The Goths, from the earliest times to the end of the Gothic dominion in Spain . d several towns, andbegan to besiege the great city of Aries. Thefamous Roman general Aetius, who had at first sup-ported the usurper, but had made his peace withPlacidia, attacked the besieging party, and defeatedthem, taking their commander Aunwulf prisoner. For many years the relations between the Gothsand the Romans were very unsettled, treaties beingmade and quickly broken whenever it suited theconvenience of either side. In 437 the Goths hadbeen trying to take Narbonne, and the Romangenerals, Aetius and Litor
The Goths, from the earliest times to the end of the Gothic dominion in Spain . d several towns, andbegan to besiege the great city of Aries. Thefamous Roman general Aetius, who had at first sup-ported the usurper, but had made his peace withPlacidia, attacked the besieging party, and defeatedthem, taking their commander Aunwulf prisoner. For many years the relations between the Gothsand the Romans were very unsettled, treaties beingmade and quickly broken whenever it suited theconvenience of either side. In 437 the Goths hadbeen trying to take Narbonne, and the Romangenerals, Aetius and Litorius, resolved to put themdown thoroughly. Aetius did gain a great victory,but he was called away to Italy, and Litorius hadnot the skill to finish the work. He besieged Theo-deric in his capital city, Toulouse, with such an over-whelming force that the Goths thought their case washopeless, and sent Orientius the bishop of Auch, withmany other bishops and clergy, to try to persuadethe Roman general to grant honourable terms ofpeace. Litorius, who was more than half a heathen,. AETIUS.{prom an ivory diptych at Monza.) 110 THE KINGDOM OF TOULOUSE, treated the messengers with contempt; and so Thco-deric gave the order to prepare for battle. Until theconflict began, the king was clothed in the dress of apenitent, and spent many hours in prayer. Hissoldiers, inspired by their kings piety, and by thethought that they were fighting for Christianityagainst heathenism (for Litoriuss army was mostlycomposed of Huns), made a furious attack upon thecamp of the besiegers, who were totally was taken prisoner, and had to walk throughthe streets of Toulouse in the triumph which Theo-deric celebrated after the Roman fashion. TheChristian writers tell how Litoriuss soothsayers hadpromised him that he should go in triumph throughthe city—a promise which, like many of those givenby heathen oracles in older days, was fulfilled inanother sense than that in which it was understood.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgoths, bookyear1887
