W'^ Wl '* VP:-!^. 1^ «f. ;■; '^^ ..':*^' The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028131401 THE HISTORY OF FRAICE. BY PA EKE GODWIN. VOL. I. (ANCIENT GAUL.) NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLlN SQUARE. 18 60. ^i' ■V-:/"f> -• i- - / C ,4. / 4^^*^' Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty, by Harper & Brothers, In the Clerk's OfSce of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. /cornel lX ^nvrooijY s; \. §.. PREFACE. Many years ago, when I first began to read history, I was sur- prised as well as disappointed in not being able to find in our En- glish literature a good general history of France. As I did not then understand the French language, my curiosity was forced to satisfy itself with imperfect compilations and abridgments. ^ This deficiency seemed the more remarkable to me, as I discern- ed at a glance that no nation in Europe had been more intimately connected with the whole course of European civilization than the GalUc nation. Descended from a peculiar and lively race, w^hich w^as amonc: the first of the western races to submit to the Roman yoke and to appro^^riate the Koman culture, it had ever taken a leading and active part in the great movements which shaped and controlled tlie destiny of historic mankind. It was on the soil of Gaul, as a kind of middle or debatable ground, that the most stu- pendous struggles took place between Romanic and Germanic in- fluences; there that the only durable barbaric monarchy was estab- lished after the great invasions ; there that feudalism flourished in its most splendid as well as wretched forms ; and there that roy- alty, aristocracy, and democracy, wrestling with each other for centuries, alternately achieved the most brilliant successes and ex- jDerienced the most disastrous defeats. Something in the inmost peculiarities of the Gallic or French nature, at once so ardent and so impressible, so avid of glory and so reckless of results, so incon- stant and yet so intelligent, and so brave withal, has induced it to take part in whatever was going forward in the world, and to ac- ^ I have since seen a work on the subject, in eight volumes, by Dr. Alexander Ilankin (History of France, London, 1801), which a])pears to have been com- posed from original sources, after the method of Henry's History of England. It is elaborate, and in some respects entertaining, but, both in the plan and the manner of the execution, defective. IV PREFACE. cept, to test, and to abandon by turns every system of political and social life that has arisen in the thought of man. Original and im- itative in a high degree, France has received life from the rest of Europe, and imparted life to the rest of Europe in almost equal measures. While she has drawn, as Ranke observes,^ her litera- ture and arts from Italy, her politics sometimes from Spaua and sometimes from England, and her rehgion sometimes from Ger- many and sometimes from Rome, she has yet sent forth powerful impulses of her own to all these nations ; her arts have conquered no less widely than her arms ; and as her language is the language of every court, and her fashions the fashions of every domestic cu'cle, so her ideas are the inspirations of European science, and her impulses the springs of European politics. The movements of thought in France have commonly spread over all the Continent, and the leadmg epochs of her local history are also the leading epochs in the general history of the world. At no period in her existence, indeed, has the restless and impressible genius of her people consented to play a secondary part in the great drama of human progress. That such a nation should have failed to find a competent En- glish historian is strange, and the fact, 1 2:)resume, is to be ascribed, not to the insular prejudices of English authors, among whom we naturally seek for one (for they have written of joarticular periods in the French annals both learnedly and well), but to the probable famiharity of the English reading public with the French histo- rians themselves, whose labors, to those that can read them, ren- der any other attempts not only unnecessary, biit presumptuous. But, if this may have been the case in England, it is certain that in this country, where w^e have no such general acquaintance with French literature, we need a history of France in the EngUsh lan- guage. Now, as my studies had gradually led me over the whole field of French history, I came to conceive that I might perhaps turn the materials and the knowledge I had collected to some ac- count in supplying this need. I will frankly confess, however, that the magnitude of the project frightened me for a long time from ^ Preface to his History of France in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. PKEFACE. V undertaking it ; and, even after I had begun the execution of it, the studies requisite to render it worthy of modern scholarship seemed so numerous and so difficult, and my own information and ability so inadequate, that more than once I was induced to aban- don it in utter despair. Yet my interest in the matter remained, and I persuaded myself to go forward for my own instruction and amusement, if not with a view to an ultimate appearance before the pubhc. Li this way this first volume has grown up, with ample collections of notes and materials for other similar volumes. My plan at present contemplates a narrative of the principal events in French history, from the earliest recorded times to the outbreak of the great revolution of 1789; but I shall treat the subject by periods, so that each volume which I may be permitted to 2^1-^blish shall be complete in itself. The periods I hope to de- scribe are Ancient Gaul, termmating with the era of Charlemagne ; Feudal France, closing with St. Louis ; France during the national, civil, and religious wars ; France under the great ministries (Sully, Mazarin, Richelieu) ; the Reign of Louis XIV. ; and the Eighteenth Century. ISTo literature in the world is richer in historical monu- ments than the literature of France, and these have been made so accessible by the collections of the Benedictines, of the various literary and antiquarian societies, and by those issued under the auspices of the French government, that I can not fail for the want of resources. In respect to this first volume, which embraces a stretch of many centuries, and refers almost exclusively to the origins of the nation, it must be said that it contains more of dissertation than I hope will be found necessary in the later volumes. A consecutive nar- rative of early and obscure eras which shall be rich in character and local coloring is quite impossible. At the same time, it is im- portant to describe them as fully as we are able to do, in order to convey to the reader some notion of the sources of the national life, of the fundamental races and institutions, and of the events by which direction was given to the national development. Of course, in a labor so extended in its scope as this is, and relating to so many recondite questions, and to conditions of society so dif- VI PREFACE. ferent from any that ^ve know, I have fallen into many errors, some inevitable in the nature of the task, and others the result of my own impatience or ignorance. The learned Dr. Lmgard, who spent his life in historical studies, remarks with great truth in his Preface to the History of England, that " Those only who are ac- customed to historical composition can be fully aware how difficult it is in works of multifarious research to guard at all times against mistakes. In defiance of the most vigilant eye, a wrong name, a false date, will often shp unobserved from the pen ; sometimes a valuable authority or an important circumstance Avill be overlook- ed or forgotten ; and the writer, as he is always exposed to the danger, will occasionally suffer himself to be misled by the secret prejudices or the unfair statements of the authors whom it is his duty to consult." In reading my proofs, I have been often con- vinced that if a veteran needs to use such language in his preface, a mere tyro hke myself ought to repeat it as a foot-note to almost every chapter. Nevertheless, I have taken such pains as I coiild ; I have labored long and conscientiously on what I had to do ; I have neglected no source of information withm my knowledge or reach ; and, though the great collection of Bouquet and others {Berum Gallicarum et Francicammi Scrqytores, 20 vols., folio, 1738) has been my prin- cipal reliance, the works of the more modern writers, of Dubos, Montesquieu, Sismondi, Do Petigny, Fauriel, Guizot, Raynouard, the Thierrys, Michelet, Martin, etc.,liave been always open before me. I have availed myself freely of their references and suo-o-es- tions. Fortunately, the reproach addressed to America by the late Justice Story, I believe, that it contained no library in which a student might verify the notes of Gibbon, is no longer deserved. There are now many libraries here, both public and private, in which this could be done, and, chief among them, the Astor Li- brary of New York, to which tlie scholarship of our country owes a debt of endless fi;ratitude. CONTENTS. BOOK L PRIMITIVE GAUL. CHAPTER I. ANCIENT GAUL, ITS INHABITANTS AND RACES. p^^j. Boundaries of Gaul 9 Its Geography 10 Climate and physical Characteristics 11 Races of People, (I) Keltic, (2) Iberian, and (3) Greek 14 The Gaels or Galls ib. The Gallo-Kymri 15 The Belgians 16 The Aquitains 17 The Ligurians 18 Origin and earliest Appearances of the Races 10 The Kelts in Spain 20 The Kelts in Italy 21 Phoenicians early in Gaul 22 Greeks also in Gaul 23 Foundation of Marseilles 24 Gallic Invasions of Italy ib. Causes of them unknown 26 The Capture of Rome by the Gauls 28 Long Struggle of the Gauls and Romans 29 The Gauls in Eastern Europe 30 Pillage of Delphi 31 The Gauls in Asia Minor 32 Close of their nomadic Career 33 CHAPTER 11. CHARACTER, MANNERS, GOVERNMENT, AND RELIGION OF THE GAULS. Description of the Gauls by Ammianus 34 Their Dress and Appearance ih. Their peculiar Temperament 35 Extraordinary Braveiy 36 Love of War. — Ferocity 37 Their social Condition 33 Progress in Civilization 39 Structure of their Society 40 The Clan, its Nature 41 The Family and its Members 42 Pependents and Companions or Clansmen 43 Viii CONTENTS. PAGB Political Arrangements. — Nobles or Chiefs 44 Organization of the Druids '^^ Priests, Prophets, Bards ^^• Druidesses 47 Origin of the Druids 48 Doctrines of Druidism 49 The sacred Forests - 50 Belief in Immortality. — Metempsychosis 51 Scientific Pretensions of the Druids 52 Their want of Vitality 53 The lingering Bards i^- CHAl'TER III. EARLIEST INEOADS OF THE ROMANS IN GAUL. B.C. Growth of the Greek Colony at Massalia 55 Assailed by the Ligurians 56 154-122. It asks the Assistance of Rome 57 122-121. Rome interferes Avith the native Tribes 58 121-118. A transalpine Province created 59 113-105. Descent of the K}Tiiri and Teutones CO 106-104. Bloody Revenge of the Tectosagians 62 Marius, his Character ib. 104-102. Marius in Gaul ib. His Preparations for "War 63 Defeat of the Teutones 64 Awful Slaughter 65 Battle of the Rhaudian Plains GQ Extinction of the Kymri 67 101-59. Gaul during the Roman Civil Wars ib. Takes part with different Pactions ib. Consequent Sufferings ib, CHAl^TER IV. THE CONQUEST OF GAUL BY JULIUS CiESAR. The Feuds of the Clans C8 72. GeiTnans in Gaul g9 61-59. Grand Migration of the Helvetians 70 Julius Ca'sar 71 58. First Campaign. — He makes War on the Helvetians 72 His Aid is asked to repulse the Germans 74 War with Ariovist ^-^ 57. Second Campaign. — War with the Belgi 7G The desperate Resistance of the Nerv'ii 73 Ca?sar's Successes gQ 56. Third Campaign. — War with the Armoricans {b. The great Venetian Fleet q^-^ Its signal Defeat by the Romans go Caesar's winter Vacations at Luca 00 His Policy in Gaul -^^ 55. Fourth Campaign.— Expeditions into Germany and Britain 84 54. Fifth Campaign.— Second Expedition into Britain 85 The winter Revolt among the Belgi gg 53. Sixth Campaign. — Vengeance inflicted upon the Insurgents 87 B.C. CONTENTS. IX PAGE 52. Seventh Campaign. — General Insurrections 88 The Vercingetorigh 89 He rouses his Countrymen ib. The Gauls burn theirTowns 91 Capture of AA-aricuni ib. Siege of Gergovia 92 Civ s a r at bay 93 Bad Policy and Defeat of the Gauls 94 They Avithdraw into the Fortress of Alesia 95 Protracted Siege of that Strong-hold 9G Surrender of the Vercingetorigh 97 61-50. Eighth Campaign. — Final Reduction of the Clans 98 Ca'sar triumphant 99 The Gauls attach themselves to his Cause ib. BOOK 11. ROMAN GAUL. CHAPTER V. ORGANIZATION OF GAUL BY AUGUSTUS. The Extent of the Roman Empire 103 Its large political Ambition 104 Nature of the Roman Organization ib. Policy toward the ProWnccs 105 Influence of the Roman Colonies ih. Influence of the Roman Naturalization 106 Rome also diffuses her Corruptions 107 Because more corrupt than the rest of the "World ib. 46. Gaul adopts the Roman System 108 37. Is under the direct Government of the Emperor 109 New territorial Divisions 110 ( 1 ) Acpiitania ib. (2) Belgica ib. (3) Lugdunensis ib. (4) Narbonensis, or the old Province ib. Objects of these Divisions Ill 27-10. Great Roman Roads made ib. Tribute and Taxation ib. Civil Organization 112 Military Organization ib. Moral Influences of the Romans 113 Schools of Rhetoric and Grammar 114 Their rapid Spread among the Gauls ib. Distinguished Writers and Speakers 115 Religious Changes ib. Druidism undermined ib. A mongrel Worship 116 12. Temple to Augustus at Lyons ib. Gradual Decay of Druidism ib. The Gauls slowly disappear 117 A.D. CONTEXTS. CHAPTER VI. GAUL TINDER THE HEATHEN ROMAN EMPERORS, p^cg Greatness of this Epoch 118 Gaul plays a Part in it ^^• Yet no complete History possible H^ General Divisions of the Epoch ^^• 14-70. EiRST Period. — The Caesars 120 21. Revolt of Florus and Sacrovir 121 Their Failure •^^• Lenity of Tiberius 122 39-40. Pranks of Caligula in Gaul ib. 41-51:. Claudius persecutes Druidism ib. It takes Refuge in Mona 123 Claudius liberal to the Gauls ih. 54-G8. Revolutions under Nero 124 Revolt of Vindcx ih. Confusion produced by it 125 CO. The First Gallic Empire ih. It miscarries 126 A long Peace succeeds 127 70-lSO. Second Period. — Reigns of the good Emperors 128 Beneficial to the Provinces ih. Gaul prospers and advances 129 160-161. Christianity introduced into Gaul 130 The first Church at Lyons 131 171. Persecutions 132 Blandina, the Slave Martyr 133 Spread of the new Faith ih. Instability and Dangers of the Empire 134 ISO 30.5. Third Period. — Reign of the bad E^iperors ih. Advent of the Legions to Power 135 Civil war of Scverus, Niger, and Albinus ih. Gaul the Theatre of the Contest 136 Triumph of Severus. — His Policy ih. 211-217. Caracalla the Mad *. 137 His important political Concessions 138 Their Eftects on the Provinces ih. Preponderance of Africa and the East I39 Its Influence on Roman Society ih. Degradation of the religious Sentiment ih. 244-2G0. Barbaric Invasions begun \\\ General Uproar. — The Thirty Tyrants ih. 259-273. The Second Gallic Emitire 142 Postumus and his Family ^4.3 Victorine, the Mother of the Camp '',* ih. Failure of the Gauls * ^jj 268-284. Restoration of Order "!.'"."!!.'.".'.'.'.'.'."*.'.'.".".'.*.'!*.'.'.".'.'"" 144 Joy of the Romans ^-^ Their Rejoicings illusive ''..^. 14*5 The Reforms of Diocletian '" j^.g A Tetrarchy established '/.".'.*..,'. 147 285. Revolt of the Bagauds in Gaul !".!....'.'.".".".' 148 Oppression of the People .*!".!'.....' ih. 284-305. CONTENTS. XI A.D. P^GB Spread of Christianity 149 292-306. Constantius Chlorus in Gaul 150 His Moderation and Tolerance ib. Inadequacy of the political Changes 151 Frightful Ravages of Taxation ib. Persecutions of the Christians by Galerius 152 Decline of the old Religion and of the Empire 153 CHAPTER VII. GAUL UNDER THE CHRISTIAN ROMAN EMPERORS. Christianity, its Character and Aims 154 Its first Teachers ib. The primitive Churches 155 Development of the new Faith 15G Change in the Character of it ib. (1) As a Doctrine 157 (2) As an Institution 158 306-312. Constantino Cnesar of Gaul IGO Civil Wars, five Emperors at once ib. Constantino conquers the others ib. Though a Pagan, is the Champion of the Christians ib. 313. Tolerates Christianity.— Edict of Milan 161 Impression produced by his Accession ib. He makes great political Changes 162 Foundation of Byzantium ib. Also great moral Changes 163 Inadequacy of his Innovations 164 Hopeless Decay of the old Civilization 165 It is exhausted by Slavery ib. Christianity unavailing as a Remedy 167 337-355. Wars of the Sons of Constantine 168 350. Usui-pation of Magncntius 169 Opens a Way to the Inroads of Barbarians ib. 353. Constantius the sole Emperor 170 His Revenges. — Persecution of Catholics ib. Dreadful Irruptions of Alamans and Franks 171 Revolt of Sylvanus in Gaul ib. 355-361. Julian in Gaul 172 His Character and Services..,. ib. Residence at Paris 173 Early History of that City iJ). Julian proclaimed Emperor by the Gauls 174 His Success as a Warrior and Statesman 175 Conduct as Emperor, not so excellent ib. He apostatizes. — His Death 176 His Apostacy had little Efl^ect in Gaul ib. Athanasius, St. Hilary of Poitiers, St. Martin 177 St. Martin introduces Monasticism into Gaul ib. Veneration in -which he was held 178 363-395. The Beginning of the End ib. The Sovereignty divided between Valentinian and Valens 179 Valentinian takes up his Residence in Gaul ib. His Wars with the Germans 180 Confusion on all the Frontiers 180 XU CONTENTS. A.D. ^^^= The Goths invade the Eastern Empire 180 375. Gratian succeeds Valentinian in the West ^b. First Advances of the Iluns 181 The Goths achnitted to the Empire ^^- They are cheated and abused ^"• 378-379. Ferocious Revenges of the Goths 182 Gratian raises Theodosius to the Eastern Throne ih. He partly repulses and partly buys the Goths 'ih. 383, Revolt of Maximus in Britain and Gaul 183 SS8. He invades Italy 184 Is defeated by Theodosius, and loses his Head ib. The Frank Arbogast controls Valentinian II ib. 394:. Theodosius sole Emperor 185 Official Suppression of Paganism ih. Policy of the Emperors toward the old Religion 186 Statue of Victory overthrown 187 Sacrifices forbidden ih. Heresy shares the Fate of Heatlienism 188 Religion of St. Peter established ib. CHAPTER VIII. CONDITION or GAUL TOWARD THE CLOSE OF THE KOMAN DOMINION. I. Political Divisions and Administration 189 Officers and their Functions in the Province 190 General Assemblies ih. TheCuria3 191 Their Powers and Duties ih. Their Decadence 192 II. The Classes op civic Society 193 (1) The Senatorials 194 (2) The Decurions ih. (3) The common People 19G (4) The servile Classes 198 III. Manners and Customs of the Gallo-Romans 199 Their Wealth ih. Their Houses 200 Their Studies 201 Sidonius's Character of Vectius ih. Extent to wliich Latin was used ih. Greek and Keltic still spoken 202 Literature and Science , 203 Moral and Social Corruption 204 Couture and Salvian 205 IV. The Christian Society 206 It is better than the Pagan ih. Monasticism , its Na t ure 207 Its Origin and Diffusion 208 Character of it in the West ih. The Bishops, their Activity 209 Christian Literature 210 Peculiarity of Latin or Western Christianity ih. Gaul an Adherent of Rome ^ 212 CONTENTS. Xin BOOK III. ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. CIIAl'TER IX. THE OLD TErTONIC WORLD AND ITS ADVANCES UTON THE EMPIEE. PAOn Obscurity of the German Origius 2L5 Historic Sources, classic Writers, Law-books, and Foems 216 The German Area and its Occupants 217 Their several leading Tribes ih. Ancient Classifications of them 218 (1) Ingi-evones ib. (2) Hermiones ib. (3) Isttevones ib. This Division conjecturally referred to the Scandinavians, the North Germans, and the South Germans ib. Physical and moral Characteristics 219 Rudeness of the Germans ib. Their Braveiy ib. Their Sense of Honor ib. Their Respect for "Women ib. Religion of the Germans 220 A peculiar Polytheism ib. Odhinn and the Asa-faith 221 German imaginativeness 222 Social Constitution of the Germans 223 The Tribe and Family ib. Companions or Clansmen 224 Distinctions of Rank. — Free and unfree ib. (1) The King, (2) the Noble, (3) the F'-eeman, (4) Serfs and Slaves 225 Royal Families 227 Political Divisions and Government 228 The Weregild, or Criminal Code 229 B.C. A.D. Its Origin and Provisions 230 20 - 9. First Conflicts of Germany and Rome 231 Wars of the early Emperors in Germany ib. Progress of the Roman Arms and Arts 232 Divisions among the Gemians ib. A.D. Plermann, the patriotic Hero ib. 69-161. The Acme and Decline of Roman Power in Germany 233 180-250. Great Federations formed by the Germans ib. (1) The Goths 234 (2) The Saxons ib. (3) The Franks ib. (4) The Alemans ib. (r,) The Burgundians 235 Other smaller Leagues ib. Motives which impelled them upon the Em])ire ih. 251, The first Irruptions 236 Impotence of the Roman Resistance ib. XIV CONTENTS. A.D. (1) Loetic Colonies 2^'^ (2) Silent Encroachments ^^• (3) Federati and Allies 238 374-375. At length the Deluge breaks upon all the Frontiers ib CHAPTER X. the great inyasions. — establishment op the barbaeic monarchies. — downfall of the avestern empire. 395-423. Reign of Ho^'orius in the West 239 396. Alarik, King of the Wisigotlis 240 404-405. He makes War upon the Empires ih. 405-406. Descent of Radaghast upon Italy 241 406-407. Invasion of Gaul by the Suevi and Vandals ih. 407-408. Stilicho, the Roman Master of Militia 242 He is accused of colluding with the Invaders ib. Reaction against the Barbarians ih. 407-411. Usurpation of Constantine in Britain and Gaul 243 Revolt of Maximus in Spain ib. 409-410. Alarik invades Italy 244 He besieges Rome 245 411. Ataulf succeeds Alarik ib. He is reconciled to the Empire ib. Constantius sent into Gaul 246 412. Usurpation of Jovinus, a Gaul ib. Ataulf marches against him ib. Disorder of the Gallic Province 247 412-413. Ataulf seizes a Part of the Province ib. Marries Placidia, Half-sister of Emperor Honorius 248 415. Moves his People into Spain ib. 416. Is murdered by a Faction r'j. 417. Wallia takes the Wisigotlis Lack to Gaul ib. 418. They settle permanently there 249 Honorius calls a Convention of the Seven Provinces ib. 423. Death of Honorius ih. 425-454. Administration of JEtius 250 425. Usurpation of John, supported by ^ti us.,... ih. Valentinian III. Emperor ih. 428. ^tius defeats the Wisigoths in Gaul 251 Vandals invited into Africa by Bonifacius ib. 431. jEtius attacks the Franks in Gaul 252 432. He is deposed by the Party of Bonifacius ih. But is soon reinstated ib. 435. He returns into Gaul • 253 430. He defeats the Burgunds and Armoricans ib. 43i>. Concludes Peace with the Wisigoths 254 439-449. Ten Years of Tranquillity in Gaul ih. Attila, King of the Huns ih. His Conquests. — Wars with the Empires ih. 451. He advances upon Gaul. — Consternation 255 The Siege of Orleans 256 -^tius resists him. — Repulses the Siege 257 Retreat of the Huns toward Chalons ih^ Battle of the Catalaunian Plains ;7>. Tremendous Barbaric Conflict i6. CONTENTS. XV A.D. TAGE A drawn Victory 258 Attila retires from Gaul ih. 452. He makes a Descent upon Italy 259 Seizes many Cities and threatens Rome ib. Dies suddenly. — His Empire 260 454. Assassination of ^tius by Valentinian ib. He is himself murdered ib. 455-480. The Flitting op the Phantom EMPEROiiS ib. 455. Maximus succeeds Valentinian ib. Sack of Rome by the Vandals 261 457. Rise and Fall of Avitus, Noble of Gaul ib. Majorian Emperor. — Gaul disaffected ib. 457-460. His brilliant but brief Reign ib. 459. JEgidius, Master of Militia in Gaul 262 He is made King of the Franks ib. Genserik in Africa 263 460. Majorian undertakes his Overthrow ib. He fails and dies ih. 461. Rikimer, a Sucvan Chief, makes Vibius-Severus Emperor ih. iEgidius resists him from Gaul ib. 461-464. Is beaten by Hilderik, Chief of the Franks 264 Debility of the Empires ib. 467. Anthemius created Emperor by the Greek Court ib. 468. Sends an Expedition against Genserik ib. 469-471. Embroils the Bretons, Saxons, and Franks 265 472. Rikimer proclaims Olybrius Emperor ^7^ He dies in seven Months ib. Gondobald, a Burgund Chief, proclaims Glycerins ib. He is deposed by Nepos, Nominee of the East ib. Arvernia in Gaul his last Supporter ib. 475. He surrenders it to the vl^sigoths ib. 476. Orestes proclaims Romulus, his vSon 266 He is the last of the Western Emperors ib. Odoaker, a Barbaric Mercenary, abolishes the imperial Dignity in the West ib. Rome no more ib. 486. CHAPTER XI. THE CONQUESTS OF CIILODWIG THE GREAT. (From A.D. 4S1 to A.D. 561.) Divisions of Gaul at the Downfall of the Empire 267 (1) The Bretons or Armoricans ib. (2)_The8^ons 268 r(3) The Visigoths.— Reign of Eurik ib. (4) The Burgundians 270 U5.) The Franks.— Their Advances 271 (6) Kingdom of Syagrius 275 The Christian Bishops ib. Their Power and Influence 276 The Barbarians Arian-Christians ib. Except the Franks, who are Pagans 277 Plots of the Bishops against the Arians ib. They adopt Chlodwig ib. He conquers Syagrius 278 A.D. xvi CONTENTS. PAGE Story of the Vase of Soissons 279 491. Marriage of Chlodwig with Chlotilda ib. 49G. Battle of Tolbiac 280 Conversion and Baptism of Chlodwig ib. Rejoicings of the Christians of Gaul 281 The Way prepared for a War upon the Burgunds 282 Theodorik, King of the Ostrogoths 283 499. The Bishops and the Burgunds ^"^• 500. Chlodwig makes War upon the latter 284 Gundebald, their King, deposed and restored ih. ^''~~~ The Lex Burgiindio)~uin 285 Com-ersion of the B urgunds ih. Designs of the Bishops against the Wisigoths 286 Alarik, their King ih. The Breviaruin Aniani ib. 507. Chlodwig invades their Territories 287 Miracles in his Favor ih. Battle of Vougle 288 Defeat of the Wisigoths ih. Chlodwig besieges Carcassone ih. The Franks and Burgunds before Aries 289 508-509. Struggle of the Franks and Wisigoths ih. 510. Theodorik of Italy patches up a Peace 290 Chlodwig made Consul by the Emperor of the East ih. Significance of the Act ih. 511. Chlodwig consolidates his Power among the Franks 291 He murders nearly all their Kings ih. Political Motives of these Butcheries 292 The Council of Orleans 293 Collection of the Salic Law {§. The Origin of it and Character 294 Death of Chlodwig 295 His place in History n,^ He is the real Founder of the Frankish Monarchy ih. CHAPTER XII. CHANGES PRODUCED EY THE CONQUEST.— SONS OF CHLODWIG. (From A.D. 511 to 5G1.) General Character of the barbaric Advances 297 They were partly forcible Acquisitions, and partly Concessions made by the Emperors ^-j Chlodwig's Successes real Conquests 29*8 Organization of Gaul under the Franks '.'.*.'.'.".*."".!!'. "ih. The Dukes and Counts 099 Laws were all personal "-i: Koman Jurisdictions and Methods continued 3OO Nevertheless, the Natives were Subordinates....'.'.*.".'.'.*'.**.*."."."."..** ".'" {^ Changes wrought among the Franks by the Conques't.".*.*.'.".*.*.'.*.*..'.'.*.*.* 301 (1) As to the royal Power -i (2) As to the aristocratic Power ij! Distribution of Lands as Benefices .'".'.'.'.'.'..*'.".'.'.*.*.*.*.'.*". 302 Antagonisms developed between the Kings aud*Lc'ud"es'.*.*.".'.".".*.'.'."."'. ih'^. "'"" - ^^ Both insatiable in tlieir Thirst for Power .*.*.*.'*.*."..** 3 Their Enmities increased by Circumstances .*...*..*.".".'!!.*!!!!'.!! ib CONTENTS. XVll A.D. PAGE 511. Division of Chlodwig's Kingdom among his Sons 304 His Conquests continued by them 305 515-528. Thuringia subjected by Thcudcrik ib. 523-534. They assail and reduce Burgundia 30G 531-532. The Wisigoths are driven into Spain ib. 532. Theuderik ravages his own Province of Arvcrnia 307 The Clacks Arvcma ib. Betrayal of Munderik 308 Death of Theuderik ib. Extension (^ the Eastern Kingdom of the Franks ib. Accession of Theudebert ib. 534-547. Invasions of Italy ib. Vicissitudes in the Aftairs of the Ostrogoths 309 Wars between the Goths and Greeks ib. Treachery of the Franks toward both ib. 540. The Emjnre surrenders its Claims to Gaul 310 547. Death of Theudebert.— His Character ib. 55G-558. Revolt of the tributary Saxons.., 311 Revolt of Aquitain against Chlother ib. It is instigated by his Son Chramn ib. Horrible Death of Chramn and his Family 313 558-5G1. Chlother, sole King of the Franks ib. His Death ib. Extent of the Dominions of the Franks ib. CHAPTER XIII. GAUL DURING THE CIVIL WAKS OF AUSTRASIA, NEUSTKIA, AND BUKGUNDIA. (From A.D. 5G1 to 033.) Division of the Monarchy among the Sons of Chlother 313 Austrasia, or Oster-rike, the Eastern Kingdom ib. Neustria, or Nc-oster-rike, the Western Kingdom ib. Burgundia, its Extent lb. 567. Death of Haribert. — New Division of the Kingdom 314 561-57r>. I. The Reign of Sigiiecert 315 566. Marriage of Sighebert and Brunahilda ib. Bruuahilda, a beautiful Gothic Princess 316 567. Hilperik of Neustria marries her Sister Galswintha ib. Sad Fate of Galswintha 318 Fredegunda ib. Sighebert undertakes to avenge Galswintha's Death ib. 569. Hilpcrik condemned by a Mall 319 Broods over his Discontents ib. 571-576. The Langobards invade Burgundy ib. They are repulsed by Mummolus ib. 573-575. First civil War of Austrasia and Neustria 320 Desolations and Victories ib. 575. Murder of Sighebert 321 The wicked Genius of Fredegunda triumphs ib. She is married to Hilperik ib. 575-584. II. The Preponderance of Hilperik 322 First Troubles of his Reign ib. Brunahilda at Rouen ib. Gonthramn the Bad ib. Gregory of Tours. — His Firmness ib. xviii CONTENTS. PAGS 576. Merowig, Son of Hilperik, marries Brunahilda 323 Wrathofllilperik.— His Subtlety «^- Fredegimda's Revenges Xt Merowig takes Sanctuary at Tours \^- b. He is protected by Gregory, 10 The Monarch and the Priest ^^^ 577. Escape and Death of Merowig 325 578-580. Fearful Retributions 326 Wars, Pestilences, and Famines ^^• Fredegunda and Hilperik repent .^. 327 They soon resume their Cruelties 328 Fredegunda destroys her Step-son Chlodwig ib. His Mother and Sister assassinated ib. His Servants and Friends forced to fly ib. 581-584. Hilperik makes War on Gonthramn of Burgundy ib. After three Years of Trial, does not succeed 329 Murder of Hilperik ib. Fredegunda suspected of causing his Death ib. 584-593. in. The Protectorate of Gonthramn 330 Fredegunda asks the Protection of Gonthramn ib. He gi-ants it, and ofiTcnds the Austrasians ib. 585. Conspiracy of Gondowald ib. His early History 331 Is sustained by many Nobles and Bishops ib. Gonthramn discovers and defeats the Conspiracy ib. Siege of Con vena; ib. Shameful Betrayal of Gondowald 332 Fate of his Betrayers. — Drunken Bishops ib. New ]\Iacliinations and Murders of Fredegunda ib. vShe provokes Disaftections and Revolts ib. Employs hired Assassins ib. 580. Causes the Death of Bishop Prrctextatus 333 Attempts the Life of Brunahilda ib. Poisons the Drink of a Frank Lord ib. 587. Solemn Treaty of Andclot, between Gonthramn and Hildebert .... ib. They make War on the Wisigoths, the Bretons, and Basques ib. 593-500. Deaths of Gonthramn, Fredegunda, and Hildebert II 334 593-013. IV. Reoency of Brunahilda ib. Theudebcrt and Theuderik, Sons of Hildebert II ib. INIayors of the Palace l)ecome ]jrominent ib. Brunahilda's Character and Plans 335 She is driven from Austrasia by the Leudes ib. She takes Refuge in Burgundy 336 C03-C05. IMots a AVar against the Austrasians ib. The Burgundian Leudes betray her 337 Offends the Priests and Monks il,, 007. St. Desiderius stoned to Death i/,, St. Columban of Ireland f^. He rebukes the License of the King, her Grandson ib. 610. Brunahilda banishes him 333 Takes Refuge with King Chlother of Neustria ib. Germanic Influences in the Church ib. 610-613. War between Austrasia and Burgundy 339 Last Struggle of Brunahilda Avlth tlie" Leudes if>. Her frightful Death 34O CONTENTS. XIX A.D. PAGE Greatness of her Character 340 613-638. V. Last Flickers of the Merovingan Dynasty 341 Chlother II. sole Monarch of the Franks ih. His Insignificance as a ICing ib. Increase of the Power of the Leudes ih. 614. The perpetual Constitution 342 Its Concessions to the Aristocracy ib. 622. Dagobert made King of Austrasia 343 Pippin Mayor of tlic Palace ib. 628. Death of Chlother ib. Haribert, Brother of Dagobert, King of Aquitain ib. 629. Dagobert visits his own Kingdom ib. Executes Justice ib. 630. Takes up his Residence in Neustria ib. A Prankish Solomon ib. His Profusion toward the Churches ib. Foundation of the Abbey of St. Denis ib. 638. Death of Dagobert. — His Reign overrated ib. Glory of the Franks under Dagobert 344 Nevertheless the Dynasty is very weak 345 Character of the Merovingans ib. Decay of the ancient Society 346 Religious Activity 347 Monasteries 348 Legends and Lives of the Saints 349 Table of the Me'rovingan Rulers 350 BOOK lY. GERMAN GAUL. CHAPTER XIV. GAUL UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MAYORS OP THE PALACE. (From A.D. 638 to A.D. 741.) Mayors of the Palace, their Rise and Progress 353 Nature of their Functions 354. 638-681. I. The Wars OF THE Leudes 355 Pippin of Landen, iEga, Grimoald ib. St. Bathilda {5, 640-660. Echinoald. — Mayor of the three Kingdoms 356 Rise of Ebroin {^. 660-670. Chlother III. King under Ebroin !....!.7.!!!!!!!!.'.'.".".' ib. Ebroin's Opposition to the Leudes 351 670. Is defeated by Bishop Leodegher ib. 673. Leodegher overthrown and imprisoned ib. He is reconciled in the Prison of Luxeuil to Ebroin ib. 674. They are released, and renew their War 358 Ebroin sets up Chlodwig III. as King ib. Makes War on Theuderik III ib. His Persecutions of the Leudes ib. The dreadful Fate of Leodegher ib. The Leudes take Refuge in Austrasia 359 A XX CONTENTS. PAGB A.D. 680. Pippin of Landen opposes Ebroin ^.^^ He is defeated at Loixi ^ " Murder of Ebroin. — His Greatness \"' 681-714. II. The Matoraltt OF Pippin ^^• His Power and Wealth ^^^ He makes "War upon Neustria 7- 687. Decisive Battle at Testri ^.^• Neustria defeated '"• This Battle a Revolution 3^1 General Disorder and Independence 3^2 Revolts of the Tributaries ^^• Pippin labors to restore Order i^- Receives the Aid of the Christian Missionaries i^- 714. His domestic Troubles and Death 3G3 Feud in the Pamilies of his two Wives ib. Murders and private Wars ib. 714-741. III. Mayoralty OF Karl THE Hajimer 364 The Advent of young Karl ib. Chosen Leader of the Austrasians ib. 717. He defeats the Neustrians at Vinci 365 Proclaimed Duke of the Franks ib. 718. Battle of Soissons, — Defeat of the Neustro-Aquitains ib. 719-729. His Wars against the Germans 366 Mohammed 367 632-710. Rapid Spread of his Religion 368 710. The Mussulmans enter Spain ib. 711. Overthrow of Roderik, last of the Goths 369 711-715. Conquests in Spain ib. 715-721. They invade Gaul ib. Are repulsed by Eudo, Duke of Aquitain 370 725-731. Second Invasion of Gaul ib. 731. Their Defeat of Eudo of Aquitain 371 Eudo implores the Aid of Karl 372 732. Battle of Tours.— Severe Conflict ib. Europe and Christianity victorious 374 733-738. Karl confirms his Supremacy in Burgundy and Provence 375 He takes the Lands of the Churches 376 Necessity of the Measure 377 718-753. Labors of St. Boniface in Germany 378 Is supported by Karl ib. State and Prospects of Italy 379 Growth of the temporal Power of the Popes 380 Karl in Alliance with the Popes 382 739. The Pope assailed by the Greeks and Lombards ib. Asks the Aid of Karl 383 He promises it il>. 741. Death of Karl.— His Character 384 He is the real Founder of the Karlingan Dynasty 385 CHAPTER XV. GAUL DtTRING THE MAYORALTY AND REIGN OF PIPPIN THE SHORT. Pippin and Karloman, Sons of Karl the Hammer 3gg Division of the Estates of Karl ,-^ 741-749. I. Their Attempts at the Restoration of Order ,-^ CONTENTS. xxi A.D. TAQB 742. Reforms in the Church. — Much needed 387 742-746. Expeditions against revolted Tributaries 389 Reduction of the Saxons, Bavarians, Aquitains, etc 390 Hunald, Duke of Aquitain. — His Cruelty ih. He enters a Convent ib. Mania for royal Monkery ib. 746-747. Karloraan lays down his Power and becomes a Monk 391 Pippin and Gripho ib. 750-755. II. Establishment OF A NEW Royalty ib. Pippin meditates making himself King 392 751. He consults Pope Zacharias about it 393 The sensible Answer of the Pontiff ib. 752. Pippin is elected King by his Leudes 394 752-753. Wars in Septimania and Brittany 395 755-758. Wars in Italy against the Lombards 396 The Pope's Quarrel with Aistaulf. 397 753. The Pope goes into Gaul to see Pippin ib. Pippin promises him Assistance ib. 754. Interference of the Monk-King Karloman ib. The Pope consecrates Pippin and his Family 398 Pippin marches into Italy 399 Defeats the Lombards ib. Extraordinary Appeal of the Pope ^ 400 755. Pippin's second March into Italy 401 He again forces the Lombards to Submission ib. His "Donation" to the See of Rome ib. 752-759. Conquest of Septimania 402 Wars with the Saracens of Narbonne , ib. 700-768. Expedition into Aquitain , 403 Severity of the Struggle , 404 762. Capture of Bourges 405 763. Revolt of Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria ib. 764-706. Waifer assails Pippin's Dominions 406 768. The Pursuit and Death of Waifer 407 His heroic Resistance ib. 756-767. Changes in the State of Italy 408 Pope Stephen appeals to Pippin ib. 768. Death of Pippin 409 His Position and Character ib. CHAPTER XVI. KAKL THE GREAT, OR CHARLEMAGNE. (From A.D. 708 to A.D. 788.) Greatness of Karl in History 410 742-768. His Youth and Education..' ib. Division of the Kingdom between him and Karloman 412 769. His Policy and first Acts ib. Declares for the Church ib. First War in Aquitain 413 770. Marries a Lombard Princess ib. Repudiates her next Year 414 771. Plot hatched in Lombardy ib. The Saxons and the Franks 415 772. First Saxon War 41G XXll CONTENTS. PAGE 773-774. Campaign in Lombardy The long Siege of Favia ^J^ 774. Karl visits Rome His splendid Reccj)tion ^ * Donations to the Church -J Overthrow and Annexation of Lombardy 4^1 775. Second Saxon War ^^^ 776. New Troubles in Lombardy \^^ He reduces it again \ ' Third Expedition against the Saxons ^o. 777. Diet of Paderborn ^^^ Saracens of Spain ask his Aid ^^• CiA'il Wars among them 4-5 778. Expedition into Spain 426 His Conquests in Spain ^^• Eatal Battle of Roncesvalles 427 Its Renown in Romance and Tradition j'i. 779-785. The Saxon Wars are Crusades 428 Successive Defeats of the Saxons 429 Saxony organized ecclesiastically ?^. New Revolts of the Saxons 430 The Franks defeated ''^. Karl's bloody Revenge 431 Saxon Retaliations ib. Karl ravages their Countiy 432 Offers Terms of Peace ib. Good Effects of his Moderation ib. Witikind, their principal Leader, yields 433 He becomes a Christian ib. 780-731. In the Interval Karl visits Italy ib. Forms an Alliance with the Empress Irene 434 Erects Italy and Aquitain into Kingdoms 435 786-788. Reduces Beneventum and Bavaria ib. 788. Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, deposed 436 Karl's administrative and civic Labors ib. His Love for learnedMen 437 He establishes Schools 438 Gives an Impulse to intellectual Activity 439 CHAPTER XVII. KARL THE GREAT. — REVIVAL OF THE "WESTERN EMPIRE. 789. Expansion of the Frontiers of the Franks 440 The Weletabes, or Wiltsi 441 790. War declared against the Huns ib. Their Place and Character ib. 790-791. Immense Preparations for it 442 The Hunnic Rings or Circles 443 Partial Conquest of Hunnia 444 792-793. Karl's domestic Troubles 445 Conspiracy of Pippin the Humpbacked ib. New Disturbances among the Saxons 446 A Variety of Calamities ib. Karl's Energy in meeting them ib. 794. Council of Frankfort ib. CONTENTS. xxiii A.D. I'AOE The Fclician Heresy condemned 447 A Decision on Image-worship 26. Karl writes a Book on the Question 448 794-798. He conquers Peace once more on all sides 449 From the Saxons, the Normans, the Huns, and the Saracens 450 790. The Acme of Karl's Power and Greatness 451 795. Revolt against Pope Leo in Kome 452 He is nearly killed ib. Applies to Karl for Eedress ib. Karl sets his own Dominions in Order 453 800. Visits Italy a third time ib. Trial of Pope Leo ib. He purges himself by Oath 454 Gratitude to Karl ib. Revival of the Western Em]nre ib. Karl's Conduct and Motives in the Affair 455 Significance of the Act 456 Relations of the Papacy and the Empire 458 Karl's imperial Greatness recognized 459 (1) By the Franks ib. (2) By the Court of the East ib. (3) By the little Kings of tlic World ib. (4) By the Calif Haroun-al-I?iischid ib. 801. Karl returns into Gaul ib. Causes his Subjects to take an Oath of Fidelity to him as Cresar... 4G0 802-803. Reforms the Laws of his States ib. Social and political Constitution of the Franks 461 The P/acita, or Assemblies ib. The Capitularies.— Their Character 463 Ecclesiastical Provisions 466 Militaiy Organization 467 ]ifissi Jjominici 469 Miscellaneous Regulations 470 803-813. Karl's last ten Years of Life 471 Various small Wars ib. Th^se are chiefly committed to his Sons 472 806-811. Division of his Empire among them 473 His last Will ib. Deaths of two of his Sons ib. 813. Ludwig associated to the Empire 474 Karl's solemn Address to him ib. Karl's Illness and Death 475 Person and Manners of Karl 476 Love of Fun ib. Conduct of his Daughters ib. His alleged Unchastity 477 Character as a AVarrior ib. Prodigious Activity 478 His Policy as a Ruler 479 Unity of Christendom ib. Yet he never ceased to be a German 480 XXIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. AD. DISSOLUTION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS. p^^^ 81-i. Ludwig the Pious 481 His Advent to the Empire ib. Troubles in Rome 482 817. The Imperial Constitution 483 Revolt of Bernhard in Italy 484 His Punishment ih. Ludwig grows more monkish 485 818. Loses his Wife, and marries again ib. 822. Ludwig's public Penance 486 829. First Revolt of the Sons of Ludwig ih. Reaction ib. 833. Second Revolt of the Sons 487 Reaction again 488 840. Third Revolt of the Sons 489 841. Death of the Emperor 490 War between the Brothers ib. 843. Bloody Battle of Fontanetum 491 The Oath at Strasbourg 492 Treaty of Verdun 494 France and the modern Nations arise 495 BOOK I. PEIMITIVE GAUL. ANCIENT GAUL. CHAPTER I. Ancient Gaul — its Inhabitants and Races — their Origin, and earliest Appearances in History. The country at the western extremity of Europe wliich is Bonndarie3 HOW named Frauce was originally named, in the lan- ofGaui. guage of its principal race, Gael-iachd, or the land of the Graels,^ from which term the Greeks probably derived their Galatia and Kellika^ and the Romans their Gallia.^ It was de- fined by a remarkable series of natural boundaries — by two large oceans, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic ; by two lofty chains of mountains, the Alps and the Pj^renees ; and by the most beautiful river of Europe, the Rhine.^ Being in length and breadth nearly equal, ^. e., about six hundred and fifty English miles in one direction, and five hund- red and seventy in the other, it comprised an extent of territory larger by one fourth than that of modern France.* * Gael-tachd, or Gaid-heal-tachd^ is and Eridanus (the Po of Italy) have all still a name for the Highlands of Scot- the same root, and that this was Kelt- land. (Armstrong's Gaelic Diet, apud ic. Thierr)^ Histoire des Gaulois, t. i., c. 1 ; * From the old geogi-aphical Gaul we ed. Paris, 1828.) must deduct a part of Sardinia, former- ' For the multitudinous learning that ly the Duchy of Savoy, the Cantons of has been expended upon the origin and Switzerland, the Rhenish province west meaning of the names of ancient Gaul, of the Rhine, the whole of Belgium, and see Picot (Hist, des Gaulois, t. i., c. 1. partof Holland, in order to form France. Geneva, 1804). It is quite ob-vious to For a while, under the Empire of Na- me that KeXrix?? (Keltika), Galatia, poleon, the French recovered the an- Gallia, and Giill-tachJ are only diflfer- cient limits of their fathers, with some- ent forms of the same designation. thing beyond, but they have never suc- ^ In the Kymric, Rhean means a ceeded, much as they yeara for it and stream. Mone(CeltischeForschungcn, talk about it, in making the Rhine a p. 31. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1857). permanent boundary. (Sismondi, Hist. Latham (Germania, p. 14. Lond., des Francjais, t, i., c. 2, p. 45, ed. 1851) conjectures that Rhine, Rhone, Bruxelles, 1849.) 10 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Of the descriptive geography of this territory little was known ita geography, to the ancients, whose random notices inform us that, for the most part, it was covered by forests and marshes. The sea-coasts north and west were the least inviting parts. ^ In the peninsula which is now Brittany, the rough and frowning cHffs lent a gloomy grandeur to the scenerj^, but as these fell away at once into ranges of low sand-hills on one side, and into vast heaths and fens on the other, the aspect of the country became flat and monotonous. It was more picturesque on the Mediter- ranean shores, which were, however, exposed to fearful and des- olating winds ; in the spring to the circius^^ whose abrupt and choleric gusts shook down houses, and in the summer to the sultry auian^ laden with the miasms of Africa.^ But the beauties of the interior, described as presenting the happiest intermixture of high and low land, compensated for the defects that might be found elsewhere. The Alps on the east and the Pyrenees at the south, sending forth the great sec- ondary spurs of Jura and the Yosges, of the Cevennes and the mountains of Auvergne, formed a series of magnificent valleys, through which many noble streams ran, with various beauty and in opposite courses, to the seas. The swift Ehone, gathered from the meltings of the Alps, and passing hurriedly through Lake Leman, shot southward to the Mediterranean ; the Garonne, aft- er breaking away from the unwooded slopes of the Pyrenees, was gradually swollen and propelled by the tributary waters of the Tarn, the Lot, and the Dordogne, till it broadened at last into a great arm of the Atlantic ; farther inland, the Loire and the Seine turned their petulant currents to the same ocean ; while the lordly Ehine, taking its departure from nearly the same mountain sources as the Ehone, reversed its direction, and roamed the wild borders of Grermany in search of a wintry out- let to the northern gulfs. ' Compare Cresar, Strabo, Ptolemy, eras. See Arthur Young's Travels, v. Mela, Pliny, passim. i., p. 299. " Voila le vent, " writes Ma- ^ Pliny, 1. ii., c. 47, et 1. xyii., c. 21 ; dame de Sevigne, *' /e tourbiUon, Poura- Aul. Gell., 1. li., c. 22. Kirk, in the 0 = For the peculiarities of the Iberians ' Cato ap. Servium ad ^neid xi • see Strabo, 1. lii c. 4, § 5, and iv., ], but Niebuhr generously defends 'them 1 ; Florus, ii., 17; Caesar i,i., c. 2; from this (Rom. Hist., v. i., p. 90), nor Valer. Maxim, vii 6; Polyb., iii., does he admit their Iberian descent. 144. As to their differences from the ^ ^ ii, q ^ Gauls, Li\7, xxiL, 46. The species of ^ Diod.' Sic v "^d ^'assalage which prevailed among the ^ Their position was in Upper and Aquitains under the name of Saldune, Lower Lanc^uedoc. Chap. I.] ANCIENT GAUL. 19 Into the origin of these several races, or the time and man- ori-in and ear- ner of their arriving in Gaul, it would be interest- theee races. ing, but, I think, almost fruitless, to inquire. The theor}^, accepted by many ethnologists, which represents the whole of Europe as having been peopled from the East, first by Finnic, then Pelasgic, then Keltic, then Teutonic, and then Schlavic races, is, perhaps, speculatively satisfactory, but it can not be adopted in history.^ For, in fact, history can not know any thing of the beginnings of nations;- its sphere is exclusive- ly that of progress and development ; and, while it acknowl- edges with cordial sympathy the services of archaeology, and rejoices particularly in those beautiful labors of the science of language which have unfolded the analogies of the sacred tongues of Upper Asia — the Sanscrit and the Zend — with the European dialects, it yet preserves a studied caution amid the half-lights and false lights of all unrecorded eras.-^ If I may not enter into the difficult cj^uestions which relate to the primeval seats and migrations of the Gauls, it is, neverthe- less, a part of my subject to refer to some of their earliest ap- pearances in general history and tradition. I have remarked that, in a remote antiquity, they were known to the classic na- tions ; and it should now be added that, fron\ a remote antiquity, they were actively engaged in influencing the destinies of man- kind. A peculiarly restless, mobile, and eager race always, its traces are discoverable every where — in Europe, Asia, Afri- ca, and, as some do not scruple to assert, even in Australia and America.* But its principal home was the west of Europe, ^ Compare Prichnrd (Researches into prove that mankind, created, not in the Physical Hist, of Mankind, vol. iii., single pairs, but by nations, were estab- p. 23 ; also vol. iv., p. GO")). Hamilton lished in certain local zones correspond- Smith (Natural Hist, of Human Spe- ing to those of the /««?;« and /?ora(Chris- cies, pp. 296-320. Ed. Boston, 1851) tianExam.,p. 118,etseq. Boston, 1850. deduces the Etruscans and Ligurians See also his paper in Nott and Gliddon'^ from the Finnic famil}-, and finds re- Types of Mankind. Phil., 1854). mains of it in the Cagots of France and - Niebuhr (Rom. Hist., \. i.,p. 235). in the Basques of France and Spain. ^ Mone(CeltischeForschungen, Vor- De Petigny (Etudes sur THistoire, etc., rede, p. 7) remarks on the necessity, for de I'Epoque Mero>angienne, t. i., p. 21, all genuine historical purposes, of con- et seq. Paris, 1851) argues these abo- sidering the nations as independently- riginal movements plausibly, and con- developed communities, influencing each nects the loose and scattered indicia of other in various ways, but having nc the ancients in an ingenious manner, consciousness of their unity of origin. On the other hand, Agassiz wishes to * See note in Humboldt (Kosmos, v. 20 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. wlience it spread early in many directions. Long before any recognized historical era the Kelts were distributed over Britain and the northern islands, giving names to the hills, the streams, the towns, and the populations. When the Eomans landed in those parts they found the sea-coasts peopled with Belgian and Kymric tribes, who may have been recent colonists from the continent, although the people of the interior, manifestly of kindred race, claimed an occupancy so ancient that they called themselves the aborigines.^ By the testimony of Caesar we know also that there were Kelts in Germany, although we do not know whether they preceded the Germans in their set- tlement there, or whether they were merely straggling colonists from Gaul.^ In the same way, there is evidence, as it has been already intimated, that, anterior to all written monuments, they were mingled, and, doubtless, engaged in hostilities, with the clans of the Iberic peninsula. But whether, in their hostih ities with the Iberians, they were the conquering or the con- quered race, learned men are again in doubt. ^ The general persuasion of the ancient writers was that the The Kelts in Kclts wcre the invaders of Spain, and the Iberians Spam. ^YiQ aborigines f but Niebuhr and others have recent- ly argued that the Iberians, originally possessing the district of Betica only, overpowered the Kelts, who held the other parts, and expelled all but a few, whom they forced to take refuge in the regions called Keltiberian.^ It is an objection to this hy- pothesis that the Iberians, a more passive and less warlike race^ than their aggressive and ferocious neighbors the Kelts,"^ were not likely to drive them from a soil so easily defended as that ii., p. 235), though this refers to com- ^ I ought to except, perhaps, some j)aratiyely modern times. of tlie French historians (Michelet and ^ Cocsar (Bell. Gall., 1. v., cc. 12-U). Amadee Thieny among the rest), who Tacitus (Agric, c. 11). Percy (Pref- assign a positive date to the Gallic con- ace to Mallet's North. Antiq., 1, 30). quests in Sfiain, viz., sixteen centuries Comp. Welsh Triads (Triad. Mp-. Ar- before Christ. A Tabkau Chrono/oqlqve chjeology of Wales, t. ii.). appended to Picot (Histoire des Gaul.) - Caesar, Bello Gallico, 1. ^-i., c. 2 says B.C. 16-19 precisely ! I wonder it Mone (Celtische Porschungen, passim) did not give the day of the month. detects in the local names, as well as * Diod. Sic, v., 33; Lucan, iv., 9 ; in the terms which designate persons, Silius Ital., iii., 140; Strabo, iii., 162. classes, customs, utensils, etc., of Ger- * jj^^t^ Pome, >. ii., p. 235. Hum- many, many Keltic originals. Several boldt was of the same opinion, expressions, quite unexplainable by any ^ gtrabo, 1. iii., c. 4, § 5. Teutonic dialect, are thus made clear. ^ Ibid., 1. iv., c. 4, § 2. Cmvp. I.] ANCIENT GAUL. 21 of Spain. ^ All that may be safely asserted is that tliey prob- ably waged many wars witli eacli other across the summits of the Pyrenees, in the course of which many Gauls got scattered through Spain, as many Iberians did through Aquitaine. A tradition- connects these Spanish forays of the Kelts with The Kelts in the cxpulslou of an Iberian tribe called Sikans into Italy. Upper Italy, which, opening a new route for adventure and battle to the Gauls, shifted their excursive valor from the rough mountain paths of Spain into the more seductive plains of the Po.^ Numerous hordes of them, under the name of Amrah,'^ or valiant men, are said to have wound through the difhcult passes of the Alps, and, seizing Sub-Alpine Italy, ex- tended their conquests to the mouth of the Tiber,^ In this beautiful and fertile region, deemed the garden of the world,^ they proceeded to divide their possessions into three great prov- inces, which, after the manner of their race, they named respect- ively Is-Ombria, or Lower Ombria ; All-Ombria, or Upper Om- bria ; and Val-Ombria, or Ombria of the Shore.'' The first em- braced the plains about the Eridanus, or Po; the second the two declivities of the Apennines and the coasts of the Upper ^ There is still no little force in the * Whence the Latin, Ambro, Am- analogical reasoning of Niebuhr, viz., hrones, Umhri, and Greek, 'AfiSpojv, that we find the Kelts, principally, where "Ofi€pioQ, "O/jiSpLKoc. we should most expect to find a primi- ^ Solinus Polyhist., chap, 8; Isidor. tive population, in the mountain fast- Orig., 1. ix., c. 2; Servius in -^ncid., nesses and on the extreme western pro- xii., 753. Comp. Dion. Hal., 1. i., c. montories, to which they would betake 10-28. themselves naturally to escape foreign ^ Polyb., ii,, \r> ; Tacit. Hist., 1. ii., invaders. c. 17; Cicero, Phil,, iii., ;"). ^ Thucydidcs, 1. vi., c. 2; Ephorus ' In Gallic, says Thierry, Is means ap, Strabo., 1. vi., c. 2, § 4 ; Servius ad lower, A//, upper, and ]'ii/, the shore iEneid., vii. See the note of Grote (Armstrong's Gaelic Diet.), This ac- (Hist. Greece, v. iii., c. 22) on this sup- coiant of the Ombrians is that of Freret, posed origin of the Sikans, who after- Bardctti, and Thierry, who identify ward settled Sicily. Sir G. C. Lewis them with the J^efcres Galli of Roman (Cred. Kom. History, v. i., t. 8) shows tradition. Cluverius (Ital. Antiq., 1. i.) that the story is wholly confused. Mul- andMaffei (Ragion delli Itali primativa, ler, however (Die Etiiisker, v, i., p. 10), i., 2) reject the interpretation altogeth- calls it " a firm tradition of antiquity." er, Niebuhr does not decide (Roman Thierry (Hist, des Gaul., t. i., c. 1), on Hist., v. i., pp. 75-88), simply regard- the strength, probably, of Freret's inves- ing the Ombrians as a "most ancient tigations (CEuvres Completes, t. iv., p. nation." But Sir G. C. Lewis denion- 200), assigns the very date, viz., B.C. strates that there is nothing really 1400 ! known of the primitive nations of Italy ^ Strab., 1. iv., c. C, § 3 ; Avienus, (v. i., c. 8). Ora. Marat., 129. 22 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Sea, not yet named the Adriatic ; and the third the maritime region between the Arno and the Tiber, which is the actual Tuscany.^ Under the favorable influences of climate and soil the Umbrians grew apace, but at the top of their wealth and power they were scattered by the sombre and mysterious tribes of the Easena, or Etruscans. Another ancient story brings Gaul into relations with the The Phoeni- Oriental civilization as early as the eleventh century cians in GauL j^^f^pg Christ. At that time there stood on a narrow strip of the Syrian coast the famous Phoenician towns whose opulence and splendor the fervid imagination of Ezekiel has portrayed,^ and which contained more daring enterprise and invincible industry — more manufacturing skill and commercial wealth than all the rest of the contemporary world. ^ Their hardy navigators, it is said, had already explored the Red Sea and the coasts of Arabia in the days of David, and planted col- onies in Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, and Spain as early as the Trojan war.'^ Under the guidance of their tute- lary god Melkarth (the Tyrian Herakles), the companion and friend of adventurous colonists, they had penetrated also to the gold-mines of the Pyrenees and the Cevennes.^ It is of course only a mythological tale which tells us how this intrepid and vagrant deity landed at the mouths of the Ehine, and gave battle to the fierce children of Neptune, Albion and Ligor ; how he built the city of Nemausus (Nimes) as a monument of victory f how he taught the woodland tribes to till the land and to construct houses ;'' how he opened a way for them across the Col di Tenda into Italy f how he softened their cruel and sanguinary laws ; and how, when the terrible mountaineer Tau- riskus^ descended to destroy the fruits of his labor, he raised the wall of Alesia for his tower and defense. ^^ It is only a mytho- ' Comp. Polyb., 1. ii., c. 18; Plin., ' Diod. Sicul., 1. iv., p. 226. 1. Hi., c. 8, 19. ' "AVhich," says Michelet, "the Ro- Ezek., cc. xxvii., xxviii. mans found, and converted into the 3 Grote (Hist. Gr., y. iii., c. 18). Via Domitiana and Aureliana." Hist. * If one may know when that was ! France, t, i., 1. i. (Strab., xiv., p. 754 ; Heeren, Ideen, « Cato (in Pliny, 1. iii., c. 24) places band ii., theil 1, abtheil. 2.) a confederation ofTaurisks in the Alps. ' AmmianusMarcellinus, 1. xv.,c.9. '^ Diod. Siculus, 1. iv., c. 19. See ° Mela, 1. ii., c. 5, says Alebion and Eitter (Die Vorhalle Europaische Volk- Geiyon. For Nemausus, see Stepha- ergeschichten, p. 378. Berlin, 1820). nus of Bvzantium. Chap. I.] ANCIENT GAUL. 23 logical tale, and yet beneath tlie legend the ingenuity of a pro- saic and rationalizing erudition discerns the traces of deeds ac- tually accomplished by the Phoenician people. "The voyages of a god in the language of myth," says Amp5re, " express the diffusion of his worship."^ Heracles in Gaul meant the Phoe- nicians spreading their commerce from Gades (Cadiz), where they were settled, into the countries beyond the Pyrenees.- The traditions of the Gauls themselves, moreover, long perpet- uated the story of beneficent ameliorations wrought among them by a divine race of strangers ; which are confirmed, as many ar- gue, by the traces of Semitic words to be found in French, as well as by the analogies of the Phoenician and Druidical relig- ions.^ It is certain that when the Romans entered Gaul they found the people possessed of some degree of civilization ; they were skillful miners and workers of metals, and their dyes and party-colored cloths, or plaids, soon acquired a high repute.* But as these were arts for which the older Phoenicians had been distinguished, and as they were practiced chiefly in those parts of Gaul where the Phoenicians must have landed, the inference as to their origin would seem to be obvious. As the purposes of the Phoenicians, however, were purely commercial, they did not acquire any extended or permanent political dominion ; whatever influences they exerted in that way were at most transient and incidental ; and with the decay of the mother- empire the prosperity of the colonies ceased. The Rhodians are reported to have established a colony, some The Greeks time lu the scvcnth century B.C., at Rhodanusia, near the m Gaul. j^i^one ;^ but either their stay was short or the remem- brances of it were swallowed up in those of another Grecian people destined to affect the interests of Gaul far more largely and iDcrmanently. These were the Asiatic Phokseans — the most adventurous mariners of their race — one of whose armed pen- tekonters, in B.C. 600,*^ while prosecuting what was still a for- ' Ampere (Histoire Litteraire de la * Plin., 11. xviii. and xxxiv. France, avant le douzieme Siecle, t. i., ^ Ste. Byz. and Plin., 1. iii., c. 5. c. 4, p. 8G. Paris, 1839). « Grote says B.C. 600, in vol. iii., p. = Grote (Hist. Greece, v. iii., c. 18, 280, and B.C. 597, on page 400, assigu- pp. 273-4). ing for the latter Sk}Tnnus Chius, 210. ^ Ampere (Hist. Lit., t. i., c. 4); also Livy (1. v., c, 34) alleges the later date Abbe de Fontena (Me'moires de TAcad- — the 4r)th 01}Tnpiad — the authority of e'mie des Inscrip. et Belles Lett., t. vii.). both being Timxus. 24 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. midable voyage, to the Straits of Calpe/ cast anchor upon tlie Gallic coast.2 ^ multitude of romantic legends of course adorns and embarrasses the narrative of the fortunes of these first Greek settlers ; but it is still possible to gather from them, with some assurance, that the leader of the expedition, named either Protis or Euxenus, acquired lands and a wife from the Gallic tribe of Segobriges, which possessed the coast near the mouth of the Khone, and maintained an independent position there, in the midst of a powerful Ligurian population.^ Profiting by the native hospitality, the Phokjsan, while he dispatched some of his companions to Phokcea for recruits, proceeded to lay the foundations of a new colony. Nor can we fail to admire the sagacity he evinced in the selection of a site. It was a natural harbor, dug into the bowels of a rocky peninsula, facing the genial South, and adapted alike to commerce and to defense.* The Greek name of Massalia given to this infant city, like the city itself, survives the mutations of twenty-four hundred years in the French Marseille. As the Greeks brought with them their arts, the little colony on the banks of the Khone soon reflected all the splendors of the Ionic cities of the East ;^ but it did not escape the usual fate of colonies. It was involved in wars with the jealous and pred- atory Ligurians of the neighborhood, and once, when on the New invasions poiut of bciug Overwhelmed, was saved by a re- of Italy. markable event. This was the arrival beneath its ^ From Corinth to the Pillars of Her- the Gauls. It seems he had prepared cules was about 100 days' sail. Skylax a great feast, to celebrate the betrothal Periplus, c. 110. of his daughter, to which the Phokteans ' Herodotus, 1. i., u. 163. Justin, 1. were invited. When the time came for xliii., L-. 3. Aristotle ap. Athenaeum, 1. the maiden to make a choice among the xiii.,c. 30. Plutarch in Solon. There guests, as the custom of the tribe or- are the usual discrepancies in these tales dained, she gave the cup (either of water of the foundation, but the leading facts or wine) to the young leader of the appear to be pretty well established. Sir Greeks, who wvas accepted as bridegroom G. C. Lewis carries his skepticism in by the father. Justin calls the daugh- regard to them perhaps too far ; wliilc, on ter Gyptis ; Aristotle, Petta ; but, at the other hand, Raoul-Rochette (Hist, any rate, her dowiy w^as the whole Gulf des Etab. Colonies Grecqucs, vol. iii., of Lyons with the adjacent territoiy. pp. 405-413) is inclined to accept too Protis was probably the eponym of the much. first colonists — the Protiada?. ^ Li^7 says that the Greek had to * Avienus, v., 701. Strab., 1. iv., c. fight for a place ; but Aristotle and Jus- 1 , § 4 ; Cies., Bell. Civ., 1. ii., c. 1. tin assert he was received in the most ^ Justin, 1. xliii., c. 3. friendly manner by Nann, the chief of Chap. L] ANCIENT GAUL. 25 walls of a numerous and powerfal band from the centre of Gaul, on a freebooting expedition into Italy. According to Livy,^ a great potentate of the Bituriges (Berryans), either find- ing his territory overcrowded or fearing the factious spirit of his people, had proposed a grand evacuation across the Alps. The enterprise was committed to his two aspiring nephews, named Sigovesus and Bellovesus ; and three hundred thousand men eagerly flocked to the standards of the brothers." Dividing their forces into two bodies, and taking their courses, in the manner of the times, from the flight of birds, Sigovese led his clans toward the Hercynian forest in Germany (where we will leave them for the present), while Bellovese went to the south of Gaul. Wandering at the foot of the Alps, to find a pass, the latter was induced to help Massalia against the Ligurians, and then he crossed the mountains, by the vale of Aosta, into Italy.3 He carried with him, in addition to the Biturigians, Arvernians, ^duans, Ambarri, Carnutes, and the Aulesks,* nearly all mountaineers, and of the fiercest tribes of Gaul. Pushing forward to northern Etruria, the Etruscans disputed with them the passage of the Ticinus, but were routed and * Liv., 1, v., c. 44, crossing the Alps, in early times, to Justin, 1. xxiv., c. 4. ravage Italy, On the strength of these ^ Niehuhr (Rom. Hist., v. ii,, p. 241). conflicting authorities the modems getdi- Nothing in history' has been more con- vided. Miiller(DieEtrusker, vol. i.,]'p. troverted than the H/iu? in which these 147-1."')4) agrees with Li^y, and thinks Gallic invasions of Italy took j^lace. there is nothing improhaltlc in the oldest The single authority of Lixy (v. 34) re- date. Amede'eThieriy (Hist, des Gaul- fers them to the reign of Tarqninius ois, t. i., c. 1) coincides. But Kie- Priscus, B.C, COO, l»y connecting them bnhr (Rom, Hist., y. ii., pp. 231-34) with the incident of the rescue of 5Ias- rejects the date of Livy altogether, as salia. Other writers assign sitbsequent do Arnold (Hist. Rome, c. xxiv.) and periods — generally two centuries later — Michelet (Hist, de France, t. i., 1, 1). or just before the liurning of Rome by The controversy is clearly summed uj) the Senones, B.C. 300. (Zonares, vii., by Sir G. C. Lewis, in his Credibil- 23; A])pian, Rom, Hist., iv., excerp, ity, etc., c. xxi., sect. 24, and c. xii., 2; Justin, xxiv., 4.) Diodorus, xiv., sect. TD. I myself prefer the latest date, 113, fixes the time as coeval with the simply because it brings us nearer to the siege of Rhegium, which would be B.C. historical ages. 388. Plutarch (in vita Camill.) alleges * Li^y, 1. v., cc. 34, 35. Comp, that the Gauls crossed the Alps at an Polyb,, 1. ii., cc. 17, IS. In this ac- indefinite time before the taking of count I simply select from the (dd writ- Rome, Polybius, ii., 7, 18, saj^s that ers such incidents as appear to me not it was "some time after" crossing that improbable; bnt there were no contem- they took Rome. DionCassius. xxxviii., poran,^ annals, and all the writers found 40, describes the Gauls as freqiiently themselves upon general tradition. 26 A^^CIENT GAUL. [Book I. dispersed, wliile the G-auls seized the entire territory between that stream and the Padus and Addua.' Thus they avenged their ancient kindred, the Amrha, or Ombrians, in connection with whose descendants they built the city of Mediolannm, now the beautiful Milan.- On their invitation, also, other hordes of Gauls, principally Cenomans from about Manceaux, under the command of a chief who called himself the Hurri- cane,^ came into Italy, and helped to drive the Etruscans en- tirely out of Transpadania, as far as the frontier of the Ye- netes, when they either seized or laid the foundations of Brescia and Yerona."^ A third emigration, composed chiefly of Kymric Gauls, i. e., Boians, Anamans, and Lingons, entering Italy by way of Helvetia and the Pennine AIjds, and finding the whole region to the north of the Po occupied by their fellows, crossed to the southern side, and took possession of the banks quite to its mouth on the Adriatic.^ Last of all came the Senones, another swarm of Kymri, who pushed the Umbrians themselves from the shores of the Uj^per Sea, and founded there the city of Sena, now Sinigaglia.^ Thus, year after 3^ ear, for an indefinite length of time, these streams of savage life poured along the defiles of the Alps, and overflowed the magnificent plains of northern Italy. Before them the civilization of the Etruscans, gloomy and sacerdotal, 3^et largely in advance of any in Europe, gradually disappeared : their twelve flourishing cities gave place to towns without walls and habitations without furniture, and their cultivated fields were abandoned to forest or to waste.'' Of the fact of these later Gallic invasions there can be little Causes of them, doubt ; but of the causes of them, of the precise date, and of the attending circumstances, our information par- takes of all the vagueness and incoherence which marks the ^ Anthon, Ancient and [Mediaeval Lingons, then they were K}Tnri, accord- Geog., p. 27C. ing to the best evidences. = Li\y, v., 34. Comp. Pliny, iii., 17. ^ Most of the writers confound this ^ Ae/e, ^vmd] dab/}, stonnY. — Thierry, with Sena Jnlia, which was Etniscan, In Latin, EUatavits. and the modern Sienna. (Anthon, Anc. * These were more likely of Tuscan and Blcdia^val Geog., p. 300.) origin. ' Polyb., 1. ii., p. lOG; but of the ^ Arnold (Hist. Pvome, c. xxiv.) dis- UreJrc cities, neither Miiller, Niebuhr, putes Thieriy's distinctions in regard to nor other modern scholars can make these, Boians, Lingons, etc., but with- out more than ten. out reason. If they were Boians and Chap. L] AJSTCIENT GAUL. 27 earlier Koman annals. In order to account for them, the le- gends invent the story of an injured Etruscan husband who inyited the Gauls in to avenge his wrongs ; when they, finding the wines and fruits of the peninsula very pleasant, were not only induced to remain, but to send back for all their friends. This story we may dismiss as both unauthentic and trivial.^ The expatriation of such numerous hordes points rather to the existence of some violent commotions in Gaul. Niebuhr con- jectures that the pressure of Iberian tribes, driving the Kelts out of the north of Spain and of Aquitaine, gave occasion to movements eastward, yet his conjecture is unsupported by anj^ authority.^ Thierry, on the other hand, contrives a great in- vasion of Kymri, from the north of Europe, which drove the more southern Gauls through the Alpine passes of the south- east.^ Identifying the Kymri with the Kimmerians of the Pal us Mteotis, he brings them along the valley of the Danube, about the seventh century before Christ.'* From the first homes which they founded in the Kymric-Chersonese, or Jutland, he supposes them to have passed the Rhine, under the lead of a great warrior-priest named Hesus, or Hu, the Powerful. The force of the invasion expended itself along the maritime region, or Armorica, but spread out thence from north to south and west to east. Nor is this theory sustained by any authentic history. Justin, who abridges his narrative from Trogus Pom- peius, himself of Gallic descent,^ knows nothing of either, as- serting simply, what is most probable, that the Gauls passed into Italy because of their incessant civil discords.^' ^ Jayy, v., 35; Dion. Hal,, xiii., Mario) is mere assumption. All the 14-17; Appian, Hist. Rom., iv., 2 and historical monuments show that the 7. movements of the Kelts were ever from - Rom. Hist., vol. ii., p. 235, Am. west to east. (Prichard, v. iii., p. 50; cd. also Anthon, Anc. and Med. Gcog., p. ^ Hist, des Gaul., t. i., 1. i., c. 1. 73, sect. 4.) His authority is the Welsh traditions. ^ Nieb., Rom. Hist., p. 232, note. * He connects this movement with ^ Just., 1. xx., c. 5. If we must be- what Herodotus says (1. iv., c. 11) about lieve in some great migration, in order the Scythians having expelled the Kim- to explain the Gallic movements, there merians from the Kimmerian Cherson- is none more probable than tliat sug- ese, or Crimea ; but there is not a par- gested by De Petigny (Etudes Mcrovin- ticle of proof going to show that the giennes, t. i., pp. 36-7), who brings the latter ascended the Danube, or any part Teiiton tribes out of Scandinavia into of them. What Plutarch alleges (in North Germany about this period. They 28 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. That tlie Gauls were early in Italy, and in great numbers, The capture ^ud that they came in contact with the Eomans about ofEome. ^^^ ^^^^ ggQ ^ jj ^ -^ ^^^ wc may prudently say. It would seem lihety, however, that they encountered the Eo- mans, not as transient and marauding, but as settled tribes.^ The way in which they were involved was this : they demand- ed lands of the Clusians, which the Clusians refused, and then, being threatened with war, asked aid from the little aristocracy on the banks of the Tiber. The Eomans were willing to me- diate, but not to interfere, and dispatched three envoys to ad- just the difficulty." These envoys were rash and headlong enough to take part in some incidental skirmish against the Kelts, which so offended them that they sought satisfaction of the principal government. ISTot obtaining it, they marched upon Eome itself; met the army of the city on the banks of the Allia, a brook some twelve miles distant, defeated it with a dreadful slaughter, and then pushed on to the capital. The multitude of the city, with the priests and the vestals, fled to the country ; a few j^ouths, braver than others, garrisoned the chief fortress, while the old men, senators, who had been con- suls and censors, either bound by official honor to remain, or resolved to propitiate the angry gods by the sacrifice of them- selves, assumed a position of state and dignity in the forum. When the Gauls entered and found the cit}?- deserted, the very solitude filled them with terror ; the sight of those venerable figures in their curule chairs smote them with awe, as if they had been admitted to the presence of the gods ; but the mo- mentarj^ irritability of one of the Eomans, whose beard an in- cautious Gaul had touched, betrayed that they were men, and, being men, they were murdered. The greater part of the city was then burned ; the citadel besieged ; and it was only when the Gauls were themselves half famished that they relinquished the prosecution of the siege for the sake of a ransom in gold.^ drove the K\Tnri and Beiges into Gaul, and children with them, which shows who in turn ]iartly displaced the central that they Averc settled near bv. tribes of Kelts, and jiartly themselves ~ Dion. Hal., xiii., 18, io ; Pint., crossed down into Italy. Camill., 17; Liv., v., 3.i. ^ In the advance to Clusinm, which ^ -pj^^g much, I think, one has a first brought the Gauls in conflict with right to adopt out of the conflicting tes- Rome, they did not carry their women timonies. A capital review of all the Chap I.] ANCIENT GAUL. 29 While this money was getting weighed out, the audacious Brcnn/ who led the Kelts, cast his sword into the scales, shout- ing against all remonstrances that famous Vce victis P (Woe to the vanquished !) which in after years Rome echoed with such fearful resonance into the ears of all his kin. This event — about the first really historical event in Eoman Lonp struggle historv — fell like a stroke of destiny upon the Ro- of the Gaula *^ . ipi aitt and liomans. maus : tuc aunivcrsary oi the battle oi the Aliia be- came thereafter an accursed day in their calendar;^ every fu- ture whisper of the return of the Gauls was construed into an occasion for a tumult ;* and a fund was amassed to be specially devoted to Gallic wars, on the condition that whoever might turn it to other purposes should be sacrificed to the infernal gods.^ Nor was Rome able to avenge in less than two centu- ries the stigma inflicted on that terrible July day. Steadily she pursued the object, but just as steadily was she thwarted and baffled. The Gauls often cut in pieces her legions, often threatened her capital, were often the life and soul of those for- midable Samnite, Etruscan, and other leagues which stayed her progress north ; and when at Sentinum, at Aretinum, at Yadi- mon, their principal tribes were overthrown and their power broken, their spirit was not yet subdued. Incessant and bloody revolts evinced the strength of their animosity and the invinci- bleness of their valor. If unable to conquer for themselves, they were yet the instruments of conquest in others.^ During the second Punic war they helped the great commander of Africa, Hannibal, to his greatest victories; the Gallic arms were distinguished at Trebia, at Thrasymene, and at Cannae ; it was Gallic blood, under Hasdrubal, which stained the waters authorities is to be found in Sir G. C. vii., 17; Cicero, Epist. ad Att., ix,, 5; Lewis (Crcd. Eom. Hist., vol. ii., c. 12, Varro, vi., 32. § 83). * Appian, Bell. Civ., 1. ii., p. 453; ^ Brcnn, according to Leibnitz, Ety- Cicero, Phil., viii., 1, and v., 12 ; Livy, mol., means a chief or general. vii., 9, 11, 28. All business ceased, ^ Dr, Arnold translates this exclama- and every citizen was expected to enlist tion, which, it should seem, could not as a soldier, without regard to the cus- be more strongly rendered than by a tomary exemptions, literal reading, "The weakest must go ^ Dion Cass., 1. xxi., u. 71 ; Florus, to the wall," which is incomparably 1. iv., c. 2. feeble. ^ The details of these Gallic wars in ^ Plut. in Camill. ; Lucan, 1. vii., the Cisalpine belong to Roman history, V. 409; Florus, 1. i., u. 13; JEneid, and it is for me only to allude to them. Q ANCIENT GAUL. L^ook. I. of tlie Metaurus ; and it was over the Gauls, as well as over Carthage, that Scipio triumphed at Zama. Eleven years after the defeat of the Carthaginian, the mutilated clans of the Boi- ans still held out against the else irresistible city ; nor did they succumb at last; they withdrew to the confluence of the Dan- ube and the Save, where they founded a new home, and con- tinued their name in history. Eome became mistress of the north of Italy, and named it Gallia Cimlpina, as if her conquer- ing instincts already divined a Gallia Trajisaljnna^ or another Gaul beyond the Alps. Meanwhile, other bands of Gauls, whom the traditions con- The Gauls in iiect with thc bauds of Sigovesus, left by us in the ropef^^ Hercynian forest, were running the same brilliantly- bloody career in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor which the Se- nones and the Boii ran in Italy. Giving a name, and probably a race, to the Carnic Alps, and depositing the Skordisks, a nu- merous and powerful tribe, among the fastnesses of the Illyrian Mountains, to subdue the nations around them, and to become in later days a new source of trouble and bloodshed to the Ko- mans, they moved downward into Thrace, where many of them pitched their tents and remained.^ There they emerge promi- nently into historic light in the times of the Macedonian Alex- ander, whose restless and daring genius was kindled into sym- pathy by their exploits. It is told that as he approached the Danube, in B.C. 335," an embassy of the Gauls came to him, ei- ther out of curiosity or to solicit a friendly alliance, when he asked them what they feared, and they replied, naively, " Noth- ing but the falling of the skies." " Swaggerers!" he rejoined, and took them into pay. Under the ascendency of his charac- ter their predatory impulses were restrained, but during the reigns of his incompetent successors they too often decided by their mercenary aid the fate of struggling nations. Nor were they long satisfied with playing a hireling's part. About the year 281 B.C., a powerful force of Tectosages, who were Belgi- ans, under the leadership of a Brenn called the Terrible, overran 1 Strab., 1. vii., c. ">, § 2 ; Flonis, 1. Alexander could have been but sixteen iii., c. 4 ; Liv., Epit., Ixiii. years of age. It occurred probably at - ThieiTy (Hist, des Gaulois, t. i., c. the time of his expedition against the 4) has put this date at B.C. 3-iO, ^vhen Tribulli and lUjTians. Comp. Grotc. Chap. I.] ANCIENT GAUL. 31 nearly the whole of Macedon. Ptolemy Keraimos, or the Thun- derbolt, at first derided their threats, but when he attempted to resist even a single division of them he lost his army and his head.^ The young Sosthenes next — ignoble by birth, but no- ble in his enthusiasm and energy — rallied the flying youth of his country in order to get quit of them, and for a moment he forced them to retreat. They retreated only to return in aug- mented numbers and with whetted appetites. Swarms of Tec- tosages, Boians, Teutons, and Illyrians fell upon Sosthenes, and ravaged Macedonia anew." Passing thence into and through Thessaly, they halted before the immortal defile where, two cen- turies before, the Persian hosts had fallen. Their design was to move against central and southern Greece.^ The Greeks, though broken and dispirited by their own factions and the Macedonian domination, were yet inspired to a momentary thrill of ancient vigor by the glorious name of Thermopylse.'^ They combined and withstood the Gauls, who only by cunning succeeded in crossing Mount (Etsi and making their way to the temple of the Delphian god. The oracle, it seems, had promised to protect itself, and, ac- piiiagcof cording to the legends, when the barbarians ascended ^ ^ "■ the almost inaccessible rock where the opulent and pious ofierings of Greece were treasured, the thunder of the deity's wrath fell from the skies, and the rocks trembled, and the earth opened.^ It was not, however, the god, but Grecian valor, driven ^ Compare Strabo, 1. iv., c. 8; Jus- tin, 1. xxiv., cc. 4, 5; Polyb., 1. ix. ; Memnon., Hist, apud Phot., c. 15. ^ Justin, 1. xxiv., c. 6. ^ Pausanias, 1. .v., c. G. * Nor is the merit of their defense any the less because the consequences are not so important. The Greeks who fought against Xerxes fought under the sustaining impulses of religion, patriot- ism, and hope. The Greeks who fought against the Gauls, dispirited by years of oppression, and by the conviction that national or Hellenic unity was forever a dream, had invested their new and un- kno^^Tl enemy with eveiy horrible fea- ture which superstition lends to fear. Taught by their learned men, they must have seen in the Kelts the descendants of tliose old Kimmerians, ■\\'ho were rath- er Titans than men, who made Avar upon the gods, w^ho opposed their bucklers to the thunder-bolts, and did not move when the earth shook or volcanoes vom- ited flame. (Aristot. de Morib., 1. iii., c. 10.) One finds it hard to believe, however, what Pausanias tells, that, in the then exhausted condition of the Gre- cian States, Bceotia furnished a contin- gent of 10,000 hoplites for the defense. Pans., X., 20. ^ Justin, 1. xxiv., cc. G, 7, 8. Pau- sanias, X., 6, places this expedition in B.C. 278. Compare Diod. Sic, 1. xxii., p. 870. 32 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. to a desperate extremity in defense of its altars and its fires, which precipitated those sacrilegious Gauls from their intent. A scene of prodigious terror and havoc signalized the attack, and yet the retreat was even more disastrous than the attack. Famished, frozen, wounded, beset by enemies on every side, the poor Gauls, during the second night after their departure, were thrown into a sudden panic, fell upon each other in the dark- ness, and slew six thousand of their brothers. The Brenn, in his utter despair, advised them, in order to relieve their sad flight, to burn their booty and cut the throats of their many thousand jDrisoners ; which advice they followed, except that they kept the baggage, and barely escaped with their lives into Macedon.^ Other detachments of the Gauls, again, after cruelly ravaging The Gauls in Thracc, passcd into Asia Minor by the Bosphorus and Asia Minor. ^|^^ Hellcspont. Dividing the country into three parts, according to the number of their tribes, they made themselves virtually its masters.^ The sunken and luxurious populations of the East easily submitted to their exactions : the country fur- nished them subsistence ; the cities paid them tribute ; and mul- titudes of indolent and outcast natives flocked as allies to their tents and chariots. Through their instrumentality Nicomedes won the throne of Bithynia from his brother, with whom he was at war. "Indeed," says Justin, "such was the terror of the Gallic name and the invariable success of the Gallic arms that the princes of the East conceived that it would be impossible to hold their sceptres secure, or to recover them when lost, with- out the aid of the Gauls." In B.C. 241 they first encountered a really effective resistance in King Attains of Pergamos, who drove them through lower Phrygia into the mountains, near the Ilalys, where they were gradually concentrated into a distinct province which took the name of Galatia, or Gaho-Gr^cia. It grew into something of an Asiatic power, bearing on its civiliza- ' Justin's stoiy referred to bv Strabo, clu Buat (Hist. Anc. des Peup. de I'Eu- 1. iv., c. 1, § 13, that the Tectosages rope, t. ii., cc. 11, 12). carried the pillage of Delphi back to = Livy, xxxviii., c. 16, -who speaks of their native countiy and deposited it at the Trocmians, Tolistoboians, and Tec- Toulouse, is generally discredited. (De tosagians. Strabo, 1. xii., c. 5, gives Petigny, Etudes, t.i., pp. 40-1.) As to the same names, the end of this expedition, see Comte Chap. I.] ANCIENT GAUL. 33 tion tlae tlireefold imprint of Gallic, Grecian, and Phrygian man- ners.^ In the end, by mingling in the wars of Antiochus against the Eomans, they were assailed by Manliiis Kelso (B.C. 1S8), and subjected to the all-devouring republic;^ but in their fall they left a sting behind, for Manlius was the first of the Eoman generals who ventured to make war without the authority of the Senate, and his example, followed in after years, bore a fatal progeny of evils for his country. Thus, in all the early glimpses which we get of the Gauls, they are seen rambling the world in search of adventure. ''Whoever," says Michelet, "wished to buy headlong courage and blood cheaply, bought them."^ They were in the pay of Pyrrhus ; they led the mercenaries in the bloody revolt at Car- thage ; we hear of them with Mithridates, with Juba, with Cle- opatra, with Berenice, and with Herod ;* but every where — - in Asia, Europe, Africa — it became their fate to encounter the solid legions and the incomparable science of Eome. " The vic- tors and vanquished on the banks of the Allia," says Thierry, "followed each other over the earth, to decide the old grudge of the Capitol."^ Every where, too, the result showed that this nomadic race of the Gauls was nearly run. Other tribes. Teu- tons, Huns, and Sclaves, were about to succeed to their career, but not to a career more ferociously agitated and brilliant. Surely the Gauls had accomplished enough ! What with sack- ing Eome, scaling Olympus, plundering Delphi, besieging Car- thage, menacing Egypt, establishing an empire in Asia, and as- sociating their names with those of Hannibal, Alexander, Pyr- rhus, and Mithridates, they had carried terror into every quar- ter of the globe, and stamped a fatal remembrance of their deeds on the annals of nearly every ancient people. ^ Comp. Liv., 1. xxxviii., c. 16 ; Jus- "^ Li\7, I. xxxviii., c. 25. See Nie- tin, 1. xxvii., cc. 2, 3 ; Appian, de Bell, buhr, vol. iv., p. 125. Syriac, p. 130; Strabo, 1. xii., who ^ History of France, tome i., u. 1. gives an account of its government. * Joseph., Bell. Jud,, 1. i., cc. 1.5, The Galatians are made forever memor- 21; Polyasnus, Stratag., 1. iv., c. IG; able by the address of one of St. Paul's Cses., Bell. Civ., 1. ii., c. 40, etc. Epistles. * Hist, des Gaules, Introduction. C 34 ANCIENT GAUL. C^ook I. CHAPTER II. Character, MajsTters, Customs, Government, and Religion of the Gauls. " All tlie Gauls are tall, fair-skinned, golden-haired, and ter- charaoteristics ^ible for the fierceness of their eyes. They are of the Gauls, greedy of quarrels, great braggarts, and insolent. A whole troop of strangers could scarcely resist a single one of them in a brawl, and particularly if he were assisted by his stalwart blue-eyed wife, who, gnashmg her teeth, distending her neck, brandishing her large snowy arms, and kicking up her heels betimes, will deliver fisticuffs like bolts from the twisted strmgs of a catapult."^ This amusing description by the old soldier Ammianus, who Dress and ap- fo^"^gbt lu Gaul aud kucw of what he wrote, is in sub- pearance. gtauce Confirmed by all the ancient writers.^ They represent that the Gauls were of large stature, light-eyed, yel- • Ammianus Marcellinus, >-. 12. No that I have consulted— Li"vy, Diodorus, Parisian helle would be likely to recog- Silius Italicus,Appian, whatever the age nize her ancient mother in this descri]>- in which they wrote, seem to agi-ee in the tion, i. e.y outside of the Marchtau Pais- description of their physiological char- son, and I hasten, therefore, to add, that acter. Prichard (Researches, etc., vol. Athenoeus, unquestionably an arbiter in iv., c. 3, p. 192 et seq.) gives their such matters, pronounces the Gallic testimonies. St. Augustine, in the 4th women the most beautiful of all the century, opposes to the ??z^?-os^:E'^/a'o/je5 barbarians. (Deipnos, 1. xiii., c. 80.) the ca??f//c/o.s Ca^/as (contra Faust., xxii. They were, also, early distinguished for 83). Radlofe (Neue Untersucken des the propriety and elegance of their toi- Keltentlmms. Bonn, 1822) quotes two lette, aud, if I may infer from the fre- writers of the Middle Ages who distin- qucncy with which Gallic costumes are guish the Kelts as "a fair, milk-white noticed by the Roman writers, set the people." Dr. O'Conncr cites an early fashions. Irish poem which represents the Gaels - Polybius, who ^vrote near the mid- as fair and yelloAv-haired (Rerum Hi- dle of the second centuiy before Christ, bernicar. Scriptores, Prolegomena, 124). and traveled in Gaul (Anthon's Diet., Yet Prof. Kombet, in his remarks on art. Polyb.), speaks of the "gigantic the ethnogra]>hic map of Great Britain bodies" of the natives (1. ii., c. Tj). Ca;- and Ireland (Johnstone's splendid edi- sar, who spent so many years among tion of Dr. Berghaus's Physical Atlas), them, says they looked with contemjit ascribes to the Keltic races as nowkno-\Mi on the little Romans (Do Bell. Gall., the following features: "Dark (sal- 1. ii., c. 30). Pausanias (in Phocieis, low) complexion, dark brown eyes, and c. 20) calls them the tallest of the hu- black hair." "Stature of middle size, man race ; aud all the other authorities slender make, legs curv'ed somewhat in- Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 35 low or auburn -haired, of quick, irritable temperament, and very loquacious. They were also vain of their personal appearance, the poorest of them being always neat in their dress, while the richer affected showy garments and decorations. They wore their hair long and flowing ; their breeks (braccce) were made of a variegated wool or plaid ; and their sagum, or short cloak of the same material (versicolor saguhtm)^^ clasped over the shoulder and falling to the hips, was often embroidered with gold and silver figures." The more opulent chiefs covered themselves with a profusion of rings, collars, bracelets, and torques, or chains twisted of a flexible wire.^ These peculiari- ties of dress begat them among the Romans the nick-names of the long-haired Gauls, and of the Gauls in breeches.* But it was chiefly on going to war that the Gaul put his finer}^ on : his huge head-piece of feathers or fur; his quadrangular shield, painted in various and dazzling colors; his great sabre, sus- pended to a belt of gold and silver, inlaid with coral ; and his splendid ornaments of the neck, arms, and wrists.^ Yet, in the heat of the battle, he would often cast away such superfluities, to go to work as nature made him.^ Excitable and demonstrative in all things, the Gauls used Tiieir tem- swclliug mctaphors in their speech, talked noisily and perament. fl^e^tly, uot always sticking to the truth ; and disputed ward as in females, iiaiTow chest, and the identity of the Keltic and Teutonic narrow hips." " Temperament bilious, races? and bilious-nervous prevailing." Again: ' Tacit., Hist., ii., 20, and Strabo, 1. lie says of the Teutonic races, "Fair iv., c. 4, § 3. complexion, fair, often flaxen, reddish, ^ Virgil, iEneid., 1. vi. ; Sil. Ital., 1. golden-colored hair, large blue eyes, iv., 152, etc. Braccre, in Kymric, is ruddy cheeks, chest broad, figin^e tall, hryJcan; in Armorican, braga; in Scot- temperament sanguine, "etc. 'WHiat are tish, i?-ee/ts; in English, ^recc/ics. we to deduce from this disagreement ^ These torques are often mentioned between the ancients and moderns? in the Welsh poems (Welsh Archreolo- Niebuhr (Rom. Hist., vol. ii., p, 238, gy, passim). note, Am. ed.) was confessedly stag- * Gallia Cornafa and Gallia Brac- gered by the discrepancy, believing, as cata (Diod. Sic, \., 30; Pomp. Mela, he did, in the permanency of the physi- ii., 5 ; Cicero, Pro Front., 11, et al.). cal characteristics of races. Arnold The Roman province, in wliich the toga solves tlie difficulty by asserting that was worn, was called Gallia Torjata. the modern Kelts (Irish and Welsh) ^ Diod. Sic, v., 28 ; Vegctius, ii., are both "light-haired and tall." How, 18; Sil. Ital., iv., U8 ; Varro, iv., 20, then, are they distinguished, ]jhysically, ^ As the Scotch Highlanders did, so from the Teutons ? Or was Pelloutier late as 1578, at the battle of Rymenaut, (Hist, dcs Celtes) right in maintaining near Mechlin. 36 ANCIENT GAUL. CBook I. much, tliouali willino; to allow other speakers a chance.^ Cic- ero compares them to town-criers or salesmen, and Oato re- fers to their argumentative acnteness.^ Passionately fond of hearing stories told, they would, in the eagerness of their curi- osity, compel strangers to stop with them, to narrate what they had seen or heard. ^ Perhaps this last trait arose out of a feel- ing of sympathy and hospitality for which they were alike dis- tinguished.* In war and peace both, they were gregarious, liked to move or to get together in masses, always exhibited a strong fellow-feeling, were sensitive to the injustice inflicted upon any one of their own squad, and in their intercourse with each other, unless angered, were simple-hearted, kindly, and vivacious.^ At the same time they were scrupulous observers of their respective ranks and dignities, as it appears from a cu- rious description by an ancient observer of one of their feasts.^ " When they sup together," he says, " they all sit about a round table," the bravest, or the superior in birth and wealth, in the middle, with the host next to him, and the other guests arranged in order, according to the degree of their eminence and distinc- tion." Opposite these, in similar circles, sat their armor-bearers, cup-bearers, and various other retainers or companions. But the chief trait of the Gauls was a sudden, impulsive, fiery- Bravery, valor, which " boiled the brains" and led, in the phrensy of it, to an utter recklessness of death. Their festivals, as it happened among the more recent Highlanders of Scott's de- scriptions,^ seldom ended without a mortal fray; and sometimes, in an excess of wild audacity, they would allow themselves to be killed for a sum of money or a stoup of wine, which they pre- viously shared with their friends.^ It was this bravado, doubt- less, which acquired them a fabulous renown among the Greeks, who report that they refused to withdraw from falling or burn- ing houses, that they encountered inundations with their swords, 1 Strab., iv., 4, 3; Diod. Sic, v., ^ Posidonius (apud Athen. Deipnos, 3^ 1. iv., c. 3G). =* Cic. (Frag. Orat. cont. Pisoncm); ^ Like the Knights of King Arthur, Cato has argute loqui, in later times. 3 Caes., Bell. Gall., iv., 5., \\., 20, » See his novels, passim. \\i., 42; Veget., i., 2. 9 Posidonius (ap. Athenojiini, 1. iv., * Strab., iv., 4, 2. c. 40). Comp. Li^y, xxi., 42 ; Horace, ' Strab., ibid. Carra. 1. iv., od. 14. Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 37 stood unmoved amid earthquakes, and indignantly discharged their arrows at the lightnings.^ Impetuous and irascible as they were, however, " any one being able to exasperate them at any time," says Strabo, their enthusiasm soon evaporated. They were inconstant and fickle and easily dejected. ''Their frivolity of character," he adds, " renders them intolerable in victory and utterly despondent under defeat."^ " Always in extren:ies," says another, "there was no limit either to their au- dacity or their discouragement."^ Conscious, apparently, of this versatile humor, their chiefs often bound them by oath, on going to war, never to see wife, children, or home again im- til they had trampled on the pride of the enemy. "With their natural aptitude and bent for war, the Gauls were, Love of war. of coursc, grcat fightcrs, sedulously educated and dis- ciplined in all kinds of martial exercises. It was their custom to punish a youth who became fat, as it might interfere with his alacrity and vigor in battle : the man who arrived last at the rendezvous of the army was always killed, in order to teach others promptitude ; and even old age did not exempt the sol- dier from his duty." Their weapons were, of course, effective, consisting of a long barbed, iron-headed spear, called the gt-esum; a heavy broadsword like the Scotch claymore ; and lances and arrows, which they hurled to a great distance, and sometimes cast inflamed among the enemy. ^ In manoeuvring a wheeled chariot, with scythes bound to the hubs of it, they showed rc- ' ^Elian. Hist., 1. xii., c. 23; Nicli. cites from Dumas (Precis des Eve'ne- Damas, ap. Stobaium, 8erm. 48. But merits Militaires) an epigram of Fa- Strabo (1. vii., e. 2) seriously refutes vart, wliich begins, these statements. ut^..^-, f,.n„«„;c ^,* i„ ^ i i- l>e coq franf ais est le coq de la gloire, ^ Polyb. Hist., I. ii., c. 35; Strabo, Par les revers il n' est point abattu; 1. iv., c.'4, SS 5-G; Florus, 1. ii., c. 4. II chante forte s'il gagne la victoire, o'T Tx 1- /I ••• /^\ I'-^ncore plus forte qnand il est bien batUi ; Villus Itahcus (1. Vlll., -v . 1 /) says, i,e coc| fran-^ais est le coq de la gloire, <■' Vaniloquum, Celtc^, genus ac mutabile men- Toiyours chanter est sa grande vertu," etc. ''^■" I confess, however, that there is to me ^ Dio. Cass., 1. xxxix ; see also Ca3S., a good deal of the chanter even in this. Bell. Gall., iii., 19, iv., 5. The ques- Judging by Napoleon's retreats, which tion has been raised whether this de- were almost always disasters, we must spondency in defeat is a characteristic conclude that the French do not sustain of the modern French. Dr. Arnold calamity with the fortitude and checr- (Thucydidcs, 1. i., p. 70, note) com- fulness which Arnold assumes, pares French with Athenian vivacity in * Strab., iv., 4 ; Ca:sar, vii., 4, viii., preserving an unbroken self-confidence 12. amid the severest military reverses, and ^ Polyb., vi., 2; Ca;s., ii., 43. 38 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. markable dexterity, driving and stopping it on tlie sharpest de- clivities, and dashing with it into the midst of the opposite ranks, which they mowed down in broad swaths.^ Not averse to strat- agems, in which, says Ciesar, they were consimimately ingenious, their tactics were yet for the most part simple, consisting in a fierce tumultuous rush upon the foe, accompanied by a din of horns, shouts, jeers, and the fearful cry of Terrihin^ ierribin p Coesar praises the art and the strength of their fortifications, and Sallust confesses that in every essential of military genius they equaled the Eomans.^ "With others," says the latter, " we fight for glory, but with the Gauls in self-defense ;" and when, after centuries of almost incessant conflicts, the Koman carried off the victory, he triumphed by means of his superior organiza- tion, and not his superior valor. This fondness for war, the ferocious delight with which they Their social im- cugagcd lu it, aud thclr brutal cruelty toward cap- provements. tivcs, whom thcy uot unfrcquently immolated to their gods, confirmed, if it did not beget, the opinion of the an- cients, that the Gauls were little better than savages.* ISTor can we doubt as to their savage condition in the earliest times. They clothed themselves in skins, dyed or tattooed their flesh, rushed into battle naked, used the skulls of their enemies for drinking-cups, worshiped sticks, stones, trees, and thunder, and strangled the strangers whom the inhosjDitable tempests cast ujDon their coasts.^ Nevertheless, it was found, when they be- came better known to the Romans, that, either by means of a native susceptibility to improvement or through intercourse with the Phoenician and Greek traders who visited them, they had made a considerable, though unequal, advance in civiHza- tion. In the north of Gaul, as on the several British islands, and wherever they were in contact with the more barbarous Ger- mans, they remained in a rude and primitive state ; while to- ' CcTesar, Bell. Gall., iv. 33. These = Cn3s., vii., 28; Sail., Bell. Jugurtb., were called kowain and ess in Keltic ; cxiv. hy the Latins covinvs and esscdmn. * Polybins, 1. vi., c. 2, also ii. 17; Li\7, X., 28 ; Pomp. Mela, iii., G ; Lii- Seneca, 'Consol. ad Helv., 8 ; Justin., can, i., 420. xliii., 4. 2 Polyb., 1. ii., c. .5. Terrihin ! Off ^ Compare Strah., iv., 4, f. ; vSolinus, with their heads (Suidas). xxii., 43 ; 'Lixy, xxxviii., 2, also xxiii., 24; Pomp. Mela, ii., 21; Max.Tyr.,38. Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 89 ward the soutli, and particularly on tlie banks of the navigable streams and the Mediterranean coasts, a decided progress had been accomplished.^ The better classes among the Ganls lived in spacious houses Progress in <^f ^ couical form, constructcd of poles and wattle- civiiization. ^q^]^^ plastcrcd with clay and thatched with straw.^ They possessed villages which were strongly fortified by walls composed of alternate courses of beams and stones, surrounded by ditches and sometimes surmounted by turrets or towers.^ They were agriculturists, who cultivated wheat, barley, and flax, planted and dressed vineyards, and raised bees, cattle, swine, and sheep ; they used, moreover, soap, butter, and salt ; and their preserved meats and cheeses gained a foreign reputation. Be- fore any other European nation, they leavened their bread with the foam of beer ; fattened the earth with calcareous marls and manures; preserved wine in casks; cleansed grain with a sieve; plowed with a wheeled plow ; and filled mattresses with wool instead of straw, all which were processes of their own discov- ery.* Nor were they ignorant of several of the useful and even elegant mechanical arts. Their dyes were somewhat celebrat- ed f they both extracted metals from the mines and fashioned them into utensils and ornamental vessels f they wove and em- broidered carpets similar to the Turkey carpets of the present day ;■' they invented a method for plating one metal upon anoth- er, for tempering copper to the hardness of steel, and of veneer- ing woods f they fabricated a woolen felt which would resist the stroke of a sword ; while their cloths of plaid and check- ered linen were held in general esteem. Even commerce was carried on among them to a large extent; large emporiums were scattered along the principal rivers, such as Burdigalia (Bordeaux), Tolosa (Toulouse), Lutetia (Paris), and Genabum ' This follows, not only from the * Pliny, viii., 48, xi., 9, xviil., 6, 11, positive statements of Strabo (1. iv.), 18; Strabo, 1. iy., passim. I have a ])ut from CiKsar's accounts of the vari- note that Pliny says the Gauls were ous tribes, passim. excellent cooks, but I can not lay my - Strabo, 1. iv., c. 4, § 3 ; Pliny, eye on the particular passage, xxxvi., 22; Vitruv., i., 1. ^ jJii^v, viii., 48. ' Cas., Bell. Gall., 1. vii., cc. 22, 23, ' Ibid"., viii., 48. et v., 21, who says they were uniform ^ Ibid., xviii., 7, 8. in aspect and impregnable either by ^ Ibid., xxxiv., 8, 17. the battering-ram or by fii'e. 40 AKCIENT GAUL. [Book I. (Orleans) ; free ports, i. e., ports declared and held safe for all comers, were placed at the mouths of the Loire, the Seine, the Garonne, and the Ehone;^ cargoes of foreign products, taken up the rivers in boats, were transported over land in wagons and on the backs of horses ; and money of their own coinage, graduated in weight and value, was used in effecting exchanges." To their brothers of the British islands they exported earthen- ware for domestic uses, salt for the preservation of provisions, brass or bronze for the fabrication of arms, and ivory and gold and silver trinkets for ornaments ;^ in return for which they received tin, lead, corn, skins, slaves, hunting-dogs, and (toward the Christian era) iron, gold, and silver ;* and these again, to- gether with various native products, were sold to the factors of the Mediterranean ports for the rich fabrics and luxuries of the Oriental marts.^ We shall hereafter see, too, that they possess- ed a marine ; for the Veneti, in their war with Caesar, brought out over two hundred vessels, oak-built, iron-fastened, and chain- cabled, which nearly proved a match for the well-equipped Ko- man galleys, and, both by the ingenuity of their construction and the skill with which they were managed, showed on the part of the Armoricans no despicable attainments in practical science. All these were evidences of a civic instinct, or at least capac- ity, and of the partial cessation of that primitive period when the life of man depends merely upon the conditions and dis- stnicture of peusatlous of uaturc ; but it must be confessed they their society. ^^^^ exccptioual evidcnccs, not characteristic of all the tribes, many of which remained in a prostrate and back- ward state. At the same time, the structure and spirit of the Gallic society were repugnant to the introduction of the higher arts and methods of civilized life. It was still confined to that imperfect species of social and political aggregation which ap- pears to have prevailed during the youth of nearly all nations, and which, in this place, may be called — The Clan.^ 1 See the remarks of Molke (Histoire iv., 5, 2 ; Cresar, v., 12 ; Tacitus, Agri- des Franks, t. i.) on these very ancient cola, xii, free ports, which he compares to the ^ Compare Dio. Cass. (1. c), who, free cities of the middle ages. however, ascribes t-he prosperity of the 2 Strabo, iv., 1, 14, and iv., 2, 1. Gauls to Caesar and the Romans. ^ Ibid., 1. iii., c. 5, § 11. « In the Welsh and Breton dialects * Pliny, iv., 22, xxiv., 17; Strabo, kenedl, clan. Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 41 It would seem to be a law in the development of nascent so- cieties that patriarchal kings, who are the first rulers, should give place to a small governing body, either of priests or warriors, or of both.^ In Etruria, Rome, and, I think, Germany, this aristoc- racy combined the civic, or, which is the same thing, the military command with the priestly function ; while in India, Persia, and Egypt the sacerdotal was separated from the civic or military class. The latter system prevailed in Gaul. "There are but two orders of men there," says Caesar, ''who are of any con- sideration or dignity ;" namely, the priests, who called them- selves Druids, and the warriors or chiefs of clan, to whom he gave the Roman name of Equites, or Equestrians. " All the rest of the people being in a nearly servile condition, without part or lot in public affairs."^ The j^riests, he adds, were en- gaged in things sacred, conducting the private and public sacri- fices and interpreting the mj^steries of religion ; the Equestrians led the armies in war, and administered civil affairs in peace ; while the multitade (plebs), either crushed by debt or the enor- mity of the tributes, or the insolent oppressions of the powerful, were delivered up to the service of the nobles, who exercised an authority over them like that of a master over his slaves. In other words, it would appear from this description that the Gal- lic society was a mere conglomeration of chieftains and followers. But, if we study the composition of the Clan more narrowly. The nature of ^^ ^hall find that, likc the Hebrew tribe, the Greek the Clan. phratry, the Roman gens, and the German sipschaft, it was a union of families or houses, brought together, in the first place, doubtless, by ties of consanguinity, but expanded afterward, by intermarriage, conquest, and adoption, into a large gentile community.^ ' Comp. Gervinus (Einleitung zur over, and hvydd, army ; or from aehcyd, Geschicht. dcr Neunzehn. Jahrhund. § the father of a family, ;:)a;e?-ya////i'/a.s); or 2, ed. 1853). But Dr. Arnold, in the viarch-wr^ horseman, chevalier, knight. First Appendix to his Thucydides, treat- from march^ horse, »t, man. (De Cur- ing of the " Social Progress of States," son. Hist, des Peup. Breton., Gloss., p. has deduced more clearly the origin and 427.) In the Laws of Hoel-dda, arg- the several kinds of primitive aristocracy, hcjid is thus defined: "Is est Cjui do- ^ De Bell. Gall., 1. vi., c. 13. In the minium et proprictatem habet." Welsh and Breton dialects of the Keltic ^ Mr. Grote (Hist. Greece, v. iii., c. tongue, the term which corres]jonded to 10, p. 54 et seq.) describes the Attic Caesar's e^^wes was either wc/i/-Mv, noble- gentilism thus: "The basis of the man ; or arg-hcydd^ warrior (from ar^ whole was the house, hearth, or family, 42 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Thus, its components were of two kinds — the one natural, or the family proper in its various ramifications of kith and kin;^ and the other artificial, or those who, not originally of the blood, had been received into it on extraneous grounds. Of the family, in the stricter sense, the father was the head. The famuy. but his authority, in respect to the wife and children, was not absolute.^ The wife was under the command or word^ of her husband, which authority he bought of her kindred for a price, and she had no legal existence except through him. Yet she possessed certain distinct rights : the dowry she received from her parents'^ and her husband's gift the morning after marriage^ remained her own ; while there was a community of property between them during coverture, and in cases of death or divorce an equitable division, according to the circumstances.^ Nor could the father ahenate any portion of his estate without the consent of his kindred, who were, in a sense, joint proprie- tors with him,"^ and especially of his sons, who were coequal heirs after his death f for, as the whole family particijDated in a number of which, greater or less, com- deatli over wife and children, but, as this liosed the gens 01- genos. This gens was, is o])posed to Avhat we know from other therefore, a clan, sept, or enlarged and sources of the constitution of the Keltic partly factitious brotherhood, bound to- family, he must have concluded, from gether by, 1st, common religious cere- some local or exceptional incident, that monies, and exclusive privilege of priest- the patria potestas of Gaul was the same hood, in honor of the same god, sup- as the Roman. In the Welsh, />e«-i!ew/a posed to be the primitive ancestor, and was the head of the house ; peii-henedl^ characterized by a special surname ; 2d, head of the clan. by a common burial-place ; 3d, by mu- ^ ^ -.^/^^ j^ ^|-,q K^Tnro-Breton dialect, tual riglits of succession to projjcrty ; equivalent to the mnndium of the Ger- 4th, by reciprocal obligations of help, mans. See post, c. 0. defense, and redress of injuries ; r^tli, by " Amohyr, in Kynn-ic, the same as the mutual rights and obligations to inter- sraet of tlie Anglo-iSaxons (Lex. Sax., many in certain dctci-minate cases, etc. ; vi., § 1), the viundr of the Icelanders Gth, by )>osses^ion, in some cases at least, (Grimm. Deutsche Rechts-alt., p. 125), of common property, an archon and a and the pnthnn nuptiak of the Bava- treasurer of their own. " The Phratries rian code (Luitprand. , Ixi. ). were unions of these gentes, as the tribe ^ The cou-yls of the Welsh, enep-guerth was a union of Phratries. Comp. Nie- of the Bretons, and inorgeiigahe of the buhr (Lect. Rom. Hist., v. i., p. 71 et GeiTuans (De Curson, t. ii., p. 14 ct seq.). For the Gennan form, see my seq.). chapter ix. post. fi C:es., 1. vi., c. 19, and the Breton * To the ninth degi-ee, among the laws. Welsh. ■ Lex Wall., t. ii., 1. 2, c. 1. = Ca:-sar (1. vi., c. 19) represents the ^ Ibid., Code Vcned., t. i., lex 2, c. father as having the power of life and IG. Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 43 the acquisitions of tlie father, so they were mutually responsible {solidaire) for the debts or the compositions incurred.^ The other members of the clan consisted of a number of Dependents and dependents iu various degrees of subordination, and companions. q£ adhcrcuts whosc ties were more or less voluntary. Among the former were the slaves {servi)^ captures of war, or purchases in the open market ; the bondsmen, who were either serfs, adscribed to the glebe {villani) ; or debtor-bondsmen {oboera- ii)^ whom poverty and reverses had compelled to sell them- selves for a longer or shorter time ; and the strangers {advence) found in the country without a protector or lord, and forcibly set to work." But the adherents, or dientes^ as the Eomans called them, were those who, personally freemen, had yet placed themselves deliberately in the protection of opulent chiefs, either to escape the vicissitudes or oppressions of life, or to serve those chiefs as companions {amhacii^). These devoted themselves, as an act of friendship, to the fortunes of their chiefs, by whom they were thenceforth supported, and with whom they shared the dangers and glories of war, as well as the festivals and en- joyments of peace. " Throughout the country," says Ccesar, '' in every state, every canton, and in almost every household, such associations {factiones) are formed around the men who arc deemed to possess the greatest authority and influence,"* and who engaged to protect their followers from all injustice and ^ The compositions were sums paid the translators, in rendering factiones for homicides and other crimes: f/alanas by our "word factions or parties, to which in Welsh, iceregild in the Gennan. an odious sense is attached). See also Consult ;7os?, u. ix. Ci\;s. (1. iii., c. 22), which refers to the ^ Little is said directly in the ancient Iboro-Aquitains, by whom these devoti\ authorities in respect to these chisses, or companions, Avere called sofdurii, or though they are often implied, and con- as Athenasus (1. vi., c. 54, ed. Schweig- stantly recuiTing in the later lav.'-books hiiuser) writes it, ^iXoSovpovc^ terms ob- (comj). Cass., i, 4, vi. 13, with various viously derived from the Basque sa(WM?2a, provisions in the Welsh laws). In the a knight, a cavalier (Thieny, Hist, des code of Hoel-dda, slaves are termed Gaul., ii., 1. 4). Plut. (in vita Sertor.) cacth ; the serfs or bondsmen taeogs ,- speaks of them, and Langhorne trans- and the strangers, forced to labor, al- lates his jihrase " knights-companions." tudd (De Curson, 1. ii., p. 47 et seq.). Meyer (Esprit des Institut,, t. i., p. 34) ^ yl7«-/>ac//, from the Gaelic 077i, about, compares i\\Q amhacti and soldurii to andpar/, bound ; one bound, or connect- the covntes of Tacitus (Germttnia, c. 13, ed. (See Meyer, Esprit, Origine, et and Amm. Marcell. xvi., 13), in which Progres des Institut. Judic, etc., t. i., he is confirmed by De Curson (Hist, des p. 34, ed. Paris, 1823.) Peup. Bret.,t. i., iutroduct.). Norcan "* Cais., vi. 11 (a passage pen'ertcdby I doubt that the analogy is Avell di'awn. 44 AKCIENT GAUL. [Book I. fraud, while the followers engaged to serve them in every ex- tremity, even to the sacrifice of life.-^ As the union of several families constituted the clan, so a Political ar- certain number of clans formed a canton {2'^agi\ and rangements. r^ certain numbcr of cantons a state {civitas)} Some of these states had common laws and magistrates, as the Sues- siones and Remi f others maintained more or less permanent alliances of reciprocal protection and defense ;'* but the greater jDart were grouped around the more powerful states, as individ- uals about their chiefs, in. various forms of clientage and de- ^ Ca^s., 1. i., cc. 4, 17-17. The laws course, but as illustrative monuments, of the Welsh, collected near the begin- in u, question of antiquarian research, ning of the tenth centuiy, by Howel-the- In the subject embraced in a former Good (Hoel-dda), required ever}'- father part of this note we have an instance to commend {Lemen) his son, on reach- in point. Ca?sar(L vi., u. 18) mentions ing fourteen years of age, to the parole itasasingular custom among the Gauls, or privilege (urtli') of an argluyd, or that sons were not allowed to appear lord, to whom the son tendered homage publicly in the presence of their fathers, and fidelity (g\vrhau, homagivm fccere, until they were of an age to bear arms. Jidelitatem provdttere : or, more literal- By turning to the Welsh laws we shall ly, to make himself a man. Davis, Celt, see that the child was in the /yojrer of Diet.). He then became the lord's man his mother till his seventh year; then, (r/icas, icas, vassal, senator), and the till his fourteenth, under the hand of authority of the father wholly ceased, the priest; and then, till his twentj'-first, At twenty-one years of age he received under the urth, or command of a lord, land {kemenef, gift, benefice) from the when he first assumed the rights and lord, for which he pledged his militaiy obligations of a man, and acquired a services (Lex Wall., v. i., 1. 2, c. 38; public status or function, which is the and V. ii., 1. 8, c. 11. Translation of probable explanation of Caesar's state- Aneurim Owen. Lond., 184:1). As I ment. haA'c, and shall perhaps again make use " The state of the Helveti, says Ca3sar of these laws for illustration, let me say (Bell. Gall,, 1. i., c. 12), Avas divided here that, although they were redacted into four pagi (or kantref, in the Bre- at so late a date, they may yet be con- ton); and, farther on, he speaks of Can- sidered as records of immemorial cus- tium (1. v., u. 22) as governed by four toms. The K^Tnri, both of Armorica petty chiefs. This di^dsion by four ex- and Cambria, driven into the mountains isted among the Galatians of Asia (Stra- or marshes by the gi'eat invasions of the bo, 1. xii., c. A). 'The, pagi appear, fourth and fifth centuries, clung with again, to have contained twelve tOTvais an unrelenting tenacity to the old ways (op/)ida), or at least, such was the case and traditions of their fathers; a fierce with the Helveti (Crcs., 1. i., c. 5) and hatred of the invaders, the Romans and the Suessiones (ibid. , 1. ii. , c. 4). Among Franks in Gaul and the Saxon in tlie Wclsli, each cwmmwd (pagus) was Britain, would tend to preseiwe them divided into tAvelve maenawr, or oppida pure from the intennixture of foreign (Leges Wall., 1. ii., o. 19, § 10). See elements; and their ancient customs, De Curson (Hist, des Teup. Bret., t. i., therefore, gathered into the fonn of p. 86, note). AVTitten laws, may be adduced legiti- ^ Ca?s., Bell. Gall., 1. ii., c. 3. matcly, not as historical sources, of ' Ibid., l.iii., c. 8,ct ii., 4, i., .5, etal. Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 45 pendence.^ It was only in cases of pressing danger and emer- gency that all the states acted together, and even then their counsels were liable to be distracted by a factious and turbulent spirit." KiDgs appear, at one time, to have ruled over the whole country ; but the Gauls, at the advent of the Eomans, like the Greeks at the close of the heroic ages, and the Kornans them- selves after the expulsion of the Tarquins, were averse to a supreme or royal power.^ Nearly all the authority had been concentrated in the assemblies of the nobles or clan-chiefs, who chose their temporary rulers, or fought with each other for the command.* They often overbore all regular authority. Caesar speaks of one Dumnorigh, or Lord of the Hills, who was more powerful than the magistrates,'' and of another, the Or-geto-righ, or Lord of the Hundred Valleys, who, on a certain public occa- sion, mustered ten thousand vassals (familia)^ besides a number of debtor-bondsmen and retainers.^ From these instances we may learn the ability of the magnates to embroil themselves, and to embroil the entire country, in destructive wars. ISTor were the incentives of their position usually of a pacific kind : despising labor, which they left to serfs and slaves, destitute of intellectual tastes, which, such as they were, belonged to the priests, they had no outlets for their activity but ostentation, debauchery, and war. Hence the story which Atheneus and Strabo both tell of one Luern, who was in the habit of riding about in a magnificent car, scattering gold and silver to the crowd, and who kept open cisterns of wine, and open tables profusely furnished for the use of every comer ;'' hence the vast marauding expeditions which, for so many years, harried the entire surface of Europe ; and hence, too, the innumerable in- testine feuds which produce Gaul before us wasted, wan, and disheveled, even in the j^outh and outset of its historical career.^ » Ca?s., Bell. Gall., 1. v., 39, etl. vi., 71), the clan Campbell consisted of five CO. 4 and 12. thousand aniied men, each one of whom ^ Livy, 1. xxi., c. 20 ; Cxs., 1. i., c. called himself the cousin of the chief, 31, vii., 43 ; Strabo, 1. iv., c. 2. the Duke of Arg\de. 3 5 Cajs., 1. ii., c. 4, v., 27, 54. '' Athen., iv., 37 ; Strab., iv., 2, 3. Ibid., i,, 18; ii., 1 ; v., 20; vii., 4. ^ As the allusions of Casar to the Bell. Gall., 1. i., c. 18. political government of the Gauls are ^ Ibid., 1. i., c-. 4. Just as in later only incidental, it is difficult to derive times among the Scotcli Highlanders, from them any clear or systematic vic^\ says Niebuhr (Lect. Rom, Hist., v. i., p. of the constitution. Still see Thierry. 46 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Nor was tlie priestly order, whicli participated in tlie govern- organization of ^^g power, a fixed restraint upon the other nobles, the priesthood. ^Ithough it was both strongly organized and influ- ential by means of its superstitions. It consisted of three kinds — bards, prophets, and high-priests, which together formed a sacred association or college of Druids.^ The bards were the national poets — not only religious, but martial and satiric — who sang to a wild accompaniment of the rotte (a kind of harp) the genealogies of the clans, the exploits of heroes, the loveliness of women, and the glories of the gods. Often, as the battle was about to be joined, their voices, lifted above the din of conflict, animated the combatants to the charge.^ The vates — prophets or diviners^ — were the revealers of the future, as their name imports, and took charge of the sacrifices and of the interpreta- tion of them, as well as of all public ceremonies. Mingling as a kind of popular branch of the priesthood among the personages, and dealing with the events and relations of do- mestic life, they ministered between the people and that higher branch, the Druids proper.^ These were the real powers — the Coryphei, the Archimagi, the Masters — who, inhabiting the depths of the oak forests, guarded the interior and vital princi- 23les of the mystic faith. They were the teachers of youth, some of whom passed twenty years in their novitiate, the monopo- lizers of knowledge, the depositaries of the will of the gocls, having no superior but an arch-Druid, whose offlce, though su- preme, was elective. Exempt from taxation and imposts, and from every other Its poTvers. burdcu of pcacc or war,^ possessed of their own prop- erties, and operating among a j^eople prone to suj)erstition, the priests were, in addition, endowed with ample and exclusive judicial functions. At a stated period every year, they held their assizes in the country of the Carnutes (Chartres), whither every one was bound to repair who had a cause to prosecute ' Strabo, 1. iv., c. 4. dera, Gaelic dair, and Greek drus, all - Diodorus Sic., 1. v., c. 31. meaning oak. A simpler etymolog}' I ^ Ammianus (1. xv., c. 0) calls them find in Dc Chineac (p. 11, note), who Euhages, which is doubtless a corrnp- gives De, God, and ra-rn/dd, a s])eakcr. tion of the Greek ovariK = vates. JJcrau-ijdd, God's speaker, or a theolo- * The name Druid h^s been derived gian. from the Kymric dcrir^ the Armorican ^ Ca^s., Bell. Gall., 1. vi., cc. 13-U). Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 47 or a remedy to solicit. If any offense liad been perpetrated, any murder committed, any inheritance or boundary invaded, the Druids decreed the award or the punishment. All men, whether in a public or private capacity, were compelled to sub- mit to their judgment ; nor was there any legal appeal from it, once given. Woe to the man who dared to resist their ver- dict ! They used no force ; they did not appeal to the strong arm for the execution of their sentence ; but, like the popes of the Middle Ages, they issued against him a ban of excommu- nication. The unhappy victim of it was thenceforth an out- cast and a criminal ; no one might communicate with him ; he was incapable of office ; denied justice when he required it, and even the benignities of the heavens were closed upon him forever. Affiliated to the male Druids was a class of females also, to Druidesses. whoui sujDematural power was imputed, and who pass- ed for sorceresses.^ The functions ascribed to them were often whimsical and sometmies licentious. Their worship consisted chiefly in nocturnal rites, when, with their naked bodies stained black, hair disheveled, and torches in hand, they abandoned themselves to transports of fury.^ Their favorite retreats were the island of Sena^ and the several nameless islets opposite the mouth of the Loire. , One day every year, between sunset and sunrise, they destroyed and rebuilt the roof of their temple ; but if any one chanced to let drop a particle of the sacred ma- terial, she was torn to pieces amid frantic dances, in which the Greeks saw the rites of their own Bacchantes and the orories of Samothrace renewed. The Gallic mariner, as he skirted by night the wild reefs of the Armorican seas, often fancied that he heard strange cries and chants, weird melodies, mingling with the wail of the winds and the deejD moanings of the waves. On the summit of the misty crags he saw red phantoms gliding, with streaming hair and burning torches, whose flames made the lightnings.* These were the Druidesses weaving their magic spells, healing maladies, raising the elements, consulting the dread spirits of fate, or perhaps waiting to receive the souls of ^ Strabo, 1. c. ^ Strabo, 1. iv., c. 4. Fcstns Avic- ^ Thierry, 1. ii., p. 94. nus, Orbis Feriplus. * Martin, Hist, de France, t. i., p. 50. 48 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. the sliipwrecked, whicli tlie Breton peasant still discerns in the white and fugitive spraj, hastening to rejoin their loved and lost companions of the earth.^ The eye of curiosity strains itself in vain to penetrate the Origin of the origin and even the beUef of these mysterious oak- Druids. haunting hierarchs. Guarding their own secrets with more than usual sacerdotal jealousy, they refused to commit their knowledge or their doctrines to writing, while the re- ports of the ancient foreign writers are both scanty and vague. Were we permitted to give credit to the Welsh traditions, we should learn that they came into Graul from the East during what is termed the first invasion of the Kymri, and under the lead of Ilu-Caderu, or Hu the Mighty.^ Nor is it difficult to conceive of their eastern derivation when we regard the many analogies which learned men discover between their supposed doctrines and rites and those of certain Asiatic nations.^ Yet it must be considered, at the same time, that the differences in these cases are quite as many as the resemblances, and scarce- ly justify the identification of Druidism with any other known form of religion. Even if the analogies were stronger and more numerous than they are, it might still be plausibly con- tended that the faith of the Keltic races was an indigenous prod- uct, springing primarily out of the depths of their own hearts, and modified in a slight degree afterward by the various Phce- nician, Carthaginian, Greek, and Roman influences, with which we know the Ganls were assailed.* * See the exquisite sketches of the tribe of Brahmins. TheRev.Wm. Lisle existing superstitions of the Breton Bowles (Hermes Britannicus) likens peasants and sailors in Souvcstre (Les theirs to the Egyptian fliith. Godfrey Demiers Bretons, t. i., cc. 1-2). Higgins (The Celtic Druids, page 305. ^ See Triads of the Island of Britain, Lond. , 1829), in his elaborate work, ob- No. 3, in Williams's Poems, vol. ii., ap- serves that the Druids held much in pendix. common with the Pythagoreans. Nor ^ Pictet (Du Culte dcs Cabires chez can the ingenious reader fail to detect les Anciens Irlandaise. Geneva, 1824) some similarities between them and the traces affinities between the Druidical Aztec priests, as described by Prescott and the Cabiric worships of Samo- (Conquest of Mexico, vol. i., c. 8). A thrace. Extracts from his work are philosophical discussion of Druidism, given by Michelet in his Appendix, much lauded by the French critics, is Pellouticr (Hist, dcs Celtes, ]\ 18) ar- to be found in the Encyclopedic Nou- gues that the Druidical and Persian re- velle, article Druidisme, by Rcynaud. I ligions were the same. Maurice (Dis- have not seen it, but I understand that he sertation on tlie Origin of the Druids, compares Dniidism with Zoroisterism. in Indian Antiquities, vol. vi., part 1) * See the article on the Worsliip of says they were the descendants of a Isis, by the Abbe de Pontena (Jlc'ra. CiiAr. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 49 What was cbaracteristic in Druidism, according to Higgins/ Doctrines of ^^ ^^^ ^g^ ^^^ nations — for he discovers traces of it Druidism. ^^ Hindostan, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Greece, Italy, and wherever else his supposititious children of Gomar wandered and settled — was the adoration of one Supreme Being, the belief of the metempsychosis, and of a future state of rewards and pun- ishments, the hatred of images, the use of open circular temples, the worship of fire as the emblem of the sun, the celebration of the most ancient Tauric festival, and the possession of a seven- teen -letter alphabet, although their instructions were always orally given. If the Druids, however, believed in but one Supreme God, Tiiegods. the Gauls adjoined to him a multitude of inferior dei- ties, to whom, from the functions ascribed to them, such as pre- siding in heaven, ruling war, teaching the arts, warding off dis- eases, protecting travelers, etc., the Komans found it easy to give the names of their own Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Apollo, and Minerva.^ Tarann, who was the Keltic god of thunder,^ was identified with Jupiter ; Hesus, god of battles and the van- quisher of giants and darkness, became Mars;'^ Teutates, or Theut,^ the inventor of the arts and guardian of roads and com- merce, was easily assimilated to Mercury ; Belenus, or Bel, the sun or fire god,^ was the Gallic Apollo; and Belisanna, his companion, mistress of the heavens, was Eomanized into Mi- nerva.'^ There was, moreover, a Gallic Iluracles, named Og- de rAcadcm. dcs Inscript. ct Belles descended from Taautes of the Phoeni- Lettres, t. 7). cians, or the Teutat of the Carthagini- ' Celtic Druids, p. 305, and passim, ans. As late as the time of Nero a fa- - Ca:s., de Bell. Gall., 1. An., c. 17. mons Gallic sculptor, Zenodorus, em- All the passages concerning the Druids ployed six years in making a statue of to be found in the classic writers are this god, which cost forty millions of C( )ll'cted by Dom Bouquet (RenimGalli- sesterces (Pliny, 1. xxxiv., c. 7). carum etI>ancicarumScriptores, vol.1). ^ Bel recalls the Bel or Baal, the ^ Taran, in Welsh, means thunder. sun-god of the Babylonians. The Dru- * Citis. (1. c.) ; Lucan, 1. i., v. 44G ; ids kindled fires upon the cairns on Florus, 1. ii., c. 4 ; Aul. Gell., Noct. May-day eve, in honor of Bea/, or Bca- Attica?, 1. XAT., c. 6; Macrob., Satur- /an (the sun), and the day still retains in nal., 1. vi., c. 9. A bas-relief, found Irc\Q.nd the name of Bealtain, or Beal's under the Church of Notre Dame, at fire-day. (Toland, Hist, of the Druids, Paris, in 1711, represents Hesus half let. xi., pp. 101-104.) naked, crowned with leaves, and with an '' Minerva-Belisanna appears in an axe cutting down a tree. ISIontfaucon, inscription found in Novempopulania. Ant. Explic, t. ii., cc. 1-5. (Ampe're, t. i., p. 90, note.) There ^ The name of this deity is perhaps was a Syrian god Belisama. D 50 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. mius/ who was no longer a god of brute strength, but of that moral force which resides in eloquence, and who was represent- ed as a venerable old man armed with mace and bow, and drawing the crowd after him by golden chains which passed from his tongue to their ears.^ But the Gauls, in fact, like all other wild and deep-feeling primitive people, to whom nature was new and wonderful, flashing in forever upon their childlike minds its beautiful and awful forms, saw a preternatural life in every object, and divinized the mountains, the woods, the lakes, the rocks, and the trees. Every dear locality, and towns and cities even, had their animating genii : Kirk rode upon the black north ; Leucotetia inspired Lutetia (Paris) ; Ehot was adored at Kouen ; Pennia frequented the high Alps ; the lovely Arduinna the Ardennes, and Namus uttered oracles at Namur.^ Especially sacred to the Gaul — taught, perhaps, by his Druids — were the obscure dejDths of the oak forest, and the gloomy reverence with which he contemplated them seems to have passed into the soul of the Latin j^oet, who shudders as he de- scribes a consecrated wood.* "Behold," sings Lucan, '' the forest, inviolate for ages, where The sacred "^^^ iutcrwovcn brauchcs canopy the dark air, and cold forests. shadows rcpcl the sun. The rural Pans, the gentle Sylvans, and the wood-nyinjDhs inhabit them no more, driven away by horrid barbaric rites, and altars streaming with fright- ful holocausts. Every tree has been washed in human blood ; the birds will not light upon the branches, nor the wild beast lie down in its lairs, nor the winds blow through the trees, nor the lightning descend to dispel the noisome damps. A black stream murmurs from a thousand fountains, and huge and un- formed trunks are the horrible images of the gods." " Tradition relates how the earth often shakes, and the deep caverns groan, and the yews bend and rise of a sudden, and the woods, with- ' Ogham was the name of the Irish Qua?st. Nat., 1. ii., c. 17. Gruter, Col- letters, or alphabet, and meant science lect. Inscriptionum, pp. 94, 110, et al or mystery. (Toland, 1. c.) As late as the time of Gregory of Tom'S = Lucian, in Hercnl. Gallico ; Amm. (De Gloria Confessorum, c. 2), the Gal- Marccll., 1. xv., c. 9. See Mem. dc lie peasants worshiped the lakes. I'Academ. des luscrip. et Belles Lettres, '^ Lucan, Pharsal., 1. iii,, v. 399 ct t. X., p. 104. seq. Max. Tyr., Serai. 