Chapter 6.

Of the Ten Kingdoms Represented by the Ten Horns of the Fourth Beast.

Gothic NationsNOW by the wars above described the Western Empire of the Romans, about the time that Rome was besieged and taken by the Goths, becamebroken into the following ten kingdoms:

  1. The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa

  2. The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain.

  3. The kingdom of the Visigoths.

  4. The kingdom of the Alans in Gallia.

  5. The kingdom of the Burgundians

  6. The kingdom of the Franks.

  7. The kingdom of the Britains.

  8. The kingdom of the Hunns.

  9. The kingdom of the Lombards.

  10. The kingdom of Ravenna.

Seven of these kingdoms are thus mentioned by Sigonius. Honorio regnante, in Pannoniam Hunni, in Hispaniam Vandali, Alani, Suevi&Gothi, in Galliam Alani Burgundiones & Gothi, certis sedibus permissis,accepti. Add the Franks, Britains, and Lombards, and you have the ten: for these arose about the same time with the seven. But let us view them severally.

1. The Kings of the Vandals were, A.C. 407 Godegesilus, 407 Gunderic,426 Geiseric, 477 Hunneric, 484 Gundemund, 496 Thrasamund, 523Geiseric, 530 Gelimer. Godegesilus led them into Gallia A.C. 406,Gunderic into Spain A.C. 409, Geiseric into Africa A.C. 427; and Gelimerwas conquered by Belisarius A.C. 533. Their kingdom lasted in Gallia,Spain and Africa together 126 years; and in Africa they were very potent.The Alans had only two Kings of their own in Spain, Resplendial, andAtaces, Utacus or Othacar. Under Resplendial they went into France A.C.407, and into Spain A.C. 409. Ataces was slain with almost all his army byVallia King of the Visigoths A.C. 419. And then the remainder of theseAlans subjected themselves to Gunderic King of the Vandals in Boetica,and went afterwards with them into Africa, as I learn out of Procopius.Whence the Kings of the Vandals styled themselves Kings of the Vandalsand Alans; as may be seen in the Edict of Hunneric recited by Victor in hisVandalic persecution. In conjunction with the Chatti, these Alans gave thename of Cathalaunia, or Catth-Alania, to the Province which is still socalled. These Alans had also Gepides among them; and therefore theGepides came into Pannonia before the Alans left it. There they becamesubject to the Hunns till the death of Attila A.C. 454, and at length wereconquered by the Ostrogoths.

2. The Kings of the Suevians were, A.C. 407 Ermeric, 438 Rechila, 448Rechiarius, 458 Maldra, 460 Frumarius, 463 Regismund. And after someother kings who are unknown, reigned A.C. 558 Theudomir, 568 Miro,582 Euboricus, and 583 Andeca. This kingdom, after it had been onceseated in Spain, remained always in Gallaecia and Lusitania. Ermeric afterthe fall of the Alan kingdom, enlarged it into all Gallaecia, forcing theVandals to retire into Boetica and the Carthaginian Province. This kingdomlasted 177 years according to Isidorus, and then was subdued byLeovigildus King of the Visigoths, and made a Province of his kingdomA.C. 585.

3. The Kings of the Visigoths were, A.C. 400 Alaric, 410 Athaulphus, 415Sergeric and Vallia, 419 Theoderic, 451 Thorismund, 452 Theoderic, 465Euric, 482 Alaric, 505 Gensalaric, 526 Amalaric, 531 Theudius, 548Theudisclus, &c. I date this kingdom from the time that Alaric left Thraceand Greece to invade the Western Empire. In the end of the reign ofAthaulphus the Goths were humbled by the Romans, and attempted to passout of France into Spain. Sergeric reigned but a few days. In the beginningof Vallia�s reign they assaulted the Romans afresh, but were againrepulsed, and then made peace on this condition, that they should on thebehalf of the Empire invade the Barbarian kingdoms in Spain: and this theydid, together with the Romans, in the years 417 and 418, overthrowing theAlans and part of the Vandals. Then they received Aquitaine of theEmperor by a full donation, leaving their conquests in Spain to the Emperor: and thereby the seats of the conquered Alans came into thehands of the Romans. In the year 455, Theoderic, assisted by theBurgundians, invaded Spain, which was then almost all subject to theSuevians, and took a part of it from them. A.C. 506, the Goths were drivenout of Gallia by the Franks. A.C. 585, they conquered the Sueviankingdom, and became Lords of all Spain. A.C. 713, the Saracens invadedthem, but in time they recovered their dominions, and have reigned in Spain ever since.

