united in leagues, which hold together in peace as well as in war. The
men of Linzgau have no king now, it appears, only an aged count. But he
must be a man of powerful intellect, since the gray-haired Hariowald
has been chosen commander-in-chief of all the provinces leagued against
us. True, we have not to deal solely with the Lentienses. After
centuries of folly these Barbarians are beginning to discover that
'liberty,' that is, the privilege of doing what each man pleases
without regard to his neighbor, is, though a delightful, a somewhat
dangerous pleasure, and that with such 'liberty' they will be forever
our bondmen, so long as one province looks on with malicious pleasure
while we subjugate another with which it has had a quarrel--till its
own turn comes. Formerly they preferred to place their surplus of young
men at our disposal rather than have them obey the commands of one of
their own people, but for some time there has been a change; even those
splendid soldiers, my Batavians, no longer wish to remain with me, and
will not renew their oath of service. We no longer hear the names of
numberless small peoples: five or six great leagues fill the whole
country from the Ister to the Suabian Sea. It has long made me uneasy.
That old man is now the commander-in-chief of all the Germans allied
against us."

"Commander-in-chief of the Alemanni!"

"Don't laugh at them, Ausonius! Ay, this leadership of the woodland war
has cost us much blood and many a dear-bought victory, since the days
of that Quinctilius Varus. As the white-beard is said to be the head, a
young relative of his is called the arm, the sword, the fire-brand of
the conflict."

"What is his name?"

"Attalus."

"Adalo! That was one of Bissula's playmates. She often mentioned him. I
saw him frequently; he looked at me defiantly enough. Could it be he?"

"The women and men at our stations along the lake cannot say enough in
praise of his beauty and strength."

"Well, hitherto neither the warlike wisdom of the old man nor the
warlike zeal of the young one has showed itself," sneered Herculanus.

"Yes," laughed Ausonius. "Their wisdom is the resolve to run away, and
their zeal the energy with which they execute the decision."

But the Tribune, with frowning brow, cried: "Such speeches drive away
the goddess of victory and summon the avenger of foolhardiness. Jeer
after we have conquered--and even then, it is wiser not to do it.
Nemesis sleeps light