18. Seneca, Chap. II.] ANCIENT GAUL. 51 out burning, shine witli flames of fire, and tlie dragons glide along tlic roots. The religion of the people forbids them to approach it ; it is given up to their divinities ; and, whether Phoebus shines or the shadowy night veils the heavens, even the priest fears to penetrate the dwelling of his god." In the sombre hues of this picture there is, perhaps, some Belief in im- poctlc exaggeration ; for the same author and others mortality, ^^gjr^te how thc Gaul cherished a firm and cheerful faith in the immortaHty of the soul,^ which the priests had in- tellectualized into an Indian-like scheme of metempsychosis ; or rather, as Ampere suggests, into a metasomatosis, or eternal change of bodies.- The Ufe beyond the tomb was not for him the sad, pale, quasi-nothingness of the Eoman elysium, but an immortal region, where he was destined to enjoy, in fullness of happiness, the passions and pursuits which had been his delight on earth. There the warrior would renew his battles, the hunt- er chase the wolf, the clansman serve his chief, and the priest instruct his faithful.^ It was reported, indeed, that the simple- minded Gaul carried his credulity to the point of depositing letters on the graves of his friends, to be read in another world, that he contracted debts to be paid after his own death, and that he sometimes sacrificed the kindred and servants of the de- ceased upon his bier in order to keep him company.'* But in the more scientific conceptions of the Druids this faith Thcmetcmp- ^^ thc'future life took the shape of a belief in a series sychosi.. ^£ progressive courses through which the spirit passed in its ascent from the lowest animal to its final incorporation in the human form. Arrived at this stage, the choice of good and evil was presented to it, and, accordingly as it exercised this re- sponsibility, it returned after death either to the body of reptile or brute, to reassume the course of probation, or to the circle of felicity, where it would experience unending joys.^ The great moral object of Druidism, as expressed by itself, Scientific was "to reform morals, to secure peace, and to encour- pretensions. ^^^ gooducss ;" aud, as couducivc to these ends, it in- » Liican, v., 4G0-4G2. Pomp. Mela, " Diodor. Sic, 1. v., p. 308; Ml'Iu, iii., 2; Cics., >i., U. 1. iii., c. 2. ^ Hist. Lit., t. i., c. 2, p. 42. ^ Sec the Welsh Triads and writings. ^ See Thieriy (Hist, dcs Gaulois, t, of the Bards. (Da^^es, Celtic Kesearch- ii., p. 81). es, 2irj et s,q.) 52 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. culcated '' obedience to tlie laws of the god, concern for tlie wel- fare of others, and fortitude under the accidents of life." ^ But these unexceptionable principles were overlaid, it seems to me, by a mass of pernicious superstitions and pretenses. They discoursed, says Coesar, of the hidden nature of things, of the extent of the universe and the earth, of the forms and move- ments of the stars, of the virtues of plants, of the secret forces which control the order of events, and of the essence, power, and actions of the immortal gods.- Some knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies, beyond what pertained to the regulation of their festivals, they appear to have had f they composed the year by lunations, which supposes an acquaint- ance with the solar year ]^ and this again supposes a degree of familiarity with mathematics and numbers. Eloquence, it is to be presumed, they cultivated, inasmuch as they had a god of eloquence, and in order to maintain a persuasive influence among the people ; and to music they devoted a distinct corpo- ration. But their medical and physical science generally I can make nothing of more than a medley of astrology, divination, magic, and a rude knowledge of plants as simples. Yet, it may be, in all such cases, that our ignorance, not theirs, is at fault. No one is permitted to say that falsehood or imposture alone lie concealed in doctrines which are to him inscrutable. Like many other mystic sects, the Druids possessed their mysterious rhynn, or language of the initiated, which might have appear- ed significant to them, although to others only fantastic. Ee- taining, perhaps, from earlier times, some broken fragments of the great mirror of correspondence which the Scandinavian seer assures us reflects the glories and shames of the interior world, they may have discerned in the trees, and shrubs, and leaves, and flowers, to which they paid so profound a reverence, the expressive symbols of deep spiritual truths. ' Triads, 171, 182, in Davies. It is = Freret (Mem. de PAcadcm. des In- confirmatory of this that Diogenes La- script., etc., t. xviii., p. 22G). ertius says their practice was controlled ^ Curious Druidical relics found in ))y three precepts: "To worship the Ireland are plainly astronomical instni- gods, to do no e-vil, and behave cour- ments designed to show the phases of ageously" (Proem., p. 5). the moon. (Sir William Betham, in ^ Cffis., 1. vi., c. U ; Mela, 1. iii., Herodot., 1. i., c. 165. ' C. 143, Am. ed. way. His two works, a Description of ^ Plin., 1. iv., c. 4; Strab, 1. c. the Ocean and a Periplus, are unfor- ^ Ca>s., de Bell. Gall. 1. i. c. 20, vi. innately lost. (Mannert, Geog., v. i., 14 ; comp. Ampere, Hist! Litt., t. i.', c, p. 73.) Strabo and other ancient an- Ampere ascribes great influence to Hel- thorities are disposed to ridicule the lenic genius in Gaul; but Michelet Chap, in.] ANCIENT GAUL. 67 also, tliey bore off the trophies of war from their powerful rivals of Carthage.^ Massalia early allied herself to the Eomans, and during the Punic wars rendered them effective service," for which she was paid, after the fall of Carthage, by the rich harvests reaped from the commerce of the whole West. Indeed, she then attained her highest pitch of glory ; wherever the Roman eagles pene- trated, her adventurous traders followed ; the wealth of the world flowed into her coffers ; and she might long have con- tinued her successful career, but for that scourge of all ancient peoples, war. Wishing to extend their possessions, the Massaliotes encroach- Eome assists cd upou tho territories of their Ligurian neighbors, B,€!i5^i22. the Oxybes and the Deceates, and provoked a re- prisal upon the settlements of Antipolis and Nikoea. Being hard pressed, they then besought the assistance of their former friends, the Romans, who defeated the Ligurians, and handed over their lands, as far as the river Yar, to Massalia.^ Twenty- nine years later, they once more asked Roman aid against the fierce tribes of the Salurii, and the Roman senate, doubtless glad of an opportunity to get rid of Fulvius Flaccus, a friend of the Gracchi, who was then prosecuting a reform of the elect- ive franchise, sent him to their defense. For two years he car- ried fire and sword into the country of the Salurians, when he was succeeded by C. Sextius Calvinus, proconsul, who com- pleted their subjection. Many of them were sold into slavery, their villages were sacked, and their poor outlawed chief, Teuto- mal, was obliged to seek refuge among the Allobrogians, be- thinks it has been exaggerated. Ac- Grecian sources. There was a consid- cording to the witness oi' Strabo, Am- erable number of Greek words in tlie mianus, Lucian, and others, Ani])(rc popular Proven9al dialect of the middle is the more nearly right; but when he ages. refers the pecxiliar genius of Racine, ^ Thucyd., 1. i., l-. 13; Justin, 1. Fenelon, La Fontaine, Massillon, and xliii., c. 5. Andr^ Chcnier to any direct remains of ^ Cicero, Philip., viii., G. Justin re- this influence, he rather strains the lates that these services date from the point. Fauriel(DerOriginederEpopee time of the sacking of Rome by the Chevalresque, in the Revue des Deux Gauls, but the story is deemed ficti- Mondes, 1832) takes better ground, in tious. tracing certain kinds of Provencal po- ^ Polyb., Excerpt, dc Legat., 1. etry, and certain customs, traditions, xxxiii., c. 4. and superstitious of southern Gaul to 58 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. yond the Isara.^ But on tliis occasion tlie Eomans did not go liome after they had succeeded. Sextius remained in Gaul over winter; and as schemes of colonization were then the fashion at Eome, where an absorbing discussion of the pohcy of the agrarian Laws was going on, he selected a site for a new colon}^, on the little river CLenus, near some thermal waters, giving to it the name of Aquce Sextke? It was the first Eoman colony established beyond the Alps, and is now the city of Aix in Provence. Among the native tribes of Gaul an implacable enmity had Rome interferes ^oug subsistcd betwccn thc JEduaus and the Allo- B.c! 122 tf B.c! l^i'ogians ; and the Massaliotes, for secret purposes of ^^^- their own, persuaded the former to seek an alhance with the Eomans. The ^duans did so, and were soon pleased to see themselves dignified formally as "the friends and alHes of the Eoman people."^ Now, as the Allobrogians had given shelter to Teutomal, the Consul Domitius, who succeeded Sex- tius, demanded his delivery from them, adding, at the same time, that they must cease to trespass upon the lands of the ^duans.'* The Allobrogians, properly resenting this piece of insolence, replied with a defiance, and prepared for war. Their friends, the sturdy mountaineers of Arvernia, endeavored, through the agency of their king, Biteuth,^ to effect a recon- ciliation ; but Domitius, without listening to his whimsical em- bassy, which consisted of several cavaliers dressed in gold and purple, a chorus of bards, and a train of enormous bull-dogs,^ fell at once upon the Allobrogians, and beat them at Sinda- lium, near the present Avignon.'' Biteuth had therefore no other recourse than to assume the cause and quarrel of his cli- ents. A numerous army of Arvernians, Allobrogians, and other friendly tribes, was concentrated near the confluence of the Isara and the Ehone. Domitius, with his two legions of twenty thousand men, was joined by Fabius, grandson of Paulus ^milius, with another twenty thousand, and together they ad- ^ Lhy., Epit., 1. Ixi. '-" Bltvitus in LIat and Florus, Biti- ^ Ibid., id., and Strab., 1. iv., c. 1; tos in Strabo, and Betultus in Valer. Yelleius ratcrculus, 1. i., c. 15. Maximus. ^ JA\y, ibid. ^ Ap])inn, Tulv. Ursin. * Florus, I. iii., c. 2. ^ Livy, 1. c. Chap. III.] AJ^CIENT GAUL. 59 vancecl to the encounter. Biteutli, as lie paraded before his hordes in a magnificent chariot of silver, boasted that the Eo- mans were scarcely a meal for his dogs,^ and it seemed likely to prove so in the battle which ensued ; for the Arvernians had almost won the da}^, when Domitius ordered a charge of ele- phants, and the sight of those monstrous brutes, known only to the simple-minded Gauls from the traditions of Hannibal's transit through their country, threw them into a panic. At- tempting to escape by means of the bridges they had thrown over the streams, those frail structures broke, and men and horses were drowned by thousands. An indescribable slaugh- ter was carried on among the rest. Biteuth, the king, barely escaped with his life into the mountains, and it is estimated that one hundred and fifty thousand men perished." All the lands of the Allobrogians, extending from Geneva, on Lake Leman, to the Rhone, as fixr south as the Durance, and comprising the modern provinces of Dauphiny, Provence, and parts of Lan- guedoc, were reduced to Roman possessions.^ As for the poor King Biteuth, after endeavoring in vain to rally his scattered forces, he was inveigled into the hands of Domitius by a gross piece of treachery, and. sent to Rome among the trophies.* The object of the Massaliotes, it is supposed, in promoting an A transalpine alliancc of the ^duaus with the Romans, and the province creat- a tt i • t ^ ed,B.€. 121-118. consequent conquest oi the Allobrogians and oth- ers, was to obtain for themselves a larger territory along the sea-coast, in which object, if they entertained it, their ambition overshot its mark. The Romans, in consenting to play the lion's part, were determined also to take the lion's share. They did not push their conquests among the Arvernians — either fearing to assail these fierce warriors in their native hills, or perhaps deeming it wiser to open a way across Gaul to their possessions in Spain — but they routed, one by one, the tribes to the southwest of the Rhone. The Helvii, the Yolcce-Arecom- icoe, perhaps the Sardones, were subdued, and the whole region from the Alps to the Pyrenees was declared a Roman prov- 1 Flonis, 1. iii., c. 2. '^ Valer. Max., 1, vi., c. 9. The Ko- ■ Orosius, 1. v., cc. 13-14; Lhy man Senate was disgusted at the treach- (Epit., 1. c.) has 120,000. ery, but did not send him back. He ^Floras, t. iii., c. 2. Compare was banished to Alba, near Lake Faci- Niebuhr, Lectures, vol. ii., p. 314. nus, now Albi. 60 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book L ince.^ Massalia was soon compelled to see a formidable com- mercial rival rising almost at its gates, in a new colony founded by Marcius Rex at the city of Narbo, on the Atax (Aude).^ By turning the river from its bed, connecting it with the sea, and diking the vast Rubrensian lakes {VEiang de Bage and VElang de Sigean), a capital harbor was formed, which in proc- ess of time diverted trade from Massalia, became the chief city of the whole transalpine province, and succeeded to the influ- ence over the native people which the Greeks had formerly ex- ercised.^ All the utilities and splendors of the Roman civiliza- tion were gradually transferred to it : temples, bridges, porticoes, baths, and amphitheatres presented a little image of the mother city, while the various political devices of senates, curia, and legions, assisted in completing the resemblance.'* But, while the Romans were thus sedulously pushing their Descent of the pl^^^s of couqucst iu southcm Gaul, an event " as Tentof.e^'^B.c. ii^mcuse aud appalling as a second deluge" came to 113-105. arrest their progress and to threaten even Italy with ruin. A mighty horde of barbarians, who called themselves Kymri and Ten tones, ^ and who, according to the later Roman ^ B.C. lis is the usual date, but the in such close alliance with the Kelts? precise time of this is unknown. We If not Germans, whence the name, which have no longer Livy to guide us — only was a native name of the German race? a few wretched epitomes. Massalia, Niebuhr (Lectures Rom. Hist., vol. ii., with its possessions, being independ- p. 328) says, " It is as certain that they ent, was not included in the Province, were Germans as that the Kymri were (Plin., 1. iii., c. 4.) Kelts," and he founds this opinion upon = Veil. Paterc, 1. i., c. 1.5 ; Polyb., their name, and the name of their lead- iii., 39 ; Avienus (v. 5S5) makes Narljo cr, Teutoboc. But the word Teuton is a ca].ital city of the unknown tribe of not necessarily of German origin ; for, Elysykcs. It was early colonized and in the Irish, a dialect of the Keltic, tn- enlarged by the Romans. ath or toth means the north, and aii ^ After the legion Martla was settled means man, so that tuath-an, easily mis- there it was called Narho-Martius, then taken for Teuton, may have designated Narhona, now Narbonve. merely a North-man, or man from the * Sidonins Apollinaris (Carm., north (Mone, CeltischeForschungen, p. xxiii.), as late as his time, describes it 333). Again : the name given by Flo- as flourishing. rus to the Teuton king, Teufoboccvs, was ' As to who or what these Kymri Keltic, according to Latham (Germania, were, there seems to be no longer any Appendix 3d). Besides, the weapon doubt among the ethnologists. They they used, called the cafeias (Virgil, were Kelts from the northeast of Gaul : ^"Eneid, vii., 741), was the Keltic spear, but the Teutones, were they Kelts or and the majority of the ancient writers Germans ? If Gei-mans, how came they considered them' Kelts. Chap. III.] ANCIENT GAUL. 61 stories, had been expelled from the shores of the Baltic^ by in- undations of the sea, were spreading themselves, in torrents more desolating than the waves they fled, over the north and centre of Europe. Three hundred thousand warriors, bearing with them their wives, their children, and their old men, composed this fearful host. The Romans encountered them first on the northern frontiers of Istria (Noricum), where (B.C. 113) a Ro- man army, under Papirius Carbo, was speedily overwhelmed.^ Then, after ravaging the country from the Danube to the Adri- atic,^ they turned westward, and, taking with them fift}^ thou- sand Tigurines, Thugenes, and Ambrones from Switzerland,* they poured upon Rhenan Gaul (B.C. 111). Such were the dev- astations they committed that the country people fled for shel- ter into the towns, where soon the overcrowded multitudes were compelled to feed on their fellows whom age or feebleness dis- qualified for the common defense.^ On the borders of the Transalpine province alone they stopped for a moment (B.C. 109), awed, perhaps, by the greatness of the power whose legions had met them along the whole line of their march from Illyria to the Rhone. They besought Consid Silanus, the colleague of Metellus, to give them lands ;^ but the Roman governor re- plied by giving them battle, and was most disastrously worsted." Next they would have ravaged the entire Province, had not the native tribes assisted the Romans. Even as it was (B.C. 107), a second Roman army, in two divisions, commanded b}^ Consul Cassius Longinus and his lieutenant, Scaurus, came to arrest their course, and only shared the fate of its predecessor.^ The consul was killed, the greater part of the troops slain, and the rest passed under the yoke. Three successive defeats, in so signal a manner, of fully - ' Strab. (1. ii., c. 3, § G, et 1. vii., c. Hoff' (cited by Malte Brun, Geog., In- 2, § 1). The original locality of the troduct., c. 3). Kymri, like the ethnology of the Teu- ^ Liv., Epit., Ixiii. tones, has been a subject of much dis- ^ Veil. Paterc, 1. ii., cc. 8-12. putc. The common opinion is that * Plut. (in Vita Marii). they came from Jutland ; but many high ^ Cnss., Bell. Gall., 1. vii., c, 77. authorities doubt this, among the rest ^ Flonis, 1. iii., u. 5; Liv., Epit., both Nicbuhr and Latham. If they did G5, G7. come from Jutland, the cause assigned ^ Tlie place of this battle can not be for their expulsion, inundations, is not determined, so absurd as IStrabo imagines. See M. ^ Orosius, 1. v., c. 15. 62 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Revenge of tte equipped Koman armies turned the thoughts of the B.(j. 106-104 barbarians to the other side of the Alps, and already they were beginning to debate in their councils the distribution of the spoils of Italy. The same causes aroused also the vig- ilance and energy of the Koman Senate, and two new consular armies, under Proconsul Q. Servilius Caepio, who was the gov- ernor of the Province, and the new consul, Cn. Mallius, were im- mediately levied to meet the emergency. These might have been successfid, but for an occurrence that repulsed and exas- perated those native tribes which thus far had seen a common enemy of themselves and the Romans in the Kymro-Teutons. Governor C?epio, in an evil moment, invading the territory of the Tectosages, plundered their city of Tolosa, one of the sacred cities of Gaul, within whose walls and lakes a supersti- tious piety had deposited immense treasures as offerings to the gods.^ This desecration aroused all the ferocity of the barbaric heart. The Tectosagians, whether alone or in junction with the Kymri does not appear," fell upon the legions of Cagpio and Mallius, and of eighty thousand soldiers and forty thousand camp-followers left but ten men to tell the tale.^ All were slain — Roman legions, Roman allies, Roman servants — down to the Roman horses and beasts of burden ; the captives were hung upon the trees ; the very baggage was hacked into pieces, and not a remnant of any thing Roman was suffered to affront the sun.'^ It was then that the hordes plundered the Province at will, leaving it as stripped and bare as all the rest of Gaul which they had visited.^ The report of this bloody vengeance filled Italy with con- ]\rariu9 in r.aui, stcrnatiou.^ Ever since the defeat of Papirius Carbo E.C. 164- 0.. ^i^g popidar terror had been gathering before the in- roads of these savage descendants of the Gauls who long ago had ^ Aul. Gell.,1. iii., c. 9. Crepio car- Epit,, lx-\'ii., and Orosius (v. 16), ried off, it is said, a Innidred thousand which Niebnhr thinks exaggerated, pounds' weight of gold, and ten thou- * This battle was fought near the sand of silver (Oros., 1. ^., c. 15); but Rhone, on the 6th of October. Capio Justin (1. xxxii., u. 3) makes it even and Mallius were not on good terms more. " Toulousan gold" became aft- with each other, and by that contributed cnvard a proverb for ill-gotten gains. to the defeat. See i)io. Cassius (Ex- - It is not likely they were alone, but cerpt. ab Henrico Valesio, p. 631). tlie accounts are very blind. ^ Liv., Epit., Ixvii. ^ These are the numbers of Li-vy, '^ Eutropius, 1. ii., c. 1. Chap. III. ] ANCIENT GAUL. 63 conqnerecl on tlie AUia and sacked tlie capitol. The usual por- tents of calamity — the burning cressets, the shields of lire, the clashing arms — began to people again, as of old, the superstitious heavens.^ With the Koman, however, fear was less a paralj^sis of action than an impulse to it ; yet, who was the man for the crisis ? Popular instinct at once discerned him in Caius Marius, then serving gloriously against Jugurtha in Africa ; for he was himself a man of the people, who had followed the plow on the Volscian mountain side,^ who had often borne the brunt of battle as a common soldier, who, without family, without pat- ronage, without the fashionable culture or the fashionable vices of his day, while stemming the scorn and derision of the nobles, by the force of his genius as a general and a statesman, by the in- tegrity of a character "massive and columnar in all its propor- tions," and by his sturdy defense of plebeian interests against patrician insolence, had raised himself to the first dignit}^ of the state. Cool, blunt, rigid, self-centred, yet capable of prodigious displays of energy, he had shown himself as remarkable for the art with which he fortified camps and managed campaigns as for fearless prowess on the field of battle.^ The nation, therefore, putting aside its constitutional forms, that he might be made consul a second time, immediately, and in his absence, hailed him as its probable savior. Marius exerted all his energy in organizing a suitable army, iiig propara- Thc iuroads of slavcry having already extinguished ^^°"^- the yeomen of Italy, he was obliged to add to the vet- eran legions that remained a rabble from the stews of the cities. In a short time he had disciphned this uncombed mass into both obedience and valor. The old soldiers, who looked with con- tempt upon "Marius's mules," as they stigmatized his raw re- cruits, speedily discovered that they must themselves look to their laurels in a comparison. And thus sustained, he repaired to Gaul, where he made his dispositions with the calm foresight and indomitable will which in early youth had won for him the flattering prognostications of Scipio. ^ Plutarch (in Mario). dices of history in estimating the char- Juvenal, vii., XT. 24:5-253. actor of Marius, but even he a]i]iears to ^ Nieb. (Lectures, vol. ii., p. 325). me to exaggerate the bitterness and crn- One rejoices to see this eminent man elty of tlie man during the exasjierations rise superior to the stercotj^ocd preju- of his later years. 61 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Had the Kymri and Teutones followed np tlie victory won by the natives at Tolosa, they might have possessed themselves of the whole Province, and been in a position to execute their designs against Italy ; but with the light and reckless disposi- tion of nomads, they allowed themselves to be diverted into Spain, where they passed two years in fruitless contests with the Keltiberians. This was precisely such a vacation as Marius required, and he passed the interval in preparing to receive the barbarians when they might return. He awaited them at the junction of the Isere and the Ehone ; but when they came they evinced no purpose of immediate attack. On the contrary, they separated from each other, in the design, apparently, of march- ing upon Italy from two different points, the Kymri going north along the foot of the Alps toward Noricum, and the Teutones, with the Ambrones, seeking to cross them by the southern or maritime passes. Marius, in order to intercept the latter move- ment, raised his camp, hastened toward the sea, and intrenched himself in a position covering the only two practicable routes into Ital}^ The Ambro-Teutones followed rapidly upon his heels, and as they reached him, defiling before his lines for six whole days, they mocked and jeered at his men, shouting out, " Have you any word to send your wives in Italy? We shall be with them soon." The policy of Marius, in view of their superior numbers, was to reserve his force, in order either to weary out their patience, or to provoke an attack when he might best turn it to advantage. But it was as much as he could do, amid the repeated provocations and taunts of the enemy, to restrain the indignant fury of his legions. At length, on the little river Coenus, near Aix, a preliminary skirmish between two parties, which had gone to the stream for water and to bathe, brought on a more general engagement, in which the Ambrones, the principal combatants, were driven in among their wagons, where the darkness of night alone interrupted a fearful slaughter. A final conflict, it was now clear, could be no longer delayed. Defeat of the All through the subsequent night the Eoman camp exhibited a busy scene of preparation, interrupted only by starts of expectation or panic. The imperturbable gen- eral himself trembled lest the battle should be renewed dur- Chap. III.] ANCIENT GAUL. 65 ing tlie darkness, wliile the camp of the enemy resounded inces- santly with hideous howlings, "more hke the roar of wild beasts than the cries of men," mingled with the sobs and sighs of the women who mourned their dead. However, no assault was made that night, nor the next day, till the dawn of the second morning, when Marius, from the hillock he occupied, or- dered his cavalry to charge upon the plain. The vigor and fe- rocity of the encounter that ensued is best told in the result. A hundred and fifty thousand barbarians lay dead on the field. ^ Their hosts were, in fact, annihilated. The remains of the kill- ed, left to rot upon the soil, lent to it a ghastly fertility and the name of the Putrid Plains ; and it is told that in long-after years the vine-dressers of the Khone sides were accustomed still to prop their stalks with the bones.^ Great indeed was the joy of Eome over such a victory. Marius was proclaimed consul for the fifth time, and every other honor would have been heaped upon him but that, confiding in his destin}^ and anticipating a still higher glory, he would not repair to Rome, but hastened to the northern frontier of the peninsula, where the proconsul, Catulus, was striving to keep back the Kymric branch of the barbarians. These, having reached the Tyrolean Alps, left the Zurichers to defend the j^asses of the Brenner, and then descended them- selves as far south as the Athesis.^ The soldiers of Catulus with astonishment and affright saw them sporting naked amid the the snow-wreaths of the mountains, or sliding on their bucklers down the most precipitous descents.* Their courage oozed at the prospect before them, and they retreated behind the Padus (Po), leaving the wealth and luxuries of their country an easy prey to the foe. But the new wine, the warm bread, and the melting suns were about to prove to him, in his unrestricted ap- petite, more formidable antagonists than the legions of Catulus, when Marius amved to complete the pernicious work of self- indulgence and of climate. As he halted, the Kymri sent a deputation to him to ask lands both for themselves and their ' Plutarch says 100,000. Li\7 has " Plutarch (in Mario). The modern 200,000 killed and 90,000 prisoners, village of Pourriere is supposed to have Eutropius very nearly agi-ees with this, been named from the Cliamps-Pourri. hut Velleius Paterculus has 150,000 ^ Now the Adige. slain, and is probably most nearly right. ^ Florus, 1. i., c. 3. E 6Q AITCIENT GAUL. [Book I. brothers, tlie Teutones (of whose extinction they had not yet heard) . ^ Mariiis rephed, with sardonic irony, " Oh ! don't trouble yourselves about the Teutones ; they have land enough, which they are hkely to keep forever!" Perceiving that he dissem- bled some jest, the envoys of the Kymri threatened him with the consequences of a speedy arrival of the Teutones. " The Teutones," he rejoined, somewhat dramatically ; "they are here already ;" and he caused several of their captured chiefs to be brought forth, Nothing daunted by the discovery of a fact which was now but too apparent, the envoys retired to con- sult their peojDle, who then sent a second embassy to him to ask him to appoint the place where and the time when it should be decided to whom Italy belonged. Answering that Eome did not counsel with her enemies as to the time or place in which she might choose to defend herself, he yet condescended to in- dicate to them the third day thereafter, and the Ehaudian Plain, near Yicella^,- as the fitting jolace and season. Marius had made, as usual with him, the most consummately The battle of skillful arrangement of his forces. The Kymri had the Rhaudian i -i • t in • i -nm i n Plains. not exhibited an equal loresight. W hen the day came, they advanced precipitately in masses, their front ranks tied to- gether with chains, either to preserve a firm front in marching, or to hinder the timid from flight, while, as soon as the battle was joined, a violent wind raised such clouds of dust as to ob- scure the skies and conceal the combatants from each other. The battle was, nevertheless, a stubborn and bloody one, the Eomans achieving the victory. The Kymri were almost ex- terminated. Yet, as the victors entered their camp, the wom- en fought as furiously as the men, or j^ut themselves and their children to death rather than fall into the hands of the enemv.^ Even the fierce dogs of the clans, guarding the remains of their masters, could only be dislodged by arms.* Grateful Eome then greeted Marius with an unprecedented triumph ; divine honors were decreed him ; he was hailed as the third founder of the city,^ and elected — the first time in her annals that such 1 Plutarch (in INIario). * Floras, iii., 3. Yal. Max., -vn., 1. Plutarch, iV)id. ^ Romulus having been the first, and " Plutarcli puts the killed at 120,000, that Camillus Avho won his laurels the ]irisoners at 00,000. Tih-y says chiefly in contests against this same 140,000 dead, and Floras 100,000. ' Keltic race, the second. Chap III.] ANCIENT GAUL. 67 an event had occnrrecV — to a sixtli consulate. For the enemy, who, for ten years, had " hung like a tempest upon the declivi- ties of her mountains," was at last dispersed, and, as it was hoped, dispersed forever. Better, perhaps, would it have been for Eome if that enemy Gaul durins ^^^ hugcrcd ; for no sooner Avas she relieved of this oniomc,Bx\ cause of alarm, and of the vent which external dan- ^*^^~^^- gers afforded to the imeasy ambitions of her military chiefs, than she turned her monstrous energy upon herself. The old feuds of the patrician and the plebeian classes, leaping the walls of the Comitia and the Senate-house, flamed through Ita- ly and convulsed the Eoman world. In all the perturbations of the crisis the provinces of course participated. The cities of Narbo and Massalia siding with the aristocratic faction, while the county sided with their opponents, they were both alternately ravaged by the legions of Sertorius or of Pompey. What the military chiefs did not destroy the propraetors and the publicans ruined. Fonteio, as the governor of the Province, played over again in Gaul the infamous part which Yerres enact- ed in Sicily ;^ yet, when the commotions had subsided, the poor Gauls found no eloquent voice, as the Sicilians did, to plead their wrongs before, or procure them redress from, the Eoman tribunals. On the contrary, the very tongue which thundered against the Sicilian robber, had for them only accents of taunt and calumny.^ It would have been well for the native tribes if they had availed themselves of the civil wars of Eome to assert their in- dependence and to exclude the insidious invader from their an- cient soil. But again the old feuds of the clans prevented any such consummation. The Allobrogiaiis alone, who had offend- ed by tampering in the conspiracy of Catihne,* descended from their hills to assail Massalia ; but, being speedily crushed, the fate of the transalpine Province was determhied. A firm and lasting foothold in Gaul was secured to Eome forever, as the point cVappui of future operations. ^ Niebiilir (Rom. Hist., t. iii., p. ^ Cicero pro Fonteio. 178) thinks Valerius Coitus may liave '^ Cic. in Cat., iii., 6, and iv., 3. Flo- had such an honor. rus, 1. iv., c. 1. - Cicero, De Har. Resp., 20, and pro Flacco, no. 68 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. CHAPTER TV. The Conquest of Gaul by Julius C^sak. The feuds of the clans, whicli liad prevented the expulsion of the Romans from Gaul, were the means also of securmg them a firmer footing in the country. The old dis]Dute of the Sequani (of Franche Comte) with the iEduans (of Autun) touching river-rights upon the Saone partly, but the unde- cided question of political supremacy chiefly, was the occasion of this result. As the ^Eduans, by making themselves ''the friends and allies of the Roman people," had been enabled to achieve and retain some signal advantages, so the Sequani thought they might retrieve their losses by resorting in their turn to foreign assistance. There was on the eastern frontier of Gaul a powerful con- federation of Germans, who called themselves the Suevi, and who, according to Ca3sar's representations, were little, if any, better than savages. Their hundred cantons sent yearly into the field a thousand warriors each, while as many more remain- ed at home to till the fields, until another year should bring about among them an interchange of functions, and the tillers should go to war and the warriors to tillage. Subsisting chiefly on milk, corn, and flesh, and abstaining from wine, which they thought enfeebling ; using no clothes but the skins of the beasts they had taken, and bathmg in the coldest streams in winter, to inure their bodies to all the rigors of the weather, their un- sophisticated apprehensions conceived the chief glory of states to consist in maintaining a wide circle of desolation around their frontiers.-^ ' C.Ts. (De Bell. Gall., 1. iv., c. 1). of,.) But Grimm, nnd afccr him La- No tenn more puzzles the ethnologist tham (Gennania, Epilegomeiia, § 20), than this Suevi. It is usually deduced think the -word of Keltic origin. The from the middle High-German sicdbr, Suevans are also commonly considered to move unsteadil)^, and is supposed to tlie ancestors of the modern Suahians. indicate a people of unsteady, migratoiy Latliam, however, argues that the Suevi habits, (Zeuss, Die Deutsche, etc., p. of Cresar were the Catti, i. e., Hesse, Chap. IV.] AKCIENT GAUL. 69 These people tlie Sequani, joined by the Arvernians, took into their sendee. Crossing the Ehine, under a chief named TheGermana Ariovist, to the nuniber of fifteen thousand, they 72. ' ' " soon increased to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand, and then, marching upon the ^duans, put their troops to flight, destroyed all their cavalry, /. e., their senators and nobles, seized their children as hostages, and com- pelled them to swear never to demand hostages in return, or to seek the aid of the accursed Romans. A single eminent man of the ^Eduans alone — Divitiac, a Druid — refused these terms of submission, and fled to Rome to supphcate the succor of the Senate.^ ^"^ry soon the Sequani and Arvernians re- pented of their bargain : they had achieved a victory chiefly at their own expense ; and Ariovist, charmed with the aspects of Gaul, first demanded a third of their lands as the reward of his services, and afterward another third, as an allotment to a large convoy of friends. As the allies refused to ac- quiesce in this, he made ready to pass them under the same yoke to which they had subjected the ^duans. But, recon- ciled by a common calamity, the Sequani and ^Eduans enter- ed into a solemn league of resistance against thier new and up- start master. Ariovist worsted them both in a battle fought at Magetobriga,^ and then lorded it over their tribes in the most despotic and cruel manner. A daring and truculent leader, active in enterprise, fertile in expedients, indomitable in will, he controlled them with such rigor that they dared not even whisper their complaints to the winds. It was his success, it may be imagined, as much as any other cause, which encouraged a Helvetian chief, called the Orgeto- righ, or the Lord of a Hundred Yalleys,^ to undertake another stupendous project of conquest and dominion. He conceived the idea of making himself and his people the masters of the i. c, Hessians. The Hamdes, whom » Cres., Bell. Gall., 1. i., ».•. 31. CtEsar mentions as following them (Bell. • Now Mogte-de-Broic, near the con- Gall., 1. i., c. 30), were Clicruski^ i. c, fluence of the Saonc and the Ognon. Saxans (Gerraania, p. 131). The Sue- ^ This, according to the French au- vans, who were the ancestors of the tlioritics, was a Keltic title, not a prop- Swabians, do not appear until after the er name, Or-rheMo-riqli meaning the time of Alexander Sevenis, and were chief of a hundred valleys, the same as the Alemanni. 70 AJs^CIEKT GAUL. [Book I. whole of Gaul ; and it must be confessed that a more auda- Grand migration cious scheme of ambitiou has seldom been record- B.c. 61-53.*^ ^' ed.^ The Helvetians occupied the glorious mount- ain region between the Ehine, the Ehone, Lake Leman, and the Juran Alps, which is now called Switzerland; but the narrowness of their limits,- and a constant exposure to the in- roads of the Germans, induced them to listen readily to the proposals of the Orgetorigh for a general migration. After it was determined upon, two years were consumed in prepar- ing the enterprise, under the active management of the Lord of the Yalleys. In the mean time, he plotted with a dissat- isfied young chief of the ^duans, called Lumnorigh, or the Lord of the Hill (a brother of Divitiac), and another named Kastic, of the Sequani, to turn the whole affair to their own jDcrsonal aggrandizement. The magistrates, hearing of his treachery, had him arrested, when, after making a vain fight against them at the head of more than ten thousand clansmen, he put himself to death. Yet they none the less persisted in carrying out the original design. Gathering all their mountain clans, they burned their towns and villages to the number of four hundred and twelve ; all their rural dwellings, and all their substance also, except what might be needful for the out- set of their journe}^ ; in order that, once upon the route, no one should cast a longing, lingering look behind.^ Persuading their neighbors, moreover, the Eaurakians, the Tulingians, the Lato- brigians, and the Boii'^ to resort to the same desperate expedi- ent, and to join them in the expedition, they together took their departure. Of course, the rumors of so formidable a migra- tion, and near the very borders of the Province, could not but awaken the solicitude of Eome. Nor did it need the prayers of the Allobrogians and other allies (who apprehended an un- limited pillage from a band of vagrants so numerous) to in- ^ Cces., B. G., 1. i., c. 2. most remarkable phenomena of his- " Cres. (1. i., c. 2) sa3-s it was 240 tory. Roman miles in length and 180 in * These Boii were not the ancestors breadth, equivalent to 217 English miles of the nations since named Bohemians, one way and 163 another ; but the real from Boii-heiin, and Bavarians, from length of Helvetia was only about 40 Bon-aria. They gave names merely to geographical miles. those countries from which they Avere ' Well may Niebuhr (Lectures, vol. afterward driven by Germans. Man- iii., p. 42) pronounce this one of the nert (Geog., vol. ii., p. 180). Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 71 duce the Senate to take measures at once for tlieir common protection. Now it chanced, in the complicities of Koman politics, that the governor of the Transalpine was no less a person than Caius Julius Caesar. ^ That extraordinary man, to whom Julius cjBsar. the world has furnished, perhaps, no parallel, was then in the vigor of his powers, but only on the threshold of his deeds. His early life and the consular administration had shown the wonderful civic capacities with which he was en- dowed — his insight, his resource, and his decision, combined with his sleepless activity. The scandal of the day, indeed, im- puted his wan, thin face and wasted figure to unnatural debauch- cries," but a more sagacious judgment to the prodigious and wearing energies of the huge brain which surmounted his too delicate organization.^ 'We may well believe the story which is told of him, although not authentic, that Sulla saw in him many a Marius; for the bravery with which, as a youth, he had resisted that dictator at the top of his power; the swift justice which he dealt upon the Kilikian jiirates who seized him on his way to school ; his daring restoration of the stat- ues of Marius in the face of an intolerant aristocracy ; his easy superiority in all the science and literature of his day, when every well-born man was a scholar, and Cicero himself but primus inter j^cires ; his rapid ascent to the successive digni- ties of qucestor, edile, praetor, and consul, as if such places were his by native right — all this more than justified the alleged pre- diction of Sulla. A large, open, ambitious nature, in which au- dacity and prudence were strangely blended, the most compre- hensive purposes were backed by an iron tenacity of will, and an exquisite refinement and grace of manners did not disguise his reckless disdain of every conservative superstition and safe- guard, pointed him out as a master-spirit in those times of dis- solution, bearing the republic stormily on to its end.'* ' A consul, on going out of office, work as possible, added the Transalpine assumed some government ; the Senate Province, •wished to put Caesar oif with an insig- - Suetonius in Cajs., c. iO. nificant one ; his partisans proposed the ^ Plut, in Cass, proconsulship of Cisalpine Gaul and * Tacit., Annal., 1. xiii., c. 3 ; Cicero Illp-ia, to which the Senate, to get him in Brut., c. 75; Quinct., x., 1 ; Veil, as far away and to give him as much Paterc, 1. ii., c. i'd. 72 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. As 3^et, however, no brilliant military exploits liad distin- guished the career of Csesar, such as had won for his friend and later rival, Pompey, the title of Conqueror of the East ; but his enemies, in sending him to Gaul, opened for him precisely the theatre which gave him the opportunity of acquiring even greater glory. Nor can I suppose, as many historians do, that a mind like Caesar's, so large, so original, so thoroughly inform- ed of the nature of true greatness, and so capable of following its dictates, undertook these Gallic campaigns from motives of ambition merely, and in utter forgetfulness of higher political aims.^ He doubtless felt, whether rightly or wrongly I need not say, that he was about to fight the battle of civilization against barbarism, and that he must fight it with all the vigor, earnestness, and skill that he could command.^ Be that as it may; as the march of the Helvetians was a War Avith the daugcrous movement both for the Province and its G^bi '^^''' ' allies, his business was to arrest it ; and therefore, conducting the only legion in Gaul to Geneva, he destroyed the bridge which they had built over the Rhone, and raised a wall to bar their future passage.^ Their purpose being to move westward (into the country of the Santones, near the outlet of the Garonne), it would appear that they had but two good ways of egress — one by a narrow and difhcult pass, between the Jura and the Rhone, into Franche Comte; and another, far more practicable, by the fords of the Rhone ^ Niebuhr (Lect. on Rom, Hist., vol. But it was among the singular rcvolu- iii., lect. 43) calls Cai'sar a " demoniac tions of time, that in one case France man, going forward with passionate ra- (or Gaul) was the province, Italy the pidity,"butdoesinfinitelymore justiceto nation; in the other, Italy was the his character than Arnold, who seems to province and France the nation, me to judge him on too narrow grounds. ^ This famous wall, 19 Roman miles ^ Schlosser (Allgemeine Geschichte, long and 16 feet high, which Cicsar Ubersicht, B. i., s. 37G) draws an in- says he caused to be raised by the labor teresting parallel between the condi- of a single legion and its auxiliaries tion of Rome at the time of Caesar's within a few days, has been variously campaigns in Gaul and that of France discussed by military critics. There is at the time of Napoleon's campaigns in an able series of papers in regard to it Italy. The consequences of those cam- in the United Service Macjazim'^ov 1850. paigns were certainly alike— a distract- Napoleon, in the Precis; ds (harrcs de ed province conquered by a great gen- a'.wr, which I find copiously cited in eral, and the conquest leading the way Louandre's French edition of the Corn- to the overthrow of the factious admin- mentaries, says the wall and intrench- iBtratiou at home, and to the subsequent mcnt could have been completed in from acquisition of an empire by the victor, ten to fifteen days. Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 73 farther south, the one which Ciesar peremptorily forbade them and fortified. Thus compelled to take the first, they proceeded into the country of the Sequani as far as the Saone (Arar). While they were doing so the proconsul repaired to Italy and Illyria, raised five legions in addition to the one left at Geneva, returned by way of the Alps, passing all the way through an incessant hail of missiles from the native tribes, and suddenly came up with the Helvetians just as three parts of their force had crossed the river. The canton remaining be- hind he cut in pieces summarily, unprepared as it was and encumbered with baggage. Then, passing the stream with a celerity which astonished the Gauls, he rejected the terms of accommodation they proifered, and pushed forward after them, skirmishing the whole distance to within twenty miles of Autun (Bibracte). There he made a feint of retreating, which encour- aged the enemy to turn back, so that a destructive battle was brought on. On the side of the Romans there must have been from fifty to seventy thousand fighting men, and on that of the Helvetians about the same;^ but the Romans possessed a vast advantage in their superior discipline and arms. Yet the bat- tle was long and doubtful, and up to the nightfall, when the Helvetians were driven in among their wagons, Ccesar confesses that no one had seen their backs." The Romans prevailed at last, having inflicted upon the enemy, from the beginning to the end of the several encounters, a terrible loss. Of the orimnal host of 368,000 souls, only about 180,000 remained to be count- ed.^ The Romans themselves were three days in burying their dead and providing for the wounded. Afterward the Helve- tians who had escaped were pursued and compelled to surren- der, Ccesar treating them with great wisdom as well as clemen- cy, ordering the Allobrogians to supply them with corn, and to The Precis des Guerre^ de Cesar, census of the Helvetians was found, hy Napoleon, says the two armies were which shows that there M'ere Helvetii about equal ; C-esar had six legions of 203,000, Tulingi 36,000, Latobripi 5000 men each, besides the allies and 14,000, Rauraki 23,000, and Boii auxiliaries; and the Helvetians, who 32,000. Of these 130,000 afterward had originally 00,000 fighting men, lost returned to Switzerland, but it does not a fourth of them on the 8aunc. fallow that all the rest were slain. Some ^ Bell. Gall., 1. i., c. 2G. of them probably escaped among the ^ We are not left to idle report for other Gauls. Bell. Gall,, 1. i., c. 29. these figures. After the battle, a list or 74 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. see them well settled once more in tlieir ancient homes, as the alhes of Eome and a defense against the Germans. This overwhelmino: defeat of a numerous horde was regarded Caesar's aid hj thc othcr Grauls as a victory for them as well as for the Geraans. tlic Komans, and they poured their felicitations upon Csesar, beseeching his alliance on all sides. Among the rest, the Sequani and ^Eduans implored his aid against Ariovist, who had now grown so miperious that they trembled even in com- municating with Ciesar. He promised his intercession ; but, not caring to encounter so formidable a chief needlessly, who was, besides, a recognized " friend and ally of Eome," having been made so a year before on Ccesar's own motion, he sent a mes- sage to him inviting a conference. The Suevan replied, in his superb, yet wily and politic way, that if he had wanted any thing of Cassar he should have gone to C^sar, and that if Ceesar wanted an}^ thing of him he must come to him ; moreover, he added, that he scarcely deemed it safe to venture his person in that ]Dart of Gaul in which Ciesar commanded; nor could he conceive with what propriety the Eomans undertook to dic- tate to him as to the management of his own dominions. Ca3- sar therefore sent a second message, ordering him distinctly to bring no more Germans over the Ehine, to restore the hos- tages of the ^duans, and to desist from his ravages upon the territory of Gaul, lest he should incur Eome's very serious dis- pleasure. Ariovist rejoined — and herein had the best of the argument — that he had fliirly conquered his joart of Gaul, and it was his just as legitimately as the Province was Eome's; and as for Caesar's threats, he might bring the matter to trial as soon as he pleased ; but let him remember that men like his Germans, who had not slept under cover for fourteen years, were not apt to be triflers.^ Meanwhile, a hundred additional cantons of the Suevi had War with arrived on the banks of the Ehine under the lead of two Ariovist. i3Pothers, IS'ausa and Kimber, so that Ceesar conceived it high time to begin with something more effective than words. Anticipating Ariovist in taking possession of Yesontio," a town ^ rVrs., Bell. Gall., 1. i., e. 36. ception of a small space, flanked by a The modern Besanoon, on the high mountain. Doubs, which sm'rounds it with the ex- Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 75 strongly fortified alike bj nature and art, and well filled with ammunition, lie ordered his men to prepare to march at once against the Grermans. We may judge of the terror which those gigantic warriors inspired in the minds of the Eomans from the story Ciesar himself tells — how, when he communicated his designs to the troops, the tribunes and prefects, and even the soldiers, were seized with a panic of fear. Some openly asked leave to return home ; others skulked through the camps be- moaning their fate ; while universally wills were made, and the very veterans, to disguise their own consternation, assured Ca3- sar that the army would not march, even if he should give the order.' It was a moment for the general to exert all the power over men of which he was capable. Summoning the centuri- ons, therefore, he addressed them. He referred to the victories of Marius and their fathers over the Kymri and Teutones, who were the ancestors of this very enemy ;^ he showed how Ario- vist's conquests in Gaul had been accomjDlished by stratagem rather than valor; he dwelt upon his own strength, and the prospect of assistance in corn and provisions to be furnished by the allies ; he magnified the fortune which had always attended him personally ; and he finally declared that he would give or- ders for decamping the very next night, to see whether honor or an ignominious cowardice reigned in the breast of his ledons. If none else would follow him, he alone, with the tenth legion, which never faltered, would march to victory or death. These adroit but inflammatory words wrought a miraculous change in the ranks ; the alacrity for the onset now became as eager as the former despondency had been depressing : every one pro- tested that he no longer cherished either a doubt or a fear ; and in less than seven days thereafter the whole army was advanced to within twenty-four miles of the enemy. Ariovist then sent messengers to solicit the meeting which he had lately declined, and some little time was consumed in negotiations, which amounted to nothing, however, save that in the course of them Valerius Procillus, Ctesar's friend and confidential interpreter, and M. Mettius, another envoy, were seized by Ariovist, to the utter horror of the Eomans. Preparations were made on both Cres., Bell. Gall., 1. i., c. 39. sar considered the K^Turi and Teutons - Which would go to show that Cx- to be Germans. 76 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. sides for a decisive combat. Ariovist moved warily at first, satisfying himself with cutting off the subsistence of the Eo- mans, so that for a whole week only light skirmishes varied the incidents of each day. But Ciesar, learning from the German deserters that the reason of his unwillingness to join issue arose from the fact that the matrons of the tribes, who were sorceresses or diviners, and of sacred authority,^ had not yet decided that the proper time for battle had come, thought it best to charge at once precipitately and in full force. The Germans, compelled to hght, drew up in wedges in the order of the different na- ' tions, Harudes, Marcomanni, Yangiones, Nemetes, etc., and made a most courageous resistance : their wives, from the tops of the wagons, cheered them to the onset ; yet they were signally routed, and only a few escaped the merciless swords of the le- gions by swimming or fording the Rhine. ^ Among these was Ariovist himself, who, leaving his two wives and a daughter to perish in the flight, seized a boat on the river's bank, and went to die of despair in his native forests.^ His destruction caused a universal shout of joy in Gaul, and the success of Coesar raised his fame at Rome to a level with that of the invincible Marius.* Two victories over powerful nations, so sj^lendidly thorough cssar's second ^s to Icavc uo chaucc for a renewal of war in the ^Sirthe'iMS- same quarters, was a grand success for one cam- ans, B.C. 5(. pj^igi^ • ^^^ -^e may imagine, when the victorious general, having wintered his army in Gaul, as became his wont, repaired to the Cisalpine,^ ostensibly to hold his assizes, but in reality to prosecute his political schemes at Rome, what rejoicing there was among his retainers and friends. Rumors, however, soon broke in upon their festivals and intrigues, of extensive insurrectionary movements in the north of Gaul. C^sar had driven off the Germans, but he had left his own 1 Compare Tacitus, Mor. Gciin., c. forces than any description in lettcr- viii. ; also Strab., 1. vii. press can. = JNIy limits do not allow mc to give ^ This battle was fought near what is the details of the dift'crent engagements; now Dampierre, in Tranche Comte. nor is there much need, seeing how com- Tlntarch ])uts the Germans killed at mon a book Cesar's own work is. The eighty thousand. reader Avill find in Anthon's Cxsar, for * Cicero, Dc Prov. Consul., 13, U. instance, rude wood-cuts of the various ^ A jjroconsul, by the Eoman law, encounters, wliich will furnish him a could not leave his province during his better idea, of the disposition of the administration. Chap. IY.] ANCIENT GAUL. 77 Komans behind him; and the Gaels, irritated by their exac- tions and imposts, began to consider that they had simpl}^ ex- changed one tyranny for another. The remoter Belgians were no less excited ; some dreading lest the Eoman inroads should be extended to them ; others being stirred up by ambitious military chieftains ; and others, again, in the mere instability and fickle- ness of their disposition,^ hailing any prospect of war and revo- lution. At length these reports became so frequent and alarm- ing that CL"esar returned to Gaul with two new legions, though it was yet early in the spring. He found, on inquiry among the Eemi, who alone of the Belgic tribes professed an attach- ment to Eome, that the rumors had not exaggerated the immi- nence of the danger. The whole of Belgica was in arms, de- termined to make a joint and simultaneous movement against the quarters of the Roman troops. The supreme command was confided to Galba, the aged and j^rudent king of the Suessiones, who had broken away from their alliance with the Remi in or- der to take part with their more patriotic brothers. At a gen- eral diet of the tribes, it had been agreed that the Suessiones (from the Soissonese) should furnish fifty thousand men ; the iBellovaks (from Beauvais) sixty thousand ; the Nervii (from Hainault and Flanders) fifty thousand ; the Atrebates (Artois) fifteen thousand ; the Amljiani (Amiens and Poitou) ten thou- sand ; and the Morini (West Flanders), the Menapii (Brabant and Gueldres), the Caletes (Pays de Caulx), the Yolcocassi (Verein), the Yeremandui (Vermandois), and the Aduatiks (Namur), each about ten thousand more ; and now these three hundred thou- sand picked men, together with some forty thousand Eburones and other Cisrhenan Germans, were concentrating in the neigh- borhood of Bibrax (Bievre, on the Aisne)." Ciesar possessed hiniself but little more than sixty thousand men, and did not dissemble the dangers of a general encounter ; nevertheless, he prepared for it, and, advancing to the banks of the Axona (Aisne), which formed a limit to the territory of the Remi, he pitched his camp there, and fortified it in the strongest manner. At the same time he sent Divitiac, the Druid, among the /FAu- ^ This temperament is remarked b}' ^ Not to be confounded with tlie towii Polybius and other ancient Avriters be- of Bibracte or Autun. sides Ciesar. See ante, chap. ii. 78 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. ans to excite them to an attack upon the domain of the Bello- vaks during their absence, in the hope of provoking the latter back to a defense of their homes. He had scarcely done so be- fore word came to him that the confederates were already in action against Bibrax, and that the native garrison of the town could no longer hold out. Accordingly, he sent a large body of light-armed troops, Numidian and Cretan archers, and the fa- mous Balearic slingers,^ to its assistance. They relieved the place, but only to divert the vast hordes toward his main army. Encamping within a few miles of him, their camp-fires showed a line eisrht miles broad. Ciesar was too cautious to risk a battle against such odds, and he confined his men to light skirmishes, which cut off a good many of the enemy and exhausted their pa- tience. Suddenly, one night, he saw that nearly the entire host had disappeared. His device for an assault upon the territo- ries of the Bellovaks by the JEduans, under Divitiac, had oper- ated as he had hoped; for the Bellovaks, hearing that their homes were assailed, resolved to return thither to defend them at once, which movement threw the confederate camp into confusion. Each tribe flew to its own territories. Csesar, of 7 < course, pursued as many as he could, and in their fugitive con- dition killed multitudes, although not without meeting many a Their ^efeat. stubbom and heroic resistance. The Suessiones, into whose districts he first passed, made a defense at Noviodunum," their capital, but, frightened, in their simplicity, by the batter- ing-rams and other military machines of the Eomans, soon yielded. Hostages were exacted from them, consisting of the principal personages of the nation, and, among the rest, the two sons of the old king Galba. The Bellovaks were next subdued, but, through the inter- The desperate vcntiou of thc -^duaus iu their favor, were let off resistance of ' theNervii. on casy terms; and after them the Ambiani, too few in number, indeed, to think of making any effective re- 1 The Balcares were the ishinds of in Gaul : Noviodimum Suessiones, now Majorca, Minorca, and Yvica, off the Soissons; Noviodimum Nevimum, bc- coast of Spain. The inhabitants were longing to the JEdui, now Nevers ; and celebrated for their use of the sling. Noviodimum Biturirpmi, noAv Neu\7 or (Floras,], iii., c. 8; also Diod. Sic, Nenfry, near Nevers.— D'Auville,iVb^/ce 1- v., c. 17.) da la Gmde. - There were three towns of this name Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 79 sistance. But not so the Nervii, who, rallying the remahis of the late confederation under a chief named Brodignatt, or the Son of Victory, resolved to maintain their ground until the last man among them should perish. The Nervii were the most ferocious of the Kymri, and many of them, in fact, proclauned that they were Germans.-^ Allowing of no foreign intercourse, drinking no wine, and accustomed to weave the branches and brambles of their forests into impenetrable hedges, they had never yet been subdued. C^sar came up with them on the Sabis (Sambre), where they had sprung defenses of their pe- cuhar sort, and, it would seem, before he was aware ; for, while he was yet intrenching himself, they fell upon him with the greatest impetuosity and ardor. His men had scarcely time to uncover their bucklers, put on their helmets, or even to form in regular order of battle, before the whole camp was a scene of confusion. Twice, in the bloody hand-to-hand fight which en- sued, he was on the point of losing every thing ; the first time, his own intrepidity, in snatching the shield of a retreating sol- dier, and rushing to the head of the troops to rally the centu- rions by name, saved him ; and the second time it was the seasonable arrival of his lieutenant, Labienus, with two fresh legions. His cavalry, his slingers, his camjD -retainers, were in fall flight ; many of his best men, standard-bearers and centu- rions, were slain ; and the entire army was suffering severely when this succor came so opportunely to restore its courage.^ As it was, the Nervii, undaimted by the change of fortune, fought on with the ferocity of tigers. If a man in the foremost rank fell, the one behind him mounted his prostrate body and resumed his battle ; and when, in this way, heaps of corpses were gathered in front, the others hurled their javelins from the top of them as from a rampart. During the whole engage- ment the brave Gauls never flinched ; they did not yield an inch of ground ; they did not once break their ranks ; and, in the end, they were annihilated rather than conquered. Of six hundred of their senators, or elders, who went into the fight, it is said that only three survived ; and of their sixty thousand ^ There ^vere doubtless Germans = Qcj^^., Bell. Gall., 1. ii., cc. 15-28. among them, living as near as they did to the Rhine. 80 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. warriors, all perished save five hundred.^ The immortal plain on which Leonidas and his Spartans fell witnessed no nobler valor than was displayed that day by these poor and nnrecord- ed Nervii amid the obscure depths of their forests, and in their last struggle for their homes. Cassar himself was so impressed by the exhibition of their courage and spirit that he eagerly spared the few that were left of them, restored them to their lands, and provided generously for their future well-being. Meanwhile Caesar's lieutenant, Crassus, had been successful other sue- ^^^ cxtortiug tokcus of submission from all the Armor- cesses. icaus, froui the banks of the Loire to those of the Seine ; and, as Csesar himself very soon afterward drove the Aduatiks, the only tribe of the insurgent Belgce still in arms, back into their almost inaccessible hills and fastnesses, the whole of Gaul seemed to be subjugated, and was at least qui- et. Eome, in her excessive joy over this apparent conquest, decreed Caesar a thanksgiving {su2:)plicati6) of fifteen days, which was an honor never before granted to the exploits of any general.^ But the submission of Gaul was only apparent ; a restless csesar's third and inflammatory feeling showed itself on all sides. warAvith'the Cassar's lieutenants, who were wintered in different B.C. 56. parts, were incessantly harassed and menaced. Gal- ba, indeed, was nearly cut off by the Alpine tribes ; and Cras- sus, stationed in Brittany, found his foraging officers arrested, and his supplies refused. Coesar, who was in Illy ria at the time, ordered preparations to be made at once for a vigor- ous campaign, altering the policy which he had hitherto pur- sued, however, and, instead of attacking the Gauls one by one, and in succession, dividing his forces, so as to make a 1 Ca?s., Bell. Gall., 1. ii., cc. 10-27 ; t. iii. ; also Count Turpin de Crisse, in rionis, 1. iii., c. 10; Dio, Cass., 1. Anthon's note on the passage, p. 280.) xxxix., c. 3; Pint, in Ca^sare. Dcwcz ^ The suftpUcaUo was a gi'cat relig- (Ilist. de la Belgiquc) indicates Prcle, ious solemnity decreed by the Roman near Chatclet, as the probable site of Senate for any unusual victory. It this sanguinary battle. I may add that lasted commonly but for one day ; but this action has been severely criticised, Pompcy, at the close of the war with and it seems with justice, by the mil- Mithridatcs, obtained a supplicatio itary writers. Casar was unquestion- which continued for ten days. In later ably taken by surprise, and came near and degenerate times, according to Dion, losing his force. (Precis des Guerres de they Avere prolonged for fifty or sixty Cesar, p.4;j; Guichard,McmoircMilit., days. Chap. IV.] AKCIENT GAUL. 81 simultaneous movement on all the disaffected districts. Labie- nus, with a strong body of cavalry, was sent to the Khine, to hold the Germans in check; Sabinus, with three legions, was posted among the tribes of Lower Normandy ; Crassus, with twelve legionary cohorts, was dispatched into Aquitain ; while the young Brutus repaired to the friendly Santones and Pic- toncs, to forward ships and sailors to the aid of Cassar, who pro- posed himself to assail the amphibious Bretons.^ This plan, boldly conceived, was executed with characteristic energy ; his lieutenants, seemingly common men enough in themselves, were, like the marshals of Napoleon, inspired with extraordi- nary power by the genius of the master." Like a good general, too, Caesar had reserved to hhnself the most difficult branch of the common enterprise — the war against the Breton- Armoricans. This was the more arduous, because at the outset the Komans had no vessels, their galleys having to be prepared on the dis- tant Loire, and the rowers to be brought from the Mediterra- nean. On the other hand, the Veneti, the principal nation of the Bretons, assisted by nearly all the ocean clans and by sev- eral from the island of Britain, the holy land of the Druids, were masters of a numerous and powerful fleet. Their ships, built with reference both to the stormy outside seas and to the shallow, sandy coasts, were managed by men even more expert upon the water than they were upon the land. At length, when the Roman flotilla was got ready by Brutus, the high winds and dangerous rocky coasts baffled the ignorance of the Eoman pilots, so that it was kept back till late in the summer. C?esar had occupied himself, in the interval, in assailing the towns of the Yeneti, as well as he could, from the land side. But, built as they were, either on salt marshes, which the sea overflowed, or on narrow spits of land, quite inaccessible to an army, he found infinite difficulty in the undertaking ; for, in fact, as soon as he reduced any one town, the defenders took refuge in another. His fleet, therefore, became his principal reliance, and the moment it hove in sight he ordered it to bear down upon the shores of the Yeneti. They, descrying it also ' Caes., Bell. Gall., 1. iv., c. 12. distinguish himself after deserting that ' Sabinus, for instance, though sue- commander, cessful under Ccesar, did not greatly F 82 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. in the distance, sallied fortli gayly to meet it from tlie mouths of the Morbihan, with no less than two hundred and twenty sail. In the first shock of the combat the Yeneti had the up- per hand. In vain the heavy Eoman galleys drove down with their brazen beaks npon the impregnable oaken timbers of the Venetian vessels, for they were so mercilessly assailed with show- ers of javelins and stones from the high tower-like bows and poops of the latter that they were glad to get out of reach. The day, indeed, was nearly won by the Kymri, when Brutus bethought him of the expedient of using the long mural poles of the Eomans, armed with scythes at the end, to cut away the yards and tackle of the enemy. He succeeded in his object; the vessels of the Yeneti were rendered unmanageable — soon lay like logs upon the water ; and thus the contest was turned into a close grapple on the decks. Caesar and his men watched the issue with intense anxiety from the adjoining heights; the Armoricans, too — the old men, the women, and the chil- dren — watched it with still greater anxiety from the towns ;^ and the combatants on both sides fought with redoubled en- ergy in their consciousness of being overlooked by such wit- nesses. Only the superior discipline of the Eomans enabled them to gain the victory. The naval strength of the Yenetians was demolished; the flower of their fighting men sank beneath the waves ; and of those that remained, the elders or senators were put to death, and the rest sold into slavery. About the same time Sabinus subjected the Unelli (near Cherbourg), togeth- er with their allies, the Aulerks, Eburones, and Lexovi ; Crassus achieved a difficult triumph over the Sotiates, Samsates, Yacates, and other tribes of Aquitain, led, as they were, by some of the old captains of Sertorius ;- and only the Morini and Menappii (the people of West Flanders, Brabant, and Guelders) remained unsubdued, saved from a murderous pursuit by their thickets and fens, and the sudden setting in of the winter rains. C^sar, ^ Dam (Hist, de Breiagne, i., 38) that the town lay on the Gulf of Mor- refers, according to the local traditions, bihan, corresponding to the modern the site of Caesar's camp, whence he ob- Vannes. served the sea-fight, to a spot somewhere ^ jj^ ^^^ ^.j^.jj ^,^^. ^^ guHa's time between Quiberon and Rhuys, so that Sertorius had the command of the Ma- the town must have been in that vicin- rian legions in Spain, where he left some ity. But a writer (in Memoires de la So- of his soldiers, who consented to assist ciete dcs Antiquaires, ii., 325) argues the natives. (Bell. Gail., 1. iii., u. 23.) Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 83 however, succeeded in ravaging tlieir country, and then sent his army into winter quarters. His vacations the proconsul commonly passed at Luca (now The winter Lucca), a proviucial watering-place on the confines of vacations a -j^- ^^^.-^^ j^ ^^^g i\^qj;q \^q j^eld his administrative as- semblies and met his political agents from Rome. His reputa- tion had now reached such a height, and the hopes conceived of his abilities were so great, that the little village was crowded by suppliants and partisans whenever he was present. A hundred and twenty lictors guarded his door, and of the two hundred senatorials of Rome, more than half were at times to be seen at his parties. It was in Lucca, too — probably this very year — that Pompey and Crassus met him, when it was found necessary to heal over some slight breach in the good understanding of the triumvirate, and to take measures for thwarting the aristocratic party, now beginning to make head in the city. And among the other effects of the conference were the forced assumption of the consulate by Pompey and Crassus, and the passage of the Trebonian law, which extended Ccesar's government in Gaul for five years more.^ Csesar was, in fact, the sovereign prince of the Gauls, and, ca-sar'spoi- ^^'^ ordcT to maintain his state, had to administer the icy. Provinces more in reference to his own needs than in furtherance of their interests. He left no means untried, how- ever, while crushing the spirit of rebellion by arms, for ex- citing among the Gauls a strong Roman or rather Csesar- ean feeling. Obstinate gainsay ers were treated, of course, with the most detergent severity, but toward the friendly" and the wavering a studious forbearance was practiced. He encouraged the trade of their towns, assisted in the develop- ment of their resources, quartered few troops among them, and conferred such privileges as he could upon their senators or no- ble families. Fallen chieftains he reinstated in power; his partisans were also made to mingle adroitly in the councils of the chiefs, to turn their dissensions to advantage f while he col- lected about him the Gallic youth of wealth or rank, whom, by * See Liddell (History of Rome, ^ Appian, Bell. Civ., 1. ii., c. 17; book viii., chap. 6Q, Harper's edition, Plut. in Goes. ; Thierry, Hist, des Gaul., 1858). t. ii.jl.vii., c. 1; Bell! Gall., 1. v., c. 25. 84 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. kind treatment, and a careful indoctrination in Eoman arts and manners, he made missionaries for himself among their country- men. Gaul appeared to lie prostrate at the feet of the conqueror, Fourth cam- and jct the conqueror himself knew too much of the JSons int^ cunning and fickleness of the people to be deceived BrS^^°^ by any external appearances. He knew that some of them were even then plotting with the savage Germans along the Khine for a general invasion of Gaul and an onslaught upon the Eomans. The success of two German tribes, the Usipites and the Tencteri, consisting of about one hundred and twenty thousand fighting men — who, having been driven from their homes on the right bank of the Khine by the Suevi, had dis- lodged the Menappii, a GalHc tribe, from their possessions near the left bank — fed the hopes of this sort. If these Ger- mans, they said to each other, can so easily defeat a people whom the Eomans could not vanquish, why can not they be procured to defeat the Eomans ? They accordingly sent secret embassies to the Germans to invite their assistance, promising them the most effective co-operation as soon as they should have begun the work. Lured by these promises, the Germans advanced into Gaul as far as the country of the Eburones and the Condurses, who were clients of the Treviri.' Csesar, pre- tending ignorance of the secret understanding of the Gauls with the Germans, summoned an assembly of their chiefs, and, after causing them to renew their oaths of allegiance to Eome, an- nounced his intention of making war upon Germany. He in- stantly repaired to the part of Gaul in which the Germans were; but, before he could come up with them, they sent embassadors to disavow any hostile designs against the Eomans which might be imputed to them, and to propose terms of alHance. Cassar refused to enter into any arrangement until they had quitted Gaul. Unfortunately, in the midst of the negotiations, some ac- cidental encounter between the Germans and an advanced par- ty of the Eoman cavalry — which Caesar and the Eomans re- garded, or pretended to regard, as a breach of faith — precipita- ted a sudden action, which became, in the end, a general slaugh- ^ Cses., BeU. Gall., 1. iv., cc. 1-4. Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 85 ter of the Germans.^ C^sar tlien passed into Germany by means of tlie famous bridge wliich he constructed in ten days, to the perplexity and wonder of all future school-boys, but not, I believe, to the astonishment of the modern art of engineering. After remaining there eighteen days, " impressing the natives with a salutary awe of Kome," he returned on this side of the Ehine to prepare and execute his first expedition into Britain. In this German sally, and in his invasion of islanders who dwelt, according to the ancient geographers, on the very verge of the globe,^ his objects were, in the first place, to show his allies among the Gauls that he had the power to protect them from their neighbors, and, in the second, to shut out that contagious sympathy and active aid which the Britons were in the habit of lending their brothers on the continent.^ It does not con- cern my purpose, however, to enter into the details of either expedition. On his return from Britain, where he had subdued several Fifth campaign, of thc uativc tribcs, the Mormi attacked his legions, uou^fntrBHt- but were soon dispersed, together with the Menap- aiD,B.c. 54. ^-^ ^-^^ showed signs of revolt. The army, then going into winter quarters among the Belgae, devoted all their leisure to the preparation of peculiarly constructed vessels, with which the proconsul designed to make a more effective descent upon the British island. Earlier than usual the following spring, he quitted his own winter occupations to superintend the con- struction of the fleet. He found that more than six hundred vessels had been got ready by the extraordinary diligence of his soldiers, and he summoned them all to repair to the port of Itius, now either Wissant or Boulogne. A domestic war, pro- voked by the ambition of two chiefs of the Treviri, detained ' Bell. Gall., 1. iv., c. 13. Cesar's = Comp. Strab., 1. iv., c. 5, and treatment of these tribes, even as de- Plin., I. iv., c. 30. scribed by himself, admits of no defense. ^ It should be remembered that sev- While their envoys were in the act of eral of the British tribes bore the same soliciting a trace they were cut to pieces, names, and probably derived their ori- That stem and pedantic old senator, gin from the Belgic tribes. (Bell. Gall., Cato, moved that for this act he be de- 1. v., c. 12.) The Parisii, the Atrebates) livered up to those tribes. (Plut. in the Belgae, and the Menappii, were com- Caes.) But Plutarch amazes us when mon to both countries, to say nothing he adds in the next sentence that 400,000 of the Kymric branches. Germans were killed ! 86 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. him for a time, and jDerbaps suggested to him the plan of car- rying with him into Britain the principal chiefs of Gaul as hos- tages, or as pledges of peace during his absence. The Dum- norigh, a proud young noble of the ^duans, regarded the pro- posal as an insult and a trap, and secretly fomented a revolt on the part of the other chiefs. What means they possessed for carrying it into hopeful execution does not appear, but the re- sult of the plot was that the Dumnorigh was arrested and im- prisoned, and afterward, while trying to escape, was shot dead by a Numidian archer. The event produced a vivid sensa- tion of resentment in Gaul, though not a sufficiently dangerous one to deter Csesar from the prosecution of his purpose. He crossed the Channel, landed in Britain, and overcame many of the tribes, without achieving by the exploit any important practical results. On his return into Gaul, a general assembly was gathered at Samarobriva (among the Ambiani), to assure himself of the continued peaceful disposition of the chiefs, and to concert measures for the disposal of his foi^ces during the winter. As the year had been remarkable for its bad harvests, and there was a consequent deficiency of jDrovisions, he was un- der the necessity of stationing his legions in small bodies, and at considerable distances from each other.^ This dispersion did not escape the vigilance of the Belgians, The winter who, as soou almost as the troops were snugly hived, revolt. began to rise. The Carnutes murdered the native king, Tasget, whom Ciesar had imposed upon them ; an entire legion, with five cohorts under Sabinus and Cotta, too^ether with their commanders, were massacred by the Eburones ; young Cicero, a brother of Marcus Tullius, stationed among the Nervii, was besieged and driven to extremities by a large body of confeder- ate tribes, who cut off all succors and even communication; and Labienus was encompassed by the Treviri so that he did not dare to move outside of his camp. Nothing but the pro- digious activity of Caesar, who had not yet quitted Gaul, saved his scattered forces from a total extermination. By march- ing his legions rapidly to the aid of Cicero, he was enabled to relieve him, and afterward he dispersed the other branches I Bell. Gall., 1. v., c. 24. Ho says circuit of 100 miles, but the most dis- they were all comprehended within a tant were 180 miles apart. Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 87 of tlic enemy ; but for the first time lie passed the whole year ill Gaul. He had not misconceived the general feeling of the Gauls ; Sixth campaign, all wiutcr a mutc discontent fermented in their geance infiicted uiiuds ; many nations, such as the Treviri and the on the insur- . ^ ^ ^ .^ ,. , gent;?, B.C. 53. Armoricaus, who had been temporarily cliscouragea by the reports of his recent successes, still held themselves in readiness for a resumption of hostilities ; and others, as the Suessiones, indignantly expelled the native kings which he had placed over them.^ There was not a state or tribe, with the exception of the yEduans and the Eemi, whose fidelity he did not suspect. Those among them who were too weak to carry on a war for themselves sedulously intrigued with the Ger- mans. Even the remoter Germans, less in dread of the Roman power than their kindred near the Ehine, were importuned, and loaded with money and promises, to engage their aid. No peo- ple were more urgent or determined in their opposition than the Treviri, who, under the lead of a gallant and noble-minded chief named Indutiomar, formed themselves into a nucleus for all the fugitive, the proscribed, the discontented, and the pa- triotic spirits of other states. A formidable coalition, composed of the Carnutes, the Senones, the Menappii, the remnants of the Nervii, and some Germans, gathered about them ; , and Caesar, perceiving the imminence of the danger, began his sixth campaign before the winter was yet ended. But the superiority of the Romans was now so well estab- lished that his military movements were rather a series of des- ultory though destructive onsets against the disafiected, and of bloody vengeances upon the refractory, than a regular war- fare. The Nervii, the Senones, and the Carnutes, in their weakened condition, were speedily forced to sue for peace ; the Menappii, whose villages were all burned and cattle seized, for the first time solicited the pardon of the Romans; the Treviri, by a skillful stratagem of Labienus, were routed and scattered ; and the Germans were visited and awed in their native forests, Ca3sar having passed the Rhine a second time for that purpose. But his most signal and sanguinary revenge he wreaked upon the Eburones, whom he pursued like wild beasts through the ' 1 Bell. Gall.,1. v., cc. 53-57. 88 AI^rCIENT GAUL. [Book I. Ardennes, and, being unable to reacli tbem, as tbey scattered themselves among the thickets of wood, the wild ravines, or the bottomless morasses, he convoked all the neighboring tribes, not forgetting the Germans, to an indiscriminate mas- sacre and rapine.^ Some of the Germans, after having rav- aged the country of the Eburones, assailed the intrenchments of the Komans, and were only repulsed by means of the most energetic exertions and great losses. Nothing was then suf- fered to remain, either of the buildings or the subsistence of the Eburones, so that if they escaped the sword of their hunters they might yet perish by starvation or exposure. Thus having extinguished the tribe, Caesar repaired to Durocotorum (Kheims) to summon an assembly of the Gauls and to investi- gate the circumstances of the late conspiracy. Acco, the chief of the Senones, suspected or convicted of having urged it on, was executed more majorum^ as Cassar phrases it, but which Suetonius explains to mean that he was stripped naked and lashed to death, while his neck was screwed fast in cross-bars.^ Caesar appears, indeed, to have been thoroughly exasperated by this fitful impatience of the Gauls under the Roman oppres- sion and licentiousness, and doubtless the troubles brewing and thickening at Rome made him the more eager to return thither. His friendly relations with Pompey, now the favorite of the aristocratic party, and swaying it almost alone in the great and corrupt city, were at an end ; the violence of the fac- tions had prevented the election of consuls ; and the genius of anarchy was rapidly striding forward, with grim and terrible visage.^ Nor were the Gauls themselves inattentive to the occurrences Seventh cam- ^^ Romc. Duriug the winter, while Caesar was en- erarinsu?/et g^gcd with his agcuts, thcy were plotting a stupen- tionB,B.c.52. ^iQ^^g scheme of revoltr— a revolt, not, as hitherto, of separate tribes, but of the entire nation. The numerous de- feats which their divided efforts had sustained brought them at length to some conception of the need of concert and unity. All through the cold season they were holding private meet- ' Bell. Gall., 1. vi., cc. 34-35. ^ Liddell, Hist. Rome, b. viii., c-. 64, 2 Bell. Gall., 1. vi., c, 44 ; Suetonius Harper's ed.. New York, 1857. in Nerone, c. 49. Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 89 ings in the woods and other secret places, exchanging pledges of mutual fidelity, and dispatching messengers from clan to clan, to arouse the national feeling, and to prepare the way for a grand simultaneous and final blow. The intestine war already rumbling in Kome seemed to present the opportunity for a bold stroke at emanci]3ation. Better to die in battle every man, they said, than fail to recover the ancient glory of our arms, and the freedom which our fathers left us.^ The Carnutes, among whom the religious prejudices of Dru- idism had struck deepest root," volunteered to take the lead in the new enterprise, and to give the signal for the onset. But Thevercin- ^^® Hiost efi&cieut prouiotcr of the movement was a getorigh. young and eloquent Arvernian, called the Vercingeto- righ,^ or The Great Chief of the Hundreds, whose father had been executed for asjoiring to the sovereignty, and who was himself expelled from Gergovia by the conservative and Eoman party for his vehement hatred of the foreign rule. Roaming the wild mountain tracts of the Cantal and Buys de Dome, he poured forth his torrents of indignant eloquence till he had aroused the native enthusiasm every where from the Loire to the Ce- vennes, and from the Jura to the Atlantic."* His willing fol- lowers he bound to each other by the solcmnest oaths never to see wife, children, or friends again until they had extirpated the accursed oppressor ; and those who were unwilliug or su- pine among his countrymen he forced into the ranks by threats and penalties. As if conscious, too, of the fitful nature of the Gallic gallantry, he dealt with the refractory by way of exam- ple — mutilating them, and sending them forth in that condition among their friends as warnings. But he joined an extraordi- nary diligence in mustering cavalry and gathering munitions to this unusual rigor of discipline ; and when unanimously hailed by the confederates as the commander-in-chief, he jDroceeded at ' Bell. Gall,, 1, vii., c. 1. designation. In the Keltic, Ver-cenn- - Yet it is remarkable how little the cedo-righ means the great chief of the Draids appear in these Avars, Did they hundred heads ; or, as it might be said, hold themselves aloof? were they se- Great Captain of the Hundreds, or the cretly favorable to the success of the Generalissimo, Comp. Amede'c Thierry Romans? or is it merely accidental that (Hist, dcs Gaul., t, ii,, 1. vii., c. 1), Csesar does not notice their agency ? * The Belgians had been so fearfully ^ Ciesar gives this as his name, but punished as not to be inclined seem- it was more probably a title or official ingly to join the league. 90 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. once to organize an effective plan of operations.^ Dispatching a bold and enterprising lieutenant, Lucter, of the Cadurks, to subject the Euteni and other tribes who had not yet joined the league, and to assail the Roman Province, he himself led a body° of troops among the Bituriges, to detach them from the iEduans and Rome. Somewhat i3rematurely, however, the Carnutes gave the signal of revenge by falling upon the peaceful cominercial settlers of Orleans (Genabum), whom they massacred in cold blood. The report of the event was trans- mitted by living telegraphs over the whole of central Gaul, which instantly bristled with armed men.^ Ca3sar heard the news in Italy, and with the celerity of hghtning, though it was the depth of winter, he raised new levies, flew to Narbo, to confirm the wavering and timorous, and to garrison the Prov- ince at all points against the approach of Lucter. Then, cross- ing the Cevennes, six feet deep in snow, he alighted suddenly with a large force in the midst of the Arvernians. The terror spread by his apparition recalled the Yercingetorigh from the north ; but while he was yet on the way Caesar rushed to Yienne for a body of cavalry, hurried next through the country of the ^duans into that of the Lingones (Langres), where he raised two legions more, and finally and unexpectedly he concentrated his whole army in the vicinity of the Gallic chief The aston- ished Yercingetorigh recoiled upon Gergovia,^ a town of the Boii ; Ciesar followed him, reducing the towns of Yelaunodu- num (Beauns), Genabum (Orleans), and Noviodunum* on the way, that he might leave no foe in his rear. 1 Niebuhr says (Lectures, vol. iii., la bands. See, however (Memoires de p. 40) tbat he holds this nameless man I'Acacle'm. des Inscript., t. vi., pp. 636 to have been " one of the greatest men et seqq.). of antiquity;" but I scarcely know upon - When important information was ■what data he founds that opinion. The to be carried to a distance quickly among little that is told of him shows him, cer- the Gauls, the dwellers in the country tainly, a man of extraordinary boldness shouted to each other, and so passed and activity, and magnanimous withal ; the word from place to place. On this but he failed in this war in sagacity, occasion the news flew from Orleans to Had he waited a few yeai^s longer, till Auvergnc in a day. Rome was actually plunged in civil war, ^ Not to be confounded with the Ger- his chances of success would have been govia of the Aiwernians. It was per- infinitely better. And his conduct dur- haps the modern IMoulins, in the Bour- ing the siege of Alesia was not marked bonnais. Some MSS. read Gortoria, by great wisdom. He allowed his main and others Gortohena. See Diibner's army to be shut up in a citadel and de- note in his Caesar, stroyed, Avhen his best policy, as he saw * Either Nouan-le-Fusilier or Neiuy- himself, was to disperse them in guerril- sur-Baranjon. Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 91 Such, unprecedented rapidity of execution quite alarmed tTie Gaul, who saw at once that it was indispensable for him to change his tactics. He saw that it would be useless for him to attempt to defend towns against such machinery and skill as TheGauiabum "thc Komaus wicMed, and, summoning a council of their towna. ^jj ^-^^ chicfs, hc pcrsuadcd them that the only al- ternative for them was to burn their cities and villages, in order, as it was winter, that Cgesar might find no means of sheltering or succoring his troops. In accordance with his wishes, a sin- gle day saw twenty of the villages of the Bituriges leveled to the ground:^ a similar havoc was committed by all the clans of the league ; and for a time nothing was beheld on any side but the lurid smoke of these innumerable conflagrations. Alone Avaricum (the modern Bourges) was spared, at the earnest prayer of the Bituriges, loth to consent to the sacrifice of the fairest city of all, "the bulwark and ornament of their state."^ It was spared in opposition to the stern wishes of the Yercinget- origh, who soon found his policy confirmed by the rapid move- ment of the Romans toward its walls.^ Famished for the want of corn, wearied out by the incessant assaults of the Grauls, who followed close in their wake, the indomitable legions yet pressed the siege, and in the midst of an indescribable slaughter, to which a furious tempest lent its horrors, scaled the ramparts. Of the forty thousand inhabitants of the place, it is said that eight hundred only escaped their swords. But the disaster confirmed the authority of the Yercinget- origh, inasmuch as it proved the sagacity of his advice. Nei- ther did it intimidate the Gauls, who were still hurrying to his camp ; volunteer re-enforcements continued to pour in from all sides, and he levied, in addition, new quotas of troops from each of the confederate states. Many of the ^duans them- selves, so long the fast friends of the Romans, and in spite of the efforts of Ci^sar to propitiate their fidelity, were moved by ^ These are called urbes, but are not Gaules), and by another writer {Mc- to be confounded ^Wth our modern cities, moires de la Soc. des Antiq. de France, or even towns. Many of the Gallic t. xxi.). towns were no more than intrenched ^ Ca3s., Bell. Gall., 1. vii., cc. 19-31. fastnesses in the woods, or on the tops ^ Once in the town, Caesar would of hills. See the subject discussed, find a large store of provisions to solace however, by Walckenaer {Geogr. des his hungry legions. 92 AITCIENT GAUL. [Book I. the general impulse to join tlie cause of tlieir country and race. Undismayed, yet not wholly undisturbed by this serious defec- tion, the proconsul resolved to pusb forward toward the do- mains of the Arverni, in the hope of securing their stronghold of Gergovia ; but, wherever he moved, the Gallic chieftain hov- ered on his flanks, cutting off his supplies, breaking down the bridges, and disputing the fords of the streams. Arrived at the town — an impregnable fortress in the midst of the magnificent mountains of Arvernia — Caesar found that for once he had involved himself in an almost inextricable diffi- siege of culty.^ Eucompasscd, in fact, by two armies — by the Gergovia. g^rrison within the town, and by the Gallic tribes with- out — he saw that, between the rock}^ fastnesses of the one and the superior numbers of the other, he was likely, without super- human efforts, to be crushed. Any other general would have recoiled before the insurmountable obstacles of such a position. But, disposing his forces in a masterly manner to lay siege to the town and to command the approaches to it, and by inces- sant stratagems and manoeuvres disconcerting the Gauls and inflicting serious losses upon them, C^sar long maintained a doubtful struggle. A detachment of his troops had even pene- trated within the inclosures of the enemy, when the unfavor- able nature of the ground, the increasing forces, and the spirit- ed sallies of the Gaul, obliged him to beat an ill-disguised re- treat. jSTor did he halt until he had entered the territories of the ^dui. He hoped that after their temporary estrangement he should find them returned to their old Eoman allegiance. But his messengers arrived at Noviodunum — their second city in importance, the principal mart of commerce, a centre of in- telligence, and where, moreover, he had deposited his magazines of corn, his treasure, his hostages, and the greater part of the baggage of his army— just in time to hear the last plank of the bridge leading to it fall crackling into the stream, and to see the last roof of the fair and flourishing city devoured by the flames. The ^duans were in earnest in their access of patri- otism, and, having butchered the garrison left among them, Bell. Gall., 1. vii., c. 39. The this movement upon Gergovia. See later Roman writers admit that either Suetonius in C£3esare, c. 25. good sense or fortune deserted Ctesar in Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 98 seized his treasures, and committed tlieir citj to tlie fire, tliey were rapidly gathering forces to assist in his annihilation.^ Never, in the course of his Gallic experiences, had the pros- csesar at bay. pects of the Koman leader been so cheerless and crit- ical as they were now ; his army was without supplies, discour- aged by defeat, and worn down by exhaustive marches and la- bors ; the streams around him, swollen by the spring freshets, seemed to forbid a passage in any direction ; a long-tried and trusted ally, powerful in numbers, and more powerful still in influence, was warmly engaged in the revolt; while the exas- perated tribes of the whole country, inflamed by recent success- es, and led for the first time by a man of commanding talent, who was both capable of harmonizing their councils and of in- structing them in the higher arts of war, thickened around his front, and flank, and rear. ISTor could he know how soon other tribes from the populous and angry north, breaking down the feeble barrier opposed by his lieutenant Labienus, whom he had dispatched to arrest their passage, might arrive to swell the triumphant numbers of his foe. For a moment he hesitated whether to try to make his way into the Province, where he might recruit his forces and await the turn of events, or to re- main in the strait in which he was and meet adversity face to face. But the genius and self-confidence of Co3sar rose supe- rior to the dictates of fear, or of a policy which might have been mistaken for fear. He felt that to leave Labienus alone in the north would be equivalent to an act of treachery ; nor could he consent to exhibit to the chuckling barbarians the un- precedented spectacle of a Koman army skulking away from its enemies ; and therefore, watching a favorable chance, he unex- pectedly turned about, forded the Loire up to the armpits of his soldiers, and, by rapid marches day and night, succeeded in reaching Labienus, who was then at Agendicum (Sens).^ His lieutenant had fortunately good news for him, for he had re- duced Lutetia, the capital of the Parisii (now Paris), and, by a series of splendid though hard- won victories over the neighbor- * Ovos., 1. vi., c. 11, who says that he of Gergovia with that of Alesia, which lost the best part of his army, which can was a hiter affair. Crcsar admits the scarcely be true. Florus (iii., 10) con- loss of forty-six centurions, and his oth- firms him ; but both are strangely con- er losses must have been great. fused as to details, confounding the siege ^ Bell. Gall., 1. vii., c. 5Q. 94 ANCIENT GAUL. [Book I. ing tribes, prevented a junction of tlie more northern clans with those of the south. Cc^sar, joined by Labienus, found himself at the head of ten legions ; but as these were wanting in cavalry, which he could not now expect to draw either from Italy or the Province, he had recourse to the Ubii and other German mercenaries on the right bank of the Khine. Allured by the charms of regular pay and the hope of plunder, a considerable number of these, horse- men, together with some foot-soldiers, repaired the deficiency of his ranks. Still he was unwilling to face the clans of the Yercingetorigh, so superior in numbers and flushed by their recent victory, as well as by the ardent accession of the JEdui. He moved forward cautiously, therefore, and somewhat circui- tously, through the country of the Lingones toward the confines of Sequania.^ Meanwhile the confederates, having accepted gladly the prof- Poiicy and fercd alliaucc of the ^duans, summoned a council at the Gauls. Bibractc to consider the future measures of the war. The Vercingetorigh was, for the second time, invested with the supreme command ; new levies were made, and by an adroit use of the Gallic hostages rescued from the custody of Csesar's garrison at Noviodunum, a general coalition of the clans was pro- voked or aroused. In an eloquent speech addressed to the cav- alry, the Vercingetorigh proclaimed that the time for their final triumph was come ; that the Romans were flying into the Prov- ince and out of Gaul ; that this would obtain their immediate freedom, but not their future security and peace; and that Caesar must be overwhelmed on the spot, unless they would see him thereafter returning with greater forces and rekindled hopes." The proposal was received with enthusiastic applause, the brave warriors shouting with a unanimous voice the an- cient oath that they would never see home, or wife, or children again until they had ridden twice through the enemy's camp. Thus encouraged, the Gallic leader took his measures with an instant energ}^, and yet with a wise foresight. Conjecturing or knowing that Cassar would aim at reaching the Province, he ' His direct route, if he wished to taking it, have been compelled to fight reach the Province, was through the his way the greater part of the distance. iEduan territory; but he would, in ^ Bell. Gall., 1. vii., c. 66. Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 95 sent detacliments to guard every ford at whicli it might be sup- posed the Komans would attempt to cross the upper Rhone; a strong body of the Gabali and the nearest Arvernian can- tons were set upon the Helvii ; the JEduans and Segusians were dispatched against the Allobrogians to hold them in check, or to seduce them from the Roman alliance ; and the Ruteni and Cadurks were ordered to lay waste the lands of the Folks- Are- komici. The Vercingetorigh himself, with his main body, proceeded against Caesar, who was but ten miles off, somewhere probably on the banks of the Saone. He reckoned on surprising the enemy, whom he imagined to be in full retreat. On the contrary, he found Ccesar prepared to give him a hot reception. A combat between the cavalry of the respective armies was soon joined, and a deadly struggle followed, in which the Ro- man general himself ran such imminent personal risks as to have his sword wrested from him by one of the Gauls.^ But the vehement and resistless charges of Ciesar's German horse gained the day, and the discomfited Vercingetorigh drew back into the fortified town of Alesia. In resorting to this place, the Yercingetorigh stultified his The veroingeto- owu poUcy, aud comuiittcd the fatal blunder of his inloAieaia. Campaign. He had always confessed that, in the conduct of a regular siege, the superior military science of the Romans gave them an unquestionable advantage. Nor does it appear that in the recent engagement he had been so much damaged as to leave him no other alternative. If the immense force under his control had been dispersed, to continue the practice of wasting the country around Ca?sar, and of harassing his foragers in detail, the Romans could have accomplished nothing at best beyond a fruitless protraction of the contest. But, in cooping up his entire strength in a single fortress, he risked the fortunes of Gaul forever on the hazards of a cast. It is true that no fortress could have been selected with better chances of success than Alesia.- It was situated on the summit ^ Some time afterward Caesar found " The hill where this town was built this sword hanging as a trophy in a is supposed to be Mount Auxois, about temple of the Aiwernians, and an offi- three leagues from Samur. According cious friend wishing to tear it down, he to tradition, Alesia was founded by Iler- said, with a smile, "Let it be: it is acles, which probably means that it was sacred." (Plut. in Caesare, c. 26.) an original stronghold of the Phoenicians, 96 A2TCIENT GAUL. [Book I. of a lofty hill, surronndecl by otter hills, and washed at the base, on two sides, by considerable streams. Every resource of art known to the clans had been employed to enlarge and strengthen the ample securities of nature ; but greater resources of art were known to the Eomans, beneath the fatal efi&ciencj of which they were destined to succumb. This siege of Alesia impresses the reader not only as the The siege ^^ost Spirited, but as the most fearfully picturesque of of Alesia. ^^1 thc cntcrpriscs of this ten years' war. A rocky peak rising in the midst of glorious mountain ranges is defend- ed by eighty thousand of the flower of Gallic chivalry, and be- sieged at the foot by ten victorious legions, the skilled and vet- eran forces of the first commander of his age. Far around stretch the enormous circumvallations^ of the Eomans, furnished with every means of defense and destruction which Koman in- genuity, in the exercise of centuries, had been able to invent From time to time, the eager occupants of the hill rush down to dislodge the beleaguerers, whose gigantic works are fast im- prisoning them within their stony citadel, but as often they are driven back to their holds with fearful carnage. A single company of horsemen alone is able to issue forth and spread itself among the neighboring tribes, to summon every fighting man of the country to the assistance of its brave and last de- fenders. Yet the work of assault without, of famine within, slowly, and steadily proceeds. Already the Gauls are reduced to the extremity of debating whether they shall eat their old and disabled men, or cast them beyond the walls, as a horrible alternative of economizing supplies. The last opinion prevails, and the old men, the women, the children, the diseased, are thrust forth, in large numbers, to die. Creeping toward the Eoman turrets, they beg for succor, beg for corn, beg to be car- ried into slavery, beg for any fate rather than to be abandoned though one does not see what mere mer- Revue des Deux Mondes for May, 1858. chants wanted to do with such fortresses. It has since been expanded and pubUsh- (Diod. Sic, 1. i., v. 4.) There is much cd in a volume entitled (Alesia: Etude dispute, however, whether the place was sur le septieme Campagne de Ce'sar en Mount Auxois in Burgundy, or Alaise Gaule. Paris, 18.59). in FrancheComte', and any one wishing ' One of the walls was eleven, and to see the question ably and learnedly the other fourteen miles in length. Bell. discussed may consult an article, as- Gall,, 1. vii., cc. 69 74. cribed to the Duke D'Aumale, in the Chap. IV.] ANCIENT GAUL. 97 to the miseries of starvation. But the Eomans steel themselves to their appeals, as their countrymen had steeled themselves before, and they are left to perish wretchedly in the sight of either camp.^ A shout of joy, however, reaches their dying ears, as it rings from the heights of Alesia and re-echoes among the mountains, for the besieged have caught the first glimpses of the multitudinous hosts of Gaul advancing to their rescue. Two hundred and fifty thousand warriors, led by the ablest chiefs of all the clans, pour along the plains and dash against the lioman walls. Gaul and Rome are met for their last dead- ly encounter. For three days and nights, with the briefest in- tervals of repose, the tide of battle sways from one side to the other, with alternate shouts of exultation and despair. The great commander of the R;sare, cc. 81-84. vol. iii., p. 12."i.) ^ Plut. (in vita M. Antonii). Hor- ^ Le Peve de Colonia (Hist. Litter. ace (Epod, ix., v. 17). et Antiquites de la Ville de Lyon, t. i., * They were called Pi-ovincicr, or c. 3). Pro])rice Cfrsa7-!s, and Provincire Populi ^ Li'vy, Epit., c. xxxiv. ; Dio. Cass., Romani. (Gaius, Institut., ii., 21; 1. viii., ad ann. 726. 110 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. Nevr colonies tablishmeBt of new colonies at Araiisio (Orange), Car- instaued. pentopacte (Carpentras), Julia Valentina (Valence), Ju- lia Aptoe (Apt), Forum Julii (Frejus), and at other places, whicli he endowed with either the Koman, Latin, or Italic rights.^ ISTor did he spare any other me^ns of conciliating the old prov- ince, which still retained a lingering remembrance of Pompej.^ On the other hand, the new province, whose ancient and invet- erate feuds had not been extinguished by the severe chastise- ments of Coesar,^ he subjected to a stricter regimen. As a first step in reform, he reconstructed the territorial di- New ten-itoriai visious, SO as to break up the old clientages and al- divisions. liances, and to efiace any too national sentiments their names might recall. He divided Gaul into three great provinces, in addition to the Narbonnensis, or the old province : 1st. Aquitania, whose northern limit was carried north to the Loire ; 2d. Belgica^ between the Seine and the Ehine ; and, 3d. LuGDUNENSis, or the Lyonnese, named from the city found- ed by Plancus, and comprising the whole of central Gaul, be- tween the Loire and the Seine, with the peninsula of Armori- ca. The old province remained as it was ; but as Aquitain was made to include some fourteen nations formerly attached to central and western Gaul; as Sequania, Helvetia, and the country of the Lingons, were associated with the Belgic ; and as the Lyonnese conjoined the -^duans, the Senones, the Pa- risii, the Armoricans, and others, before almost foreign to each other, the ancient federations were thereby separated, new cen- tres of activity created, new political amalgamations formed, and the whole subjected to the supremacy of Lyons, the capital of new Gaul.* Each province was, moreover, subdivided into civitates or states — about sixty in all — composed of a number of cities, with dependent pagi or rural cantons attached. Nor were these states made equal in their position or rank; for some, considered 2.^ federates or alHes, preserved their institutions, were exempted from tribute, and owed the empire only military service ; others were free or autonomous, retaining also their independence, but liable to tribute ; and others again were suh- ^ Pliny (1. iii,, c. 4). Dom Bouquet ^ Orosius, 1. vi., c. 12, (Inscri})t., 5, p. 139). * Thierry (Hist, des Gaulois, t. iii., = Strab., 1. iv., c. 1, § 9. p. 283). Chap. V.] ROMAN GAUL. Ill jecis^ submitted directly and wliollj to the authority of the imperial officers,^ The higher grades of privilege — the Koman, Latin, and Italic rights — were not at first extended to the long- haired Gaul, but were held in reserve, as a lure to the ambition of the people, or as the reward of special services. Even in the distribution of the names, as well as of the politic- object of al powers of the states, some reference appears to have these divU TTT 1 -IT •• n • , Bions. been had to the possible extmction oi ancient associa- tions. Noviodunum was called Augusta, Bibracte became Au- gustodunum, and Bratepansium Cc"esaromagus ; the Durocorto- rum of the Kemi was allowed to remam, because it awakened none but servile reminiscences; while the old strong-hold of Gergovia, before which Cc^esar had failed, was bereft of its in- habitants, and the site of it left vacant and tenantless on its sol- itary crags. At the same time the new city of Lyons, which recalled no patriotic traditions, was converted into the Gallic capital,^ where the governors were expected to reside, where the emperors sojourned on their visits, where the moneys were struck, and whither all the great roads, with which Gaul was rapidly covered, converged, as the roads of Italy converged to Kome (B.C. 27y Augustus, during a second visit to Gaul, where he spent in Tribute aad ^^^ ^'^^ ycars (B.C. 16-10), caused another census to taxation. -^^ takcii b}^ ISTcro Drusus (who had succeeded Agrippa in the office of legate) as the basis of the taxation. History unfortunately has not preserved for us either the numbers of the people or the kinds and rates of the impost. Incidental ^ Thierry, Hist, des Gaulois, t. ii., of?/ and c/ was silent, Ave can easily see p. 383. how the name became Lyon. Martin ^ Lyons, which stood on the west (De la France, c. >'., p. 105, note 2). side of the Rhone, not so near the con- ^ These roads, which were begun if fluencc of the Siione as now, appears to not constructed by Agrippa, branched ha^e been settled by fugitive Romans out from Lyons : one toward the Rhine, driven out of Vienne by another party, another to Boulogne and the British It grew M'ith as man-elous a rapidity as Channel, a third across the country to some of our western cities, for in fifteen the Bay of Biscay, a fourth to the Pyr- j'ears it swelled from it simple colony enees, and a fifth over Mount Cenis of into a metropolis of considerable splen- the Alps into the Cisalpine. A number dor. pL-re de Colonia (Hist. Litt. de of secondaiy or cross roads were con- la Ville de Lyon, t. i., c. 3), Dion Cas- iiected with them. Sec Bergier (Hist, sius, 1. xlvi., c. .'SO. Lugdun appears des Grand-Chemins de I'Empire Ro- to have been a Keltic designation, and, main, t. i., 1. iii., ^:. 20, ed. Bruxelles, as the tjf in that speech took the sound 1728). 112 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. facts authorize tlie conjecture that the former were about ten millions ;^ while for the latter we are left to the general analo- gies of the Koman revenue system, which, says the historian, was "more jDowerful over the vanquished even than arms."^ Onerous in itself, and galUng in the modes of its execution, it was, however, less severe in the imperial than in the senato- rial provinces. In the latter, which preserved the republican usage, the revenues were farmed out, and were both arbitrary and indeterminate ; whereas, in the former, there was an evalua- tion of properties and fortunes, the tax-rate was uniform, and the collections were made by regular officers of the emperor.^ The taxes levied both in money and kind were direct upon estates and persons, and indirect ujoon trade, contracts, inherit- ances, etc. Every year the Grovernor of the Province deposit- ed the sum of them in the public magazines or the treasury ; but if the amount did not suffice the purposes of state, an in- crease was ordered {indiciio)^ or forced purchases were made. The tax-payers were also compelled to carry their contribu- tions to the places indicated by the governor ; to nourish the army and imperial oflficers on their journeys ; to maintain the public posts ; and to present the coronary gold (aurum corona- rium) on the advent of the emperor, on the renewal of his reign, on his gaining a signal victory, and on many other occasions.'^ Even under the mitigated rule of the emperors these exactions were vexatious, and the abuse of them by the agents bred seri- ous discontents. A proetor of Augustus in Gaul, Licinius,^ added two months to the year, in order to multiply the im- posts. It was useless for the Gauls to complain of these or any Military or- othcr wrougs with which they might have been afflict- gunization. ^^ , ^^^ ^^^^ posscsscd no mcaus of redress : in the centre and the south they had been stripped of their arms,® only a small militia force of the ancient warriors being retain- ' Gibbon, Dec. and Fall (vol. ii. , c. 1 7, These coronary presents wore often op- pp. 223-25, Milman's cd. Paris, 1840). pressive. On one occasion Ca?sar re- - Tacit., Ann., 1. iv., c. G4. ceived 20,414 pounds weight in gold. 3 Dio. Cass., 1. v., c. 24; Tacit., (Appian, Bell. Civ., 1. ii., c. 18.) Ann., iv,, 6, ^ Dio. Cass., 1. iv., c. 21. * See for details Naudet (Adminis- « 8ee, however, Dubos (Hist. Grit., trat. de I'Empire, t. i., c. 1, §§ 1, 2). t. i., 1. i., p. 25, cd. Paris, 1742). Chap. V.] EOMAN GAUL. 113 If eel, as a police, and under the command of Eoman officers.^ On the left bank of the Ehine, from its mouth to the confines of Ilelvetia, eight legions were stationed, with the necessary intrenchments and fortifications, partly to repel invasions from the German side of the stream, and partly to keep the Gauls un- der a salutary restraint.^ For the same purpose, in pursuance of a policy which had been already adopted by Agrippa, Au- gustus caused large bodies of Germans, Ubii, Suevi, and Sicam- bers to be transplanted into those parts of Gaul.^ It may here be noted, indeed, that, in process of time, the Germans gave not only a population, but a name to the entire district, for nearly sixty miles inland along the Rhine.'* Two additional prov- inces were then formed out of Belgica, named Germania Pri- ma and Secunda,^ and destined to play a conspicuous part thereafter as the head-quarters of the army, whence expeditions departed in the bloody wars of Drusus, Varus, Tiberius, and Ahenobarbus against the Germans, where the revolts of the le- gions occurred, and battles which determined the fate of the empire were fought, and where the Roman oppida and castra formed the nuclei of several important cities of modern Bel- gium and Holland. But, while the Romans thus secured their supremacy by the Moral influ- morc material means of administration and of arms, Romans. thcy did uot ucglcct the moral influences which are often quite as effective of the same end. It was not sufficient, in their opinion, to subject the will of the provincial ; they sought to captivate and control his intelligence. The arts, which they propagated as the instruments of amehoration and refinement, were also the incidental instruments of subjugation. Those arches, aqueducts, porticoes, amphitheatres, and temples, which they proceeded every where and immediately to con- struct, served the double purpose of ornament and utility. For, as a learned writer remarks, with as much beauty as truth, " architecture, as cultivated by the ancients, was not merely ^ Thierry (Hist, dcs Gaulois, t. ii., Florus, 1. iv., c. 12, and Suetonius in 1. viii., 0. 2, p. 383, ed. Paris, 1858). Tiberio, cc. 18, 21. * Tacit., Ann., 1. iv., u. 5. * I do not find precisely the time ^ Sucton. in Aug^usto, c. 21. when these Pro\'inces were constituted. * Comp, Tacit., Ann., 1. xii., c. 27; Die, Hist., 1. Iv., p. 503. Veil. Paterc., 1. ii., cc. 72, 97, 118; H 114 EOMAK GAUL. [Book II. presented to tlie eye ; it spake also to tlie mind. The walls, covered with the decrees of the legislature, engraved in bronze or sculptured in the marble ; the triumphal arches, crowned by the statues of the princes who governed the province from the distant Quirinal ; the tesselated floor, pictured with mythology of the state, whose sovereign was its pontiff— all contributed to act upon the feehngs of the people, and to impress them with respect and submission. The conquered shared in the fame and were exalted by the splendor of the victors."^ More than this : the Roman regarded the direct commuDica- schooisofrhet- tion of knowlcdgc — the art of instruction — as a OTIC an giam- ^^^^^^^^ ^^ government rather than as a branch of trade, and worthy of being liberally endowed and wisely regu- lated.^ The professors of rhetoric and grammar, the two stud- ies which then comprised all the mysteries of eloquence and literature,^ were a distinguished class, whose of&ces were honor- able and whose efforts were often crowned by both wealth and fame. No Eoman settlement considered itself a fit representa- tive of its mighty mother without its schools of rhetors and grammarians, in which crowds of youth could be indoctrinated in the graces of oratory, the beauties of diction, and that world of physical and moral science which was supposed to lie con- cealed in the text of immortal poets. Under this inspiration a school founded at Autun by Augustus soon grew into emi- nence : it was copied, if not surpassed, by other schools at Vienne, Toulouse, and Aries ; a taste for learning was imbibed by many opulent Gallic families ; teachers of skill and distinc- tion were hired from distant parts ; and multitudes of GalHc youth, attracted from the coarse delights of the chase and of war, gave their leisure to the gentler exercises of the gymna- sia.* Gallic genius, in fact, from the first manifested a quick susceptibility to the peculiar culture of the Romans. Passion- ately addicted, as we have seen Cato already remark, to dis- putation and the refinements of speech, the Gauls of the old ^ Sir F. Palgrave (Rise and Prog- -* Tacit., Ann., 1. iii., c. 43; Mar- ress of the English Commonwealth, vol. tial, 1. ix., ep. 101; Strabo, 1. iv., p. i., p. 323. London, 1832). 181; Dio. Cass., 1. xliv., c. 42. See 2 CodeTheodos.,1. xiii., tit. iii., c. 2. Ampere (Hist. Litt. de la France, t. i., ^ Suetonius, De Illustribus Gram., c. 6). passim. Chap, v.] EOMAN GAUL. 115 province were early distinguislied as actors, orators, and poets ; and the same regions, it may be observed, wliicli have since given to France Massillon and Flechier, Mirabeau and the Gi- rondists, Guizot and Thiers, contributed to Kome the first and greatest of actors, Koscius ; the rhetor, Gnipho, who taught both Caesar and Cicero ; Valerius Cato, who was called the Latin syren ; Varro Atacinus, whom Virgil deigned to imitate and Horace to praise ; the first Latin writer of a Universal History, Trogus Pompeius ; and the creator of that species of romance, not unknown to more modern times, in which the elegance and grace of the style scarcely compensates for the licentiousness of sentiment, Petronius Arbiter.^ Nor was the example set by the elder province disavowed or disdained by the new, where the teachers and schools of Gaul rose to a rivalry with the most illustrious of Italy. In the treatment of the religion of Gaul, Augustus was forced Religious to pursue a more cautious and sinister course. Druid- chauges. jgj^^ ^g -^ ^j^g incompatible, both as a positive doctrine and a hierarchy, with any foreign religion, and as it had yet taken a firm grasp of the minds of many of the common people, was assailed, but not openly : its bloodier rites only were abol- ished, and then it was cunningly undermined in the hearts of the ambitious and influential upper classes. Augustus decreed that no adherent of it could be received as a Eoman citizen,'- and the richer sort preferred the near road which led to hon- ors to the distant and uncertain "circle of felicity." A more efficient method of extirpating it, however, was found in the practice, almost universal among the Greeks and Romans, of identifying other polytheisms with their own.^ The emperor, who was accused of granting charily the rights of citizenship to mortals, dispensed them generously to the gods of Gaul. He hmiself dedicated a temple to Kirk — that terrible wind of the * Suet. (De Illus. Grammat., c. vii.) ; Mela ; Annneus Mela, the father of Lu- Virgil (Eclogue 10) ; Sidoniu.s Apoll. can ; and, a little later still, Quintilian, (Cannen xxiii.). Compare, also, Am- Martial, and Flonxs. pere (loc. cit.). At a later period the ^ Suetonius in Claudio, c. 2.5. Provinceof Spain was more distinguish- ^ Compare Gibbon, vol. i., o. 3; ed for its literature than Gaul, and Mosheim, Eec. Hist., vol. i., c. 1, § 17; could boast better names : among these Bynkershock, De Cultu Religionis Pcr- were Seneca of Cordova, with his three egrinaj apud Veteres Romanos, Opera, sons; Columella, Gracilis, Pomponius t. iii,, p. 237. 116 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. Narbonnese — who tlience became an honored associate of ^o- lus and Boreas:^ upon the altars, too, double inscriptions were placed, Latin and Keltic,^ so that the humble worshiper might pay his vows indifferently to the warlike Mars or the warhke Camul, to Diana or Arduinna, to Apollo or Belen, to Mercury or Teutates. The impracticable gods, whom Eome could not assimilate, she yet suffered as indigenous varieties ; thus Nehe- lenna and Hesus were allowed to share their native heavens with others, while Augustus, as the supreme pontiff, conde- scended to set the example of participating in the blended wor- ship. Accordingly, under his influence, the fervor of the new devotion spread rapidly, so that in a few years (B.C. 12) Au- gustus himself was raised into a tutelary divinity of Gaul.^ A general assembly of the states, convoked at Lugdunum by Temple to Dfusus, dedicated an altar and a priesthood to the adora- Augustus. ^-Qj^ q£ himself and of Rome ; a magnificent temple was reared at the confluence of the streams to contain it ; the names of the sixty principal states were engraven upon the front; sixty statues represented them around the hall ; and the whole was crowned with a colossal image of the long-haired prov- ince.* Other cities emulated the zeal of the capital; on all sides, in public places and in private lararia, the incense smoked and the blood of the victims flowed to the name of the imperial master who had suppressed their ancient liberties by his devices and debased their consciences by the seductions of a profitable piety.^ If Druidism was not, however, by these means wholly van- Gradual de- C[^shed ; if the mass of the people still clung to it, in iSmlJd of the silence of their cabins, or amid the solitudes of the Cruuis. ^^ \l\\\s> ; if for centuries yet we shall hear its reced- ing footsteps, as it withdraws gradually into Armorica, into Britain, into the lonely island of Mona, there to breathe its last sighs among the breaking billows of the arctic seas, it is none the less true that its vitality is sapped, and that it is des- tined to be more and more absorbed in the life of the new faith. » Seneca, Quoest. Nat., 1. r., l-. 17. ^ Thierry, t. ii., p. 386 et seqq., ed. = Gruter, Inscript., p. 37, No. .5, G, 1858. 7. See, also, Montfaucon {Inscript. ct * Strabo, 1. iv., c. 3, § 2. Monument). * Thierry, 1. c. Chap. V.] ROMAN GAUL. 117 Gaul was no longer the chosen home of the Druids, for Gaul herself was collapsing rapidly in the powerful grasp of Kome. Her inhabitants, proud and fiery, will from time to time renew the painful struggle against the invader ; by incessant revolts they will continue to protest against his domination and keep alive the tradition of their ancient freedom ; but they will exist no more for us as independent races. The old battles of the clans are already fought out; the fires are dying upon the hearth-stones of the chiefs ; and soon their very language, lin- gering with sad regrets among the echoes of the mountains or the wild murmurs of the rough Breton cliffs, will be transmuted into a strange speech. Yet the vigorous characteristics impressed upon the race by the eternal hand of Nature will prove themselves iadelible : the Italian, the Spaniard, the German, the Scandinavian may mingle his blood with that of the Gaul ; eighteen centuries of vicissitude, of war, and change will pass over him ; and after all we shall be able to recognize in his descendants, occupying his ancient places, the same genius which once taught eloquence to Cicero, and disputed victory with Csesar. Gaul fades in the light of the more gairish day of the em- pire ; but, as her planet pales, and the rising orb seems to fill the world with its splendor, history notes that on her frontiers the Germans are blowing a clamorous salute upon their ox- horns, while afar off, in an obscure and despised province of the East, the morning stars announce the birth of a child "whose name they called Jesus." 118 KOMAN GAUL. [Book 11. CHAPTER YI. Gaul under the Heathen Roman Emperoks. The epocli of the Emj^ire was the greatest epoch of time. Greatness of ^^^j ^s ail histoiical existence, was then passing from the epoch, ^j^^ circlo of the Mediterranean coasts, which had hith- erto confined him, upon a new and broader scene, and under new and more glorious conditions.^ Christianity had come into the world ; the ancient civilizations, having reached their zenith, were rapidly sinking down the sky ; and young and vigorous races, the wild products of nature, in regions which the classic geographers did not know, were about to appear, and to mingle in that stupendous fermentation of Christian, Eoman, and Bar- baric elements, of which modern Europe was the slow result. The historian of Gaul can not omit all reference to this preg- Gaul plays a 1^^^* pcriod,^ although for a long part of it his prov- partmit. ^^^^ fadcs iuto Comparative obscurity. If not an originator of the events of the time, it was yet an actor in them, often a sufferer by them, and always a witness of them. Gaul was, indeed, among the first, and, perhaps, the most eager of the European dependencies of Eome to a2:)propriate its pecuhar culture, which, scarcely penetrating Germany, and speedily swept away from Britain, exercised its sway over Gaul for nearly five hundred years. On the soil of Gaul a shoot of the Christian life, transplanted from intellectual Greece, and nour- ished by provident Eome, found early root and a vigorous growth. The ruddy and irrepressible tribes of German}^, which had never ceased to rattle their spears over its plams, first raised their independent monarchies there, and gave them a durable dominion. Gaul, therefore, more than any other part of Europe, was the theatre of those tremendous conflicts and ^ Compare Hegel (Philosophie der done. Even Sismondi, in his raoro Geschichte, b. i., s. 109, ed. Berlin, elaborate work, allows but two brief 1840). chapters to the affairs of Gaul prior to * As Pere Daniel and others have the great invasions of A. D. 406. Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 119 combinations wliich filled the drama of the age. As it saw the first acts, so it saw the last. The grand polity reared by the genius of Kome fomid there its last supporters ; the waves of barbaric invasion, after they had broken for centuries over the world, there at length settled and grew still ; and there the powerful hierarchy which had come to absorb and control the Christian life first wove the discordant shreds of society into that gorgeous, subtle, and many-colored fabric which enveloped Europe for nearly a thousand years. But, as the history of this period has been already written in Yet no complete ^ Way " uevcr to bc exccUed,"^ my humbler task is hiatory poa.^ibie. gijj;^piy to tracc iu rapid outline those more general vicissitudes of the Empire, in which it is known or may be sup- posed that the dependent province was involved. Of course, under such circmiistances, no detailed narrative is possible, no series of connected or harmonious pictures can be painted ; and it is often, indeed, only through rifts of storm-clouds in which the Empire gets more and more infolded, that we obtain even a random glimpse of our distant object.^ In a general and philosophic view, the long reach of time, General a'-pcots extcndiug from thc agc of Augustus to that of Jus- of the imperial .. ^.^.^ . . epocha. tuiiau, exhibited a continuous but variously modi- fied struggle between two great principles — the imperial cen- tralization, which represented the political and social Unity of the Eoman world, and tended to despotism ; and local Inde- pendence, or, rather, Federalism, which, recognizing the social supremacy of the Empire, abhorred its political domination, re- sisted its aggressive encroachments, and claimed for the parts of the great whole a certain subaltern political liberty and freedom of action. It may be divided also into several well-defined and contrasted periods, that seemed to introvert the regular march of the republic toward universal unity by as regular an advance of the provinces to independence. The first of these was the reign of the Ca?sars, ending with the dethronement of Kero in A. D. 70, and characterized by the violent consolidation of the ple- ' This is Niebuhr's remark of Gibbon umes upon it, to which I am largely in- (Lcct. Rom. Hist., vol. iii., p. 300). debted, and may confidently refer the ^ Nevertheless, Amede'e Thierry has reader (Hist, de la Gaule sous I'Admin- written three large and excellent vol- istration Eomaine, ed. Paris, 1847). 120 KOMAN GAUL. [Book II. beian overthrow of the senatorial aristocracy ; the second, the reign of the Good Emperors, as they are called, from Vespasian to Commodus (A.D. 70-180), in which an equitable and peace- ful equilibrium of federalism was maintained; the third, the domination of the mihtary usurpers, marked by almost univer- sal revolts of the jorovinces and lesser localities, which were only appeased by successive grants or conquests of local rights, consummated in the conciliatory division of the Empire into four great co-ordinate empires by Diocletian (A.D. 284) ; the fourthj the Christian monarchy, under Constantine and his successors (A.D. 306), which, continuing the policy of Diocletian, endeav- ored to support the tottering Eoman power by a strange un- ion of Christian morals with the barbaric sword ; and, lastly, the reigns of the phantom Emperors, from the permanent division of the East and West, under Arcadius and Honorius (A.D. 395), onward, when a succession of feeble and almost nominal rulers, set up or supported by barbaric chiefs, disguised their own im- potence and the utter defeat of the Empire under a system of barbaric alliances. These divisions I shall regard in my subsequent narrative, but not with a formal precision and consistency, which the mul- titude of the objects and transitions about to engage our atten- tion, and the constant necessity of recurring to the fate of a single district, will render impracticable. The emperors who succeeded Augustus immediately left be- FiKBT Period, hind them names which are the svnonvms of what- TheCffisars. evcr IS atrocious m tyranny and hideous m vice; they are the opprobrium of history and of our race ; and yet it can not be said that the evils of their lives were directly disas- trous to the provinces. Outside the palace walls, where they feasted their monstrous passions, and beyond the senatorial families, which they degraded and decimated, their administra- tions were often salutar3^ Their quarrel with the nobles threw them naturally on the side of the people, whom they corrupted, but did not specially oppress.^ As the Empire, moreover, was a reaction against the oligarchy, or, rather, the anarchy, which it replaced, it won the adhesion of the provinces, in whose be- ^ It can not be denied that such mon- were really popular with the rabble of 6ter6 as Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero Rome and in the provinces. Chap. VI.] BOMAN GAUL. 121 half the civil wars liad been mainly undertaken. Under it the provincial governments were ameliorated.