CHAP.
VI.
Of
the ten Kingdoms represented by the
ten
horns of the fourth Beast.
NOW
by the wars above described the Western Empire of the Romans,
about the time that Rome was besieged and taken by the Goths,
became broken into the following ten kingdoms.
1.
The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain
and Africa.
2.
The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain.
3.
The kingdom of the Visigoths.
4.
The kingdom of the Alans in Gallia.
5.
The kingdom of the Burgundians.
6.
The kingdom of the Franks.
7.
The kingdom of the Britains.
8.
The kingdom of the Runns.
9.
The kingdom of the Lombards.
10.
The kingdom of Ravenna.
Seven
of these kingdoms are thus mentioned by Sigonius. Honorio
regnante (1), in Pannoniam Hunni (2), in Hispaniam
Vandali (3), Alani (4), Suevi (5) & [48]
Gothi (6), in Galliam Alani (4) Burgundiones (7)
& Gothi (6), certis sedibus permissis, accepti.i
Add the Franks, Britains, and Lombards, and you
have the ten: for these arose about the same time with the seven. But
let us view them severally.
1.
The Kings of the Vandals were, A. C. 407 Godegesilus,
407 Gunderic, 426 Geiseric, 477 Hunneric, 484
Gundemund, 496 Thrasamund, 523 Geiseric, 530
Gelimer, Godegesilus led them into Gallia A. C.
406, Gunderic into Spain A. C. 409, Geiseric
into Africa A. C. 427; and Gelimer was conquered by
Belisarius A. C. 533. Their kingdom lasted in Gallia,
Spain and Africa together 126 years; and in Africa
they were very potent. The Alans had only two Kings of their
own in Spain, Resplendial, and Ataces, Utacus
or Othacar. Under Resplendial they went into France
A. C. 407, and into Spain A. C. 409. Ataces was slain
with almost all his army by Vallia King of the Visigoths
A. C. 419. And then the remainder of these Alans subjected
themselves to Gunderic King of the Vandals in Boetica,
and went afterwards with them into Africa, as I learn out of
Procopius. Whence the Kings of the Vandals styled
themselves Kings of the Vandals and Alans; as may be
seen in the Edict of Hunneric recited by Victor in his
Vandalic persecution. In conjunction with the [49]
Chatti, these Alans gave the name of Cathalaunia,
or Catth-Alania, to the Province which is still so called.
These Alans had also Gepides among them; and therefore
the Gepides came into Pannonia before the Alans
left it. There they became subject to the Hunns till the death
of Attila A. C. 454, and at length were conquered by the
Ostrogoths.
2.
The Kings of the Suevians were, A. C. 407 Ermeric, 438
Rechila, 448 Rechiarius, 458 Maldra, 460
Frumarius, 463 Regismund. And after some other Kings
who are unknown, reigned A. C. 558 Theudomir, 568 Miro,
582 Euboricus, and 583 Andeca. This kingdom, after it
had been once seated in Spain, remained always in Gallaecia
and Lusitania. Ermeric after the fall of the Alan
kingdom, enlarged it into all Gallaecia, forcing the Vandals
to retire into Boetica and the Carthaginian Province.
This kingdom lasted 177 years according to Isidorus, and then
was subdued by Leovigildus King of the Visigoths, and
made a Province of his kingdom A. C. 585.
3.
The Kings of the Visigoths were, A. C. 400 Alaric, 410
Athaulphus, 415 Sergeric and Vallia, 419
Theodoric, 451 Thorismund, 452 Theoderic, 465
Euric, 482 Alaric, 505 Gensalaric, 526 Amalaric,
531 Theudius, 548 Theudisclus, &c. I date this
kingdom from the time [50] that Alaric left Thrace
and Greece to invade the Western Empire. In the
end of the reign of Athaulphus the Goths were humbled
by the Romans and attempted to pass out of France into
Spain. Sergeric reigned but a few days. In the
beginning of Vallia’s reign they assaulted the Romans
afresh, but were again repulsed, and then made peace on this
condition, that they should on the behalf of the Empire invade the
Barbarian kingdoms in Spain: and this they did,
together with the Romans, in the years 417 and 418,
overthrowing the Alans and part of the Vandals. Then
they received Aquitain of the Emperor by a full donation,
leaving their conquests in Spain to the Emperor: and thereby
the seats of the conquered Alans came into the hands of the
Romans. In the year 455, Theoderic, assisted by the
Burgundians, invaded Spain, which was then almost all
subject to the Suevians, and took a part of it from them. A.
C. 506, the Goths were driven out of Gallia by the
Franks. A. C. 585, they conquered the Suevian kingdom,
and became Lords of all Spain. A. C. 713, the Saracens
invaded them, but in time they recovered their dominions, and have
reigned in Spain ever since.
4.
The Kings of the Alans in Gallia were Goar,
Sambida, Eocharic, Sangibanus, Beurgus,
&c. Under Goar they invaded Gallia A. C. 407, [51]
and had seats given them near the Rhine, A. C. 412. Under
Sambida, whom Bucher makes the successor, if not the
son of Goar, they had the territories of Valence given
them by Aetius the Emperor’s General, A. C. 440. Under
Eocharic they conquered a region of the rebelling Galli
Arborici, given them also by Aetius. This region was
from them named Alenconium, quasi Alanorum conventus.
