e 44: I may stand in need of some apology for having used,
without scruple, the authority of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in all
that relates to the wars and negotiations of the Chersonites. I am
aware that he was a Greek of the tenth century, and that his accounts
of ancient history are frequently confused and fabulous. But on this
occasion his narrative is, for the most part, consistent and probable
nor is there much difficulty in conceiving that an emperor might have
access to some secret archives, which had escaped the diligence of
meaner historians. For the situation and history of Chersone, see
Peyssonel, des Peuples barbares qui ont habite les Bords du Danube, c.
xvi. 84-90. ----Gibbon has confounded the inhabitants of the city of
Cherson, the ancient Chersonesus, with the people of the Chersonesus
Taurica. If he had read with more attention the chapter of Constantius
Porphyrogenitus, from which this narrative is derived, he would have
seen that the author clearly distinguishes the republic of Cherson from
the rest of the Tauric Peninsula, then possessed by the kings of the
Cimmerian Bosphorus, and that the city of Cherson alone furnished
succors to the Romans. The English historian is also mistaken in saying
that the Stephanephoros of the Chersonites was a perpetual magistrate;
since it is easy to discover from the great number of Stephanephoroi
mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, that they were annual
magistrates, like almost all those which governed the Grecian republics.
St. Martin, note to Le Beau i. 326.--M.]

Exasperated by this apparent neglect, the Sarmatians soon forgot,
with the levity of barbarians, the services which they had so lately
received, and the dangers which still threatened their safety. Their
inroads on the territory of the empire provoked the indignation of
Constantine to leave them to their fate; and he no longer opposed the
ambition of Geberic, a renowned warrior, who had recently ascended the
Gothic throne. Wisumar, the Vandal king, whilst alone, and unassisted,
he defended his dominions with undaunted courage, was vanquished and
slain in a decisive battle, which swept away the flower of the Sarmatian
youth. [44a] The remainder of the nation embraced the desperate
expedient of arming their slaves, a hardy race of hunters and herdsmen,
by whose tumultuary aid they revenged their defeat, and expelled the
invader from their confines. But they soon discovered that they had
exchanged