, while the
nation was engaged in the Burgundian war. But the Franks of Austrasia
soon yielded to the persuasive eloquence of their king. "Follow me,"
said Theodoric, "into Auvergne; I will lead you into a province, where
you may acquire gold, silver, slaves, cattle, and precious apparel,
to the full extent of your wishes. I repeat my promise; I give you the
people and their wealth as your prey; and you may transport them at
pleasure into your own country." By the execution of this promise,
Theodoric justly forfeited the allegiance of a people whom he devoted
to destruction. His troops, reenforced by the fiercest Barbarians of
Germany, [104] spread desolation over the fruitful face of Auvergne;
and two places only, a strong castle and a holy shrine, were saved or
redeemed from their licentious fury. The castle of Meroliac [105] was
seated on a lofty rock, which rose a hundred feet above the surface of
the plain; and a large reservoir of fresh water was enclosed, with some
arable lands, within the circle of its fortifications. The Franks beheld
with envy and despair this impregnable fortress; but they surprised a
party of fifty stragglers; and, as they were oppressed by the number
of their captives, they fixed, at a trifling ransom, the alternative of
life or death for these wretched victims, whom the cruel Baroarians were
prepared to massacre on the refusal of the garrison. Another detachment
penetrated as far as Brivas, or Brioude, where the inhabitants, with
their valuable effects, had taken refuge in the sanctuary of St. Julian.
The doors of the church resisted the assault; but a daring soldier
entered through a window of the choir, and opened a passage to his
companions. The clergy and people, the sacred and the profane spoils,
were rudely torn from the altar; and the sacrilegious division was made
at a small distance from the town of Brioude. But this act of impiety
was severely chastised by the devout son of Clovis. He punished with
death the most atrocious offenders; left their secret accomplices to the
vengeance of St. Julian; released the captives; restored the plunder;
and extended the rights of sanctuary five miles round the sepulchre of
the holy martyr. [106]

[Footnote 100: When Caesar saw it, he laughed, (Plutarch. in Caesar. in
tom. i. p. 409:) yet he relates his unsuccessful siege of Gergovia with
less frankness than we might expect from a great man to whom victory was
familiar. He acknowledges, however,