s confounded by the intelligence, that the Visigoths,
refusing to embrace the defence of Gaul, had determined to expect,
within their own territories, the formidable invader, whom they
professed to despise. The senator Avitus, who, after the honorable
exercise of the Praetorian praefecture, had retired to his estate
in Auvergne, was persuaded to accept the important embassy, which he
executed with ability and success. He represented to Theodoric, that an
ambitious conqueror, who aspired to the dominion of the earth, could be
resisted only by the firm and unanimous alliance of the powers whom he
labored to oppress. The lively eloquence of Avitus inflamed the Gothic
warriors, by the description of the injuries which their ancestors had
suffered from the Huns; whose implacable fury still pursued them from
the Danube to the foot of the Pyrenees. He strenuously urged, that it
was the duty of every Christian to save, from sacrilegious violation,
the churches of God, and the relics of the saints: that it was the
interest of every Barbarian, who had acquired a settlement in Gaul,
to defend the fields and vineyards, which were cultivated for his use,
against the desolation of the Scythian shepherds. Theodoric yielded to
the evidence of truth; adopted the measure at once the most prudent and
the most honorable; and declared, that, as the faithful ally of Aetius
and the Romans, he was ready to expose his life and kingdom for the
common safety of Gaul. [37] The Visigoths, who, at that time, were
in the mature vigor of their fame and power, obeyed with alacrity the
signal of war; prepared their arms and horses, and assembled under the
standard of their aged king, who was resolved, with his two eldest sons,
Torismond and Theodoric, to command in person his numerous and valiant
people. The example of the Goths determined several tribes or
nations, that seemed to fluctuate between the Huns and the Romans. The
indefatigable diligence of the patrician gradually collected the troops
of Gaul and Germany, who had formerly acknowledged themselves the
subjects, or soldiers, of the republic, but who now claimed the rewards
of voluntary service, and the rank of independent allies; the Laeti, the
Armoricans, the Breones the Saxons, the Burgundians, the Sarmatians,
or Alani, the Ripuarians, and the Franks who followed Meroveus as their
lawful prince. Such was the various army, which, under the conduct of
Aetius and Theodoric, advanced, by rapid mar