No More Learning

1
Secretary to St. Caesarius. This bishop desired to obtain a confirmation of the
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
forms of name, and more especially confined to Scotland or Wales, while owing to want of record it seems doubtful if they be not of Irish birth, as
undoubtedly they were of Irish parentage or descent. In the present instance, ho—wever, it seems allowable to enter an exception, in—the case of
British Islands as St. Giles
St. iEgidius better known in the because he
is not only specially commemorated in our national Calendars, but because he was likewise specially venerated in Ireland, as in other countries on the ContinentofEurope. Thelifeandactionsofthepresentsainthavebeen greatly confused by an old writer of his Acts, and as there was an earlier abbot, bearing the same name, and who lived near the city of Aries in the sixth century, the memorials collected for his biography introduced matters
1
referable to both holy men.
Our St. ^Egidius is said to have flourished in the south of France,
according to some, at a time when St. Caesarius was bishop over the See of
Aries. 3 This, however, is a mistake, and he is not to be confounded with
/Egidius, an abbot near that city, and who had been sent to Rome with
Messianus,3 in 514, to Pope Symmachus. * The circumstances of time and
place are sufficient to disprove any such supposition. * The present St.
Giles, a Greek by birth, lived only in the seventh, and in the beginning of
6
the eighth, century.
The praises of St. Egidius have been sung by St. Fulbert of Chartres,
in an office, which he composed to honour that holy Abbot. ? Franciscus Haraeus,8 Petrus de Natalibus, and Florarius, have accounts of ^Egidius, taken chiefly from his ancient incorrect Acts, to which they have added errors of their own, according to the statement of Father John Stilting. An anonymous Life of this saint has been published in the " Acta Sanctorum "9 of the Bollandists. Again, at the present date, they have given another Life of this man in three
holy
Preface. " This latter Life has been edited by Father John Stilting. How- ever, besides the evident anachronism of confounding him with an Egidius,
chapters,
'
Article 1. — See Mabillon's "Annales Aries, show that an earlier /Egidius had
Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. iv. , been charged with such a mission.
privileges of the metropolitical church of Authoribus, et potissimum ex Rmo. D.
Aries, as a result of their embassy. See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol.
ix. , September i.
4 He ruled over the Church, from a. d.
Aloysio Lipomano et R. P. Laur. Sin io, brevi compendio summa fide collectae," p. 657.
9 See tomus i. , Junii, pp. 284 to 304.
10 anda Containing 25 paragraphs previous
commentary in six sections and 65 para- graphs. See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sanclo <Egidio Abbate in Fano S. ^Egidii Occitaniae, pp. 284 to 304.
11 This Preface is contained in four different copies of our saint's Acts, but in other copies it is omitted. However, from the words, " Sanctus igitur /Egidius," with which the Life opens, we may infer, that it belonged to the original composition.
498 to A. D. 514.
5 He lived at Aries but for a short
time, so that he probably knew little concerning the statutes of that church, or may not have been well versed in the Latin language, nor
as a stranger likely to have been selected as an envoy to Rome by St. Caesarius. More- over, his love of solitude, and the fact that as abbot afterwards, he was a resident of the diocese of Nimes, rather than that of
10 with notes and a appended
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
who lived contemporaneously with St. Caesarius, Bishop of Aries, there are
12
The Acts or notices of St. Egidius or St. Giles have been published by
J 1*
Andrew Sausay, 3 by Joannes Trithemius, by Mabillon/s by the Maurist
St. Egidius is supposed to have been of Greek origin, and born, about the year 640, of noble parents, who lived at Athens. 21 His father was named Theodore, and his mother was Pelagia. Distinguished for innocence and holiness of life from his early years, he well profited by the example and advice of pious parents. He at length resolved to leave his native country,
that he might more securely and religiously live in solitude. Already, he
had been placed under the charge of the most illustrious teachers of his
period and nation 22 while he soon manifested those great natural scintilla- ;
tions of intellect by the progress he made in humanities. However, he pre- ferred the study of sacred literature, and it served still more to foster in his soul the love of God, and to cause his estrangement from earthly ambition
and worldly pleasures.
