---
title: "History · Res gestae"
author: "Ammianus Marcellinus"
translator: "John C. Rolfe"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 47 of 52
url: https://scriptura.si/works/ammianus-marcellinus-res-gestae/47/
cite: "Ammianus Marcellinus, tr. John C. Rolfe, History · Res gestae, section 47. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/ammianus-marcellinus-res-gestae/47/"
---

# History · Res gestae

*Ammianus Marcellinus, tr. John C. Rolfe*

The last great Latin history of Rome, by a Greek soldier: the emperor Julian, the Persian wars and the Goths’ victory at Adrianople in AD 378.

> Latin: ed. John C. Rolfe, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, stoa0023.stoa001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: John C. Rolfe, from the Perseus Digital Library (stoa0023.stoa001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 47. Book XXXI · chapters 1–5

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/ammianus-marcellinus-res-gestae/47/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/ammianus-marcellinus-res-gestae/47/#p-N

[¶0] 1.1. Meanwhile Fortune’s rapid wheel, which is always interchanging adversity and prosperity, armed Bellona in the company of her attendant Furies, and transferred to the Orient melancholy events, the coming of which was foreshadowed by the clear testimony of omens and portents.

> Latin: 1.1. Inter haec Fortunae volucris rota, adversa prosperis semper alternans, Bellonam furiis in societatem adscitis, armabat, maestosque transtulit ad Orientem eventus, quos adventare praesagiorum fides clara monebat, et portentorum.

[¶1] 1.2. For after many true predictions of seers and augurs, dogs leaped back when wolves howled, night birds rang out a kind of doleful lament, the sun rose in gloom and dimmed the clear morning light; at Antioch, in quarrels and riots of the common people, it became usual that whoever thought that he was suffering wrong shouted without restraint: “Let Valens be burned alive!” and the words of public criers were continually heard, directing the people to gather firewood, to set fire to the baths of Valens, in the building of which the emperor himself had taken such interest.

> Latin: 1.2. Post multa enim quae vates auguresque praedixere veridice, resultabant canes ululantibus lupis, et querulum quoddam nocturnae volucres tinniebant et flebile, et squalidi solis exortus hebetabant matutinos diei candores, et Antiochiae per rixas tumultusque vulgares id in consuetudinem venerat, ut quisquis vim se pati existimaret, “Vivus ardeat Valens” licentius clamitaret, vocesque praeconum audiebantur, assidue mandantium congeri ligna ad Valentini lavacri succensionem, studio ipsius principis conditi.

[¶2] 1.3. All this almost in plain speech showed that this kind of death threatened him. Furthermore, the ghostly form of the king of Armenia and the piteous shades of those who shortly before had been executed in connection with the fall of Theodorus, shrieking horrible songs at night, in the form of dirges, tormented many with dire terrors.

> Latin: 1.3. Quae hunc illi impendere exitum vitae modo non aperte loquendo monstrabant. Super his larvale simulacrum Armeniae regis, et miserabiles umbrae paulo ante in negotio Theodori caesorum, per quietem stridendo carmina quaedam neniarum horrenda, multos diris terroribus agitabant.

[¶3] 1.4. A heifer was found lying lifeless with its windpipe cut, and its death was an indication of great and widespread sorrow from funerals of the people. Finally, when the old walls of Chalcedon were torn down, in order that a bath might be built at Constantinople, and the rows of stones were taken apart, there was found on a squared block hidden in the midst of the structure of the wall an inscription containing the following Greek verses, clearly revealing what was to happen:

> Latin: 1.4. Vaccula gurgulione consecto, exanimis visa est iacens, cuius mors publicorum funerum aerumnas indicabat amplas et pervulgatas. Denique cum Chalcedonos subverterentur veteres muri, ut apud Constantinopolim aedificaretur lavacrum, ordine resoluto saxorum, in quadrato lapide qui structura latebat in media, hi Graeci versus incisi reperti sunt, futura plene pandentes:

[¶4] 1.5. When gaily through the city’s festal streets
Shall whirl soft maidens in a happy dance,
When mournfully a wall shall guard a bath,
Then countless hordes of men spread far and wide
With warlike arms shall cross clear Istrus’ stream
To ravage Scythia’s fields and Mysia’s land.
But mad with hope when they Pannonia raid,
There battle and life’s end their course shall check.

> Latin: 1.5. ἀλλα’ ὁπόταν νύμφαι δροσεραὶ κατὰ ἄστυ χορείῃ
τερπόμεναι στρωφῶνται ἐυστεφέας κατ’ ἀγυιάς,
καὶ τεῖχος λουτροῖο πολύστονον ἔσσεται ἄλκαρ,
δὴ τότε μυρία φῦλα πολυσπερέων ἀνθρώπων
Ἴστρον καλλιρόοιο πόρον περάοντα σὺν αἰχμῇ,
καὶ Σκυθικὴν ὀλέσει χώρην καὶ Μυσίδα γαῖαν,
Παιονίης δ’ ἐπιβάντα σὺν ἐλπίσι μαινομένῃσιν
αὐτοῦ καὶ βιότοιο τέλος καὶ δῆρις ἐφέξει.

[¶5] 2.1. However, the seed and origin of all the ruin and various disasters that the wrath of Mars aroused, putting in turmoil all places with unwonted fires, we have found to be this. The people of the Huns, but little known from ancient records, dwelling beyond the Maeotic Sea near the ice-bound ocean, exceed every degree of savagery.