4. The Kings of the Alans in Gallia were Goar, Sambida, Eocharic,Sangibanus, Beurgus, &c. Under Goar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, andhad seats given them near the Rhine, A.C. 412. Under Sambida, whomBucher makes the successor, if not the son of Goar, they had the territoriesof Valence given them by Aetius the Emperor�s General, A.C. 440. UnderEocharic they conquered a region of the rebelling Galli Arborici, giventhem also by Aetius. This region was from them named Alenconium, quasiAlanorum conventus. Under Sangibanus they were invaded, and their regalcity Orleans was besieged by Attila King of the Hunns, with a vast army of500,000 men. Aetius and the Barbarian Kings of Gallia came to raise the siege, and beat the Hunns in a very memorable battle, A.C. 451, in campisCatalaunicis, so called from these Alans mixed with the Chatti. The regionis now called Campania or Champagne. In that battle were slain on bothsides 162,000 men. A year or two after, Attila returned with an immensearmy to conquer this kingdom, but was again beaten of them and theVisigoths together in a battle of three days continuance, with a slaughteralmost as great as the former. Under Beurgus, or Biorgor, they infested(invested?) Gallia round about, till the reign of Maximus the Emperor; andthen they passed the Alps in winter, and came into Liguria, but were therebeaten, and Beurgus slain, by Ricimer commander of the emperor�s forces,A.C. 464. Afterwards they were again beaten, by the joint force ofOdoacer King of Italy and Childeric King of the Franks, about the year480, and again by Theudobert King of the Austrian Franks about the year 511.

5.The Kings of the Burgundians were, A.C. 407 Gundicar, 436 Gundioc, 467 Bilimer, 473 Gundobaldus with his brothers, 510 Sigismund, 517Godomarus. Under Gundicar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, and had seatsgiven them by the Emperor near the Rhine in Gallia Belgica, A.C. 412.They had Saxons among them, and were now so potent, that Orosius A.C. 417 wrote of them: Burgundionum esse praevalidam manum, Galliaehodieque testes sunt, in quibus praesumpta possessione consistunt. About the year 435 they received great overthrows by Aetius, and soon after bythe Hunns: but five years after had Savoy granted them to be shared withthe inhabitants; and from that time became again a potent kingdom, beingbounded by the river Rhodanus, but afterwards extending much furtherinto the heart of Gallia. Gundobald conquered the regions about the riversAraris and Rhodanus, with the territories of Marseilles; and invading italyin the time of the Emperor Glycerius, conquered all his brethren.Godomarus made Orleans his royal seat: whence the kingdom was called Regnum Aurelianorum. He was conquered by Clotharius and Childebert,Kings of the Franks, A.C. 526. From thence forward this kingdom wassometimes united to the kingdom of the Franks, and sometimes divided from it, till the reign of Charles the great, who made his son CarolottusKing of Burgundy. From that time, for about 300 years together, it enjoyed its proper Kings; and was then broken into the Dukedom of Burgundy,County of Burgundy, and County of Savoy; and afterwards those were broken into lesser Counties.

6. The Kings of the Franks were, A.C. 407 Theudomir, 417 Pharamond,428 Clodio, 448 Merovaeus, 456 Childeric, 482 Clodovaeus, &c.Windeline and Bucher, two of the most diligent searchers into the originalsof this kingdom, make it begin the same year with the Barbarian invasionsof Gallia, that is, A.C. 407. Of the first kings there is in Labbe�s BiblothecaM.C. this record.

