Franks advanced from the
Rhine to the Seine; and the ambition of the Goths seemed to meditate
more extensive and permanent conquests. The emperor Maximus relieved
himself, by a judicious choice, from the weight of these distant cares;
he silenced the solicitations of his friends, listened to the voice of
fame, and promoted a stranger to the general command of the forces of
Gaul.

Avitus, [12] the stranger, whose merit was so nobly rewarded, descended
from a wealthy and honorable family in the diocese of Auvergne. The
convulsions of the times urged him to embrace, with the same ardor, the
civil and military professions: and the indefatigable youth blended the
studies of literature and jurisprudence with the exercise of arms and
hunting. Thirty years of his life were laudably spent in the public
service; he alternately displayed his talents in war and negotiation;
and the soldier of Aetius, after executing the most important embassies,
was raised to the station of Praetorian praefect of Gaul. Either the
merit of Avitus excited envy, or his moderation was desirous of
repose, since he calmly retired to an estate, which he possessed in the
neighborhood of Clermont. A copious stream, issuing from the mountain,
and falling headlong in many a loud and foaming cascade, discharged
its waters into a lake about two miles in length, and the villa was
pleasantly seated on the margin of the lake. The baths, the porticos,
the summer and winter apartments, were adapted to the purposes of luxury
and use; and the adjacent country afforded the various prospects of
woods, pastures, and meodows. [13] In this retreat, where Avitus amused
his leisure with books, rural sports, the practice of husbandry, and
the society of his friends, [14] he received the Imperial diploma, which
constituted him master-general of the cavalry and infantry of Gaul. He
assumed the military command; the Barbarians suspended their fury; and
whatever means he might employ, whatever concessions he might be forced
to make, the people enjoyed the benefits of actual tranquillity. But
the fate of Gaul depended on the Visigoths; and the Roman general, less
attentive to his dignity than to the public interest, did not disdain to
visit Thoulouse in the character of an ambassador. He was received with
courteous hospitality by Theodoric, the king of the Goths; but while
Avitus laid the foundations of a solid alliance with that powerful
nation, he was astonished by the intellige