brethren of the folly and danger of such a
hope; and convinced them, that the Medes and Persians were incapable
of resisting the arms of the Huns; and that the easy and important
acquisition would exalt the pride, as well as power, of the conqueror.
Instead of contenting himself with a moderate contribution, and a
military title, which equalled him only to the generals of Theodosius,
Attila would proceed to impose a disgraceful and intolerable yoke on
the necks of the prostrate and captive Romans, who would then be
encompassed, on all sides, by the empire of the Huns. [17]

[Footnote 16:

Alii per Caspia claustra
Armeniasque nives, inopino tramite ducti
Invadunt Orientis opes: jam pascua fumant
Cappadocum, volucrumque parens Argaeus equorum.
Jam rubet altus Halys, nec se defendit iniquo
Monte Cilix; Syriae tractus vestantur amoeni
Assuetumque choris, et laeta plebe canorum,
Proterit imbellem sonipes hostilis Orontem.
---Claudian, in Rufin. l. ii. 28-35.

See likewise, in Eutrop. l. i. 243-251, and the strong description of
Jerom, who wrote from his feelings, tom. i. p. 26, ad Heliodor. p. 200
ad Ocean. Philostorgius (l. ix. c. 8) mentions this irruption.]

[Footnote 1611: Gibbon has made a curious mistake; Basic and Cursic
were the names of the commanders of the Huns. Priscus, edit. Bonn, p.
200.--M.]

[Footnote 17: See the original conversation in Priscus, p. 64, 65.]

While the powers of Europe and Asia were solicitous to avert the
impending danger, the alliance of Attila maintained the Vandals in
the possession of Africa. An enterprise had been concerted between the
courts of Ravenna and Constantinople, for the recovery of that valuable
province; and the ports of Sicily were already filled with the military
and naval forces of Theodosius. But the subtle Genseric, who spread his
negotiations round the world, prevented their designs, by exciting the
king of the Huns to invade the Eastern empire; and a trifling incident
soon became the motive, or pretence, of a destructive war. [18] Under
the faith of the treaty of Margus, a free market was held on the
Northern side of the Danube, which was protected by a Roman fortress
surnamed Constantia. A troop of Barbarians violated the commercial
security; killed, or dispersed, the unsuspecting traders; and levelled
the fortress with the ground. The Huns justified this outrage as an
act of reprisal; alleged, that the bishop of M