When Egidius had attained the twenty-fourth year, his father first died,
andsoonafterwardshismother. Thepiousyoungmanwasmostsensibly afflicted at this double privation ; but he resolved to make account of it, by
reflecting on the transitory nature of all earthly things. Falling on his knees, he invoked the Supreme Consoler, and asked for light and grace to conduct him on the path to Heaven. Nor was he long left in ignorance of a course to take, for he had resolved on making generous sacrifices, which were destined to gain for him the eternal crown. His charity towards the poor was remarkable. One day, while going to the church to practise his cus- tomary devotions, he met a poor man who was ill and miserably clad. Asking alms from the pious young man, the latter took off his own outer garment, which was even necessary for the preservation of his health.
Soon, Egidius became distinguished for the gift of miracles. When leaving the church, on a certain occasion, seeing a person who had been bitten by a serpent, and whose wound was of a deadly nature, the interven- tion of our saint procured his recovery. Another time, while in the church,
a possessed man disturbed the congregation by his cries and howlings. However, Egidius expelled the demon from the body of that unhappy
i. , liv. v. , pp. 257, 258, and note lxv. , pp. 666, 667. A Paris, 1730 to 1745, fol.
other objections to its entire accuracy of statement.
16 in the " Histoire Generale de
by Rev. S. Baring-Gould,*' and by Les Petits Bollandistes. 20
Fathers,
1 ? Rev. Alban Butler,18 Languedoc, by
12 This
" lS"
appears
to have come under the
notice of Mabillon, with two other Lives,
and they are characterised by him as faulty.
See Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomusi. inCatalogoPrsetermissorum.
13 In his " Martyrologium Gallicanum,"
at the 1st of September.
14 See "De Viris Illustribus Ordinis S.
See Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and otherprincipalSaints,"vol. ix. ,Sept. i.
I9 See "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. , September i. , pp. 8 to 10.
Benedicti," lib. it,- cap. xxii. , lib. iii. , cap. clxii.
20
jour 2I
"Les Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier
de Septembre, pp. 401 to 406.
The present account of our saint is drawnchieflyfromtheVitaauctoreanonymo, tomus i. , lib. iv. , sect, xxvii. , pp. 99, 100. as published by the Bollandists. The time when he lived has not been determined, but it is thought to have been written before the
ninth or tenth century.
15 See "Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti,"
Also, in the " Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S.
Benedicti," s<ec. iii. , in Prolegomena. 16 "
In Histoire Literaire de la France,"
tome iii. , pp. 243, 244.
7 Avec des Notes et les Pieces justifica-
tives, &c„ par. Fr. Claude de Vic, et Fr. Joseph Vaissete, c deux Religieux Benedic-
22
One of the Manuscript Codices of the
tines de la deS. Maur. Tome Congregation
Life of St. ^Egidius by the anonymous "
tratus ;" another reads,
author has Spiritus sancti gratia perlus-
"
prse scientiargratia
Marseilles,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. September i.
creature. 23 His reputation for sanctity then spread abroad through his own country, and turned the regards of all its inhabitants towards him. This approval alarmed his humility, nor could he bear to remain longer in his native land. Having sold all his effects, and distributed the proceeds among the poor, he went on board a vessel bound for the Western parts of Europe. During that voyage, a great tempest arose, and to the terror of all on board, their ship was likely to be submerged, when Egidius prayed for deliverance from shipwreck. Immediately the storm was appeased. Then his fellow- passengers were profuse in their protestations of gratitude, and rendered him unbounded thanks for their deliverance. Yet, fearful of having his praises further proclaimed, Egidius asked to be disembarked on the first island, where they might anchor, nor could his request be refused.
2
Having landed on its shores, * one of the first objects noticed was the
track of a man's feet in the sand. Resolving to pursue this track farther, the print of footsteps led him to a small grotto. This was hidden among a thick jungle of thorns, and in a very lonely place. There he found a vener- able old man, who for twelve years passed a solitary life in that wilderness, where he lived only on herbs and roots. Casting himself at the hermit's feet, Egidius besought his benediction. For three days he remained there, united in prayer and fasting with the recluse. The youthful pilgrim thought he had then discovered a spot conformable to the design he had entertained of separating himself entirely from the world.
As the island was not remote from his native 2* the idea ot very country,
Egidius was, that his retreat might be discovered by some of the surviving members of his family, who would be likely to press for his return. Accordingly, he again sought a vessel, which might bear him away to a more distant country.
