as
defeated; but Bon'iface died in the arms of victory. Placid'ia was at
first determined to punish AE'tius as a rebel; but his power was too
formidable, and his abilities too necessary in the new dangers that
threatened the empire; he was not only pardoned, but invested with
more than his former authority.

15. The hordes of Huns that had seized on the ancient territory of the
Goths, had now become united under the ferocious At'tila, whose
devastations procured him the formidable name of "The Scourge of God."
The Eastern empire, unable to protect itself from his ravages,
purchased peace by the payment of a yearly tribute, and he directed
his forces against the western provinces, which promised richer
plunder. He was instigated also by secret letters from the princess
Hono'ria, the sister of the emperor, who solicited a matrimonial
alliance with the barbarous chieftain. AE'tius being supported by the
king of the Goths, and some other auxiliary forces, attacked the Huns
in the Catalaunian plains, near the modern city of Chalons in France.
16. After a fierce engagement the Huns were routed, and it was not
without great difficulty that At'tila effected his retreat. The
following year he invaded Italy with more success; peace, however, was
purchased by bestowing on him the hand of the princess Hono'ria,
with an immense dowry. Before the marriage could be consummated,
At'tila was found, dead in his bed, having burst a blood-vessel during
the night.

17. The brave AE'tius was badly rewarded by the wretched emperor for
his eminent services; Valentinian, yielding to his cowardly
suspicions, assassinated the general with his own hand. 18. This crime
was followed by an injury to Max'imus, an eminent senator, who, eager
for revenge, joined in a conspiracy with the friends of AE'tius; they
attacked the emperor publicly, in the midst of his guards, and slew
him.

19. The twenty years which intervened between the assassination of
Valentinian, and the final destruction of the Western empire, were
nearly one continued series of intestine revolutions. 20. Even in the
age of Cicero, when the empire of Rome, seemed likely to last for
ever, it was stated by the augurs that the _twelve vultures_ seen by
Romulus,[3] represented the _twelve centuries_ assigned for the fatal
period of the city. This strange prediction, forgotten in ages of
peace and prosperity, was recalled to the minds of men when events, at
the close of the twelfth cent