THE LIFE
OP
ALFRED THE GREAT.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
OF
DR. R. PAULI.
TO WHICH IS APPENDED
ALFRED'S ANGLO-SAXON VERSION OP OKOSIU8.
WITH
literal Engltsij ^Translate, an* an
anti ©lossarg.
BY B. THORPE, ESQ.,
MEMBER OF THE KOYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT MUNICH.
LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
1889.
FEINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFOUP STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
EDITOR'S PREFACE,
As a fitting and, it is hoped, welcome accompaniment to the
translation of my friend Dr. Pauli's excellent Life of King
Alfred, the Publisher has judiciously selected Orosius, the
work of our great West-Saxon Monarch, which most
loudly called for republication, not only on account of its
scarcity and cost, but also because of the glaring inaccu-
racies, both in the text and translation, of the only existing
edition.*
Prom the necessity of writing an introductory essay I
am relieved by the ample and satisfactory account given of
the work by Dr. Pauli ; yet a few words may not be deemed
superfluous.
The reasons for ascribing the Anglo-Saxon version ol
Orosius to Alfred, are, if not incontrovertible, at least of
sufficient weight to justify us in concurring in the general
belief. That such labours were not foreign to his studies,
may be seen in the Preface to his Tersion of Boethius:
^Eljrjieb kunmg paer pealhrtob J>irre bee. 3 hie op bec-lebene on
englirc penbe : King Alfred was the interpreter of this book
(^Boethius), and turned it from book- Latin into English.
Though referring to another work, this passage, in combina-
tion with the Introduction of the Voyages of Ohthere and
"Wulfstan,t seems strongly to favour Alfred's claim. "We
have, besides, the positive, though later, testimony of William
of Malmesbury, who, speaking of Alfred's literary labours,
says : plurimam partem Eomanse bibliothecse Anglorum auri-
bus dedit, opimam prsedam peregrinarum mercium civium
usibus convectans, cujus praecipui sunt Orosius, etc. ; a very
great part of Roman literature ne gave to English ears, con-
veying a rich booty of foreign wares for the use of his country-
men, the chief of which are Orosius, etc.
* The Anglo-Saxon Version from the Historian Orosius. By Alfred the
Great. Together with an English translation from the Anglo-Saxon. By the Hon,
Daines Barrington. London. MDCCLXXIII.
f See p. 248. Ohthepe r«be hir hlajropbe JElfjiebe kyumcse, etc.
vi EDITOR'S PREFACE.
"With respect to the version itself, it is in general para-
phrastic, and in many instances inaccurate, evincing, on the
part of its author, but slender acquaintance with the language
of the original. Indeed, from the date of tte subversion
of the Roman republic, Alfred's work is only a meagre
epitome, exhibiting little more than the heads of the several
chapters.
The only ancient manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon version
of Orosius known to exist, is in the Cottonian Library,
marked Tiberius, B. 1. As far as penmanship is concerned,
it is unquestionably a precious and beautiful volume, though
manifestly the handiwork of an illiterate scribe. On account
of its antiquity (not later than the tenth century), it has,
however, been held in a degree of estimation hardly justified
by its intrinsic worth. This being the only source of the
Anglo-Saxon text, it is difficult to account for the variations
existing among the several transcripts.*
The attention of the student is directed to certain ano-
malies in the Anglo-Saxon text, occurring occasionally in the
endings of nouns substantive, and the imperfect plurals of
verbs and infinitives. These consist chiefly in the substitu-
tion of a for o, and vice-versa, as namon for naman, befcupon
infin. for befcupan, byban, paepan, eoban, for bybon, paepon,
eubon. Similar anomalies occur also in Alfred's Boethius.
Are they "West-Saxon ?
The present text is founded on a careful collection of that
of Barrington with the Cottonian manuscript. The transla-
tion is close and almost literal, though, at the same time, read-
able as an independent work. "With the aid of the Outline
of Anglo-Saxon Grammar (after Bask) and the Glossary
appended to the Orosius, the volume will, it is hoped, render
the acquisition of our noble mother-tongue a study as agree-
able as it is valuable ; for without a competent knowledge of
the Anglo-Saxon, no one can be a critical English scholar.
Though here, perhaps, somewhat out of place, I must be
allowed, in illustration of a long-disputed point in the geo-
graphy of the North, to add a few words relative to what
may justly be pronounced the most valuable portion of
Alfred's work : the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan.
