tent of Attila, as he lay encamped at the place where the slow-winding
Mincius is lost in the foaming waves of the Lake Benacus, [62] and
trampled, with his Scythian cavalry, the farms of Catullus and Virgil.
[63] The Barbarian monarch listened with favorable, and even respectful,
attention; and the deliverance of Italy was purchased by the immense
ransom, or dowry, of the princess Honoria. The state of his army might
facilitate the treaty, and hasten his retreat. Their martial spirit was
relaxed by the wealth and idolence of a warm climate. The shepherds of
the North, whose ordinary food consisted of milk and raw flesh, indulged
themselves too freely in the use of bread, of wine, and of meat,
prepared and seasoned by the arts of cookery; and the progress of
disease revenged in some measure the injuries of the Italians. [64] When
Attila declared his resolution of carrying his victorious arms to the
gates of Rome, he was admonished by his friends, as well as by his
enemies, that Alaric had not long survived the conquest of the eternal
city. His mind, superior to real danger, was assaulted by imaginary
terrors; nor could he escape the influence of superstition, which had
so often been subservient to his designs. [65] The pressing eloquence of
Leo, his majestic aspect and sacerdotal robes, excited the veneration of
Attila for the spiritual father of the Christians. The apparition of
the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, who menaced the Barbarian with
instant death, if he rejected the prayer of their successor, is one
of the noblest legends of ecclesiastical tradition. The safety of Rome
might deserve the interposition of celestial beings; and some indulgence
is due to a fable, which has been represented by the pencil of Raphael,
and the chisel of Algardi. [66]

[Footnote 59: Sirmond (Not. ad Sidon. Apollin. p. 19) has published a
curious passage from the Chronicle of Prosper. Attila, redintegratis
viribus, quas in Gallia amiserat, Italiam ingredi per Pannonias
intendit; nihil duce nostro Aetio secundum prioris belli opera
prospiciente, &c. He reproaches Aetius with neglecting to guard the
Alps, and with a design to abandon Italy; but this rash censure may at
least be counterbalanced by the favorable testimonies of Idatius and
Isidore.]

[Footnote 60: See the original portraits of Avienus and his rival
Basilius, delineated and contrasted in the epistles (i. 9. p. 22) of
Sidonius. He had studied the characters of the t