^ Instead of procon- suls, who might live at will upon the wretched inhabitants, it sent forth salaried governors, held in check by a superior hand. Dreadful abuses, no doubt, were still perpetrated by the infe- A.D. 21. Re- rior agents ; and the revolt in Gaul in the early years and sacrovir. of Tlbcrius, of which Julius Sacrovir, a distinguished ^duan, and Julius Florus, a no less distinguished chieftain of Treves, were the promoters and leaders, was ascribed to their extortions. It is remarkable, however, that these leaders them- selves placed their hopes of success upon "the flourishing con- dition" of Gaul, as compared with that of Italy ;- and that the exactions of the usurers, to whom both individuals and states had to resort to meet the charges of the imposts, were as much complained of as those of the fiscal agents. The outbreak was rather a serious conspiracy than a general insurrection. Florus among the Belgians was soon hemmed up in the wood of Ar- dennes, where he put himself to death, a party of the Gauls themselves, under Julius Indus (these chiefs all bore Eoman- ized names), assisting the legions of the upper and lower Ehine in driving him into the fatal snare. In the centre and west of Gaul the demonstration was more formidable. Sacrovir suc- ceeded in winning to his cause the young Gallic nobles who were at school at Augustodunum (Autun) ; and he seduced a body of slave-gladiators {crujMarii) of one of the gymnasia to join him ; after which a multitude of rustics and serfs, with pitchforks and knives as their only weapons, flocked to his camp. Some of the neighboring cities of the Sequannese also declared for him, while others hesitated ; but, when it came to the brmit, this motley army readily yielded to the sturdy charges of the Koman legions. Sacrovir and the principals among his companions, taking Their failure, rcfugc in a couutry house near Autun, set fire to it, and burned themselves to death, to escape the vengeance of the victors. ^ Tacitus, Annals, 1. iv., cc. 6, 31, says there were those who long decked 41 ; Hist., 1 1 cc. 7, 78, 1. ix., c. 95; Nero's tomb with spring and summer Dio. Cass., 1. Ivii., c. 23; Suetonius in flowers. Caio, c. 30— Nero, c. 57. Suetonius = Tacit., Ann., 1. iii., c. 40 122 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. But no heavy punisliments were inflicted by Tiberius, who, Lenity of absorbecl in his own gloomy troubles at Kome, and com- Tibenus. pg|]g(;[ ^q ^^gg ]^^g soldiers against the Germans, now more troublesome than ever, forgot or forgave the oifenses of the Gauls. ^ That jealous and sombre tyrant, indeed, of whose ca- reer of subtle and malignant dissimulation Tacitus has paint- ed one of the finest pictures of history,^ was in one respect a benefactor of the provinces. He lengthened the tenure of the governorships — which under the Eepublic were changed an- nualty, bringing thus every year new flocks of cormorants to be gorged — into a more permanent possession.^ Nor was his successor, Gains, nick-named Caligula — that pale Pranks of Ca- ciud hollow-evcd iucamation of insanity endowed ligula in fJanl, ■ -, t i ti t ■ n r^ A. D. 39-40. With absolute power — although a native of Gaul,* of special importance to it, either for good or evil. He rather affected Lyons, where he performed many of those mad pranks which have made him infamous. It was there that he sold the sacred heir-looms of his ancestors, he himself acting as the auc- tioneer; tliat he staked prodigious fortunes (not his own) on the cast of the dice ; and instituted those ludicrous but cruel contests of rhetoric, in which the beaten competitor was com- pelled to compose a eulogium of his rival in verse, or, if his performance was very bad, to efface the writing with his tongue, on pain of being cast into the Ehone.^ The peoj)le of Lyons paid the cost of his enormous extravagances, but his four years of tyrany had no jDcrmanent effects upon Gaul. Claudius, a Gaul, by the accident of birth, ^ also, whom the Claudius pur- Romaus despised as much for his uncouth speech A.D. 41-54. ana awkward manners as for his imbecile tyranny and base subservience to the arts of his wife Messalina, gave ' Tacit., Ann., 1. iii., cc. 40-47. when he was playing Jupiter and giving ^ Tacit., Hist., passim. out oracles, that an honest cobbler, being 2 It was the difference, says Michelct, asked l)y Caligula \\hat he thought of intimated in the faljle of the fox tor- him, rej)lied that he was "a magnifi- mented by flies. " Shall I drive them cent humbug!" ^sya 7rapa\}/|07;/ia. Die. away?" asked the hedgehog. *'No," Cass., lix., c. 20. His very audacity replied he ; " let them alone ; these are probably saved his heacL already glutted, and, if driven off, others * Suet, in Claud., c. 2. He was bom will come who are famished." at Lyons the day the great altar was * Pliny apud Suet, in Caio, c. 8. consecrated to Augustus. ^ It was on one of these occasions, Chap. VI.] EOMAN GAUL. 12 o a more serious attention to tlie affairs of this province. He traveled over it, in order to learn its wants in person, and he undertook to expel from it the remains of Druidism.^ He abolished the worship and proscribed the priests, putting many of them to death ; although, sheltered by the reverence or af- fection of the people, the greater part must have escaped his ju- dicial wrath. Some fled into Britain, which was an iinhappy recourse both for themselves and its natives ; for Claudius soon after (A.D. 43) undertook what Ctesar had begun, and Augus- tus dared not complete, the conquest of the island. Despite the stubborn resistance of the islanders, protracted for so many years — the bravery of Caractacus and the noble energy of Boa- dicea, at length the fortune of Eome prevailed, and one more province was added to the Empire (A.D. 84). In the course of this long conflict the Druids were driven to It takes ref- the mouutains of Wales and to the arid and rocky ugeinMona. -g^^^^^ ^f Uoii^i, whcrc thcy pcrishcd between the swords of the soldiery and the waves of the sea.^ As a compensation for his rigorous measures of religious pro- HiB liberaiitiea scHptiou, Claudius dcsigncd to grant to the inhabit- to the Gauia. ^^^g q£ loug-halrcd Graul the high fevor of admission to the Eoman Senate, and of the right to bear office. With a dis- cernment' for which those who read the satires of Seneca,^ or the scandals of Suetonius, would scarcely give him credit, he saw that the exhausted strength of Eome was only to be recruited from the provinces. Opposed by the jealous aristocracy, consist- ing no more of the old patrician families, but of imperial freed- men, profligate traders, rich upstarts, and cringing sophists, who affected to contemplate the event as another invasion of barbar- 'ism, he pronounced a temperate and wise discourse in vindica- tion of the harmlessness and beneficence of the Eoman policv of foreign adoptions, which the grateful people of Lyons en- graved on tables of brass, and the fragments of which are to this day preserved in the archives of that city.'^ It carried the ' Plm.,1. xxx.jC. 1; Suet, in Claud., Seneca bitterly ridicules him. "Like c- 2r.. a true Gaul," he says, "Claudius has ~ Tacit. (Ann., 1. \\., xii., xiv,, and taken Rome." in Vita Agi-ic., passim). * Tacit., Ann., 1. xi., cc. 23, 2-1; ^ See the Apokolokyntosns, scu Indus Suet, in Claud. Parts of these brass in mortem Claudii Ccesaris, iv., in Avhich tablets were found in the time of Fran- 124 EOMAK GAUL. [Book IL emperor's i3oint, and tlie ^duans first, on account of the antiq- uity of their friendship for Kome, and then the other states, were raised to equal privileges with Italy. ■^ The reign of Nero — condensing or compounding in itself all Pveroiutiong the cvils of the preceding reigns — their swart malig- a?d!54-gs!' nity, their stealthy rapine, and their shoreless pollu- tion — was the signal of great revolutions both in Gaul and the Empire. We can not discover, in the absence of data, whether his provincial administration was more burdensome and irri- tative than that of his forerunners. We know that when he burned Eome, he plundered the world to rebuild it;^ and it would appear that the spectacle of his degenerate and humil- iating vices excited a deejDcr feeling of aversion in the prov- inces than it did at Kome. It was the Graul Caius Julius Vindex, governing the Lug- Eevoit of duners under the name of Propraetor, whose disgust at vindex. ^i^g bloody excesses of the emperor stirred up the revolt which ended in his overthrow.^ Conspiring with certain chiefe of the Arvernians and ^dui, he managed, by his eloquent declamations against the murders, the pillages, and the hideous scandals of Nero's conduct, and by his still more powerful ap- peals to the resentments of those classes who suffered under the outrages of the governmental agents, to raise a considerable party. He next wrote to Galba, who commanded the legions in Spain, and to the generals of the army along the Rhine, ex- horting them to declare against Nero, who had not only, he said, "robbed the universe, thinned the Senate, killed his moth- er, and subverted the government of the Empire," but, as if it were the climax and suppuration of these crimes, " who had ap- peared upon the stage, sometimes with the harp and the cothur- nus, sometunes with the sock and mask."* Galba and the gen- erals listened to his persuasions ; the people heard him still more readily ; and soon a motley host, half army and half mob, to the cis I., and are still to be seen in the with a munificent donation. See, also, Museum of Lyons. Pere de Colonia the terms in which Seneca speaks of the (Hist. Litt. de la Ville de Lyon, c, 2). splendor of the city, and deplores the ^ Tacit., Ann., 1. xi., u. 25. calamity (Epist., 1. xiv., n. 91). ^ Tacit. (Ann., 1. xv., c. 45) ; on the ^ Dio. Cass,, 1. xiii., 22. other hand, when the city of Lyons was * Dio. Cass., ibid. burned (A.D. 64), he came to its relief Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 125 number of a himdred thousand men, were ready to dethrone the tyrant, and to assert the claims of Galba to the purple.^ Yet the whole army of the Khine did not share the enthu- confusionrro- slasm of Yindex ; the different states of Gaul were ducedby \m- ^:^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^-^ ^^qqIq. and thc consequence was that both army and country became the prey to violent agita- tions and anarchy. In the course of a single year, Nero, as cowardly as he was cruel, and alternately howling with rage or trembling with remorse and agony, begged death at the hands of a dependent; three emperors, Galba, Otho, and Yitellius, were made and unmade in rapid succession ; not only the German frontier, but all Gaul, was drenched in the blood shed in the commotion ; and the devouring flame of discord spread from Gtiul till it involved the Empire in conflagration. The very Capitol, with the sacred temple of Jupiter, "the pledge of Em- pire," which even Porsena and the ancient Gauls had spared, was leveled to the ground. When Yespasian, proclaimed and supported by the legions of Illyria, succeeded in driving the other competitors from the field, and took his seat on the throne of the Cossars, the world was taught the fatal secret forever, that "elsewhere than at Eome emperors might be created;"" for, with the extinction of the Julian family, the sceptre departed from Italy, the dependent provinces began to furnish the supreme rulers, and the centre of political influence (if the birth-places of the emperors may be regarded as determ- ining it) was shifted from time to time, until it had made the circuit of the globe. ^ It was one of the incidents of the revolution which gained The first Gal- Ycspasiau thc purple, that the remnants of the old lie Empire, A. ^ ,-,. i t i D. 69. (jraliic party attempted the desperate enterprise of recovering the lost independence of their country. A fanatical Druid, named Marie, excited, doubtless, by the partial successes of Yindex, and having his imagination inflamed by the destruc- tion of the Capitol, which was connected mystically with the de- struction of the Eoman power, announced himself as a divine ' "The crowing of the cock," says ^ Tacit., Hist., 1. i., cc, 4, 5 ; 1. iii., Suetonius, punning on the word Gallus, c. G7. which means both Gaul and cock, ^ See note 1, p. HG. " awakened Nero." 126 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. incarnation, destined to become tlie liberator of Gaul. Gather- ing about him by his prophecies and denunciations a tumultu- ary mass of peasants, he Nvas on the eve of taking arms, when he was seized by the authorities and given to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of Autun ; but the beasts refusing to touch him, a fact to which his followers gave some divine or miracu- lous interpretation, he was killed by the soldiers. These circum- stances of his death rather kindled than extinguished the fires of excitement. At the same time, an able Batavian chief, who bore the Eoman name of Claudius Civilis, a man of profound cunning, lofty intelligence, and energetic will, moved partly by bitter personal resentments, and partly by a generous patriot- ism, fomented a formidable insurrection among the Batavians. They were soon joined by the Caninnefats and Frisons ; the Eo- man camp on the Batavian island was burned, the- flotilla of the Rhine surrendered by the auxiliaries, two Roman legions defeated, and the fierce German tribes encouraged to cross the river and lay waste the Roman possessions. With this pres- tige of victory, an appeal for co-operation was made to the clans of Gaul, already restless, and wavermg in their attach- ments to the Empire. The suppressed yet smouldering zeal of the Druidical insurgents revived; the whole north and west, touched by the accents of the bards and priests, who emerged from their retreats, gave way to the general impulse ; three ambitious chiefs, Julius Classicus, Julius Sabinus, and Julius Tutor, put themselves at the head of the movement, and a new and independent Gallic Empire was proclaimed. Every omen and element of success seemed to be combined in the revolt: the distraction of Italy, the absence or dispersion of the usual guard of the Rhine, the enthusiasm of the people, the favor of the higher classes, and the powerful aid of the Germans. But, on the convocation of a General Assembly of the Gauls, at Durocotorum (Rheims), one weakness, ever a fatal weakness of theirs, was revealed — dissension. Before they had as yet achieved any decisive practical re- Tbe attempt ^ults, they bcgau to debate who were to be chiefs, miscanies. j^^ ^j^gg q£ succcss, what the ucw fomi of govern- ment should be, and which the principal city. Belgica, with its strong military proclivities, desired a strong military com- CnAP. VI.] EOMAN GAUL. 127 monwealth ; Armorica, and the Camutes, wlaere Druidism still flourished, would fain have rebuilt the dilapidated altars of that faith, and already, perhaps, saw the human victims smok- ing in the wicker colossus ; while the more polished states of the south and west, too soon bewitched and softened by Eo- man arts and luxuries, dreamed alone of some improved form of the Empire.^ Consequently, Kome acquired, not an easy, but an inevitable victory. Classicus and Tutor, after a vague and inefficient resistance, were defeated, and killed themselves ; Civihs maintained a longer and more sanguinary opposition, but surrendered ; and Sabinus, who defiled the memory of a maternal ancestor in order to pass for the descendant of Julius Ci:esar, was reserved to be executed by the triumj^hant Ves- pasian.^ Nor did Gaul renew the outbreak for more than a hundred A long peace, ycars ; cithcr her restlessness was assuaged, or she found the yoke of the Eoman domination too strong even to be shaken. Indeed, it is a remarkable phenomenon in the history of our race that from the battle of Actium to the death of Corn- modus (B.C. 31-A.D. 192), a period of more than two centuries, these Gallic disturbances were not only the most serious, but almost the only ones that threatened the internal tranquillity of the Empire. The '' immense majesty of the Eoman Peace," to use Pliny's fine expression,^ covered the nations as with a mantle, which seemed a sacred and inviolable protection. For the success of Vespasian formed the transition to a line of imperial rulers, who, with the single exception of Domitian, Tacit., Hist., 1. iv., passim. words, her sorrow, her beauty, nor her 2 He was su]>posed to have burned heroism could move the all" inflexible hmiself in his house, but he had taken magistrate. Sabinus was condemned to rctuge with his wife, Ej)inona, in a cave, death, and then she prayed to l)e al- Nor has history f;iilcd to record the lowed to be executed with him. "Grant touching devotion of this woman, who, me this last grace, O Ves])asian," she nobly sharing his confinement for nine said, "for continued life under laAvs long years, supj.lied his wants, reared such as thine, would be more intolerable his children, and, finally, succeeded in than the old cb'eary tmlight of the cave " getting him to Rome to solicit his par- Her wish was granted, and in death as don from Vespasian. Kneeling before in life their destinies were not di^-ided. the emperor, and pointing to her chil- Tac, Hist., 1. iv., c. G7 ; Dio 1 Ixvi • dren, who had been Ijorn in the cave, Pint., Amator., p. 770. They do not she said, " I have nourished them that agree as to the woman's name.^ there might be more suppliants for their ^ j^j^^ ;^t,^^^ ^ ^^^,.j ^ ^. ^ ,^ j^_ father at thy knees." But neither her mensa Romance pacis majestate " 128 ROMAN GAUL. [Book 11. acquired and retained for more than a hundred years the Second peeiod, universal praises of their contemporaries. Such Eefgniyth!; ' "tt^e glory of their administrations, in fact, that the good emperors, ^g^ ^^ which they Hvcd pronounced itself, and has since been pronounced by the most eloquent of modern his- torians, with the concurrence of many voices, the happiest in the annals of mankind.^ Nor can it be denied that the era of Trajan and the Antonines was. an era of marvelous external splendors and prosperities. Fitly ushered in by the erection of a temple to Eternal Concord, it was marked throughout by the beneficent labors of wise, energetic, and amiable princes; and it terminated, at last, with a kind of elegiac tenderness, in the serene and dignified character of Marcus Aurehus.^ The men of that period were such contrasts to the monsters they succeeded, and their governments such contrasts to the fero- cious turbulence which followed them, that the imagination delights to dwell upon the oasis, and even to exaggerate its glory. The resolute historian himself hesitates to probe the depths of a condition which seems so fair upon its surface, hesitates to inquire whether it really advanced the good of so- ciety, or only transiently arrested its more flagrant evils ; and the more so, when he knows that his next step toward the fu- ture will plunge him into the wildest vortex of violence and crime. For the provinces it may be admitted without question that Beneficial to the thcsc rcigus wcrc a mild and genial season. When provinces. ^-^^ chicf of a dcspotlc statc is neither a robber, a butcher, nor a drunkard, the subordinate agents are likely to show some regard to decency and law. The spirit which animates the head will make itself felt in the extremities. The Good Emperors, moreover, were nearly all provincials by birth, and cherished a natural sympathy for their compatriots.^ ^ Gilibon, vol. i., c. 3. See, also, ward, with individual exceptions, the Ilegewisch, translated by Solvet (Fssai provinces furnish the emperors : first sitr rE/)oque la plus Ileurcvse pour le Spain, then Africa, then Sp'ia and the Genre Humain. Paris, 18:34). East, then Illyria, then Gaul and Brit- = Not unmingled, however, with mo- ain. This line follows the shores of the mentaiy gleams of terror, as one feels Mediterranean from west to cast, and who reads his " Meditations." then from cast to west, with a quite reg- ^ They were mostly Spanish ; ami it ular progress. is to be noted that from this time fur- Chap. VI.] KOMAN GAUL. 129 They were especially friendly to tlie enlargement of those mu- nicipal functions which were the very breath of the local life.^ The rekindled splendor of literature, in which Tacitus, Seneca, Pliny, Quintilian, and Martial shone conspicuous," cast many of its silvery rays upon the remotest districts ; the great roads and imposing architectural works whose remains still astonish ns were universally and rapidly multiplied ;^ and the Perpetual Edict of Hadrian, in giving stability to the fluctuating law of the Proetors, gave an epoch to Eoman jurisprudence, while the Provincial Edict of Aurelius made it the common property of mankind,* Not without reason, therefore, these men were called the Multipliers of Citizens and the Enrichers of the World. ^ When Marcus wrote "I have conceived the idea of a government founded upon general and equal laws,"^ he ut- tered a conception which he only labored to execute with fidel- ity and vigor; and his Greek panegyrist, who said that "he has made the administration of the universe like that of a well- ordered house," did not, perhaps, _ fall into the characteristic falsehood of that class of writers.'' Eome was, as the poets sang, "the queen of the golden mitre, intrepid of heart, envi- roned in majesty, dwelling upon earth like an incorruptible Olympus."^ Gaul was happy in the reception of the liberal favors of these princes: her highways were improved; her agriculture fostered ; her towns enlarged ; the precious grape-vine (partty torn up in a fit of spleen by Domitian) spread again over her hills; the manufacture of fine cloths at Arras, Langres, and Saintes was encouraged ; the commerce of the Ehone, Saone, » Gains, i., 7; Digest, v., 12 ; Ulpian, * Spanheim {Orh. JRoman. ex., ii., 8, Fra(/.,]. xxiv.,c. 28; Dio.,lxix., IG. and Memoires de I'Acadamie dcs In- ^ It Avas what is termed the Silver script, et Bell. Lett., t. xxxix.), Thierry Age of Literature, and among the other (Hist, de la Gaule Romaine, t. i., Intro- lights were Siliusltalicus, Valerius Max- duct., p. 176). imus, A'elleius Paterculus, Mela, Coin- * Awpllator Cicium was applied to mclla, Statius, Suetonius; Caius, and Antoninus Pius, and Zoay^/e/a/or (9?7v/s Tertullian, and other Christian writers, to Hadrian. Spartian., Adrian., 9, who belong, however, to another order « IMarc, Anton., Ta hq kav-ov, i., 14. of things. It is curious, also, that most ' Aristides, Orat. in Bom., cited by of these were Spaniards. See Thierry Thierry, t. i., p. 180, (Hist, de la Gaule Romaine, Introduct., « Poem in Stoba^us, ascribed to Erin- ^^^- i-)- na, but which Niebuhr properly refers ^ Dio., I. Ixix., c. 10. to the time of these emperors. I 130 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. Loire, and Seine extended ; and the fine cities of Treves, Bor- deaux, Nismes, and Toulouse adorned with sumptuous edifices.^ But she was indebted to the reign of Antoninus or Marcius (not, however, through any personal merit of theirs) for a benefac- tion greater than any it was in the power of the Empire, with all its wealth and magnificence, to bestow — her first Christian church. The new and divine doctrine revealed by Jesus of Nazareth A.D. 160-1, had been more easily propagated among the Jewish introduced, syiiagogucs and Grecian schools than in the silent forests of the west of Europe. The labors and sufferings of a -century had produced it an obscure establishment in Italy and Spain, and brought it, in the persons of individuals, into Brit- ain, Gaul, and the south of Germany ; yet it was nowhere sig- nificant enough to attract ofiicial attention, and much less to arouse public alarm.^ Those first persecutions of it which are commonly ascribed to the fears of the emperors arose rather from an enmity which confounded it with Judaism,^ or made it a pretext for personal resentments.* Neither Nero nor Do- mitian knew enough of Christianity to deem it a proper object of wrath. Nor until the time of Trajan (after A.D. 99), when the silent spread of it had begun to threaten the income of the heathen temples, and a popular animosity was stirred up by the priests, was it distinctly recognized as a religio nova et illi- ciia.^ The more serious opposition even then was confined to those who derived their supjDort from the prevalent idolatry, or who were deeply tinctured with the old Pagan literature. From them, rather than from any heartfelt attachment of their own to the ancient faith, the populace took their tone, and be- gan to demand, in a somewhat tumultuary manner, the sup- pression of the Christians. A rescript of Trajan, which is the first judicial determination of the case, betrays a mingled in- difference and perplexity. Pliny, the governor of Bithynia, to whom this was addressed, was so pleased with the effects ' See Thierry {Hist, de la Gaide xr., o. 44), and compare Tertnllian /io?fl., t i., c. 1, p. 358), with his au- (Apol., e. 21). thorities. * Suetonius in Domit., l-. xv. ; Dio. = Neander (Hist. Christ. Rolifc-, Tor- Cass., l.xvii., n 1 2 ; Euscb., Hist. Ecc, rey's translation, vol. i., pp. 84, 85). 1. iii., c. 18; Suet., Nero, c. xvi. ^ See, however, Tacit. (Aunal., 1. = Pliny, E]iist. x., pp. 9G-98. Chap. VI.] EOMAN GAUL. 131 of it, in producing revocations of faith and sacrifices to the gods on the part of reputed Christian disciples, that he in- dulged the fond hope of bringing the superstition soon to an end. Gladly, too, would the just spirits of Hadrian and of the Antonines have supplanted the popular rage by the milder interventions of law.^ Marcus Aurehus, with all his stoical repugnance to the enthusiasm of the first Christian converts, would have willingly seen the new system reconciled to the old, according to that feeble neo-Platonic syncretism which was coming into vogue. He was even then too ignorant of the real nature of the Christian scheme to perceive that it was wholly incompatible with any form of Paganism, either the most elevated or the most debased ; for the difference between it and Paganism was not a difference of merely national wor- ships. It was a jorofound, essential, ineradicable difference. It Avas the difference between the one true God and thirty thousand spurious gods ; between a morality founded upon divine and s^Diritual love and a morality derived from intel- lectual deductions and prudential maxims; between a senti- ment of imiversal humanity, which acknowledged no distinc- tions among men, and a scntunent almost wholly composed of intense and bitter prejudices of race, caste, and selfish personal- ity; and between the hope of a heaven freely opened to all mankind and a heaven to which heroes, and demi-gods, and favored individuals could alone aspire. In any encounter be- tween two such religions the battle must be internecine, and the victory accrue only at the cost of the hfe of the vanquished. The spirit of the encounter was illustrated in the first experi- Thc first ences of Christianity in Gaul. A few Asiatic teachers Lyons, from the Church of Smyrna, headed by Pothinus, who had -prayed with Polycarp, a beloved companion of the beloved disciple John," and either following the routes of commerce, or, perhaps, invited by Jews who had accompanied Herod or Pilate in their exile, ^ were the earthly instruments of its advent. A small circle of believers which they gathered at Lyons soon became a considerable religious community.* The registers ' Hadi-ian, Epist., ap. Vopisc. ; En- ^ Milman (Hist. Christ., c. vii., p, seb., Ecc. Hist., 1. iv., c. 9. 236). ^ Gallia Christiana, t. ii., p. 452. * Acta Sanctonim, ap. Bolland, 132 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. still preserve to us the names of fifty members, wliile those of others, says the pious chronicler, " are written in the pages of the Book of Life."^ But in those days success was sorrow. The lofty tone which the new religion hastened to assume with its growth in numbers, the diffusion of an oj)inion that with the fall of the ancient religion of Eome the temporal dominion woidd also fall, together with the unusual occurrence of natu- ral calamities, which awoke superstitious fears, and the rumors of new barbaric inroads,^ conspired to arouse the heathen against it with an almost fanatical fury. Their zeal soon pass- Persecutions, ed from raucorous reproaches into personal violence. A.D. 177, in . ^ -^ Lyons. Thc Christiaus were stoned m the streets ; they were chased from the baths and the forum ; they were shut up in their houses ; they were denounced to the tribunals as incestuous and atheistical ; and the slaves were suborned, to proclahn their simple agcqxe Thyestian feasts, and their fraternal assemhhes GEdipodean marriages.^ Arrainged before the authorities, they were tortured by all those horrible methods which Eoman bar- barity well knew, in order to induce them to retract their con- fessions or to accuse their fellows. Some relapsed under the severity of the inflictions, but the majority of the confessors stood firm. A man of rank and wealth, Yettius Apagathus, who came forward to defend them, being hunself denounced as a Christian, eagerly avowed the offense. Many perished in the noisome air of the dungeons to which they were commit- ted ; others had their limbs dislocated in the stocks ; while the more detested among them were slowly burned by the apphca- tion of hot irons to the sensitive parts of the body."^ By a pe- culiar refinement of cruelty the Romans contrived to inflict these punishments on the occasions of their public festivals. Crowded amphitheatres shouted when some tender and deficate woman was torn by the wild beasts, or an aged and venerable man was stretched bleeding uj^on the cross, » Acta SS. Epipod. et Alex., c. ii. ; ■' Thicny (Hist, de la Gaule, t. ii., Gregoiy of Tours (Hist. Ecc. Erauc, cc. 5, G) has a detailed and interesting 1. i., c. 27). account of this persecution. Sismondi ' Tillemont (Hist, des Emp., 1. ii., dismisses the whole suhject with in- p. 593). credulity (Hist. Franc, 1. i., c. 2). ^ Euseb., Hist. Ecc, vol. i., pj^. 126, 127. Chap. YI.] KOMAN GAUL. 133 Among the yictims of this hellish rage was the Bishop Po- Biandina, the thiiius, then ninety years of age, whose feeble body martyr. ' g^^^j. beneath its pains, but whose mind gathered se- renity and firmness from them. Another victim, whose appear- ance on the scene was more characteristic of the great social revolution Christianity was effecting, was Blandina— a woman and a slave. Through all the excruciating agonies of the tor- ture, her mistress, who was herself a confessor, watched her in trembling anxiety lest she should be betrayed into some weak concession. But Christianity possessed a living power then which could lift even the lowly slave into a sublimity of hero- ism. From the cross where, like her heavenly Master, she hung, the gaze of a frantic rabble, she sang hymns to his praise ;^ when taken down from it, the beasts of the arena re- fused to do their office, as if their brute natures, softer than those of men, could be awed by such sweet piety ; and the in- tervals between her punishments, twice postponed, she passed in comforting those of her companions who were reserved for a similar fate. The apostates whom weakness had allowed to retract were animated by her to a renewed strength, and they counted it their highest joy to be admitted to the prospect of sharing in her sufferings. At last, when she was dragged forth to final execution, on the recurrence of the great festival games which Caligula had instituted on the banks of the Rhone, she met her death, by the horns and feet of a furious wild animal, " like one invited to a wedding banquet."- She was the last to die, but her name became the first in the roll of those saints whom the pious gratitude of the Grallic Church has since raised to the skies. From Lyons the Christians fled to Yienne, to Autun, and Spread of the ^^ Chalous, whithcr persecution followed them; but new faith. ^]^q ^^^ ^^-^l^ could uot bc cxtiuguished by the frowns of power. In less than twenty years the little original ^ Euseb., vi,, 1, 131. hope." It introduces to us a new spe- * Euseb. (Hist. Eccles., v., 1, 133). cies of literature which Avas the first The narrative of this first persecution fruits of Christianity — the Acts of the rests upon a letter sent by " The seiwants Martyrs — and which is happily called of Jesus Christ in Lyons and Vienne the Heroic Literature of the New Faith, to their brothers in Asia and Phrygia, Ampere (Hist. Litt., t. i., u. 2, p. who have the same faith and the same 164). 134 EOMAK GAUL. [Book II. germ had grown to a vigorous tree.^ Nursed by the zeal and prudence of Irenteus, the successor of Pothinus, and ''the great luminary of the West,'" it became a champion of orthodoxy in Europe, and sustained many a powerful contest against the Gnostic and Manichasan heresies, while it dared to check even the over-weening pretensions of Kome.^ Marcus Aurelius, " looking down from the throne of the uni- instabiiity and vcrsc, IB. cold and philosophic pride," despised these dangers of the . . , Empire. humblc sectaries^ and sulierecL them to be condemn- ed to death, while the least of them could have taught him a truth of more infinite worth, and a virtue of diviner stamp, than anv to be found in the books or exhibited in the characters of his much-applauded stoics. And, blind as he was to the merits of Christianitv, he was no less blind, in common with his whole generation, to the signs of political dissolution already gather- ing in the heart of the Empire. His long and desperate strug- gle against the Marcomanni and other federations of barbaric tribes, which swept the northern frontiers with a besom of de- struction, had doubtless given him a dark foreboding of the external dangers of the State, but of the internal discords and fatal mixtures, which drew on apace, we do not know that he was aware. Yet in less than fifteen years after his demise his blooming and prosperous heritage was tortured by agonies more convulsive and terrible than those in which the Kepublic had expired. His own son, Commodus, to whom he had blindly bequeathed tdtrt) peeiop. the government, led the way to a line of rulers in JJ,iilery,''^A.D^ whosc prcscncc thc first Ciesars need scarcely have 18U-305. blushed. Mihtary adventurers all, strangers to the language and to the races of Italy, the brief space of eight}^ years saw no less than forty of them ascend the throne, from which they were in turn precipitated by assassination or civil * Greg. Turon fHist., 1. i., c. 20). an offspring of the Roman Church, and ^ Theodorc't (Heret. et Fab., Pra^f.). tliat in its very cradle it asserted a cer- ^ That is in regard to the time of tain independence. Ampere adds that celebrating the Easter festival, about the Churches founded by Rome, such as ■which the Greek and Latin Churches the British and German, have been less were divided. vSome French historians faithful to it than those not founded by consider it important to remark that her, such as the French and [Spanish the earliest Church in France Avas not (Hist. Litt., c. ii., p. IGO). Chap. VI.] ROMAK GAUL. 135 war.^ From the blood j hands of the early emperors, who rep- resented the debased plebs of the metropolis, the indignant provinces had snatched the sceptre of dominion ; the virtues and the wisdom of the provincial-born monarch had preserved for a time a tranquil equilibrium of federalism ; but now the time was come when the Roman people and the provincial peo- ple alike were to be subjected to the indiscriminating tyranny of the sword. The reckless rule of Commodus, which raised the insolence Advent of the of the Prcetoriau Guards to such a pitch that they legions to pow- -■■ "^ er. murdered his venerable successor, Pertinax, and sold the purple at auction to the opulent but imbecile Didius, mark- ed the hour for the change. Decrepit as the Romans were, yet siifficiently sensitive to feel the indignity of this disgraceful pro- ceeding, they demanded from the various legions of the fron- tiers a just resentment of their wrongs. Jealous of the pamper- ed superiority of the Praetorians, if not of the wounded honor of their country, urged on, moreover, by the reactionary im- pulses of the provinces, the legions of Syria, Illyria, and Brit- ain responded to the summons. But, in avenging its insults, they once more opened the sluices of civil war upon the devo- ted Empire. They crushed or dispersed the voracious guards, whose mercenary quarrels drenched Rome in blood and shook Italy with terror, and they filled the vacancy with their own more violent and unsparing conflicts. Three ambitious gen- erals, Pescennius Kiger, who governed Syria, and Sej)timius Severus, and Clodius Albinus, who commanded, the one the army of Pannonia, and the other the army of Britain, aspired to that supreme dominion to which there was no established principle of succession. Niger, an Italian by birth, and a man of elegant culture and munificent habits, won the acclama- tions of the people ; Albinus, an African, and yet a boasted de- scendant of illustrious Roman families, had commended him- self to the Senate ; while the hard, cunning, inexorable, and energetic soldier Severus, also an African, whom the wits some- times called "the man of his name," and sometimes "the Ro- ' From Commodus to Claudius Goth- em France or England have had in a icus (A.D, 184-268) there were as many thousand years 1 sovereigns, real or pretended, as mod- 136 ROMAN GAUL. [Book 11. man Hannibal," was the master and tlie choice of the soldiery.^ Managing and beguiling Albinus for a time by his complais- ances, and the concession of the rank of Ciesar, Severus soon overcame the indulgent Niger, lost in the luxuries and delights of the East, and was then prepared to vanquish the remaining competitor. The unhappy province of Gaul, in which Albinus had land- Gaui the theatre ed with his three legions from Britain, and whither of the contest, -10 t • • • • a • ^ A.D. 192-^. beverus hurried irom his victories in Asia, became the theatre and the victim of their bloody and decisive combat. On the 19th of February, of the year 193, their armies, com- posed of nearly three hundred thousand men, encountered near the city of Tivurtium (now Trevoux), not far from Lyons ; a severe and sanguinary struggle left the victory to Severus, who, pursuing the fugitive enemy to the walls of Lyons, tram- pled the dead body of its leader in the dust, pillaged and sack- ed the city, and found himself the solitary master of the world. As the chieftains and noble families of Gaul had adopted the cause of Albinus, the stern spirit of the conqueror rained mas- sacres and confiscations upon them with a severity which re- called the days of Sulla and of Marius.^ Severus owed his success to the army, in opposition to the Triumph of se- Senate and people, and so he was compelled to irihe military maintain it by means of the army. History justly power. regards him as the real, because the systematic, founder of that exclusive military domination which, from this time forth, became the intolerable burden of the Empire. He dismissed the Praetorian Guard with ignomin}^, and, with a show of justice, ordered that it should afterward be recruited from the legions of the frontiers, as an encouragement to merit and bravery ; but the most equitable laws in appearance may be rendered bad in practice by circumstances ; and the whole ef- fect of the plan was to substitute for the sixteen thousand Ital- ians, Gauls, and Spaniards, of which the Guard had been com- posed, and who had some affinities with Eome, about seventy ^ Compare Dio. Cass., 1. Ixxiii. to ^ HcTodian, 1. iii., c. 71; Spart., Ixxr. ; Herodian, 1. ii., cc. 42-45, and Nig., c. 76 ; Capitol., Albin., et al. Spartian., and Capitolinus in Sever., Niger., et Albin. Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 137 tlionsancl Pannonians and Illjrians, who were barbarians that filled Rome with affright,^ Stationed on the outskirts of the capital, within sight of the imperial palace and the senate-house, and pampered by largesses, by exorbitant pay, by indulgence and luxur}^, they erected themselves into the permanent men- ace, the arbitrary masters of the State." The strong hand of Severus, aided by his military genius, which renewed for a mo- ment the glories of Roman arms in Parthia and Britain, ena- bled him to restrain partially the excesses of their license ; but the nerves of discipline were irretrievably relaxed ; and the le- gions raised to the purple or immolated whomever their ava- rice, their caprice, or their drunken folly might designate. As a soldiery which is violent and intractable, in respect to the civic authorities, becomes cowardly in the face of its real du- ties, so the demoralization of the camp led the way to the disgraceful revolts at home, and to more disgraceful defeats abroad, which the once invincible army of Rome was thereafter destined to sustain. Bassianus, the son of Severus, nicknamed Caracalla,^ who at The mad ^^'st Contemplated the dismemberment of the Empire Ai^ixlu- ^J dividing it with his brother Gaeta, and then raised ^^^- himself to solitary command by the murder of that brother, continued, in obedience to his flither's testament, "En- rich the soldiers," to foster their pretensions at the expense of those of every other order. lie lavished upon them in one day treasures which had been accumulating for eighteen years ; and he connived at all their enormities. It was the fatal consequence of his wickedness that the emperors who after him gave way to their demands aggravated their insolence, while those who sought to restrain them were incontinently put to death. '^ This mutinous spirit of the praetorians spread to the legions, and from the legions to the people, who were habitually outraged and incensed by their excesses and their crimes. At the same time, the crazy conduct of Caracalla lessened the attachment of every rank and class toward the State. It has been justly ^ Naudet (DerAdministrat. dd'Em- ^ From his fondness for a Gallic cas- pire, etc., t. i., p. l.")"). sock, called a caracall. ^ Herodian (1. iv., p. 128, et al). * Niebuhr (Lect. on Rom. Hist., vol. iii., pp. 2G8-274). 138 EOMAIT GAUL. [Book 11. reproaclied his cruel reign, that, while he inherited his father's aversion to the West, and manifested in every passionate way his devotion to the heroes, the manners, and the gods of the East, he yet distributed his mahgnant blows with an imjDartial and generous hand.^ Visiting each province in turn, he caused each one to feel in turn the curses of his rapines and massa- cres.^ But blessings and curses are often mingled, and it was he. His important uot Autouinus uor Hadrian, as writers both ancient ?essio*i^a. '^"^ and modern have alleged,^ who completed and round- ed the long series of Eoman naturalizations, who consummated the social equalization of the Empire, by granting the right of citizenship to all its free inhabitants. This act, which effaced the disparities between Eoman, Italian, Latin, allied, and subject states, making but one law and one right for mankind, has been imputed to his avarice ; inasmuch as, certain imposts fall- ing upon citizens alone, by increasing their number he enlarged the sources of his revenue : it may, however, be ascribed with more propriety to the labors of those illustrious and learned jurists — the last representatives of the nobler mind and aspira- tions of Eome — the Papinians, the Ulpians, and the Pauluscs — who, in the midst of the appalling disasters of their times, endeavored to reduce the laws of the world to a basis of uni- versal and natural equit)'.'^ Whoever the authors of it, and whatever the motive, the Their effect, schcmc was a just and humane one, considered from the point of view of general humanity : nevertheless, it de-Eo- manized Eome ; which, in the effort to disseminate itself, only dispersed itself, merging more and more what was distinctive and peculiar in its existence in a common life, and dissolving more and more its organic unity into a mere conglomerate mass. For, as the great central preponderance of Italy was gi^adually ^ Montesquieu (Considerations sur la of the authorship of the decrees as doubt- Grandeur des Romains, et de leur Dc- ful, but see Thierry (Introduct., p. 190). cadence, c. IG, ed. Taris, 181S) says, ^ Comp. Scholl (Hist. Rom. Lit.^ " Caligula, Nero, and Doniitian limited vol. iii., p. 285). Guizot (Essais sur their cruelties to Rome ; Caracalla car- Tllist. de France, p. 10) thinks this ried his fury over the universe." concession of the right of citiy.enship of = Spartian., Caracall., 87. no practical importance, Init Thierry 3 Even Wenck, in his notes to Gib- (Hist, de la GauleRomaine, t. ii., p. 40) bon (Decline and Fall, 1. i., c. 6), speaks takes a broader view of its cllccts. Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 139 lost, a freer scope was given to tlie play and to the usurpations of tlie provincial activities. Where all were equal, the battle was to the strongest, the bravest, or to the most cunning. Under the Antonines, as we have seen, Spain ruled the as- Prcponderance ccndaut ; uudcr Scvcrus, Africa; and now, under the Easrinlhe Caracalla, who was both an African and Syrian in gOTernment^ blood, thc East. After him, for twenty years in con- tinuity, the emperors were made by Africa or the East. The Moor, Macrinus, who murdered Caracalla; the Syrian priest of the Sun, Elagabalus, whose reign was one immense and fantastic oriental orgie ; Alexander Severus, a nobler scion, and yet of the same stock, "tinctured by the weakness and effem- inacy of the soft climate of Syria, "^ and, in the leading-strings of Lis mother, devoted to a fusion of all religions^ (Maximin, the gigantic savage — gigantic in stature, in appetite, and in fe- rocity — as the son of a Gothic father by an Alain mother, was an exception as to race, but no exception as to his destructive influence) ; the Gordians, elevated to the throne in Africa ; and Philip, the son of an Arab brigand, conspired to infuse an ori- ental spirit into the administration as well as into society. As Its influence '^^^ court began to swarm with motley crowds of eu- on society. i2^q]2s^ womcn, aud parasltcs, so society was flooded with the nameless vices and luxuries with which the volujDtuous east- ern nature teems, and with the innumerable superstitions, mag- ics, and astrologies, alternately mystic or obscene, gloomy or sanguinary, spawned with such exuberance in Asia and in Egypt.' Nor was the Koman world wholly unprepared for the advent The degradation of the latter. The stcm old family and patriotic sentiments. rcligion of the Rcpublic had long since perished with its patrician classes, while such remains of it as had lin- gered in the faith of the people had been jDcrplexed and con- founded by the multitude of strange doctrines and worships rushing in from every c[uarter. The enlightened classes, in- deed, were scarcely restrained from proclaiming Paganism a ^ Gibbon (Dec. and Fall, vol. i., c. 6), account of mutinies and insurrections who, misled seemingly by the virtuous shows. intentions of Alexander Severas, over- ^ Lamprid. in Alex. Severo, 123. colors to a high degree the effects of his ^ Thierry (Gaule Romaine, t. i., p. reign, as, indeed, his own subsequent 195). 140 BOMAN GAUL. [Book II. lie: the deification of scandalous mortals had disgraced the estimation of the deities by revealing their origin ; and the rising tides of vice naturally rendered the faint and feeble moral restraints of even a relaxed polytheism intolerable. In this general decay of belief, philosophers endeavored to sup- ply its place and functions with the cold refinements of^ spec- ulation ; the great and serious schools of Grecian thought, the systems of Pyrrho and Pythagoras, of Plato and Carneades, of Zeno and Epicurus, had rapidly followed each other, and, after enjoy iug a temporary vogue, as rapidly supjDlanted each other; and in vain the better emperors had striven to raise the ancient altars, and in vain the pomp of the external worship was height- ened as the internal spirit languished. The lamps of the vestals only waned dimmer, and the augurs forgot their science, and the sibylline leaves were scattered. As the unrivaled satirist wrote, "The silent realm of disembodied ghosts, The frogs that croak along the St^-gian coast, The thousand souls in one crazed vessel steered, Not boys believed, save boys without a beard,"' Yet the human soul demands its religion ; and when the hered- itary household faith has lost its authorit}^, and the deductions of reason can not replace it either in the heart or the intelli- gence, the popular mind passes fitfully from the paralysis of doubt to the fevers of superstition. Conscious of a godless desolation, it recurs to the primitive instincts, which are the sources of all polytheism, and welcomes with a blind fatuity every faith which promises to appease its cravings, and every rite and magical art which may seem to propitiate the un- known powers.^ Alread}^, under the Ccesars, a motley throng of theurgies, mysticisms, anthropomorphisms, and occult sci- ences invaded and possessed the minds of even the most in- structed men, which the new stoicism of the good emperors for a while stayed; but when the monarchs of Eastern origin again unlocked the gates of the flood, and its regurgitations be- came the more violent and overwhelming, Kome was swamped in the deluge of coarse idolatries, and dreams, and foul mystic rites. ' Milman (Hist. Christ., p. 3i, Har- - De Champagny (Les Cesars, t. ii., per's edition). p. 173). Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 141 Meanwhile, at tlie other extremity of the Empire, invasions The barbaric ^^ another sort were going forward, which were des- ^rn^'A.D. 2u tined not to cease till Eome should be no more. The ~^^^' fierce and multitudinous tribes of the German forests, that had long been dashing like a stormy sea against its barri- ers, were at length over the walls, and spreading in destructive torrents along the plains.^ Stalwart and powerful men, pushed onward by irresistible influences, ravenous for plunder, despis- ing danger, loving battle as they loved the sunshine and the breeze, they alone of all the world as yet had stopped the flight of the eagles and were now hunting them back to their native eyrie.^ Their various inroads, which heretofore had been but transient and accidental brigandages, were changed into a gen- eral and systematic war. No longer marching in solitary hordes, no longer confining their attacks to predatory incur- sions, but gathered together into vast, compact, and impulsive confederations, during the ten years from Philip to Valerian (A. D. 244-253), (years in which the Empire saw nearly as many mutinies of the legions and as many emperors), their rapid irrup- tions had almost ceased to be repulsed. They had ceased to be repulsed because there were none to repulse them. When the imprudent Valerian left his fortunes and his life in the hands of the triumphant Persian (A.D. 260), drawing off the legions to those distant wars, the assault became quite universal. A flood of Goths poured into Illyria and Moesia, carrying away with them the large cities and populous villages ; innumerable swarms of Alemanni winged their way across the Ehcetian Alps to devastate the plains of Italy, almost to the walls of Ptome ; while a fiery tempest of Franks, from the lower Ehine, swept from one end of Gaul to the other — into Spain even, and as far as the shores of Mauritania. Wherever they passed they left a desert. The poor rustic General uproar, pcoplc, trampled and dcclmatcd, fled in vain for rants. safcty to the fortified places, which were themselves no longer a safe retreat : in vain they called for aid upon legions ' Niebuhr (Lect. Rom. Hist., vol. the character of the Germans, and their iii., p. 275) says the Germans first broke reh\tions to the Empire in the following through the Roman limes in the time of book, to which the reader may be here Alexander Sevenis. referred. ^ I shall enter into some details as to 142 KOMAN GAUL. [Book II. wliicli had been dispatched to those distant eastern wars, and in vain they besought the interposition of emperors wasted by a life-and-death struggle for their position, or sunk supinely in the "mud honey" of epicurean enjoyment. Every where the signs of a social decomposition broke forth : terror was every where, authority nowhere, and people, magistrates, and troops stao-o-ered a2;ainst each other in a wild delirium of insurrection. Each governor of a province, each general of an army, pro- claimed himself, or was proclaimed, an emperor. Macrian, in Asia; Yalens, in Greece; Ingenuus, in Pannonia; JEmilianus, in Egypt; Celsus, in Africa; Aureolus, in Italy; others else- where I ^ The raj}id succession of political changes, the rapac- ity of the successful factions, and their cruelties against the un- successful, the temptation offered to every ambition, the impu- nity secured to every crime, benumbed every feeling of virtue, shattered every principle of order, and palsied every resource of subsistence and defense. The peasants and the slaves of the country flew to arms, ungovernable mobs wasted the cities, and entire provinces abandoned themselves to brigandage and mur- der.''^ It was in the midst, and as a part of, the dislocations of this The second Gal- tcrrlblc aud howllug time that the thought of a 2.'>9-'2T3. ' ' ' Gallic Empire, which had been dead for two hund- red years, was once more revived. Not that the Gaids desired to return, as in the days of Marie, to the old Druidical divinities, or to the old anarchic clans, but that they were utterly wea- ried of their dependence ujDon a state which showered them with indescribable evils, against which it afforded them no protection. Under the guidance of their leader Postumus, who had ably served as a lieutenant of the emperors in Gaul,^ they instituted a government for themselves at Treves, and they were happier in the experiment than any other insurgents. Postumus, dis- tinguished alike for his probity and skill, exercised over them for nine years a salutary dominion. Inspiring general confi- 1 Trebellius Pollio, Triglnt. Tyran., - See Gibbon (vol. i., c. 10) and the 189, makes out thirty emperors at once, authorities he quotes for the servile wars from a fancied analog}- to the Thirty in Sicily, the riots of Alexandria, and Tyrants of Greece, but there were not the revolt of the Isanrians. more than nineteen, if we exclude wom- ^ De Brequigny (Mem. de I'Acad. en and children! des Inscript., t. xxx.). Chap. VI.] EOMAN GAUL. 143 dence, not iii Graul only, but in Britain and Spain, wliicli he annexed to his empire, he repulsed the Germans beyond the Ehine by his valor, and induced principles of order into the civic administration by his equity.^ His son,' Postumus II., not unworthy of being associated with him in power, was yet more distinguished for literary^ than political or military abil- it}^ Indeed, the whole family exhibited remarkable talent. Their successors, the two Yictorins, were the sons of Postu- mus's sister, Victoria, who herself acquired so complete an as- cendency over the soldiers as to deserve the name of the moth- er of the camp, while she displayed an equal capacity for civil rule. Not inappropriately have historians compared her to her more famous and brilliant contem^DOrary, Zenobia.^ For, at the very time when the queen of Palmyra was meditating an East- ern Empire, Victoria had already established the Empire of the West. Kefusing the title of emperor, however, with which her grateful countrymen would have decorated her, she preferred the exercise of a substantial power to the possession of a doubtful title.* After the death of her sons she chose Marius, a courageous armorer, for her lieutenant, but, as he perished by the hands of an assassin in a few months, she conferred the dignity upon Tetricus, an accomplished statesman and sol- dier. Unfortunately, she died before her schemes were ripen- ed. Tetricus, who transferred the government from Treves to Bordeaux, which then became a flourishing city, labored for Its failure, scvcral ycars to carr}^ out her plans, but was at length driven by military revolts and the perpetual feuds of his sub- jects to betray the trust he had assumed. Feigning a desire to encounter the legions of Aureliau, he led forth his troops and surrendered them into the hands of the enemy ; and thus, after thirteen years of sovereignty and independence, Gaul was once more reduced to subservience to Eome. Gaul submitted, and she was reconciled, though reluctantly, to the humiliation, because new men were already in power ^ Thieny (Ganl. Romain., t. ii., p. Quintilian's {Blorj. Univcrs. in Quin- 375), who constructs an interesting ac- tilian). count of the Transalpine Empire chiefly ^ Thierry, uhi supra. from the medals. * Still some of the medals call her ^ He was the author of the XIX " Emperor," just as Maria Theresa was Declamationes, commonly given out as called "King" of Hungary. 144 KOMAN GAUL. [Book II. at Eome, whom tlie contemporary sentiment hailed as the har- The restoration bingers of a new era. Even the riotous legions, 268-23^ ^'^' stunned by the magnitude of the reverses which the Empire had suffered into a temporary acquiescence and love of peace, yielded to the Senate, to which it had formerly be- longed, the right of designating the supreme rulers of the State. A succession of chiefs like Claudius II., Aurelian, Tacitus, and Probus confirmed the wisdom of their deed, and flattered the world with the hojDe that the day of its darkness was passed. Brave and energetic men those rulers were, beyond what Kome had seen for many a year ; men who chastised the domestic ty- rants, and reunited the fragments of the State ; who smote the advancing hordes of the barbarians with a repulsive force and a restraining terror ; who assuaged the sufferings of the people by the reduction of taxes and the encouragement of labor ; who fortified the Danube and the Ehine against future molestations ; who infused some degree of discipline into the armies, and some measure of justice and clemency into the administration, while their private conduct exhibited, for the most part, a reticence and probity which seemed like a return to the old ideal of re- publican virtue.^ In this apparent suppression of all causes of internal and ex- joyof the ternal trouble, the hearts of the people broke forth into Romans, euthusiastic expressions of joy, and their fancies, exalt- ed by a natural reaction from the depressing influence of the past, indulged in the most florid hopes of a "millennial armis- tice," of a durable and universal reign of peace. "Hush, ye palpitations of Eome !" writes a brilliant modern essayist,- mere- ly paraphrasing a letter of the superb Aurelian ; " hush, flutter- ing heart of the eternal city ! Fall back into slumber, ye wars and rumors of wars ! Turn upon your couches of down, ye children of Eomulus — sink back into your voluptuous repose ! We, your almighty armies, have chased back into darkness those j^hantoms which had broken your dreams. We have chased, we have besieged, we have crucified, we have slain." 1 Vopiscus, in Prob., cc. 11-15; " Dc Qiiincey (Historical Essays, Idem, in Anrel., 3G, 37, 39; Aurel. vol. i., pp. 3-6, Boston ed., 1853). Victor, Epit., Zonares, 1. xii. ; Vo- piscus, in Tacit., c. 1 ; Zosimus, 1. i. Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 14:5 Again: under tlie mild and benevolent, though brief sway of Tacitus, the Senate, in the same spirit of exaltation, exclauned, "Abandon your indolence, noble Komans; emerge from your soft retreats of Baite and Puteoli 1 Rome flourishes ; the Eepubhc blooms !"^ And the noble Probus, a few years later, thus renews the dulcet strain: "0 Romans, the soldier will soon be needed no more ! Every thing will be ours ! The Re- pul)lic, the orb of the earth every where secure, will cease to fabricate its weapons ! The ox will once more drag the plow, the horse be trained to peace ! An end to war, an end to cap- tures ; every where repose, every where the laws of Rome, every where her judges."^ But these, alas, were only the senile and infatuated rejoicings of an effete senatorial party, which saw in its own transient galvanization the rebirth of mankind. The roseate glory with which they suffused the world was but the hectic flush that presaged its dissolution. It may be com- pared to an American autumn, resplendent with the pomp of colors, and genial with soft and balmy airs, like a magnificent dream of summer, even while the leaves are dropping under the secret touches of the frosts, and the low wails of the deso- lating winter winds are heard in the woods. Great as the services of these later sovereigns were, they had The^e rejoic- p^obcd uo cvil of the Empire to its core, they had inga illusive, avcrtcd uo extcmal danger in per[Detuity. Rome was inherently as hollow, worm-eaten, and weak as it ever had been ; the armies were as insolent, for these emperors them- selves were each in his turn carried off by the hand of violence or treachery; the people were still debased and mortified by slavery ; and around the borders the portentous storm-cloud of barbarism gathered in ever deeper and gloomier folds.^ Scarce- ly, indeed, was the body of the valiant Probus, pierced with a thousand stabs, in its grave, when the morose tyranny of Carus, the dissolute extravagance of Carinus, and the incapacity of ' Vopiscus, in Florian, 232. details of the usurpations of Saturninus, ^ " Nulla erunt bella ; nulla captivi- Proculus, and Bonosus, and of the daring tas; ubiquepax; ubique Romanaj leges ; expedition of the Franks (Bastarnaj?) ubique judices nostri." The language from the Bosphorus, through the Medi- is almost lyrical. terranean, around the Atlantic coast to 3 See Gibbon (vol. i., c. 12) for the the Rhine. K 146 KOMAN GAUL. t^o^K II. Numerian promised to recall the days of Domitian and Elaga- balus.'^ Diocletian, their successor, who had risen from the servile The Reforms cksscs, and whosc advcnt to the throne was the re- tS!2sSod suit of a murder, was, nevertheless, a statesman of comprehensive capacity and keen discernment; and he saw that the continued existence of the Roman State was only pos- sible on the ground of its radical reconstruction. He saw that every vital power was prostrate ; that the imperial dignity was a by-word and a shame ; that the Senate was a sickening im- posthume of pride and pretension ; that the army was still little more than an ungovernable mob with swords in its hands; and that the people of the cities were steeped in superstitions and vices, while those of the country were crushed by debt and exactions, and irritated by the dangers of barbaric irrup- tion into a state of chronic and feverish discontent. Seeing this all, and the sources of it all, as he thought, he resolved to transform the loose and disjointed state, which was neither re- public nor empire, but ''an anarchy tempered with bayonets," into a regular though despotic monarchy.^ Diocletian raised the imperial office to a majesty and distinc- tion which it had never before possessed, shrouding his person in inaccessible mystery, and appearing only resplendent with jewels and purple. An oriental pomp glowed through all the ceremonies of the court. Knowing the temper of the times, " that he might be honored as a master, he made himself a god, and the apotheosis which had been the reward of the emperors after their death was now the fundamental condition of their ' Those later emperors were nearly himself, the haughty old Patricians of all Illyrians, and may be regarded as Rome would have chained to their door- com])lcting that Imperial Circuit of posts, or thrown into their fish-ponds which I have s])oken in a former note, as food for eels, should be reserved to as taking its departure from Italy by give the co?/;> de rjruce to all tliat re- way of Spain into Africa and Syria, mained of Romanism in the Roman and thence to Illyria. Diocletian, the constitution. The next emperors will last of the strictly pagan emperors, the be Gauls and Christians, son of a slave parentage, and whose '- In this brief review of Diocletian's name was derived from the birth-place reign I shall follow Naudet (Dc I'Ad- of his mother (Diocle in Dalmatia), can ministrat. Rom., t. ii., passim) but hardly be said to have had a country. Gibbon's chapter on the subject (vol. i. It is among the strange things of des- c. 13) is one of the most admirable in tiny that a man, whose father, if not his great work. Chap. VI.] EOMAN GAUL. 147 reigns. Every thing relating to tlieni assumed a divine and sacred cliaracter ; tlie fisc was the sacred treasury ; the apart- ment of the prince the sacred chamber; and they who had saluted the emperors formerly as men, rendered them hence- forth the homage of adoration."^ From the name of the Master of the Universe, Diocletian took the lofty appellation of Jove. But the weakness of the Empire was its greatness. No sin- Atetrarchy gle uian, though he were a god, could sufl6.ce to the established, ^outrol ofits multiplicity ofdutics and dangers. How- ever unlmiited his power, he could not satisfy with prompt- itude its numerous wants; however supple his activity, he could not reach its evils, so remote in space, and yet so near in time. A vast, unwieldy mass, it was ever breaking into pieces ; the ancient division of the East and the West could not be effaced ; there were Persian wars at one extremity, Grerman wars at the other extremity ; and the ambition, the discon- tent, and the caprice of each separate province bred incessant many-headed commotions. Yet, unwilling to dissever the old and glorious commonwealth, Diocletian essayed to divide its sovereign administration. Conceiving that a double Augustus, two equal yet dissimilar potentates, of which the warlike vigor of the one might be the complement of the civic capacity of the other, would multiply its hands without distracting the head, he associated with him in the exercise of the supreme rule Maximian, a hardy and active soldier. Hercules was thus con- joined with Jove ; and the further to fortify and distribute this duality, as well as to cut off ambitious rivalries for the succes- sion, to each Augustus was given a subordinate Cassar, as his coadjutor and as his heir. Thus the Empire was divided into four departments, or a tetrarch}^, of which Diocletian reserved to himself the jDrovinces of Asia, Maximian took Italy and Af- rica, the Caesar Galerius received Thrace, Illyria, and the coun- tries on the Pontus, while Gaul fell to Constantius Chlorus, to- gether with Spain, Mauritania, and Britain.^ In like manner the provinces were organized into a multitude of subordinate ^ Naudet (t. ii., p. 26.3). Persecutorum, cc. 7, 50), Paneg. Veter., ^ Vict. Goes., 39; Eutropius, ix. ; iii., 4, 15. Orosius, vii., 25 ; Lactantius (De Mort. 148 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. provinces, eacli with its distinct government, and yet in hie- rarchical dependence upon the central power. ^ The emperor was doubtless confirmed in his conviction of the Insurrection of neccssitj of this arrangement by his early experi- Gauf,S!'285! enccs in the Gallic province, which, ever since the departure of Carinus for the Persian war, had been ravaged by acrimonious and bloody revolts of the peasants, under the name of Bagauds.^ The condition of the rustic and serf, under the Eoman socialism, was at all times one of great distress, but when to its natural evils were added those which followed in the crushing footfalls of the barbaric invaders, the calamities of the civil wars, and the extortions of ofl&cials, who were for long periods without responsibility or a master, it became intoler- able. Often the poor laborers, in order to avoid starvation or death, quit their cabins and their fields to assault with scythe and axe the villce of the rich proprietors, to wa3day the travel- er or the merchant on his route, or to devastate the harvests.^ Gathering indignation and audacity as their miseries increased, and numbers from all the homeless, houseless wretches whom oppression and war turned loose to prey upon their fellows, their rude squads grew into squadrons, and their petty revolts into formidable rebellions. Like the military insurgents, they took it upon themselves to designate emperors,* to whom, after the Eoman method, they gave the names of Augustus and Caesar, and they besieged and burned cities as they had seen them besieged and burned by the Eomans.^ Autun, after a desperate defense, which lasted for seven months, was com- pletely sacked by them, not a temple nor edifice of any kind, scarcely a private house, being allowed to escape their fary.^ Other cities were the scenes of equal devastation ; trade was suspended, the roads blockaded, the regular administration ^ Gaul was divided into fourteen ^ Aurel. Vict, de Cass ,39 provinces. Tillemont (Hist, des Enip., ^ iEmilianus and Amandus were the ^' V 'i^^V^J?" r . n^mt% of the two leaders whom they in- 2 Probably from hagad or hagat, a vested with the imperial purple, and in Keltic word for a tumultuous assem- whose name they stnick medals They l.lage. See Du Cange (Glossarium, in were supposed to be two persecuted and voce Bagaudte). The modern French fugitive Christians, word haclaml is supposed to be derived ^ Aurel. Victor 30 from it (Michelet, Hist. Franc, t. i., « Eumcn., Orat. pro Scholia Rest,, 1. 1., y.. 1, note). c. 3, 4. Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 149 pvertlirown, and tlie legions of the Rhine, tossed and involved bj their own stormy discords, unable or iinwillmg to come to the relief of the magistrates. Malefactors, slaves, peasants, and persons of higher rank mingled in the general brigandage. By their aid, too, it is not unwarrantably supposed, Carausius raised the standard of revolt in Britain, and for seven years maintain- ed a position of imperial equality and independence. And when ]\Iaximian-Hercules undertook their suppression he did not, with all his ferocious energy, succeed in exterminating them (for they appeared as late as the following centur}^), but he simply drove them to refuge in a fortress at the confluence of the Marne and Seine, ^ whence, like Eobin Hood and his men, of a later day, their robber-parties harassed all the neighboring country.^ x\. long blockade, conducted with merciless vigor, m which famine and fatigue were even more destructive than the sword and iire, only j^artially terminated the unrelenting stru2:o;le. In these onslaughts upon the Bagauds, tradition reports that Spread of ciiris. Maximiau was as much animated by his bitter ha- tianity. ^^^^ ^£ Christianity as by his desire to avenge the violated order of the State. The new religion, which we left a century since, in the time of the good Marcus Aurelius, under the crypts of the prison-houses, or in the jaws of the lions of the amphitheatre, had made a considerable (yet by no means remarkable) progress in the Empire and in Gaul. In the Em- pire, indeed, it was becoming a power of society. There were Christians in the schools, the army, the senate, and even the palace; the prejudices of the heathen against their doctrines were less rancorous and inveterate ; their churches, with their own bishops, laws, ceremonies, and tribunals, seemed a new re- public rising in the midst of the old ; and, under certain em- ^ Aftei-w-ard the Abbey of St. Mauy- serfs and workmen ; they were confined des-Fosses. to the same objects, the piUage of the - De PetigTiy (Etudes, t. i., p. 201) chateaux and the massacre of their occn- traces a curious resembhmce (ah-eady pants; and thcycamc to the same violent suggested by Gibbon) between these end. He adds, what is still more curi- Bagaitderie and the Jacqiicn'c of the 14th ous, that they were restricted to nearly century. They were provoked, he says, the same parts of Gaul— the west and by the same causes — foreign invasion centre. For details, see Thierrv (Gaule and the ojjpressions of the rich; they Kom., t. iii., ^. 1, pp. 18-24^.' were composed of the same classes, the 150 EOMAI^ GAUL. [Book II. perors (not always the best), Severus, Elagabalus, Alexander, and Philip, they were indulged with a species of condescending- patronage. Yet they were still hable to flurries of persecution, and the later emperors, those especially who tried to restore the fallen grandeur of Rome, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, and now Diocletian and Maximian, commanded, not their punishment merely, but their annihilation.^ In obedience to this impulse, Maximian resorted to the most cruel expedients in order to purge the army of the Ehine and the public offices of Gaul of Christian converts and sjTnpathizers.^ How numerous they were we can not know ; the small Church of Lyons, in the hands of Irena^us, had been a polemic rather than a propagan- dist Church f it discussed heresies and the exciting question as to the proper season of the Easter festival, although its zeal was not exclusively scholastic. Branches of it are s|')oken of in Va- lence, Besangon, Langres, Aiitun, and Carpentras, but they were obscure and feeble. In the reign of Decius (about A.D. 250j the Bishop of Rome, Fabian, sent seven missionary bishops into Gaul, who, dividing the country among them, gathered small knots of believers at Narbonne, Aries, Toulouse, Limoges, in Arvernia, and on the island of the Parisii (Paris).* They were more active and successful than the Greeks ; and in less than twenty years the new faith had been preached through all the centre, and at many places in the rude, savage regions of the north and west of Gaul.^ Yet the persecutions of Maximian in Gaul must have been con=tantiu3 arrcstcd as soon as the C£esar Constantius Chlorus re- Gau^A.!)! '^''^ived the command of that province ; for he was a 2j'j^i(jG. ^^.^^^ ^^^ singular justice and clemency, who attached his subjects to him a± once by the double merit of bravery and ^ Gieseler fChurch Hi-t., vol. i., pp. " It was St. Diony.sius, or St. Deni^ 174-1>7, HarperVed.,XewYork, 1S.j7), -u-ho established the fongregation here, ^ Thiern- (La Gaule Romaine, t. iii., Tvith the aid of Cri'-pinus and f'rispin- c. 1; has a long narrative of the.^e per- ianu^;, two brothers, shoemakers. St. seditions, taken from the Aeta Sane- Deni^ is reported to have had his head torum of the Bollandists, but there i^ cut off in the time of Valerian, at tlic no reference to them in the contempo- Mons Mortis, now I^Iontmartre. rarv A^-riters, Eusebius, Laetantius, et ^ The Acts of the Saints which min- al. See Gie^eler's note, vol. i., p. 170. gle many absurd legends with their few ^ Gains and Ilippolytus are reckoned facts, are the doubtful authority in re- among the disciples of Irenceus. (TMer- gard to these events, r)', t. ii., c. fj.; Chap. VI.] ROMAN GAUL. 151 bencYulcnce. As lie drove the Germans beyond tlie Eliine and suppressed the revolt of Caransius in Britain by tlie vigor of bis arms, so be restored tbe dilapidated cities and the scat- tered schools of Gaul by the liveliness of his charity, while he entitled himself to a peculiar gratitude by his careful tolerance of the new religion.-^ The sharp edicts of his Eastern colleagues he either refused or neglected to enforce, and when the abdica- tion of the August/' raised him to the supreme power, he grant- ed a complete liberty of worship to the Church." Thus the fires of persecution smouldered in the "West, while they were yet blazing with a tierce and consuming brightness in the East. But neither the reforms introduced into the State by Dio- in.a.ioqna. y cletlau, uor thc severities practiced against the Chris- caichnu-o. tians, could arrest the rapici march oi events toward the political overthrow of the ancient heathenism. By the for- mer a robuster vigor was given to every department of admin- istration ; the license of the military was restrained, and the fragments of thc Empire, breaking or floating away into iso- lation, were recovered and fixed. The internal distresses were also, in many respects, relieved, although in other respects they were aQ*c;Tavated. In secnrinii- bv means of the fourfold divis- ions four efiective defenders, the people accpiired at the same tune four courts, four armies, and four fiscal hierarchies. Un- der this cpiadruple burden the taxes rose to a frightful excess, so that a contemporary Christian writer^ (who is no doubt to be suspected of some exaggeration) describes the visitations of the tax-gatherers as worse than a plague of locusts. " In compari- Frightfnirav- SOU with thc pavcrs of the taxes," he says, "the re- age* ot tiixa- . r> 1 " T 1 tion. ceivers oi them were so numerous, and the weii^ht of the imposts so enormous, that the laborers broke doT\m, the fields were turned into deserts, and woods grew up where the plow had lately traveled. It would be impossible to number the officials who were rauied upon every town and province. Condemnations, proscriptions, and exactions were all they knew — exactions not frequent, but perpetual, accompanied bv unen- durable outrages." "But the grand distress, the universal ^ Eimicneus (PancgA-r. Constantii, ^ Sozonien TEcc. Hist.. 1. i., cap. 6). passim). See, also, Neander (Hist. Euseb. (Hi-t. Ere. 1. viii., c. 1.'^.). Christ., vol. i., p. 1G5). ^ Lactantius (De ^Mort. Persecut.), 152 EOMAN GAUL. P^ook II. mourning, was when tlie census came, and the takers of it, scattering themselves in every direction, produced a general panic, to be compared only to the misery of a hostile invasion or of a town abandoned to the soldiery. The fields were meas- ured to the very clods, the trees counted, each vine-plant num- bered. Cattle were registered as well as men. The crack of the lash and the cry of the afflicted rent the air. The faithful slave was tortured for evidence against his master, the wife to depose against the husband, the son against his sire. For lack of evidence the question was applied to extort one's evidence against himself, and, when nature gave way, they wrote down what had never been uttered. Neither old age nor sickness furnished grounds for exemption. Grief and consternation fill- ed the land. Not satisfied with the returns of the first enu- meration, they sent other censitors, who swelled the evaluation as a proof of service rendered. Thus the imposts went on in- creasing, but the cattle diminished and the people died ; yet the sm'vivors had to pay the taxes of the dcad."^ Diocletian was himself averse to the persecution of the Chris- persecutioriB tiaus, to which atrocity he had been urged, in the las- Their effect. ' situdc aud dccay of his powers, by the malignant fury of Galerius. His great mind must have felt that exhibitions of heroic virtue, called forth by unmerited suifering, when ten- der women and even helpless children, through the grace of God, bore the pains of fire and steel, of the rack and cross, of infu- riated beasts and more beastly men, with surpassing patience and serenity, were likely to produce sympathy rather than aversion. Many weak souls, it is true, were driven by their fears of death to renounce their confessions, to deliver up the sacred writings, and to resume the worship of the abandoned gods. In some cases whole congregations might resort to dis- honorable bribes to avert the wrath of the magistrates,^ but by far the greater number gave an inspiring example of fortitude and constancy ; and the steady fervor of fiiith in things unseen and eternal which the latter evinced ; their meek patience under ; Lartnntius (De Mort. Perseciit., tions many tliin-s in mitigation of the vn., 2:\). But compare the remarks of charges of Lactantius. ^^audet (L-Administration de I'Empire = Tertul!., Do fuga in pcrsec., c. Eomainc, t. ii,,part 2, § IJ), whomen- xiii. Chap. VI.] KOMAN GAUL. 153 grievous wrongs ; their courage before the frowns of tyranny and the scorns of literature ; their arduous labors of love, and their munificent charity toward even their oppressors and re- vilers, must have appealed to whatever was noble and just in the minds of the contemporary generation.^ Many were thus led to desert the ancient religion, with its unsatisfying nature and decrepit functions, and to embrace that more excellent faith — that more glorious hope — which enriched its possessors with nobler virtues, and enabled them to triumph over the ut- most severities of torment and reproach. Despite the bloody baptism, therefore, through which it was entered, the Chu.rch grew in numbers, in activity, and in influence, and the danger to which it was exposed in the harsh trials it encountered was not that it might be smothered, but that it might be inflated into presumption. The love of truth, which is the beautiful principle of the Gospel, often, indeed, degenerated into a pas- sion for martjrrdom, and fanatical sentiments usurped the place of kindly and generous affections. While the people were thus in many ways repulsed and Decline of the old alienated from the State, there was nothing in its religion, and of p . . , . r' the Empire. lomis or pcrsouagcs to propitiate their attachments. None of the old republican traditions inspired its combinations ; neither of the four colleagues who controlled it, of whom all were of obscure families, and three of the peasant or servile classes, were Komans by birth. The seat of empire, no longer confined to Rome, was shared by Nicomedia, by Milan, and by Treves, in Gaul ; and even in society, in science, in litera- ture, the old heathenism seemed to be divested of its glory. The genius of the once proud and domineering nation moaned and sighed around its deserted temples, like a wind that is dy- ing away ; for it saw in the old Diocletian himself, langiiishing in the midst of his splendid palace at Salona under some un- known malady of weakness, disappointed of his hopes and con- templating an abdication, the too faithful emblem of its own condition and fate. ^ See a fine passage in Isaac Taylor (Ancient Cliristianity, vol. i., p. 37). 154 EOMAK GAUL, [Book II. CHAPTER YII. Gaul u^'DER the Ciieistian-Roman Emperors. It was now three hundred years smee Jesus of Nazareth had proclaimed his new religion, which he had illustrated by the most majestic and lovely character it is possible for the mind to conceive, and sealed by the most sublime and touching death which the world had ever witnessed. That religion, described in its most essential and comprehen- chri.stiani- slvc fcaturcs, may be said to have been the revelation terized. of a ucw Fact, the exemplification of a new Life, and the annunciation of a new Society. At a time when the an- tique beliefs were exhausted of vital force, when the creative spirit of mankind was immersed and sunk in dead forms and pernicious moralisms, and when the whole social system was paralyzed or only convulsively alive, Christ came to declare a purer theism, to impregnate morals with a spiritual principle, and to regenerate society by means of new institutions and new humanitary relations. His purer theism was contained in the doctrine of a transcendent assumption of humanity by the in- finite Wisdom and Goodness ; his new life was the substitution of a free and disinterested love of God and of man for the serv- ile love of self and of the world; and his new society the "Kingdom of Heaven," or reign of God upon earth,^ destined to be manifested gradually in a universal organization of broth- erhood and peace. In the establishment and first propagation of this religion he Its first expound- was assisted by twelve illiterate vouno- men chosen ers and propaga- o -, -i J o t ^ ^^-^1.1. tor.. from the depths of Jewish society, whom he indoc- trinated in his faith during his life, and then, after his death, more largely endowed by special illuminations. The place of 1 On the meaning of the oft-repented translations of the Gospels (Dissert, v., phrase of the Scriptures, >) ]iaai\tia tov ].art i., ]>. 122, a]. London, ]sr,4). Ofov, or Kingdom of Heaven, see Camp- ^ Mattliew, xi., 25. Co'mp. Gieseler bell's able dissertations prefixed to his (Church Hist., c. i., § 23, p. G5). Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 155 one of them, vacated by a singular lapse and treachery, was supplied through the choice of the others, while, subsequently, a thirteenth was added, through celestial agency, in the con- version of Saul of Tarsus (A.D. 37^0).^ This little band of missionaries (apostles), who were so many individuals^ select- ed and authorized to bear witness to the words and doings of Christ, and to confirm their testimony by miraculous signs, car- ried forward their appointed work in the midst of almost in- credible labors and sufferings. They converted souls, whom they instructed in the new truths, and they formed assemblies, whose growth they watched, and whose errors they rectified; and, before the death of the last of them, their doctrine was planted in nearly every part of the civilized world. Their pe- culiar authority, having been derived from their historical re- lation to Jesus, as the eye-witnesses of his deeds, and from his direct and special commission, they could not, in the nature of the case, transfer or transmit to others,^ but imperishable monuments of it were already in existence, in the sweet biog- phies of the evangelists, and in the noble and comprehensive epistles of some of their own number. The little unions gathered by the apostles strike the untech- The primitive ^^^^^ reader of the original records rather as sponta- churcKfes. neous religious assemblies, brought together by com- mon sentiments of devout gratitude and brotherly love, than as formal or organized communities. In the first of them, which was established at Jerusalem under the direct superintendence of the apostles, the members lived as the members of a family, breaking bread from house to house, and having all things com- mon.* Others were presided over by officers indifferently called elders or overseers,^ who took a general management of their affairs, assisted by deacons and deaconesses, who dispensed the charities. Designated, as it is supposed, by the apostles, so 1 Acts, i., 15-26; ix., 1-22; xxii., * Acts, ii., 44-46. But Mosheim 3-16; xxvi., 9-18. argues that this did not amount to a - That they were not an incoi-porated community of pjoods (Dissertt. ad Ecc. college or priestly order, see M'Cul- Hist., vol. i., diss. 1). lough (Credibility of the Scriptures, vol. ^ See proofs in Gieseler (Church ii., pp. 154-257, ed. Baltimore, 1852). Hist., vol. i., p. 90), andNeander (i6id, ^ Neander (Hist. Christ. Religion, vol. i., p. 184). vol. i., sect. 2, pp. 179-190). 156 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. long as tliey lived, but afterward nominated by acclamation in each circle,^ the superiority of these officers was a superiority of piety and influence rather than of power. Whether they constituted a divinely commissioned order of priests, or wheth- er they were priests only as all behevers in Christ are mem- bers of a royal priesthood,^ are questions variously answered, although it is clear that, whatever their character or function, it did not preclude any other member from instructing or edi- fying the brethren according to his gifts. ^ As but one spirit of love and enthusiasm actuated the whole, there was little oc- casion for government, which was considered, in fact, a subor- dinate, almost needless function.* Far more important to them than the most skillful administrative capacity, and far more re- spectable than the power of working miracles even, was that fortitude which took its life in its hands to proselytize the na- tions, and that ability which could speak words of encourage- ment in their circumstances of loneliness and despondency.^ Such was the earliest Christianity — such were the earliest Developments churchcs ; but, in the era at which we have arrived, of the new . ^ , , power. at that triumphant moment when the new power was about to ascend the throne of the world in the person of Con- stantino, it was neither as a faith nor as an institution the same as it appears to us to have been in its primitive age. The es- sence, or the fundamental princijDles of Christianity were, as they ever will be, the same ; but the human mind, in its conception of principles, is ever liable to prodigious transmutations. And Christianity was not a scheme for the miraculous conversion of men without consent of their understandings and hearts ; it was not a vast and inflexible system of superstition, to be imposed by authority and propagated by terror or force, but it was pre-emi- nently a spiritual religion, addressed to the free affections and the independent reason of mankind, and implying in its very ^ Milman (Hist. Christ., c. iv., p. ^ In these views, of course, I do not 196), whose account of the primitive wish to trespass on the sphere of the church government is unusually can- theologian, but as the character and tlitl. early progress of Christianitv is u part - IPeter, ii.,9. Compare Neander, of my subject, I am bound "to treat it loc. rif. candidly, and according to my best 3 1 Corinth., xii., 4-10. knowledge, as I should any other his- "^ 1 Corinth., xii., 28. torical question. CiiAP. VII.] KOMAN GAUL. 157 conditions, as such, that it might be rejected, or perverted, or only half received. No proper activity of the mind was super- seded by it ; many new activities were awakened and stimula- ted ; and, while it poured a flood of light upon the ancient and perplexing questions of human destiny and duty, it opened others even far more searching, mysterious, and insoluble. Consequently, it was to have been expected that, in its transition through the schools and the races, the prevalent apprehensions of it should vary, that much dross would cling to it from the soils in which it was planted, and many discolorations be infil- tered into it by the media in which it was plunged. Even its conquests were to be made somewhat at its own expense. Thus it vanquished the stern exclusiveness and ritualism of the Jews, but not without assimilating its priesthood to the priesthood it overcame. It swam the stormy seas of Grecian speculation to come out of them dripping with many a weed ; and the ecstat- ics of the East, the ascetics of the deserts, whom it gathered into its genial arms, did not always leave their mysticism in the dreamy chambers they had quitted, nor their excessive and malignant rigors among the sands. It would be difi&cult (nor is it necessary for me) to trace the As a doctrine, variety or the successive steps of these changes ; suf- fice it, therefore, to note what strikes the unbiased reader of the literature of the early centuries as significant signs of a great change, if not yet of a fundamental revolution.^ The aim of the Gospel was to regenerate the life of man on earth, to de- posit in the soul the central and creative principle of love, which, working from within progressively, should enlighten the faculties, and purify and exalt every outward human relation ; and the virtues most consonant to its spirit were those of cheer- ful gratitude toward God, and of gentleness and active benefi- cence toward men. A humanity of ineftable sweetness and infin- ite depth breathed in its every line as it had exhaled from every act of that august and lovely Being in whom the attributes of inconceivable deity were expressed in human forms, and made cognizable even to the human senses. But, in the age of which I now speak, this benignant Gospel seemed to be more and more regarded as some talismanic passport to the unimaginable blisses ' Giescler (Hist. Church, vol. i., c. 4). 158 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. of a future state. Its spiritual graces and manlj viilues were more and more confounded with inward ecstacies or external observances. Kigid self-denials and self-inflictions took the place of genial and innocent natural affections ; and even the blessed and humanizing relations of marriage, which Christianity filled with the divinest beauty, were deemed less excellent than cold vows of fruitless chastity.^ In obedience to this perverted im- pulse, men began to rush into solitary places — the unfrequented wood and desolate waste, to acquire by indolent self-contem- plations and stupefying macerations the fame, but not the sub- stance of sanctitv,^ while the tombs and the relics of dead men often challenged a profounder admiration than the most exalted living usefulness. There was much in the spirit and practices of the heathen world around them to mislead the judgment of the Christians ; these perversions, moreover, were tendencies rather than accepted truths, and were rebuked by the more enlighten- ed among them ; yet they were tendencies indicative of a broad drift of opinion. Like poison branches ingrafted amid the heal- ing leaves and golden fruitage of the tree of life, they were des- tined to swell into distorted and wormy excrescences. As an institution no less than a faith, Christianity was not, As nn institu- ^^^ thcsc timcs, prcciscly the same as it had been in its tion. more primitive age. Those free, spontaneous assem- blages, called churches, regulated seemingly by no more compli- cated laws than one of our modern prayer-meetings — having no places to gather in unless obscure upper chambers, or sequestered groves, or lonely cemeteries — exacting no creed save a faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and the promise of a renewed life ; with no rites but a simple initiat<»ry baptism and a love-feast, when bread was broken and wine drunk in remembrance of the Great Teacher and Sufferer ; with no forms of worship beyond the simplest exhortations, singing, and prayer — these had become ambitious, comphcated, and somewhat splendid organizations. In the second century already a line of distinction began to be drawn between the priesthood"^ and the people.^ The former ' Tertullian (De Exhort. Cast., cc. ^ Apostolical Constitution, v., c. 8; 9-11). His works arc well abridged by Cyprian. Epist., 12, 13, 15, 57, etc. ^''cander (Antagonisticus, ed. Berlin, '^ KXnpoc, ordo, clergy. ^^i'^)- " Xaog, plebs, laity. ^ Sozomen (Hist. Ecc, I. i., c. 12). Chap. VII.] KOMAIT GAUL. 159 were represented as the official mediators between Christ and the congregation — still elective, but having alone the right to administer sacraments and to speak in the assemblies.^ In this priesthood the bishojDS ((qjiscopi)^ whether nrged by the deep religious needs of the time for representation and authority, or more personal motives, I shall not say, soon assumed the highest dignity, as the successors of the apostles, as the vicars of Christ, as the organs of the Church. They claimed to be the pos- sessors of a supreme power, from which all ordinations must proceed, and by which all ecclesiastical legislation in the pro- vincial synods was to be conducted.- Among themselves, the bishops were for a long time equal ; but the bishops of the great cities (metropolitans), on account of the apostolical origin of their sees, and their greater wealth and influence, presided in the ecclesiastical provinces, gradually asserted or were allowed the right to regulate the proceedings of synods, to conhrm and ordain the provincial bishops, and to enjoy a more honorable rank and consideration. Kome, Antioch, and Alexandria were thus pre-eminently distinguished ; and the friends of the first, in- deed, insinuated for it an especial purity in its traditions, if not the title to an appellative authority in the determination of fliith.^ A conscious unity of feeling on the part of all Christians, sep- arated from the world as a 2:>eculiar people, and the yearnings and promises of Christ and the apostles that they should form one body, had always suggested the idea of an external unity. This, in the many and important internal dissensions of the churches, was nursed into the thought of a holy, true, and catholic church, as opposed to the church of dissentients and heretics.** It was this church which contained the genuine apostolical traditions — whose faith was pure, whose fellowship life, and whose accept- ance or disapproval of creeds the infallible test of orthodoxy.^ Under these aspects and tendencies of Christianit}^, the death of Constantius Chlorus occasioned his son Constantine to be 1 Euscbius (Hist. Ecc, vi., 19); Unitnte Ecdes., c. 3 ; Ncandcr (C. 11., Const. A]i«)st., viii., 8li ; Ilasc, Ilis- vol. i., pp. 203-20r.). toiy of the Christian Church, c. ii., * Cyprian. (Do Unit. Ecc, cc. 4, .5, § .'-,8. 21 ; Epist., 47). ^ See authorities in Uase, ihicL, § ^ For the validity of these jiretcn- 59. sions, see Neander (Hist. Cliristian ' Irenccus, iii., 3, 2; Cyprian., De Church, vol. i., sect. 2, division B). 160 ROMAIT GAUL. [Book II. proclaimed August-as by the legions of Britain and Gaul. A constantine J^^^S ^^^ ^^ Commanding presence and brilliant AS^''306'"to military talents, he was already doubly popular by A.D. 312. ]^-g Q^j^ merits and his hereditary glory. Yet, as G-alerius, the Emperor of the East, refused him any higher title than that of Caesar, he remained for six years the Emperor of the Gauls rather than of the Eoman state. This interval he employed in fighting back the invasive Franks, in repairing the fortifications along the Ehine, in confirming, by official sanc- tions, the right of worship to the Christians,^ and, doubtless, in watchmg the course of events in the EmjDire. The ingenious but brittle combinations of Diocletian were soon disrupted, and five emperors, besides Constantine, were already aspiring to solitary sway. Galerius divided the East and Illyria with Maximin-Daza and Severus, while the old Maximian, weary of his hasty abdication, and his son Maxentius, were contend- ing for the mastery of Italy. Coming into Gaul to seek the al- liance of Constantine, Maximian gave his daughter in marriage to him ; but the insolent and restless passions of the old warrior involved him in a quarrel with his son-in-law, which led to his execution ; by which act the field of the West was left to the ri- valry of Constantine and Maxentius. It was a rivalry of pol- icy and principle as well as of personal ambition. Constantine, more than half repelled from Paganism by the Diocletian per- secutions, rendered favorable to Christianity by the example of his father, represented the new spirit of the time, as it may be called, or the Christian and barbaric element, in opposition to the effete and dying Eoman element.^ He was not a Christian either in character or by confession, Conquers the although a mouotheist, with somewhat sensitive re- h™^corapet™ ligious susccptibihties, who discerned the intrinsic su- chriA'ian pcriority of the new faith in many respects, and could champion. ^^^^ ^^ unawarc of the rapid growth of it as a social power, but who was yet controlled in his relations to it by the dictates of worldly policy. Nevertheless, the Christians, partly in gratitude to his father, and partly from a suspicion of his na- ' Lac.tant., De Morte Pers., xxr. Roman, while he relied for moral sui3- = CVmstantme inherited the policy of port on the Christians, and for material Diocletian, which was somewhat anti- aid on the barbarians of his armic^ Chap. VII.] KOMAK GAUL. 161 tive bias, considered him, to a certain extent, their champion. His war against Maxentius was a religious war in effect, al- though disguised under the pretext of avenging Italy against that emperor's licentious outrages and tyrannies. Constantine engaged in it, for that reason, with much perturbation of mind, knowing that against him stood the entire past — the majestic name of Rome, his own early reminiscences, and many linger- ing convictions and hopes. And it is easy to imagine how, in the heat and fever of his uncertain, but perilous and solemn po- sition, he framed that vision of the cross, with its inscription, '' Conquer by this," which seemed to him, as it has to subse- quent ages, a direct and miraculous encouragement issued out of heaven.^ His success at Susa, Turin, Yerona, and the Mil- vian Bridge confirmed the dazzling oracle of the skies, and the conquest of Italy, which rendered the sovereign of Gaul the undisputed master of the West, rendered Christianity, not the established, but the dominant religion of the state. The edicts of Milan, put forth in A.D. 313, and which proclaimed a univer- sal tolerance, secured, if they did not complete, its indefeasible triumph. Ten years later, in the wars against Licinius (the re- maining Emperor of the East), which were avowed religious wars, the priests, the diviners, the magi, the pythonesses invok- ing the heathen deities on one side, while the bishops invoked the god of battle on the other, the final victory of Constan- tine was the open ascent of Christianity to the throne of the world. The personal religion of the emperor was even then a strange Impression mcdlcy of the contradictory influences of his times : produced by^. . ,^ this event, his coHis Dore upou ouc Side the emblems of heathen gods, and on the other the sacred monogram of Jesus Christ. In the same year he ordained the observance of Sunday, and published laws on the consultations of the haruspices ; and he worshiped the sun-god, while the banner of the cross floated over his battahons.^ But his cause, as it advanced, became more and more the cause of the Church ; and when he attained ^ See the incident well described in losophy of it in Neander (Hist. Christ., De Broglie (L'Eglise et L'Empire, vol. vol. ii., pp. 5-12). i., c. ], p. 212 et seqq.), and the phi- ^ Tillemont, Hist, des Emp., t. iv., pp. 181-208. L 162 E0MAI7 GAUL. [Book II. the Tindisputed mastery of the empire, the new religion attain- ed an ascendency scarcely less nniversal. Never was an event hailed with more fervent gratitude or more buoyant hopes than this event was hailed by its pious contemporaries. They saw a faith which had but recently been declared incompat- ible with the laws become one of the fountains of the law ; they saw a cause still crimson with the blood of its martyrs, lurking through catacombs, and buffeted by a thousand ene- mies, raised to an honorable and glorious eminence ; and they could not fail to regard a change at once so signal and so momentous as a direct interposition of the Deity in behalf of his own truth and its adherents. It was, indeed, to their ex- cited fancies, the harbinger of a millennial effulgence which was soon about to deluge the earth. ^ Posterity, it is true, looking at the event in its later, if not immediate consequences, has quali- fied that estimate of its importance : it has seen that an incident which gave the State to the Church, gave also the Church to the State ; that an alliance which struck the eagles to the cross, also converted this emblem of a blessed redemj)tion into the standard of an unholy and bloody strife,^ and that the virtues which beamed in the aureole of the martyr were of purer ray than those which shot their doubtful lustre from the jewels of the diadem. Yet posterity, after every abatement of the earlier zeal, has been prompt to recognize in the conversion of Con- stantine an era of the profoundest historical significance.^ Not only in its religious aspects, but in others, his reign was constantine thc most important in the later Eoman annals. For, makes great ^ n ■ i i political together with a new laith, he gave to the state a new D. 323-^337.' Capital, destiucd to become a centre of dominion for a thousand years, and a new organization of every department of the government, which changed its character essentially while preparing the way for the birth of the new European monarchies. Constantme's ambitious design, in fact, contem- plated a restoration of the political unity of the globe on the basis of its moral and religious unity. He removed the seat of ' Eusebius (Hist. Ecc. , 1. v., cc. 1-3). advantage to the fortunes of pure Chris- ' Milman (Hist. Christ., vol. i., c. 3, tianity is elaborately struck by Neander, P- 238). and concisely summed up by Mihnan ^ The balance of advantage and dis- (1. c). Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 163 government from Eome, tlie nursery of ancient and turbulent traditions, to Byzantium, a splendid locality on the confines of two worlds — the centre of all the provinces, washed by the waters of many seas, and looking southward to Ida and the immortal plains of Troy. There, in less than two years, he raised a mag- nificent city, which seemed the creation of magic rather than of mortal hands. ^ He populated it with a numerous artificial no- bility, deriving their distinctions from no hereditary right, but from his own good- will — whom he heaped with dignities and functions, and decorated with a pompous blazonry of titles — and with citizens attracted thither by the jDrospect of a gratuitous and prodigal support from the public granaiies. The Diocle- tian division of the empire into four prasfectures he retained, and perfected by a farther division into dioceses, which were again subdivided into provinces, with a corresponding hierarchy of officers. This gave a wonderful uniformity as well as efficiency to the vast mechanism of legal and fiscal administration.^ A more original conception separated the military from the civil department of the state — for the first time in ancient history — scattered and destroyed the monstrous powers which had been formerly wielded by those grand viziers, the Praetorian prsefects^ and confined the army, in its two branches of cavalry and in- fantry, to a master-general, whose authority, restricted to mili- tary affairs, and dispersed among a number of subordinate counts and dukes, was no longer likely to prove so menacing to the sovereign. The legions themselves, reduced in their separate effective, but multiplied in the gross, were distributed to the frontiers under the name of Borderers, and to the cities under the name of Palatines, in a manner which it was supposed would prevent conspiracy and combination, without diminish- ing their value both as an external and internal defense.^ As these reforms were to be inspired and supported by Also great mor- ^'^^ ^^^ rcligiou, Coustantine was most sedulous in ai changes. |^^g kbors aud arrangements for the moral rehab ili- ' Some writers say, erroneously, that ^ The details are as clearly given in it was built in a few months. Gibbon, u. 17, as any where else. More - The prasfectures were those of the recent learning, in correcting a few un- East, IlljTia, Italy, and the Gauls. The important errors of his, has scarcely Gauls comprised the three dioceses of added any thing to his luminous expo- Spain, Gaul proper, and Britain. sition. 164 KOMAN GAUL. [Book II. tation of his subjects. Whatever he conld do to secure the co- operation of the Christian bishops, already the most influential class of the empire, he resolutely performed. He discouraged the ancient worship to an extent not absolutely dangerous ; he exempted the clergy from the burdens of municipal duty ; he allowed the Church, as an exception to other corporations, to receive property by will, which rapidly increased its wealth ; and he maintained an intimate personal relationship with the leading dignitaries, while he evinced the profoundest personal interest in all the controversies of the faithful.^ For the settle- ment of their theological disputes, he promoted, if he did not originate, the assembling of those general councils, composed of delegates from the churches, which were a species of repre- sentative legislature, and awakened, after a long lethargy and slumber, the powers of the human mind. Furnishing new themes for eloquence to the leaders, arousing new passions and stirring up new opinions in the multitude, the stormy debates of the synod revived the silent echoes of the pnyx and the forum, while such athletic preachers as Athanasius, Hilary, Arius, Basil, and Ambrose renewed the race of great and pow* erful tribunes of the people. '' What great men, what eminent orators," exclaims a distinguished writer, "fill the interval from Athanasius to Augustine! What a wonderful agitation of mind in all the Eoman world! What talents were unfolded in those mystic controversies! What transformations of so- ciety evoked by the religion which had passed from the cata- combs to the chair of the Cossars to wield the sword which, lately blunted on the bodies of its martyrs, was to be sharpened thereafter in the cause of its own divisions."^ But, great as Constantino was as a legislator — and he was one Inadequacy of of three lu the loug and dreary line of emperors innovations, suicc Augustus (JbLaclrian and Diocletian being the others) — he was rather a revolutionist than a regenerator. He confirmed and enlarged, as we have seen, the great changes of Diocletian. The division into two empires and four provinces still remained in spite of his supremacy, which was personal and transient. Nor was it a Eoman unity which he established ' Milman(Hist. Christ., b.iii.,c. 4). Chretienne au iv™" Siecle, ed. Paris, ^ Villemain (Tableau de I'Eloquence 1858). Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 165 at Bj^zantium. Eome was fallen and deserted — trade, influ- ence, adventare, religion, and political ambition ebbing awny to the new Rome. The titular nobles were vain dignitaries, while the real nobles were the bishops. The armies were main- ly barbaric. The provinces were virtually emancipate and independent. The elevation of Christianity had abased Roman pride, Roman philosophy, Roman literature, Roman manners, and the ground of distinction among men, races, nations, was their adherence or their aversion to the doctrines of the Church. Schisms and factions became questions of state. A new spirit directed the administration and controlled the superficial cur- rents of opinion. It arrested many dangerous proclivities of society ; it assuaged the private sorrows of men with the solace of its immortal hopes ; it purified and raised the moral senti- ment of a select body of recipients ; it accosted with soothing and pacific accents the profound disgust of disheartened yet generous souls ; it prohibited many detestable practices, and fa- cilitated the emancipation of the poor, hopeless slave ; and it humanized, although it did not wholly reinvigorate, the tone of a declining literature. At the same time, we are bound to confess, that neither the The causes of it administrative reforms of Constantine, nor the new hopeless d-GCUV of civilization, moral rcgimcn which began to avouch its ascenden- cy, were able to reach the deeper organic maladies of the social system. The emperor struggled at times earnestly against them, but they lay then beyond the reach of any human sci- ence. As a mere economy, the ancient order was bankrupt and exhausted; the corrosions of slavery, which, under the Republic, had eaten away the vigor of Italy, abandoning three hundred thousand acres in the heart of the most fertile region of the globe to barrenness and disease,^ had been carried b}^ the Empire into all the provinces. Smiting with a fatal paralj'sis nearly ever}^ industrial force ; gluing the once free laborer to the soil under the name of colon^ till he became as abject and wretched as the slave ; dispersing the small proprietors among ^ Michelet (Hist. Eom., 1. iii., c. 1) Avhich destroyed the most useful classes, and Bancroft (]Miscellanies, p. 280) the small proprietors and free agricul- have traced the fall of the Kcpublic to tnral laborers. See, to tlie same cflect, those colossal fortunes (latifundia of Sismondi (Hist, dc la Cliutc de TEmpire Pliny, xviii., 7), the results of slavery, Kom., t. i., <.-. 1, p. 51). 166 EOMAN GAUL. [Book II. the barbarians, or driving tliem to an enforced dependence npon patrons whose enormous estates were expanded into more mon- strous proportions bj these incessant gains, slavery had under- mined, drained, dislocated, and demoralized the material re- sources and functions of societ}^^ And it was this utter ruin of its material means which rendered the demands of the fisc so cruel and persecuting. The dark picture which we have seen Lactantius paint of the extortions of the treasury in the time of Diocletian might have been deepened in the time of Con- stantino and his successors. Nothing, indeed, in human rec- ords suggests a more painful image to the mind than those pages of the codes of Theodosius and Justinian which show us the later emperors in their vain and desperate plunges to sup- press, to mollify, or to escape the evils of an utter decay of vital and productive force. Society writhes and groans visibly be- fore us like a man in the ao'onies of the rack. The labors of authority turn with frantic violence upon every possible j^roc- ess of extorting the means of a pompous subsistence from with- ered husks and thrice-rinsed rags. Laws are heajDcd upon laws, till the blasting decrees of despotism have operated like a fatal spell. Men of all ranks and conditions are fastened to their vocations, to their miscalled privileges even, as bears to a stake, to be baited. The senatorials and clarissimi are bound to their properties, lest they should run away from the charges with which they are encumbered; the curial, who is responsible for the collection of the municipal taxes, can not abandon his of&ce except at the risk of outlawry and ruin ; the young conscript is branded, that he may be reclaimed if he de- serts his post ; a universal system of forced labor supplies the public transportations ; trade is smothered in vast corporations, that are swathed and strangled by restraints, and the whole in- dustrial economy inclines rapidly to an Indian fixity of caste and a Chinese stagnation of routine. Christianity might, perhaps, have reached these radical ills of the ancient socialism, but that its social features, its profound ' See Dc Broglie (L'Eglise et TEm- relations, see Wallon (Hist, de I'Escla- pire, t. ii., c. 2, pp. 282 et seqq.); but, vage dans I'Antiquite, t. iii., cc. 2-7 for a more elaborate and detailed expo- ed. Paris, 1848). ' sition of the effects of slavery in all its Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 167 humanitary principles, its immense and tender sympathies, were Christianity not regarded, or not applied with any emphasis. 0th- unavailing . . as a remedy, er aspects of it absorbed the minds of the generation. The age was an age of stormy theological debate, not of practi- cal uses ; when the whole world was about to be tossed by great intellectual encounters as by the shock of earthquakes ; when not only polytheism and theism were coming to their last wres- tle, but theism itself was to be torn by fierce innate dissensions ; when an adverse tenet would seem more opprobrious and aw- ful than the most hideous crime ; and when the passions of the multitude, enlisted in questions of metaphysic controversy and church discipline, would stain the streets of the great cities with blood. The more gentle and genuine spirit of the new faith might work powerfully on individuals, but it would be silently and slowly, and the effect of its beneficent influence, amid the hideous corruptions of the times, would resemble that of a feeble rill of pure water in a vast pool of filth and rottenness. Even among its more earnest disciples, moreover, Christianity had been deflected from its direct and practical ends. Its aim was supposed to be not so much the regeneration of mankind in this world as the salvation of the individual soul in the next. Many Christians were beginning already to fly away from society, in a contemptuous and ascetic disdain of the world — strangers and sojourners upon the earth ; others, despair- ing of success in the inveterate degeneracy and impotence of a worn-out civilization, turned their hopes of the future exclu- sively to the Gentiles ; and others, again, saw the ancient soci- ety foredoomed by the just judgments of God to utter devasta- tion and ruin. A few ambitious or hopeful bishops deemed the splendid favors of the court the rosy dawn of a new day. A few dreamy scholars, cherishing the old illusion of Eoman uni- versality and unity, would have made the Church the heir of the Empire. But to the common Christian mind, the old Rome appeared, as it had long before appeared to the rapt vis- ion of St, John, as " the adulterous woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, and giving the nations to drink of the wine of her fornications."^ It was not the ancient Rome, therefore, ^ Apocalypse, xxii., 2-G, a passage (Sanct. Hieron. Opera, t. iv., p. 493). wliich St. Jerome applies to Rome See, also, the De Civitate Dei, passim^ 168 EOMAN GAUL. [Book IL but tlie new Eome ; and not the new Eome of Byzantium, but a divine and eternal city, coming down from tlie heavens, which charmed their hopes, and inspired their labors and their prayers. Christianity founded no political society; it scarcely contem- plated any, to supply the place of the mouldering empire. How little the reorganized monarchy of Constantine could The «.ns of do, and how little Christianity did, toward arresting A.D.b37-355. thc fatal decline of the Empire, was fatally exhibited in the weak and turbulent reigns of his sons. The great em- peror had scarcely closed his eyes, after distributing his domin- ions among his children and nephews, ere the soldiers, instiga- ted by his second son, Constantius, massacred all the cousins who were designated to the government, together with near- ly all their friends. Two children, Gallus and Julian, alone were spared. A new partition of the empire was thereupon made between the three sons ; the prsefecture of the Gauls be- ing assigned to the eldest, Constantine II. (probably because he was born at Aries) ; Italy, Illyria, Africa, and Greece, to the youngest, Constant ; while Constantius reserved to himself the vast and opulent East.'^ But this partition was not of long con- tinuance. Constantine IL, coveting Africa from Constant, was refused it, and precipitated a war upon Italy, in which he per- ished. The Gauls thereby fell into the power of Constant, a debauched and reckless nurslino^ of the court of Bvzantium. whose ten years of rule fluctuated between the influences of cor- rupt eunuchs, intriguing bishops, and ambitious barbarians whom he introduced into places of trust.^ With the Germans, and par- ticularly the Franks, who had recommenced their ravages in the north of Gaul, he rather negotiated than fought ; and though he adorned himself with the insignia of triumph, and caused his rhetors to celebrate his various victories, they were only purchased successes.^ His weakness at length provoked the public hatred to a revolt, which found an instrument in one Magnentius, the commander of a division of the Jovians and Herculians, who cast off his allegiance and assumed the purple. ofSt. Augiistinc. But compare Thierry Zosim., ii., G9 ; Vict., Epit. 41- Ju- (La Gaiile Eomaine, t. i., c. 7, Intro- lian, Orat., i., 33-4. duct.) for another view. ^ 2 ^urel. Vict., Epit., 51; Socrat. ' Euseb., Vita Const., 1. iv., c. 51; ii., is ; Sozom., iii., 10. ' *' ^ Liban., Orat., iii. Chap. VII.] KOMAN GAUL. 169 lie \Yas the offshoot of a Loetic colony of Franks/ which Con- The urturpjition stantlnc had settled in Armorica, and his movement, of MapncntiiuH, . . . n t i A.D. 3C)(i. though seeming!}^ a repetition oi old practices, was in fact a new and notable sign of the times. His mother, a woman gifted with second sight, or, as the German superstition deemed her, a prophetess, was still probably pursuing her mys- terious vocation in the German huts, while he was getting edu- cated at the Koman schools or serving in the Koman army.^ Kow we fmd him proclaiming himself the Emperor of the West. A numerous rally of Gauls, Saxons, Spaniards, and of his own countr^^mcn, the Franks, sustained his pretensions ; Constant w^as driven step by step, like a wild beast, through the woods of Arvernia and the Pyrenees to the town of Helena, near the borders of Spain, where he was put to death ; and Magnentius exercised for a time an undisputed sway. The soul of this revolution, however, was a Roman statesman named JMarcelli- nus, who appears to have been actuated by the double impulse of attachment to the old pagan religion, and of hatred to the house of Constantine.'"^ He was not slow, under the guidance of either motive, in involving Magnentius in a war with Con- stantius, the Emperor of the East, who, it may be supposed, was at the same time eager to avenge the death of his brother and to preserve the integrity of the Roman dominions. It was a war in which the consequences were alike injurious It openH .1 wiiy to thc empire and to Gaul : to the empire, inasmuch orthVblu^"! ^^s in the bloody battle of Mursa, on the Drave (A.D. nan?. 351), iu which Magnentius was defeated, but escaped, the flower of the Roman legions perished ;^ and to Gaul, because the absence of ^Magnentius had left an open course to the bar- barians, who again passed the Rhine in numerous and destruc- tive bands, and carried their ravages into many cities. But what is chiefly to be remarked of their inroads at this time is, that they came not alone seduced by the opportunities of plun- der, but bearing the written invitation of the son of Constantino in their hands, and his tempting donatives of gold in their ' The Tiatui'c and influence of these ^ Julmn, Orat., ii., p. 108; Atha- colonies are move fully explained in a nasius ap. C, G-10, et passim. following chapter. * Zonares, xiii., 8; Julian, Orat., ^ ThieriT (Gaule Romaine, t. iii., c. i., ii., pp. 67, 110, 111. 6, p. 255)." 170 EOMAN GAUL. [Book II. purses.^ In his anxiety to secure the overthrow of the invading emperor, that treacherous Eoman had purchased an invasion of a far more dangerous character. The fact indicates both the weakness of the empire and the abyss toward which it hurried. Again : Gaul suffered in another respect. Magnentius, in order to meet the exigencies of his position, was compelled to double and quadruple the fiscal exactions, until the whole province tot- tered under its burdens. At length, however, it rose against the rule of the usurper and caused him to fly to Seleucus, a town among the Cottian Alps, where, in despair, he put himself, together with all his family, to death. Constantius was now the sole emperor of both the East and constantiusthe Wcst, and rcvcuged upon Gaul the revolt of its for- ht''if.vSlye?X ^^^^ leader ; or, rather, under the pretense of politi- ^■"^^' cal retributions, he vented a rancorous theological spleen. The ardent controversy between the Arians and the Catholics, which had broken out under his father, still inflamed and rent the religious world. Constantius had become, by the influence of the Eastern bishops, a rigid Arian, and for ten years had pursued with unrelenting zeal the great Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, as the head and front of the Catholic party." The Church of Gaul, on the other hand, so largely proseh^tized from Eome, and taught by Athanasius himself, while passing some years of exile at Treves, was warmly at- tached to the orthodox faith. It was on that account a predes- tined object of the wrath of the emperor. Convoking a council at Aries (A.D. 353), as one of the first of his civil acts in Gaul, he prescribed to the "Western bishops that condemnation of Athanasius which had already obtained the sanction of the East- ern.^ Many of those who resisted this insolent dictation were sent into banishment, to wander or perish in the deserts of Phrygia. Thus a severe religious persecution was opened again in that Gaul, where it had first been closed by Constantius Chlorus, and opened by his namesake and his grandson. The routes of trafiic were covered with prcetorians, secretaries, and agents of police, in an eager hunt for refractory bishops and in- ^ Amm, Marccll., 1. xvi., c. 12. ^ Sulp. Scverus, Hist. Ecc. 1. ii. 2 Socrates, Hist. Ecc, l.ii.; Sozom., cc. .^)2-57 ; Hilaiy in Constant.', i'. S- 1. ii. ; Thcod., ?6., 1. ii. Athanas. in Ar. Or., i., p. 291. ' Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 171 submissive monks. The chiirclies were pillaged, the altars broken down, and Arian bishops enthroned bj drunken sol- diers at the point of the sword. ^ Meanwhile, the emperor and his court, absorbed in the nice- Dreadfui in- tics of polcmics 01 the legal and illegal prosecution Aiaraana a^d ^f imputcd hercsics, left the greater part of the coun- Franka. ^^,^ exposcd to the pillagcs of the Alamans and Franks — the same who had been invited in during the war with Magnentius, and now refused to depart — and of other depre- dating hordes, their neighbors.^ At length (A.D. 854), a gen- eral cry of distress from Sequania and the first Grermany com- pelled the emperor to march against his barbaric allies, and to remove them, either by persuasion or force, beyond the Khine. The work, however, was barely accomplished before he repair- ed to Milan to hold another ecclesiastical council and to plunge anew in the storms of debate.^ Again, too, in the course of the year, the Germans returned. Aware of the religious dissensions of the province, encouraged secretly, doubtless, by other barba- rians already in the nominal service of the empire, and not un- welcomed by certain parties of the Gallo-Eomans, weary of the oppressions of the government, they found it an easy task to overrun this weak dependency. In a little while a large part of the north and east of Gaul were in their almost undisputed possession. The Alamans seized upon the countries which are now called Alsace and Lorraine ; the Franks secured for them- selves Batavia and Toxandria:* forty-five flourishing cities, among them Cologne, Treves, Spires, Worms, and Strasburg, were ravaged ; and, in short, from the sources of the Ehine to its mouth, forty miles inland, there remained no safety for the population but in the strongly -fortified towns. ^ Even there the resources of subsistence were cut off from the occupants, with the exception of the little that might have been sown and gath- ered within the walls. The master of infantry whom Constan- tius dispatched into Gaul to meet these enemies — Sylvanus by name, but a Frank by birth — exasperated by the low intrigues ^ Athanas. ad Sol., passim. ^ Zosim., 1. ii., c. 46. ^ Anim. Marcell., 1. xiv., x^-, * Now partly Brabant. * Zosim., 1. iii., c. 3 ; Julian, Epist., p. 227; Amm. Marcell., 1. xv., cc. 6, 19. Gibbon derives his details of these in- roads mainly from Julian. 172 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. of the court in his absence, himself assumed the purple, and was only prevented by a series of the basest treacheries from com- pletely overthrowing the government.^ Constantius, betrayed by his generals, assailed by the Ger- juiian in Gaul, ^aus, hated by the Catholic part of his subjects, and A.D.355to3Gi: recalled to the east by new revolts in that quarter, by menaces of war from Persia, and by the incompetence of the CLBsar Gallus, his nephew, whom he had intrusted with power, was driven to the alternative of abandoning Gaul alto- gether, or of committing the government to new hands. His reluctant choice of a western lieutenant fell at length upon a mere academic youth — his remaining nephew Julian, whose parents he had murdered. But this youth, fortunately for Gaul, chanced to be a person of genius and courage, whose early sufferings had trained him to the mastery of himself, and whose studies had inspired him with an emulation of great- ness. Provided with a mere handfal of men, Julian made his en- His activity traucc iuto Yienne, where he was gratefully received and services. |^y ^j^^ pcoplc, and coldly by the officials. Inexpe- rienced in the art of war, distrusted by the emjDcror, with the civil authority in the hands of the unfriendly prtefect Floren- tius, and with the military charge divided between generals who were instructed to watch rather than obey him, his movements in every direction were fettered and embarrassed. In a little while, however, his energy, his courage, his capacity, and his justice and goodness enabled him to overcome and to command the difficulties of his position. During an administration of six years this latest Ci^sar revived in Gaul the memory of the inde- fatigable exploits and the vigorous rule of the first Ca?sar.^ Insufficient and ill-disciplined as his forces were, and baffled and betrayed as he was by those who should have been his aids, he drove the fierce and powerful tribes of the Alamans, who were now the hydra of the western provinces, beyond the Upper Rhine; the Chamaves, another warlike tribe, he pur- sued into the heart of their native forests ; while the still fiercer and more warlike Franks were dislodged from their habitations ^ Amm. Marcell., xv,, 5. slm ; Julian, Epist. ad S. P. Q. Athen., ' Amm. Marcell., xvi., x^ii., pas- passim. Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 17 o on tlie Meuse, to accept of conditions from his hands. ^ What chiefly embarrassed him in this war with the Alamans was a new and singuhir chaim they set np to a proprietary right in the coun- try they overran, for which they alleged and produced the writ- ten grants of Constantius, who had enlisted them as allies in a previous war. Compelled to regard the dispositions of his sovereign by law, he yet wisely neglected them in fact, and by three successful expeditions beyond the Rhine restored to their friends a multitude of Roman captives, recovered the broken and down-trodden limes of the empire, humiliated many of the proud chiefs of the Germans, and impressed a salutary awe and respect upon their truculent followers.- While rescuing the north and east from their various conquerors rather than in- vaders, and raising new ramparts against their future incur- sions, he spent the intervals of peace which his valor procured in recuperating the wasted energies of the inhabitants. Their dilapidated cities were repaired, the excesses of taxation re- trenched, the deficient harvests compensated by large importa- tions of corn from Britain, and the resources of suspended in- dustry stimulated into new action. Once more, saj^s Libanius, the Gauls ascended from the tombs to marry, to travel, to enjoy the festivals, and to celebrate the public games. ^ These intervals of more genial labor Julian passed at a pleas- His residence ^'^^ placc on a little islaud of the Seine, belonging to Ty ^hCtor^'^of ^ Gallic tribe named the Parisii, and which he dis- thecity. tingnished as his "dear Luketia," just as more mod- ern visitors denominate it their ''dear and delightful Paris."* In the days of Cnesar, when its few inhabitants valorously re- sisted the legions of his lieutenant Labienus,^ it was a small ' A part of these, called the Salians, Parisii, from the name of the people. and destined to figure hereafter, were It is not known when nor why the des- allowed to settle in permanence in Tox- ignation was changed, but it is snp- andria, between the Meuse and the posed to have been changed during the Scheld, near the modern Tongres. reign of Julian. Three laws in the Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xvii., cap. Theodosian Code, referred to Valentin- 18. ian and Valens, for the year .365, bear ° Libanius, Orat. in Jul., c. 18. date at Parisii, and since then this ^ Orat. X. name has been preserved in all the his- * Julian, Misopog., pp. 60-G2. Stra- torics and public records. See Dn- bo calls this place Zwro^oifm; Ptolemy, laure (Hist, de Paris, t. i., p. 26, ed. Lucotecia ; Julian, Luketia; Ammianus Paris, 18.!>.">). calls it at first Lutetia, and aftenvard ' This was the first recorded battle 174 EOMAN GAUL. [Book U. village of mud-covered liuts, connected with tlie main land by two rude bridges of wood. A range of hills inclosed the marshes by which it was surrounded in a spacious amphithea- tre, which forms the site of the splendid metropolis of France. Commanding the fruitful valleys of the Seine, the Mame, and the Oise, the earliest occupants were merchants and boatmen, who conducted the trade of the rivers, and as early as the reign of Tiberius had formed a powerful corporation.^ During the revolts of the Bagauds in the third century, it acquired an un- ■^^PPy celebrity as the strong-hold from which they harassed the peace of the surrounding region. Subsequently, when the ad- vances of the Germans drove the government from Treves, the emperors selected the town of the Parish as a more secure posi- tion. They built a palace there, and an intrenched camp for the soldiers ; and very soon afterward several of those aqueducts and amphitheatres which were inseparable accompaniments of Eo- man hfe. It was in that palace, which the traveler still regards with curiosity in those mouldering remains of it known as the Palais des Thermes^ that Julian found his favorite residence — there that he conversed with his friend Sallust and his physi- cian Oribasius of his aspirations for future eminence — there that he discussed the nature of dreams and the deep oriental mysteries — and there that he sung the praises of the sun-god, the regulator of the world, the archetype of ideas, the brilliant emanation of an eternal and absolute deity.^ If Julian could have remained in Gaul, his integrity and ar- juiian is pro- ^^^^ might havc largely retrieved its fortunes ; but peroTIn GaS^ ^hc vcry succcsscs which secured him the universal A.D. 361. gratitude of the people provoked the enmity of the court. Jealous of his renown, the feeble Constantius made a pretense of the urgency of eastern wars to reclaim the flower of his troops, which, however, more discerning than their em- on a theatre since somewhat renowned ter, Vulcan, Venus, and Castor and for battles. Pollux, were those of Hcsus, the Dru- ^ The bas-reliefs of a votive altar idical god, of Ccrnunnos and of the were found under the choir of Notre- triple bull, called Tarv Trigaran, pop- Dame in 1720, which contained this in- ular deities, shoAving how earlv tlie two scription : Tib. Caesare. Aug. Jovi. polytlieisms were blended. * Thierrv Optumo. Maxsumo. 1. M. Nautae Pa- (Gaule Rom,, t. iii,, c. G, p. 337). RisiAC PUBLicE. PosiERtTNT. Among ~ Thierry, 1. c., who cites Julian the reliefs, besides the figiires of Jupi- Orat., iv., p. 248. Chap. VII.] EOMAN GAUL. 175 peror, refused to depart, and elevated Julian to tlie purple.^ The seasonable death of Constantius alone obviated a civil war, and left the Gallic Ccesar the exclusive master of the Koman world. His administration, in this larger sphere, did not fuMll the iiis conduct promise of his beautiful years in the lesser. Of his as emperor. ^^^ modcls of couduct, Alexander and Marcus Au- relius, he was more successful in the imitation of the first than of the second ; petty personal revenges sullied the glories won by his arms ;^ while he allowed his vanity and pedantry as a student to betray him into a mocking, sneering, petulant perse- cution of Christianity, and into a vain attempt to inspirit the dead body of paganism by the breath of a stark and artificial philosophy. It was not, perhaps, surprising that Julian should hate Christianity, for it was connected in his remembrances with the assassination of his family, and with the repulsive in- fluences of his ill-judged education. Nor was it nnnatural that, in the Attic cast of a mind which had nourished itself on the dreams of Plato and the flowers of Grecian literature, he should lament the fall of the old poetic faith, and endeavor to bring it back. At the same time, there was little in the prevailing or super- ire revolts ficial asDCCts of the new relisfion to disarm his preiu- from Cliria- 3^ o tianity. diccs, or to couciliate the respect of his genius and taste. Christianity had passed through its period of infantile enthusiasm, which had been illustrated by so much sweet and heroic devotion, and was arrived at a period of metaphysical refinement and ambitious pretense. Violent polemics, who maligned and tore each other over mysteries seemingly trivial, or, if not trivial, in their very nature insoluble, were too often now to be found among its most conspicuous representatives.^ Its debates were carried on by hot and vulgar passions, and sometimes ended in sanguinary riots. Yet Julian professed to be a philosopher, as he was, from his position, a statesman, and he was bound, in both characters, to look through the crust of ^ Amm. Marcel., 1. xx., cc. 5-12. ^ Milman, Hist. Christ., b. iii., cc. ' Id., 1. xxi., L-. 10; Greg. Nazian. 5-6. in Julian, 1. ii., passim; Sozom., 1. v., passim. 