ed, and the
armies of barbarians spread over them like the lava of Mount AEtna. The
imminence of our danger manifestly called for generals already
illustrious for their past achievements in war; but nevertheless, as if
some unpropitious deity had made the selection, the men who were sought
out for the chief military appointments were of tainted character. The
chief among them were Lupicinus and Maximus, the one being count of
Thrace, the other a leader notoriously wicked--and both men of great
ignorance and rashness.

And their treacherous covetousness was the cause of all our disasters.
For--to pass over other matters in which the officers aforesaid, or
others with their unblushing connivance, displayed the greatest
profligacy in their injurious treatment of the foreigners dwelling in
our territory, against whom no crime could be alleged--this one
melancholy and unprecedented piece of conduct--which, even if they were
to choose their own judges, must appear wholly unpardonable--must be
mentioned:

When the barbarians who had been conducted across the river were in
great distress from want of provisions, those detested generals
conceived the idea of a most disgraceful traffic; and having collected
hounds from all quarters with the most unsatiable rapacity, they
exchanged them for an equal number of slaves, among whom were several
sons of men of noble birth.

About this time also, Vitheric, the King of the Gruthungi, with Alatheus
and Saphrax, by whose influence he was mainly guided, and also with
Farnobius, approached the bank of the Danube and sent envoys to the
Emperor to entreat that he also might be received with the same kindness
that Alavivus and Fritigern had experienced.

But when, as seemed best for the interests of the State, these
ambassadors had been rejected, and were in great anxiety what they
should do, Athanaric, fearing similar treatment, departed, recollecting
that long ago, when he was discussing a treaty with Valens, he had
treated that Emperor with contempt in affirming that he was bound by a
religious obligation never to set his foot on the Roman territory; and
that, by this excuse, he had compelled the Emperor to conclude a peace
in the middle of the war. And he, fearing that the grudge which Valens
bore him for this conduct was still lasting, withdrew with all his
forces to Caucalandes, a place which, from the height of its mountains
and the thickness of its woods, is completely inaccessible