f the Ostrogoths had drawn them
into a disadvantageous position between the Rivers Melas and Eurymedon,
where they were almost besieged by the peasants of Pamphylia; but the
arrival of an Imperial army, instead of completing their destruction,
afforded the means of safety and victory. Tribigild surprised the
unguarded camp of the Romans, in the darkness of the night; seduced the
faith of the greater part of the Barbarian auxiliaries, and dissipated,
without much effort, the troops, which had been corrupted by the
relaxation of discipline, and the luxury of the capital. The discontent
of Gainas, who had so boldly contrived and executed the death of
Rufinus, was irritated by the fortune of his unworthy successor; he
accused his own dishonorable patience under the servile reign of a
eunuch; and the ambitious Goth was convicted, at least in the public
opinion, of secretly fomenting the revolt of Tribigild, with whom he was
connected by a domestic, as well as by a national alliance. [27] When
Gainas passed the Hellespont, to unite under his standard the remains
of the Asiatic troops, he skilfully adapted his motions to the wishes
of the Ostrogoths; abandoning, by his retreat, the country which they
desired to invade; or facilitating, by his approach, the desertion of
the Barbarian auxiliaries. To the Imperial court he repeatedly magnified
the valor, the genius, the inexhaustible resources of Tribigild;
confessed his own inability to prosecute the war; and extorted the
permission of negotiating with his invincible adversary. The conditions
of peace were dictated by the haughty rebel; and the peremptory demand
of the head of Eutropius revealed the author and the design of this
hostile conspiracy.

[Footnote 21: A copious and circumstantial narrative (which he might
have reserved for more important events) is bestowed by Zosimus (l.
v. p. 304-312) on the revolt of Tribigild and Gainas. See likewise
Socrates, l. vi. c. 6, and Sozomen, l. viii. c. 4. The second book
of Claudian against Eutropius, is a fine, though imperfect, piece of
history.]

[Footnote 22: Claudian (in Eutrop. l. ii. 237-250) very accurately
observes, that the ancient name and nation of the Phrygians extended
very far on every side, till their limits were contracted by the
colonies of the Bithvnians of Thrace, of the Greeks, and at last of the
Gauls. His description (ii. 257-272) of the fertility of Phrygia, and of
the four rivers that produced gold, is just