176 EOM.'USr GAUL. [Book II. the contest into its centre, to disregard tlie personal weaknesses of the combatants, in order to discern the mighty truths for which they warred. No more vital, no more significant questions were ever debated than many of the questions which then rent the body of Christian behevers, yet Julian failed to see either their significance or their vitality. The moral virtues of the hum- blest Christians he saw and commended — their tender brotherly love, their philanthropy toward strangers, their sobriety and purity of life ;^ but the impressions thus produced he allowed to be effaced by his daily witness of the arrogance and self- ishness of the prelates, by his own incurable resentments, and by the exaltations of a vanity which persuaded him that he was called of the cods to be the instrument of a beneficent restora- tion. Julian was, in fact, what the Germans expressively term him, a romanticist {Bomaniiker),- an amiable and credulous spirit, who dreamed of the resuscitation of a lifeless past, and absurd- ly attempted to impose his own loving but vague conceptions of a vanished condition of things upon a generation rushing al- most tumult nously toward a wholly different future. For it was not the old religion of Rome which he sought to revive in the Roman temples and rekindle on the Roman hearth-stones, but a strange neo-Platonic abortion, half Grecian and half Christian, generated in the embrace of a susceptible fancy with mystic books, and utterly unrelated to the sympathies of the old Roman heart. The random arrow, which slew him on the plains of the Tigris, saved him from the mortification and re- proach of a thorough failure. His successor, Jovian, designated by his own soldiers, was a Christian who instantly overturned the elaborate but insubstantial fabric of paganism which his zeal had so fondly reared. Julian's death was profoundly mourned in Gaul, where he juiian\s efforts had givcu the people so many reasons for gratitude ; had little influ- ^ , . . -^ -^ '^ ^ ' ence in Gaul, but his rcligious cxamplc fouud few imitators. The influential mind of the province was already under the control of the orthodox clergy, and was not easily to be disengaged 1 Julian, Epist. ad Arsac, 49. izing the late King of Prussia, contains = See a political pamphlet of Strauss, an admirable delineation of Julian's Der Romantiker auf dem Throne dcr character. Casaren, Manheim, IS-tT, ■uhich, satir- Chap. VIL] ROMAN GAUL. 177 from its attaclimeiits. The great tribune of doctrine, Atliana- sius, liad left the deepest traces of his eloquence and dogmatism there ; and these had been deepened by two men whose words were more effective than the swords of many centurions, or even the edicts of emperors. The first was St. Hilary, the Bishop of St. Hiiarj'. Poitiers (A.D. 350), a skillful rhetor of Grallic descent, converted to Catholicism, and distinguished as an eloquent and powerful champion of the faith in an age by no means destitute of eloquent and powerful men.^ " The Khone of Eloquence," as Jerome calls him, by a violent figure, he played on the small- er stage of the AVest the same part in the Arian controversy which the greater Athanasius played in the East. He was the stubborn defender of Christianity in its most orthodox aspects. His advent to the episcopal see concurring with the epoch of the most determined effort made by the imperial power in be- half of the Arians, he had an opportunity of manifesting his re- sistance and his firmness. No threats nor blandishments could silence his vehement protests against the Arian aggressions of the emperor. Banished to Phrj^gia (A. I). 356), he wrote with all the ardor that he had spoken, placing his opjoosition, with a sagacious liberality creditable to his fame, on the essential indejiendencc of the civil and the ecclesiastical powers. "The gold of the state," he said, "only burdens the sanctuary;" and again, "that God never wished a constrained service, but the free worship of the heart ;'' sentiments which, if they could have been remembered, would have disarmed persecution of its pre- texts and terrors,^ In the wanderings of his exile, St. Hilary found a disciple St. Martin in- dcstiucd to bccome a more influential athlete than nasticism.' himsclf cvcu, aftcrward known as St. Martin of Tours. He was the son of a Pannonian solcher, who, having served in the army for ten years, abandoned the soldier's sword and buckler for the cowd and sandal of the monk. It was Julian who released him from his martial oaths, and thus furnished the cause he hated with its most ef&cient western missionary. St. Martin was the first man to introduce the Monasticism of the East into Gaul (A.D. 360). He founded the two celebrated ^ Compare Villemain (Tableau de " St. Hil, contra Const. Imiierat., 1. rEloquence au iv^™® Siccle, passini). i., c. 10. M 178 EOMAN- GAUL. [Book II. monasteries of Ligiig^, near Poitiers, and of Marmoutiers, near Tours, which became the nurseries of the new religious propa- gandism. At the head of his cowled militia he passed his life in demolishing the temples, the altars, the statues, and the conse- crated trees of heathenism. His indefatigable earnestness no dan- gers could appal and no difaculties deter.^ The popular imagina- tion, and his own zeal, ascribed to him the power of working mir- acles,^ although a profound piety and tender love^ aided his in- fluence, and relieved the harsher spirit of his fanaticism. When he died (A.D. 397), so great was the respect in which he was Veneration in held, SO ardcut the gratitude for his various services, which he was ^ ^ ^ n i • • i i held. so profound the reverence tor his sanctity, that the people of Poitiers and Tours engaged in an armed contest for the possession of his body. Stolen in the nighttime by the latter, the shrine in which they entombed it became forever hallowed.* The skillful warrior, the accomplished philosopher and scholar, the mighty emperor, Julian, was sjDeedily forgotten in the Gaul that he had saved, or was remembered only by a few timorous devotees of heathenism, while he was accursed by the Church ; but the glory of the rude monk grew with the ages ; holy in- fluences were supposed to exhale from his sepulchre ; his name became a potent talisman, which averted the wrath of demons and conciliated the favor of angels ; and, at the end of three centuries still, barbaric fury itself respected the splendid basili- ca which his pious successors had raised to his memory as an inviolable retreat for the fugitive and the criminal.^ Surely a change had passed into the spirit of man ! With the period immediately before us, embracing thirty -two The beginnikg years, from the death of Julian to that of Theodo- D. 363^95. sius, our uarratlvc approaches a most decisive era ; when the frightful work of political dissolution assumed its final form ; when the division of the empire into East and West was ' Sulp. Severus, in Vita St. Martin. * Near Tours. A village was grad- He was bom in A.D. 317, at Sabarca ually built around it, first called Mar- (Sanvar). tinopolis, then Chateauneuf, and is now Gregoiy of Tours, Mirac. St. Mar- a part of Tours, tin 1 iv., c. 30. 5 jjig j-fg ^^,^^ ^^^j^^^^ ^ Sulpitius He opposed the Emperor Maximus Severus in the next century, concern- in his prosecutions of the Priscillianists ing whom, see Ampere (Hist. Litt. t. i. — the first martyrs slain in the West for c. 8). ' •' heresy. Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 179 rendered permanent; wlien polytheism was officially extin- guislied, and the political and moral force of society passed over to the legally-established Catholic Church ; and when, lo ! we hear on every side already the tramp of the steeds and the rattle of the wagons which are bearing onward and downward, in irresistible might, the wild battalions of the north. But a rapid summary is all that I am allowed to give of the events of this great period. Jovian had reigned scarcely a year when his sudden death Thesoverei^- enabled the army to raise a rude but valiant and tween'^^y'liien- energctic soldier, Yalentinian, to the vacant throne. iS?"" A?R act 0^"^® of his first acts was to devolve the government ^'^'^- of the rich prsefecture of the East upon his brother Yalens, while he reserved to himself the more exposed and war- like pra?fectures of Illyria, Italy, and Gaul. This was a di- vision of the administration rather than of the sovereignty. Though Valens reigned at Constantinople and Valentinian at Milan, the laws were promulged and executed in the joint names of the two emperors, and the unity of the empire was still maintained, at least in theory.' It was not long before the repeated inroads of the Alemans Valentinian re- compellcd Valcntiniau to remove his government to sides in Gaul. Tp^yes, whcrc hc took up his permanent residence, and which became thereby the centre of the Western Empire. The main occasion of these Alemannic irr'uptions was that he withheld or diminished the donative which it had been cus- tomary to grant to the allied tribes of the frontier on the advent of each new emperor, and it required the laborious exertions of his legions for a whole year to expel them beyond the Ehine and fortify its passages (A.D. 865). At the same time, the des- olating irruptions of the Picts and Scots into Britain, and the wide-spread spirit of discontent and revolt produced by the pit- iless oppressions of the Eoman commanders, demanded the most strenuous efforts of the brave general Theodosius to restore a partial tranquillity (A.D. 867-370). Nor had he laid down his arms when the tyranny and persecutions of the Count Ko- manus, the military ruler of Africa, provoked the double ca- lamity of popular revolt and a Moorish invasion u|)on that ^ Amm. Marcell., 1. xxvi., c. 5. 180 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. seething province (A.D. 366-372), wliich he with difficulty re- covered (A.D. 373). Three years later the restorer of Britain and Africa was ignominiously beheaded, on some vague suspi- cion or unfounded jealousy, by the son of the emperor whose dominions he had saved. ^ The Eastern Empire, under Yalens, was all the while a prey The Goths in- to similar disturbances. A Persian war raged in Irn Empii^.' ' Armenia and Iberia, and the powerful league of the Ostrogoths, composed of twelve considerable nations, which its valor had subdued, and whose dominions extended from the lower Danube to the Baltic, were vehemently assailing the towns and cities of Thrace. Invited by Procopius, a relative of Ju- lian, to assist him in asserting the claims of the house of Con- stantine to the purple, they lent the aid of thirty thousand tried and intrepid warriors to the cause of the pretender. A stub- born war of three years, of varying successes, ended in a tran- sient victory for the empire. But the agitations of the war ex- tended to other German tribes; the Alemans again took up arms ; the Sarmatians desolated the Illyrian provinces, and the Quadi threatened Rhaetia. Yalentinian could only make head against them by asking the aid of other Germans, mercenaries avid for the gold of Rome, who in their turn became new sources of trouble to the perplexed and choleric monarch. It was in negotiating with some barbaric embassadors at Bregetio (Press- burg) that he expired suddenly in a tremendous outburst of rage (A.D. 375). By this death Gratian, who had been associated with his fa- Gratian the thcr as Augustus IB. thc ninth year of his age, and who Emperor of J^ '^ " ' the West, was uow Dut sevcntcen, became the Emperor of the A.D. 3T5- rY> -1 . 383. West. He was not sunered to reign alone, however, for a Frank named Mellobod, who commanded a detachment of the army, immediately proclaimed the right of a younger and an infant son of Valentinian by another wife to the impe- rial dignity. The pacific temper and youthful generosity of Gratian in consenting to assign the diocese of Italy to the pos- session of his half-brother alone prevented a civil war between their respective parties. Both minors, and insignificant in themselves, the first year of their rule yet marked the occur- ^ These events are described by Amm. Marcel, in books xvii.-xxix. Chap. VIL] ROMAK GAUL. 181 Advance of ^61106 of oiiG of tliG sigiial evcnts of history. It was the the Huns, pj^ggr^gg ^f ^^q Yolga by the fierce and terrible hordes of the Ourals, the Huns, who bounded thence with savage im- petuosity upon the historic scene.* Absorbing the kindred tribes of the Alains, dwelhng between that stream and the Don, their innumerable cavalry first assaulted the Ostrogothic kingdom of Hermanrik. The aged monarch, broken by wounds and sorrows,^ saw his vast empire crumble beneath their blows. Next, the Visigoths, commanded by Athanarik, and intrenched behind the Dniester, manifested a more stubborn resistance; but, weakened by religious dissensions,^ they were soon driven either to the coverts of the Carpathians, or to the protecting arms of the Empire.'^ Valens, at the solicitations of Ulphilas, the bishop, and the The Goths ad- cuibassador of the Goths, who had won them to empii-e. Christianity, and translated the Bible into their dia- lect, ^ admitted two hundred thousand warriors, with their women and children, to a peaceful settlement upon the Koman territories of Moesia and Thrace.^ In this event the eastern empire hailed a seeming acquisition of numerous defenders, and the eastern emperor hailed a seeming acquisition of numer- ous coreligionists.*^ More far-sighted observers beheld in it only the introduction of so many wolves into the sheepfold;^ and the sequel justified their discernment. Oppressed and cheated by the Roman officers, who superintended their pas- sage of the Danube, they had scarcely landed upon the Roman soil before they were compelled to resume their arms and break forth in indignant and furious revolt.^ A thousand accumu- ' Amm. Marcel., xxxi., 2 ; andJor- ^ This translation of Ulphilas (which nandcs, or rather Jordanis (Dc Rebus omitted the Books of Kings because Getieis, c. 24). The latter Avas a they related the wars of the Hebrews) Gothic bishop, who flourished about is still extant, and is the oldest and only A.D. ."ir>2, and wrote a history of his monument of the tongue of the Goths. nation, mainly abridged from an abler I shall, perhaps, have occasion to refer work liy Cassiodorus. to it more fully hereafter. ^ He was said to have been 110 years " Eunapius (Hist., v.) gives the old. number. ^ The pagans adhered to Athanarik, '' Amm. Marcel., xxxi., 4; Isidor. while the Christians, under Friedegern Hispal., Chron. Goth ; Sozom., i^'., 20. and Alavive, proposed to solicit the aid ^ Synesius (De Regno, p. 2.")). 8oc- of the Romans. Socrat., Ecc. Hist., rates (Ecc. Hist., 1. iv., c. 34). iv., 33. Sozomen, vi., 37. ^ Amm. Marcel., xxxi., 4. Jor- * Amm. Marcel., c. xxvii.-xxxi. danis (De Reb. Get., 26). 182 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. lated outrages liad been heaped upon them— rapes, pillages, and assassinations, and these they now avenged in tenfold degree upon the Romans.^ Valens himself, hurrying from his theo- logical reveries at Antioch to defend his suffering people, was overwhelmed, with his army, at the bloody battle of Hadriano- ple (August 9th, 878), and so became one of the first victims of his own policy. Gratian, alarmed by the portentous rumors of the Gothic in- Hnvocs com- surrcctiou, was about to fly to the support of his un- Goth^ ''a!^ ^^^1 when the report of his intended departure, com- 37S-379. municated to the Alemans by one of his Alemannio body-guard, caused them to resume the course of their old ag- gressions." His troops, under the command of the Frankish chiefs Nannienus and Mellobod, met and defeated the enemy at Colmar, but not until after it was too late to relieve the exigen- cies of the East. In the interim, the victorious and angry Visi- goths, associating with themselves the Ostrogoths, the Taifuls, the Huns, and the Alains, were enabled to carry a fearful dev- astation through all the provinces along the Danube.^ A con- certed and treacherous massacre by the Romans of the various Gothic youth who in previous years had been distributed as hostages throughout Asia was made the occasion and the ex- cuse of their sanguinary reprisals.* Jerome, visiting a few years later the regions over which they had passed, states that in these desert countries nothing was left but the earth and the sky; that the beasts and the birds even were extirpated ; and that the land was overgrown with inextricable brambles and forests.^ Gratian could not succor the East by his arms, but he did so Gratian raises by his ffood scuse. Li conferrins^ the mantle of Theodosiua to ^ ^ i o • i ■ the Eastern Valeus upou the Spaulsh soldier Theodosius,^ he e:ave throne, A.D. . . ■*• 70 375). It a brave and skillful defender, who, partly by judi- cious management, and partly by force of arms, scattered the power of the Goths, and reduced them, if not to subjection, at least to a friendly alhance (379-382). Incapable of driving them beyond the limits of the empire, he prudently settled * Amm. Marcel., xxxi., 7-12. lates the passage, and perhaps justly ^ 1(1- ? il5- argues its exaggeration. => Hieron. Opera, t. vii., p. 250. ^ Son of Theodosius, whom he had ■* Amm. Marcel., xxxi., 16. put to death. ^ Gibbon, v. iii., c. 26, who trans- Chap. VII.] EOMAN GAUL. 183 them upon its borders, and enlisted tliem in its defense.^ Col- onies of tlie Visigoths were established in Thrace, and of the Ostrogoths in Phrygia and Lydia, and a body of forty thousand Gothic warriors was pledged to the perpetual service of the emperor. The advocates of Theodosius defended and lauded the wisdom of these arrangements, although they were rather necessary than wise : indeed, the unwisdom of them was shown when his example was imitated by the less-experienced Gratian, who filled his palaces and armies with multitudes of barbaric allies. The people of the West were strongly disinclined to be Revolt of Max- submisslvc to the ascendency, in all offices of profit imus in Gaul, n i • • ti i A.D. 3S3. and trust, of their ancient and hereditary enemies. A general repugnance was manifested by the Romans and the Gallo-Romans at his partiality for the Franks ; and, when this partiahty was transferred to a body of Alains whom he kept in his pay, the feeling deepened into disgust." Even his cher- ished Franks beheld with jealousy and aversion the growing- favor of those rejDulsive strangers. The mutinous sentiment took air, not in Gaul first, but in Britain, where a Spaniard named Maximus, placing himself at the head of the Roman le- gions of that distant outpost, assumed the purple, and, accom- panied by a large number of British people, landed in Gaul.^ He was every where received with acclamations by the inhab- itants ; the very soldiers of Gratian deserted him ; and the poor youth, flying from Paris, where his standard was in vain un- ■farled, with only three hundred horsemen, found the gates of the cities peremptorily shut against him. He arrived at Lyons only to be put to death by a general of the usurper,* and the authority of Maximus was recognized almost immediately from the Col- umns of Hercules to the hills of Caledonia.^ Theodosius and ^ Thcmistius (Orat. xvi.); Claudi- imimportant if it were not, in all prob- an (Eutop.), 1. ii ; Jordanis, xx., xxrii, ability, connected with a large coloni- - Zosim., 1. iv., c. 35. zation of Britons in Annorica. After ^ Bede, Ecc. Hist., 1. iv., c. 35; he had defeated Gratian, it became nec- Oros., 1. vii., c. 34. essary to provide for his British auxil- ^ St. Ambrose (Enarrat in Psalm iaries, and he fixed them on the lands Ixi., t. ii., epist. 24); Aiirel. Vict., of the Empire nearest their ancient Epit. 47; Orosius, 1. vii., c. 34; Soc- dwelling-place, i. c, at Cornn-Galliae rat., 1. A., c. 11. (Cornuailles), the district of the ancient ^ The revolt of Maximus would be Curiosolites, on the north coast of mod- 184 KOMAN GAUL. [Book II. Valentinian II., thougli urged by the imperious voice of both honor and gratitude, were neither of them in a position to avenge his death, and were reluctantly compelled to acknowl- edge a colleague whom the army and the people approved.^ Maximus, unsatisfied with the nature rather than the degree Maximns in- of his powcr, uudcrtook, after five years of successful ra'sss!"^^' rule, to force the approval of the Koman Senate, by including the domains of Valentinian II. within his jurisdiction. He invaded Italy, whence the young emjoeror and his mother fled, in order to demand the protection of Theodosius. That powerful monarch, pi^ompted, it is said, more by the beauty of the sister Galla than by the merits of the brother Valentinian, undertook their cause, and, after a series of military manoeuvres, expelled Maximus from the throne, with the loss of his head.^ Valentinian II. was not only restored to Italy, but was endowed with the empire of the murdered Gratian. He appears to have inherited, likewise, with his position, his mistakes. Submitting himself to the tutelage of a Frank refugee named Arbogast, who had become master of the Militia, the barbaric and the pagan influence resumed the control of the court.^ Arbogast was more the emperor than he, and held him in what was term- ed a crowned captivity at Vienne."^ In vain he appealed to St. Ambrose, that powerful bishop, and to Theodosius, the Eastern emperor, for help. In vain he endeavored to extricate himself from the toils ; for, when he read to the haughty prime minis- ter a decree for his arrest and degradation, the reply was, *'Thou hast not given me power, and thou canst not take it away." A few days subsequently the helpless boy was found strangled in the depths of his palace (A.D. 892).^ Arbogast raised Eugenius, a pagan grammarian and an ac- ern Brittany. Thither many Gauls ' Zosim., 1. iv., who, however, says had been driven by the Romans, and that Theodosius only dissembled his they gladly received the new accessions, purposes. They were established under command - Zosim., 1. iv. c. 44. of a chief named Conan, the source of ^ i^^^ Thicny (Hist, de la Gaule those sovereigns of Brittany who main- Rom., t. iii., c. D) for the probable sc- tained a species of independence until cret causes of these events. the province was united to France by ^ ^s^^jp^ ^|^,^_ ^^^^^^ '^^.^^^ Turon. the marriage of Anne of Brittany to (Ecc. Hist., 1. i. c. 9). Louis XII., in the 15th century. See ^ Zosim., 1. 'iv., c. 53- Socrates Dom. Maurice (Hist. deBretagne,l.i.); (Ecc. Hist., 1. v., c! 25). also De Petigny, t. i,, p. 2'Ao, Chap. VII.] EOMAN GAUL. 185 Arbogast makc3 complice, to the imperial crown, so that the com- a new emperor. ]j[yyQ^ baibaric and pagan rule was once more tri- umphant in Gaul.^ It enjoyed only a momentary triumph; for the emperor of the East, with a numerous body of Goths, Arabs, and Iberians, defeated the Gauls and Germans who maintained the cause of the usurpers, and the whole Koman world returned, during a transient interval, to a single and uni- Tiieodosius tary rcio'n (A.D. 39-1)." A strone; head and a strong sole emperor, it^^-,,/ ^ n "o D A.D. 394. hand were again at the centre oi power, ragan Kome drooped and fainted, while the barbarians lay quiet and gorged in the lairs which the imperial benignity or imperial fear had furnished them, and Catholic Rome sprang upon its feet. Paganism drooped and fainted because these last emperors had Tiie official flup- inflicted upon it many staggering and fatal blows, ganism. ' Thc strokcs came gradually, but none the less surely for the end. Valentinian, of whom it is told that he scornfully refused to sacrifice under Julian, evinced, nevertheless, a just and equitable disposition toward the two worships. The proper- ties of the temples, carried off and sold under earlier reigns, and restored by Julian, he adjudged to the private domains of the emperors ; but, as a compensation, he granted to the pagan pon- tiffs an exemption from the curial charges, which the Christian clergy already enjoyed, and, together with it, other immunities.^ In the East, also, Yalens confirmed the liberty of conscience. A zealous Arian, he incurred the reproaches of the orthodox, who called him "a satellite of impiety,"* although no decisive acts of his are authentically alleged to justify the imputation.^ In their pursuit of the diviners, astrologers, and workers of magic, who then infested society in great multitudes, and despite the ferocious and inquisitorial cruelties which marked the process, both emperors rendered an essential service to Christianity. Those pernicious charlatans, enemies of the human reason, whose dark and forbidden practices penetrated every circle, '■ Sozomen, 1. vii., c. 22. ^ The story that he caused eighty ^ Soc, 1. v., f. 24 ; Philostorg., 1. ii., Catholic ecclesiastics to be sunk or c. 2; Theod., v., 24, 2~> ; Oros., Aii., burned in a ship, though circumstan- 27. tially related by Socrates, II. E., iv., 16, ^ Beugnot (Hist, de la Destruct. du and by Sozomen, H. E., iv., 24, does not Pag., t. i., 1. v., c. 1). seem to be probable. Milman (Hist. * St. Augustine, vii., 118. Christ., p. 369). 186 KOMAN GAUL. [Book II. and sometimes deepened the inveterate immorality of an effete world, belonged, for the most part,^ to the heathen classes. Their mystic rites were more or less bound up with the doc- trines and ceremonies of the old rehgion ; false divination and the ordinary auguries were easily confounded ; and the blows of persecution and fury which suppressed or scattered the one palsied the other with terror. Yet the Christians were too much absorbed in their own fierce wrangles to reap all the ad- vantage which they might else have done from these propitious incidents. Gratian, a Christian by name and descent, had yet been edu- Gratian at catcd uudcr the half-hcathcn poet Ausonius, and dur- toward°^the ^^^g *^® '^^^^ ycars of his reign preserved the impartial pagans. policy of his immediate predecessors. He conformed to the oflticial usages which the pagan traditions required of him ; he even deified his father, and somewhat gratefully ac- cepted the incense which the pagan rhetors waved beneath his nostrils. He sought, at the same time, to compose the dissen- sions of the various Christian sects, and to promote, by his coun- tenance and his laws, the progress of the Christian morals. The years A.D. 381-2 witnessed a change. As yet, though chaBges Ms ^^^ Christians had conquered tolerance and privi- poiicy. leges, though the emperors and their supple courtiers had quitted the ancient shrines, the sacrifices still smoked on the altars, the statues stood in the senate-house and the pub- lic place, the pompous processions in the great city wound around the hill where the Capitol, with its fifty temples, sym- boled the majesty of the tutelary gods, and the emperors, the keystone of the splendid arch of the constitutional hierarchy, wore the supreme pontifical robes. But Gratian was a youth, weak and irresolute, swaj^ed alternately by the barbaric of&- cers of his court and by the aspiring priests of the Church. One inflexible and imperious spirit alone could hold his waver- ing will to its mark. It was Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. A son of the praetorian prrefect of the Gauls, ravished from his civic employments by the friendly violence of the populace 1 Beugnot (Hist, de la Destnict. du quite as superstitious, in respect to sor- Paganisme, t. i., p. 254) shows that the tileges and the maleficent inteiTcntion lower classes of the Christians were of demons, as the Pagans. Chap. VII.] ROMAN GAUL. 187 "while seeking to quell a church tumult at Milan, he was raised ' to the episcopal see of that important city before he was yet a declared Christian. His activity, courage, and practical talent in his new sphere soon made him the foremost man in Italy, if not of all the West.^ Under the ascendency of his superior and masculine mind, Gratian, when summoned from Gaul by the Senate of Eome to assume the supreme pontificate, dis- dainfully rejected this seeming connivance with idolatry.^ His refusal smote the Koman party with painful dismay ; but when he added to this unfriendly reluctance to engage in the old worship an act of positive hostility — when he caused the statue of Victory to be dragged ignominiously from its place in the senate-house, they were consternated and horror-stricken. In vain the pious Prietextatus and the eloquent Symmachus plead for the restoration of a monument hallowed by the associa- tions of so many centuries of power and glory f the stern will, the subtle logic, the biting irony of Ambrose stood behind the purposes of the young emperor like an irresistible fate. Nor was this first outward aggression the last; in a little while a sweeping edict confiscated the properties and abrogated the privileges of the priesthood, and reduced them from the dig- nity of a public and national order to the rank of a private and undistinguished class.* Even the vestal virgins, whose sa- cred flame had burned since the earliest ages of the Eepublic, were stripped of their prerogatives, and abandoned, disconsolate and dishonored, to the cruel mockeries of Christian pride. ^ Theodosius, on his side, needed no Ambrose to spur him on Sacrifices for- ^^ the work of extirpating the vestiges of official bidden. polytheism. A Spaniard, a soldier, and a Christian, cherishing few if any attachments to the ancient faith, his own convictions and impulses spontaneously seconded the designs of his colleague. A law of 881 forbade the return of Chris- tians to idolatry, which seems still to have had its seductions ; another, of 385, prohibited auguries; a third, of 891, condemn- ed the governors of provinces who should enter the temples, 1 Vit. St. Amb., p. 3*. Amb. * Cod. Theodos., 1. xvi., t. 10, 20. Epist., xxi., p. 865. ^ S^nnmachus, Epist., x., Gl. Mil- - Zosimiis, iv., 36. man, Hist. Christ., b. iii,, c. 8. 3 Ambros. Epist., 17, 18. 188 EOMAN GAUL. [Book H. and interdicted all secret saciifices ; and others, again, of later date, took away the public joroperty by which the priests were supported, and threatened immolations of every kind with the penalty of death.^ Thus a religion which for a thousand years had been one with the state, received a decree of final divorce, and was compelled to find a solace for its pubhc disgrace in the secret condolences and renewed devotions of its private friends.^ Nor did Theodosius restrict his exterminating zeal to the fol- Heresy shares lowcrs of thc aucicut doctriucs. Hcrcsy and idolatry ganSm ''aS.' wcrc, iu his view, kindred and equally pernicious er- ^^^' rors; and the same unaccommodating sword smote the disciples of Julian and of Arius. For forty years the Arians had possessed the churches of Constantinople ; they ministered in all the churches of the East save that of Jerusalem f when Theodosius, in concert with Gratian and Yalentinian II., de- creed their expulsion from the buildings which they had so long possessed, branded them ''with the infamous name of her- etics," and established "the religion taught by St. Peter to the Eomans," as the only legal as well as the true Catholic faith.* The religion of the whole Eoman world, says Milman, was en- acted by two feeble boys and a rude Spanish soldier.^ Theo- dosius, however, lived but four months after his defeat of Eu- genius and Arbogast (A.D. 895), and he was the last monarch who united the East and West under a single rule. A long period of revolution, calamity, and decay began with his death, for the tottering thrones were occupied by mere puppet emper- ors, and behind them stalked the huge and heroic figures of the great German chiefs. ^ Cod. Theodos., lib. xvi., tit. 10, tinned to be worshiped at Rome, and n. 10-12. Beugnot (t. i., 1. 8, c. 2) of the various extant festivals in their shoAvs, however, that the most of these honor, edicts did not take effect in thc West. ^ gozomen, H. E., ^^i. 2. - Beugnot (vhi svp.) has an inter- * Cod. Theodos., xvi., 1 2. cstiug account of the deities which con- ^ Hist. Christ,, b. iii. c. 9 p. 389. Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 189 CHAPTER Vni. The Condition of Gaul toward the Close of the Roman Domination. 1 HAVE considered that a few words upon tlie state of Ro- man society in Graul during the end of the fourth and the be- ginning of the fifth centuries might be useful in showing not only the effects of four hundred years of Roman rule, but how far it had prepared the province to resist or to receive the in- cursions of the Teutons. I must advertise the reader, however, that the inquiry is an obscure one, which will afford many in- teresting, though not alwaj^s certain results. After the era of Constantine the Empire of the West was di- L The political vidcd iuto two pr^efccturcs, that of Italy and that adnilXtraUoa ^f Gaul. Thc latter comprised three dioceses — Gaul of Gaul. proper, Spain, and Britain. The diocese of Gaul was again divided into seventeen provinces, of which six were called consular and eleven pra^sidial.-^ Subordinate to the provinces were the civitates or states, one hundred and fifteen in number, consisting of one or more cities each, having rural districts attached called ^x/f//, or cantons." At the head of the prrefecture of Gaul stood the Prsetorian prrcfect, whose residence was at Treves ; at the head of the diocese a vice-pra3fect or vicar, who resided at Aries ; and at the head of each province was a governor, named either a consular or a president;^ while each civitas had its senate or curia^ a kind of local assembly to be hereafter described.* * Tlie consular provinces were Lug- ^ Sometimes the prKsidial pro'^nnces duneusis 1st ; Viennensis, Germania, were governed by rectors (ixciores) or Superior and Inferior, and Belgica 1 st judges (judices). and 2d ; the others were Lugdunensis * In these and other statements of 2d and 3d, Lugdunensis Senonensis, this chapter my guides are the NotHki Narbonensis 1st and 2d, Aquitania 1st Dignitatum Imperii Romani in Dubos and 2d, Alpcs Maritima', Ali)cs Pen- (Hist. Critique de la Monarchie Fran- ninjE, Novempopulania, and Sequanen- (jaise, t. i., liv. 2) ; Fauriel (Hist, de la sis. Gaule Mtridionale, t. i., c. 10, ed. Par- 2 Below the ;?«//', fvg«"iin, were the is, 1880); and Guizot (Hist, de la Civ- townships or villages (yici). ilisation, t. i., ley. 2). 190 ROMAN GAUL. I~Book II. These functionaries were, in their various degrees, represent- officersand ativcs of the emperor, charged with the management tkSs. ^"'"'' of the interests of the central government, the disposal of the public domain, the collection of taxes, the regulation of the imperial posts, and the whole civil and criminal jurisdic- tion, except in certain minor and ecclesiastical cases. In their relations to each other they possessed no co-ordinate or inde- pendent powers; they were arranged in strict hierarchy, the lower being controlled by the higher, and the whole by the emperor, who possessed an absolute right to appoint or depose at his own will. For a subject, there was no appeal in cases of malfeasance except to the emperor, and then chiefly through the ofl&cers by whom he was personated. The scheme, in short, was an administrative despotism, in which every function grav- itated toward the centre, and there was little or nothing of lo- cal limitation or life.-' Some allusions are made in the contemporary authorities to General as- dlcts or gcucral asscmblics of the provinces, to which sembiies. (Jeputics wcrc scut by the cities, to deliberate on the common affairs; but they seem to have been occasional rather than regular, summoned either by a special edict of the em- peror, or by some local or pressing emergency, which compelled or allowed the districts to act for themselves. Under the ancient system of the Gauls these diets had been a favorite and nsual method of legislation, and had probably been continued under the earlier emperors, until, superseded by the more rigorous methods of despotism, they had gradually fallen into desuetude.^ When Honorius endeavored to revive them, at a period of uni- versal distress and despair (A.D. 418), the Gauls manifested no eagerness to recover an institution which had lost its vitality. And, in fact, it would be dif&cult to conceive, if these assem- ^ The salaries of these functionaries non possent,^^ facts which throw consid- were paid partly in coin and partly in erable light upon the inactive state of kind, each governor of a province, says commercial relations, the imperfect cir- Guizot, receiving twenty pounds of sil- culating medium, as well as upon the vcr and one hundred ]>ieccs of gold, nioral sentiments of the empire and the six pitchers of wine, two mules, two time. horses, two state suits, one common ~ Certainly up to the era of Titus, suit, a cook, a muleteer, and, lastly (the Abbe le Boeuf (Mem. de I'Acjid. des detail is too characteristic to be omit- Inscript., t. xxxii.). ted), a, concubine, '■'■quod sine his esse Chap. VIII.] EOMAN GAUL. 191 blies differed from ttie councils which the pr^efects, the vicars, and the presidents often convoked from among the more nota- ble citizens of their circumscriptions, to consult and advise upon determinate questions of public moment, what functions they could have exercised, or to what extent their acts were invest- ed with authority. A government arranged as the Eoman government was, in which every thing hung upon the execu- tive will, could have no need or place for subordinate deliber- ative bodies.^ Municipal assemblies, nevertheless, still subsisted which had The curia?, oucc fomicd a prime and essential element in the polit- ical constitution of Eome, and were destined, also, long to sur- vive the decay of other elements, as well as the disturbing and destructive effects of the barbaric conquest. These were the curice^ or local councils of the several cities, composed of certain citizens of each district, and servmg as the intermediate organs between the imperial authorities and the great body of subjects. The ancient distinctions between the municipia, derived from their enjoyment of the Roman, the Latin, and the Italic rights, as they were named, had disappeared under the more uniform organization introduced by the emperors, and the states of Gaul were fundamentally the same in their internal structure and privileges.^ All the cities and many villages (vici) had their curiccj among which there was no gradation of rank, although in later times the more important assumed a degree of prece- dence as to dignity, if not authority.^ The local powers and duties of these curios are nowhere reg- Their powers ^darly defined; and, indeed, they experienced many and duties, ^j^angcs iu the long course of the empire ; but they are known to have included, (1) the regulation of the ceremonies and festivals of religion ; (2) the care and disposal of the local properties and revenues ; (3) the criminal police or preservation of order; (4) and the exercise of inferior judicial functions in cases pertaining to the public health, weights and measures, ' Sec, however, Dubos (Hist. Crit., " Von Savigny (Hist, of Roman t. i., 1. i., c. 4), who is disposed to as- Law, vol. i., c. 2, p. 53, ed. Edinburgh, cribe not only an existence, but some 1829). dignity to these provincial legislatures. ^ Von Savigny, pp. 59-60. De Curson, also (Hist, des Peup. Bret., t. i., p. 128), to the same effect. 192 EOMAN GAUL. [Book II. markets, and voluntary transactions between citizens, in wbicli the value involved was only of a determinate amount. But, over and above these local responsibilities, the curi^ were charged with the collection of the imperial taxes, for which they were made answerable whenever they failed to levy and for- ward the full amount to the governors of the provinces. They might be called upon also, by the military commanders, to raise recruits when the exigencies of the army required them, to fur- nish horses and equipages to the judges of the districts, and oth- er civic and military officers who traveled at the expense of the state, and to execute generally the orders of the prsefects and presidents which related to public affairs. All the inhabitants of a ci vitas who possessed twenty -five acres {jugera) of land were members of the curia, and were variously denominated curiales, decuriones, and sometimes senatores. The first man on the roll of the curials was the principal {jxrinci^xdis)^ who presided over the assemblies, directed the city business, and held his place for life, or at least for fifteen years, which was, for the most part, equivalent to a life-tenure.-^ Their official support and expenses were derived from the domains of the district, which were farm- ed out to individuals, from any money-capital they may have possessed, and from certain tolls imposed upon the entrance and consumption of commodities into the towns, similar to the oc- troi duties of modern France. In their original constitution and form these mimicipal bodies Their decadence, eujoyed a Considerable dignity and freedom: they had been founded in a regard for national usages, and to give scope and respectability to the local life and ambition. They were free assemblies, which chose their own officers, deliberated upon measures of public concern, and whose members were dis- tinguished by some honorable privileges and exemptions. The despotism of the earlier Ccesars, so fatal to the rights of the Sen- ate and to tho liberties of the people of the city of Rome, was yet, in important respects, favorable to the jDrogress and ele- vation of these local governments. When, as under the Re- ^ Von Savigny (nhi s^ip.), who con- Fauriel gives many reasons for ques- tends that there were no proper magis- tioniiig this assertion. See his discus- trates in the atricc, no duumvirs, qua- sion (lli.st. de la Gaul. Merid,, t. i,, c. tuorvirs, ])ra?tors, a?diles, etc., as there 10, p. 300). had been in the Italian municipia ; but Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 193 public, which Guizot has clearly shown, ^ political citizenship could only be exercised in Eome, the minor towns were deprived of their principal citizens. The chief men of the municipia re- paired to the centre to take part in the government of the world, either by voting in the comitia or discharging great public func- tions, while the localities were neglected. But after the comitia, or the assemblages for popular suffrage at Eome, had been abol- ished by the emperors, and there was no longer any interven- tion of the citizens in the central management, the persons whom Eome lost returned to the towns. The wealthy and influential classes, excluded from power, directed their attention and abil-* ities spontaneously to local influence ; and they raised it in dig- nity and importance. But as the municipal rights were shield- ed by no political guaranty — as they were liable at any time to the intervention of the emperors, and to the arbitrary exactions of the provincial governors, they began gradually to succumb to the encroachments of an overpowering centralism. The business of the curials degenerated into the most grievous of servitudes, in the discharge of which, as they became more and more the instruments and the victims of the central oppression, so they incurred more and more the aversion and hatred of their fellow-subjects.^ Yet there grew out of these central oppres- sions certain elective officers — the defensores civitaiis- — whose duty it was to interpose between authority and the people, and who, after the middle of the fourth century (A.D. 365), when they were chosen from among the Christian bishops mainly, justified their name. Selected outside of the curia by an as- semblage of citizens, decuriones and common people, the defen- sor was at first a simple popular attorney, but he rose by degrees into a magistrate of the curia, and he ended by becoming its chief, possessed of ample judicial powers both in civil and crim- inal cases. The social divisions or classes of people in Gaul correspond- n. The classes cd for the most part to the political arrangements. of civic society -p, -, . .^^^^^.. in Gaul. in otucr words, there were imperial and local digm- ^ Essais, i., pp. 9-11. He extends ' See post, p. 195, when I shall hare the flourishing time of the municipia to occasion to speak of the social condi- the era of Diocletian (A.D. 284), which tion of the curials. gives them three centuries of effective existence. N 194 EOMAN GAUL. [Book II. taries, who formed a kind of higher class, superimposed upon the ordinary people, and the several varieties of servile labor- ers. Strictly speaking, indeed, no regular aristocratic order ex- isted — no order endowed with distinct, exclusive, and independ- ent political powers — for the imperial despotism had leveled all distinctions incompatible with its own sovereign supremacy, al- though there were nobles, or, rather, notables, who assumed a position of superior rank and honor. First among these were the senatorials, or the families whose The senatoriaia. membcrs had cujoycd the consideration of a seat in ^the Eoman Senate.^ "The emperors, who filled up that senate just as they pleased, used to recruit it from the provinces with members of the most distinguished houses. Those who had occupied high local of&ces, who, for instance, had acted as pro- vincial governors, were entitled to expect a seat in the Eoman Senate : at a later period the same favor was granted to persons who had been nominated to certain honorary charges ; and ul- timately the possession of a mere title, that of darissimus^ con- ferred in the same way that the title of baron or count is now, was sufficient to give its holder a seat in the Senate."^ Under this Eoman designation, then, we meet once more the Gallic chieftains — descendants of the old heads of clans and of fathers of families — who have changed their dress, their language, their manners, and their usages, but are still the natural and hered- itary leaders of the people. Their prerogatives by the Eoman law were few and unimportant, such as the title itself, the right to be tried for offenses by a peculiar tribunal, exemption from municipal duties, and from the application of torture as a pun- ishment ; and, as they might at any time be deposed by the emperors, while they exercised no magisterial functions, they were an idle and ornamental rather than active class, whose in- fluence arose from their patrimonial wealth and their connection with the ancient native chieftaincies.^ The second superior class consisted of the decuriones or cu- Tiie decuriones. rials, of whom I havc before spoken, comprising all ^ Not to be confounded with the mu- " Guizot (Hist, de la Civ. en France, nicipal senators, or decurions. For a t. i., le^. 2). dissertation on this, however, see (ate- ^ g^^, Ducange (Gloss, in vo. Sena- moires dc TAcademie Celtique, t. i., p. tores, t. vi., p 35G). 322). Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 195 tliose inhabitants of towns who, either by birth or nomination, were members of a municipal college. The duties which they performed had been in their origin of a high and desirable character ; they managed and defended the interests of the cities, many of which were both populous and opulent ; and they were recognized by the laws as the first order among the citizens — a kind of upper bourgeoisie^ as the French would say. But when the progress of fiscal tyranny had almost sapped the vigor of society, the decuriones, as we have seen, being held jointly responsible for the taxation, became the veriest slaves of the empire. Responsible jointly for the taxes, they were, by the same token, responsible for their colleagues and their suc- cessors ; their estates were made the securities of the imperial dues ; and if any estate was abandoned by its proprietor, they were compelled to occupy it, and meet the imposts exigible from it. Yet they could not relinquish their offices ; they could not leave the city except by stealth ; they could not enter the army, or the priesthood, or any office which might relieve them from municipal functions. If they fled, or engaged surrepti- tiously in any privileged employment, they were pursued like criminals and brought back, and no friend could harbor the fu- gitive without exposing himself to the severest penalties. Even the children of the curial were adscribed to his functions, and could en2:a2:e in no course of life inconsistent with the onerous and intolerable duty. In short, this dignity was so much ab- horred, that the lowest plebeian shunned admission to it, the members of it made themselves bondmen, married slave-women, or joined the barbaric hordes in order to escape it; and male- factors, Jews, and heretics were sometimes condemned to it, as an appropriate penalty for their offenses.^ Nothing more decisive- ly exhibits the complete decay and overturn of internal gov- ernment than the multitudinous provisions of the codes to reg- ulate, to restrain, to relieve, to catch, to vex, and to torment this unhappy order of legislators and magistrates.^ In most com- munities the honors of office are objects of keen desire ; and what, then, must have been the condition of a society, as Sismondi pertinently asks, "in which death was denounced against who- ^ Von Savigny (uhi sup., p. 24). " See, also, my remarks on p. 166. 196 ROMAN GAUL. [Book H. ever should conceal a magistrate trying to get rid of liis mag- istracy?"^ The third class in the GaUic community consisted of the peo- The common pl^, propcrly SO Called, and was divided into the me- people. chanics or free artisans of the towns, and the small possessors of land in the country, whose property was not suf- ficient to qualify them for entrance into the curia.^ In the larger cities the industrial population was often numerous ; it was organized, in imitation of the iisages of the ancient repub- lic, into corporations of the different trades; and there were colleges of carpenters, masons, smiths, mechanicians, workers in marble, gold, and brass, of perfumers, carders, weavei^, dyers, shoemakers, and of mariners and merchants. These were recog- nized by the law, to a certain extent, as a distinct order, having in their ordinary transactions the character of a civil person, and being arranged among themselves, on the model of the old political bodies, into centuries and decuries, with their respect- ive magistrates and dignitaries. But, in order to mark their plebeian origin, they were subjected to the necessity of ado-pi- ing patrons among the great or richer classes ; their productive- ness was paralyzed by the interferences of the laws, which pre- scribed the rates of wages and the prices of their products, and they found powerful competitors in the public factories main- tained by the government, and in the cheaper labor of slaves, while the inexorable fisc, from the clutches of which they had been originally exempt, found a way to fasten its talons upon their liberties. The workman fled his trade, as the curial did his honors, seeking an asylum even in the bosom of slavery ; yet the law recaptured him and bound him to it, and thus fet- tered the energies of free labor with heavier obligations even than fell upon servile labor.^ As to the small possessors in the country, they were few in number and wretched in condition. They had probably not been numerous under the old Gallic socialism of clans. Proper- ty, like power, was then in the hands of the principal chiefs, and the greater part of the actual cultivators of the soil were either • Hist. desrran9., t. i., p. 51. 3 Yoy authorities and details, see ^ Guizot (Hist, de la Civ. en France, Wallon (Hist, de rEsclavagc, t. iii., c. t. 1., lee. 2). 6, pp. 2-12-265). Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 197 slaves, or bondsmen, or small holders who worked in the joint interests of themselves and the lord. They were often op- pressed, as we know,^ by the chieftains, whose turbulent wars and riotous living wasted both the wealth and the lives of their followers, and yet the aggressions of these chieftains were com- pensated by the fact that they were the born leaders and friends of those followers. Patriarchs of the tribe, the hereditary heads of the clans, they lived on their rude estates on terms of intimate fellowship with their dependents, boon comjDanions in peace, and sharers of their excitements and dangers in war. When, however, the domination of Rome taught them the ideas and manners of the Roman, and they aspired to the stately dig- nities and luxurious indulgences of civilized patricians, they fled their simpler country homes to gather in the cities, the seats of munificence and fashion, where they lavished the products of their domains in costly ostentation. The tics between the different classes were thus broken; the chieftain became more and more an absentee and an aristocrat, whose prodigalities compelled him to multiply the burdens of his tenants, till there was scarcely a difference between them and the slaves ; while the few small 2:>roprietors, whom he had left behind him, either eaten up by the exactions of the tax-gatherer, or prostrated by the competition of the large estates with their droves of servile laborers, fell into abject poverty, or a forced dependence upon the rich. The same causes essentiallv, therefore, which, under the Republic, as I have before remarked, had depopulated the fairest districts of Italy, and smitten so much of the land with barrenness, turning prolific farms into parks, or pasturages, or wastes, and debasing the cultivators into serfs, had operated imder the Empire throughout the provinces, and were rapidly reducing them into deserts. The domains of the emperors were swollen into vast territories, in consequence of the abandonment of them by the owners, and it was in vain that they were as- signed to discharged soldiers, to barbarians, to whoever would occupy and cultivate them for two years, in indefeasible title.^ It would seem to have been more grievous to be the possessor ^ See chapter ii., pp. 41-43, ante. whose elaborate and exhaustive work I - On this whole suhject, see AVnllon could wish some of my young country- (Hist. do TEsclavage, livres 2d and ud), men would abridge or translate. 198 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. of property than the hired man or the serf of a wealthy and powerful proprietor. Yet the condition of the servile classes was not in itself de- The sei-viie sirablc ; in the Empire generally it had been improved classes. -^j ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^j circumstances, and it had been slightly mitigated, perhaps, by the benignant influences of Christianity ; but it was, nevertheless, the hard condition of a laborer in a worn-out and impoverished economy. I am doubt- ful, however, whether any substantial change had been effected among the rural population of Gaul in consequence of the Ro- man conquest.^ The slaves were still slaves, the bondsmen were still bondsmen, while the various old territorial vassals of the clans reappear in the Eoman terms colony {nqinUni] ad- scriptitu] agricolce^ rustia] etc., which describe the serfs of the soil, in their various relations.^ The colons were like certain slaves fixed to the glebe ; if they fled they could be seized and recovered by the master, who might chastise them for their of- fenses, while their children were compelled to follow their con- dition. But they could only be sold with the soil : they could not be expelled from their homes ; and the amount of service or rent required of them could not be augmented beyond the original stipulation. They were also assimilated to freemen in that they were the tributaries of the state, might marry freely in their own rank, and could possess property which their in- dustry had created over and above the revenues due from the lands to which they belonged. Thus, as Wallon says, they held to the condition of the slave without being of his kind and to the condition of the freeman without enjoying all his rights.^ That they were ignorant, debased, and wretched under the Eoman rule scarcely admits of doubt, although in the remoter districts of Gaul, and especially in Armorica, they long pre- served the simpler manners and customs of the primitive clans. Of the upper classes alone and their general manner of life ' De Curson (Hist, des Peup. Brc- a mitigation of ancient Plavcrv ; Guizot ton., t. i., p. 138 et seq.). (Hist, de la Civ., t. iii., p. 30D), who MVallon (Hist, de TEsclavagc, derives it from u more primitive and t. iii., p. 271 €t sefj.). natural social organization; and Wal- 3 On the origin of the colonat, see Ion (Hist, de I'Esclavage, t. iii., p. 381), Von Savigny (Ueber die Eomi.schen who refers it to the effect of the Roman Colonat, vi., 273, 320), who makes it administration. Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 199 m. Manners and havG tlie clocuments of the fourth and fifth centu- customa of the .-it • i i -n ^i j^ GaUo-Romang. TIGS Drought US any memorials/ ror tne most part, they were enormously rich, and devoted to a sumptuous and idle indulgence. They passed their days alternately in their fine city palaces and in their country villas, constructed in the Eoman fashion, amid the picturesque or grand scenes of nature. In the cities, which shone with all the pomp of monumental luxury,- they surrendered themselves to the mag- nificent and easy delights of the Roman civilization; in the morning, to crowds of clients, suitors, and flatterers; a little later, to the concourse and bustle of the formii ; at noon, to the siesta; in the evening, to the baths, the theatres, the sports of the gladiators, and to prodigal repasts, with their innumerable courses, their perfumes and flowers, their rhetors, and music, and dancing-girls.^ The same splendid and frivolous existence ^ Tliese are confined principally to witness. But, in becoming a bishop, the writings of SiJonius Apollonaris he did not lay aside completely the hab- and of Salvian, both of them belonging its and tastes of the rhetor and gramma- to the middle of the fifth centuiy. Si- rian, or even of the man of Avit and donius Avas born at Lyons in A.D. 430, pleasure. Ilis letters arc full of de- of one of the most considerable families clamatory artifices and imitations, but of the region ; he married into the fiim- are not without nerve and energy. He ily of Aa^Ius (aftem^ard emperor), also is well characterized by Ampere (Hist, one of the most considerable fiimilies of Litt., t. ii., cc. 8, 9). Auvergne. He was educated in all the Salvian was probably bom at Co- arts of the Romans, lived in the grand logne about A.D. 430, and educated at style of a Roman patrician, sometimes Treves ; but, driven away by an irrup- at his beautiful villa of Avitacum, near tion of the Franks, he took refuge in the shores of Lake Aidat, in Auvergne, Marseilles, where he became a priest, and sometimes at Rome, where he min- and wrote a treatise on Avarice, and a gled in political affairs. During an ir- remarkable work, De Gubervatione Dei. ruption of the Goths into Avernum he This was designed to "justify the Avays was seized and exiled, and afterward of God to man," particularly in per- spent some time at the court of the mitting the inroads and devastations of Gothic king Eurik. He wrote sound- the northern hordes. He is compelled ing panegyrics upon three emperors, to regard these as a just chastisement and a multitude of verselets, in the pe- of Roman corruption, and therefore culiar style of the times. But his most dAvells Avith an impetuous and stormy A'aluable Avorks for us Avere his Epistles, eloquence upon all the marks of degen- AAdiich furnish us many glimpses of the eracy in Roman society, interior life of the nobles and the bish- ^ Of the seA'enteen famous cities of ops. In his later years he renounced the Avorld which Ausonius enumerates all profane occupations, and Avas made (Ordo nobilium urbium), Aa'c belonged Bishop (A.D. 471) of Avernum, since to Gaul : they Avere Treves, Aries, Tou- Clermont. It is to be regretted that louse, Narbonnc, and Bordeaux, the his sacred duties caused him to relin- latter then celebrated for its Avines (in- quish a history of the inA-asion of Gaul signem bacco). by Attila, of which he had been an eye- ^ See De Champagny (Les Ce'sars, 200 BOMAN GAUL. [Book II. was often renewed in their rustic resorts, in those superb villas erected on the borders of a placid lake or a murmuring stream, at the foot of a charming hill planted with vines and olives, or on the summit of a mountain crowned with pines and oaks. These comprised every provision for comfort and enjoyment. They had their porticoes, their retreats {sacraria), their dining- halls, their baths, their museums, and their libraries. One part, sequestered and cool, was adapted to a summer sojourn, and another part, warmed by artificial heat, to the rigors of a winter residence. Sometimes these rural habitations were jDlaced on almost inaccessible heights, and fortified with walls, and towers, and ramparts, in the manner of the feudal castles of a later age. In times of insurrection or invasion they be- came places of refuge and security;^ but when no war threat- ened, their occupants divided the day between games, the chase, readings, equitation, sleep, the bath, the theatre, and supper. The libraries were commonly well supplied with books, and there the men discussed and chatted, canvassing the merit of writers, or hearing some rhetor repeat his last comedy or trifle of verse. The interior apartments were reserved for the women, who spun, and read, and gossiped. At supper, which was the great meal, the guests improvised verses, or sung, or listened to a choir of musicians, or diverted themselves with those imi- tative and picturesque dances, either graceful or voluptuous, which the Eomans had borrowed from the Greeks.^ Abandon- ed to these gayeties and festivals, we discern few traces of any serious occupation, or of any deep and absorbing general inter- est among them, although the age was a most stirring and ca- lamitous one, when the wild squadrons of Germany swept the plains, and the empire rocked and groaned like a vessel struck by the tempests. Yet we should be wrong in supposing that the nobles were t. ii., c. 3, § 2) for a full description of of the saloon glowing with the most a Roman day^ its occupations and en- beautiful painted and embroidered ta])- joyments. Sidonius (Epiet. ix., 13) estrics of Assyria and Persia. paints u feast given by a citizen of ^ See Sirmond's note ad Sid. ApoU., Aries, who was not particularly opu- Epist. v., 14. lent, in which he brings before us a - Fauriel (Hist, de la Gaule Meri- host of vigorous slaves bending beneath dionale, t i., pp. 388-390), wdiose au- the weight of silver dishes, the couches thorities arc the letters and verses of draped in richest purple, and the walls Sidonius. Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 201 all of this trivial and heedless character. Some, though rich and living in magnificence, were men of mind — philosophers, literati, and poets, who bestowed their time on books and their wealth on schools. Others engaged in political duties, acting as prefects, consuls, qutestors, interceding with the emperor in be- half of their countrymen against extortionate governors, resist- ing the tides of barbarian influx, negotiating with the barbaric chiefs to turn aside their wrath, or dispensing a generous char- ity to the needy and desolate.^ "I have lately visited Vectius," writes Sidonius, " an illustrious man, whose daily deportment I have observed, and I deem it worthy of remark. His whole house imitates the virtues of its master : the slaves are diligent, the colons submissive, his adherents devoted and satisfied. The same table suffices the patron and his clients. But to a great hospitality is joined a greater frugality. No one surpasses Vectius in his love for hound and hawk. He is exquisite in dress, exacting in cross-belts, magnificent in the caparison of his horses, but he is never a corrupter by his indulgences, never harsh in his severity, rather sombre than melancholy in his temperament. He often reads the Scriptures, especially at his repasts, partaking at once of the nutriment of the soul and of the body. He is a monk, not under the gown, but under the tunic of the warrior. A daughter, his only child, he rears, for the consolation of his widowerhood, with all the tenderuess and care of a mother, and all the goodness of a father. In speak- ing he does not chide, nor does he accept counsel disdainfully, nor eagerly seek out faults. He governs by the authority of reason, the steward rather than the master of his house." The emphasis with which Sidonius presents this example, however, and the fact that "he read the Scriptures," would seem to show that such characters were rather exceptional than common, and not often to be found outside of Christian influ- ences. It can not be doubted that the upper classes of Gallo-Eoman Extent to which soclcty spokc aud wrotc almost exclusively in the the Latin was _ . , , , . , used in Gaul. Latui language, though not, perhaps, ni the pure Latinity of Cicero or Horace. The invariable practice of the ^ Some instances are collected by Michclct in his first illustration to book second (Hist, de France, t. i.). 202 EOMAK GAUL. [Book II. Eomans was to impress their own speecli upon tlie inhabitants of those provinces which they conquered.^ Their laws were issued in Latin, and the magistrates interpreted and apphed them in Latin, and all official intercourse was carried on in Latin.^ Every provincial, therefore, who came in permanent relations with the government, or who aspired to intercourse with the dignitaries, and the frequenters of the court, learned the language of the court, and many, as we have already seen, cultivated it and the literature in which it was embodied.^ The priests performed their worship — the professors taught their sciences in Latin. "In southern Gaul," says Strabo, early in the first century, "a majority of the tribes make use of our speech."^ An epigrammatic poet boasts, at the end of the same century, that his books were in the hands of every one at Yienne.^ Nor is it difficult to conceive how two hundred years of active in- termixture with the provincials should have carried the language of Eome to all the cities in which the Eomans ruled. The great saints of the fourth and fifth centuries, we know — Hilary, Je- rome, Avitus, Sidonius — wrote Latin letters to the women of Gaul, and recommended to their familiar reading the various Latin authors.^ Nor was the use of it wholly confined, as some seem to suppose,'' to persons of the educated classes. The populations of the towns, living perpetually within ear-shot of the Eomans, must have soon acquired the dialect of their supe- riors ; and among the numerous other proofs of this, if there could be any doubt, there are two that may be deemed decisive. The sermons and homihes of the preachers of the fifth century, which it is obvious, from their tone and sentiment, were address- ed to the public of all classes, were spoken in Latin ; and the lesser dramatic pieces represented on the stage, the farces and buffooneries, as well as the popular songs, tinctured with the colors of the common domestic and low life, were in Latin.^ Yet the prevalence of the Latin had not, as others have assert- ^ St. August. (DeCmtat. Dei, xix., « Michelet (Hist, de France, t. i., ^)- ^. ^ ^.. . ^- i-, c. 4); Sid. Apoll., 1. ii.,' epist! Digest, 1. xlii., 1. 1. ; Valer. Max., 9. 1- "•» c. 2. 7 Michelet, ibid. ' See ante, b. ii., c. 5. ^ i^-^^^-.^i (jjig^ ^^ ^^ q,,^^^^ Merid., * Geog., 1. 111., c. 2. t. i., c. 10, pp. 43G-43S). ^ Martial, 1. vii., ep. 87. Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 203 ed,^ expelled the more ancient idioms. Greek was spoken by tlie populace of Aries in the fifth century, and probably by that of other cities which had once been subject to the influence of Massalia.- In the secluded rural districts, which the Eomans did not so much frequent, the native dialects were still heard. The Basque lingered among the gorges of the Pyrenees, as the Gallic did amid the inaccessible mountain tracts of Au- vergne, and the Kymric throughout Armorica. Sidonius com- pliments his brother-in-law, Ecdicius, for having persuaded the Arvernian nobles to the disuse of their rude provincial tongue. There was, moreover, in this respect a great difference between the south and the north of Gaul, and neither the customs, the manners, nor the speech of the Romans made rapid way or permanent impression beyond the Loire. ^ The studies of the cultivated classes comprised both Greek Literature and ^^~^^ Latin — the Grcck philosophy as it had been fil- Bcience. tcrcd through Roman minds, and the Roman juris- prudence, grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. Jurisprudence, for which the Roman intellect was so peculiarly apt, the Gauls had learned, and more than one professor was celebrated for his knowledge and skill. The Gallic genius, however, originally remarked for its copiousness and brilliancy {itbertas ei niior)^ be- took itself rather to rhetoric and the arts of elegant composition. Ausonius distinguishes thirty grammarians in the city of Bor- deaux alone ,•* and of the twelve works in the Panegyrici Vete- res, ten belong to Gaul.^ But unmistakable marks of decay and feebleness pervade all the intellectual efforts of this period. The philosophers were mere smatterers or dabblers in the re- mains of ancient thought, without original impulse or creative force.*^ The grammarians also drew their nutriment from the store-houses of the past, and were mostly vain pedants, critics, annotators, and compilers of synonyms and abridgments, far more arid, and a thousand times less learned and laborious, than ^ Stephens (Lectures on the Histoiy Introduct., c. 4). Bouquet (Rcceuil of France, p. 21, Harper's ed., 1852); des Hist., t. i., pref., § 4) asserts the also Bonamy (Mem. de I'Academie identity of the ancient Keltic and the dcs Inscript., t. xxiv., pp. 582-G03). modern Bas-Breton. - Acta St. Bened., t. i., no. 11, p. * Ordo Nobil. Urbium. GG2. ' Ampere (Hist. Litt., t. i., p. 193). ^ Compare Fauriel (1. c.) and De ^ Guizot (Hist, de la Civ. en France, Cm-son (Hist, des Peup. Breton, t. i., t. i., lee. 4). 204 EOMAIT GAUL. [Book II. a modern German professor. The rhetors flourished, but the old Gallic exuberance had passed over into inflation and bom- bast, and the old Gallic elegance into a mannered and affected brilliancy full of tinsel and false refinement. The acme of their performances was the panegyric, or formal address of praise to some emperor or powerful man, in which the invention of the declaimer tortured itself to find new surprises and stratagems of speech wherewith to express the basest adulations and flatter- ies. Yerse-makers there were then, but no poets; makers of jejune and imitative verses, dull descriptions of journeys or cities, rhymed dialogues, nuptial centos, epigrams, madrigals, and acrostics — such as in the modern vulgar phrase is denom- inated machine-poetry — trivial in theme, forced or curious in expression, and, though sometimes elegant, never beautiful. The epic had long since been entombed in the grave of Vir- gil ; tragedy and comedy had sunk to the farce, the dance, and the pantomime, and no genuine living enthusiasm kindled the lyric muse.^ Gaul, nevertheless, abounded in schools in which these arts were taught. At Treves, Lyons, Bordeaux, Tou- louse, Poitiers, Narbonne, Aries, Autun, Besan9on, Yienne, Mar- seilles, were famous establishments, some of them centuries old, to which considerable libraries and corporations of scribes or copyists were adjoined. The emperors lavished privileges and rewards upon the teachers, making them either counts, or prse- fects, or consuls, to stimulate their activity and zeal, and to raise them in public esteem.^ But the contemporary writers deplore alike the absence of scholars and the desuetude of vig- orous studies.* The atmosphere of despotism proved a me- phitic atmosphere for genius; a decrepit and corrupt society retained no relish for what was true, or good, or large in thought ; while, in the craziness of the political fortunes of the empire, hope expired, and the general mind lost the spur and the solace of noble endeavor. " "We are," writes a great poet — ""Wc are what suns, and winds, and waters make us; The mountains are our sponsors, and the rills Fashion and win their nurslinp; with their smiles. But where the land is dim from tyranny, ^ Comp. Fauriel {uhi sup., t. i., c. ^ Code Theodos., iii., 3, et xiii,, 3. 10). * Sid. ApolL, passim. ^ Guizot (Civ. en Prance, t. i., lee. 4), Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 205 There tiny pleasures occupy the place Of glories and of duties, as the feet Of fabled fairies, when the sun goes down, Trip o'er the grass where wrestlers strove by day. Then Justice, called the Eternal One above, Is more inconstant than the buoyant form That bursts into existence from the froth Of ever-varying Ocean : what is best Then becomes worst ; what loveliest, most deformed. The heart is hardest in the softest climes, The passions flourish, the affections die.'" The moral and social condition of Gaul, in the latter days of Moral and so- the Empire, confirm the words of the poet. In the ciiil conditioa Tin i-i- i--i of Gaul. shock of SO many thickenmg calamities, the pagan mind knew no refuge from the heavy burden of its woes but in the illusions of the passions. The same vicissitudes which drove the devotee to the cloister and the desert, drove the worldling to a riotous excess. An eminent modern painter has illustrated this aspect of the decline with equal skill and senti- ment.^ Beneath the blue skies of Italy, and in the court of a stately temple, through whose many-columned porticoes gleam the stern and solemn forms of antique statues, a motley group of revelers is gathered to a holiday of wanton and tumultuous merriment. On the floor lie broken vases and trailing vines ; their wan brows are girt with faded chaplets ; their languid bodies intertwine in every posture of voluptuous indulgence; and their looks are, by turns, reckless, haggard, frantic, oblivi- ous, as they drown the past, the present, and the future in ever-deepening draughts from cups of golden wine. Two no- ble figures alone, representatives of the old adorers of Jupiter, draw their mantles closely about them, and, with faces full of an inexpressible sorrow, gaze upon the orgie as if they felt that the prophecy of Eomulus was fulfilled, and the last vul- ture had flapped his ominous wing over twelve centuries of vanished glory. " Eome laughs," wrote Salvian, during this period, "laughs and dies. While the barbarians are invest- ing our cities, the inhabitants yield themselves to the transj^orts ' Walter Savage Landor (Hellenics, called La Decadence, in the Luxem- p. 274, London, 1847). bourg Gallery, Paris. ' Couture, in his fine composition, 206 ROMAN GAUL. [Book II. of the spectacles. The tumult of the battle without the walls mingles with the jDlaudits of the amphitheatre within; the shouts of debauchery and the cries of death are confounded, and the groans of the wounded are hardly to be distinguished from the clamors of the circus."^ '* "What country," again he asks, "more charming than these fertile provinces of Aquitain and ISTovem- populania ? All nature smiles in her abundance and beauty. Swelling vineyards, rich meadows, cultivated fields, murmuring fountains, gleaming rivers, and grateful shades, render it rather an image of j^aradise than an actual portion of Gaul. But how do men repay the bounties of beneficent Providence? Alas I they are the first in vice as in wealth. Nowhere is voluptuous- ness so unbridled, conduct so lax, life so impure. Nobles and others are all the same. The more opulent the city, the more universal the prostitution. Who regards conjugal faith ? Whose servants are not the mere instruments of his debauch- eries ? The Goths are chaste, the Vandals honest, the Franks hospitable, but we are steeped in every vice, every selfishness, every shame."" The disciples of the Christian school formed partially an ex- ly. The Chris- ceptlou. They were purer, on the whole, not only tian society. "becausc of the superior purity of their principles, but because their lives were more active. Organized as separate communities in the midst of the general society, and boasting a loftier morality, the double duty was laid upon them of main- taining a consistent example, and of pushing forward the con- quests of truth into the surrounding realms of darkness. Great themes and great objects kept their minds and hearts from stag- nating. Though not in the midst of the tempestuous contro- versies which stirred the ocean of Eastern thought, they yet felt the heaving of the waves as they broke along the western shores. The deadly struggle with heathenism, proselytizing zeal, the conflict of heresy, the agitation of new and stupendous questions of grace, free-will, predestination, the divine attributes, and Church power and discipline, started and kept ahve an in- cessant movement and eagerness. Thus the Christian atmos- phere was purified by its own storms. The prevailing tenden- cies of the Christian life, moreover, were not toward the laxity > De Gubernntione Dei, 1. vi., p. 210 = PmcI., 1. vii., passim. Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 207 and license of the heatlien world, but rather toward an extreme and over-rigid virtue. Many converts, doubtless, carried with them into the Church a strong tincture of their more ancient su- perstitions and practices ; many, indeed, were converts only in name, seduced by selfish motives into an outward conformity with the religion of the emperors, while inwardly unchanged and corrupt ; others, who had broken the bonds of habit by a convulsive effort, were always liable to relapse ; but the ascetic spirit of monasticism, partly as a consequence of the general laxity, was beginning to pervade more and more the whole Christian world. A leaven of the Gnostic and Manich93an heresies, themselves Monasticism. dcrivcd from earlier Indian rigors, working upon the acerbities of the Church — its aversion to simple human pleas- ures and the effusions of natural gayety — its mortifications of the body, and its growing depreciation of the domestic life, had gradually fermented into a dark humor for renouncing the com- merce of mankind. The contemplative life came to be regard- ed as the only one consistent with entire purity. Splendid ex- amples, as they were deemed, of pious hardihood — like those of the hermits Paul and Anthony — reproached the consciences and dazzled the fancies of the susceptible multitude. Emulous crowds broke in upon the scenes of their lonely and heroic tri- umphs. The caves and the deserts, the savage wood and the desolate mountain, swarmed with anchorets who abandoned the life of the world to enjoy in solitude and silence the higher life of the soul — a nearer vision of God. Sincere religious aspira- tions, or the consciousness of a guilt which could only be atoned by the severest self-punishments, were the motives of some ; re- pugnance to the prevalent depravity, or weariness of the vicis- situdes, of the persecutions, and of the agitations of a troubled existence, were the motives of others ; but the many were car- ried away by that contagious sympathy which sometimes seizes whole generations, we know not how. Individuals of every class, rich and poor, male and female, the polished and the ig- norant, fled their families, their estates, their friends, the of&ces, the amenities, and the amusements of social intercourse, to en- gage in the laborious spiritual exercises and the gloomy phys- ical austerities of the wilderness. Their food, herbs — their 208 ROMAN GAUL. [Book IL drink, water— their bed a mat of palms or the naked rock, tkey passed the days and the nights in alternations of angelic ecstasy or diabolic despair, struggling to extinguish the lusts of the flesh, even the desires of the mind, and to exorcise the myriads of enticing or pestering demons with which their sultry fancies peopled the desolation,^ The fertile and imaginative East, which had long been the Its rise and dif- cradlc of cvcry contemplative extravagance, saw the fusion. £j^.g^ fervors of this acrid and barren devotion. But from the spawning caves of the Thebaid, the wild rocks of Ni- tria, and the burning Syrian sands, it soon spread to the se- cluded islands of the Mediterranean, to the volcanic clefts of Italy, and to the frowning forests and shadowy mountain ranges of Gaul. A jealous demur on the part of a few of the clergy, and the undisguised hostility of the Koman rabble, could not arrest an enthusiasm inflamed by the ardent plaudits of Atha- nasius, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, and propagated by the still more ardent zeal of St. Martin. The monastery which he founded at Liguge^ led the way to many other foundations — to that of St. Faustin at Nimes, of St. Castor at Apt, of St. Victor at Marseilles, and of St. Honoratus at Lerins, one of the isles of Hy^res, the most celebrated of the age.^ But the monasticism of the West was of a different character from that of the East. Character of it ^hc coldcr climatc and colder temperament of men in the West. — ^^ Organizing and practical rather than a fervid or contemplative genius — tempered the spirit of asceticism by more active and social impulses. The coenobitic form of monk- ery prevailed over the eremitic,* although the deeds of Simeon Styhte did not want for an imitator even in Gaul.^ Commu- nities for labor, and prayer, and study, took the place of the darksome cave and the moaning woods. A corporate zeal be- ' Gieseler (Church Hist., vol. i., c. and CoHationes, the first great teacher 4-, pp. 95-97). and legislator of western monachism, = See p. 178, ante. elevates the anchoretic over the life in ' These were all established in the common, first part of the fifth ccnturv ; those of ^ In the forest of Ardennes a man St. Claude, in Tranche Comte, of Grig- named "Wulflilach raised a solitary pil- nj, in Vienne, and others, a little later, lar and stood upon it for years, like * Although Cassian, bom A.D. 350, Simeon on his solitary pillar near the founder of the Abbey of St. Victor at banks of the Euphrates (Ampere, Hist. Marseilles, and though his Institutiones Litt., t. i., p. 42G). Chap. VIII.] ROMAN GAUL. 209 gat the ambition for proselytizing, and, instead of lacerations and tears, or, rather, in spite of lacerations and tears, the monks emerged from their cells, they scoured the fields, they penetra- ted the cities, they dragged down the statues and temples of idolatry, they scattered the consternated worshipers of the an- cient faith, and they participated in the mobs which often de^ termined the quarrels of the prelates or the excellences of doc- trine.' As yet, however, the predominant leaders of the Gallic The bishops. Church wcre the bishops, not the monks. In earlier times they had been simple missionaries, Greeks or Italians, sent forth by the foreign churches to establish the faith in the desert. But after the planting of the monasteries, those centres of erudition and j^iety supplied both active pastors and vigorous polemics — St. Hilary, St. Eucher, St. Loup, St. Victor, and others. By the threefold claim to the respect of the people presented in their priestly, civic, and personal characters, the influence of the bishops jDenetrated to nearly every class, and affected nearly every interest of society. Amid the decay and lassitude of other social forces, their jiiower rose supreme, and invited the ambition of the great civic leaders. Many of the episcopal names of the period are those of opulent and noble Gallo-Roman families." Instructed in profane, though often ignorant of sa- cred literature, these brought to the Church little knowledge of doctrine, and sometimes a slender piety, but they contributed, instead, wealth, standing, leadership, knowledge of the world. They founded, endowed, and decorated churches ; they dis- tributed profuse alms ; they rallied the native population, and they resisted with stubborn skill the malice of the old Roman and the rudeness of the new barbarian. They assisted their order, moreover, in its access to civil authority, to the place of defensores in the curia, and to the exercise of magisterial pow- ers. How incessant their activity, in contrast with the inertia of others in the same social rank, we may learn from a single example : " St. Hilary," says Guizot, " arose in the morning early ; he ' Gicscler, vln sup., and Ncandcr ^ Fauriel (Hist, de la Gaule Merid., (Hist. Christ. Eelig., v. ii., pp. 227- t. i., pp. 403-405). 265 ). o 210 ROMAN GAUL. [Book 11. always lived in town : from tlie time that he arose, any one that wished to see him was received. He heard complaints, adjust- ed diflferences, j^erformed the office of justice of the peace. He afterward repaired to the church, performed service, preached, taught, sometimes many hours consecutively. Eeturned home, he took his repast, and, while this lasted, he heard some pious reading, or else dictated, and the people often entered freely and listened. He also performed manual labor, sometimes spinning for the poor, sometimes cultivating the fields of his church." Or else, it may be added, he performed long journeys to attend a synod or council ; corresponded with distant bish- ops — an Ambrose, a Jerome, or Augustine ; or visited the fa- mous monasteries and the sacred land of the East. The intellectual movement was more active than original or Christian lit- vigorous. Its topics wcrc new, and in their nature erature. niomcntous, whilc there was every motive in the cir- cumstances of the times to encourage the Christian writer to return to a simple and severe form of speech, in harmony with the substance of his message ; but it must be confessed that, in all that concerns taste, style, and manner, the ecclesiastics did not elevate themselves above the reigning methods. The same ambitious rhetoric, the same refinements of phraseology, the same affected elegance prevail in the homilies and sermons which we have remarked in the panegyric and the oration. In this re- spect the Latin Christianity differed very much from the Greek. I say Latin Christianity, because Christianity, like the legend Peculiarity of inscribcd on the cross of Christ in the Hebrew, Sn'^'christT Creek, and Latin tongues, seemed to be destined to anity. ^^^^g tlirough a Hebrew, Greek, and Latin form of expression. Ah^eady, in the primitive age, it had conquered, and, to a certain extent, adopted the Jews. In the following age of theological subtlety and debate, it had conquered and partly adopted the Greeks ; and, now that it had conquer- ed, it was striving to adopt the Eoman. It was still largely Grecian, both in spirit and form ; the first churches of the West, even that of the city of Rome, had been, as Milman ob- serves, merely Greek religious colonies ; their language was Greek, their organization Greek, their writers Greek, their scriptures Greek ; and many vestiges and traditions show that Chap. VIIL] ROiyiAN GAUL. 211 their ritual was Greek. ^ In Gaul, particularly, tlie Cliristians were chiefly settled in Greek cities, which owned Marseilles for their parent, and retained the Greek language as their vernacu- lar tongue. IrenaBus wrote in Greek; the account of the mar- tyrs of Lyons and Vienne was written in Greek ; and the use of the ancient Grecian Liturgy long survived in the Gallic churches.^ But, as the empire weakened and waned, as the ancient paganism recoiled, as the transfer of government to Byzantium left Italy and the provinces more independent, a Latin Christianity gradually arose to assume the vacated func- tions of both prince and priest in the veneration and hopes of the West. It supplanted not merely the religious ceremonials and feelings of the former faith, but, true to the genius of Rome, it endeavored to supply the defects of the government by a su- perior polity. The Greek Christianity had been speculative and controversial, aspiring, with a fearless confidence in the refine- ment and strength of the Greek mind and the inexhaustible copiousness of the Greek language, to the deepest mysteries of Deit}^, and to the primordial and insoluble questions which lie at the fountain-head of all philosophy and all religion. As a polity, it comprised a federation of religious republics, having many centres — Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Constantinople, and a hierarchy every where of equal power and clignit}^ On the other hand, the West possessed no Athanasius or Arius, no Gregories, or Basils, or Chrysostoms. Its prelates and synods had only re-echoed and confirmed with a tempered zeal the hot vociferations of the East. Its greater teachers, Tertullian, Cyp- rian, and the later Ambrose, lawyers, politicians, and rhetors, not philosophers, were less intent upon dogma than upon dis- cipline. It enjoyed, too, the peculiar advantage (an advantage for compactness, strength, and unity of movement) of a single capital — the paramount city of the Roman world — and an apos- tolic city in the estimation of the Christian world. The Latin Christianity, therefore, in its earliest aspects, presents itself to us rather as a polity than a doctrine, or as an institution, divinely ^ Milman (History of Latin Chri.s- of Grecian literature among the Latins, tianity, vol. i., c. i., j). 27, ed. London, see ]\Iilman's note on page 27, and 1S57). Fynes Clinton's Appendix to the Fasti ' Id., p. 28. As to the prevalence Jioinani, to which he refers. 212 EOMAN GAUL. [Book II. originated and autliomed, in whicli the spirit of truth, was to find perpetual incarnation. The theories which had long hov- ered through the Christian mind — as obscure and wavering in- stincts, if not as distinct thoughts— of a church which should be the inspired body of Christ, the perpetual keeper and inter- preter of the sacred records, the sole depository of supernatural power, the supreme dispenser of the divine grace, whose decis- ions unbarred the gates of hell and opened the portals of heav- en, took rapidly a visible substance and shape in the "West, which for so many centuries had been accustomed to look to the Eternal City as its nursing-mother, and guide, and crowning glory. Gaul, for the most part, accepted the doctrine and discipline of Kome. Pelagius, a monk of Brittany, raised a storm of con- troversy on the Augustinian theories of divine grace : Cassian and the monks of Marseilles long asserted a vigorous semipe- lagianism : Vigilantius, a native of Gaul, though a Spanish pres- byter, protested, like an early Luther, against the worship of martjrrs and relics, and the assumed merits of celibacy ; St. Yin- cent of Lerina admitted no authority in matters of faith but the unanimous teaching of the doctors ; and the impetuous St. Hilary, of Aries, bearded Pope Leo in his chair when he pre- tended to the spiritual domination of Gaul ; but, nevertheless, the more general sentiment of Gaul was uttered in the verse of St. Prosper of Aquitain when he said, " Kome, the see of St. Peter, made the head of the world in honor of the apostle, holds by its religion what it no longer possesses by its arms.'" ' Sede3 roraa Petri, quae pa storalis honoris Keligione tenet. — (Cited by Ampure, Hirft. Facta caput mundi, quidquid noa poasidet Litt., t, ii., p. 42.) arm is BOOK III. EOMAN-GEEMAN GAUL. / CHAPTER IX. The Old Teutonic World, and its Advances upon the Empire. Who were these Germans that now for so many years had harassed and threatened the emjDire? Were they wanderers from the East, or natives of the West? How long had their wild and shaggy multitudes roamed the deep forests of Europe ? And what and where were they during the distant centuries in which Phoenicia and Carthage were unfurling the sails of their commerce upon the seas, and Greece was beautifying the earth j and Rome was building up her colossal and iron despotism?^ These are questions, unfortunately, which history can not an- obpcurity of the swcr. Au impcrvious cloud overhangs the morn- Gei-man on^no.. -^^g ^^ ^^^ q|^| Tcutouic world." The polishcd in- habitants of the peninsulas, early made aware of its existence, felt too little interest in it to take the pains to inquire into the secrets of its dusky annals, or to describe the characteristics of ^ Menzcl (Ilistoiy of Germany, vol. far as they had any collective appella- i.j c. i., cd. Bohn). tion, it was Teuton, from the root tent, - Von Hammer (Wien Jahrbncli, or tlic people (Deutsche Grammatik, i., b. ii., s. 'M\)) refers the origin of the GoO). The hypothesis adopted by "Wirtli Germans to a Persian tribe mentioned (Die Geschichte der Deutschen, b. i.. by Herodotus (1. i., c. 15) under the s. 210, Stuttgard, ],sr.;'.) and others name Tfo/jariot ; but in some texts this traces the Goths to the Gcta?, ^vho dwelt word is Kapi^iamot, which renders it a on the borders of tlie Black Sea, and doubtful authority. Moreover, Tacitus Ilerodotus, Strabo, Solinus, Agathias, (Germania, c. 2) says expressly that the Procopius, and Jornandes are cited as tribes of the norlh and centre of Europe establishing the identity. Humboldt, had, in his time, been but recently call- indeed, says that Grimm, in a work ed Germans, and is confirmed by Strabo which I have not seen, clearly demon- (Geog., 1. vii.), who makes the name strates the fact (Cosmos, vol. ii., p. 140, of Eoman origin. They were called note). If the Goths were Geta?, then Geniiani, from germanus, brother, be- they were Thracians, for the Tkrai of cause they were the brothers of the Herodotus (1. iv., e. 1)3) and of Strabo Gauls, Other derivations of the word (1. vii., p. 204) are expressly said to are found in the Teutonic: ger^ lance, have belonged to the Thracian race, and viaim, man; or herr, army, and In the time of Herodotus (B.C. 450) inarm, both meaning a warrior ; or, the Getai occupied both sides of the again, clire, dignity, and viann. Some Danube, in what is now Bulg^iria, Bess- refer it even to the Kymric (jer, near, arabia, and Wallachia. There, ccrtain- and iiiaov, people — the neighbors. But ly, the Goths first appear prominently Grimm says that these tribes did not in histor}^ call themselves Germans, and that, so 216 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. its uncouth people. Amid the absorbing occupations of their cities, they heard of the wars and rumors of war among the wild tribes of the frontiers, as we now hear of the wars and rumors of war among the wilder tribes of Africa. Not until Historic sources, thc fiftj-seveuth jenT bcforc Christ, when the keen- eyed Ci-esar cast a few intrepid and searching glances into the darkness,^ did it seem to be unsettled, as if about to give place to the dawn ; but soon the volume rolled back, and for more than a century the Teutons were folded m heavy prime- val obscurity. Unknown and unrecorded, they waged their stormy battles with the wilderness and with each other. The exquisite genius of Tacitus, about the year A.D. 97, shed the first clear and steady light upon the various modes and meth- ods of their being. ILis masterly treatise of the Manners of the Germans is worthy of all honor and of all confidence.^ And yet, in spite of its singular combination of great comprehen- siveness with great precision, its brief twenty pages of mingled geography, ethnography, theology, politics, and narrative, are scarcely more than a prelude to the themes of which it treats. Into the deeper constitution and life of the Teutonic societies it does not guide us ; while the later Koman writers, benumbed by the terrors which the new and hostile attitude of the Ger- mans inspired, or rendered lax and credulous by the growing degeneracy of the Eoman mind, add little to the knowledge that he has imparted, or add it only to distort and to confuse.^ But in this deficiency of classic sources we are not aban- The law-books and doucd wholly to iguorancc or conjecture. The Norse poems. aucicnt Gcrmans have left some records of them- selves in those codes of barbaric law, which, compiled at a comparatively late era,^ are yet embodiments of immemorial ^ Ca'S. (De Bell. Gall., i., 36 et eca and Rousseau, a believer in a pris- seQQ., and vi., 2.'> ct seq^j.y tine state of human innocence (Annals, ^ Although Tacitus is always to be iii., 2."»). read with three thoughts in thc mind: ^ See the Augustan historians, pas- first, that his knowledge of the Germans, su)>. mainly derived from Roman officials, * The codes to which I refer are those related principally to those along the of the Salian and Ripaarian Franks, of Rhine ; second, that, in his aversion to the Saxons, thc Frisians, thc Visigoths, the degenerate manners of the Romans, and the Lombards. They wvve mainly he was disposed to overcolor the sim- compiled in the fifth and sixth ccntu- plicity and virtue of barbaric life ; and, rics, and are largely ingrafted with Ro- third, that he was by nature, like Sen- man and Christian elements, but it is Chap. IX.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 217 usages;^ and in those rude northern sagas, which express the deep rehgious feelings of the old Teutonic soul, and flash upon us from the darkness of the northern night many gleams of auroral light and splendor. ^ Early ethnography assigned to the Germans that part of Cen- The German area ^^^^ Europc which was bouudcd ou the south by and its people. ^^^ Dauubc, ou the wcst by the Ehine, on the north by the Baltic, and on the east, where they were vaguely blend- ed with the Sarmatians, or Schlaves, by "mountains and mu- tual fear."^ This was a wild and savage region of woods and marshes ; and the people who occupied it, in common with the bears, wolves, otters, bisons, and wild-boars, were divided into some fifty distinct and independent tribes. Their general re- semblances of complexion, language, habits, and institutions, denoted that they were of common origin. On the I\Iiddle Ehine, in what are now Nassau, Westphalia, and the Ehenish Provinces, dwelt the Tencteri, the Usippii, the Sicambri, and the Bructeri. The island at the mouth of that stream inclosed easy to distinguish these from the orig- liothek, cd. 1817), and as to the gencr- inal and truly barbaric features (Eicli- al i)rcvalcncc of the Asa-faith, or JScan- hom, Deutsche Staats und Rechts-Ges- dinavian mythology, over the whole of chichte, theil. i., seite. 105 ct seqq.). Germany and the North, see Jacob They are singularly conformed to the Grimm (Deutsche Mythologie, ed. Got- reports of Tacitus and of other classic tingen, 1844). What has been said by ■\mters ; so much so that Montesquieu Grote of the Homeric stories is true of observes, "In reading the law-books I these northcra myths, that, if not in fancy that I am reading Tacitus and themselves credentials of history, they Caesar, and in reading Tacitus and Ca;- are admirable pictures of the state of sar I fancy that I am reading tlie law- society and of men's conceptions of life books" (Esprit des Lois, 1. xxx., c. 2, at the time they were believed to be ed. Paris, 1818). My references will be true (Hist, of Greece, vol. ii., u. 20, chiefly to the collections of these codes Harper's ed., 1851). published by Canciani (Barbarorum ^ Tacitus, Germ., c. i. Mr. Latham, Leges AntiquLC, Venetis, 1781-1702), in his learned notes to the GeiTnania, and of Lindenbrog (Codex Legum An- argues tliat the Elbe was the eastern tiquarum, Frankfort, 1613). But, for boundary of the German area. Gat- the Salic laws, to the fine edition of Par- terer also (Weltgeschichte, p. 424) con- dessus (Loi Salicpie, etc., Paris, 1843) ; fines the southern boundary to the River and, for the Saxons, to J. M. Kemble Maine and the Bohemian mountains. (Codex Diplomaticus JExi Saxonici, On the other hand, Zeuss, Wirth, and London, 1839-1848). other erudite professors, would seem to ^ " Longa enim consuetudo pro lege push the original limits along nearly habetur," says the prologue to the Salic the whole line of the Danube. Wirth law. (Geschicht. des Dent., c. 9, Stuttgard, ^ On the antiquity and autlienticity 1853) and Zeuss (Die Deutschen und of the Edda, see J. P. Midler (Sagabib- DieNachbar-Stamme, Munchen, 1837). 218 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. the Bativi, wlio were, I think, a mixture of Gauls and Germans. Among the fenny districts of the sea-coast, in modern HoHand and Hanover, were the Frisii and the Chauci, or Hauken. The southern part of the peninsula of Eolstein, with the islets to the east of it, was occupied by the Saxones. The thick woods of the Hartz Mountains contained the Cheruski, southwest of whom, in Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Cassel, dwelt the Chatti, or Hassi ; and southwest of these again, in the subsequent De- cuiiiaks Arjri of the Romans, were the Suevi, or Suabs; while the northern bank of the Danube, between the Bohemian and Moravian mountains, was held by the Marcomanni, and the cast side of the Elbe by the Yindili, the Lygii, the Gothones, the Semnones, and the Eugii, who were mostly, j'^ei'haps, Sarma- tians.^ Of the Scandinavian branches the ancients knew little or nothing. Both Tacitus and Pliny^ made an attempt to classify these Classification trlbes iuto principal stocks, but not in a way which en- ofthetnbea. cy\y\Q^ ^g ^q clistribute them according to distinctions which exist among the modern Germans. If we could refer the iNGiEVONES of Tacitus, "who dwelt next to the ocean," to the Scandinavians and Frisians; his Hermiones, "who are in the centre," to the North Germans; and his ISTiEVONES, '' who oc- cujiy the remaining parts," to the South Germans, we should possess a division corresponding, in some degree, to actual dif- ferences of dialect and manners f but his characterizations are too vague to be made the basis of any sound historical deduc- tions. And Pliny, in adding to the Inga?vones, the Hermi- ones, and Istcevones of Tacitus the two other branches of the Yendili and Peucini, manifestly confounded Teutons with Schlaves and Lithuanians. ' See Lutliam's Gcrmania, passim ; dynasty of Yng-lings in Sweden ; and also hi-^ Races of the Russian Empire, an Infj, who was the first man among London, isr.-t. the Danes (Beowulf, 771) -787); and - Mor. Germ., c. 2; Plin., 1. iv., c. Askr is an Adam, or ]»rimitive man, in 28. the Eddaic mythology. Jr/nhi, also, in ^ Nothing is known of the origin or the old Norse dialects, has the sense of meaning of Tacitus's terms, Ingrevones, something most antiquated and voner- Istrevoncs, etc. ; but it may be conjee- able (Latham, p. 20.) The modem tured that /??7, Jst or Isk, and Innin German etymologies, such as iu-(/ewoh- or Ihrinav, were the names of heroic ner, dwelling in the interior, etc., are founders or patriarchs. There was a unsatisfactoiT. Chap. IX.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 219 The German was physically distinguished by his huge and Physical and robust bodv, his fierce blue eyes, his flaxen hair, and moral charac- i i • rm teristics. his TO Ugh guttural voice. The extenuate and scrofu- lous races of the south beheld his mass of superabundant animal life with some feeling of fear and wonder.^ Nor were his intel- lectual and moral qualities less muscular than his physical. A large complex brain surmounted, a broad, strong heart ani- mated, his lumpy, elephantine body. Like many other races in the same stage of social progress, the Germans were great lighters; they loved combat, adventures, robberies, and kill- ings; and their usual oath was "By the deck of the ship, by the riin of the shield, by the withers of the horse, and by the point of the sword."- Sometimes entire tribes left land and home to addict themselves to perpetual roving military expe- ditions.^ When a warrior escaped a famous slaughter he often hung himself in shame, and was universally branded with ig- nominy.'^ Such, indeed, was the exuberance of the northern valor that it occasionally boiled up into craziness {berserJjswulJi)^ when the subjects of it ate live coals,^ rushed naked into bat- tle, or slew, indiscriminately, both friend and foe.^ Their fa- vorite god was Thor, or Donar, who crushed thunder out of the skies with his fiery axe, and the future heaven they con- ceived of chiefly as a place where the valiant engaged in eter- nal alternations of fierce combats and drinkino-^bouts.'^ o But there were better and more distinctive qualities in the Germans than this warlike and truculent I'age. Tacitus says that " they had a sense they called honor, which led them to sac- rifice their lives rather than their words ;"^ they disdained strata- gems and disguises ; were neither stealthy nor subtle, and the\^ met their enemies, not with the secret knife, but hand to hand in the duel, or, if they met them when the latter were inferior in force, they waited till the chances might be equal. " We may • Tacit., Gei-m,, cc. 1-4; Seneca, ^ Depping (Hist, des Exjie'Jitions Deira, i., 11. Maritimes des Normands, p. 2:5, ed. ^ See the Heimskringla, translated Paris, 1843). by Laing, cd. London, 1844, ' Keyslcr (Religion of the North- ^ Tacit,, Germ,, c, 31. men, p, 93, New York, lsr»4). * Tacit., Germ., «.■. G. ** Germania, c. 24; also c. 22. ^ The protot}'pes unquestionably of our American " fire-eaters." 220 BOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. need lands to live on," said Boical, indignantly, to a Koman officer, who would have purchased his treachery by a grant of land, "but never a place to die in."^ The German also cher- ished an unusual affection and respect for woman, whom he made his companion rather than his slave. Though he bought the mund or power over his wife from her parents,"-^ he yet en- dowed her in her own right, made her the animating spirit of his home, allowed her to share in his enterprises, and, with a mystic religious feeling, invested her sex with something of a sacred and jDrescient character.^ The words of his weird Alru- nar, issuing from the solemn shadows of the woods, impressed him as oracles, and the fiercest warriors deemed that over every battle-field celestial maidens hovered to carry the souls of the worthy to an eternal joy.* In spite of his external ruggedness, therefore, his hard, reckless, brawny violence, there was in the German a vein of tender and chivalric sentiment, a play of kind- 1}^, Brobdignagian humor, and a susceptibility to superior in- fluences. When brought into contact with civilization he early learned to appreciate it; his rudest societies exhibited some strivings toward a just combination of freedom and order; and, if he adored the thunder-god in the skies, he also worshiped Baldur, the beautiful, in the secret groves. I do not, indeed, conceive it an extravagance to say that, in his earliest mani- festations, in his wild poems and rough laws, one finds the germs of his later Shakspeares, and Beethovens, and Crom wells — of that genius which has made his literature the richest in the world, and kept his sons, for a thousand years, on every throne of Europe. The religion of the Germans was an outgrowth of their man- Reiigionofthe ifoM, deep, and robust nature, modified by the in- Germans. flueucc of their cxtcmal condition. Coarser minds among them worshiped the cosmical forms and forces — trees and rocks, fire and frost, the living spring, the deep wood, the high mountain, the storms, and the stars. Of temples or altars they had few, situate chiefly in the awful gloom of forests, or on the bleak tops of hills,^ while they maintained no separate priesthood ^ Tacit. (Annal., 1. xiii., c. r,C>). nales, i., 59); Cajsar (Bello Gallico, ^ Sec posted for the Mund. \'i,^ 21). 2 Tacitus (Germania, viii., 18; An- * Edda of So2mund— the Volusiui. ^ Tacitus says the Germans had no Chap. IX.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 221 for their mysteries. The chiefs were the priests of the tribes, as the fathers were of the family/ who gathered omens from the flight of birds, from the entrails of beasts, from the dropping of twigs, from the neighing of milk-white horses, from the fall of breaking waters, and from the changes of the moon. They consulted sorcerers and sorceresses who traded with demons, whose weird incantations arrested the elements, and whose magic philtres charmed the senses and transformed men into brutes. Sacrifices of animals, and of human beings sometimes, mainly prisoners of war, were made in the midst of wild and noisy festivals.^ These doctrines and practices the German possessed, in com- mon with other heathen, as he did that higher j)olytheism which peopled the universe with multitudes of supernatural be- ings. His fancy was only, perhaps, more prolific than that of others in giants and dwarfs, in dragons and monsters, in white elves and black elves, in mermen and mermaids, in neckar and trolls, in ghosts and goblins. Every locality had for him its tutelary genius, every individual his guardian or his malignant spirit. But his peculiar superstition is to be sought in that circle of divinities and beliefs which has taken the name of the Asa- faith. It is supposed, by some, to have been a late exotic, brought by the warrior-priest, Odhinn, from the East, to Scan- dinavia, whence the seeds were scattered over the whole Teu- tonic soil.^ Later researches, however, show that it was rather an indigenous product, inspired by northern nature, and speak- ing the inmost northern heart.'^ Unlike the serene and beautiful myths which the lively Grecian fancy shaped beneath its fair blue skies, it was stormy and roaring, like the seas and woods of the north. It breathed of struggle and gloried in battle prowess. Chief among its gods were Odhinn, or Woden, the all-pervading, supreme ruler of gods and men, who received, in temples ; but our later information, ^ Grimm, Mythologie, passi/n. principally from Scandinavian sources, '•' Mallet (Northern Antiquities, p. would disprove this. 8ce Ozanam (Les 87, ed. Bohn, Lond., 1847). GeiTTiains avant les Christianisme, c. ^ See Grimm (Deutsche Mythologie, 2, Paris, 1847). passim), which throws much and often ' Tacit., Germ., c. 10. Compare unexpected light upon the Germanic Moser (Osnahruchesche Geschichte, b. forms of the Asa-doctrine. i. ; Einleit, §§ 8, and 27, 28). 222 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. the shield-roofed YalhaUa, the heroes slain in battle ; Thor, or Donar, the god of thunder and of strength, who fought perpetu- ally with the Trolls and the Jotuns ; and Tyr, or Tio, the in- spirer of wild courage, and the consecrator of glory and domin- ion.^ Connected with these were divinities of a milder tempera- ment ; Baldur, the beautiful, who made all things light, and com- forted the wretched ; Frey, the bland and good, Avho ruled over rain and sunshine, delivered the bondsmen from their chains, and distributed among men fruitful seasons, peace, and riches ; Bragi, of the flowing beard, god of poetry, whose wife, Induna, kept the apples of immortal life; and Freyja, the goddess of love and spring. Indeed, the wild play of the German's imag- ination had enlivened every realm of nature with gigantic and grotesque creations, while the profounder reaches of his thought had evolved a stupendous theory of nature, of man, and of d,eit3^ lie saw around him mystic primeval realms of light and darkness — fire worlds and mist worlds — which enveloped the round disk of the earth. On the one side, a golden-roofed palace, brighter than the sun, opened its portals to the good on the other stretched the Strand of the Dead, where the wick ed waded through venom streams, tormented by the dragon while from the one to the other reached the wonderful ash Yggdrasil — tree of life — at whose roots, nourished by perpet ual springs, the nornar sat dealing out the destinies of men.^ Nor was this vast and teeming mythology without hope of the future. It told of the origin of the world, of the propa- gation of evil, and of the long struggle between light and dark- ness ; but also of the final destruction of the present race of demioTjds and men, and of th(^ irlorious resurrection of the earth, ever green and fair, when Baldur the beautiful should return, when Nidhogg the dragon should slink into nothingness, bearing death on his wings, when there should be no more sorrow or trouble, and the Mighty One, "whose name is un- utterable," should come to establish forevermore a holy and blessed peace. ' Tdcitus imputes Boman names and = Kevsler fRcligion of theXorthmen, function'^ to these divinities, so that it translated 1iy Pennock, Ne^v York, is quite im]jossiblc to recognize tliem in 1854). his disguises. CuAP. IX.] KOMi\:N"-GERMAN GAUL. 223 The social constitution of tlie Germans, like that of the early Social constitu- Grrccks, EoHians, and Kelts, was a barbaric aristoc- *^*^°* i^acy, with some differences, of course, in each case.^ Agricultural and, for the most part, sedentar}^, the Germans had fixed habitations and an established order; yet they did not live in cities nor alloAV of contiguous settlements." The f.miily was the nucleus of the social aggregate, and included, besides the father, mother, children, and collateral relatives, the whole body of domestics, or slaves, and certain companions, or vas- sals, who were attached to it in a more or less dependent char- acter.^ All these were lield to be in the mund, or tutelage and authority of the chief of the family, and were bound together by the strictest ties of reciprocal pr<)tection and fidelity. As the chief had to answer for the ofienses of his dependents to •Others, so tliey w^ere obliged to defend his interests, to bear his burdens, and adopt his quarrels."* Nor could any one separate from the connection, save in the most formal manner and before mascistrates.^ The striking and peculiar feature of this family union^ was ^ Wliat i\Ir. Grotc ^vntes of the Ho- the question of tlie imity of the hniiian mcric Society (Hist. Greece, vol. ii., c. races, so do the affinities of institutions. 20) may be applied, to some extent, to Besides, I value the latter, inasmucli as the old Germans, as he shows by his they seem to indicate some unitary law numerous illustratory references to the which })resides over the formation and barl»aric codes. Niebuhr's account, also develn]jmcnt of all societies. (Lectures on Hist. Home, vol. i., pp. ^ Tacit. (Germ., c. Klj. 70-74), of the Romans just before the ^ Sec what I have said, in chapter time of Scrvius, furnishes many analo- second, «>f the Keltic Clan, and ]»artic- gics. Curson (Hist. Bretons, vol. i., ularly Lehueruu (Hist, des Institutions introd. 5) traces the most striking re- Me'rovingienncs, t. ii., cc. 1-11, ed. semblances between the social and ]i('- Paris, IS 13). litical institutions of the Kelts and the * INIundium, mund, mouth, or word, Germans (comp., also, my chap. ii.). meaning that the father spoke for the I find similarities, ton, in the early Az- rest, or was resjionsihle for them, his tec "civilization" as described by Pres- hoerigcn, or liearers. The Latin word cott (Conquest of Mexico, vol. i., b. i., r/icfis, from cluere, to liear or to obey, c. 2), although the author, comparing is given by Niebuhr (Rom. Hist., vol. this with developed feudalism, says they i., p. 10'., note. Am. ed., 1S44) as an are few and accidental. But the true analogue. point of comparison is with feudalism in ^ Lex Salica, tit. Gl. Com])are, its genns. Of course, as Mr. Prescott also, Lex Burgund., t. S'.). Lex A th el- says, it subsen'es no useful historical stani, t. 2, and others, going to show purpose to push these resemblances too the thorough solidarity of tlie family, far; yet, etlmographically and morally, ^ These fiimily-unions are the r/mfes I can not but regard them as important, cognatinnihusfjuc of Caesar (Bell. Gall., If the affinities of language bear upon vi., 22), and the famU'uc et projnnqui- 224 EOMAK-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. The companions the sjstem of companionage or fellowship, which re- or clansmen. quirecl evepj youth, as soon as he had donned his spear in the assembly of the warriors, to attach himself to some chief as a follower. The chief, whose adherents were numer- ous, accordingly as his reputation for wealth, courage, and ad- venture invested him with an attractive renown, considered them "his ornaments in peace, his bulwark in war." The en- gagement was free and the duties reciprocal. The companions, living upon the estate and bounty of the chief, lent him, in re- turn, the aid of their gallant services. Together they shared the hazards of the distant march, together joined in the revels of the bivouac, and together met the shock of battle — the com- panions striving for the praise of the chief, and the chief striv- ing for victory. As the result of the joint emprise, the one re- ceived "the warlike steed, the bloody and conquering spear," which was the gauge of his hdelity ; and the other the jilunder which multiplied his wealth, and the fame which increased his retinue. A relation so voluntary and devoted gave mobility to the society, and, doubtless, blossomed into generous friendships, but it bore none the less the bitter fruits of incessant private and public Avars. It was only by constant martial exercises that the sjDirit of the warriors could be kept alive and glowing. Frequent conquests and predatory expeditions were necessary to procure the means of subsisting such numerous and prod- igal hosts. Without the recurrence of opportunities for the display of prowess, the warmth of their adherence might cool ; and woe to the leader whose shield rusted, whose stores dimin- ished, whose glory paled ! His ascendency would then be lost, and the swarms of fervid and intrepid youth who had flocked to his banners would transfer their enthusiasm to another whose horns flowed with ruddier juices, and whose standard flamed in the front of bloodier onsets. The practical result of this organization of the martial band Distinctions of wlthiu the tribc must have been to gather the efifect- ciass. ^^g power of society in the hands of the most brave and adventurous. The peaceably disposed, individuals and fam- ilies, would be easily subjected by the warlike. Thus, Tacitus tatcs of Tacitus (Genu., c. 20); in va- inatcd sibschcaft, fara?, farimaimi, etc. rious German dialects they avltc denoni- See Lchuerou, uhi s?ij>., p. 8. Chap. IX.] EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 225 tells us how the Cherusci, who desired to cultivate repose and justice, were forcibly subdued by the restless and aspiring Catti ;^ and we find, moreover, in the early German union but two fun- damental divisions of class — the free and the unfree, or the lord and the dependent.^ The marks of the freeman were : free birth, or descent from parents who were free, the possession of landed property, exemption from labor and legal penalties, and the right to bear arms and take part in public affairs. On the other hand, the marks of the unfree were : ignoble descent, ex- clusion from the assemblies and the armies, and liability to la- bor and to punishment. Between the free and the unfree a broad line of separation was drawn, both in laws and customs, and even in dress and personal appearance.^ The freeman who ' Germ., c. 36. Von Savigny, and is more fully given ^ These classes, however, were sub- by Wirth (Geschichte des Deutschen, divided into many different grades of b. i.), namely, that freedom was in it- rank : the freemen into (1) the royal self privilege : that all the freemen rc- free, (2) the noble free, and (3) the garded themselves as nobles, and that common free; and the not-free into (1) there were two degrees of these nobles, freedmen, or emancipates, (2) serfs, or the upper and the lower, between whom, tenants of the glebe, and (3) slaves, even if we suppose their political stains All these are mentioned, directly or in- equal, there was a broad actual differ- directly, in , with Lex Sali- insufficient grounds, as I think. He ca, tit. xi., § 1; Lex Bajaw., tit. xv., was not a slave, who could be bought and § 6; Lex Frisionum Additio Sap., tit. sold bodily ; and he might possess mov- ix., §1; LexBurgundiomtm, tit. XXXV., able property; but he was still of the § 2 ; Lex Visigothorum, lib. iii., tit. 2, seiwile order (unless he had been a frec- c. 2. In the last tAvo laws the woman man and reduced himself to seiwitude is ordered to be slain. Grimm shows by his vices, and then he was considered that slavery was the hardest and cruel- in servitium v^qenuile ordine, which was est the farther back we go in German an exceptional case). Com]). Tacit., antiquity, and that it was Christianity c. 25, and the passages from the bar- which meliorated the hard fate of the baric laws collected by Pardessus. dependent (Deutsche Kechtsalterthu- '' LexFrision., tit. xx., § 3. mer, theil. i., s. 302). ® See the contemptuous tone in Chap. IX.] EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 227 Most distinguislied among the freemen were the royal or dy- The kings, nastlc famiHes, such as we shall meet hereafter in the Balthes among the Wisigoths, the Amals among the Ostrogoths, the Merowmgs among the Franks, the Aigilolfings among the Bavarians, etc., from which alone the sovereign kings might be chosen. The grounds of their eminence are hid under the hoar frosts of antiquity ; probably they were the brilhant deeds of some heroic ancestor, but pride and credulity traced them to the gods.^ Yet, beside the prerogative of furnishing the su- preme kings to the tribes, they enjoyed few advantages over the higher nobility." ISTor was this prerogative in itself im- portant. The right of the king was an inchoate right until he had been lifted on the shield by the warriors ; and his pow- er depended even then (especially among the northern races) more upon his j)ersonal qualities, his eloquence in council, and his bravery in war, than upon his hereditary pretensions.^ He presided among the wise men in the malls, and he might lead the armies to battle if he had the capacity; but other- wise the nobles chose a leader (dux, heretogh) from their own rank.* A few presents made his public revenue. When it chanced that the king possessed courage, activity, eloquence, strength — the qualities that moved the barbaric heart — then the vague religious associations which clustered about his birth- right, combined with a hearty admiration of his actual merits, might swell his power to more formidable proportions ; but if he were cowardly, unenterprising, or puny, the lusty warriors paid little heed to his divine extraction. In every case they were suspicious and resentful of the growth of an absolute sin- gle-headed dominion ; for, themselves the main pillars and col- which the Lex Visigothorum, lib. v., tit. vii., c. 17, speaks of men of the in- ferior order, abjectce condltionis (Lindcn- brog., pp. 116, 117). ^ See Jornandes (De Reb. Get., c. 13) for the Goths, and the Saxou chron- icle, Heimskringla, Frcdegher, etc., for others. - Any one invested with superior au- thority was called king among tlie north- ern races ; there were upper-kings, un- der-kings, half-kings, sea-kings, net- kings, etc. ; but the supreme chief of tribes, I think, was in all cases taken from a particular family. See Thierry (Lettres sur I'Hist. de France, ix., pp. 116, 117). ^ Tacit., c. 11. * This had its analogy among our Indians, with whom the name and of- fice of the sachem were hereditary in certain families ; but the chief, or leader of the war-party, was elected by the body of warriors (Morgan, League of the Iroquois, p. 99). 228 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. umns of the social structure, they endured with impatience an ornamental capital. In the political and territorial divisions of the Germans, they Political divi- exhibited their characteristic tendency to aristocratic emmenl ^''^' separation and independence. The house or family was the unit, out of which the subsequent or larger aggrega- tions, such as the Tenth, or Tithing,^ the Hundred, and the Grau (or canton), were formed as the multiples. Over the family the fathers or chiefs exercised supreme control, and these, when gathered into the general assembly, which was held at stated periods on the Mallberg, or hill of talk, appointed the author- ities who administered justice in the courts of the gaus and hundreds. All the people might attend the malls, but the busi- ness was prepared and controlled by the chiefs or nobles.^- If a proposal, however, displeased the multitude, they rejected it by murmurs ; and if it were agreeable, they accepted it by clash- ing their javelins. As legislation is not greatly in vogue among primitive tribes, who consider their laws either the gifts of the gods or as immemorial and sacred prescriptions, the functions of these assemblies were mostly judicial. They appointed the j Lidges of precincts — grafen for the gaus, and hundreders for the hundreds — who heard and determined causes, and prosecuted criminal offenses. Trials, both civil and criminal, were regular procedures conducted according to established rules. ^ The proofs were either testimonial, by compurgators, who swore to the credibility and character of the litigants ; or by witnesses, who deposed to actual facts ; or else by ordeal, the boiling wa- ter, the red-hot iron, and the wager of battle. But, except in time of war, no corporeal restraints or pains were inflicted as the punishment of crimes,^ the body of the true freeman being as inviolable as his house or his honor. Only mulcts were im- * The tithing, I presume, existed things, this numerical relation could among all the German tribes, although not be long maintained. I find the most decided traces of it in the = Tacit. , Germ. , c. 11. Saxon and Anglo-Saxon monuments. ^ See Pardessus (Loi Salique, Dis- In the outset, a tithing may have con- serts. 9, 10, 11). sisted of ten houses, or gens, and the * Tacitus says that traitors and de- hundred of a hundred tithings, and so serters were hung, and dastards suffo- on ; but Millar (Historical View of the catcd in the mud ; but treacheiy and English Government, vol. i., p. 180, et cowardice are the peculiar oflPenses of a seq.) has shown that, in the nature of state of war. CuAP. IX.] KOMA^-GERMAN GAUL. 229 posed, a part of which, under the name off red (or peace-money), went to the state, and another part, called the weregild, went to the injured party and his kinsmen. This system of criminal legislation arose out of the practice The weregUd. of blood-vcngeance or private war (/e/icZ, feud), which seems to be universal in inchoate and nascent societies.^ Where the social bond is limited to the ties of family and tribe, or to such feeble political connections as may be involved in tran- sient war-leagues, and there is no central authority to decree laws, nor yet magistrates to ^oursue crime, every individual wronged or offended takes upon himself his reprisals. Re- venge, the synonym of justice, becomes his sacred duty, which is assumed by all his kindred and friends, and is transmitted by them to subsequent generations.^ Families annihilate each oth- er in the bitterness and fury of their hatred, and the feud, often extending from tribe to tribe, involves entire nations in its bloody retributions. Experience of these sad results suggests to the self-interest, as well as to the discernment of rulers, the necessity of legal interventions ; but, as the pride of the turbu- lent clans will not brook the disgrace of stripes or of restraints, while there is no executive power to enforce them, the usual expedient of nearly all early societies has been the composition.^ At first this would be, doubtless, as among our Indians, a gift from the wrong-doer to the sufferer and his relatives, to appease their wrath and in confession of his error. The amount of it ' The Mosaic law recognizes its ex- ta in his (Wanderings in Corsica, c. xi., istcnce, Numbers, xxxv., 18-28; Deut., p. 158, Phil., 1855). xvii., 8; Joshua, xx., G. The compo- ^ Tacit., Genu., xii., 21. sition, or weregild, however, was for- ^ See the remarks and notes of Grote bidden. Grote remarks it (ttou^)) (1. ii., c. 20), also the elaborate discus- among Homer's Greeks (vol. ii., c. 20), sion of the origin, nature, and progress and he quotes Loskiel (Mission of the of the ircregi/d in De Petigny (Etudes United Brethren, pt. i., c. 2, p. 15) to Merovingiennes, t. iii., c. 2). The word show it in full play among the Ameri- weregild the latter derives from ver, can Indians. Sec Bancroft (Hist. U. man, and geld, worth or value, indi- S., vol. iii., pp. 275, 27G). For the eating that it measured the worth of a dreadful and destructive eifects of the man who had been killed. Others /ex ia//on/.s- among the ancient Germans, -WTite the temi we/u-geld, and derive it Grimm (Deutsche Rechtsalterthumer, from wela-, defense or protection, and v., 1, 2); and Schelgel (Comment, de geld, money, Guizot (Essais, iv., c. 2); Cod. Gragas). Illustrations of the habit cf. Muser (Osnabriickische Geschichte, in more recent times may be seen in b. i., s. 25). what Gregorovius relates of the vendet- 230 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. would be voluntary or conventional, until, in process of time, a regular tariff of satisfactions might grow up, adapted to every case of offense and to every variety of circumstance under wMch it should be committed. Such, at least, was the system of the weregild among the Germanic tribes, in the maturer forms of it preserved in the barbaric codes. Comprising in its provisions all the law-worthy classes, it may be regarded as a universal and permanent arbitration scheme, which prescribed pecuniary equivalents for every crime, and graduated them to the rank of the offender and the offended, and to the sex and of&cial po- sition of either, as well as to the nature and circumstances of the offense. The life of the freeman was assumed as the stand- ard or medium rate of the scale, and then the distributions were varied in the eight following degrees : 1st. According to the class of the injured party, the noble being valued twice or three times as much as the simple free- man, and the freeman twice as much as the ?//e, or tenant. 2d. According to the rank of the offender, the noble paying more than the freeman, and the freeman more than the lite. 8d. According to the sex of the person injured or offending, woman receiving and paying more than man, and the pregnant woman more than the maiden. 4th. According to the value of the injured object, whether it were the honor, the libcrt}^, the person, or the property of the sufferer, every limb and member, every species of goods and chattels having its specific and fixed value. 5th. According to the official relations of the sufferer, priests, embassadors, hostages, guests, the men of the army in the time of war, etc., having a double, and often treble estimation be- cause of their character. 6th. According to the intention of the offender, i. e., whether the offense were committed of malice, or by accident, or heed- lessness. 7th. According to the mode of the injury, i. e., whether it was done with an iron weapon or billet of wood, etc. ; and, 8th. According to the place of the crime, i. e., whether in a man's house, on holy ground, in the public assembly, or on the high road.^ * Mcnzel (Geschichte der Deutsch., b. i., theil. i., § 15). We shall see, also, Chap. IX.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 231 The scheme of the weregild was an advance upon the anar- chical and sanguinary practice of private vengeance, because it replaced spasmodic force by a regular procedure. There was a moral element in it also, inasmuch as it implied the voluntary consent of parties to a peaceful adjustment of their disputes ; but it gave fixity and permanence to the distinctions of class, and consecrated, by all the sanctions that reside in law, the op- pressive ascendency of the nobles.^ None but the powerful and the opulent were able, in process of time, to meet the ex- orbitant demands of the were ; and the consequence was, that the common freemen were either expelled as outcasts from their tribes, or fell into the more complete subjection of the chiefs. If this warlike constitution of the German society was disas- First conflicts trous to thc frccdom of many of its members, it found and ilo^? a providential justification in the strength which en- abled it to resist the encroachments of all-subduing, all-corrupt- ing Eome. It had been an early aim of the empire to convert Germany, as it had already converted Spain and Gaul, into a tributary province. During the reigns of Augustus and Tibe- rius (from B.C. 20 to A.D. 9), the Roman generals swept its frontiers with fire and sword.^ But the strenuous and noble resistance of the great leader of the Cherusks (Hermann, or Ar- minius) arrested the devouring flight of the eagles, and, by the terrible massacre of the legions of Varus, in the Teutoberg for- est, sent a thrill of dismay to the heart of the imperial jDalacc.^ In vain Germanicus avenged the murder of his countrymen, and drew the images of the captive streams and the weeping sons and daughters of the north in triumph through the mock- ing streets of the capital. Rome did not renew her wars upon the Rhine and the Elbe, while the great historian of her last exploits confesses, as he mournfully reviews the events of the past, and casts a sharp, perturbed glance into the future, that the that after the settlement of the barba- times, proves that the practical effect rians within the empire a great distinc- of the composition was to make the tiuii was made between the Germans rich richer and the poor poorer. See and the Romans. his cha]>ters iv. and v. ^ This is clearly established and ^ Velleius Paterculns, 1. ii,, 05, 07; strongly put by Wirth, who, by means Flonis, iv., 12; Dio. Cass., 1. Iv., e. 1. of a labored investigation of the com- ^ Dio. Cass., Ivi., 18; Suetonius in parative value of the solidtis (the mon- Octav., cc. 23, 49. ey standard of the Codes) in early 232 KOMAN-GEEMAN GAUL. [Book III. Grermans were men who might be triumphed over, but never vanquished."^ Eome had, however, other methods of conquest than by Progi-essofRo. ^rms, and her traffic, her bribes, her intrigues, and man influence. ^-^Q scductious of hcr friendship and favor often ac- complished more than the sword of her legions. A vigorous and splendid civilization will, by the simple fact of its con- tiguity, rapidly assimilate the rude surrounding tribes. The Germans were, moreover, peculiarly susceptible to the charms of civilized life, and adopted, with eagerness, its ideas and its manners." Some were bought by Roman gold, and some were influenced by their education in the Roman schools and Roman armies ; but not a few preferred, from genu.ine conviction, the stable and magnificent achievements of an orderly state to the precarious freedom and violence of their native rudeness.^ A party, of Romanizing tendencies, soon sprang up in every tribe ; and the scene, which Tacitus has so touchingly described, of the interview between Hermann and his brother Flavius, wherein the latter, already in the service of Rome, pleads for the adoption of Roman culture and greatness, and the other, a leader of his race, asserts the claims of country, of kindred, of ancestral freedom, and of the domestic gods, till the wrangle advances from invective and menace to open battle, may be re- garded as typical of the divisions of the whole Germanic race.* Nor did Rome fail to avail herself of the feuds to which they gave rise, in acquiring and maintaining an extensive sway over the tribes.^ Stubborn revolts, like those of the Batavians, un- der Civilis, only served to display the impotent restlessness of her allies, and the security of her dominion.^ The boldest and bravest among them were often compelled to take their kings from the hands of the emperors, and their laws from the mouths of the jurisconsults."