ly qualified by superior merit. The graceful figure
of Aetius was not above the middle stature; but his manly limbs were
admirably formed for strength, beauty, and agility; and he excelled in
the martial exercises of managing a horse, drawing the bow, and darting
the javelin. He could patiently endure the want of food, or of sleep;
and his mind and body were alike capable of the most laborious efforts.
He possessed the genuine courage that can despise not only dangers,
but injuries: and it was impossible either to corrupt, or deceive, or
intimidate the firm integrity of his soul." [6] The Barbarians, who had
seated themselves in the Western provinces, were insensibly taught to
respect the faith and valor of the patrician Aetius. He soothed their
passions, consulted their prejudices, balanced their interests, and
checked their ambition. [611] A seasonable treaty, which he concluded
with Genseric, protected Italy from the depredations of the Vandals;
the independent Britons implored and acknowledged his salutary aid; the
Imperial authority was restored and maintained in Gaul and Spain; and he
compelled the Franks and the Suevi, whom he had vanquished in the field,
to become the useful confederates of the republic.

[Footnote 4: Victor Vitensis (de Persecut. Vandal. l. i. 6, p. 8, edit.
Ruinart) calls him, acer consilio et strenuus in bello: but his courage,
when he became unfortunate, was censured as desperate rashness; and
Sebastian deserved, or obtained, the epithet of proeceps, (Sidon.
Apollinar Carmen ix. 181.) His adventures in Constantinople, in Sicily,
Gaul, Spain, and Africa, are faintly marked in the Chronicles of
Marcellinus and Idatius. In his distress he was always followed by a
numerous train; since he could ravage the Hellespont and Propontis, and
seize the city of Barcelona.]

[Footnote 5: Reipublicae Romanae singulariter natus, qui superbiam
Suevorum, Francorumque barbariem immensis caedibus servire Imperio
Romano coegisset. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 34, p. 660.]

[Footnote 411: Some valuable fragments of a poetical panegyric on Aetius
by Merobaudes, a Spaniard, have been recovered from a palimpsest MS. by
the sagacity and industry of Niebuhr. They have been reprinted in the
new edition of the Byzantine Historians. The poet speaks in glowing
terms of the long (annosa) peace enjoyed under the administration of
Aetius. The verses are very spirited. The poet was rewarded by a statue
publicly dedicated