam et quos bello forsitan minime superabant, vultus sui terrore nimium pavorem ingerentes, terribilitate fugabant, eo quod erat eis species pavenda nigridinis et velud quaedam, si dici fas est, informis offa, non facies, habensque magis puncta quam lumina.

126 For soon they crossed that vast marsh, and straightaway seized Alpidzuros, Alcildzuros, Itimaros, Tuncarsos and Boiscos, who dwelt upon the bank of that Scythia, as if a sort of whirlwind of peoples had carried them off. They likewise subdued the Halani, equals to them in battle, but unlike in civilization, diet, and appearance, wearing them out by frequent contest. 127 For even those whom they perhaps least exceeded in war they put to flight by inspiring excessive dread with their countenances, terrorizing them by a frightful aspect, because to them there was a fearsome look of blackness and, as one might say, a formless lump rather than a face, having more spots than eyes.

Quorum animi fiducia turvus prodet aspectus, qui etiam in pignora sua primo die nata desaeviunt. Nam maribus ferro genas secant, ut ante quam lactis nutrimenta percipiant, vulneris cogantur subire tolerantiam. 128 Hinc inberbes senescunt et sine venustate efoebi sunt, quia facies ferro sulcata tempestivam pilorum gratiam cicatricis absumit.

From whose confidence of spirit a rough aspect shall issue, who even in their pledges born on the first day run mad. For the men cut their cheeks with iron, so that before they partake of the nourishment of milk they are forced to undergo the endurance of the wound. 128 Hence the beardless grow old and the ephebes are without charm, because a face furrowed by iron—its scar—consumes the timely grace of the hairs.

Exigui quidem forma, sed argutis motibus expediti et ad equitandum promptissimi, scapulis latis, et ad arcos sagittasque parati firmis cervicibus et superbia semper erecti. Hi vero sub hominum figura vivunt beluina saevitia.

Small in form indeed, but swift of nimble movements, agile and most ready for riding, with broad shoulders, and prepared for bows and arrows by firm necks and ever erect with pride. These, however, under the figure of men live a beastly savagery.

129 Quod genus expeditissimum multarumque nationum grassatorem Getae ut viderunt, paviscunt, suoque cum rege deliberant, qualiter tali se hoste subducant. Nam Hermanaricus, rex Gothorum, licet, ut superius retulimus, multarum gentium extiterat triumphator, de Hunnorum tamen adventu dum cogitat, Rosomonorum gens infida, quae tunc inter alias illi famulatum exhibebat, tali eum nanciscitur occasione decipere. Dum enim quandam mulierem Sunilda nomine ex gente memorata pro mariti fraudulento discessu rex furore commotus equis ferocibus inligatam incitatisque cursibus per diversa divelli praecipisset, fratres eius Sarus et Ammius, germanae obitum vindicantes, Hermanarici latus ferro petierunt; quo vulnere saucius egram vitam corporis inbecillitate contraxit.

129 When the Getae saw that most active type and ravager of many nations, they were struck with fear, and with their king they deliberated how they might withdraw themselves from so formidable an enemy. For Hermanaricus, king of the Goths, although, as we related above, he had been triumphant over many peoples, while he was pondering the coming of the Huns, was betrayed by the treacherous nation of the Rosomonii, who at that time among others served him and seized the opportunity to deceive him. For when they had delivered up a certain woman of that people named Sunilda, on account of her husband's fraudulent departure, the king, moved by madness, had ordered her bound to fierce horses and torn apart by rapid courses across different places; her brothers Sarus and Ammius, avenging their sister's death, struck at Hermanaricus's side with the sword; by that wound wounded, he drew out a sickly life, his body enfeebled.

130 Quam adversam eius valitudinem captans Balamber rex Hunnorum in Ostrogotharum parte movit procinctum, a quorum societate iam Vesegothae quadam inter se intentione seiuncti habebantur. Inter haec Hermanaricus tam vulneris dolore quam etiam Hunnorum incursionibus non ferens grandevus et plenus dierum centesimo decimo anno vitae suae defunctus est. Cuius mortis occasio dedit Hunnis praevalere in Gothis illis, quos dixeramus orientali plaga sedere et Ostrogothas nuncupari.

130 Seizing upon his adverse malady, Balamber, king of the Huns, moved armed into the Ostrogothic quarter, from whose alliance the Vesegothae were already, by a certain internal dissension among themselves, considered separated. In the meanwhile Hermanaricus, suffering as much from the pain of the wound as from the incursions of the Huns, having grown old, died in the 110th year of his life. The occasion of his death gave the Huns the advantage among those Goths, whom we said dwelt in the eastern region and were called Ostrogoths.

XXV.131 Vesegothae, id est illi alii eorum socii et occidui soli cultores, metu parentum exterriti, quidnam de se propter gentem Hunnorum deliberarent, ambigebant, diuque cogitantes tandem communi placito legatos in Romania direxerunt ad Valentem imperatorem fratrem Valentiniani imperatoris senioris, ut, partem Thraciae sive Moesiae si illis traderet ad colendum, eius se legibus eiusque vivere imperiis subderentur. Et, ut fides uberior illis haberetur, promittunt se, si doctores linguae suae donaverit, fieri Christianos.

25.131 The Vesegothae, that is those other of their allies and the western dwellers of the soil, terrified by fear for their kin, were in doubt what to resolve for themselves because of the race of the Huns, and after long deliberation at last by common accord sent envoys into Romania to Emperor Valens, brother of the senior emperor Valentinian, that he might assign to them a part of Thrace or Moesia to cultivate, and that they might submit themselves to his laws and to his imperial commands. And, so that more confidence might be held in them, they promise that they will become Christians if he will grant them teachers of their tongue.

132 Quod Valens conperto mox gratulabundus annuit, quod ultro petere voluisset, susceptosque in partibus Moesiae Getas quasi murum regni sui contra citeras statuit gentes. Et quia tunc Valens imperator Arrianorum perfidia saucius nostrarum partium omnes ecclesias obturasset, suae parti fautores ad illos diriget praedicatores, qui venientes rudibus et ignaris ilico perfidiae suae virus infundunt. Sic quoque Vesegothae a Valente imperatore Arriani potius quam Christiani effecti.

132 Which Valens, when he learned it, soon rejoicing assented to what they had of their own accord sought, and placed the Getae received into parts of Moesia as it were a wall of his kingdom against the nearer peoples. And because then Emperor Valens, wounded by the perfidy of the Arians, had shut up all the churches of our regions, he sent to them preachers favorable to his party, who, coming to the rude and unlearned, at once pour in the poison of their perfidy. Thus likewise the Vesigoths were made Arians by Emperor Valens rather than Christians.

133 De cetero tam Ostrogothis quam Gepidis parentibus suis pro affectionis gratia evangelizantes huius perfidiae culturam edocentes, omnem ubique linguae huius nationem ad culturam huius sectae invitaverunt. Ipsi quoque, ut dictum est, Danubio transmeantes Daciam ripensem, Moesiam Thraciasque permisso principis insederunt.

133 Thenceforth, both among the Ostrogoths and the Gepids, teaching their parents the cult of this perfidy under the guise of affection and evangelizing, they everywhere invited the whole nation of that language to the cult of this sect. They themselves also, as has been said, crossing the Danube, took up residence on the Dacian shore, in Moesia and Thrace, with the prince's permission.

XXVI.134 Quibus evenit, ut adsolet genti, necdum bene loco fundatis, penuria famis, coeperuntque primates eorum et duces, qui regum vice illis praeerant, id est Fritigernus, Alatheus et Safrac, exercitus inopiam condolere negotiationemque a Lupicino Maximoque Romanorum ducum expetere. Verum quid non auri sacra fames compellit adquiescere?

26.134 Which came to pass, as is usual with a people, that, not yet well settled in place, by a scarcity of food their chiefs and leaders, who ruled them in the stead of kings — namely Fritigern, Alatheus and Safrac — began to lament the army's want and to seek commerce and negotiation from Lupicinus and Maximus, commanders of the Romans. But what does not the accursed hunger for gold compel one to acquiesce to?

Coeperunt duces avaritia compellente non solum ovium bovumque carnes, verum etiam canum et inmundorum animalium morticina eis pro magno contradere, adeo, ut quemlibet mancipium in uno pane aut decem libris came mercarent. 135 Sed iam mancipiis et supellectile deficientibus filios eorum avarus mercator victus necessitate exposcit. Haut enim secus parentes faciunt salute suorum pignorum providentes: faciliusque deliberant ingenuitatem perire quam vitam, dum misericorditer alendus quis venditur quam moriturus servatur.

The leaders, avarice compelling, began not only to sell the meats of sheep and cattle, but also to vend the flesh of dogs and unclean animals to them as if it were fine meat, so much so that they would buy any slave for one loaf or ten pounds of meat. 135 But now, with slaves and household goods failing, the greedy merchant by necessity demands their sons. For parents do no otherwise, providing for the safety of their pledges: and they more readily resolve that freedom perish than life, while one to be mercifully nourished is sold rather than one about to die is preserved.

Contigit etenim illo sub tempore erumnoso, Lupicinus ut ductor Romanorum Fritigernum Gothorum regulum in convivio invitaret dolumque ei, ut post exitus docuit, moliretur. 136 Sed Fritigernus dolum nescius cum paucorum comitatu ad convivium veniens, dum intus in preturio aepularetur, clamorem miserorum morientium audiret: nam in alia parte socios eius reclausos dum milites ducis sui iussu trucidare conarentur et vox morientium duriter emissa iam suspectis auribus intonaret, ilico aperto dolo cognoscens Fritigernus evaginato gladio e convivio non sine magna temeritate velocitateque egreditur suosque socios ab imminenti morte ereptos ad necem Romanorum instigat. 137 Qui nancti occasione votiva elegerunt viri fortissimi in bello magis quam in fame deficere, et ilico in ducum Lupicini et Maximi armantur occisione.

For it happened at that time of scarcity that Lupicinus, as commander of the Romans, plotted to invite Fritigernus, the little king of the Goths, to a banquet and to contrive a treachery against him, as will be told below. 136 But Fritigernus, unaware of the deceit, coming to the banquet with a small retinue, while he was feasting inside in the hall, heard the cry of the wretched who were dying: for in another part his companions were shut up while soldiers, by the order of their duke, were attempting to slaughter them, and the voice of the dying, harshly uttered, already thundered to suspicious ears; immediately, when the plot was revealed, Fritigernus, drawing his sword, sallied forth from the banquet not without great rashness and speed, and having rescued his companions from imminent death, he urged them to the slaughter of the Romans. 137 Those who, having seized the opportunity offered by their vows, chose rather to fall as men most brave in war than perish of famine, thereupon armed themselves for the killing of the dukes Lupicinus and Maximus.

Illa namque dies Gothorum famem Romanorumque securitatem ademit, coeperuntque Gothi iam non ut advenae et peregrini, sed ut cives et domini possessoribus imperare totasque partes septentrionales usque ad Danubium suo iuri tenere. 138 Quod conperiens in Antiochia Valens imperator mox armato exercitu in Thraciarum partes egreditur; ubi lacrimabile bello commisso vincentibus Gothis in quodam praedio iuxta Adrianopolim saucius ipse refugiens ignorantibusque, quod imperator in tam vili casula delitisceret, Gothis, ignemque, ut adsolet saeviente inimico, supposito, cum regali pompa crematus est, haut secus quam dei prorsus iudicio, ut ab ipsis igni conbureretur, quos ipse vera fide petentibus in perfidia declinasset ignemque caritatis ad gehennae ignem detorsisset. Quo tempore Vesegothae Thracias Daciaque ripense post tanti gloria tropaei tamquam solum genitalem potiti coeperunt incolere.

Illa namque dies Gothorum famem Romanorumque securitatem ademit, coeperuntque Gothi iam non ut advenae et peregrini, sed ut cives et domini possessoribus imperare totasque partes septentrionales usque ad Danubium suo iuri tenere. 138 Valens the emperor, hearing this in Antioch, soon set out with an armed army into the parts of Thrace; where, the pitiable battle having been joined and the Goths prevailing, he himself, wounded, fled to a certain estate near Adrianople, and the Goths, ignorant that the emperor lay hid in so mean a hut, and, as is wont with a raging foe, having set fire beneath, burned him with regal pomp — no less than by the very judgment of the gods, so that he was burned by those whom he himself, when they sought him with true faith, had turned aside into perfidy and had diverted the fire of charity into the fire of Gehenna. At that time the Vesegothae of the Thracian and Danubian shore, after the glory of so great a trophy had made them masters of the native soil, began to inhabit it.

XXVII.139 Sed Theodosio ab Spania Gratianus imperator electo et in orientali principatu loco Valentis patrui subrogato, militaremque disciplinam mox in meliori statu reposita ignavia priorum principum et desidia exclusa Gothus ut sensit, pertimuit. Nam inperator acri omnino ingenii virtuteque et consilio clarus dum praeceptorum saeveritate et liberalitate blanditiaque sua remissum exercitum ad fortia provocaret.

27.139 But when Gratian was chosen emperor from Spain and in the eastern principate substituted in the place of his uncle Valens, and when military discipline was soon restored to a better condition, the cowardice of former princes and sloth being expelled, as the Goths perceived it they were terrified. For the emperor, altogether renowned for a keen genius, virtue, and counsel, while by the severity of his precepts and by his liberality and blandishments he provoked the relaxed army to brave deeds.

140 At vero ubi milites principe meliore mutato fiduciam acceperunt, Gothos impetere temptant eosque Thraciae finibus pellunt. Sed Theodosio principe pene tunc usque ad disperationem egrotanti datur iterum Gothis audacia divisoque exercitu Fritigernus ad Thessaliam praedandam, Epiros et Achaiam digressus est, Alatheus vero et Safrac cum residuis copiis Pannoniam petierunt. 141 Quod cum Gratianus imperator, qui tunc a Roma in Gallis ob incursione Vandalorum recesserat, conperisset, quia Theodosio fatali desperatione succumbente Gothi maius saevirent, mox ad eos collecto venit exercitu, nec tamen fretus in armis, sed gratia eos muneribusque victurus, pacemque, victualia illis concedens, cum ipsis inito foedere fecit.

140 But when the soldiers, with a better prince having been changed in, regained confidence, they tried to attack the Goths and drove them from the borders of Thrace. Yet boldness was again given to the Goths while Theodosius the prince, sick almost unto despair, remained, and with the army divided Fritigern departed for Thessaly to plunder, and for Epirus and Achaia, while Alatheus and Safrac with the remaining troops made for Pannonia. 141 When Emperor Gratian, who had then withdrawn from Rome into Gaul on account of the incursion of the Vandals, learned this — and since with Theodosius succumbing to fatal despair the Goths raged the more — he soon, having gathered an army, came against them; yet not relying on arms but intending to win them by favour and gifts, and granting them peace and provisions, he concluded a treaty with them.

XXVIII.142 Vbi vero post haec Theodosius convaluit imperator repperitque cum Gothis et Romanis Gratiano imperatore pepigisse quod ipse optaverat, admodum grato animo ferens et ipse in hac pace consensit, Aithanaricoque rege, qui tunc Fritigerno successerat, datis sibi muneribus sociavit moribusque suis benignissimis ad se eum in Constantinopolim accedere invitavit. 143 Qui omnino libenter adquiescens regia urbe ingressus est miransque: 'En, inquid, cerno, quod saepe incredulus audiebam', famam videlicet tantae urbis; et huc illuc oculos volvens nunc situm urbis commeatuque navium, nunc moenia clara prospectans miratur, populosque diversarum gentium quasi fonte in uno e diversis partibus scaturriente unda, sic quoque milite ordinato aspiciens: 'Deus, inquit, sine dubio terrenus est imperator et quisquis adversus eum manu moverit, ipse sui sanguinis reus existit'. 144 In tali ergo admiratione maioreque a principe honore suffultus paucis mensibus interiectis ab hac luce migravit.

28.142 Where indeed after these things Theodosius recovered and, as emperor, found that he had made agreement with the Goths and with Emperor Gratian what he himself had desired, bearing it with very grateful mind he also consented to this peace, and allied Aithanaric the king, who then had succeeded Fritigern, giving him gifts and, with his very kindly manners, invited him to come to Constantinople. 143 Who altogether willingly acquiescing entered the royal city and, marveling, said: 'Behold,' he said, 'I see what I oft, unbelieving, heard,' that is, the renown of so great a city; and casting his eyes here and there, now at the site of the city and the traffic of ships, now beholding the splendid walls, he marvels, and the peoples of diverse nations as if from one spring gushing forth with a wave from different parts, likewise the soldiery marshaled, looking on: 'God,' he said, 'without doubt is the earthly emperor, and whoever lifts a hand against him is himself guilty of his blood.' 144 In such admiration therefore, and upheld by greater honor from the prince, after a few months interposed he departed from this life.

Quem princeps affectionis gratia pene plus mortuum quam vivum honorans dignae tradidit sepulturae, ipse quoque in exequiis feretro eins praeiens. 145 Defuncto ergo Aithanarico cunctus eius exercitus in servitio Theodosii imperatoris perdurans Romano se imperio subdens cum milite velut unum corpus effecit militiaque illa dudum sub Constantino principe foederatorum renovata et ipsi dicti sunt foederati. E quibus imperator contra Eugenium tyrannum, qui occiso Gratiano Gallias occupasset plus quam viginti milia armatorum fideles sibi et amicos intellegens secum duxit victoriaque de praedicto tyranno potitus ultionem exegit.

Whom the prince, out of affection, honoring almost more dead than living, delivered to a burial worthy, he himself also going before the bier in the funeral rites. 145 Therefore upon Aithanaric’s death his entire army, continuing in the service of Emperor Theodosius and submitting to Roman authority, made itself with the soldiery as if one body, and those military forces long before renewed under the prince Constantine as foederati were likewise declared foederati to him. From these the emperor, opposing the tyrant Eugenius, who after killing Gratian had seized Gaul, taking with him more than twenty thousand armed men faithful to him and his allies, won victory over the afore‑said tyrant and exacted vengeance.

XXIX.146 Postquam vero Theodosius amator pacis generisque Gothorum rebus excessit humanis coeperuntque eius filii utramque rem publicam luxuriose viventes adnihilare auxiliariisque suis, id est Gothis, consueta dona subtrahere, mox Gothis fastidium eorum increvit, verentesque, ne longa pace eorum resolveretur fortitudo, ordinato super se rege Halarico, cui erat post Amalos secunda nobilitas Balthorumque ex genere origo mirifica, qui dudum ob audacia virtutis Baltha, id est audax, nomen inter suos acceperat. 147 Mox ergo antefatus Halaricus creatus est rex, cum suis deliberans suasit eos suo labore quaerere regna quam alienis per otium subiacere, et sumpto exercitu per Pannonias Stilicone et Aureliano consulibus et per Sirmium dextroque latere quasi viris vacuam intravit Italiam nulloque penitus obsistente ad pontem applicavit Candidiani, qui tertio miliario ab urbe aberat regia Ravennate.

29.146 After Theodosius, lover of peace and of the Gothic race in human matters, departed, and his sons began to ruin both the commonwealth by living luxuriously and to withhold the customary gifts from their auxiliaries, that is, the Goths, soon disdain toward the Goths grew; and, fearing that by long peace their prowess would be undone, they appointed over themselves a king, Halaric, who, after the Amali, was of the second nobility and of the Balthi a wondrous origin of lineage, who long since on account of the boldness of his virtue had taken among his own the name Baltha, that is, “the Bold.” 147 Soon therefore the aforesaid Halaric was created king; deliberating with his men he persuaded them to seek kingdoms by their own labor rather than to lie subject to another in idleness, and having taken up an army through the Pannonias in the consulship of Stilicho and Aurelian and by Sirmium and on the right flank, as if with men freed for action, he entered Italy and laid siege at the bridge of Candidianus, which was three miles from the city, near the royal Ravenna.

148 Quae urbs inter paludes et pelago interque Padi fluenta unius tantum patet accessu, cuius dudum possessores, ut tradunt maiores, ainetoi, id est laudabiles, dicebantur. Haec in sino regni Romani super mare Ionio constituta ut in modum insulae influentium aquarum redundatione concluditur. 149 Habet ab oriente mare, ad quam qui recto cursu de Corcyra atque Hellade partibus navigatur, dextrum latus primum Epiros, dehinc Dalmatiam Liburniam Histriamque et sic Venetias radens palmula navigat.

148 Which city, lying between the marshes and the sea and between the streams of the Po, is open by but a single approach, whose long-ago possessors, as the elders relate, were called ainetoi, that is, laudable. It is placed in the bay of the kingdom of Rome upon the Ionian Sea and is enclosed like an island by the overflowing influx of the surrounding waters. 149 It has the sea to the east, toward which one sailing a straight course from Corcyra and the parts of Hellas first skims on the right the coast of Epirus, then Dalmatia, Liburnia and Histria, and so, gliding past the Venetias in a little boat, makes the voyage.

Ab occidente vero habet paludes, per quas uno angustissimo introitu ut porta relicta est. A septentrionale quoque plaga ramus illi ex Pado est, qui Fossa vocitatur Asconis. 150 A meridie item ipse Padus, quem Italiae soli fluviorum regem dicunt, cognomento Eridanus, ab Augusto imperatore latissima fossa demissus, qui septima sui alvei parte per mediam influit civitatem, ad ostia sua amoenissimum portum praebens, classem ducentarum quinquaginta navium Dione referente tutissima dudum credebatur recipere statione.

Ab occidente vero habet paludes, per quas uno angustissimo introitu ut porta relicta est. A septentrionale quoque plaga ramus illi ex Pado est, qui Fossa vocitatur Asconis. 150 From the west, however, it has marshes, through which by one very narrow entrance it is left as by a gate. From the northern quarter likewise a branch comes to it from the Padus, which is called the Fossa of Asconis. To the south likewise the Padus itself, whom they call the king of rivers of the Italian soil, surnamed Eridanus, was let down by Emperor Augustus by a very broad ditch, and, flowing through the middle of the city by the seventh part of its channel, offering at its mouths a most delightful harbour, was long ago believed, Dion reporting, most safe to receive in its station a fleet of two hundred and fifty ships.

151 Qui nunc, ut Favius ait, quod aliquando portus fuerit, spatiosissimus ortus ostendit arboribus plenus, verum de quibus non pendeant vela, sed poma. Trino si quidem urbs ipsa vocabulo gloriatur trigeminaque positione exultat, id est prima Ravenna, ultima Classis, media Caesarea inter urbem et mare, plena mollitiae harenaque minuta vectationibus apta.

151 Which now, as Favius says, by its very spacious growth shows that it was once a harbor, being full of trees — yet trees from which not sails hang, but fruits. For the city itself indeed prides in a triple name and exults in a threefold position, that is, first Ravenna, last Classis, the middle Caesarea between the city and the sea, full of softness and of fine sand fit for transports.

