tly afterwards (370
A.D.) that their king Athanaric subjected the Christians to the
most cruel persecutions. At that time they were probably on more
neighbourly terms with the Romans, for when a new enemy, the Huns,
appeared in the east and threatened them with annihilation, many of them
were allowed by the Emperor Valens to cross the Danube and settle
peaceably on the right or southern bank. Shortly afterwards, however, we
find them first defeating and slaying Valens and then fighting in
alliance with the Huns (378) against the Emperor Theodosius, who
attacked them in Dacia. This is the last we hear of the Goths as such,
but a branch, the Gepidae, afterwards rose again and for a considerable
period dominated in Dacia.

[Footnote 109: See Appendix I.]

[Footnote 110: The reader will find most of the chief places named in
the course of this historical sketch indicated on the historical map,
but we have purposely refrained from making repeated references to it,
and even, in many cases, to authorities on history, where that would
interfere unnecessarily with the continuity of the narrative.]

II.

The _Huns_ who drove out the Goths and followed them in the occupation
of the country, are supposed by some to be of Scythian, by others even
of Chinese origin, and Gibbon has very graphically described their first
appearance and movements. 'The numbers,' he says, 'the strength, the
rapid motions, and the implacable cruelty of the Huns were felt, and
dreaded and magnified by the astonished Goths, who beheld their fields
and villages consumed with flames and deluged with indiscriminate
slaughter. To these real terrors were added the surprise and abhorrence
which were excited by the shrill voice, the uncouth gestures, and the
strange deformity of the Huns. These savages of Scythia were compared
(and the picture had some resemblance) to the animals who walked very
awkwardly on two legs, and to the misshapen figures, the Termini, which
were often placed on the bridges of antiquity. They were distinguished
from the rest of the human species by their broad shoulders, flat noses,
and small black eyes deeply buried in the head, and as they were almost
destitute of beards they never enjoyed either the manly graces of youth
or the venerable aspect of age.'[111] These were the beings who
devastated and dominated in Dacia for three-fourths of a century (375 to
about 453 A.D.), and others such as these, we may add, were
still harrying