most pernicious abuses.
Majorian, like the weakest of his predecessors, was reduced to the
disgraceful expedient of substituting Barbarian auxiliaries in the place
of his unwarlike subjects: and his superior abilities could only be
displayed in the vigor and dexterity with which he wielded a dangerous
instrument, so apt to recoil on the hand that used it. Besides the
confederates, who were already engaged in the service of the empire, the
fame of his liberality and valor attracted the nations of the Danube,
the Borysthenes, and perhaps of the Tanais. Many thousands of the
bravest subjects of Attila, the Gepidae, the Ostrogoths, the Rugians, the
Burgundians, the Suevi, the Alani, assembled in the plains of Liguria;
and their formidable strength was balanced by their mutual animosities.
They passed the Alps in a severe winter. The emperor led the way, on
foot, and in complete armor; sounding, with his long staff, the depth of
the ice, or snow, and encouraging the Scythians, who complained of the
extreme cold, by the cheerful assurance, that they should be satisfied
with the heat of Africa. The citizens of Lyons had presumed to shut
their gates; they soon implored, and experienced, the clemency of
Majorian. He vanquished Theodoric in the field; and admitted to his
friendship and alliance a king whom he had found not unworthy of his
arms. The beneficial, though precarious, reunion of the greater part of
Gaul and Spain, was the effect of persuasion, as well as of force; and
the independent Bagaudae, who had escaped, or resisted, the oppression,
of former reigns, were disposed to confide in the virtues of Majorian.
His camp was filled with Barbarian allies; his throne was supported by
the zeal of an affectionate people; but the emperor had foreseen, that
it was impossible, without a maritime power, to achieve the conquest of
Africa. In the first Punic war, the republic had exerted such incredible
diligence, that, within sixty days after the first stroke of the axe
had been given in the forest, a fleet of one hundred and sixty galleys
proudly rode at anchor in the sea. Under circumstances much less
favorable, Majorian equalled the spirit and perseverance of the
ancient Romans. The woods of the Apennine were felled; the arsenals and
manufactures of Ravenna and Misenum were restored; Italy and Gaul vied
with each other in liberal contributions to the public service; and
the Imperial navy of three hundred large galleys, with an ad