After a voyage, which lasted for some days, he arrived at the port of
26
anciently called Massilia, a city situated at the mouths of the River Rhone. It is at present the most important seaport in France, with a large and constantly increasing population. It is also a city of great
2? to French 28 a from antiquity. According historians, colony Phoccea,
on the Ionian coast, had settled at a very early period in the southland the founda- tion of Marseilles by the Phocceans 3° dates back to the Forty-fifth
perlustrans ; while the text published
" by
ilandists runs: Pnedictus vero
iEpdius xvo tener ad liberalia rudimenta
dispositus. doctoressumniosSpiritusscientioe perlustratus brevi aequiparavit. " fr'atihaer Stilting had six different copies of
2? Herodotus is the earliest that historian,
gives an account of its settlement by the
Greeks.
a8 "
See L. P. Anquetil's Histoire de
France," sect, ii. , p. 4.
«9 Rather than submit to Cyrus, King of
that Life to collate, and these contained Persia, the Phocoeans left their native
various verbal
'i See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des children, and sought for liberty on the
changes. country, Asia Minor, with their wives and Saints, tome x. , premier jour de Septem- barbarous coasts of Gaul. To this emigra-
te, Saint Gilles, &c, p. 401.
3*
According to Father Stilting, this mail have happened ftboot a. d. 665 or 666.
b\y one of that group of
tion allusion is made Horace by
:
TM known as the Is,
Cyclades,
in the
« Phocceorum Velut profuget execrata civitas,
Agros atque lares patrios, habitandaque rura
Apris reliquit et rapacibus lupis
Ire pedes quocunque ferent, quocun-
que per undas
Notus vocabit, aut protervus Africus. "
*> Herodotus gives an account of their
spirit of freedom, and of their prowess in
Grlci A'cMpe! -
lne accompanying engraving of the
former old Port of Marseilles, copied from
an approved engraving, and represent- ing its present state, has been transferred to the wood and engraved by Mr. Gregor °rey'
1
navigation, in his history, book
i.
:
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
3
Olympiad,31 or the year 599, before the birth of Christ. 3
their descendants had been there, and had received through their ancestors the Grecian learning and culture,33 which survived to the time when Egidius
Old Port of Marseilles, France,
landed on the Gaulish coast. The distinction of Marseilles 34 was maintained during the time of the Roman Republic,35 and it was continued during the
middle ages, as head of an independent State. 36
At first, Egidius chose a place for retreat, near the mouth of the Rhone. 3?
There he made every effort possible to conceal his spiritual gifts, but it was the Almighty's design, that the virtues of his servant should be discovered. Thence as a pilgrim begging his way, Egidius proceeded to Aries,38 then the
31
According to the historian, Solinus. In the first instance the Phocceans took refuge in the Island of Cymus—so called by Pliny, lib. hi. , 12.
ruin of Phoccea took place about twenty years before the foundation of Marseilles.
Csesar records, that he preserved it, "magis pro nomine et vetustate quam pro mentis in se. "
36 She elected her own and magistrates,
formed alliances with other states. Alone
she furnished all the galleys required by St.
—now Corsica. the However,
32 The settlers were
by the inhabitants in that part of Gaul, while
their colony soon increased and prospered. Saint Louis," &c, par M. Natalis de They became great proficients in commerce Wailly, Membre de PInstitut, chap, xxvii. , and navigation. xxviii. , pp. 68 to 71. Paris, seconde
33 In his oration for Flaccus, Cicero edition, 1874, Imp. 8vo.
declares that Greece alone could compete 3? Fr. Claude de Vic and Fr. Joseph with Marseilles as a seat of learning. Taci- Vaissete place the coming of St. Gilles into
""
tus likewise calls her magistram studio- France at A. D. 514, in their Histoire
rum. "
34 The Romans
Generale de Languedoc," tome i. , liv. v. ,
and esteemed the
3 5 The Massilians wished to remain neutral in the wars between Caesar and Pompey. However, they finally sided with the latter.
Afterwards, Massilia was besieged, reduced to great distress, and taken by the former.
His was coming there, however,
sought Massilians as allies.
p. 257.
more than a century later.
favourably
Louis, transport army See Jean Sire de Joinville's
"
received
to his to Palestine.