* Of such transcripts Daines Barrington notes the following : 1. The Lauder-
dale, formerly at Ham House, but no loneer to be be found there, marked M.L.
2. The Ballard, marked B.T. 3. The Hatton, narked M.H. 4. The Elstob,
marked E.T.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. vii
Having doubled the North Cape and visited the countries
about the White Sea, Ohthere (whose home was in Helgo-
land, the most northern part of Norway) proceeded south-
ward to the port of Sciringesheal ;* sailing whence, after
crossing the Cattegat, he had Gotland (Jutland) on his
right, and then Seeland. From the mention of islands on
his left, it would seem that he sailed between Moen and See-
land ; for I cannot agree with Dahlmann (Forschungen, Th.
I. and Gesch. v. Dannem. I. p. 65,) and Pauli, in supposing
that Ohthere passed through the Great Belt. The Gotland
of "Wulfstan is evidently the Swedish island of that name.
B. THORPE.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
THIS translation is offered to the public with the diffidence
which must ever accompany the attempt to render into one
language, thoughts expressed in another. In this particular
case, the difficulty of the translator's task has been increased
by the peculiar nature of the author's style. In his love for
his subject, and his eagerness to do it justice, and to establish
facts hitherto considered doubtful, he crowds so much matter
into his sentences as often to render them involved, and, in
many cases, rugged and abrupt. But when the difficulties
are once fairly mastered, our sense of perplexity is lost in
admiration at the enthusiasm, patience, learning, and skill,,
with which Dr. Pauli, from such defective materials, has con-
structed a work so rich in interest.
The study of the biography of men, who, by their talents
and virtues, have made for themselves a place in the world's
history, has a value apart from the intellectual pleasure it
affords. Longfellow says,
Lives of great men all remind us
We may make our lives sublime.
* Of this port Mr. Aall, the latest and best translator of the Heimskringla,
thus speaks: " Skiriugssalr, respecting the position of which so many of the
most learned inquirers have been at variance and in doubt, and which lias been
sought for in Bahuuslehn, in Skane, in the neighbourhood of Stockholm, and even
in Prussia ; although both Snorri and the authors of ' Sogurbrot ' and ' Fagur-
skiniia ' expressly refer it to Vestfold," etc.
Viii DE. PATJLI'S PEEFACE.
And surely the careful investigation of the records of the
life of this great King cannot but be of peculiar interest in
these days ; for it will show us that true power and great-
ness arise from the practice of justice and morality ; and
that without these, skill, ambition, and courage, however
specious and however brilliant, serve but as lights to dazzle
and mislead. Above all, the History of Alfred's life shows
that a firm religious faith beautifies the character in all its
relations, and enables the mind to rise superior to all trials,
however severe.
A. P.
Wareham.
DR, FAULT'S PREFACE.
THE plan of the following work was conceived at Oxford,
in the November of the eventful year 1848, at a time when
German hearts trembled, as they had seldom done before, for
the preservation of their Fatherland, and especially for the
continuance of those States which were destined by Heaven
for the protection and support of Germany. That was a
fearful winter! Various misgivings as to my abode in a
foreign land arose on the receipt of such serious accounts
from home. A daily visit to the venerable old Bodleian
Library, with its wealth of literature, and especially its valu-
able manuscripts, could alone, for a few hours, dissipate my
gloomy thoughts. In spite of these, and almost impercep-
tibly to myself, I took a growing interest in the history of the
struggles and victories of Alfred of the "West Saxons.
I resolved to select the Life of this most excellent King as
a starting-point for my future studies in English History — to
which I had lately received a fresh impulse on account of my
project of continuing Lappenberg's " History of England,"
which the worthy Author was obliged to leave incomplete,
owing to the serious disease in his eyes.
I was most eagerly pursuing my preparations for the Life
of Alfred, when other engagements intervened, and prevented
me from taking any steps towards its accomplishment until
the commencement of the following autumn ; and now, after
Tarious and frequently longer interruptions, the work is first
completed. Nearly two whole years have passed, and the
DR. PAULI S PBEFACE. IX
eyes of the world are still, as then, fixed, but more earnestly,
on the solution of things in Germany.
It has been my aim. to describe the high moral position
which Alfred occupies in the organic development of the
history of the liberties of England, according to my best
ability, and from that point of view which German historical
research into the most authentic sources of information has
established. After a thorough investigation, I am by no
means certain that the paucity of material is one of the most
serious impediments to the work. These consist partly in
the difficulty which exists in combining original historical
inquiry with the narration of past facts, — and partly in my
own inability to compensate for poverty of resource by a
fluent style of composition. Neither do I feel myself free
from fault in the critical part of the work ; but here the
errors arise from my love for the subject, and not from the
idle vanity of authorship.