XXX.152 Verum enim vero cum in eius vicinitate Vesegotharum applicuisset exercitus et ad Honorium imperatorem, qui intus residebat, legationem misisset, quatenus si permitteret, ut Gothi pacati in Italia residerent, sic eos cum Romanorum populo vivere, ut una gens utraque credere possit: sin autem aliter, bellando quis quem valebat expellere, et iam securus qui victor existeret imperaret. Sed Honorius imperator utraque pollicitatione formidans suoque cum senatu inito consilio, quomodo eos fines Italos expelleret, deliberabat.

XXX.152 But truly when an army had landed in the vicinity of the Vesegoths and had sent a legation to Honorius the emperor, who was residing inland, asking that if he would permit it the Goths, pacified, might dwell in Italy, and thus live with the Roman people so that both a single gens and the other might be trusted together; but if otherwise, by fighting each might expel whom he was able, and then the victor, being secure, should rule. Yet Emperor Honorius, fearing both pledges and, having taken counsel with his senate, deliberated how he might drive them out of the Italian borders.

153 Cui ad postremum sententia sedit, quatenus provincias longe positas, id est Gallias Spaniasque, quas pene iam perdidisset Gizericique eas Vandalorum regis vastaret inruptio, si valeret, Halaricus sua cum gente sibi tamquam lares proprias vindicaret. Donationem sacro oraculo confirmatam consentiunt Gothi hac ordinatione et ad patriam sibi traditam proficiscuntur. 154 Post quorum discessu nec quicquam mali in Italia perpetrato Stilico patricius et socer Honorii imperatoris – nam utramque eius filiam, id est Mariam et Thermantiam, sibi princeps unam post unam consocians utramque virginem et intactam deus ab hac luce vocavit – hic ergo Stilico ad Polentiam civitatem in Alpes Cottiarum locatam dolose accedens, nihilque male suspicantibus Gothis ad necem totius Italiae suamque deformitatem ruit in bello.

153 To which at last the opinion prevailed, that the provinces remote, that is Gaul and Spain, which he had nearly lost and which Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, would ravage by inroad if he were able, should be claimed by Halaric with his people for himself as if they were his own household lares. The Goths consent to the donation, confirmed by a sacred oracle, by this arrangement and set out for the fatherland delivered to them. 154 After their departure, with no evil wrought in Italy, Stilicho the patrician and father‑in‑law of Emperor Honorius — for he had espoused each of his daughters, that is Maria and Thermantia, to himself one after another, and God called each virgin and undefiled from this life — this same Stilicho, treacherously approaching the city of Polentia located in the Cottian Alps, and the Goths suspecting nothing, rushed into war, bringing slaughter upon all Italy and ruinous disgrace upon himself.

155 Quem ex inproviso Gothi cernentes primum perterriti sunt, sed mox recollectis animis et, ut solebant, hortatibus excitati omnem pene exercitum Stiliconis in fuga conversum usque ad internicionem deiciunt furibundoque animo arreptum iter deserunt et in Liguria post se, unde iam transierant, revertuntur; eamque praedis spoliisque potiti Emiliam pari tenore devastant Flamminiaeque aggerem inter Picenum et Tusciam usque ad urbem Romam discurrentes, quidquid in utrumque latus fuit, in praeda diripiunt. 156 Ad postremum Romae ingressi Halarico iubente spoliant tantum, non autem, ut solent gentes, igne supponunt nec locis sanctorum in aliquo paenitus iniuria inrogare patiuntur. Exindeque egressi per Campaniam et Lucania simili clade peracta Brittios accesserunt; ubi diu resedentes ad Siciliam et exinde ad Africae terras ire deliberant.

155 Whom, seen unexpectedly, the Goths at first were terrified of, but soon with minds collected and, as they were wont, roused by exhortations, they threw nearly the whole of Stilicho’s army, turned to flight, down to destruction, and abandoning the road snatched up in a furious spirit they leave it and return into Liguria behind them, whence they had already crossed; and, having taken possession of it with its estates and spoils, they devastate Emilia in like fashion and, running along the embankment of the Flaminian Way between Picenum and Tuscany as far as the city of Rome, plunder whatever lay on either side as booty. 156 At last, having entered Rome at Halaric’s command, they pillage only, but do not, as peoples are wont, set things on fire nor allow grievous injury to be inflicted on any holy places. Thence departing through Campania and Lucania, their similar ravage completed, they came to the Bruttians; there remaining a long while, they resolved to go to Sicily and from there to the lands of Africa.

Bryttiorum si quidem regio in extremis Italiae finibus australi interiacens parti – angulus eius Appinini montis initium fecit – Adriaeque pelagus velut lingua porrecta a Tyrreno aestu seiungens nomen quondam a Bryttia sortitus regina. 157 Ibi ergo veniens Alaricus rex Vesegotharum cum opibus totius Italiae, quas in praeda diripuerat, et exinde, ut dictum est, per Siciliam ad Africam quietam patriam transire disponens. Cuius, quia non est liberum quodcumque homo sine notu dei disposuerit, fretus ille horribilis aliquantas naves submersit, plurimas conturbavit.

Bryttiorum, if indeed a region lying in the extreme southern bounds of Italy and jutting between parts — an angle of the Apennine made its beginning — and the Adriatic sea, like a tongue stretched off and separating from the Tyrrhenian tide, once obtained its name from Bryttia the queen. 157 There therefore arriving Alaric, king of the Visigoths, with the riches of all Italy which he had carried off in plunder, and thence, as was said, arranging to pass by Sicily into peaceful Africa his fatherland, — of whose affairs, since no man freely ordains anything without the notice of God, relying on that dread one he sank some ships and put very many into confusion.

Qua adversitate depulsus Halaricus, dum secum, quid ageret, deliberaret, subito inmatura morte praeventus rebus humanis excessit. 158 Quem nimia sui dilectione lugentes Busento amne iuxta Consentina civitate de alveo suo derivato – nam hic fluvius a pede montis iuxta urbem dilapsus fluit unda salutifera – huius ergo in medio alvei collecta captivorum agmina saepulturae locum effodiunt, in cuius foveae gremium Haliricum cum multas opes obruunt, rursusque aquas in suo alveo reducentes, et ne a quoquam quandoque locus cognosceretur, fossores omnes interemerunt, regnumque Vesegotharum Atauulfo eius consanguineo et forma menteque conspicuo tradent; nam erat quamvis non adeo proceritate staturae formatus, quantum pulchritudine corporis vultuque decorus.

Driven off by this misfortune, Halaricus, while he deliberated with himself what he should do, was suddenly anticipated by an untimely death and departed from human affairs. 158 Those mourning him with excessive affection, by the Busento river near the city of Consentia, having diverted it from its channel — for this stream, flowing down from the foot of the mountain beside the city, bears a salutary flood — therefore in the middle of that channel, where the captive throngs were gathered, they dug a place for burial, into whose pit they heaped Halaric’s bosom together with many riches; then they restored the waters to their bed, and, so that the place might never be known by anyone, they killed all the diggers, and handed the kingdom of the Vese-goths to Ataulf, his kinsman and remarkable in both form and mind; for although he was not formed with very great stature, he was adorned with bodily beauty and an agreeable countenance.

XXXI.159 Qui suscepto regno revertens item ad Romam, si quid primum remanserat, more locustarum erasit, nec tantum privatis divitiis Italiam spolians, immo et publicis, imperatore Honorio nihil resistere praevalente, cuius et germanam Placidiam Theodosii imperatoris ex altera uxore filiam ab urbe captivam abduxit. 160 Quam tamen ob generis nobilitatem formeque pulchritudine et integritate castitatis adtendens in Foro Iuli Aemiliae civitate suo matrimonio legitime copulavit, ut gentes hac societate conperta quasi adunatam Gothis rem publicam efficacius terrerentur, Honorioque Augusto quamvis opibus exausto tamen iam quasi cognatum grato animo derelinquens, Gallias tendit.

31.159 He, having taken up the kingdom and returning likewise to Rome, devoured whatever first remained, in the manner of locusts, and plundering Italy not only of private riches but indeed also of public goods, Honorius offering no resistance; and he even carried off from the city captive Placidia, the sister, the daughter of Emperor Theodosius by his other wife. 160 Whom, however, attending to her noble lineage, the beauty of her form, and the integrity of her chastity, he lawfully joined in marriage in the Forum of Julius Aemilius in his own city, so that the peoples, discovering this alliance, might be more effectively cowed as if the commonwealth were united to the Goths; and, leaving Honorius Augustus, though exhausted of resources, yet now as if a kinsman with a grateful heart, he directed his course into Gaul.

161 Vbi cum advenisset, vicinae gentes perterritae in suis se coeperunt finibus continere, qui dudum crudeliter Gallias infestassent, tam Franci, quam Burgondiones. Nam Vandali vel Alani, quos superius diximus permissu principum Romanorum utramque Pannoniam resedere, nec ibi sibi metu Gothorum arbitrantes tutum fore, si reverterentur, ad Gallias transierunt. 162 Sed mox a Galliis, quas ante non multum tempus occupassent, fugientes, Spanias se recluserunt, adhuc memores ex relatione maiorum suorum, quid dudum Geberich Gothorum rex genti suae prestitisset incommodi vel quomodo eos virtute sua patrio solo expulisset.

161 When he had arrived, the neighboring peoples, terrified, began to confine themselves within their own borders, those who not long before had cruelly harried Gaul, both Franks and Burgundians. For the Vandals or Alans, whom we said above, by permission of the Roman princes, had taken up residence in both Pannonias, and not reckoning it safe for themselves there because of fear of the Goths if they should return, crossed into Gaul. 162 But soon, fleeing from the Gauls, whom they had occupied not long before, they shut themselves up in Spain, still mindful from the report of their elders of what long ago Geberich, king of the Goths, had brought upon his people of misfortune or how by his valour he had expelled them from their native soil.

Tali ergo casu Galliae Atauulfo patuere venienti. 163 Confirmato ergo Gothus regno in Gallis Spanorum casu coepit dolere, eosque deliberans a Vandalorum incursibus eripere, suas opes Barcilona cum certis fidelibus derelictas plebeque inbelle, interiores Spanias introibit, ubi saepe cum Vandalis decertans tertio anno, postquam Gallias Spaniasque domuisset, occubuit gladio ilia perforata Euervulfi, de cuius solitus erat ridere statura. Post cuius mortem Segericus rex constituitur, sed et ipse suorum fraude peremptus ocius regnum cum vita reliquid.

Tali ergo casu Galliae Atauulfo patuere venienti. 163 Therefore, his kingdom having been confirmed, the Goth began to grieve at the plight of the Spaniards in Gaul, and, resolving to snatch them from the incursions of the Vandals, he entered the interior of Spain, leaving his wealth at Barcelona with certain faithful men and the unwarlike populace; there, often contending with the Vandals, in the third year, after he had subdued Gaul and Spain, he fell, pierced by the sword of one Euryulfus, of whom he had been wont to make sport because of his stature. After whose death Segeric was appointed king, but he himself, slain by the treachery of his own men, soon abandoned the kingdom with his life.

XXXII.164 Dehinc iam quartus ab Alarico rex constituitur Valia nimis destrictus et prudens. Contra quem Honorius imperator Constantium virum industria militari pollentem multisque proeliis gloriosum cum exercitu dirigens, veritus, ne foedus dudum cum Atauulfo inito ipse turbaret et aliquas rursus in re publica insidias moliretur vicinas sibi gentes expulsas, simulque desiderans germanam suam Placidiam subiectionis obprobrio liberare, paciscens cum Constantio, ut, aut bello aut pace vel quo modo si eam potuisset ad suum regnum reducere, ei eam in matrimonio sociaret.

XXXII.164 Then Valia, too strict and prudent, was appointed the fourth king by Alaric. Against him Emperor Honorius, directing with Constantio (Constantius) a man strong in military industry and illustrious in many battles, fearing that he himself might disturb the treaty lately made with Ataulf and again devise some plots in the res publica against the neighboring peoples who had been expelled to him, and at the same time wishing to free his sister Placidia from the reproach of subjection, agreed with Constantius that, either by war or by peace or by whatever means he might be able to bring her back to his kingdom, he should join her to him in marriage.

165 Quo placito Constantius obans cum copia armatorum et pene iam regio apparatu Spanias petit. Cui Vallias rex Gothorum non cum minori procinctu ad claustra Pyrenei occurrit; ubi ab utraque parte legatione directa ita convenit pacisci, ut Placidiam sororem principis redderet suaque solacia Romanae rei publicae, ubi usus exegerit, non denegaret. Eo namque tempore Constantinus quidam apud Gallias invadens imperium filium suum Constantem ex monacho fecerat Caesarem; sed non diu tenens regno praesumpto mox foederatos Gothos Romanosque ipse occiditur Arelato, filius vero eius Vienna.

165 By this agreement Constantius, going thither with a force of armed men and almost now with regal apparatus, made for Spain. To him Vallias, king of the Goths, met at the defiles of the Pyrenees not with less preparation; where, with envoys sent from both sides, it was agreed to make peace so that he would restore Placidia, the sister of the prince, and would not refuse his consolations to the Roman res publica when necessity demanded. For at that time a certain Constantine, invading the provinces in Gaul, had made his son Constans, taken from the monastery, a Caesar; but not long holding, having assumed the kingdom he was soon slain at Arles by the federate Goths and Romans themselves, while his son was at Vienne.

Post quos item Iovinus ac Sebastianus pari temeritate rem publicam occupandam existimantes pari exitio perierunt.

After them likewise Jovinus and Sebastian, thinking to seize the republic with equal temerity, perished by equal ruin.

166 Nam duodecimo anno regni Valiae, quando et Hunni post pene quinquaginta annorum invasam Pannoniam a Romanis et Gothis expulsi sunt, videns Valia Vandalos in suis finibus, id est Spaniae solum, audaci temeritate ab interioribus partibus Galliciae, ubi eos fugaverat dudum Atauulfus, egressos et cuncta in praedas vastare, eo fere tempore, quo Hierius et Ardabures consules processissent, nec mora mox contra eos movit exercitum.

166 For in the twelfth year of Valia’s reign, when also the Huns, after nearly fifty years, had been driven out of Pannonia by the Romans and Goths, Valia, seeing the Vandals in his borders, that is upon the soil of Spain, with bold temerity sallied forth from the interior parts of Galicia, where Ataulfus had long before driven them away, and, issuing out, to pillage everything, about the very time when Hierius and Ardabures had advanced as consuls, and without delay he soon put his army in motion against them.

XXXIII.167 Sed Gyzericus rex Vandalorum iam a Bonifatio in Africam invitatus, qui Valentiniano principi veniens in offensa non aliter se quam malo rei publicae potuit vindicare. Is ergo suis praecibus eos invitans per traiectum angustiarum, qui dicitur fretus Gaditanus et vix septem milibus Africam ab Spaniis dividet ostiaque maris Tyrreni in Oceani estu egeritur, transposuit.

XXXIII.167 But Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, having already been invited into Africa by Bonifatius — Bonifatius himself, coming into offence with the prince Valentinian, could not otherwise avenge himself than by the ruin of the res publica — therefore, by his entreaties inviting them, transported them across the crossing of the narrows, which is called the Gaditan strait and which scarce seven miles divides Africa from Spain and is borne into the mouth of the Tyrrhenian sea in the estuary of the Ocean.

168 Erat namque Gyzericus iam Romanorum clade in urbe notissimus, statura mediocris et equi casu claudicans, animo profundus, sermone rarus, luxoriae contemptor, ira turbidus, habendi cupidus, ad sollicitandas gentes providentissimus, semina contentionum iacere, odia miscere paratus. 169 Tali Africa rem publicam praecibus Bonifatii, ut diximus, invitatus intravit, ubi a divinitate, ut fertur, accepta auctoritate diu regnans, ante obitum suum filiorum agmine accito ordinavit, ne inter ipsos de regni ambitione intentio esset, sed ordine quisque et gradu suo, alii si superviveret. id est, seniori suo fieret sequens successor et rursus ei posterior eius.

168 For Gyzericus was already notorious in the city for the ruin of the Romans, of medium stature and limping from a horse’s fall, deep of mind, sparing of speech, a despiser of luxury, turbulent in anger, greedy of possession, most provident in agitating peoples, ready to sow the seeds of contention and to mingle hatreds. 169 Thus invited into Africa by Bonifatius’ entreaties, as we said, he entered the state, where, ruling long by an authority said to have been received from the divine, he, before his death, having summoned his sons in a company, arranged that there be no strife among them for the ambition of the kingdom, but that each in order and by his rank should follow the other, one succeeding the elder and thereafter his own successor.

Quod observantes per annorum multorum spatia regnum feliciter possiderunt, nec, ut in reliquis gentibus adsolet, intestino bello foedati sunt, suoque ordine unus post unum regnum excipiens in pace populis imperavit. 170 Quorum ordo iste ac successio fuit: primum Gyzericus, qui pater et dominus, sequens Hunericus, tertius Gunthamundus, quartus Thrasamundus, quintus Ilderich. Quem malo gentis suae Gelimer inmemor atavi praeceptorum de regno eiectum et interemptum tyrannide praesumpsit.

Which they, observing, for the space of many years possessed the kingdom happily, nor, as is customary among other peoples, were they defiled by civil war; and in their order, one after another receiving the kingdom, they ruled the peoples in peace. 170 The order and succession of whom was this: first Gyzericus, who was father and lord, next Hunericus, third Gunthamundus, fourth Thrasamundus, fifth Ilderich. Whom Gelimer, forgetful of the evil of his people and of the precepts of his ancestry, presumptuously seized the kingdom by tyranny, after expelling and putting him to death.

171 Sed non ei cessit inpune quod fecerat. Nam mox Iustiniani imperatoris ultio in eum apparuit et cum omne genus suum opibusque, quibus more praedonis incubabat, Constantinopolim delatus per virum gloriosissimum Belesarium mag. mil.

171 But it did not go unpunished for him, for soon the vengeance of Emperor Justinian appeared against him, and with his whole family and with the wealth by which, like a plunderer, he preyed upon peoples, he was conveyed to Constantinople by the most glorious man Belisarius, mag. mil.

Orientalem, exconsolem ordinarium atque patricium, magnum in circo populo spectaculum fuit seraque suae paenitudinis gerens cum se videret de fastigio regali deiectum, privatae vitae, cui noluit famulari, redactus occubuit. 172 Sic Africa, quae in divisione urbis terrarum tertia pars mundi describitur, centesimo fere anno a Vandalico iugo erepta in libertate revocata est regni Romani, et quae dudum ignavis dominis ducibusque infidelibus a rei publicae Romanae corpus gentilis manus abstulerat, a sollerte domino et fideli ductore nunc revocata hodieque congaudet, quamvis et post haec aliquantulum intestino proelio Maurorumque infidelitate adtrita sese lamentaverit, tamen triumphus Iustiniani imperatoris a deo sibi donatus, quod inchoaverat, ad pacem usque perduxit. Sed nobis quid opus est, unde res non exeget, dicere?

Orientalem, ex-consul, ordinarius atque patrician, it was a great spectacle to the people in the circus, and bearing the late penitence of his own, when he saw himself cast down from the royal summit, reduced to private life, to which he would not consent to be a servant, he fell and died. 172 Thus Africa, which in the division of the city of the lands is described as the third part of the world, after almost a hundred years snatched from the Vandal yoke was recalled to the liberty of the Roman realm, and that which long before, by cowardly masters and unfaithful leaders, the pagan hand had taken from the body of the Roman res publica, is now restored by a prudent lord and faithful commander and rejoices even today, although afterwards it lamented itself somewhat worn by civil strife and by the perfidy of the Moors; nevertheless the triumph of Emperor Justinian, bestowed on him by God, brought to peace what he had begun. But what need have we to say what the matter does not require?

Ad propositum redeamus.

Let us return to the proposed matter.

173 Vallia si quidem, rex Gothorum, adeo cum suis in Vandalos saeviebat, ut voluisset eos etiam et in Africa persequi, nisi eum casus, qui dudum Halarico in Africa tendenti contigerat, revocasset. Nobilitatus namque intra Spanias incruentamque victoriam potitus Tolosam revertitur, Romano imperio fugatis hostibus aliquantas provincias, quod promiserat, derelinquens, sibique adversa post longum valitudine superveniente rebus humanis excessit, 174 eo videlicet tempore, quo Beremud, Thorismundo patre progenitus, de quo in catalogo Amalorum familiae superius diximus, cum filio Vitiricho ab Ostrogothis, qui adhuc in Scythiae terras Hunnorum oppressionibus subiacebant, ad Vesegotharum regnum migravit. Conscius enim virtutis et generis nobilitate facilius sibi credens principatum a parentibus deferre, quem heredem regum constabat esse multorum.

173 Vallia, indeed, king of the Goths, so fiercely raged with his men against the Vandals that he would have wished to pursue them even into Africa, had not the chance which some time before had befallen Halaric as he was tending into Africa recalled him. For having been ennobled and having gained an unbloodied victory within the Spains, he returned to Tolosa, leaving to the Roman empire, the enemies having been routed, certain provinces, as he had promised, and for himself, when adverse things came upon human affairs after a long sickness, he died, 174 namely at the time when Beremud, begotten by Thorismund his father, of whom above we spoke in the catalogue of the Amal family, migrated with his son Vitirich from the Ostrogoths, who still in the Scythian lands lay under the oppressions of the Huns, to the kingdom of the Visigoths. For conscious of his virtue and of the nobility of his lineage, and more readily believing that the principate would be conferred on him by his parents, he was acknowledged to be the heir of many kings.

Quis namque de Amalo dubitaret, si vacasset elegere? Sed nec ipse adeo voluit, quis esset, ostendere. 175 Et illi iam post mortem Valliae Theoderidum ei dederant successorem.

For who indeed would doubt concerning the Amalo, if it had been vacant to elect? But he himself was not so willing to show who he was. 175 And they already, after Vallia’s death, had given Theoderidum to him as successor.

Ad quem veniens Beremud animi pondere qua valebat eximio generis sui amplitudine commoda taciturnitate suppressit, sciens regnantibus semper regali stirpe genitos esse suspectos. Passus est ergo ignorari, ne faceret ordinata confundi. Susceptusque cum filio suo a rege Theodorido honorifice nimis, adeo ut nec consilio suo expertem nec convivio faceret alienum, non tamen pro generis nobilitate, quam ignorabat, sed pro animi fortitudine et robore mentis, quam non poterat occultare.

Coming to him, Beremud, by the weight of mind as much as he could, suppressed the advantages of his eminent birth with taciturnity, knowing that those born of royal stock are always suspected by reigning princes. He therefore endured being unknown, lest he, by revealing himself, cause the established order to be confounded. And having been received with his son by King Theodorid overly honorably, so that he was neither excluded from his counsel nor alien to the banquet, yet not because of the nobility of his lineage, which he did not know, but because of the strength of his spirit and firmness of mind, which he could not conceal.