^ From the time of Vespasian to that of Marcus Aurelius, or ^ Tacit., Ann., l.ii., u. 88, et Germ., * Annal., 1. ii., cc. 9, 10. c. 37. ' Tacit., Ann., 1. ii., cc. 45, 62, 63; ^ See the histories ofMerobod, Dez- compare, also, 1. xi., c. 14; xii., 29; ebel, Athanarik, Ataulf, and others, in xiii., 55. Tacitus, Zosimus, Orosius, Jomandes, ^ Tacit., Hist., 1. iv., passim. and others. '' Tacit., Ann., 1. xi., c. 16; Die. ^ Tacit., Germ,, cc. 29, 42. Cass., Ixvii., 5. Chap. IX. 1 KOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 23S The acme and for neailv a ceiiturv, the relations of Kome and Ger- full of the Ko- '^ ^ ' . man power in manv wcre comparativclv undisturbed. History is Germany, v l j j A.D. 69-101. silent as to the extent of the Roman acquisitions, al- though mute memorials, still dug from the soil of Saxonj, Lu- satia, and Silesia, coins and vases, whose legends speak of un- recorded marches and triumphs, and the remains of fortresses and walls, over which the forests have since grown, would seem to indicate an extensive Roman occupancy;^ but we know of Roman colonies in the interior of Germany •} the primitive in- habitants were not subdued, as the Gauls had been, nor was their speech amalgamated nor their spirit absorbed by the in- vader. On the other hand, after two hundred years of dicta- tion and partial rule, such was the undiminished vigor of the German, that he began to retort upon the empire the cruel strokes with which his own home had been visited. The reign of the good Marcus was a long and desperate struggle against such inroads. It seemed, indeed, as if the whole of Germany were set in motion by some powerful and mysterious impulse from the north. The Chauci, or Ilauken, broke over the Rhine into Belgica; the Catti (Hassi, Hessians) swarmed into Sequania and Rhietia ; the Marcomanni and the Quadi marched upon Italy; while Dacia, so laboriously conquered by Trajan, was completely submerged by Alans, Goths, and Vandals.^ Rome, barely successful in repulsing the invaders by arms, lost the moral influence of the victory. Her inherent weakness was unveiled, and the Germans learned, what they had never before seen so well, that the destinies of the future depended upon their domestic unity. Accordingly, we find them, during the disastrous period The great con- which followcd the advcut of Commodus (A.D. cd. ^^ ' 180-250), dreading no longer the terrors of the Ro- man arms, but demanding Roman tribute as the price of their forbearance, even while they brooded, in the secret of their flistnesses, over gigantic schemes of confederation and conquest. ' Reichard (Germanicn untev den haps Passau and Regensburg, were the Rumem, ss. 282, 384); Mono (Urges- chief Roman colonies in Germany, and chichte des Bodischen Land, b. i., &. these were all on the frontiers. 2.')!). ^ Spart. in Did. Julian, 60; Capi- = Cologne, Treves, Zanten, Basle, tolin. in M. Anton., 25-32 ; Dio., Ixxi., Rottenburg, Salsburg, and Wels, per- 3; see, also, Eutropius, viii., 12, 13. 234 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. When they bound more prominently into history, in the mid- dle of the third century, a signal and stupendous change is to be noted. The several names by which the tribes were known to Tacitus have almost disappeared : we hear no more of the Bructeri, the Catti, the Marcomanni, and the Quadi ; but, in their stead, of Saxons, Franks, Alemans, and Goths, which are the names of permanent leagues and vast confederations.^ The Goths, if we are to believe the story of their Scandinavian origin, must have put behind them the whole length of the European continent, for they were found in the neighborhood of the Black Sea, where, divided by the Dniester into the Wisi- goths and the Ostrogoths, and drawing in their train the Yic- tofals, the Tafals, and the Gepids, they were alike formidable in numbers and enterprise.^ The Saxon§, grown from a small tribe in the Kymric peninsula to a cluster of tribes^ — Hauken, Kerusks, and Angles — extended from the mouths of the Elbe to those of the Weser, and, skimming the seas in their light wicker keels, were the terror of the northern coasts.* On the Lower Ehine, a still more powerful confederacy, called the Fran KEN, or freemen,^ was formed out of the valorous races which, as Tencteri, Usipeti, Camavi, Catti, Bructeri, and Angri- vares, had so long maintained both peaceful and warlike rela- tions with Kome.^ And the ancient Suevi, already composed of many border tribes, but now absorbing others, take the name of Alemans, or all-men, and muster, like the front-guard of bar- barism, in the very focus of danger, which is also a two-sided citadel of attack, between the head-waters of the Danube and ^ The origin of these confederations c. 10). He fully adopts the theoiy of is one of the disputed questions of his- their Scandinavian origin, tor)^; some writers ascribe them to ^ Isidor. Hispal., in Gloss., 24. great northern invasions, Avhich com- * The Saxones are named by Ptolc- pelled a union on the part of the in- my for the first time about ISO A.D., vaded tribes ; but it seems to me that but they were not then important, there was something more of deliberate ^ Of the meaning of the name here- purpose in them, not merely of defense, after. but of aggression upon the empire. The ^ -pj^^j^, ^^^^ extended from the Main, remarkable and complex league, known along the right bank of the- Rhine, to as that of the Five Nations, among our Lake Flevo. They first appear as Iroquois Indians, was prompted by the Franks, A.D. 242, in the refrain of a double motive of internal strength and song sungby Aurelian's soldiers: external security. Morgan (League of '•'• Miiie Franco;?, mille Snmiatas eemel occidi- the Iroquois, b. i., c. 1, p. 7). ,,.„"''•„ •„ ^ ^ On the Goths, see Gibbon (vol. i., piacu^ in Aurei. Chap. IX.] ROMAN-GERMAlNr GAUL. 235 the Kliine.^ These, with the Burgunds on the Elbe, were the greater leagues, but there were others of less note. Thus compacted and marshaled along the whole line of The motives thc Komau frontier, these nations did not want ei- which impel- . . ^ • r-\ led the Ger- thcr occasious or motives lor ao^o;ression. Conquest, mans upon the • i • • • t -\ • i • empire. With its incidcnts aucl its results, is ever a tempt- ing excitement to the barren and inactive life of the untutor- ed man. There is always, moreover, a restless mobility in his societies, arising partly from the necessities of individuals who disdain labor, and yet covet its fruits, and partly from the ex- igencies of its aristocratic constitution, compelling it to pro- vide for the younger branches of families, which drives it into wild adventures and forays; while often accidental causes — a famine, an earthquake, great wars, or any sudden displacement of people — start migrations and commotions, which propagate themselves through various intermediate tribes, from the centre of a continent to its most distant extremities.^' But the Ger- man, in his relations to the empire, was moved and provoked by special influences of history and position. He had many passions to be gratified, and many revenges to satiate. The fair, the ri^h, the luxurious provinces of the south tempted alike his irrepressible spirit of adventure, his cupidity, his ambi- tion, and his vengeance. There, sunnier climates ripened the harvests of more generous fields ; there, sumptuous and stately cities garnered the ill-defended treasures often centuries of con- quest and of labor ; there, too, were the seats of that mysterious political power which had commanded the universal movements of the globe for so many years ; and there still dwelt the races w^hich had left the deepest traces of unrequited wrongs upon his memory — of burning cabins, wasted flocks, and captive chil- dren^ — of long years of haughty dictation — of innumerable en- counters, and a yet undecided victory. Transient and desul- tory assaults, often repulsed, and as often renewed, kept alive the flame of hatred, while they sharpened the appetite for plun- der. At length, in those turbulent years of shame and calam- ' The meaning -usually assigned to gance to suppose that it means all men, Allemen, or Aleman, is, composed of or entirely men. all sorts of men; but it is more in ac- ^ See Grote (Hist. Greece, vol. iii.) cordance with barbaric pride and arro- on the various movements of the Scyth- ians and Kimmerians. 236 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book IH. ity which followed the death of Decius (A.D. 251), the opportu- nity of the barbarians came. Like a long-pent storm, they broke on all sides over the empire : the Franks, crossing the Ehine, traversing the whole length of Gaul, scaling the almost inac- cessible heights of the Pyrenees, desolating the fair capital of Spain, and transporting their ravages to the astonished shores of Africa ; the Alemanni, leaping the barriers of the AIjds, de- scending upon the plains of Lombardy, and waving their victo- rious banners almost in sight of the capital; and the Goths, quitting their settlements in the Ukraine to make themselves masters of the coasts of the Euxine ; to desolate the fertile plains of Asia Minor, and the shores made immortal by the genius of Homer ; to ransack the beautiful islands of the ^gean ; and to burn the cities and temples of Greece, still filled, we may sup- pose, with the matchless sculptures and the unfaded pictures of the great Athenian masters.' It was the arduous but vain endeavor of the noble line of II- impotence of lyriau cmpcrors to make head against this rising and resistance, angry dclugc. Glaudius checked the Goths (A.D. 269) ; Aurelian punished the Alemans (A.D. 270) ; Probus drove the Franks and Burgunds, through streams of blood, back to their native jungles;^ but the more they smote, the more the barbarians multiplied. When Diocletian divided the imperial power with Maximilian in order to render resistance doubly effective, the hydra baffled as well the brain of Jove as the club of Hercules. The emperors were impotent, because, while they were try- The Germans ing to cxpcl the Gcrmaus on one hand, both their ne- in the Roman .. ti- ^^ ^^ ^ ^ i i armies. ccssitics and thcir policy compelled them to adopt the Germans on the other ; for, such was the degenerac}^ of the Ro- man people, such the weakness of the Roman state, that it was by barbaric arms chiefly that the barbarians could be encoun- tered.^ The old military exclusiveness of the Republic, which had confined the legions to citizens, was gradually relaxed un- der the Empire, until the ranks were filled, first by provincials, * Gibbon (Dec. and Fall, vol. i., c. Epit., 2; Vopiscus in Aurel., 36-39 j 10); Dixippus, Excerpta, 8 ; Orosius, in Prob., 13-15. viii., 22. ^ This view is elaborately presented * Zonar., 1. xii., i;. 24 ; Aurel. Vict., by De Petigny (Etudes Me'rovingienne, t. i., c. 2). Chap. IX.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 237 and tlien bj foreigners. During the wars of the usurpers, their superior vigor and endurance, together with their exemption from party sj^mpathies, gave a special value to the services of the Germans. Thej were eagerly sought by the rival flictions, and roundly paid as auxiliaries. At the close of the wars, moreover, they were recompensed, in accordance with ancient Lcetic colonies, practice, by gifts of land along the frontiers and in the interior, on which they settled as colonists,^ and where they lived with their families under their own leaders and laws. Recruited from time to time by other soldiers, or by prisoners taken in war, or by whole tribes, which, expelled by their ene- mies, received the succor of the Romans, these settlements often grew into populous villages ; but while their obedience was given nominally to the empire, their feelings were in reality with its invaders. In Graul alone, for instance, there were estab- lishments of Grerman Iceti at Chartres, of Batavian at Constance and Bayeux, of Sue van at Mans and in Auvergne, of Frankish at Rennes, of Sarmatian and Taifalian at Poitiers, at Paris, at Ami- ens, Rheims, Langres, Autun, Valence, and of others elsewhere.- If, in the outset, they were esteemed mere subjects of the em- pire, they grew in power and insolence as they grew in num- bers; and they asserted for themselves, under the name of friends and allies, the privileges of masters. Furnishing troops Silent inva- ^'^^ ofl&ccrs to the amiy, they also furnished leaders Biona. ^^^ dictated terms to the court. From the time of Valerian to that of Theodosius, the records teem with the names of Grermans who had been advanced to the highest military and civic commands. Long before any G-erman nation had won by its sword a foot of ground within the empire, German chiefs participated in the control of the armies, in the intrigues of ad- ministration, and in the revolutions which made and unmade emperors. It was a chief of the Herules who was consul under Gallienus ; it was a king of the Alemans who proclaimed Con- stantine Augustus ; the captain of the guards and the grand equerry of Constantius were Germans ; the count of the two ^ They were called Lceti, and the ii. ; Code Theodos., 1. xiii., tit. ii., lex colonies lcetic colonies, probably from 9; Amm. Marcell., xvi., 1. the German word kjite, people, because ^ De Petigny, Institut. Mero^ing., t. they were regarded as the people or men i., p. 210. of the empire. Comp. Zosimus, Hist., 238 ROMAN-GERMAIT GAUL. [Book III. Germanies, under Jiiliau, was a Frank, as tlie master of the militia in Ganl under Jovian was ; while, in later periods, the palaces and the camps swarmed with German officials of the most distinguished rank. These were silent invasions of the empire, or, rather, infiltra- Federati and ^o^s, which preceded the more noisy and armed in- aiiies. vasions. But the advances of the German influence were still more efficiently aided by a policy which Eome had long practiced, of adopting as federates and allies the nations which she could not repulse as enemies. From the mouth of the Khine to the mouth of the Danube, she had gradually gath- ered and established, by treaties, by grants, by gifts and am- nesties, bands of barbaric defenders, as she thought, but who might at any time become, as they often did become, assailants. Under a merely formal recognition of the supremacy of the em- pire, they retained their own laws and magistrates, and formed a state within the state. Many of them were true friends, many more were secret foes ; but the best of them could be provoked into animosity, as the best of them also aspired to a larger con- trol of the affiiirs of the mistress of the world. Conscious of their indispensable imj)ortance to the Eoman rulers, they as- sumed the air and the tone of dictators ; and if, in the interests of the empire, they sometimes repulsed the inroads of their countrymen, they also more frequently oiDcned the way to de- structive irruptions. At last those irruptions came (A,D. 374-5), and Eome found that her principal defenders were the brothers and countrymen of the enemy. Quis custodes custodiat ? The swift Scythian tribes, unchained from the Ourals like a torrent, stirred the barbaric seas to their depths ; the waves of jDopulation chased each other with tempestuous fury ; and, when they broke mad- dening over the feeble barriers of the empire, what was there to stay the desolating tides but other seas liable to be lashed by the kindred element into the same frothy agitation and up- roar? Chap. X.] ROMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. 239 CHAPTER X. The great Invasions. — Establishment of the Gerjian Monarchies. — Downfall of the Western Empire. The era that we now approach was marked by the most ex- traordinary migrations and changes among the people of Eu- 10236 recorded in history. Involving a struggle for the sceptre of the world between the southern races, which had always possessed it, and the new races of the north, which were about to succeed to their power, they are particularly interesting to us, because, in the course of them, Gaul was finally separated from its dependence upon Ex^me, the Western Emj)ire itself perished in the midst of frightful and protracted spasms, and a new order — the germ of the modern European society — grew up out of its ruins. ^ Theodosius, with whom our narrative parted at the close of Reign of iiono- the sevcuth chapter," left behind him two incom- rius in the West, i • a t • i A.D. 395-423. pctcut heu's, Arcadius, m the seventeenth, and Honorius, in the eleventh year of his age ; and to these he as- signed, respectively, the government of the eastern and western provinces- The former had for his mentor an astute and scheming Gaul, named Rufinus, who was master of the offices ; and the latter, a valiant and ambitious Yandal, named Stilicho, who was master of the militia.^ Between the civilian and the soldier, reciprocally distrustful of each other, the empires were soon involved iu pernicious and fatal jealousies. Neither of them scrupled to employ barbaric assistance in the prosecution of his wars and intrigues. Stilicho, a barbarian himself, and a more active, if not more sagacious manager than his rival, by concluding a convenient treaty of peace and defense with the Franks and Alemans on the borders of the Rhine, made the ^ In my brief outline of the incidents (Hist. Critique de la Monarchic Fran- of this period (A.D. 30.")-4:76) I shall (jaise). follow De Petigny (Etudes Meroving., • See ante^ pp. 182-3. tt. i., ii,, ed. Paris, 1851), who himself ^ Zosimus, iv., v. follows, with some con-ections, Dubos 240 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book in. West secure for a time, and left himself free to pursue his de- signs against the East (A.D. 496). But he soon encountered in that field a far more formidable adversary than the cunning prime minister of Arcadius. This was Alarik, the king of those Visigoths whom Theo- Aiarik, the dosius, for their services in overthrowing Arbogast vSloths!^^ and Eugenius/ had lately settled in Moesia and Thrace as federates of the empire. A scion of the royal race of the Baltes — brave, energetic, and noble — Alarik had com- bined the scattered multitudes of his countrymen under a single and imperious rule.^ Dissatisfied, however, with the tardy ac- knowledgment of his merits by the descendant of the great emperor, he had broken into an open revolt against the Eastern court. For the greater part of a year he avenged his griefs upon the fair province of Greece. It was supposed that Eu- finus, for purposes of his own, had stimulated this vengeance, and Stilicho, assuming to be in some sort the guardian of both empires, undertook the chastisement of the double enemy.^ He procured the murder of Eufinus by the hands of Gainas, a chief of the allied Ostrogoths, and then drove the forces of Alarik, with some slaughter, into the mountain passes of Epirus. Eutropius, the minister who succeeded Eufinus, having more to fear from Stilicho than from Alaril^, conferred the supreme military command of the pr^efecture of Illyria, which was in dispute between the empires, upon the latter, who, thus encouraged, made open war upon the domains of Ho- norius (A.D. 400-402).* For three years he assailed them with varying successes, till the bloody battle of Pollentia (A.D. 403) at length put a doubtful termination to the contest.^ Honorius, who had been compelled, in the course of it, to remove his court to Eavenna, amid the marshes of the Adriatic,^ repaired to Eome to celebrate his triumph, but his victorious general adopted another policy. Looking to the possible advent of his ^ Cassiodor. (Hist., 1. xi., c. 9). ^ ciaudian, of course (DeReb. Get., = Jornandes (De Rebus Geticis, c. v., .580, et segq.), claims the victory for xxxix.). Stilicho, but Orosius, Jornandes, and 3 Ciaudian (De Bell. Get., pass.), -Cassiodorus rather give it to the Goths, who was, however, a mere instniment ^ Procopius (De Bell. Vandal., 1. i., of Stilicho, and a prejudiced witness. c. 2). * Zosimus, 1. v., passim. Chap. X.] ^ ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 241 son Euclier, by marriage with the daughter of Honorius, to the Western throne, and not unwilhng to add the throne of the East to this prospective dominion, he deemed it prudent to concili- ate and to conspire with his recent adversary. He confirmed Alarilc, therefore, in the military rule of Illyria, granted him an annuity of four thousand pounds of gold, and persuaded him to an assault upon the Eastern empire.^ Thus the East and the West alternately used the barbarians to despoil each other. These treacherous and fatal negotiations occurred precisely The descent ^^ ^ ^^^^^ wlicu Unparalleled ferments were heaving up^^'^Ttiiy! t^6 tribes of central Europe, and driving one upon A.D. 4or^G. c^^^other in precipitous masses. Already one formi- dable horde, comprising more than two hundred thousand war- riors, Sarmatians, Gepids, Goths, and Alans,^ and led by a pit- iless chief named Radaghast,^ had pushed across the Noric Alps, down upon the plains of the Adige. They forded the Po, and thridded the Apennines, ravaging all before them, till they reached the walls of the fair and populous city of Florence. Stilicho, gathering an army rapidl}^ from the allies of Italy and of Gaul, marched to the heights of Fiesole, gradu- ally surrounded the foe, cut off his supplies, and reduced him, with the aid of pestilence and famine, to a condition which ren- dered victory easy. The vast swarm, compared by contempo- raries to that of the ancient Kymri and Teutoncs, was dispersed or captured, and the glory of the exploit raised the fame of the gallant master of the militia to a level with that of the invinci- ble Marius. But he had stripped Gaul of troops in the process, and, while Invasion of Gaul R^daghast was making his way into Italy, other v^ndlis'"^' !a!d! hordes, more numerous and savage, if that were *^^"'^- possible — Suevi, Vandals, and Alans — took advan- tage of the ojiportunity to assault the Gallic frontiers. Stop- ped for a moment on the banks of the Upper Rhine by the confederate Franks and Alemans, whom Stilicho had left to guard the fords, they soon overpowered all resistance, drew the ' Zosim. (Hist., 1. vi., cc. 26-20) ^ Some call him a Scythian, others ^ Orosius, vii. ; Zosimus, v., 2G ; u Goth. Olympiodorus apud Photium. Q 242 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. resistants themselves into the vortex which they created, and then, on the last day of December of the year 406, broke, like a sullen winter-storm, upon Gaul.^ The cities of the west, Mentz, Kheims, Auxerre, were sacked and burned; Arras, Amiens, Spires, and Strasburg fell into their hands ; while Co- logne and Treves only escaped through a vigorous defense of the Icetic Franks. Crossing the Loire, at length, between Or- leans and Nevers, they devastated the Lyonnese, Aquitain, the Narbonnese, and Novempopulania, stopping alone at the foot of the frowning Pyrenees.^ They would have surmounted the summits of those gi'and hills in the depth of winter but that the hardy Basques, who were used to the region, cooled their hot phrensy in the snow-beds of the mountains. The letter of Jerome, which describes the disasters of Gaul, stiiicho accused closcs with a bitter reproach of Stilicho, " that bar- of these disasters. ^ . • t • -r» n i Keuctioa against oariau travcstied into a JKoman, to whose projects the barbarians, . ^ ^ • ^ -\ i r» i A.D. 407-8. against the Jiast, the withdrawal oi the troops which might have guarded the provinces, was imputed. His barbaric origin and alliances bred suspicions of his fidelity in the popular mind. He was accused not only of a willful and persistent indifference to the sufferings of Gaul, but of a secret collusion with the invaders. The general feeling against him and his barbarians inflamed itself into a virulent hatred, and an insurrection of the legions broke out at Pavia, in which the barbaric chiefs of the army, with their families, were furi- ously murdered ; the emperor himself was forced to order the arrest and execution of his favorite ; the son of Stilicho was imprisoned and assassinated ; his wife, Serena, a niece of Theo- dosius, cruelly strangled ; and his daughter, though married to the emperor, compelled to an ignominious divorce. The Chris- tians also sympathized in the sedition; heretics and pagans were banished from the public offices, their women and children were assailed by mobs, and all the higher commands were given exclusively to Eomans and to Christians.'^ ^ Zosim., vi., 3; Procop. (De Bell. ^ Zosim., v., 34; Oros., vii., 38. Vand.,i.,3); Renatus Frigeridus apud But Sozomen (Ecc. Hist., ix., 4) as- Greg. Turon., ii., f) ; Cliron. Prosper!, cribes this vengeance chiefly to the sus- ad Ann. picion that Stilicho was plotting for the ^ iSt. Hieron. (Epist. ad Geruntia, succession of his son Eucher to the 91); Orosius, 1. vii., c. 27. throne by conciliating the pagan party. Chap. X.] EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 243 In the mean time, Gaul found a defender among the distant The usurpatiou lesfions of Britain, which, sympathiziner in her ter- of Constantine, ° . i • t i • ■ i i i A.D. 407^11. rible suflfermgs, and indignant at the criminal delays of Ilonorius and Stilicho, raised an obscure soldier, named Con- stantine, to the purple. They seemed to have had no other motive in the choice of this leader than his name, which re- called that of the great Christian emperor. At once crossing the Channel, and assuring himself of the friendly disposition of the allied Franks of Belgica, he established an independent government at Arles.^ Joyfully welcomed by the Gauls, who were angry at the desertion of their interests by the imperial functionaries, he was, nevertheless, not so readily accepted in the Spanish part of the proefecture, where the friends and rela- tives of the family of Theodosius still exercised a powerful in- fluence. Constantine, therefore, commissioned his son, and a favorite lieutenant, Gerontius, to reduce Spain to subjection (408)." A feeble resistance on the part of two great proprie- tors, Didymus and Valerianus, connections of the emperor, and officers of the provincial government, was easily overcome, and the whole of Spain made to acknowledge the usurper.^ Proceedmg to consolidate his power, he renewed the treaties with the Ripuarian Franks, and with other tribes of friendly Germans, and considered plans for the settlement or the expul- sion of the Yandals. With the latter, indeed, he had several encounters more or less bloody. But nowhere was any seri- ous obstruction offered him by the imperialists. Stilicho, in- tent upon his Eastern and other ambitious projects, was doubt- less willing that the insurgents and the invaders should waste each other in mutual wars. Once, indeed, to maintain a show of authority, he sent a Wisigothic mercenary, named Sarus, to besiege Constantine in Valence, but without serious results.* A more damaging opposition arose in Spain, where Geron- Revoit of tins, the friend and subordinate of Constantine, piqued Mtiximus. i^y. personal grievances, revolted against the usurper, and raised a foolish tool, named Maximus, to the purple. This * Treves had been the usual seat of Aries. Fauriel (t. i., p. 54, who quotes the prtefecture, but that phice having Edict. Honorii, anri. 418). been sacked by the Franks so often, the ^ Zosim., vi., 3. offices were in A.D. 402 removed to ^ Ovos., vii., 40. * Zosim., vi., 2. 244 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. compelled him to provide for Lis own defense in a new quar- ter, and to break off certain friendly negotiations which he had opened with the court. ^ But it had also, in the end, a benefi- cial effect, for it became a means of relieving him of his troub- lesome neighbors, the Yandals. Those savage bands, who had wandered for three years about the south of Gaul, removing their camps from place to place, as the exigencies of subsist- ence and the defect of plunder required, either took advantage of the troubles created by Gerontius, or were instigated by Constantine, to pass over into Spain, the country of their orig- inal destination. Whatever their motives, they wrought a havoc there which surpassed in atrocity any of their doings in Gaul.^ The greater part of the beautiful peninsula, from the foot of the Pyrenees to the Straits of Cadiz, was overrun and pillaged, and then divided among them (A.D. 411), the Suevi taking Gallicia, the Alans Lusitania, and the Yandals Betica, since named from them Andalusia (Vandalusia).^ They formally inaugurated three kingdoms, which were the first that had yet been established by force within the limits of the em- pire. All that remained to Eome was an inconsiderable part of the country doubtfully held by Gerontius and his puppet emperor, and this was warred upon by Constantine. Eome did not intervene either against the usurpers or the Aiarik invades barbariaus, because she was absorbed bv more men- Italy,A.D.409- , ^ ' . . ^ ^- . / 410. acmg nostuities at home. Through the execution of Stilicho, the projected enterprise agaiust the East had been broken off, and Aiarik disappointed. He had, moreover, been offended by the late truculent reaction against the foreigners, who, driven from the regular armies, flocked to his rallying standard. Claiming from Honorius the recompenses promised by Stilicho, and the renewal of a friendly and equal alliance,* the infatuated court at Eavenna rejected his claims with dis- dain. Aiarik, not in a mood to be trifled with, marched his forces through Italy, and sat them down in front of the very gates of Eome.^ Amid all the convulsions of foreign and do- ' Greg. Turon., ii., 9; Sozora., ix., * Zosim., 1. v., c. 37; Ores., 1. vii., 13. c. 27. * Idatius, Chron. ^ Zosim., 1. v., c. 37. ^ Isidor., Hist. Vandal. ; and Oros., vii., 40. Chap. X.] ROMAN- GERMAN GAUL. 245 mestic war, that sacred metropolis had remained inviolable: for more than three hundred years, or since the days of Otho and Vitellius, the sound of hostile arms had not been heard in her streets ; ' for more than six hundred years, or since the days of Hannibal, no beleaguering army had threatened her walls ; and her supercilious inhabitants beheld now, with mingled mockery and surprise, the shaggy "wolves of the Goth" en- circling her eternal hills. But famine soon depleted their pride, the revolt of forty thousand slaves soon sapped their confidence. Eome capitulated, and paid an enormous ransom to its conquerors.^ Alarik then withdrew into winter quarters in Tuscany, where he renewed the negotiations for peace with Eavenna. Nothing could have been more moderate than his demands;^ nothing more haughty or obstinate than the official rejection of them. In the end, the Gothic chief was driven a second time to a siege of Eome ; even a third time was he driven to it, when, in his just e:^asperation at the folly and perfidy of the government, he gave the city over to the sword and fire (August, 41 0).*^ Honorius and his ministers were mollified in their arrogant Atanif succeeds oppositiou to thc barbarians by the humiliations of Alarik. Rccon- J- ^ . - . a i • i t t i • i ciiiaiion with the thc great City; ana when Alarik died, which was m empire, A.D. , n i i • t • i 411. the course oi the same year, they negotiated with his successor and brother-in-law, Ataulf,^ on more favorable terms. Ataulf, less of a warrior than Alarik, cherished a yet more decided inclination than he for the arts of civilized life :^ he was cultivated, gentle, and generous ; and, what had an im- portant bearing upon public events, passionately in love with Placidea, the daughter of Theodosius, and half-sister of Ho- ' Fauriel, t. i., c. 1. liis followers, while punishing the Ro- - It consisted of 5000 pounds of gold, mans dreadfully, imposed restraint upon 30,000 of silver, 4000 tunics of silk, themselves. The churches and sacred 3000 pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and vessels were respected, and the worst 3000 pounds of pepper, the pepper being outrages perpetrated were against the then worth almost as much as the gold, commands of the leader. Augustin (De Zosira. (loc. oit.). Civitate Dei, 1. i., cc. 1-6). ^ Orosius (1. vii., c. 27) and others ^ This is the Adolphus of Gibbon, agree in praising the Gotli's ardent de- In the Gothic it was probably .i4/^a/yo^'. sire for peace, and the moderation of his See note to Bohn's edition of Gibbon, demands, which were simply a place for vol. iii., p. 428. his people. ^ See the remarkable speech given in * Even in this third siege, Alarik and Orosius, 1. viii., c. 43. 246 ROMAN-GERMAISr GAUL. [Book III. norius, who had been taken as a captive in one of tlie sieges of Eome. He was eager, therefore, to accommodate himself and his people to the wishes of Honorius. Nor were there want- ing to Honorius other motives than his fears for concluding a treaty with the Goths. As yet, no attempt to recover his au- thority in Gaul, and the other disaffected regions beyond the constantius Alps, had bccn made, but that attempt was about Gaul. ^ to be made. A brave Koman leader, Constantius, who had served under Theodosius, and was now master of the mi- litia of Italy, was deputed into Gaul, to chase away the usurp- ers and to conciliate the adverse sentiments of the people. The forces of Gerontius, engaged in besieging Constantino at Aries, he rapidly annihilated, and Constantino himself soon after, though vigorously supported by the auxiliary Franks of Belgica, was also made to succumb.^ The one killed himself, and the head of the other was sent to the emperor; yet the spirit of revolt on which they had floated into power and been sustained was not suppressed. A noble Gaul, Jovinus, instigated and supported by the Gallo- usurpation of Jo- Rouians, by the allied Franks, by a party of the gigesagtin"thim; Alaus, aud by the Burgunds, who had lately ad- A.D. 412. vanced from the Boden-See into Helvetia, and fix- ed themselves permanently there,^ rejDcated the experiment of revolt. Nearly the whole of northern and central Gaul espoused his cause; the victorious Constantius recoiled before the formidable numbers which he collected ; and then it was that Ataulf, with his troops, was sent across the Alps to complete the work which the Eoman general had so well begun, but was unable to finish.^ Eighty thousand Wisigothic warriors, carry- ing with them their wives and children, descended into the valley of the Rhone.^ They encountered Jovinus in the neigh- borhood of Valence, and in the stubborn battle that ensued cut to pieces or dispersed his forces. He and his brother Se- ^ Oros., 1. vil, c. 42; Fregeridus that Constantius would not have been apud Greg. Turon., 1. ii., e. 0. allowed to depart from Italy with his =^ Prosper., Chron. ad Ann. 413. troops if Ataulf had not been already ^ This expedition of Ataulf is, in the on friendly terms with Honorius. accepted histories, treated as a warlike * On tlie number of the Wisigoths, movement against the empire. I agree, see Fauriel (Hist. Gaide, t. i., p. 114).^ however, with Pe Petigny, t. i., p, 309, Chap. X.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 247 bastian, whom he had decorated with the vain title of Augus- tus, were captured, and shared the fate of unsuccessful usurp- ers. Their heads were sent to Eavenna, to be exposed on pikes to the gaze and ribaldry of the Roman crowds.^ The Gauls were punished for their insubordination, the nobles of Arvernia, in particular, suffering the blows of offended power.^ Order, however, was not restored by these ofl&cial rigors; State of the the defcusive line of the Rhine could not be re-estab- ince. lished; and the barbarians, already in possession of various districts — the Burgunds in Helvetia, the Franks in Bel- gica, the Alemans in Upper Germany — maintained their en- croachments. Neither were the native insurgents — the Ba- gauds and the Bretons — reduced to subjection.^ A conjplete social disorganization, in fact, had accompanied and followed the late seditious troubles. The Armoricans, from the Loire to the Seine, inspired by the example of their brothers in Britain, who revolted under Constantino, deposed and chased away the Roman magistrates, and instituted a kind of independent gov- ernment of their own ;* and the Bagaudery, or popular insurrec- tions, had so extended as to embrace not merely the discontent- ed slaves and colons, but many of the higher classes, whom the taxes or the invasions had ruined, and to whom brigandage had become the only means of subsistence.^ In northern and central Gaul, a small district only between the Alps, the Yosgcs, and the Somme, remained exclusively subject to the Roman administration, while the south and west were about to fall into the hands of the Wisis-oths. Ataulf, having repressed the usurpers, claimed two rewards Atanif seizes a for his scrviccs ; thc first, the hand of Placidia in part of CJ.nul, . ^ r> i • x A.D. 412-413. marriage, and the second, a guaranty oi subsistence for his people. But he was parried in both objects; in the one bv Constantius, who was also a suitor for the favor of the royal maiden, and in the other by the poverty of the empire, which, in a year of excessive dearth,^ could not easily furnish ^ Prosper., Chron. built an imaginary republic, gi'eatly to ' Greg. Turon., 1. ii., c. 9. theexerciseandperplexity of the French ^ De Petigny, t. i., p. 312. antiquaries. * Comp. Dubos (Histoirc Critique de ^ Zosim., 1. vi., v. 2, la Monarchic Frani^aise, 1. vi., c. 5), "^ Prosi^er., Chron. ad Ann. 413. who, on u few words of Zosimus, has 248 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. the supplies he required. Proceeding after a brief delay to rec- ompense himself, he took possession of Novempopulania, and of the southern part of the two Aquitains, by driving out the remains of the Yandals, and establishing his residence at Nar- bonne.^ Once established, he celebrated his nuptials with Pla- cidia in a series of magnificent games and festivals after the Roman fashion.^ His seizure of the country was less a con- quest than a peaceful occupation, for the people welcomed him as a deliverer, while the marriage w^ith Placidia only consum- mated a friendly union between the barbarians and the Caesars.^ Constantius assailed him for a time in Narbonne, but fruitless- ly, for the splendor and liberality of his reign made him pop- ular with the natives; yet the jealous rival secured a sure re- venge by getting him dispatched, as an ally of the empire, into Spain, where he was expected to chastise or expel the Vandals and Suevi.* His people, reluctant to quit their recent settle- ments in Gaul for a bloody war on the other side of the Pyre- nees, and offended, moi^eover, with his decided Roman tastes and proclivities, followed him with disaffection. They had scarcely arrived at Barcelona when they put him to death, and proclaimed one Singherik as his successor (A.D. 415).^ The leader of an ignoble faction, Singherik was himself assas- sinated within seven days, and the power was conferred upon Wallia, a brave and intelligent chief, who contrived to recon- cile the disputes of the factions, to renew friendly relations with the empire, and to execute the delivery of Spain, in which Ataulf had been frustrated (A.D. 416).'^ The Vandals, the Alans, and the miserable remnants of the force of the usurper Maximus were routed in several sanguinary battles and driven to the hills; Honorius triumphed at Rome for the successes of his allies; and Wallia and his people returned to Gaul to claim the just reward of their gallant and useful exploits (A.D. 417)."^ In the feebleness of the empire and the atony of the provin- * Idatius, Chron.,etRutiliiItinerar., ^ Idat., Chron. ad Ann. 414. v., 493. * Orosius, vii., 43. 2 Jornandes (De Reb. Getic, »j. 31) ^ Prosper., Chron, ad Ann. marries Ataulf to Placidia before he ® Prosper., Chron. ad Ann. ; Olym- left Italy, but Olympiodorus places the piodorus apud Phot., p. 187. marriage at Narbonne in January of ^ Jornandes (Dc Reb. Get., c. 33 et 413. seqq.). Chap. X.] KOMAK-GERMAN GAUL. 249 Settlement of ^^^^ populatioii, it would have been easy, doubtless, in gYui,' A.D? for the Wisigoths to seize whatever requital they cov- ^^^' eted at the point of the sword ; but that course would have involved them in endless violences, and they were now on amicable terms with Eome. They accepted a grant, there- fore, as nominal subjects of the empire, but on the condition of military service alone, of two thirds of the cultivated lands in the fertile provinces of Novempopulania and southern Aqui- tain, between the Pyrenees and the mouths of the Garonne. Toloso was chosen as the residence of their king and the capi- tal of the first barbaric monarchy founded on this singular basis of internal independence and external subjection. The Wisi- goths retained their own laws, customs, and magistrates, while they acknowledged the imperial supremacy.^ Wallia, how- ever, dying the year of his return into Gaul, the consolidation of his power and the adjustment of the relations of his people to the native society in which they were settled was committed to the skill of Theodorik the First, who, for thirty years there- after, swayed the destinies of his race.^ Honorius endeavored, simultaneously with the peacefid set- Honorius calls tlcmeut of the Goths, to pacify the chronic discon- th?s7ven p?ovf tcuts of his GalHc subjects by the grant of a liber- mce3,A.D.4i3. ^^ amucsty to the less obstinate offenders, and the convocation at Aries of an assembly of the Seven Provinces. These were the provinces south of the Loire, ^ and the assembly was to be composed of all their ofh-cial dignitaries, or of such deputies as might be sent in their place. But what he hoped to accomplish by the measure it is difficult to divine. Even if it had been, as some allege, an attempt to erect a permanent rep- resentative government, it was sure to fail in the rapid and tur- bulent revolutions of the age. Yet the act is a useful historic monument, inasmuch as, confining its contemplated operations ^ Compare Dubos (Hist. Crit., t. i., ^ They were the two Narbonnenses, 1. ii., c. 4) ; Vassettc (Hist. Generale de Novempopulania, Viennensis, the Alpcs Languedoc, 1. iv., cc. 18-24); De Fe- Maritima3, and the two Aquitains. But tigny (Etudes Me'roving., t, i., p. 353). compare, on the subject, Dubos (Hist. ^ Gibbon (Decline and Fall, iv., 35), Crit., t. ii., c. 5), who gives the edict, on the strength of a doubtful passage in and argues its purport at length. Sidonius, would make him a grandson of Alarik. 250 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. south of the Loire, it shows to what extent the barbarians and others had already wrested Gaul from the authority of the em- pire.^ Armorica, as we have just seen, had returned to the rule of its native chieftains ; colonies of Saxons, whose piratical seizures along the northern coasts had given to it the name of the Tractus Saxonicus, were fixed at Bayeux and among the islands of the Loire ; the kings of the Eipuarian Franks, who were in possession of Cologne, extended their ravages, if not a regular authority, into the greater part of the First Belgica ; the Salian Franks alternately harassed and occupied the Second Belgica as far as the Somme ;- while the Burgunds exercised a federate dominion over the Sequannese, or what is now Franche Comt6 and Switzerland. Honorius died in 423, leaving no member of his family to TiiE EIRE AND inherit the troubles of his tottering throne. But, in ^'!S\?s'^Ta the political theory of the times, his colleague, The- 423-453. odosius II., who had succeeded Arcadius in the Eastern Empire, became his legitimate successor.^ The empire, in spite of this divided rule, was still regarded as a unity, and Theodosius made ready to assert his claims. While he was yet doing so, a faction at Rome, composed of old pagan senators, heretics, and barbarians, raised one John, an officer of the im- perial guards, to the purple;* while the Count Bonifacius of Africa proclaimed the pretensions of Valentinian III., the infant son of Placidia by her old lover Constantius, to whom she had been married on the demise of Ataulf.^ Thus the Roman world was delivered over once more to the wars and contentions of no less than three ambitious rivals. Among the partisans of John was a young man named Fla- ^tius supports "^''i^s Gaudeutius ^tius, originally belonging to a John, A.D. 425. gamiatian colony of Little Scythia, but more recent- ly raised to one of the domestic offices of the court. His early ^ Ecclesiastical histovv and tradition ^ Fauriel, however, and others, will furnish other evidence of the same fact, not admit any permanent advances into Many councils of the Church were held Gaul at so early a date, in the fourtli century, at which deputies ^ Idat., Chron. ad Ann. 423. attended from Cologne, Mentz, Treves, "^ Procop. (De Bell. Vandalici, 1. i., Spires, Strasburg, etc. ; but in the fifth c. 3). centuiT these deputies hailed alone from ^ Prosper., Chron.; Idat., Chron.; cities south of the Loire. De Petigny Procopius (De Bell. Vandal., 1. 1., cc. (Etudes Meroving., t. i., p. 321). 2, 3). Chap. X.] EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 251 life had been passed alternately among the Huns, as a hostage (in which position he had studied their manners and won their friendship), and in the ranks of the army, where he acquired consummate military tact. Selected by the party of John to re- pair to the King of the Huns to solicit his aid in their schemes of aggrandizement,^ he returned with sixty thousand of their swift and formidable horsemen among his followers. He re- turned, however, only to find his party defeated, and Yalentin- ian III. emperor, acknowledged by Theodosius, imder the re- gency of Placidia.^ His insolence, his cunning, and the force at his command, speedily procured his reconciliation with the court, by which he was sent into Gaul to contend against the Wisigoths, who, for some real or imagined offense, had assaulted Aries, the Eoman capital. Crossing the Alps with his Huns, he succeeded in the course of a year in driving the besiegers back into Aquitain, and in suppressing disturbances among the Ripuarian Franks of the First Germany, whom he compelled to accept the sovereignty of the empire (A.D. 428).^ His first services acquired him great eclat and power at Ra- The vandaig vcuna, but hc uscd them basely, in the interval, for the Africa"^ a!d? accomplishment of an infamous design. Conspiring 42T-42S. ^j^i^ Felix, the master of the militia of Italy, against the Count Bonificius of Africa, whose influence and rivalry they both dreaded, he inveigled that heroic man into a position of hostility to the government. Ordered to lay down his com- mand, the proud count resisted the indignity, and when an army was sent to enforce his submission, resorted to the fatal expedient of an appeal for succor to the Yandals of Spain. They listened to his invitation, which included the promised concession of the province of Mauritania, and thus a horde of wild barbarians was introduced into the most vital part of the empire, the source of the subsistence of Italy, which the em- perors had sedulously guarded for centuries as a sacred reserve, and the capture of which the old oracle of the Sibyl had de- clared would be the death-blow of the world.'^ Notwithstand- ^ Renatus Frigeridus (apud Greg. * Procop. (De Bell. Vand., 1. i., c. Turon., 1. ii., cc. 8, 9). 7); De Petigny (Etudes Meroving., 1. 2 Olympiodorixs, Idat., et Prosper. ii., p. IC). ^ Prosp., Chron. ad Ann. 252 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. ing his complicity, ^tius yet contrived to cast the blame of the event upon his coadjutor Felix, whose degradation he procured, while he won for himself the place of master of the militia.^ A brilliant victory, achieved, on the heels of his promotion, over the Juthongs, who had invaded Noricum, confirmed his ascendency, and quieted the suspicions of the friends of Boni- face.^ Moreover, the new tempests gathering in Gaul summoned jEtius attacks ^ud savcd him from the petty storms of the court. the Franks in rpj^^ Armoricaus, to whom domestic revolutions had 431. given a new leader in the Count Grallon, were in- vading Touraine and the countries on the Loire, and the Salian- Franks, under a powerful chief named Chlodio, already in pos- session of the country on the borders of Tongria,^ were pushing their ravages as far south as the Somme. A young tribune, Majorian, subsequently emperor, restrained the encroachments of the former, while ^tius directed his own efforts against Chlodio and his bands. These were repulsed, and compelled to recognize the Roman supremacy \^ but they were still left in occupation of their territories, which probably extended now, between the Scheld and Meuse, from the River Wah^ to Cam- brai. Meanwhile, his unprincipled proceedings against Bonifacius lie is deposed had bccu exposcd at Ravenna, where the discovery and reinstated, . ^ . . - ^ "^ A.D. 432. excited a just execration and resentment, and led to his dismissal from his command, which was transferred to his ^ Prosper., Chron. ad Ann. 429. Augustus (Suetonius in August,, c. ^ Ibid., ad Ann. 430. xxi.). Compare Dubos, Fauricl, Le- ^ His fortress of Disparrjam is sup- huerou, and De Petigny. The chro- posed to be the modern Drysburg, be- nology of the event is equally uncertain, tween Brussels and Louvain ; but the Tillemont and others referring it to geography of the ])lace has given rise to A.D. 438, and Dubos to 445. I follow much controversy. Gregory of Tours throughout the dates of De Petigny, for (1. ii., c. D), who narrates this encounter reasons which he assigns (Etudes Me- with the Salian-Franks, under Chlodio, rovingicnnes, t.ii., pp. 31-33), but which says, "Qui apud Dispargam castrum I have no room to detail. The fact habitabat, quod est in finibus Thoringo- that this body of Franks was the nucleus rum." The question is, whether this of those I.anks who conquered Gaul Thorincjorum refers to the Thuringians afterward, and founded the Mcrovingan of Germany or to the colony of Ubii dynasty, has given some importance to and Sicambii, afterward called Ton- these controversies, grians, settled in Gaul, between the * Mat., Chron. ad Ann. 431. Scheld and the Mouse, in the time of Chat. X.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 253 intended victim.^ But ^tius was not the man to resign his place without a struggle. Mustering the barbaric auxiharies of Gaul, he passed the Alps, and waged a furious war against the Roman army of the Count. In this he was worsted, but his great rival was also slain ; and it is a singular evidence of the weakness of the government, that this insolent cajD- tain, who, after his defeat, had repaired to the frontiers and fortified his broken forces with numerous levies of Huns, He- rules, and Sarmatians, was able to exact from it his own resti- tution and the additional honor of the patriciate. As soon as his triumph was assured, he betook himself once more, with his ever-faithful Huns, into Gaul, to complete the work of subjec- Eeturns to tiou which hc had there undertaken. In this second Gaul, A. D. - . . ^ ^ • o 435. expedition he found not only the Bretons of Armorica,^ but the Burgunds and the Wisigoths, in arms, while the Yan- dals of Africa, under a fierce and turbulent king, Genserik, were menacing all the Roman districts. Ceding to the latter, on cer- tain conditions of peace, the two Mauritanias,^ he defeated the Burgunds with much slaughter (-1:35) ; he reduced the Armor- icans to submission (436), through his lieutenant, Litorius Cel- sus ; and he finally assailed the Wisigoths, who were stubborn- ly besieging ISTarbonne. During these campaigns Gaul was made to suffer a double extremity of distress. In the first place, the Huns and Alans, in the service of the Imperialists, wherever they passed, committed a havoc of which the most truculent en- emy might have boasted ;* and, in the second place, the Bagaud- ery of the rural populations, visited by so many and incessant calamities, had become chronic.^ Ulterior GauP was overrun by these tumultuary bands, which, under the command of a leader named Tibat, pillaged and slew indiscriminately, ^tius dis- persed them after considerable carnage, although the diversion produced by their resistance only enabled the Wisigoths to pro- ^ Procopius (De Bell. Vand., 1. i., c. 3) ; Prosper., et Idat., Chron. ad Ann. 432. = The term Bretons, I think is used in reference to the Armoricans for the first time about 461, at a council of the clergy of the third Lyonnese, held in Tours, where one Mansuetus, Bishop of the Bretons, is mentioned. 3 Procop. (De Bell. Vand., 1. i., c.4). * Paulinus (De Vita Sancti Martini, 1. vi.); Sidonius, Paneg}'r. Aviti. * Prosper., Chron, ad Ann. 438. '' A line drawn from the mouth of the Garonne to the Lake of Geneva would pretty nearly mark the division between Ulterior and Ci tenor Gaul. De Petigny, t. ii., p. 58, note. 254 ROITAN-GEKMAN GAUL. [Book III. long their warfare upon Narbonne. Driven at length from the city, they were in turn besieged in Toulouse, where they might have been overborne but for occurrences in Africa which led to an unexpected truce (439).^ Genserik, breaking his late com- pacts with ^tius — perhaps instigated by the Wisigoths — had seized upon Carthage, the second city of the empire, which con- trolled the resources and the arms of six opulent provinces. The Eoman power in Africa was nearly annihilated, and a fleet, rapidly mustering to an attack upon Sicily, seemed to fill Eome and the world with terrible apprehensions (A.D. 440).^ ^tius at once concluded a peace with the Goths, which left them at liberty to resume their possessions in Aquitain, while he rushed to avert the portentous calamity brooding over Italy. During the ten years that ensued Gaul enjoyed a compara- tive tranquillity. If Spain was wrenched from the Roman do- minion by the restless Sueyi (A.D. 439-449) ; if the island of Britain, after a brief but anarchical independence under its na- tive chiefs, was also torn from her grasp forever by the intrepid Saxon (A.D. 445), the head and centre of the Western prosfect- ure remained, amid the dislocations of the time, breathless and calm. It would appear as if she but awaited, in ^le anxiety and Attiia. suspense, the bursting of a heavier tempest. For fifty years or more a feeling of awe and expectation had followed the movements of the Huns, who hovered like a sombre cloud on the confines of either empire. Ferocious and sanguinary monsters, whom the barbaric superstitions begat of the em- brace of demons with the witches of the desert, they were equally detested as friends and enemies. Their great leader, Roua, long a patron of ^tius, having died (A.D. 441),^ left his sceptre to his nephews, Attiia and Breda, or, rather, to At- tiia, who, soon thereafter, compassing the murder of his col- league and brother, reigned alone. He was a man of that in- domitable and imperious character which seems created only to make the world afraid. Combining, with a matchless mastery of will, the divided tribes of his race under a single and ab- ' Prosper., Chron. ad Ann. 439. death is variously placed in A.D. 435 ^ Idat., Chron. ad Ann. and 441. See Thiern,' (Histoire d'At- ^ Sometimes called Rugilas, whose tila, t. 1., u. 2, p. 49, cd. Paris, 1856). Chap. X.] ROMAN- GERMAN GAUL. 255 solute command, and pushing their conquests with a marvelous fertility of warlike resource through all surrounding races, till his dominion extended from the Black Sea to the Baltic,^ he be- came the universal terror of Europe. With the empires at first he negotiated and chicaned, to mask with profounder dissimu- lation the ulterior purposes of his ambition ; but, when his hour came, he knew well both where and how to strike. The so- licitations and the purposes of Genserik ; his hatred of the Wisi- goths, ancient but fugitive subjects ; civil dissensions among the Franks of Gaul, one of whose factions besought his assistance ; and his pretended claims to the hand of the Princess Honoria, who, in a moment of fantastic passion, had sent him her troth, combined in presenting motives which directed his march upon the Western Empire, and upon its weakest and most defense- less part, the distracted Gallic province. In the winter of the year 450 he began to move forward, with The invasion of a forcc of fivc huudrcd thousand men, from his wild AJD. 451. ^ ^ Danubian fastnesses to the banks of the Rhine. By the beginning of March, in the following year, he had reached the fords of that separating stream. His motley throng, em- bracing representatives of nearly every race in Europe — the black Kazar, the tattooed Gelon, the stalwart Eugian, the Herul, crazy with valor, and the Bellonote and the Neuri,^ who have left their names alone to history — had gathered other varieties of savagery upon its passage. The Quad and the Marcoman of the Carpathian Hills mingled with the Suab of the Black Forest and the outcast Frank of the northern dunes. ^ All the wild valor that for five hundred years had threatened civiliza- tion seemed to be confounded in one impulsive mass. Amid the rolling boulders of the ice, and upon the trunks of trees torn from the Hercynian woods, they crossed the river near the confluence of the Moselle. Attila, instating himself for a mo- ment in the ancient capital of Treves, summoned Gaul to sur- render in the magniloquent tones of an Oriental sovereign. ' Niebuhr (Lectures, vol. iii., p. 350) authority were acknowledged over the remarks that tlie extent which Gibbon greater part of EiiRtern Europe, assigns to the dominions of Attila "is = Sidonius AjjoII. in Panegyr. Avi- one of the weak points of his work ;" ti, v., 319. and yet I do not see that there is reason ' Prisons (Excerpta de Legat. apud to doubt that Attila's jurisdiction and De Petigny, t. ii., p. 94). 256 EOMAN-GERMAK GAUL. [Book III- The debilitated Eoman garrisons fled even before he had ad* vanced; the federate barbarians, half sympathizing in his career, offered but an ineffectual resistance ; while the poor provincials, disarmed by Eoman policy, disgusted by Eoman oppression, debased by Eoman vices, stood in doubt whether he might the more properly be regarded as an enemy or a deliverer. But the smoke of a hundred burning villages, the ruins of the fair- est cities — Augst, Strasburg, Mentz, Metz, Worms, Tongres, Ar- ras—speedily convinced them that the stranger was, indeed, a foe. The consternated multitudes fled to the fortresses of the towns, to the caves of the mountains, to the waves of the sea. Alone the heroic iind pious bishops of the Church rose superior to the paralyzing terrors of the panic. Arrayed in their mag- nificent robes, and chanting their solemn and imposing psalms, they would often place themselves at the head of their timorous flocks, and, with prayers and threatenings, arrest, if not roll back, the irresistible human tide.^ Yet these were ineffective obstacles, and the invasion spread Thesiegeof ^^oui Jura to the ocean, and from the Somme to the Orleans. Loirc. Thc city of Orleans, which commanded the passage of the Loire into southern Gaul — memorable on that account in many a Eoman campaign, and destined to become still more memorable for the exploits of the inspired Jeanne Dare — was the last object of attack and of defense. Besieged by Attila with the bulk and flower of his forces, it was held for five weeks by a few sturdy and desperate citizens, under the lead of the good St. Agnan,'-^ amid the combined miseries of war, pestilence, and famine. But when the last scintillations of hope had expired — when the Huns had effected a breach and begun the carnage, faith rather than eyesight discerned from the topmost tower^ the distant approaches of the succor- ing army of ^tius. Behind the clouds of dust it saw the glittering eagles of the legions and the waving standards of the Goths.* ^ The Lives of the Saints, to which ^ Vit. St. Anian., and Greg. Turon., the reader ■will give some credit, are 1. ii., c. 7. full of instances. * The main incidents of this descrip- ^ In Vita B. Anian. apud Bouquet tion I have found in Thierry (Histoire (Script ores Beiiim Gallic., t. i., p. d'Attila, t. i., c. G). G45). Chap. X.] KOMAJST- GERMAN GAUL. 257 ^Etius, wlio had occupied the interval of his absence from yEtius raises the ^-aul in strcnuous labois for the defense of Sicily ^'''^'^" and Italy against Genserik, was not deceived by the pretenses of Attila in respect to the real objects of his west- ward movement ; but he could not disfurnish the peninsula of troops, nor yet collect with ease another army among the allies and federates of the province. A party of the Franks and the loetic colonists promptly responded to his summons;^ but the Alans were in open revolt, the Burgunds sulky, and the Wisi- goths, though eager to encounter Attila, unwilling to quit their own frontiers. The general reluctance drove him to despair; nevertheless, by painful entreaties, aided by the eloquence of the polished Arvernian noble, Avitus, who undertook a mis- sion to Theodorik, the Goths were at length induced to move. Once on foot, their example stimulated the zeal of the Brehons of the Alps, of the Salian-Franks and their long-haired leader Merowig, of the Burgnnds of King Gunther, of the Ripuarians of the Rhine, and of the remoter Bretons of the sea-coasts. A mass as multifarious almost as that of Attila met in the camp of the Roman chief, and marched to the relief of Orleans. Aft- er a fierce and bloody struggle, it forced- the proud king of the Huns to beat an ill-concealed retreat.^ The immense army of Attila, consisting chiefly of cavalry, The retreat of wlthdrcw, with prccipitatiou, along the Roman road the Huns. "which led from Orleans to Sens, and thence to Troyes, and did not rally until it had reached the broad plains^ which stretch before the village of Chalons.* There they pitch- ed their tents and drew up their wagons, but were scarcely in- trenched when the pursuing forces of -^tius began their castra- metations on the same fields. The night that followed was a night of awakening suspense The battle of aud dreadful preparation. Attila himself, buried in an^'piain?""'' the dcpths of his tent, was sleepless and depressed. 1 Sidon. Apoll., who was theson-in- * On the way there seem to have lawof Avitus (Paneg}T. Aviti, v., 36). been several encounters between the ' Jornandes (De K^b. Geticis, c. 3G). Huns and a body of Franks at Man- => Then called the Campania, and still riacum, now Me'ry-sur-Seine (Greg. Tu- called Champagne— between the valley ron., ii., 7). of the Yonne and that of the Aisne, with the forest of Ardennes on the north. R 258 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. The reverses he had suffered before Orleans, and the privations endured by his troops on their march, had lessened his habit- ual confidence in himself and in them. A Christian hermit, moreover, dragged as a captive in his train, had aroused his superstitious fears by a strange and prophetic salutation. " At- tila, scourge of God, hammer of the Avorld," he said, "know that heaven is about to break the instrument of its venge- ance T'^ In his gloom, he called his savage and fantastic crew of conjurors about him, to dispel, by their mystic rites, the fatal foreboding of the priest." " Then," says Thierry, "was en- acted a scene which has found no parallel in the history of Eu- rope. Under that Tartar tent, by the lurid blaze of torches, in the midst of France, a council was held of all the dread super- stitions of the barbaric world. "^ The dark mummery was un- propitious ; Attila was told that he would fail, and yet, when he heard also that the chief of the enemy would be slain, suppos- ing the prediction to refer to JEtius, his soul recovered its com- posure, and his will its wonted energy.'* By the ninth hour of the next day a million of men, many of them brothers by race and lineage, were involved in the de- cisive conflict. It was a battle, says the old Gothic chronicler, "fierce, multiform, terrible, obstinate ; such a battle and such a slaughter as the world had never seen, and will never see again. The little stream (the Yesle) which traversed the field, almost dry till then, was swollen beyond its banks by the blood which mingled with the water."^ When night drew on the carnage was still continued, and far into the darkness was heard the shock of bewildered steeds, the clash of indiscriminating swords. Theodorik, the brave king of the Wisigoths, was trampled to death by his own troops ; JEtius himself was sep- arated from his command ; friend and foe were madly jumbled together in the confused mob of battle ; and, as the combatants A drawn ^^ ^^st retired to rest, they retired in utter unconscious- victory. ^ggg ^g ^Q ^^.|^Q ^^,^j,g victors, who vanquished.^ Victor uterque fuit, victus uterquc fuit. 1 This epithet, *'The Scourge of " Jornand. (Dc Hcb. Get., c. 37). God," which Attila never applied to ^ Hist. d'Attila, t. i., p. 183. himself, originated, Thierry shows * Jornand., ibid. (Hist. d'Attila, t. ii., p. 248), among ^ Jornand. (Do Kcb. Get., c. 40). the legends of the Middle Ages. '' Id., ibid. Chat. X.] ROMAN-GERMAK GAUL. 259 The morning sun rose upon a plain heaped, it is said, with Retreat of At- ^^ore than two hundred thousand corpses.^ Neither tua from Gaul, leader, cach aware of his own loss, but not of that of the enemy, essayed to renew the combat. The opposing forces glared sullenly upon each other, but made no motion of attack. Only in the midst of the silence, the Wisigoths sought mourn- fully for the body of their chief, Theodorik, which they found beneath the mounds of the slain, and buried with loud howls and lamentations on the field of glory. Yet, doubtful as the victory seemed, it was, in reality, for Attila a defeat ;- for, in in his position, any thing short of a grand success was a failure. On the other hand, the triumph of ^tius, even if it had been more decided, was the triumph of his barbaric allies, who were recently his enemies, and might become so again at any mo- ment. As Attila recoiled toward the Khine, therefore, ^tius, instead of pursuing him, contrived, by various pretexts, to dis- perse his doubtful host. But the falling empire was stayed; the Koman rhetors coruscated once more with congratulatory metaphors ; and Christian Europe, rescued from an impending heathenism, shouted joyful hosannas to the Lord.^ Eome had been respited, not delivered ; Attila had been dis- Attiia makes a comfitcd, uot vauquishcd ; and the chief of the Huns, it^^y, A.DT52? after regaining his home, laden with booty, prepared for another campaign. Early the next spring he crossed the Julian Alps into Italy. Delaying a while in the siege of Aqui- lea, whose inhabitants, flying to the islands of the Adriatic coast, laid the foundation of the romantic city of Venice, he successively ravaged Milan, Brescia, Mantua, Padua, and other cities.* Eome was merely threatened and spared.^ Why, we can not say : it may have been the re-collected forces of -^tius, or it may have been the prayers and entreaties of the Pope St Leo, as the legends allege, which caused him to return to his Danubian retreats; but he left the metropolis unmolested. Per- ^ Idatius and Isidore say 300,000, ^ Joraandes, c. 41 ; Greg. Turon., but Jornandcs 262,000. ii., 7. ^ The Roman writers claim a decided * Prosper., Chron. ad Ann. triumph in the actual fight; but it is ^ Vit. S. Leo. Magn. apud Bolland, clear, from Jornandes, that this con- April 11th. struction is a little forced, although they triumplicd in the result. 260 ROMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. [Book III. liaps he hoped to glut a bitterer rancor, or to find a readier as well as richer prej, in the eastern capital. If so, he was not destined to enjoy the fruits of his schemes. On his arrival at his forest capital, while celebrating, with more than barbar- Attiiadieg, ic pomp, his marriage with Ildico, he was found dead A.D. 253. -j^ ^i^g nuptial bed.^ The splendid empire which his genius had reared did not long survive him ; his sons and his generals soon became embroiled in deadly wars; his German vassals revolted, and the power of his race dwindled away. Yet, brief as his career had been, such was the awe, the fear, and the admiration that he had every where inspired, that his name pervaded and glorified the traditions of every European nation.^ Sometimes as a terrible personification of destruction, the " Scourge of God ;" sometimes as the venerable patriarch and founder of states, and sometimes even as a holy Christian apostle, he hovered for centuries in the imaginations of the Eo- man, the German, and the Hungarian people, more a stupen- dous myth than an historical personage. The greatness of ^tius, who was regarded as twice the de- Assasgination of livcrcr of civilizatiou from an overthrow that seem- tinian, A.D. 4M. ed inevitable, rose to its meridian splendor. By a strange derision of destiny, however, he who had once almost wrecked the empire by his perfidy, and been promoted in spite of his guilt, had now rescued it by his valor, to be killed in spite of his merit. Pressing too importunately the marriage of his son with the daughter of Yalentinian, he aroused the fears of the monarch and the jealousies of the courtiers, and was se- cretly slain by the hands of the incensed or deluded emperor.^ The moan of despair which followed the report of his, death was an evidence of the value in which his services were held, if it may not be regarded as a eulogy of his character. The Western Empire had now but twenty -two years more The FLiTTTOG of lifej ^^^ they were destined to be years of weak- A^raA^T™' n^ss, agony, and contempt. Yalentinian, for his mur- A.D. 455^80. ^Q^ of iEtius, was himsclf soon slain by some instru- * Whether he died in a fit or was ^ These are gathered and well told killed by his nm^nlling bride can not be by Thierrj^, in his second volume, discovered. vSee various authorities in '' Procop. (De Bell. Vand, 1. i. c. Thierry (Hist. d'Attila, t. i., p. 229, 4); Prosper., Chron., et Idat'., Chr'on. note 1). ad Ann. Chap. X.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 261 ment of tlie barbaric and pagan party, wbich caused the senate to raise one Petrouius Maximus to the purple. He, marrying Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian, against her will, aroused in her all the spite and pride of an offended woman. The re- sult was a conspiracy with Genserik of Africa for the revenge of her private wrongs by a public calamity. She invited the Yandals to a sack of Eome, and, when they came, neither the clemency of the Goths nor the policy of the Huns restrained the violence of their assault. They stripped the very roofs of Sack of Rome the templcs of their ffold, and provoked, if they did by the Van- , • . , . • -, - • -i r ■ dais, A.D. 455, not incitc, tuc populatiou to tear the aspmng Maxi- mus to pieces.-^ In this extremity, the Gallo-Komans of Gaul, aided by Theod- Rise and fall orik IL, king of the Wisigoths," proclaimed Avitus, 456-^7. ' a rich and accomplished Arvernian noble, and mas- ter of the militia of Gaul, to the perilous position of emperor. He was accepted by the senate of Rome, and, at the outset, promised a vigorous administration. Creating Majorian com- mander-in-chief, he sent him against the Alemans then invading Rha3tia; he procured the ^isigoths to punish the revolted Suevi of Spain ; and he declared a war, which was committed to the conduct of a powerful Suevan chief, Rikimer, against Genserik. All his generals were successful: Majorian overcame the Ale- mans, the Wisigoths drove the Suevi into the mountains, and Eikimer completely destroyed the Vandal fleet on the coasts of Sicily.^ But the scandals of his luxury and licentiousness pro- voked a discontent which drove him ignominiously into pri- vate life, where he perished of pestilence or chagrin.* The em- pire then fell into the hands of Majorian, with the reluctant consent of Rikimer, who was made j^atrician, the highest dig- nity after that of emperor. A better emperor than Majorian had not ascended the throne Majorian emper- siuce the days of Probus. He planned and he ef- i'nGaui,A.D.4&T. fcctcd, as far as they could be effected in those de- ' Procop. (DeBell.Vand.,l.i.,c. 4). ^ Procop. (De Bell. Vand., i., 5); " After the battle of Chalons, in Sidonins (PanegjT. Aviti, v., 3G7) ; which Theodorik was killed, he was Idat., Chron. succeeded by Thorismnnd, his eldest * Marii Avent. Chron. ad Ann. brother, who was soon after murdered 456; Evagrius, 1. ii., c. 2. by a second brother, Theodorik II. 262 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. generate times, the most salutary reforms of the finances and of the laws, and Eome hailed him as her glorious restorer. But G-aul, patriotically attached to the cause of her own Avitus, re- fused to recognize his claims.^ An open resistance was organ- ized against him at Lyons, which failed, however, as the Wisi- goths who were in Spain did not assist it, while the Burgunds were actively opposed to it. The latter, by way of reprisal, sacked the city of Lyons, which was the principal seat of the insurgents, and received the territories of the First Lyonnese, the ancient state of the ^dui, as the reward of their co-opera- tion.^ Already in possession of Helvetia, Sequania, the Vien- nese, and Maritime Alps, this cession rendered them masters of nearly all eastern Gaul, and laid the foundation of that powerful Burgundian monarchy which plays so conspicuous a part in the future. Other factions revolted the next year, with the aid of the Wisigoths returned from Sj^ain, and com- pelled Majorian himself to cross the Alj^s in the depth of winter, at the head of an army of Huns, Ostrogoths, Rugians, and Bastarnes. After a single encounter, the Wisigoths con- sented to a treaty of peace which recognized the supremacy of the emperor,^ and a series of grand festivities at Aries cele- brated the restoration of the Gauls to the acknowledged chief of Italy.^ For the future security of the province, Majorian left behind ^gidius in him, as lieutenant, Afranius Syamus ^oi;idius, one of Gaul, A.D. ^' . n -I -, -, ■ PI 459. the most eminent of the local aristocracy, master oi the militia of Gaul — familiar alike with the arts of Rome, and the langu.ages and manners of the barbarians.^ His influence with the latter availed him in inflaming a dissension which had sprung up among the Salian-Franks. The king of those war- rior tribes, Merowig, dying in 457, had been succeeded by his son, Hilderik, an impetuous and dissolute prince, whose de- baucheries, as the chronicles say,^ but whose enmity to the Ro- man power more probably,"^ raised against him a domestic re- volt. He was deposed and driven away, taking refuge in Thu- ^ Procop. (DeBell. Vand., i., 7). ^ Q^eg. Turon., 1. ii., ^■.. H; and ^ Marii Chron. ad Ann. 457. Sidonius, Carm. v., y. 553. " Idat., Chron. ad Ann. 458. ^ Greg. Turon., 1. ii., c. 12. * Sidonius, Epist., i., 11 et ix., 13. ' De Tetigny, t. ii., p. 1G8. Chap. X.] ROMAIi-GERMAN GAUL. 263 ringia, -while, by the intrigues of the Eomans, JEgidius was made king in his place.^ ^gidius accepted the position, but, never- theless, committed the actual administration to Yiomad, who had taken part, seemingly, in the plot against Hilderik, although he was secretly his friend. As the whole of Gaul was thus in friendly relations with the government of Majorian — the Franks by means of JEgidius, the Burgunds through the influence of Rikimer, and the Wisigoths by the bonds of the recent treaty — he directed his attention to the conquest of Genserik, the great pirate of the Mediterranean. A magnificent fleet was prepared in the Tuscan Sea and the ports of Liguria, with which he proposed to seize Carthage and recover Africa (A.D. 459). Genserik, frightened by the formidable danger, de- manded peace from the emperor, which was imperiously de- Majorian fails nlcd. No sooucr was the fleet ready, however, and against Gense- i/-ii i n tt • rik,A.D.4oo. collectea at Oarthagena, than, by a sudden surprise (to which Rikimer was supposed to be privy), it was seized by the Yandals and burned to the water's edge. Majorian, whose hopes were thus annihilated, made as favorable treaty as he could with Genserik, and returned to Italy. Mortified by his disappointment, and worn out by his many labors, he died the following year, or was slain by the same secret and powerful hand which had betra3^ed his fleet to the Vandal incendiaries. A rich patrician of Lucania, though of no personal weight, Rikimer makes was ralscd to thc empty dignity by Rikimer, who Empei'o?TD sought to imposc his creature upon all the empire. '^^' JEgidius, the friend of Majorian, resisted the scheme of the insolent Sue van, and rallied the forces of Gaul to a re- ^ That the Franks should have de- control over them in the absence of their posed their king is not improbable ; but native sovereign, is called by the chron- the selection of a Roman in his stead is iclers their king. The whole occurrence an incident Avhich has occasioned much was doubtless, as De Petigny suggests, comment. It is to be explained only a plot of the Romans, who, finding Hil- in this way : since thc treaty with derik, then a youth, averse to thc Ro- ^tius in 431, they had been the firm man rule, took advantage of the um- Jiederati or allies of the empire, recog- brage given by his licentiousness to get nizing its sovereignty and obeying the him degraded from his rank. Still it commands of the Roman marjistcr viili- is curious that a proud nation like thc hull in Gaul. When, therefore, they Franks should not have chosen some ousted Hilderik, they naturally recurred other person of the family of Merowig to the only authority that was left, that in his place, of iEgidius, Avho, exercising a supreme 264 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. volt. Eikimer, however, was already in league with liis fellow- Germans, the Wisigoths and the Burgunds, who assailed ^gid- ius, drove him from Aries, and pursued him to the banks of the Loire (A.D. 462). At Orleans he turned upon the pursu- ers, defeated the Wisigoths under Friederik, brother of the king, and was in a fair way of recovering the steps he had lost. But precisely at that juncture, it is said, Hilderik, the banished king of the Sahan-Franks,' informed of the position of affairs by Viomad, returned from Thuringia at the head of a mass of Grermans, seduced his old subjects from their allegiance to Eome, fell upon JEgidius with a vigor of wrath that had been nursed for eight years of exile, and, after several desperate and stub- born contests, routed him completely at Treves. ^gidius died either of wounds or despair, and was the last Feebleness of 0^ the gTcat Kouians who commanded in Gaul. The the empire. j^Quiau authority may be said to have expired with him ; for, with the exception of the Arelate, the Second Nar- bonnese, and a few scattered provinces of the north still held by Roman governors, the whole country was controlled by Ger- mans and Bretons. They confessed a nominal subjection to the empire, but the actual power was in their own hands. Nor was Italy in any better condition. The poor dislocated republic, in fact, shorn of every glory but the memory of her ancient re- nown, seemed staggering to her fall, while the hawks, the ra- vens, and the "wolves of the wold"^ gathered around in hun- gry eagerness for the carcass. Nevertheless, the Eastern court, so long inactive, made a Anthemius ere- ^^^t cffort to rcvivc the prostrate energies of the by ^hf "cS West. Anthemius, an accomplished Greek, illustri- court, A.D.4GT. ^^^g -^^ dcsccnt, positiou, marriage, and ability, was nominated to the sovereignty on the death of the impotent Se- verus. He began his work, as so many before him had begun, with high hopes and vigorous resolves.^ Conjointly with the Eastern government, he organized a stupendous expedition by sea against " that eternal scourge of the Roman name and ^ Gesta Regum Francorum, c. 8 ; Athelstane. Warton (Hist, of English Fredeghor, Hist. Franc, c. 2; both Poetry, vol. i., p. 79). late and doubtful authorities for this ^ Cassiodor. (Hist, ad Ann. 4G7) ; period. Sidonius Apoll. (Pancg}T. Anthcmii, ^ Anglo-Saxon ode on the victoiy of passim^ Chap. X.] EOMAN-GERMAN" GAUL. 265 power," Genserik, which disastrously failed, and the Yandal was enabled to extend his sway over Africa^ (4:68). He next en- deavored to chastise the Wisigoths of Gaul, who, under King Eurik, the youngest brother of Theodorik 11.,^ were steadily pushing their dominion toward the Rhone and the Loire. By embroiling them with the Bretons, the Saxons, and the Franks^ (469-471), he hoped to check their encroachments ; but, in the mean time, he quarreled with Eikimer. The all-powerful pa- trician made war upon him, seized Rome, and proclaimed Oly- brius, another creature of his, and the candidate at the same time of Genserik, the true emperor* (472). In less than seven months this ephemeral monarch also died, and Rikimer soon after him ; when Gundebald, a king of the Burgunds, raised Glycerins to the throne, who was opposed and driven out by Nepos, a second nominee of the Eastern court.^ In Italy, how- ever, which was now thoroughly desolated — where public dis- order and private misery had arrested all useful labors — where wasting famines and terrible pestilences added new horrors to the devastations of war^ — Nepos found but little suj^port. Few cared to strike, even if they had been able, for so fragile a struc- ture as the Western throne. In Gaul alone a strenuous effort was made to uphold the Arveraia the Romau suprcmacy and the Roman name. The same the empue. bravc mountaincers of Auvergne who, under the Ver- cingetorigh, had been the last to surrender their Keltic birth- right, were also the last to yield their Roman inheritance. Their merit is the more conspicuous in this because they were more than aweary of the servile and vainglorious pretensions of the imperial government. " Faithful to the traditions of our fathers," says Sidonius, sadly, '' we respect laws which are im- potent : it is a sacred obligation with us to follow the fortunes of Rome even in its decay : we patiently bear the shadow of the empire, supporting by habit, rather than choice, the vices ^ Procopius (De Bell. Vand., 1. i., tigny try to bring some order out of the c. 6). confusion, ^ Eurik had killed his brother and * Cassiodor., Chron. ad Ann. 472. succeeded to his power (Marii Chron. ^ Ibid., ad Ann. 473, 474; Jonian- ad Ann. 4()7J. See next chapter. des, c. 45. ^ These events are obscurely told by * Comp. Sidonius, Epif their church. Unwilling to resort to war, we must ^^^- suppose, so long as peaceful negotiations might avail, they first worked zealously for his conversion to the truth. Their letters and expostulations proving vain, they smnmoned a great conference of bishops at Lyons, to engage in a jDublic and elaborate debate with the Arian clergy, that his prejudices might be removed and his understanding enlightened.'* The contro- versy profited little, for he asked at the close of it the some- what embarrassing question, " If yours be the true faith, why (vol. v., c. 39), but a more detailed ac- ^ See Cassiodor., Epist., passim. count is to be found in Manso (Ges- ^ Procop. (De Bell. Goth., 1. i., c. chichte des Ostrogoth. Reiches, Breslau, 12). 1824). * Collatio Episcoporum coram Gun- ^ Cassiodorus and Boetius among debaldo Rcge (apud Scrip. Rcr. Gaul. others. ct Franc, t. iv., p. 100). 28-i EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. do you not hinder your brothers the Franl^s from marching to our destruction ? Or does the true doctrine consist in covet- ousness for the goods of others and thirst for human blood ?" Avitus, the Bishop of Yienne, in his reply, avoided the point of the interrogatory, although he plainly indicated to the king an alternative. "Eeturn with your people to the law of the Lord," he said, ''and you will have security on your frontiers. Those who are at peace with heaven may have peace with men."^ As the king promised merely to think of that, the pros- elytizing bishops departed not much consoled. We do not know, of course, what immediate agency they chiodwig had in this result; but, as soon as their conferences theBurgund^ wcrc closcd, Chlodwig brought to bear upon the A.D. 500. Burgunds the effective arguments of the lance and battle-axe. Conspiring with Grodeghisel, the king's brother, who reigned over a small part of Burgundia, and desired to reign over the whole, he assaulted the forces of Gundebald at Dijon. The conflict was stubborn, and would have been doubt- ful but that, in the midst of it, Grodeghisel deserted to the Franks, and gave them the victory. Gundebald fled to Avig- non, whither he was pursued by Chlodwig, and besieged, while Godeghisel remained behind to secure the fruits of his treach- ery.- In exchanging Gundebald for him, however, the Catho- lics had gained nothing, for he was even a more decided Arian than the king ; while Chlodwig and his troops had been led off into a distant region to carry on a hopeless siege in the midst of swarms of imbittered enemies.^ Very soon, too, this deposed king, by the sympathy which his misfortunes excited, and the promises of political and religious reform which, on the persua- sions of the priests, he addressed to his old Koman subjects, produced a reaction of feeling in his favor. He was enabled, after proffering a small tribute to the Franks, to raise the siege, to recover his freedom, collect his scattered forces, and march upon the usurper at Yienne, where, putting him and his adhe- rents to death, he resumed his ancient sway.* ' Collat., ibid. terprise" (Vit. S. Dalmatii apud Script. ^ Greg. Turon., 1. ii., c. 32. Rerum Gall., t. iv., p. 100). 3 Xevertheless, tlie clergy called the * Marius Aventicensis, Chron. ad undertaking "a holy and glorious en- Ann. 500. Chap. XI.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 285 His gratitude or justice was evinced in tlie immediate com- The Lex Bur- pilatiou of a svstem of laws, which, as it placed the gundiorum, i,^ J^ . A.D. 502. Burgunds and the native Komans on a more equal footing, may be regarded as the fulfillment of the promises made before his escape. It adhered to the institution of the weregild except for the crime of murder, but the same rate of comi^osi- tion was established for the Burgund and the Eoman. It main- tained, too, the original soiies^ or divisions of land ; but it allow- ed of no new partitions to fresh comers, while it granted the old Roman residents a preference in future sales or redemp- tions. In the judicial arrangements, the singular method of eliciting truth by ^ the oaths of compurgators, or, when these were challenged, by the duel of champions,^ was retained; but this could have been applied only incidentally to the Roman class of subjects,- for whose special benefit the procedures of the Roman law were observed in the courts, while an abridg- ment of the Theodosian Code was prepared to exj)ound and reg- ulate their national laws.^ JSTevertheless, the prelates were unsatisfied with the political Conversion of guarantccs and rights conceded by Gundebald with- the Burgunda. ^^^ |^^g rcliglous couvcrsion ; they pursued, there- fore, their work of proselytism. They got so far, according to Gregory, as to induce him to request a secret baptism into the true faith from the hands of Bishop Avitus of Yienne. He de- sired to make it secret because of the prejudices of his German subjects; but the bishop, to whom a public abjuration alone seemed to be of any utility, declined the proposal ; so the king was left to persist in his heresies to the end.* Avitus was the less strenuous now, perhaps because he found a recompense for his pains in Sighismund, the son of Gundebald, who was asso- ciated with him in the government, and became, under the skillful manij)ulations of the apostle, a thorough and devout ' On compurgation and the -vvager ^ This has come down to us under of battle there is an intelligent article the false title of Papiniani Liber Re- in a late North American Review (art. sponsorum, and was first published by i., January, 1850). Cujacius in 1566. Lwing (Introduc- ^ The Lex Burgundiorum was prob- tion to the Histoiy of the Civil Law, ably first promulged in 502, although Append, ii., ed. London, 1837); Sa- something was added to it by King Sig- vigny, also, vol. ii., p. 32, hismund in 517. Von Savigny (Hist. * Greg. Turon., 1. ii,, c. 34. Rom, Law, t, ii., pp. 1-4), 286 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. Catholic. 1 Orthodoxy acquired the ascendant in the court ; Sighismund lavished favors upon the monasteries and the churches ; and Chlodwig might thereafter assert that, if he had not added to his territorial possessions by the Burgundian war, he had yet fulfilled, to a considerable extent, the wishes of his ecclesiastical patrons.- The Burgunds were conquered in the sense most acceptable to those whose superior sagacity and in- telligence enabled them to play off" the barbaric chiefs against each other, according to the projects of their own ambition. The winds and waves of religious agitation, as Avitus wrote, had not entirely subsided, but there was a calm in which they might see the port where they would no longer suffer shipwreck.^ The AVisigoths alone, of the German invaders of Gaul, clung De9i.?n3 against to thc Arlau faith ; and it may be supposed that the A.D. 501 ' same influences which had aimed at the alternative of the' conversion or the overthrow of the Burgunds were zeal- ously directed toward them."^ No pains were likely spared by thc venerable bishops to compass their ends, nor is it any more likely that they always stickled at the means. Alarik, know- ing his danger — knowing that the ecclesiastics were undermin- ing within, while they could at any time command from with- out the powerful aid of the Franks, was compelled to exer- cise an unusual vigilance and circumspection. Among other things, he tried to come to an amicable understanding with his northern neighbor, the restless and choleric Chlodwig, and ac- cordingly invited him to a conference, which was held on a small island of the Eiver Loire, opposite the city of Amboise.^ The principal result of the interview was that Alarik consent- ed to material modifications of his laws, suggested in the inter- ests of the Eomans and Catholics. He recalled the banished bishops, softened many of the ancient Germanic customs, and compiled an abridgment of the Theodosian Code, under the name of the Breviarum Aniani^ for the administration of jus- tice according to the Eoman forms, and the maintenance of the municipal organization of the civitates, and of the privileges of ' Sirmond (in Notis ad Epist. Aviti ^ Aviti Epist. 34 ad Aurolianum. 19 et 20, p. 21, note). * Vit. St. CiXisarii, apud Bolland., ^ On this subject, see Dubos (Hist. u. IG. Crit., t. ii., 1. iv., c. 12). ^ Greg. Turon., 1. ii., c. 35. CiiAP. XI.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 287 tlie curia?. ^ Alarik supposed that by these concessions he had assuaged all griefs and silenced all complaints ; yet the council of Agde, held the same year, hardly concealed the spirit of re- volt under its lavish protestations of gratitude and respect for the monarch.^ " He had pushed tolerance," says De Petigny, "as flir as it was possible ; but it is not tolerance that religions and parties wish : an entire community of sentiment and prin- ciple alone satisfies their zeal." The council had no sooner separated than Bishop Quintianus, of Eodez, had to be deposed anew, and Bishop Verus sent into exile, because of their plot- tings.^ As the king had, moreover, about the same time pro- voked the discontent of his subjects by financial exactions and an issue of spurious coin, he famished his enemies with mate- rials to work upon.* Chlodwig, who narrowly watched the course of dissatisfaction Tiie Franks in- aud iutriguc, as soou as the time was ripe, said to vade the kin;^- . iii ^ -\ r o i -i , , -rx-n domofthewis- his wamors, assembled on the iMarz-leld, ' What a 507. ' " ' shame that these Arians should possess the fairest parts of Gaul ; let us march upon them, and, with the aid of God, seize their lands!" His hearers, of course well pleased with the proposal, clamored their approval. A numerous army was rapidly collected ; Cloderik, a son of the Eipuarian king, joined in with the wild tribes of the Rhine ; the Burgunds promised their assistance ; and many Gallo-Romans, inspired by religious zeal or the hope of plunder, followed in the wake of those fiercer combatants.^ In vain the good Theodorik of Italy saw with pain the approaching rupture between his rela- tives, and sought to avert the consequences. While his envoys were yet hurrying with his messages of peace from court to court, the hosts of Chlodwig were on their way to the Loire.^ A war so holy could not readily be foregone ; moreover, the ven- erable Bishop of Rheims had invoked upon its prosecutors the choicest blessings of heaven. Miracles, therefore, marked their ' De Petigny, t. ii., p. 495. It is ^ Greg'. Tiiron., 1. ii., c. 37; also, dated Feb. Gth, A.D. r)06, and was pre- 1. x., c. 31. pared by the jurisconsult Anianus, un- * Sidon. ApoU., Epist. Aviti 78. der the direction of Count Goiarik, and ^ Greg. Turon., 1. ii., o. 37. submitted to the approbation of an as- ^ Cassiodor., 1. ii., Epist. 1, 2, 3. semblv of bishops and Gallic deputies. His letters of expostulation are eloquent ^ Comp. Concil. Agath. Prtefat., and and magnanimous. Vit. St. Cais., i., 17. 288 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book in. progress : a stag of wondrons magnitude and beauty guided them to the fords of the Yienne ; celestial fires blazed from the basilica of St. Hilary at Poitiers, to illumine their path during the night ; and the sacred sortileges, consulted over the tomb of St. Martin, presaged a glorious triumph.^ The same pow- ers which had prepared the miracles had also taken care of the result. At Yougld, where the Franks and Wisigoths first en- countered, the former achieved not an easy, and yet a deci- sive victory. Alarik was slain, some say by Chlodwig's own hand ; his troops were dispersed ; and all his possessions north of the Garonne were claimed for the conqueror. Yet his con- quest was not complete ; for at ISTarbonne the chiefs of the de- feated party rallied, and raised a bastard son of the fallen king, named Gesalik, upon the shield.^ While the Wisigoths were reorganizing their forces at the foot of the Pyrenees, Chlodwig made the best of his time in se- curing the possessions which had been opened to him. Divid- ing his army into two parts, he sent one of them, under the com- mand of his eldest son Theuderik, to subject the First Aqui- tain, as far as the confines of Burgundia;^ the other he led him- self, across the Garonne, into the Second Aquitain and ISTovem- populania. On his way, it is alleged, he captured the city of Bordeaux (Burdigalia) and other considerable fortresses. Ge- salik, incapable of holding the open field against him, concen- trated his troops in the town of Carcassone, whither he carried also the treasures of the Goths — sujDposed from popular report to include the accumulated spoils taken by the first Alarik from Kome, and among the rest the magnificent ornaments and ves- sels of the Temple of Jerusalem.^ This furnished an additional Chlodwig he- motive to Chlodwi.o; for marchincr upon the town, Fune,A.D.507. which hc did with great rapidity, but not before it had been placed in a state of thorough defense. ^ Chlodwig sent deputies to try the many Arvernians fell fighting on the Sortileges Biblhnim at Tours ; as they side of the Wisigoths, Avhich would seem entered the church the chanter was to show that all the natiA^s did not sym- enouncing the words of Psalm xvii., pathize with the Franks. Perhaps the 39, 40, which they at once regarded as friends and countrymen of JEgidius and a divine promise of success. Syagrius had not yet forgotten the old "" Procop. (De Bell. Goth., 1. i., c. feuds with the Franks. 12); also Isidor., Chron. It would ^ Greg. Turon., 1. ii., c. 37. appear that in this battle of Vougli3 " Frocop. (DeBell. Goth., 1. i., c.l2). Chap. XI.] EOMAN-GEEMAN GAUL. 289 During the time lie was engaged in tlie blockade, Theuderik, The Franks ^^^ son, had lavaged Arvernia, and then joined the bSc^rirrj^s^ alHed Burgunds under Sighismund in an expedition A.U. 50T. against Aries, which was still held by the Wisigoths.^ On the way they seized a large number of the frontier cities of the Second Narbonnese and of the Maritime Alps, leaving be- hind them, however, Avignon, which they were unable to take.^ They sat down before Aries in two bodies, one on the right, and the other on the left shore of the Eiver Ehone f but in all their assaults, singly or together, they were vehemently repulsed by the Goths. A sedition of the Jews, who were collected there in large numbers by the opportunities of traffic, and the secret treacher}^, as it was alleged, of the Bishop St. Ccesar, came near wrecking the defense.* This was only prevented by the timely intervention of Theodorik of Italy. Indignant at the miscar- riage of his pacific measures and the truculent zeal with which the Franks pursued his fellow- Arians, that powerful monarch undertook the deliver}'- of the besieged,^ although he was not on the best terms with the Wisigoths, because of their choice of Gesalik to the kingship, instead of Amalarik, his grandson. As he approached, the Burgunds, remembering their experiences in Italy, fled ; the Franks were then easily driven off; and Chlod- wig himself, finding the capture of Carcassone impossible, and not caring to await the arrival of Theodorik, should he incline to push his successes, deemed it prudent to withdraw into Bor- deaux. Theodorik, however, remained satisfied with the Are- late, which he proceeded to restore and organize in the Eoman fashion. The next year, the struggle was renewed between the Franks The Franks and ^^'^^ ^^^ Wisigoths, the latter of whom, after achiev- wi8igoths con- ■ ^ some unimportant victories, were forced to de- tinue tneir war, CD -T ' A.D. 50S-509; throne their king, Gesalik, and send him for refuge into Africa, to the court of the King of the Yandals.^ They proclaimed in his stead Amalarik, the son of Alarik by a daugh- ter of Theodorik, whereby they procured the open and decisive ' Avit., Epist. 40. ^ Greg. Turon., 1. ii., c. 37. Pro- - Dc Petignv, t. ii., p. HI 2. cop., loc. cit. Dubos, makes a diiFerent ^ Cassiodor. (1. viii., Epist. 10). arrangement of these CA-ents. * VitaSancti CiesariiapudBolland., * Cassiodor., 1. iii., passim. 11. i., ii. T 290 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. assistance of the King of the Ostrogoths. Thus couciliatecl, he speedily forced the Franks into a peace, in the final arrangement which is closed of which, always moderate and generous, he allowed ^oa 'of TheSo-' thcui to retain possession of the two Aquitains, while ric, A.D.510. ]^g reserved to himself the Arelate alone, as far as the Durance ; and for his grandson, whose royalty was recog- nized, the Second Narbonnese and Spain. ^ On his return home, Chlodwig stopped at Tours, to offer his chiodwig made gratitudc for various celestial favors to the ^"uardian Eraperor^of the saiut, and whilc there was invested by Anastasius, East, A. D. 510. ^j^^ Euipcror of the East, with the title and insignia of the consular office. The object of the emperor, doubtless, was to secure his aid against Theodorik, with whom he was at war in Italy, as well as to assert the theoretical supremacy of the empire, a notion to which the Komans still fondly clung. Chlodwig accepted the distinction with visible joy; he indued his limbs in the purple tunic and encircled his brow with the glittering diadem, and, thus adorned, jDaraded the streets in ex- ultation, distributing money to the crowd and gifts to the church- es. Whatever we may think of the legal validity and signifi- cance of this act, its practical influences can not be doubted.^ It rendered him, in the estimation of his Gallo-Koman subjects, the lieutenant of the Cossars, the representative and heir of the fallen empire, to whom their orphaned allegiance might be trans- ferred, and by whom the faded splendors of the old civilization would likely be renewed. It must have tended, moreover, to obliterate in his own mind the simple notions of royalty which he had derived from his German ancestry, and to re- place them by the loftier conceptions which the priests had ^ Dc Petigny, 1. ii., p. r>28. et Augustus est apjiellatus." This pas- ^ The incident has given occasion to sage is relied upon by Dubos, De Pe- so much controversy that I subjoin the tigny, Palgravc, and others, who main- words of Gregory of Tours: " Igitur tain that ChlodAvig Avas only a lieutcn- ab Anastasio, impcratore, codicillos de ant of the empire in his sercral milita- consuhxtu acccpit, et in basilica Sancti ry expeditions. I shall probably have Martini, tunica blatea indutus est, et occasion to recur to the subject in the chlamyde, imponens vertici diadema. sequel. Meantime, the English read- Tune, ascenso cquo, aurum argentum- er may consult the elaborate and pidi- que in itinere illo quod inter portam cious remarks of Hallam (Hist, of Mid- atrii et ecclesiam civitatis est, prcscnti- die Ages, Supplementary Notes c. i. bus populis, propria manu spargcns, n. 4). crogaAir, et ab ea die, tanqui.ni Consul CriAP. XI.] EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 291 framed out of tlie Old Testament Scriptures and tlie Eoman imperialism. The authority of Chlodwig was less securely established, or ohiodwig con- less cheerfullv acknowledo^ed, anions; his countrymcD, solidates his . ^ D^ J & J i power among thc Frauks, iu the north of Gaul, than elsewhere, and, tlie Franks, ' .\ . ^ ^ ' ' ^v.D. 511. as soon as he was at peace with the Burgunds and Wisigoths, he turned his attention to them. His object was to concentrate in himself the monarchy or executive force of all the tribes — a most difficult undertaking, but one which he con- trived to effect in a summary and characteristic way, not very honorable, it must be confessed, to his own character, or to the instructions of his Christian teachers. Among his coadjutors in the Wisigothic war had been Chloderik, a son of the Ripu- arian king, formerly lamed in the battle of Tolbiac. "Thy father is old and limp," said Chlodwig to him, "and if he were dead thou wouldst succeed to his kingdom and to my friend- ship !" The young man, comprehending the suggestions of the tempter, at once caused his father to be killed, and sent messengers to Chlodwig to announce the fact. He, by a return embassy, answered, " I thank thee for thy good- will ; pray thee show thy treasures to my messengers, before they are apjDro- priated." Chloderik showed them the chest in which his father kept his gold, stooping down and plunging his arm into it to indicate how much, it was. As he did so, one of the envo3^s raised his axe and struck it into his skull. The Ripuarians re- volted at the atrocity ; but Chlodwig, after besieging and beat- ing them at Yerdun, denied his participation in the crime, and got bimself lifted upon the shield as their king. He then march- ed against Harrarik, the king at Therouane, made him and his son prisoners, and caused the hair of both to be cut off, in sign of their degradation and disgrace. Harrarik, condoling with his son, said to him, "This foliage has been cut off from a green tree, but it will grow and bloom again." The words being re- ported to Chlodwig, he instantly divined the menace, and order- ed both to be beheaded, seizing at the same time their kingdom and their treasures. Ragnakher was still the king at Cambrai. Chlodwig procured his slaves and vassals to conspire against him, by presents of bracelets and baldricks of false gold (brass .ufilt). He then took him and his son prisoners, and killed the 292 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. father with his axe, because he disgraced the family in allowing himself to be fettered, and the son, because he had not prevent- ed the disgrace of the father. Kignomer, another king at the town of Mans, was put to death in the same spirit. " Thus," says Gregory of Tours, who narrates these stories at length with the most impassive coolness, " God crushed the enemies of Chlodwig daily under his feet, and enlarged his kingdom, be- cause he walked with a pure heart before him, and did that which was agreeable in his sight." ^ The same chronicler pro- ceeds : '' Having slain, in this wise, many other kings, and his nearest kindred, he extended his authority over the whole of Gaul ; and, finally, one day assembling his people, he spoke as follows of the relatives whom he had butchered : ' Unhappy that I am, left like a wayfarer in the midst of strangers, there is now no relative to befriend me in the day of adversity.' But this he said not for sorrow at their deaths, only through cunning, in or- der to discover whether he had still any relatives left, so that he might destroy them."^ These crafty and sanguinary proceedings are to be ascribed chiodwig's mo- to Dolitical uiotivcs as well as to personal ambition. tivGs in tlicsG murders. ^ Chlodwig had imbibed from the prelates and Eomans generally their notions as to the necessity of a centralized and unitary government, and he compelled the submission of the Frankish tribes as a condition precedent to a more systematic ^ Hist. Franc, 1. ii., cc. 40-42. We latter he was abandoned to his barbaric find, however, by the Life of St. Eleu- instincts, while in the former he had theriiis, that other prchites did not re- been guided b}^ the clergy. There is, gard these crimes with the same compla- however, no reason for supposing that cency as the Bishop of Tours. It is the clergy had withdrawn their control narrated that, after these scenes of per- in his later days ; on the contrary, we fidy and violence, Chlodwig entered the find, by subsecpient acts, that he was as church at Tournai to return thanks for much under their influence as ever. A his victories, when the bishop rebuked better moral might have been inferred him for his sins. Chlodwig manifested from these events if De Petigny had a deep contrition afterward, 7. t., he told us how the peculiar theology of uttered prayers and groans, and made those times sunk all moral distinctions considerable gifts to the Church. Vita in u, gross external devotion to the Sancti Ekntherii, apud Bolland., 20th Church, or if he had dwelt upon what Februar}\ he himself says, at the close of the par- = Greg. Turon., ii., 42. De Petig- agraph, namely, that the bishops, in ny, contrasting the skillful, patient, and looking at the end, shut their eyes to moderate politics of Chlodwig's earlier the means. Inst. Me'roving., t. ii., i). •life with these scenes of ferocious ven- 554. geance and liypocrisy, says that in the Ch.u>. XI.] EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 293 organization of his State. He was, in his own esteem, the suc- cessor of the CaBsars, the darling of the Church, and the chosen instrument of Heaven in restoring that imperial polity which had disastrously gone down amid the tempests of the invasions. In pursuance of this object, we find him, immediately after the The Council Gxccution of his bloody tasks, convoking a council of oforiean.-. i^igi^ops at Orlcaus, to arrange the ecclesiastical digni- ties and affairs of his realms. About thirty prelates, some of them from the Burgundian and Wisigothic districts, were pres- ent, eager to forward his plans, and to cement the profitable union between themselves and the king. By the canons which were passed the orthodox supremacy was defined and fortified ; ecclesiastical estates were exempted from taxation, and declared inalienable and imprescriptible ; the privileges of sanctuary as- sured to homicides, adulterers, thieves, and slaves ; and the im- mense donations of Chlodwig to the churches were confirmed and regulated : but, in return, the clergy consented that no per- son should be allowed to enter into the spiritual or monastic orders without permission of the king or the count. ■^ We must refer to the same epoch,^ I think, and to the same The Salic Law impulses, the wHttcn compilation of the old Frankish couected. customs, which has come down to us under the name of the Salic Law. It was a version in Latin of the primitive jurisprudence of the Mallberg, with some considerable addi- tions, rendered necessary by the altered circumstances of the people. In its original form, this law, which is called a ^;ac/^^??^, or compact, must have been coeval with the federation of the several Germanic tribes composing the Frankish league.^ Com- ing together under diversified customs, they found it not only convenient but necessary to digest their separate legislations into a uniform whole."* The dispersions and revolutions inci- * Labbei, Cone. Gen., t. iv., p. 414, MSS., says that four men, Saloghast, can. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 23. Bodoghast,Wisoghast,andWindoghast, 2 Tlie usual date given is 50G, but who dwelt in Salogheve, Bodogheve, this is an error, inasmuch as the Franks and Windo- or "Wiso-gheve, were chosen must have been subjected before Chlod- to discuss all causes of discord, and to wigwould think of compiling their laws, pronounce their judgment. The Salic =" The tradition of the Gesta Reg. law was the result. Ercard and Leib- Frnnc, c. 4, refers the law to the time nitzfindinSalo-gheve, Bodo-gheve, and of the imaginary Pharamund. Wiso-gheve, the names of tlie rivers * A prologue, attached to certain Sale, Bode, and Weser, and suppose 294 EOMAN-aERMAN GAUL. [Book III. dent to tlie long conquest of northern Ganl, and the subsequent fusion of the several nations established there under Chlodwig, suggested, it may be conjectured, a second recension, which he undertook.^ He had powerful motives for doing so in his scheme of a general Frankish monarchy, and in his disposition to diffuse Christianity among his countrymen. He could not, out of regard to the deep-rooted prejudices of the Franks, change the nature of these laws to any considerable extent, nor the structure of society to which they referred ; therefore, in all the extant versions of them, we find the social and political consti- tution disclosed to us the same in its essential features with that imputed by Tacitus to the ancient Germans. There is the same consecration of the family -bond, with its responsibilities ; the same general distinctions of ranks ; the same system of free- companionage ; and the same minute application of the were- gild or composition to all classes of crimes, murders, thefts, arsons, and calumnies. But a carefal study of several provis- ions of the law discloses two marked departures of Frank so- ciety from the more primitive condition of the nation : fii^st, in that the old semi-patriarchal, semi-popular nobility of Tacitus has given place to a mere official aristocracy, or nobles by service; and, second, in that the Christian churches are sedu- lously protected from injury, and the Christian clergy esti- the gheve to have been the German r/an^ 50 are entirely Latin, and 16 are in- or county. But others place the local- terpolated with what is called the Mall- ities of these early laAvgiveTs in Belgium, bergian Gloss, /. i'., with peculiar Teu- Comp. De Petigny (Eclaircissements, tonic words, probably mnemonic or No. 5 of Etudes Me'roving.j t. ii., in catch-words, used at the Malls. The Jine.). latter he considers the most ancient, ^ Wiarda, Guizot, and other author- and three of them, containing sixty-five ities are of opinion that no extant copy titles, he would refer to times, before of the Salic law dates from a period ear- Chlodwig^ when the Franks Avere yet lier than the seventh century (Civ. en heathen. (See Dissertat. Premiere.) Franc. , lee. 9) ; but Pardessus (Loi His notes and supplementary disserta- Salique, ou Recueil, contenant les an- tions are a complete store-house of mi- ciens redactions de cette loi, Paris, nutc and valuable learning in regard to 1843), whose conclusions are drawn the law and the private and public life from a study of sixty-six different MSS. , of the Franks. all that are to be found in the European - No doubt these royal retainers (the libraries, eight of which are published Antrustiones of the Law) existed in the at length, supposes that there was an time of Tacitus, but they had not then original version in the Frankish tongue, attained the pre-eminence and impor- from which different Latin versions may tance ascribed to them in the law. have been made. Of these 60 MSS., CiiAP. XI.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 295 mated, in the rates of the weregilcl, on a level with the highest dignitaries of the barbaric court. ^ We thus sec that already, in the very era of the conquest, the royal power had expanded in dignity and consideration, while the way was prepared for the enormous political authority afterward acquired by the priesthood. These labors finished, Chlodwig took ill and died, in the for- Death of tv-fifth vcar of his aafe and the thirtieth of his reisri.^ Chlodwig, -J J o ^ p A.D. 511. Honored doubtless by his people, he was yet chiefly mourned by the Church, which could scarcely refrain from can- onizing his memory.^ A great man we are unable to pro- nounce him, because we know little of his personal character, and that little is unworthy of praise. Not insusceptible appar- ently of the larger civic motives, and a zealous Christian with- al, he was nevertheless savage, vindictive, and perfidious. On a deep ground of native ferocity and cunning the priests had embroidered a subtle web of hypocrisy, which enabled him to cloak enormous schemes of treachery and cruelty under profes- sions of public policy. That he was a considerable warrior seems to be proved by the fact that he rendered the arms of the Franks formidable to so large a part of Europe. But it is still more evident that he was a consummate politician, who, by a skillful use of opportunities, overcame his foes and raised his power to an almost unprecedented height. Though a mere youth at the outset of his career, and the hereditary leader of a small band of mercenaries, he became in the end the acknowl- edged master of one of the largest and wealthiest of the Roman provinces, and the founder of not only the mightiest of the bar- baric monarchies, but of that one alone which was durable. Whatever his personal merits, therefore, he stands forth on Hi8 place in ^hc histoHC pagc as the most important figure we be- hiBtory. hold during the five hundred years that elapsed from Constantine to Charlemagne. With him originated the first of the European nations that lived to be modern — that France ' In the first three texts of Pardessus " On the chronolop;}' of Chlodwig's there is no allusion to Christianity what- later life, see De Petigny (Etudes Me- evcr ; hut in the later texts the were- roving., t. ii., eclaircissement 3). gild for killing a priest is GOO solidi, '' Greg. Turon. (Hist. Ecc., 1. ii., c. which is the same as that for killing an 43) and Sismondi (Hist, des Fran9., t. antrustion or a count. i-, ^"- 5, p. 141. 296 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book ni. whicli is our peculiar theme. The rude inhabitants of Britain, Germany, ancl Scandinavia long remained rude and barbarous ; the grand structure of civilization reared by Theodorik in Italy, broke into pieces after his death ; the splendid royalties estab- lished by the Wisigoths in Spain were speedily submerged in the storms of civil war ; and the Vandals left few traces in Af- rica besides the blood-marks in which their domination had been acquired, maintained, and overthrown. But the ascendency of the Franks in Gaul, blending curiously the ancient civilization with the new barbarism, was continued through all the fierce ferments and fusions of the great age of transition, till antiquity itself was swallowed up of feudalism, and the elements of the modern world were knit and rounded into shape. Chap. XII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 297 CHAPTER XII. Changes produced by the Conquest. — Wars of the Sons of Chlodwig. (From A.D. 511 to 561.) The political relations of the empire with the barbaric na- character of tioHS which Dassed iiito its territory were well de- the barbaric . ^ , . . "^ . conquests. scribcd in a single sentence of Procopius. " The em- perors," he said, "could not prevent the barbarians from enter- ing the provinces, and yet the barbarians did not deem their acquisitions there valid until they had secured the assent of the emperors."^ In other words, the Roman state, unable in its decrepitude to protect its possessions or to make good its claims to supremacy, saved the more open confession of its impotence by a formal adoption of the Germans as allies. On the other hand, the Germans acquiesced in the protection of the empire, and accepted its patronage, inasmuch as a color of legitimacy was thereby given to their settlements and seizures.^ But, as the power of the empire diminished, the power of the barbaric royalties expanded, and when the Western Empire was wholly extinguished, the assertion of the Roman "majesty" in the West by the Eastern court was scarcely more than a theo- retic pretense, which it could not enforce in practice. The struggle then turned on the point as to which of the German nations encamped within the boundaries of the ancient state the inheritance should belong. They were no longer invaders, nor wandering bands of predatory warriors, but established nations, having their capitals and their homes, and contending among themselves for the possession and control of what may be termed a derelict estate. If the barbaric chiefs acknowledged ^ T>e Bell. Goth., 1. iii., c. 33. than conquests, stands at the head of 2 The French antiquarians and his- one, and Montesquieu (Esprit des toric writers are divided into two schools Lois), who maintains that these ad- on the question of the relation of the vances were almost pure conquests, at barbaric royalties to the empire. The the head of the other. The nature and Abbe Dubos (Histoire Critique), who merits of the controversy are impartial- maintains that the advances of the Ger- ly summed up by Lehuerou (Hist, des mans into the empire were the result of Inst. Meroving., t. i., Pref.). the concessions of the emperors rather 298 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. ill a sort the claims of tlie Eastern court — if thej accepted the Komaii office of master of the militia— if thej were glad to sport the titles, as Chlodwig did, of Augustus and consul, it was not in the interest or for the sake of the fallen empire that thej did so, but in their own interest and for their own sake. By these means they ingratiated themselves in the good-will of the bishops and of the native society, acquired a Koman pres- tige for their administration, and flattered themselves that they would become the actual heirs of the defunct commonwealth. Chlodwig was only more adroit than other chiefs in his assump- tions of the Koman paraphernalia, and consequently more suc- cessful in his designs. That his successes were nevertheless conquests, in the proper chiodwig's sue- sense of the term, can not, I think, admit of much cesses conquests, ^q^^];^^^ jJq pelicd for his authority primarily upon his sword and the swords of his good Franks, although he was not indisposed to confirm that authority by such other evi- dences of its rightfulness as the opinions and exigences of the time might rec|uire. He had not, however, the remotest idea of restoring the old empire of the West ; he knew that, after a cen- tury of struggle against its fate, that form of political existence was iDrostrate and gone forever ; but he hoped to substitute for the Roman ascendency in Gaul an ascendency of his own, which might become eventually no less glorious and enduring. He warred and murdered for this end, and he would have warred and murdered with an equal ill-will against the Romans as against the Germans, if the Romans had stood equally in his way. That this was the real end and character of his ambition is organiz;ition of madc clcarcr by the manner in which his dominion Gaul under the . ^ , , . . -, -.^j. , t ^ Franks. m (jraul was admmistered. We have little or no evidence, it is true, that the Franks divided the private lands among themselves, as the Wisigoths are known to have done when they first settled in Aquitain, the Yandals in Africa, and the Herules and others in Italy ;^ but the circumstances of their settlement and progress do not a2~»pear to have made this kind ^ Dnbos THist, Crit., t. ii., 1. vi., c. cussed also by Fauriel (Ganle Merid., 13). Comp. Lex Wisigoth., v., 4, 19; ii., 34), Raynonard (Hist, du Droit Lex Bnrgund., t. liv. ; and Cassiodor., INInnicipal, i., 2:)(;), and Hallam (Supp. 1. ix., Epist. 4. Sec the question dis- Notes, vol. i., p. 2G3). Chap. XII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 299 of appropriation necessar}^ They had long held possession of ample territories to the north of the Loire, as we have seen, some of which had been granted to them, as lactic colonists, by the em- perors, and some had been abandoned by the first possessors dnring the tumnlts of invasion and civil war. When they ad- vanced, therefore, to the south of the Loire, they were already provided with domains, on which they had built their homes and lived, and from which they did not care to depart perma- nently, because, being less numerous than other parties in Gaul, it was not prudent to disperse their forces. The lands so ac- quired in the south they divided among themselves, and gov- erned as tributary estates, partly by garrisons established in con- venient strong-holds, but chiefly through the still subsisting forms of the Koman administration. Adopting pretty much the same territorial distinctions as had Jurisdictions beforc prevailed, i. e.^ of provincine, civitates, and pagi, and counts!' which corrcspondcd closely to their own native gaus, hundreds, and marks, they appointed a series of officials whose functions were similar to those of the former Roman officials. To a duke (heretogh in Teuton, and dux in Latin) they assign- ed the command of one of those large circumscriptions of ter- ritory comprised in an ancient province, and he was expected, with the aid of his warriors, to watch over its peace and secu- rity, to summon his army when needed, and to lead it into bat- tle. Under him, in each civitas, they placed a graf, or count (comes), who exercised therein both a civic and military juris- diction, assisted by a number of reicheimburgs, or chosen free- holders, who presided with him in the district courts, and col- lected and forwarded the taxes. In the lesser precincts, again, were deputies, vice-counts (vice-comes), and vicars (vicarii), who were enQ:ao:ed in similar duties.^ Owing to the complicated nature of their tasks, the counts and The laws were their subordiuatcs were often selected from among the personal. Gallo-Romaus, who were supposed to be more fixmil- iar with the routine of courts and treasuries than the untutored ^ Sometimes, however, there was a Gi'i™^) as to the extent to wliich the Ro- graf in the pagus. Compare Von Sa- man municipal jurisdictions were su- vigny (Hist, of Roman Law, l. v., § 3) perseded or adopted by the Germans, and Pardessus (Loi Salique, Dissert. 300 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. wanderers from Germany ; for the laws were then regarded as personal, i. e., each class of inhabitants was judged by the law of the nation to which it belonged— the Germans by the Salic, Burgundian, Ripuarian, and Wisigothic codes, and the Gallo- Eoman by those of the emperors.' Moreover, the financial sys- tem of the Romans was continued in force to a considerable ex- tent ; and not only were the imposts and capitation taxes main- tained, but similar methods were resorted to for their collection and transfer.^ But, while the Franks did not abrogate or subvert the Roman The natives systcm of financc and law in respect to the Gallo-Ro- nevertheless -, , i < i • • ■ Bubordinates. mans, and even accepted their services in various branches of administration, they yet took care to mark, in the most significant way, their sense of the relative position of the two races. In the rates of the weregild, the composition at- tached to the murder or injury of the Roman was in all cases relatively about one half less than that affixed to the murder or injury of the Frank. Relatively I say, because the social distinctions which prevailed in the native society were still re- garded — the Roman possessor being estimated higher than the Roman tributary, and the tributary higher than the slave — but the Roman possessor was nevertheless rated at only half the sum of the Frankish freeman, and the Roman tributary at half the sum of the Frank litus. The only exception was in the case of the priests, who were placed on a level with the Frank- ish nobles.^ By this arrangement the Salic law said to the na- tives, " You are by no means equal to the Franks, and yet you are not all of the servile or degraded order. You may enjoy your own laws, hold and devise your own property, be eligible even to certain offices of distinction and worth, but the prerog- atives and rights of government are with the Franks, your su- periors." 1 VonSavigny («^i's?7>.,vol. i., c. 3). Q>^'-'^<^). The ivcre of the Roman Con- ^ Lehuerou (Hist, des Instit. Mero- viva: lierfis, for instance, was 300 solidi, ving., t. i., 1. 2, c. 1). It appears to Avliilc that of the Prank antrustion have been, however, only by degrees, (whose place near the king was precise- and under certain kings, that these ly the same) was 600 ; the Avere of the taxes were imposed u]wn the Franks ; Frank freeman was 200 sols, that of the and the imposition of them became the Roman possessor 100, and so on through cause of much trouble. all corresponding ranks. * Pardcssus (Loi Saliquc, Dissert. Chap. XI I.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 301 Great clianges were effected among the Franks themselves in Changes wrought their relations to each other ; greater, perhaps, than among the Franks . by the conquest, among the old subjects of the empire. (1.) The king, who regarded himself as the heir of the Ciiesars, and to whose possession the fiscal lands of the emperors and the pub- lic properties of the civitates fell, was enormously aggrandized in wealth, dignity, and power. Ilis ideas and aspirations ex- panded with the importance of his position. He not only cov- eted the authority, but aped the manners and the indulgences of the old imperial despots. His court swarmed with polished and cunnino' Grauls, who commended to his ambition the excel- lence of the Eoman models. The priests confirmed the original claims of his monarchy to a divine descent by religious doc- trines which taught its continued and inviolable sanctity. In a little while, the very monarchs whose fathers had slept in the open air on the skin of a bear or wild bull reposed softly on beds of purple and silk, and surrendered themselves to the de- lights of the bath, the table, and' the circus. Their fathers' courts had been a cluster of ferocious, half-naked warriors, but they gathered about them supple bands of ministerials, apt in all the intrigues, vices, and flatteries of the Oriental palaces. Their fathers' powers had depended on the vigor of their arms and the eloquence of their tongues, but they assumed the crown and the sceptre of the Ca.^sars, and issued decrees, ap- pointed and deposed magistrates, struck coins, and interfered arbitrarily in both public and private affairs, in virtue of their own sovereign will and right.^ (2.) But the power of the war- riors grew with that of the king, especially their ability to maintain large and effective bands of companions and follow- ers. In their earlier condition, the barbaric chiefs who collect- ed a retinue about them were only able to entice and reward its services by the bounties of their table, and the gift of weap- ons and of battle-horses; but after the conquest they might recompense its fidelity with the more stable and imposing pres- ents of real property. As the king divided among them the lands and treasures which were won by their common valor, so they, in turn, divided among their followers subordinate ■ ^ Consult LehuL-rou (Instit. Meroving., t. i., p. 390, et seqq.). 302 ROMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. [Book III. parts of the same valuable spoil.^ An enterprising chief, swift to strike, eager to grasp, cunning to hold, might, by these means, erect for himself an estate whose opulence and influence would almost rival that of the king. As the lands were dis- tributed, moreover, either as free possessions (al-odhs), or as usufructs, or holdings {fe-odhsy in the former case an absolute, and in the latter a conditional propert}^, he struggled to render himself independent as it respects the king, and yet a lord or proprietor as it respects his own followers. His ambition aimed no longer at the mere leadership of expeditionary and preda- ceous bands, but at the lordship of vast domains, which teemed with tenants, slaves, and cattle, and the rich products of meadow, wood, and stream. From the centre of these, where he erected his lordly mansion (sala),^ he exercised an almost unbounded and arbitrary sway over the multitude of his beneficiaries and de- pendents, like the sovereign of a little state.* (3.) Consequent- ^ We haA-e in this fact the first (Rise find Progress of the English Com- sproutings of the germ of feudalism, monwcalth, ii., 203). His own deriva- which the Franks brought from beyond tion, however, from the Latin, emphy- the Khinc, where it existed in the Ger- teusis, is still more excei^tionablc : first, manic custom of chief and follower. in that the eNij)In/teusis was different - The word alodis ajipears in the ear- from the. /cod; and, second, in that the liest copies of the Salic law, and is derivation, by "cutting off the head therefore coeval with the first settle- and legs, and extracting the backbone" mcnts of the Franks; hut /c-od or Jeud of the word (Hallam, n. 10), is forced. (Latin /ill du/fi) does not occur till it ap- The conceit which finds feudum in the pears in a constitution of Karl the Fat, initial letters of the ancient oath of who died A.D. 88.'^. In the tenth cen- fealty, Fidelis Ero Ubique Domino Vero tury it is frequently used in charters Meo, is obviously no more than a con- and other documents (Hist. General du ccit. In the Kymric dialects the word Languedoc, t, ii., Append., p. 107). cclod is used to designate the domestic The antiquarians derive alod from the and hereditaiy property of any member Teutonic dialects, in which «// means of a kinship (De Curson, Hist. duPeup. all or entire, and odh, property, or abso- Bret., Gloss.), but I find no traces there lute property, exempt from ol)ligations of feod, the expression for benefice be- of rent or service (Grimm, Deutsche ing svyddaicg. Kechtsalterthum, s. 493). It corrc- ^ The alodis of the Salic law is often spends to the ud-id of Norway and the called the terra salica, and means, not Orkney Islands, where free property is the land of the Salians, as Lehucrou distinguished as nd-alkr (Ilallam, vol. and others think, but the land immedi- i., p. 14G, note). But the etymology ately about the sala, or manor-house of yfj-ot//i is not so clear ; Ducange (v. (Grimm, Deutsch. Rechts., s. 493). feudum) gets it from /eli, a stipend or Tlie Ripuarian law denominates it the recompense, and odh, property ; but to hcredltas aviaiica, and a formula of this Sir Francis Palgrave objects, that Marculf the a/odis jiarrntmn. in the Teutonic, feud and feudalism are * The lands granted only in usufruct expressed hy khn (loan) and khn-ivescn to the retainers of a chief wore called Chap. XII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 30 o 1}^, while the respective wealth and dignity of the kings and leudes^ was increased, there were sown between them the seeds of bitter animosities. Both were insatiable in their thirst for power, which seems, indeed, to have been a characteristic of the whole Frankish race. The kings, animated by the traditions of im- perialism which, they learned, aspired to a more absolute and arbitrary control ; the leudes, cherishing their primitive Ger- man manners, aimed to maintain the independent spirit of the old aristocrac}'. Many of the latter, it is true, were drawn and bound to the king by his concessions of lands, by grants of dukedoms and comities, and of the dignities and favors which he might shower upon them, as his referendaries, equerries, cup- bearers, and intendants." This was a main source of his in- ' fluence ; but even in this relation there were grounds of jeal- ousy and antagonism. The kings would naturally desire to render their grants temporary and revocable, while the leudes would as naturally desire to render them positive and perpetu- al. The vague obligations of fidelity on one side, and of pro- tection on the other, were frail ties amid the turbulent impulses and passions of those times. Both the kings and the leudes were boisterous men, transferred almost abruptly from a primi- tive condition to all the wealth and appliances of civilization, abandoned without restraint to the brutal instincts of their an- imality, and ye1; furnished with all the means of satisfying its in Latin 6e7zr/icw, the same term wliich, a -warrior (Olaus AVormius, Diet. Rn- under the emperors, had been applied nic., cited by Lehuerou, t. i., p. 351); to the grants of hind made to soldiers and in the Kymric also hvydd means an on the condition of military senice. army or war-band (De Curson, Ilist. (Compare Lampridius in Alex. Severe, dcs Peup. Bret., t. ii., Append.). It and Vopiscus in Prob., with Code The- Avas not a title of dignity, as every free odos., xi., 20, 1, G.) Beneficia were fighter among the Franks was a lend, also conceded to various civic function- but in process of time the term seems to aries instead of wages or salaries (Code have been restricted to the most promi- Theodos., xi., 20, .'5). A Jicf and a ncnt and powerful Avarriors alone. ie«c/zce, therefore, Avere similar; but the - These appear to have been desig- serviccs of the Roman beneficiary AA^ere nated by the term antrustiones^ from due to the state, those of the feudal laAv the Teutonic Avord trcu, expressing trust to the lord (Lehuerou, t. i., 1. iii., c. 3). and fidelity. They Avere the trustees, ^ The Frankish warriors, but partic- or faithful of the king. In the Salic ularly the leaders, were called Ifudcs, laAv, xliii., 4, and xliv., 2, the tcnn from the Teutonic Avord laulc, litidc, is in truste dominica, and in the Ripua- leute, people, as some think (Thierry, rian law, t. xi., in iniste regia. The Lettres sur I'Hist. de Franc, p. 130). Gallo-Romans admitted to the clans In the Scandinavian dialects, lide means were called conviva: regis. 30-i KOMAIT-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. greeds. The old society was in decay, the gentleness and el- egance of its manners were lost, and, if it imposed upon the bar- barians the remnants of its arts and its ideas, it communicated to them also its wants and its corruptions. Eoman frauds and perfidies were mingled, in what Hallam calls " a baleful conflu- ence," with the ferocity and violence of the Franks.