I look, then, with confidence, to the sentence which strict
and impartial judges may pass upon my work. It is written
by a German, and for Germans ; and, as it is hoped, in the
spirit of German inquiry. What the author owes to the
literature of his own country, is faithfully acknowledged in
its proper place. The country of the Anglo-Saxons not only
opened to him all its wealth of materials for his work, but he
owes much gratitude for the personal friendship of the most
able literary men of England — such as Kemble and Thorpe ;
and for the kind assistance rendered him by the officers of
the Bodleian Library, the British Museum, and of other large
collections of books in that country.
I have employed those authorities that have been published
in England, or else gathered my information from manu-
scripts, whose confused orthography I did not attempt to
arrange in consecutive order, as Jacob Grimm has done with
respect to the German dialects. May the great master of
this excellent system pardon me, when he learns that this
disregard of his example was prompted by my desire of
thoroughly understanding the originals, and that my frequent
difficulty has rather been to rise above the idiomatic structure
of the languages of the ninth century. And now let the book
apeak for itself.
CONTENTS.
PAQl
INTROI CJOTION — General Summary — Review of the Authorities from
whici Alfred's History is derived 1
]. Rise of the West Saxon Kingdom — Descent of the Rulers from
Woden — The Earlier Centuries — Egbert — Ethelwulf . . .16
II. Alfred's Youth, from 849 to 866 -The Commencement of King
Ethelred's Reign . 45
III. The Time of Alfred's Education, horn 866 to 871 . . .67
IV. The Time of Trial: 87 1 to 881 84
V. Alfred's Efficiency in Church and State— Supplement to Section V. 116
VI. Alfred as an Author, and the Instructor of his People in all kinds of
useful Knowledge 164
VII. Renewed Contest and successful Results — The Kingdom descends
strengthened to Edward I ,198
VIII. Alfred in his Private and Domestic Life . . 220
Chronicle of the West Saxon History, from 838 to 901 . . . 236
KING ALFRED'S ANGLO-SAXON VEKSION OF THE HISTORY OF
PAULUS OROSIUS 238
Contents of Orosius 514
Notes , .... 529
Anglo-Saxon Alphabet . . , , 4 . . . . 533
Outline of Anglo Saxon Grammar . .... 534
Glossary to Orosius . 551
CORRIGENDA.
Page 254, 1. 6, for huign read hums
„ 264, 1. 10, „ pi-S
„ pit)
„ — III. 1.3, „ rjio
„ j-op
„ 266, IV., 1. 2, „ Liaprachi
„ Liapp
„ 268, VI., 1. 1,
t>sepe
„ psepe
„ 270, VII., 1. 8,
sejrcen
„ sejrtep
„ 286, 1. 13,
)>sepe
„ psepe
„ 302, 1. 16,
pi5
„ F«. I
„ 304, 1. 12,
reo maerca
„ re mse
„ 315, 1. 10,
ninety
„ ninete
„ 428, 1. 9, „ ratten
„ jrsertei
M 458, 1. 3, fpcm bot., rop
piiS. L. 30, for polbe r. polb«
re meerca or reo mserce?
INTRODUCTION.
GENERAL SUMMARY — REVIEW OF THE AUTHORITIES FROM
WHICH ALFRED'S HISTORY is DERIVED.
X Theodoric the Great established his Gothic King-
dom upon the ruins of the Roman Empire, his people had not
attained those settled habits which are requisite for the firm
establishment of a state ; nor did they possess sufficient in-
ternal strength to make any lasting 'resistance against the
preponderating influence of the still classic land of the South.
The great migration of population from East to West had
by no means ceased ; and scarcely more than a quarter of a
century elapsed after the death of Odoacer's conqueror,
when with the independence of the Goths almost every trace
of his operations disappeared. Charlemagne, at the head of
his Prankish army, conquered the mighty Teutonic power,
nd won the imperial crown of the Western Kingdom.