XXXIV.176 Quid plurimum? Defuncto Vallia, ut superius quod diximus repetamus, qui parum fuerat felix Gallis, prosperrimus feliciorque Theodoridus successit in regno, homo summa moderatione compositus, animi corporisque utilitate habendus.

34.176 What more? With Vallia dead, to repeat what we said above, Theodoridus — who had been rather unlucky for the Gauls — succeeded to the kingdom most prosperous and more fortunate; a man composed with the highest moderation, to be regarded for the vigor and utility of both mind and body.

Contra quem Theodosio et Festo consulibus pace rupta Romani Hunnis auxiliaribus secum iunctis in Galliis arma moverunt. Turbaverat namque eos Gothorum foederatorum manus, qui cum Gaina comite Constantinopolim efferasset. Aetius ergo patricius tunc praeerat militibus, fortissimorum Moesium stirpe progenitus in Dorostorena civitate a patre Gaudentio, labores bellicos tolerans, rei publicae Romanae singulariter natus, qui superbam Suavorum Francorumque barbariem immensis caedibus servire Romano imperio coegisset.

Against whom, in the consulship of Theodosius and Festus, with the peace broken, the Romans, the Huns as auxiliaries joining with them, took up arms in Gaul. For the bands of the Goths, federates, who with Count Gaina had carried off Constantinople, had disturbed them. Aetius therefore, the patrician, was then in command of the soldiers, sprung from the stock of the bravest Moesians in the city of Dorostorena by his father Gaudentius, enduring the toils of war, singularly born for the utility of body and mind to the Roman res publica, who had compelled the proud barbarism of the Sueves and Franks by immense slaughters to serve the Roman empire.

177 Hunnis quoque auxiliariis Litorio ductante contra Gothos Romanus exercitus movit procinctum, diuque ex utraque parte acies ordinatae cum utrique fortes et neuter infirmior esset, datis dextris in pristina concordia redierunt, foedusque firmatum ab alterutrum fida pace peracta recessit uterque. 178 Qua pace Attila, Hunnorum omnium dominus et paene totius Scythiae gentium solus in mundo regnator, qui erat famosa inter omnes gentes claritate mirabilis. Ad quem in legatione se missum a Theodosio iuniore Priscus istoricus tali voce inter alia refert: ingentia si quidem flumina, id est Tisia Tibisiaque et Dricca transientes venimus in loco illo, ubi dudum Vidigoia Gothorum fortissimus Sarmatum dolo occubuit; indeque non longe ad vicum, in quo rex Attila morabatur, accessimus, vicum inquam ad instar civitatis amplissimae, in quo lignea moenia ex tabulis nitentibus fabricata repperimus, quarum compago ita solidum mentiebatur, ut vix ab intentu possit iunctura tabularum conpraehendi.

177 With the Huns also as auxiliaries and Litorius leading, the Roman army moved out against the Goths, equipped; and for a long time the battle‑lines were drawn on each side, both being brave and neither the weaker; with right hands given they returned in their former concord, and the treaty, having been confirmed and the faithful peace accomplished by each, both retired. 178 By this peace Attila, lord of all the Huns and almost sole ruler of nearly all the peoples of Scythia in the world, who was marvelous in fame among all nations, — to whom, Priscus the historian relates, a legation sent by Theodosius the Younger was reported in these words among others: — crossing indeed great rivers, that is the Tisia, the Tibisis and the Dricca, we came to that place where long ago Vidigoia, the bravest of the Goths, fell by the treachery of the Sarmatians; and thence not far we came to the village in which King Attila was staying, a village, I say, like a very great city, in which we found wooden walls built of shining planks, whose jointing boasted so solid a workmanship that the joints of the planks could scarcely be grasped at a glance.

179 Videres triclinia ambitu prolixiore distenta porticusque in omni decore dispositas. Area vero curtis ingenti ambitu cingebatur, ut amplitudo ipsa regiam aulam ostenderet. Hae sedes erant Attilae regis barbariae tota tenenti; haec captis civitatibus habitacula praeponebat.

179 You would see triclinia stretched out in a more ample circuit and porticoes set in every ornament. The area, moreover, was girded by courts of vast circumference, so that the very magnitude displayed the royal hall. These residences were King Attila’s, containing all his barbarity; he set these dwellings over the cities he had captured.

XXXV.180 Is namque Attila patre genitus Mundzuco, cuius fuere germani Octar et Roas, qui ante Attilam regnum tenuisse narrantur, quamvis non omnino cunctorum quorum ipse. Post quorum obitum cum Bleda germano Hunnorum successit in regno, et, ut ante expeditionis, quam parabat, par foret, augmentum virium parricidio quaerit, tendens ad discrimen omnium nece suorum.

XXXV.180 For Attila was born of a father Mundzuco, whose brothers were Octar and Roas, who are said to have held the kingdom before Attila, although not entirely of all those of whom he himself was one. After their deaths Bleda, his brother, succeeded to the kingdom of the Huns, and, so that he might be equal as before for the expedition he was preparing, he sought an increase of forces by parricide, tending toward the destruction of all by the killing of his own kinsmen.

181 Sed librante iustitia detestabili remedio crescens deformes exitus suae crudelitatis invenit. Bleda enim fratre fraudibus interempto, qui magnae parti regnabat Hunnorum, universum sibi populum adunavit, aliarumque gentium, quas tunc in dicione tenebat, numerositate collecta, primas mundi gentes Romanos Vesegothasque subdere praeoptabat. 182 Cuius exercitus quingentorum milium esse numero ferebatur.

181 But, with justice wavering and by a detestable remedy, the growing deformed outcomes of his cruelty were found. For Bleda, his brother having been slain by treachery — he who had ruled the greater part of the Huns — gathered the whole people to himself, and, the other peoples which then lay in his dominion being assembled in number, he preferred to subdue first the chief peoples of the world, the Romans and the Visigoths. 182 Whose army was reported to number about five hundred thousand.

Vir in concussione gentium natus in mundo, terrarum omnium metus, qui, nescio qua sorte, terrebat cuncta formidabili de se opinione vulgata. Erat namque superbus incessu, huc atque illuc circumferens oculos, ut elati potentia ipso quoque motu corporis appareret; bellorum quidem amator, sed ipse manu temperans, consilio validissimus, supplicantium exorabilis, propitius autem in fide semel susceptis; forma brevis, lato pectore, capite grandiore, minutis oculis, rarus barba, canis aspersus, semo nasu, teter colore, origenis suae signa restituens. 183 Qui quamvis huius esset naturae, ut semper magna confideret, addebat ei tamen confidentia gladius Martis inventus, sacer apud Scytharum reges semper habitus, quem Priscus istoricus tali refert occasione detectum.

A man, born amid the convulsion of peoples in the world, the fear of all lands, who, I know not by what chance, terrified all by a formidable reputation spread about himself. For he was proud in gait, casting his eyes here and there around, so that by the very movement of his body the exaltation of his power might appear; indeed a lover of wars, yet restraining with his own hand, most strong in counsel, easily moved to pity by the suppliant, and favorable in fidelity once undertaken; short in stature, broad-chested, with a rather large head, small eyes, a sparse beard, hair sprinkled with gray, snub-nosed, of foul complexion, restoring the signs of his origin. 183 Although his nature was such that he always trusted in great things, nevertheless to him was added the confidence of Mars’ sword, found and long held sacred among the Scythian kings, which Priscus the historian relates to have been discovered on that occasion.

Cum pastor, inquiens, quidam gregis unam boculam conspiceret claudicantem nec causam tanti vulneris inveniret, sollicitus vestigia cruoris insequitur tandemque venit ad gladium, quem depascens herbas incauta calcaverat, effossumque protinus ad Attilam defert. Quo ille munere gratulatus, ut erat magnanimis, arbitratur se mundi totius principem constitutum et per Martis gladium potestatem sibi concessam esse bellorum.

When a shepherd, he says, espied a single lamb of the flock limping and could find no cause for so great a wound, anxious he tracked the footprints of the blood and at last came upon a sword, which, grazing the grass heedlessly, the lamb had trodden underfoot, and he at once dug it up and carried it to Attila. With that gift Attila, rejoicing, as he was magnanimous, judged himself appointed prince of the whole world and that by the sword of Mars the power of wars had been granted to him.

XXXVI.184 Huius ergo mentem ad vastationem orbis paratam comperiens Gyzericus, rex Vandalorum, quem paulo ante memoravimus, multis muneribus ad Vesegotharum bella precipitat, metuens, ne Theodoridus Vesegotharum rex filiae suae ulcisceretur iniuriam, quae Hunerico Gyzerici filio iuncta prius quidem tanto coniugio laetaretur, sed postea, ut erat ille et in sua pignora truculentus, ob suspicionem tantummodo veneni ab ea parati, naribus abscisam truncatamque auribus, spolians decore naturali, patri suo ad Gallias remiserat, ut turpe funus miseranda semper offerret et crudelitas, qua etiam moverentur externi, vindictam patris efficacius impetraret. 185 Attila igitur dudum bella concepta Gyzerici redemptione parturiens, legatos in Italia ad Valentinianum principem misit, serens Gothorum Romanorumque discordia, ut, quos proelio non poterat concutere, odiis internis elideret, asserens, se rei publicae eius amicitias in nullo violare, sed contra Theoderidum Vesegotharum regem sibi esse certamen.

XXXVI.184 Gyzericus therefore, king of the Vandals, whom we mentioned a little before, perceiving that his mind was bent on the devastation of the world, hastens the Visigoths into wars with many gifts, fearing that Theodoridus, king of the Visigoths, would avenge the wrong done to his daughter — who had at first rejoiced in marriage joined to Huneric, Gyzericus’s son, by so great a union, but afterward, as he was fierce even toward his own pledges, out of mere suspicion of poison prepared by her, had her nostrils cut off and her ears truncated, despoiling her of natural beauty — had sent her back to her father into Gaul, that she might always present a shameful and pitiable funeral and, by the cruelty with which even outsiders were moved, more effectively obtain her father’s vengeance. 185 Attila therefore, long since conceiving wars for the ransom of Gyzericus and now in labor therewith, sent envoys into Italy to the prince Valentinian, sowing discord between Goths and Romans, so that those whom he could not overthrow in battle he might crush by internal hatreds, asserting that he violated none of the republic’s alliances, but on the contrary that his quarrel was with Theoderid, king of the Visigoths.

Vnde cum excipi libenter optaret, citera epistula usitatis salutationum blandimentis oppleverat, studens fidem adhibere mendacio. 186 Pari etiam modo ad regem Vesegotharum Theoderidum dirigit scripta, hortans, ut a Romanorum societate discederet recoleretque proelia, quae paulo ante contra eum fuerant concitata. Sub nimia feritate homo subtilis ante quam bella gereret arte pugnabat.

Whereupon, since he wished to be received gladly, in that brief letter he had overwhelmed [them] with the usual blandishments of salutations, eager to secure belief by a lie. 186 In like manner he addressed writings to Theoderid, king of the Visigoths, exhorting him to withdraw from the society of the Romans and to renew the battles which a little before had been raised against him. With excessive ferocity the subtle man fought by craft rather than by waging open wars.

187 Tunc Valentinianus imperator ad Vesegothas eorumque regem Theoderidum in his verbis legationem direxit: 'Prudentiae vestrae est, fortissimi gentium, adversus orbis conspirare tyrannum, qui optat mundi generale habere servitium, qui causas proelii non requirit, sed, quidquid commiserit, hoc putat esse legitimum, ambitum suum brachio metitur, superbiam licentia satiat; qui ius fasque contemnens, hostem se exhibet et naturae. Cunctorum etenim meretur hic odium, qui in commune omnium se adprobat inimicum. 188 Recordamini, quaeso, quod certe non potest oblivisci, ab Hunnis non per bella, ubi communis casus est, fusum, sed, quod graviter anget, insidiis appetitum. Vt de nobis taceamus, potestis hanc inulti ferre superbiam?

187 Then Emperor Valentinian addressed the Visigoths and their king Theoderidus in this embassy: 'It is for your prudence, most brave of peoples, to conspire against the tyrant of the world, who desires to hold universal servitude, who does not inquire into the causes of battle, but whatever he has committed he deems lawful; he measures his ambition by the arm, he satiates pride by licence; he, scorning law and right, shows himself an enemy to both the commonwealth and to nature. For he deserves the hatred of all, who sets himself forth as an enemy to the common good of all. 188 Remember, I beg you, which certainly cannot be forgotten, that he was not routed by the Huns in battle, where mischance is common, but, which presses grievously, was assailed by treachery. If we are to be silent about ourselves, can you endure this arrogance unavenged?'

Armorum potentes favete propriis doloribus et communes iungite manus. Auxiliamini etiam rei publicae, cuius membrum tenetis. Quam sit autem nobis expetenda vel amplexanda societas, hostis interrogate consilia'. 189 His et similia legati Valentiniani regem permoverunt Theodoridum.

Armorum potentes, favor your own pains and join your common hands. Aid also the republic, of which you hold a member. But what sort of alliance is to be sought or embraced by us, ask the counsels of the enemy.' 189 These and similar words of Valentinian's envoy moved King Theoderid.

Quibus ille respondit: 'Habetis, inquid, Romani, desiderium vestrum; fecistis Attilam et nobis hostem. Sequimur illum quocumque vocaverit, et quamvis infletur de diversis gentium victoriis, norunt tamen Gothi confligere cum superbis, nullum bellum dixerim grave, nisi quod causa debilitat, quando nil triste pavet, cui maiestas adriserit'. 190 Adclamant responso comites duci, laetus sequitur vulgus. Fit omnibus ambitus pugnae, hostes iam Hunni desiderantur.

He answered them: 'You have it, I say, Romans, your desire; you have made Attila an enemy to us as well. We follow him wherever he may summon, and although he boasts of the various peoples' victories, the Goths nevertheless know how to clash with the proud; I would say there is no war serious, save that which weakens the cause, when he fears nothing shameful to whom majesty has smiled'. 190 The companions shout approval at the answer to the leader, the crowd follows happily. An ambition for battle arises in all, and now the Huns are longed for as enemies.

Producitur itaque a rege Theodorido Vesegotharum innumerabilis multitudo; qui quattuor filios domi dimissos, id est Friderichum et Eurichum, Retemerim et Himnerith secum tantum Thorismud et Theodericum maiores natu participes laboris adsumit. Felix procinctum, auxilium tutum, suave collegium habere solacia illorum, quibus delectat ipsa etiam simul subire discrimina. 191 A parte vero Romanorum tanta patricii Aetii providentia fuit, cui tunc innitebatur res publica Hesperiae plagae, ut undique bellatoribus congregatis adversus ferocem et infinitam multitudinem non impar occurreret.

Therefore an innumerable multitude of Visigoths is led forth by King Theodorid; who, having dismissed four sons to their homes, that is Friderich and Eurich, Retemer and Himnerith, takes with him only Thorismud and Theoderic, the elder by birth, as partners in the toil. Felix, arrayed for battle, had the consolation of secure aid and a pleasant fellowship in those with whom she herself delights also to share dangers. 191 On the Roman side, however, there was such providence in the patrician Aetius, on whom then the res publica of the western province leaned, that with warriors gathered from every quarter he met the fierce and innumerable host on no unequal terms.

Hi enim adfuerunt auxiliares: Franci, Sarmatae, Armoriciani, Liticiani, Burgundiones, Saxones, Ripari, Olibriones, quondam milites Romani, tunc vero iam in numero auxiliarium exquisiti, aliaeque nonnulli Celticae vel Germanie nationes. 192 Convenitur itaque in campos Catalaunicos, qui et Mauriaci nominantur, centum leuvas, ut Galli vocant, in longum tenentes et septuaginta in latum. Leuva autem Gallica una mille et quingentorum passuum quantitate metitur.

For auxiliaries were present: Franks, Sarmatians, Armoricians, Liticians, Burgundians, Saxons, Ripari, Olibriones, once Roman soldiers, but now already chosen into the number of auxiliaries, and other several Celtic or Germanic nations. 192 They therefore assemble on the Catalaunian fields, which are also named Mauriaci, occupying one hundred leuvas, as the Gauls call them, in length and seventy in breadth. A Gallic leuva, moreover, is measured at one thousand five hundred paces in extent.

Fit ergo area innumerabilium populorum pars illa terrarum. Conseruntur acies utraeque fortissimae; nihil subreptionibus agitur, sed aperto Marte certatur. 193 Quae potest digna causa tantorum motibus invenire?

Thus that area of the lands becomes the portion of innumerable peoples. Both very strong battle-lines are joined in conflict; nothing is effected by subreptions, but it is fought in open Mars. 193 What worthy cause can be found for so great motions?

Aut quod odium in se cunctos animavit armari? Probatum est humanum genus regibus vivere, quando unius mentis insano impetu strages sit facta populorum et arbitrio superbi regis momento defecit quod tot saeculis natura progenuit.

Or was it that hatred stirred everyone to arm themselves? It has been proven that the human race lives under kings, when by the insane impulse of one mind the slaughter of peoples was made, and by the momentary arbitrium of a proud king that which nature had produced through so many centuries failed.

XXXVII.194 Sed antequam pugnae ipsius ordinem referamus, necessarium videtur edicere, quae in ipsis bellorum motibus acciderunt, quia sicut famosum proelium, ita multiplex atque perplexum. Sangibanus namque rex Alanorum metu futurorum perterritus Attilae se tradere pollicetur et Aurelianam civitatem Galliae, ubi tunc consistebat, in eius iura transducere.

37.194 But before we recount the order of the battle itself, it seems necessary to set forth what befell in the very movements of the wars, for as the engagement is famous, so it is manifold and perplexing. For Sangiban, king of the Alans, terrified by fear of what was to come, promised to deliver himself to Attila and to transfer the Aurelian city of Gaul, where it then stood, into his rights.

195 Quod ubi Theodoridus et Aetius agnoverunt, magnis aggeribus eandem urbem ante adventum Attilae struunt, suspectumque custodiunt Sangibanum et inter suos anxiliares medium statuunt cum propria gente. Igitur Attila rex Hunnorum tali perculsus eventu diffidens suis copiis metuit inire conflictum. Inter que fugam revolvens ipso funere tristiorem, statuit per aruspices futura inquirere.

195 When Theodoridus and Aetius perceived this, they raised great ramparts around the same city before Attila’s arrival, and they kept Sangibanus under guard as suspect, placing him in the midst of their auxiliaries with his own people. Therefore Attila, king of the Huns, struck by such an event and distrusting his forces, feared to enter into conflict. And meanwhile, turning over flight—made the more grievous by the very death—he resolved to inquire about the future through the haruspices.

196 Qui more solito nunc pecorum fibras, nunc quasdam venas in abrasis ossibus intuentes Hunnis infausta denuntiant; hoc tamen quantulum praedixere solacii, quod summus hostium ductor de parte adversa occumberet relictamque victoriam sua morte triumphum foedaret. Cumque Attila necem Aetii, quod eius motibus obviabat, vel cum sua perditione duceret expetendam, tali praesagio sollicitus, ut erat consiliorum in rebus bellicis exquisitor, circa nonam diei horam proelium sub trepidatione committit, ut, si secus cederet, nox imminens subveniret.

196 Those who, in the usual manner, now inspecting the fibers of beasts, now certain veins in scraped bones, proclaimed ominous signs to the Huns; this, however, foretold but a small comfort, namely that the chief leader of the enemies would fall on the opposite side and with his death disgrace the victory left as a triumph. And since Attila regarded the death of Aetius, which thwarted his movements, or his own destruction, as to be sought, troubled by such an augury — for he was a keen examiner of plans in matters of war — he, about the ninth hour of the day, commits the battle with anxiety, so that if things went otherwise the coming night might come to his aid.

XXXVIII.197 Convenere partes, ut diximus, in campos Catalaunicos. Erat autem positio loci declivi tumore in editum collis excrescens.

38.197 The forces assembled, as we said, on the Catalaunian fields. The position of the place was on a declivitous swell, rising up to the summit of a hill.

Quem uterque cupiens exercitus obtinere, quia loci oportunitas non parvum benificium confert, dextram partem Hunni cum suis, sinistram Romani et Vesegothae cum auxiliariis occuparunt, relictoque de cacumine eius iugo certamen ineunt. Dextrum itaque cornum cum Vesegothis Theoderidus tenebat, sinistrum Aetius cum Romanis, conlocantes in medio Sanguibanum, quem superius rettulimus praefuisse Alanis, providentes cautioni militari, ut eum, de cuius animo minus praesumebant, fidelium turba concluderent. Facile namque adsumit pugnandi necessitatem, cui fugiendi inponitur difficultas.

Whom each eager army desired to obtain — since the advantage of the ground confers no small benefit — the Huns with their men occupied the right wing, the Romans and Visigoths with auxiliaries the left, and, leaving the contest to begin from the summit of that ridge, they entered the struggle. Thus Theoderidus held the right horn with the Visigoths, Aetius the left with the Romans, placing in the middle Sanguibanus, whom above we reported as set over the Alans, providing for military caution so that a throng of the faithful might enclose him, whose disposition they judged less reliable. For he readily takes on the necessity of fighting, to whom the difficulty of flight is imposed.

198 E diverso vero fuit Hunnorum acies ordinata, ut in medio Attila cum suis fortissimis locaretur, sibi potius rex hac ordinatione prospiciens, quatenus inter gentis suae rubor positus ab imminenti periculo redderetur exceptus. Cornua vero eius multiplices populi et diversae nationes, quos dicioni suae subdiderat, ambiebant. 199 Inter quos Ostrogotharum praeminebat exercitus Valamire et Theodemire et Videmere germanis ductantibus, ipso etiam rege, cui tunc serviebant, nobilioribus, quia Amalorum generis eos potentia inlustrabat; eratque et Gepidarum agmini innumerabili rex ille famosissimus Ardaricus, qui ob nimiam suam fidelitatem erga Attila eius consiliis intererat.

198 From the other side the Hunnic battle-line was arranged so that Attila with his most valiant men was placed in the middle, the king rather looking to himself by this ordering, insofar as a buffer of his people placed between would render him sheltered from the imminent danger. The horns, however, were surrounded by manifold peoples and diverse nations, which he had subjected to his dominion. 199 Among these the Ostrogothic host under Valamir and Theodemir and Vidimer prevailed, led by Germanic chiefs, and even by the king himself, to whom they then served, the more noble, because the power of the Amal line made them illustrious; and to the countless host of the Gepids belonged that most famous king Ardaric, who, on account of his extreme fidelity toward Attila, took part in his counsels.

Nam perpendens Attila sagacitate sua, eum et Valamerem, Ostrogotharum regem, super ceteros regulos diligebat. 200 Erat namque Valamir secreti tenax, blandus alloquio, dolis gnarus; Ardaricus fide et consilio, ut diximus, clarus. Quibus non inmerito contra parentes Vesegothas debuit credere pugnaturis.