^ "Those wild men's vices they received, And gave them back their own ;" and thus the old struggle of Eomanism and Germanism was re- newed in another and lower aspect. Nothing was any where fixed; every thing was in confusion and flux; the Church it- self was demoralized by the conquerors whom it had adopted ; and races, classes, societies, individuals, battled each other in a kind of blind impatience and rage. With these explanations I resume a rapid narrative of events. Division of Chlodwig, on his demise, left his estates and his treas- kiigdom " ures to four sons : to Theuderik, aged eighteen, who aous,A.EX5TL had been born before his marriage with Chlotilda; and to Chlodomir, Hildebert, and Chlother, aged respectively seventeen, fourteen, and twelve. They were divided in '' equal lances," as Gregory says,^ although it is difiicult to discern the kind of equality meant, or even the principle of the partition. Theuderik, who fixed his residence at Metz, obtained, besides the possessions of the Franks beyond the I^hine, the whole country situate between the left bank of that stream and the Meuse : and, on this side the Meuse, the cities and territories of Champagne. At the same time he acquired, south of the Loire, in Aquitain, Clermont, and the province of Auvergne, with its usual annexes of Yelai and Gevaudan, together with the import- ant cities of Khodez, Cahors, and Alby.^ Chlodomir, whose cap- ital was Orleans, was endowed with the cities and territories of Auxerre, Touraine, Maine, Anjou, Nantes, Yannes, and Eennes, between the Seine and the mid-Loire ; and, at the south, with those between the Garonne and the Pyrenees. Hildebert, in addition to Paris, his capital, received the five neighboring cities I Middle Ages, vol. i., n. 4, p. 112. facilitate the comprehension of the = Greg. Turon., 1. iii., c. 1, cvqua reader. As yet, probably, all these lo- /vay3. ^^iQ churchcs ; but the repentance of both of them faded like the morning dew. As soon as her gloomy despond- ency was over, Fredegunda assumed her ambition and her cru- elty. Kemembering that she had still a step-son (Chlodwig), whose name recent rumors had connected with conspiracies against her own dignity and the royal succession, her wicked wit at once projected his destruction." She caused him to be sent to Brennacum, where the pestilence still raged, in the hope that he might take the contagion ; but that scheme failing, she next accused him of having compassed the death of her chil- dren by sorcery. In support of the charge she tortured a hag, with whose daughter Chlodwig had been intimate, to confess its truth. Unable to resist such evidence, the king handed his son over to the clemency of the queen, by whose instruments he was inveigled into an ambush and slain. His mother, Au- dowera, still in retreat at the convent of Eouen, was soon after assassinated, his sister subjected to outrages more horrible than the death in which they ended, and his servants and friends were forced to save themselves by a precipitate flight.^ Hilperik, who appears to have been juggled out of the ordi- Hiiperik makes uarv feeling's of man by the cunnino; persuasions of war on Gon- ,. . ^^^ .. i n i ? thramn. His tiiis iienaisn womau, saw all these crmies perpetrated death A D 531 ^ -&S4. ' " ■ without inquiring into their justice or cause. It is possible, however, that he was too profoundly absorbed in his wars and intrigues to allow himself to be disturbed by mere ^^ Greg. Turon., v., 35. Thierry a Gallo- Roman of ability, who had (Recits., t. ii., p. 243) finds in this ad- raised liimself by subtle compliances dress of Fredegunda one of those poetic from a menial ]>osition to a countship, and passionate chants to Avhich the and Rikulf, a sub-deacon, with others, German woman resorted when strong- had entered into a plot to disgrace her ly moved by any vivid feeling ; and he and procure the accession of Chlodwig. is very clearly convinced that it is not (Sec Thierry, Re'cits., .'i'^me.) an invention of Gregory. 3 Qyq^^ Turon., 1. v., u. 40. ' The story went that one Leudaste, Chap. XIII. J ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 329 domestic broils. He was then waging a fierce conflict, in con- junction with Hildebert and the grandees of Austrasia, against his brother Gonthramn of Burgundy. The rich possessions of the latter in the south tempted his insatiable cupidity, while the leudes of Austrasia, always ready for any predatory expe- dition, were doubly eager to avenge themselves upon a king who had so often curbed their spirit of aristocratic aggression. Three years of battles, sieges, and ravages (581-584), in which Marseilles, Avignon, Bourges, and other cities were sacked, and the fairest fields of Berri and Touraine desolated, ended in his final defeat.' Brunahilda, too, supported by the lower free- men and the Gallo-Roman inhabitants, succeeded in breaking his union with Austrasia.^ Hildebert himself wandered away to Italy to take part in the struggle waging between the Em- peror Maurice and the Lombards.^ Thus, Hilperik reaped no permanent advantage from the ruin he had occasioned. The artful woman, however, who, like a dread fate, seemed to hold the threads of all destinies in her hand, had not been inactive in her way. A son, whom she had given to Hilperik in 582, dying of dysentery in the second year of his age, she accused Mummolus, the prefect of her house, of having contrived his death by witchcraft. She tortured women into confessions of their complicity, and caused the unhappy prefect to be exe- cuted in the midst of the most frightful torments. Drunk with blood, she recoiled from no atrocity ; and at last the husband who permitted her violence became her victim. While hunt- ing on his farm at Chelles, near Paris, he was suddenly set Death of nil- ^^poi^ ^J ^^ unkuowu man and killed; and, though perik. ^]^Q perpetrator of the murder remained unknown, the oral rumors of the day and the written rumors of a later age referred the atrocity to an untimely discovery of the rela- tions of Fredegunda with her favorite Landerik.'" No one, however, mourned the departure of Hilperik ; his body even was left for a while unburied ; and his deeds would have been unworthy of record or remembrance if they had not but too well illustrated the spirit of his times. ^ Grog. Turon., vi., 3-12. 1. iii., c. 17. On these wars see Gib- 2 liiij. vi. 31. bon (Decline and Fall, vol. v., c. 45). 2 Ibid., CO. 4:1, 42; Paul. Diacon., * Gesta Regum Franc., c. 35. 830 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book HI. On the deatli of her husband, Fredegunda perceived the dif- the protecto- ficulties in which she was likely to be involved, and Jh^mn! 1%: '^fter putting her son (born four months previously) 5S4-593; -j^ security, besought the protection of Gronthramn. That monarch had been injured in the most wanton manner by Hilperik, and he was fully alive to the reckless and sanguinary character of the widow ; but he was also remarkable for his complacent good-nature, and not a little proud of the rej)utation which he had acquired as a peace-maker. He saw, moreover, that the death of his brother would prove the signal for all the foes of Neustria to rush upon it and tear it into pieces ; many cities, indeed, were already in insurrection, or warring upon each other ; and it may be, besides, that he was not insensible to the hope of being enabled to annex Neustria to his own Bur- gundy.^ He listened, therefore, to the various motives ad- dressed to his ambition or his vanity, backed as they were by the persuasions of the bishops, and others anxious to see some kind of authority maintained, and accepted the task of restoring order. Hildebert, under advice of the Austrasian leudes, pro- tested against this ; he demanded the restitution of all that Hil- perik had usurped; and he especially asked the surrender of that fivefold murderer Fredegunda. But Gonthramn was firm in his cause, and set to work the best he could to repair the wrongs done by the late administration. He restored what had been stolen, banished Fredegunda to one of the royal farms, and put some show of order into the civil chaos. Yet his posi- tion was so hazardous that he could only go about with an armed guard; and once he supplicated the people, during a church service, not to kill him for three years, at least until some of his race might be of age to assume the government.^ His systematic opposition to the aggressions and independ- Jf^GXiou'aH^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^® leudes brought a conspiracy, with which A.D. 5Si, 585.' they had been for some time undermining the soil, to a head. It had extended into every part of Gaul, and the most powerful nobles, Mummolus, Gonthramn Bose, the Duke Desiderius, Bishop Egidius of Eheims, and many others, were en- gaged in the plot. In order to give an appearance of legitimacy to their cause, and to catch the Gallo-Eomans and Neustrian 1 Greg. Turon., 1. vii., cc. 2-G. " Id., ib., 1. vii., cc. G-8. Chap. XIII J EOMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. 331 Franks thereby, they produced a discarded bastard of Chlo- tlier I., and set him up as an heir to the throne. His name was Gondowald, and his history had been curious. Born in Gaul, most likely of a mistress of Chlother I., he was well educated, and wore the long hair of the royal line ; but his father and his uncles subsequently disowning him, his hair was shorn, and he was exiled to Cologne. He then made his living for a time by painting the walls of churches and jDalaces in fresco, an art still practiced, though in decay, and afterward repaired to Italy, where, under Narses, he collected a fortune in some way. Es- tablishing himself at Constantinople next, he was well received and cherished by the imperial court for purposes of its own. Gonthramn the Bad met him there, and allured him into Gaul on the pretense that he was much wanted by the magnates of Austrasia (582). Arrived at Marseilles, with considerable treas- ures, which had been presented to him by the emperor, either Tiberius or Maurice, he found public affairs not in a state fa- vorable to the open proclamation of himself, and took refuge for two years in a neighboring island. Thence, after the death of Hilperik, he was drawn by the conspirators, lifted upon the shield at Brives, in the Limousin (now Brives-la-Galliarde), and supplied with a numerous army. His cause rapidly recruited friends ; many of the Aquitanian cities opened their gates to him, and nearly all the southern nobles, with some bishops, flocked to his standard.^ Even Hildebert and Brunahilda had been beguiled into lending a secret approval to his schemes. The latter fact having been detected by Gonthramn through Gonthramn dig- souic cuvoys, whosc Safeguard (two consecrated feat^the'^consplr- sticks or wauds) hc violated, he hastened to expose *^*°"- the imminent danger to his unconscious nephew. At an interview between them, held at Chalons, he proved that the design of the movement was nothing less than the over- throw of the Merovingan rule, and a perfect reconciliation of its two representatives was in consequence effected. It was agreed that an Austro-Burgundian army should be dispatched at once into Aquitain and Provence. The news of the coali- tion detaching many Gallo-Romans and others from the cause of the rebels, they were compelled to concentrate their forces » Greg. Turon., 1. vi., cc. 24-28. 332 ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. in the strong-hold of Convened (now St. Bertrand de Commin- ges), at the foot of the Pyrenees. This was a well-fortified So- man town, on the summit of an escarped rock, both impregna- ble in itself and commanding the valleys of the Upper Garonne. When the armies of the kings arrived before it, they assaulted it for two weeks without producing upon it any effect. The besieged, by hurhng down vast fragments of rock and pots of inflamed grease, seemed likely to be able to hold possession of it for an indefinite length of time. Stratagem, however, accom- phshed what force could not. Leudeghisel, the constable {comes stabuli) of the Burgundians got an interview with Mummolus and other rebel chiefs, and purchased their treason with prom- ises of reward and pardon. The poor Gondowald was shame- lessly betrayed into quitting his retreat on the pretext that the kings desired to compromise with him, and as he descended the cliffs was crushed to death by a huge stone. The town was then surrendered, and the people passed under the sword. But the traitors did not reap the reward they expected for their treachery. Reckless of his word, Gonthramn had Mummolus and the drunken Bishop Sagittarius executed on the spot, while he reserved others for more protracted punishments.^ The miscarriage of Gondowald's scheme, and the dreadful The machina- fatc of his followcrs, discouragcd the rebellion for a tions aod mur- . i t /Tp • r- i i i dersr of Fred- time Only ; the disaiicction oi the leudes was secret- 5S5. ' " " ly spreading in all the kingdoms. Hildebert, of Austrasia, who was the most exposed amid his savage and tru- culent Germans, was forced to practice the most inhuman sever- ities to keep it down, and the friends of his victims doubtless re- membered it in after days against his mother. In Neustria the progress of the discontent was stealthy, but sure. It had been taken in hand by one who was not easily thwarted. Frede- gunda, the captive queen, mortified by the semi-imprisonment in which she was held, piqued by the superior success of her detested rival, Brunahilda, and wounded, so far as such a wom- an could be wounded, by the suspicions which Gonthramn be- gan to express as to the legitimacy of her last child, passed her sombre leisure in perfecting plans of retaliation. Among her dependents were many youths, chiefly clerics, whom she easily ^ Greg. Tiiron., 1. vii., cc. 35-39. Chap. XIII.] KOMAN-GERMAJS' GAUL. 333 fired with her own hellish passions, and made the instruments of her will. Like the old and withered Sihyl Theomaka, whom St. Samson met in the glooms of the German forests, incapable of good, she was yet equal to the execution of every evil.-^ In 584 she sent an emissary to take the life of Brunahilda, who, failing, had his hands and feet cut off. The next year two others, provided with peculiar and poisonous weapons, which she had caused to be fabricated, were commissioned on the same errand, and failed.^ At the same time, the good Bishop Prretex- tat, restored to his functions after several years of exile, was stabbed as he served at the altar ; a powerful Frank lord, who undertook to investigate the crime, was poisoned by a drmk which he incautiously took from her hand in the very act of charging her with the guilt ; and a neighboring bishop, whose duty it was to bring the affair before a council, was mysterious- ly foiled in the pursuit.^ The impunity of Fredegunda was found in the chaotic state of society, and in the numerous base and cunning adherents whom she controlled by her wealth, but chiefly in the relations she maintained with the dissatisfied leudes of Austrasia, with the barons of Burgundy, with the chiefs of the Breton clans, and even with the offended King of the Wisigoths. All the elements of disorder gathered about her as if by magnetic attraction. Gonthramn and Hildebert were impotent to arrest her sinister and bloody career, being themselves involved in a thousand perplexities and straits. They visited upon the conspirators, when they could, a rigor of punishment which turned justice itself into murder, but in vain. At a solemn treaty, concluded at Andelot,'^ they composed all their own causes of difference, and in the hope of conciliating their stubborn adversaries, made concessions of benefices and restorations of rights, accompanied by guarantees of future se- curity, which were equally ineffectual. Even the series of for- eign wars in which they engaged against the "Wisigoths, the Bretons, and the Basques,^ failed to disperse or to exhaust the ^ Theomaka, who fights with God. * It is given at length by Gregory, See Mabillon (Acta Sanctorum, t. i., 1. ix., c. 20. p. 173, cited by Ampere, Hist. Litt., * These foreign expeditions seem to t. i., p. 375) for the legend. me otherwise objectless and fruitless, - Greg. Turon., 1. viii., c. 29. and need not detain the narrative. ^ Greg. Turon., viii., 30-31. 33-i ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. bellicose energies of those stalwart warriors. The quarrel be- tween tliem was become chronic, and was not so to be composed. Such was the situation when Gronthramn died in 593, with- Death of Gon- o^^ ^n hcir, Icaviug the fate of his race to the hands berraad^'Jed- of two infant ncphcws and their mothers, the rival eguAda. queens.^ Hildebert II., aged twentj^-one, the son of Brunahilda, took immediate possession of Burgundy, and, in- stead of offering to share it with Chlother II., aged nine, the son of Fredegunda, prepared to make war upon him, thus com- plicating the difiSculties. He himself, however, died in 596, and the next year was followed by Fredegunda. The chroniclers speak of a battle fought at a place called Latafao in 596, in which Fredegunda carried off the victory, but she did not live to reap the benefits. That remorseless she-wolf, after aU her crimes, died peaceably in her bed, and was buried with honor, by the side of her husband, in the basilica of St. Vincent, now St. Germain des Pr(^s, at Paris.^ The tomb of the worthy pair is said to be visible still in the metropolis of the French. As a consequence of these deaths, Austrasia and Burgundy, The regency ^^^^ their adjuncts in Aquitain, were divided be- SI^S'^Ss tween Theudebert and Theuderik, the sons of Hilde- -613. 1-jQj.^ jj_^ under the regency of their grandmother Brunahilda, while ISTeustria was retained by Chlother II., the son of Hilperik and Fredegunda. But, as all were minors, the aristocracy committed them to the control of intendants, called Mayors of the Palace,^ who governed m their name, but in re- ality in the interests of the leudes. The aged Brunahilda, how- ever, still remained as an obstacle to their schemes of aggrand- izement and license. It devolved upon her to maintain the rights of her race and the dignity of the royal of&ce. She was well prepared for the conflict. Twenty -three years of actual government (since the death of Sighebert in 575) had both ^ At this point we lose the aid of icle down to the advent of Karl the Gregory, whose M^ork ends with the Great (Charlemagne) in 768. Frede- year 591. Fredcgher, a Burgundian gher is drv-, obscure, and confused, monach, who wrote an epitome of Eu- causing us to lament the loss of even sebius, St. Jerome, Idatius, and Greg- Gregory. or}', to which he added a chronicle of - Fredegher, c. 17 ; Sismondi (Hist, his own times (say from 591 to 641), be- des Fran^aise, t. i., p. 239). comes our chief authority. Some anon- ^ On the nature and origin of this ymous continuator brings his cln-on- office, see next chapter. Chap. XIII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 335 taiiglit lier tlie nature of the task and inured her to its perils, ^he was, moreover, not only known, but feared and hated by her enemies. Her energy they had witnessed signally on one occasion when, their combined forces being about to fall upon those of her friend, the Duke Loup, she arrayed herself in ar- mor, and, rushing between the combatants, stayed their swords by her uplifted hands and eloquent words. The intensity of her resentments they had learned upon more than one occa- sion, when it became necessary to vindicate justice or to sever a knot of difS.culties by the axe of the executioner. She was not, however, though stern, trenchant, and relentless in the cause of her ambition and policy, a mere dabbler in blood, like Fredegunda. She aimed at great political ends, which could not be mistaken. A Goth by birth, she was yet a thorough Eoman by education, training, and desire. The Constitution^ which she caused her son to promulge at the annual Marz-feld of the Franks the year before his death indicated at once her deeply-seated Koman tendencies and her utter aversion to the Germanic system. It decreed that the royal successions should follow in the direct line ; it supplanted almost entirely the pe- nal methods of the Salic and Ripuarian laws (the weregild) by death penalties ; and it struck at the root of the German social bond by abolishing the mutual responsibility of relatives for the crimes of each other. Her whole practical endeavor, besides, had aimed at the restraint of the great proprietors, who strove with equal energy to usurp their benefices, to seize the bene- fices of others, and to extend in various ways their civic as well as military jurisdictions. The very violence of their opposi- tion intrenched her the more in the hearts of the small free pro- prietors, of the mass of the Romanized Franks, and of the great- er part of the bishops and priests. By making her residence at Metz, in the centre of Austrasian Brunahiidadriv- influcnce, shc cviuccd her courage and her determ- sfa, A.D. 598. '^''' iuatiou. Au ordcr for the execution of Wintrio, Duke of Champagne and Mayor of the Palace, provoked at once the outbreak (599).^ The Austrasians seized her in her ^ Baluze, Conit., t. i., p. 17. Dom 111) erroneously ascribes this constitu- Boiiquct (liist. des Gauls, t. iv., p. tion to the elder Haribcrt. ' Fredegher, n-. 1.^, 19. 336 ROMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. [Book HI. palace, carried her beyond the frontiers, and lefl lier, alone, ex- posed, and without money, to be conducted by a casual peas- ant to the court of Burgundy. Hostilities did not immediate- ly break out between the brothers, as might have been expect- ed from such an event, because they were already aUied in a project for despoiling Neustria. Brunahilda, therefore, willing- ly delayed her revenge till they had defeated Chlother II., and compelled him to cede to Austrasia all the country between the Seine, the Oise, and Austrasia ; and to Burgundy all that be- tween the Loire and the Seine, leaving the son of Fredegunda only twelve cantons to the north of the Somme (600).^ A united expedition against the Basques (Wascons, Gascons) of the Pyrenees, who had invaded Novempopulania, also engaged their attention, and postponed her purposes (602). But as soon as they had subjected the invaders to tribute, and imposed upon them the government of the Duke GenialiS; she resumed her projects against the leudes and Austrasia. As a means of ensuring her success, her first step was to She plots a war strengthen her power in Burgundy. The people, against the Au3- • i i ' , t i traaians. morc aucl morc Komamzed and accustomed to obe- dience imder Gonthramn, offered her little resistance ; but the patrician ^gila opposed her plans ; and the Mayor of the Pal- ace, Berthoald, a gentle and ujoright man, was not found a suit- able instrument. The former she caused to be put to death on some charge, and the latter was sent to engage in hostilities against Landerik, the Mayor of Neustria, in which he perished. Brunahilda then raised Protadius, a favorite and, as Fredegher avers, a lover,^ to the vacant mayoralty. He was, at any rate, a man after her own heart, able, resolute, fearless, and a thor- ough Eoman; but in their joint efforts to carry their plans they overreached the mark, and by the weight of their imposi- tions, as well as by the excessive rigidity with which these were enforced, alienated many of the Gallo-Eoman party. When, therefore, Brunahilda urged Theuderik and the Burgundians into a war with Austrasia, partly to avenge the affronts she had recently received there, and partly to gratify her ambi- ^ Fredegher, cc. 20, 21. was now considerably over fifty years = Sismondi lends an ear to this scan- of age, it Avould seem to be preposterous, dal of the monk, but, as Brunahilda Fredegher, cc. 20-26. Chap. XIII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 837 tion of uniting tlie whole Frank monarcliy in the person of her chosen grandson, the Burgundian barons relucted. They raised the necessary troops and marched, but slew Protadius on the way, and forced the king to conclude a peace with his brother (603-605). Nothing daunted by this temporary reverse, Brun- ahilda raised Claudius, another Eoman, to the mayoralty, caused the persons engaged in the murder of Protadius to be executed summarily, and even consented to treat with Chlother II., in the hope of combining the forces of ISTeustria and Burgundia against Austrasia.^ Unfortunately in the interval she was embroiled with do- she repuiseg i^^stic antagonists far more subtle and dangerous to Ind mou£ ^^^ ^^^^ either Burgundian barons or Austrasian stcoiumban. ^^^^^(jQg^ tj^q liccutious courscs of her son had incur- red the frowns of the priests, especially of St. Desiderius of Yienna ; and as she resented his interference by causing him to be deposed and exiled, and, after his recall, to be stoned to death (607), she lost the sympathies of the best class of her supporters.^ A mightier than Desiderius also took up his complaint and his quarrel, the famous Irish missionary, St. Columban, who carried with him much of the strength of the Church.^ St. Columban was a Leinster man, a scion of the famous monastery of Banchor, whither a purer piety and the taste for learning had fied during the whirlwinds of the Saxon invasion, and had come into Gaul, with twelve brother monks, to preach a reform of the discipline and the morals of the mo- nastic establishments (585). The zealous Benedict of ISTursia had already organized those popular institutions to a rigid life of fasting, prayer, and labor ; but the austerer temper of Co- lumban demanded, with less labor, severer observances and a more fervid devotion, while he punished willful breaches of duty or discipline with stripes. His monasteries of Fontaine, Anagray, and Luxeuil, erected amid the gloomy solitudes of the Yosges, and, more lately, of St. G-all and Bobbio, in Ger- many and Italy, shared, with the Benedictine foundations, the profoundest awe of the people and the most lavish munificence ^ Fi-edegher, cc. 27-29. St. Gall,, 1. ii., apud Scriptores Rer. =^ Ibid., c. 32. Franc, t. v., p. 122.) 3 Ibid., c. 36. (See also Monach. 338 KOMAN-GERMAN GAUI> [Book III. of the princes. Intrepid and heroic as he was implacable, Co- lumban visited the palace of Theuderik as a reformer rather than a courtier ; he openly rebuked the incontinence of the king and the disorderly life he led in the circle of his mistresses; he refused the holy benediction to his children on the ground that they were the issue of a defiled bed ; and at a royal festi- val he even allowed his holy anger to break in pieces the vessels of wine which he deemed polluted by the touch of an adulterer.^ The haughty grandmother of the king was not of a temper Brunahiida ban- to broolv this insolcncc. Herself the friend and A.D. 610. ' correspondent of the great Pope Gregory,^ whose schemes for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons of Britain she forwarded, she was disposed to exact a proper respect to her- self and to her rank. She ordered him to be torn from his re- treat, and conducted by a guard of archers to the sea-coasts, where he might be easily embarked for Ireland. But the arch- ers were intimidated by the venerable mien and sanctimonious demeanor of their captive, as well as by the superstitious mani- festations of popular homage with which he was received on the way, and suffered him to tarry in the domains of King Chlother, whence he afterward repaired to Austrasia. Colum- ban was not wholly submissive and orthodox in his conceptions of the Koman faith, so that he was viewed with some degree of suspicion by his superiors among the clergy, and yet the wonderful energy and enthusiasm of his character gave him a strong hold of the religious imagination of the period. The wrongs he was supposed to have received detached the affec- tions of the religious from the person of Brunahiida, and un- dermined her popularity with many of the devouter common folk. But there was another, and perhaps more powerful mo- tive, which contributed to the falling away of the spirituals from her cause ; the Church itself had received, to a large ex- tent, a Germanic tincture and bent ; not only had the men of the North made their way into the sacred offices since they had become sources of so much power and wealth, but the bishops ' Fredegher, Chron., c. 36; Vita = Greg. Mag., Opera Omnia, vi. ; Sancti Columbani, apiid Scriptores Rer. Epist. 5, Paris, 1705. Francicar., t. iii., p. 47G. Chap. XIII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL, 339 of Roman origin, reckoned bj their position among the leudes or grandees of the new kingdoms, had gradually adopted the prejudices, the interests, and the ambitions of their class. In the terrible wrestle which was going forward between the aris- tocracy and the kings, they found themselves ever less inclined toward the receding fortunes of royalty, while they were more and more disposed to share the not remote nor uncertain tri- umphs of the order to which they belonged.^ When the war was opened again between Theuderik and Henewai of the Thcudcbert, of which their rival claims to the dis- tvar between Austrasia and tricts of Alsace, Sundffau, and Thuro;au were the Surgundj', A.D. ' ^ . . . 610-613. pretext, the consequences of this disaffection were exhibited. The Burgundians were still able to command the neutrality, if not the aid, of the Neustrians, on the promise of restoring to them the duchy of Dentelin,^ formerly taken away from them by the Austrasians. Theudebert was dreadfully beaten by the Burgundians, first on the plains of Toul, and then on the already famous battle-field of Tolbiac ; he was pursued beyond the Rhine, seized, and imprisoned ; his treasures were distributed, and his kingdom assumed by his successful broth- er f but, at the same time, the hatred of Theuderik and of the ascendency of Brunahilda had rapidly fermented throughout his own dominions and in Neustria. Chlother was encouraged by it to take possession of the duchy of Dentelin, which had been promised him, but not yet ceded. It was an aggression which Theuderik made haste to punish- While, however, he was preparing his force, he died of dysentery at Metz, which event changed at once the entire aspect of affairs. Brunahilda, now aged, and abandoned by many former friends, was left alone, with the four infant children of Theuderik, to carry on the struggle of her house.* With an intrepidity and promptitude which showed that the The last Strug- ^^^^ of youtliful cncrgy still glowed in her bosom, fa^ ^H^rXead- ^^^ proclaimcd the eldest son, Sighebert, the sole fui fate. r^^^ legitimate heir of his father, and king of Bur- gundia and Austrasia. A more audacious defiance to the Ger- ^ Martin, Hist, dc France, t, ii., 1. ^ Fredegher, c. 38. iii., c. 2. * Fredegher, Chron., cc. 39, 40. * Between the Aisne and Oise, near Soissons, 340 RO^IAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. mans, whose sacred and immemorial customs had decreed an equal division of every paternal heritage, could not have been contrived, and it at once gave the signal for a rally of all the Germanic leaders. The leudes of Austrasia, who, more than all others, detested Brunahilda, and who yet smarted under the wounds of two lost battles, took the initiative against her; un- der the lead of one Pippin, a grandee, whose estates were at Landen,^ near what is now Liege, in the Netherlands, and of Arnulf, the Bishop of Metz, they conspired with Chlother of Neustria to overturn her domination ; and the barons of Bur- gundy were secretly induced to favor their enterprise. Chlo- ther advanced with his army toward Austrasia, where he was met by the Austrasians, who made a mere show of resistance, and then the greater part joined him, while the others fled. The Burgundian army of Brunahilda, gathered somewhere be- tween the Marne and the Aisne, next advanced to the encoun- ter ; but the leaders of it played the same part ; at the moment when the trumpet sounded the charge, they turned their backs, and left their mistress, the king, and the royal children to be pursued by the triumphant Neustrians. These were, of course, soon overtaken, although Brunahilda had made her way as far as the village of Orbe, in transjuran Burgundy. The children were slain, with the exception of one, w^hom Chlother had held at the baptismal font, and whom his conscience would not al- low him to injure, while Brunahilda was reserved for a more horrible revenge. For three days he subjected her to different tortures ; he then caused her to be driven, on the back of a camel, through the camp, in the midst of frantic hootings and yells ; and, finally, after reproaching her falsely with the mur- der of ten kings, some of whom had been put to death by Fred- egunda and some by himself, he had her tied by the hands and feet to the tail of an untamed horse, whose rapid flight soon tore her body limb from limb.^ Character of Thus perishcd ouc of the greatest of women, BruQahuda. " claughtcr, mothcr, grandmother, great-grandmother 1 Sometimes called Pippin the Elder, tel, Pippin the Short, and Karl the His daughter Begga married Ansighesc, Great, or Charlemagne, the son of Arnulf, and from them de- - Fred., Chron., c. 42 ; Aimoni Mo- scended Pippin of Herstall, Karl Mar- nach., 1. ix., c. 1 ; Vita Sanct. Columb., c. 58. CiiAP. XIII.] ROM AX-GERMAN GAUL. 341 of kings," who for fifty years had waged a stubborn, unrelent- ing warfare against the chaos and disorder of her times. Proud she was, no doubt; vindictive, and perhaps cruel, according to the spirit of the age ; but, nevertheless, a noble, great, in- domitable soul, endowed with the rarest capacities, influenced in her general conduct by the larger civic motives, and worthy of a place by the side of the Theodoriks and Charlemagnes. Like them, she could embrace great plans of human ameliora- tion while the stormiest passions were heaving society around her; like them, she was interested in literature, in religion, in the improvements of industry, and in the establishment of social order ; but like them, too, she committed the fatal error of recurring to an old system of things under circumstances too entirely new to admit of its application.^ The Eoman meth- ods of government and societ}'' were effete already in the time of Theodorik of Italy, and they were much more so in the time of Brunahilda. She failed ; and the ecclesiastics and the nobles covered her memory with infamy, although the common people long held her in respect, and for centuries many of the great re- mains of Roman civilization were regarded by popular tradi- tion as the work of her hands." Chlother II., as his grandfather, Chlother I., had done just The last flick- fiftv-fivc ycars before, united the whole Frankish ER8 OF TOE Me- "^ ' . . r> n I EoviNOAN dy- race under his smgle sway. He alone oi all the 638. ' " " long-haired descendants of Merowig remained, like a solitary tree that survives the tempests which sweep and des- olate the forest. It was almost his only distinction. His per- sonal qualities were mediocre and insignificant. Endowed with great benignity and patience, according to Fredegher, instruct- ed in letters, fearing God, and bestowing generously upon the poor and the churches, he was yet passionately devoted to the chase of wild beasts, and too much disposed to listen to the suggestions of women and young girls.^ The exclusive sceptre he had won was practically a barren sceptre in his grasp; he had achieved it only by the help of the leudes, and they were ' As to Karl the Great, or Chavle- castles, and Bninahikla's forts arc still magne's revival of the empire, some- s]joken of in parts of Belgium and thing is to be said hereafter. France. Sismondi, t. i., p. 255. = Bn;nahilda's road.s Bnmaliikla's ^ Fred., Chron., c. 42. 342 EOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book III. determined to exact an ample recompense for their services in the future distribution of the civil and ecclesiastical power. A mayor of the palace was inaugurated in each kingdom, with an indefeasible right to the office, and a solemn ordinance, called the Perpetual Constitution, was enacted in a council composed of seventy-nine bishops and a multitude of other grandees, and held at Paris in 614, which confirmed the aristocratic ascend- ency. It decreed that all the benefices and estates which had been taken away from the leudes under previous reigns should be restored and assured irrevocably to their possessors ; that the imposts established by the sons of Chlother I. should be abolished ; that the election of the bishops should be reserved to the provincial councils, to the clergy and people of each dio- cese, with a simple right of confirmation in the king ; that no successor to a bishop should be appointed during his life ; that the clergy should be withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the royal officers, and the cognizance of their offenses, both public and private, ascribed to ecclesiastical tribunals ; that the judges should no longer be held amenable to the decrees of kings who themselves violated the law, and that they should condemn no one, not even a slave, until he had been heard ; and that every willful violator of the public peace should be punishable with death. ^ These were provisions made partly in furtherance of social order, but they were principally designed to guarantee the independence of the nobles, both lay and clerical. One provision, in particular, gave an immense preponderance to the aristocracy, namely, that the counts and judges in each district should be selected from the large proprietors of the district. It placed the whole local administration in the hands of the large proprietors, and rendered the right of the king to intervene in case of domestic troubles an illegality or a nullity.^ Chlother's reign was practically a nullity ; but, weak as it was, the Austrasians demanded a king of their own, and re- ^ Baluze, Capitukria, t. i., p. 21, wished to enforce was not only signally apud Scriptor. Trancic, t. iv., p. 118 ; condemned, bnt hopelessly mined. Fred., Chron., c 44. The dynasty itself was moved by the 2 Lehuerou refers to this Constitu- shock, and remained npon the throne tion as creating a new epoch in the only on the condition of allowing itself history of the times. *' The system of to be led and dominated by t1ic leudes" government which the Me'rovingans had (Instit. Meroving., t. i., ]>. 488). Chap. XIII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 343 ceivecl Dagobert, the son of Chlother, then a youth of fifteen ; D^^obcrtAD ^^PP^°' *^^ mayor of the palace, and Arnulf/ the 622-638. ' ■ ' Bishop of Metz, being made his guardians and tutors. He showed at the outset that he was a lad of some spirit, pick- ed one or two quarrels with his father, which the leudes with difficulty adjusted, and, when his father died (628), asserted peremptorily his right to all the kingdoms, to the exclusion of a younger brother named Haribert. The nobles generally, of both Austrasia and Burgundia, sided with him ; but Brodulf, an uncle, raised many of the ISTeustrians and of the provincials of the South in behalf of Haribert, and the result was that Dagobert consented to set apart for him Aquitain as a separate kingdom. He made Toulouse his capital, and married a daugh- ter of Amandus, the Duke of Wasconia, or Gasconia, as the re- gion between the Pyrenees and the Garonne, then in possession of the descendants of the old Basques, had come to be called. Dagobert, who was smitten with a strong love of arbitrary rule, made a tour of his dominions to administer justice, to reduce the leudes to order, and to impress an idea of his greatness upon the common people. Fredegher represents that his progress was accompanied by the profoundest marks of submission on the part of the great, and, in fact, that he struck terror into all their hearts, making himself the idol of the poor and oppress- ed ;^ but that view of his character is scarcely consistent with other facts that he narrates. As soon as he could, Dagobert broke away from the tutelage of Pippin, and took up his resi- dence in Neustria, where he abandoned himself to an unexam- pled pomp and luxury. Lil^e Solomon, whose example is al- leged in justification of his course, he took three queens, and such a houseful of concubines that the chronicler says his book could not contain their names. Like Solomon, too, he com- pensated these indulgences by the construction of sumptuous Hi3 profusion aud maguificcnt edifices.^ A great builder and orna- churches. ^ mcutcr of convcuts and churches, among the rest he founded the abbey of St. Denis, near Paris. Its walls, columns, and tombs were incrusted with masses of silver, and gold, and precious stones, wrought into exquisite forms by the genius of St. Eloi, the greatest gold-worker of the time, and the splendid 1 Fred., Chron., c. 37. ' Ibid., cc. 58-60. = Ibid., u. 48. 344 EOMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. [Book III. and perpetual service of the altar was maintained by tolls drawn from distant cities, and by almost incredible endowments of farms, manors, salt-works, and market-rights.^ St. Denis be- came, in after years, a Catholic Mecca, whither pilgrims flocked by thousands from all parts of Graul and Europe, the poor to enjoy the alms, the sick to be healed of their diseases, the de- vout to pray or touch the relics, and the enterprising to partici- pate in the profits of an annual fair which was held on the road between it and Paris. When Dagobert died, which was in 638, he was buried with great pomp in the abbatial church, which was thereafter consecrated to the sepulture of the kings. These magnificent displays gave an immense renown to the The glory of the kingdom of the Franks, which seemed to have re- Dagobert. placcd IB. the West the lost empire of the Eomans. As by the death of Haribert, in 631, Aquitain had been again united to the other kingdoms, the dominion of Dagobert ex- tended from the Pyrenees to the Elbe, and from the Atlantic to Bohemia and Hungary, where it infringed upon two Sclavic races, the Avars and the Wends. Nearly all the other Ger- man monarchies had gone down or disappeared. The Yandals were suppressed in Africa, the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the Suevi in Lusitania. The Wisigoths of Spain were distracted and weakened by their incessant domestic revolutions. The Lombards of Italy, if they kept up a show of resistance to the exarchates of the eastern empire, were nevertheless degenerate, and under tribute to the Franks ; while the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons of Britain had scarcely emerged into histori- cal note, and the Huns and Sclaves of eastern Europe were no more than pastoral nations, without a polity, and almost without a home.^ The latter often made war upon the out- lying provinces of the Franks ; they carried off some trophies in Thuringia and Germania ; they arrested the caravans of the Prankish merchants on their way to Constantinople and the Orient; but such trespasses were speedily punished, and the ' The Gesta Dagoberti, cc. 22, 33, Meaux, six other manors, and a trih- 37, 42, mentions among these the lands nte of a hundred cows from the Duchy of Sadseghisel, Duke of Anjou and Poi- of Mans. The distant city of ]\Iar. tou, embracing twenty-seven villages ; seilles sent six wagon-loads of oil every the manor of Estrepigny, manors and year for the supply of the church lamps, cities in the temtory of Orleans and » Sismondi, t. i., p. 262. CuAP. XIII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 345 whole barbaric world respected and feared all the more the powerful monarcby of the West. This period of the greatest external power and splendor of The decay of the natloH was, howevcr, the period of the greatest the M6rovin- . . ' i -, - r -, ? gans. internal weakness and obscurity of the dynasty. Dagobert showed no little energy in his contests with the Gas- cons and Bretons, who were refractory under his rule, but the virility of his race was exhausted. No one of his descendants attained to an equal fame. Corrupt in blood, debased by pre- mature indulgences, fathers before they were men, and decrepit at middle age, they dwindled into inane and pageant kings. Their name and the sacred traditions of their origin alone kept them afloat in the respect of the people. If they took part in the actual labors of government, it was by the sufferance of their nobles, who produced or degraded them as it might suit their own purposes. On state occasions, at the annual assem- bly of the chiefs, or when a foreign envoy was to be received, they were paraded before the public, but the rest of their lives was passed in inglorious indolence, moving from farm to farm on ox-carts, or whitening in the shade of convents. Their con- dition and fate is symboled in the legend of the Enervates of Jumieges, those sons of the second Chlodwig who were ham- strung and abandoned on a boat to the currents of the Seine and the good pleasure of God. The stream carried them to the peninsula on which St. Philibert had built his abbey, where they were received by the monks, who long after exhibited their tombs. ^ During the century and a half of their reign, and since the Character of original Settlements of Chlodwig, the Merovingans had gauB. done nothing toward producing a regular and perma- nent constitution of society. Animated, in spite of their Ko- man tendencies, by the wild and turbulent impulses of the bar- barian, ambitious, greedy and reckless, prompt to give and take offense, they were embroiled in perpetual wars, which rendered it impossible to introduce any principles of discipline or order into the heterogeneous elements of the condition. Their as- cendency was maintained almost exclusively by the sword. ^ The incidents are preserved in the is not older, I believe, than the tenth sculptures of the abbey, but the legend century. 346 KOMAN-GERMAN GAUL. [Book IH Fluctuating between the ideas of Koman imperialism^ and tlie German royalty, surrounded by a burly Grerman aristocracy ever prone to assert its rights, and a cunning Koman aristoc- racy ever eager to insinuate the subtle devices of the ancient courts, bewildered between the conflicting principles of the civil codes and the barbaric codes, between Marzfelden and munici- pal assemblies, between ahrimen and curials, between clergy and laity, none of whose rights and privileges were well de- fined, they were equally impotent in the revival of the old sys- tem and in the introduction of a new. Division and reunion, decomposition and recomposition, was the perennial fact in the existence of their states ; divisions, brought about, often sudden- ly, by the inveterate custom which subjected power to the same laws of inheritance that governed estates, and reunions, effected by violent methods — by murders, poisonings, revolts, and wars — so that they were aggregations of the people, not assimila- tions. Lawlessness and crime were every where the conse- quences, and the monarchs who struggled the most earnestly against the disorder, like Brunahilda, were the surest of being overwhelmed in its storms. The ancient methods and influences were rapidly weakening, Decay of the and thc Meroviugaus, who had foolishly engaged in ancient soci- ,. . . i-i-t-t t ety. their restoration, only shared m their decrepitude and decay. The same atony marked the dynasty and the old so- ciety. "The world is growing old," whines Fredegher; "our faculties are benumbed, and we can not think and speak as our fathers did."^ He laments his hopeless inferiority to the dull Gregory even, who himself bewails his degeneracy and want of skill as a writer.^ All the intellectual lights of the past, in fact, had gone out, or were smouldering dimly in their sockets. After Gregory there were no historians, only arid chroniclers, whose records of public events have the form and spirit of al- manacs. After Fortunatus there were no poets, only manu- facturers of legends and lives of the saints, which appealed to credulity rather than to imagination ; no science was cultivated ; no great art practiced; the schools of antiquity were closed; • Chron., rricf. The vciy phrase que prudentiw acumen in nobis tepe- shows it. Mimdus jam sencscit, ideo- scit ; he meant to say hehesrit. ' Greg. Turon., Prcef. Chap. XIII.] ROMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. 347 and even the rhetors were silent, for the people conld not un- derstand their language.^ Some few patricians might preserve a traditional taste for Latin letters, or beguile their retirement with the lingering cadences of Latin poetry, but their influence was unfelt. Those who, by pedantic allusions to Cicero and Tullius, Tytyrus and Lysias-Gracchus, feigned an acquaintance with the ancient culture, betrayed a perfect ignorance of it in their very allusions ; while others, again, despised and repro- bated the charms of elocpence and the subtleties of grammar as needless and injurious to the soul.^ The priests alone could read, and the people were steeped in Tiie religious ignorancc. It would be an error to suppose, how- activity — its 1 1 T . 1 I ^ character. evcr, that the human mmd was then fallow or dead ; on the contrary, it was prodigiously active and fruitful, but act- ive and fruitful in a new direction ; the old pagan mind had been absorbed in a new Christian mind, as we may call it, though it was not a pure or elevated Christianity; the old modes of mental manifestation had given place to new modes of thought, and feeling, and fancy; new motives of action were working in the heart of man, new elements of hope and fear animated his belief and controlled his life. It was the age of churches and monasteries, when a mania for founding- religious societies had seized upon the rich and powerful, who vied with each other in heaping the wealth extorted from over- taxed serfs or plundered provinces upon nuns, and monks, and bishops. More than half the churches of France, says Sismon- di, owe their origin to this epoch. ^ Every wealthy family avouched the fervor of its piety or purchased the pardon of its violences and crimes by the establishment of some retreat for devotion and prayer. For the expenses of its ceremonials they provided by gifts of estates, and for the number of its recluses by gifts of men.'^ Built, by an intuitive yearning for repose and security rather than by a genial love of the picturesque, in the more beautiful spots of nature, on the banks of streams or in the d.epths of romantic woods, these establishments be- came, in those times of fierce uproar and commotion, the asy- lums of all the world-weary. The clangor of arms approached ' Greg. Turon., Praef. * Slaves were often bought and cm an- ' Am])t;i-c (Hist. Litt., t. ii., c. 16). ci'pated, in order to increase the num- ' Hist, des rrnn(;'ai?, t. i., c. 11. bers in the monasteries. 348 EOMAN-GEKMAN GAUL. [Book III. their secluded cloisters, where the voice of prayer and the psalm of praise alone broke the silence, only to be averted by the threatened frowns of the tutelary saint or by the miraculous displays of the holy occupants. Thither the criminal fled for sanctuary, and the poor and helpless for succor; there the mighty ones of the earth, after their stormy lives of blood and plunder, found a sheltering haven for their adversity or their age ; and there, too, children repaired for instruction, not in the ancient circle of the sciences, but in the mysteries of theology and the wonderful achievements of the saints. Keligion, as it had been nurtured by an active priesthood into a system of church ceremonies and traditions, furnished almost the exclu- sive nutriment and stimulus of the intellect. Not entirely des- titute of the essential elements of piety and charity, it was yet far removed from that true conception of it which makes it to consist in the inward and spiritual union of the soul with God in the spontaneous love of truth and goodness. Shroud- ing the heavenly Father in an inapproachable awfulness, it sought his pardon and approval through the intercession of secondary beings and the mediation of outward observances. To the Virgin Mother and to angels, to martyrs and saints, it transferred the living homage of the heart. Painful self-nega- tions and penances, pilgrimages to holy shrines, endowments of churches and gifts to the altar, composed the ideal of practi- cal duty. A preternatural agency, the perpetual interposition of miraculous power, superseded the ordinary workings of the divine providence. Demons haunted, angels guarded the en- tire life of man ; working and counterworking in their strug- gles for the precious human soul, they made their presence vis- ible on many occasions, even the most trivial, and often took an absolute possession of the body, now dragging the poor pos- sessed down to the jaws of hell, and now raising him to the very gates of heaven. But against the more diabolic powers, the Church and its prayers, and its ministers, even the relics of saints, were an ever sure protection. Kings and queens bowed in reverence and terror before the mysterious powers of a class which, in addition to earthly wealth and influence, might com- mand the vague omnipotences of other worlds'. The new vein of sentiment opened by the diffusion over western Europe of this catholic conception and ideal of life, de- Chap, XIII.] ROMAN-GERMAN GAUL. 849 manding, as every pervasive and popular sentiment does, to be Legends and expressed in narrative forms, found its principal sat- lives of the ' ± x sainti. isfaction in marvelous stories of the doings of he- roic and holy men. From the earliest epochs of Christianism the credulity of the faithful had delighted in the magnified and fictitious representations of the experiences and triumphs of saintly characters, of their temptations, their sufferings, their ecstasies, their struggles with demons, and their miracles. During the intellectual vigor of the Romans, we are told, ''a sense of the invariable course of nature and of the scientific ex- planation of phenomena had been created among the superior minds, and, through them, indirectly among the remaining community, thus limiting to a certain extent the ground open to be occupied by religious legend." But with the decline of the pagan literature and philosophy, and particularly in the sixth and seventh centuries, " this scientific conception'gradual- ly passed out of sight, and left the mind free to a religious in- terpretation of nature not less simple and 7mif than that which had prevailed under the Homeric paganism."^ Certainly the mythopoeic faculties were never more prodigiously stimulated. As the agitations of external life grew more tempestuous, as the priests themselves gave way to the temptations of violence, and became brawlers, gamblers, drunkards, adulterers, and fighters," the examples of genuine religious earnestness, of the missionaries who wrestled with the wild beasts of the desert and the wilder beasts of human heathenism, of the monks and preachers whose humility, penitence, bravery, and benevolence rebuked rulers, redeemed captives, and consoled the sorrowful, grew more precious, and the fervid religious emotion of the times found its chief solace in exaggerating these incidents, and in the invention of legends, which, while they emanated from the current religious feeUng, ministered to its growth. ^ ^ I take these observations from Grote's sagacious comparison of the Grecian mythical vein with that of mod- em Europe (Hist. Greece, vol. i., c. 17, p. 472). Ampere (Hist. Litt., vol. ii.) devotes several chapters to the legends, which are worth reading, though by no means exhaustive of the subject. Grote refers to a superior work by Maury (Essais sur la Legendcs Pieuses du Moyen Age), which I have not seen, - See the instances collected by Loc- bel in his edition of Gregoiy of Tours. ^ The Lives of the Saints in the col- lection of the Bollandists fill .53 folio volumes. As to the period of time they embrace, and the general character, see Guizot (Hist, de Civ., t. i., le ' O I A.D.c3^6si. aged scarcely five, who was called King of Neustria and Burgundia. The first was placed in tutelage to Pippin of Lan^n, the Mayor of Austrasia, and the second to ^ga, the Mayor of Neustria. Both mayors were prudent and skill- ful counselors, but, unfortunately, lived only a year or two after the accession of their young chiefs.^ ^ga was suc- ceeded in office by Echinoald, apparently through the choice of the mother of Dagobert, and Pippin by his own son Gri- moald, while in Burgundy a new mayor, named Flaochat, was nominated by an assembly held at Orleans.^ Thus we find the mayors of the three kingdoms at this time designated al- most simultaneously in three different modes. But the advent of Grrimoald was disputed by Otho, son of Uron, preceptor to Sighebert IL, and that of Flaochat by "VVillibad, the Patrician of Burgundy. Grimoald succeeded, after considerable fighting, in suppressing his rival in 642. and then exercised the functions of mayor till 656, when, Sighebert II. dying, he banished the true heir, Dagobert II., to an Irish convent, and proclaimed his own son king. The nobles revolted at this audacious coup (VHat^ and seized and imprisoned both father and son.^ For a few months the monarchy remained in the hands of Chlodwig II., with Echinoald acting as the mayor of the three kingdoms. Little is known, however, of their reign. Chlodwig 11.^ it ap- st. Bathuda. pcars, married an Anglo-Saxon captive, named Ba- thilda, who had been a slave, and became one of the most illustrious saints of the period. She devoted the wealth and influences of her elevated position to charitable ends — to the emancipation of slaves, to the redemption of captives, and to the endowment of churches and conventual establishments.* ^ Pippin died in 639; -S^ga in 6-iO. wig II. and put to death. Fred., cc. Fred., Chron., cc. 80, 85. 86-90. ^ Fred., Chron., c. 90. * Vita Sanctoe Bathildis Reginse ^ They were afterward sent to Chlod- Franeorum, pp. 571-574. J^ 356 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. The death of Chlodwig (656) devolved the kingdom again The ascendency upon three minois, Chlother III., Hilderik II., and 660-681.'''' ■ Theuderik III., under the regency of Bathilda and the continued mayoralty of Echinoald. When Echinoald died (in 657 or 660), the Neustrians, with the consent of the queen, selected to succeed him one Ebroin, a man of low origin, but of prodigious force of character, who had fought his way up to the lower ranks, at least, of nobility. His government was mild and moderate so long as Bathilda occujDied the palace, but when she retired to a convent (664) he began at once to exhibit his energy and talent.^ Known to us only through the biographers of his enemies, he is painted as a venal, vindictive, and blood-thirsty tyrant, whose whole delight lay in despoiling and murdering the nobles and the bishops, in selling justice at the malls to the highest bidder, and in amassing wealth for him- self in the name of the kings whom he successively set up as the pretext and cloak of his selfishness.^ Yet it is easy to see, through all their vituperations, that Ebroin regarded himself in some sort as the organ of the smaller joroprietors and the com- mon people, in their opposition to the higher nobles.^ One of his first acts was to reverse the ancient decree of the As- sembly jof Paris (61-1), which prescribed that counts should be chosen from the counties in which they were expected to govern, so that he might send into each district of&cers representing his own or the royal authority.* When Chlother III., king in Neustria, died (670), he immediately installed the child Theu- derik III. on the throne, without consulting the other chiefs, or calHng a mall for the ratification of the choice.^ This high- handed usurpation stirred up the vehement hostility of the no- bles. They remonstrated with Ebroin, but remonstrated in vain ; and when, on the pretense of a desire to do homage to the new king, they began to move toward Paris, he perempto- rily ordered them to remain on their estates. They saw the intrepid nature of the man with whom they had to deal, and 1 ^r^^'L ^T'' ''''' ^^~^^' '?^^'' ^- '-^ ^- ^1) ''^^ M^^i-tin (Hist, de Vit. fet. Leodegani, cc. 4-8, apud Franc, t. ii., ]>. 207) Bouquet, t. ii., p. 629 ef se>j. 4 j^^e ante, c. 13, p. 3i^ ' Comp. Sismondi (Hist, des Fran- =^ Fred., Cont., c. 95. Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 357 at once took measures to unite all tlie leudes of the three king- doms against his growing insolence and power.^ The chief fomenter of the opposition was Leodegher, a man Bishop Leode- c>f illustrious birth and vast wealth, Bishop of Antun Leger, defefts himsclf, ncphcw of Didon, Bishop of Poitiers, and Ebrom. related to the house of Pippin of Austrasia. Al- ready at the head of the nobles of Burgundy, he proposed to those of Neustria and Austrasia that they should refuse to rec- ognize the royalty of Theuderik III., proclaimed without their advice, and to acknowledge Hilderik 11. (who had reigned some ten years in Austrasia) as their common sovereign.^ This movement was so universal and rapid that Ebroin and Theu- derik had scarcely time to defend themselves or to escape. They were both seized and deposed, and their treasures divided among the successful leaders of the plot.^ The king was confined in the monastery of St. Denis, and Ebroin in that of Luxeuil. No new mayor was named, although Leodegher took the principal part in the government of Neustria and Burgund}^, and Wilfoald, the subsisting mayor, continued to act in Austra- sia. Hilderik IL, however, was now of an age to act for himself, i8 himself over- ^^^ ^® ^^ou began to show his old M^rovingan blood 'nwd''' a'd' ^y g^vi^g '^'^y *^ ^^^ kinds of cruelties and debauch- ^^^' eries. Leodegher, who made himself offensive, either by rebuking the impetuous humors of the young king or by en- tering into a conspiracy against him, was accused of treason, and cast into the same prison at Luxeuil with his former foe, Ebroin (673)/ Hilderik's outrages were endured with extreme impatience, and when he proceeded, in an excess of wrath, to order a Neustrian lord to be tied to a post and beaten like a slave, the indignation of the nobles rose to the pitch of open revolt. Under the advice of the captive Leodegher, they seized hun while he was engaged in hunting, and murdered him, to- gether with his wife and one child.^ Leodegher and Ebroin, momentarily reconciled during their common captivity, were released, and even Theuderik HI. was drawn from his prison, 1 Fred., Cont., uhi svp.; Vit. St. * Vit. St. Leodeg., cc. G, 7. Leodeg., c. 3, apud Bouquet, t. ii. ' Another child escaped to a con- = Vit. Sancti Leodegarii Anon., c. vent, Avhere, under the name of Daniel, 3 ; Ejusdem Vita, Auctorc Ursino, c. 4. he was concealed for forty-three years. '=" Fred., Cent., ^. 94. 358 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. to be invested again, in tlie want of a more available scion of royalty, with the barren honors of the kingship.^ Two such ambitious spirits as Leodegher and Ebroin, rep- Ebroin and Le- rcscuting different classes and interests of society, the war. '^^°^''' could uot loug movc harmouiously in the same sphere. Almost as soon as they were free they renewed their conflicts. Leodegher was warmly welcomed back by his pa- rishioners of Autun as well as by the nobles with whom he was politically connected, and Ebroin quite as rapidly gathered his old partisans about him somewhere on the frontiers of JSTeustria. Setting up a new king, one Chlodwig III., whom he averred to be the son of Chlother III., he declared war upon Theuderik III. and his adherents. His success was swift and decisive; no leader of the day equaled him in popularity, in force, or in the celerity of his movements; and he soon ex- pelled the king's party from ISTeustria, laid siege to Autan, capturing its bishop, and established himself as mayor in both Neustria and Burgundy, with absolute power.^ In the completeness of his triumph he cast off his jDoor j)hantom Chlodwig, and resumed Theuderik, as perhaps a more legiti- mate Meroving; and he caused the nobles who had opj^osed him to pay dearly for their temerity. Some were sent into exile, others lost their lives on the scaffold, and others again were glad to expiate their offenses by the surrender of their benefices and estates, which Ebroin bestowed, in small allot- ments, upon his soldiers and friends, in order to form a new and more numerous class of landed jDroprietors.^ No one was so cruelly dealt with as Bishop Leodegher, who, degraded from The fate of ^^^s sacred functions by a solemn council, had his eyes Leodegher. ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ |^-g ^Q^^g^^^ g|-^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ heillg alloWcd tO live in that mutilated condition for some years, was beheaded. The piety with which, at the close of his stormy career as a chief of faction, he sought succor in God and endured the hor- rible tortures of his punishment, raised him in the esteem of his ' Fred., Cont., c. 96. his fall. (Gesta Reg. Franc., 46). ' In the mean time a Action in Ans- See, also, Hadrian Valesii, Epist. de trasia had Avithdrawn Dagobert II. from Dagobcrto, apud Bouquet, t. ii., p. his Irish convent and made him king; 727. but his inexperience and misconduct ^ Vit. St. Leodeg., cc. 9, 10. soon ruined liis party and precipitated Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 359 contemporaries, and on the calendar of the Church, to the high- est honors of saintship and martyrhood.^ Ebroin's unsparing pursuit of the grandees drove many of Pippin of Lan- them iuto Austrasia, where they f#und a refuge on Soin7 a.d! the estates of the lordly house of Pippin— lordly both ^^^' in the civil and ecclesiastical lines. The direct male descendants of the old warrior of Landen had been extinguish- ed by the massacre of Grimoald and his son,^ but the family was still extant in Martin (son of St. Chrodulf, Bishop of Metz, succeeding his father, St. Arnulf ), and in Pippin of Herrstall (a grandson of the same St. Arnulf by the marriage of his son Anseghis with a daughter of the elder Pippin).^ These cousins were men of distinguished abiHty and courage, as well as of wealth and political influence, and had many reasons for afford- ing an asylum to the fugitive leudes of Neustria. So nu- merous were these that, judging by their numbers, Martin and PijDjiin deceived themselves into the belief that the dissatisfac- tion with Ebroin had become almost universal in Neustria. Accordingly, they declared war upon him in order to chastise him for his offenses against the higher nobles, and to appropri- ate his power. But they reckoned without their host ; when the armies of the two factions met at Locafao (Loixi, near Laon), the Austrasians were disgracefully routed : Martin was seized and slain, and Pippin driven off in precipitate flight (GSO)."^ Ebroin, elated with his splendid victory, would have pushed his conquests into the heart of Austrasia, but he did not live to fulfill his purpose. A lend, whom he had intrusted with some fiscal of&ce and detected in peculation, was so incensed by the Murder of exposurc of his crime, that he fell upon Ebroin in D. g'si.' ' an unguarded moment and put him to death. The great lords, relieved so opportunely of their intolerable enemy, raised a shout of joy over the event; and the priests, who ap- 1 Other saints, however, of the pe- acter made by the biographers of St. riod took part with Ebroin, such as St. Leger. Ouen, St. PrcTJectus, St. ^^:gclbert, and = Ante, p. 355. St. Reole ; so that we can scarcely con- ^ Vit. St. Sighcbert, c. 10, apud sider the liostility of St. Leger to Ebroin Bouquet, t. ii., p. GOO. as a religious one, nor can we put much * Fred., Chron. Cont., c. 97; Chron. faith in the representations of his char- Moissiac, ad Ann. G80 ; Adonis, Vi- cnnc, Chron. 360 GEKMAN GAUL. [Book IV. pear to have had, many of them, private grudges against him, averred that a solitary of the Isle of Saint-Barbe (above Lyons) saw the devils carrying his wicked soul down to the infernal pit.^ Pippin and his fellows had disposed of the last Austrasian_ ^ The mayobal- king of the Merovingan stock, Dagobert II., under TY OF J^IPPLN, ,° ^ , 91TT A.D. 681-714 circumstances that are not reported to ns,"^ and did not deem it necessary to replace the useless image. They gov- ] erned themselves as a federation of chiefs, assigning the leader- ship to Duke Pippin, as doubtless the richest and most warlike among them, and as nominally, also, the Mayor of the Austra- sian palace. Nor was the war with Neustria immediately re- newed. The mayors who succeeded Ebroin there, first Warat- to, and then Berther, administering affairs on his principles and in the name of his party, succeeded for a time in holding the Austrasians in checkg When the vanity and lightness of Berther, however, gave occasion for disaffection at home, Pip- pin listened to the continued solicitations of the exiles, and sought to avenge the defeat of Loixi.^ He demanded of King Theuderik that he should receive once more the Neustrian refugees, and restore them the estates of which they had been despoiled. Theuderik replied in a contemptuous way. Pip- pin assembled the great of Neustria and communicated the re- sponse. They proclaimed him generalissimo, and made ready to march upon their offending neighbors. The respective ar- The decisive bat- mics mct at Testii (TestriciumX a little town be- ne of Testri, A. r\ r\ \ D. 687. tween St. Quentin and Perronne, on an affluent of the Somme, called the Daumignon {Dalmannio). By superior strategy, Pippin was enabled to surprise Theuderik and Berther at a considerable disadvantage, and the Neustrians, in spite of their stubborn and bloody resistance, were cut to pieces. The person of the king was seized, the nobles disposed of as it suit- ^ The Life of St. Prnejectns, of Au- = Nothing is found in the regular vergne, says, on the other hand, that chroniclers concerning this Dagobert " he suppressed with a strong hand all II., and what is told of him in the the wickedness and iniquity that was Lives of the Saints is very obscure committed, chastised the misdeeds of (Sismondi, t. i., p. 29G). proud and unjust men, and caused peace =" Fred., Cont., c. 99; Vita Pippini to reign over the earth; a man of great Ducis, ad Ann. 687, apud Bouquet, t. heart, though cruel toward the bish- ii., p. G08. ops." Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 361 ed the clemency or the cruelty of Pippin, and he himself was proclaimed the Mayor of Neustria and Burgundy.^ Seldom has a battle had more important consequences for those who were parties to it; the preponderance of Austrasia over the other kingdoms was established by it, and the supreme power was fixed, not only in the hands of the mayors, whose antrustiones or faithful assumed the place of the former royal truste^ but in the hands of mayors issuing from the great ducal house of Pippin of Herrstall.^ Many of the exiles, who assisted in gain- ing the victory, it is to be inferred also took their old patri- monies and offices; but the Austrasian nobles did not forget themselves in the distribution, and a large number of the finest Burgundian and Neustrian properties fell into their hands. Pippin transferred the seat of government from the banks of the Seine to those of the Meuse ; the barbaric laws that had fallen into desuetude under Ebroin and others were revived in all their vigor, and the neglected annual malls, to which all the members of "the noble nation of the Franks" were summoned on pain of a mulct if they staid away, were regularly called each spring, to dispense justice and deliberate of public affairs.^ The new government was a more or less complete restora- The battle a ^^^^ ^^ ^^ Gcrmanic customs and methods ; but the revolution. g^^^Q Spirit of local and aristocratic independence in which it had originated wrought an almost universal overturn. All the Frankish tributaries broke away from their allegiance. As early as the time of Clother II. the Langobards had recov- ered their freedom ; under Dagobert, the Saxons ; under Sighe- bert IL, the Thuringians ; and now, during the late broils, the Alemans, the Bavarians, and the Frisons. Even in the centre of Austrasia many rich and powerful chiefs,^_enjoying estates quite as extensive and populous as the domains of Pippin, sharing the centrifugal tendency, were disposed to govern their little realms as independent properties, and not m any sense as the afiixes or dependencies of the crown or any other authority. The king, or rather the mayor, granted charters and diplomas ^ Annal. Mcttens., ad Ann. 687- => AnnalesMettenses. These annals GOO. were compiled by a partisan of the ' Vita, Sancti Arnnlphi, Episc. Met- house of Pippin, and contain many de- tensis, a Monacho Coaivo, apud Bou- tails, though they are not always free quet, t. ii. fi'om suspicion. See Bouquet. 362 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. after the old formulae, but tliey were scarcely more tlian formal acts ; while the dukes, counts, and bishops deported themselves pretty much according to their own will. In the west and south of Gaul, where the Franks exercised their power from a distance, and had never been held in high respect, the disloca- tions were still more abrupt and violent. - The King of Brit- tany no longer acknowledged the treaty which his father Ju- dicael had made with Dagobert ; in Aquitain, the Duke of Toulouse, Eudo, reputed a grandson of Haribert, the brother of Dagobert,^ who had reigned in Aquitain for a while, had formed it into an almost independent kingdom, which threaten- ed to swallow up Provence and other states to the south ; and the cities of the greater part of Burgundy, disdaining the Aus- trasian government, submitted only each for itself to its partic- ular duke, count, or bishop.^ Pippin saw the need of restraining this dispersive and chaotic Pippin labors impulsc. Two ycars after the battle of Testri he der^^""^ ' summoned a mall, in order to debate "the interests of the Prankish empire," and to devise a way for the recovery of its tributaries. He found the task nearly impossible. Time and again he assailed the Prisons, the Saxons, the Bavarians, and the Alemans, but could bind them to no truce nor peace for any length of time. ISTo less than ten times the Prisons resumed their arms, while the revolts of the others were so incessant that he was compelled to abandon all hope of re- covering the southern or Eoman part of Graul, in order to direct his attention exclusively to the Germans. The aid which he received from the Christian missionaries rendered him more successful among them. Those intrepid propagan- dists pierced where his armies could not. St. Willibrod estab- lished an episcopal see at Utrecht ; Bishop Wolfram, of Sens, devoted himself to the conversion of the Prisons ; Bishop Rud- bert, of Worms, to that of Bavaria ; and others, Anglo-Saxon monks chiefly, to other parts of Germany.^ The Pranks and the Popes of Rome had a common interest in this work of the ^ See ante, c. xiii., p. ,343. There ter, -when we come to the Avars of Pip- is some doubt, however, as to the Mr- pin the Short in that country, rovingan origin of these dukes of Aqui- ^ Martin (Hist, de France, t. ii., pp. tain, and I shall have occasion to refer 22G-232). to the question again in the next chap- ^ See the Acta Sanctorum, passim. Chap. XIV.] GEKMAN GAUL. SQ 9 conversion of tlie Germans ; tlie Franks to restrain irruptions, and the Popes to carry their spiritual sway over Europe. Bar- barism was not now, as in the days of the emperors, assailed with the sword merely, but they sought to extinguish it in its sources. The new chiefs of Eome, who aspired to the control of the world, desired to erect their empire on the souls, not the bodies of mankind. Pippin eagerly supported their missionary enterprises ; he found that, as the Germanic tribes were Chris- tianized, they became less warlike and formidable neiohbors and he was, moreover, by descent as well as conviction, an earn- est disciple of the Church.^ The only year of peace that Pippin enjoyed in all his twen- His domestic ty-scvcn ycars of reign was in 713, during which he dealhl^'A^rx conducted no army, says the annalist,^ "beyond the ^^^ limits of his own principality." Nevertheless, it was disturbed by interior and domestic troubles. Pippin had been ambitious for his family as well as for himself and the state. His eldest son, Drogho, he had made Mayor of Burgundy ; his second son, Grimoakl, Mayor of ISTeustria ; and this advance- ment ot his kin had provoked the dangerous jealousies of the leudes, as well as painful strifes among themselves. The for- mer, who had helped him in the overthrow of the Mdroviugans, had no idea of submitting to the revival of a new royal race ; while the latter were spurred by the hope of succeeding to the enormous power of the duke into fierce and inveterate quar- rels. Pippin sowed the seeds of this trouble by his inconti- nence. After the manner of the Merovingan kings, he had married two women, Plectrude and Alpaida, the last of them being, in the eyes of the Church, his concubine rather than his wife.^ Their chiklren grew up in deadly enmity to each other, and the relatives of each cherished that implacable family feud which was still characteristic of the Germans. St. Landebert, Bishop of Maestricht, who counseled Pippin to put away Al- paida, was murdered by her brother ; and afterward, when Pip- pin lay ill at Jopil, near Liege, Grimoald, the son of Plectrude, ^ Vita Pippini Diicis, apud Bouquet, ^ Aunal. Mettens., ad Ann. 713. t. ii. ; Annal. Mettcns., od Ann. 690- ^ Fred., Chron. Cont., c. 103; 695; Fred., Chron. Cont., cc. 100- Chron. Moissiac, ad Ann. 708. In 104. the latter she is called Alpaigde. S64: GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. was assassinated, because he paid religious honors to the re- mains of St. Landebert (714).^ The sands of the old fighter's life were fast waning then, but he was still strong enough to spring from his bed, to revenge himself upon the murderers of his son, to imprison Karl, his child by Alpaida, suspected of in- stigating the crime, to quench a conspiracy which had broken out under favor of these domestic disquiets, and to install Plec- trude and the infant heir of Grimoald as his legitimate success- ors in the government. He died on the 16th of December, A.D. 714. His decease let loose the tempests once more : TiiK Mayoralty " Eurus notusque i-uunt, creberque procellis OF Karl, tub Africus— " 7i4-7ii. j^Yl the German tributaries, Frisons, Alemans, Ba- varians, Saxons, became restless ; the Komanesque populations between the Loire and the Pyrenees gathered around King Eudo of Aquitain; a new and formidable enemy, the Sara- cens, threatened the southern borders ; and the Neustrians took advantage of the feeble reign of a minor and a woman to assert their old independence of Austrasia. Plectrude and the young Mayor Theodoald, assisted by the leudes of their house, under- took to reduce the latter to subjection first, but were disastrous- ly defeated in the forest of Cuise, near Compiegne.^^ In re- prisal, the ISTeustrians, under a mayor chosen by themselves, named Eagenfred, marched into the Austrasian territory, and laid it waste with fire and sword as far as the banks of the Meuse. They formed an alliance even with Eadbod, the pagan chief of the Frisons, in order to menace Austrasia from the German side. Nothing seemed more hopeless than the cause The rise of o^ thc castcm klugdom — in fact, of the whole of Gaul, young Kiiri. ^^^^ -^ ^^^ whispcrcd that Karl, the bastard son of Pippin, had broken his prison-bounds and raised the standard of revolution.3 He was still a youth, discarded by his father, disgraced by the bishops, and deprived of his rights by the party of Plectrude ; but he was a youth of indomitable will and energy, who feared nothing, and hoped every thing for himself ' Annal. Mettens., ad Ann. 7U. = Fred., Cont., c. 105; Chron. Mois- "^ Fred., Chron. Cont., c. 104; An- siac, Paul. Diocon. (Dc Gestis Lan- nal. Mettens., ad Ann. 715. gobard, 1. vi., c. 42). Chap. XIV.] GERMAIN GAUL. SQ6 and liis cause. At once the defeated Austrasians, '' seeing tlie old Pippin revived in him," rallied numerously to his banners. They assailed the combined forces of the Frisons and Neus- trians ; were repulsed in their first attack somewhere upon the Rhine ; but in a second, at Amblava (Ambl^ve, in the Lim- bourg), achieved a signal victory (A.D. 716). The ISTeustrians withdrew into their own country, and Karl reorganized his army with a view to an assault upon Plectrude and her parti- sans at Cologne, where they preserved the power and the treas- ures of his father.^ Early in the following spring, however, before he had ac- Battie cf Vinci, complishcd this object, he was called away by the A.D. 71T. approach of the ISTeustrians, who, adding to their usual forces the common people of the towns {yidgaris 2^^<^^s\ were resolved to make one last effort for their national eman- cipation. The two armies met at Yinci, near Cambrai {Yin- ciaciLs)^ and fought one of the most stubborn and terrible battles that had ever taken place between the parties ; but the prowess and endurance of the stalwart Germans of Karl carried the day. Hilperik 11.,^ the nominal King of Neustria, with Eagenfred, his mayor, were routed, and pursued as far as the walls of Paris. It was an easy matter for "the invincible Karl," after such a success, to expel Plectrude from Cologne, to seize the estates of her son and family, and to get himself pro- claimed Duke of the Franks, and legitimate successor of the old Mayor Pippin. A titular monarch, whom he elevated, under the name Chlother IT., as a scion of the Merovingan race, though no one could trace the pedigree, did not interfere with the exercise of his almost absolute and royal power. Never- theless, the ISTeustrians were not yet completely subdued ; and, by joining themselves to Eudo of Aquitain, whose Romanic and G-ascon populations detested the Austrasians, whom they re- garded as savages, they made head against him for two years. At length he overthrew them in a dreadful pitched battle at Soissons(718),^ followed them beyond the Loire, and, by the ' Annal. Mettens., ad Ann. 716. gis, apud Script. Franc, t. iv., p. Gr>0, 2 This was the monk Daniel, whom he M-as the son of Hilderik II. Ante, lingcnfrcd had drawn from the convent p. 357. and caused to be prockimed king. Ac- ^Pred., Cont., c. 107; Chron. cording to the Diplomata Chilperici Ee- Moissiac. S66 GEEMAN GAUL. [Book IV. ravages whicli he committed, forced them into a treaty of peace. Eudo was still allowed to govern Aqnitain as duke, Kagenfred was made a duke of Anjou, Hilperik II. was acknowledged as King of the Franks,^ but Karl reserved to himself the mayor- alty of all the states. Karl's first year of power was passed in incessant efforts to The Gerraan subcluc the rcvoltcd German tributaries. Almost ev- A.D. 719-729! ery month he was forced into some expedition be- yond the Ehine, either to avert some predatory foray, or to suppress an insurrection. The Alemans, the Bavarians, and the Frisons he succeeded in subjecting to a formal confes- sion at least of the Frankish supremacy, but the turbulent and implacable Saxons baffled his most strenuous efforts. Their wild tribes had become, within a few years, a powerful and numerous nation ; they had appropriated the lands of the Thu- ringians and Hassi, or Catti, and joined to themselves other confederations and tribes; and, stretching from the Ehine to the Elbe, offered their marshes and forests a free asylum to all the persecuted sectaries of Odhinn, to all the lovers of native and savage independence. Six times in succession the armies of Karl penetrated the wilderness they called their home, ravaging their fields and burning their cabins, but the Sax- on war was still renewed.^ He left it to the energetic labors of other conquerors, to Christian missionaries, to Wilfred and Willibrod, who had come from far Northumberland, to Kil- ian the Irish bishop, and to Winfred of Devon, destined to be- come the great St. Bonifacius of the Latins and the apostle of Germany, to break the way of civilization into those rude and darkened realms. Intrepid soldiers of the Cross, carrying their lives in their hands, they raised the standards of the Church where the arms of the warrior could not reach, and formed within the impregnable walls of the convents, which they built in the pathless woods, the earhest seminaries of industry, of culture, and of worship.^ Tiie advent and Thcsc obstiuatc German struggles had the effect hammed,' A^D." of preparing Karl and his warriors for the part they G09-G32. ^rQj.Q about to play on a more splendid theatre. ^ Karl's creature, Chlothcr IV., had ^ Annal. Mettens., passim. died in the mean time. ' See the Acta Sanctorum, passim. Chap. XIV.] GERMA]^ GAUL. 867 Beyond the eastern limits of tlie empire, within that zone of rock and sand, and beneath those serene and fervid skies, which had already given its two greatest religions to the world, a new and imposing faith had been proclaimed by an obscure Arabi- an named Mohammed. A youth of genius and piety, whose early life, passed in conducting caravans from Mecca to Damas- cus and Aleppo, had made him familiar with the condition of the heroic but prostrate tribes of the desert, his profound relig- ious sensibilities were shocked by the chaos of idolatries which paralyzed and debased the intellect of his people. Weltering in all the corruptions of natural religion, of Sabaism, of Juda- ism, and the Groeco-Syriac Christianity, they still yearned with the dim traditions which had promised them a prophet who should fulfill their hopes of glory and salvation. On the live- ly temper and fiery imagination of Mohammed these dreams of his nation wrought, till, in the caves of Mount Hira, whith- er he often retired to pass the night in alternations of deep thought and ecstatic prayer, the angel of Allah announced to him a supernatural mission. God is one, God is infinite, God is almighty, was the single thought which pealed through the depths of his being, like a voice from heaven, and with that thought, shearing away, as with a sword, the wretched wrap- pings of all subsisting creeds, he strode forth as the Prophet of God. JSTo sentiment of awful holiness, as with the Jew, shaded to his perception the fierce blaze of the divine almighti- ness ; no tender feeling of infinite mercy, as with the Christian, responded to the soul's longing for sympathy and love; and even the common ethical elements of humanity and the con- sciousness of moral liberty^ were withered in the intense splen- dor of his idea of God. It was the sun of the East, shining down hot and unclouded upon the burning deserts. Accepted with aversion and reluctance at first, the creed of Rapid diffusion Mohammcd gradually overcame the prejudices of D. 632-Tio.' * his fellows ; it impregnated a widening circle of be- lievers, whose enthusiasm kindled rapidly into zeal ; the am- bition of conquest was joined to the ambition of conversion; the power of the sword assisted the power of the Word ; fraud, and cruelty, and revenge were mingled with the deeper relig- ^ Neander (Hist. Christ. Relig., vol. iii., p. 85). 368 GERMAN GAUL. C^o^k^ ^^' ions passions, until the despised doctrine of Islam became the peculiar religion of a nation and the rallying cry of a race. Within about sixty years after the death of the great Prophet (632), the new religious rule of the Arabs had been extend- ed eastward as far as Cabul in Central Asia, and westward to the Atlantic coasts of Africa.^ The tottering empire of the Persians, after an existence of four hundred years, had received a last blow from its stern followers ; the eastern Eoman empire trembled under their assaults even to its beautiful capital on the Bosporus ; the crescent glittered above the temples of all the great cities of Asia Minor where the cross had once shone ; and the dusky tribes of Algiers and Morocco were glad to capitulate to a valor superior to their own, and to imbibe a fanaticism fiercer than their own. Europe alone opened a field for new labors of conquest and proselytism ; nor did Europe long escape the yearning eyes of hope and faith. While the power of the Ommiades was yet at its height, Musa-ben-lSTo- zair. Governor of Africa under the calif Walid I., looked across "the narrow waters" of the inner sea to the lofty rocks of Calpe. An advanced outpost of the Wisigoths, Ceuta, under Count Julian, for a moment barred his advances (709). It was only for a moment ; for his adventurous lieutenant, Tarik-ben- Zaid, the next year impressed the first Saracen footprints on the sides of the commanding mountain^ which seemed to open the prospect to the whole peninsula. Others of the faithful, im- mediately intrenching themselves in the rugged citadel which the enterprise of Tarik had mastered, flashed their cimeters in the eyes of the consternated Wisigoths. Those hardy warriors were no longer what they had been under Alarik, and Ataulf, and Eurik, when the legions of Rome recoiled before them, and the world trembled at their approach. Success and the cli- mate, civil wars and domestic broils, sloth, and luxury, and vice, had unmanned their bodies and their souls. "Secluded from the world by the Pyrenean Mountains, they had slumbered in a long peace ; the walls of the cities had mouldered into dust ; ^ On the origin, progi-css, and char- jNIohammed, by our coimtn^man Irving, acter of the faitli of Mohammed, I know may be consulted with profit, of nothing more succinct and satisfac- ' Since named Gibel-Tarik (Mount- tory than Gibbon's chapters fvol. v., c. ain of Tarik), and corruiited into Gib- .■)0, and vol. vi., c. 51). The Life of raltar. Chap. XIV.] GEKMAN GAUL. 369 the youth had abandoned the exercise of arms ; and the pre- sumption of their ancient renown exposed them to the first as- sault of the invaders."^ King Koderik, admonished of the mag- nitude of his danger, summoned his dukes, his counts, and his soldiers to repulse the furious assailant. Nearly a hundred thousand men answered to, his war-ban ; and then, arrayed in a diadem of pearls, and garments of silk embroidered with gold, and sitting in a chariot of ivory drawn by two white mules, he met the fiery Moslem on the plains of Xeres de la Fronte- ra, in the neighborhood of Cadiz. The impetuous charges of the incomparable Arab horsemen soon dissipated his heavy in- fantry, Roderik fled ; his diadem and robes were found on the banks of the Guadalquiver ; and the body of "the last of the Goths" is supposed to have perished ignobly in the stream.- The Wisigothic power in Spain was fatally smitten ; the heroic exploits of Tarik — remanded to Africa through jealousy — were imitated and continued by his rival and successor Musa; and in a little while the meteor-flag of the Prophet floated over Cordova, Merida, Toledo, Seville, and other splendid cities of Spain (A.D. 711-715). Amid the rugged solitudes of the As- turias alone a remnant of the Goths preserved their Christian faith, where a life of privation and hardship restored their an- cient vigor, and enabled them, in after times, to descend against their conquerors, and by many a desperate combat, the favorite themes of ballad and romance, to recover the fair and fertile possessions of their fathers. The deeds of Musa had been performed "in the evening of The Arabs in- his life," but, to borrow the words of Gibbon,^ "his 715-Vl''^' ■ * breast was still fired with the ardor of youth, and the possession of Spain was considered only as the first step to the monarchy of Europe. With a powerful armament by sea and land, he was preparing to pass the Pyrenees, to extinguish in Gaul the declining kingdoms of the Franks and Lombards, and to preach the unity of God on the altar of the Vatican. Thence, subduing the barbarians of Germany, he proposed to ^ Tradition ascribes their success to Southey, in the notes to his poem of the treachery of Count Julian. IMari- " Roderik, the last of the Goths," has ana (Res. Hispan., iv., 22, 23). collected many a curious passai^e on the 2 The traditions keep Roderik alive, subjert from the ancient chronicles, but put him through a severe penance. "^ Decline and Fall, vol. vi., «.■. 51. A A 370 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV, follow the course of tlie Danube from its source to the Euxine Sea, to overthrow the Greek or Roman empire of Constantino- ple, and, returning from Europe to Asia, to unite his new ac- quisitions with Antioch and the provinces of Syria." This vast enterprise, recalling the schemes of Mithridates and Caesar, and which the ease and rapidity of the Arabian conquests stripped of all character of extravagance, was freely revolved by the suc- cessors of Musa. In pursuance of it. El Haur, the new lieuten- ant of the califs, assailed the fugitive Goths in their retreats in Septimania (715-718). El Zamah, who succeeded him, crossed the mountains, and, seizing Narbonne, exjDclled the inhabitants, and settled there a colony of Saracens (719). The following year they passed the Rhone, in order to extend their dominion over Provence, but, repelled by the dukes and the militia of the country, turned their forces toward Toulouse (721). Eudo, Duke of Aquitain, bravely defending his capital, brought on a decisive combat. His troops surpassed in numbers those of the Mussulmans ; but *' Do not fear the multitude," cried El Zamah, recurring to the fatalistic dogmas of his faith ; "for, if God is with us, who can be against us?" On the other side, Eudo ha- rangued his men, and appealed to their superstitions by a dis- tribution of sponges which had been blessed by the Roman pon- tiff, Gregory II., and had served to wipe the table on which the priests administered the holy communion. " The shock of the armies," says the chronicler, '' was like the meeting of two mountain torrents." El Zamah fell. The carnage among his retreating men then became so great that the Arabs named the passage from Toulouse to Circassone the Road of Martyrs (Balat al Chouda). Supporting their terrible reverses with the characteristic res- second inva- ignatiou of their race and faith, the Arabs were stiU 8ion of Gaul, ^ ' A.D. 7'25-73'2. able to retain a hold of Narbonne and of other for- tresses of the south, and, after a respite of four years, spent in re- cruiting their troops from Spain and Africa, to resume their proj- ects of invasion and pillage in Gaul (725). Under the Wall Anbessa, they ascended the Rhone as far as the city of Lyons, devastating the towns and the fields or subjecting them to trib- ute, or, if repulsed, rapidly recovering a safe retreat in the strong- holds of the mountains. By the enthusiastic disciples of the Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL, 371 Propliet every skirmish was regarded as a glorious furtherance of the holy war, and those who fell, as martyrs to a sacred cause, whose deaths must be avenged by their surviving comrades. When, then, at the close of his expeditions, Anbessa perished by the hands of the Infidels, all the fanaticism of the Mussulman heart was aroused hito an eager desire for revenge.^ His suc- cessor, Abd-el-Eahman, a tried and experienced general, energet- ic and heroic as he was just and prudent, whose brilliant exploits in Africa and Gaul had rendered him the idol of his troops, as he was the favorite of the calif, entered into elaborate prepara- tions for the final conquest of Graul. For two years the ports of Syria, Egypt, and Africa swarmed with departing soldiery, and Spain resounded with the calls and cries to arms (727-729). Eudo, on whose domains the gathering tempest was likely Dofe.1t of Eudo to break the earliest, watched the portents with anx- of A luitain, A. . ^ ^ ttt* i i -n i n ^ i i • D. 731. lety and dread. With the h ranks of the north, his natural allies, he was not then on terms which warranted him to solicit their assistance. A small faction of Berbers, however, commanded by Othman-Ben-abou-Nessa, to whom had been con- fided a province of the Oriental Pyrenees, had rebelled against the government of the Wall, and to this he turned for succor. He hoped to raise up in them a barrier against the advance of the Arabs. Love, perhaps, had a part in instigating the alli- ance. Othman, enamored of the daughter of the duke, de- manded her as a wife, and "the Christian prince and the Mus- sulman emir sealed their friendship by a marriage which scan- dahzed equally the faithful of both religions."^' Eudo, it would appear, had exaggerated the power of the apostate. His resist- ance scarcely proved an obstacle to the propulsive torrent of invasion which poured through the defiles of Roncesvalles, and inundated the plains of Pampeluna and Wasconia. Othman was submerged by the flood ; his wife Lampegia, widowed al- most as soon as wived, and too lovely for a subject, was saved to grace the harem of the calif; while the terrified Eudo could only await the onrushing waves behind the ramparts of Bor- ' These events are best deseril ed, I "It was this alliance which gave rise think, by Fauriel (Hist, de la Gaule to the reports of the Frankish chron- Merid., t. iii.), whose narrative is often iclers that Eudo had treacherously formed from Arabic manuscripts in the invited Abd - el - Rahman into Gaul, imperial libraiy at Paris. Martin, ii., 267. 372 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. deaux. The remembrance of the victory of Toulouse doubtless animated his hopes ; a deep resentment of the fate of his cap- tive daughter whet his desire of vengeance ; but neither public nor private motives could empower him to cope with the fanat- ical hordes of the Moslem. The Basques and Gallo-Eomans were crushed, and God only knew, says Isidore, the numbers which perished on that fatal day.^ The aged duke, broken in fortune, fame, and spirit, was compelled to fly, and seek the shelter of the arms of his inveterate enemies, the Franks. ' ' Thus the Moslemah," wrote the Arabian chroniclers, "smote their foe ; they passed the Garonne, laid waste the country, and took captives without end. Their army swept along like a deso- lating storm. Every thing yielded to their cimeters — ^those robbers of lives ; and all the nations of the Franks trembled before their terrible array." Extending their rapid excursions beyond the Loire, by way Eudo implores 0^ Orlcaus, as far as Auxerre and Sens, the reports the aid of Karl, of ^heir ravagcs reached the ears of Karl, who was then engaged in one of his periodical conflicts with the barba- rians of the Ehine. The arrival of the fugitive and vanquish- ed duke confirmed the worst reports. He! received his ancient enemy with a cordiality only subdued by pity for his misfor- tunes. At once, but on condition of the future acknowledg- ment of the sovereignty of the Franks, Karl took up his bat- tered and hopeless cause. " Then, during all the rest of the summer, the Eoman clarions and the German horns sounded 4nd groaned through all the cities of Neustria and Austrasia, through the rustic palaces of the Frankish leudes, and in the woody gaus of western Germany. The most impracticable marshes of the North Sea, and the savage depths of the Black Forest, gave forth their floods of half-naked combatants, who precipitated themselves toward the Loire in the train of the heavy iron-clad squadrons of the Mayor."^ Meanwhile, Abd-el-Kahman, laden with plunder and satiated Battle of Tours, "^^^^ blood, had bcut hls steps toward the south- A.D. 732. ^gg^^ where he concentrated his troops on the banks ^ Isidor. Pacens. (Chron., ad Aim. 273), whose animated and completer 731, apnd B.mquet, t. ii.). narrative I liave closely followed in this - Martin (Hist, dc Trance, t. ii., p. part of my sketch. Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 373 of the Charente. Enriched and victorious as he was, there was still an object in Gaul which provoked alike the cupidity and the zeal of his followers. This was the Basilica of St. Martin of Tours, the shrine of the Grallic Christians, where the richest treasures of the Church were collected, and in which the pro- foundest veneration of its members centred. He yearned for the pillage and the overthrow of this illustrious sanctuary, and,, taking the road from Poitiers, he encountered the giants of the North in the same valley of the Yienne and Clain where, near- ly three hundred years before, the Franks and the Wisigoths had disputed the supremacy of Gaul. ^ There, on those autumn fields, the Koran and the Bible — Islamism and Christianity — Asia and Europe^ — stood face to face, ready to grapple in a deadly and decisive conflict. The shaggy warriors of Karl could scarcely have known that to them it was given to de- termine whether the destinies of civilization should be con- trolled by Mohammed or by Christ ; but none the less firmly, as the light and turbaned cavalry of the Moslem wheeled in swift circles about the plain, did they form themselves in the solid wedges of battle. For several days the hosts of the East and the West — so different in their physiognomies, their arms, their costumes, their tactics, and their aims — surveyed each other with mingled feelings of astonishment, hatred, and terror. Trivial skirmishes from time to time kept alive the ardor of both hosts, till at length, at dawn on Saturday, the eleventh of October, the signal for a general onset was given.^ With one ^ Ante, c. xi., p. 288. The place army of Karl as Europeans, which is of this battle is not fixed with firecision. the first time, in these centuries, that The chronicle of Moissiac places it as the term is used, showing, on the part in the text, near the Vienne and Clain. of Isidore, a dim consciousness of the M. Chalmel, in his History of Ton- significance of the encounter, raine, says at Mire, on the road from ^ This date, and many of the inci- Poitiers to Tours. The Arab histo- dents of the battle, I take from a nar- rians assert that it was fought on the rative in Chalmel (Hist, de la Tou- Rirer Al-Ouar which would seem to raine), translated from the Arabic, and mean the Loire, on which Toitrs is sit- given him by a Spanish ofiicer in 1823. nated. The skirmishing may have As no similar MS. is to be found in the commenced near Poitiers, and ranged Bibliotheque Royale, and none is no- afterivard as far as Tours, the distance ticed by Conde', it is not supposed to be being only about twenty- six leagues, authentic. Nevertheless, it agrees sub- and the armies ha^-ing been eight days stantially with the approved authorities, in sight of each other. and, in our penury of original docu- ^ Isidor, Chron., designates the ments, is not to be discarded too lightly. Q 74 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IY. loud shout of Allali- Akbar (God is great), the Arab horsemen charged like a tempest upon their foe, but the deep columns of the Franks did not bend before the blast. " Like a wall of iron," says the chronicler, " like a rampart of ice, the men of the North stood unmoved by the frightful shock." ^ All day long the charges were renewed, and as often as they were renewed they broke in pieces on that moveless zone of pikes and swords. Blood flowed in streams. The great leaders animated their troops by prodigious displays of prowess ; the ringing cry of Abd-el-Rahman was heard incessantly above the din of battle; and the ponderous hatchet of Karl fell incessantly upon the heads of his enemies like the hammer of Thor.^ The issue of this stupendous conflict was doubtful till the Europe and tcuth hour of thc day (about four o'clock), when a di- victorious. Vision of Basqucs and Aquitams, led by Uuke Ludo, fell secretly upon the camp of the Arabs and massacred the guards.^ The tumult and cries of distress attracted a large body of Arabs from the ranks to protect the treasure amassed in their tents. This movement assumed an appearance of flight, and in an instant deranged the whole order of battle. Abd-el- Rahman strove in vain to correct the error and to re-form his lines. The confusion became universal ; and then, for the first time, that " wall of iron" began to move, overwhelming, crush- ing, trampling to death the panic-stricken army of Islam. The brave Wall fell in the retreat, "j^ierced by lances innumera- ble,"* while his followers were saved from a more exterminat- ing carnage only by the coming on of night. Early the next morning, having slept upon their arms, the Franks prepared to resume the desperate wrestle. As they approached the tents of the Arabs, however, they heard no sounds of preparation, and they saw no movements which betokened the presence of living men. Suspicious of an ambush, Karl sent his spies to discover the meaning of the silence. They gradually picked their way over the bodies of countless dead^ to the outmost tsidor. Pacens., ad Ann. 732. ing of this assault of Eudo, although it ' Karl's name of Martel, or the Ham- is distinctly stated in the Arabian au- mer, was derived from this battle, ac- thorities. cording to the legends, though it was not * Conde, Plist. of the Dominion of given to him till a century or two later, the Arabs, c. 25. 3 The Frankish chroniclers say noth- '" Thc number killed in this action Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 375 tents, and found them empty. They entered others, and those, too, were void. All were empty. Under the shadows of the night the Moslemah had stealthily departed, leaving their booty and equipage, all but their horses and arms, a harvest for the conquerors. Europe was rescued, Christianity triumphant, Karl the hero forever of Christian civilization.^ Karl did not pursue the retreating Moors, but, after collect- Kari confirms ^^g ^^^ pluudcr, Tcturned iuto Austrasia. His re- la' Bm-Juadj^ nown uow filled the world, and he availed himself p?oven5,A!i)! of the lutercst and terror excited by his name to con- <33-73s. solidate his power in the three kingdoms. Even while his strong arm had been turning back the tide of Sara- cen invasion, the leudes of Burgundy were plotting a rebellion in his rear. A swift and terrible retribution overtook their treason. Marching his army into Burgundy and Provence, he seized Marseilles and Aries, degraded the nobles from their places of emolument and honor, and estabhshed the men of his own iruste in their stead, garrisoning also the towns and the frontiers.^ Nothing daunted by this example, ELunald, the son of Eudo, who had been invested with the dukedom of Aquitain on the death of his father (735), flew to arms. The indefatiga- ble Karl overran his dominions, taking possession of Bordeaux and Blayes, and compelling the young duke to a renewal of his father's oaths of fidelity. Recalled from the south to the north to chastise the refractoriness of the vassal Frisons, whose duke, Poppo, he slew, and whose cabins and idols he delivered to the flames, Karl had scarcely finished the work when he heard that the Arabs had once more crossed the Pyrenees, and were deso- lating the fields and cities of Provence. is placed by Paul the Deacon (Dc Ges- tie has been overestimated, but I can not lis Langobard., 1. vi., c. 46, apud agree with them, holding, with Hallam Script. Ital., t. i., p. 505) and Anas- (Middle Ages, vol. i., p. 7, note), that tasius (in Vit. Sanct. Greg. II., papre, it was one of those battles "of which a apud Script. Ital., t. iii., p. 155) at contrary event would have essentially 375,000 Saracens and 1500 Franks, varied the drama of the world in all its but this is obviously a mere conjecture, subsequent scenes, Avith Marathon, ^r- Nothing is known of the numbers en- bela, the Metaurus, Chalons, and Leip- gaged or of the losses. The Arab writ- zig." Professor Creasy, in his "XV, ers refer to the battle only as " a most Decisive Battles," which appears to fatal combat." Condc (Hist, of Arabs have been suggested by Hallam's re- in Spain, vol. i., c. 25, Bohn's ed., 1845). mark, includes Tours, of course, in the 1 Many historians, Sismondi, Mich- number, elet, and Fauriel among tlie number, - Fred.. Cont., c. 100; Annal. Met- believe that the importance of this bat- tens., ad Ann. 734. 876 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. Many of the lords of tlie country welcomed their advances, The Arabs re-' preferring their domination to that of the Franks. appear. They posscsscd already the whole of Septimania; treachery admitted them into Avignon ; their valor won them Aries. ^ All their warlike energy, indeed, had been put forth to revenge the bloody field of Tours. Able leaders, renown- ed alike for their military skill and for the fervor of their religious zeal — Abd-el-Melek first, then the emir Okba, and under him Amor - ibn - El - Hayan — pushed their conquests through the valleys of the Ehone as far north as the rocky gates of Lyons.^ Karl's brother Hildebrand, and his lieu- tenants, whom he dispatched to stay their progress, essayed it in vain. His own presence alone could arrest their proselyt- ing and predatory fury. In the course of two separate cam- paigns (737 and 739-740),^ in the latter of which he had the aid of Luitprand^, King of the Lombards, who feared that the Moors, already masters of the sea, might move from Provence into Itaty, he carried Avignon by assault, seized Aries and Mar- seilles, besieged Narbonne, beat the Saracen army on the Berre, razed Agde, Beziers, and other sti'ong fortifications, leveled Ma- guelonne, the harbor of the Saracen vessels, to the water's edge, destroyed the walls and ramparts of Nimes (leaving the traces of his fire to be seen at this day on the sides and arches of the celebrated arena), and, in short, broke the power of the Arabs north of the Pyrenees forever.'^ For all these wars Karl needed ample resources of men and Karl offends the ^loney. His exchcqucr as a prince was not equal appropJStilig^^ to his life-long and universal defense of Western theiriands. civilizatiou. Thc rapacious bands of warriors whom he led did not always find their booty a sufficient recompense for their hardships. Their principal enemies, too, were Ger- man marauders, who possessed little, or the Arab invaders, who possessed nothing but what they plundered. Moreover, the fields of adventure over which they trod had been too often reaped before to yield them now luxuriant harvests. ' Chron. Moissiac. Saxon war and in suppressing n con- - Fauricl (Hist. Ganl. ]\L'ritI., t. iii., sjiiracy in Ncustria. ^•- -■'•)• * Fauric] (Hist, de la Gaul. MericL, ^ The inten-al of 738 was spent in a t, iii., cc. 23-25). Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 377 In this penury of ordinary means, therefore, Karl had recourse to the vast, tempting, and often misused wealth of the Church. It was, in fact, his only recourse. During the relaxation of authority under the Merovingans, the lands and benefices of all kinds granted to the leudes on the condition of military service had gradually been converted into a simple and per- manent property. "But since, in the German idea, military service was not a gratuitous duty, but a voluntary act, which was to be paid for in lands or in power, there were no means of making war when there were no lands or power to dis- tribute. For this reason, Dagobert and many of his successors had been constrained to resume from the clergy various ter- ritorial possessions which had been granted them since Chlod- wig, in order to transform them into military benefices. Pip- pin of Herrstall won the favor of churchmen by promising to restore these resumptions, but it is doubtful whether he was able to keep his word. As to Karl, however, he found him- self under a more urgent necessity than his father. He was re- duced to the alternative of not making war at all, or of making- it at the expense of the clergy. He did not hesitate. He seized the lands of a multitude of abbeys, churches, and bishops, and bestowed them upon his men of war. Sometimes, without sep- arating the ecclesiastical dignities from the properties to which they were attached, he gave both, on the condition of military service, to personages who accepted the ecclesiastical name and tonsure, but were in every other respect simple warriors."^ Against this procedure the hierarch}^ had a double reason for protesting : first, that it stripped them of valuable and, as they considered it, sacred estates ; and, second, that it introduced into the offices and government of the Church a herd of rude and warlike men, who were alike unfitted by character and capacity for their positions.^ In the degradation and worldliness of the priesthood at that time, it is probable the former motive had the greater influence in exciting their invectives against Karl.^ His prodigious and signal services to the Church and to humanity 1 Tauriel (Hist, clc la Gaule Merid., Episc. Remens., Diac, c. 19); Boni- t. iii., p. 106). facii (Epist, ad Zachariam Papain. , " Codex de Gcstis Episc. Trevirens., apud Bouquet, t. iv.). t, i., p. 049; Hincmar (Epist. vi., ad ^ Bonifaeii Epist. xii., ibid. 378 GERMAK GAUL. [Book IV. were apparently forgotten in the bitterness of the rancor stirred up by his imputed sacrileges.^ He was denounced as a tyrant, and suspected to be a pagan. But he was neither a tyrant nor a pagan. His confiscation of the ecclesiastical estates was nec- essary, as we have seen, to the defense of the country, and were amply repaid by the benefits he conferred upon the clergy them- selves. Nor can we doubt the sincerity of a Christian belief, ac- cording to the estimate of those ages, which won him the grat- itude of Boniface and the confidence of the Popes of Kome. Winfred, or St. Bonifacius, was an Anglo-Saxon, native of The ia)3or3 of Devoiishirc, who, ordained a priest in the thirtieth nS-vo^.' ' ' year of his age, was fired with a passionate enthusi- asm for the adventurous life of a missionary. His first under- taking in Friesland having failed, he visited Kome to obtain the sanction of the head of the Church to a general enterprise for propagating the Gospel in Germany (718). The Pope, Gregory IL, sympathizing in his zeal for the conversion of the savage tribes of the North, after exacting from him an oath of alle- giance to the see of Kome, bestowed upon him ample powers for his purposes. He recommended him warmly to all bishops and rulers, and especially to Karl-Martel, whom he urged to a generous assistance of the missionary. Karl cheerfully received him into his viund, and furthered his plans by enthusiastic commendations of his person and his labors to the Prankish dukes and bishops. The service was effective; for, "without the protection of the Prince of the Franks," Winfred wrote, " I could neither rule the people, nor defend the priests, the monks, and the handmaids of God, nor prevent pagan and idolatrous rites in Germany."^ The apostle labored with almost super- human energy in Thuringia, in Friesland, in Hesse, and in Sax- ony, and a pope afterward ascribed the Christian subjugation of a hundred thousand barbarians to the aid which Karl had lent the holy Boniface.^ Grateful Kome raised the humble priest to the dignity of bishop, whose metropolitan see was fixed at Mentz, whence he carried on a vigorous war against the surrounding barbarism, demolishing the temples and the 1 Adon., Chron. ^ Sirmond (Concilia., t. ii., p. ^ Bonifac, Epist. iii., apiid Bou- 527). quet, t. iv., p. 92. Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 379 sacred groves, till he fell at last, in a ripe old age, the victim of the pagan ferocity which he had so long combated. The most influential religious sees of the age in Germany were planted by his hands : in Bavaria, those of Salzburg, Freisingen, and Ratisbon ; in Thuringia, Erfurt ; in Hesse, Buraburg ; and in Franconia, Wlirtzburg; besides the churches of Utrecht, Spires, Cologne, Angsburg, Constance, "Worms, Tongres, Coire, and Eichstadt. His immense renown and energetic will ena- bled him to rule the minds of the clergy, the people, and the kings ; he held councils, and he condemned heretics ; he re- formed the abuses of the monasteries, and he rebuked the vices of the priesthood ; he persuaded mighty monarchs to abandon the throne for the convent; and he remonstrated with the Popes, even while professing a filial obedience to their sway, against the pernicious practices allowed in the Church, and against all disorderly or unwarranted assumptions of power.^ Posterity recognizes that to him, more than any other man, Christianity owed one of her most brilliant and useful con- quests.^ As the coadjutor of such a man, then, Karl might well endure the reproaches of the petty shavelings of his own Gallo-Frankish territories. This common interest in the conversion of Germany drew state and pros- Karl iuto morc intimate relations with the rising pecta of Italy. pQ^gp of thc Papacy. Grcat changes had been wrought in the political condition of Italy since the overthrow of the Ostrogothic kingdom of Theodorik (A.D. 553). A new people, called the Langobards or Lombards — a latest wave of the vast Germanic influx — were in possession of the whole north of the peninsula. By a hundred and fifty years of war and policy, they had established themselves triumphantly from Pa- via, their capital, to Yenice on the Adriatic, and from the Eh^etian Alps to the lower borders of Tuscany. Even in the extreme sonth their victorious ensigns waved over the inde- pendent duchies of Beneventum and Spoleto. What they had won the Empire of the East had lost. Its once splendid ' This account of Boniface I have face are of great importance in German abridged mainly from Milman (Hist, religious history-, as thc reader will see by of Latin Christ., vol. ii., v. 5). consulting Bunsen (Signs of the Times, ^ The position and works of Boni- p. Gl et seq., Harper, N. Y., 185G). 380 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. dominion was contracted to the narrow thongli opulent and populous strip of Central Italy, which stretched from the marshes of Ferrara to the lower ranges of the Apennines.^ Within this territory a lieutenant of the emperor, the Exarch of Ravenna, was invested, in the decline of the imperial power, with whatever remained of its military, civil, and ecclesiastical authority.2 Yenice, Naples, and Rome, as subordinate prov- inces, acknowledged his supremacy. Rome acknowledged it; but Rome found within her walls a superior, to whom she turn- ed with a warmer affection and a more certain confidence. Her aspiring bishop, adding an enormous wealth to his enormous spiritual prerogatives, exercised an extensive temporal rule, and endured with impatient humility alike the encroachments of the Lombards and the sovereignty of the emperors. These three several powers, representative, in a general way, of theoc- racy, of imperialism, and of monarchy,^ divided the soil of the peninsula between them, and tormented its society with their endless quarrels. But they divided and tormented it under un- equal conditions. The decrepit emperors of the East, assailed on the south by the Arabs, on the north by the Schlaves, and assimilating more and more in the character of their govern- ment to the despots of the worn-out Oriental civilizations, maintained their hold of the West by fits of spasmodic violence rather than by acts of regular administration. Every year the Lombards wrested from them some new soil. Yet the Lom- bards themselves, like the other northern races which allow- ed themselves to be fascinated by the charms of Italian con- quest, had fallen into the languor that succeeds the first flushes of intoxication. Of all the possessors of the ancient heritage of the Romans, the Pope alone might boast, though destitute of arms, that he was growing in territory, vigor, courage, and dominion. Possessed of immense estates, or patrimonies as they were Tncreape of the Called — thc glfts of succcssivc priuccs or the pro- teniporal power t n of the Poped, ceeds of tithes, first-fruits, and the various liberalities ^ See the more precise geography in " Gibbon (Dec. and Fcill, vol. v. , c. Kopppcn (Historic. Geog. of thc Middle 4."5). Ages, c. iv., § 3, p. 39, ed. 1854). ^ g^^ Parini (Revolutions d'ltalie, t. i,, part i., Paris, 1858). Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 881 of the faithful, and endowed, in common with other bishops, with large judicial and magisterial functions — the Popes of Eome were, at an early day, powerful lords and considerable personages apart from their spiritual position.^ Ever since the removal of the seat of government to Byzantium, in the time of Constantine, they had been growing in temporal signifi- cance and power. As great proprietors, as municipal magis- trates of the capital of the West, as the spiritual confessors and advisers of princes, they were placed in a peculiarly ad- vantageous and tempting position to further their own ag- grandizement. To that end, circumstances co-operated with their ambition. Through all the calamities of the first bar- baric invasions, they were often the only defense of the peo- ple, who looked to them as political leaders and protectors as well as religious guides. In their double capacity, they be- came the repositories of a double confidence. They took up the reins of power where they had been dropped by the eastern monarchs, and governed Rome in the decay and suspension of all other government. This was particularly the case during the exigencies of the Lombard invasions. In the ever-increas- ing weakness of the empire, and the defenseless state in which all the Italian provinces were left under the miserable rule of the exarchs, the Popes both sheltered the people against the dis- asters of barbaric violence and the oppressive abuses of the im- perial lieutenants. Just as the emperors and the exarchs de- clined in power and respect, they rose in power and respect ; just as the emperors and exarchs caused themselves to be de- spised for their religious vagaries, the Popes made themselves popular by their resistances to them; just as the emperors and exarchs ceased to discharge the duties of kings and lords, the Popes took them in hand. While they defended the cities, they administered them ; they appointed the governors of the provinces and the tribunes of the army ; they manned the walls and provisioned the garrisons ; and they treated in person often of all the affairs of peace and war. It was almost inevitable that ' On this, see Gosselin (Power of ciised of an unfair severity ; but I am the Popes, Introduct.), who constructs unable to discover that he has pervert- an inf:!;enions apolog}^ for the popes, ed the facts of historj-- in any important Hallam (UkWe Ages, vol. i., c. 7) is respect- less generous, and has, indeed, been ac- 382 GERMAN GAUL. [Book XIV. they should become the political, as they were the spiritual, heads of Italy. Yet, as late as the beginning of the eighth century, they had made no serious attempt to emancipate them- selves from the direct dominion of the emperors. Even Greg- ory the Great, who did so much for the papacy, had bowed sub- missively to the ecclesiastical edicts of Maurice. Asserting and enjoying an almost universal spiritual sway, and exercising a local temporal jurisdiction of unusual magnitude, these great spiritual potentates were still the humble subjects of the emper- or, consecrated by his permission, obedient to his mandates, *' exposed to penalties for contumacy, and, in one case, arrested, exiled, and with difficulty saved from capital punishment."^ The pontificates of the Gregorj'S II. and III., ^ which coincide Karl and the ^i^h the rcigu of Karl-Martcl, were the epoch in which Popes. ^j^g complete temporal independence of the papacy was initiated. As a consequence of it, the religious relations of the East and West were totally rent asunder, the Italian provinces were severed from the Byzantine rule, and, what more nearly concerns the purposes of this history, the Frankish dukes began that intervention in the politics of the peninsula which laid the foundation of Charlemagne's stupendous fabric of Western em- pire. Leo the Isaurian, in his war upon images, whether actu- ated by a desire to purify the worship of Christendom from the degrading superstitions into which it had fallen, or by the low- er motive of opposition to all Christian art, made an arbitrary and ferocious assault upon the universal convictions of the re- ligious world. The Christian ritual had been so largely pagan- ized, the Christian mind so deeply tinctured with an idolatry scarcely raised above fetichism, that his sudden proscription of the common religious usage provoked a wider and intenser re- hgious feud, fiercer personal collisions, and bloodier tumults than the most vital heresy on points of doctrine could have done. It touched a more general and inveterate feeling ; it reached all classes ; it invaded the private sanctuary as well as the church ; and, in the degenerate imagination of the time, it seemed like ^ Milman (Hist. L.at. Christ., vol, and Milman (Hist. Lat. Christ., toI. ii-5 ^- 6). ii., cc. 7, 8), especially the latter, whoso ^ For the histor}' of this Iconoclastic remarks are both interesting and in controversy, see Gibbon TvoLvi., c. 413) striictivc. Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 383 an attempt to desolate the temples of God, and to vacate relig- ion of its ef6.cacy and significance. In this furious contest Gregory II. became the exponent and leader of the popular re- ligious feeling. In earnest but ignorant and dogmatic epistles he remonstrated against the sacrilegious design of the emperor. The imperial agents were denounced and excommunicated. lie believed himself menaced with secret assassination. Many cit- ies and provinces of Italy, feeling that they were abandoned by the emperor, elected independent chiefs to provide for their liberty ; and the people of Home, as of other places, rose in re- volt, and pledged themselves by solemn oaths to live and die in defense of their pontiff. Without definitively renouncing his al- legiance to the emperor, the Pope, nevertheless, began then to act as a provisional sovereign of the districts placed under his care.-* Of course, the Lombards narrowly watched the progress of the quarrel, professing attachment and proffering aid to the Holy See ; but the Pope, knowing their malice, and suspecting their faith, had turned his eyes, in the event of an emergency, to a more trustworthy helper. He opened negotiations with "the most excellent Karl, King of the Franks,"^ to propitiate his grace in the day of need.^ Karl was yet friendly to the Lombards, and did not inter- The Pope asks vcuc with activc mcasurcs. On the death of Grcg- aidofKarL ^^^ jj_ (^ j)_ 73!)^ i^ig succcssor, Grcgory III., con- tinued his policy and his hopes. Against the image-breaking zeal of the emperor he was no less strenuous, and even more refractory. Incensed by the opposition, Leo sent a powerful armament against Italy, with orders to plunder Rome and ar- rest the Pope. His project was only defeated by the loss of the fleet off Ptavenna. Meanwhile the Lombards had changed their show of friendship for Rome to open hostility. The pontifical city was besieged, and then, deserted by the emper- ors and menaced by the barbarians, the Pope threw himself for protection on the arms of the mighty Frank (A.D. 739).* * Sec this subject discussed by Gos- ' Codex Caroliniis (Epist. i., apud selin (Power of the Pope, vol. i., p. Bouquet, t. v., p. 48;"^ et .se<].) 249). * Grej^oiT's two letters to Karl are * This expression is used by Anas- found in Labbc fConcil., t. vi., p. txisius in Vit. Steph. iii. l-t72), in Duchesne rRecuoil des Histo- riens de France, t. iii., Paris, 1G41), in 884 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. Karl reconciled tlie Pope and Luitprand, the King of the Lom- bards, for a time, although the next year their contest was re- newed.^ A solemn embassy, consisting of the Bishop Anastasius and the Presbyter Sergius, waited upon the Mayor to urge the petition of the Pope in a more effectual manner. It carried with it secret instructions which Gregory had scrupled to commit to writing, accompanied by the mystic keys of the sepulchre of St. Peter, the filings of his chains, as gifts, and an offer of the title of Eoman Patrician and Consul. Gregory's letters, filled with vehement entreaties, darkly hinted at a restoration of the Empire of the West, while the sacred symbols may be supposed to have indicated that he transferred his allegiance and the right of protecting the imperial city to the great leader of the Franks. Other authorities^ add that the Senate and people of Ptome joined in the bold project of throwing off the dominion of the emperor, and of submitting themselves to the guardian- ship and clemency of Karl. The Mayor was pleased to return a courteous answer to the mission, and to welcome the proposed relations of the Franks and the Popes. But those relations were only opened ; and, before the transaction could be con- cluded, the parties most interested in it — Leo, Gregory, and Karl — died, by a singular coincidence of destiny, during the same year (A.D. 741).^ Karl quit life on the 21st of October, at Kiersy-sur-1'Oise, in Death and char- thc fiftieth year of hls age. Twenty-seven years of acter of Karl, . ,,-iin -i • i t • - A.D. 741. mcessant toil had undermined even his vigorous con- stitution. A few days before his death, calling his autrustions about him, he regulated, with their consent, the division of his principality among his three sons ; for when Theuderik IV., the latest of the Merovingan kings, had died (about A.D. 737), he had given him no successor. That farce seemed to be played out. A new dynasty was begun in him ; a new destiny opened upon Gaul. Yet of his private life and conduct we know nothing. His brave, strong, noble soul had left the deepest traces in his- tory ; he had labored earnestly to recover the order of society, Conni (MonuTncnta Dominationis Pon- = Chron. Moissiac, ad Ann. T-il. tifir'a\ Rome, 17C0); also in Bouquet. ^ Fred., Cent., r. 110; Annal. Met- ' Anastasius (Dc Vit. Greg. III.) ; tens., Tanl. Diaeon., 1. vi. ; Anasta- FrecL, Cent., c. 110. sius, Bibliotec. (Vit. Gre.^. III.). Chap. XIV.] GERMAN GAUL. 385 ajid to spread the influence of civilization, such as it was ; but there were none save costive chroniclers — and the most of these unfriendly — to tell us of his deeds or of his character. Incur- ring the animosity of the priests in his lifetime, it pursued him beyond the portals of the grave. A hundred years and more after he was cold, the clergy of Gaul, assembled in a national council at Kiersy (A.D. 858), wrote to Ludwig the German, in a letter otherwise full of lies, that St. Eucher of Orleans, trans- ported to the world of spirits, saw the body of the great Intend- ant burning in the deepest hell, and that St. Boniface and Ful- rad. Abbot of St. Denis, to whom the vision was told, opened his tomb, and found it all black within, as if charred by fire.^ ^^pist. Patrum Synodi Carisciacensis, Ann. 858, apud Script. Franc, t. iii., p. 659. Bb 336 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. CHAPTER XY. Gaul dueing the ADiiixisTRATioN and Reign of Pippin the Short. (From A.D. 741 to A.D. 768.) "With the advent of the Kaiiingans our history broadens into a somewhat clearer light and a more universal interest. From the petty squabbles of ambitious families or factions, it advances to great revolutionary events, which changed the fate of dynasties, and left the deepest impress upon the condition of the world. Important as they were, however, much in re- gard to them still remains obscure : the bald facts of change are told us, but the interior causes and motives of them are left undisclosed, and the historian must continue to pick his way painfully through conjectures, embarrassments, and doubts.^ In pursuance of the German custom, Karl divided his power Division of the and wcalth among his sons, giving to Karloman, the ^nncipahty o ^^^^^^^ Austrasia, with its dependencies of Alemania and Thuringia ; to Pippin, who was about twenty-seven years of age, Neustria, Burgundia, and Provence; and to Gripho, about fifteen, a son by another mother, a sort of appanage, com- posed of several estates, within the domains of his brothers.^ It is to be remarked that Aquitain and Bavaria were not in- cluded in the distribution, and it is probable that, although the Pranks laid claim to the sovereignty of those countries, they had not yet been able to reduce them to more than nominal subjection. Both rulers were immediately impressed, by unmistakable Attempts at sie;ns, with the ncccssitv of maintaining: the order of THE RE8T0RA- -.'.. "^ ° TioN OF oe- their dominions. As soon as the terrible Karl had TO 749.' ' disappeared his various enemies raised their heads. Duke Hunald of Aquitain proclaimed his independence by im- * On this subject, see the remarks of mate), Remi, Jerome, and Bernard, Sismondi (Hist, des Erano., t. i., pp. whose descendants figure in the time of 34:4, ?>ir>. Ludwig the Pious. - Karl had three other sons (illegiti- Chap. XV.] GERilAN GAUL. 387 prisoning the Abbot of St. Germain-des-Pres, an envoy of tlie mayor's; Odillo, the Dake of Bavaria, a proud and restless spirit, was endeavoring to combine the Alemans, Saxons, and Schlaves into a common insurrection ; the old Neustrian party began to move once more ; the Church was agitated by disor- ders and corruptions; and within the bosom of the family a serious feud arose between the brothers and Gripho, whom they affected to consider a bastard, because his mother, though regularly married, was a stranger.^ The Neustrians were easi- ly quieted, for the brothers, secure in the possession of power, deemed it prudent to gratify the royal propensities of those subjects by a revival of the phantom kingship. They raised to the dignity one Hilderik III., a supposed son of the crown- ed captive, Daniel - Hilperik, making themselves his mayors, and leaving him to vegetate, after the usual Merovingan fash- ion, on a farm or in a convent. Gripho was a greater embar- rassment to them ; for, a discontented spirit himself, he found means of exciting the discontent of others. The mayors de- signed seizing him, and compelling him to renounce his her- itage ; but his mother, anticipating their purpose, had already fled with him, in the hope of finding a refuge in Bavaria.^ Overtaken on the way at the fortress of Laon, both were ex- iled, the one to the nunnery at Chelles, and the other to the castle of Neufchatel.^ This succeeded in silencing Gripho for a time, altheugh the outrage, when whispered abroad, enlisted sympathy and the support of certain leudes of his father in his favor. Pippin and Karloman next directed their attention to the recovery of their tributaries, having first, however, commis- sioned Boniface and other bishops to inquire into the sad and deplorable state of the Church. For eighty years or more, the ecclesiastical affairs of Gaul Keform of ti^r had fallen into the most shameless disorders ; the Church, A.D. ^-^g^^,QpQ|itan sees were without regular archbishops ; few or no synods had been held ; no accord or ready communi- cation subsisted among the members of the hierarchy, who, in- » She was a Bavarian princess, Sona- Karloman, fled with her, and was mar- hilda hy name, and a niece of the reign- ried to Odillo, Duke of Bavana. jj^g ^^^^^ 2 Einliard (Annals, ad Ann. <41). ' Hiltruda, a sister of Pippin and g38 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. deed, had rendered themselves quite independent of all spiritual control ; and a greater part of the bishoprics and cures were in the possession of grasping laics or of immoral clerks, who spent the revenues in debauchery and wassail.