Historica quaedam excerpta ex veteri stemmate genealogico Regum Franciae.Genobaldus, Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris. Isti duces velreguli extiterunt a principio gentis Francorum diversis temporibus.Sed incertum relinquunt historici quali sibi procreations lineasuccesserunt.Pharamundus: sub hoc rege suo primo Franci legibus se subdunt,quas primores eorum tulerunt Wisogastus, Astrogastus,Salegastus.Chlochilo. Iste, transito Rheno, Romanos in Carbonaria sylvadevicit, Camaracum cepit & obtinuit, annis 20 regnavit. Sub hoc rege Franci usque Summam progressi sunt. Merovechus. Sub hoc rege Franci Trevirim destruunt, Metimsuccendunt, usque Aurelianum perveniunt. Now for Genobaldus, Marcomer and Suno, they were captains of theTransrhenane Franks in the reign of Theodosius, and concern us not. Weare to begin with Theudomir the first King of the rebelling Salii, calledDidio by Ivo Carnotensis, and Thiedo and Theudemerus by Rhenanus.

His face is extant in a coin of gold found with this inscription, TREX published by Petavius, and still or lately extant, as Windeline testifies:which shows that he was a King, and that in Gallia; seeing that rudeGermany understood not then the coining of money, nor used either Latinwords or letters. He was the son of Ricimer, or Richomer, the favorite ofthe Emperor Theodosius; and so being a Roman Frank, and of the Salianroyal blood, they therefore upon the rebellion made him King. The wholetime of his reign you have stated in Excerptis Gregorii Turonensis eFredigario, cap. 5, 6, 7, 8; where the making him King, the tyranny ofJovinus, the slaughter of the associates of Jovinus, the second taking ofTriers by the Franks, and their war with Castinus, in whichthis King was slain, are as a series of successive things thus set down in order.

Extinctis Ducibus in Francis, denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe qua prius fuerant. Eodem tempore Jovinus ornatus regios assumpsit.Constantinus fugam versus Italiam dirigit; missis a Jovino Principepercussoribus super Mentio Flumine, capite truncatur. Multi nobiliumjussu Jovini apud Avernis capti, & a ducibus Honorii crudeliter interemptisunt. Trevirorum civitas, factione unius ex senatoribus nomine Lucii, aFrancis capta & incensa est. � Castinus Domesticorum Comesexpeditionem accipit contra Francos, &c. Then returning to speak of Theudomir, he adds: Franci electum a se regem, sicut prius fuerat,crinitum inquirentes diligenter ex genere Priami, Frigi & Francionis,super se crearunt nomine Theudemerum filium Richemeris, qui in hocpraelio quod supra memini, a Romanis interfectus est; that is, in the battlewith Castinus� army. Of his death Gregory Turonensis makes this furthermention: In consularibus legiums Theodemerem regem Francorum filium Ricimeris quondam, & Ascilam matrem ejus, gladio interfectos. Upon this victory of the Romans, the Franks and rebelling Gauls, who inthe time of Theudomir were at war with one another, united to strengthenthemselves, as Ordericus Vitalis thus mentions. Cum Galli prius contraRomanos rebellissent, Franci iis sociati sunt, & filium pariter juncti, Ferramundum Sunonis ducis filium, sibi regem praefecerunt. Prosper setsdown the time; Anno 25 Honorii, Pharamundus regnat in Francia.

This,Bucher well observes, refers to the end of the year 416, or the beginning ofthe next year, dating the years of Honorius from the death of Valentinian;and argues well, that at this time Pharamond was not only King by theconstitution of the Franks, but crowned also by the consent of Honorius,and had a part of Gallia assigned him by covenant. And this might be thecause that Roman writers reckoned him the first King: which some notunderstanding, have reputed him the founder of this kingdom by an army ofthe Transrhenane Franks. He might come with such an army, but hesucceeded Theudomir by right of blood and consent of the people. For theabove cited passage of Fredigarius, Extinctis Ducibus, in Francis denuoReges creantur ex eadem stirpe qua prius fuerant, implies that thekingdom continued to this new elected family during the reign of moreKings than one.