Under Sangibanus they were invaded, and their regal City
Orleans was besieged by Attila King of the Hunns,
with a vast army of 500000 men. Aetius and the Barbarian
Kings of Gallia came to raise the siege, and beat the Hunns
in a very memorable battle, A. C. 451, in campis Catalaunicis,
so called from these Alans mixt with the Chatti. The
region is now called Campania or Champagne. In that
battle were slain on both sides 162000 men. A year or two after,
Attila returned with an immense army to conquer this kingdom,
but was again beaten by them and the Visigoths together in a
battle of three days continuance, with a slaughter almost as great as
the former. Under Beurgus, or Biorgor, they infested
Gallia round about, till the reign of Maximus the
Emperor; and then they passed the Alps in winter, and came
into Liguria, but were there beaten, and Beurgus slain,
by Ricimer commander of the Emperor’s forces, A. C. 464.
Afterwards they [52] were again beaten, by the joint force of
Odoacer King of Italy and Childeric King of the
Franks, about the year 480, and again by Theudobert
King of the Austrian Franks about the year 511.
5.
The Kings of the Burgundians were, A. C. 407 Gundicar,
436 Gundioc, 467 Bilimer, 478 Gundobaldus with
his brothers, 510 Sigismund, 517 Godomarus. Under
Gundicar they invaded Gallia A. C. 407, and had seats
given them by the Emperor near the Rhine, in Gallia
Belgica, A. C. 412. They had Saxons among them, and
were now so potent, that Orosius A. C. 417 wrote of them:
Burgundionum esse praevalidam manum, Galliae hodieque
testes sunt, in quibus praesumpta possessione consistunt.ii
About the year 435 they received great overthrows by Aetius,
and soon after by the Hunns: but five years after had Savoy
granted them to be shared with the inhabitants; and from that time
became again a potent kingdom, being bounded by the river Rhodanus,
but afterwards extending much further into the heart of Gallia.
Gundobald conquered the regions about the rivers Araris
and Rhodanus, with the territories of Marseilles; and
invading Italy in the time of the Emperor Glycerius,
conquered all his brethren. Godomarus made Orleans his
royal seat: whence the kingdom was called Regnum Aurelianorum.
He was conquered by Clotharius and Childebert, Kings of
the [53] Franks, A. C. 526. From thenceforward this
kingdom was sometimes united to the kingdom of the Franks, and
sometimes divided from it, till the reign of Charles the
great, who made his son Carolottus King of Burgundy.
From that time, for about 300 years together, it enjoyed its proper
Kings; and was then broken into the Dukedom of Burgundy,
County of Burgundy, and County of Savoy; and afterwards
those were broken into other lesser Counties.
6.
The Kings of the Franks were, A. C. 407 Theudomir, 417
Pharamond, 428 Clodio, 448 Merovaeus, 456
Childeric, 482 Clodovaeus, &c. Windeline and
Bucher, two of the most diligent searchers into the originals
of this kingdom, make it begin the same year with the Barbarian
invasions of GALLIA, that is, A. C. 407. Of the first Kings
there is in Labbe’s Bibliotheca M.S.
this record.
Historica
quaedam excerpta ex veteri stemmate genealogico Regum Franciae.
Genobaldus,
Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris. Isti duces vel
reguli extiterunt à principio gentis Francorum diversis
temporibus. Sed incertum relinquunt historici quali sibi
procreations lineâ successerunt.
Pharamundus:
sub hoc rege suo primo Franci legibus se subdunt, quas
primores eorum tulerunt Wisogastus, Astrogastus,
Salegastus. [54]
Chlochilo.
Iste, transito Rheno, Romanos in Carbonaria sylva
devicit, Camaracum cepit & obtinuit, annis 20
regnavit. Sub hoc rege Franci usque Summam progressi sunt.
Merovechus.
