nts. See a curious dissertation of
the Abbe du Resnel, in the Memoires de l'Academie, tom. xix. p. 287-310]

[Footnote 52: After correcting the text, or excusing the mistake, of
Procopius, who places the defeat of Alaric near Carcassone, we may
conclude, from the evidence of Gregory, Fortunatus, and the author of
the Gesta Francorum, that the battle was fought in campo Vocladensi, on
the banks of the Clain, about ten miles to the south of Poitiers. Clovis
overtook and attacked the Visigoths near Vivonne, and the victory
was decided near a village still named Champagne St. Hilaire. See the
Dissertations of the Abbe le Boeuf, tom. i. p. 304-331.]

Such is the empire of Fortune, (if we may still disguise our ignorance
under that popular name,) that it is almost equally difficult to foresee
the events of war, or to explain their various consequences. A bloody
and complete victory has sometimes yielded no more than the possession
of the field and the loss of ten thousand men has sometimes been
sufficient to destroy, in a single day, the work of ages. The decisive
battle of Poitiers was followed by the conquest of Aquitain. Alaric had
left behind him an infant son, a bastard competitor, factious nobles,
and a disloyal people; and the remaining forces of the Goths were
oppressed by the general consternation, or opposed to each other in
civil discord. The victorious king of the Franks proceeded without delay
to the siege of Angouleme. At the sound of his trumpets the walls of the
city imitated the example of Jericho, and instantly fell to the ground;
a splendid miracle, which may be reduced to the supposition, that
some clerical engineers had secretly undermined the foundations of
the rampart. [53] At Bordeaux, which had submitted without resistance,
Clovis established his winter quarters; and his prudent economy
transported from Thoulouse the royal treasures, which were deposited
in the capital of the monarchy. The conqueror penetrated as far as the
confines of Spain; [54] restored the honors of the Catholic church;
fixed in Aquitain a colony of Franks; [55] and delegated to his
lieutenants the easy task of subduing, or extirpating, the nation of
the Visigoths. But the Visigoths were protected by the wise and powerful
monarch of Italy. While the balance was still equal, Theodoric had
perhaps delayed the march of the Ostrogoths; but their strenuous efforts
successfully resisted the ambition of Clovis; and the army of the
Frank