OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 329 a much more singular parallel ; and to affirm with confidence that the ravages of the Barbarians, whom Alaric had led from the banks of the Danube, were less destructive than the hostilities exercised by the troops of Charles the Fifth, a Catholic prince, who styledhimself Emperor of the Romans. ^^*^ The Goths evacuated the city at the end of six days, but Rome remained above nine months in the possession of the Imperialists ; and every hour was stained by some atrocious act of cruelty, lust, and rapine. The authority of Alaric preserved some order and moderation among the ferocious multitude, which acknowledged him for their leader and king ; but the constable of Bourbon had gloriously fallen in the attack of the walls ; and the death of the general removed eveiy restraint of discipline from an army which consisted of three independent nations, the Italians, the Spaniards, and the Germans, In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the manners of Italj' exhibited a remarkable scene of the depravity of mankind. They united the sanguinary crimes that prevail in an unsettled state of society, with the polished vices that spring from the abuse of art and luxury ; and the loose adventurers, who had violated every prejudice of patriotism and superstition to assault the palace of the Roman pontiff, must deserve to be considered as the most profligate of the lialiaihs. At the same aera, the Spaniards were the terror both of the Old and New World ; but their high-spirited valour was dLgraced by gloomy pride, rapacious avarice, and uni'elenting cruelty. Indefatigable in the pursuit of fame and riches, they had improved, by repeated practice, the most exquisite and effectual methods of torturing their prisoners ; many of the Castillans, who pillaged Rome, were familiars of the holy inquisition ; and some volunteers, perhaps, were lately returned from the conquest of Mexico. The Germans were less corrupt than the Italians, less cruel than the Spaniards ; and the rustic, or even savage, aspect of those Tramontane warriors often disguised a simple and merciful disposition. But they had imbibed, in the first fervour of the reformation, the spirit, as well 120 The reader who wishes to inform himself of the circumstances of this famous event ma)' peruse an admirable narrative in Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. ii. p. 283 ; or consult the Annali d'ltalia of the learned Muratori, torn. xiv. p. 230-244, octavo edition. If he is desirous of examining the originals, he may have recourse to the eighteenth book of the great but unfinished history of Guicciardini. But the account which most truly deserves the name of authentic and original is a little book, intitled, // Sacio di Roma, composed, within less than a month after the assault of the city, by the brother of the historian Guicciardini, who appears to have been an able magistrate and a dispassionate writer.
