oo minute for the attention of
history. The works which the emperor raised for the protection, but at
the expense of his subjects, served only to disclose the weakness of
some neglected part; and the walls, which by flattery had been deemed
impregnable, were either deserted by the garrison, or scaled by
the Barbarians. Three thousand Sclavonians, who insolently divided
themselves into two bands, discovered the weakness and misery of a
triumphant reign. They passed the Danube and the Hebrus, vanquished the
Roman generals who dared to oppose their progress, and plundered, with
impunity, the cities of Illyricum and Thrace, each of which had arms and
numbers to overwhelm their contemptible assailants. Whatever praise the
boldness of the Sclavonians may deserve, it is sullied by the wanton
and deliberate cruelty which they are accused of exercising on their
prisoners. Without distinction of rank, or age, or sex, the captives
were impaled or flayed alive, or suspended between four posts, and
beaten with clubs till they expired, or enclosed in some spacious
building, and left to perish in the flames with the spoil and cattle
which might impede the march of these savage victors. [20] Perhaps
a more impartial narrative would reduce the number, and qualify the
nature, of these horrid acts; and they might sometimes be excused by the
cruel laws of retaliation. In the siege of Topirus, [21] whose obstinate
defence had enraged the Sclavonians, they massacred fifteen thousand
males; but they spared the women and children; the most valuable
captives were always reserved for labor or ransom; the servitude was not
rigorous, and the terms of their deliverance were speedy and moderate.
But the subject, or the historian of Justinian, exhaled his just
indignation in the language of complaint and reproach; and Procopius has
confidently affirmed, that in a reign of thirty-two years, each
annual inroad of the Barbarians consumed two hundred thousand of the
inhabitants of the Roman empire. The entire population of Turkish
Europe, which nearly corresponds with the provinces of Justinian, would
perhaps be incapable of supplying six millions of persons, the result of
this incredible estimate. [22]

[Footnote 16: Antes corum fortissimi.... Taysis qui rapidus et
vorticosus in Histri fluenta furens devolvitur, (Jornandes, c. 5, p.
194, edit. Murator. Procopius, Goth. l. iii. c. 14, et de Edific. l iv.
c. 7.) Yet the same Procopius mentions the Goths a