Part 4 (1/2)

Open war followed, consisting chiefly of devastating raids by the son of Triarius into the valleys of Msia and Thrace Aquietly with his people by the Danube ”Why are you lingering in your horeat deeds worthy of a Master of Roainst the son of Triarius”, was the answer, ”I fear that you will make peace with him behind my back” The Emperor and Senate bound themselves by solemn oaths that he should never be received back into favour, and an elaborate plan of ca with his host froeneral with twelve thousand troops, on the southern side of the Balkans, and by another with thirty thousand in the valley of the Hebrus (_Maritza_)

But the Roe, see war Theodoric the Amal performed his share of the compact; but ith his weary ared froenerals there to e army of Goths encanal for coe the fratricidal strife; but there were daily skirrounds and places for watering Every day, too, the son of Triarius rode round the hostile ca him ”a perjured boy, a madman, a traitor to his race, a fool who could not see whither the I The Romans would stand by and look quietly on while Goth wore out Goth in deadly strife” Murmurs from the Amal's troops showed that these words struck ho the caain raised his voice in bitter defiance ”Scoundrel! why are you leading so many of my kinsmen to destruction? why have you made so many Gothic wives s? What has become of that wealth and plenty which they had when they first took service with you? Then they had two or three horses apiece; noithout horses and in the guise of slaves, they are wandering on foot through Thrace But they are free-born men surely, aye, as free-born as you are, and they once old coins of Byzantium with a bushel” When the host heard these words, all, both men and women, went to their leader Theodoric the Amal, and claimed from him with tumultuous cries that he should come to an accommodation with the son of Tnarius The proposal must have been hateful to the Amal To throay the laboriously earned favour of the Enity of Master of the Soldiery, to leave the coo out again into the barbarian wilderness with this insolent na hiall and ood to the spirit of Theodoric But he knew the conditions under which he held his sovereignty--”king”, as a recent French race of God and the will of the people”, and he did not atteainst the decision of his tumultuary parlia on the opposite bank of a disparting streae no ainst Byzantium

The now confederated Theodorics sent an e their common demands for territory, _stipendia_ and rations for their followers, and, in the case of Theodoric the Aed with bitter coers The Emperor replied with an accusation (which appears to have been wholly unfounded) that Theodoric himself had meditated treachery, and that this was the reason why the Roenerals had feared to join their forces to his Still the Eain into favour if he would relinquish his alliance with the son of Triarius, and in order to lure hiht of gold (40,000), 10,000 of silver (35,000), a yearly revenue of 10,000 _aurei_ (6,000), and the daughter of Olybrius, one of the noblest-born da stooped so low as toto stoop lower by breaking it The ambassadors returned to Constantinople with their purpose unaccoan seriously to prepare for the apparently inevitable ith all the Gothic _fderati_ in his land, commanded by both the Theodorics He summoned to the capital all the troops whom he could muster, and delivered to theood courage, declaring that he hio forth with theers For nearly a hundred years, ever since the tireat Theodosius, no Eastern En in person; and the announcement that this inactivity was to be ended and that a Roain, like the Iions and to withstand the shock of battle, roused the soldiers to extraordinary enthusias the officers to procure exeer suuishi+ng themselves under the eyes of the E hich at about sixty miles from Constantinople crossed the narrow peninsula and defended the capital of the Eht some of the forerunners of the Gothic host, the Uhlans, if weforeboded an encounter, more serious and perhaps more triumphant than any that had been seen since the days of Theodosius Then, as in a ed Zeno's old spirit of sloth and cowardice returned He would not undergo the fatigue of the long h Thrace, he would not look upon the battle-field, the very pictures of which he found so terrible; it was publicly announced that the Ean to gather in angry groups, rebuking one another for their over-patience in sub to be ruled by such a coward ”How? Are we er bear with such disgraceful effereat Empire is sapped, so that every barbarian who chooses may carve out a slice fro seditious, and in a few days an anti-Emperor would probably have been proclaimed; but Zeno, more afraid of his soldiers than even of the Goths, adroitly moved the the invaded provinces to take care of themselves for a little time, while he tried by his own natural weapons of bribery and intrigue to detach the _other_ and older Theodoric from the new confederacy

On this path he met with unmerited success The son of Triarius, who had lately been uttering such noble sentiments about Gothic kinshi+p, and the folly of Gothic warriors playing into the hands of their hereditary enemies, the crafty courtiers of Constantinople, soon ca the coades of household troops,(Scholse) his restoration to all the dignities which he had held under Basiliscus, the military office which his rival had forfeited, and rations and allowances for 13,000 of his followers, broke his alliance with Theodoric the Amal, and entered the service of the Emperor of New Rome

Theodoric the Amal, as now in his own despite (479) an outlaw from the Roion where he and his people had been first quartered five years before