> Latin: 2.1. Totius autem sementem exitii et cladum originem diversarum, quas Martius furor incendio insolito miscendo cuncta concivit, hanc comperimus causam. Hunorum gens monumentis veteribus leviter nota, ultra paludes Maeoticas glacialem oceanum accolens, omnem modum feritatis excedit.

[¶6] 2.2. Since there the cheeks of the children are deeply furrowed with the steel from their very birth, in order that the growth of hair, when it appears at the proper time, may be checked by the wrinkled scars, they grow old without beards and without any beauty, like eunuchs. They all have compact, strong limbs and thick necks, and are so monstrously ugly and misshapen, that one might take them for two-legged beasts or for the stumps, rough-hewn into images, that are used in putting sides to bridges.

> Latin: 2.2. Ubi quoniam ab ipsis nascendi primitiis infantum ferro sulcantur altius genae, ut pilorum vigor tempestivus emergens, corrugatis cicatricibus hebetetur, senescunt imberbes absque ulla venustate, spadonibus similes, compactis omnes firmisque membris et opimis cervicibus, prodigiose deformes et pandi, ut bipedes existimes bestias, vel quales in commarginandis pontibus effigiati stipites dolantur incompte.

[¶7] 2.3. But although they have the form of men, however ugly, they are so hardy in their mode of life that they have no need of fire nor of savory food, but eat the roots of wild plants and the half-raw flesh of any kind of animal whatever, which they put between their thighs and the backs of their horses, and thus warm it a little.

> Latin: 2.3. In hominum autem figura, licet insuavi, ita victu sunt asperi, ut neque igni neque saporatis indigeant cibis, sed radicibus herbarum agrestium, et semicruda cuiusvis pecoris carne vescantur, quam inter femora sua equorumque terga subsertam, fotu calefaciunt brevi.

[¶8] 2.4. They are never protected by any buildings, but they avoid these like tombs, which are set apart from everyday use. For not even a hut thatched with reed can be found among them. But roaming at large amid the mountains and woods, they learn from the cradle to endure cold, hunger, and thirst. When away from their homes they never enter a house unless compelled by extreme necessity; for they think they are not safe when staying under a roof.

> Latin: 2.4. Aedificiis nullis umquam tecti, sed haec velut ab usu communi discreta sepulcra declinant. Nec enim apud eos vel arundine fastigatum reperiri tugurium potest. Sed vagi montes peragrantes et silvas, pruinas famem sitimque perferre ab incunabulis adsuescunt. Peregre tecta (nisi adigente maxima necessitate) non subeunt: nec enim se tutos existimant esse sub tectis morantes.

[¶9] 2.5. They dress in linen cloth or in the skins of field-mice sewn together, and they wear the same clothing indoors and out. But when they have once put their necks into a faded tunic, it is not taken off or changed until by long wear and tear it has been reduced to rags and fallen from them bit by bit.

> Latin: 2.5. Indumentis operiuntur linteis vel ex pellibus silvestrium murum consarcinatis; nec alia illis domestica vestis est, alia forensis. Sed semel obsoleti coloris tunica collo inserta, non ante deponitur aut mutatur, quam diuturna carie in pannulos diffluxerit defrustata.

[¶10] 2.6. They cover their heads with round caps and protect their hairy legs with goatskins; their shoes are formed upon no lasts, and so prevent their walking with free step. For this reason they are not at all adapted to battles on foot, but they are almost glued to their horses, which are hardy, it is true, but ugly, and sometimes they sit them woman-fashion and thus perform their ordinary tasks. From their horses by night or day every one of that nation buys and sells, eats and drinks, and bowed over the narrow neck of the animal relaxes into a sleep so deep as to be accompanied by many dreams.

> Latin: 2.6. Galeris incurvis capita tegunt, hirsuta crura coriis munientes haedinis, eorumque calcei formulis nullis aptati, vetant incedere gressibus liberis. Qua causa ad pedestres parum adcommodati sunt pugnas, verum equis prope affixi, duris quidem sed deformibus, et muliebriter eisdem non numquam insidentes, funguntur muneribus consuetis. Ex ipsis quivis in hac natione pernox et perdius emit et vendit, cibumque sumit et potum, et inclinatus cervici angustae iumenti, in altum soporem ad usque varietatem effunditur somniorum.

[¶11] 2.7. And when deliberation is called for about weighty matters, they all consult as a common body in that fashion. They are subject to no royal restraint, but they are content with the disorderly government of their important men, and led by them they force their way through every obstacle.

> Latin: 2.7. Et deliberatione super rebus proposita seriis, hoc habitu omnes in commune consultant. Aguntur autem nulla severitate regali, sed tumultuario primatum ductu contenti, perrumpunt quicquid incident.

[¶12] 2.8. They also sometimes fight when provoked, and then they enter the battle drawn up in wedge-shaped masses, while their medley of voices makes a savage noise. And as they are lightly equipped for swift motion, and unexpected in action, they purposely divide suddenly into scattered bands and attack, rushing about in disorder here and there, dealing terrific slaughter; and because of their extraordinary rapidity of movement they are never seen to attack a rampart or pillage an enemy’s camp.

