ndor of Nicomedia, were involved in the same calamity,
which, in a few weeks, raged without control through the whole
province of Bithynia. Three hundred years of peace, enjoyed by the soft
inhabitants of Asia, had abolished the exercise of arms, and removed the
apprehension of danger. The ancient walls were suffered to moulder away,
and all the revenue of the most opulent cities was reserved for the
construction of baths, temples, and theatres.

When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of Mithridates, it
was distinguished by wise laws, a naval power of two hundred galleys,
and three arsenals, of arms, of military engines, and of corn. It
was still the seat of wealth and luxury; but of its ancient strength,
nothing remained except the situation, in a little island of the
Propontis, connected with the continent of Asia only by two bridges.
From the recent sack of Prusa, the Goths advanced within eighteen miles.
of the city, which they had devoted to destruction; but the ruin of
Cyzicus was delayed by a fortunate accident. The season was rainy,
and the Lake Apolloniates, the reservoir of all the springs of Mount
Olympus, rose to an uncommon height. The little river of Rhyndacus,
which issues from the lake, swelled into a broad and rapid stream, and
stopped the progress of the Goths. Their retreat to the maritime city of
Heraclea, where the fleet had probably been stationed, was attended by a
long train of wagons, laden with the spoils of Bithynia, and was marked
by the flames of Nice and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. Some
obscure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their
retreat. But even a complete victory would have been of little moment,
as the approach of the autumnal equinox summoned them to hasten their
return. To navigate the Euxine before the month of May, or after that
of September, is esteemed by the modern Turks the most unquestionable
instance of rashness and folly.

When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the Goths in the
ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sails of ships, our ready
imagination instantly computes and multiplies the formidable armament;
but, as we are assured by the judicious Strabo, that the piratical
vessels used by the barbarians of Pontus and the Lesser Scythia, were
not capable of containing more than twenty-five or thirty men we may
safely affirm, that fifteen thousand warriors, at the most, embarked
in this great expedition