Sub hoc rege Franci Trevirim destruunt, Metim succendunt,
usque Aurelianum perveniunt.iii
Now
for Genobaldus, Marcomer and Suno, they were
captains of the Transrhenane Franks in the reign of
Theodosius, and concern us not. We are to begin with Theudomir
the first King of the rebelling Salii, called Didio by
Ivo Carnotensis, and Thiedo and Theudemerus
by Rhenanus. His face is extant in a coin of gold found with
this inscription, THEUDEMIR REX, published by Petavius, and
still or lately extant, as Windeline testifies: which shews
that he was a King, and that in Gallia; seeing that rude
Germany understood not then the coining of money, nor used
either Latin words or letters. He was the son of Ricimer
or Richomer, the favourite of the Emperor Theodosius;
and so being a Roman Frank, and of the Salian
royal blood, they therefore upon the rebellion made him King. The
whole time of his reign you have stated in Excerptis Gregorii
Turonensis è Fredigario, cap. 5, 6, 7, 8. where the
making him King, the tyranny of Jovinus, the slaughter of the
associates of Jovinus, the second taking of Triers by
the Franks, and their war with Castinus, in which [55]
this King was slain, are as a series of successive things thus set
down in order. Extinctis Ducibus in Francis, denuo Reges
creantur ex eadem stirpe qua prius fuerant. Eodem tempore
Jovinus ornatus regios assumpsit. Constantius fugam versus
Italiam dirigit; missis a Jovino Principe percussoribus super
Mentio flumine, capite truncatur. Multi nobilium jussu
Jovini apud Avernis capti, & a ducibus Honorii crudeliter
interempti sunt. Trevirorum civitas, factione unius ex
senatoribus nomine Lucii, à Francis capta & incensa
est.—Castinus Domesticorum Comes expeditionem accipit
contra Francos, &c.iv
Then, returning to speak of Theudomir, he adds: Franci
electum à se regem, sicut prius fuerat, crinitum
inquirentes diligenter ex genere Priami, Frigi &
Francionis, super se crearunt nomine Theudemerum filium
Richemeris, qui in hoc praelio quod supra memini, à
Romanis interfectus est;v
that is, in the battle with Castinus’s army. Of his
death Gregory Turonensis makes this further mention: In
consularibus legimus Theodemerem regem Francorum filium Ricimeris
quondam, & Ascilam matrem ejus, gladio
interfectos.vi
Upon
this victory of the Romans, the Franks and rebelling
Gauls, who in the time of Theudomir were at war with
one another, united to strengthen themselves, as Ordericus
[56] Vitalis thus mentions [Apud Bucherum, l. 14. c. 9.
n. 8]. Cum Galli prius contra Romanos rebellâssent,
Franci iis sociati sunt, & pariter juncti,
Ferramundum Sunonis ducis filium, sibi regem praefecerunt.vii
Prosper sets down the time: Anno 25 Honorii,
Pharamundus regnat in Francia.viii
This, Bucher well observes, refers to the end of the year 416,
or the beginning of the next year, dating the years of Honorius
from the death of Valentinian; and argues well, that at this
time Pharamond was not only King by the constitution of the
Franks, but crowned also by the consent of Honorius,
and had part of Gallia assigned him by covenant. And this
might be the cause that Roman writers reckoned him the first
King: which some not understanding, have reputed him the founder of
this kingdom by an army of the Transrhenane Franks. He
might come with such an army, but he succeeded Theudomir by
right of blood and consent of the people. For the above cited passage
of Fredigarius, Extinctis Ducibus, in Francis denuo
Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe quâ prius fuerant,ix
implies implies that the kingdom continued to this new elected family
during the reign of more kings than one. If you date the years of
Honorius from the death of his father, the reign of Pharamond
might begin two years later than is assigned by Bucher. The
Salique laws made in his [57] reign, which are yet
extant, shew by their name that it was the kingdom of the Salii
over which
he
reigned; and, by the pecuniary mulcts in them, that the place where
he reigned abounded much with money, and consequently was within the
Empire; rude Germany knowing not the use of money, till they
mixed with the Romans. In the Preface also to the Salique
laws, written and, prefixed to them soon after the conversion of the
Franks to the Christian religion, that is, in the end of the
reign of Merovaeus, or soon after, the original of this
kingdom is thus described: Haec enim gens, quae fortis dum
esset & robore valida, Romanorum jugum durissimum de suis
cervicibus excussit pugnando, &c.x
This kingdom therefore was erected, not by invasion but by rebellion,
as was described above. Prosper in registering their Kings in
order, tells us: Pharamundus regnat in Francia; Clodio
regnat in Francia; Merovaeus regnat in Francia:xi
and who can imagine but that in all these places he meant one and the
same Francia? And yet ’tis certain that the Francia
of Merovaeus was in Gallia.
Yet
the father of Pharamond, being king of a body of Franks
in Germany in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, as
above, Pharamond might reign over the same Franks in
Germany before he succeeded Theudomir in the kingdom
[58] of the Salians within the Empire, and even before
Theudomir began his reign; suppose in the first year of
Honorius, or when those Franks being repulsed by
Stilico, lost their Kings Marcomir and Suno, one
of which was the father of Pharamond: and the Roman
Franks, after the death of Theudomir, might invite
Pharamond with his people from beyond the Rhine. But we
are not to regard the reign of Pharamond in Germany: we
are to date this kingdom from its rise within the Empire, and to look
upon it as strengthened by the access of other Franks coming
from beyond the Rhine, whether in the reign of this King or in
that of his successor Clodio. For in the last year of
Pharamond’s reign, Aetius took from him a part of
his possession in Gallia: but his successor Clodio,
whom Fredigarius represents as the son of Theudomir,
and some call Clogio, Cloio, and Claudius,
inviting from beyond the Rhine a great body of Franks,
recovered all, and carried on their conquests as far as the river
Soame. Then those Franks dividing conquests with him,
erected certain new kingdoms at Cologn and Cambray, and
some other cities: all which were afterwards conquered by Clodovaeus,
who also drove the Goths out of Gallia, and fix’d
his seat at Paris, where it has continued ever since. And this
was the original of the present kingdom of France. [59]
7.