> Latin: 2.8. Et pugnant non numquam lacessiti, ineuntes proelia cuneatim, variis vocibus sonantibus torvum. Utque ad pernicitatem sunt leves et repentini, ita subito de industria dispersi incessunt, et incomposita acie, cum caede vasta discurrunt, nec invadentes vallum, nec castra inimica pilantes, prae nimia rapiditate cernuntur.

[¶13] 2.9. And on this account you would not hesitate to call them the most terrible of all warriors, because they fight from a distance with missiles having sharp bone, instead of their usual points, joined to the shafts with wonderful skill; then they gallop over the intervening spaces and fight hand to hand with swords, regardless of their own lives; and while the enemy are guarding against wounds from the sabre-thrusts, they throw strips of cloth plaited into nooses over their opponents and so entangle them that they fetter their limbs and take from them the power of riding or walking.

> Latin: 2.9. Eoque omnium acerrimos facile dixeris bellatores, quod procul missilibus telis, acutis ossibus pro spiculorum acumine, arte mira coagmentatis, et distantiis decursis comminus ferro sine sui respectu confligunt, hostisque dum mucronum noxias observant, contortis laciniis illigant, ut laqueatis resistentium membris, equitandi vel gradiendi adimant facultatem.

[¶14] 2.10. No one in their country ever plows a field or touches a plow-handle. They are all without fixed abode, without hearth, or law, or settled mode of life, and keep roaming from place to place, like fugitives, accompanied by the wagons in which they live; in wagons their wives weave for them their hideous garments, in wagons they cohabit with their husbands, bear children, and rear them to the age of puberty. None of their offspring, when asked, can tell you where he comes from, since he was conceived in one place, born far from there, and brought up still farther away.

> Latin: 2.10. Nemo apud eos arat nec stivam aliquando contingit. Omnes enim sine sedibus fixis, absque lare vel lege aut victu stabili dispalantur, semper fugientium similes, cum carpentis in quibus habitant: ubi coniuges taetra illis vestimenta contexunt, et coeunt cum maritis, et pariunt, et ad usque pubertatem nutriunt pueros. Nullusque apud eos interrogatus respondere unde oritur potest, alibi conceptus natusque procul, et longius educatus.

[¶15] 2.11. In truces they are faithless and unreliable, strongly inclined to sway to the motion of every breeze of new hope that presents itself, and sacrificing every feeling to the mad impulse of the moment. Like unreasoning beasts, they are utterly ignorant of the difference between right and wrong; they are deceitful and ambiguous in speech, never bound by any reverence for religion or for superstition. They burn with an infinite thirst for gold, and they are so fickle and prone to anger, that they often quarrel with their allies without provocation, more than once on the same day, and make friends with them again without a mediator.

> Latin: 2.11. Per indutias infidi et inconstantes, ad omnem auram incidentis spei novae perquam mobiles, totum furori incitatissimo tribuentes. Inconsultorum animalium ritu, quid honestum inhonestumve sit, penitus ignorantes, flexiloqui et obscuri, nullius religionis vel superstitionis reverentia aliquando districti, auri cupidine immensa flagrantes, adeo permutabiles et irasci faciles ut eodem aliquotiens die a sociis nullo irritante saepe desciscant, itidemque propitientur, nemine leniente.

[¶16] 2.12. This race of untamed men, without encumbrances, aflame with an inhuman desire for plundering others’ property, made their violent way amid the rapine and slaughter of the neighbouring peoples as far as the Halani, once known as the Massagetae. And since we have come to this point, it is in place to tell of the origin and dwelling-place of this people also, and to point out the confused opinions of geographers, who after many different attempts to deal with the subject have at last come upon the core of the truth.

> Latin: 2.12. Hoc expeditum indomitumque hominum genus, externa praedandi aviditate flagrans immani, per rapinas finitimorum grassatum et caedes, ad usque Halanos pervenit, veteres Massagetas, qui unde sint vel quas incolant terras (quoniam huc hue res prolapsa est), consentaneum est demonstrare, geographica perplexitate monstrata, quae diu multimoda tractans et varia, tandem repperit veritatis interna.

[¶17] 2.13. The Hister, filled to overflowing by a great number of tributaries, flows past the Sauromatians, and these extend as far as the river Tanais, which separates Asia from Europe. On the other side of this river the Halani, so called from the mountain range of the same name, inhabit the measureless wastes of Scythia; and by repeated victories they gradually wore down the peoples whom they met and like the Persians incorporated them under their own national name.

> Latin: 2.13. Abundans aquarum Hister advenarum magnitudine fluenti Sauromatas praetermeat, ad usque amnem Tanaim pertinentes, qui Asiam terminat ab Europa. Hoc transito in immensum extentas Scythiae solitudines Halani inhabitant, ex montium appellatione cognominati, paulatimque nationes conterminas crebritate victoriarum attritas ad gentilitatem sui vocabuli traxerunt (ut Persae).

[¶18] 2.14. Among these the Nervii inhabit the interior of the country near the lofty, precipitous peaks nipped by the north winds and benumbed with ice and snow. Behind these are the Vidini and the Geloni, exceedingly savage races, who strip the skins from their slain enemies to make clothing for themselves and coverings for their horses in war. On the frontier of the Geloni are the Agathyrsi, who checker their bodies and dye their hair with a blue colour —the common people with a few small marks, but the nobles with more and broader spots of dye.