^ There were priests who bore arms, who got drunk, who oppressed the poor, who despoiled widows, or who maintained with the proceeds of the sacred offices one, two, three, and sometimes several concu- bines. ''In the time of Karl Martel," says Hincmar, "the Christian religion, in the German, Belgic, and Gallic provinces, was almost totally extinguished."- Securing the consent of the Pope, therefore, Boniface summoned an assembly of prel- ates for the correction of abuses and the revival of discipline. It met in Germany, and it decreed that the assemblies of the Church should thereafter be held annually ; that false bishops should be expelled from their sees ; that adulterous and simo- niacal priests should be punished ; that clerks should no longer hunt, or bear arms, or pour out the blood of their fellow-Chris- tians ; and, finally, that goods and estates formerly sequestered from the churches should be restored.^ We are not informed how these canons were enforced ; but, in touching the subject of the restitution of ecclesiastical properties, a tender and diffi- cult point was broached. Karl Martel having been implicated in the original secularization of them, it was a delicate matter for his sons to undertake to condemn or rectify the proceeding. Moreover, they felt themselves the same necessity for the con- version of these properties which had impelled their father to distribute them in the outset. At the Marz-feld of Lep tines, accordingly, held the next year, the subject was resumed, and it was decided that the detainer of an ecclesiastical estate, sub- ject to military service, should pay a part of the revenues (12 solidi for each house, casaia) to the churches that owned them ; that every warrior enjoying such benefice might hold it for life as a precarium^ but at his death it should be returned to the Church, unless the necessities of the prince should other- wise ordain ; and that every benefice, by the privation of which ' Bonifacii (Epist. ad Zachariam pa- ^ Bonifoc, Epist. ad Zachariara, pam, 152, apud Bouquet, Script. Rer. 51 ; Greg. II. (Epist. ad Episc, apud Francic, t. iv., p. 94). Sirmond, Concil. Gall., t. i., p. 513). ^ Hincmar (Epist. vi., ad Episc. Di- ocesis Rcmcnsis, c. 19). CuAP. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 389 a cliurcli had been reduced to poverty, should be instantly re- stored.^ This was a compromise which virtually legitimated the secularization, though it provided for a gradual reform. At the same council the expurgation of the priesthood was pursued; and Boniface, in his zeal for purity or orthodoxy, dismissed usurping, and consecrated regular bishops in their place, as if he had been the acknowledged primate of Gaul. One soldier-bishop we hear of, named Milo, who occupied the sees of Treves and Rheims, refused to surrender his post, main- tained himself by the strong hand for ten years, and was only dislodged by his accidental death on the tusks of a wild boar.^ In process of time, it may be here observed, these religious con- vocations supplied the place partly, and superseded partly, the old and warlike March-fields and Maj^-fields of the Germans. Those national assemblies had been neglected under the later Merovingans ; the great proprietors were absorbed in the care of their estates, and the few freemen had sunk gradually into dependents ; so that we almost lose the traces of th-eir existence.^ In reviving them Pippin and Karloman completely changed their character;* they admitted prelates to the deliberations, and soon the questions discussed related less to the move- ments of the army and the dispensation of justice than to ec- clesiastical dogmas and discipline. As the priests, moreover, introduced the use of the Latin language into their long dis- courses, the rude men of war ceased to take part in the pro- ceedings from very ignorance or weariness.^ It was another important though perhaps unintentional success for the Church. Pippin and Karloman had proceeded rigorously the while to Kxpeditions the Tcduction of their refractory tributaries. Passing tributaries^ through Burguudy and Provence, which they garri- m.' '*'~ soned,^ they fell upon Aquitain, burning the suburbs of Bourges, carrying the fortress of Loches by assault, and com- mitting many ravages, apparently with no other purpose than » Sirmond (Concil. Gall., t. i., p. May, because forage was more plenty _;5^()^ at that season than in March, showing ^ Hincmar (Opera, t. ii., p. 731, ad that the German leaders were more gen- Episc. de Jure Metropolitan.). erally horsemen than they had been. 2 Sismondi (Hist, des Fran?., t. i., * Sismondi (ibid.). ].. 047). . ' ^red., Cont., 3. * They were now usually called in 390 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. to impress terror.^ Before they encountered Duke Hnnald in person, however, the Alemans, or Suabians, had taken up arms at the instigation of Odillo, who, it was thought, was in league with Hunald. Returning rapidly to the banks of the Danube, they crushed the revolt (742). Early the next spring the Ba- varians rose ; the dukes defeated them on the Lech, ravaging their country ; but, before the army disbanded, they learned that Hunald had passed the Loire, and burned the city of Char- tres to the ground.^ Irritated by this bloody revenge of the in- domitable chief of the south, the mayors turned to inflict sum- mary chastisement upon him, when reports were brought of a sudden outbreak among the Saxons (744). By a general un- derstanding, it would appear, these revolts always occurred when the Franks were engaged in some other place. Karlo- man marched at once upon the Saxons with all his force, took their chief, Theuderik, captive, occupied many of their cantons, and compelled a multitude of the inhabitants — the first time we remark this kind of propagandism — to submit to Christian bap- tism.^ As soon as the work was completed, which was not till the following season, he joined Pippin in an onslaught which he contemplated against Aquitain. Every thing had been pre- pared for an exterminating war. Hunald, instead of meeting the bolt, however, discharged it by a hasty surrender; he de- manded peace, delivered hostages, and took an oath of fealty to the Franks. It is characteristic of the times that, when Hunald had signed the truce, he, "by false oaths," lured his brother Atto, the Count of Poitiers, for not assisting him in the contest, to his court, where he dug out both his eyes, and cast him into prison to perish in a few days.* This barbarism was followed by a singular access of piety, in which he deposed his crown in favor of his son "Waifer, separated himself from his wife, took the monastic vows, and abandoned the duties of his princely station for the penitence and repose of the cloister. For twen- ty-five years thereafter, shut up in a convent of the island of Rh^, he wore the coarse attire and endured the heavy penances of the most undistinguished Benedictine.^ » Fred., Chron. Cont., 3. =" Fred., Cont., 3, c. 114; Annnl. ' Annal. Metteus., ad Ann. 74;'*., Mettens. apud Bouquet. * Annal. Mettens., ad Ann. 744. ^ Annal. Mettens., and Vitu hr. Chap, XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 891 Hunald was but one of many princes wlio, about the same Retirement of peiiod, chancred the crown for the cowl, quittino; the Karloman, A.^ '^°. ^t-'-"- ° D. 740-747. pomps and activities of the world for the pale seclu- sion of the cloister. To those rude spirits there would seem to have been no medium of choice between the wild fracas of bat- tle, the tumultuous agitations of barbaric life, and the grave- like stillness, the mystic ecstasies of the desert.^ The fitful fe- ver of excitement in which they lived invested those cool sol- itudes with strange fascinations. In all parts of Western Chris- tendom we see kings as lowly penitents, beseeching admission into their sanctified inclosures. Venerable Bede refers to eight or ten of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs who, during this century, made themselves monks.^ Karloman, the prince of the Franks, himself became inspired with the same austere devotion. Though his reign had opened with brilliancy — though he had just finished a successful, if Jilisgracefully - treacherous, cam- paign against the Suabians (47d), he yet resigned his powers and his glories into the hands of his brother, and, "touched with a divine love and the desire of a celestial kingdom," made his way toward Kome.^ Accompanied by many of his gran- dees, and carrying numerous rich presents with him, which he laid upon the tomb of St. Peter, he received the clerkly habit from the hands of Pope Zacharias, and took the vows of a monk in the convent of Monte Cassino* (747). Two years later, Eachis, the king of the Lombards, joined the royal re- cluse in his saintly orisons and watches. Pippin was thus left alone in the government, or, rather, he Pippin and assumcd the government alone, refusing to share the ?5^749. ^' estates or his authority with the sons of Karloman. These, on the contrary, he banished to a monastery. Toward Gripho, after languishing for six years in prison, he was more generous. That unfortunate prince was released and endowed with a considerable domain. But the rancor of his heart was not appeased by these shows of returning friendliness. Embit- Bertharii et Athelanii, apnd Bouquet, - Bede (Ecclesiast. Hist., 11. ii.-v.)- Script. Franc, t. iv., p. 444. By this •* Chron. Moissiacensis. conduct Hunald is supjiosed to have de- * He had previously built a convent signed clearing the way for his son. on Mount Soracte, which he occupied ^ Martin (Hist, de Franc, t. ii., p. for a while, and then quit for Cassino. 303). 892 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. tered by loDg brooding over his wrongs, the inadequate and tardy concession inflamed his spite, and he used his liberty to foment trouble. A large number of refractory leudes — some, perhaps, incensed by a feeling of the injustice he had suffered — attached themselves to his cause, and followed him beyond the Khine, where he stirred up the Saxons to war. Pippin, in consequence, assisted by the Schlaves of Bohemia and of the banks of the Oder, penetrated Upper Saxony, and visited it with fearful havoc. Gripho escaped into Bavaria, and there, the Duke Odillo having just died, he usurped the government from the heir Tasillo, son of his sister Hiltruda, and, with the aid of Landfrid, Duke of the Alemans, and other nobles who conspired with him, proclaimed himself duke. Pip- pin pursued him, and again beat him, compelling him to lay down his power and to accept terms of peace. Gripho, by a re- markable moderation on the part of Pippin, was allowed the Duchy of Mans and twelve counties in Neustria as a possession. These he accepted, but soon abandoned to establish himself near Waifer of Aquitain, from whom any enemy of the monarchy of the Franks was sure to find a cordial welcome.^ Two years of tranquillity now surprised this ever-seething Pippin ebtab- Graul, and fumished Pippin leisure to mature a scheme J^yTlty, Hd. which he must have been long revolving in his mind 750-755. ^-^1^ some degree of doubt. Was it not time to bring that .protracted comedj^ of the Merovingan kingship to an end ? For more than sixty years his family, fertile in great men, had by their valor defended, and by their wisdom governed, the Prankish nation. During that long interval they had been at the head of the armies, maintaining the integrity and unity of its possessions, repulsing invasions, subduing revolts, and form- ing alliances or receiving oaths from friendl}^ or conquered princes. During that long interval they had stood upon the steps of the throne, exercising with a free hand the preroga- tives of royalty, occupying the palaces as their own, decreeing peace or war, dispensing justice, conferring lands and dignities, establishing order, and even making and unmaking at will, or according to the policy of the hour, the very monarchs in whose names they acted. Those monarchs had insensibly declined or ' Fred., Cont., 4. Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 893 been abandoned to an ignominious fatuity ; tlieir useful func- tions were vacated, and their only reason for being was that they had once represented a living order of things. No doubt the old Merovings had been the vital men of their day ; but now their descendants were merely the dead images of that vi- tality. Society, both in its civic constitution and its religious spirit, had moved forward to a new realm of thought and feel- ing. Germanism, or that peculiar translation of domestic into civic relations which was the essence of feudality,^ after a long struggle with the remains of Eoman imperialism, had assumed a more or less compact and established form throughout Austra- sia, and in the greater part of Neustria and Burgundy. Chris- tianity, such as it had grown to be under episcopal nurture, had largely displaced both the ancient pagan superstitions and many of its own earlier influences. But the Karlingan mayors were the champions of this Germanism and of this Christianity, and it was inevitable that some one of them should endeavor, sooner or later, to invest his impersonation with the highest name as well as the highest sanction and authority. It was re- served for Pippin to declare this hour at hand — when the real king should be proclaimed the king also by right and title. Before entering vipon so important a step, his prudence, if not Pippin consults his Tcligion, suggested the propriety of advising in a!d. 751. *^^^ regard to it with the acknowledged head of Christen- dom. Accordingly, he dispatched an embassy, composed of Burchard, Bishop of Wiirtzburg, and Fulrad, Abbot of St. Denis, his own chaplain, to the See of St. Peter, with the significant question whether " it were better that one who wielded no au- thority in the land should retain the name of king, or that it should be transferred to him who really exercised the royal power."^ Zacharias, the Pope, was no doubt prepared for the question and with the answer. lie replied, after a formal con- sultation with the Roman nobles,^ that "Ae should be called king who had the proper wisdom and power for the office, and not ^ See on this, Lehucrou's remarka- Magn., c. i. ; Gesta Regiim Francorum, ble dissertation (Hist, dcs Institut. ad Ann. 751 ; Annal. Laurissenses Mi- Caroling., t. ii., pnssiw). nor., ad Ann. 753. 2 Compare, on this transaction, Fred- ^ "Cum consilio nobilium Koma- cgher, Cont.,'c. 117; Einhard, Annals, norum." ad Ann. 750, 751, ibid.; Vit. Karl. 394 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. he who was king only in name," anticipating in this the famous saying of Napoleon, ''Les carrieres aux talents'' (the tools to him that can handle them).^ It was a sensible, even democratic re- sponse, answering farther than was then needful ; but when the annalists add that *' Zacharias, by his apostolic authority, order- ed Pippin to be made king,"2 the historian wonders by what ri^ht he thrust his sacerdotal arms a thousand miles across the Alps to interpose in the affairs of a foreign nation.^ Immediately a grand council of the leudes and bishops of Pippin i3 elect. Gaul was asscmblcd at Soissons to consider or con- a!d.° 52. '''^' ' firm the change of dynasty. Pippin was unanimous- ly proclaimed, in the usual manner of the Franks, by being lift- ed on the shield, in the midst of acclamations and clashings of arms ; but he was also crowned and anointed, together with his wife Bertrude (or Bertha), by St. Boniface, which added a re- ligious sanction to his election.* He would have considered himself unquestionably King of the Franks without this sup- plementary ceremony ; but, as Chlodwig had been consecrated by St. Remi, as cj^ueens Brunahilda and Galswintha received the holy chrism on their marriages,^ as the royalty of the Mdrovin- gans reposed on the deep foundations of an immemorial sanc- tity, Pippin, true to his ecclesiastical descent, confirmed his as- sumption of the crown by the impressive rites and the moral ^ Carlyle's translation (Frencli Ecv- kings had been a purely civil ceremony, olution). But this is a mistake. Gregory of = Annal. Laurissenses, ad Ann. 740 Tours, it is true, says nothing of the (wi-itten during the first years of Char- holy oil in his account of tlie corona- lemagne), and others, say, ^^Jussit per tion of Chlodwig, but the Testament of authoritatem opostoUcam Pippimnn re- St. Tiemi, presented by Flodoard (Hist. rjcm fieri.'' See, also. Clausula Conse- Eccles. Rem., 1. i., c. 18), is explicit, cratione Pippinni, apud Bouquet, t. v., " Generi — rcgio, quod ad honorem p- 5?- sanctrc ecclcsia?., et defensionem pau- 2 Bossuet(Defensio. Declarat., t. ii., perum, ima cum fratribus mcis et co- cc. 3i-35) and other Gallican divines episcopis omnibus Germania?, Gallia?, strenuously contend that the decision atque ]S'eustria3, in regiae majestatis cul- of Zacharias was no interference in tern- men peqietuo regnaturum statuens ele- poral affairs. His decision w\as not, gi, baptizavi, a foute sacro susceju, do- but they omit to say any thing of his noque septiformis spiritus consignari, order to carry it into effect, which et per ejusdem sacri chrismatis vnciio- proves that he supposed himself author- nam ordinato in rer/em, parcens, statuo, ized to interfere. ut si— ; fiant dies ejus pauci, et princi- * Thieriy (Essais sur I'Histoire de patum ejus accipiat alter." France, t. i., p. ir.7) maintains that ^ Greg. Turon. (Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., up to this period the inauguration of the cc. 27, 28). Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 895 and religious associations wliicli cluster about the rites of the Churcli. The lofty spiritual pretensions of the See of Eome were now quite universally acknowledged in the West; the new clergy of Germany and Gaul were its devoted followers ; and Pippin probably thought that in receiving the unction of St. Boniface he not only incorjDorated himself among the mem- bers of that powerful and growing hierarchy, but sealed forever the alliance of his house with the Popes. As for Hilperik III. — last frail shadow of a long line of kings — he was shorn of the sj^mbolic locks, which his fathers had worn for perhaps a thousand years, and buried forever in the darkness of the con- vent of Sithieu at St. Omer.^ Pippin's title had changed, not his duties. The year of his Wars in Saxony, clcvation was a year of distracting toils ; his Saxon BrHt^T^'VS! neighbors, those obstinate and ferocious pagans, T52-753. loved him no better for his connection with the Church, and revolted anew ; while within his own realms there were large districts both indifferent to his royal pretensions and hostile to his race. Aquitain was one of these. Conquer- ed by the Germans, it had never been fully occupied by them. The most of them had encamped in it, and such as had settled more permanently there were gradually melted among the orig- inal Gauls and Eomans. In language, opinions, and manners they more and more diverged from the Franks. It was the same in Provence, where the German soldiers always appeared as foreigners and enemies. The Bretons also maintained closer and friendlier relations with their brother Kymri of the island of Great Britain than with the ruling race of Gaul.^ Owing to these various diversities, consequently, the Pranks never knew when they were masters of their nominal realm. As soon as one war was concluded in one place another broke out in an- other place, and no treaties nor truces could bind their vassals to fidelity. Pippin found a special reason for embroiling himself with Aquitain in the refuge which Waifer had extended to Gripho, his troublesome brother, and whose surrender as a fuoitive he now demanded. Being refused he offered war; but, on his way to Aquitain, was diverted into Septimania, 1 Einhard (Yit. Karl. Magn., iii.) ; ^ Comp. Faiiriel (Hist, de la Gaul, Fred., Cont., iii., iv fine. Merid., t. iii., passim). 896 GEKMAN GAUL. [Book IV. # where the weakness of the Arabs consequent upon the bloody discords of the Mussulmans, both at Cordova and Damascus, opened the prospect of an easy conquest. With little fighting, and through the treachery of a Goth named Ansemond, who commanded at Beziers, Agde, Maguelonne, and ISTismes, under an Arabian wali, he was enabled to seize those strong-holds, and to leave a part of his troops to besiege Narbonne, as the first step toward future success. Gripho, in the mean time, had beefi killed, passing the Alps on his way to Italy with some of his adherents in order to join Luitprand, king of the Lom- bards ; so that Aquitain was for the moment allowed to rest in peace. ^ Pippin was drawn away also by the Saxons (753), whom he was again compelled to punish, to subject to new tributes, and to force into a hearing of the Gospel.^ The chronicler says that he then turned to the Bretons, seized the fortress of Yannes, and subdued the whole of Brittany ; but there is rea- son to believe that he merely opened hostilities in that quarter without pushing them to a result.^ A more important interest absorbed his mind — the great The wars in Quarrcl of the Popcs and the Lombards in Italv. Zach- Italy, A.D. ^ . i j j o. 1 tt 755-758. anas was dead, and a new pope, IStephen 11., was in his chair ; Luitprand was also dead, and a new king, Aistaulf, was on his throne; but the old feud still lived. One of the first acts of the king, accordingly, had been to enter the exarchate and seize Ravenna, and one of the first successes of the Pope had been to procure its release by remonstrances and entreaties, which ended in a hollow truce with the Lombards for forty years (752).* In less than four months, however, on some un- explained pretext, Aistaulf was again in arms, menacing not merely the exarchate and Pentapolis, but the city of Rome. *' Inflamed with rage and like a roaring lion," says the annaHst, "King Aistaulf never ceased to utter fearful threats against the Romans, declaring that he would put them all to the sword if they did not submit to his rule." In vain the Pope appealed ^ Fred., Cont., iv,, c, 118; Chron. should be remarked, was not made to Moissiac, § 5. the Greek emperor, but to the Pope and Ibid. the Roman republic. Nor is there any ^ Fauricl (t. iii., pp. 240, 241). evidence that the emperor protested * Anastasius (Vita Steph. II,, apud against the act. Bouquet, t. v.). This restoration, it Chat. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 397 to the emperor; in vain he sent his solemn embassies to the king ; neither prayers, nor litanies, nor protestations could touch the obdurate heart of the Lombard, and the Holy See and its dominions were reduced to an extremity of peril. In this emergency Stephen's thoughts recurred to the Franks. He besought Pippin by letter for protection and succor, but as the answers were not speedy or decided enough, he next took the extraordinary resolution of passing the Alps and appealing to him in person (753).^ Accompanied by the Abbot Chrode- gang, Duke Autkar, and a numerous retinue of nobles and cler- gy, he paraded through Pavia, where he made another fruitless appeal to Aistaulf before turning toward Gaul. Pippin was in his palace at Dietenhofen (Thionville) when he heard that the Pope had reached Mons Jovis (Saint Bernard).^ At once, and with alacrity, he dispatched the Abbot Fulrad and Duke Eo- thard to receive the holy father at Pontyon, near Chalons. As a more distinguished mark of his respect, his son Karl, a lad then about twelve years of age, and destined to make some noise in the world as Karl the Great (Charlemagne), was also Bent forth with an imposing array of nobles to meet him a hundred miles from Pontyon, and to escort him to the royal palace. Pippin himself, with his wife and principal lords, was stationed near the palace, and as soon as he saw the pontiff he dismounted, prostrated himself before him, and then walked beside him, perhaps leading his palfrey.^ Instantly the eccle- siastics broke forth into loud psalms of thanksgiving, and fol- lowed the military cortege into the royal residence. At a subsequent interview, Pippin engaged to comply with Pippin prom- thc wishcs of the Pope ; but, as the season was unfit Fo'e^*^ "'luiel ^^^ military operations, he delayed active measures i'oman''°*^AD' ^^^^ ^^® ^"^^^^ Spring. Stephen condescended to so- ^51- journ during the interval at the monastery of St. Denis, where he fell dangerously ill, and only recovered by the miraculous intervention of Saints Peter, Paul, and Denis, the * Anastasius (Vit. Steph. II., apud rival, who, with ashes on his head and Bouquet, t. v.) ; Fred., Cont., iv., c. 1 19. sackcloth on his body, prostrated him- ■ November 15th, 753. self before Pippin, imploring his aid, ^ This is the story of Anastasius, and refusing to rise until it was prom- but the Frankish chroniclers say that it ised. Both reports may be true. was the Pope, on the morrow of his ar- Chron. Moissiac. 398 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. patron saints of the papacy and of Graul— a conjunction of holy influences regarded as of the happiest augury for the future union. At the Field of March, which Pippin convoked at Braine, the proposed Italian expedition was only reluctantly approved by the assembled leudes ; and a decided opposition to it appeared in a new quarter. Aistaulf, watching with trepida- tion the storm which lowered bej^ond the Alps, played off the monk of Monte Cassino against his spiritual superior. He per- suaded Karloman to repair from his convent to Gaul, and to use his intercessions with his royal brother in defeat of the schemes of the Pope. His remonstrances, whatever they may have been, had no other effect than to bring about his own imprisonment in a convent at Vienne, where he died in a few days.^ Pippin, styling himself "the defender of the Holy Koman Church by divine appointment," sent embassadors to Aistaulf to demand the "restoration of the territories and towns''^ he had seized, not to the Byzantine emperor, whose claims were utterly ignored or despised, but " to the blessed St. Peter, the holy Church of God, and the rejDublic of the Eo- mans."^ Aistaulf treated the mission with courtesy, yet with coldness, turning a deaf ear to its demands. War was the only alternative for Pippin, and he made preparations for it of no ordinary magnitude. Before he set out, Stephen renewed in person the solemnities of consecration, which had been already performed by Boniface. On the 28th of July, 754, Pippin, his queen, and their two sons, Karl and Karloman, to show that his family shared his personal elevation, were anointed with the holy oil, the king and his sons were invested with the title of Patricians of Kome, and the Franks enjoined, on pain of inter- dict and excommunication, never to presume, they nor their posterity in all succeeding ages, to choose a king from any oth- er family {de al/era siirpe) than that of Karl Martel.* 1 Anastas. (Vit. Steph. II.); Ein- Italy against the emperors and their hard (Annal., ad Ann. 753). exarchs many provinces had placed = Pentapolis, Narni, Cesena (Chron. themselves nnder the Pope's protection. Moissiac). " Ut reddat," that he See a«fe, c. xiv., p. 382. (Aistaulf) should return the said terri- ^ chron. Moissiac, also Codex Ca- tories, implying clearly that they had rol., Epist. 7. "Reddere civitates et already been in possession of the Pope, lora B. Petro sanctaque Dei ecclesife, The form of expression doubtless orig- ct Rcipublicffi Romanorum." inated in the fact that in the revolt of * Einhard (Vit. Karl. Magn., ad Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 899 Crossing the Alps at Mount Cenis, the advance - guard of Pippin in Italy, the Fiauks encouutered the troops of Aistaulf in the A.D. .5i-,5o. prj^gggg of the mountains, and put them to flight. The main body speedily pursued them to the walls of Pavia, where, after a brief siege, they compelled the Lombard to solicit peace. He promised Pippin to remit the cities of the exarchate to the Pope, to recognize the sovereignty of the Franks, and never more to molest the Apostolic See or the domains of the Eo- man republic. On these conditions Pippin raised the siege, and, causing the Pope to be installed again in Eorae, returned into Austrasia.^ His forces w^ere scarcely withdrawn before the King of the Lombards, refusing to carry out his stipulations, recommenced hostilities against Rome. He is accused of com- mitting dreadful havoc in the environs of the city, of profaning the churches, and demanding the surrender of the supreme pon- tiff.^ Stephen sent a letter in great haste to Pippin, informing him of the infraction of the peace, and begging his aid once more. At the same time, he warned him earnestly of the haz- ards of refusal, " eternal condemnation if he did not complete the gift he had vowed to St. Peter." "The apostle," PijDj^in was told, "had his handwriting to the grant, which he would produce against him in the day of judgment." A second letter was no less supplicant and minatory. "Aistaulf was at the gates of Rome ; he menaced the whole city with the sword ; he had burned the suburbs, defiled the altars, violated nuns, pol- luted mothers;" and the Pope conjured Pippin for aid "by God and his holy mother, by the angels of heaven, by the apos- tles St. Peter and St. Paul, and by the last day." Stephen also vouchsafed that if Pippin hastened to the rescue, he might be sure of" victory over all the barbaric nations and eternal life."^ Ann. irA); Anastas. (Vit. Steph. II., ' It was scarcely gratefulin the Pope, Chron. Moissiac., and Clausula de Pip- in a letter addressed to Pi]jpin, to as- pini Consecrat., apud Bouquet, t. v., cribe this easy victory " to the liands of p. 9). The continuator of the Chron- the blessed St. Peter." Ejjist. Steph. icle of Fredegher, Avritten by an inti- Papai ad Pipp., apud Bouquet, t. iv. mate relative of Pippin, says nothing = Cod. Carol., Epist. 7. The piety of this second coronation, nor of the of Aistaulf directed his plundering to astounding assumption of the Pope in the dead bodies of saints, pretending to ordain the future line of ^ All these letters are to be found in succession. This is a curious omission Bouquet, t. v., p. 485 et seq. or oversight in the chronicler. 400 GERMAK GAUL. [Book IV. At last, as if these appeals, promises, and threats were not sufficient, he evoked St. Peter himself from the celestial abodes to add the weight of his personal commands to the vehe- ment exhortations of his successor. In a third letter, remark- able and curious alike, whether we regard it as the product of a transport of fear, of deliberate imposture, or of rhetor- ical artifice,^ the Pope personated the apostle, and in his name conjured and begged the Franks not to delay their succor. ^'- Peter ^ called to the apostlesJup of Jesus Christ, jSon of the living God, and in me, the ivhole modern Catholic and Aiyostolic Church, to you most excellent princes^ JPippin, Karl, and Karloman, kings ; as also to the bishops, abbots, dukes, and counts, and to the Franh luarriors and p)eopley Such was the address of the epistle, and the substance, that "I, Peter, apostle of God, to whom he hath deigned to intrust the charge of his flock and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, look upon the Franks as my adopted peo- ple ; and, relying upon the love you bear me, I conjure and exhort you to deliver my city of Kome, my people, and that Church in which I repose according to the flesh, from the cru- elties of the Lombards," etc. " My dear children, do not doubt that I now appear before you in person, conjuring you in these urgent terms, because, according to the promise of our Eedeem- er, it is to you, Franks ! that we look especially among all the nations of the earth." " The ever Virgin mother of God adjures you, admonishes you, and commands you — she, as well as the thrones, and dominions, and all the choir of heaven, all the holy martyrs and confessors, entreat and command you to have compassion on the misery of Kome." '' If ye hasten, I, Peter, the apostle, will in turn protect you in the day of judg- ment — will prepare for you the most glorious mansions in heav- en." The apostle also promised them prosperity and victory in this life in case of their obedience to his call ; but threatened, in case of their disobedience, that their souls should be torment- ed in hell with the devil and his pestilent angels. It would be interesting to know the effect of this audacious ^ Gilibon (vol. v., c. 49, note) sug- p. 222) treats it as a rhetorical expe- gests that this personal introduction of dient, quite proper under the circum- St. Peter was but a rude imitation of a stances ; to me, however, it appears as common practice of the ancient orators, a gross piece of mingled fanaticism and and Gos?elin (PoAver of the Popes, t. i., imposture. Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 401 SpS'tiooTJto ^^^ impious letter, wliicli assumed to place at the Italy, A.D. 755. (^igposal of St. Petei the eternal retributions of the invisible, as well as the glories and shames of the visible world, and promised to ruthless and blood-stained soldiers the highest blessings of heaven on the simple condition of their active fidel- ity to the temporal interests of the Roman see — what effect it had on Pippin and his rude warriors ; but the chroniclers re- port to us only the general result. Pippin's honor as a king and a soldier, if not his piety, dictated the holding of the Lom- bards to their engagement, and that motive alone must have led him into a second expedition to Italy without the appeals of the Pope. He resolved on war ; but his leudes, in spite of the large overtures of the apostle, were disinclined to the un- dertaking, and were with difficulty induced to lend it their as- sistance.^ Once begun, however, it was prosecuted with the characteristic energy of the Franks. Aistaulf was almost sur- prised in his capital ; his troops recoiled before the vigorous assaults of the Austrasians ; and again he asked the clemency and forgiveness of the Christian hero. By an offer of fresh hostages, the renewal of his oaths, the cession of farther terri- tory, a surrender of one third of his treasures, and the prom- ise of annual tributes to the Franks, he was once more released from the personal presence of his conquerors.^ An embassy from the Byzantine emperor asserted, during the negotiation of the treaty, the claims of that sovereign to a restoration of the exarchate ; but their petitions and demands failed of effect on '' the steadfast heart of Pippin," who declared that he had fought alone in behalf of St. Peter, on whose Church he would bestow all the fruits of victory. Fulrad, his abbot, was com- missioned to receive the keys of the twenty -two towns his arms had won, and to deposit them as a donation on the grave of the apostle at Rome. Thus the Pope was made the temporal head of that large district, comprising Ravenna, Rimini, Cesena, Sene- gaglia, Forli, Montefeltro, Serra, San Marino, Bobbio, Urbino, Cayli, Comachio, Narni, etc., which, with some few changes, has been held by his successors for a thousand and four years. The vicar of that lowly Savior who had not where to lay his head on earth, the representative of the martyred fisherman and tent- 1 Einhard (Vit. Karl. Mag.). ^ Anastas. (Vit. St. Steph. II.). Cc 402 GEEMAN GAUL. [Book IV. maker, was become tlie lord of many lands, and one of the mightiest sovereigns of the world. -^ Victorious in Italy, Pippin soon justified his title as defender Conquest of Sep- of the Church by completing the expulsion of the T52^?59' " ■ Arabs from Graul. His troops left in occupation of Septimania (752) had steadily prosecuted the siege of Nar- bonne, the principal city and garrison of the invaders. Three circumstances, however, protracted their success for several years : the death of Ansemond, the Wisigothic leader, who was killed in a sudden sally of the Saracens ; the occurrence of a terrible famine that desolated that part of Gaul as well as Spain ;^ and the impregnable nature of the fortifications, to which the Arabs, superior to the Franks in nearly every art of civiliza- tion, had applied their best military skill. Not till after a blockade of seven years was the city surrendered, and then through the treason of the Christians and Goths who were in- side the walls, and made secret terms with the beleaguerers.^ They rose upon the Arabs, cut them in pieces, and opened the gates to the Franks. A reduction of Elne, Caucoliberis, and Carcassone followed hard upon that of Narbonne. Succors were sent from Spain to the suffering Mussulmans, but were in- tercepted by the hardy mountaineers of the Pyrenees, who crushed them to death in the narrow passes with rocks and stones.* In a little while the entire Arab population was driv- en out of Septimania, after an occupation of forty years; and a large and important province (equivalent nearly to the whole of Languedoc), held during the time of the Merovingans by the ' Pippin is said to have made a pre- deeds (Codex Carol., Epist. 7, 8, 9, 15, \'ious "donation" of these estates at the 40, etc., apud Bouquet, t v., p. 485 et Synod of Quierzy, in 747 (Anastasius, setjfj.^. It is also mentioned in the An- inVit. Hadrian., i.) ; but how could lie nales Mettenses, the Annales Lauris- grant what he did not yet possess ? As senses, and by Einhard (Annals, ad to the second "donation," the fact is Ann. 756). The pretended donation broadly stated by Anastasius, the libra- of Pippin would seem to be, therefore, rian, whose work (Liber Pontificalis) a mere restoration of what was claimed was not published till more than a by the Roman senate and people (of century later (about 870) (Gieseler, whom the Pope assumed to be the chief) Church Hist., vol. i., p. 545). There as the successors to the emperors, is not, that I am aware, any direct con- ^ I have lost the authority for this, temporary authority for it : Fredegher's ^ Chron. Moissiac, ad Ann. 759. continuator is silent. A "restoration" * Conde' (Hist. Arab. Dom., vol. i., is often referred to in the epistles of the p. 2., u. 7). Poj es, and confirmed by subsequent Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 403 Wisigotbs, was secured to the possession of the Franks.^ The Arabs, however, though expelled, left many traces of their long residence on the manners and customs of Southern Gaul.^ Waifer, the Duke of Aquitain, a gigantic and spirited war- The conquest rior, who inherited all his father's bitter hatred of the A.D.7C0-76S.' Franks, must have watched their progress in Septi- mania with no little solicitude. Masters of the shores of the Mediterranean, of Burgundy, and of Neustria, their territories inclosed his dukedom on three sides, from which it might at any moment be assailed with all their forces. If he was a descendant of the Merovingans, as the traditions relate,^ he had still less reason for loving the house of Pippin than his subjects had for loving the race. Pippin was both aware of the ill feeling and anxious to establish his preponderance in the country, and it was not hard for him to find pretexts of war against "Waifer.* Sending a formal embassy to the young duke, he demanded of him, 1st, that he should restore to the Church the property that had in any way been taken from it ; 2d, grant the ecclesiastical lands the same immunities they had formerly enjoyed ; 3d, refrain from sending his officers and tax-gatherers upon them for the future ; 4th, pay the were of those Wisogoths, Prankish subjects, whom he had late- ly put to death; and, 5th, finally, deliver up all the Prank- ish fugitives who had sought shelter within his dominions. These demands were nothing less than a request to confess the complete sovereignty of the Pranks, and "Waifer peremp- torily refused to comply with them. Pippin made ready for war, and, doubtless, on a scale adequate to the difficulties of the struggle in which he was about to engage. Aquitain was not equal in size to a fourth part of the domains of Pippin, but it was more populous and wealthy, broken by mountains, furrowed by streams, defended by many strong fortresses and * Hist. Generale du Languedoc, 1. Aguirra, in his Collectio Concilioruin viii., c. 55. Omnium Hispaniie., t, iii., pp. 131-138; ^ Fauriel(Gaiil. Merid., t. iii., c. 28). but the authenticity is much disputed ^ This rests upon the authority of a by the antiquarians. Vaissette (Hist, charter said to have been given by Gene'rale du Languedoc) and Fauriel Charles the Bald, in 845, to the Abbey (Hist, la Gaul. Merid., append, ii.) of Alaon, in upper Aragon. It was argue strongly in its fiiA'or. first published in 1687 by Cardinal * Einhard, Annal., ad Ann. 760. 404 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. fortified cities, and controlling, besides the native troops, nu- merous bodies of fugitive Franks and Wascon mercenaries. Pippin, collecting his warriors at Troyes on the Seine, marched, with that celerity which was characteristic of his race, through Auxerre into the Nivernais and Berry as far as the confines of Auvergne, ravaging the country all the way, and carrying off* much plunder. Waifer was surprised by the suddenness of the attack, and dispatched envoys to the king to demand a suspen- sion of hostilities till their difficulties might be arbitrated at a solemn mall, to be convoked the next year. In sign of his sin- cerity, he sent with the deputation as hostages his two cousins, Adalgher and Ither, sons of that unfortunate Atto whose eyes had been dug out by the penitent Hunald. Pippin accepted his overtures and returned home (760). But the next year, after the assemblage and dismissal of the Marz-feld, Pippin heard that Waifer had taken advantage of the truce to strengthen his forces, which were pouring into the Prankish territories in great numbers. The larger part of Burgundy was wasted, includ- ing Autun and its districts as far as the walls of Chalons. Doubly outraged by the breach of faith and the invasion of his own dominion, Pippin gathered his warriors and fell upon Aquitain in a transport of rage. He was accompanied by his oldest son, Karl, who then made his first trial of arms.^ They took the strong fortress of Bourbon (Borbo, now Bourbon- I'Archambauld) by assault; razed that of Chantelle to the ground ; and then bore down with their whole force upon the capital of Auvergne (Augusto-Nemetum), whose inhabitants had taken refuge in the citadel of Clermont {Clarus Mons\ built on the top of the mountain overlooking the town. Blandinus, the count of the district, made a stubborn and resolute defense, but was overborne by the impetuous charges of the Franks, and the whole town, with the men, women, and children, was consumed by fire.^ So implacable and ruthless was the an- ger of the Franks, that the few Wascons who managed to es- cape were massacred in cold blood. It is intimated by the chroniclers that this savage butchery was committed without or ' The first known to histoiy ; but, as ed at fourteen, it is probable that he he was about twenty years of age, and had already more than once been in war. majority among the Franks was attain- ^ Fred., Chron. Cont., 4. Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 406 against ttie orders of Pippin, although he did not hesitate to avail himself of the terror it every where spread to bring about a speedier surrender of the castles and towns. His victorious arms were seen as far south as Limoges, having despoiled the greater part of Berri, Auvergne, and the Limousin, before he dismissed his troops for the winter. Early the next spring they were summoned again to com- oapture of pletc the work of destruction. A "multitude of the Bourges, A.D. cditions. homage ptr manus is mentioned. ^ Fredegher mentions particularly 406 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. afterward accompanied him as a vassal in the Aquitanian cam- paigns. Waifer had in some way wrought upon his ancient rancors so as to induce him to turn homeward, expecting, doubtless, that Pippin would be diverted thereby toward the east. But Pippin chose rather to pursue the Wascons along the Garonne, on the banks of which, at some unknown place, they were signally defeated. Detained on the borders of the Ehine during the next two Waifer assails years by troublcs in Saxony and Bavaria, Pippin did forie.s '^ aS ^0^ cross the Loire, and thus left Waifer a full op- 76-i^TGG. portunity for recruiting his forces and reorganizing the war. He did not lose the chance, and spent the whole year in collecting troops, which in the spring of 765 were divided into three bodies, and moved upon the Prankish territories in three several directions.^ One of them, under Count Mank, the cousin of Waifer, cast itself upon Septimania ; another, under Hilping, Count of Auvergne, upon the Lyonnese ; and the third, under Amanugh, Count of Poitiers, ujDon Touraine.^ It was a formidable movement, designed to drive out all the Prank- ish garrisons by a simultaneous assault, and to carry the war into the very heart of the enemy's country. All the expedi- tions miscarried, their leaders were slain, and the cause of the duke was hopelessly wrecked. His own people now began to desert him; his uncle Eemistan even sought out Pippin to swear fidelity to him ; and the towns and castles every where were falling into the hands of his foes by conquest or surren- der. But the heart of Waifer did not fail him in the extremity of his fortunes. He still fought on. Convinced, however, that he could no longer hold the north of Aquitain against the su- perior numbers and energy of Pippin (particularly as Germany was for a moment pacified, and the king could once more give his personal attention to the war), he ventured upon the des- perate experiment of sacrificing a part of his dominions in or- der to secure the rest. Aquitain was divided by a range of mountains, extending from Auvergne toward the sources of ^ It does not appear what part Wai- bot of St. Martin's of Tours, who put fer himself took in this offensive move- himself at the head of the armed vassals ^^^^- of the abbey and beat the men of Poi- ^ Amanugh, who assailed Touraine, tiers, was stopped at Toui's by Wulfard, Ab- Chap. XV.] GEKMAN GAUL. 407 the Charente, into two nearly equal parts.^ All the cities and strong-holds to the north of this he abandoned and disman- tled, and then withdrew into the mountainous and well-wood- ed region to the south, where he might at least save to him- self Bordeaux, Toulouse, and the fine districts of Wasconia. It was a fruitless expedient. The Franks took possession at once of the abandoned north, but in their next campaign (767), instead of marching directly upon Aquitain, descended the Rhone, and assailed the forces of Waifer from below. One after another his fastnesses were broken by their hardy valor, until there remained to the brave duke scarcely a single strong- hold or a united body of warriors. Pippin's last expedition in Aquitain became, in consequence. The chase and rathcr a huut than a war ; he had no armies to con- death of Wai- . - . fer, A.D. T6S. tcud With, auQ ouly a smgle man to capture. The unfortunate but heroic Waifer, in spite of his losses, refused to submit ; his spirits, indeed, rose as his prospects darkened, and he wandered over the country to stir up the lingering discon- tents and foment new rebellions. Though stripped of power and arms, his cities taken from him, his chiefs slain or imprisoned ; his wife, his sisters, and his nephews carried into captivity ; some of his few remaining followers plotting against his life to pur- chase a dishonorable safety, Waifer yet maintained, with sullen dignity and grandeur, his unconquerable independence. From rock to rock, and cave to cave, in the savage forests of Edobo- lus (now the Ver), the Franks pursued him for weeks, as a wild beast is tracked by hunters. At length, in the depth of win- ter, driven into one of the mountain gorges of Perigord, and surrounded by four squadrons (.scara) of the enemy, he was be- trayed and slain, through the complicity of Pippin, by one of his own warriors named Waratto.- The resistance of Aquitain and Wasconia was at an end, and the sceptre of Pippin acknowl- edged from the Rhine to the Pyrenees. Ten campaigns, and nearly as many years of fighting as Caesar had consumed in the conquest of all Gaul, had been occupied in the reduction of this single stubborn province. ' Faurit4 (Hist, de la Gaul. Mend., of its incidents, the end of Philip of Po- t. iii., p. 281). kanoket, as described by Irving in the = Tlie end of Waifer recalls, in many Sketch Book. 408 GERMA:N' GAUL. [Book IV. While Pippin had been prosecuting these wars, he did not Changes in forget to maintain his friendly relations with the court TsSet^' of Kome. Some changes of personage had taken place in Italy, but no essential change of poHtical situation. Ais- taulf was no more, having been accidentally killed while hunt- ing, toward the close of year 756. Pope Stephen, in communi- cating the event to Pippin, reproached the memory of the Lom- bard in the vilest epithets, calling him " that tyrant, that satel- lite of the devil, that destroyer of the Church of God," ascribed his death to the immediate vengeance of Deity, and almost re- joiced in the assurance that "his soul has been plunged in the abyss of hell;"^ but, as the succession to the throne was dis- puted between Desiderius, a Lombard duke, and Eachis, the brother of Aistaulf, who emerged from his monastery, he did not hesitate to intrigue successfully in favor of the warrior rath- er than the monk. The price of his interference was the sur- render to the Church of the duchy of Ferrara, with the castles of Imola, Faenza, Ancona, Osimo, and others.^ Stephen died, also, before the consummation of the bargain (April, 757), and only a few months after Aistaulf, whose decease he had view- ed with so much bigotry. His brother Paul succeeded him, reigning for ten years, when the succession to a place of such lofty dignity and power became itself the subject of a bit- ter and bloody strife. Constantine, a layman, usurped the throne for a year ; Philip was next elected by a certain faction ; and, finally, amid the most revolting scenes of tumult and car- nage, Stephen III. was declared the legitimate pontiff by the stronger party of the Eoman clergy and people (767). During these troubles, the King of the Lombards, Desiderius, showed himself alternately the friend and the foe of the papacy ; but, while he withheld the promised concessions exacted by Stephen IL, he was restrained by a dread of King Pippin from open or destructive hostilities. Nevertheless, he was suspected and feared, and one of the first acts of Stephen III, was to commu- nicate his elevation and his hopes to the King of the Franks, as the declared Patrician of Rome. Before his embassadors ar- rived, however, that monarch was himself extinct. Returning ' Codex Carol., Epist. ad Pipp., 3, ^ Anastasius, Vit. Stcpli. II. apud BoiKjuet, t. v., p. 499. Chap. XV.] GERMAN GAUL. 409 Death of Pip- from the last expedition into Aqnitain, he was seized pin, Sept. ISth, . -, p r^ . • • i ^ • A.D. 7GS. with a lever at bamtes ; m vam he put np his prayers to St. Martin of Tours, and afterward to St. Denis, near Paris, to intercede for his recovery ; in vain he cast his costly obla- tions ujDon the altars of the churches, and poured his abundant alms into the hands of the monks and the poor. The clutch of death was not to be unloosed by any purchases or prayers ; and he expired, after having divided his kingdom between his sons Karl and Karloman, in the twenty-seventh year of his reign, eleven of which he had passed as Mayor of the Palace, and sixteen as an anointed king. Son of Karl the Hammer, and father of Karl the Great, Pip- His position piii's fame has been eclipsed by that of his more illus- and career. ^^^^^^ rclativcs. Hc fought uo battle like the battle of his sire against the Saracens ; he established no empire like the empire which Charlemagne extended over Europe ; never- theless, he was a strong shoot of a strong stock, who carried on ably the work which Karl-Martel began, and no less ably pre- pared the work which the greater Karl perfected. His private life is utterly unknown, and the motives of his policy are only to be guessed from the general results, but these leave little doubt that he was one of the leading spirits of his age, compre- hending well its wants and tendencies, and marching with sin- gular unity as well as energy of purpose to his ends. A Ger- man of the Germans, whose organ and representative he was, he imparted new vigor to that series of aristocratic institutions which had overcome the feeble imperialism of the Merovin- gans ;^ and a true son of the Church, willing in his devotion to endow with munificent gifts the altars of his faith, and to walk bareheaded in the train of the sacred relics, he repulsed the in- roads of the wild joaganism of the north, and lent a powerful support to the establishment of the spiritual monarchy of Eome.^ * On tlie true nature of the Karlin- ^ Wirth (Gescliicht. dor Deutschen, gan royalty, and the essential feudalism b. i., c. 15) regards his reign as a turn- of society at this period, see Lehuerou ing-point in the destinies of Germany. (Institut. Me'roving., t. ii., 1. ii., cc. 1-4). 410 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. CHAPTER XYI. Karl the Great, or Charlemagne. (From A.D. 768 to A.D. 788.) There is to me something indescribably grand in the figure Greatness of ^^ man J of the barbaric chiefs — Alariks, Ataulfs, The- ^^^^- odoriks, and Euriks — who succeeded to the power of the Romans, and, in their wild, heroic way, endeavored to raise a fabric of state on the ruins of the ancient empire. But none of those figures is so imposing and majestic as that of Karl,^ the son of Pippin, whose name, for the first and only time in history, the admiration of mankind has indissolubly blended with the title of Great.^ By the peculiarity of his po- sition in respect to ancient and modern times — by the extraor- dinary length of his reign, by the number and importance of the transactions in which he was engaged, by the extent and splendor of his conquests, by his signal services to the Church, and by the grandeur of his personal qualities — he impressed himself so profoundly upon the character of his times, that he stands almost alone and apart in the annals of Europe. For nearly a thousand years before him, or since the days of Ju- lius Caesar, no monarch had won so universal and brilliant a renown ; and for nearly a thousand years after him, or un- til the days of Charles Y. of Germany, no monarch attained any thing like an equal dominion. A link between the old and new, he revived the Emj^ire of the West, with a degree of glory that it had only enjoyed in its prime ; while, at the same time, the modern history of every Continental nation was made to begin with him. Germany claims him as one of her most illustrious sons ; France, as her noblest king ; Italy, as her chosen emperor; and the Church as her most prodigal benefactor and worthy saint. All the institutions of the Mid- 1 I shall adhere to the German name form of it, Charlemagne, ^vill be super- of Karl, in accordance with my general seded in general use. plan, and because it is more agreeable = Gibbon (Dec. and Fall, vol. \1., to me, but without having the vanity to c. 49), suppose for a moment that the French CiiAr. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 411 die Ages — political, literary, scientific, and ecclesiastical — de- lighted to trace their traditionary origins to his hand : he was considered the source of the peerage, the inspirer of chivalry, the founder of the universities, and the endower of the church- es ; and the genius of romance, kindhng its fantastic torches at the flame of his deeds, lighted up a new and marvelous world about him, filled with wonderful adventures and he- roic forms. ^ Thus, by a double immortality, the one the de- liberate award of history, and the other the prodigal gift of fiction," he claims the study of mankind. It would be interesting to trace the youth and education of Karl's youth this colossal individuality ; but his younejer days, anderlucritioii, . . n - i -it A.D.742-TG8. iiKc thc Deginmngs ot nations and races, are veileci in darkness. Einhard, his secretary and friend, who wrote his life and the annals of his age, confesses ignorance of his early years, and no one else has been able to supply the deficiency.^ He was born either at Aachen or Ingelheim, about the year 742 ; yet his name is mentioned but twice before he assumed the reins of government, once at the reception given by his father to Pope Stephen II., and once as a witness in the Aqui- tanian campaigns. By these incidents, it is rendered certain that he was early accustomed to the duties of the palace and to the martial exercises of the Franks. At the same time, the long intimacy of Pippin with the great prelates of the daj^, who were many of them men of learning, makes it probable that he acquired from them whatever culture they could impart. Nor can we doubt that his mother Bertrada, or Bertha, a woman of energetic character and strong afiections, watched over the de- ^ On the Romanesque history of the Gesta of the anonymous monk of Karl, see Gailhird (Vic de Charlemag., St. Gall, and other chroniclers, to be vol. ii. p. 233). found in Bouquet ; and the Lives of 2 Stephen (Lect. on Hist, of Franc, the Popes, by Anastasius, the libra- Icc. iii. p. 58). x'xd.'ix, the gi-eater part of them written 2 The authorities for the life and very near his times, or drawn from con- reign of Karl are both more and better temporary sources. Under him the old than we have had since the extinction annals, which were the mere notations of the western empire. They are, first of monks on the margin of the sheets and most important, the Life and the on which they calculated the Paschal Annals of Einhard, a companion, and, Cycle, blossomed out into completer his- tradition says, a son-in-law of Karl ; tories. Einhard's Life of Karl, for in- second, his own cajiitulars and letters ; stance, is a neat and lively specimen third, the letters of Alcuin, one of his of biography, personal friends and attendants; fourth, 412 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. velopment of his moral and religious nature, exposed to so many dangers botK in the army and the court.^ In the division of his kingdom, Pippin left to Karl, Austrasia The division of ^^^^ its Germauic dependencies, and to Karloman, SIveJi'^Kfrra'S ^^ brother, some six or eight years younger, Bur- his brother. guudy, Proveuce, and Septimania, while Neustria and Aquitain were divided between them.^ As an evidence of their equality of rank doubtless, they were both crowned on the same day (Oct. 7), with the consent of the nobles, the one at Noyon, and the other at Soissons. In ascending his thjrone, Karl found the cardinal points of Karl's policy hls forcigu aud domestic policy laid down for him and first acts, ■, i ^ i • i i A.D. T69. by the three great men, nis ancestors, whose large capacities and splendid achievements had slowly built up the power of their house. Those points were the maintenance of that Germanic constitution of society which had rendered the advances of the Austrasians into Gaul almost a second Germanic invasion ; to anticipate, instead of awaiting, the inroads of sur- rounding barbarism, so as to extinguish it on its own hearth ; and to cultivate and extend alliances with all peacefully-disposed nations, and particularly with the great spiritual potentate who controlled the destinies of the Church.^ Karl's first civic act was to preside at the Council of Eouen (769), which renewed the canons against unworthy priests ; and in his first capitular he entitled himself " King by the grace of God, a devout de- fender of the Holy Church, and ally in all things {adjutor) of the apostolic see." War, however, almost immediately di- verted him from civic labors, showing that he was an Aus- trasian as well as a Churchman, determined to maintain the ambitious projects of his fathers. Scarcely had the council closed, when he was compelled to summon a mall of warriors to consider the state of Aquitain, agitated by new troubles. ^ Bertlia appears in the later ro- character of much gentleness and good- mances as Bertha with the Great Foot, ness. and, both in histoiy and fiction, is an ^ rj,j^g writers differ as to this di- interesting figure. Gaillard (Vie de vision, but, as Karl so soon succeeded Charlemag., t. ii., p. 243) has collected to the whole, the precise demarcations some of the fictions which relate to her, are of little consequence, and in which she generally appears as a => Stephen (Lect. on Hist. France p. 63). ' CuAP. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 413 War of Aqui- '^^^ ^^^ Duke Hunald, quitting liis cloister, had re- ^^' sumed his wife and his authority, and was once more appealing to his subjects to avenge his and their wrongs.^ Ghostly apparition as he must have seemed after so long a se- clusion, they flocked about him in great numbers. The king was forced to march hurriedly against them in order to retain his hold of the province. Karloman, being invited to accompa- ny him, did so for a part of the way ; but some dark jealousy or rancor which he had nursed bred an open quarrel between them, and he soon returned moodily to his estates. By the wonderful activity which the young and untried chief display- ed, the forces of Hunald were soon dissipated, and he himself driven to seek a refuge with his nephew, Loup, the Duke of Wasconia, and son of that Atto whose eyes he had extinguish- ed. Loup surrendered him to Karl, who sent him, after a brief imprisonment, into Italy, to pass his days as a penitent near the tomb of St. Peter.^ In the mean time, the ill feeling of Karloman had been in- Marriage of Karl flamcd by his partisaus to a pitch of bitter enmity ; with a Lombard i t n t • • r>T> i ^ piince3s,A.D.77o. and, Dut lor thc intervention oi Lertrada, the mother, who succeeded in appeasing him, it would have led to a disastrous rupture between the kingdoms. Devoted to God as a nun, she loved peace and good-will, and this sentiment induced her to undertake another more, important reconcilia- tion. It was that of the Franks and the Lombards, whose king, Desiderius, was not only embroiled with thc Pope, but look- ed with no friendly eyes upon the promising king of the Franks. Her plan was to bring about a marriage of Karl with Desiderata, the daughter of the Lombard monarch ; and, in furtherance of it, she visited Italy, where she encountered no opposition from the persons most interested in the scheme, but the utmost vehemence of hostility on the part of the supreme pontiff. His ambition and his hatred were alike interested in the defeat of this fatal alliance. Karl was already married, and that fact might have furnished Stephen III. with excellent rea- ' I find no positive statement that ^ Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 7G9). this Hunald was the same who had al»- It is, liowever, not clear whether he es- dicated in 744, but all the circumstances caped or was banished, and the later traditions show that it must have been the same. 414 GEBMAN GAUL. [Book IV. sons for opposing tlie match ; but, passing over the moral con- siderations lightly, he vented his sultry rage upon the char- acter of the Lombards as a nation.^ They were a perfidious, leprous, fetid, and horrible race, he said, with whom the most Christian kings of the Franks should have no more intercourse than the adorers of the true God with the children of Baal. Nevertheless, in spite of his protests, Karl espoused the princess, to the delight of his mother and the apparent fraternization of the two powers. But, in the end, the marriage had the effect Kepud ates her o^^J ^f iuvolviug them morc deeply and bitterly, for in a year. Karl TCpudiatcd his wife the next year for some un- explainable cause, and returned her with ignominy to her father.^ A dark storm was then brewed at the court of Desiderius A plot hatched agaiust the offending monarch. An affront so in- in Lombardy, , ^ ^ ^ ^ A.D. 77. suiting to the royal lamily kindled anew the an- cient animosities of the races. At the same time, Hunald, the banished or fugitive duke, repairing to their capital instead of to the monastery, mingled his grievances with theirs ; and, to increase the circle of the malcontents, the widow and chil- dren of Karloman fled thither with the complaint that they had been robbed of their patrimony by the ambitious brother. Karloman had suddenly died, and, as soon as he was interred, the elder Karl took possession of his estates and his power. It was not unusual among the Franks for the uncle to seize the property of orphan nephews, and in this case it appears to have been done less through avidity or the national custom than the general desire of the subjects of the deceased prince to transfer their allegiance to his brother. All the nobles, both ecclesiastical and lay, says the chronicler, were eager to anoint Karl as their king, and to render the noble nation of the Franks a united monarchy.^ Gerbergha, the relict of Karloman, to- gether with her children and some nobles who clung to their cause, impelled by a needless panic, it is said, sought an asylum at the court of Karl's powerful enemy. An insulted monarch, a deposed and outcast duke, and the family of a brother despoiled ' See his letters to Karl and Karlo- 1. ii., c. 25). Karl soon after married man (Bouquet, t. v., pp. 54:1-544). Hildegarda, the daughter of a Swabian ^ It is intimated that she was either or Alemannic noble, diseased or sterile (Monach. San Gall, ^ Annal. Mcttens., ad Ann. 771. Chap. XVI. ] GERMAN GAUL. 415 of its inheritance, were combined together to nourish the roots of bitterness which had sprung up between the Lombard and Austrasian kings. ^ But a more imminent and formidable foe drew his attention The Saxons f^j^ the time from the plot seething in Italy. His and Franks, j^g^j^j-^g^ ucighbors ou the northeast, the Saxons, di- vided into the Westphalians, Angrivarians, and Eastphalians, once the brothers and then the tributaries of the Franks, were now their most inveterate enemies. Those stalwart sons of the forest, through jealousies incident to territorial proximity, prej- udices of clan, differences of manners, of political constitution and religion, and the rankling wounds of old wars, had imbibed an undying hatred of their ancient kinsmen.^ Few of the Ko- man or foreign influences, which had tempered the original nature of the Franks, had touched their grain. They were of the genuine old German stock still, having their affinities with the Frisons and Danes of the north. The primitive constitu- tion of the tribe, which subsists upon agriculture and war, and is governed by many small chiefs (herrzoghen, dukes), continued to be maintained among them. They honored, with the lively yet stubborn zeal of the children of nature, that profound faith of the Asen, which the warrior-god had given to their fathers, and which, blended with their traditions, their household wor- ship, and the very names of their hills and groves,^ was en- twined with every fibre of their being. Regarding the Franks, who had abandoned the old home and the old ways, as degen- erate offshoots of a once noble stem, the Saxons saw in their submission to kings and their attachment to the Church treach- ery and desertion, while the Franks regarded the Saxons as idol- aters and barbarians. The Christianity which had been preach- ed to the latter by the missionaries of Boniface, securing but a precarious lodgment among them, and administered often with an injudicious zeal, had aroused and irritated rather than sub- dued their vindictive passions. The priests, indeed, who were sometimes, as Alcuin intimates, predatores (robbers), not j^raedi- ^ Einhard (Annal. et Vit. Karl). ^ Grimm (Deutsche Mythologie,Ein- = The Angrivarians were among the leitiing, b. i., ss. 4-8). tribes which had originally composed the Frankish league. 416 GERMAN GAUL. [Book lY. catores (preachers), were the special objects of their rage : they despoiled monasteries with a will; and the churches every where were the first things to fall before their torches and bat- tle-axes. During the ten years' war of Pippin in Aquitain and Septimania, they had taken advantage of his absence to wreak their fury with peculiar heat. The borders were the scenes of perpetual outrages.^ In the youth and inexperience of the new king they fancied they might find impunity. Karl was yet unknown to them, and his seeming negligence in repuls- ing their inroads encouraged their predatory fervor. As if an- ticipating the thirty -three years of slaughter and turmoil which the Saxon conquest would cost him, he recoiled at first from the onslaught ; but he stopped only like the eagle who balances ere he swoops upon his prey.^ Summoning his May-field at Worms, Karl crossed the Ehine, First Saxon aud shot uorthward upon the cantons of the Upper War A.D. . 772. ' ■ Lippe. Those sombre forests centuries before had been the theatre of the struggles of Ilermann with the legions of Eome. It was there the troops of Yarns had been drawn into the fatal ambush of the Teutoberg, in which they were so remorselessly slain ; it was there that, six years later, Germani- cus paid those solemn funeral rites, of which Tacitus has paint- ed one of the most pathetic pictures of history f and there, too, in honor of the immortal hero of their race, the Germans had erected a temple and a statue, which they revered with rehg- ious awe as the symbol of their nation and a monument of glory.'^ On the heights of Ehresburg, or hill of honor, above the Wint-field, or field of victory, and amid "the black shad- ows of the secular trees, "^ rose the rude fane of their first de- liverer. It was a lofty block of stone surmounted by an arm- ed warrior, who held in his right hand a standard ornamented with a rose ; in his left a balance ; while on his buckler reared ^ Vit. Sancti Libiiini, apiul Pagi. the German nation, or national deity Crit., § .3, p. 33G; Poetai Saxonici, An- (Grimm, Deutsche Mvthologie, b. i., nales, 1. i., v. 40. s. 104), but it was also' connected, as is 2 Martin (Hist, de France, t. ii., obvious from the position and various P- 348). hx-al names, with the deeds of Her- ^ Tacit. (Annal., 1. i., cc. Gl, C2). mann, the Cheruskan chief (Stapfcr, * The I hrmln senile, or cohimn of Blofj. Universelle, art. Arminius). Ilermann, as it was called, is supposed ^ Martin (Hist, de France, t. ii., to hav;j been a, mysterious emblem uf p. 353). Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 417 a lion, at the feet of wliicli was a field strown with flowers.'^ Against this idol of the Saxon heart Karl directed his arms. After penetrating through marshes and wood, his troops at length scaled the heights, seized the fortress, demolished the temple, burned the sacred groves, and broke in pieces the ven- erated image. ^ Stupefied and consternated by the sacrilegious boldness of the attack, the Saxons allowed themselves to be easily dispersed, or to surrender. Karl's first campaign, which had smitten them in the forehead of their faith, secured him the renown of overcoming the principal deity of the barbarians and the joyful greetings of all Christendom; while the chroniclers relate how the heavens testified their approval of it by the miraculous opening of a copious spring just at the moment when his army was about to perish with thirst.^ Meanwhile the breach between Desiderius and the Pope had Campaign in Lom- bccn widening. The king, with a generous com- 771 ' " ' passion for the orphan children of Karloman, de- manded of the pontifiP the royal unction, as a consecration of their dignity and an acknowledgment of their right; but he, imputing these importunities to wickedness, steadily refrained from a compliance which would have offended his friend and ally the great Karl.* Other causes of dissension also enven- omed their hatreds. The concessions to the Holy See extort- ed from Aistaulf by Pippin, indeterminate or general in scope, were susceptible of a variety of contradictory interpretations. Hadrian, who succeeded Stephen in 772, acting in behalf of the confused rights of the Koman republic, the empire, and the papacy, claimed many justitia, or seignorial magistracies within the domains of the Lombards which they were unwilh ino- to o-rant.^ On the other hand, they had carried off from the Pope several cities of the exarchate, including Commacio and Faenza. At length they invaded and ravaged the very ter- ritory of Kome.^ Karl was implored for succor by an emissary of Hadrian who voyaged into Graul by way of Marseilles, the ' Spelraan (IrminsuL, apiul Pagi. * Anastasius (in Vit. Hadriani pa- Crit., § 4, p. 36G). pse, ap^^cl Bouquet, t. v.). = Annales Laureshamenses, ad Ann. ' Sismondi (Hist, des Eranc, t. i., (7^9 p. Oo 1 J. ^Einhard (Anna!., ad Ann. 772); ' Paul Warnefrid (De Gestis Lan- Annal Puldenses ; Annal. Mettcns. gobardi, Supp., ad Ann. 772). Dd 418 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV, usual passes of the Alps being closed by the enemy.^ He de- manded of Karl, " tlie legitimate guardian and defender of tlie Koman people," whom, moreover, "Stephen, of blessed memory, had consecrated to the patriciate," that he should "free them from the oppressions of Desiderius."" Karl listened to the ap- peal with the gracious alacrity of one who was both Patrician of Eome and a true son of the Church. The threatened Desiderius protested that he had fulfilled every term of any treaties by which he was bound ; qjid the summer was spent in fruitless negotiations. In December Karl convoked his lords at Geneva, and, dividing the army into two bodies, prepared to ascend the rough paths of the Alps. One division of his troops, under the command of Bernard, his uncle, a bastard of Karl-Martel, made the passage by Mount Jove {Mons Jovis\ now the Great St. Bernard ; and another, led by the king personally, took the route by Mount Cenis. " It is impossible to describe the diffi- culty," says Einhard, "which the Franks encountered in scal- ing these inaccessible heights, whose rocky summits shoot sheer up into the skies."^ Desiderius was in possession of the Italian side, which was fortified with palisades of stones and trees. He fancied that the soldiers of Karl would scarcely brook a bivouac among the winter snows of those frowning precipices and rude defiles ; and they had, indeed, already begun to mur- mur of returning home, when the Lombards suddenly disap- peared, as if smitten by invisible foes.* Bernard had assailed them on the flank, according to the strategy of Karl, and put them to flight toward Pavia. Arrived at the walls of that city, the Lombard king resolute- Lon^ siege ^7 maintained the defense, and sent his son, Adalghis, of Pavia. ^^^1^ ^^ widow and children of Karloman, to occupy Yerona, " the most impregnable town in the kingdom." A vast body of Franks, accompanied by a cortege of bishops, abbots, and clerks, soon took up its position before the walls, and began an assault. At the same time a second body passed onward toward Yerona, reducing the open country as it went along. This city, either badly garrisoned or defended, was made to 1 Annal. Loiseliani., et Tiliani. * The chroniclers do, in fiict, ascribe " Annal. Metten<5., ad Ann. 773. their sudden flight to divine agency. ^ Einhard, Vit. Karol. Mag. Chap. XVI. J GERMAN GAUL. 419 yield in a little while ; the family of Karloman surrendered, Adalgliis escaped to Byzantium, and the Lombards delivered up their arms.^ A more obstinate and animated courage pro- longed the fate of Pavia. All the winter and for a part of the spring (774) the Franks pushed the siege with all their strength, but the inhabitants resisted with no less energy. Other strong- holds of the district north of the Po gave in ; the people of Spoleto and Eieti reconciled themselves to the Pope; yet the Determined and brave hcarts iu Pavia, res-ardino; it as the last asy- obstmate resist- ... ance. lum of their nationality, preferred the horrors of war, famine, and disease to the dishonor of capitulation. Karl had taken his family with him into Italy (where his Karl visits daus^htcr Adelaida was born during the siee:eV and, Rome,A.D. o o /J ' 7T4. ' when the Easter festival approached, he left his army to make a pious pilgrimage to the Eternal City. He traveled through Tuscany with a numerous escort of his dukes, bishops, counts, and servants ; and the rumor of his approach reaching the ears of Pope Adrian, threw the latter into an ecstasy of de- light. He dispatched the magistrates (jitdices) of the city thir- ty miles beyond the walls to meet the advancing patrician with the banners of the republic. At the distance of one mile the cohorts of the militia were stationed, with the senators {pa- ironi)j the schools, as the corporations of foreign residents were called, and the Eoman youth, some waving the standards of their rank, and others dressed in festival habits, or crowned with flowers and bearing branches of palm in their hands. As Karl entered the gates the people saluted him with deafening acclamations, the priests carried before him the great cross of gold and silver, which was only carried before the patricians and the exarchs, and the choirs of singers sang joyful psalms, say- ing, ''Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord." Karl, descending from his horse as he drew near the basilica of St. Peter, directed his steps, followed by all the grandees of the Franks, toward the holy edifice. He kneeled upon the stair- ease, and kissed the stones as he went up. Adrian awaited him in the porch of the church, and as they encountered they ^ Annal. Mettens. What became of foul treatment, but the probability of Gerbergha and her children is not is that they were all confined in con- known. Some authors throw out hints vents till their deaths. 420 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. embraced each other, and then marched hand in hand toward the crj^pt where reposed the traditionary bones of the Prince of the Apostles. The crowds of attending people shouted their acclaims in unison with the deep-toned music of the clerks. Karl and his attendants knelt before the sepulchre to make their devotions to God; the Pope, and the king, and "all the magistrates of the Franks and the Komans swore" mutual friend- ship over the body of the apostle, when the train departed from the church,^ to enter the city in imposing splendor. On this occasion, when he first trod the sacred streets of the me- tropolis of the world, over which his father had exercised con- trol, and with the government of which he was himself invest- ed, Karl, for the first time in his life, laid aside the simplicity of his attire, assumed a robe of purple and gold, encircled his brow with jewels, and decorated even his sandals with glitter- ing stones.- He was in Eome, and followed the customs of the Komans. Easter- week was spent in observance of the usual religious Donations to Solemnities; but so rare an opportunity for adjusting the Church, -j^-g temporal affairs could not be neglected by Ad- rian, and considerable acquisitions of land and power were the reward of his hospitality or his merit. Karl, it is certain, re- stored him the properties and rights which had been invaded by Desideriiis,^ for that had been a principal object of his Italian expedition. It is reported, also, that he confirmed the " dona- tions" formerly made by his father ;* and, besides, that, jealous of the honor of endowing the Holy See in his own name, he amplified the gifts of Pippin by annexing to them the island of Corsica, with the provinces of Parma, Mantua, Yenice, and Istria, and the duchies of Spoleto and Beneventum.^ Of the The story that Karl asked per- restitution, as we have seen. Ante, mission of the Pope to enter the city p. 402. Avould seem to be an invention. It * This rests wholly npon the asser- would be absurd to suppose that the pa- tion of Anastasius ; but Karl could not trician or governor of Rome would re- give away what he did not possess, and quest any body's permission to visit the Ave know that Corsica, Venice, and Ben- city of his special jurisdiction. eventum were not held by the Franks ^ Einhard (Vit. Karl. Mag., c. 23). till several years later. Gosselin, to ^ This Einhard affirms (Vit. Karl, avoid the dilhcidt}^, supposes that these ^^^5-); and other provinces were among the * Pippin made no donation, only a number of those Avhich, during the pon- tificate of Gregory II., had given them- Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 421 nature or the extent of these gifts nothing is determined :^ that they did not carry the right of eminent domain is clear from the subsequent exercise of acts of sovereignty within them by the Frankish monarchs ;- and the probability is, according to the habits of the times, that the properties were granted only under some form of feudal vassalage. ^ After reg^ulatina: certain minor ecclesiastical affairs, Karl re- Reduction of Pa- tumcd to Pavia, where the wearisome siege was of Lombardy. Still defied by the stubborn valor of Desiderius and the patient fidelity of his people. For nearly fifteen months they had baffled the skill and the violence of the Franks ; no living thing, save the birds of the air, had passed to or from the city daring that long and dreary interval ; but the endurance of human nature has an end, and famine and despair at length exhausted the energy of the Lombards. They opened their gates to the victor and asked his clemency. They did not ap- peal in vain to that great soul. Desiderius and his family were merely condemned to pass the remnant of their lives in the pris- on of the cloister,* although Hunald was stoned to death, either by the Lombards for his obstinacy or the Franks for his treach- ery. Thus the kingdom of the Lombards, after a stormy ex- istence of over two hundred years, was forever extinguished. Comprising Piedmont, Grenoa, the Milanese, Tuscany, and sev- eral smaller states, it constituted the most valuable acquisition perhaps the Franks had lately achieved. Their limits were ad- vanced by it from the Alps to the Tiber ; j^et, in the disposal of his spoil, the magnanimous conqueror regarded the forms of government which had been previously established. He intro- selves to the Holy See to obtain its pro- " This appears in numerous cases, tection in the abandoned state in which as we shall sec hereafter, they had been left by the Byzantine •* On this obscure point, see Lebhmc emperors (Power of the Popes, vol. i., (Dissert, sur Quelques Monnaies de p. 233). But this is merely conjectm-e Charlemag., Paris, 1689), Flemy (Ecc. in regard to all except Spoleto, which Hist., vol. ix., 1. 43, and vol. x., 1. 45), did about this time come under the ju- Muratori (Annali d'ltalia, ad Ann. risdiction of the Pope (Anastasius, in 800), Von Savigny (Plist. of Roman Vit. Hadriani). Law, vol. i., c. 5, § 7), Gosselin (Temp. ^ No one has ever seen the deed of Power of the Popes, vol. i., pt. i., c. 2, Karl's donation, nor do the Popes cite §§ 50-70). It is discussed by nearly it in their later quarrels with the Lnm- all the Church historians, bard dukes and the Archbishop of Ra- ♦ Acta Sanctorum, t. iv., p. 446. venna. First at Liege, then at Corbie. 422 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. duced no changes that were not deemed indispensable. The native dukes and counts were confirmed in their dignities ; the national law was preserved, and the distributions of land main- tained, Karl receiving the homage of the Lombard lords as their feudal sovereign, and reserving to himself only the name of King of Lombardy.-^ During the occupation of the Franks in Italy, the Saxons had Second Saxon takcu advantage of their absence to break the ties war, .i.D. T75. of allcgiance and pillage the frontiers. Ilesse they desolated with fire and sword ; they sacked the church at De- venter and the fortress of Burabourg ; and they were about to demolish the temple of the holy martyr Boniface at Fritzlau, when some sudden fear of the enemy's God, whom they began to regard as more powerful than their own divinities, dissipated their forces.'^ Karl, summoning his May -field (775) at Duren, proposed to his nobles to avenge the atrocities committed by the Saxons, and they consented. His army, in four divisions, soon crossed the Ehine, taking the fortress of Sighisburg, which the Saxons had garrisoned, and rebuilding the fortifications of Ehresburg, which they had destroyed. Leaving a Frankish garrison in occupation, they reached the Weser, the passage of which was efiected amid a dreadful carnage, and then carried their successful arms as far as the banks of the Ocker (in mod- ern Brunswick). Hasso, one of the most considerable kings or dukes of the Eastphalians (Osterlings, Osterliude), met him at the stream, and capitulated for his tribes. Thence turning to the northwest, as far as Buch (Bocki, Buchenburg), Karl re- duced the Angrarians (Kord-liude), and received from them hostages and oaths of fidelity. But the Westphalians continued to defy his arms. A branch of his forces, left as a reserve upon the Weser, at Lidbad or Hudbek, was surprised by the Saxons, who, adroitly mingling with its foragers, secured an entrance into the camp, and nearly cut them to pieces. In the end the Franks repulsed the aggressors, and Karl, coming up at the same time, pursued them on the retreat, slaying many of them, and compelling their chiefs to agree to terms of peace for the rest of the revolted tribes. ^ Codex Carolin., Epist. 55; Mnra- = Einhard, Annalcs. tori (Annal. dltalia, t. vi., p. 260). CiiAP. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 423 His Christmas festival Karl celebrated at Schlestadt, in Al- fnZomh^Td^^ sace ; but he had scarcely reached home when press- A.D.776. ' ing letters came to him from Pope Adrian, denounc- ing the Lombard dukes as treacherous and refractory, and charging them with conspiring, in connection with the Greek emperor, against the rights of the Church and the Frankish su- premacy. Araghis, the Duke of Beneventum, Ehotgaud, the Duke of Friuli, Eegnibald, the Duke of Clusium, and others, were accused of meeting at Spoleto to concert measures with agents of the Byzantine court for the restoration of Adalghis, the son of Desiderius, then in exile at Constantinople. A Greek army was '' about to invade Italy by land and by sea, capture the city of Eome, plunder the churches, carry off the chalice of your (Karl's) protector, St. Peter, draw ourselves (the Pope), which God forbid! into captivity, and inaugurate once more the kingdom of the Lombards."^ Whether the perpetual in- terventions of the Pope had provoked this scheme, or the Lom- bards entertained a serious hope of recovering their national independence, does not appear; but Karl deemed the reports of sufficient moment to hurry with a chosen body of troops across the Alps, though it was in the depth of winter. He took Friuli (Forojuliensis) by storm, and laid siege to Treviso, which was betrayed into his hands. Ehotgaud and his father-in-law, Stabilinus, who commanded at Treviso, were put to death ; the various Lombard magistrates were removed from their places, and Franks established instead of them ; the privileges of the populations were curtailed ; and the other parties to the con- spiracy smitten with such fear that they did not dare to stir. With the rapidity of thought, Karl then returned to Worms in time to hold his annual May -field (776), and to organize an ex- pedition against the Saxons, who had again revolted, taking the fort of Ehresburg and expelling the garrison, and laying siege to Liegburg. They were again speedily subdued. In token of their submission, "an immense multitude of men, women, and children" received the Christian rite of baptism in presence of the Franks, and gave hostages for their good be- havior in the future. The assembly of the next year was held in the heart of the ' Codex Carolin., Epist. 59. 42-i GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. Diet of Pader- Saxon countrj, desolate as it must have been after born, A.D. 777. ^]^g ravagcs of SO iiianj wars, and the Saxons them- selves were summoned to attend it, to witness rather than par- ticipate in the proceedings. Karl had resolved to make a thorough work of the reduction of this people, whose inability or unwillingness to adhere to their oaths he had so often disas- trously experienced. Already several fortified places had been built along the frontiers, and strong garrisons established in the interior, to hold them in check. In their want of national unity and concert, however, a single tribe could at any time, often in a drunken frolic, break the conditions of peace. By bringing them all together in presence of his army, Karl sup- posed he might succeed in imposing upon them some universal and stringent bonds which would restrain their future outbreaks. "All the senate," says Einhard, "and a vast number of the people of this perfidious race, obe3^ed the orders of the king, feigned a sincere devotion and obedience, and accepted pardon on the condition that if they ever revolted again they should be deprived of their fatherland and liberties!" Many of them even professed Christianity and were baptized. Yet there was one chief of the Westphalians who refused to accede to any terms of conciliation, and resolutely absented himself from the assembly. This was Witikind, a leader of great courage and warlike abilit}^, devoted to the gods and the cause of his coun- try, and master apparently of that sturdy eloquence and talent for command which could move and guide the tempestuous en- thusiasm of his nation.^ A second Arminius, he had been the soul of the patriotic party, animating it to its deeds of valor, and supporting it in its reverses ; and when his compeers re- paired to Paderborn to humiliate themselves before the Franks, he passed indignantly into Scandinavia, to ask the hospitality of Siegfried, king of the Danes, and to find among the kindred people of the north the deliverers and avengers of his race.^ S'sp^'rf'a^k ^^ ^^^^ imposing diet of Paderborn other depu- aid of KarL tics figured bcsldes those of the Saxons, for the renown * Jacob Andrea Crusius published de Charlemagne, t. ii., p. 399, ed. Par- all the monuments relating to Witikind is, 1819). in IGZy, and some account of his work ^ Einhard, Annal. ; Annal. Mettens. is given as an appendix to Gaillard (Vie Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 425 of Karl's power had penetrated every part of Europe, and the weaker nations seemed to desire the protection or the glory of his friendship. Among the rest, the Mussulmans of Saragossa sent their recent wali, Ibn-el-Arabi, with a train of grandees, to solicit an alliance. Divisions and civil wars had, in the course of half a century, broken the once gorgeous monarchy of the Saracens, which threatened a universal dominion, into discord- ant parties and petty states. Two califs, representatives of the bitterest animosities of dynasty and sect, reigned — the one at Bagdad and the other at Cordova — and the multitudes of the faithful were divided by the rival claims of the Ommiades and the Abbassides. Ibn-el-Arabi belonged to the latter, and, either in devotion to his Eastern chief, or to secure the political in- dependence of the provinces north of the Ebro, had waged a bitter war upon Abd-el-Rahman, the Ommiade Calif of Cor- dova.'^ As, eighteen years before, Zuliman, the Governor of Barcelona, forgettmg the prejudices of religion and race, had in- voked the assistance of Pippin, so he now appealed to the gen- erosity or the ambition of Pippin's greater descendant. Karl listened with eagerness to the request, although it is difiicult to discover, at this distance of time, the precise motives which de- termined his assent. The Saracens had not recently invaded his territories, nor were they, in their distracted condition, an immediate menace to them ; he had never, as yet, been an- imated by the mere lust of conquest ; and if the prayers and complaints of the oppressed Christian Goths of the Peninsula influenced him^ as a defender of the faith, the same considera- tions should have led him to a general war against the Mussul- mans, the most formidable unbelievers in the world, rather than to a partial onslaught upon a single division of them. What was the conversion of a few wild hordes of Saxons, on which he expended so much energy and blood, compared to the over- throw of the mighty populations which in Africa and Syria fol- lowed the false standards of the Prophet? Nevertheless, Karl remained insensible to the dazzling glory of a universal Mo- hammedan conquest ; or, if he contemplated it among the pos- sibilities of the future, he confined his movements for the time » De Marca (Marca Hispanica, 1. = Aunal. Mettens. iii., c. 6, no. 4); Annal. Pctaviani. 426 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV, to the north of Spain ; perhaps deeming the defeat of the Calif of Cordova, and the seizure of the rich and fertile valleys of the Ebro, all that was necessary as a first step toward the con- quest of African and Asiatic dominion. Be that as it may, Karl occupied the winter in collecting his Expedition forccs at Cassincuil (Casinogalum), at the confluence of A.D."778. ' the Lot and the Garonne, preparatory to a passage, as soon as the celebration of the Easter festival should announce the opening of the roads, across the difficult summits of the Pyrenees. Those lofty ranges, stretching like a wall from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay, and inferior in height to the Alps alone among the mountains of Europe, had but few apertures, and those chiefly at the eastern and western ex- tremities, where they dipped toward the seas. When every thing was ready, Karl, with the main body of his army, trav- ersed "Wasconia, by way of the gorges of St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, and debouched upon the valley of Eoscida (Roscida Vallis), whence he went to invest the city of Pampeluna. Another division of troops, composed of Austrasians, Bavarians, and Lombards, threaded the defiles of the east by way of Rous- sillon.^ The latter took easy possession of Girona, Barcelona, and other towns of Catalonia, and, after a brief resistance, Pampeluna capitulated to Karl, together with the towns of Huesca and Jacca. In the end, the two armies united under the walls of Saragossa. Disposed at first to sustain a siege, the in- habitants of that town, when they saw how immense the force which the Franks were gathering about it,^ offered a ransom and proposals for peace. Nor was Karl inclined to protract the conflict ; either in the failure of subsistence, or the tmwill- ingness of the Goths and the disaffected Saracens to support his efforts, or because of rumors of new and terrible ravages committed by the Saxons, he relinquished the prosecution of his successes. North of the Ebro his feudal supremacy was admitted : the Christians were released from their oppressions ; the whole broad tract of country at the southern foot of the Py- renees, called the Spanish March, was added to the dominions of the Franks ; and with these results he seemed to be satis- ^ Annal. Pnet. Saxon., ad Ann. * Annal. Mettens. 778; Annal. Tiliani, Chron. IMni.^siac. Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 427 fied.^ But the return of the victors was not so unmolested and prosperous as their advances had been. Ascending the pass of Roncesvalles, which many of them had descended a few weeks before, the army attained in safety the heights of Altibicar, and was looking joyfully forward toward the more congenial valleys of the north. The rear guard, however, oppressed with baggage, loitered along the rocky and narrow pathway, and as it entered the solitary gap of Ibayeta, from the lofty precipices on either side an unknown foe rolled suddenly down Battle of Ron- cuormous rocks and trunks of uprooted trees. In- cesvaiies. stautly many of the troops were crushed to death, and the entire passage was blockaded. A band of infuriated Basques, led on, it is supposed, by Duke Loup, the son of Waifer, had crouched like wolves among the crags, to watch their opportunity for inflicting a signal vengeance upon the race of Pippin. The avalanche of rocks and trees was the first betrayal of their ambush. The Franks who escaped the horrible slaughter were at once assailed with forks and pikes ; their heavy armor, which had served them so well in other fights, only encumbered them amid the bushes and brambles of the ravine ; and yet they fought with obstinate and ferocious energy. Cheered on by the prowess of Eghihard, the royal seneschal, of Anselm, Count of the Palace, of Ptoland, the warden of the Marches of Brittany, and of many other re- nowned chiefs, they did not desist till the last man had fallen, covered with wounds and blood. When the night dropped down upon the solitudes nothing was heard but the groans of the dying ; even the enemy had fled ; and, dispersing rapidly amono- the thickets, to whose sinuous paths his foot was accus- tomed, he remained unknown. How many perished in this fa- tal surprise was never told ; but the event smote with pro- found effect upon the imagination of Europe ; it was kept alive in a thousand shapes by tales and superstitions ; heroic songs ^ This Spanish expedition is too oh- iani, Tiliani, and the Poet. Saxonici, scurelv and concisely described by the and the Chron, Moissiac. Conde(Hist. chroniclers to enable us to speak posi- of Arab. Dominat., pt. ii., c. 20) no- tively either of the causes of it or of the tices the event slightly, as an irruption ends accomplished. I have constnict- of Christians upon the northern fron- ed mv narrative chiefly from a compar- tier of Spain, which the Walis of Leri- ison of Einhard, and tlic Annal. Loiscl- da, Huesca, etc., easily repulsed. 426 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV, to the nortli of Spain ; perhaps deeming the defeat of the Calif of Cordova, and the seizure of the rich and fertile valleys of the Ebro, all that was necessary as a first step toward the con- quest of African and Asiatic dominion. Be that as it may, Karl occupied the winter in collecting his Expedition forccs at Cassincuil (Casinogalum), at the confluence of into Spain, t i >~i A.D. 778. the Lot and the Garonne, preparatory to a passage, as soon as the celebration of the Easter festival should announce the opening of the roads, across the difficult summits of the Pyrenees. Those lofty ranges, stretching like a wall from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay, and inferior in height to the Alps alone among the mountains of Europe, had but few apertures, and those chiefly at the eastern and western ex- tremities, where they dipped toward the seas. When every thing was ready, Karl, with the main body of his army, trav- ersed AVasconia, by way of the gorges of St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, and debouched upon the valley of Roscida (Roscida Yallis), whence he went to invest the city of Pampeluna. Another division of troops, composed of Austrasians, Bavarians, and Lombards, threaded the defiles of the east by way of Rous- sillon.^ The latter took easy possession of Girona, Barcelona, and other towns of Catalonia, and, after a brief resistance, Pampeluna capitulated to Karl, together with the towns of Huesca and Jacca. In the end, the two armies united under the walls of Saragossa. Disposed at first to sustain a siege, the in- habitants of that town, when they saw how immense the force which the Franks were gathering about it,^ offered a ransom and proposals for peace. Nor was Karl inclined to protract the conflict; either in the failure of subsistence, or the Unwill- ingness of the Goths and the disaffected Saracens to support his efforts, or because of rumors of new and terrible ravages committed by the Saxons, he relinquished the prosecution of his successes. North of the Ebro his feudal supremacy was admitted : the Christians were released from their oppressions ; the whole broad tract of country at the southern foot of the Py- renees, called the Spanish March, was added to the dominions of the Franks ; and with these results he seemed to be satis - ' Annal. Poet. Saxon., ad Ann. ' Annal. Mettens. 778 ; Annal, Tiliani, Chron. Moissiac. Chap. XYI.] GERMAK GAUL. 427 fied.^ But tlie return of the victors was not so unmolested and prosperous as their advances had been. Ascending the pass of Koncesvalles, which many of them had descended a few weeks before, the army attained in safety the heights of Altibicar, and was looking joyfully forward toward the more congenial valleys of the north. The rear guard, however, oppressed with baggage, loitered along the rocky and narrow pathway, and as it entered the solitary gap of Ibayeta, from the lofty precipices on either side an -unknown foe rolled suddenly down Battle of Ron- cnomious rocks and trunks of uprooted trees. In- cesvaues. stantly many of the troops were crushed to death, and the entire passage was blockaded. A band of infuriated Basques, led on, it is supposed, by Duke Loup, the son of Waifer, had crouched like wolves among the crags, to watch their opportunity for inflicting a signal vengeance upon the race of Pippin. The avalanche of rocks and trees was the first betrayal of their ambush. The Franks who escaped the horrible slaughter were at once assailed with forks and pikes ; their heavy armor, which had served them so well in other fights, only encumbered them amid the bushes and brambles of the ravine ; and yet they fought with obstinate and ferocious energy. Cheered on by the prowess of Eghihard, the royal seneschal, of Anselm, Count of the Palace, of Koland, the warden of the Marches of Brittany, and of many other re- nowned chiefs, they did not desist till the last man had fallen, covered with wounds and blood. "When the night dropped down upon the solitudes nothing was heard but the groans of the dying ; even the enemy had fled ; and, dispersing rapidly amono- the thickets, to whose sinuous paths his foot was accus- tomed, he remained unknown. How many perished in this fa- tal surprise was never told; but the event smote with pro- found effect upon the imagination of Europe ; it was kept alive in a thousand shapes by tales and superstitions ; heroic songs * This Spanish expedition is too ob- iani, Tiliani, and the Poet, Saxonici, scurely and concisely described by the and the Chron. Moissiac. Conde'(Hist. chroniclers to enable us to speak posi- of Arab. Dominat., pt. ii., c. 20) no- tively either of the causes of it or of the tices the event slightly, as an irruption ends accomplished. I have construct- of Christians upon the northern fron- ed mv narrative chiefly from a compar- tier of Spain, which the Walis of Leri- ison of Einhard, and tiic Annal. Loisel- da, Huesca, etc., easily repulsed. 428 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. and stories carried the remembrance of it from generation to generation ; Roland and his companions, the Paladins of Karl, untimely slain, became, in the Middle Ages, the types of chival- ric valor and Christian heroism ; and seven centuries after their only appearance in history, the genius of Pulci, Boiardo, and Ariosto still preserved in immortal verse the traditions of their glory. 1 Karl could not avenge the loss of his brave companions in The Saxon cTu- amis, for the enemy had disappeared in the morning -Tss'' ' "" like the mist from the mountains, while the most urgent necessities called him to his Saxon frontiers.^ Witi- kind, returning from his Danish exile, vehemently incensed by the humiliations to which his people had submitted, breathed once more his own indomitable spirit of vengeance into their breasts. Regardless of the solemn oaths of Paderborn and the remonstrances of the more pacific elders, they pounced impetu- ously upon the borders, and, from Duisburg, opposite Cologne, to Coblentz, at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle, burned all the villages, churches, and farms, and massacred the inhabitants, without respect to age or sex. Karl dispatched a ^ AH the chroniclers are silent on of Roland, are utterly unfounded. On this catastrophe save Einhard, in his the subject of this romantic literature, Life and Annals of Karl, the Saxon so important and interesting to the lit- Poet, who copied from him, and the eraiy annalist, and of which there are anonymous author of the life of Lud- three distinct cycles — first, the legends wig the Pious. Roland is but once of the old Gothic, Frankish, and Bur- mentioned in authentic histoiy, but the gundian heroes ; second, the chivalric romances and songs, which make him poems about Charlemagne and his pala- a nephew of Karl, compensate his mem- dins ; and, third, the romances of King oiy for this neglect. These were found- Arthur and the Round Table, see Sis- ed chiefly upon the fabulous work De mondi (Hist. Lit. of the South of Eu- Viia Caroli Marjni et Rolandi (apud rope, vol. i., c. 7, N. Y., 1848) and his Echard, Germanicarum Rerum Celeb- various authorities. A Basque souvc- rionos Vctustionesque Chronographia, nir of the event, called the Song of Al- Frankfurt, 1566), ascribed to Turpin, tirbicar, was translated in the Journal Archbishop of Rheims, in the time of de ITnstitut. Historique, t. i., p. 176, Karl, although it was not published till by M. E. de Montglave. It is more some time in the eleventh or twelfth spirited than any of the chansans de centuries. In these stories, however, gestes that I have read, the Wascons are converted into Sara- ^ It is reported, nevertheless, that he cens, and the fatal valley into the great found time to hang Duke Loup by the gap near the Mont Perdu of the Py- neck, and organize both Wasconia and renees, M'hich still bears the name of Aquitaiu by distributing the govern- La Drcche du Roland. The ballads ment among his dukes and counts of the Spaniards, which make the fa- (Charter of Alaon, and Yit. Ludovici mous Bernardo del Carpio the conqueror Pii). Chap. XVL] GERMAIN GAUL. 429 body of his Austrasians, in forced marches, to arrest their fury ; but, before it could reach the scene of havoc, the Saxons were in full retreat toward the Adern. Encumbered with booty, however, they were delayed in crossing that stream, when the Franks came up with them at the town of Badenfeld, or, as feXtrthe" ^^^^ ^^^^ ^*' Likesy,! and inflicted upon them a fear- saxons. ful punishmeut. The greater part of them were cut off, and the few that escaped were driven into the marshes and w^oods. The next year (779), however, other tribes of the Sax- ons rallied, and Karl renewed the war in person. lie defeated them at Bockholz, near Zutphen,^- and then compelled the can- tons, one by one, to sue for peace, and submit to the external rites of Christianity. Witikind and his companions sought refuge again among the Northmen. But, as soon as Karl had dismissed his forces, they came back in augmented numbers and with whetted zeal. All the following summer (780), in fact, the soil of Saxony preserited a continuous scene of combat and carnage. The Franks traversed the whole region from the Rhine to the Elbe, dispersing war-parties, rooting up settlements, exacting hostages, and razing fortresses. They stopped at the Elbe alone, where the Yenedi, a Schlavic race, were the neigh- bors of the Saxons, and w^hose language, manners, and senti- ments announced that they had now reached a new people. Karl received their willing submission ; he regulated their bor- der difficulties with the Saxons, and then proceeded to organize the Church systematically within the limits of his late conquests. Saxony reduced, ^c divided the whole country of Saxony among and organized ec- ^|^q priests, abbots, or bishops, whose sees, at once i^-"S!>. religious and military colonies, spread their influ- ence gradually, till they became- the cradles of those powerful prelacies that, during the Middle Ages, almost controlled the destinies of Germany.^ He ordained laws, also, quite as savage as the people they were meant to. restrain, condemning to the same penalty of death the heathen who immolated human * Einhard Annal. tioi^ Paderborn, Osnalmrg, Munster, " The annalists sav the Saxons were Bremen, Minden, Seligenstadt, Verdun, frif^htencd ofF, although they do not add and Hildesheim, in addition to which bv^vhat. Annal. Tiliaui ; Nibelungi ; many ricli monasteries were founded. Cliron. Moissiar. Milfrian (Hist. Lat. Christ., vol. ii., ^ Among these Fees we may men- ]). 222). 430 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. beings, wlio insulted the Christian religion in the person of its priests, and who refused or deserted the rite of baptism. Karl never conquered for the sake of conquest. The representative and champion of civilization, as he conceived himself, he felt bound, not merely to repulse the inroads of paganism, but to compel it to an external conformity. His ends were noble ; but, in the choice of means, his enlightened mind did not always rise above the spirit and usages of his time. Mankind had no- where learned as yet, not even in the bosom of the Church, the exclusive spirituality of the religion of Christ, which abhors and disdains every acknowledgment of itself that does not spring from the spontaneous choice of the heart. Accord- ingly, Karl's measures of reform had little immediate effect ; the Saxons submitted to baptism to escape punishment, and they confessed Christ with Odhinn in their thoughts.^ During New revolts Karl's siuglc ycar of peace (781), which he devoted to A.D.7S1. friendly negotiations in Italy between the Pope and the Lombards, and with Irene, the Empress of the Greeks, and also to important administrative and scholastic schemes,^ their hostility was kindled again to an almost unexampled heat. Not the Saxons alone, but re-enforcements of Panes under Wit- ikind, and the Schlavic Sorabes, who dwelt upon the Upper Elbe and Saale, rushed to arms.^ Those who had been bap- tized denied their confession ; the priests were driven from the churches ; and the Frankish counts were butchered or expelled. Karl, who joined to an absolute reliance on his own powers the most remarkable and generous confidence in those of his subordinates,'* dividing his army into three bodies, committed the conduct of it to Adalghis, his chamberlain, Gheilo, the con- stable, and Worad, a count of the palace, under the general leadership of Theuderik, his relative, and a captain of renown. They marched into Saxony ; but the leaders, disregarding the policy of Theuderik, and too confident of victory, pushed on The Franks "^^^^ ^^ injudicious prccipitatiou, and at Sonnethal, on defeated. ^^^^ i^^^^i^g ^f ^|^^ Wcscr,^ Suffered a severe defeat. ^ Einhard (Vit. Karol. Magn.). * Stephen (Lcct. Hist. Franc, p. ' I shall recur to these hereafter, to 76). prevent breaking the narrative of the ^ Near Munder, in the present duchy Saxon wars at this point. of Brunswick. ' Annal. Loiseliani ; Poet. Saxon. Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 431 Kearly the whole army was slaughtered ; among the rest, Aclal- ghis and Gheilo, together with four counts, and more than twenty other principal nobles, while those that escaped fled to the reserve of Theuderik, to scatter it by panic. Karl, incensed beyond measure by the perfidy of the revolt and the atrocities which accompanied it, as well as by the defeat of his favorite generals, hastened to the rescue. Witikind, with his fellows, however, had by this time withdrawn, and there was nothing Karl takes left for him but to brino^ tos-ether all the Saxons whom a bloody re- , ° ^ . veiige. he could capture, or who would listen to his summons, to impress upon them, by some signal act, a salutary awe of his power. They declared that Witikind alone was responsible for the recent outrages, and they offered to renew their oaths of fidelity and to be converted once more, i. e., baptized ; but the angry King of the Franks had been too often deceived by their hypocrisy (which he should have remembered he himself had encouraged) to receive their protests and expostulations. All that were convicted of having taken arms in the late cam- paign, to the number of four thousand five hundred men, were decapitated on the spot. A bloody and repulsive revenge, which stained forever the fame of this otherwise noble chieftain I^ " Every conqueror," sajs Gaillard, "is forced to be, to a certain extent, a barbarian ;"^ and Karl, like Alexander at Tyre and Napoleon at Joppa, suc(5umbed to the terrible necessities of his vocation. If such deeds tended to the accomplishment of the ends for which they are designed, they might find a palliation or an excuse in their motive ; but the shedding of blood always provokes a sanguinary retaliation; and Karl found too late that, instead of quelling the refractory zeal of the Saxons, he had only aroused it to a fiercer intensity. A universal indig- nation consumed their tribes. They had confined their assaults Saxon retaii- hlthcrto chicfly to prcdatory excursions and surprises, m°'' ■ but now (783) they advanced to meet him with reck- less audacity in the open field.^ The two armies encountered ^ This atrocity is not mentioned by suppose that some dreadful wrong was Einhard, and is given in only three of committed to account for the general the chronicles, which generally copied revolt of the next year, from each other. Ampere is disposed = Vie de Charlemag., t. i., p. 340. to think the story either unfounded or ^ His own s]'irit, too, was sharpened exago-eratcd. But we are obliged to and degraded, for thereafter his career 432 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. at Detmold in the first pitched battle they had fought, and, although the discipline of Karl overcame their desultory val- or, their losses could not have been great, for within a month they rallied on the Hase, near Osnabruck, and engaged in an- other desperate struggle. Karl was again successful ; many of the Saxons were slain, others carried into captivity, and their whole country was ravaged from the AVeser to the Elbe. Still they were not subdued, and his efforts could not be relaxed, as usual, in the winter, lest in the interval they should be able to heal their wounds and repair their losses. In connection with his son, then twelve years old — so early the Franks began their martial education — he overran the whole of Saxony anew (784).^ He penetrated to the most inaccessible retreats of the enemy, and every where proposed the single condition of submission Karl ravages Or death. lu wlshlug thclr subjection, however, he their country, r) ; wife, Suaterna. Gaillard (Vie de Char- Annal. Nibelungi, p. 27, et cater. An- lemagne, ii., 429). nalistro. According to some Gemian E E 434 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. the members of the family of Desidcrius remained to plot in secrecy the recovery of their possessions. Araghis, the Duke of Beneventum, had married a daughter of the Lombard king ; Tassilo, the Duke of Bavaria, was the husband of another; while his son and heir, Adalghis, lived a favorite at the imperial court of Byzantium. All these were united by an inextin- guishable hatred of the supremacy of the Franks; but the power of that nation and the activity of Karl, assisted by the lynx-eyed vigilance of Adrian, who never desisted from his suspicion of ''the perfidious race," forced them to dissemble their plans. The malignant conspiracy fermented only in dark- ness from Naples to the Ems, and from the Ems to Constan- tinople. A transient outbreak in Istria, where the people tore out the eyes of the Roman bishop, and the seizure of Terracina by the Beneventins, alone betrayed the general unrest. More open insurrection, too, was only prevented by a religious revo- lution which had taken place among the Greeks on the death of the Emperor Leo. That monarch had maintained with rigor and zeal the iconoclastic policy of his predecessors of the Isau- rian line; although his wife, the fair, the ambitious, and soon the blood-stained Irene, an Athenian by birth, cherished in pri- vate the persecuted idolatry. As soon as her husband was dead, and she reigned in her own name and that of her son, ''she drew from the caverns her favorite monks, and, placing them on the metropolitan thrones of the East," issued a general edict for liberty of conscience.^ Her religious sympathy im- pelled her toward the See of Rome ; the dangers of her political position to the King of the Franks; and under this double mo- Aiiiance with tivc shc proposcd to the latter to inaugurate an alli- iiene/ aucc by the marriage of his daughter Rotruda, then eight years of age, to her scarcely less youthful son Constan- tine. Karl accepted the proposal, and the Byzantine envoys left with him the eunuch Eliseus to superintend the education of the princess in the Greek language and letters.^ Of course, a union of this kind disconcerted the schemes of the Lombard dukes, who depended upon the promises of the Eastern court. Yet Karl was fully aware of the uneasiness of those vassals, ^ Gibbon (Dec. and Fall, vol. vi., c. = Theophanis (Chronographia By- *^)- zant., apud Bouquet, t. v., p. 187). Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 435 and feeling also perhaps that Italy deserved a higher rank than that of a simple province of Gaul, he resolved to conciliate the inhabitants by erecting it into a separate kingdom. At the same time he raised the duchy of Aquitain to the same dig- T«ro kingdoms ^^^y, and causing his infant sons Pippin and Ludwig erected. ^^ ^^ consccratcd and crowned by the Pope, he es- tablished them in the new states, Pippin in Italy and Ludwig in Aquitain, with the title of kings. ^ These expedients were only transiently successful in regard The reduction to Italy. The Lombard plot continued to smoulder and'^^Bavad^ fo^" scvcral ycars, and then, while Karl's army was i3-I5t:2!: engaged with certain Angles and Saxons from the isl- and of Great Britain, who had settled in Brittany,^ he was again called to Rome. The Duke of Beneventum, renewing with Tassilo and the Greeks the design of a general rupture, was about to give the signal, when Karl anticipated the outbreak b}^ marching at once from Rome upon Capua. Surprised by the celerity of Karl, the duke, after flying to Salerno, sent host- ages and a tribute to the king, and, with his people, took the usual oath of lidelity.^ Tassilo was a more formidable foe. Subtle and morose by nature, galled by the chains of vassalage which he had long impatiently worn, and envenomed by the im- placable rancor of his wife, he had not scrupled to negotiate with wild tribes of Schlaves and Huns to engage them in a joint as- sault upon Gaul and Italy. His intrigues were prematurely revealed, and Karl, presenting the case to the May-held of Worms (787), procured the advance of three great armies to- ward Bavaria. One body, consisting of Austrasians, Thuringi- ans, and Saxons,'^ approached it from the north ; another, of Neustrians and Burgundians, marched from the west ; and the army of Italy from the valley of the Adige. So numerous a host might have easily crushed the Bavarians if they had been disposed to resist, but the people either did not share the re- 1 Thcophan., Chronographia, t. vi. ; apnd Script. Ital., t. v., p. 16) ; Annal. Chron. Moissiac. ; Einhard, Annal. Loiseliani. 2 Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 786). * It Avas the habit of Karl, as it be- They refused to pay the usual tribute came that of Naj.oleon afterward, to of the Bretons. * recruit from the nations he vanquished ' Einhard (Vit. Carl. Mag., c. 10) ; the forces with which he subdued other Erchemperti (Epit. Hist. Langobardi, yet unconquered people. 436 GEBMAISr GAUL. [Book IV. sentments of their rulers, or they preferred the supremacy of the Franks to the aUiance of more barbarous strangers. Tas- silo left without followers, was forced to confess that he had sinned, renewed his oaths of fidelity, and pledged ^himself to appear the next year at the great diet of Ingleheim.^ This diet was one of the most numerous and imposing that Diet of Ingle- ^^d cvcr bccu held by the Franks. All the great hefm.'' Ta^ssi- "i^^j^ ^f (I' nn] kv aud clerical, and all the lords of the ^- ^^^- tributary nations, were present, and their proceedmgs were marked by unusual solemnity. Tassilo appeared, and with him many of his subjects, who accused him of fraud, of perjury, and of treason ; they averred his animosity to the king, his complicity with the Avars, his hostility to the Chris- tian religion ; and then, being unanimously convicted by the synod, he was condemned to death. The clemency of Karl, however, saved his life. He was deposed from his rank as a warrior and a duke, and remitted to the monastery of Jumiege to end his days; his wife, his son, and his daughters were also banished to religious seclusion ; the nobles involved with him were sent into exile, and the duchy of Bavaria itself was extin- guished, with the race of Agalolfings, which had ruled it for two hundred years.^ Meanwhile the Huns had been true to their compact with the duke. They assailed Bavaria and Friuli with powerful armies on two separate occasions, and were only with the greatest difficulty repulsed. At the same time, the Greeks, whose emperor, Constantine, had been offended by the refusal of Karl to fulfill the marriage contract made on behalf of his daughter, harassed the coasts of Beneventum, but Grrimo- ald, the son of the duke whom Karl had conquered, won by the magnanimity of the Frankish monarch in restoring him to his father's position, repelled their attacks with his own forces.^ From the Elbe to the Ebro, from the North Sea to Naples, the power of the great king seemed to be immovably recovered. These twenty years, in which we have seen our hero travers- Karvs admin- iugEuropc at the head of his armies, crushing enemies istrn.tivG Aud — civic labors, almost Simultaneously in Spain, in Italy, and in the ^ Poet. Saxon. (Annal., 1. ii., v. ' Annal. Nibclung. ; Codex Carol., 275-29G) ; Annal. Mettens. Epist. 90; Annal, Loiscliani, et ccet. ^ Martin (Hist, de France, t, ii., p. 416). Chap. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 437 extreme north of Europe, were not years of combat and carnage only ; his civic labors the while were scarcely less exacting and prodigious. Karl felt himself to be the one man of his age and the world. His noble soul was inspired by the grandest moral ends, and his capacious mind conceived the means for their at- tainment. From every visit to Italy he had brought back with him something that was better than the tributes of the van- quished — learned priests, men of science, the higher arts. In every moment of leisure he meditated or decreed some reform of the Church or the state, or some improvement of society. His general scheme of political and social organization I shall consider hereafter ; but it will relieve the monotony of my nar- rative to refer for a moment in this place to his literary and scientific enterprises. Karl's own scholastic education had not been neglected ; he spoke Latin, had a smattering of Greek and the Oriental languages ; knew dialectics, rhetoric, music, and astronomy; and he composed a work in which he tried to reduce the Germanic idioms to grammatical rules, as well as a learned treatise on theology.^ He wrote with difficulty, for the hand so used to grasp the sword could not wield the pen with ease, par- ticularly in the formation of the fine painted letters then in vogue f but he recorded the old traditionary poems of his race, such as we still have them probably in the Niebelungen and the Helden-buch ; and he corrected the texts of the Greek Gospels by the Syriac versions.^ His favorite reading was Augustine's subtle but sublime treatise of the City of God, which no com- mon intellect delights in. For the preservation and multi- plication of manuscripts he evinced an eager solicitude, and the letters of Alcuin in response to his questionings show that his thirst for knowledge was insatiable. Not warriors, but men of letters, were his favorite companions : Alcuin, Peter of Pisa, Paul Warnefrid, Theodulf, Leidrade, Angilbert, and others- rhetoricians, historians, poets— most of whom were brought ^ Einh:ird (Vit. Karol. Magn., cc. er to his caligraphy than his ahility to 2r>-2:ij; Alcnin (O)iera, Epist. 70). write, is absurd. It is contradicted hy = The idea that Karl could not write other passages, and not at all probable at all, derived from a doubtful exprcs- in itself. Gaillard (Vie de Charlemag., sion of Einhard (Temptavit et scribere, t. ii., 1. 3, p. 101). sed parum successit labor pra^posterus ' Thegan. (Ue Gcstis Ludovici Tu). ac sero inchoatus, c. 2")), referring rath- 438 GERMAISr GAUL. [Book IV. from abroad and domesticated in liis family. ^ They conversed with him in his hours of repast or leisure, instructed his children and the children of his nobles, and executed his generous proj- ects for restoring schools and letters." For two centuries and more a thick intellectual darkness had overspread the greater part of Gaul ; the old classic literature had been submerged b}^ wild religious legends ; here and there in the south a straggling light gleamed from the solitary cells of the monasteries ; here and there active missionaries, like Columban and Boniface, united erudition to poetry; here and there the episcopal schools, which had superseded the secular schools, were feebly maintain- ed ; but society, in settling down from the violent ferments of the great invasions, had sunk to its lees. Its higher faculties were benumbed, and its finer tastes blunted by the incessant shocks of disaster. The electricity of one powerful nature alone re- vived the inert mass. Karl's palace was an academy. From it he addressed to the bishops and the abbots persuasive appeals to undertake the work of their own instruction and of that of the children of their flocks. " It is better to act well than to know," he said, "but knowledge precedes action." In furtherance of his scheme, he rebuked the ignorance and licentious habits of the clergy, restrained their participation in wars, allowed them to hunt animals only whose skins were necessar}^ to bind the manuscripts of their libraries, and forbade the honoring of new ^ Karl met Alcuin at Parma, on his both tlieologian and poet ; of Peter of return from Italy in 781. They took Pisa, a Tuscan, little is known (Tira- to each other at first sight. He Avas an boschi, Storia, t. v., 1. iii., c. 8; Lc Anglo-Saxon by birth, a disciple of the Bocf, Dissert, sur I'Hist. Eccles., t. i., school of York, then the most enlight- ]). 370; Ampere, Hist. Litt., t. iii., cc. ened spot in all the western world. l'~i)- Tlie English reader will find an Next to Karl himself, he was the largest instructive account of all these men in and most active s])irit of his period. Guizot (Hist, of Civiliz., vol. iii., lect. Karl took him home, and made him 22, ed. N. Y., 1853). Avhat Guizot calls a Minister of Instruc- - There Avas something apparently tion, i. t'., the superintendent of the ed- puerile and pedantic in the intercourse ncation of his children, and the head of these students, Avho assumed fictitious of the school which he soon instituted, names, and addressed each other as Da- Aftenvard he became abbot of the rich vid, Homer, Pindar, Calliope, etc. ; monasteiy at Tours (Vita Alchuini, but they were none the less in earnest auct. anon.). AVarnefrid was the his- in tlieir i)lans of reformation. Ampere torian of the Lombards, who had been says finely of Karl's selection of friends, taken prisoner and released. Leidrade "his eyes turned to the light as natu- vvas from Norica, and became archbish- rally as the eye of the eiiglc turns to op of Lyons. Theodulf, a Goth, was the sun" (Hist. Litt., t. iii., c, 3). CH.iP. XVI.] GERMAN GAUL. 439 saints to arrest the disorders of the legendary imagination.^ In a little while he saw schools, fashioned on the model of the school of Alcuin, arising in every parish and almost in every convent. Their range of studies, it is true, was limited, confined to the seven arts of the ancient quadriviuni and trivium,, to form- al rules of grammar, to the astronomy which regulated the fes- tivals of the Church, to jejune logic and rhetoric, to Gregorian music, Boethian science, and Augustinian theology ;^ but in the dr}^ and withered husk there is often sustenance, and a living spirit pervaded their efforts. All the great renaissances seem to have been at first retrogressions — recoils into the past preceding the leap forward. If Karl and his coadjutors did not accom- plish all their aims, did not accomplish as much as was accom- plished at the end of the eleventh century, and again in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was because the heavy slum- bers of three hundred years are not easily broken. They pre- pared the way for these later revivals, and stand at the source of our modern intellectual activity. ' Ampere (Hist. Litt., t. iii., p. 23). ' Milman (Hist. Lat. Christ., vol. ii., p. 240). 440 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. CHAPTER XYII Karl the Great, or Charlemagne. Revival op the Western Empire. (From A.D. 788 to A.D. 814.) "Extend your estates as far as you please," said the peasant to an encroaching nobleman, " and still you will have neigh- bors." Karl's supremacy was recognized over the greater part of Europe, and yet there were those by whom it was not recog- nized. On the north, around the shores of the Baltic Sea, in the mysterious realms of Scandinavia, dwelt the Danes and others — Northmen as they were beginning to be called^ — the bravest, the most enterprising, the most intelligent of all the Teutonic races," and masters of the sea as of the land, whose daring piracies had already troubled the coast of Britain, as they were about to infest the coast of Gaul. On the east, from Holstein to Bohemia, lived a multitude of tribes, Schlaves and Huns, more savage and restless than the Grermans even, which, having tasted the spoils of Bavaria and Friuli, whet their appe- tites for a richer prey. At the south, in Venice, Naples, and the cities of Calabria, the scheming Greeks had not abandoned their attachments nor their obligations to the monarchy of the east, which itself, since the failure of the plans of Irene for the marriage of her son to the daughter of Karl, looked with jealous eyes upon the rapidly augmenting power of the Franks. Nor could the Saracens of the southwest be counted upon as permanent and quiet allies. Wherever Karl turned outside of his own borders, he might still behold numerous, powerful, and menacing enemies. Into the second or Schlavic circle of barbaric nations, the Extension of Gcrmaus being the first, Karl was drawn by an alli- Sf'rmnksf ance with the Abodrites, who had befriended him in A.D.T89. gQj^g ^f j^-g Sj^xqj^ j.j^-(jg^ Dividing with the Wele- tabes, or Wiltsi, the larger part of the region between the Elbe and the Oder, they were assailed by their neighbors, and ap- * Pagi (Critica, §§ 13-19). Heimskringla, on the moral and social ^ See Laing's Introduction to his state of the Danes and other Northmen. Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. Ml pealed for support to tlie king of the Franks. He inclined at once to send them aid, and, causing an army of Austrasians, Frisons, and Saxons to pass the Elbe toward the mouths of the Oder, where re-enforcements were contributed by the Abo- drites and the Sorabs, he routed and dispersed the hordes of the Wiltsi. Their principal chief, advanced in age, surrender- ed to him, and, in the name of his people, delivered hostages and assumed the oath of fidelity. All the other chiefs, many of whom are denominated kings by the chroniclers, followed this example, and in the course of a single year the Frankish dominion was expanded over an area of several thousand square miles, equivalent to the modern Mecklenburg.^ A pow- erful monarchy, in contact with small and weak nations, ab- sorbs or crushes them before they are aware, either sucking them into the vortex of its own movements, or trampling them to pieces in its march against more distant foes. The same year, probably, in which Karl had swallowed up the Wiltsi, his son Pippin, the King of Italy, had acquired the provinces of Istria and Liburnia, on the Adriatic, at the other extremity of the long Schlavic frontier.^ Between them lay Pannonia, the vast grim desert in whose War declared woods and brakcs the Huns maintained their formi- Hunsf a.*d! dable empire ; while to the east of these, between the 790. Theiss and Preuth, stretched the more extensive do- minions of the kindred Avars.^ Untamed and truculent still as in the days of Attila, every man a warrior, living on the back of his horse,, free as the wind, yet impulsively obedient to the will of the great Khan, these nations could bring into the field a more numerous army than Karl, with all the amplitude and populousness of his states.* He was not, however, of a temper to be restrained by the dread of any superiority, when it became necessary for him to repel or avenge aggression. The gratuitous inroads of these wild horsemen into Italy and Bava- ria during the revolt of Tassilo^ were affronts not to be easily ^ Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 789). gai'V, the Bannat, Wallachia, and = Sismondi (Hist, dcs Franc, t. i., Transylvania, p. 431). LibuiTiia was between the * Sismondi (Hist, des Franc., t. ii., Save and the Adriatic, corresponding p. 431). nearly to the modern Croatia. ^ See ante, chap, xvi., p. 436. ^ Corresponding to a part of Hun- 442 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. forgiven. Conscious of what they deserved, or knowing the character of the monarch they had provoked, an embassy of theirs had appeared at the Diet of Worms (790) to explain their part in the late incursions, and deprecate the wrath of the king. He received it with haughtiness and ill-concealed disdain ; and, after addressing the assembly on "the intolerable malignity of the Huns toward the Frankish nation and the Church of God,"^ and the necessity of inflicting upon them some exem- plary punishment, ordered instant and unusual preparations for war. Gaul heard the announcement with emotions of mingled curiosity and disquietude. The country and the people were alike unknown : in the time of Sighebert, hus- band of Brunahilda, the Avars, indeed, had been considered sorcerers, who destroyed their foes by magical arts f while in the chronicles and legends with which the popular mind was filled they were confounded with the Huns of Attila, that scourge of God, who had left so terrible a memory among the nations.^ Karl himself, knowing their inveterate heathenism, or touched by these remembrances, and perhaps desirous to avenge the disasters of old times, regarded the war as a relig- iraraense prepa- ious enterprise.