he altars of
the German gods. The Florentines, thus threatened, fought bravely, but
they were reduced to the last extremity before deliverance came.

Stilicho had not been idle during this destructive raid. By calling
troops from the frontiers, by arming slaves, and by enlisting barbarian
allies, he was at length able to take the field. He led the _last_ army
of Rome, and dared not expose it to the wild valor of the savage foe. On
the contrary, he surrounded their camp with strong lines which defied
their efforts to break through, and waited till starvation should force
them to surrender.

Florence was relieved. The besiegers were in their turn besieged. Their
bravest warriors were slain in efforts to break the Roman lines.
Radagaisus surrendered to Stilicho, and was instantly executed. Such of
his followers as had not been swept away by famine and disease were sold
as slaves. The great host disappeared, and Stilicho a second time won
the proud title of Deliverer of Italy.

But the whole army of Radagaisus was not destroyed. Half of it had
remained in the north. These were forced by Stilicho to retreat from
Italy. But Gaul lay open to their fury. That great and rich section of
the empire was invaded and frightfully ravaged, and its conquerors never
afterwards left its fertile fields. The empire of Rome ceased to exist
in the countries beyond the Alps, those great regions which had been won
by the arms of Marius and Caesar.

And now the time had come for Rome to destroy itself. The mind of the
emperor was poisoned against Stilicho, the sole remaining bulwark of his
power. He had sought to tie the hands of Alaric with gifts of power and
gold, and was accused of treason by his enemies. The weak Honorius gave
way, and Stilicho was slain. His friends shared his fate, and the
cowardly imbecile who ruled Rome cut down the only safeguard of his
throne.

The result was what might have been foreseen. In a few months after the
death of Stilicho, Alaric was again in Italy, exasperated by the bad
faith of the court, which had promised and not performed. There was no
army and no general to meet him. City after city was pillaged. Avoiding
the strong walls of Ravenna, behind which the emperor lay secure, he
marched on Rome, led his army under the stately arches, adorned with the
spoils of countless victories, and pitched his tents beneath the walls
of the imperial city.

Six hundred and nineteen years had passed since a foreign