Again heits garrison to the sword, and threatened the great city of Thessalonica The citizens, fearing that Zeno would abandon them to the barbarians, broke out into open sedition, thren the statues of the Emperor, took the keys of the city fro of their Bishop Zeno sent arateful requital of the unexanities which had been conferred upon hi him to return to his old fidelity Theodoric showed hi to treat, sent ambassadors to Constantinople, and ordered his troops to refrain froration, and to take only the absolute necessaries of life from the provincials He then quitted the precincts of Thessalonica and moved ards to the city of Heraclea _(Monastir)_, which lies at the foot of the great e that separates Macedonia fro a new and brilliant stroke of strategy, but he was for so it by the illness of his sister, who, perhaps fatigued by the hardshi+ps of the march, had fallen sick in the camp before Heraclea This tiotiations with the E to offer worth the Ostrogoth's acceptance A settle the Balkans, about forty miles south of Sardica _(Sofia)_, and a payold (8,000) as subsistence-money for the people till they should have had time to till the land and reap their first harvest, this was all that Zeno offered to the chief, who already in i defenceless at his feet For during this time of inaction the Amal had opened coismund, elt near Dyrrhachium _(Durazzo)_, and was a ish no his best to sow fear and discouragement in the hearts of the citizens of Dyrrhachium and to prepare the way for the advent of his countryth the Gothic princess died, and her brother, the Aht to put Heraclea to ranso fortress which commanded it), burned the deserted city, a deed more worthy of a barbarian than of one bred up in the Roman Commonwealth Then with all his nation-arnatian Way, which, threading the rough passes of Mount Scardus, leads froean to the shores of the Adriatic His light horsemen went first to reconnoitre the path; then followed Theodoric himself with the first division of his army Soas, his second in command, ordered the uard, co the ons It was a striking proof both of their leader's audacity and of his knowledge of the decay of natian Way, that he should have ventured with such a train into such a perilous country, where at every turn were narrow defiles which a few brave ainst an arh the defiles of Scardus and reached the fortress of Lychnidus overlooking a lake non as Lake Ochrida Here Theodoricby nature, ell stored with corn, and had springing fountains of its own, and the garrison were therefore not to be frightened into surrender Accordingly, leaving the fortress untaken, Theodoric with his two first divisions pushed rapidly across the second and lower range, the Candavian Mountains, leaving Theudions and the woeret For the mo into the plain he took the towns of Scamp (_Elbassan_) and Dyrrhachiuing counsels of Sigismund, seem to have been abandoned by their inhabitants

Great was the consternation at Edessa (a town about thirty miles west of Thessalonica and the headquarters of the Imperial troops) when the news of this unexpected ht into the caeneral-in-chief, Sabinianus, was quartered there, but also a certain Adaed by Zeno with the conduct of the negotiations with Theodoric, and whose whole soul seems to have been set on the success of his mission He contrived to communicate with Theodoric, and advanced with Sabinianus through the mountains as far as Lychnidus in order to conduct the discussion at closer quarters Propositions passed backwards and forwards as to the tered

Theodoric sent a Gothic priest; Adamantius in reply offered to come in person to Dyrrhachiues for his safe return Theodoric illing to send the hostages if Sabinianus would swear that they should return in safety This, however, for soeneral surlily and stubbornly refused to do, and Ada away into ieous self-devotion, he succeeded in finding a by-path across the ht hithened by a deep ditch, in sight of Dyrrhachiuers to Theodoric earnestly soliciting a conference; and the A his army in the plain, rode with a few horsemen to the banks of the streahold Adaainst a surprise, placed his little band of soldiers in a circle round the hill, and then descended to the strea-desired colloquy How Adamantius oth's reply is worth quoting word for word: ”It was ether out of Thrace, far away towards Scythia, where I should disturb no one by o forth thence to do the E called ainst the son of Tnarius, first of all promised that the General of Thrace should immediately join me with his forces (he never appeared); and then that Claudius, the Steward of the Goth-money,[39] should meet me with the pay of the uides foruntrodden all the easier roads into the enees of cliffs, where, had the ene as ere bound to do with horseons and all the lumber of our camp, it had been a marvel if I and all my folk had not been utterly destroyed Hence I was forced to make such terms as I could with the foes, and in fact I owe theht have consumed me, they nevertheless spared my life”

[Footnote 39: ??? t?? G?t????? ta?a? Probably the _Gothicu the Goths]

Adareat benefits which the Emperor had bestowed on Theodoric, the Patriciate, the Mastershi+p, the rich presents, and all the other evidences of his fatherly regard He atteht by Theodoric, but in this even the Greek historian[40] who records the dialogue thinks that he failed

