. The romance of Monaco and its rulers . e invaded Gaul. Many townswere destroyed, and Monaco, among them, sufferedfire, pillage, and devastation. The region knew nozest thenceforth until the time of Theodoric theGreat. He was rightly named—the greatest manby far in Gothic history ; and a most human, mostattractive man as well, with his fair complexionthat blushed more frequently from modesty thanfrom anger, his huge shaggy eyebrows, his set otregular white teeth, and, above all, his delightfulmanners at dice. * If Theodoric loses, he laughs ;he is modest and reticent if he wins. To Sidonius,t
. The romance of Monaco and its rulers . e invaded Gaul. Many townswere destroyed, and Monaco, among them, sufferedfire, pillage, and devastation. The region knew nozest thenceforth until the time of Theodoric theGreat. He was rightly named—the greatest manby far in Gothic history ; and a most human, mostattractive man as well, with his fair complexionthat blushed more frequently from modesty thanfrom anger, his huge shaggy eyebrows, his set otregular white teeth, and, above all, his delightfulmanners at dice. * If Theodoric loses, he laughs ;he is modest and reticent if he wins. To Sidonius,through Gibbon, we owe this engaging vignette ofthe Barbarian who was not a Barbarian. He reignedthirty-three years. After his death the Gothicposition in Italy weakened ; from 526 onwards itfell gradually to pieces. The kingdom he hadfounded was torn in two ; and Justinian, Emperorof the East, took advantage of the troubles, andsent his great soldier Belisarius to win back Italyfor the Byzantine Empire— all that was now leftof Photo by Wurthle & Sohn. From the Figure in the Hofkirche at THE GREAT,p. 22] Sophias Message ^3 Belisarius did much, but his enigmatic rival,Narses the Eunuch, did more, for Narses definitelywon back Liguria. In his army were enrolled,among other Barbarian troops, many Lombards —a rising people with a big destiny before them,as Narses, that most astute, ambitious, and un-scrupulous ruler, quickly perceived, and remem-bered to much purpose when the time came to makeuse of them. . He ruled at Ravenna as was tyrannical, avaricious—he grew unpopular ;the Romans in Ravenna resolved to act. When anew Emperor succeeded Justinian, a deputationarrived to beg that Narses might be recalled ; andthe Empress Sophia, who detested him, seized theoccasion to send him a present and an insultingmessage. The present was a golden distaiF; themessage bade him, as he was not a man^ to goand spin wool in the womens apartments. /wil
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1910
