, who marched under the
standard of Syagrius, were incapable of contending with the national
valor of the Franks. It would be ungenerous without some more accurate
knowledge of his strength and resources, to condemn the rapid flight of
Syagrius, who escaped, after the loss of a battle, to the distant court
of Thoulouse. The feeble minority of Alaric could not assist or protect
an unfortunate fugitive; the pusillanimous Goths were intimidated by the
menaces of Clovis; and the Roman king, after a short confinement,
was delivered into the hands of the executioner. The Belgic cities
surrendered to the king of the Franks; and his dominions were enlarged
towards the East by the ample diocese of Tongres which Clovis subdued in
the tenth year of his reign.

The name of the Alemanni has been absurdly derived from their imaginary
settlement on the banks of the _Leman_ Lake. That fortunate district,
from the lake to the Avenche, and Mount Jura, was occupied by the
Burgundians. The northern parts of Helvetia had indeed been subdued by
the ferocious Alemanni, who destroyed with their own hands the fruits
of their conquest. A province, improved and adorned by the arts of
Rome, was again reduced to a savage wilderness; and some vestige of the
stately Vindonissa may still be discovered in the fertile and populous
valley of the Aar. From the source of the Rhine to its conflux with the
Mein and the Moselle, the formidable swarms of the Alemanni commanded
either side of the river, by the right of ancient possession, or recent
victory. They had spread themselves into Gaul, over the modern provinces
of Alsace and Lorraine; and their bold invasion of the kingdom of
Cologne summoned the Salic prince to the defence of his Ripuarian
allies. Clovis encountered the invaders of Gaul in the plain of Tolbiac,
about twenty-four miles from Cologne; and the two fiercest nations of
Germany were mutually animated by the memory of past exploits, and the
prospect of future greatness. The Franks, after an obstinate struggle,
gave way; and the Alemanni, raising a shout of victory, impetuously
pressed their retreat. But the battle was restored by the valor, and
the conduct, and perhaps by the piety, of Clovis; and the event of the
bloody day decided forever the alternative of empire or servitude. The
last king of the Alemanni was slain in the field, and his people were
slaughtered or pursued, till they threw down their arms, and yielded
to the mercy of the co