Chapter 5.

Of the Kingdoms Represented by bhe Feet of the Image Composed of Iron and Clay.

DACIA was a large country bounded on the south by the Danube, on the east by the Euxine sea, on the north by the river Neister and the mountain Crapac, and on the west by the river Tibesis, or Teys, which runssouthward into the Danube a little above Belgrade. It comprehended the countries now called Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia, and theeastern part of the upper Hungary. Its ancient inhabitants were called Getae by the Greeks, Daci by the Latins, and Goths by themselves. Alexander the Great attacked them, and Trajan conquered them, andreduced their country into a Province of the Roman Empire: and there by the propagation of the Gospel among them was much promoted.

They were composed of several Gothic nations, called Ostrogoths, Visigoths,Vandals, Gepides, Lombards, Burgundians, Alans, &c. who all agreed in their manners, and spake the same language, as Procopius represents.While they lived under the Romans, the Goths or Ostrogoths were seatedin the eastern parts of Dacia, the Vandals in the western part upon the river Teys, where the rivers Maresh and Keresh run unto it. The Visigoths were between them. The Gepides, according to Fornandes, were upon theVistula. The Burgundians, a Vandalic nation, were between the Vistula andthe southern fountain of the Roristhenes, at some distance from themountain Crapac northwards, where Ptolemy places them, by the names of Phrugundiones and Burgiones. The Alans, another Gothic nation, were between the northern fountain of the Boristhenes and the mouth of theriver Tanais, where Ptolemy placeth the mountain Alanus, and western side of the Palus Maeotis.

These nations continued under the dominion of the Romans till the second year of the Emperor Philip, and then for want of their military pay began to revolt; the Ostrogoths setting up a kingdom, which, under their Kings Ostrogotha, Cniva, Araric, Geperic, and Hermanaric, increased till the year of Christ 376; and then by an incursion of the Huns from beyond theTanais, and the death of Hermanaric, brake into several smaller kingdoms. Hunnimund, the son of Hermanaric, became King over the Ostrogoths; Fridigern over the Visigoths; Winithar, or Vinithar, over a part of the Goths called Gruthungi by Ammian, Gothunni by Claudian, and Sarmataeand Scythians by others: Athanaric reigned over another part of the Gothsin Dacia, called Thervingi; Box over the Antes in Sarmatia; and the Gepides had also their King.

The Vandals fled over the Danube fromGeberic in the latter end of the reign of Constantine the great, and hadseats granted them in Pannonia by that Emperor, where they lived quietlyforty years, viz. till the year 377, when several Gothic nations flying from the Hunns came over the Danube, and had seats granted them in Maesiaand Thrace by the Greek Emperor Valens. But the next year they revolted,called in some Goths, Alans and Hunns, from beyond the Danube, androuted the Roman army, slew the Emperor Valens, and spread themselvesinto Greece and Pannonia as far as the Alps. In the years 379 and 380 they were checked by the arms of the Emperors Gratian and Theodosius, and made a submissive peace; the Visigoths and Thervingi returned to their seats in Maesia and Thrace, the Hunns retired over the Danube, and theDalans and Gruthingi obtained seats in Pannonia. About the year 373, or 374, the Burgundians rose from their seats upon the Vistula, with an army of eighty thousand men to invade Gallia; and being opposed, seated themselves upon the northern side of the Rhine over against Mentz.

In the year 358, a body of the Salian Franks, with their King, coming from the river Sala, were received into the Empire by the Emperor Julian, and seated in Gallia between Brabant and the Rhine: andtheir King Mellobaudes was made Comes domesticorum, by the Emperor Gratian. Richomer, another noble Salian Frank, was made Comesdomesticorum, and Magister utriusque Militiae, by Theodosius; and A.C.384, was Consul with Clearchus. He was a great favorite of Theodosius,and accompanied him in his wars against Eugenius, but died in the expedition, and left a son called Theudomir, who afterwards became Kingof the Salian Franks in Brabant. In the time of this war some Franks from beyond the Rhine invaded Gallia under the conduct of Genobald, Marcomirand Suno, but were repulsed by Stilico; and Marcomir being slain, was succeeded in Germany by his son Pharamond.

