Such were the two men who stood face to face in the summer of 452 upon
the plains of Lombardy. The barbarian King had all the material power in
his hand, and he was working but for a twelvemonth. The pontiff had no
power but in the world of intellect, and his fabric was to last fourteen
centuries. They met, as has been said, by the banks of the Mincio.
Jordanes tells us that it was "where the river is crossed by many
wayfarers coming and going." Some writers think that these words point
to the ground now occupied by the celebrated fortress of Peschiera,
close to the point where the Mincio issues from the Lake of Garda.
Others place the interview at Governolo, a little village hard by the
junction of the Mincio and the Po. If the latter theory be true, and it
seems to fit well with the route which would probably be taken by
Attila, the meeting took place in Vergil's country, and almost in sight
of the very farm where Tityrus and Meliboeus chatted at evening under
the beech-tree.
Leo's success as an ambassador was complete. Attila laid aside all the
fierceness of his anger and promised to return across the Danube, and to
live thenceforward at peace with the Romans.
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