As soon as the Romans had satisfied the rapacious demands of Alaric,
they were restored, in some measure, to the enjoyment of peace and
plenty. Several of the gates were cautiously opened; the importation of
provisions from the river and the adjacent country was no longer
obstructed by the Goths; the citizens resorted in crowds to the free
market, which was held during three days in the suburbs; and while the
merchants who undertook this gainful trade made a considerable profit,
the future subsistence of the city was secured by the ample magazines
which were deposited in the public and private granaries.
A more regular discipline than could have been expected was maintained
in the camp of Alaric; and the wise Barbarian justified his regard for
the faith of treaties by the just severity with which he chastised a
party of licentious Goths who had insulted some Roman citizens on the
road to Ostia. His army, enriched by the contributions of the capital,
slowly advanced into the fair and fruitful province of Tuscany, where he
proposed to establish his winter quarters; and the Gothic standard
became the refuge of forty thousand Barbarian slaves, who had broken
their chains, and aspired, under the command of their great deliverer,
to revenge the injuries and the disgrace of their cruel servitude.
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