nce, that the Lombards should
immediately present him with a tithe of their cattle; that the spoils
and captives should be equally divided; but that the lands of the
Gepidae should become the sole patrimony of the Avars. Such hard
conditions were eagerly accepted by the passions of Alboin; and, as
the Romans were dissatisfied with the ingratitude and perfidy of the
Gepidae, Justin abandoned that incorrigible people to their fate, and
remained the tranquil spectator of this unequal conflict. The despair
of Cunimund was active and dangerous. He was informed that the Avars
had entered his confines; but, on the strong assurance that, after the
defeat of the Lombards, these foreign invaders would easily be repelled,
he rushed forwards to encounter the implacable enemy of his name and
family. But the courage of the Gepidae could secure them no more than an
honorable death. The bravest of the nation fell in the field of battle;
the king of the Lombards contemplated with delight the head of Cunimund;
and his skull was fashioned into a cup to satiate the hatred of the
conqueror, or, perhaps, to comply with the savage custom of his country.
[10] After this victory, no further obstacle could impede the progress
of the confederates, and they faithfully executed the terms of their
agreement. [11] The fair countries of Walachia, Moldavia, Transylvania,
and the other parts of Hungary beyond the Danube, were occupied, without
resistance, by a new colony of Scythians; and the Dacian empire of the
chagans subsisted with splendor above two hundred and thirty years. The
nation of the Gepidae was dissolved; but, in the distribution of
the captives, the slaves of the Avars were less fortunate than the
companions of the Lombards, whose generosity adopted a valiant foe, and
whose freedom was incompatible with cool and deliberate tyranny. One
moiety of the spoil introduced into the camp of Alboin more wealth than
a Barbarian could readily compute. The fair Rosamond was persuaded, or
compelled, to acknowledge the rights of her victorious lover; and the
daughter of Cunimund appeared to forgive those crimes which might be
imputed to her own irresistible charms.

[Footnote 10: It appears from Strabo, Pliny, and Ammianus Marcellinus,
that the same practice was common among the Scythian tribes, (Muratori,
Scriptores Rer. Italic. tom. i. p. 424.) The scalps of North America are
likewise trophies of valor. The skull of Cunimund was preserved above
two