For Attila, weighing them with his sagacity, favored him and Valamir, king of the Ostrogoths, above the other petty kings. 200 For Valamir was tenacious of secrecy, smooth in discourse, skilled in guile; Ardaricus renowned for fidelity and counsel, as we have said. To whom he not undeservedly ought to have entrusted the fighting against their Visigothic kinsmen.

Reliqua autem, si dici fas est, turba regum diversarumque nationum ductores ac si satellites notibus Attilae attendebant, et ubi oculo annuisset, absque aliqua murmuratione cum timore et tremore unusquisque adstabat, aut certe, quod iussus fuerat, exequebatur. 201 Solus Attila rex omnium regum super omnes et pro omnibus sollicitus erat. Fit ergo de loci, quem diximus oportunitate certamen.

The rest, moreover, if it be lawful to say, the throng of kings and leaders of diverse nations, as if satellites, attended to the signals of Attila; and when he nodded with his eye, each one stood by without any murmur, with fear and trembling, or certainly carried out what he had been commanded. 201 Alone Attila, king of all kings, was solicitous above all and for all. Therefore a contest arose concerning the place which we said was opportune.

Attila suos diriget, qui cacumen montis invaderent, sed a Thorismundo et Aetio praevenitur, qui eluctati collis excelsa ut conscenderent, superiores effecti sunt, venientesque Hunnos montis benificio facile turbaverunt.

Attila directed his men to attack the summit of the mountain, but was anticipated by Thorismund and Aetius, who, having struggled to climb the lofty slopes of the hill, became masters of the higher ground, and the Huns, coming, were easily thrown into disorder by the mountain’s benefit.

XXXIX.202 Tunc Attila cum videret exercitum causa praecedente turbatum, tali eum ex tempore credidit alloquio confirmandum. 'Post victorias tantarum gentium, post orbem, si consistatis, edomitum, ineptum iudicaveram tamquam ignaros rei verbis acuere.

39.202 Then when Attila saw the army thrown into disorder because the cause had gone ahead, he thought it should be steadied by such timely speech. "After the victories of so many peoples, after the world subdued, if you should stand, I had judged it foolish to try to rouse those ignorant of the matter with words."

Quaerat hoc aut novus ductor aut inexpertus exercitus. 203 Nec mihi fas est aliquid vulgare dicere, nec vobis oportet audire. Quid autem aliud vos quam bellare consuetum? Aut quid viro forti suavius, quam vindicta manu querere?

Let either a new leader or an inexperienced army seek this. 203 It is not lawful for me to speak anything common, nor is it fitting that you should hear. But what else are you than men accustomed to wage war? Or what is more sweet to a brave man than to seek vengeance with his hand?

Magnum munus a natura animos ultione satiare. 204 Adgrediamur igitur hostem alacres: audaciores sunt semper, qui inferunt bellum. Adunatas dispicite dissonas gentes: indicium pavoris est societate defendi. En ante impetum nostrum terroribus iam feruntur, excelsa quaerunt, tumulos capiunt et sera paenitudine in campos monitiones efflagitant.

It is a great gift from nature to sate minds with vengeance. 204 Let us therefore attack the enemy briskly: those who wage war are always the bolder. Observe the gathered discordant peoples: it is evidence of panic to be defended in a body. Behold, before our assault they are already driven by terrors, they seek high places, take to the mounds, and with belated remorse implore terms in the fields.

Nota vobis sunt quam sint levia Romanorum arma: primo etiam non dico vulnere, sed ipso pulvere gravantur, dum in ordine coeunt et acies testudineque conectunt. 205 Vos confligite perstantibus animis, ut soletis, despicientesque eorum aciem Alanos invadite, in Vesegothas incumbite. Inde nobis cita victoria quaerere, unde se continet bellum. Abscisa autem nervis mox membra relabuntur, nec potest stare corpus, cui ossa subtraxeris.

Notice to you how light the Romans' arms are: at first I do not even say by a wound, but by the very dust they are burdened, while they come together in order and join their lines and connect by testudo. 205 You fight on with steadfast spirits, as you are wont, and, scorning their line, attack the Alans, press upon the Visigoths. Thence seek for us a swift victory, from where the war holds together. But with the sinews cut the limbs shortly fall away, nor can the body stand to which you have withdrawn the bones.

Consurgant animi, furor solitus intumescat. Nunc consilia, Hunni, nunc arma depromite: aut vulneratus quis aduersarii mortem reposcat aut inlaesus hostium clade satietur. 206 Victuros nulla tela conveniunt, morituros et in otio fata praecipitant. Postremo cur fortuna Hunnos tot gentium victores adseret, nisi ad certaminis huius gaudia praeparasset?

Let spirits rise, let the accustomed fury swell. Now bring forth counsels, Huns, now draw out your weapons: either a wounded man demands the death of his adversary, or the uninjured is sated by the slaughter of enemies. 206 No weapons befit those who shall live; they hurry the fates of those who will die even in leisure. In short, why would Fortune proclaim the Huns conquerors of so many peoples, unless she had prepared them for the pleasures of this contest?

Quis denique Meotidarum iter maiores nostros aperuit tot saeculis clausum secretum? Quis adhuc inermibus cedere faciebat armatos? Faciem Hunnorum non poterat ferre adunata collectio.

Who, then, opened to us the Meotian road, a secret our forefathers had shut for so many ages? Who still made the unarmed yield to the armed? An assembled gathering could not endure the face of the Huns.

Non fallor eventu: hic campus est, quem nobis tot prospera promiserunt. Primus in hoste tela coiciam. si quis potuerit Attila pugnante otio ferre, sepultus est'. His verbis accensi, in pugna cuncti praecipitantur.

I am not mistaken in the outcome: this is the field which so many prosperous things promised us. I will be first to hurl my javelins at the enemy. si quis potuerit Attila pugnante otio ferre, sepultus est'. Inflamed by these words, all rush headlong into the fight.

XL. 207 Et quamvis haberent res ipse formidinem, praesentia tamen regis cunctatione merentibus auferebat. Manu manibus congrediuntur; bellum atrox multiplex immane pertinax, cui simile nulla usquam narrat antiquitas, ubi talia gesta referantur, ut nihil esset, quod in vita sua conspicere potuisset egregius, qui huius miraculi privaretur aspectu. 208 Nam si senioribus credere fas est, rivulus memorati campi humili ripa praelabens, peremptorum vulneribus sanguine multo provectus est, non auctus imbribus, ut solebat, sed liquore concitatus insolito torrens factus est cruoris augmento.

40.207 And although the matters themselves inspired fear, yet the king’s presence and his hesitation removed it from those deserving. They closed with hand upon hand; a fierce, manifold, immense, persistent war, the like of which no antiquity anywhere relates where such deeds are recounted, so that there would be nothing an outstanding man could behold in his life who was deprived of the sight of this marvel. 208 For if it is lawful to believe the elders, a rivulet of the aforesaid plain, sliding along a low bank, was carried onward by the great blood from the wounds of the slain, not increased by rains as it was wont, but stirred by an unusual fluid, it became a torrent by the augmentation of gore.

Et quos illic coegit in aridam sitim vulnus inflictum, fluenta mixta clade traxerunt: ita constricti sorte miserabili sorvebant putantes sanguinem quem fuderant sauciati. 209 Hic Theodoridus rex dum adhortans discurrit exercitum, equo depulsus pedibusque suorum conculcatus vitam maturae senectutis conclusit. Alii vero dicunt eum interfectum telo Andagis de parte Ostrogotharum, qui tunc Attilanis sequebantur regimen.

And those whom a wound inflicted there forced into a dry thirst, the currents mixed with slaughter carried off: thus, constrained by a miserable lot, they were drinking, thinking themselves wounded by the blood which they had poured forth. 209 Here King Theodoridus, while exhorting and running about the army, was unhorsed and, trampled under the feet of his own men, ended a life of mature old age. Others however say that he was slain by the spear of Andagis of the Ostrogoths, who at that time followed the rule of the Attilans.

Hoc fuit, quod Attilae praesagio aruspices prius dixerant, quamvis ille de Aetio suspicaret. 210 Tunc Vesegothae dividentes se ab Alanis invadunt Hunnorum caterva et pene Attilam trucidarent, nisi providus prius fugisset et se suosque ilico intra septa castrorum, quam plaustris vallatum habebat, reclusisset; quamvis fragili munimine, eo tamen quaesierunt subsidium vitae, quibus paulo ante nullus poterat muralis agger obsistere. 211 Thorismud autem regis Theodoridi filius, qui cum Aetio collem anticipans hostes de superiore loco proturbaverat, credens se ad agmina propria pervenire, nocte caeca ad hostium carpenta ignarus incurrit.

This was that which the haruspices had foretold as a presage to Attila, although he suspected Aetius. 210 Then the Visigoths, separating themselves from the Alans, were assailed by a crowd of Huns and would have almost slaughtered Attila, had he not beforehand fled with foresight and shut himself and his men immediately within the camp’s palisades, which he had defended with wagon-works; albeit with a frail fortification, yet there they sought a succor of life, for until a little before no rampart of walls could have withstood them. 211 Thorismund, however, son of King Theodorid, who, anticipating the hill with Aetius, had driven the enemies from the higher ground, thinking to reach his own columns, at blind night, ignorant, rode into the enemies’ wagons.

Quem fortiter demicante quidam capite vulnerato equo deiecit, suorumque providentia liberatus a proeliandi intentione desivit. 212 Aetius vero similiter noctis confusione divisus cum inter hostes medius vagaretur, trepidus, ne quid incidisset adversi, Gothos inquiret, tandemque ad socia castra perveniens, relicuum noctis scutorum defensione transegit. Postera die luce orta cum tumulatos cadaveribus campos aspicerent nec audere Hunnos erumpere, suam arbitrantes victoriam scientesque Attilam non nisi magna clade confossum bella confugere, cum tamen nil ageret vel prostratus abiectum, sed strepens armis, tubis canebat incursionemque minabatur, velut leo venabulis praessus speluncae aditus obambulans nec audet insurgere nec desinet fremetibus vicina terrere: sic bellicosissimus rex victores suos turbabat inclusus.

213 Conveniunt itaque Gothi Romanique et quid agerent de superato Attila, deliberant. Placet eum obsidione fatigari, quia annonae copiam non habebat, quando ab ipsorum sagittariis intra septa castrorum locatis crebris ictibus arceretur accessus. Fertur autem desperatis rebus praedictum regem adhuc et suppraemo magnanimem equinis sellis construxisse pyram seseque, si adversarii inrumperent, flammis inicere voluisse, ne aut aliquis eius vulnere laetaretur aut in potestate hostium tantarum gentium dominus perveniret.

213 The Goths and Romans therefore assemble and deliberate what they should do about Attila having been overcome. They decide that he should be wearied by a siege, because he had no abundance of annona, since access was being kept off by their archers placed within the camp’s ramparts with frequent shots. It is said moreover that, in desperate circumstances, the aforesaid king had even heaped up a pyre upon his highest horse-saddle and intended, if the adversaries should break in, to cast himself into the flames, so that neither might anyone rejoice at his wound nor might the lord come into the power of enemies of so many nations.

XLI. 214 Verum inter has obsidionum moras Vesegothae regem, fili patrem requirunt, admirantes eius absentiam, dum felicitas fuerit subsecuta. Cumque diutius exploratum, ut viris fortibus mos est, inter densissima cadavera repperissent, cantibus honoratum inimicis spectantibus abstulerunt.

XLI. 214 But during these delays of the sieges the Vesigoths sought the king; the son sought his father, marveling at his absence, while good fortune had followed. And when, after a longer search, as is the custom of brave men, they had found him among the thickest corpses, honored with songs while the enemies looked on, they carried him off.

Videres Gothorum globos dissonis vocibus confragosos adhuc inter bella furentia funeri reddidisse culturam. Fundebantur lacrimae, sed quae viris fortibus inpendi solent. Nam mors erat, sed Hunno teste gloriosa, unde hostium putaretur inclinatam fore superbiam, quando tanti regis efferri cadaver cum suis insignibus conspiciebant.

You would have seen bands of Goths, with dissonant voices, yet amid the raging wars render a broken funeral rite; tears were shed, but those which are wont to be expended on brave men. For it was death, yet glorious, with a Hun as witness, whence the enemies were thought to have their arrogance bent, when they beheld the corpse of so great a king borne forth with his insignia.

215 At Gothi Theodorito adhuc iusta solventes armis insonantibus regiam deferunt maiestatem fortissimusque Thorismud bene gloriosos manes carissimi patris, ut decebat filium, patris exequias prosecutus. Quod postquam peractum est, orbitatis dolore commotus et virtutis impetu, qua valebat, dum in reliquis Hunnorum mortem patris vindicare contendit, Aetium patricium ac si seniorem prudentiaeque maturum de hac parte consuluit, quid sibi esset in tempore faciendum. 216 Ille vero metuens, ne Hunnis funditus interemptis a Gothis Romanum praemeretur imperium, praebet hac suasione consilium, ut ad sedes proprias remearet regnumque, quod pater reliquerat, arriperet, ne germani eius opibus adsumptis paternis Vesegotharum regno pervaderent graviterque dehinc cum suis et, quod peius est, miseriterque pugnaret.

215 But the Goths, still performing the proper rites, with clanging arms bore the royal majesty to Theodoritus, and the most brave Thorismud duly attended the well-glorious manes of his most dear father, as became a son, and prosecuted his father’s funeral rites. When this had been accomplished, moved by the grief of bereavement and by that impulse of virtue by which he was strong, while in other matters he strove to vindicate his father’s death from the Huns, he consulted Aetius the patrician, as if an elder and ripe in prudence, about what should be done in the moment. 216 That man, however, fearing that if the Huns were utterly destroyed by the Goths the Roman empire might be preempted, offered this counsel by persuasion: that he should return to his own seats and seize the kingdom which his father had left, lest his brothers, having taken up his paternal resources, invade the Visigothic kingdom and thenceforth fight grievously with their own forces and, which is worse, miserably.

Quod responsum non ambiguae, ut datum est, sed pro sua potius utilitate susceptum relictis Hunnis redit ad Gallias. 217 Sic humana fragilitas dum suspicionibus occurrit. magna plerumque agenda rerum occasione intercepit.

That decision was taken up not for the plain purpose as it had been given, but rather for his own advantage; leaving the Huns behind, he returns to Gaul. 217 Thus human frailty, while it meets suspicions. great tasks to be done in affairs are for the most part intercepted by the occasion.

In hoc etenim famosissimo et fortissimarum gentium bello ab utrisque partibus clxv milia caesa referuntur, exceptis quindecim milibus Gepidarum et Francorum, qui ante congressionem publicam noctu sibi occurrentes mutuis concidere vulneribus, Francis pro Romanorum, Gepidas pro Hunnorum parte pugnantibus.

In this most famous war of the bravest peoples, from both sides 165 thousand are reported slain, excepting 15 thousand Gepids and Franks, who, meeting one another at night before the public engagement, fell upon each other with mutual wounds, the Franks fighting on the Roman side, the Gepids on the Hunnic side.

218 Attila igitur cognita discessione Gothorum, quod de inopinatis collegi solet, inimicorum magis aestimans dolum diutius se intra castra continuit. Sed ubi hostium absentia sunt longa silentia consecuta, erigitur mens ad victoriam, gaudia praesumuntur atque potentis regis animus in antiqua fata revertitur. Thorismud ergo, patre mortuo in campis statim Catalaunicis, ubi et pugnaverat, regia maiestate subvectus Tolosam ingreditur.

218 Attila therefore, the departure of the Goths having become known — which is usually gathered from unforeseen matters — esteeming it rather an enemy stratagem, kept himself within the camp for a long time. But when long silences followed the absence of the foes, his mind was lifted to victory, joys were anticipated, and the spirit of the powerful king reverted to ancient fates. Thorismud therefore, his father having died on the very Catalaunian plains, where he had also fought, borne in royal majesty, entered Toulouse.

Hic licet fratrum et fortium turba gauderet, ipse tamen sic sua initia moderatus est, ut nullius repperiret de regni sucessione certamen.

Though the throng of brothers and of the brave rejoiced here, he himself nevertheless so tempered his accession that he found no contest concerning the succession of the kingdom.

XLII. 219 Attila vero nancta occasione de secessu Vesegotharum, et, quod saepe optaverat, cernens hostium solutione per partes, mox iam securus ad oppressionem Romanorum movit procinctum, primaque adgressione Aquileiensem obsidet civitatem, quae est metropolis Venetiarum, in mucrone vel lingua Atriatici posita sinus, cuius ab oriente murus Natissa amnis fluens a monte Piccis elambit. 220 Ibique cum diu multumque obsidens nihil paenitus praevaleret, fortissimis intrinsecus Romanorum militibus resistentibus, exercitu iam murmurante et discedere cupiente, Attila deambulans circa muros, dum, utrum solveret castra an adhuc remoraretur, deliberat, animadvertit candidas aves, id est ciconias, qui in fastigia domorum nidificant, de civitate foetos suos trahere atque contra morem per rura forinsecus conportare.

42.219 Attila, having seized an occasion from the secession of the Visigoths, and, as he had often wished, seeing the enemy broken up in detachments, soon, now secure, moved forth armed for the oppression of the Romans, and with his first assault besieged the city of Aquileia, which is the metropolis of the Venetians, placed on the point or tongue of the Adriatic gulf, whose eastern side the wall is laved by the Natissa river flowing from Mount Piccis. 220 And there, although besieging long and for much time he prevailed in nothing at all, the bravest Roman soldiers resisting within, the army already murmuring and desiring to depart, Attila, walking about the walls, while he deliberated whether to break camp or still delay, observed white birds, that is storks, which nest on the roofs of houses, drawing out their young from the city and, against their usual custom, bearing them forth into the fields outside.

221 Et ut erat sagacissimus inquisitor, presensit et ad suos: 'Respicite, inquid, aves futurarum rerum providas perituram relinquere civitatem casurasque arces periculo imminente deserere. Non hoc vacuum, non hoc credatur incertum; rebus presciis consuetudinem mutat ventura formido'. Quid plura? Animos suorum rursus ad oppugnandam Aquileiam inflammat.

221 And as he was the most sagacious inquisitor, he perceived beforehand and to his men: 'Look,' he said, 'the birds, prescient of things to come, are leaving the city about to perish and abandoning the citadels about to fall, deserting them because danger is imminent. Let this not be thought empty, let this not be held uncertain; when things are foreknown, the fear of what is coming alters custom.' What more need be said? He again inflamed the spirits of his men to attack Aquileia.

Qui machinis constructis omniaque genera tormentorum adhibita, nec mora et invadunt civitatem, spoliant, dividunt vastantque crudeliter, ita ut vix eius vestigia ut appareat reliquerunt. 222 Exhinc iam audaciores et necdum Romanorum sanguine satiati per reliquas Venetum civitates Hunni bacchantur. Mediolanum quoque Liguriae metropolim et quondam regiam urbem pari tenore devastant nec non et Ticinum aequali sorte deiciunt vicinaque loca saevientes allidunt demoliuntque pene totam Italiam.

Having erected machines and employed every kind of siege-engine, and without delay they fall upon the city, plunder, strip, and ravage it cruelly, so that they left scarcely any vestige by which it might be seen. 222 Thenceforth bolder now, and not yet sated with Roman blood, the Huns rave through the remaining cities of the Venetians. They likewise devastate Mediolanum, the metropolis of Liguria and once a royal city, in like fashion, and they cast down Ticinum with equal fate, and, raging, they strike and demolish the neighboring places, almost overthrowing the whole of Italy.

Cumque ad Romam animus fuisset eius adtentus accedere, sui eum, ut Priscus istoricus refert, removerunt, non urbi, cui inimici erant, consulentes, sed Alarici quondam Vesegotharum regis obicientes exemplo, veriti regis sui fortunam, quia ille post fractam Romam non diu supervixerit, sed protinus rebus humanis excessit. 223 Igitur dum eius animus ancipiti negotio inter ire et non ire fluctuaret secumque deliberans tardaret, placida ei legatio a Roma advenit. Nam Leo papa per se ad eum accedens in agro Venetum Ambuleio, ubi Mincius amnis commeantium frequentatione transitur.

And when his mind had been intent on approaching Rome, his own men, as the historian Priscus relates, removed him — not consulting the city to which they were hostile, but holding up as an example Alaric, once king of the Visigoths, fearing for the fortune of their king, because after the sacking Rome would not long survive, but would straightaway pass out of human affairs. 223 Therefore, while his mind wavered in that doubtful business between going and not going, and, deliberating with himself, delayed, a placid legation from Rome arrived to him. For Pope Leo, coming to him in person in the Ambuleio district of the Venetii, where the river Mincius is crossed by the frequent passage of travelers.

Qui mox deposuit exercitatu furore et rediens, quo venerat, iter ultra Danubium promissa pace discessit, illud pre omnibus denuntians atque interminando decernens, graviora se in Italia inlaturum, nisi ad se Honoriam Valentiniani principis germanam, filiam Placidiae Augustae, cum portione sibi regalium opum debita mitterent. 224 Ferebatur enim, quia haec Honoria, dum propter aulae decus ad castitatem teneretur nutu fratris inclusa, clam eunucho misso Attilam invitasse, ut contra fratris potentiam eius patrociniis uteretur: prorsus indignum facinus, ut licentiam libidinis malo publico conpararet.

Who soon laid aside the fury of his army and, returning the way he had come, crossed the Danube and departed with the promised peace, proclaiming that above all and by threatening deciding to lay waste, that he would bring graver things into Italy unless they sent to him Honoria, the sister of the prince Valentinian, daughter of Placidia Augusta, with the portion of royal wealth due to her. 224 For it was reported that this Honoria, while held to chastity for the honour of the court and confined by her brother’s nod, had secretly, a eunuch being sent, invited Attila so that she might use his patronage against her brother’s power: a thoroughly disgraceful deed, to compare the licence of lust with a public evil.

XLIII. 225 Reversus itaque Attila in sedes suas et quasi otii penitens graviterque ferens a bello cessare, ad Orientis principem Marcianum legatos dirigit, provinciarum testans vastationem, quod sibi promissum a Theodosio quondam imperatore minime persolveretur, et inhumanior solito suis hostibus appareret. Haec tamen agens, ut erat versutus et callidus, alibi minatus alibi arma sua commovit, et, quod restabat indignationi, faciem in Vesegothas convertit.

43.225 Having therefore returned to his seats, and as if repentant of peace and grievously resentful of ceasing from war, Attila sent envoys to Marcian, prince of the East, protesting the devastation of the provinces, because what had been promised him by Theodosius, once emperor, was in no wise being paid, and that he seemed more inhuman than usual to his enemies. Yet while doing these things, being crafty and sly, he threatened here and there and moved his arms elsewhere, and, what remained for indignation, he turned his face upon the Visigoths.

