of injuries. The Byzantine court was insulted
by five or six successive embassies; and the ministers of Attila were
uniformly instructed to press the tardy or imperfect execution of the
last treaty; to produce the names of fugitives and deserters, who were
still protected by the empire; and to declare, with seeming moderation,
that, unless their sovereign obtained complete and immediate
satisfaction, it would be impossible for him, were it even his wish, to
check the resentment of his warlike tribes. Besides the motives of pride
and interest, which might prompt the king of the Huns to continue this
train of negotiation, he was influenced by the less honorable view of
enriching his favorites at the expense of his enemies. The Imperial
treasury was exhausted, to procure the friendly offices of the
ambassadors and their principal attendants, whose favorable report might
conduce to the maintenance of peace. The Barbarian monarch was flattered
by the liberal reception of his ministers; he computed, with pleasure,
the value and splendor of their gifts, rigorously exacted the
performance of every promise which would contribute to their private
emolument, and treated as an important business of state the marriage of
his secretary Constantius. That Gallic adventurer, who was recommended
by AEtius to the king of the Huns, had engaged his service to the
ministers of Constantinople, for the stipulated reward of a wealthy and
noble wife; and the daughter of Count Saturninus was chosen to discharge
the obligations of her country. The reluctance of the victim, some
domestic troubles, and the unjust confiscation of her fortune, cooled
the ardor of her interested lover; but he still demanded, in the name
of Attila, an equivalent alliance; and, after many ambiguous delays and
excuses, the Byzantine court was compelled to sacrifice to this insolent
stranger the widow of Armatius, whose birth, opulence, and beauty,
placed her in the most illustrious rank of the Roman matrons. For these
importunate and oppressive embassies, Attila claimed a suitable return:
he weighed, with suspicious pride, the character and station of the
Imperial envoys; but he condescended to promise that he would advance as
far as Sardica to receive any ministers who had been invested with the
consular dignity. The council of Theodosius eluded this proposal, by
representing the desolate and ruined condition of Sardica, and even
ventured to insinuate that every officer of