If you date the years of Honorius from the death of hisfather, the reign of Pharamond might begin two years later than is assignedby Bucher. The Salique laws made in his reign, which are yet extant, showby their name that it was the kingdom of the Salii over which he reigned;and, by the pecuniary mulcts in them, that the place where he reignedabounded much with money, and consequently was within the Empire;rude Germany knowing not the use of money, till they mixed with theRomans. In the Preface also to the Salique laws, written and prefixed tothem soon after the conversion of the Franks to the Christian religion, thatis, in the end of the reign of Merovaeus, or soon after, the original of this kingdom is thus described: Haec enim gens, quae fortis dum esset &robore valida, Romanorum jugum durissimum de suis cervicibus excussitpugnando, &c. This kingdom therefore was erected, not by invasion but by rebellion, as was described above. Prosper in registering their Kings inorder, tells us: Pharamundus regnat in Francia; Clodio regnat in Francia;Merovaeus regnat in Francia: and who can imagine but that in all these places he meant one and the same Francia? And yet �tis certain that theFrancia of Merovaeus was in Gallia.

Yet the father of Pharamond, being king of a body of Franks in Germany inthe reign of the Emperor Theodosius, as above, Pharamond might reignover the same Franks in Germany before he succeeded Theudomir in thekingdom of the Salians within the Empire, and even before Theudomirbegan his reign; suppose in the first year of Honorius, or when thoseFranks being repulsed by Stilico, lost their Kings Marcomir and Suno, one of which was the father of Pharamond: and the Roman Franks, after the death of Theudomir, might invite Pharamond with his people from beyondthe Rhine. But we are not to regard the reign of Pharamond in Germany:we are to date this kingdom from its rise within the Empire, and to lookupon it as strengthened by the access of other Franks coming from beyondthe Rhine, whether in the reign of this King or in that of his successor Clodio. For in the last year of Pharamond�s reign, Aetius took from him apart of his possession in Gallia: but his successor Clodio, whomFredigarius represents as the son of Theudomir, and some call Clogio,Cloio, and Claudius, inviting from beyond the Rhine a great body ofFranks, recovered all, and carried on their conquests as far as the riverSoame. Then those Franks dividing conquests with him, erected certainnew kingdoms at Cologn and Cambray, and some other cities: all whichwere afterwards conquered by Clodovaeus, who also drove the Goths outof Gallia, and fixed his seat at Paris, where it has continued ever since. Andthis was the original of the present kingdom of France.

7. The Kings of Britain were, A.C. 407 or 408, Marcus, Gratian, andConstantine successively; A.C. 425 Vortigern, 466 Aurelius Ambrosius,498 Uther Pendraco, 508 Arthur, 542, Constantinus, 545 AureliusCunanus, 578 Vortiporeus, 581 Malgo, 586 Careticus, 613 Cadwan, 635Cadwalin, 676 Cadwallader. The three first were Roman Tyrants, whorevolted from the Empire. Orosius, Prosper and Zosimus connect theirrevolt with the irruptions of the Barbarians into Gallia, as consequentthereunto. Prosper, with whom Zosimus agrees, puts it in the year whichbegan the day after that irruption. The just time I thus collect: Marcusreigned not many days, Gratian four months, and Constantine three years.He was slain the year after the taking of Rome, that is A.C. 411, 14 Kal.Octob. Whence the revolt was in Spring A.C. 408. Sozomen joinsConstantine�s expedition into Gallia with Arcadius� death, or the times alittle after; and Arcadius died A.C. 408 May the 1st.

Now though the reignof these Tyrants was but short, yet they gave a beginning to the kingdomof Britain, and so may be reckoned the three first Kings, especially sincethe posterity of Constantine, viz. his sons Aurelius Ambrosius, and Uther Pendraco, and his grandson Arthur, reigned afterwards. For from the timeof the revolt of these Tyrants Britain continued a distinct kingdomabsolved from subjection to the Empire, the Emperor not being able tospare soldiers to be sent thither to receive and keep the Island, andtherefore neglecting it; as we learn by unquestionable records. For Prosper tells us; A.C. 410, Variane Cos. Hac tempestate prae valetudineRomanorum, vires funditus attenuatae Britanniae. And Sigebertconjoining this with the siege of Rome, saith: Britannorum viresattenuatae, & subtrahunt se a Romanorum dominatione. And Zosimuslib.6.