226 Sed non eum, quem de Romanis, reportavit eventum. Nam per dissimiles anteriores vias recurrens, Alanorum partem trans flumen Ligeris considentem statuit suae redigere dicioni, quatenus mutata per ipsos belli facie terribilior immineret. Igitur ab Dacia et Pannonia provinciis, in quibus tunc Hunni cum diversis subditis nationibus insidebant, egrediens Attila in Alanos movit procinctum.

226 But not that outcome which concerned the Romans did he report. For, returning by different former routes, he resolved to reduce to his dominion the portion of the Alans sitting across the river Liger, so that, altered by them, the face of war might threaten more terribly. Hence, departing from the provinces of Dacia and Pannonia, in which at that time the Huns with various subject nations were entrenched, Attila, advancing forth, moved against the Alans fully armed.

227 Sed Thorismud rex Vesegotharum, fraudem Attilae non inpari subtilitate presentiens, ad Alanos tota velocitate prius advenit, ibique supervenientis Attilae iam motibus preparatus occurrit, consertoque proelio pene simili eum tenore, ut prius in campos Catalaunicos, ab spe removit victoriae fugatumque a partibus suis sine triumpho remittens in sedes proprias fugire compulit. Sic Attila famosus et multarum victoriarum dominus dum quaerit famam perditoris abicere et quod prius a Vesegothis pertulerat abolere, geminata sustenuit ingloriosusque recessit. 228 Thorismud vero repulsis ab Alanis Hunnorum catervis sine aliqua suorum lesione Tolosa migravit suorumque quieta pace conposita tertio anno regni sui egrotans, dum sanguinem tollit de vena, ab Ascalc suo clienti inimico nuntiante arma subtracta peremptus est.

227 But Thorismud, king of the Visigoths, perceiving Attila’s fraud not unequal in subtlety, hastened first with all speed to the Alans, and there, prepared by the movements of the now approaching Attila, met him; and with a battle joined of almost the same tenor as before on the Catalaunian plains, he deprived him of hope of victory and forced him, routed, to flee back to his own seats without triumph and sent away from his provinces. Thus Attila, famed and lord of many victories, while seeking to cast off the fame of a destroyer and to abolish what he had previously suffered from the Visigoths, sustained a doubled blow and withdrew inglorious. 228 Thorismud, however, having driven off the Hunnic bands from the Alans, migrated to Toulouse without any loss among his men, and, his people’s peace settled, in the third year of his reign, being ill and drawing blood from a vein, was slain—Ascalc, his client and enemy, having stripped away his arms.

Vna tamen manu, quam liberam habebat, scabillum tenens sanguinis sui extitit ultor, aliquantos insidiantes sibi extinguens.

Yet with the one hand which he had free, holding a small stool, he became the avenger of his blood, putting to death several who were plotting against him.

XLIV. 229 Post cuius decessum Theoderidus germanus eius Vesaegotharum in regno succedens, mox Riciarium Suavorum regem cognatum suum repperit inimicum. Hic etenim Riciarius affinitate Theoderidi presumens, universam pene Spaniam sibi credidit occupandam, iudicans oportunum tempus subreptionis incomposita initia temptare regnantis.

44.229 After whose death Theoderidus, his brother, succeeding in the kingdom of the Vesaegothi, soon found Riciarius, king of the Suevi and his kinsman, to be an enemy. For this Riciarius, presuming on his affinity with Theoderidus, believed that nearly all Spain would be occupied for him, judging the disordered beginnings of the reigning man an opportune time to attempt a seizure.

230 Quibus antea Gallicia et Lysitania sedes fuere, quae in dextro latere Spaniae per ripani Oceani porriguntur, habentes ab oriente Austrogonia, ab occidente in promuntorio sacrum Scipionis Romani ducis monumentum, a septentrione Oceanum, a meridie Lysitaniam et fluvium Tagum, qui harenis suis permiscens auri metalla trahit cum limi vilitate divitias. Exinde ergo exiens Riciarius rex Suavorum nititur totas Spanias occupare. 231 Cui Theodoridus cognatus suus, ut erat moderatus, legatos mittens, pacifice dixit, ut non solum recederet a finibus alienis, verum etiam nec temptare presumeret, odium sibi tali ambitione adquirens.

230 Galicia and Lusitania were formerly provinces, which extend on the right flank of Spain along the banks of the Ocean, bounded on the east by Austrogonia, on the west by the promontory sacred as the monument of Scipio the Roman commander, on the north by the Ocean, on the south by Lusitania and the river Tagus, which, mingling its sands, draws from them metals of gold with the cheapness of the shore. Thence Riciarius, king of the Sueves, setting out, attempts to occupy the whole of the Spains. 231 To him Theodoridus, his kinsman, being moderate, sent envoys and spoke peacefully, that he should not only withdraw from another’s frontiers, but also should not presume to undertake the attempt, thereby gaining hatred for such ambition.

Ille vero animo pretumido ait: 'Si hic murmuras et me venire causaris, Tolosam, ubi tu sedes, veniam; ibi, si vales, resiste'. His auditis aegre tulit Theodoridus compacatusque cum citeris gentibus arma movit in Suavos, Burgundzonum quoque Gnudiuchum et Hilpericum reges auxiliarios habens sibique devotos. 232 Ventum est ad certamen iuxta flumen Vlbium, qui inter Asturicam Hiberiamque pretermeat, consertoque proelio Theoderidus cum Vesegothis, qui ex iusta parte pugnabat, victor efficitur, Suavorum gente pene cuncta usque ad internicione prosternens. Quorum rex Riciarius relicta infesta hoste fugiens in nave conscendit adversaque procella Tyrreni hoste repercussus Vesegotharum est manibus redditus.

He, however, arrogant in spirit, said: 'If you murmur here and accuse me of coming, I will come to Tolosa, where you sit; there, if you are able, resist.' Hearing these words Theodoridus took it badly and, reconciled with the neighboring peoples, moved his arms against the Suevi, also having the Burgundian kings Gnudiuchus and Hilpericus as auxiliaries and devoted to himself. 232 They came to combat beside the river Ulbius, which runs between Asturica and Hispania, and with the battle joined Theodoridus, together with the Visigoths who fought on the just side, proved victor, laying nearly the whole people of the Suevi prostrate unto destruction. Their king Riciarius, the hostile foe left behind, fleeing, boarded a ship, and having been driven back by an adverse Tyrrhenian storm and enemy, was delivered into the hands of the Visigoths.

Miserabilis non differt mortem, cum elementa mutaverit. 233 Theoderidus vero victor existens subactis pepercit nec ultra certamine saevire permisit, preponens Suavis, quos subegerat, clientem proprium nomine Agrivulfum. Qui in brevi animu praevaricatione Suavorum suasionibus commutans neglexit imperata conplere, potius tyrranica elatione superbiens credensque se ea virtute provinciam obtinere, qua dudum cum domino suo ea subigisset.

A wretched man does not differ in death, once he has changed his elements. 233 Theoderidus, however, being victorious and his foes subdued, spared them and did not permit further fury in battle, placing as his own client the Suavi whom he had subdued, Agrivulfus by name. Who, in a short time, his mind altered by the Suavi’s persuasions and by their prevarication, neglected to fulfil the commands, rather exulting in tyrannical arrogance and believing that by the very force with which he long before had subdued them with his lord he could obtain the province.

Vir si quidem erat Varnorum stirpe genitus, longe a Gothici sanguinis nobilitate seiunctus, idcirco nec libertatem studens nec patrono fidem reservans. 234 Quo conperto Theodoridus mox contra eum, qui eum de regno pervaso deicerent, destinavit. Qui venientes sine mora in primo eum certamine superantes congruam factorum eius ab eo exigerunt ultionem.

If the man was indeed born of the stock of the Varnones, far removed from the nobility of Gothic blood, therefore neither seeking liberty nor keeping faith with his patron. 234 When this was found out, Theoderidus at once resolved against him, and those who urged that he be deposed from the kingdom. These, coming without delay, in the first encounter overcoming him, exacted from him a fitting punishment for his deeds.

Captus namque et suorum solacio destitutus capite plectitur, sensitque tandem iratum, qui propitium dominum crediderat contemnendum. Tunc Suavi rectoris sui interitum contuentes locorum sacerdotes ad Theoderidum supplices direxerunt. Quos ille pontificali reverentia suscipiens non solum inpunitatem Suavorum indulsit, sed ut sibi de suo genere principem constituerent, flexus pietate concessit.

For he was seized and, deprived of the consolation of his own, was punished with death, and at last perceived that he who had believed his lord propitious was to be contemned. Then the Suavi, beholding the overthrow of their ruler, sent the local priests as suppliants to Theoderidus. He, receiving them with pontifical reverence, not only granted the Suavi impunity, but, moved by piety, conceded that they should appoint for him a prince from their own stock.

Quod et factum est, et Rimismundum sibi Suavi regulum ordinaverunt. His peractis paceque cuncta munitis, tertio decimo regni sui anno Theoderidus occubuit.

Which was done, and they appointed Rimismundum as their Suavian ruler. These things having been completed and all secured by peace, in the 13th year of his reign Theoderidus fell (died).

XLV. 235 Cui frater Eurichus praecupida festinatione succedens sceva suspicione pulsatus est. Nam dum haec circa Vesegotharum gente et alia nonnulla geruntur, Valentinianus imperator dolo Maximi occisus est et ipse Maximus tyrrannico more regnum invasit.

45.235 To him his brother Eurichus, following with headlong haste, was struck by an ill-omened suspicion. For while these matters concerning the Vesigothic people and some other things were being carried out, Emperor Valentinian was slain by the deceit of Maximus, and Maximus himself invaded the kingdom in a tyrannical fashion.

Quod audiens Gyzericus rex Vandalorum ab Africa armata classe in Italiam venit Romaeque ingressus cuncta devastat. Maximus vero fugiens a quodam Vrso, milite Romano, interemptus est. 236 Post quem iussu Marciani imperatoris Orientalis Maiurianus Occidentale suscepit imperium gubernandum.

Hearing this, Gyzeric king of the Vandals came from Africa with an armed fleet into Italy and, having entered Rome, laid everything waste. Maximus, however, fleeing from a certain Ursus, a Roman soldier, was slain. 236 After him, by the order of Marcian the Eastern emperor, Maiurianus undertook the Western empire to govern.

Sed et ipse non diu regnans, dum contra Alanos, qui Gallias infestabant, movisset procinctum, Dertona iuxta fluvium Hyra cognomento occiditur. Cuius locum Severus invasit, qui tertio anno imperii sui Romae obiit. Quod cernens Leo imperator, qui in Orientali regno Marciano successerat, Anthemium patricium suum ordinans Romae principem distinavit.

But he himself, ruling not long, while he had set out in arms against the Alans, who were ravaging the Gauls, was slain at Dertona by the river called Hyra. Severus seized his place, and died at Rome in the third year of his rule. Seeing this, Emperor Leo, who had succeeded Marcian in the Eastern realm, appointed his patrician Anthemius as the principal ruler at Rome.

Qui veniens ilico Recimerem generum suum contra Alanos direxit, virum egregium et pene tunc in Italia ad exercitum singularem. Qui et multitudine Alanorum et regem eorum Beorgum in primo statim certamine superatos internicioni prostravit. 237 Euricus ergo, Vesegotharum rex, crebram mutationem Romanorum principum cernens Gallias suo iure nisus est occupare.

Who, coming immediately, directed his son-in-law Recimer against the Alans, an outstanding man and then almost the sole commander in Italy. He, with both the multitude of the Alans and their king Beorgus overcome in the very first engagement, laid them low in slaughter. 237 Therefore Euric, king of the Visigoths, seeing the frequent change of Roman princes, strove to seize Gaul by his own right.

Quod conperiens Anthemius imperator Brittonum solacia postulavit. Quorum rex Riotimus cum duodecim milia veniens in Beturigas civitate Oceano e navibus egresso susceptus est. 238 Ad quos rex Vesegotharum Eurichus innumerum ductans advenit exercitum diuque pugnans Riutimum Brittonum rege, antequam Romani in eius societate coniungerentur, effugavit.

When Emperor Anthemius learned this, he sought the succor of the Britons. Their king Riotimus, coming with 12,000, was received in the city Beturigas, having disembarked from ships on the Ocean. 238 To them came King Eurichus of the Visigoths, leading an innumerable army, and after fighting long put Riotimus the Briton king to flight, before the Romans could join in his company.

Qui amplam partem exercitus amissam cum quibus potuit fugiens ad Burgundzonum gentem vicinam Romanisque in eo tempore foederatam advenit. Eurichus vero rex Vesegotharum Arevernam Galliae civitatem occupavit Anthemio principe iam defuncto: 239 qui cum Ricemere genero suo intestino bello saeviens Romam trivisset, ipseque a genero peremptus regnum reliquid Olybrio. Quo tempore in Constantinopolim Aspar primus patriciorum et Gothorum genere clarus cum Ardabure et Patriciolo filiis, illo quidem olim patricio, hoc autem Caesare generoque Leonis principis appellato, spadonum ensibus in palatio vulneratus interiit.

Who, having lost a large part of his army, fled with those he could and arrived among the neighboring Burgundian people, at that time allied with the Romans. Eurichus, however, king of the Visigoths, occupied the city of Areverna in Gaul after the prince Anthemius was already dead: 239 who, raging in a civil war with his son‑in‑law Ricimer, had trampled Rome, and who, being slain by that son‑in‑law, left the kingdom to Olybrius. At that time in Constantinople Aspar, first of the patricians and famed of Gothic lineage, together with his sons Ardabur and Patriciolus — the former once a patrician, the latter called Caesar and son‑in‑law of the prince Leo — was wounded by the eunuchs’ swords in the palace and perished.

Et necdum Olybrio octavo mense in regno ingresso obeunte Glycerius apud Ravennam plus presumptione quam electione Caesar effectus. Quem anno vix expleto Nepus Marcellini quondam patricii sororis filius a regno deiciens in Porto Romano episcopum ordinavit. 240 Tantas varietates mutationesque Eurichus cernens, ut diximus superius, Arevernam occupans civitatem, ubi tunc Romanorum dux praeerat Ecdicius nobilissimus senator et dudum Aviti imperatoris, qui ad paucos dies regnum invaserat, filius (nam hic ante Olybrium paucos dies tenens imperium ultro secessit Placentia, ibique episcopus est ordinatus). Huius ergo filius Ecdicius, diu certans cum Vesegothis nec valens antestare, relicta patria maximeque urbem Arevernate hosti, ad tutiora se loca collegit.

And not yet had Olybrius completed eight months in the reign when, Glycerius at Ravenna being made Caesar more by presumption than by election. Whom, with the year scarcely ended, Nepos, the son of the sister of the once-patrician Marcellinus, deposing him from the throne at Porto Romano made bishop. 240 Seeing so many varieties and changes, Eurichus, as we said above, occupying the city of Arevernam, where then the Roman leader presided, Ecdicius, a most noble senator and the son of the late emperor Avitus, who had for a few days invaded the kingdom (for this man, having held the imperial power a few days before Olybrius, voluntarily withdrew to Placentia, and there was ordained bishop). Therefore this son Ecdicius, long struggling with the Visigoths and not able to stand against them, having abandoned his country and above all the city of the Arverni to the enemy, withdrew to safer places.

241 Quod audiens Nepus imperator praecepit Ecdicium relictis Galliis ad se venire loco eius Orestem mag. mil. ordinatum.

241 Hearing this, Emperor Nepus ordered Ecdicius, leaving Gaul, to come to him, and appointed in his place Orestes, magister militum.

Qui Orestes suscepto exercitu et contra hostes egrediens a Roma Ravenna pervenit ibique remoratus Augustulum filium suum imperatorem effecit. Quo conperto Nepus fugit Dalmatias ibique defecit privatus a regno, ubi iam Glycerius dudum imperator episcopatum Salonitanum habebat.

Orestes, having taken up an army and marching out against the enemies, came from Rome to Ravenna and there, remaining for a time, made his son Augustulus emperor. When this became known, Nepus fled to Dalmatia and there fell from the kingdom into private status, where already Glycerius had long held the episcopate of Salona as emperor.

XLVI. 242 Augustulo vero a patre Oreste in Ravenna imperatore ordinato non multum post Odoacer Torcilingorum rex habens secum Sciros, Herulos diversarumque gentium auxiliarios Italiam occupavit et Orestem interfectum Augustulum filium eius de regno pulsum in Lucullano Campaniae castello exilii poena damnavit. 243 Sic quoque Hesperium Romanae gentis imperium, quod septingentesimo nono urbis conditae anno primus Augustorum Octavianus Augustus tenere coepit, cum hoc Augustulo periit anno decessorum prodecessorumve regni quingentesimo vicesimo secundo, Gothorum dehinc regibus Romam Italiamque tenentibus.

46.242 Augustulus, however, having been ordained emperor in Ravenna by his father Orestes, not long afterward Odoacer, king of the Torcilingi, with the Sciri, the Heruli, and auxiliaries of various peoples, occupied Italy; and Orestes being slain, he drove Augustulus his son from the kingdom and sentenced him to exile as punishment in the Lucullan castle of Campania. 243 Thus too the Hesperian dominion of the Roman people, which in the seven-hundred-and-ninth year since the founding of the city first began to be held by Octavianus Augustus the first of the Augusti, perished with this Augustulus in the five-hundred-and-twenty-second year of the reigns or of the deaths of predecessors, and thenceforth the Goths, under their kings, held Rome and Italy.

Interea Odoacer rex gentium omnem Italiam subiugatam, ut terrorem suum Romanis iniceret. mox initio regni sui Bracilam comitem apud Ravennam occidit regnoque suo confortato pene per tredecem annos usque ad Theodorici praesentiam, de quo in subsequentibus dicturi sumus, obtenuit.

Meanwhile Odoacer, king of the peoples, subdued all Italy, so as to impose his terror upon the Romans. Soon, at the beginning of his reign, he killed the count Bracila near Ravenna, and with his kingdom thereby strengthened he held it for almost thirteen years up to the coming/presence of Theodoric, of whom we shall speak in what follows.

XLVII. 244 Interim tamen ad eum ordinem, unde digressi sumus, redeamus, et quomodo Euricus rex Vesegotharum Romani regni vacillationem cernens Arelatum et Massiliam propriae subdidit dicioni. Gyzericus etenim Vandalorum rex suis eum muneribus ad ista committenda inlicuit, quatenus ipse Leonis vel Zenonis insidias, quas contra eum direxerant, praecaveret, egitque, ut Orientalem imperium Ostrogothas, Hesperium Vesegothae vastarent, ut in utramque rem publicam hostibus decernentibus ipse in Africa quietus regnaret.

47.244 Meanwhile, however, let us return to that order from which we departed, and tell how Euric, king of the Visigoths, seeing the vacillation of the Roman realm, subjected Arelate and Massilia to his own dominion. For Gyceric, king of the Vandals, enticed him with his gifts to commit these undertakings, so that he himself might guard against the plots of Leo or Zeno which they had directed against him; and he contrived that the Ostrogoths should ravage the Eastern empire and the Visigoths the Western, so that, with each commonwealth delivered over to enemies, he himself might reign tranquilly in Africa.

Quod Eurichus grato suscipiens animo, totas Spanias Galliasque sibi iam iure proprio tenens, simul quoque et Burgunzones subegit Arelatoque degens nono decimo anno regni sui vita privatus est. 245 Huic successit proprius filius Alarichus, qui nonus in numero ab illo Alarico magno regnum adeptus est Vesegotharum. Nam pari tenore, ut de Augustis superius diximus, et in Alaricis provenisse cognoscitur, et in eos saepe regna deficiunt, a quorum nominibus inchoarunt.

Receiving this with a grateful spirit, Eurichus, holding all the Spains and Gauls already by his own right, likewise subdued the Burgundians, and dwelling at Arelate, in the 19th year of his reign was deprived of life. 245 To him succeeded his own son Alarichus, who, ninth in number from that Alaric the Great, obtained the kingdom of the Vesegoths. For by the same tenor, as we said above concerning the Augusti, they are known to have arisen also among the Alarics, and kingdoms often fall into those from whose names they took their beginning.

Quod nos interim praetermisso sic ut promisimus omnem Gothorum texamus originem.

Which we meanwhile, having passed over as we promised, thus recount the whole origin of the Goths.

XLVIII. 246 Et quia, dum utrique gentes, tam Ostrogothae quam etiam Vesegothae, in uno essent, ut valui, maiorum sequens dicta revolvi divisosque Vesegothas ab Ostrogothis ad liquidum sum prosecutus, necesse nobis est iterum ad antiquas eorum Scythicas sedes redire et Ostrogotharum genealogia actusque pari tenore exponere. Quos constat morte Hermanarici regis sui, decessione a Vesegothis divisos, Hunnorum subditos dicioni, in eadem patria remorasse, Vinithario tamen Amalo principatus sui insignia retinente.

48.246 And because, while both peoples, both the Ostrogoths and likewise the Visigoths, were together, I have, as far as I was able, gone back over the words of the elders and pursued the Visigoths separated from the Ostrogoths to the full; it is necessary for us again to return to their ancient Scythian seats and to set forth the genealogy and deeds of the Ostrogoths in the same tenor. It is agreed that, at the death of their king Hermanaric, being cut off by the Visigoths, they remained in the same fatherland subject to the dominion of the Huns, Vinitharius, however, of the Amali, retaining the insignia of his principality.

247 Qui avi Vultulfi virtute imitatus, quamvis Hermanarici felicitate inferior, tamen aegre ferens Hunnorum imperio subiacere, paululum se subtrahens ab illis suaque dum nititur ostendere virtute, in Antorum fines movit procinctum, eosque dum adgreditur prima congressione superatus, deinde fortiter egit regemque eorum Boz nomine cum filiis suis et lxx primatibus in exemplum terroris adfixit, ut dediticiis metum cadavera pendentium geminarent. 248 Sed dum tali libertate vix anni spatio imperasset, non est passus Balamber, rex Hunnorum, sed ascito ad se Gesimundo, Hunnimundi magni filio, qui iuramenti sui et fidei memor cum ampla parte Gothorum Hunnorum imperio subiacebat, renovatoque cum eo foedere super Vinitharium duxit exercitum; diuque certati primo et secundo certamine Vinitharius vincit. Nec valet aliquis commemorare, quanta strage de Hunnorum Venetharius fecit exercitu.

247 Who, imitating the virtue of his grandfather Vultulf, although inferior in the good fortune of Hermanaric, yet ill-bearing to submit to the sway of the Huns, withdrawing himself a little from them and while striving to display his own virtue, moved armed into the borders of the Antes; and when he assailed them he was overcome in the first encounter, then acted bravely and fixed their king Boz by name with his sons and 70 chiefs as an example of terror, so that the fear of the corpses hanging would be doubled among the surrendered. 248 But while he had scantily ruled with such liberty for the space of a year, Balamber, king of the Huns, did not permit it, but having taken to himself Gesimund, the son of great Hunnimund, who—mindful of his oath and fidelity—together with a large part of the Goths submitted to the rule of the Huns, and with a renewed treaty against Vinitharius led an army; and after long fighting, in the first and second engagements Vinitharius prevailed. Nor can anyone recount how great a slaughter Venetharius made of the Hunnic army.

