emper, of their parents. Against
these enemies, Hermanric prepared to exert the united forces of the
Gothic state; but he soon discovered that his vassal tribes, provoked
by oppression, were much more inclined to second, than to repel, the
invasion of the Huns. One of the chiefs of the Roxolani had formerly
deserted the standard of Hermanric, and the cruel tyrant had condemned
the innocent wife of the traitor to be torn asunder by wild horses.
The brothers of that unfortunate woman seized the favorable moment
of revenge. The aged king of the Goths languished some time after the
dangerous wound which he received from their daggers; but the conduct of
the war was retarded by his infirmities; and the public councils of the
nation were distracted by a spirit of jealousy and discord. His death,
which has been imputed to his own despair, left the reins of government
in the hands of Withimer, who, with the doubtful aid of some Scythian
mercenaries, maintained the unequal contest against the arms of the Huns
and the Alani, till he was defeated and slain in a decisive battle. The
Ostrogoths submitted to their fate; and the royal race of the Amali will
hereafter be found among the subjects of the haughty Attila. But the
person of Witheric, the infant king, was saved by the diligence of
Alatheus and Saphrax; two warriors of approved valor and fidelity, who,
by cautious marches, conducted the independent remains of the nation of
the Ostrogoths towards the Danastus, or Niester; a considerable river,
which now separates the Turkish dominions from the empire of Russia. On
the banks of the Niester, the prudent Athanaric, more attentive to his
own than to the general safety, had fixed the camp of the Visigoths;
with the firm resolution of opposing the victorious Barbarians, whom he
thought it less advisable to provoke. The ordinary speed of the Huns was
checked by the weight of baggage, and the encumbrance of captives;
but their military skill deceived, and almost destroyed, the army of
Athanaric. While the Judge of the Visigoths defended the banks of the
Niester, he was encompassed and attacked by a numerous detachment
of cavalry, who, by the light of the moon, had passed the river in a
fordable place; and it was not without the utmost efforts of courage
and conduct, that he was able to effect his retreat towards the hilly
country. The undaunted general had already formed a new and judicious
plan of defensive war; and the strong lines, w