The Transrhenane Barbarians invading all places, reduced theinhabitants of the island of Britain, and also certain nations to that pass, that they fell off from the Roman Empire; and being no longer obedient unto the Roman laws, they lived in separate bodies after theirown pleasure. The Britons therefore taking up arms, and hazarding themselves for their own safety, freed their cities from the imminent(immanent?) Barbarians. In like manner all Brabant and some otherProvinces of the Gauls imitating the Britons, freed themselves also,ejecting the Roman Presidents, and forming themselves into a sort of commonwealth according to their own pleasure. This rebellion of Britain and the Celtic nations happened when Constantine usurped the kingdom.So also Procopius, lib.1.Vandal. speaking of the same Constantine, saith:Constantine being overcome in battle, was slain with his children. Yet the Romans could not recover Britain any more, but from that time itremained under Tyrants.

And Beda, l.1.c.11. Fracta est Roma a Gothisanno 1164, suae conditionis; ex quo tempore Romani in Britanniaregnare cessaverunt. And Ethelwaldus: A tempore Romae a Gothisexpugnatae, cessavit imperium Romanorum a Britannia insula, & ab aliis,quas sub jugo servitutis tenebant, multis terris. And Theodoret, serm. 9.de curand. Graec. affect. about the year 424, reckons the Britons amongthe nations which were not then in subjection to the Roman Empire. Thus Sigonius: ad annum 411, Imperium Romanorum post excessum Constantini in Britannia nullum fuit. Between the death of Constantine and the reign of Vortigern was aninterregnum of about 14 years, in which the Britons had wars with thePicts and Scots, and twice obtained the assistance of a Roman Legion, who drove out the enemy, but told them positively at their departure that they would come no more.

Of Vortigern�s beginning to reign there is this recordin an old Chronicle in Nennius, quoted by Camden and others: Guortigernus tenuit imperium in Britannia, Theodosio & ValentinianoCoss. [viz. A.C. 425.] & in quarto anno regni sui Saxones ad Britanniamvenerunt, Felice & Tauro Coss. [viz. A.C. 428.] This coming of the Saxons, Sigibert refers to the 4th year of Valentinian, which falls in withthe year 428 assigned by this Chronicle: and two years after, the Saxons together with the Picts were beaten by the Britons. Afterwards in the reign of Martian the Emperor, that is, between the years 450 and 456, theSaxons under Hengist were called in by the Britons, but six years afterrevolted from them, made war upon them with various success, and bydegrees succeeded them. Yet the Britons continued a flourishing kingdomtill the reign of Careticus; and the war between the two nations continuedtill the pontificate of Sergius A.C. 688.

8. The Kings of the Hunns were, A.C. 406 Octar and Rugila, 433 Bledaand Attila. Octar and Rugila were the brothers of Munzuc King of theHunns in Gothia beyond the Danube; and Bleda and Attila were his sons,and Munzuc was the son of Balamir. The two first, as Jornandes tells us,were Kings of the Hunns, but not of them all; and had the two last for theirsuccessors. I date the reign of the Hunns in Pannonia from the time that theVandals and Alans relinquished Pannonia to them, A.C. 407. Sigonius from the time that the Visigoths relinquished Pannonia A.C. 408. Constat, saithhe, quod Gothis ex Illyrico profectis, Hunni successerunt, atque imprimisPannoniam tenuerunt. Neque enim Honorius viribus ad resistendum intantis difficultatibus destitutus, prorsus eos prohibere potuit, sed melioreconsilio, animo ad pacem converso, foedus cum eis, datis acceptisqueobsidibus fecit; ex quibus qui dati sunt, Aetius, qui etiam Alarico tributusfuerat, praecipue memoratur. How Aetius was hostage to the Goths andHunns is related by Frigeridus, who when he had mentioned thatTheodosius Emperor of the East had sent grievous commands to John,who after the death of Honorius had usurped the crown of the WesternEmpire, he subjoins: Iis permotus Johannes, Aetium id tempus curampalatii gerentem cum ingenti auri pondere ad Chunnos transmisit, notossibi obsidiatus sui tempore & familiari amicitia devinctos