38 Aries is one of the most ancient cities of France, and Ausonius calls it the Rome of Gaul, " Gallula Roma Arelas. " It was for- merly the residence of a Roman Prefect. It is rich in ancient remains of the Roman
It is likely enough
Histoire de
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
metropolis of southern Gaul, and a city of great celebrity. He sought to live a retired life, but the fame of his virtues spread abroad, and such was the impression it made on the minds of men, that a person, who had long suffered from a fever, recommended himself to the fervent prayers of the servant of God, and recovered his health. 39 This miracle greatly increased his popularity, and that whole neighbourhood became anxious to learn his name and that of the country from which he came, so that due honour should be paid him in the land of his adoption. But, these demonstrations of affec- tion and respect only alarmed his humility the more ; and to avoid human applause, he again resolved on seeking a place more suitable for perfect
retirement. 40
Afterwards, he crossed the Rhone, and sought a desert near the
Old Roman Bridge near Nimes.
period. After the fall ofthe RomanEmpire, a Rome en 514 avec Messien. —Tome hi. ,
a. i>. , 876, it became the capital of the p. 244. This, however, is a mistake, our
4 ' now known as the
rocks and in a arose,
River
placelittleresortedtobymen. Oneofthemostremarkablespecimensof Roman grandeur extant is the Pont du Gard,42 about twelve miles distant from
Gardon,
Gard,
where
steep
Kingdom of Aries, or of Trans-Jurane Bur-
undy. See Murray's M Hand-book for E
iTravellers in France," sect, vi. , Route 127, pp. 51610523.
39
Probably relying on the authority of his
life, by the anonymous author, or from some lowest of six arches supporting eleven of other sources, St. ,Kgidius is stated, to have equal span in the central tier, surmounted spent this period of his career in Aries, while by thirty- five of smaller size in the upper St. CWMHUI had been its Bishop. Such ranges. The whole is in a simple style of are the statements by Vicentius Bellova- architecture, but especially wonderful for the censis, Petrus de Natalibus, John of Tritten-
nd other celebrated writers. Father Stilting proves the falsity of such supposition.
40
enormous blocks of stone and skill employed in its construction. It was formerly used as
TheMaurists, in "Histoirc Literaire de "
and the highest range of arches still carries a ce," state: Ce qu'il y a de plus covered canal, about five feet high, and two certain, e'est qu'il passa quelque temps sous feet wide, yet retaining a coating of Roman " Handbook for
la discipline de Saint Cesaire, qui le deputa cement. See
Murray's
saint having been confounded with a l'Abbe
Gilles,wholived a
41 In some instances, Latin writers have
an aqueduct for conveying water to Nimes,
century previous
tohistime.
styled it Vardum or Wardum.
42 It consists of three tiers of arches : the
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
Nimes. The River Gardon, or Gard, gives name to a modern French Department on the right bank of the Rhone, and it runs through the central part of that districts
There lived in that region a holy solitary, named Ferodemos, or Vere- demus,44 a Greek like himself, and who, inspired by a pious motive of like sort, had quitted his native country, to seek repose in a strange land. In this place, he had formed a hermitage in a cave, the entrance to whic—h was closed from observation by brambles and thickets. Nor was St. Giles as he was afterwards called—long in that quarter, until Divine Providence brought him intothepresenceofthepioussolitary; andgreatindeedweretheirtransports of joy to find, that not only were they fellow-countrymen, speaking the same noble language, but having their souls inflamed with like devout sentiments, and filled with the love of God. 4* Soon they became mutual and ardent admirers of each other's virtues, and their hearts were united by an indissoluble
friendship.
For two years they remained together \ still, Egidius longed for that per-
fect abstraction, which held possession of his soul, as so many of the neigh- bouring people, led through pious motives, came to visit them. At length he ventured to open his mind to Ferodemos,*6 by stating, that the crowd of people, who flocked thither was a cause of great disquiet to him, and that
"
" let us invoke the Divine Spirit together, and hesitate not to follow His
Travellers in France," sect, vi. , Route 126, nearly two centuries before the time of Vere-
p. 507. The annexed illustration, from an demus, Bishop of Avignon. See "Annates
often he had desired to seek greater solitude.
