, who carried white tapers and were dressed in
their richest robes. When it came opposite the throne of the reigning
emperor, he rose from his seat, and, with grateful reverence, paid
homage to the statue of the founder. Thus it was that Byzantium was
replaced by Constantinople, and thus was the founder of the new capital
held in honor.

_THE GOTHS CROSS THE DANUBE._

The doom of Rome was at hand. Its empire had extended almost inimitably
to the east and west, had crossed the sea and deeply penetrated the
desert to the south, but had failed in its advances to the north. The
Rhine and the Danube here formed its boundaries. The great forest region
which lay beyond these, with its hosts of blue-eyed and fair-skinned
barbarians, defied the armies of Rome. Here and there the forest was
penetrated, hundreds of thousands of its tenants were slain, yet Rome
failed to subdue its swarming tribes, and simply taught them the
principle of combination and the art of war. Early in the history of
Rome it was taken and burnt by the Gauls. Raids of barbarians across the
border were frequent in its later history. As Rome grew weaker, the
tribes of the north grew bolder and stronger. The armies of the empire
were kept busy in holding the lines of the Rhine and the Danube. At
length Roman weakness and incompetency permitted this barrier to be
broken, and the beginning of the end was at hand. This is the important
event which we have now to describe.

In the year 375 A.D. there existed a great Gothic kingdom in the north,
extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea, under the rule of an able
monarch named Hermanric, who had conquered and combined numerous tribes
into a single nation. On this nation, just as assassination removed the
Gothic conqueror, descended a vast and frightful horde from northern
Asia, the mighty invasion of the Huns, which was to shake to its heart
the empire of Rome.

The Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) were conquered by this savage horde. The
Visigoths (Western Goths), stricken with mortal fear, hurried to the
Danube and implored the Romans to save them from annihilation. For many
miles along the banks of the river extended the panic-stricken
multitude, with outstretched arms and pathetic lamentations, praying for
permission to cross. If settled on the waste lands of Thrace they would
pledge themselves to be faithful subjects of Rome, to obey its laws and
guard its limits.

Sympathy and pity counselled the emp