with terror; and smiled at the vain industry of the Romans, who, in
search of such useless rarities, could explore the limits of the land
and sea. He wished, at the expense of the emperor, to repose in a golden
bed. The wealth of Constantinople, and the skilful diligence of her
artists, were instantly devoted to the gratification of his caprice; but
when the work was finished, he rejected with scorn a present so unworthy
the majesty of a great king. [24] These were the casual sallies of his
pride; but the avarice of the chagan was a more steady and tractable
passion: a rich and regular supply of silk apparel, furniture, and
plate, introduced the rudiments of art and luxury among the tents of the
Scythians; their appetite was stimulated by the pepper and cinnamon of
India; [25] the annual subsidy or tribute was raised from fourscore to
one hundred and twenty thousand pieces of gold; and after each hostile
interruption, the payment of the arrears, with exorbitant interest, was
always made the first condition of the new treaty. In the language of a
Barbarian, without guile, the prince of the Avars affected to complain
of the insincerity of the Greeks; [26] yet he was not inferior to the
most civilized nations in the refinement of dissimulation and perfidy.
As the successor of the Lombards, the chagan asserted his claim to
the important city of Sirmium, the ancient bulwark of the Illyrian
provinces. [27] The plains of the Lower Hungary were covered with the
Avar horse and a fleet of large boats was built in the Hercynian wood,
to descend the Danube, and to transport into the Save the materials of
a bridge. But as the strong garrison of Singidunum, which commanded the
conflux of the two rivers, might have stopped their passage and baffled
his designs, he dispelled their apprehensions by a solemn oath that his
views were not hostile to the empire. He swore by his sword, the symbol
of the god of war, that he did not, as the enemy of Rome, construct
a bridge upon the Save. "If I violate my oath," pursued the intrepid
Baian, "may I myself, and the last of my nation, perish by the sword!
May the heavens, and fire, the deity of the heavens, fall upon our
heads! May the forests and mountains bury us in their ruins! and the
Save returning, against the laws of nature, to his source, overwhelm
us in his angry waters!" After this barbarous imprecation, he calmly
inquired, what oath was most sacred and venerable among the Christians,
what