Then," replied Ferodemos,
approved view, was drawn on the wood and
engraved by Mr. Gregor Grey.
43 For a description of its features, history,
Francorum," ad Annum 531, num. xi. The Bollandist writers have treated on this sub- ject, at the 23rd of August, where Pinius seems to favour Cointe's opinion as probable. However, Father Stilting holds the contrary
and resources, the reader is referred to
Elisee Reclus' "Nouvelle Geographie Uni-
verselle," tome ii. , liv. ii. , chap, iii. , sect, one, and with good reason ; although, as vi. , pp. 285 to 293. Gononus states, in the Breviary of Uzeta
44 Writers have been divided in opinion church, there is a festival for Veredemus, regarding his identity. Some think there the hermit, Confessor, and not Pontiff, on were two, bearing the same name, but dis- the 23rd of August, and his body is said to tinct persons : one who, from having been rest there, while there is a feast for Vere- an eremite, became Bishop of Avignon ; and demus, Bishop of Avignon, at the 17th of the other, an eremite, who lived in the June. Now, the hermit, Veredemus, lived country, known as Uzeta, in Languedoc. in the village of Uzeta, and he was after- Others maintain that the latter had been pro- wards bishop, according to Gononus, and the motedtotheSeeofAvignon,andthathewas dioceseofUzesextendsfromtheGardtothe identical with the former. See Benedictus Rhone. The other objection of one Vere- Gononus, in "Vitee Patrum Occidentis," lib. demus being venerated as Pontifex^ and the iii. At p. 160, and subsequently, he gives the other as non Ponlifex, is thought to arise from
Life of Veredemus, Bishop of Avignon, taken the circumstance, that Veredemus having partly from archives of that church, and partly lived at Uzes as a hermit, so only in that from Raulin, a learned monk of Cluny. capacity had he been regarded as non Ponli-
45 The church of Usez has placed Vere- fex, while the difference of festival may be deme in the Catalogue of its saints. See assigned to some special cause. Moreover, "Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome i. , Claude Castellan, writing to the Bollandists, liv. v. , p. 257. states, at the 23rd of August, that although
46 Cointe contends, that there were two there are two distinct festivals, yet Dom distinct persons, named Ferodemos or Vere- Sanguin, a Canon of Avignon, believed them demus ; and he thinks, that the one, who to refer only to the same saint, and that some
lived with St. /Egidius in the desert, was the
hermit venerated in the church of Uzeta, or
Uzes. The chief reason assigned for this
opinion is a supposition, that as /Egidius Fano S. /Egidii Occitanix. Commentary's lived contemporaneously with St. Coesarius, proevius, sect, vi. , num. 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, Bishop of Aries, he must have flourished pp. 297, 298.
of his relics had been preserved in the church at Uzes. See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto /Egidio Abbate in
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
"
inspired counsels, however distressing they may prove for our mutual affection. Accordingly the advice was followed, and having ascertained the Divine Will in their regard, they gave each other the kiss of peace, and thus separated. 4 ? Afterwards, Egidius treaded his difficult journey through devious bye-paths, and at the close of a long day's march, he came to the borders of a deep and thick forest. He rested for the morning's light, and then entered it, forcing his way through gigantic trees, and tangled brakes, quite pleased to think this must afford a safe retirement from all worldly intrusion. At length he found acave,whichwasshadedbyfourenormousoak-trees,andnearit floweda rivulet of pure water, which disappeared under a verdant covering. This stream is still traditionally shown between the city of St. Gilles and the wood of Ribasse.
The holy hermit desired to be entirely disengaged from all earthly con-
cerns, so that he might devote himself altogether to religious contemplation. t8 Thus was his soul perfectly purified, so that with ardent desires and constancy
of purpose his thoughts were ever fixed on heavenly things. In fine, St. Giles took up his abode in that forest within the Diocese of Nismes,49 and there he resolved on that contemplative and penitential course of life he had practised with Ferodemos. The wild roots and herbs of the forest furnished his sole
A hind of the forest gave him milk, and shared his caresses with gentleness, whenever she saw him rise from his devotions. That innocent animal excited the more his gratitude towards the Almighty, who rewards His servants with unexpected and extra-
ordinary succours.