The kings of Britain were, A. C. 407 or 408, Marcus,
Gratian, and Constantine successively; A. C. 425
Vortigern, 466 Aurelius Ambrosius, 498 Uther
Pendraco, 508 Arthur, 542 Constantinus, 545
Aurelius Cunanus, 578 Vortiporeus, 581 Malgo,
586 Careticus, 613 Cadwan, 635 Cadwalin, 676
Cadwallader. The three first were Roman Tyrants, who
revolted from the Empire. Orosius, Prosper and Zosimus
connect their revolt with the irruptions of the Barbarians
into Gallia, as consequent thereunto. Prosper, with
whom Zosimus agrees, puts it in the year which began the day
after that irruption. The just time I thus collect: Marcus
reigned not many days, Granan four months, and Constantine
three years. He was slain the year after the taking of Rome,
that is A. C. 411, 14 Kal. Octob. Whence the revolt was in
Spring A. C. 408. Sozomen joins Constantine’s
expedition into Gallia with Arcadius’s death, or
the times a little after; and Arcadius died A. C. 408 May
the 1st. Now tho the reign of these Tyrants was but short, yet they
gave a beginning to the kingdom of Britain, and so may be
reckoned the three first Kings, especially since the posterity of
Constantine, viz. his sons Aurelius Ambrosius,
and Uther Pendraco, and his grandson Arthur,
reigned afterwards. For from the time of the revolt of these Tyrants
Britain [60] continued a distinct kingdom absolved from
subjection to the Empire, the Emperor not being able to spare
soldiers to be sent thither to receive and keep the Island, and
therefore neglecting it; as we learn by unquestionable records. For
Prosper tells us; A. C. 410, Variane Cos.
Hac tempestate prae valetudine Romanorum, vires funditùs
attenuatae Britanniae.xii
And Sigebert, conjoining this with the siege of Rome,
saith: Britannorum vires attenuatae, & substrahunt se
à Romanorum dominatione.xiii
And Zosimus lib. 6. The Transrhenane Barbarians
invading all places, reduced the inhabitants of the island
of Britain, and also certain Celtic nations to that
pass, that they fell off from the Roman Empire; and
being no longer obedient to the Roman laws, __*Z ˆ_,*_
___*_B___,xiv
they lived in separate bodies after their own pleasure.xv
The Britons therefore taking up arms, and hazarding
themselves for their own safety freed their cities from the imminent
Barbarians. In like manner all Brabant and some other
Provinces of the Gauls imitating the Britons, freed
themselves also, ejecting the Roman Presidents, and forming
themselves into a sort of commonwealth according to their own
pleasure. This rebellion of Britain and the Celtic
nations happened when Constantine usurped the kingdom.
So also Procopius, lib. 1. Vandal. speaking of
the same Constantine, [61] saith: Constantine being
overcome in battle, was slain with his children:
_$_*___<__ _8_ * _ #4__¢ _ t__&F&_&___ º_8*_
†&0 _Q t__Z ½&_ ¾" *,$6__ ,(
t"Z _º* · †____.xvi
Yet the Romans could not recover Britain any more,
but from that time it remained under Tyrants.xvii
And Beda, l. 1. c. 11: Fracta est Roma à
Gothis anno 1164 suae conditionis; ex quo tempore
Romani in Britannia regnare cessaverunt.xviii
And Ethelwaldus: A tempore Romae à Gothis
expungnatae, cessavit imperium Romanorum à Britannia
insula, & ab aliis, quas sub jugo servitutis
tenebant, multis terris.xix
And Theodoret, serm. 9. de curand. Graec.
affect. about the year 424, reckons the Britons among
the nations which were not then in subjection to the Roman
Empire. Thus Sigonius: ad annum 411, Imperium
Romanorum post excessum Constantini in Britannia nullum fuit.xx
Between
the death of Constantine and the reign of Vortigern was
an interregnum of about 14 years, in which the Britons had
wars with the Picts and Scots, and twice obtained the
assistance of a Roman Legion, who drove out the enemy, but
told them positively at their departure that they would come no more.
Of Vortigern’s beginning to reign there is this record
in an old Chronicle in Nennius, quoted by Camden and
others: Guortigernus tenuit imperium in Britannia, Theodosio
& Valentiniano Coss. [viz. [62] A. C. 425.] &
in quarto anno regni sui Saxones ad Britanniam venerunt, Felice
& Tauro Coss. [viz. A. C. 428.]xxi
This coming of the Saxons, Sigebert refers to the 4th
year of Valentinian, which falls in with the year 428 assigned
by this Chronicle: and two years after, the Saxons together
with the Picts were beaten by the Britons. Afterwards
in the reign of Martian the Emperor, that is, between the
years 450 and 456, the Saxons under Hengist were called
in by the Britons, but six years after revolted from them,
made war upon them with various success, and by degrees succeeded
them. Yet the Britons continued a flourishing kingdom till the
reign of Careticus; and the war between the two nations
continued till the pontificate of Sergius A. C. 688.
