recollect how much the royal title was multiplied and degraded,
and that the mercenaries of Italy were the fragments of many
tribes and nations.]

[Footnote 19: See Ennodius, p. 1603, 1604. Since the orator, in
the king's presence, could mention and praise his mother, we may
conclude that the magnanimity of Theodoric was not hurt by the
vulgar reproaches of concubine and bastard.

Note: Gibbon here assumes that the mother of Theodoric was
the concubine of Theodemir, which he leaves doubtful in the text.
- M.]

[Footnote 20: This anecdote is related on the modern but
respectable authority of Sigonius, (Op. tom. i. p. 580. De
Occident. Impl. l. xv.:) his words are curious: "Would you
return?" &c. She presented and almost displayed the original
recess.

Note: The authority of Sigonius would scarcely have weighed
with Gibboa except for an indecent anecdote. I have a
recollection of a similar story in some of the Italian wars. -
M.]]

From the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, Theodoric
reigned by the right of conquest; the Vandal ambassadors
surrendered the Island of Sicily, as a lawful appendage of his
kingdom; and he was accepted as the deliverer of Rome by the
senate and people, who had shut their gates against the flying
usurper. ^21 Ravenna alone, secure in the fortifications of art