> Latin: 2.14. Inter hos Nervi mediterranea incolunt loca, vicini verticibus celsis, quos praeruptos geluque torpentes, aquilones adstringunt. Post quos Vidini sunt et Geloni, perquam feri, qui detractis peremptorum hostium cutibus, indumenta sibi equisque tegmina conficiunt bellatoria. Gelonis Agathyrsi collimitant, interstincti colore caeruleo corpora simul et crines, et humiles quidem minutis atque raris, nobiles vero latius fucatis et densioribus notis.

[¶19] 2.15. Beyond these are the Melanchlaenae and the Anthropophagi, who according to report lead a nomadic life and feed upon human flesh; and because of this abominable food they are left to themselves and all their former neighbours have moved to distant parts of the earth. And so the entire north-eastern tract, until one comes to the Seres, has remained uninhabitable.

> Latin: 2.15. Post hos Melanchlaenas et Anthropophagos palari accepimus per diversa, humanis corporibus victitantes, quibus ob haec alimenta nefanda desertis, finitimi omnes longa petiere terrarum. Ideoque plaga omnis orienti aestivo obiecta, usque dum venitur ad Seras, inhabitabilis mansit.

[¶20] 2.16. In another part of the country, near the abodes of the Amazons, the Halani mount to the eastward, divided into populous and extensive nations; these reach as far as Asia, and, as I have heard, stretch all the way to the river Ganges, which flows through the territories of India and empties into the southern ocean.

> Latin: 2.16. Parte alia prope Amazonum sedes, Halani sunt orienti acclines, diffusi per populosas gentes et amplas, Asiaticos vergentes in tractus, quas dilatari ad usque Gangen accepi, fluvium intersecantem terras Indorum, mareque inundantem australe.

[¶21] 2.17. Thus the Halani (whose various peoples it is unnecessary now to enumerate) are divided between the two parts of the earth, but although widely separated from each other and roaming over vast tracts, as Nomads do, yet in the course of time they have united under one name, and are, for short, all called Halani because of the similarity in their customs, their savage mode of life, and their weapons.

> Latin: 2.17. Hi bipertiti per utramque mundi plagam Halani, quorum gentes varias nunc recensere non refert, licet dirempti spatiis longis, per pagos (ut Nomades) vagantur immensos, aevi tamen progressu, ad unum concessere vocabulum, et summatim omnes Halani cognominantur, ob mores et modum efferatum vivendi, eandemque armaturam.

[¶22] 2.18. For they have no huts and care nothing for using the plowshare, but they live upon flesh and an abundance of milk, and dwell in wagons, which they cover with rounded canopies of bark and drive over the boundless wastes. And when they come to a place rich in grass, they place their carts in a circle and feed like wild beasts. As soon as the fodder is used up, they place their cities, as we might call them, on the wagons and so convey them: in the wagons the males have intercourse with the women, and in the wagons their babes are born and reared; wagons form their permanent dwellings, and wherever they come, that place they look upon as their natural home.

> Latin: 2.18. Nec enim ulla sunt illis vel tuguria, aut versandi vomeris cura, sed carne et copia victitant lactis, plaustris supersidentes, quae operimentis curvatis corticum per solitudines conferunt sine fine distentas. Cumque ad graminea venerint, in orbiculatam figuram locatis sarracis, ferino ritu vescuntur, absumptisque pabulis velut carpentis civitates impositas vehunt, maresque supra cum feminis coeunt, et nascuntur in his et educantur infantes, et habitacula sunt haec illis perpetua, et quocumque ierint, illic genuinum existimant larem.

[¶23] 2.19. Driving their plow-cattle before them, they pasture them with their flocks, and they give particular attention to breeding horses. In that land the fields are always green, and here and there are places set thick with fruit trees. Hence, wherever they go, they lack neither food for themselves nor fodder for their cattle, because of the moist soil and the numerous courses of rivers that flow hard by them.

> Latin: 2.19. Armenta prae se agentes, cum gregibus pascunt, maximeque equini pecoris est eis sollicitior cura. Ibi campi semper herbescunt, intersitis pomiferis locis: atque ideo transeuntes quolibet, nec alimentis nec pabulis indigent, quod efficit umectum solum et crebri fluminum praetermeantium cursus.

[¶24] 2.20. Therefore, all those who through age or sex are unfit for war remain close by the wagons and are occupied in light tasks; but the young men grow up in the habit of riding from their earliest boyhood and regard it as contemptible to go on foot; and by various forms of training they are all skilled warriors. From the same causes the Persians also, who are Scythians by origin, are highly expert in fighting.

> Latin: 2.20. Omnis igitur aetas et sexus imbellis, circa vehicula ipsa versatur, muniisque distringitur mollibus: iuventus vero equitandi usu a prima pueritia coalescens, incedere pedibus existimat vile, et omnes multiplici disciplina prudentes sunt bellatores. Unde etiam Persae, qui sunt originitus Scythae, pugnandi sunt peritissimi.

[¶25] 2.21. Moreover, almost all the Halani are tall and handsome, their hair inclines to blond, by the ferocity of their glance they inspire dread, subdued though it is. They are light and active in the use of arms. In all respects they are somewhat like the Huns, but in their manner of life and their habits they are less savage. In their plundering and hunting expeditions they roam here and there as far as the Maeotic Sea and the Cimmerian Bosporus, and also to Armenia and Media.