[Rolevinc’s Antiqua Saxon. l. 1. c. 6.]
8.
The Kings of the Hunns were, A. C. 406 Octar and
Rugila, 433 Bleda and Attila. Octar and
Rugila were brothers of Munzuc King of the Hunns
in Gothia beyond the Danube; and Bleda and
Attila were his sons, and Munzuc was the son of
Balamir. The two first, as Jornandes tell us, were
Kings of the Hunns, but not of them all; and had the two last
for their successors. I date the reign of the Hunns in
Pannonia from the time that the Vandals and Alans
relinquished Pannonia to them, A. C. 407. Sigonius from
the time that the [63] Visigoths relinquished Pannonia
A. C. 408.xxii
Constat, saith he, quod Gothis ex Illyrico profectis,
Hunni successerunt, atque imprimis Pannoniam tenuerunt.
Neque enim Honorius viribus ad resistendum in tantis
difficultatibus destitutus, prorsus eos prohibere potuit,
sed meliore consilio, animo ad pacem converso, foedus
cum eis, datis acceptisque obsidibus fecit; ex quibus
qui dati sunt, Aetius, qui etiam Alarico tributus
fuerat, praecipue memoratur.xxiii
How Aetius was hostage to the Goths and Hunns is
related by Frigeridus, who when he had mentioned that
Theodosius Emperor of the East had sent grievous
commands to John, who after the death of Honorius had
usurped the crown of the Western Empire, he subjoins:
Iis
permotus Johannes, Aetium id tempus curam palatii gerentem cum
ingenti auri pondere ad Chunnos transmisit, notos sibi
obsidiatûs sui tempore & familiari amicitiâ
devinctos—xxivAnd
a little after: Aetius tribus annis Alarici obses, dehinc
Chunnorum, postea Carpilionis gener ex Comite domesticorum &
Joannis curopalatae.xxv
Now Bucher, shews that Aetius was hostage to Alaric
till the year 410, when Alaric died, and to the Hunns between
the years 411 and 415, and son-in-law to Carpilio about the
year 417 or 418, and Curopalates to John about the end
of the year 428. Whence ’tis probable that he became hostage to
[64] the Hunns about the year 412 or 413, when Honorius
made
leagues with almost all the barbarous nations, and granted them
seats: but I had rather say with Sigonius, that Aetius
became hostage to Alaric A. C. 403. It is further manifest out
of Prosper, that the Hunns were in quiet possession of
Pannonia in the year 432. For in the first book of Eusebius’s
Chronicle Prosper writes: Anno decimo post obitum Honorii,
cum ad Chunnorum gentem cui tunc Rugila praeerat, post
praelium cum Bonifacio se Aetius contulisset, impetrato
auxilio ad Romanorum solum regreditur.xxvi
And in the second book: Aetio & Valerio Coss. Aetius depositâ
potestate profugus ad Hunnos in Pannonia pervenit, quorum
amicitiâ auxilioque usus, pacem principum interpellatae
postestatis obtinuit.xxvii
Hereby it appears that at this time Rugila, or as Maximus
calls him, Rechilla, reigned over the Hunns in
Pannonia; and that Pannonia was not now so much as
accounted within the soil of the Empire, being formerly granted away
to the Hunns; and that these were the very same body of Hunns
with which Aetius had, in the time of his being an hostage,
contracted friendship: by virtue of which, as he sollicited them
before to the aid of John the Tyrant A. C. 424, so now he
procured their intercession for himself with the Emperor. Octar
died A. C. 480; for Socrates tell us, that [65] about
that time the Burgundians having been newly vext by the Hunns,
upon intelligence of Octar’s death, seeing them without
a leader, set upon them suddenly with so much vigour, that 3000
Burgundians slew 10000 Hunns. Of Rugila’s
being now King in Pannonia you have heard already. He died A.
C. 488, and was succeeded by Bleda, as Prosper and
Maximus inform us. This Bleda with his brother Attila
were before this time Kings of the Hunns beyond the Danube,
their father Munzuc’s kingdom being divided between
them; and now they united the kingdom of Pannonia to their
own. Whence Paulus Diaconus saith, they did regnum
intra Pannoniam Daciamque gerere.xxviii
In the year 441, they began to invade the Empire afresh, adding to
the Pannonian forces new and great armies from Scythia.
But this war was presently composed, and then Attila, seeing
Bleda inclined to peace, slew him, A. C. 444, inherited his
dominions, and invaded the Empire again. At length, after various
great wars with the Romans, Attila perished A. C. 454;
and his sons quarrelling about his dominions, gave occasion to the
Gepides, Ostrogoths and other nations who were their
subjects, to rebel and make war upon them. The same year the
Ostrogoths had seats granted them in Pannonia by the
Emperors Marcian and Valentinian; and with the Romans
[66] ejected the Hunns out of Pannonia, soon
after the death of Attila, as all historians agree. This
ejection was in the reign of Avitus, as is mentioned in the
Chronicum Boiorum, and in Sidonius, Carm.
