der the name of Judges, Alavivus and Fritigern were the leaders of the
Visigoths in peace and war; and the authority which they derived from
their birth was ratified by the free consent of the nation. In a season
of tranquility, their power might have been equal, as well as their
rank; but, as soon as their countrymen were exasperated by hunger and
oppression, the superior abilities of Fritigern assumed the military
command, which he was qualified to exercise for the public welfare. He
restrained the impatient spirit of the Visigoths till the injuries and
the insults of their tyrants should justify their resistance in the
opinion of mankind: but he was not disposed to sacrifice any solid
advantages for the empty praise of justice and moderation. Sensible
of the benefits which would result from the union of the Gothic powers
under the same standard, he secretly cultivated the friendship of the
Ostrogoths; and while he professed an implicit obedience to the
orders of the Roman generals, he proceeded by slow marches towards
Marcianopolis, the capital of the Lower Maesia, about seventy miles from
the banks of the Danube. On that fatal spot, the flames of discord and
mutual hatred burst forth into a dreadful conflagration. Lupicinus had
invited the Gothic chiefs to a splendid entertainment; and their martial
train remained under arms at the entrance of the palace. But the gates
of the city were strictly guarded, and the Barbarians were sternly
excluded from the use of a plentiful market, to which they asserted
their equal claim of subjects and allies. Their humble prayers were
rejected with insolence and derision; and as their patience was now
exhausted, the townsmen, the soldiers, and the Goths, were soon involved
in a conflict of passionate altercation and angry reproaches. A blow was
imprudently given; a sword was hastily drawn; and the first blood that
was spilt in this accidental quarrel, became the signal of a long
and destructive war. In the midst of noise and brutal intemperance,
Lupicinus was informed, by a secret messenger, that many of his soldiers
were slain, and despoiled of their arms; and as he was already inflamed
by wine, and oppressed by sleep he issued a rash command, that their
death should be revenged by the massacre of the guards of Fritigern and
Alavivus.

The clamorous shouts and dying groans apprised Fritigern of his extreme
danger; and, as he possessed the calm and intrepid spirit of a hero, he
saw