e patrician
gradually collected the troops of Gaul and Germany, who had formerly
acknowledged themselves the subjects, or soldiers, of the republic,
but who now claimed the rewards of voluntary service, and the rank of
independent allies; the Laeti, the Armoricans, the Breones the Saxons,
the Burgundians, the Sarmatians, or Alani, the Ripuarians, and the
Franks who followed Meroveus as their lawful prince. Such was the
various army, which, under the conduct of AEtius and Theodoric,
advanced, by rapid marches to relieve Orleans, and to give battle to the
innumerable host of Attila.

On their approach the king of the Huns immediately raised the siege, and
sounded a retreat to recall the foremost of his troops from the pillage
of a city which they had already entered. The valor of Attila was always
guided by his prudence; and as he foresaw the fatal consequences of a
defeat in the heart of Gaul, he repassed the Seine, and expected the
enemy in the plains of Chalons, whose smooth and level surface
was adapted to the operations of his Scythian cavalry. But in this
tumultuary retreat, the vanguard of the Romans and their allies
continually pressed, and sometimes engaged, the troops whom Attila had
posted in the rear; the hostile columns, in the darkness of the night
and the perplexity of the roads, might encounter each other without
design; and the bloody conflict of the Franks and Gepidae, in which
fifteen thousand Barbarians were slain, was a prelude to a more general
and decisive action. The Catalaunian fields spread themselves round
Chalons, and extend, according to the vague measurement of Jornandes,
to the length of one hundred and fifty, and the breadth of one hundred
miles, over the whole province, which is entitled to the appellation of
a _champaign_ country. This spacious plain was distinguished, however,
by some inequalities of ground; and the importance of a height, which
commanded the camp of Attila, was understood and disputed by the two
generals. The young and valiant Torismond first occupied the summit; the
Goths rushed with irresistible weight on the Huns, who labored to ascend
from the opposite side: and the possession of this advantageous post
inspired both the troops and their leaders with a fair assurance of
victory. The anxiety of Attila prompted him to consult his priests and
haruspices. It was reported, that, after scrutinizing the entrails
of victims, and scraping their bones, they revealed, in myster