And a little after:

Aetius tribus annis Alarici obses, dehinc Chunnorum, posteaCarpilionis gener ex Comite domesticorum & Joannis curopalatae. Now Bucher shows that Aetius was hostage to Alaric till the year 410, whenAlaric died, and to the Hunns between the years 411 and 415, and son-in-lawto Carpilio about the year 417 or 418, and Curopalates to John aboutthe end of the year 423. Whence �tis probable that he became hostage tothe Hunns about the year 412 or 413, when Honorius made leagues withalmost all the barbarous nations, and granted them seats: but I had rathersay with Sigonius, that Aetius became hostage to Alaric A.C. 403. It isfurther manifest out of Prosper, that the Hunns were in quiet possession ofPannonia in the year 432.

For in the first book of Eusebius� Chronicle Prosper writes: Anno decimo post obitum Honorii, cum ad Chunnorumgentem cui tunc Rugila praerat, post praelium cum Bonifacio se Aetiuscontulisset, impetrato auxilio ad Romanorum solum regreditur. And in thesecond book: Aetio & Valerio Coss. Aetius deposita potestate profugus adHunnos in Pannonia pervenit, quorum amicitia auxilioque usus, pacemprincipum interpellatae potestatis obtinuit. Hereby it appears that at thistime Rugila, or as Maximus calls him, Rechilla, reigned over the Hunns inPannonia; and that Pannonia was not now so much as accounted with thesoil of the Empire, being formerly granted away to the Hunns; and thatthese were the very same body of Hunns with which Aetius had, in the timeof he being an hostage, contracted friendship: by virtue of which, as hesolicited them before to the aid of John the Tyrant A.C. 424, so now heprocured their intercession for himself with the Emperor. Octar died A.C.430; for Socrates tells us, that about that time the Burgundians having beennewly vexed by the Hunns, upon intelligence of Octar�s death, seeing themwithout a leader, set upon them suddenly with so much vigor, that 3000Burgundians slew 10000 Hunns. Of Rugila�s being now King in Pannoniayou have heard already.

He died A.C. 433, and was succeeded by Bleda, as Prosper and Maximus inform us. This Bleda with his brother Attila werebefore this time Kings of the Hunns beyond the Danube, their fatherMunzuc�s kingdom being divided between them; and now they united thekingdom of Pannonia to their own. Whence Paulus Diaconus saith, theydid regnum intra Pannoniam Daciamque gerere. In the year 441, theybegan to invade the Empire afresh, adding to the Pannonian forces new andgreat armies from Scythia. But this war was presently composed, and thenAttila, seeing Bleda inclined to peace, slew him, A.C. 444, inherited hisdominions, and invaded the Empire again. At length, after various greatwars with the Romans, Attila perished A.C. 454; and his sons quarrelingabout his dominions, gave occasion to the Gepides, Ostrogoths and othernations who were their subjects, to rebel and make war upon them. The same year the Ostrogoths had seats granted them in Pannonia by theEmperors Marcian and Valentinian; and with the Romans ejected theHunns out of Pannonia, soon after the death of Attila, as all historiansagree. This ejection was in the reign of Avitus, as is mentioned in theChronicum Boiorum, and in Sidonius, Carm. 7 in Avitum, which speaksthus of that Emperor.___Cujus solum amissas post saecula multaPannonias revocavit iter, jam credere promptum estQuid faciet bellis. The Poet means, that by the coming of Avitus the Hunns yielded moreeasily to the Goths. This was written by Sidonius in the beginning of thereign of Avitus: and his reign began in the end of the year 455, and lastednot one full year.Jornandes tells us: Duodecimo anno regni Valiae, quando & Hunni postpene quinquaginta annos ivasa Pannonia, a Romanis & Gothis expulsisunt. And Marcellinus: Hierio & Ardaburio Coss. Pannoniae, quae perquinquaginta annos ab Hunnis retinebantur, a Romanis receptae sunt whence it should seem that the Hunns invaded and held Pannonia from theyear 378 or 379 to the year 427, and then were driven out of it. But this isa plain mistake: for it is certain that the Emperor Theodosius left theEmpire entire; and we have showed out of Prosper, that the Hunns were inquiet possession of Pannonia in the year 432.