7 in Avitum, which speaks thus of that Emperor.
——Cujus
solum amissas post saecula multa
Pannonias
revocavit iter, jam credere promptum est
The
Poet means, that by the coming of Avitus the Hunns
yielded more easily to the Goths. This was written by Sidonius
in the beginning of the reign of Avitus: and his reign began
in the end of the year 455, and lasted not one full year.
Jornandes
tells us: Duodecimo anno regni Valiae, quando & Hunni
post pene quinquaginta annos invasa Pannonia, à Romanis
& Gothis expulsi sunt.xxx
And Marcellinus: Hiero & Ardaburio Coss. Pannoniae,
quae per quinquaginta annos ab Hunnis retinebantur, à
Romanis receptae sunt:xxxi
whence
it should seem that the Hunns invaded and held Pannonia
from the year 378 or 379 to the year 427, and then were driven out of
it. But this is a plain mistake: for it is certain that the Emperor
Theodosius left the Empire entire; and we have shewed out of
Prosper, that [67] the Hunns were in quiet
possession of Pannonia in the year 432. The Visigoths
in those days had nothing to do with Pannonia, and the
Ostrogoths continued subject to the Hunns till the
death of Attila, A. C. 454; and Valia King of the
Visigoths did not reign twelve years. He began his reign in
the end of the year 415, reigned three years, and was slain A. C.
419, as Idacius, Isidorus, and the Spanish
manuscript Chronicles seen by Grotius testify. And
Olympiodorus, who carries his history only to the year 425,
sets down therein the death of Valia King of the Visigoths,
and conjoins it with that of Constantius which happened A. C.
420. Wherefore the Valia of Jornandes, who reigned at
the least twelve years, is some other King. And I suspect that this
name hath been put by mistake for Valamir King of the
Ostrogoths: for the action recorded was of the Romans
and Ostrogoths driving the Hunns out of Pannonia
after the death of Attila; and it is not likely that the
historian would refer the history of the Ostrogoths to the
years of the Visigothic Kings. This action happened in the end
of the year 455, which I take to be the twelfth year of Valamir
in Pannonia, and which was almost fifty years after the year
406, in which the Hunns succeeded the Vandals and Alans
in Pannonia. Upon the ceasing of the line of Hunnimund
[68] the son of Hermaneric, the Ostrogoths lived
without Kings of their own nation about forty years together, being
subject to the Hunns. And when Alaric began to make war
upon the Romans, which was in the year 444, he made Valamir,
with his brothers Theodomir and Videmir the grandsons
of Vinethar, captains or kings of these Ostrogoths
under him. In the twelfth year of Valamir’s reign dated
from thence, the Hunns were driven out of Pannonia.
Yet
the Hunns were not so ejected, but that they had further
contests with the Romans, till the head of Densix the
son of Attila, was carried to Constantinople, A. C.
469, in the Consulship of Zeno and Marcian, as
Marcellinus relates. Nor were they yet totally ejected the
Empire: for besides their reliques in Pannonia, Sigonius
tells us, that when the Emperors Marcian and Valentinian
granted Pannonia to the Goths, which was in the year
454, they granted part of Illyricum to some of the Hunns
and Sarmatians. And in the year 526, when the Lombards
removing into Pannonia made war there with the Gepides,
the Avares, a part of the Hunns, who had taken the name
of Avares from one of their Kings, assisted the Lombards
in that war; and the Lombards afterwards, when they went into
Italy, left their seats in Pannonia to the Avares
in recompence of their friendship. [69] From that time the
Hunns grew again very powerful; their Kings, whom they called
Chagan, troubling the Empire much in the reigns of the
Emperors Mauritius, Phocas, and Heraclius: and
this is the original of the present kingdom of Hungary, which
from these Avares and other Hunns mixed together, took
the name of Hun-Avaria, and by contraction Hungary.
9.
The Lombards, before they came over the Danube, were
commanded by two captains, Ibor and Ayon: after whose
death they had Kings, Agilmund, Lamisso, Lechu,
Hildehoc, Gudehoc, Classo, Tato, Wacho,
Walter, Audoin, Alboin, Cleophis, &c.
Agilmund was the son of Ayon, who became their King,
according to Prosper, in the Consulship of Honorius and
Theodosius A. C. 389, reigned thirty-three years, according to
Paulus Warnefridus, and was slain in battle by the
Bulgarians. Prosper places his death in the Consulship
of Marinianus and Asclepiodorus, A. C. 423. Lamisso
routed the Bulgarians, and reigned three years, and Lechu
almost forty. Gudehoc was contemporary to Odoacer King
of the Heruli in Italy, and led his people from
Pannonia into Rugia, a country on the north side of
Noricum next beyond the Danube; from whence Odoacer
then carried his people into Italy. Tato overthrew the
kingdom of the Heruli beyond the Danube. [70]
Wacho conquered the Suevians, a kingdom then bounded on
the east by Bavaria, on the west by France, and on the
south by the Burgundians. Audoin returned into Pannonia
A. C. 526, and there overcame the Gepides. Alboin A. C.
551 overthrew the kingdom of the Gepides, and slew their King
Chunnimund: A. C. 563 he assisted the Greek Emperor
against Totila King of the Ostrogoths in Italy;
and A. C. 568 led his people out of Pannonia into Lombardy,
where they reigned till the year 774.