It is said, that in the country about Nimes, the local deity, adored by the
native Celts, Iberiens or Ligures, was named Namaous, Nemausos, or Nemausus. TohimtheGreeks,andafterwardstheRomans,erectedaltars, some of which still remain. 5° Nimes is supposed to have been built by a Greek colony ; and afterwards, for about 500 years, it was in possession of the Romans. 51 After Marseilles and Toulon, Nimes is still the largest city of southern France adjoining the Mediterranean Sea; 52 but, it has the dis- advantage of being separated from any water-course. 53 With the falling fortunes of the Roman Empire, the Goths 54 extended their incursions to
tions Lexicon," vol. v. , p. 237.
SJ The Maison Carrce, now converted into
a Museum, the old Roman Amphitheatre, the Temple of Diana, and other antiquities
support, and the stream served to appease his thirst.
47
took place about A. D. 670 or 671.
According to Father Stilting, this event
48 The Religious Benedictines of the Con-
gregation of St. Maur state " l'amour de la
solitudeleportataseretirerpresduRhone ofNismes,havebeenpleasinglydescribedin
auK extremites de Diocese de Nimes. "—
"Idler in France," vol. i. , chap, i. , pp. I to 25. Lon-
don, 1841, 8vo.
s3 See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geogra-
"
Histoire Literaire de la France," tome iii. , p. 244.
4» The Latin name, Nemausum or Nemau-
sus, was applied to the present ancient city phie Universelle," tome ii. , liv. ii. , chap.
of Xismes, the head of that See, by Strabo, iii. , sect, vi. , p. 288.
Pomponius Mela, and Ptolemy. See Bau- 54 They were first kown to the Romans drand's •• Novum Lexicon Geographicum," under this name, about the commencement tomus i. , p. 515. of the third century. In a. d. 249 and 250,
s See Menard's " Histoire des Antiquities they ravaged Thrace, and took Philippopolis ; de Nimes," Em. Desjardins, Notes Manu- A. D. 255, 256, they invaded Illyricum ; A. D.
scrites, 8vo, 1822.
51 Next to Rome, Nimes and its vicinity
259, they penetrated into Bithynia ; A. D. 262, they entered Thrace, and devastated Macedonia ; A. D. 267, they ravaged Asia, After various wars with the Romans, under
contain the most remarkable and greatest
number of Roman antiquities. Very fine
Mosaics have been found there, besides their famous King, Alaric, elected A. D. 382, numerous fragments of ancient buildings, Greece was plundered A. D. 395, 396, and
with Greek and Roman inscriptions. See Alaric entered Italy A. D. 402; but he was "
the Popular Encyclopedia ; or Conversa- defeated in the battle of Pollentia, fought
the Countess of
Blessington's
September i. i LIVES OF THE fRISH SAINTS.
Gaul,55 and over-ran that country, under Adolphus, the brother-in-law of
Alaric, in the beginning of the fifth century. His troops occupied the cities of Narbonne, Toulouse and Bordeaux, with the whole country surrounding them. s6 The successors of Alaric fixed their royal residence at Toulouse ; and the Gothic limits contained the territories of seven cities, namely,
Bordeaux, Perigueux, Angouleme, Agen, Saintes, Poitiers and Toulouse. Hence, their Kingdom is said to have obtained the name of Septimania. 57
The Goths then in possession were generally professors of Arianism, and an edict of the Emperor Honorius appointed an annual assembly for the seven Provinces at Aries, to consist of the Praetorian prefect of the Gauls, of seven provincial governors, one consular and six presidents, of the magistrates, and perhaps the bishops of about sixty cities; as also of a competent, although an indefinite, number of the most opulent possessors of land, who might
8
This order pre- vailed, until the Franks,59 having made incursions from Germany into Gaul so early as the fourth century, established their domination over Roman Gaul
60
Visigoths Aquitania. The Goths 6 * or Visigoths 6s had possession of the country about Nismes, but
about the Easter of A. D. 403, and he re- and communicate the laws of their sove- crossed the Po during the summer season. reign ; to expose the grievances and wishes After the death of the celebrated Roman of their constituents ; to moderate the ex- general, Stilicho, Alaric moved from Nori- cessive or unequal weight of taxes ; and to cuin, and marched upon Rome, A. D.