These domestic conquests, which increased the
military power of Hermanric, enlarged his ambitious designs. He invaded
the adjacent countries of the North; and twelve considerable nations,
whose names and limits cannot be accurately defined, successively
yielded to the superiority of the Gothic arms The Heruli, who inhabited
the marshy lands near the lake Maeotis, were renowned for their strength
and agility; and the assistance of their light infantry was eagerly
solicited, and highly esteemed, in all the wars of the Barbarians.
But the active spirit of the Heruli was subdued by the slow and steady
perseverance of the Goths; and, after a bloody action, in which the king
was slain, the remains of that warlike tribe became a useful accession
to the camp of Hermanric. He then marched against the Venedi; unskilled
in the use of arms, and formidable only by their numbers, which filled
the wide extent of the plains of modern Poland. The victorious Goths,
who were not inferior in numbers, prevailed in the contest, by the
decisive advantages of exercise and discipline. After the submission of
the Venedi, the conqueror advanced, without resistance, as far as the
confines of the AEstii; an ancient people, whose name is still preserved
in the province of Esthonia. Those distant inhabitants of the Baltic
coast were supported by the labors of agriculture, enriched by the trade
of amber, and consecrated by the peculiar worship of the Mother of the
Gods. But the scarcity of iron obliged the AEstian warriors to content
themselves with wooden clubs; and the reduction of that wealthy country
is ascribed to the prudence, rather than to the arms, of Hermanric. His
dominions, which extended from the Danube to the Baltic, included the
native seats, and the recent acquisitions, of the Goths; and he reigned
over the greatest part of Germany and Scythia with the authority of a
conqueror, and sometimes with the cruelty of a tyrant. But he reigned
over a part of the globe incapable of perpetuating and adorning the
glory of its heroes. The name of Hermanric is almost buried in oblivion;
his exploits are imperfectly known; and the Romans themselves appeared
unconscious of the progress of an aspiring power which threatened the
liberty of the North, and the peace of the empire.

The Goths had contracted an hereditary attachment for the Imperial house
of Constantine, of whose power and liberality they had received so many
signal proofs. They respected