their
spokesman thus addressed her: "O lady, you are not dealing justly by us,
nor doing that which is expedient for the nation, in your way of
educating your son. Letters and book-learning are very different from
manly courage and fortitude, and to hand a lad over to the teaching of
greybeards is generally the way to make him a coward and a caitiff. He
who is to do daring deeds and win glory in the world must be emancipated
from fear of the pedagogue and be practising martial exercises. Your
father Theodoric would never suffer his Goths to send their sons to the
grammarian-school, for he used to say: 'If they fear their teacher's
strap now they will never look on sword or javelin without a shudder.'
And he himself, who won the lordship of such wide lands, and died king
of so fair a kingdom which he had not inherited from his fathers, knew
nothing even by hearsay of this book-learning. Therefore, lady, you must
say 'good-bye' to these pedagogues, and give Athalaric companions of his
own age, who may grow up with him to manhood and make of him a valiant
king after the pattern of the barbarians".

Amalasuentha listened with outward calmness to this harangue, and though
filled with secret indignation recognised the people's voice to which
she was forced to bow. The meek old men were removed from Athalaric's
bed-chamber; he was released from his daily attendance on the
grammarian; and some young Gothic nobles were assigned to him as
associates. But the rebound was too sudden. His barbarian comrades led
astray the young king's heart after wine and women. His health began to
be undermined by his excesses, and the surly ill-nature which he
manifested towards his mother was a sure indication of the defenceless
position in which she would find herself as soon as her son should
assume the reins of government. Feeling these reins slipping from her
grasp, she opened secret negotiations with Justinian to assure herself
of his protection in case she should be driven from Italy by rebellion.
But in the meantime she singled out three of the Gothic nobles who had
been prominent in the revolt against her authority and sent them, on one
pretext or another connected with the defence of the realm, to widely
separated towns on the extreme borders of Italy. Though severed, they
still found means to hold mutual communications and to plot the downfall
of the princess. Informed of this conspiracy, she freighted a vessel
with forty thousand poun