These nations remained quiet within the Empire, subject to theRomans, many others continued so beyond the Danube till the death of theEmperor Theodosius, and then rose up in arms.

For Paulus Diaconus in his Historia Miscell. lib. 14:speaking of the times next after the death of thisEmperor, tells us:

Eodem tempore erant Gothi & aliae gentes maximaetrans Danubium habitantes: ex quibus rationabiliores quatuor sunt, Gothi scilicet, Huisogothi, Gepides & Vandali; & nomen tantum & nihil aliud mutantes. Isti sub Arcadio & Honorio Danubium transeuntes, locati suntin terra Romanorum: & Gepides quidem, ex quibus postea divisi suntLongobardi & Avares, villas, quae sunt circa Singidonum & Sirmium,habitavere:

and Procopius in the beginning of his Historia Vandalica writesto the same purpose. Hitherto the Western Empire continued entire, butnow brake into many kingdoms. Theodosius died A.C. 395; and then the Visigoths, under the conduct of Alaric the successor of Fridigern, rose from their seats in Thrace, andwasted Macedon, Thessaly, Achaia, Peloponnesus, and Epirus, with fireand sword for five years together; when turning westward, they invadedDalmatia, Illyricum and Pannonia; and from thence went into Italy A.C.402; and the next year were so beaten at Pollentia and Verona, by Stilicothe commander of the forces of the Western Empire, that Claudian calls theremainder of the forces of Alaric, tanta ex gente reliquias breves, and Prudentius, Gentem deletam. Thereupon Alaric made peace with the Emperor, being so far humbled, that Orosius saith, he did, pro pace optima & quibuscunque sedibus suppliciter & simpliciter orare. Thus peace was ratified by mutual hostages; Aetius was sent hostage to Alaric; and Alaric continued a free Prince in the seats now granted to him. When Alaric took up arms, the nations beyond the Danube began to be in motion; and the next winter, between A.C. 395 and 396, a great body ofHunns, Alans, Ostrogoths, Gepides, and other northern nations, came overthe frozen Danube, being invited by Rufinus: when their brethren, who hadobtained seats within the Empire, took up arms also. Jerome calls this greatmultitude, Hunns, Alans, Vandals, Goths, Sarmatians, Quades, andMarcomans; and saith, that they invaded all places between Constantinopleand the Julian Alps, wasting Scythia, Thrace, Macedon, Dardania, Dacia,Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus, Dalmatia, and all Pannonia. The Suevians alsoinvaded Rhaetia: for when Alaric ravaged Pannonia, the Romans were defending Rhaetia; which gave Alaric an opportunity of invading Italy, as Claudian thus mentions.

Non nisi perfidia nacti penetrabile tempus, Irrupere Getae, nostras dum Rhaetia vires Occupat, atque alio desudant Marte cohortes. And when Alaric went from those parts into Italy, some other barbarous nations invaded Noricum and Vindelicia, as the same Poet Claudian thuswrites:-Jam foedera gentes Exuerant, Latiique audita clade feroces Vendelicos saltus & Norica rura tenebant.

This was in the years 402 and 403. And among these nations I reckon the Suevians, Quades, and Marcomans; for they were all in arms at this time.The Quades and Marcomans were Suevian nations; and they and the Suevians came originally from Bohemia, and the river Suevus or Sprake inLusatia; and were now united under one common King called Ermeric,who soon after led them into Gallia. The Vandals and Alans might alsoabout this time extend themselves into Noricum. Uldin also with a greatbody of Hunns passed the Danube about the time of Chrysostom's banishment, that is, A.C. 404, and wasted Thrace and Maesia. Radagaisus,King of the Gruthunni and successor of Winithar, inviting over morebarbarians from beyond the Danube, invaded Italy with an army of abovetwo hundred thousand Goths; and within a year or two, A.C. 405 or 406;was overcome by Stilico, and perished with his army. In this war Stilicowas assisted with the great body of Hunns and Ostrogoths, under theconduct of Uldin and Sarus, who were hired by the Emperor Honorius. Inall this confusion it was necessary for the Lombards in Pannonia to arm themselves in their own defence, and assert their liberty, the Romans being no longer able to protect them.