> Latin: 2.21. Proceri autem Halani paene sunt omnes et pulchri, crinibus mediocriter flavis, oculorum temperata torvitate terribiles, et armorum levitate veloces, Hunisque per omnia suppares, verum victu mitiores et cultu, latrocinando et venando ad usque Maeotica stagna, et Cimmerium Bosporum, itidemque Armenios discurrentes, et Mediam.

[¶26] 2.22. Just as quiet and peaceful men find pleasure in rest, so the Halani delight in danger and warfare. There the man is judged happy who has sacrificed his life in battle, while those who grow old and depart from the world by a natural death they assail with bitter reproaches, as degenerate and cowardly; and there is nothing in which they take more pride than in killing any man whatever: as glorious spoils of the slain they tear off their heads, then strip off their skins and hang them upon their war-horses as trappings.

> Latin: 2.22. Utque hominibus quietis et placidis otium est voluptabile, ita illos pericula iuvant et bella. Iudicatur ibi beatus, qui in proelio profuderit animam, senescentes enim et fortuitis mortibus mundo digressos, ut degeneres et ignavos conviciis atrocibus insectantur, nec quicquam est quod elatius iactent, quam homine quolibet occiso, proque exuviis gloriosis interfectorum, avulsis capitibus, detractas pelles pro phaleris iumentis accommodant bellatoriis.

[¶27] 2.23. No temple or sacred place is to be seen in their country, not even a hut thatched with straw can be discerned anywhere, but after the manner of barbarians a naked sword is fixed in the ground and they reverently worship it as their god of war, the presiding deity of those lands over which they range.

> Latin: 2.23. Nec templum apud eos visitur aut delubrum, ne tugurium quidem culmo tectum cerni usquam potest, sed gladius barbarico ritu humi figitur nudus, eumque ut Martem, regionum quas circumcolunt praesulem, verecundius colunt.

[¶28] 2.24. They have a remarkable way of divining the future; for they gather very straight twigs of osier and sort them out at an appointed time with certain secret incantations, and thus clearly learn what impends.

> Latin: 2.24. Futura mire praesagiunt mode. Nam rectiores virgas vimineas colligentes, easque cum incantamentis quibusdam secretis, praestituto tempore discernentes, aperte quid portenditur norunt.

[¶29] 2.25. They do not know the meaning of slavery, since all are born of noble blood, and moreover they choose as chiefs those men who are conspicuous for long experience as warriors. But let us return to what remains of our chosen subject.

> Latin: 2.25. Servitus quid sit ignorant, omnes generoso semine procreati, iudicesque etiam nunc nune eligunt diuturno bellandi usu spectatos. Sed ad reliqua textus propositi revertamur.

[¶30] 3.1. The Huns, then, having overrun the territories of those Halani (bordering on the Greuthungi) to whom usage has given the surname Tanaites, killed and plundered many of them, and joined the survivors to themselves in a treaty of alliance; then in company with these they made the more boldly a sudden inroad into the extensive and rich cantons of Ermenrichus, a most warlike monarch, dreaded by the neighbouring nations because of his many and varied deeds of valour.

> Latin: 3.1. Igitur Huni pervasis Halanorum regionibus, quos Greuthungis confines Tanaitas consuetudo cognominavit, interfectisque multis et spoliatis, reliquos sibi concordandi fide pacta iunxerunt, eisque adhibitis confidentius Ermenrichi late patentes et uberes pagos repentino impetu perruperunt, bellicosissimi regis, et per multa variaque fortiter facta, vicinis nationibus formidati.

[¶31] 3.2. He was struck with consternation at the violence of this sudden storm; for a long time he did his best to maintain a firm and continued stand, but since rumour gave wide currency to and exaggerated the horror of the impending dangers, he put an end to his fear of these great perils by a voluntary death.

> Latin: 3.2. Qui vi subitae procellae perculsus, quamvis manere fundatus et stabilis diu conatus est, impendentium tamen diritatem augente vulgatius fama, magnorum discriminum metum voluntaria morte sedavit.

[¶32] 3.3. After his demise Vithimiris was made king and resisted the Halani for a time, relying on other Huns, whom he had paid to take his side. But after many defeats which he sustained, he was overcome by force of arms and died in battle. In the name of his little son, Viderichus, the management of affairs was undertaken by Alatheus and Saphrax, experienced generals known for their courage; but since the stress of circumstances compelled them to abandon confidence in resistance, they cautiously retreated until they came to the river Danastius, which flows through the wide extent of plain between the Hister and the Borysthenes.

> Latin: 3.3. Cuius post obitum, rex Vithimiris creatus, restitit aliquantisper Halanis, Hunis aliis fretus, quos mercede sociaverat partibus suis. Verum post multas quas pertulit clades, animam effudit in proelio, vi superatus armorum. Cuius parvi filii Viderichi nomine curam susceptam Alatheus tuebatur et Saphrax, duces exerciti et firmitate pectorum noti, qui cum tempore arto praeventi, abiecissent fiduciam repugnandi, cautius discedentes, ad amnem Danastium pervenerunt, inter Histrum et Borysthenem, per camporum ampla spatia diffluentem.

[¶33] 3.4. On learning of these unexpected events, Athanarichus, the chief of the Theruingi (against whom, as has been told before, because of aid which he had sent to Procopius, Valens had recently taken the field) attempted to stand his ground, and if he too should be attacked like the rest, was ready to put forth all his strength.