Ifter him there never existed a leader amongst the Ger-
nans whose personal influence was sufficiently powerful to
teep united under one sceptre a great nation composed
f so many different races. Although the boundaries esta-
)lished by him between his kingdom and the Sclavonians,
Moors, and Scandinavians, became in later times rather en-
arged than confirmed, and although his great and power-
\il laws and institutions still continued for many centuries
o be reverenced, especially amongst the Pranks, still his
cingdom always continued to descend in a divided form to
iis posterity. It was not so much the freshly-awakened
unuence of Borne, as an impulse originating from the Ger-
man people themselves, which led them to endeavour to ob-
:ain a division of races, and a geographical distribution of the
lands which had now become their own, and with the political
knowledge communicated to them by Charlemagne, to fonrv
single independent states.
2 INTRODUCTION.
Alfred of Wessex, the only ruler of England ever sur
named the Great1, had to endure infinitely greater trials,
and during the principal part of his life, to wage a far more
difficult war, than any of the other celebrated kings of the
German race ; notwithstanding this, with the most unwearied
perseverance, he founded institutions which remain to this
day, and constitute one of the most important links in the
progressive political development of the powerful Saxon
people on the British island. Without doubt, this was also
essentially advanced by the peculiar character of his sub-
jects, and the isolated position of the country where they had
become settled. It seems almost as if the branch of Angles
and Saxons which had separated itself from the parent-stem
so firmly rooted on the continent, had in a short time put
forth more vigorous shoots in the fertile soil of the island,
than the Franks had done in conquered Graul, or even the
ancient Saxons in their own home. The priests and nobles
of Charlemagne already attended the schools of the Anglo-
Saxons, and the learned Alcuin was anxious to return from
the Frankish court to the convent library at York. When
Alfred died, his relation Henry, the father of Otho the Great,
who brought the Roman Empire into Grermany, was a young
man, ami Christian education was only in its first infancy
amongst his Saxon people.
On turning our attention to the records of those three
German princes who were called the Great, it seems as
though their history was destined to the same fate — that oi
being early blended with popular tradition. And yet hox*
much difference there is between them ! Among the Teutonic
people, the image of Theodoric was almost entirely merged in
the indistinct form of a dark, gigantic hero, so long the theme
of many a German song. Charlemagne became the hero of
Europe, in Germanic and Celtic poetry and romances ; not-
withstanding this, the traces of his historical existence are
clear enough, and Eginhard has left to all ages a faithful pic-
ture of his personal appearance. Alfred's name, on the con-
trary, lapsed into that myth which to this day obscures it,
and which, to careless eyes, effaces the lives and deeds of
celebrated men from the pages of history. Of him also his
1 He was first designated thus in the sixteenth century.
ASSEE'S GESTA ALFREDI. 3
people sung1, but the old Pagan charm of those songs has long
ago been broken ; for the zealous Church, in her fervent gra-
titude to him, embodied him in her legends ; and the greater
part of the later stories of the monks may have frequently
originated in their cells, and have been the result of pious
fraud. Who can decide what traditionary husk is the
easier to remove in order to reach the solid kernel of true
history ?
Although Alfred lived at a time when our perception of
his individuality is not obscured by the shadowy clouds
of tradition, and in a country where the sober prose of
reality had early taken the place of all the poetry of more
southern lands, yet he was never fortunate enough to find a
Cassiodorus or an Eginhard amongst those by whom he was
surrounded. At the first glance, indeed, Asser might be
compared with the latter; but, if the Gresta Alfredi is some-
what more closely observed, one doubt after another will
arise, whether, in the form which is preserved to us, this can
really be the work of that bishop who was so trusted by his
1 In the so-called " Proverbs of King Alfred," quoted by Kemble in his " Solo-
mon and Saturn," 1848, p. 226, ff.
" Alfred
Englene herd
Englene darling
in Enkelonde he was King.
Alfred he was in Enkelonde a king
Wei swipe strong and lussum ping ;
he was king and cleric
full wel he louede Godes were ;
he was wis on his word
And war on his work
he was pe wisiste mon
pad was in Engelonde on."
And Layamon's Brut. ed. Sir F. Madden, 1848, i. 269.
Seo'Sften per sefter
monie hundred wintre
cone Alfred pe King
Eugelondes deorling
And wrat pe lagan on Englis, &c.
Both poems originated in the beginning of the thirteenth century, when the Saxon
feelings of the English people being revived in their first attempts at literature,
heyt doubtlessly remembered w.th gratitude him who had achieved their forrnej
greatness.
T32
4 INTRODUCTION.
king. Criticism has been frequently employed on this little
book, but it has never decided the important question. For
my own part, 1 shall not undertake to solve such a problem
in its full extent ; and I doubt much whether it is possible
to determine the point with absolute certainty. I find, so
far, that, with the single exception of Thomas Wright, in the
" Biographia Literaria Britannica, I., 405-413," no one has
thought of denying the authenticity of the book ; the best
English and German authors rather maintain that it was
really written by Asser, and is our best authority for the life
of this great king1.
