n permitted to
repulse, advanced to chastise, the invaders of Greece. [16] A numerous
fleet was equipped in the ports of Italy; and the troops, after a short
and prosperous navigation over the Ionian Sea, were safely disembarked
on the isthmus, near the ruins of Corinth. The woody and mountainous
country of Arcadia, the fabulous residence of Pan and the Dryads, became
the scene of a long and doubtful conflict between the two generals
not unworthy of each other. The skill and perseverance of the Roman at
length prevailed; and the Goths, after sustaining a considerable loss
from disease and desertion, gradually retreated to the lofty mountain of
Pholoe, near the sources of the Peneus, and on the frontiers of Elis; a
sacred country, which had formerly been exempted from the calamities
of war. [17] The camp of the Barbarians was immediately besieged; the
waters of the river [18] were diverted into another channel; and while
they labored under the intolerable pressure of thirst and hunger, a
strong line of circumvallation was formed to prevent their escape. After
these precautions, Stilicho, too confident of victory, retired to enjoy
his triumph, in the theatrical games, and lascivious dances, of the
Greeks; his soldiers, deserting their standards, spread themselves over
the country of their allies, which they stripped of all that had been
saved from the rapacious hands of the enemy. Alaric appears to have
seized the favorable moment to execute one of those hardy enterprises,
in which the abilities of a general are displayed with more genuine
lustre, than in the tumult of a day of battle. To extricate himself from
the prison of Peloponnesus, it was necessary that he should pierce
the intrenchments which surrounded his camp; that he should perform a
difficult and dangerous march of thirty miles, as far as the Gulf of
Corinth; and that he should transport his troops, his captives, and his
spoil, over an arm of the sea, which, in the narrow interval between
Rhium and the opposite shore, is at least half a mile in breadth. [19]
The operations of Alaric must have been secret, prudent, and rapid;
since the Roman general was confounded by the intelligence, that the
Goths, who had eluded his efforts, were in full possession of the
important province of Epirus. This unfortunate delay allowed Alaric
sufficient time to conclude the treaty, which he secretly negotiated,
with the ministers of Constantinople. The apprehension of a civil war