d scaled the
fortifications of the Barbarians, the valor of Gratian was distinguished
in the foremost ranks; and the gilt and variegated armor of his guards
was pierced and shattered by the blows which they had received in their
constant attachment to the person of their sovereign. At the age of
nineteen, the son of Valentinian seemed to possess the talents of peace
and war; and his personal success against the Alemanni was interpreted
as a sure presage of his Gothic triumphs.

While Gratian deserved and enjoyed the applause of his subjects, the
emperor Valens, who, at length, had removed his court and army from
Antioch, was received by the people of Constantinople as the author
of the public calamity. Before he had reposed himself ten days in the
capital, he was urged by the licentious clamors of the Hippodrome to
march against the Barbarians, whom he had invited into his dominions;
and the citizens, who are always brave at a distance from any real
danger, declared, with confidence, that, if they were supplied with
arms, they alone would undertake to deliver the province from the
ravages of an insulting foe. The vain reproaches of an ignorant
multitude hastened the downfall of the Roman empire; they provoked the
desperate rashness of Valens; who did not find, either in his reputation
or in his mind, any motives to support with firmness the public
contempt. He was soon persuaded, by the successful achievements of his
lieutenants, to despise the power of the Goths, who, by the diligence
of Fritigern, were now collected in the neighborhood of Hadrianople. The
march of the Taifalae had been intercepted by the valiant Frigerid:
the king of those licentious Barbarians was slain in battle; and the
suppliant captives were sent into distant exile to cultivate the
lands of Italy, which were assigned for their settlement in the vacant
territories of Modena and Parma. The exploits of Sebastian, who was
recently engaged in the service of Valens, and promoted to the rank of
master-general of the infantry, were still more honorable to himself,
and useful to the republic. He obtained the permission of selecting
three hundred soldiers from each of the legions; and this separate
detachment soon acquired the spirit of discipline, and the exercise
of arms, which were almost forgotten under the reign of Valens. By the
vigor and conduct of Sebastian, a large body of the Goths were surprised
in their camp; and the immense spoil, which was re