According
to Paulus Diaconus, the Lombards with many other
Gothic nations came into he Empire from beyond the Danube
in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, that is, between
the years 395 and 408. But they might come in a little earlier: for
we are told that the Lombards, under their captains Ibor
and Ayon, beat the Vandals in battle; and Prosper
placeth this victory in the Consulship of Ausonius and
Olybrius, that is, A. C. 879. Before this war the Vandals
had remained quiet forty years in the seats granted them in Pannonia
by Constantine the great. And therefore if these were the same
Vandals, this war must have been in Pannonia; and might
be occasioned by the coming of the Lombards over the Danube
into Pannonia, a year or two before the battle; and so have
put an end to that quiet which had lasted forty [71] years.
After Gratian and Theodosius had quieted the
Barbarians, they might either retire over the Danube,
or continue quiet under the Romans till the death of
Theodosius; and then either invade the Empire anew, or throw
off all subjection to it. By their wars, first with the Vandals,
and then with the Bulgarians, a Scythian nation so
called from the river Volga whence they came; it appears that
even in those days they were a kingdom not contemptible.
10.
These nine kingdoms being rent away, we are next to consider the
residue of the Western Empire. While this Empire
continued entire, it was the Beast itself: but the residue thereof is
only a part of it. Now if this part be considered as a horn, the
reign of this horn may be dated from the translation of the imperial
seat from Rome to Ravenna, which was in October
A. C. 408. For then the Emperor Honorius, fearing that Alaric
would besiege him in Rome, if he staid there, retired to
Millain, and thence to Ravenna: and the ensuing siege
and sacking of Rome confirmed his residence there, so that he
and his successors ever after made it their home. Accordingly
Macchiavel in his Florentine history writes, that
Valentinian having left Rome, translated the seat of
the Empire to Ravenna. [72]
Rhaetia
belonged to the Western Emperors, so long as that Empire stood; and
then it descended, with Italy and the Roman Senate, to
Odoacer King of the Heruli in Italy, and after
him to Theoderic King of the Ostrogoths and his
successors, by the grant of the Greek Emperors. Upon the death
of Valentinian the second, the Alemans and Suevians
invaded Rhaetia A. C. 455. But I do not find they erected any
settled kingdom there: for in the year 457, while they were yet
depopulating Rhaetia, they were attacked and beaten by Burto
Master of the horse to the Emperor Majoranus; and I hear
nothing more of their invading Rhaetia. Clodovaeus King
of France, in or about the year 496, conquered a kingdom of
the Alemans, and slew their last King Ermeric. But this
kingdom was seated in Germany, and only bordered upon Rhaetia:
for its people fled from Clodovaeus into the neighbouring
kingdom of the Ostrogoths under Theoderic, who received
them as friends, and wrote a friendly letter to Clodovaeus in
their behalf: and by this means they became inhabitants of Rhaetia,
as subjects under the dominion of the Ostrogoths.
When
the Greek Emperor conquered the Ostrogoths, he
succeeded them in the kingdom of Ravenna, not only by right of
conquest but also by right of inheritance, the Roman Senate
[73] still going along with this kingdom. Therefore we may
reckon that this kingdom continued in the Exarchate of Ravenna
and Senate of Rome: for the remainder of the Western
Empire went along with the Senate of Rome, by reason of
the right which this Senate still retained, and at length exerted, of
chusing a new Western Emperor.
I
have now enumerated the ten kingdoms, into which the Western
Empire became divided at its first breaking, that is, at the
time of Rome’s being besieged and taken by the Goths.
Some of these kingdoms at length fell, and new ones arose: but
whatever was their number afterwards, they are still called the Ten
Kings from their first number. [74]
i
1922: In the reign of Honorius, the Hunns were granted
a fixed place of abode and admitted unto Pannonia; the
Vandals, the Alans, the Suevi, and the Goths
into Spain; and the Alans, Burgundians, and
Goths into Gaul. Note: in the 1733 edition the numbers
1 through 7 are placed above the relevant names in superscript
without parentheses.
ii
1922: The exceptional strength of the Burgundians is to-day
witnessed by the provinces of Gaul, possession of which they
seized, and in which they are now established.
iii
1922: Certain historical extracts from the ancient genealogical stem
of the kings of France.
Genobaldus,
Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris.— These were petty
kings at different periods in the early history of the nation of the
Franks. But historical writers leave it doubtful in what
order or by what title they succeeded one to the other.
Pharamundus.—Under
him (their first King) the Franks submitted to those laws
previously enacted by their chieftains, Wisogastus,
Atrogastus, Salegastus.
Chlochilo.—This
King crossed the Rhine and decisively defeated the Romans
in the Carbonarian forest. He captured and held Camaracum.