I cannot altogether avoid considering it in this light ; but
I will bring forward those parts of the work which, after
much attentive examination, I believe to be correct, as well as
those which appear to be spurious or inaccurate.
Unfortunately, we possess no good manuscript of this bio-
graphy. The most ancient, a Cottonian MS., Otho, A. XII.,
a relic of the tenth century, was lost in the destructive fire
which so seriously injured Sir Richard Cotton's library, in
the year 1781. Happily for us, however, Wise2, in his edition
of Asser, has preserved a copy of this manuscript, from which
we learn that it did not contain many records which we find
in other manuscripts, and especially in the latest and most
doubtful ones. These are collected under the name of the
Chronicon Fani S. Neoti sive Annales Johannis Asserii,
which is nothing more than a bad compilation from the
Saxon Chronicle, and from various unauthentic legends, and
which has been received into the most modern MSS., exe-
cuted so late as the sixteenth century, and also into the
careful Editio Princeps of Archbishop Parker, in 1574,
whether purposely or from oversight, it is impossible to say3.
Wise's correct criticism has, however, preserved the text of
the tenth century.
We also find that Florence of Worcester copied a large
portion of the biography into his Chronicle. It is, therefore,
1 Pertz Monum. Hist. Germ. i. p. 449, n. 34, where Asser is quoted as " vitae
.O'redi auctor coaevus." Vide Lappenberg's History of England, i. S. xlviii.,
\J1 1 ; and latterly Kemble, " Tlie Saxons in England," ii. 42, n.
'* Annales rerum gestarum ^Elfredi auctore Asserio Menevensi rec. F.
Jxon. 1722, 8.
- Monumenta HLstorica Britannia, preface, p. 79, 80.
ASSER S GESTA ALFBEDI.
necessary at this stage of our inquiry to notice the latter
historical work. "When we consider its almost literal agree-
ment with our biography, it is not a little remarkable that
Asser is not once recognised as an authority. Florence
casually mentions him only twice ; once in the year 872,
when, on occasion of "Werfrith's elevation to the bishopric of
Worcester, he includes him in a very incorrect list of learned
men, although he nourished at a later period at the court of
Alfred ; and again, in the utterly inexplicable record of the
year 883:
Assero Scireburnensi episcopo defuncto succedit Suithelmus, &c. :
whereas we learn from Asser himself, that he was not known
or confided in by the king until 885.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle likewise informs us, that
Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, died in 910 ; and wre find his
signature, " Asser episcopus," affixed to authentic documents
so late as the year 9091. We have, then, nothing to do with
the above-named record, except simply to reject it2.
We look in vain for the reasons which induced Florence to
conceal the name of the author from whose work he literally
copied large portions ; perhaps he thought it superfluous to
mention a book which must have been generally known in
the beginning of the twelfth century3, when he took the
liberty of plagiarising from it at his own discretion.
But did he really take all his Chronicle from Asser?
Might he not have had before him either Asser's Latin
translation of the Annals from 850 to 887, or even the original
Saxon Chronicle ? This opinion has strong probability in its
favour ; but then the question arises, whether the strictly
annalistic sections of Asser's work were not added at a later
period to the biographical parts of the original Vita, in that
episodical form which has descended to us. But, according
to the lost Cottonian MS., we find them already in existence
in the tenth century, long before Florence transcribed them ;
and this peculiar and strange mingling of annals and biogra-
phy would seem actually to have proceeded from our Asser,
jind to have been the original form of his work.
» Kemble, Cod. Diplom.n. 335, 337, 1077, 1082, 1087.
2 Vide Thorpe's New Edition of'Florent. Wigorn. Chron. i. 98.
» Florence died July 7th, 1118. ii. 72, Ed. Thorpe.
6 INTRODUCTION.
Lappenberg1, on various well-established grounds, inclines
to the opinion that the Annals themselves — at least, those of
the years 879, 884, 885, 886, and 887— are the work of
Asser ; but that the literal agreement of the rest with the
words of the Chronicles, preclude the idea of their being his
composition.