And now Stilico purposing to make himself Emperor, procured a military prefecture for Alaric, and sent him into the East in the service of Honoriusthe Western Emperor, committing some Roman troops to his conduct tostrengthen his army of Goths, and promising to follow soon after with hisown army. His pretence was to recover some regions of Illyricum, whichthe Eastern Emperor was accused to detain injuriously from the Western;but his secret design was to make himself Emperor, by the assistance of theVandals and their allies: for he himself was a Vandal. For facilitating thisdesign, he invited a great body of the barbarous nations to invade theWestern Empire, while he and Alaric invaded the Eastern. And these nations under their several Kings, the Vandals under Godegisilus, the Alansin two bodies, the one under Goar, the other under Resplendial, and theSuevians, Quades, and Marcomans, under Ermeric, marched through Rhaetia to the side of the Rhine, leaving their seats in Pannonia to theHunns and Ostrogoths, and joined the Burgundians under Gundicar, and ruffled the Franks in their further march. On the last of December A.C.406, they passed the Rhine at Ments, and spread themselves into Germaniaprima and the adjacent regions; and amongst other actions the Vandalstook Triers. Then they advanced into Belgium, and began to waste thatcountry. Whereupon the Salian Franks in Brabant took up arms, and underthe conduct of Theudomir, the son of Ricimer, or Richomer,above mentioned, made so stout a resistance, that they slew almost twentythousand of the Vandals, with their King Godegesilus, in battle; the restescaping only by a party of Resplendial�s Alans which came timely to theirassistance.

Then the British soldiers, alarmed by the rumor of these things, revolted, and set up Tyrants there; first Marcus, whom they slew presently; thenGratian, whom they slew within four months; and lastly Constantine, underwhom they invaded Gallia A.C. 408, being favored by Goar and Gundicar.And Constantine having possessed a good part of Gallia, created his sonConstans Caesar, and sent him into Spain to order his affairs there, A.D.409.

In the mean time Resplendial, seeing the aforesaid disaster of the Vandals, and that Goar was gone over to the Romans, led his army from the Rhine;and, together with the Suevians and residue of the Vandals, went towards Spain; the Franks in the mean time prosecuting their victory so far as toretake Triers, which after they had plundered they left to the Romans. The Barbarians were first stopped by the Pyrenean mountains, which madethem spread themselves into Aquitaine; but the next year they had the passage betrayed by some soldiers of Constans; and entering Spain 4 Kal.Octob. A.C. 409, they conquered every one what he could; and at length,A.C. 411, divided their conquests by lot; the Vandals obtained Boetica, andpart of Gallaecia; the Suevians the rest of Gallaecia; and the AlansLusitania and the Carthaginian Province: the Emperor for the sake of peaceconfirming them in those seats by grant A.C. 413.

The Roman Franks abovementioned, having made Theudomir their King, began strait after the conquest of the Vandals to invade their neighbors also. The first they set upon were the Gauls of Brabant: but meeting with notable resistance, they desired their alliance: and so those Gauls fell offfrom the Romans, and made an intimate league with the Franks to be as one people, marrying with one another, and conforming to one another's manners, till they became one without distinction. Thus by the access ofthese Gauls, and of the foreign Franks also, who afterwards came over theRhine, the Salian kingdom soon grew very great and powerful.Stilico's expedition against the Greek Emperor was stopped by the order of Honorius; and then Alaric came out of Epirus into Noricum, andrequested a sum of money for his service. The Senate were inclined to denyhim, but by Stilico's mediation granted it. But after some time Stilico beingaccused of a traiterous conspiracy with Alaric, and slain 10 Kal. Sept. A.C.408; Alaric was there by disappointed of his money, and reputed an enemyto the Empire; he then broke strait into Italy with the army he brought outof Epirus, and sent to his brother Adolphus to follow him with what forceshe had in Pannonia, which were not great, but yet not to be despised.

