Gothic invasion. Death of Valens. Ravages of the Goths.
But the Goths were invaded by a fierce race of barbarians, more savage than themselves, from the banks of the Don, called Scythians, or Huns, of Sclavonic origin. Pressed by this new enemy, they sought shelter in the Roman territory. Instead of receiving them as allies, the emperor treated them as enemies. Hostages from the flower of their youth were scattered through the cities of Asia Minor, while the corrupt governors of Thrace annoyed them by insults and grievances. The aged Hermanneric, exasperated by misfortune, made preparations for a general war, while Sarmatians, Alans, and Huns united with them. After three indecisive campaigns, the emperor Valens advanced to attack their camp near Hadrianople, defended by Fritagern. Under the walls of this city was fought the most bloody and disastrous battle which Rome ever lost, A.D. 378. Two-thirds of the imperial army was destroyed, the emperor was slain, and the remainder fled in consternation. Sixty thousand infantry and six thousand cavalry lay dead upon the fatal field. The victors, intoxicated with their success, invested Hadrianople, but were unequal to the task, being inexperienced in sieges. Laden with spoil, they retired to the western boundaries of Thrace. From the shores of the Bosphorus to the Julian Alps, nothing was seen but conflagration, murder, and devastation. So [pg 632] great were the misfortunes of the Illyrian provinces, that they never afterward recovered. Churches were turned into stables, palaces were burned, works of art were destroyed, the relics of martyrs were desecrated, the population decimated, and the provinces were overrun.
Theodosius.
In this day of calamity a hero and deliverer was needed. The feeble Gratian, who ruled in the West, cast his eyes upon an exile, whose father, an eminent general, had been unjustly murdered by the emperor Valentinian. This man was Theodosius, then living in modest retirement on his farm near Valladolid, in Spain, as unambitious as David among his sheep, as contented as Cincinnatus at the plow. Even Gibbon does not sneer at this great Christian emperor, who revived for a while the falling empire. He accepted the sceptre of Valens, A.D. 370, and the conduct of the Gothic war, being but thirty-three years of age. One of the greatest of all the emperors, and the last great man who swayed the sceptre of Trajan, his ancestor, he has not too warmly been praised by the Church, whose defender he was—the last flickering light of an expiring monarchy,—although his character has been assailed by modern critics of great respectability.
Successes over the Goths.
As soon as he was invested with the purple, he took up his residence in Thessalonica, and devoted his energies to the task assigned him by the necessities of the empire. He succeeded in putting a stop to the progress of the Goths, disarmed them by treaties, and allowed them to settle on the right bank of the Danube, within the limits of the empire. He invited the aged Athanaric to his capital and table, who was astonished by his riches and glory. Peace was favored by the death of Fritagern, and forty thousand Goths were received as soldiers of the empire,—an impolitic act.
Uphilas.
At this period the Goths settled in Mœsia were visited by Uphilas, a Christian missionary and Arian bishop, who translated the Bible, and had great success in the conversion of the barbarians to a nominal faith. This is [pg 633] the earliest instance of the reception of the new faith by the Germanic races.
Gratian. Valentinian II.
While Theodosius was restoring the eastern empire, Gratian relapsed into indolent pleasures at Milan, which provoked a revolution. Maximus was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain, and invaded Gaul. Gratian fled, with a retinue of three hundred horse, and was overtaken and slain. Theodosius recognized the claims of the usurper, unwilling to waste the blood of the enfeebled soldiers in a new civil war, provided that Italy and Africa were secured to Valentinian II., the younger brother of Gratian. The young emperor made himself unpopular by espousing Arianism, and for being governed by his mother Justina, and four years after was obliged to flee to Thessalonica, on an invasion of Italy by Maximus, and invoke the aid of Theodosius, who responded to his call, won by the charms of the princess Galla, whom he married. Maximus was defeated, put to death, and Valentinian II. was replaced upon his throne.