There are good reasons for believing that the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicles were first commenced under Alfred, and that, ac-
cording to the oldest edition we possess, their reckoning
began soon after 890. Composed on the Latin model, they
consisted of materials of all kinds, and were originated at a
time when Alfred and his contemporaries were actively en-
gaged in improving their native language. Asser, the Welsh-
man, must have understood Saxon : he had, undoubtedly, the
Chronicle of 890 before him, when, in 8932, he wrote the life
of his king ; but the continuation, which treats of the last
years of Alfred's reign, and which was written in the follow-
ing century, he could not have possessed. He might, indeed,
have also had a Latin copy of the Chronicle, from whence
he, and Florence after him, derived the dates of their general
history. I perceive, with pleasure, that the annalistic dates of
both these authors, with only few exceptions, agree literally
with the most ancient MSS. of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
which are also of West Saxon origin, and especially with the
oldest Cambridge copies. The following are selected exam-
ples of this agreement :
ASSER. FLORENCE. CHRON. SAX.
A. 860. Loco funeris dominati sunt. Wealstowe geweald ahton.
A. 874. Cuidam insipienti ministro regis. Anum unwisum cyninges pegne.
A. 881. Finite proelio pagani equis inventis UUser weai"5 se here gehorsod sefter
equites facti sunt. pam gefeohte.
Again Asser omits these records, which are also wanting
in the oldest copies of the Chronicle :
A. 870. The Section : and fordidon ealle pa mynstre, &c., to— pa hit wearS to nan
ping.
A 871. And heora peer weartS ofter ofslegen. U)ses nama wses Sidroc.
A. 877. And se sciphere segelode west ymbutan.
But we must confess that sometimes other elements in-
1 Gottinger Gel. Am. April 1st, 1844.
2 Asser in Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 492, a vigesimo aetatis anno usque ad quadra
gesimum quintum annum quern nunc agit.
ASSER'S GESTA ALFREDI. 7
trude into the Chronicle of Florence which are not to be found
either in the earliest Chronicles or in the " Gesta Alfredi •"
for example, the Obitus Sti Swithuni, A. 862, which is only
mentioned in the two latest Chronicles, and which, like the
account of Asser's death in the year 883, is of no value. It
is therefore difficult to decide whether Florence borrowed
from Asser's work the Annals of the years from 850 to 887,
and then augmented them from his own materials ; or whe-
ther, which is quite as likely, he adopted Asser's authorities
and manner, and compiled them himself.
"We will now proceed to the strictly biographical parts of
the work, which, as has been already remarked, consist of
episodes of more or less length, but which seem, in many
places, to have been much mutilated. The following are the
principal :
A. 849. The genealogy and birth of Alfred, taken from the " Genealogical Eegister
of the West Saxons."— Florent. A. 849.
A. 855. The strife between Ethelwulf and his son Ethelbald ; the fearful history
of Queen Eadlmrga. — Florent. A. 855.
A. 866. Alfred's youth and love of study. — Florent. A. 87 1.
A, 867. The excursion into Northumbria, more precise than in the Chronicle. —
Florent. A. 867.
A. 868. Alfred's marriage.— Florent. A. 868.
A. 871. Continuation of the description of the Battle of Ashdune. — Florent. A. 871.
A. 878. Continuation of the description of the Battle of Ethandune. — Florent.
A. 878.
A. 884. The long account of the bodily sufferings, the family, and learned com-
panions of the King. — Florent. A. 871-872.
Asser's own connexion with his Prince. Excursion into Wales.
A. 887. A long episode concerning Alfred's studies, sickness, mode of government,
endowments, and administration, with which the book concludes.
It must be remarked, that the last section in the Cot-
toman MS., at least from the words " Ingeniosam benevo-
lentiam" to " locupletatim ditavit" (p. 491-495), is written by
a later hand.
All these sections Florence copies almost literally, but
where, towards the end, they become more lengthy, he
abridges them; sometimes, as we can see by comparing
them, he substitutes one year for another ; but he always
omits the titles of the chapters, which are invariably written
in a peculiar style ; I hope, the genuine one of Asser.
P. 473 A. 866. " Sed ut more navigantium loquar ne diutis
navim undis et velamentis concedentes, et a terra longius
8 INTRODUCTION.
enavigantes longum circumferamur inter tantas bellcrum
clades et annorum enumerationes, ad id quod nos maxime ad
hoc opus incitavit nobis redeundum esse censeo ; silicet ali-
quantulum autem meae cognitioni innotuit1," &c.
P. 484 A. 834. " Igitur ut ad id, unde digressus sum re-
deam, ne diuturna navigatione portum optatae quietis
omittere cogar, aliquantulum, quantum notitise mese in-
notuerit," &c.