> Latin: 3.4. Haec ita praeter spem accidisse doctus Athanarichus, Theruingorum iudex (in quem ut ante relatum est, ob auxilia missa Procopio, dudum Valens commoverat signa) stare gradu fixo temptabat, surrecturus in vires, si ipse quoque lacesseretur, ut ceteri.

[¶34] 3.5. Accordingly, he established his camp near the banks of the Danastius, conveniently at some distance from the stockade of the Greuthungi, and sent Munderichus, afterwards in charge of the frontier throughout Arabia, with Lagarimanus and some other men of high rank, to a distance of twenty miles in advance, to observe the advance of the enemy, while he himself in the meantime, disturbed by no one, was preparing his army for battle.

> Latin: 3.5. Castris denique prope Danasti Danastii margines a Greuthungorum vallo longius opportune metatis, Munderichum ducem postea limitis per Arabiam, cum Lagarimano et optimatibus aliis, ad usque vicensimmn vicensinum lapidem misit, hostium speculaturos adventum, ipse aciem nullo turbante, interim struens.

[¶35] 3.6. But the result was far other than he expected. For the Huns, who are shrewd in arriving at conclusions, suspecting that there was some large force farther off, disregarded the troops which they had seen, and who had disposed themselves to rest, as if there was nothing to disturb them; then, when the moon broke into the darkness of night, they chose what seemed to be the best course, crossed the river by a ford, and fearing lest some informer should get ahead of them and frighten off the enemy who were at a distance, they made a swift attack on Athanaricus himself.

> Latin: 3.6. Verum longe aliter quam rebatur evenit. Huni enim (ut sunt in coniectura sagaces), multitudinem esse longius aliquam suspicati, praetermissis quos viderant, in quietem tamquam nullo obstante compositis, rumpente noctis tenebras luna, vado fluminis penetrate, id quod erat potissimum elegerunt, et veriti ne praecursorius index procul agentes absterreat, Athanaricum ipsum ictu petivere veloci.

[¶36] 3.7. As he was stunned by their first onset, they forced him to take speedy refuge in the steep mountains, after losing a few of their own men. Athanaricus, troubled by this unexpected attack and still more through fear of what might come, had walls built high, skirting the lands of the Taifali from the banks of the river Gerasus as far as the Danube, thinking that by this hastily but diligently constructed barrier his security and safety would be assured.

> Latin: 3.7. Eumque stupentem ad impetum primum, amissis quibusdam suorum, coegerunt ad effugia properare montium praeruptorum. Qua rei novitate, maioreque venturi pavore constrictus, a superciliis Gerasi fluminis ad usque Danubium, Taifalorum terras praestringens, muros altius erigebat: hac lorica diligentia celeri consummata, in tuto locandam securitatem suam existimans et salutem.

[¶37] 3.8. But while this well-planned work was being pushed on, the Huns swiftly fell upon him, and would have crushed him at once on their arrival had they not been so loaded down with booty that they gave up the attempt. Yet when the report spread widely among the other Gothic peoples, that a race of men hitherto unknown had now arisen from a hidden nook of the earth, like a tempest of snows from the high mountains, and was seizing or destroying everything in its way, the greater part of the people, who, worn out by lack of the necessities of life, had deserted Athanaricus, looked for a home removed from all knowledge of the savages; and after long deliberation what abode to choose they thought that Thrace offered them a convenient refuge, for two reasons: both because it has a very fertile soil, and because it is separated by the mighty flood of the Hister from the fields that were already exposed to the thunderbolts of a foreign war; and the rest of the nation as if with one mind agreed to this plan.

> Latin: 3.8. Dumque efficax opera suscitatur, Huni passibus eum citis urgebant, et iam oppresserant adventantes, ni gravati praedarum onere destitissent. Fama tamen late serpente per Gothorum reliquas gentes, quod invisitatum antehac hominum genus, modo, nivium ut turbo montibus celsis, ex abdito sinu coortum apposita quaeque convellit et corrumpit: populi pars maior, quae Athanaricum attenuata necessariorum penuria deseruerat, quaeritabat domicilium remotum ab omni notitia barbarorum, diuque deliberans, quas eligeret sedes, cogitavit Thraciae receptaculum gemina ratione sibi conveniens, quod et caespitis est feracissimi, et amplitudine fluentorum Histri distinguitur ab arvis patentibus iam peregrini fulminibus Martis: hoc quoque idem residui velut mente cogitavere communi.

[¶38] 4.1. Therefore, under the lead of Alavivus, they took possession of the banks of the Danube, and sending envoys to Valens, with humble entreaty begged to be received, promising that they would not only lead a peaceful life but would also furnish auxiliaries, if circumstances required.

> Latin: 4.1. Itaque duce Alavivo ripas occupavere Danubii, missisque oratoribus ad Valentem, suscipi se humili prece poscebant, et quiete victuros se pollicentes, et daturos (si res flagitasset) auxilia.

[¶39] 4.2. While this was happening in foreign parts, terrifying rumours spread abroad that the peoples of the north were stirring up new and uncommonly great commotions: that throughout the entire region which extends from the Marcomanni and the Quadi to the Pontus, a savage horde of unknown peoples, driven from their abodes by sudden violence, were roving about the river Hister in scattered bands with their families.