The Visigoths in those dayshad nothing to do with Pannonia, and the Ostrogoths continued subject tothe Hunns till the death of Attila, A.C. 454; and Valia King of theVisigoths did not reign twelve years. He began his reign in the end of theyear 415, reigned three years, and was slain A.C. 419, as Idacius, Isidorus,and the Spanish manuscript Chronicles seen by Grotius testify. AndOlympiodorus, who carries his history only to the year 425, sets downtherein the death of Valia King of the Visigoths, and conjoins it with thatof Constantius which happened A.C. 420. Wherefore the Valia ofJornandes, who reigned at the least twelve years, is some other King. And Isuspect that this name hath been put by mistake for Valamir King of theOstrogoths: for the action recorded was of the Romans and Ostrogothsdriving the Hunns out of Pannonia after the death of Attila; and it is notlikely that the historian would refer the history of the Ostrogoths to theyears of the Visigothic Kings.

This action happened in the end of the year455, which I take to be the twelfth year of Valamir in Pannonia, and whichwas almost fifty years after the year 406, in which the Hunns succeeded theVandals and Alans in Pannonia. Upon the ceasing of the line of Hunnimundthe son of Hermaneric, the Ostrogoths lived without Kings of their ownnation about forty years together, being subject to the Hunns. And whenAlaric began to make war upon the Romans, which was in the year 444, hemade Valamir, with his brothers Theodomir and Videmir the grandsons ofVinethar, captains or kings of these Ostrogoths under him. In the twelfth year of Valamir�s reign dated from thence, the Hunns were driven out ofPannonia.Yet the Hunns were not so ejected, but that they had further contests withthe Romans, till the head of Densix the son of Attila, was carried toConstantinople, A.C. 469, in the Consulship of Zeno and Marcian, as Marcellinus relates. Nor were they yet totally ejected the Empire: forbesides their reliques in Pannonia, Sigonis tells us, that when the EmperorsMarcian and Valentinian granted Pannonia to the Goths, which was in theyear 454, they granted part of Illyricum to some of the Hunns andSarmatians. And in the year 526, when the Lombards removing intoPannonia made war there with the Gepides, the Avares, a part of theHunns, who had taken the name of Avares from one of their Kings,assisted the Lombards in that war; and the Lombards afterwards, whenthey went into Italy, left their seats in Pannonia to the Avares inrecompense of their friendship.From that time the Hunns grew again very powerful; their Kings, whomthey called Chagan, troubling the Empire much in the reigns of theEmperors Mauritius, Phocas, and Heraclius: and this is the original of thepresent kingdom of Hungary, which from these Avares and other Hunns mixed together, took the name of Hun-Avaria, and by contraction Hungary.

9. The Lombards, before they came over the Danube, were commanded bytwo captains, Ibor and Ayon: after whose death they had Kings, Agilmund,Lamisso, Lechu, Hildehoc, Gudehoc, Classo, Tato, Wacho, Walter,Audoin, Alboin, Cleophis, &c. Agilmund was the son of Ayon, whobecame their King, according to Prosper, in the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius A.C. 389, reigned thirty three years, according to PaulusWarnefridus, and was slain in battle by the Bulgarians. Prosper places hisdeath in the Consulship of Marinianus and Asclepiodorus, A.C. 423.

