nds to serve in the
army as _foederati_. They had accompanied the Emperor to Italy against
Eugenius, and had returned to their habitations sooner than the rest of
the army.

The causes of discontent which led to their revolt are not quite clear;
but it seems that Arcadius refused to give them certain grants of money
which had been allowed them by his father, and, as has been suggested,
they probably expected that favor would wane and influence decrease now
that the "friend of Goths" was dead, and consequently determined to make
themselves heard and felt. To this must be added that their most
influential chieftain, Alaric, called Baltha ("the Bold"), desired to be
made a commander-in-chief, _magister militum_, and was offended that he
had been passed over.

However this may be, the historical essence of the matter is that an
immense body of restless, uncivilized Germans could not abide
permanently in the centre of Roman provinces in a semi-dependent,
ill-defined relation to the Roman government; the West Goths had not yet
found their permanent home. Under the leadership of Alaric they raised
the ensign of revolt, and spread desolation in the fields and homesteads
of Macedonia, Moesia, and Thrace, even advancing close to the walls of
Constantinople. They carefully spared certain estates outside the city,
belonging to the prefect Rufinus, but this policy does not seem to have
been adopted with the same motive that caused Archidamus to spare the
lands of Pericles. Alaric may have wished not to render Rufinus
suspected, but to conciliate his friendship and obtain thereby more
favorable terms. Rufinus actually went to Alaric's camp, dressed as a
Goth, but the interview led to nothing.

It was impossible to take the field against the Goths, because there
were no forces available, as the eastern armies were still with Stilicho
in the West. Arcadius therefore was obliged to summon Stilicho to send
or bring them back immediately, to protect his throne. This summons gave
that general the desired opportunity to interfere in the politics of
Constantinople; and having with energetic celerity arranged matters on
the Gallic frontier, he marched overland through Illyricum and
confronted Alaric in Thessaly, whither the Goth had traced his
devastating path from the Propontis.

It appears that Stilicho's behavior is quite as open to the charges of
ambition and artfulness as the behavior of Rufinus, for I do not
perceive how we can str