le people, who, on the
faith of his promises, had transported themselves into a distant land.
[26] Under the reign of Theodoric, and in the happy climate of Italy,
the Goths soon multiplied to a formidable host of two hundred thousand
men, [27] and the whole amount of their families may be computed by the
ordinary addition of women and children. Their invasion of property,
a part of which must have been already vacant, was disguised by the
generous but improper name of hospitality; these unwelcome guests
were irregularly dispersed over the face of Italy, and the lot of
each Barbarian was adequate to his birth and office, the number of
his followers, and the rustic wealth which he possessed in slaves and
cattle. The distinction of noble and plebeian were acknowledged; [28]
but the lands of every freeman were exempt from taxes, [2811] and he
enjoyed the inestimable privilege of being subject only to the laws
of his country. [29] Fashion, and even convenience, soon persuaded the
conquerors to assume the more elegant dress of the natives, but they
still persisted in the use of their mother-tongue; and their contempt
for the Latin schools was applauded by Theodoric himself, who gratified
their prejudices, or his own, by declaring, that the child who had
trembled at a rod, would never dare to look upon a sword. [30] Distress
might sometimes provoke the indigent Roman to assume the ferocious
manners which were insensibly relinquished by the rich and luxurious
Barbarian; [31] but these mutual conversions were not encouraged by the
policy of a monarch who perpetuated the separation of the Italians and
Goths; reserving the former for the arts of peace, and the latter for
the service of war. To accomplish this design, he studied to protect his
industrious subjects, and to moderate the violence, without enervating
the valor, of his soldiers, who were maintained for the public defence.
They held their lands and benefices as a military stipend: at the sound
of the trumpet, they were prepared to march under the conduct of their
provincial officers; and the whole extent of Italy was distributed into
the several quarters of a well-regulated camp. The service of the palace
and of the frontiers was performed by choice or by rotation; and
each extraordinary fatigue was recompensed by an increase of pay and
occasional donatives. Theodoric had convinced his brave companions,
that empire must be acquired and defended by the same arts. After his