Lamisso routed the Bulgarians, and reigned three years, and Lechu almostforty. Gudehoc was contemporary to Odoacer King of the Heruli in Italy,and led his people from Pannonia into Rugia, a country on the north side ofNoricum next beyond the Danube; from whence Odoacer then carried hispeople into Italy. Tato overthrew the kingdom of the Heruli beyond theDanube. Wacho conquered the Suevians, a kingdom then bounded on the east by Bavaria, on the west by France, and on the south by the Burgundians.Audoin returned into Pannonia A.C. 526, and there overcame the Gepides.Alboin A.C. 551 overthrew the kingdom of the Gepides, and slew theirKing Chunnimund: A.C. 563 he assisted the Greek Emperor against TotilaKing of the Ostrogoths in Italy; and A.C. 568 led his people out of Pannonia into Lombardy, where they reigned till the year 774. According to Paulus Diaconus, the Lombards with many other Gothic nations came into the Empire from beyond the Danube in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, that is, between the years 395 and 408. But theymight come in a little earlier: for we are told that the Lombards, under their captains Ibor and Ayon, beat the Vandals in battle; and Prosper placeth thisvictory in the Consulship of Ausonius and Olybrius, that is, A.C. 379.

Before this war the Vandals had remained quiet forty years in the seats granted them in Pannonia by Constantine the great. And therefore if these were the same Vandals, this war must have been in Pannonia; and might be occasioned by the coming of the Lombards over the Danube into Pannonia,a year or two before the battle; and so have put an end to that quiet whichhad lasted forty years. After Gratian and Theodosius had quieted the Barbarians, they might either retire over the Danube, or continue quietunder the Romans till the death of Theodosius; and then either invade theEmpire anew, or throw off all subjection to it. By their wars, first with theVandals, and then with the Bulgarians, a Scythian nation so called from theriver Volga whence they came; it appears that even in those days they werea kingdom not contemptible.

10. These nine kingdoms being rent away, we are next to consider theresidue of the Western Empire. While this Empire continued entire, it wasthe Beast itself: but the residue thereof is only a part of it. Now if this partbe considered as a horn, the reign of this horn may be dated from thetranslation of the imperial seat from Rome to Ravenna, which was inOctober A.C. 408. For then the Emperor Honorius, fearing that Alaricwould besiege him in Rome, if he stayed there, retired to Millain, andthence to Ravenna: and the ensuing siege and sacking of Rome confirmedhis residence there, so that he and his successors ever after made it theirhome. Accordingly Macchiavel in his Florentine history writes, that Valentinian having left Rome, translated the seat of the Empire to Ravenna.

Rhaetia belonged to the Western Emperors, so long as that Empire stood;and then it descended, with Italy and the Roman Senate, to Odoacer Kingof the Heruli in Italy, and after him to Theodoric King of the Ostrogothsand his successors, by the grant of the Greek Emperors. Upon the death ofValentinian the second, the Alemans and Suevians invaded Rhaetia A.C.455. But I do not find they erected any settled kingdom there: for in theyear 457, while they were yet depopulating Rhaetia, they were attackedand beaten by Burto Master of the horse to the Emperor Majoranus; and Ihear nothing more of their invading Rhaetia. Clodovaeus King of France, inor about the year 496, conquered a kingdom of the Alemans and slew theirlast King Ermeric. But this kingdom was seated in Germany, and onlybordered upon Rhaetia: for its people fled from Clodovaeus into theneighbouring kingdom of the Ostrogoths under Theodoric, who receivedthem as friends, and wrote a friendly letter to Clodovaeus in their behalf:and by this means they became inhabitants of Rhaetia, as subjects under thedominion of the Ostrogoths.

When the Greek Emperor conquered the Ostrogoths, he succeeded them in the kingdom of Ravenna, not only by right of conquest but also by right ofinheritance, the Roman Senate still going along with this kingdom.Therefore we may reckon that this kingdom continued in the Exarchate ofRavenna and Senate of Rome: for the remainder of the Western Empirewent along with the Senate of Rome, by reason of the right which thisSenate still retained, and at length exerted, of choosing a new Western Emperor.

I have now enumerated the ten kingdoms, into which the Western Empire became divided at its first breaking, that is, at the time of Rome�s beingbesieged and taken by the Goths. Some of these kingdoms at length fell,and new ones arose: but whatever was their number afterwards, they arestill called the Ten Kings from their first number.