> Latin: 4.2. Dum aguntur haec in externis, novos maioresque solitis casus versare gentes arctoas, rumores terribiles diffuderunt: per omne quicquid ad Pontum a Marcomannis praetenditur et Quadis, multitudinem barbaram abditarum nationum, vi subita sedibus pulsam, circa flumen Histrum, vagari cum caritatibus suis disseminantes.

[¶40] 4.3. In the very beginning this news was viewed with contempt by our people, because wars in those districts were not ordinarily heard of by those living at a distance until they were ended or at least quieted for a time.

> Latin: 4.3. Quae res aspernanter a nostris inter initia ipsa accepta est, hanc ob causam, quod illis tractibus non nisi peracta aut sopita audiri procul agentibus consueverant bella.

[¶41] 4.4. But when the belief in what had taken place gained strength, and was confirmed by the coming of the foreign envoys, who begged with prayers and protestations that an exiled race might be received on our side of the river, the affair caused more joy than fear; and experienced flatterers immoderately praised the good fortune of the prince, which unexpectedly brought him so many young recruits from the ends of the earth, that by the union of his own and foreign forces he would have an invincible army; also that instead of the levy of soldiers which was contributed annually by each province, there would accrue to the treasuries a vast amount of gold.

> Latin: 4.4. Verum pubescente fide gestorum, cui robur adventus gentilium addiderat legatorum, precibus et obtestatione petentium, citra flumen suscipi plebem extorrem: negotium laetitiae fuit potius quam timori, eruditis adulatoribus in maius fortunam principis extollentibus, quae ex ultimis terris tot tirocinia trahens, ei nec opinanti offerret, ut collatis in unum suis et alienigenis viribus, invictum haberet exercitum, et pro militari supplemento, quod provinciatim annuum pendebatur, thesauris accederet auri cumulus magnus.

[¶42] 4.5. In this expectation various officials were sent with vehicles to transport the savage horde, and diligent care was taken that no future destroyer of the Roman state should be left behind, even if he were smitten with a fatal disease. Accordingly, having by the emperor’s permission obtained the privilege of crossing the Danube and settling in parts of Thrace, they were ferried over for some nights and days embarked by companies in boats, on rafts, and in hollowed tree-trunks; and because the river is by far the most dangerous of all and was then swollen by frequent rains, some who, because of the great crowd, struggled against the force of the waves and tried to swim were drowned; and they were a good many.

> Latin: 4.5. Hacque spe mittuntur diversi, qui cum vehiculis plebem transferant truculentam. Et navabatur opera diligens, nequi Romanam rem eversurus relinqueretur, vel quassatus morbo letali. Proinde permissu imperatoris transeundi Danubium copiam, colendique adepti Thraciae partes, transfretabantur in dies et noctes, navibus ratibusque et cavatis arborum alveis agminatim impositi, atque per amnem longe omnium difficillimum, imbriumque crebritate tunc auctum, ob densitatem nimiam contra ictus aquarum nitentes quidam, et natare conati, hausti sunt plures.

[¶43] 4.6. With such stormy eagerness on the part of insistent men was the ruin of the Roman world brought in. This at any rate is neither obscure nor uncertain, that the ill-omened officials who ferried the barbarian hordes often tried to reckon their number, but gave up their vain attempt; as the most distinguished of poets says:
Who wishes to know this would wish to know
How many grains of sand on Libyan plain
By Zephyrus are swept.

> Latin: 4.6. Ita turbido instantium studio orbis Romani pernicies ducebatur. Illud sane neque obscurum est neque incertum, infaustos transvehendi barbaram plebem ministros, numerum eius comprehendere calculo saepe temptantes, conquievisse frustratos frustrates, ut eminentissimus memorat vates,
“
Quem qui scire velit, Libyci velit aequoris idem
Discere, quam multae zephyro truduntur harenae.”

[¶44] 4.7. Well then, let the old tales revive of bringing the Medic hordes to Greece; for while they describe the bridging of the Hellespont, the quest of a sea at the foot of Mount Athos by a kind of mechanical severing, and the numbering of the armies by squadrons at Doriscus, later times have unanimously regarded all this as fabulous reading.

> Latin: 4.7. Resipiscant tandem memoriae veteres, Medicas acies ductantes ad Graeciam: quae dum Hellespontiacos pontes, et discidio quodam fabrili, mare sub imo Athonis pede quaesitum exponunt et turmatim apud Doriscum exercitus recensitos recensetos, concordante omni posteritate, ut fabulosae sunt lectae.

[¶45] 4.8. For after the countless swarms of nations were poured through the provinces, spreading over a great extent of plain and filling all regions and every mountain height, by this new evidence the trustworthiness also of old stories was confirmed. First Fritigern and Alavivus were received, and the emperor gave orders that they should be given food for their present needs and fields to cultivate.

> Latin: 4.8. Nam postquam innumerae gentium multitudines, per provincias circumfusae, pandentesque se in spatia ampla camporum, regiones omnes et cuncta opplevere montium iuga, fides quoque vetustatis recenti documento firmata est. Et primus cum Alavivo suscipitur Fritigernus, quibus et alimenta pro tempore, et subigendos agros tribui statuerat imperator.

