ass the
Strait, he was seized with an incurable disease, and his premature
death protracted for a season the existence of the Western empire.[2]
9. Al'aric was succeeded by his brother Adol'phus, who immediately
commenced negociations for a treaty; the peace was cemented by a
marriage between the Gothic king and Placid'ia, the sister of the
emperor. The army of the invaders evacuated Italy, and Adol'phus,
leading his soldiers into Spain, founded the kingdom of the Visigoths.
10. Adolphus did not long survive his triumphs; Placid'ia returned to
her brother's court, and was persuaded to bestow her hand on
Constan'tius, the general who had suppressed the rebellion of
Constan'tine. Britain, Spain, and part of Gaul had been now
irrecoverably lost; Constan'tius, whose abilities might have checked
the progress of ruin, died, after the birth of his second child;
Placid'ia retired to the court of Constantinople, and at length
Hono'rius, after a disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years, terminated
his wretched life.

11. The next heir to the throne was Valenti'nian, the son of
Placid'ia; but John, the late emperor's secretary, took advantage of
Placid'ia's absence in the east, to seize on the government. The
court of Constantinople promptly sent a body of troops against the
usurper, and John was surprised and taken prisoner at Raven'na. 12.
Valenti'nian III., then in the sixth year of his age, was proclaimed
emperor, and the regency entrusted to his mother, Placid'ia. The two
best generals of the age, AE'tius and Bon'iface, were at the head of
the army, but, unfortunately, their mutual jealousies led them to
involve the empire in civil war.

13. Bon'iface was recalled from the government of Africa through the
intrigues of his rival, and when he hesitated to comply, was
proclaimed a traitor. Unfortunately the African prefect, unable to
depend on his own forces, invited the Vandals to his assistance.
Gen'seric, the king of that nation, passed over from Spain, which his
barbarous forces had already wasted, and the African provinces were
now subjected to the same calamities that afflicted the rest of the
empire. 14. Bon'iface became too late sensible of his error; he
attempted to check the progress of the Vandals, but was defeated, and
Africa finally wrested from the empire. He returned to Italy, and was
pardoned by Placid'ia; but the jealous AE'tius led an army to drive
his rival from the court; a battle ensued, in which AE'tius w