public.]

[Footnote 123: The short, but authentic, hints in the Fasti of Idatius
(Chron. Scaliger. p. 52) are stained with contemporary passion. The
fourteenth oration of Themistius is a compliment to Peace, and the
consul Saturninus, (A.D. 383.)]

The provinces of the Danube had been already relieved from the
oppressive weight of the Gruthungi, or Ostrogoths, by the voluntary
retreat of Alatheus and Saphrax, whose restless spirit had prompted them
to seek new scenes of rapine and glory. Their destructive course was
pointed towards the West; but we must be satisfied with a very obscure
and imperfect knowledge of their various adventures. The Ostrogoths
impelled several of the German tribes on the provinces of Gaul;
concluded, and soon violated, a treaty with the emperor Gratian;
advanced into the unknown countries of the North; and, after an interval
of more than four years, returned, with accumulated force, to the banks
of the Lower Danube. Their troops were recruited with the fiercest
warriors of Germany and Scythia; and the soldiers, or at least
the historians, of the empire, no longer recognized the name and
countenances of their former enemies. [124] The general who commanded
the military and naval powers of the Thracian frontier, soon perceived
that his superiority would be disadvantageous to the public service;
and that the Barbarians, awed by the presence of his fleet and legions,
would probably defer the passage of the river till the approaching
winter. The dexterity of the spies, whom he sent into the Gothic camp,
allured the Barbarians into a fatal snare. They were persuaded that, by
a bold attempt, they might surprise, in the silence and darkness of
the night, the sleeping army of the Romans; and the whole multitude was
hastily embarked in a fleet of three thousand canoes. [125] The bravest
of the Ostrogoths led the van; the main body consisted of the remainder
of their subjects and soldiers; and the women and children securely
followed in the rear. One of the nights without a moon had been selected
for the execution of their design; and they had almost reached the
southern bank of the Danube, in the firm confidence that they should
find an easy landing and an unguarded camp. But the progress of the
Barbarians was suddenly stopped by an unexpected obstacle a triple line
of vessels, strongly connected with each other, and which formed an
impenetrable chain of two miles and a half along the river. While they