open air, and the Goths had not yet abandoned the custom, so that as
the Senator and the chieftain turned the summit of the last low hill
they could see the plain beneath swarming like an ant-hill with
people, and as they pressed onward they could see a glittering tent,
woven with cloth of gold, a throne erected in front, and around it a
space cleared and guarded by a huge circle of warriors (LITES),
whose shields joined so as to form a wall.

Near the throne stood the men of higher degree, all alike to join
the King in his judgment, like the Homeric warriors of old, as
indeed Sidonius had often said that there was no better comment on
the ILIAD than the meetings of the barbarians.

By the time AEmilius and Verronax had reached the spot, and gained
an entrance in virtue of their rank and concern in the matter, Euric
sat enthroned in the midst of the assembly. He was far removed from
being a savage, though he had won his crown by the murder of his
brother. He and the counts (comrades) around him wore the Roman
garb, and used by preference the Latin speech, learning, arms, and
habits, just as European civilisation is adopted by the Egyptian or
Japanese of the present day. He understood Roman jurisprudence, and
was the author of a code for the Goths, but in a case like this he
was obliged to conform to national customs.

There he sat, a small, light-complexioned man, of slighter make than
those around him, holding in his hand a scroll. It was a letter
from Sidonius, sent beforehand by a swift-footed mountaineer, and
containing a guarantee for 1200 soldi, twice the price for a Goth of
ordinary rank. On the one side stood, unbound and unguarded, the
slender form of Lucius; on the other a gigantic old Visigoth, blind,