[¶46] 4.9. During this time, when the barriers of our frontier were unlocked and the realm of savagery was spreading far and wide columns of armed men like glowing ashes from Aetna, when our difficulties and imminent dangers called for military reformers who were most distinguished for the fame of their exploits: then it was, as if at the choice of some adverse deity, that men were gathered together and given command of armies who bore stained reputations. At their head were two rivals in recklessness: one was Lupicinus, commanding general in Thrace, the other Maximus, a pernicious leader.

> Latin: 4.9. Per id tempus nostri limitis reseratis obicibus, atque (ut Aetnaeas favillas armatorum agmina diffundente barbaria), cum difficiles necessitatum articuli correctores rei militaris poscerent aliquos claritudine gestarum rerum notissimos: quasi laevo quodam numine deligente, in unum quaesiti potestatibus praefuere castrensibus homines maculosi: quibus Lupicinus antistabat et Maximus, alter per Thracias comes, dux alter exitiosus, aemulae ambo temeritatis.

[¶47] 4.10. Their treacherous greed was the source of all our evils. I say nothing of other crimes which these two men, or at least others with their permission, with the worst of motives committed against the foreign new-comers, who were as yet blameless; but one melancholy and unheard-of act shall be mentioned, of which, even if they were their own judges of their own case, they could not be acquitted by any excuse.

> Latin: 4.10. Quorum insidiatrix aviditas materia malorum omnium fuit. Nam (ut alia omittamus, quae memorati vel certe, sinentibus eisdem, alii perditis rationibus in commeantes peregrinos adhuc innoxios deliquerunt) illud dicetur, quod nec apud sui periculi iudices absolvere ulla poterat venia, triste et inauditum.

[¶48] 4.11. When the barbarians after their crossing were harassed by lack of food, those most hateful generals devised a disgraceful traffic; they exchanged every dog that their insatiability could gather from far and wide for one slave each, and among these were carried off also sons of the chieftains.

> Latin: 4.11. Cum traducti barbari victus inopia vexarentur, turpe commercium duces invisissimi cogitarunt, et quantos undique insatiabilitas colligere potuit canes, pro singulis dederunt mancipiis, inter quae et filii ducti sunt optimatum.

[¶49] 4.12. During these days also Vithericus, king of the Greuthungi, accompanied by Alatheus and Saphrax, by whose will he was ruled, and also by Farnobius, coming near to the banks of the Danube, hastily sent envoys and besought the emperor that he might be received with like kindness.

> Latin: 4.12. Per hos dies interea etiam Vithericus Greuthungorum rex cum Alatheo et Saphrace, quorum arbitrio regebatur, itemque Farnobio, propinquans Histri marginibus, ut simili susciperetur humanitate, obsecravit imperatorem legatis propere missis.

[¶50] 4.13. When these envoys were rejected, as the interests of the state seemed to demand, and were in doubt what course to take, Athanarichus, fearing a like fate, departed, remembering that he had some time before treated Valens with contempt when they were making a treaty of friendship, declaring that he was prevented by conscientious scruples from ever setting foot on Roman soil; and by this excuse he had forced the emperor to conclude peace in the middle of the river. Fearing that the grudge caused by this still endured, Athanaricus withdrew with all his followers to Caucalanda, a place inaccessible because of high mountains and deep forests, from which he first drove out the Sarmatians.

> Latin: 4.13. Quibus (ut communi rei conducere videbatur) repudiatis, et quid capesserent anxiis, Athanarichus paria pertimescens abscessit, memor Valentem dudum cum foederaretur concordia despexisse, affirmantem se religione devinctum, ne calcaret solum aliquando Romanum, hacque causatione, principem firmare pacem in medio flumine coegisse: quam simultatem veritus, ut adhuc durantem, ad Caucalandensem locum altitudine silvarum inaccessum et montium, cum suis omnibus declinavit, Sarmatis inde extrusis.

[¶51] 5.1. But now the Theruingi, who had long since been permitted to cross, were still roaming about near the banks of the river, detained by a twofold obstacle, both because, through the ruinous negligence of the generals, they were not supplied with the necessaries of life, and also because they were purposely held back by an abominable kind of traffic.

> Latin: 5.1. At vero Theruingi, iam dudum transire permissi, prope ripas etiam tum vagabantur, duplici impedimento adstricti, quod ducum dissimulatione perniciosa, nec victui congruis sunt adiuti, et tenebantur consulto nefandis nundinandi commerciis.

[¶52] 5.2. When this became clear to them, they muttered that they were being forced to disloyalty as a remedy for the evils that threatened them, and Lupicinus, fearing that they might soon revolt, sent soldiers and compelled them to move out more quickly.

> Latin: 5.2. Quo intellecto, ad perfidiam instantium malorum subsidium verti mussabant, et Lupicinus ne iam deficerent pertimescens, eos admotis militibus adigebat ocius proficisci. uerti, Pet.; uertendi, WE, Val.; uerter di, V.

[¶53] 5.3. The Greuthungi took advantage of this favourable opportunity, and when they saw that our soldiers were busy elsewhere, and that the boats that usually went up and down the river and prevented them from crossing were inactive, they passed over the stream in badly made craft and pitched their camp at a long distance from Fritigern.

> Latin: 5.3. Id tempus opportunum nancti Greuthungi, cum alibi militibus occupatis, navigia ultro citroque discurrere solita, transgressum eorum prohibentia, quiescere perspexissent, ratibus transiere male contextis, castraque a Fritigerno locavere longissime.