249 Tertio vero proelio subreptionis auxilio ad fluvium nomine Erac, dum utrique ad se venissent, Balamber sagitta missa caput Venetharii saucians interemit neptemque eius Vadamercam sibi in coniugio copulans iam omnem in pace Gothorum populum subactum possedit, ita tamen, ut genti Gothorum semperum proprius regulus, quamvis Hunnorum consilio, imperaret. 250 Et mox defuncto Venethario rexit eos Hunimundus, filius quondam regis potentissimi Hermanarici, acer in bello totoque corpore pulchritudine pollens, qui post haec contra Suavorum gente feliciter dimicavit. Eoque defuncto successit Thorismud filius eius flore iuventutis ornatus, qui secundo principatus sui anno contra Gepidas movit exercitum magnaque de illis potitus victoria casu equi dicitur interemptus.

249 In the third engagement, by the aid of a surprise at a river called Erac, when both sides had come together, Balamber, sending an arrow that wounded Venetharius in the head, slew him and joined his granddaughter Vadamerca to himself in marriage, and so possessed the whole Gothic people now subdued in peace; yet so that he ruled as a petty king more proper to the Gothic nation, albeit by the counsel of the Huns. 250 And soon after the death of Venetharius Hunimundus, once the son of the very powerful king Hermanaric, governed them—keen in war and altogether abounding in bodily comeliness—who afterwards fought successfully against the Suevic people. At his death his son Thorismud, adorned with the flower of youth, succeeded; in the second year of his rule he led an army against the Gepids and, having gained a great victory over them, is said to have been slain by the chance of a horse.

251 Quo defuncto sic eum luxerunt Ostrogothae, ut quadraginta per annos in eius locum rex alius non succederet, quatenus et illius memoriae semperum haberent in ore et tempus accederet, quo Valamer habitum repararet virilem, qui erat ex consubrino eius genitus Vandalario; quia filius eius, ut superius diximus, Beremud iam contempta Ostrogotharum gente propter Hunnorum dominio ad partes Hesperias Vesegotharum fuisset gente secutus, de quo et ortus est Vetericus. Veterici quoque filius natus est Eutharicus, qui iunctus Amalasuenthae filiae Theodorici, item Amalorum stirpe iam divisa coniunxit et genuit Athalaricum et Mathesuentam. Sed quia Athalaricus in annis puerilibus defunctus est, Mathesuenta Constantinopolim allata de secundo uiro, id est Germano fratruele Iustiniani imperatoris, genuit postumum filium, quem nominavit Germanum.

251 Upon his death the Ostrogoths bewailed him so profoundly that for forty years no other king succeeded in his place, insofar as they ever kept his memory on their lips, and the time came when Valamer would restore a manly bearing, who was born of his consubrinus Vandalarius; for his son, as we said above, Beremud, having already, despising the Ostrogothic people because of the rule of the Huns, followed to the western parts the people of the Visigoths, from whom also Vetericus sprang. To Vetericus too a son was born, Eutharic, who, joined to Amalasuentha, daughter of Theodoric and likewise of the Amal stock by then divided, united with her and begot Athalaric and Mathesuentha. But because Athalaric died in childhood, Mathesuentha, carried to Constantinople and married to a second husband, that is to say to Germanus, a little-brother of Emperor Justinian, bore a posthumous son whom she named Germanus.

252 Sed nobis, ut ordo, quem coepimus, decurrat, ad Vandalarii sobulem, quae trino flore pululabat redeundum est. Hic enim Vandalarius, fratruelis Hermanarici et supra scripti Thorismudi consubrinus, tribus editis liberis in gente Amala gloriatus est, id est Valamir Thiudimir Vidimir. Ex quibus per successione parentum Valamir in regno conscendit adhuc Hunnis eos inter alias gentes generaliter optinentibus.

252 But for us, that the order which we began may run on, we must return to the offspring of Vandalarius, which was teeming with a threefold bloom. For this Vandalarius, a cousin (fratruelis) of Hermanaric and a consubrinus of the above‑written Thorismud, vaunted three children born in the Amala gens, namely Valamir, Thiudimir, Vidimir. From these, by the succession of his parents Valamir ascended to the kingdom, while the Huns still generally held them among other peoples.

253 Eratque tunc in tribus his germanis contemplatio grata, quando mirabilis Thiudimer pro fratris Valamir militabat imperio, Valamir vero pro altero iubebat ornando, Vidimer servire fratribus aestimabat. Sic eis mutua affectione se tuentibus nulli paenitus deerat regnum, quod utrique in sua pace tenebant. Ita tamen, ut saepe dictum est, imperabant, ut ipsi Attilae Hunnorum regis imperio deservirent: quibus nec contra parentes Vesegothas licuisset recusare certamen, sed necessitas domini, etiam parricidium si iubet, implendum est.

253 And then in these three brothers there was a pleasant compact, when the marvelous Thiudimer fought in the service of his brother Valamir’s rule, Valamir in turn gave orders for the other by providing ornaments/fittings, and Vidimer esteemed it to serve his brothers. Thus, by mutual affection defending one another, no one lacked a kingdom, which each held in his own peace. Yet so, as has often been said, they ruled that they themselves should serve under the imperium of Attila, king of the Huns: against whom it would not have been lawful to refuse contest for the sake of their parent Visigoths, but the necessity of the lord—even if he commands parricide—must be fulfilled.

Nec aliter ab Hunnorum dominio divelli potuit gens aliqua Scythica, nisi optata cunctis nationibus in commune et Romanis mors Attilae proveniret, quae tam fuit vilis, ut vita mirabilis.

Nor could any Scythian people thus be torn from the dominion of the Huns, unless the death of Attila — long wished for by all nations together and by the Romans — came about, which was so vile that his life seemed remarkable.

XLIX. 254 Qui, ut Priscus istoricus refert, exitus sui tempore puellam Ildico nomine decoram valde sibi in matrimonio post innumerabiles uxores, ut mos erat gentis illius, socians eiusque in nuptiis hilaritate nimia resolutus, vino somnoque gravatus resupinus iaceret, redundans sanguis, qui ei solite de naribus effluebat, dum consuetis meatibus impeditur, itinere ferali faucibus illapsus extinxit. Ita glorioso per bella regi temulentia pudendos exitos dedit.

XLIX. 254 Who, as the historian Priscus relates, at the moment of his death joined to himself in marriage a maiden named Ildico, very fair to him, after innumerable wives, as was the custom of that people; and, loosened by excessive hilarity at the nuptials, lying supine overwhelmed by wine and sleep, the blood which was wont to flow from his nostrils, being obstructed in its customary passages, gushed back, and having fallen into his throat on that fatal passage, extinguished him. Thus through drunkenness the glorious king, famed in wars, was given a shameful end.

Sequenti vero luce cum magna pars diei fuisset exempta, ministri regii triste aliquid suspicantes post clamores maximos fores effringunt inveniuntque Attilae sine ullo vulnere necem sanguinis effusione peractam puellamque demisso vultu sub velamine lacrimantem. 255 Tunc, ut gentis illius mos est, crinium parte truncata informes facies cavis turpavere vulneribus, ut proeliator eximius non femineis lamentationibus et lacrimis, sed sanguine lugeretur virile. De quo id accessit mirabile, ut Marciano principi Orientis de tam feroci hoste sollicito in somnis divinitas adsistens arcum Attilae in eadem nocte fractum ostenderet, quasi quod gens ipsa eo telo multum praesumat.

On the following light, when a great part of the day had already been consumed, the royal attendants, suspecting something sad, after the loudest cries broke open the doors and found Attila dead without any wound, his death accomplished without the shedding of blood, and the girl with downcast face weeping under her veil. 255 Then, as is the custom of that people, with part of her hair shorn they made the misshapen face disgraceful with hollowed shameful wounds, so that the outstanding warrior might be mourned in a manly way not by feminine lamentations and tears but by blood. From this there followed the marvelous thing, that to Marcian, prince of the East, anxious about so fierce an enemy, divinity appearing in a dream showed in the same night Attila’s bow broken, as if that nation itself placed great hope in that weapon.

Hoc Priscus istoricus vera se dicit adtestatione probare. Nam in tantum magnis imperiis Attila terribilis habitus est, ut eius mortem in locum muneris superna regnantibus indicarent. 256 Cuius manes quibus a sua gente honoratae sunt, pauca de multis dicere non omittamus.

Priscus the historian says that he proves this by his truthful testimony. For Attila was held so terrible in so great an empire that his death was appointed as an offering to those who reign in the upper regions. 256 Of whose manes, by which he was honored by his own people, let us not fail to tell a few things out of the many.

In mediis si quidem campis et intra tenturia sirica cadavere conlocato spectaculum admirandum et sollemniter exhibetur. Nam de tota gente Hunnorum lectissimi equites in eo loco, quo erat positus, in modum circensium cursibus ambientes, facta eius cantu funereo tali ordine referebant. 257 'Praecipuus Hunnorum rex Attila, patre genitus Mundzuco, fortissimarum gentium dominus, qui inaudita ante se potentia solus Scythica et Germanica regna possedit nec non utraque Romani urbis imperia captis civitatibus terruit et, ne praedae reliqua subderentur, placatus praecibus annuum vectigal accepit: cumque haec omnia proventu felicitatis egerit, non vulnere hostium, non fraude suorum, sed gente incolume inter gaudia laetus sine sensu doloris occubuit.

In the midst of the very camps and within the silk tents, with the corpse set in place, a sight admirable and solemnly displayed is shown. For from the whole people of the Huns the choicest horsemen in that place where he lay, running about like circus races, recounted his deeds in a funeral chant in such order. 257 'The foremost king of the Huns, Attila, born of the father Mundzuk, lord of the most valiant peoples, who with a power unheard of before him alone held the Scythian and Germanic kingdoms and likewise terrified both sovereignties of the Roman city by captured towns, and, lest the remaining spoils be squandered, appeased by prayers received an annual tribute: and when he had achieved all these things by the harvest of good fortune, not by the wound of enemies, not by the treachery of his own, but with his people uninjured, rejoicing among joys, without feeling pain he died.'

Quis ergo hunc exitum putet, quem nullus aestimat vindicandum?' 258 Postquam talibus lamentis est defletus, stravam super tumulum eius quam appellant ipsi ingenti commessatione concelebrant, et contraria invicem sibi copulantes luctu funereo mixto gaudio explicabant, noctuque secreto cadaver terra reconditum copercula primum auro, secundum argento, tertium ferri rigore communiunt, significantes tali argumento potentissimo regi omnia convenisse: ferrum, quod gentes edomuit, aurum et argentum, quod ornatum rei publicae utriusque acceperit. Addunt arma hostium caedibus adquisita, faleras vario gemmarum fulgore praetiosas et diversi generis insignia, quibus colitur aulicum decus. Et, ut tantis divitiis humana curiositas arceretur, operi deputatos detestabili mercede trucidarunt, emersitque momentanea mors sepelientibus cum sepulto.

Who, then, would deem this end one to be avenged, which no one judges worth vindicating?'258 After he had been bewailed with such lamentations, they celebrate over his tomb what they themselves call a strava with a huge banquet, and, coupling contraries together, they declared to one another mourning mixed with funeral joy; and by night in secret the corpse, laid in the earth, they enclosed—first with gold, second with silver, third with the common hardness of iron—signifying by this most potent token that all things befitted the king: iron, which subdued peoples, and gold and silver, which have adorned the state of both Romes. They add the arms of enemies acquired by slaughter, phaleras precious with the varied gleam of gems and insignia of diverse kinds, by which courtly splendour is honoured. And, that human curiosity might be barred from such riches, they slaughtered the workmen assigned to the task for a detestable wage, and a momentary death emerged for the burying men along with the interred.

L. 259 Talibus peractis, ut solent animi iuvenum ambitu potentiae concitari, inter successores Attilae de regno orta contentio est, et dum inconsulti imperare cupiunt cuncti, omnes simul imperium perdiderunt. Sic frequenter regna gravat copia quam inopia successorum. Nam fili Attilae, quorum per licentiam libidinis pene populus fuit, gentes sibi dividi aequa sorte poscebant, ut ad instar familiae bellicosi reges cum populis mitterentur in sortem.

L. 259 After such things were done, as is wont, by the allure of power the spirits of the young were stirred, and a strife arose among Attila’s successors for the kingdom; and while all, unadvised, desired to rule, they all at once lost the dominion. Thus abundance often burdens kingdoms more than the lack of heirs. For the sons of Attila, by whose license of lust the people were almost enslaved, the nations demanded to be divided to them by equal lot, so that, like members of a household, warlike kings together with peoples might be sent into each lot.

260 Quod ut Gepidarum rex conperit Ardarichus, indignatus de tot gentibus velut vilissimorum mancipiorum condicione tractari, contra filios Attilae primus insurgit inlatumque serviendi pudore secuta felicitate detersit, nec solum suam gentem, sed et ceteras qui pariter praemebantur sua discessione absolvit, quia facile omnes adpetunt, quod pro cunctorum utilitate temptatur. In mutuum igitur armantur exitium bellumque committitur in Pannonia iuxta flumen, cui nomen est Nedao. 261 Illic concursus factus est gentium variarum, quas Attila in sua tenuerat dicione.

260 When the Gepid king Ardarichus discovered this, indignant that so many nations were being treated as if in the condition of the cheapest serfdom, he was the first to rise up against the sons of Attila, and following the shame of being enslaved he wiped it away by good fortune; and he freed not only his own people but also the others who were likewise kept in service by his departure, because all readily desire what is attempted for the common advantage. Therefore they mutually arm for destruction, and war is committed in Pannonia beside the river called Nedao. 261 There a gathering was made of various peoples which Attila had held in his dominion.

Dividuntur regna cum populis, fiuntque ex uno corpore membra diversa, nec quae unius passioni conpaterentur, sed quae exciso capite in invicem insanirent; quae numquam contra se pares invenerant, nisi ipsi mutuis se vulneribus sauciantes se ipsos discerperent fortissimae nationes. Nam ibi admirandum reor fuisse spectaculum, ubi cernere erat contis pugnantem Gothum, ense furentem Gepida, in vulnere suo Rugum tela frangentem, Suavum pede, Hunnum sagitta praesumere, Alanum gravi, Herulum levi armatura aciem strui. 262 Post multos ergo gravesque conflictos favit Gepidis inopinata victoria.

Kingdoms are divided with their peoples, and from one body different members are made, not those that would share one suffering, but those that, with the head cut off, would rage against one another; which never found equals against themselves, unless by mutually wounding each other they tore themselves apart, the mightiest nations. For there, I think, a marvelous spectacle was to be seen, where one could behold the Gothic man fighting with a spear, the Gepid raging with a sword, a Rugian breaking spears on his own wound, a Suevian with his foot, a Hun taking the lead with an arrow, an Alan heavy-armed, a Herul with light armor arrayed in battle line. 262 After many and grievous conflicts, therefore, an unexpected victory favoured the Gepids.

Nam xxx fere milia tam Hunnorum quam aliarum gentium, quae Hunnis ferebant auxilium, Ardarici gladius conspiratioque peremit. In quo proelio filius Attilae maior natu nomine Ellac occiditur, quem tantum parens super citeros amasse perhibebatur, ut eum cunctis diversisque liberis suis in regno preferret; sed non fuit vota patris fortuna consentiens. Nam post multas hostium cedes sic viriliter eum constat peremptum, ut tam gloriosum superstis pater optasset interitum.

About 30,000 nearly, both of Huns and of the other nations that were bringing aid to the Huns, Ardaric’s sword and conspiracy destroyed. In that battle Attila’s eldest son by age, named Ellac, was killed, whom the parent was reported to have loved so much above the others, that he preferred him over all his diverse children in the kingdom; but fortune did not consent to the father’s wishes. For after many slaughterings of the enemies it is agreed that he was slain so manfully that even the surviving father would have wished for so glorious a demise.

263 Reliqui vero germani eius eo occiso fugantur iuxta litus Pontici maris, ubi prius Gothos sedisse descripsimus. Cesserunt itaque Hunni, quibus cedere putabatur universitas. Adeo discidium perniciosa res est, ut divisi corruerent, qui adunatis viribus territabant.

263 The remaining Germans of his, after his death, were put to flight along the shore of the Pontic Sea, where we have before described the Goths as having sat. The Huns therefore gave way, as the universitas was thought to yield. So pernicious a thing is division, that those who with joined forces once terrified fell apart when separated.

Haec causa Ardarici regis Gepidarum felix affuit diversis nationibus, qui Hunnorum regimini inviti famulabantur, eorumque diu maestissimos animos ad helaritatem libertatis votivam erexit; venientesque multi per legatos suos ad solum Romanum et a principe tunc Marciano gratissime suscepti distributas sedes, quas incolerent, acceperunt.

This cause of Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, proved fortunate for various nations who, unwillingly serving the rule of the Huns, had long kept their spirits most sorrowful and raised them to the hilarity of vowed freedom; and many, coming by their envoys to Roman soil and most gladly received by the prince then Marcian, accepted the allotted settlements which they were to inhabit.

264 Nam Gepidi Hunnorum sibi sedes viribus vindicantes totius Daciae fines velut victores potiti nihil aliud a Romano imperio, nisi pacem et annua sollemnia, ut strenui viri, amica pactione postulaverunt. Quod et libens tunc annuit imperator et usque nunc consuetum donum gens ipsa a Romano suscipit principe. Gothi vero cernentes Gepidas Hunnorum sedes sibi defendere Hunnorumque populum suis antiquis sedibus occupare, maluerunt a Romano regno terras petere quam cum discrimine suo invadere alienas, accipientesque Pannoniam; quae in longo porrecta planitiae habet ab oriente Moesiam superiorem, a meridie Dalmatiam, ab occasu Noricum, a septentrione Danubium.

264 For the Gepids, vindicating by force for themselves the seats of the Huns and, as victors having obtained the borders of all Dacia, demanded nothing else from the Roman empire save peace and annual solemnities, as stalwart men, by a friendly pact. Which the emperor then willingly granted, and even to this day the people themselves receive the customary gift from the Roman prince. But the Goths, seeing the Gepids defend the Hunnic seats for themselves and occupy the Hunnic people in their ancient dwellings, preferred to seek lands from the Roman realm rather than to invade foreign territories at their peril, and they took Pannonia; which, stretched long across the plain, has Upper Moesia on the east, Dalmatia to the south, Noricum to the west, and the Danube to the north.

Ornata patria civitatibus plurimis, quarum prima Syrmis, extrema Vindomina.

Their fatherland adorned with very many cities, of which the first is Syrmis, the last Vindomina.

265 Sauromatae vero quos Sarmatas dicimus et Cemandri et quidam ex Hunnis parte Illyrici ad Castramartenam urbem sedes sibi datas coluerunt. Ex quo genere fuit Blivila dux Pentapolitanus eiusque germanus Froila et nostri temporis Bessa patricius. Scyri vero et Sadagarii et certi Alanorum cum duce suo nomine Candac Scythiam minorem inferioremque Moesiam acceperunt.

265 As for the Sauromatae, whom we call Sarmatians, and the Cemandri and certain Illyrican part of the Huns, they cultivated for themselves the seats granted at the city Castramartenam. From that stock was Blivila, Pentapolitan duke, and his brother Froila, and in our time Bessa the patrician. The Scyri and the Sadagarii and certain of the Alans, with their leader by name Candac, took Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia.

266 Cuius Candacis Alanoviiamuthis patris mei genitor Paria, id est meus avus, notarius; quousque Candac ipse viveret, fuit, eiusque germanae filio Gunthicis, qui et Baza dicebatur, mag. mil., filio Andages fili Andele de prosapia Amalorum descendente, ego item quamvis agramatus Iordannis ante conversionem meam notarius fui. Rugi vero aliaeque nationes nonnullae Bizzim et Arcadiopolim ut incolerent, petiverunt.

266 Of whom—Candacis Alanoviiamuthis, the father of my father, Genitor Paria, that is, my grandfather—was a notary; so long as Candac himself lived he was so, and his sister’s son Gunthicis, who was also called Baza, magister militum, the son of Andages, son of Andele, descending from the lineage (prosapia) of the Amali. I likewise, although unlettered, was Jordanes’s notary before my conversion. The Rugi and some other nations indeed sought Bizzim and Arcadiopolis to inhabit.

Hernac quoque iunior Attilae filius cum suis in extrema minoris Scythiae sedes delegit. Emnetzur et Vltzindur consanguinei eius in Dacia ripense Vto et Hisco Almoque potiti sunt, multique Hunnorum passim proruentes tunc se in Romania dediderunt, e quibus nunc usque Sacromontisi et Fossatisii dicuntur.

Hernac also the younger, son of Attila, with his men chose the outermost seats of Lesser Scythia. Emnetzur and Vltzindur, his kinsmen, in riparian Dacia took possession of Uto and Hisco and Almo; and many Huns, pressing forward everywhere, then gave themselves up into Romania, of whom to this day are called the Sacromontisi and the Fossatisii.

LI. 267 Erant si quidem et alii Gothi, qui dicuntur minores, populus inmensus, cum suo pontifice ipsoque primate Vulfila, qui eis dicitur et litteras instituisse. Hodieque sunt in Moesia regionem incolentes Nicopolitanam ad pedes Emimonti gens multa, sed paupera et inbellis nihilque habundans nisi armenta diversi generis pecorum et pascua silvaque lignarum; parum tritici citerarumque specierum terras fecundas. Vineas vero nec, si sunt alibi, certi eorum cognoscent ex vicina loca sibi vinum negotiantes; nam lacte aluntur plerique.

LI. 267 There were, moreover, other Goths said to be the lesser, a people unmeasured, with their own pontiff and chief, Vulfila, who is said to have also instituted letters. And today they dwell in the region of Moesia, inhabiting Nicopolis at the foot of Emimont; a numerous people, but poor and unwarlike, possessing nothing abundant except herds of various kinds of cattle and pastures and woods of timber; scarcely fertile lands of wheat and other cereal kinds. As for vineyards, they have none; and if there are any elsewhere, those who trade wine to them from neighboring places do not know them certainly; for most are fed on milk.

LII. 268 Ergo, ut ad gentem, unde agimus, revertamur, id est Ostrogotharum, qui in Pannonia sub rege Valamir eiusque germani Thiudimer et Videmir morabantur, quamvis divisa loca, consilia tamen unita (nam Valamer inter Scarniungam et Aqua nigra fluvios, Thiudimer iuxta lacum Pelsois, Vidimer inter utrosque manebant), contigit ergo, ut Attilae fili contra Gothos quasi desertores dominationis suae, velut fugacia mancipia requirentes, venirent ignarisque aliis fratribus super Valamer solum inruerent. 269 Quos tamen ille quamvis cum paucis excepit diuque fatigatis ita prostravit, ut vix pars aliqua hostium remaneret quae in fuga versa eas partes Scythiae petere, quas Danabri amnis fluenta praetermeant, quam lingua sua Hunni Var appeIlant.