* The most elaborate and gigantic rations made, A. . . i r» • • t-> i D. T90-791. provisions were made lor its prosecution ; ±* ranks, Austrasians, Gauls, Thuringians, Frisons, Saxons, and Italians were summoned to the field; and even his young son Lud- wig, King of Aquitain, then thirteen years of age, was invested with his first armor to be able to take part in it. After these multitudinous hosts were gathered near Regensburg (Ratisbon), whither Karl removed his family, solemn litanies — fastings, processions, and prayers — were celebrated in the camp of the Franks, which for three days "anticipated the spectacle of a camp of crusaders under the walls of Jerusalem or Antioch."^ "The plan of the campaign, maturely considered, surpassed in > Chron. St. Arniilph, ad Ann. 791. ^ Thierry (Hist. d'Attila, t. ii., p. = Fredegher, Epit., c. 61 ; Greg. 166). The religious observances took Turon. (Hist. Ecc, 1. iv., c. 29) ; Paul, place, after the army began to move, at Diacon. (De Gest. Lang., 1. ii., c. 10). Linz, on the Danube, which the trav- ^ Poet. Saxon. (Annal., 1. ii.), who eler will remember as one of the most recalls some of the traditionary stories beautiful towns of that romantic region ; of Attila's devastations. in later years, too, the scene of many * Epist. Karl. Mag. ad Fastrad., ad an important historical event. Ann. 791, apud Bouquet, t. v., p. 623. Chap. XVII.] GEKMAN GAUL. 443 the boldness and skill of its combinations tlic strategic genius of the moderns. Master of Italy, and at tlie same time of Bava- ria, Karl selected two bases of operations, the one upon the Up- per Danube, and the other upon the Po. While the army of Gaul assailed Hunnia, as it was called, in front, by the great val- ley which traverses it, the army of Italy, under the conduct of King Pippin, passed the Alps, and took it in flank by the val- leys of the Drave and the Save."^ Karl took command of 'one branch of the northern army, consisting chiefly of Franks, Alemans, and Suabians, whom he led along the right bank of the Danube, while another body, under Count Theuderik and the Chamberlain Meginfred,^ composed of Saxon and Ftison contingents, pursued the other shore. A numerous flotilla at the same time carried down the stream the provisions and equipments, with certain Bavarian reserves, which were to be used by either division in case of need. Pippin had received orders to arrive in Lower Pannonia by the end of August, and a ereneral movement of all the forces was fixed for the first week o of September. It was no easy work which had been undertaken. ISTot only Nature of the wcrc the Avars bold and dashing warriors, but their fen™ ^' country was defended alike by the difficulties of na- ture and a system of almost impregnable fortifications. Nine concentric hedges, each twenty feet high and twenty broad, filled in with stones, mud, and chalk, topped with brambles and trees, and surmounted with towers, inclosed their habita- tions. As soon as one of these ramparts might be taken, the defenders withdrew into another, and from the second to the third, and so on to the last, where the wooden palaces of the Khan, ornamented in fantastic Eastern profusion, were built, and the treasures of the race, spoils of the wars of cen- turies in Thrace, Greece, Italy, and Gaul, preserved.^ Protect- ed by ditches and streams, flanked by mountains, and running often through the most impenetrable thickets, these hedges op- posed a barrier at almost every step to an invading army, and ' Thierry (nhi sup.), whose admira- - Annal. Lauresham., ad Ann. 701. ble collation of the old authorities I ^ Monach. Sangall. (Vit. Karol. have followed closely in this outline of Mag., Part ii., c. 2). the Hunnic war. 4AA GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. could only be overcome by the utmost skill and energy of the assailant. But the genius of Karl was equal to every occasion. Partial conquest Passlug thc Eus and the Ips without encountering of Hunnia. ^^^ eucmy, he seized the strong position of Lemara, now Moelk, without resistance, and was not arrested till he reached Mount Cummeoberg (the ancient Comagena, now Haim- burg), a spur of the Styrian Alps, which shelters on the east Vindibona, then an inconsiderable hamlet, but since the impe- rial city of Vienna.^ There the first rampart, covered by a fortress and protected by the mountains, compelled a regular siege. Many assaults were made upon it in vain; and the missiles of the Huns were dealing destruction upon the Franks, when the timely arrival of the army which had crossed the Kamp under Theuderik, and of the fleet of the Danube, filling the Huns with a fear lest their retreat should be cut off, caused them to abandon the defense. The stronghold was soon dis- mantled, the hedge leveled, and the machines of war destroyed. A second circle, erected at some distance from Vienna, was gained by means of a fierce battle, and the Franks next ad- vanced as far as the Kaab, where they were stopped by the third circle. This the fleet, aided by the two armies, after a bloody contest of three days, succeeded in penetrating, when the Huns surrendered, and submitted to tribute.^ Meanwhile, the young King of Italy, with his Lombards and Friuhans, had carried the ring of Lower Pannonia, between the Drave and the Save, and was ready to push forward to the head-quarters of Karl. But the season was advanced ; the rains were abun- dant ; a winter amid those marshes and rocks threatened noth- ing but calamity ; and an epizootic disease had already destroy- ed nine tenths of the horses. Under these circumstances, the commander deemed it prudent to order a return, reserving the completer conquest of Hunnia for the ensuing year. He cele- brated the festival of Christmas, says the annalist, at his pal- ace of Eegensburg ;^ but in Thrace and Macedonia, and at the imperial palace of Byzantium, the Greeks beheld with feel- ^ Thierry, ubi sup. icles, Thierry describes from later Hun- ^ This last passage of arms, not men- garian traditions, tioned in the contemporary Latin chron- ^ Annal. Lauresham., ad Ann. 791 ; Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 791). CuAP. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 445 ings of undisguised consternation the near approacli whicli the great monarch of the West had made to their own confines. The fame of his victories pierced even the remoter East, so that a few years later the envoys of the Grand Calif Haroun-al- Easchid related how Asia as well as Europe shared in the ad- miration of his power and greatness.^ Karl did not resume his conquests, as he had anticipated, the Karl's domestic followiupj year. His splendid achievements in war, troubles, A.D. o J r i 792-793. though thcy might dazzle the imaginations of his subjects, were not unproductive of exhaustion and discontent. As, after the close of his Saxon campaign, in which Witikind had been subjected, he was called upon to suppress a conspir- acy among the Thuringian nobles,^ so now, on the heels of his new glory trod a darker trouble. Pippin, his son by an early concubine, described as both a humpback and a dwarf, having been utterly disregarded in the divisions of Karl's es- tates, and even robbed of his name for the sake of the King of Italy, and smarting too, perhaps, under the jealous scoffs of Fastrada, had entered into a plot with many nobles to com- pass the death of the king and his legitimate children.^ In a midnight conclave of the conspirators, however, held in the church of St. Peter at Kegensburg, their scheme was overheard by a poor Langobard deacon, named Fardulph, who instantly ran to the palace to communicate it to the guards. By nine o'clock of the next morning the parties to the parricide were arrested, and soon after they were all condemned to death, al- though Pippin was saved by his father, to be tonsured and im- mured for the rest of his life in a monastery.* Escaped from this peril, Karl made ready for a second campaign against the Huns, but was once more thwarted by rumors of insurrection in Saxony. A detachment of troops, raised by Count Theu- derik in Friesland, and ordered to proceed to Hunnia by way of Bohemia, as in the previous year, was surprised and cut to pieces at Eustringan by a body of Saxons who pretended to ^ Monach. Sangall. * Monach. Sangall., 1. ii., cc. 8, 9 ; 2 It is ascribed by the annalists to Chron. Moissiac. Many of the counts the cruelties and rigors of his haughty degraded for complicity in this affair queen, Eastrada, hut had evidently po- Avere replaced by persons taken from litical motives. the lower orders, even from the class => Einhard (Vit. Karol. Mag., c. 20) ; of litcs of the royal domains. Poet. Saxon., 1. iii., p. 15G. 446 GERilAN GAUL. [Book IV. join them. At once the conflagration spread to all the tribes. The royal officers were driven away from their charges, the churches burned, the bishops and priests murdered, Christianity abandoned, and the old idols restored. Simultaneously, at the opposite extremity of the kingdom, the Beneventine subjects of Duke Grimoald, who, with their leader, had shown them- selves hitherto grateful vassals of Karl, conspired with the Greeks of Italy and the East to enthrone the ancient Lombard dynasty.^ By a rapid transportation of troops from Aquitain, Karl was enabled to send his sons Pippin and Ludwig to the suppression of this rebellion. But the withdrawal of forces from the southwestern frontier encouraged the Saracens, who had for a year or two past made rapid incursions into Gaul, to undertake more dangerous inroads. They burned the suburbs of Narbonne, gained a bloody victory over Wilhelm the Short Nosed, Duke of Toulouse, and pillaged the country far and wide, to enrich with the spoils the splendid mosque which Mussul- man devotion was raising at Cordova.^ Even the persecutions of nature were added to the desertions of fortune which Karl now experienced. The project of a canal from the Altmuhl to the Kednitz, designed to connect the affluents of the Danube and the Ehine, and to furnish a readier transport for the mer- chandise of the Oriental marts, miscarried in the execution.^ He had caused it to be undertaken at this time in order to em- ploy the reserves of troops gathered near Kegensburg, but the incessant rains filled the trenches and washed away the banks as fast as they could be made, and his workmen were too un- skilled to provide against the disaster. Added to this disap- pointment came a fearful famine, which visited Gaul and Italy, producing wide-spread distress and sullen uneasiness among the people. Karl took his measures against these thickening troubles with Council of Frank- rapidity yet precaution. He did not march at once fort, A.D.794. ^^^^^ |^-g ^^^^^ principal enemies — the Saxons, the Huns, and the Saracens — but he spent a year in preparations, to render his blows, whenever they should be struck, more de- 1 Annal. Loiseliani. (Hist. Generalc du Languedoc, 1. viii., ^ Chron. Moissiac. See, for details cc. 82-91). ' Einhard, Annal., ad Ann. 703. Chap. XVn.] GERMAN GAUL. 447 cisive. In the mean time, such was the versatility as well as en- ergy of his mind, that we find him employed, not in warlike ef- forts, but in the discussions of an ecclesiastical council. Felix, Bishop of Urgel, in the Spanish March, and Elipand, his friend. Archbishop of Toledo, had promulged in Spain a modification of the dogmatic error of Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constanti- nople in the fifth century. They taught that Christ, in his hu- man nature, was only the Son of God by adoption. This was an opinion which struck at the heart of that doctrine of the Trinity which orthodoxy cherished, and, in the estimate of Karl, a more serious offense even than a revolt of the Saxons or a conspiracy in Lombardy. He summoned a council at Frank- furt, composed of three hundred leading prelates, over whom he presided, to consider the heresy. The recusants had once before been condemned at Kegensburg, but, on their return to Spain, had recanted ; and as many thousand converts followed them in their aberrations,^ Pope Adrian, through two of his le- Feiician heresy g^tcs, who attended the meeting, demanded a more condemned. peremptory treatment. After patient deliberation, a unanimous decree, signed by all the bishops, and supported by a letter of Karl, in which he learnedly argued the subtle points of controversy,^ arrested the spread of the infection, if it did not convince the delinquents.^ Another question, also, of more practical moment, was debated and decided in this sa- Decision on im- ^rcd asscmbly. It was that relating to the worship age-worship. q£ imagcs, which for so many years had stirred the religious society of the East to its depths, convulsing the Church and even overturning dynasties. The advent of Irene to the East- ern throne (780) gave a new impulse to the superstition, which was both defined and stimulated by the decrees of an oecumenic council held at Nic^a (787).* These distinguished clearly be- tween the adoration due to God and the love and reverence paid to the effigies of saints, but by the warmth of their theoretic ap- proval confirmed the exaggerated feelings and practices of the multitude. Eome, of course, which had separated from the East ' Paul.Diacon., Supp.,ad Ann. 79-1; canted again. On the niceties of the Annal. Fuldenses ; Chron. Lamberti. dispute, and its relations to other here- 2 Labbe (Concilia, p. 1022 ei seq.)] sies, see Ncander (Hist. Christ. Relig., Karol. Mag. Epist. ad Epis. Hisp.). vol. iii., § "t, pp. 157-163). =" Felix yielded, but aftenvard re- * Mansi, xii., 951; xiii., 820. 448 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. because of its iconoclasm, rejoiced in tlie decision ; but to the simpler minds of the Frankish Christians ever}'- semblance of bowing down to the works of men's hands seemed idolatry. Karl's more spiritual conceptions of religion were especially affronted, and, three years after the close of the council, he is- sued a work of great learning and eloquence, not only against the doctrine of the Greeks, but the authority of the synod by which it had been promulgated.^ It somewhat unfairly rep- resents the ISTicene language, but rebukes with just severity the Nicene spirit. " God, who fills all things," Karl wrote, "is not to be sought after in sensible images, but in the purity of the heart." Again: "We, who follow not the letter which kill- eth, but the Spirit which giveth life — who are not the fleshly, but the spiritual Israel — we, who look not at the things which are seen, but fix our minds upon those that are unseen, rejoice to have received from the Lord mysteries greater not only than images, which contain no mysteries, but even greater and more sublime than the cherubim and the Tables of the Law — for the latter were the antitypes of things future— but we possess truly and spiritually what had been prefigured by those symbols."^ Admirable good sense, in the midst of some acerbities, provoked, doubtless, by the unfriendly relations of the courts of the East and West, was the chief characteristic of the work. Its princi- ples were sustained by the council at Frankfurt ; and Karl sent the decision, with the book, to Pope Adrian.^ A temperate, perhaps elusive reply, obviated controversy ; no remonstrances against this assertion of independence by a transalpine assem- bly were put forth ; and the canons of the half-savage German prelates received the same apparent sanction as the canons of the more refined Greeks, Neither were the personal relations of Karl and Adrian disturbed by the event ; and when the lat- ter died, a few years later (795), the former wept his decease as that of a dearly -beloved friend.* He instituted prayers in his ^ The Qnatuor Lihri Carolim, which and classic erudition, by Alcuin and I have not read, and describe at second- other prelates of his court, but it bears hand from Neander's full and impar- internal evidence, according to Ampere, tial analysis. (Hist. Christ. Relig., vol. of his own mind and inspiration. (Hist. in. pp. 235-242). Litt., t. iii., c. 3, p. 49). " Neander (ubi stip.). Karl was ^ Epist. Hadriani ad Carol. R. doubtless assisted in the composition of (Mansi, xiii., 7'>d). this work, which evinces both sacred * Einhard (Vit. Karol. Mag., c. 19). Chap. XVII.] GERMAX GAUL. 449 own domains, and sent presents to the prelates of Britain to offer masses for the repose of the pontiff's sonl. A Latin epi- taph, written by Karl, engraven on marble in letters of gold — the transcript of which has come down to us — testified the sin- cerity of his tears, ^ As soon as the council separated, Karl began to execute what Karl con- sccms to havc bccu the plan of a three-fold campaio^n. quera peace ^ ^ . . j. a once more, Hc uudcrtook himsclf to chastise the Saxons, while his TO8. son Ludwig should expel the Saracens from his front- iers, and Pippin, of Italy, go on with the Hunnic war. They were all more or less successful, though it cost them several years of toil. Karl invaded Saxony in the fall of 794, and again in the spring of 795, both times making free use of fire and sword. His allies, the Abodrites and Wiltsi, having been in the interval dreadfully scourged by the Saxons, he resolved not merely to conquer the nation, but to crush it — to ex- tinguish utterly every germ of revolt. Every where, on the slightest show of disobedience, he burned the villages and kill- ed the inhabitants ; or, when they were disposed to be sub- missive, he asked hostages in sufficient numbers almost to de- populate the districts.^ These were carried into Gaul and Italy, and scattered among the people, while their places were supplied with Franks. All the country between the Elbe and the Weser, marshy and intractable as it was, was overcome in this manner before the spring of 798. His winter quarters, indeed, were established on the Weser, at a place he named Heerstall, and at Minden, that he might be in the midst of the enemy; and he pushed his ravages so far beyond the river and toward the Baltic that he at length came in contact with the Normans.^ In a first battle they were worsted by the Franks; but the defeat was the prelude only to many a dreary day of reckoning, as we shall see hereafter.* Karl was yet employed upon the Elbe (795) when he heard assuring news from Pannonia. The Huns had been unable to recover During the sessions of this council the says he transported one out of every queen, Fastrada, died, and Karl in a three persons. very short time married Luitgarda, his ' Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 795- fourth wife. '^^?^*^, ,r . . . , ,^ 1 It is to be found in Bouquet, t. t. * Chron. Moissiac. ; Annal. Met- = One chronicler (Annal. Lambec.) tens., etc. Ff 450 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. from tiie murderous campaign of 791. Although the Saxons had proposed to them an offensive and defensive alliance, they were too much broken to engage in it, and while one party clamored for war, another favored peace. The latter, in fact, murdered the reigning khan, elected another, and sent an em- bassy to Karl, offering submission and the reception of Chris- tianity.^ But already (796) King Pippin and Duke Herrik of Friuli had passed the Carinthian Alps, and were making sad havoc of the ill-defended palisades of the Huns. Despite the prayers and promises of the new khan, they were chased beyond the Theiss; their most central ring, where all their treasures were gathered, was pillaged, the royal residence de- molished, and the tribes disorganized. ''It was the most ter- rible expedition," says Einhard, "the Franks had ever under- taken, except some of the Saxon wars ; but never in the mem- ory of man had an army been repaid with such abundance of booty. Before they had been poor, now they were opulent ; for the gold and silver they took from the khan was the accu- mulated spoil of many nations."^ Nor were the campaigns of the young Ludwig, King of Aquitain, against the Saracens, much less glorious than those of his father and brother. The Emir of Cordova, Hascham, having died in 796, his brothers, Soliman and Abdallah, disputed possession of the throne with his son Hakem. Spain was again convulsed with civil wars ; an Arab chief, named Zaid, who had seized Barcelona, deliver- ed it to the Franks ; and soon one of the pretenders, Abdallah, sought the aid of Karl against the new emir, Hakem (797). It was an admirable opportunity for recovering the sway of the Franks, which had been disturbed, to the north of the Ebro, and the army of Ludwig eagerly avenged the outrages of 793 . The Mussulmans were driven across the Pyrenees; the Walls of Pampeluna and the Oriental frontier were beaten, and com- pelled to submit ; Gerona, Huesca, and Lerida surrendered ; and the Frankish supremacy was once more established in all the Spanish March. Hakem, rushing from Cordova at the head of the masses of the faithful, was enabled to recapture Saragossa; but the diversion created by his uncles at Toledo was too pow- ^ Poet. Saxon., ad Ann. 704-790; = Einhard, Vit. Karol. Mag. Annal. Bcrtini : Einhard, ad Ann. 796. Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 451 erful to allow liim to maintain the advantage. The Franks, after many brilliant exploits, returned into Aquitain the ac- knowledged masters of their former Spanish dominions.^ Their success was doubly important, as it aided Alphonso the Chaste, monarch of the Christian Goths of the Asturias, in the fierce struggle he was carrying on against the Moors, and gave to the Franks a command of the western coasts of Spain, which had become the retreats of those predatory armaments with which the Saracens were beginning to sweep the islands and the shores of the Mediterranean. By this triple series of victories the monarch of Gaul at- The acme of taiucd thc height of his power and greatness. Be- A.D.799. ' yond his more direct dominions, which extended from the Oder to the Ebro, and from the North Sea to Cala- bria, he was both feared and reverenced by many tributary nations. His court advanced in splendor with the growth of his prosperity. Rearing at his favorite residence of Aachen (Aquis Grania, Aix-la-Chapelle) a chapel which might vie in architectural magnificence with the basilicas of Rome and the mosque of Cordova, he ravished the ruins of the ancient world to restore the monumental arts. A new Rome arose in the depths of the forests of Austrasia — palaces, gates, bridges, baths, galleries, theatres, churches — for the erection of which the mo- saics and marbles of Italy were laid under tribute, and work- men summoned from all parts of Europe.^ It was there that an extensive library was gathered,^ there that the school of the palace was made permanent, there that foreign envoys were pompously welcomed, there that the monarch perfected his plans for the introduction of Roman letters and the improve- ment of music ;* and there, too, that, in the spring of 799, he heard of events in Rome which were destined to raise his sim- ple barbaric royalty to what was deemed the loftier glory of imperialism. At the death of Adrian, on Christmas-day of 795, Leo, a 1 Astron. Anon. (Vit. Ludovici Pii) ; ' He not only imported Roman litera- Annal. Tiliani. ; Annal. Einhardi ; ture, but the Roman written alphabet, Chron. Adonis. which supplanted the rude characters ^ See the curious but exaggerated employed under the Merovingans. description of these edifices in the * He caused the Gregorian music to Monk of Saint Gall. be used and taught in the churches. 452 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. Revoitagainst priest of tlie Lateiaii, was elevated to tlie pontifical Rome. ^° '° throne with a rapidity which, considering how often the occasion had been made a scene of tumult and bloodshed, may be regarded as proving either the unanimity of the elector- al college or the precipitancy of a faction in it which feared de- lay.^ For three years and two months, however, no one openly questioned the validity of choice, although it became more and more evident that a secret disaffection was fermenting in the minds of many people. The nephews of the late Pope, Pascha- lis and Campulus, whom he had invested with the high eccle- siastical dignities of Primacerius and Sacellarius, are darkly connected with a scheme for the usurpation of the holy ofdce, and, after the event of their failure, with a conspiracy for an atrocious and sanguinary revenge.^ On the 25th of April, the day of St. Mark, as the pontiff conducted the solemn procession of priests and penitents from the Church of St. John of the Lateran to the Church of St. Laurence, a band of armed men suddenly sprang upon liim from an ambush, struck him from his horse, and attempted to cut out his eyes and his tongue. Paschalis and Campulus dragged him into a church near by, beat him ferociously, and left him there, weltering in his blood. A faithful servant, Albin, his chamberlain, rescued him and carried him to St. Peter's, where he was protected until the ar- rival of Winighis, the Prankish Duke of Spoleto, who removed him for safety to his own capital.'' In his desertion and dis- tress his thoughts recurred to Karl, the Patrician of Kome, to Leo applies whom, OR his accessiou, he had sent the kevs of St. Pe- to Karl for ' t t n redress. ter, the Standard of the city, and a request for some royal agent "who might receive the oath of fidehty and obe- dience of the Eoman people."* As soon as he recovered (his eyes and tongue being restored by miracle, as the chroniclers aver), he visited that monarch at Paderborn, where he was en- tertained not only with friendly, but sumptuous courtesy.^ ^ He was chosen the day after the Script. Rerum Ital., p. 312); Annal. death of Adrian. Lambeciani; Chron. Moissiac. ^ Anastasius, Bibliothecar. in Vit. * Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 796), Leonis III.; Paul. Diacon., De Gest. who could not more positively state, I Langobard., Supp. ; Annales Lambe- think, than he does in this passage, the ciani- recognized feudal supremacy of the ' Anastas. (Vit. Leonis) ; Johannes Prankish king. Diacon. (Vit. Episc. Neopol., apud * See Poema de Adventu Leonis ad Chap. XVII. J GERMAN GAUL. 453 What engagements were made between them is not revealed. But on the Pope's return, escorted by four bishops and many counts, his passage through Italy is described as a triumphal procession rather than as the entry of an expelled and unpop- ular ruler. The letters which he bore from the terrible Karl, perhaps, counseling peace, and promising a fair investigation of all offenses, contributed to this respectful reception.^ Karl was not prepared either to acquit the Pope of all o^wi'doSinba ^^^^^' ^^ ^^ ^®^^® ^is ^^^ dominions on the instant. llitriuiytA^^ Accusations of some dark and nameless crime, pur- D. soo. '^ porting to come from the Eoman people, had follow- ed Leo into Gaul, which could not be summarily dismissed. Moreover, the Normans, whose approaches Karl never saw without a prophetic shudder,^ were harrying his northern coasts, and he spent some time in inspecting and fortifying the line from Batavia to Eouen. Alcuin, now comfortably installed in the Abbey of St. Martin, had to be visited, and while Karl was yet at Tours, his queen, Luitgarda, died.^ These various de- lays postponed his visit to Italy for a year. But at length he departed from Aachen in August, by way of Southern Germa- ny, and arrived in Rome in November. He was received, of course, by the Pope, the clergy, and the people, with all those demonstrations of respect and gratitude which became his rank and his services. Summoning, eight days after his arrival, a Trial of solemn conclave in the Church of St. Peter, over which the Pope. -^Q presided as judge, to consider the crimes imj)uted to the holy pontiff,* Paschalis and Campulus, with the other no- Carolam, apud Bouquet, t. v., p. 394, of Saint Gall, who tells that once, when commonly ascribed to Angilbert, which Karl was at a port on the Mediterra- says nothing, however, of the negotia- nean, he rose from the table and gazed tions that must have taken place be- out of the window with his eyes full of tAveen the Pope and king, and refers tears. When asked by his attendants mainly to the ceremonies of reception why he wept, he said, " See, those arc and the convivial glee of their rich ban- Norman barks in the distance, which quets. have come even to insult these shores. ^ Alcuin (Epist., apud Bouquet, t. Myself they can not hurt, but Avoe to v., p. 612). Alcuin adds that Karl my descendants and their subjects ! " was disposed to treat the oifenders len- ^ Einhard says he took no more iently, lest he should kindle a new wives, but solaced himself with four flame of revolt and provoke another in- concubines. See note, post, p. 477. terference of the Greeks. * No clew is any where given to the ' See the curious story of the IVLonk crimes withwhich the Pope was charged. 454 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. bles of tlieir faction, were asked to step forward and maintain their indictment. Failing to appear, or to make good tlieir ckarges with any sufficient proofs, tliey were condemned to death, althougli the penalty was commuted, at the merciful in- stance of the accused, into imprisonment for life. The Pope himself was neither acquitted nor condemned ; for the clergy of the synod denied their authority to sit in judgment on the apostolic see — the head of all the churches of God, the vicar of Christ, by whom they could be judged, but whom they could not judge. ^ Yet some vindication of Leo appears to have been deemed requisite, and he arose to declare, " according to the custom of his predecessors," that he would the next day purge himself by oath. At the appointed time, he ascended the pulpit with the Holy Gospel in his hands, and appealed to the pres- ence of God, and the angels of God, to St. Peter, prince of apos- tles, who knew his inmost conscience, to attest his complete in- nocence of the wickednesses of which he had been accused.^ By this procedure he was held to be justified by the public opinion of the time. Then came the great festival of the Nativity of our Lord, Revival of the whcu all Eome was accustomed to flock to the basil- pire. ica of the Vatican to participate in the imposing cer- emonies of the holy season. Karl and his daughters, and a nu- merous retinue, were present in their sumptuous dresses ; the nobles and clergy of Kome carried thither their ensigns and ban- ners ; and the Pope himself chanted the solemn mass. While the assembly was yet absorbed in the raptures of devotion, the Pope suddenly rose again at the close of the service, advanced with a crown of gold in his hand toward the place where Karl was kneeling at the altar, placed it on his head, and exclaimed, " Long life and victory to Karl Augustus, crowned of God, great and pacific Emperor of the Eomans !"^ The clergy and the people caught up the words, and with unanimous acclama- tion shouted, "Life and victory to Karl Augustus, crowned of God, great and pacific Emperor of the Romans!" Afterward * Anastas. (in Vit. Leonis ITI.). of Anastasins is the most complete, but ^ Annal. Loiseliani, Tiliani, Met- most partial, tens. ; Chron. Moissiac. The account ^ This was the formal salutation at the coronation of the ancient emperors. Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 455 a laudamns was sung ; and then the pontiff, kneeling in ado- ration, or doing homage to the new monarch, abandoned the name of patrician, and said that thereafter his name should be Emperor and Angustus.^ As a conclusion to the ceremony, he anointed the king and his eldest son Karl, who had not yet re- ceived the title. Einhard adds to his account of the incidents of this day that Karl's conduct Karl, iu procccding to the church, had had no suspi- and motives. ^^^^ q£ ^-^e Pope's dcsigu ; that when he was accost- ed with the august titles of the Cassars, he was both surprised and grieved ; and that, if he had possessed the least knowledge of what was about to be done, he would not have gone to the church, even on the occasion of a festival so profoundly solemn and obligatory.^ There are some reasons which might render it probable that Karl was not so ignorant of the honor prepared for him as he represented,^ if we did not know his freedom from hypocrisy, and the circumstances of his life and policy, which would naturally disincline him to this assumption of imperial dignity. It is true, he rewarded the Pope with many magnif- icent presents — tables of silver, chalices of gold, andpatenjB en- riched with gems ; he ever afterward used the title of emperor in his official documents and in his addresses to his brothers of the East ; his coins were struck in the joint names of the em- peror and St. Peter ; but, nevertheless, Karl was a thorough German in humor and inclination, devoted to the social pecul- iarities of the Germanic constitution, and unwilling to risk his popularity as a king with the stern but sensitive warriors who considered themselves as in some sort his equals. He might well have doubted, then, whether the act of the Pope, in aug- menting his consideration among his southern subjects, would not detract from his real power among those of the north. What is confirmatory of this view is that, in his subsequent diplomas, the title Bex Francoi^m always preceded the title of Romani Rector Imperii. He either estimated the former more highly, or was careful to consult the prejudices of his race. In his ^ Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 800), ^ These are discussed by Gaillard compared with Anastasius and other (Vie de Charlemag., t. ii., 1, 2, c. 1), chroniclers. ^^^^ -^ ^^ ^"^^ admit his conclusions. 2 Vit. Karl. Magn., u. 28. 456 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. legislation for the Franks he showed no desire to subject them to the Koman jurisprudence, but simplj corrected and enforced the codes of the Salians and Kipuarians, which dated at least from the era of Chlodwig. Moreover, when he came to divide his estates in 806, he distributed them among his three sons, as we shall see, according to the traditionary German usages, and without making much account of the empire. Those sons, in their relations to each other, were placed on an equal and inde- pendent footing, without the slightest assertion of supremacy in favor of either, or any reference to the unity of their king- doms beyond the ties of habitual friendliness and peace.^ At the same time, Karl could not have been indifferent to the ^ See this division in Bouquet, t. v. he ordered Ludwig to place the crown On these several points Kohlraush, upon his own head. Karl always con- in his History of Germany, has this sidered himself as chief ruler over note, which presents them in another Rome, and styled the Romans in his aspect: " It is scarcely to be conceived decrees as his subjects, and included that a proceeding so gi"ave and highly Rome in his will among the chief cities important could have been arranged of his empire. The popes again, on without the knowledge and concurrence their part, placed his own name, as well of Karl, who, indeed, in all his actions, as those of his successors, on their coins, never allowed himself to be led by and included them in their bulls. In others. Besides, it is already evident, his letters Karl henceforth calls him- from what is shown by other good testi- self ' Carolus serenissimus augustus a monies (Annal. Laurisham.), that the Deo coronatus magnus pacificus impe- renewal of the imperial dignity had been rator Romanum gubernans imperium, discussed and resolved upon, for Alcuin qui et per misericordiam Dei rex Fran- himself knew of it beforehand, he hav- corum et Langobardorum.' To him it ing given to one of his pupils a Bible was important to hold dominion over and a letter, both of which he was de- those other nations which had not de- puted to present to the emperor at the volved upon him by hereditary right Christmas festival in Rome, and in by some other means than the mere which letter the learned master wished sway of conquest, and he well knew the mighty sovereign all happiness ad that among the German tribes the title splendorem imperialis potential. But of Roman emperor always connected it- what struck Karl, no doubt, with sud- self with the idea of supreme govem- den surprise and momentary vexation ment. Besides, to the emperor all were was, that the Pope should merely have equally bound to yield allegiance — presented to him the imperial crown, and counts, bishops, freemen, and servitors ; that it had not been left to him, the sov- while in obedience to the f^^inc/, the free- ereign, to place it upon his own head men varied materially from the A'assal, himself, or to command it to be done and the bishop from the layman. It by the Pope (as his bishop), as was likewise established his position toward the custom with the Greek emperors, the clerg}% for the Pope became now who were crowned by their patriarchs ; the first bishop of the empire, and Al- thence, there is little doubt, arose the cuin says distinctly (cap. ii.) that tlie expressions attributed to him by Egin- imperial power is higher than any oth- hard. This, indeed, is clearly shown er, even that of the Pope. " subsequently, when, at Aix-la-Chapelle, Chap. XVII.] GERMA2T GAUL. 457 Significance of IcX^gcr conseqiieiices of this act, or to those motives of policy which made the idea of the imperial unity so agreeable to many people. Ever since the deposition of Augustulus by Odoaker, a vague yearning for it had been cher- ished with more or less fondness by the subjects of the an- cient empire. They had even inoculated with it several bar- baric chieftains who succeeded to the Koman power, although the abortive attempts at reconstruction made by the Merovings in Gaul, by Theodorik in Italy, and by Athanagild in SjDain, had left it in the domain of mere theory, a glorious reminis- cence rather than a living hope. It recurred perpetually, also, as a sacerdotal fantasy. The priests had always mourned the downfall of the imperial throne, and longed for its return. " The popes, in particular, who had realized in the religious sphere the benefits of unity, through their subjection of all the Churches of the West to the See of Eome, were led, by the habitual preoccupations of their politics, and still more by the sentiment of their personal danger, to desire the re-establish- ment of it in the state." ^ They hoped, by restoring the empire in Italy, to disconcert the pretensions of the Greeks, and extin- guish forever the aspirations of the Lombards.^ Thereby, also, the whole of western Christendom would be consolidated under one monarchy, and that monarchy the appropriator, not only of all the sentiments of reverence and majesty which invested the sceptre of the Ctesars, but, in a certain vague sense, of all its an- cient rights. Karl was unquestionably familiar with the same thought. He must have felt, in accepting the imperial crown, that he accepted the high, self-imposed mission of the old polity as the organ of civilization and social order. His authority, in the greater part of the west, it is true, was already recognized ; but it was the authority of the barbaric chief who founds his rights upon the sword, rather than of the legitimate monarch whose throne is hallowed by traditionary and religious sanc- tions. Moreover, if a great central power was ever to be revived in the West, what time more suitable than that in which the sovereignty of the East was completely annulled ; when it had abandoned the people and was abandoned by the people ; when » Lehuerou (Inst. Ciiroling., t. ii., " Ibid., p. 367. p. 352 eC seq.). 458 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. it liacl fallen into tlie irretrievable odium of the Churcli because of its heresies ; and when it was, for the first time in its history, in the hands of a woman, and that woman detestable as the suc- cessor of a son whom she had murdered?^ Why not replace it by a sovereignty already paramount in the greater part of what had been the Western Empire, either by conquest or the consent of the people?^ Above all, if capacity, if fitness, if merit can ever be a test of legitimacy, were they not united in his case ? By whom could universal order be so appropriate- ly revived as by that great warrior, whose administration of thirty years had proved him capable alike of restraining the en- croachments of barbarism, of restoring tranquillity, of raising up the deserted arts and sciences, and of opening to the moral and religious influences of the Church a sphere commensurate with his own secular dominion ? The Papacy, in consecrating Karl, by virtue of its functions The Papacy as thc head of the Eoman senate and people, doubt- ami the Em- . ,,. ■^. ,. pire. less supposcd that it gave a sacerdotal imjDrint to his power, and placed itself in a position to recall the empire at all times to its duties by recalling its origin. Yet what was the nature and the limit of the authority thus revived ? Was Karl invested with all the prerogatives of the ancient emper- ors? Under those potentates, the Popes admitted themselves to be subjects, and were sometimes treated as rebel subjects; even under the barbaric kings, Odoaker, Theodorik, and Atha- larik, the election of a pontiff could only be made with their con- sent ; but long before the era of Karl they had definitively eman- cipated themselves from the dependency of the Eastern emper- ors, and asserted for themselves a certain supremacy in Kome and the exarchate. Whether they were equally independent of the Emperor of the West after the establishment of the new empire, history fails to decide.^ Two hundred years of war, in later times, between the Papacy and the Empire, prove the in- ' Annal. Laiiresham., ad Ann. 801. 45, 4G) ; Leblanc (Dissert, sur Quel- ^ Annal. Moissiac, ad Ann. 801 ; ques Monnaies de Charlemag., c. v., p. rieur}', Hist. Ecc, t. x., 1. 14, n. 21. 30); Bossuet (Defens. Declarat., 1. ii., ^ On this subject, see Cenni (Monu- c. 38, § 1); Gosselin (Power of the mentaDomin. Pontif., t.ii., dissert. 1); Popes, pt. i., c. 2), and other authori- Gaillard (Vie de Charlemag., t. ii., 1. ties cited bv the latter. 2, c. 1); Flenr}^ (Ecc. Hist., t. x., 11. Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 459 deiiniteness of tlieir original understanding. Karl himself ob- viously believed himself emperor at Kome as elsewhere, and the lord and master of the Pope in temporal affairs, as of the least of the Pope's spiritual subjects. He administered justice in Eome personally and by his officers, and his laws and ordi- nances, in their commands and prohibitions, made no exception of the incumbents of the pontifical chair. The whole world seemed to rejoice in the recognition of Greatness of Karl's newly-acciuircd glory. For the Franks, it was nized. ^ a cousummatiou of power which none of their pred- ecessors, neither Goths, nor Herules, nor Lombards, had been able to achieve. The court of the East, troubled and fright- ened at first by the accession of such a chief to such a dig- nity, proposed at length a union of the two empires by a mar- riage which should join the great name of Karl to the great name of Irene.^ The little monarchs of Britain and Spain hastened to avow their vassalage to the supreme head of Chris- tendom ; and even the Edrizites of Fez, and the Grand Calif of Bagdad, the immortal hero of the Thousand and One Nights, who, with kindred tastes and ambitions to those of Karl, had raised the empire of the Moslem to new heights of splendor and renown, solicited his friendship with imposing embassies and munificent presents.^ " Haroun prefers the alliance of Karl," said the deputies, "to that of all the kings and princes of the earth," and in token of his sincerity he subjected to Karl's authority the holy places of the sepulchre and resurrection of Christ. The winter after his coronation Karl was occupied *' in regu- Kari returns latlug the affalrs, uot ouly public, but individual and into Gaul, A. g^^j^ggi^g^ical, of thc city of Kome, of the Apostolic See, and, in fact, of the whole of Italy."^ Having finished these labors, he returned into Gaul. It seemed for a time as if the renewed empire were about to restore that universal and majestic peace which mankind had enjoyed under the Anto- nines. With the exception of small wars, which Pippin waged ^ On the negotiations for this mar- the best authority of the time. They riage, see Theophan. (Chronograph.). show clearly what I have just said of ' Einhard (Vit. Karl. Mag., c. 16), Karl's own conception of his powers and Annal. Loiseliani. (Annal., ad Ann. 801). ' These are the words of Einhard, 460 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. witli the Lombards of Beneventum, and Ludwig with the Saracens of the Spanish March, both in the extremities of the empire, and in both of which the Franks were successful,^ the extensive domains of Karl were tranquil for two years. This Reform of the interval he employed iu improving the legislation 803.'' ■ ■ ^~ of the Franks. "Seeing," says Einhard, "that the laws were imperfect, he tried to supply their defects, to har- monize their irregularities, and correct their errors. But in these projects he did not fully succeed." Too wise to enter upon the impracticable task of reducing the mass of conflicting customs which prevailed in different parts of his dominions to a single uniform code, he left to each natioil' its ancient statutes, and only added to them such rules as might be deemed indis- pensable to the preservation of order.^- In one respect, how- ev^, Karl introduced a great monarchical innovation. At the Synod of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), held in 802, he ordained that every man, lay or cleric, who had taken the oath of fidelity to him as king, should renew it to him as Ca3sar, and that all other persons above twelve years of age should repeat the same. Before that the kings of the Franks received oaths only from their antrustions, vassals, or beneficiaries, while the independent proprietors and sub-vassals did not swear allegiance directly to the prince. His object was to assimilate the duties of every subject of the empire toward its chief to the duties of the vassal in respect to his lord,^ and thereby enable himself to control with more ease the powerful leudes who, in their reliance upon the exclusive fidelity of their retainers, were often apt to grow factious.*^ He centralized, if we may so say, the personal obli- gations of feudalism, and made himself the single authoritative head of both Church and state. . ^ On the first, see Annal. Loiseliani ; ^ His edition of the Salic Codex, Theojjh., Chron. and Astronom., Vit, with the few changes he made, is given Ludovici Pii ; and on the second, Er- by Pavdessas (Loi Saliqiie, p. 265). moldi Nigelli (Carmen de Rebus Gestis The alterations in the Lombard, Saxon, Ludovici Pii, 1, 1). This Ermold the and Ripuarian codes are to be found in Black wrote a poem in celebration of Baluze (Capitularia, passim). Ludwig about A.D. 825, which con- ^ Martin (Hist, de Franc, t. ii., p. tains no facts not to be found elsewhere, 4G7). but is full of details as to the manners * This was the great source of difR- and customs, and modes of thinking in culty under the Merovingans. The the ninth century. A French transla- lends were all little independent sov- tion is to be found in Guizot, Collect, ereigns, each with his own band of des Memoires. faithful. Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 461 Nevertlieless, the essential aristocratic constitution of the Ger- The social and Hianic government and society was preserved ; the atttuSn of the Hoblcs participated regularly in every act of legisla- ^'^^^^' tion, whether it concerned the general interests of the state, private affairs, or even the domestic economy of the royal household. A precious document (De Ordine Palaiii)^ written by Adalhard, Abbot of Corbie, in the ninth century, and recorded by Hincmar, Archbishop of Eheims,^ throws a flood of light upon the political institutions and procedures of the time. " Two general jplacita, or diets,'' it says, " were held every year, the one on the return of spring, and the other in the autumn.^ In the first, they regTilated the whole administration of the kingdom, and nothing could change the resolutions there taken except some imperious necessity common to the whole extent of the empire. To this plaid all the lords {jnajores)^ as well ecclesiastical as lay, were convoked without distinction ; the elders (senwres) to form resolutions, and the younger (mi- nores) to consider them and give their assent, not through con- straint or fear, but according to their convictions. The second assembly was only brought together in order to offer the an- nual gifts to the king, and was composed of the most aged and considerable councilors only. It was occupied with the imme- diate and pressing wants of the following year, so far as they could be provided for." For instance, if the governors of the frontier had concluded a peace with the neighboring tribes, it debated what was to be done after the conclusion of the truce, whether it should be renewed or not. If, at any point of the kingdom, a war threatened, it determined how it should be begun, or if peace had been established, by what means it might be assured. "But the councilors agreed with the king that every thing that was said familiarly in these meetings, whether on the general state of the kingdom or on the affairs of individuals, should be kept secret, and never revealed to any one except with the consent of all the others." According to this account, the spring meeting was a general deliberative as- sembly, while that of the autumn had more the character of a privy council. In both, proceeds Hincmar, "they submitted ^ Hinc, Opera, t. ii., p. 211, § 29. huerou (Inst. Caroling,, t. ii., p. 301), ' I translate from the French of Lc- not having the Latin before me. 462 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. to the examination of the nobles, by the order of the king, the articles of law, named cajntida, which the king himself had drawn up by the inspiration of God, or the necessity of which had been made manifest to him in the interval of the meet- ings. After having received these communications, they de- liberated upon them one, two, three, or even a greater num- ber of days, according to the importance of the matter. Mes- sengers from the palace, going and coming, received their questions and reported the answers ; and no stranger approach- ed the place of their meeting until the result of their delibera- tions had been put before the eyes of the great prince, who then, with the wisdom which he received from God, adopted a resolution which all obeyed. The things, accordingly, went on thus for one, two, or more capitularies, until, with the aid of God, all the necessities of the times were jorovided for. While his affairs were treated of in this manner out of the presence of the king, the prince himself, amid the multitude which gener- ally came to the general councils, was occupied in receiving presents, saluting the most considerable men, discoursing with those whom he rarely saw, testifying an affectionate inter- est in the more aged, making merry with the younger, and doing these and similar things alike for ecclesiastics as for sec- ulars. Still, if those who deliberated upon matters submitted to their examination manifested a desire therefor, the king re- paired to them ; remained with them as long as they wished ; and they reported to him with complete familiarity what they thought of every thing, and what were the friendly discussions which had been raised among them. I must not forget to men- tion that, if the weather was fine, all this passed in the open air ; if not, in distinct buildings, where those who had to deliberate upon the propositions of the kings were separated from the multitude of persons who came to the assembly, and then the less considerable men could not enter. The places destined for the meeting of the lords were divided into two parts, so that the bishops, abbots, and priests high in dignity could be united without any mixture of the laity. In the same way the counts and other principal men of the state were separated in the morning from the rest of the multitude, until, the king present or absent, they were all met together ; and the above-mention- Chap. XVU.] GERMAN GAUL. 463 ed lords, tHe priests on their side and the laity on theirs, re- paired to the hall assigned to them, and where they had honor- ably prepared their seats. When the lay and ecclesiastical lords were thus separated from the multitude, it remained in their option to sit together or separately, according to the af- fairs of which they had to treat — ecclesiastical, secular, or both. So if they wished any one to come, whether to demand nourish- ment or to ask a question, and again to dismiss him after hav- ing received what they wanted, they could do so. Thus passed the examination of the affairs which the king proposed to their deliberations. The second occupation of the king was to de- mand of every one what he had to report to him, or to teach him concerning the part of the kingdom whence he came. Not only was this permitted to every one, but they were strictly recommended to inquire, in the intervals of the assemblies, what passed within or without the kingdom ; and that they should seek to know this from foreigners as well as country- men, enemies as well as friends, sometimes by employing en- voys, and without taking much care as to how the intelligence was acquired. The king wished to know whether, in any part, any corner of the kingdom, the people murmured and were agitated, and what was the cause of its agitation, and whether it had come to a disturbance upon which it was necessary that a general council should be employed, and other similar details. He also wished to know if any of the subdued nations thought of revolting ; if any of those who had revolted seemed disposed to submit ; if those who were still independent menaced the kingdom with any attack, etc. Upon all these matters, wher- ever a disturbance or a danger became manifest, he principally asked what were its motives or occasion." The initiative of all measures, as well as the definitive action thereon, appears to have belonged to the king ; but he in no case decided arbitra- rily, and the consent of the nobles was expressed or implied in every decision.^ The capitularies of The capitularics, cnactcd by the king and his Karl ; their char- cQuncilors, arc uot to bc regarded in anv sense as acter and vanous ' o j proviaiona. ^ systcuiatic codc of laws, although the compre- ^ Guizot (Hist. Civilization, t. ii., fluence of Karl. I think, and is well cor- lec. 20) exaggerates the authority or in- rected by Lehuerou (»ii sup.'). 464 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. liensive mind of Karl must have contemplated the advantages of a uniform rule of action for all his subjects; but he was too well aware of the miscellaneous character of his empire, of the radical diversities of custom and inveterate prejudices of senti- ment, to attempt to inaugurate a jurisprudence like that of Theodosius and Justinian. His legislation, consequently, is rather a jumble of desultory principles and provisions than a regular body of statutes. At the same time, we are able to gather from it many indications of the organization and con- duct of the government and of the condition of society.^ ^ Mr. Guizot (Hist. Civil., lee. 21) "2. Extracts from the ancient laws, has given the most admirable and thor- Salic, Lombard, Bavarian, etc. ; ex- ough analj'sis of the capitularies, and tracts evidently made for a particular I avail myself of his account, at the pui-pose, a particular place, a particular hazard of a very long note, as the best moment of time, for a special necessity, idea of them that can be conveyed to the nature of which there is no longer the reader. any thing to indicate to us. " At the first glance, it is impossible " 3. Additions to the ancient laws, to not to be struck with the confusion the Salic law, for instance, to the law which pervades this word (capitula) : of the Lombards, to that of the Bava- it is applied to all the acts inserted rians, etc. These additions seem to in Baluze's collection ; and yet, in have been made in a peculiar form, and point of fact, the greater portion of with peculiar solemnities ; that to the those acts differ essentially from capitu- Salic law is preceded, in an ancient laries, properly so called. What would manuscript, by these words : ' These be the effect, if, some centuries hence, a are articles which the lord Charles the compiler were to take all the acts of a Great, emperor, caused to be written government of our times, of the French in his councils, and ordered to be in- administration, for instance, in the last serted among the other laws.' The reign, and, throwing them promiscu- Legislature, indeed, appears to have re- ously together in one heap, under one quired the adhesion of the people to undistinguishing title, were to give the these additions more expressly than to collection forth as the legislation, the the other parts of the law; thus, in 803, code of the period? The result Avould the year in which the additions, to the manifestly be an utterly absurd and Salic law were made, we find Charle- fallacious chaos ; laws, ordinances, magnc issuing the following direction decrees, briefs of the crown, person- to Ms mis si : ' Let the people be inter- al judgments, departmental circulars, rogated touching the articles which would be mixed up together, haphaz- have recently been added to the law; ard, in utter confusion. This has been and, after they have all consented to exactly the case with the capitularies, them, let them affix to the said articles I will proceed to analyze the collection their signature in confirmation.' of Baluze, classifying according to their "4. Extracts from the acts of the nature and objects the acts of all kinds councils, and from the entire body of which we meet with there. You will canonical legislation ; the great capitu- at once see how great is their diversity, lary enacted at Aix-la-Chapelle in 789, We find there under the general title and a host of articles in the other ca- of capitularies : pitularies, are nothing more than such "L Ancient national laws revised ; extracts. the Salic law, for example. "5. New laws, of which some were Chap. XVII.] GERMAIi" GAUL. 465 Ecclesiastical rules occupied a cHef place in these enact- passed by the general assemblies of the army, wherever there is any great people, with the concurrence of the measure to be taken for the defense of great laymen and great ecclesiastics to- the country-, one man will not give aid gether, or of the ecclesiastics alone, or to another?' 'What is the meaning of the laymen alone ; while the rest ap- of these continual suits by which every pear to have been the work of the em- one appears seeking to wrest from his peror himself, or to have been what Ave neighbor that which he possesses?' noAv call ordinances. The distinctions ' To ascertain on what occasions and between these two classes of laws are in what places the ecclesiastics and the not, on a close examination, very pre- laity seek, in the manner stated, to im- ciscly marked, but they are perceptible, pedc each other in the exercise of their "6. Instructions given by Charle- respective functions. To inquire and magne to his iitissi, on their departure discuss up to ^^'hat point a bishop or an for the provinces, and designed some- abbot is justified in interfering in secu- times to regulate the personal conduct lar affairs, and a count or other layman of the 77nssi, sometimes to guide them with ecclesiastical affairs. To interro- in their inquiries, very often as simple gate them closely on the meaning of communications to the people in partic- those words of the Apostle, "No man ular districts, which the missi were to that warreth for the law, entangleth convey. Acts of this description, very himself with the affairs of this life." foreign, in part, at all events to our Inquire to whom these words apply.' notions of legislation, are of frequent ' Desire the bishops and abbots to tell occurrence in the capitularies ; articles us truly what is the meaning of the of a totally different nature are some- phrase always in their mouths, " Re- times mixed up with them. nounce the world ;" and by what signs " 7. Answers given by Charlemagne we may distinguish those who have re- to questions addressed to him by the nounced the world from those who still counts or bishops, or missi donunici, on adhere to the world : is it merely that the occasion of difficulties occurring to the former do not bear arms or marry them in the course of their administra- publicly?' 'To ask them farther, tion, and wherein he solves these diffi- whether he is to be considered as hav- culties, which have reference sometimes ing renounced the world whom we sec to matters which we should call legis- laboring, day by day, by all sorts of lative, sometimes to points in executive means, to augment his possessions ; administration, sometimes to private noAv making use, for this purpose, of interests. menaces of eternal flames, noAv of prom- "8. Questions which Charlemagne ises of eternal beatitude; in the name proposed to put to the bishops or counts of God or of some saint despoiling sim- at the next general assembly, and which pie-minded men of their property, to the he had noted down on paper that they infinite prejudice of the lawful heirs, might not, meantime, pass out of his who are, in very many cases, from the recollection. These questions, Avhich misery in Avhich they are thus involved, are among the most curious documents driA^en by their necessities to robbing in the Avhole collection, bear in general and to all sorts of disorders and crimes.' a character of censure and reprimand Clearly such questions as these do not of those to Avhom they are to be address- at all resemble articles of law. ed. I Avill read a fcAV of them to give *'9. Some of the copitula are not you ti practical idea of the liberality even questions, but mere notes, memo- and good sense which characterized the randa of particular things which Char- mind of Charlemagne. My translation lemagne from time to time conceived is literal : ' Hoav does it happen that, the idea of doing, and which he had both on the frontiers and Avith the put down on paper, lest he should forget Gg 46G GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. Ecclesiastical nieiits.^ It was a part of tlie policy of Karl, as it had provisions. i,qq^ gf }^[q anccstors, to conciliate the clergy, not only because of their general intellectual superiority and influence with the people, but because, being inca^^able of transmitting their powers, they might be used as a counterpoise to the secu- thcm. We read, for instance, at the ing diifercnces. I look, for instance, end of the capitula, or instructions to at the capituhiiy rendered in 794 by the the 7nissi dominici in 803, these two ar- assembly of Frankfort, and among the tides : ' Recollect to order that they 54: articles of which it is composed I who send us horses as presents inscribe find: their names on each horse. And so "(Art. 1.) Letters of pardon grant- with dresses that may be sent us from ed to Tassilon, duke of the Bavarians, abbeys. Recollect to order that when- who had revolted against Charlemagne, ever vicarious persons are found doing "(Art. G.) Arrangements for the set- evil, or suffering it to be done, they be tlement of a dispute between the Bishop expelled from their post, and replaced of Vienne and the Archbishop of Aries by others of a better character.' I and others respecting the limits of the could cite many co/j^'iw/rt of this descrip- sees of the Tarentaise, Embrun, and tion. Aix. It sets forth that letters from the " 10. Other articles contain judg- Pope on these matters were read, and ments and briefs of the crown and the that it was determined to consult anew courts, collected evidently for the pur- with his holiness. pose of jurisprudence : thus we read in " (Art. 7.) As to the justification of- a capitulary of the year 803, ' A man fered, and the pardon received, by Bish- had suborned a slave, induced him to op Pierre. kill his two young masters, the one "(Art. 8.) As to the deposition of aged nine, the other eleven, and then the pretended Bishop Gerbod. killed the slave himself, and threw him "(Art. 53.) Charlemagne procures into a ditch. Adjudged, that the said the assent of the assembly of bishops to man pay a ivehrgdd for the boy of nine the Pope's license authorizing him to years old, a double ivehrgeld for the boy retain about his person Bishop Hilde- of eleven, and a treble icehrgeld for the bold as his minister of ecclesiastical af- slave; and undergo, moreover, our ban.' fairs. This is obviously a judicial decree in a " (Art. 54.) He recommends Alcuin particular case, inserted among the ca- to the good wishes and prayers of the pitularies as a precedent in future cases assembly. There is obviously nothing of a similar description. legislative here. "11. We meet, in like manner, with "Thus, at first glance, on the most acts of pure domestic financial adminis- simple examination of the nature of tration, relative to the administration these various acts, and without entering of Charlemagne's own domains, and into any close inspection of their con- which enter into the most minute de- tents, you see how wholly erroneous is tails on this subject. The famous ca- the general, the common idea enter- pitulary De Villis is an example of this, tained of these capitularies ; they con- and there are several other articles of stitute any thing but a code ; they com- the same character scattered through prise any thing but laws." the collection. ^ In this resume I have consulted, " 12. Besides the so various acts I besides the Capitularies themselves, have enumerated, the capitularies con- Sisraondi's brief digest (Hist, des Fran- tain purely political acts, occasional ^ais, t. i., p. 4G0 et scq.\ Lehuerou documents, nominations, recommenda- (Instit. Caroling., t. ii., 1. 2, c. 6), and tioii£i, docisiojis upon personal and pass- Guizot {ubi sup.). Chat. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 467 lar nobles, who kept up an incessant struggle to render their es- tates and privileges hereditary. ^' The bishops, therefore, voted in all the national assemblies; they had introduced into them the usage of Latin, scarcely understood by the lay lords ; they had the habit of speech, and nearly the whole legislation was abandoned to them. Moreover, the monarch and his council- ors believed that they might sanctify their laws by rendering in each capitulary a homage to religion by a repetition of some of its precepts. Nevertheless this, the most prolix part of the laws of Karl, is also the most imperfect. Often they are mere- ly the precepts of the Decalogue, or of Leviticus, which the King of the Franks lays hold of, as if in publishing them anew he gave them a new authority ; often, again, he seeks to incul- cate only the respect which is due to the priests, the churches, and their possessions. One capitulary, put forth at Worms in 803, dispenses the ecclesiastics from military charges, frees them from the obligation of marching to the armies, and places all their property under a special protection."^ If, however, Karl was conciliatory toward the clergy, he was not lax or indulgent. Another capitulary of the same year restricts the privileges granted to the churches as sanctuaries ; it authorizes the count of each province to reclaim from the bishop or abbot any one accused of crime who should take refuge there, in order to ex- amine him ; and it would seem that the intention of the legis- lator was to reduce the churches into a mere shelter for those pursued for private offenses, and not those who were culpable under the sovereign laws of the state.^ Other laws made the payment of nones and tithes obligatory, and provided for the repairs of the churches ; others guaranteed the free election of bishops by the clergy ; others restricted their judicial authority to special ecclesiastical cases ; and others were meant to correct and improve their manners, and teach them sobriety and dis- cretion.^ The constitution of a feudal society is essentially military. Military re-- ^^'^^^ ^^ Karl's rcgulatious of the mode in which each Illations. Frank contributed to the defense of the country, how he must march when the herrban was published, or be punish- 1 Sismondi (uln sup.). ' Ibid., t. i., §§ 2, 3, p. 387. ' Balnze (Capit., t. i., p. 405). 468 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. ed when lie failed in tlie duty, we get a glimpse of social life, of the quality of the persons called to the service, and as to the relations of the service to the possession of lands. ^ Wars were still of two kinds, private and public {fehcl and wehr) ; and though Karl had made some efforts to repress feuds, he found them too inveterately rooted in the national habitudes of the Germans to be eradicated; he allowed and licensed them, but circumscribed their sphere.^ The vassals of a lord were obliged to follow him in every expedition, whether on his own account or that of the nation ; but the emperor had a superior right to their services. With the Germans of Tacitus the summer was the peculiar season of military operations, the winter that of repose or festivity, and this distinction was still observed. When the month of May arrived, the prince sent forth his han, addressed to all his officers, counts, bishops, and abbots, ap- pointing a general rendezvous, and ordering them to repair thither with their men, and the proj^er equipments and provi- sions. This was immediately repeated by the counts and others, each in his own district, to all the warriors in his allegiance. Originally, in Germany, every freeman was bound to march when the chief thus gave the signal ; but after the long settle- ment in Gaul, and society had assumed more of a fixed order, it was found that the small proprietors and cultivators of the soil could not well endure the loss of time and the expenses inci- dent to military expeditions. Under Karl, therefore, though the holder of a benefice or fief was, of course, compelled to serve, since military and court service were among the essential con- ditions of the grant, certain categories and distinctions were yet made as to the mode in which each should contribute to the common charges of war. The proprietor or holder of three or more mansi (a manse being about twelve acres) must attend the host personally ; he who had but two 7??a?i^2 joined to another of the same class to furnish forth a third, who had but one manse, as a soldier.^ It was obligatory on all who repaired to the army to bring with them "the arms, utensils, and other in- ' Sismondi (?/6r 5y/?.). Changes, however, were made from ^ Comp. Capit, Aquisgi'an, ad Ann. time to time in these requirements. 813, with Capit. de Theodonis, ad Ann. Lehuerou (Inst. Carl., t. ii., p. 432 ei 805. seq.). ^ Capitularies, ad Ann. 807, c. 2. Chap. XVIL] GEEMAK GAUL. 469 struments of war, together with subsistence for three months, and clothing for six, so that each knight should have his shield, lance, sword, two-handed sword, his bow and quiver of arrows."^ In case any one who was liable to duty refused to appear at the summons of his chief, he was condemned to a forfeit of sixty solidi of gold, or, if he was unable to pay it, to slavery till his friends or death discharged the debt.^ If the refractory person chanced to be a count, he lost his office ; and if a vassal, his ben- efice ; while abbots and abbesses who retained near them more servitors than were needed were deposed.^ Nothing was more novel or peculiar in the legislation of MiasiDo- K^'i^rl than his institution of imperial deputies, called n"°icL Missi Dominici^ who were regularly sent forth from the palace to oversee and inspect the various local administrations. Consisting of a body of two or three officers each, one of whom was always a prelate, they visited the counties every three months, and held there the local assizes, or 'pladia minora. In the provinces the agents of the emperor were of two kinds : first, dukes, counts, vicars, hundreders, and scabini, who were resident magistrates, charged to raise forces, to render justice, to maintain order, and to receive tribute ; and, second, vassals or beneficiaries, who held from the emperor, sometimes heredit- arily and sometimes for life, but generally without stipulation or rules, estates or domains in which they exercised certain domestic jurisdictions. Over both of these the Mlssi maintain- ed a periodical supervision, being empowered to enter into their possessions, inspect the state of them and the state of their ac- count, detect abuses, and indicate reforms. Even religion and morals were not exempted from this scrutiny; and when the Missi returned, they made a faithful report of the results of their researches to the emperor.* They may be said to have been the eyes with which he watched the complicated aflairs of his realm. The Capitular ^^ to thc cxactitudc of Karl in every part of his De viiiis. administration, the capitular entitled De Villis is often ^ Karl. M. Encyclica de Placita Gen- ^ Capit., ad Ann. 812, §§ 4 and S. erale Habendo, ad Ann. 80G. * Capit., ad Ann. 802, §§ 1 and 2,s ; 2 The fine, however, was adapted to Chron. Moissiac, ad Ann. 802 ; Gui- the circumstances of the ofiender by zot, ubi sup. other statutes (Lehuerou, ubi sup.). 470 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. cited. It related to the management of liis numerous farms, and entered into the minutest details of agricultural and domes- tic life. "We wish," said the master of Europe, "that the farms we have acquired for our own use should be absolutely at our own disposal, and not at that of any of our subjects, so that our family may be independent, and no one be able to re- duce it to poverty." Accordingly, his own orders, and those of the queen, or of such stewards as they should appoint, were alone to be regarded by the occupants. He showed how the products of the vines should be transported to his palaces for his yearly consumption; what trees, fruits, and vegetables should be cultivated, specifying even his favorite flowers, the lily, the rose, the heliotrope, the iris, etc. ;^ how the forests should be treated, how the mills should be made profitable, how the stalls for the cattle should be cared for, how the fish- ponds should be inclosed and the fish caught out of them sold, how any superfluity of hen's eggs should be disposed of for his benefit, and how the business of the bakeiies and the kitchens should be carried on. A strict account of every utensil was to be kept, "so that we may have a precise knowledge of what we possess," said the emperor. Such traits of economy and vigilance evince the largeness of his nature, which grasped all the interests of life, and the versatility of a mind capable at once of organizing the vastest warlike enterprises and the smallest domestic labors ; but they had another object, doubt- less, than the mere right ordering of his own personal domains. He was a centre of influence in every respect, and the example he set, even in the cultivation of his gardens, if followed by his numerous leudes, might become a means of introducing those orderly habits which are the germs of higher civilization. Perhaps, however, none of the regulations of Karl cast more Miscciianeoua hght ou the couditiou of socicty in his time than regulations. ^|^^ miscellaueous edicts in which he strove to stem the prevailing ignorance, disorder, and barbarism, and to lift his contemporaries — not without showing how much he still had in common with them — to his own intellectual and moral level. * Karl's cnurneration of plants, me- cient agriculture, and shows that the dicinal, culinary, and ornamental, is a variety of field and garden products was precious document for the history of an- nearly as great then as it is now. Chap. XVII.] GEEMAN GAUL. 471 Sorcerers and magicians were severely dealt with unless they re- canted their errors ; adulterers, excommunicates, persons of vile condition, serfs, and slaves, could not be witnesses in courts ; various superstitions — among the rest, the baptism of bells — were forbidden ; drunkenness was prohibited ; the nuns and abbesses were enjoined not to write love-letters nor cause them to be written ; the bishops not to keep hounds, or hawks, or falcons, nor entertain wandering minstrels (jongleurs?) ; lepers were sequestered from the rest of the people ; a poor-rate was provided for mendicants ; in times of famine, fixed prices were set on commodities ; various sumptuary regulations appear, and generous liberality was enjoined upon all in the entertainment of pilgrims. The emj)ire of Karl shone with great splendor externally ; Karl's la.-t ten it enioved somc deoree of prosperitv and peace years A.D. 803- . . . x i j i 813. ' ■ ' within ;^ but, in spite of all his efforts, it was but too evidently a forced union of incompatible elements. Many disasters had been suppressed, many enemies subdued, much new life infused into the mass of society, but the condition was still feverish, fretful, and uncertain.^ With the Eastern court, on the deposition of Irene by Nicephorus (802), Karl had con- cluded a treaty, which secured him Istria, Liburnia, and Dal- matia, but Venice was left under the nominal supremacy of Byzantium, to become a future source of trouble. In 806, John and Maurice, the doges of that city, refused to recognize the government of Pippin, and were supported in their revolt by Paul, Duke of Zara, in Dalmatia, and Nicephorus, the Emperor of the East, who sent a fleet of Greek corsairs to cruise in the Adriatia ISTor was it till 810 that peace was measurably re- stored.^ With Haroun-al-Paschid, the great calif of the East- ern Mussulmans, Karl exchanged embassies and presents,* but the Mussulmans of Spain and Africa incessantly harassed his coasts, and made destructive descents upon Corsica and Sar- ^ On the interior disorders of Karl's * The chroniclers speak with a garni- empire, see Schmidt (Hist, des Alle- lous simplicity of admiration of the el- mands, t. ii., pp. 45-40). ephants, a wheel-clock, the fine stuffs, ^ See the capit, of 811 against the the spices, and other munificent pres- various oppressions of the counts, bish- ents, by which they supposed Haroun ojjs, hundreders. Bouquet, t. v., p. 682. had almost drained the East of its 3' Sigonius (De Reg. Ital., t. iv.). wealth. 472 GERMAIT GAUL. [Book IV. dinia, and the other islands of the Mediterranean. Ludwig, of Aquitain, in the course of a few years, lost and recovered, and lost and recovered again, his possessions in the Spanish March.' K Karl also received the submission of Theodore, the Khan of the Huns, who had been converted to Christianity, and through whom the Church was established among the people, he was by their means involved in a war with their neighbors the Bo- hemians. His eldest son, Karl, spent the year 805 in a combat with this new enemy, in which he was successful, but not with- out experiencing severe losses.^ Even the Saxons, who had not yet forgotten their ancient feuds, were still so turbulent that they could only be subdued by a violent uprooting of the na- tion. In 804 ten thousand of them were transplanted from their natal soil to that of Caul and Italy, and those that re- mained were treated as strangers in their own country, and shorn of their rights of property.^ Some of them, however, escaped into Denmark, and brought upon the Franks the most furious and formidable foe they had encountered for some years. Godfried, King of the Danes, rallying to his standard the chosen warriors of Scandinavia, and all the fugitive Sax- ons, overran the territories of the Abotrites, allies of Karl, in 808, and again, in 810, descended upon Friesland with a fleet of two hundred sail. The Frisons, defeated in three battles, submitted to tribute. Karl put himself once more at the head of his armies, caused a fleet to be built, raised walls and fortifi- cations along the menaced coasts, and prepared to repulse the invaders with something of his ancient vigor. Godfried's as- sassination by one of his own people alone prevented an ob- stinate and sanguinary war (811).* The same year he dispatch- ed troops beyond the Elbe against the Livonians, who had in some way offended ; into Pannonia, to terminate the quarrels of the Huns and Schlaves; and into Brittany, "to chastise the perfidy of the inhabitants."^ On all sides he was threatened, ^ These skirmishes are narrated, Nord Liude (Angrivarians), the West- often from Arabic sources, by M. Re- phalians and Ostphalians continuing ncaud (Invasion des Sarrazans en to be submissive. Annal. Loiseliani, France, ed. Paris, 1836), and also by Mettens., Einhardi, Fauricl (Hist, do la Gaul. Me'rid., tt. * Annal. Loiseliani up to 807; after iii., iv.). that, Einhard and Chron, Moissiac. = Annal. Tiliani, Loiseliani, et caet. * Einhard (Annal., ad Ann. 811). 2 This applies, however, only to the Chap. XVH.] GERMAN GAUL. 473 and yet on all sides Ms resources and energy were sufficient to maintain or acquire peace. ^ In these expeditions Karl took little personal part ; lie was Division of the now approacliing the threescore years and ten which iS?i'?so™,''a° is the appointed term of man's life ; the infirmities D. soG-^ii. ^£ ^g^ were creeping over him ; and domestic sor- rows, as well as public calamities, had turned his thoughts upon the possible future of his immense dominion. Calling his leudes together (806), he read to them his will, which he caused them to confirm by their oaths, and the Pope also to subscribe. It gave to Ludwig, in addition to his kingdom of Aquitain, a large part of Neustria, Southern Burgundy, and Provence ; to Pip- pin, Italy, Bavaria, apart of Alemannia, and some countries on the Upper Rhine ; and to Karl, Austrasia, and all the rest of his dominion, which now was called Frankenland, or Francia. This was a division which differed from the usual divisions of the Merovings in that it consulted the conveniences of geog- raphy and race. Nothing, however, was said of the transmis- sion of the imperial dignity, nor of the sovereignty of the city of Rome.^ It was simply provided that in the event of the death of any of the brothers leaving a son, that son should be chosen to his place if the people approved. In case of a dis- pute between them, they were enjoined to decide it by " the trial of the cross, "^ and not by combat. With a sad and pro- phetic fear, he adds, "As to our grandchildren, born or to be born, we forbid our sons expressly from putting them to death, mutilating them, or cropping their hair by force, or, if they are accused, without examination and discussion."'^ By a subse- quent testament (811), he divided his movable property into three parts, two of which were destined as a fund for the poor ^ I have passed rapidly over these provision for the maintenance of that later events because they do not seem dignity. to me necessary to be described in de- ^ The trial of the cross was an or- tail. deal which is not clearly explained. ^ The omission of Eome from the See, however, Ducange in Gloss. (Ju- will is made an argument by those who dicium Crucis). deny that the emperor exercised sov- * Charta Divisionis Imperii, apud ereign power in the city of the Pope. Boiiquet, t. v., p. 771. Karl's daugh- Gosselin (Temp. Power of Pope, t. i., tors were also liberally provided for, and p. 260). But by a similar logic it they might choose with which brother might be shown that Karl did not sup- tlicy would live, if they did not marry pose himself emperor, since he made no or enter a convent. 474 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. of his metropolitan cities ; and the other to other poor, his chil- dren, and his servants of the palace.^ But his children did not all live to enjoy these benefactions ; his son Pippin died in 810 ; and Karl, his eldest, the following year ; so that Ludwig alone was left to inherit his power. Profoundly saddened by the inroads of death in his family, Ludwig associ- aud feclins^ more and more the advances of agfe, and ated to the em- i • p i p pile, A. S13. not unapprehensive of the fate of his empire, Karl re- solved to associate his son in the administration of the govern- ment. To a great assembly of his lords and bishops, held in the church of Aix-la-Chapelle, he communicated his intention and desire. They approved his scheme with loud shouts. Invested with the imperial robes, and wearing the imperial crown, Karl took the hand of Ludwig, and advanced with him toward the altar, on which another crown was laid. They knelt and prayed devoutly together, and then rising, Karl addressed his son in words full of solemnity and tender solicitude. '' The rank, my son," he said, "to which Almighty God hath this day raised you, compels you more than ever to revere the Sovereign Maj- esty, to love his excellencies, and to observe faithfully all his or- dinances and commandments. In becoming an emperor, you become the father and protector of his Church. On you chiefly will depend the good order and purity of his ministers and peo- ple. Though you be their master, consider them as your breth- ren ; treat them as your friends, even as the members of your family ; make yourself happy in advancing and securing their happiness. Fear not to employ justice and the authority with which you are clothed to humble and restrain the wicked. Be the refuge and the consolation of the poor. Make choice of governors and judges who fear God, and whose spirit is above partiality and corruption ; and beware of ever suspecting easily the integrity and good behavior of those whom you have once honored with offices of dignity and trust. Study to live and reign unblamably before God and man, remembering the ac- count you must finally give to the Sovereign Ruler and Judge of all." Out of his own heart and life Karl spake thus, amid the plaudits of all who heard him, when he directed Ludwig to lift the crown from the altar and put it on his head, in token ^ Einhard (Vit. Karl. Mag., c. 33), who gives the will at length. Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 475 that he received and held it from God alone. After partaking of the sacrament together, Karl tottered on the arms of his son in the procession which moved toward the palace.^ The last years of his life, though he did not withdraw entire- Kari'3 iiinesa ly from thc carcs of government, Karl spent in hunt- anddeath, A. . " ' r i>. S14. mg — an amusement of which he was passionately fond — in religious devotions, and in correcting the Greek texts of the Gospels. In the month of January (814), as he came from the bath, he was seized with a violent fever, and took to his bed. Steadily refusing nourishment, as was his wont when ill, in order to triumph over the disease, he declined from day to day. The anxiety of his people caused them to discern in the common accidents of the time the fatal presages of his death. The sun and moon were eclipsed, the palace shaken by an earth- quake, the great bridge of Mentz burned, and the portico of the church crumbled, in monition of his departure. On the 28th of the month, seven days after he was seized, having partaken of the holy communion, crossed his arms on his breast, and ex- claimed, "Now, Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit," he died. His body, solemnly washed and embalmed, was intomb- ed on the same day in the basilica he had himself founded at Aachen. He was placed on a chair, in a sitting posture, with a golden sword on one side, a golden Gospel in his hand, and a diadem of gold, in which the wood of the cross was inserted, on his head. Over the imjDcrial robes hung the pilgrim's scrip, which he used to wear on his visits to Eome, and before him lay the shield which Pope Leo had blessed. They wrote on his tomb, " Here reposes the body of Karl, the great and orthodox emperor, who gloriously enlarged the kingdom of the Franks, and governed it happily for forty-seven years."^ " No one can tell," says a monk, " the mourning and sorrow that his death occasioned every where, so that even the Pagans wept him as the father of the world."^ Well might the world have wept, for the bravest and noblest soul that it then knew was gone 'from it forever. ^ Thegan (Vit. Ludovici Pii). This 46). His work, though short, is one of Thcgan was a Frank, Chorbishop of the principal monuments of the epoch. Treves, who died abont 845. Dom. = Einhard (Vit. Karl. Mag., ?'n./in?.). Rivet (Hist. Litt. de Prance, t. v., p. ^ Monach. Engolismensis,apud Bou- quet, t. v., p. 186. 476 GERMAK GAUL. [Book IV. In figure Karl was tall and robust, but well proportioned.^ Person and man- Tlie top of his head was rouud ; his eyes large and nei-B of Karl. piercing ; his nose a little long ; his neck short ; his countenance open and lively ; and, whether standing or sitting, he exhibited rare dignity and command of presence. He walk- ed with a firm step ; was an excellent rider in a nation of ri- ders ; surpassed all his fellows in swimming ; while his health, up to the last four years of life, had scarcely been broken. In his tastes, both in dress and eating, he was remarkably simple, preferring the rude costumes of his fathers to the robes and or- naments of the Koman fashion, and plain meats and drinks to costly viands or exquisite wines. He detested drunkenness. His conversation was eloquent and appropriate, though his voice was too thin for his size, and Einhard intimates that he talked too much. He was in general serious, but had a certain child- like glee in him, and now and then gave way to jests and even practical jokes. Once he forced a company of his nobles, who were too superfinely dressed, to follow him to a hunt through sleet, and mire, and brambles, till their silks and satins were all torn and bedraggled, and afterward to sit through their dinner in that plight. At another time he conspired with a Jew to palm upon a bishop, who was an extravagant virtuoso in speci- mens of natural history, a curiously -preserved rat, as a wonder- ful product of some distant country.^ A favorite amusement of his, showing the familiarity and good-humor of his conduct, was to contend with his friends and soldiers, two or three hund- red at once, in a swimming-match. Toward his friends he was generous, toward his enemies placable, and to his children only too affectionate. His daughters, whom he caused to be instruct- ed in the liberal arts as well as the use of distaff and needle, and whom he kept with him both at home and on his journeys, did not gratefully repay the kindness of the paternal heart.^ ^ Seven times the length of his own rider and his horse ; his meals were foot, says Einhard. Gaillard fixes his only less than those of Gargantua's, as stature at five feet nine inches, French, described by Rabelais. or about six feet one inch English ^ The Monk of St. Gall, Avho is a measure. The romancers make him good deal of a gossip, gives other in- eight feet high, endowed with prodig- stances of his practical joking, ious strength, and an appetite equal ^ Karl had six sons and eight daugh- to his force. With one stroke of his ters ; of the daughters, two of them had good sword Joyeuse he cut asunder a children, but not husbands. One was Chap. XVII.] GERMAN GAUL. 477 Nor was his own conduct always exemplary. He was a saint only in the calendar. After having married four wives, he took to illicit connections.^ One of the first duties of his son, on his accession to the throne, was to purify the purlieus of his palace from brawlers, minstrels, and improper women.^ Vigilant as Karl was, he could not prevent the license of his retainers ; yet in his edicts he was extremely severe in the denunciation and punishment of every form of vice, and it can not be doubted that he cherished a genuine regard for morality — not that which consists in the decorous observance of external forms, but in a deep, inward love of truth and goodness. His piety, though colored by the peculiar superstitions of the times, was sponta- neous, sincere, and earnest. In an age of ignorance and bar- barism, he clung to every thing that made for the advancement of mankind. His appreciation of intellectual men ; his constant personal supervision of his schools ; his efforts to improve him- self in knowledge ; his delight in literature, evinced by collect- ing the old sagas of his nation, by his reading of the classic authors, and his corrections of the texts of Scrii^ture ; and his zeal for the introduction of music, architecture, and the more elegant arts into his realm, all show his elevated intelligence and purposes. As a warrior he is known to us rather by the celerity of his Character as movemcuts, and thc greatness of the results he a warrior, achlcvcd, than by any peculiar military endowments. His strategy is unexplained. Critics pretend to discover in his modes of warfare "the art by which a general compensates for the numerical inferiority of his forces to that of his antagonists — the art of moving detached bodies of men along remote and converging lines with such mutual concert as to throw their the mother of Nithard, the historian, wore a kind of morganitic marriages his fisher being a bishop. (Hist, de Franc, t. i., p. 269, ed. Paris, * Einhard says, "After the death of 1770). It confirms this view that no Fastrada he married Luitgarda, by member of the Church is known to have whom he had no children, and when remonstrated against the immorality, she died he took four concubines," but What does Hallam mean when he he does not say whether this was simul- speaks of Karl's " nine wives, whom ho taneously or in succession. Velly de- divorced with little ceremony ?" (Mid- fends his reputation from the charge of die Ages, vol. i., p. 12.) having maintained four women at once, ^ Astronom,, Vit. Ludovici Pii. alleging tliat these later connections 478 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. united powers at the same moment on any meditated point of attack."^ "ISTeither tlie marches of Hannibal nor those of ISTa- j)oleon," says one, "were combined with greater foresight or executed with greater precision than the simultaneous pas- sages of Karl and Bernard across the same mountain ranges, and their ultimate union in the vicinity of their Lombard en- emies."^ He is said, moreover, to have improved, not merely the equipment and discipline of his army, but its entire consti- tution, by which it was more easily brought into the field, and rendered more effective in battle.^ He turned his whole realm into a camp, ready at any time to do military duty. Neverthe- less, it is certain that Karl fought no great and decisive single battles, such as Marathon, Arbela, the Metaurus, Chalons, and Tours, and he conducted few important sieges. But these were not required of him by the peculiar antagonists he had to en- counter, or the circumstances under which they were encounter- ed. His foes were wild tribes principally, dwelling in the extrem- ities of Europe, whose simultaneous revolts demanded for their suppression rather swiftness of movement than skill in strategy. Fifty -three campaigns, in which we see him at the head of his troops, often in the course of the same year, now in the north of Germany, now in Spain, now in Aquitain, now in Hungary, now among the Danes, now among the Beneventins, attest alike his prodigious activity and no less prodigious endurance. Yet his moderation was as remarkable as his energy. With the ex- ception of the massacre of the Saxons, his career as a conqueror was stained by none of those wanton cruelties which seem so inseparable from war. None of his expeditions were undertaken for merely personal ends, to satiate an idle lust of glory or to wreak his revenge upon an enemy. None of them were civil broils, like so many of the wars of the Merovingans, to test the strength of rival factions or further the pretensions of ambitious families. All his subjects were engaged in the prosecution of them, because their objects were national, inspired by funda- mental maxims of policy, and adopted with their own consent at ^ Sir J. Stephen (Lcct. Hist. Franc, and those of the Austrian campaign of p. C7). Bonaparte. * Ibid. Tliicrry finds some analo- ^ AVirtli (Geschichtc der Deutschen, gics in the plans of his Hungarian war 1). i., b. 529). Chap. XVn.] GERMAN GAUL. 479 the malls. When he proposed to the Saxons the savage form- ula "submit or die," he did so in no native love of blood, but in order to extinguish a ferocious and aggressive pagan- ism, whose existence he deemed incompatible with the se- curity or civilization of Europe. The time had come, as he thought, in the history of the world, when, by a wonderful con- currence of circumstances, barbarism might be suppressed in its northern homes ; when the seeds of civil order could be sown broadcast in the waste and fruitless desert ; and a new form and new vigor be imparted to the social life of mankind. If his labors, then, like those of Alexander in Asia or of ISTapo- leon in Europe and Africa, were as bloody as they were gi- gantic, they still assume, in the motives of them, a nobler aspect of humanity. For the policy of Karl throughout his long reign, whether His policy i^ ^^^ or peace, looked to one great end — the render- as a ruler. ^^^ q£ Europc a siuglc and united Christendom. Born in a rude age, bred among turbulent warriors, and cherishing the profoundest reverence for the memory of his Germanic an- cestors, he yet emancipated himself as completely as it is possi- ble for a man to do from the prejudices of race and custom, and devoted his marvelous faculties and unexampled energy of will to the realization of a great scheme of civic improvement. Roman inspirations, it is true, came to his help — inspirations breathed from the remains of those glorious monuments which accosted his mind every where in the south, or taught directly by the ambitious language in which the Church aspired to a spiritual supremacy that should equal or surpass the political supremacy of the Csesars — but in his adoption of the imperial plans he did not blindly imitate the imperial methods. That had been the fatal error of the Merovingans. Karl had ideas of his own. If he borrowed from Rome the great thought of European unity — if, like the emperors, he sought to embrace under a single government the diversified lives and interests of the nations, he, however, in the details of his arrangements, remembering that he was a Grerman and that nations were still nations, endeavored to modify the stringent centralism of Rome by the local independency of Germany. Making himself the centre of his vast government, and putting restraints upon the 480 GEEMAN GAUL. [Book IV. licentious powers of his nobles, he yet left to the different peo- ple S"ubject to his empire their own customs and laws. By the discipline and instructions of the Church, moreover, he hoped to fuse their heterogeneous habitudes into a uniformity of faith and j)ractice, which would prepare them for uniformity of government. Thus, his alliance with the Pope, his generos- ity to the bishops, his sedulous support and encouragement of all religious institutions, were animated as much by comprehen- sive political motives as by ardent piety. But in this scheme, grand and benevolent as it was, Karl was overborne by the tendencies of his times. All the deeper impulses of the nations were toward independence rather than unity ; he could not re- verse or control them : Germany was stronger than Eome, feu- dalism than imperiahsm. The sublimest legislative genius can do no more than arrest for a moment the great currents of so- cial force. Karl did no more. The grand fabric he had reared speedily crumbled into the dust; it had no foundation in the soil ; and, as soon as his plastic genius and powerful hand were withdrawn, there came '*Red ruin and the breaking up of laws, The craft of kindred and the godless hosts Of heathen swarming over northern seas." Chap. XVII I.] GERMAN GAUL. 481 CHAPTER XYni. Dissolution of the Empire of the Franks. (FiioM A.D. 814 TO A.D. 843.) The government of tlie great Karl was too heavy a burden Ludwigthe for any shoulders less broad than his own. All the ^'"'"'' nations, according to the chroniclers, had been proud of the glory of his rule ; but, as soon as he was no more, the enchantment was broken, and thev beo;an to stir with their own natural life. Ludwig,^ his son and successor, now in the thirty- sixth year of his age, and who since his fourth year had been the King of Aquitain, was unequal to the ponderous heritage. Not destitute of martial energy, having worsted the Saracens of the Spanish March in many a well-fought field, ho was yet more of a saint than a king. Like his uncle Karloman, he would willingly have resigned the splendors and troubles of his royal rank for the quiet devotions of the monastery. Gentle, just, generous, and devout, the time which he was not forced to spend in affairs of state, he surrendered to alms-giving and prayer; when the mimes and minstrels, by their wild merri- ment, set the whole court in roars of laughter, he was never seen to smile ; and his tender compassion, his 'eagerness to do iiistice, to riaht the wrong and to restore what had been im- properly taken, reduced him to a poverty which left him noth- ing to give but his blessing.- The advent of this pious monarch was naturally hailed by Hi. .■advent to "ttic clcrgy with some degree of hope ; the nobles, who theemiJiie. |^j^,^ j-^^^^^j-^ ]^gpj^ j^ i]jq\y placcs b}^ the strong hand of Karl, counted for themselves on Ludwig's greater weakness and amiabihty ; and the people, who had been exhausted and oppressed by the frequent wars of the father, expected relief under the more clement reign of the son. But the gratulations were not universal, and the first acts of administration, after his * "From hl/tf, signifying famou?, dus the Black, in liis poem on the glory and «'/", INIars (warrior),'' says Ermol- of Ludwig Pious. ^ Astron., Vit. Ludovici, c. 7. H II 482 GERilAN GAUL. [Book IV- arrival at Aachen on the death of Karl, were earnests of a sharp and vigorous reform. The concubines of his father, and the paramours of his sisters, "with all the losel hangers on of the court, were driven away from it, together with the jDroud j^rel- ates, counselors of the emperor, who had misused their trusts, and a brood of bastard relatives, grandsons and grand-nephews of old Karl Martel, who, as counts and abbots, gathered about the seat of power. ^ An early diet, summoned to the imjoerial palace (August 1st, 814), sent forth into all the realm Missi Do- minici empowered to receive complaints, to investigate wrongs, and to redress all grievances. Many injustices were repaired, many of the oppressed restored to their rights, many freemen, reduced to servitude by force or fraud, enfranchised once more.^ Ludwig's benevolent solicitude extended even to his barbaric dependents, the Saxons and Frisons, whom the rigid politics of Karl had stripped of the right of inheriting their fathers' prop- erties. He placed them on a footing with the other subjects of the empire, and won their eternal gratitude.^ Between the Troubiea in Pop© and his rcfractory people new discords had bro- Kome. -j-gj^ Q^^^ r^^^^ l^g intervened with marked though tran- sient success. Leo III., in punishment of a conspiracy against his life and power, had shown an intolerable severity, and ex- cited the Eomans to a bloody insurrection. His death in the midst of the disturbances, and the unpopular choice of his suc- cessor, Stephen lY. (June, 816), only inflamed the fiery rage of the factions. In the third month of his pontificate Stephen fled to the emperor at Kheims for protection. The awe of the im- perial name assuaged the conflict for a time; the Pope was pardoned the haste with which he had assumed the papal of- fice without the consent of the emperor ; and, in return, con- sented to consecrate him Ca?.sar of the West. '' Peter," said the pontiff, placing the diadem on the head of the monarch, and eager to turn the incident to the advantage of the Church — ''Peter glorifies himself in making thee this present, because thou hast assured him the enjoyment of his just rights."* The weak and gentle character of Ludwig hastened the pro- ^ Astron., Vit. Ludovici, c. 21. * Thegan, Dc Gestis LudoTici, cc. ^ Ermoldi Nigclli Carmen, c. 2. IG-lS; Astvon., Vit. Ludovici, c. 2G ; ' Astron., Vit. Ludovici, (. . 2\. Annal. Einhaid, ad Ann. MO. CiiAP. XVm.] GERMAN GAUL. 483 Tiie imperial clivltv of institutioiis towarcl tlieir fall. The nations constitution, '^ A.D. 817. were growing more impatient of imperial domination. In his anxiety to strengthen the administration, and give j^er- manence to the constitution of the state, he, at a second diet, held at Aachen, proposed to the assembled lords and bishops a division of his estates and the regulation of the succession. After three days spent in religious exercises and prayers for the divine grace, it was resolved that two royal appanages, with the title of king, should be assigned to Ludwig's sons : to Pip- pin, Aquitain, the Basque provinces, the Marches of Toulouse, and four countships in Septimania and Burgundy ; to Ludwig, Bavaria, Bohemia, Carinthia, and the provinces of the Schlaves and Avars ; while the eldest son, Lother, should be associated in the empire, with a right to the undivided sovereignty on the death of the father. Bernhard, son of Pippin, the elder brother of Ludwig, was simply confirmed in the roj^alty of Italy, which he held by an unrevoked grant of his grandfather, Karl the Great. That the unity of the empire, "wonderfully sustained thus far by the favor of God," might never be broken, it was decreed that none of the subaltern kings should make war, conclude peace, surrender a cit}^, contract marriage, or send envoys to foreign lands, without the consent of the em- peror. If either died without heirs, his appanage reverted to the empire, or, if he left more sons than one, the people, with the sanction of the emperor, were to choose which of them they would have for king.^ At the same assembly comprehensive laws for the government of the Church were enacted. The archbishops and bishops were authorized to force the clergy to live together under the rigorous rules of the canonical disci- pline. They were prohibited from bearing arms, from wearing belts of pearls, fine apparel, and gilded spurs, from accepting donations or bequests to the wrong of near relatives, and from persuading youths to receive the tonsure or take the veil with- out the consent of their parents, or admitting unfree men into . holy orders. Monasteries were subjected to the severe rules of Benedict of Aniana, to whom the rules of the elder Bene- dict seemed too lax, and no one was to be enticed into them with a view to appropriating his property. But, in compensa- 1 Einhard, Annal. 484 , GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. tion for these stricter requirements, the clergy were endowed with ampler and more independent powers. The election of bishops was confined to them and the people, to the exclusion of the nobles and even the crown, while the bishops, once in- stalled, were invested with almost autocratic prerogatives. Not only were the inviolable goods of the Church placed at their su- preme disposal, but they might depose or expel priests. Teu- tonic Christianity seemed to be completely in the ascendant. German ambition had seized the princi^Dal places of the Church and gave the impulse to its councils. All the leading eccles- iastics bear German names, and Adalhard of Corbie, Ebbo of Eheims, Agobard of Lyons, Theodulf of Orleans, and Witiza (better known as Benedict of Aniana), are the animating spirits of the times. The imperial constitution of 817 was designed to increase the Revolt of Bera- stabiUt}^ of thc Empire, but it had the effect of stir- hard m Italy, ^.^^-^g ^^p ^j^^ elements of discord. As sons of the emperor, Pippin and Ludwig were dissatisfied with the superi- ority conceded to Lother, so contrary to Germanic usages ; and Bernhard, who was scarcely named in the settlement, broke out into open revolt. Italy, weary of the Frankish lordship, in- dignant at the minor part assigned her, and instigated by her nobles, who were, many of them, descendants of the conquered Lombards, eagerly supported his cause. Pope Paschal, the suc- cessor of Stephen lY., was supposed to be not indifferent to his success, and there were bishops in Gaul that secretly sympathized with the outbreak. Bernhard, with a numerous army, possessed himself of all the passes of the Alps leading into Italy ; but the Italians were not entirely united ; the powerful dukes of Spo- Icto and Friuli clung to the Empire, together with the Bishop of Verona and the Count of Brescia, and thc cause of the king was rendered desperate from the outset. Ludwig gathered his forces at Chitlons-on-the-Saone, only to receive the submission of the impetuous but unhappy nephew. A capital sentence was pronounced by the offended nobles of the Empire against the rebel, which the compassionate interposition of the emperor Hi3 pnnishraent. softcucd iuto imprisonment, with thc loss of his eyes. The penalty, however, was inflicted in so wanton or barbarous a manner that the victim of it perished within three CuAP. XVIII.] GERMAN GAUL. 485 days. His leading followers suffered the same torture, and the prelates who had shown thern favor were conlined to monas- teries. The dominion of Italy passed to Lother, who was crowned as king.^ Thus far the reign of Ludwig had been marked by wisdom Ludwip grows ^i^d energy, and attended by prosperity and splendor, moremoiikish. jf ^]^q remotc vassals revolted, they were vigorously subdued ; if the Normans ravaged the northern coasts, they were repulsed; successive assemblies had confirmed the dis- positions of 817 ; and foreign nations still sent their obsequious embassies to the monarch of the west, the son of the great Karl. Losea his wife. But in 818 Ludwig lost his Avife Hermengarda, and the event touched his mind with a sombre sorrow. His relig- ious feelings assumed a deeper tinge of melancholy and despair. He withdrew more and more from the world, and it was feared that he might resolve to seek the congenial gloom of monastic seclusion. In order to divert his mind and win his affections back to society, his councilors proposed that he should take a second wife. They caused to be brought before him the fairest of all the noble-born women of his realm, when his choice fell Takes a see- tipou Judith, daughter of the Count Welf of Bavaria, oud wife, allied on one side to the Lombards of Italy, and on the other to the Saxons (819). She was possessed of marvel- ous beauty, was young and fascinating in her manners, a skill- ful musician and dancer, and as learned as she was eloquent." Over the monarch she soon acquired an ascendency which made her the actual ruler of the court, if not of his entire do- minions. She could not, however, win him from his devotions and his penances. On the contrary, his temporary lapse into weak human passions seemed to inspire him with more ardent lonMO"s for divine iovs. ''Ho felt that he was diminished, that a virtue had gone out of him."^ His sensitive and morbid conscience brooded over the possible errors of his career ; he condemned himself for the severity that he had practiced toward his nephew Bernhard and the insurgent bishops ; and he urged himself to undergo the humiliations of a public penance. At ' Thegan,Vit. Ludovici, cc. 22, 23; - Astron., c. 32; Thegnn, c. 2G; Nithard, Hist., 1. i., c. 2. Bonqnct, t. vi., pp. ,355, 35G. ^ Michelct, t. ii., 1. i., c. 2. 486 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV. Ludwig'3 pub- an assembly convened at Attignj-on-the-Aisne, as- ^c penance, , g^j^^^^-^g ^-^Q habit of a penitent, he confessed his faults ; he craved the pardon of his sins from the members and of the people ; he supplicated their prayers ; he promised indem- nity to those he accused himself of wronging ; and he distribu- ted abundant alms among the churches.^ There was something profoundly touching in this solemn act of remorse, in this volun- tary humiliation of one, whom no earthly tribunal could reach, before the tribunal of the heavens ; and some contemporaries regarded it as superior in dignity and grandeur to the public penance which Theodosius endured at the command of Am- brose, but the majority of the brutal natures of the time saw in the act the degradation of the royalty and the feebleness of the man. A secret discontent was slowly fermenting against the em- Fiist revolt of peror. The bishops found him irksome as a rival the aon!< of Liid- , , . , , , . wig, A.D. 830. religious authority ; the barons were impatient oi the centralism of the Empire ; and the people were made to despise him, by the stories sedulously spread of the criminal relations of Bernhard, his chamberlain, with the youthful queen. At length, when a son (afterward Karl the Bald) was born to Judith (823), and the emperor made him King of Alemania, a new kingdom formed out of Helvetia and Transjuran Bur- gundy (Switzerland and Suabia), the storm burst (829). Sum- moned to follow the emperor in a war ujDon the revolted Brit- ons, his warriors deserted him and gathered about his sons, who were jealous of the young half brother, or about their separate leaders. Poor Ludwig found himself alone. His rebellious sons and subjects banished the offending Bernhard into Barce- lona, maltreated or killed his relatives, shut up the empress in a convent, and held the emperor himself as a kind of pris- oner of state (830). "Among all his children, that wretched old Lear found no Cordelia." Bother wished to be sole em- peror. "But neither the grandees nor the brothers of Bother," says Reaction. Michelct, " wcrc disposed to submit to him. Weighing emperor against emperor, they preferred Ludwig. The monks, whose cnptivc he was, labored to restore him. The Franks ' Astron., c. .35; Einliard, Annul., ad Ann. .S22. Chap. XVUI.] GERMAN GAUL. 487 perceived that tlie triumpli of the child of Ludwig deprived them of the Empire. The Saxons and the Frisoiis, who owed him their liberty, exerted themselves on his behalf. A diet was assembled at ISTimegnen amid the nations that supported him. 'All Germany flocked thither to the emperor's succor.'^ Lother, in his turn, found himself solitary, and at his father's mercy. Wala, and all the heads of the faction, were condemn- ed to death. The good emperor chose to spare them."^ "Bernhard the Aquitanian, however, being supplanted in the Second revolt, f^^vor of Ludwig by the Monk Gondebald, one of his A.D. 833. liberators, rekindled the war in the south, and ex- cited Pippin to action. The three brothers plotted together anew. Lother brought with him the Italian Gregory lY., who excommunicated all those who should disobey the King of Italy. The armies of the father and of the sons met in Al- sace. The latter made the Pope speak, and exerted some un- known means by night. In the morning, the emperor, seeing himself abandoned by a part of his followers, said to the rest, ' I will not have any one die for me.'^ The theatre of this shameful scene was called the Field of Falsehood." " Lother, having become again the master of the person of Ludwig, determined to put an end to the matter at once, and to finish his father. This Lother was a man who did not recoil from bloodshed. He caused one of Bernhard's brothers to be butchered, and he had his sister thrown into the Saone,* but he dreaded public execration if he laid parricidal hands upon Lud- wig. He conceived the design of degradmg him by imposing on him a public penance so humiliating that he never afterward could raise his head. Lother's bishops laid before the prison- er a list of crimes of which he was to avow himself guilty. First upon the list was the death of his nephew (he was innocent of it); then the perjuries to which he had exposed the people by the new divisions of the Empire ; then his having waged war in Lent ; then his having been too severe toward the par- tisans of his sons (he had saved them from death) ; then his having allowed Judith and others to justify themselves by oaths; sixthly, his having exposed the state to murders, pil- ' Astron., c. 45. ' Thegan, c. 42. ' Ibid., L-. 4G ' Il>iJ-, c. 52. 488 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV lages, and sacrilege, by exciting general war; seventh!}^, his having excited those civil wars by arbitrary divisions of the Empire ; lastly, his having ruined the state, which it was his duty to defend."^ " When the absurd confession was read in the church of St. Mddard at Soissons, poor Ludwig disputed nothing. He signed the whole, humbled himself as much as they pleased, confessed himself thiice guilty, wept, and demanded permission to do public penance in reparation of the scandals he had caused.^ lie put off his military baldric, donned the haircloth, and in this miserable, humbled, degraded plight, his son led him away to the capital of the Empire, to Aachen, the same city in which Charlemagne had formerly caused him to assume the crown upon the altar.' '^ '' The parricide thought that he had killed Ludwig, but a huge Keactinn again, P^ty arosc in the Empire. That people, itself so A.D. 834. wretched, found tears for its old emperor. Men told each other with horror, how the son had kept him at the altar weeping, and sweeping the dust with his white hairs ; how that second Ilam, exposing his father's nakedness to the scoffs of the multitude, had searched out his father's sins ; how he had drawn up his confession — and what a confession ! filled from end to end with calumnies and lies. It was the Archbishop Ebbo, the fellow-student of Ludwig and his foster-brother, one of those sons of serfs whom he loved so much,* who had plucked off his baldric and had clothed him in haircloth. But, in taking from him the girdle and the sword, in divesting him of the costume of the tyrants and the nobles, they had made him appear to the people as one of the people, as a saint and as a man, and his histor}^ was none other than that of Adam in the Bible. His Eve had ruined him, or, if you will, one of those daughters of the giants who in Genesis seduced the children of God. Again, in this marvelous example of suffering and patience, in this man insulted and spit upon and blessing all those who heaped him with outrages, the people thought they beheld the antitype * Acta Exaiictorationis Lud. Pii., ^ Cliron. Moissiac, ap. Scr. Rer. ap. Scr. Tier. Fr., vi., 245. Fr., v., 83. Mbid., 246. * Thcgnn. c. 44; Astron., c. 4; Mon. S. Gall., iv., 31. CiiAP. XVIII.] GERMAK GAUL. 489 of Job's patience, or ratHer an image of the Savior. No detail had been lacking, neither the vinegar nor the wormwood." *' Thus the old emperor found himself raised up again bj the very depth of his degradation ; every body recoiled from the parricide. Abandoned by the grandees (834-5), and now no longer able to seduce his father's partisans,^ Lothcr fled to Italy. Himself in ill health, he saw all the heads of his party die in the course of one summer (SoG). The Bishops of Amiens and Troyes, his father-in-law Hugues, Counts Matfricd and Lambert, Agimbert de Perche, Godfreid and his son Borgarit, prefect of his chases, and a multitude of others.^ Ebbo, de- posed from the sec of Kheims, passed the rest of his days in ob- scurity and exile. Wala retired to the monastery of Bobbio, near the tomb of St. Colomban. A brother of St. Arnulf of Metz, the ancestor of the Karlingans, had been abbot of that monastery. lie died there the very year in which so many of his party perished, exclaiming every moment, 'Why was I born a man of quarrel, a man of discord?'^ This grandson of Karl Martcl, this political monk, this factious saint, this harsh, "* fiery, passionate man, shut up by Karl the Great in a monastery, then become his counselor, and afterward almost King of Italy under Pippin and Bernhard, had the misfortune to associate a name till then unblemished, with the parricidal revolts of the sons of Ludwig." "Ludwig the Pious, however, swayed by the same counsels, Third revolt of did just what was likely to renew the revolt, and to ^e sons, . ^^^^^^ ^-g £j^|2 again. On the one hand, he summon- ed his grandees to restore to the churches^ the estates they had usurped. On the other hand, he diminished the portion of his eldest sons, who, it is true, had very well deserved this, and he endowed at their expense the son of his choice, the son of Judith, Karl the Bald. The sons of Pippin who had just died were despoiled. Ludwig the German was reduced to the pos- session of Bavaria alone; every thing was divided between Bother and Karl. The old emperor is reported to have » Nithardi Historiac, i., 4, ap. Scr. " Jh'id., passm. Fr. vii. 12. ^ Annal. Beitiniani, Ann. Sf.?, ap. =' Astron., c. 50. Scr. Fr., yi., 198; Astron., c. 53. ' Acta SS. Ord. S. Bened. , § 4, p. 463. 490 GERM AIT GAUL. [Book IV. said to the former, 'Here, my son, is the whole realm before thine eyes ; divide it, and Karl shall choose ; or if thou wilt choose, we will divide.' Lother took the east, and Karl was to have the west. Liidwig of Bavaria took up arms to hinder the execution of this treaty, and, by a strange mutation, the father on this occasion had France upon his side, and the son had Ger- many. But old Ludwig sank under the sorrow and distresses of this new war. 'I pardon Ludwig,' he said, 'but let him look to himself, he who, despising Grod's law, has brought down his father's white hairs to the grave.' ^ The emperor died at In- gelheim, in an island of the Ehine, near Mentz,^ in the centre of the Empire, and the unity of the Empire died with him."^ On receiving news of the death of his father, Lother, who Lother asserts was lu Italv, scut messensfcrs amono; all the Franks his rights to ^ ^ " *^ the empire, to anuounce that he was about to take possession of the empire, arid to require an oath of fidelity from its sub- jects, but promising, at the same time, that he would pre- serve to each man his honors and benefices. Many leudes hastened to accept the terms, and declared themselves the par- tisans of the young monarch ; but two distinct tendencies op- posed his renewal of the factitious unity of the empire : the first and most powerful, the instinctive disposition of different regions to gather into separate nationalities, and the second, the ambition of great individuals to reign as sovereigns on their own independent estates. The younger sons of Ludwig Pious became the nucleus, to a certain extent, of the nationalizing impulse. Karl collected about him Neustria and a strong par- ty in Aquitain, while Lu.dwig, the Germanic, was the acknowl- edged leader of Bavaria and the German tribes. Pippin the Second, son of Pippin of Aquitain, made a show of authority in the domains of his father, where he was aided by Lother, whose aspirations to the empire he in turn supported. All the nations of the west were soon involved in the quarrels of the brothers, which were also their own quarrels. Karl and Lud- wig, having a common interest in resisting the pretensions of Lother, joined their forces, and challenged him to submit their ' Astron., G4. dalbertus, in Martyrol., ap. Scr. Fr., ^ Nithardi, i., 8; Astron., 64; Wan- vi., 71. ^ Michelet, 1. ii., c. 2, Kelly's trans. Chap. XVIII.] GERMAN GAUL. 491 dififerences to the judgment of God, or, in other words, to the arbitration of battle. At length their armies met near the little village of Fonianetum (Fontainelles), in the neighborhood of Anxerre. It is conjectured that one hundred and fifty thousand troops Battle of Fon- were collccted on each side, althouo;h nothino' defin- 841. ite can be known as to numbers. Lother, who had not yet been joined by Pippin II., delayed the encounter by vari- ous expedients. Karl and Ludwig themselves were not over anxious to proceed to extremes, and sent deputies to their brother, more than once, to propose an amicable division of the estates of their father. Lother prevaricated. Weary at last of his constant evasions, the brothers gave orders to try the issue. On the morning of the 25th of June, the combat opened along the whole line of the masses of men drawn up in front of each other. Nearly all the people that had been sub- ject to the great Karl were represented in the frightful con- flict: the Italians and Austrasians, with some Aquitanians, fought for Lother, and the Grermans, the Neustrians, the Bur- gundians, and other Aquitanians, for Ludwig and Karl. The struggle was bloody and obstinate, and for more than six hours the victory seemed undecided. Lother finally withdrew, leav- ing forty thousand dead on the field of battle ;^ an equal num- ber fell on the side of the brothers ; and the victors themselves were consternated by the horrible cost of their victory. All the flower of the Frankish nobility were destroyed, says the annalist, so that they were no longer able to repulse the in- roads of the Saracens and Northmen.^ The allied brothers, in their fright at the havoc committed by their own hands, appeal- ed to the priests to know what they should do. The men of the church reassured their consciences by declaring that as they had appealed to the judgment of God, the result might be re- garded as his decision ; that no one who, either by word or ac- tion, had befriended them was guilty of sin ; and that all that ^ Nithard, the best authority for rary (Agnelli Ravcnn. Liber Pontifica- these times, and who was engaged in lis, apud Script. Rerum Italicar., t. ii., this battle, says nothing of the numbers p. 185). engaged or killed. The statements in ^ Annal. Mettens. ; Annal. Bcrtini- the text are taken from an Italian ani ; Nithard (Hist., 1. ii., c. 10). writer, who was, howeA'er, a contempo- 492 GEEMAIT GAUL. [Book IV. was needed was a fast of three days to secure the remission of the sins of the dead and a continuance of the divine assistance. Lother having withdrawn into Aachen, next made his way among the Saxons, while Ludwig repaired to Bavaria, and Karl to Aquitain, The interval of a year was passed in preparations for another The oath at coutcst. Lothcr was unwilling to abide by the judg- A.D.'sV2.^' ment of God; and, in his desperation, made common cause with the Saxon serfs {lazzi) and freemen {freilingi) against their nobles (edelingi), suffering them to return to their ancient idolatries, and even promising them grants of land. On the other hand, Ludwig and Karl strengthened their alliance, and appealed to the people of their respective dominions. "You know," they said, "how many times since the death of our father, Lother has endeavored to destroy us. Neither brotherhood, nor Christianity, nor any other means, has been able to maintain justice between us or preserve peace. As a last resort we ap- pealed to the will of God, and became victors. We might have pursued our brother, but in pity to the Christian people as well as himself, we did not ; we only asked to be allowed to govern our realms in quiet. This he has refused ; he visits our lands with fire and sword ; and we are compelled to band together, as of old, against a common enemy." By the 14th of February of the next year (842), the brothers collected in the environs of Argentaria (Strasbourg) a considerable army, before which, after repeating the addresses they had made to the people, they pro- nounced an oath of mutual friendship and fidelity. That it might be understood by all, the solemn adjuration was repeat- ed, not in the usual language of all treaties and councils, the Latin, but in the popular speech of Gaul and Germany. The King of the Germans spoke in the Eomance tongue, as it was called, a peculiar mixture of Keltic, Latin, and German; and the King of the Franci or Gauls, in the Tudesque or German.^ Ludwig, as the eldest of the brothers, read his obligation the first. "Pro Don amur, et pro Christian poblo, et nostro commun sal- vamento, dist di in avant, in quant Deus savir et podir me du- ^ Xitharcl (Hist., 1. iii., c. r») writes Jifanoires, by Guizot, there is a/ac sim- in Latin, but gives these oaths in the eVe of his writing, original dialects. In the Collection des Chat. XVIU.] GERMAN GAUL. 49 o nat, si salvareio cist meon fradre Karlo et in adjudha, et in cad- huna cosa, si cum om per dreit son fradre salvar dist, in o quid il mi altre si fazet. Et ab Ludher nul plaid numquam prindrai, qui mcon vol cist mco fradre Karle, in damno sit." Ludwig liaving sworn, Karl repeated the oath in German : "In Godes minna indum tes christianes folches, ind unser bedhero gehalt- nissi, fon thesemo dage frammordes, so fram so mir Got gewi- zei indi madh furgibit so hald in tesan minan bruodher soso man mit rehtu sinan bruder seal, inthui thaz er mig soso ma duo ; indi mit Lutheren inno kleinnin thing ne geganga zhe minan vvillon imo ce scadhen vverhen."^ A confirmatory oath was then uttered by the people, each in its vernacular. The Franci said, "Si Lodhuvigs sagrament que son fradre Kar- lo jurat, conservat, et Karlus meos sendra de suo part non los tanit, si io returnar non lint pois, ne io ne nuels cui eo returnar int pois, in nulla adjudha contra Lodhuwig nun lin iver." The Germans repeated, " Oba Karl then eid then er sineno bruod- her Ludhuwige gessuor geleistit, ind Ludhuwig min herro then er imo gesuor forbrihchit, ob ina ih nes irrwenden ne mag, nah ih, nah thero, noh hein then ih es irrwenden mag, vrindhar Karle imo ce follusti ne wirdhit."- In the Eomance form of this oath, we have the earliest monument of the tongue out of which the modern French was formed. The people of the West had come to be divided, with more and more distinctness, into two classes, those composed of Franks and Germans, who still adhered to the Teutonic dialects, and those, composed of Franks, Gallo ■ Romans, and Aquitanians, who used the Ro- mance dialects, or the patois which had gTown out of a cor- rupted Latin. The former clung to the name of Germans, while the latter, not to lose all share in the glory of the Frank- * This is in English. "For the love ' The English is as follows: "If of God and for the Christian people, and Liidwig keep the oath which he has our common safety, from this day for- sworn to his brother Karl, and if Karl, ward, and as long "as God shall give me my lord, on his part does not keep it, understanding and power, I will sup- if I can not bring him back to it— and port my brother Karl here })resent, by neither I nor any others can bring him aid and in every thing, as it is right that back to it, I will aid him in nothing one should support "one's brother, so against Ludwig now or ever." The long as he shall do the same for me. Germans in repeating this changed the And never Avill I make any agreement order of the names, with Lother which by my will shall be to the detriment of my brother.*' 494 GERMAN GAUL. [Book IV, ish name, began to call themselves Franci^ and tlieir country Francia Nova, or New France.-^ This new alliance of the kings, and the favor and enthusiasm The treaty of ^^^h which it was rcccivcd by the people of all parts, Verdun, 843. cjigturbed the confidence of the partisans of Lother. The nations and the nobles were alike weary of the war. Gradually the army of the emperor withdrew from his sup- port, and he was obliged to offer concessions. He vacated the imperial palace of Aachen, which his brothers immediately oc- cupied, and fled into Burgundy. The bishops, assuming to themselves the right to dispose of the kingdoms, declared that Lother had neither the knowledge nor the will to govern the state aright, and enjoined his brothers " by the divine authority to take his kingdom, and govern it according to the will of God." Lother saw the pass to which his affairs had come, and, inviting his brothers to a conference at a little island of the Saone near Macon, proposed an amicable settlement. A com- mission of three hundred members was apjDointed to distribute itself over the surface of the empire, and by an exact examina- tion of the wealth of each region, and the wishes of its people, acquire a knowledge of the best means of making an equitable division.^ The next year the commissioners reported the re- sult of their researches to the three kings, assembled at Verdun, and a treaty of separation was drawn up and executed, which gave Gaul, from the Meuse and Saone as far as the Pyrenees, to Karl ; which gave Germany, beyond the Ehine, to Ludwig the Germanic; and which secured to Lother Italy, with a broad strip on the Ehine, between the dominions of Karl and Ludwig, under the name of Lotheringia or Lorraine.^ This was the first great treaty of modern Europe : it began a polit- ical division, which lasted for many centuries ; the great em- ' Sismondi (Hist, des Fran^ais, t. ii., sition to the Francia, qua; dicitur anti- p. 38). Francia -was the Latin name .ym (Monach. San GalL, apud Bouquet, of Frankcnhmd, and had long before t. v., p. 115), See Thierry (Lettres been applied to the dominions of the sur I'Hist. de Franc, p. 149), Franks on both sides of the Ilhine. - Nithard., Hist,, 1. iv., c. T). Their country was then divided into ^ Annal. Bertiniani, et Fuldens. East and West Francia ; but in the This part was reserved to Lother prob- timc of Karl the Great and Ludwig ably that he might have space in a good Pious, we tind the monk of St. Gall wine region, using the tenns Francia Kova, in oppo- CiiAP. XVIII.] GERMAN GAUL. 49 F, pirc of Karl was formall}^ dismembered by it, and the pieces of it scattered among his degenerate descendants. " Weep for the race of the Franks," sings Floriis, deacon of Lyons, and friend of Agobard — "weep for the race of the Franks! A beau- tiful empire, which flourished under a single and brilliant di- adem; which had judges, and laws, and councils; where the young men read in the holy books, and the minds of the chil- dren were formed to letters ; which was maintained in perfect accord, by fear on one side and love on the other ; to which foreign kingdoms, Greeks and barbarians, and even the Senate of Latium, sent their embassadors ; to which the race of Rom- ulus, Rome herself, mother of nations, was subject ; which, in short, had Rome for a citadel and the key -holder of heaven for a founder — this empire is fallen, alas ! gone is its glory and its name, and what now is to become of the people?"^ It might well have seemed to a contemporary an hour of affliction and darkness. The great race of the Pippins and Karls, which for two hundred years had furnished giants to the world ; which had restored order among the Franks devouring each other ; which had arrested the predatory inroads of the Saracens at the south, and the Germans at the north, establishing Christianity among the latter ; which beid given permanence as well as sway to the spiritual monarchy of the Church, and revived in the bosom of Western Europe the most majestic form of govern- ment the world had yet known, the empire — this noble race was fallen into decay, and its glorious deeds were about to dis- appear with it. But a more penetrating vision would have seen that the Church remained, that Christianity would not recede, that the name of the great Karl would become a civihzing in- spiration of the West, and that the fragments into which his empire split were not the broken and useless pieces of a mag- nificent fabric overthrown, but themselves the corner-stones of more imperial structures. The enforced unity of Roman con- trivance was shattered forever, but the seeds of vital nationali- ties were sown, and already Italy, Germany, and France sprout- ed out of the earth. ^ Flori Diac. Lngdun. Querela de Divisione Imper., apiid Bouquet, t. vii., p. 302. THE END. -^^k!&'g] ^m \ ] I , d^ t^- ■M :im