ight perhaps be considered as in a state of rebellion against
the government of Honorius: the articles of the treaty, or the secret
instructions of the court, might sometimes be alleged in favor of
the seeming usurpations of Adolphus; and the guilt of any irregular,
unsuccessful act of hostility might always be imputed, with an
appearance of truth, to the ungovernable spirit of a Barbarian host,
impatient of peace or discipline. The luxury of Italy had been less
effectual to soften the temper, than to relax the courage, of the
Goths; and they had imbibed the vices, without imitating the arts and
institutions, of civilized society. [132]

[Footnote 130: Orosius, l. vii. c. 43, p. 584, 585. He was sent by St.
Augustin in the year 415, from Africa to Palestine, to visit St. Jerom,
and to consult with him on the subject of the Pelagian controversy.]

[Footnote 131: Jornandes supposes, without much probability, that
Adolphus visited and plundered Rome a second time, (more locustarum
erasit) Yet he agrees with Orosius in supposing that a treaty of peace
was concluded between the Gothic prince and Honorius. See Oros. l. vii.
c. 43 p. 584, 585. Jornandes, de Reb. Geticis, c. 31, p. 654, 655.]

[Footnote 132: The retreat of the Goths from Italy, and their first
transactions in Gaul, are dark and doubtful. I have derived much
assistance from Mascou, (Hist. of the Ancient Germans, l. viii. c. 29,
35, 36, 37,) who has illustrated, and connected, the broken chronicles
and fragments of the times.]

The professions of Adolphus were probably sincere, and his attachment
to the cause of the republic was secured by the ascendant which a Roman
princess had acquired over the heart and understanding of the Barbarian
king. Placidia, [133] the daughter of the great Theodosius, and of
Galla, his second wife, had received a royal education in the palace of
Constantinople; but the eventful story of her life is connected with
the revolutions which agitated the Western empire under the reign of her
brother Honorius. When Rome was first invested by the arms of Alaric,
Placidia, who was then about twenty years of age, resided in the city;
and her ready consent to the death of her cousin Serena has a cruel
and ungrateful appearance, which, according to the circumstances of
the action, may be aggravated, or excused, by the consideration of
her tender age. [134] The victorious Barbarians detained, either as a
hostage or a captive, [135] the sister of