| Keywords |
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| ID |
5464 |
| Text |
Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII (417 - 418) Orosius |
| Quotation |
12 Conceduntur quidem aduersus immanissimum illum hostem Radagaisum aliorum hostium cum copiis suis inclinati ad auxilium animi. adsunt Uldin et Sarus, Hunorum et Gothorum duces, praesidio Romanorum; sed non sinit Deus rem potentiae suae uirtutem hominum ac maxime hostium uideri. 13 Conterritum diuinitus Radagaisum in Faesulanos montes cogit eiusque - secundum eos qui parcissime referunt - ducenta milia hominum inopum consilii et cibi in arido et aspero montis iugo, urguente undique timore concludit agminaque, quibus dudum angusta uidebatur Italia, latendi spe in unum ac paruum uerticem trudit. 14 Quid multis morer? non disposita in bellum acies fuit, non furor timorque incerta pugnae praetulit; non caedes acta, non sanguis effusus est, non postremo - quod felicitatis loco deputari solet - damna pugnae euentu compensata uictoriae: edentibus bibentibus ludentibusque nostris tanti ilii tamque immanes hostes esurientes sitientes languentesque confecti sunt. 15 Parum hoc est, nisi captum et subiugatum sciant, quem timuere Romani, illumque idololatram suum, cuius sacrificia se magis pertimescere quam arma fingebant, sine proelio uictum ac uinctum sub iugo catenisque despiciant. igitur rex Radagaisus solus spem fugae sumens clam suos deseruit atque in nostros incidit: a quibus captus et paulisper retentus ac deinde interfectus est. 16 Tanta uero multitudo captiuorum Gothorum fuisse fertur, ut uilissimorum pecudum modo singulis aureis passim greges hominum uenderentur. 17 Igitur ingrata Roma, quae sicut nunc sensit non ad remittendam sed ad reprimendam idololatriae praesumptionem iudicis Dei obliquam misericordiam, ita continuo propter uiuorum mortuorumque sanctorum piam recordationem Dei iram passura non plenam, si forte confusa paeniteat et per experientiam fidem discat, ab incursu Alarici regis et hostis sed Christiani aliquantulo ad tempus spatio differtur. |
| Translation |
12 Against Radagaisus, our most savage enemy, God granted that the minds of our other enemies should be disposed to help us with their forces. Uldin and Sarus, leaders of the Huns and of the Goths, came to the aid of the Romans. But God did not allow the workings of His power to appear as the valour of men, particularly when they were our enemies. 13 He smote Radagaisus with supernatural terror, drove him into the mountains of Faesulae, bottled up his two hundred thousand men - this number is the lowest estimate cited - without food or resource on a rough and arid ridge. Weighted down with apprehension, the band that had but lately found Italy too small was crowded upon one small summit, where it hoped to lie concealed. 14 Why delay the tale? No army was arrayed for battle; no fury or fear prolonged the uncertainties of the fight; no killings were done; no blood was shed; nor finally was there that which is usually considered a reason for congratulations, namely, a loss in battle compensated by the fruits of victory. While our men were eating, drinking, and making merry, the enemy, so numerous and so savage, were worn out by hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. 15 All this would matter little if the Romans did not know that the man whom they feared had been captured and subdued and if they did not see that idol worshipper, whose sacrifices they pretended to dread more than his arms, defeated without a battle, sent under the yoke, and exposed to their contempt as a prisoner in chains. So King Radagaisus secretly deserted his men, hoping to escape by himself, but he fell into the hands of our soldiers. He was captured by them, held for a while, and then put to death. 16 The Gothic captives are said to have been so numerous that droves of them were sold everywhere like the cheapest cattle for an aureus apiece. 17. Rome was so ungrateful
that she did not realise that the indirect working of God’s Judgment was not
to pardon their presumption in committing idolatry, but to put an end to it,
so straightaway she was to suffer God’s Wrath, though not in full measure,
for He loyally remembered the saints, both living and dead, there. In this
way, the incursion of King Alaric, their enemy, though a Christian one, was put off for a short while, in case she should repent of her confusion and
learn to be faithful from what she had experienced. |
| Quotation source |
Lib. 7, Cap. 37, 12-17 (Vol. III, pp. 110-12, trans. Fear, pp. 398-400) |
| Temporal Coverage |
406 - 406 |
| Associated use case(s) |
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