There is also completely wanting the account, in the
year 877, of the king's shipbuilding, which is neither to be
found in the Cottonian MS. And this circumstance casts
considerable suspicion on the fact that Alfred, in the despe-
rate state of his affairs at that time, seriously thought of
undertaking a naval expedition against the national enemy.
This may have originated in the record of a sea-fight which
took place in the year 875, which is contained in the Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle. In the year 878, Florence omits the nar-
ration of Alfred's residence with the cowherd, which is given
in the " Vita Sti Neoti," written towards the end of the
tenth century, and of which only the introductory part seems
to have been preserved in the Cottonian MS. Finally,
Florence says nothing of the notorious clause respecting the
establishment of the University of Oxford, in the year 886,
taken by Camden from the MS. Savile only, in which either
he or some other person, out of zeal for Alma Mater, has
attempted a deception, and whose correctness, especially after
the notice in Lappenberg's History of England, I., 339, no
reasonable man will continue to believe.
With the exception of these three instances, I consider the
remaining episodes, even in the larger portion of their details,
to be the genuine productions of Asser. The History of
Queen Edburga, doubted by Wright (p. 409), exists in the
Cotton. MS.; the "multis habetur incognitum" may have
been Asser's, who had then lived only a short time amongst
the West Saxons, and could scarcely have known much of
what had taken place amongst them more than eighty years
before, and who undoubtedly took a greater pleasure in trau-
1 There can be compared with this the similar passage introduced by Ethel-
werd, iv. p. 514, Monum. Hist. Brit: "Veluti advecta navis per gurgitei
undarum longinqua spatia tenet," &c. Both, as true sons of Britain, derive theil
comparison from navigation.
ASSEE'S CKESTA ALFKEDI. 9
nng the narrative, because, as he expressly sijs, he had
heard it so often from his truth-loving king1.
In conclusion, we may be allowed to mention a few other
points. It is inexplicable that Asser should omit the ac-
count of the battle of Merton, in 871, and the entire year
885, or rather that he does not relate the events which in
the Chronicle follow the year 884. In the year 883, there
is wanting, not only the record of the death of Asser, Bishop
of Sherborne, which omission explains itself, but even the
narration of the Embassy to Home, and to the East, which is
confirmed by Florence and the most ancient Chronicles,
These are defects which can only be accounted for by the
damaged state in which the work is come down to us. The
question will also present itself, why Asser, who himself tells
us (p. 492) that he wrote in 893, in the forty-fifth year of the
king's age, did not bring down the biography later than 887.
I consider this circumstance rather as a further ground for
believing in the authenticity of the work2 ; for there is no
mention made of the renewed contests with the Danes, who,
after the death of King Guthorm-Athelstan, of East Anglia,
A. 890, again threatened to commence hostilities, and who
were only finally and entirely subdued after the year 893.
It is more than rash to suppose with Wright (p. 411) that
the whole biography could not have been composed before
the end of the tenth century, because the Translatio Sti
]N"eoti took place in the year 974, after which the life of this
saint must have been written, and thence proceeded the
work attributed to Asser, whose real author was, perhaps,
a monk of St. Neot, who assumed the name of the already
celebrated friend of the great king. Such an opinion as this
can have only the most unsatisfactory grounds to rest upon.
We must also be very careful how we agree with Wright, in
contemning the style of this little work ; in some portions of
which we recogni'se a rare beauty. I will only quote two
instances of this, both treating of the industry of the king :
P. 486. " Veluti apis prudentissima, quae primo mane
charis e cellulis consurgens aestivo tempore, per incerta aeris
itinera cursum veloci volatu dirigens, super multiplices ac
1 P. 471. A domino meo Alfredo Angulsaxonum rege veridico
* Lappeuberg in d. Gotting. Gelehrt. Anz. April 4th, 1844.
10 IXTEODTJCTIO2T.
diversos herbarum, olerum, fruticum flosculos descendit pro
batque quid maxirae placuerit, atque domum reportat."
P. 491. " Velut apis fertilissima longe .lateque gronnios
interrogando discurrens, multimodos divinae scripturae flos-
culos inhianter et incessabiliter coiigregavit, queis praecordi'
sui cellulas densatim replevit."
Such passages as these are rarely to be met with in the
dry monastic works of the middle ages ; they contain words
which could have sprung only from deep feeling ; and from
them, Asser seems to have been a man in whom were blended
the pure vigour of a child of nature, and a true poetical
spirit.
