66 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS report any attempt at mutiny or rebellion, and who basely enriched themselves by working on the fears of the inhabitants. He also reformed and reduced the number of the insolent Praetorians, who were afterward totally disbanded by Constantine. ALARIC THE BOLD Bv ARCHDEACON FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S. (360-410) ALARIC, the "All-ruler," surnamed the Baltha, or Bold, was born, about 360, on an island in the delta of the Danube. As long as the great Theodosius lived, the Goths continued in his pay ; but when he died in 395, and Alaric was elevated on the shield as king of the Visigoths, he determined to lead his nation to in- dependent victory. In 395 and 396 he invaded Greece,* and Stilicho, the Vandal gen- eral of the Western Emperor, advanced against him. The strategy of Stilicho was mas- terly, and it would probably have gone hard with Alaric had not Stilicho been suddenly bidden by the Eastern Emperor, Arcadius, to withdraw his west- ern troops. Again, in 396, Stilicho penned Alaric in the Peloponnesus, but for some unknown reason allowed him to escape into Illyricum. The Gothic chief had, however, struck deadly terror into the Eastern Empire ; and by way of paci- fying him Arcadius made him Master-General of Illyricum. Alaric had already found the way to Italy when he accompanied Theodosius in his campaign against the usurper Maximus in 394. In 40x3 he descended into Italy, not with an army only, but with the migration of his entire people. He defeated the Romans under the walls of Aquileia, and in 401 besieged Honorius
- In this first invasion he overran all Greece, and took Athens with little resistance. He spared her art
treasures, and acted with great moderation and humanity. Our illustration " Alaric in Athens " represents him seated among the inhabitants, who welcomed him as a conqueror, with every demonstration of reverence.