52.268 Therefore, to return to the people from whom we proceed, that is the Ostrogoths, who dwelt in Pannonia under the king Valamer and his brothers Thiudimer and Videmir, although in separate places, yet with united counsels (for Valamer remained between the Scarniunga and the Black Water rivers, Thiudimer beside the lake Pelso, Videmir between both), it came about that the sons of Attila, against the Goths as if seeking deserters from their domination, like fleeting chattels, came and, unknown to the other brothers, burst in upon the land of Valamer alone. 269 Whom, however, he received though with few and, after long harassing them, so overthrew that scarcely any part of the enemy remained, those who turning to flight sought the parts of Scythia which the river Danaber—whose streams pass by—flows through, which in their own tongue the Huns call Var.

Eo namque tempore ad fratris Thiudimeri gaudii nuntium direxit, sed eo mox die nuntius veniens feliciorem in domo Thiudimer repperit gaudium. Ipso si quidem die Theodoricus eius filius, quamvis de Erelieva concubina, bonae tamen spei puerolus natus erat. 270 Post tempus ergo non multum rex Valamir eiusque germani Thiudemir et Vidimir, consueta dum tardarent dona a principe Marciano, quae ad instar strenuae acciperent et pacis foedera custodirent, missa legatione ad imperatorem vident Theodericum Triarii filium, et hunc genere Gothico, alia tamen stirpe, non Amala procreatum, omnino florentem cum suis, Romanorumque amicitiis iunctum et annua sollemnia consequentem, et se tantum despici.

Eo namque tempore ad fratris Thiudimeri gaudii nuntium direxit, sed eo mox die nuntius veniens feliciorem in domo Thiudimer repperit gaudium. Ipso si quidem die Theodoricus eius filius, quamvis de Erelieva concubina, bonae tamen spei puerolus natus erat. 270 After a short time therefore King Valamir and his brothers Thiudimer and Vidimir, while they delayed their customary gifts to Prince Marcian—gifts which they received as men of vigor and by which they kept the treaties of peace—by a dispatched embassy saw Theoderic, son of Triarius; and this man, of Gothic stock though of another line, not sprung from the Amali, was altogether flourishing with his people, joined to the friendships of the Romans and observing the annual solemnities; and he alone was despised.

271 Ilico furore commoti arma arripiunt et Illyricum pene totum discurrentes in praeda devastant. Sed statim imperator animo mutato ad pristinam recurrit amicitiam missaque legatione tam praeterita cum instantibus munera tribuit quam etiam de futuro sine aliqua controversia tribuere compromittit, pacisque obsidem ab eis, quem supra rettulimus, Theodoricum, infantulum Thiudimeris accipit; qui iam septem annorum incrementa conscendens octavum intraverat annum. Quem dum pater cunctatur dare, patruus Valamir extitit supplicator tantum, ut pax firma inter Romanos Gothosque maneret.

271 Immediately stirred by frenzy they seize arms and, running about, lay waste almost the whole of Illyricum in plunder. But at once the emperor, his mind changed, reverted to former friendship, and having sent a legation both restored past matters with the present gifts and pledged to grant future ones without any dispute; and he receives as a hostage for peace from them the Theodoric whom we above related, the little child of Thiudimer, who, having completed seven years’ growth, had entered his eighth year. When the father delayed to give him, the uncle Valamir stood forth merely as petitioner, so that firm peace might remain between Romans and Goths.

Datus igitur Theodoricus obses a Gothis duciturque ad urbem Constantinopolitanam Leoni principi, et, quia puerulos elegans erat, meruit gratiam imperialem habere.

Therefore Theodoric was given as a hostage by the Goths and was led to the Constantinopolitan city to Prince Leo, and, because he was a choice little boy, he deserved to have imperial favor.

LIII. 272 Postquam ergo firma pax Gothorum cum Romanis effecta est, videntes Gothi non sibi sufficere ea quae ab imperatore acciperent simulque solitam cupientes ostentare virtutem, coeperunt vicinas gentes circumcirca praedari, primum contra Sadagis, qui interiorem Pannoniam possidebant, arma moventes. Quod ubi rex Hunnorum Dintzic filius Attilae cognovisset, collectis secum qui adhuc videbantur quamvis pauci eius tamen sub imperio remansisse Vltzinzures, Angisciros, Bittugures, Bardores, venientesque ad Basianam Pannoniae civitatem eamque circumvallans fines eius coepit praedare.

LIII. 272 After therefore a firm peace between the Goths and the Romans had been effected, the Goths, seeing that what they received from the emperor was not sufficient for them and at the same time desiring to display their accustomed prowess, began to plunder the neighboring peoples around, first making war against the Sadagis, who possessed inner Pannonia. When the king of the Huns, Dintzic, son of Attila, learned this, having gathered with him those who still seemed to be, though few, yet remaining under his rule — the Vltzinzures, Angisciros, Bittugures, Bardores — he came to the Pannonian city Basiana and, surrounding it, began to ravage its territory.

273 Quod conperto Gothi ibi, ubi erant, expeditionemque solventes, quam contra Sadagis collegerant, in Hunnos convertunt et sic eos suis a finibus inglorios pepulerunt, ut iam ex illo tempore qui remanserunt Hunni et usque actenus Gothorum arma formident. Quiescente vero tandem Hunnorum gente a Gothis Hunumundus Suavorum dux dum ad depraedandas Dalmatias transit, armenta Gothorum in campis errantia depraedavit, quia Dalmatia Suaviae vicina erat nec a Pannonios fines multum distabat, praesertim ubi tunc Gothi residebant. 274 Quid plurimum?

273 The Goths, this having been learned, there where they were, and breaking up the expedition which they had gathered against the Sadagis, turned it against the Huns and so drove them ingloriously from their borders, that from that time on the Huns who remained even to the present fear the arms of the Goths. And with the people of the Huns at last quiescent because of the Goths, Hunumundus, duke of the Suevi, while passing to plunder Dalmatia, ravaged the Goths’ herds wandering in the fields, because Dalmatia was near Swabia and not far distant from the Pannonian frontiers, especially where then the Goths dwelt. 274 What more?

Hunimundus cum Suavis vastatis Dalmatiis ad sua revertens, Thiudimer germanus Valameris regis Gothorum non tantum iacturam armentorum dolens quantum metuens, ne Suavi, si inpune hoc lucrarentur, ad maiorem licentiam prosilirent, sic vigilavit in eorum transitu, ut intempesta nocte dormientes invaderet ad lacum Pelsodis consertoque inopinato proelio ita eos oppressit, ut etiam ipsum regem Hunimundum captum omnem exercitum eius, qui gladio evadissent, Gothorum subderet servituti. Et dum multum esset amator misericordiae, facta ultione veniam condonavit reconciliatusque cum Suavis eundem, quem ceperat, adoptans sibi filium, remisit cum suis in Suavia. 275 Sed ilIe inmemor paternae gratiae post aliquod tempus conceptum dolum parturiens Scirorumque gente incitans, qui tunc super Danubium consedebant et cum Gothis pacifice morabantur, quatenus scissi ab eorum foedere secumque iuncti in arma prosilerent gentemque Gothorum invaderent.

Hunimundus, returning to his own after the Suavis had laid waste Dalmatia, Thiudimer, brother of Valamer, king of the Goths, not so much grieving the loss of the herds as fearing that the Suavi, if they profited by this with impunity, would burst forth into greater license, kept such a watch on their passage that at an unseasonable night he surprised them sleeping by Lake Pelsodis and, with an unexpected battle joined, so crushed them that he even took King Hunimundus himself captive and subjected to Gothic servitude all his army who had escaped the sword. And because he was greatly a lover of mercy, after the vengeance was accomplished he granted pardon and, reconciled with the Suavis, adopting as a son the very man he had captured, sent him back with his people into Suavia. 275 But that man, unmindful of paternal grace, after some time, brooding a conceived deceit and inciting the Sciri people, who then dwelt beyond the Danube and lived peaceably with the Goths, so that, severed from their covenant and joined with him, they might rush into arms and invade the Gothic nation.

Tunc Gothis nihil mali sperantibus, praesertim de utrisque amicis vicinis confisi, bellum exurgit ex inproviso coactique necessitate ad arma confugiunt solitoque certamine arrepto se suaque iniuria ulciscuntur. 276 In eo si quidem proelio rex eorum Valamir dum equo insidens ad cohortandos suos ante aciem curreret, proturbatus equus corruit sessoremque suum deiecit, qui mox inimicorum lanceis confossus interemptus est. Gothi vero tam regis sui mortem quam suam iniuriam a rebellionibus exigentes ita sunt proeliati, ut pene de gente Scirorum nisi qui nomen ipsud ferrent, et hi cum dedecore, non remansissent: sic omnes extincti sunt.

LIV. 277 Quorum exitio Suavorum reges Hunimundus et Halaricus vereti, in Gothos arma moverunt freti auxilio Sarmatarum, qui cum Beuca et Babai regibus suis auxiliarii ei advenissent, ipsasque Scirorum reliquias quasi ad ultionem suam acrius pugnaturos accersientes cum Edica et Hunuulfo eorum primatibus habuerunt simul secum tam Gepidas quam ex gente Rugorum non parva solacia, ceterisque hinc inde collectis ingentem multitudinem adgregantes ad amnem Bolia in Pannoniis castra metati sunt. 278 Gothi tunc Valamero defuncto ad fratrem eius Thiudimer confugerunt.

LIV. 277 On whose destruction the Suevian kings Hunimundus and Halaricus, fearing, moved arms against the Goths, relying on the aid of the Sarmatians, who, when they had come as auxiliaries with their kings Beuca and Babai, and summoning the very remnants of the Sciri as if to fight more fiercely for their own vengeance, held with them at the same time, with Edica and Hunuulfo their chiefs, both the Gepidae and a not small comfort from the stock of the Rugii, and with others gathered here and there adding a vast multitude, they mustered camp at the river Bolia in Pannonia. 278 The Goths then, Valamir having died, fled to his brother Thiudimer.

Qui quamvis dudum cum fratribus regnans, tamen auctioris potestatis insignia sumens, Vidimer fratre iuniore accito et cum ipso curas belli partitus, coactus ad arma prosilivit; consertoque proelio superior pars invenitur Gothorum, adeo ut campus inimicorum corruentium cruore madefactus ut rubrum pelagus appareret armaque et cadavera in modum collium tumulata campum plus per decem milibus oppleverunt. 279 Quod Gothi cernentes, ineffabili exultatione laetantur, eo quod et regis sui Valameris sanguinem et suam iniuriam cum maxima inimicorum strage ulciscerentur. De vero innumeranda variaque multitudine hostium qui valuit evadere, perquaquam effugati vix ad sua inglorii pervenerunt.

Who, although long before reigning with his brothers, yet taking the insignia of greater power, Vidimer, his younger brother, being summoned and having shared with him the cares of war, was forced to spring to arms; and with the battle joined the superior part of the Goths was found, so that the field, soaked with the gore of the falling enemies, appeared a red sea, and arms and corpses heaped up in the manner of hills covered the plain to the extent of more than ten thousand. 279 The Goths, seeing this, rejoiced with ineffable exultation, because they avenged both the blood of their king Valamer and their own injury with the greatest slaughter of their enemies. As for the innumerable and various multitude of enemies who managed to escape, having fled in diverse fashion they hardly reached their homes in ingloriousness.

LV. 280 Post certum vero tempus instanti hiemali frigore amnemque Danubii solite congelato – nam istiusmodi fluvius ille congelascit, ut in silicis modum pedestrem vehat exercitum plaustraque et traculas vel quidquid vehiculi fuerit, nec cumbarum indigeat lintres – sic ergo eum gelatum Thiodimer Gothorum rex cernens pedestrem ducit exercitum emensoque Danubio Suavis inprovisus a tergo apparuit. Nam regio illa Suavorum ab oriente Baibaros habet, ab occidente Francos, a meridie Burgundzones, a septentrione Thuringos. 281 Quibus Suavis tunc iuncti aderant etiam Alamanni ipsique Alpes erectos omnino regentes, unde nonnulla fluenta Danubium influunt nimio cum sonu vergentia.

55.280 After a certain time, in the pressing wintry cold and with the river Danube habitually frozen — for that sort of river freezes so that, like rock, it carries an army on foot, and wagons and sledges or whatever vehicles there may be, and does not need boats of skins — thus seeing it frozen King Thiodimer of the Goths leads his army on foot, and, the Danube having been crossed, a Sueve unexpectedly appeared from the rear. For that region of the Suevi has the Bavarians to the east, the Franks to the west, the Burgundiones to the south, the Thuringians to the north. 281 To these Suevi then were joined also the Alamanni and those who altogether rule the upright Alps themselves, from which some streams flow into the Danube, tending to a great roaring.

Hic ergo taliterque munito loco rex Thiudimer hiemis tempore Gothorum ductavit exercitum, et tam Suavorum gente quam etiam Alamannorum, utrasque ad invicem foederatas, devicit, vastavit et pene subegit. Inde quoque victor ad proprias sedes, id est Pannonias revertens Theodoricum filium suum, quem Constantinopolim obsidem dederat, a Leone imperatore remissum cum magnis muneribus gratanter excepit. 282 Qui Theodoricus iam aduliscentiae annos contingens expleta pueritia, decem et octo annos peragens, ascitis certis ex satellitibus patris et ex populo amatores sibi clientesque consocians, paene sex milia viros, cum quibus inconscio patre emenso Danubio super Babai Sarmatarum rege discurrit, qui tunc de Camundo duce Romanorum victoria potitus superbiae tumore regnabat, eoque superveniens Theodoricus interemit familiaque et censu depraedans ad genitorem suum cum victoria repedavit.

Here therefore, and with the place so fortified, King Thiudimer in the wintertime led forth an army of Goths, and both of the Suavi people and also of the Alamanni, both confederate to one another, he defeated, laid waste, and nearly subjugated. Thence also the victor, returning to his own seats, that is, to the Pannonias, gladly received Theodoric his son, whom he had given as a hostage to Constantinople, released by Emperor Leo with great gifts. 282 This Theodoric, now attaining the years of youth, childhood being completed and passing eighteen years, having enlisted certain of his father's satellites and from the people lovers and clients to himself associating, about six thousand men, with whom, his father unaware, he crossed the Danube and fell upon Babai, king of the Sarmatians, who then, having obtained victory under Camund, leader of the Romans, reigned in a swelling pride; and Theodoric, coming upon him, killed him, plundering his household and property, and returned to his father with victory.

Singidunum dehinc civitatem, quam ipsi Sarmatae occupassent, invadens, non Romanis reddidit, sed suae subdedit dicioni.

Then, invading Singidunum, the city which the Sarmatae themselves had occupied, he did not restore it to the Romans, but subjected it to his own dominion.

LVI. 283 Minuentibus deinde hinc inde vicinarum gentium spoliis coepit et Gothis victus vestitusque deesse et hominibus, quibus dudum bella alimonia prestitissent, pax coepit esse contraria, omnesque cum magno clamore ad regem Thiudimer accedentes Gothi orant, quacumque parte vellit, tantum ductaret exercitum. Qui accito germano missaque sorte hortatus est, ut ille in parte Italiae, ubi tunc Glycerius regnabat imperator, ipse vero sicut fortior ad fortiorem regnum accederet Orientalem: quod et factum est.

56.283 Then, the spoils from neighboring peoples dwindling here and there, both victuals and vestments began to be lacking to the Goths, and to the men to whom not long before they had supplied war‑provisions; peace began to be adverse, and all the Goths, approaching King Thiudimer with great shouting, begged that, whichever part he wished, he should lead so large an army. He, having summoned his brother and the lot being cast, exhorted that the brother should go into the part of Italy where then Glycerius reigned as emperor, while he himself, as the stronger, should enter the stronger eastern realm: which was done.

284 Et mox Vidimer Italiae terras intravit, extremum fati munus reddens rebus excessit humanis, successorem relinquens Vidimer filium suumque synonymum. Quem GIycerius imperator muneribus datis de Italia ad Gallias transtulit, quae a diversis circumcirca gentibus praemebantur, asserens vicinos ibi Vesegothas eorum parentes regnare. Quid multum?

284 And soon Vidimer entered the lands of Italy, rendering the last gift of fate he passed out of human affairs, leaving as successor Vidimer his son and namesake. Whom Glycerius the emperor, gifts having been given, transferred from Italy to the Gauls, which were being harried by various surrounding peoples, asserting that the neighboring Visigoths there reigned as their forefathers. What more?

Vidimer acceptis muneribus simulque mandata a Glycerio imperatore Gallias tendit seseque cum parentibus Vesegothis iungens unum corpus efficiunt, ut dudum fuerant, et sic Gallias Spaniasque tenentes suo iuri defendunt, ut nullus ibi alius prevaleret.

Vidimer, having received the gifts and at the same time the commands of Emperor Glycerius, makes for the Gauls, and joining himself with the Vesegothic parents they form one body, as they long had been; and thus holding Gaul and Spain they defend them by their own law, so that no other there might prevail.

285 Thiudimer autem, frater senior, cum suis transit Saum amnem Sarmatis militibusque interminans bellum, si aliqui ei obstaret. Quod illi verentes quiescunt, immo nec praevalent ad tantam multitudinem. Videns Thiudimer undique sibi prospera provenire, Naissum primam urbem invadit IIlyrici filioque suo Theodorico sociatis Astat et Invilia comitibus per castro Herculis transmisit Vlpiana.

285 Thiudimer, however, the elder brother, with his men crossed the Saum river, waging an unending war on the Sarmatians and their soldiers if any opposed him. Which those, fearing, remained quiet, indeed they did not prevail against so great a multitude. Seeing success spring up for him on every side, Thiudimer invaded Naissum, the principal city, and, with the Illyrican’s son Theodoric joined and Astat and Invilia as companions, passed on to Ulpiana via the fortress of Hercules.

286 Qui venientes tam eam quam Stobis mox in deditione accipiunt nonullaque loca Illyrici inaccessibilia sibi primum tunc pervia faciunt. Nam Eracleam et Larissam civitates Thessaliae primum praedas ereptas, dehinc ipsas iure bellico potiuntur. Thiudimer vero rex animadvertens felicitatem suam quam etiam filii nec his tantum contentus, egrediens Naisitanam urbem paucis ad custodiam derelictis ipse Thessalonicam petiit, in qua Helarianus patricius a principe directus cum exercitu morabatur.

286 They, on coming, soon accept both that place and Stobis in surrender, and make certain places hitherto inaccessible to the Illyrici then passable to themselves. For Eraclea and Larissa, cities of Thessaly, they first take as plunder snatched away, and thereafter possess those same by the law of war. Thiudimer, however, the king, perceiving his good fortune — and that even his son was not content with these things alone — setting out from the city of Naissus, with a few left for its guard, himself made for Thessalonica, in which Helarianus the patrician, sent by the prince, was encamped with the army.

287 Qui dum videret vallo muniri Thessalonicam nec se eorum conatibus posse resistere, missa legatione ad Thiudimer regem muneribusque oblatis ab excidione eum urbis retorquet initoque foedere Romanus ductor cum Gothis loca eis iam sponte, quae incolerent, tradidit, id est Cerru, Pellas, Europa, Mediana, Petina, Bereu et alia quae Sium vocatur. 288 Vbi Gothi cum rege suo armis depositis composita pace quiescunt. Nec diu post haec et rex Thiudimer in civitate Cerras fatale egritudine occupatus vocatis Gothis Theodoricum filium regni sui designat heredem et ipse mox rebus humanis excessit.

287 Who, while he saw Thessalonica being fortified with a rampart and that he could not withstand their attempts, sent an embassy to King Thiudimer, and with gifts offered turned him from destroying the city; and, a treaty having been made, the Roman leader with the Goths delivered to them willingly the places which they already inhabited, that is Cerru, Pellas, Europa, Mediana, Petina, Bereu and others which are called Sium. 288 Where the Goths with their king, their arms laid down, rest in peace under an arranged pact. Not long after these things King Thiudimer also, seized in the city Cerras by a fatal sickness, having summoned the Goths, designated Theodoric, his son, heir of his kingdom, and he himself soon departed from human affairs.

LVII. 289 Theodorico vero gentis suae regem audiens ordinato imperator Zeno grate suscepit eique evocaturia destinata ad se in urbe venire precepit, dignoque suscipiens honore inter proceres sui palatii conlocavit. Et post aliquod tempus ad ampliandum honorem eius in arma sibi eum filium adoptavit de suisque stipendiis triumphum in urbe donavit, factusque consul ordinarius, quod summum bonum primumque in mundo decus edicitur; nec tantum hoc, sed etiam et equestrem statuam ad famam tanti viri ante regiam palatii conlocavit.

57.289 Hearing that Theodoric was king of his people, Emperor Zeno gratefully received him when summoned and ordered him to come to the city; and, receiving him with fitting honour, set him among the chiefs of his palace. And after some time, to increase his honour, he adopted that son to himself into the arms (as a military son), and from his own forces bestowed upon him a triumph in the city, and made him ordinary consul — which is called the highest good and first glory in the world; nor only this, but he also placed an equestrian statue to the fame of so great a man before the royal palace.

290 Inter haec ergo Theodoricus Zenonis imperio foedere sociatus, dum ipse in urbe omnibus bonis frueretur gentemque suam in Illyrico, ut diximus, residentem non omnino idoneam aut refertam audiret, elegit potius solito more gentis suae labore querere victum quam ipse otiose frui regni Romani bona et gentem suam mediocriter victitare, secumque deliberans ad principem ait: 'Quamvis nihil deest nobis imperio vestro famulantibus, tamen, si dignum ducit pietas vestra, desiderium mei cordis libenter exaudiat'. 291 Cumque ei, ut solebat, familiariter facultas fuisset loquendi concessa: 'Hesperia, inquid, plaga, quae dudum decessorum prodecessorumque vestrorum regimine gubernata est, et urbs illa caput orbis et domina quare nunc sub regis Thorcilingorum Rogorumque tyrranide fluctuatur? Dirige me cum gente mea, si praecepis, ut et hic expensarum pondere careas et ibi, si adiutus a domino vicero, fama vestrae pietatis inradiet. Expedit namque, ut ego, qui sum servus vester et filius, si vicero, vobis donantibus regnum illud possedeam: haut ille, quem non nostis, tyrranico iugo senatum vestrum partemque rei publicae captivitatis servitio premat.

