it was supplied by the precarious faith and disorderly service of
Barbarian mercenaries. Even military honor, which has often survived the
loss of virtue and freedom, was almost totally extinct. The generals,
who were multiplied beyond the example of former times, labored only to
prevent the success, or to sully the reputation of their colleagues; and
they had been taught by experience, that if merit sometimes provoked
the jealousy, error, or even guilt, would obtain the indulgence, of
a gracious emperor. In such an age, the triumphs of Belisarius, and
afterwards of Narses, shine with incomparable lustre; but they are
encompassed with the darkest shades of disgrace and calamity. While the
lieutenant of Justinian subdued the kingdoms of the Goths and Vandals,
the emperor, timid, though ambitious, balanced the forces of the
Barbarians, fomented their divisions by flattery and falsehood, and
invited by his patience and liberality the repetition of injuries. The
keys of Carthage, Rome, and Ravenna, were presented to their conqueror,
while Antioch was destroyed by the Persians, and Justinian trembled for
the safety of Constantinople.

Even the Gothic victories of Belisarius were prejudicial to the state,
since they abolished the important barrier of the Upper Danube, which
had been so faithfully guarded by Theodoric and his daughter. For the
defence of Italy, the Goths evacuated Pannonia and Noricum, which
they left in a peaceful and flourishing condition: the sovereignty
was claimed by the emperor of the Romans; the actual possession was
abandoned to the boldness of the first invader. On the opposite banks of
the Danube, the plains of Upper Hungary and the Transylvanian hills were
possessed, since the death of Attila, by the tribes of the Gepidae, who
respected the Gothic arms, and despised, not indeed the gold of the
Romans, but the secret motive of their annual subsidies. The vacant
fortifications of the river were instantly occupied by these Barbarians;
their standards were planted on the walls of Sirmium and Belgrade; and
the ironical tone of their apology aggravated this insult on the majesty
of the empire. "So extensive, O Caesar, are your dominions, so numerous
are your cities, that you are continually seeking for nations to whom,
either in peace or in war, you may relinquish these useless possessions.
The Gepidae are your brave and faithful allies; and if they have
anticipated your gifts, they have shown a just confi