He reigned for 20 years. In his reign the Franks advanced as
far as the Somme.
Merovechus.—In
this reign the Franks destroyed Treves, burned Metz
and penetrated to Orleans.
iv
1922: After the extinction of the Dukes among the Franks
Kings were again elected from the same stock as in former times. At
that same time Jovinus assumed for himself the position and
honour of monarch. Constantine directed his flight towards
Italy; but was beheaded at the river Mentius by
assassins in the service of Jovinus. Many of the nobility
were on the orders of Jovinus captured at Averni and
cruelly murdered by the Dukes of Honorius. The city of
Treves, by the connivance of one of the Senators,
called Lucius, was captured and burned by the Franks.
Castinus, a ‘Comptroller of the Household,’
undertook an expedition against the Franks, &c.
v
1922: The Franks on making diligent search for a King elected
from their own number and according to the ancient custom, with long
hair, chose as their King from the family of Priamus, Frigius
and Francio, Theudemer, the son of Richemer;
this Theudemer was killed by the Romans in the battle
mentioned above.
vi
1922: In the consular records we read that Theudemer King of
the Franks and son of Richemer was with his mother
Ascila killed with the sword.
vii
1922: When the Gauls had taken the first steps to rebel
against the Romans the Franks united with them, and as
a united people elected as their King Ferramundus, the son of
Duke Suno.
viii
1922: In the 25th year of Honorius, Pharamundus became
King of France.
ix
1922: After the extinction of Dukes among the Franks, Kings
were again elected from the same stock as in former times.
x
1922: This nation, which while it was strong and vigorous in its
might struck from its neck the oppressive Roman yoke in war,
&c.
xi
1922: Pharamundus reigned in France; Clodio
reigned in France; Merovaeus reigned in France.
xii
1922: A. C. 410, in the consulship of Varianus. At this time
owing to the weakness of the Romans, the military forces in
Britain were reduced to a minimum.
xiii
1922: The military forces among the Britons were reduced: and
the Britons freed themselves from the Roman
Suzerainty.
xiv
1922: ___Z ˆ_,*_ __ *_B___.
xv
These words are a gloss on the preceding Greek phrase.
xvi
1922: _$_*___<__ _8_* _ #4__¢ _ t__&F&_&___
º_8*_ †&0 _Q t__Z ½&_ ¾"
*,$6__ _( t"Z _º* · †____.
xvii
This line is a gloss on the preceding Greek sentence.
xviii
1922: The power of Rome was broken by the Goths in the
year 1164 A. U. C. and from that date the Romans ceased to
rule in Britain.
xix
1922: From the storming of Rome by the Goths, the rule
of the Romans ended in the island of Britain, and in
many other countries which they had been holding in servile bondage.
xx
1922: About the year 411 Roman rule after the withdrawal of
Constantine ceased to exist in Britain.
xxi
1922: Guortigernus gained control in Britain in the
Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus (viz.
A. C. 425) and in the fourth year of his reign the Saxons
invaded Britain in the consulship of Felix and Taurus
(viz. A. C. 428).
xxii
1922: “writes” added to the end of this sentence.
xxiii
1922: “It is agreed,” saith he, “when the Goths
quitted Illyricum, the Hunns took their place and
first of all secured Pannonia. For Honorius was so
surrounded by difficulties that he was without forces to meet them,
and so was unable to check them directly: but adopting a better plan
he devoted his attention to a peaceable settlement and concluded an
agreement with them, upon the mutual interchange of hostages. One of
the hostages given—Aetius—who had also been a hostage to
Alaric, is especially worthy of note.”
xxiv
1922: “Disturbed by these commands John sent Aetius
(who at that time was in charge of the palace) across to the Hunns
with a huge amount of gold, they being acquainted with him from the
time when he was a hostage among them, and being bound to him by
intimate ties of friendship.”
xxv
1922: “Aetius was three years a hostage with Alaric;
next a hostage with the Hunns; and subsequently son-in-law of
Carpilio, after holding the offices of Comptroller of the
Household and Governor of the Palace for John.”
xxvi
1922: “Ten years after the death of Honorius, Aetius
after his fight with Boniface withdrew to the tribe of the
Hunns then governed by Rugila, and on gaining the help
he sought, returned to Roman soil.”
xxvii
1922: “In the consulship of Aetius and Valerius—Aetius
resigning his office, came as an exile to the Hunns in
Pannonia, and by using their friendly assistance, he obtained
the emperor’s pardon for his relinquishment of office.”
xxviii
1922: “bear sway within the borders of Pannonia and
Dacia.”
xxix
1922: “ — — Tis easy to conceive what will be the
exploits, in actual. combat, of the man whose mere approach
recovered the province of Pannonia lost to us for many
generations.”
xxx
1922: “In the twelfth year of the reign of Valia, the
Hunns almost 50 years after their invasion of Pannonia
were expelled by the Romans and Goths.”
xxxi
1922: “in the consulship of Hierius and Ardaburius
the provinces of Pannonia which for 50 years had been in the
possession of the Hunns, were recovered by the Romans.”