290 Meanwhile therefore Theodoric, allied by treaty to Zeno's empire, while he himself enjoyed all the goods in the city and heard that his people dwelling in Illyricum, as we have said, were not altogether suitable or well-stocked, chose rather, in the accustomed manner of his people, to seek sustenance by labor than himself to enjoy idly the goods of the Roman kingdom and to visit his people only moderately; and deliberating with himself he said to the emperor: "Although nothing is lacking to us who serve your empire, yet, if your piety deems it worthy, willingly hear the desire of my heart." 291 And when, as was his custom, he had been given a familiar opportunity of speaking to him: "Hesperia," he said, "that province which for a long time has been governed under the rule of your predecessors and forebears, and that city which is head of the world and mistress, why now does it waver under the tyranny of the king of the Theoderici and the Rogi? Direct me with my people, if you command, so that you may be free here from the burden of expenses, and there, if I conquer aided by my lord, the fame of your piety may spread. For it is expedient that I, who am your servant and son, if I prevail, with your granting, should possess that kingdom: not that man whom you do not know should, under a tyrannical yoke, press your senate and part of the republic into the servitude of captivity."

Ego enim si vicero, vestro dono vestroque munere possedebo; si victus fuero, vestra pietas nihil amittit, immo, ut diximus, lucratur expensas'. 292 Quo audito quamvis egrae ferret imperator discessum eius, nolens tamen eum contristare annuit quae poscebat, magnisque ditatum muneribus dimisit a se, senatum populumque ei commendans Romanum. Igitur egressus urbe regia Theodoricus et ad suos revertens omnem gentem Gothorum, qui tamen ei prebuerunt consensum, Hesperiam tendit rectoque itinere per Sirmis ascendit vicina Pannoniae, indeque Venetiarum fines ingressus ad Pontem Sontii nuncupatum castra metatus est. 293 Cumque ibi ad reficienda corpora hominum iumentorumque aliquanto tempore resedisset, Odoacer armatum contra eum direxit exercitum.

Ego enim si vicero, vestro dono vestroque munere possedebo; si victus fuero, vestra pietas nihil amittit, immo, ut diximus, lucratur expensas'. 292 When this was heard, although the emperor bore his departure with a faint heart, yet unwilling to sadden him he consented to what he asked, and dismissed him enriched with great gifts from himself, commending to him the Roman senate and people. Therefore having left the royal city Theodoric, and returning to his own, led the whole nation of the Goths who had granted him their assent, directed his course to Hesperia, and by a straight road through Sirmium ascended into neighboring Pannonia, and thence entering the borders of the Venetians made his camp at the place called the Bridge of Sontius. 293 And when he there had rested for some time to refresh the bodies of men and of beasts, Odoacer marshaled an armed force against him.

Quem ille ad campos Veronenses occurrens magno strage delevit castraque soluta finibus Italiae cum potiore audacia intrat, transactoque Pado amne ad Ravennam regiam urbem castra componit tertio fere miliario ab urbe locus, qui appellatur Pineta. Quod cernens Odoacer intus se in urbe communit; indeque subreptive noctu frequenter cum suis egrediens Gothorum exercitum inquietat, et hoc non semel nec iterum, sed frequenter et pene molitur toto triennio. 294 Sed frustra laborat, quia cuncta Italia dominum iam dicebat Theodoricum et illius ad nutum res illa publica obsecundabat.

Whom he, meeting on the Veronese fields, destroyed with great slaughter, and, his camps broken up, entered the bounds of Italy with bolder audacity; and, the Po having been crossed, he pitched camp at the royal city Ravenna, at a place almost three miles from the city called Pineta. Seeing this, Odoacer shut himself up within the city; and thence, stealing out by night often with his men, he harassed the Gothic army, and this not once nor twice but frequently, and he pressed upon them almost for the whole three years. 294 But he labored in vain, for all Italy already called Theodoric lord, and that commonwealth obeyed at his nod.

Tantum ille solus cum paucis satellitibus et Romanos, qui aderant, et fame et bello cotidie intra Ravennam laborabat. Quod dum nihil proficeret, missa legatione veniam supplicat. 295 Cui et primum concedens Theodoricus postmodum ab hac luce privavit tertioque, ut diximus, anno ingressus sui in Italia Zenonemque imp.

Tantum ille solus cum paucis satellitibus et Romanos, qui aderant, et fame et bello cotidie intra Ravennam laborabat. Quod dum nihil proficeret, missa legatione veniam supplicat. 295 To whom Theodoric, at first granting it, afterward deprived him of this light; and in the third year, as we have said, after his entry into Italy, the emperor Zenon was (in place).

consultu privatum abitum suaeque gentis vestitum seponens insigne regio amictu, quasi iam Gothorum Romanorumque regnator, adsumit missaque legatione ad Lodoin Francorum regem filiam eius Audefledam sibi in matrimonio petit. 296 Quam ille grate libenterque concessit suosque filios Celdebertum et Heldebertum et Thiudebertum credens hac societate cum gente Gothorum inito foedere sociari. Sed non adeo ad pacis concordiam profuit ista coniunctio, quia saepenumero propter Gallorum terras graviter inter se decertati sunt, numquamque Gothus Francis cessit, dum viveret Theodoricus.

having set aside by private counsel his departure and the garb of his own people, and assuming the insignia of royal raiment, as if already ruler of Goths and Romans, he sent an embassy and sought in marriage from Lodoin, king of the Franks, his daughter Audefleda. 296 She granted her gladly and willingly, and he, believing that by this alliance his own sons Celdebert, Heldebert, and Thiudebert were joined in treaty with the people of the Goths, thought them allied. But this union did not much avail to the concord of peace, for very often they fought bitterly among themselves over the lands of the Gauls, and the Goth never yielded to the Franks while Theodoric lived.

LVIII. 297 Antequam ergo de Audefledam subolem haberet, naturales ex concubina, quas genuisset adhuc in Moesia, filias, unam nomine Thiudigoto et aliam Ostrogotho. quas mox in Italiam venit, regibus vicinis in coniugio copulavit, id est unam Alarico Vesegotharum et aliam Sigismundo Burgundzonorum.

LVIII. 297 Before, therefore, he had offspring by Audefleda, he had natural daughters by a concubine, whom he had begotten while still in Moesia, one named Thiudigoto and the other Ostrogotho. These, when he soon came into Italy, he joined in marriage to neighbouring kings, that is, one to Alaric of the Visigoths and the other to Sigismund of the Burgundians.

298 De Alarico ergo natus est Amalaricus. Quem avus Theodoricus in annis puerilibus utroque parente orbato dum fovet atque tuetur, comperit Eutharicum Veterici filium Beretmodi et Thorismodi nepotem, Amalorum de stirpe descendentem, in Spania degi, iuvenili aetate prudentia et virtute corporisque integritate pollentem. Ad se eum facit venire eique Amalasuentham filiam suam in matrimonio iungit.

298 From Alaric therefore was born Amalaric. Whom his grandfather Theodoric, while cherishing and protecting him in his boyish years, orphaned of both parents, learned to be living in Spain: Eutharic, son of Veteric, and grandson of Beretmodus and Thorismodus, descending from the stock of the Amals, excelling in youthful age in prudence and virtue and in the integrity of his body. He caused him to be brought to himself and joined him in marriage to his daughter Amalasuentha.

299 Et ut in plenum suam progeniem dilataret, Amalafridam germanam suam matrem Theodahadi, qui postea rex fuit, Africa, regi Vandalorum coniuge dirigit Thrasamundo filiamque eius neptem suam Amalabergam Thuringorum regi consociat Herminefredo. 300 Pitzamum quoque suum comitem et inter primos electum ad obtinendam Sirmiensem dirigit civitatem. Quam ille expulso rege eius Trasarico, filio Trapstilae, retenta eius matre obtinuit.

299 And that he might fully enlarge his progeny, he directs Amalafrida, his sister, the mother of Theodahad, who afterwards was king, to Africa as consort to Thrasamund, king of the Vandals, and he allies her daughter — his granddaughter Amalaberga — to Herminefred, king of the Thuringians. 300 He also appoints his Pitzamus as companion and one chosen among the first to secure the city of Sirmium. Which he obtained, having expelled its king Trasaric, son of Trapstila, and retained with its mother.

Inde contra Savinianum Illyricum mag. mil., qui tunc cum Mundone paraverat conflictum, ad civitatem cognomine Margo planum, quae inter Danubium Margumque fluminibus adiacebat, cum duobus milibus ergo peditum; equitibus quingentis in Mundonis solacia veniens Illyricianum exercitum demolivit. 301 Nam hic Mundo de Attilanis quondam origine descendens Gepidarum gentem fugiens ultra Danubium in incultis locis sine ullis terrae cultoribus divagatus et plerisque abactoribus scamarisque et latronibus undecumque collectis turrem quae Herta dicitur super Danubii ripam positam occupans ibique agresti ritu praedasque innectens vicinis regem se suis grassatoribus fecerat.

Thence against him Savinianus the Illyrican magister militum, who at that time had prepared a conflict with Mundus, came to the town called Margo Planum, which lay between the rivers Danubius and Margus, with therefore two thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry as reinforcements to Mundus, and routed the Illyrican army. 301 For this Mundus, of the Gepid people, descending from the formerly Attilan line, having fled beyond the Danube and wandered in uncultivated places without any tillers of the earth, and with many cattle‑thieves, swindlers, and robbers gathered from everywhere, occupying a tower called Herta set upon the bank of the Danube, there in a rustic fashion plundering, and making himself king over the neighboring folk by his freebooters.

Hunc ergo pene desperatum et iam de traditione sua deliberantem Petza subveniens e manibus Saviniani eripuit, suoque regi Theodorico cum gratiarum actione fecit subiectum. 302 Non minore tropeo de Francis per Ibbam, suum comitem, in Galliis adquisivit plus triginta milia Francorum in proelio caesa. Nam et Thiudem suum armigerum post mortem Alarici generi tutorem in Spaniae regno Amalarici nepotis constituit.

Him, therefore, almost despairing and now hesitating about surrendering himself, Petza, coming to his aid, snatched from the hands of Savinian, and, in an act of thanksgiving, delivered him as a subject to his own king Theodoric. 302 By no less a trophy against the Franks, through Ibba, his comrade, he gained in Gaul more than thirty thousand Franks slain in the battle. For he also appointed Thiuda, his armiger, after the death of Alaric, as guardian of the kingdom in Spain for Amalaric, Alaric’s grandson.

Qui Amalaricus in ipsa aduliscentia Francorum fraudibus inretitus regnum cum vita amisit. Post quem Thiudis tutor eodem regno ipse invadens, Francorum insidiosam calumniam de Spaniis pepulit, et usque dum viveret, Vesegothas contenuit. 303 Post quem Thiudigisglosa regnum adeptus, non diu regnans defecit occisus a suis.

Amalaricus, who, ensnared in his very youth by the frauds of the Franks, lost the kingdom with his life. After him Thiudis, his tutor, himself invading the same kingdom, drove out the insidious calumny of the Franks from the Spains, and so long as he lived restrained the Vesegoths. 303 After whom Thiudigisglosa, having obtained the kingdom, not long reigning, fell, slain by his own.

Cui succedens hactenus Agil continet regnum. Contra quem Atanagildus insurgens Romani regni concitat vires, ubi et Liberius patricius cum exercitu destinatur. Nec fuit in parte occidua gens, quae Theodorico, dum adviveret, aut amicitia aut subiectione non deserviret.

Agil, succeeding him, hitherto holds the kingdom. Against him Atanagild rising up rouses the forces of the Roman realm, where Liberius the patrician is also appointed with an army. Nor was there in the western part any people who, while Theodoric lived, did not serve him either by friendship or by subjection.

LIX. 304 Sed postquam ad senium pervenisset et se in brevi ab hac luce egressurum cognusceret, convocans Gothos comites gentisque suae primates Athalaricum infantulum adhuc vix decennem, filium filiae suae Amalasuenthae, qui Eutharico patre orbatus erat, regem constituit, eisque in mandatis ac si testamentali voce denuntians, ut regem colerent, senatum populumque Romanum amarent principemque Orientalem placatum semper propitiumque haberent post deum. 305 Quod praeceptum quamdiu Athalaricus rex eiusque mater adviverent, in omnibus custodientes pene per octo annos in pace regnarunt: quamvis Francis de regno puerili desperantibus, immo in contemptu habentibus bellaque parare molientibus quod pater et avus Gallias occupasset, eis concessit.

59.304 But after he had reached old age and knew that he would shortly depart from this light, calling together the Goths, his comites and the chiefs of his people, he made king the little Athalaric, scarcely ten years old, the son of his daughter Amalasuentha, who had been bereft of his father Eutharic; and in his injunctions, and as if with a testamentary voice declaring, that they should honor the king, love the senate and Roman people, and always hold the Eastern prince appeased and propitious after God. 305 That command, so long as King Athalaric and his mother lived, they kept in all things, and nearly for eight years reigned in peace: although, to the Franks despairing of the boy’s rule, indeed holding him in contempt and plotting to make war because his father and grandfather had occupied the Gauls, he granted to them.

Cetera in pace et tranquillitate possessa. Dum ergo ad spem iuventutis Athalaricus accederet, tam suam aduliscentiam quam matris viduitatem Orientis principi commendavit, sed in brevi infelicissimus inmatura morte praeventus, rebus humanis excessit. 306 Tum mater, ne pro sexus sui fragilitate a Gothis sperneretur, secum deliberans, Theodahadum consubrinum suum germanitatis gratia accersitum a Tuscia, ubi privatam vitam degens in laribus propriis erat, in regno locavit.

The rest held in peace and tranquillity. While therefore Athalaric was approaching the hope of youth, he entrusted both his own adolescence and his mother's widowhood to the prince of the East; but shortly, most unhappy, being prevented by untimely death, he departed from human affairs. 306 Then the mother, lest by reason of her sex's weakness she be scorned by the Goths, deliberating with herself, summoned Theodahad, her cousin by consanguinity, from Tuscany, where he was living a private life in his own household, and placed him in the kingdom.

Qui inmemor consanguinitatis post aliquantum tempus a palatio Ravennate abstractam in insulam laci Bulsiniensis eam exilio religavit, ubi paucissimos dies in tristitia degens ab eius satellitibus in balneo strangulata est.

He, unmindful of kinship, after some time had her removed from the palace of Ravenna and relegated into exile on an island of Lake Bolsena, where, living only a very few days in sorrow, she was strangled in the bath by his satellites.

LX. 307 Quod dum Iustinianus imperator Orientalis audisset et quasi susceptorum suorum morte ad suam iniuriam redundaret, sic est commotus. Eodem namque tempore de Africa Vandalicum cum per fidelissimum suum patricium Belesarium reportasset triumphum, nec mora in ipso tempore madentibus adhuc armis cruore Vandalico contra Gothos per eundem ducem movit procinctum. 308 Qui dux providentissimus haud secus arbitratus Getarum subicere populum, nisi prius nutricem eorum occupasset Siciliam.

60. When the Eastern Emperor Justinian heard this, and as if the death of his protectees redounded to his own injury, he was thus moved. For at the same time he had brought back from Africa a Vandal triumph through his most faithful patrician Belisarius, and with no delay at that very time, his arms still dripping with Vandal blood, he marched, arrayed under the same general, against the Goths.308 That most provident duke judged it no different to subdue the people of the Getae unless he first occupied their nurse, Sicily.

Quod et factum est. Trinacriaque ingressus mox Gothi, qui Syracusanum oppidum insidebant, videntes se nihil praevalere cum suo duce Sinderith ultro se Belesario dediderunt. Cumque ergo Romanus ductor Siciliam pervasisset, Theodahadus comperiens Evermud generum suum cum exercitu ad fretum, quod inter Campaniam Siciliamque interiacet et de Tyrreni maris sinu vastissimum Adriaticus aestus evolvitur, custodiendum direxit.

Which was done. And having entered Trinacria, soon the Goths who were beleaguering the Syracusan town, seeing that they prevailed nothing with their leader Sinderith, of their own accord surrendered themselves to Belesarius. And therefore when the Roman commander had traversed Sicily, Theodahad, learning that Evermud, his son‑in‑law, with an army had been sent to guard the strait which lies between Campania and Sicily, and from the gulf of the Tyrrhenian Sea the very vast Adriatic tide is driven forth, directed him to guard it.

309 Vbi cum Evermud accessisset Regium oppidum, castra composuit. Nec mora deterioratam causam cernens suorum ad partes victoris paucis et fidelissimis famulis consciis movit, ultroque se Belesarii pedes advolvens Romani regni optat servire principibus. Quod Gothorum exercitus sentiens suspectum Theodahadum clamitat regno pellendum et sibi ductorem suum Vitiges, qui armiger eius fuerat, in rege levandum.

309 When Evermud had approached the town of Regium he pitched his camp. And without delay, seeing the cause of his men grown worse, he shifted to the side of the victor with a few most faithful household retainers privy to it, and of his own accord flinging himself at Belesarius’s feet he chose to serve the princes of the Roman realm. The Gothic army perceiving this clamored that the suspected Theodahad be driven from the kingdom and that their leader Vitiges, who had been his armiger, be raised up as king.

310 Quod et factum est; et mox in campos Barbaricos Vitiges in regno levatus Romam ingreditur praemissisque Ravenna fidelissimis sibi viris Theodahadi necem demandat. Qui venientes imperata sibi perficiunt et occiso Theodahado regem qui a rege missus adveniebat (et adhuc in campos Barbaricos erat Vitigis) populis nuntiat. 311 Inter haec Romanus exercitus emenso freto Campaniam accedens, subversumque Neapolim Romae ingreditur; unde ante paucos dies rex Vitigis egressus, Ravenna profectus, Mathesuentam filiam Amalasuenthae Theodorici quondam regis neptem sibi in matrimonio sociarat.

310 Which was done; and soon Vitiges, having advanced into the Barbarian fields and exalted in the kingdom, enters Rome, and, having sent forward to Ravenna men most faithful to him, commits the death of Theodahad. These men, when they arrived, executed the commands given them, and, Theodahad being slain, proclaimed to the peoples that the king who had been sent by the king was coming (Vitiges still being in the Barbarian fields). 311 Meanwhile the Roman army, the strait having been crossed, approaches Campania, and, Naples overthrown, enters Rome; whence, a few days earlier, King Vitiges, having departed Ravenna, had allied by marriage Mathesuentha, daughter of Amalasuentha and niece of Theodoric the former king, to himself.

Cumque his novis nuptiis delectatus aulam regiam fovit Ravenna, Roma egressus imperialis exercitus munita utriusque Tusciae loca invadit. Quod cernens per nuntios Vitiges, cum Hunila duce Gothorum manu armis conserta mittit Perusia. 312 Vbi dum Magnum comitem cum parvo exercitu residentem obsessione longa evellere cupiunt, superveniente Romano exercitu ipsi evulsi et omnino extincti sunt.

And delighted by these new nuptials he fostered the royal court at Ravenna; the imperial army having departed from Rome invaded the fortified places of both Tuscias. Seeing this, Vitiges, by messengers, sent Perusia with Hunila as leader, a band of Goths joined hand-to-hand in arms. 312 Where, while they wished by a long siege to dislodge Count Magnus, who was residing with a small army, the Roman army coming upon them, they themselves were torn away and utterly destroyed.

Quod audiens Vitiges ut leo furibundus omnem Gothorum exercitum congregat Ravennaque egressus Romanas arces obsidione longa fatigat. Sed frustrata eius audacia post quattuordecim menses ab obsidione Romanae urbis aufugit et se ad Ariminensem oppressionem praeparat. 313 Vnde pari tenore frustratus fugatusque Ravenna se recepit; ubi obsessus nec mora ultro se ad partes dedit victoris cum Mathesuentha iugale regiasque opes.

Hearing this, Vitiges, like a raging lion, gathered the entire Gothic army and, having gone forth to Ravenna, wearied the Roman citadels with a long siege. But his daring frustrated, after fourteen months he fled from the siege of the Roman city and prepared himself for the Ariminense oppression. 313 Whence, frustrated and driven off in the same manner, he withdrew to Ravenna; there besieged, and not long after of his own accord surrendered himself to the victor, together with Mathesuentha, his wife, and the royal riches.

Et sic famosum regnum fortissimamque gentem diuque regnantem tandem pene duomillensimo et tricesimo anno victor gentium diversarum Iustinianus imperator per fidelissimum consulem vicit Belesarium, et perductum Vitiges Constantinopolim patricii honore donavit. Vbi plus biennio demoratus imperatorisque in affectu coniunctus rebus excessit humanis. 314 Mathesuentham vero iugalem eius fratri suo Germano patricio coniunxit imperator.

And thus the famed kingdom and the most valiant people, long reigning, were at last, in the year 2030, almost subdued by Emperor Justinian through his most faithful consul Belisarius, victor of diverse nations, and Vitiges, having been brought to Constantinople, the emperor bestowed the honor of a patrician upon. Where, the emperor having remained for more than two years and joined in affection with him, he departed from human affairs. 314 Moreover the emperor united Mathesuentha as a consort to his brother Germanus the patrician.

De quibus post humatum patris Germani natus est filius idem Germanus. In quo coniuncta Aniciorum genus cum Amala stirpe spem adhuc utriusque generi domino praestante promittit.

Of whom, after the burial of his father Germanus, a son — the same Germanus — was born. In whom, the Anician stock joined with the Amala lineage still promises hope to both families, the lord presiding.

315 Haec hucusque Getarum origo ac Amalorum nobilitas et virorum fortium facta. Haec laudanda progenies laudabiliori principi cessit et fortiori duci manus dedit, cuius fama nullis saeculis nullisque silebitur aetatibus, sed victor ac triumphator Iustinianus imperator et consul Belesarius Vandalici Africani Geticique dicentur. 316 Haec qui legis, scito me maiorum secutum scriptis ex eorum latissima prata paucos flores legisse, unde inquirenti pro captu ingenii mei coronam contexam.

315 These hitherto are the origin of the Getae and the nobility of the Amals and the deeds of brave men. This praise‑worthy progeny yielded to a more laudable prince and gave its hand to a stronger leader, whose fame in no centuries and by no ages will be silenced, but will be called Justinian the emperor, victor and triumphant, and Belisarius consul of the Vandalic, African, and Getic peoples. 316 You who read these things, know that I, following the writings of my ancestors, have gathered from their very broad meadows a few flowers, from which for the inquirer I will weave a crown according to the measure of my wit.

Nec me quis in favorem gentis praedictae, quasi ex ipsa trahenti originem, aliqua addidisse credat, quam quae legi et comperi. Nec si tamen cuncta. quae de ipsis scribuntur aut referuntur, complexus sum, nec tantum ad eorum laudem quantum ad laudem eius qui vicit exponens.

Nor let anyone believe that I have added anything in favor of the aforementioned people, as if drawing my origin from them, beyond what I have read and learned. Nor have I, however, embraced all the things that are written or reported about them, nor have I set forth so much for their praise as for the praise of him who conquered.