The pressing invitation of the malcontents, who urged the King of the
Goths to invade Italy, was enforced by a lively sense of his personal
injuries; and he might speciously complain that the Imperial ministers
still delayed and eluded the payment of the four thousand pounds of gold
which had been granted by the Roman senate, either to reward his
services or to appease his fury. His decent firmness was supported by an
artful moderation, which contributed to the success of his designs. He
required a fair and reasonable satisfaction; but he gave the strongest
assurances that, as soon as he had obtained it, he would immediately
retire. He refused to trust the faith of the Romans, unless Aetius and
Jason, the sons of two great officers of state, were sent as hostages to
his camp; but he offered to deliver, in exchange, several of the noblest
youths of the Gothic nation. The modesty of Alaric was interpreted, by
the ministers of Ravenna, as a sure evidence of his weakness and fear.
They disdained either to negotiate a treaty or to assemble an army; and
with a rash confidence, derived only from their ignorance of the extreme
danger, irretrievably wasted the decisive moments of peace and war.
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