The
river was then permitted to return to its accustomed channel, and the
prisoners employed in the work were inhumanly massacred, to conceal
the spot in which the deceased hero was entombed. A beautiful poem on
this subject, entitled, The Dirge of Alaric the Visigoth, has
appeared, which is attributed to the honourable Edward Everett.
[3] See Chapter i.
[4] See Chapter xxvii.
* * * * *
CHAPTER XXVII.
HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BARBAROUS TRIBES THAT AIDED IN
DESTROYING THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
Lo! from the frozen forests of the north,
The sons of slaughter pour in myriads forth!
Who shall awake the mighty? Will thy woe,
City of thrones, disturb the world below?
Call on the dead to hear thee! let thy cries
Summon their shadowy legions to arise,
Array the ghosts of conquerors on thy walls
Barbarians revel in their ancient halls!
And their lost children bend the subject knee,
Amidst the proud tombs and trophies of the free!--_Anon._
1. We have already mentioned that the barbarous nations which joined
in the destruction of the Roman empire, were invited to come within
its precincts through the weakness or folly of successive sovereigns
who recruited their armies from those hardy tribes, in preference to
their own subjects, enervated by luxury and indolence.
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