With more show of reason he complained of the otiations were proceeding with Constantinople He recommended him to make peace with the E hireat cities of Epirus nor to banish their citizens froain pressed him to accept the Emperor's offer of ”Dardania” (the Pantalian plain), ”where there was abundance of land, beside that which was already inhabited, a fair and fertile territory lacking cultivators, which his people could till, so providing themselves in abundance with all the necessaries of life”

[Footnote 40: Malchus of Philadelphia]

Theodoric refused with an oath to take his toil-worn people who had served him so faithfully, at that time of year (it was now perhaps autumn) into Dardania No! they must all reree upon the rest of the teruide sent by the Emperor to lead them to their new abode But e and all his unwarlike folk in any city which the Eive his es for his entire fidelity, and then to advance at once with ten thousand of his bravest warriors into Thrace, as the Emperor's ally With these men and the Imperial armies now stationed in the Illyrian provinces, he would undertake to sweep Thrace clear of all the Goths who followed the son of Triarius

Only he stipulated that in that case he should be clothed with his old dignity of Master of the Soldiery, which had been taken from him and bestowed on his rival, and that he should be received into the Commonwealth and allowed to live--as he evidently yearned to live--as a Roman citizen

Adamantius replied that he was not empowered to treat on such terms while Theodoric remained in Epirus, but he would refer his proposal to the E they parted one from the other

Meanwhile, i place in the Candavian uard of Theodoric's ar its way, in a security which was no doubt chiefly caused by the facility of the previousforward between King and Emperor may partly have contributed In any case, security was certainly insecure with such a fort as Lychnidus untaken in their rear The garrison of that fort had been reinforced by ular arnal, and with these Sabinianus prepared a formidable ambuscade He sent a considerable number of infantry round by unfrequented paths over thebut concealed position, and to rush forth fronal He hihtfall, and rode rapidly along the Egnatian Way At dawn the pursuing horse the last mountain slopes into the plain Theudi line ofto ht of hare, spanning a deep defile, which intervened between the e behind him to prevent pursuit Pursuit was indeed rendered impossible, and the mother of Theodoric was saved, but at what a cost! The Goths turned back to fight, with the courage of despair, the pursuing cavalry At that an to attack them from the rocks above The position was a terrible one, and many brave iven by the Imperial soldiers, for we are told that more than five thousand of the Goths were taken prisoners The booty was large; and all the waggons of the barbarians, two thousand in nu the toil of dragging theed passes to Lychnidus, burned them there as they stood upon the Candavian mountains

I have copied with soiven us by the Greek historian of this s before us with more than usual vividness the conditions under which the cans of the barbarians were conducted It will have been noticed that the Gothic arn is also a ration Thehi train of non-co the arons The character attributed by Horace to the

Caas rite trahunt doon holds the Scythian's wandering home”

The Goth, a terrible enemy to those outside the pale of his kinshi+p, is a home-lover at heart, and even in ill not separate himself from his wife and children This ns unscientific It prepares for him frequent defeats, such as that of the Candavian mountains, which a celibate army would have avoided But it , while it explains those perpetual demands for land, for a settlement within the Empire, almost on any terms, hich, as was before shown, the barbarian inroads so often close We need not follow the tedious story of the negotiations with Adamantius, which were interrupted by this sudden success of the Imperial arms In fact at this point our best authority,[41] who has been unusually full and graphic for the events of 478 and 479, suddenly fails us, and we have scarcely anything but dry and scanty annalistic notices for the next nine years of the life of Theodoric He see in Epirus, but to have returned to the neighbourhood of the Danube, where he fought and conquered the king of the Bulgarians, a fresh horde of barbarians who at this time made their first appearance in ”the Balkan peninsula” Whether the much desired reconciliation with the Empire took place we know not

It seems probable that this may have been the case, as in the year 481 we find his rival, the other Theodoric, in opposition, and planning an invasion of Greece But the career of the son of Triarius was about to co ards, he had reached a station on the Egnatian Way, near the frontiers of Thrace and Macedonia, called ”The Stables of Dio he would fain allop across the plain, but before he was securely seated in the saddle the horse reared The rider, afraid to grasp the bridle firhtly to his seat, but could not guide the horse, which, in its dancing and prancing, ca, in barbarian fashi+on, a spear fastened by a thong The horse shi+ed up against the spear, whose point gored his master's side He was not killed on the spot, but died soon after of the wound After some domestic dissensions and bloodshed, the leadershi+p of his band passed to his son Recitach, apparently a hot-tempered and tyrannical youth

[Footnote 41: Malchus of Philadelphia, fro Embassies” were emtus]

Three years after his father's death (484), Recitach, now an enemy of the E under the orders of Zeno The band of Triarian Goths, thirty thousand fighting men in number, was joined to the army of Theodoric, an important addition to his power, but also to his cares, to the ever-present difficulty of finding food for his followers