and the vanquished troops saluted their conqueror with loud
acclamations of respect and fidelity. But their want either of
constancy or of faith soon exposed him to the most imminent
danger; his vanguard, with several Gothic counts, which had been
rashly intrusted to a deserter, was betrayed and destroyed near
Faenza by his double treachery; Odoacer again appeared master of
the field, and the invader, strongly intrenched in his camp of
Pavia, was reduced to solicit the aid of a kindred nation, the
Visigoths of Gaul. In the course of this History, the most
voracious appetite for war will be abundantly satiated; nor can I
much lament that our dark and imperfect materials do not afford a
more ample narrative of the distress of Italy, and of the fierce
conflict, which was finally decided by the abilities, experience,
and valor of the Gothic king. Immediately before the battle of
Verona, he visited the tent of his mother ^19 and sister, and
requested, that on a day, the most illustrious festival of his
life, they would adorn him with the rich garments which they had
worked with their own hands. "Our glory," said he, "is mutual
and inseparable. You are known to the world as the mother of
Theodoric; and it becomes me to prove, that I am the genuine
offspring of those heroes from whom I claim my descent." The wife
or concubine of Theodemir was inspired with the spirit of the
German matrons, who esteemed their sons' honor far above their
safety; and it is reported, that in a desperate action, when
Theodoric himself was hurried along by the torrent of a flying
crowd, she boldly met them at the entrance of the camp, and, by
her generous reproaches, drove them back on the swords of the
enemy. ^20

[Footnote 18: Tot reges, &c., (Ennodius, p. 1602.) We must