Thereupon Honorius fearing to be shut up in Rome, retired to Ravenna in October A.C. 408. And from that time Ravenna continued to be the seat ofthe Western Emperors. In those days the Hunns also invaded Pannonia;and seizing the deserted seats of the Vandals, Alans, and Goths, founded anew kingdom there. Alaric advancing to Rome besieged it, and 9 Kal. Sept.A.C. 410 took it: and afterwards attempting to pass into Africa, was shipwrecked. After which Honorius made peace with him, and got up anarmy to send against the Tyrant Constantine.

At the same time Gerontius, one of Constantine's captains, revolted from him, and set up Maximus Emperor in Spain. Whereupon Constantine sent Edobec, another of his captains, to draw to his assistance, the Barbariansunder Goar and Gundicar in Gallia, and supplies of Franks and Alemansfrom beyond the Rhone; and committed the custody of Vienne in Gallia Narbonensis to his son Constans. Gerontius advancing, first slew Constansat Vienne, and then began to besiege Constantine at Arles. But Honorius at the same time sending Constantius with an army on the same errand,Gerontius fled, and Constantius continued the siege, strengthened by theaccess of the greatest part of the soldiers of Gerontius.

After four months siege, Edobec having procured succors, the Barbarian Kings at Ments,Goar and Gundicar, constitute Jovinus Emperor, and together with him setforward to relieve Arles. At their approach Constantius retired. They pursued, and he beat them by surprise, but not prosecuting his victory, the Barbarians soon recovered themselves; yet not so as to hinder the fall ofthe tyrants Constantine, Jovinus and Maximus. Britain could not berecovered to the Empire, but remained ever after a distinct kingdom. The next year, A.C. 412, the Visigoths being beaten in Italy, had Aquitaine granted them to retire into: and they invaded it with much violence,causing the Alans and Burgundians to retreat, who were then depopulating of it. At the same time the Burgundians were brought to peace; and the Emperor granted them for inheritance a region upon the Rhine which theyhad invaded: and the same, I presume, he did with the Alans. But theFranks not long after retaking and burning Triers, Castinus, A.C. 415, was sent against them with an army, who routed them and slew Theudomirtheir King. This was the second taking of Triers by the Franks. It was therefore taken four times, once by the Vandals and thrice by the Franks.Theudomir was succeeded by Pharamond, the Prince or King of the Salian Franks in Germany. From thence he brought new forces, reigned over thewhole, and had seats granted to his people within the Empire near theRhine.

And now the Barbarians were all quieted, and settled in several kingdoms within the Empire, not only by conquest, but also by the grants of theEmperor Honorius. For Rutilius in his Itinerary, written in Autumn, Anno Urbis 1169, that is, according to Varro�s computation then in use, A.C.416, thus laments the wasted fields:

lla quidem longis nimium deformia bellis;

And then adds,

Jam tempus laceris post longa incendia fundis Vel pastorales aedificare casas.

And a little after,

AEternum tibi Rhenus aret.

And Orosius in the end of his history, which was finished A.C. 417, represents now a general pacification of the barbarous nations by the words comprimere, coangustare, addicere gentes immanissimas; terming them imperio addictas, because they had obtained seats in the Empire by leagueand compact; and coangustatas, because they did no longer invade allregions at pleasure, but by the same compact remained quiet in the seatsthen granted them. And these are the kingdoms, of which the feet of theImage were henceforward composed, and which are represented by ironand clay intermixed, which did not stick to one another, and were of different strength.