OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

127

possession of the country which they had saved.Their masters, unable to withstand the ungo-verned fury of the populace, preferred the hard-ships of exile to the tyranny of their servants.Some of the fugitive Sarmatians solicited a lessignominious dependence, under the hostile stan-dard of the Goths . A more numerous band re-tired beyond the Carpathian mountains, amongthe Quadi, their German allies, and were easilyadmitted to share a superfluous waste of uncul-tivated land. But the far greater part of thedistressed nation turned their eyes towards thefruitful provinces of Rome. Imploring the pro-tection and forgiveness of the emperor, they so-lemnly promised, as subjects in peace, and assoldiers in war, the most inviolable fidelity tothe empire which should graciously receivethem into its bosom. According to the maximsadopted by Probus and his successors, theoffers of this barbarian colony were eagerly ac-cepted ; and a competent portion of lands inthe provinces of Pannonia, Thrace , Macedonia,and Italy , were immediately assigned for thehabitation and subsistence of three hundredthousand Sarmatians.*

By chastising the pride of the Goths , and by

1 The Gothic and Sarmatian wars are related in so broken and im-perfect a maimer, that I have been obliged to compare the followingwriters, who mutually supply, correct, and illustrate each other. Thosewho will take the same trouble, may acquire a right of criticising mynarrative. Ammianus , 1. xvii, c. 12. Anonym. Valcsian. p 715. Eu-tropius, x, 7. Sextus Rnfus de Provinciis, c. 20. Julian. Orat. 1, p. 9,and Spanheim Comment, p. 94, Hieronym. in Chron. Euseb. in Vit.Constantin. 1. iv, c. 6. Socrates, 1. i, c. lb. Sozomen , 1. i, c. 8. Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 108. Jornandes de Reb. Geticis, c. 22. Isidorus inChron. p. 709 ; in Hist. Gothorum Grotii. Constantin. Porphyroge-nitus de Administrat. Imperii, c. S3, p. 208, edit. Meursii.

CHAP.

XVIII.