protection which the Gothic king, in the vicissitude of human affairs,
had granted to one of the descendants of Attila. Sabinian, a general
illustrious by his own and father's merit, advanced at the head of ten
thousand Romans; and the provisions and arms, which filled a long train
of wagons, were distributed to the fiercest of the Bulgarian tribes.
But in the fields of Margus, the eastern powers were defeated by the
inferior forces of the Goths and Huns; the flower and even the hope
of the Roman armies was irretrievably destroyed; and such was the
temperance with which Theodoric had inspired his victorious troops,
that, as their leader had not given the signal of pillage, the rich
spoils of the enemy lay untouched at their feet. [45] Exasperated by
this disgrace, the Byzantine court despatched two hundred ships and
eight thousand men to plunder the sea-coast of Calabria and Apulia:
they assaulted the ancient city of Tarentum, interrupted the trade and
agriculture of a happy country, and sailed back to the Hellespont, proud
of their piratical victory over a people whom they still presumed
to consider as their Roman brethren. [46] Their retreat was possibly
hastened by the activity of Theodoric; Italy was covered by a fleet of
a thousand light vessels, [47] which he constructed with incredible
despatch; and his firm moderation was soon rewarded by a solid and
honorable peace. He maintained, with a powerful hand, the balance of the
West, till it was at length overthrown by the ambition of Clovis; and
although unable to assist his rash and unfortunate kinsman, the king
of the Visigoths, he saved the remains of his family and people, and
checked the Franks in the midst of their victorious career. I am not
desirous to prolong or repeat [48] this narrative of military events,
the least interesting of the reign of Theodoric; and shall be content
to add, that the Alemanni were protected, [49] that an inroad of the
Burgundians was severely chastised, and that the conquest of Arles and
Marseilles opened a free communication with the Visigoths, who revered
him as their national protector, and as the guardian of his grandchild,
the infant son of Alaric. Under this respectable character, the king of
Italy restored the praetorian praefecture of the Gauls, reformed some
abuses in the civil government of Spain, and accepted the annual tribute
and apparent submission of its military governor, who wisely refused to
trust his person in the