Finally, Thorpe, in his translation of Lappenberg's History,
II., 326, N. 1, affirms that the sceptics as to the authenticity
of the book may quote in their favour, the expression "vasalli"
occurring in the year 878, but a striking contradiction of this
opinion is furnished by a document in Kemble's Cod. Diplom.
Anglos. JN". 216. This document was undoubtedly written
in the year 821, and contains these words : " Expeditionem
cum XII. vasallis et cum tantis scutis." In a similar manner
as " vasallus" (in the Cotton. MS. " fassillis") the thrice-re-
peated expression curtus regis (p. 473, 485, 488) must be con-
sidered, as well as some other instances of a peculiar Latinity,
e.g. gronnius, p. 491; gronnosus, p. 480; cambra, p. 491. These
words are to be found in Du Gauge, and still older examples
are extant of them. The expression " vasallus" occurs also in
the Capitularies of Charlemagne. It is very remarkable to
find a Welshman writing the name of our people, gentes
Theotiscae, p. 471.
That a Briton (and who could it be except the Welsh Asser ?)
had a share in the work1, must necessarily be inferred from
the constantly recurring addition of Celtic names of places
to the Saxon and Latin ones.
P. 470. The Isle of Thanet, called by the Britons Euim2.
P. 475. Snotengaham is called Tigguocobauc, in Latin
speluncarum domus, faithfully copied by Florence.
P. 477. Wilton is situated* near G-uilou.
P. 478. Thornsaetan is called Durngueis.
1 Thorpe, in his late preface to his Florent. Wigorn. p. rii. n. 3, also argues
from this in favour of Asser.
8 This may be taken from Nennius, " Ruichim," Monum. Hist. Brit. p. 63.
ASSER'S GESTA ALFREDI.
P. 479. Exanceastre is called Cair wise.
P. 480. Flumen quod Britannice dicitur Abon.
P. 481. Selwudu, silva magna Coitmaur.
P. 482. Circencester, Cairceri.
Asser wrote thus for his countrymen1.
This may suffice for the present respecting this important
little book, which unfortunately, owing to its deficiencies and
peculiarities, is in many respects open to censure. "We shall
frequently, however, recur to it in the course of this work, in
reference to various and often questionable particulars ; such
as Asser's own life, which must necessarily be connected with
that of his king.
We may venture to treat much more briefly the remaining
authorities, which entirely concern the Anglo-Saxon period,
and whose value and mutual agreement are very properly
brought prominently forward by Lappenberg in the intro-
duction to his excellent historical work.
The oldest authority, and the most important for our pur-
pose, is, of course, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. We have
already seen that a part of the G-esta Alfredi was taken
from it. The most ancient copy that we possess corresponds,
in the form of its letters, with the other genuine books of
Alfred's time ; and this circumstance, together with the in-
terruptions which occur in the manuscript immediately after
the year 891, leave no doubt of its having been written
during the last ten years of King Alfred's reign. It may
therefore be reasonably presumed that transactions first
began to be generally recorded in the language of the people
at that time. Amongst the reasons for this presumption, by
no means the least important is, that about the year 853,
soon after the birth of Alfred, the records of each year in-
crease in length, and begin to lose their original calendar
form. The whole of that section which treats of Alfred's life
is very similar in five of our manuscripts, which in other
respects often differ from each other ; and one of the most
recent, Cotton. MS. Domitian, A. VIII., gives a very bad
and inaccurate abridgment of events till about the year
1000, in the Saxon and Latin languages ; and is especially
1 Lingard, in his History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ii
brings forward good reasons for differing with Wright.
12 INTRODUCTION.
meagre in its details of Alfred's lifetime, which is the more
remarkable as it is generally believed to Lave been written at
Canterbury. The Cambridge manuscript, and the two MSS.
Cott. Tib. A. VI. and Tib. B. I., which were all compiled
within the bounds of the kingdom of Wessex, singularly co-
incide in all essential points of their accounts relating to the
ninth century. The MS. Cotton. Tib. IV. presents, during
this epoch, only very few deviations, and is almost similar to
those preceding. But this MS., which originated in Wor-
cester, always remains a year behind the three older copies in
the chronology of the eighth and ninth centuries, agreeing
in this respect, as originally our oldest MSS. seem to have
done, with the Northern historians — as Simeon of Durham,
whose chronology, as KemMe particularly remarks, differs
from that of the South of England, which is generally correct.
The editions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, even that pub-
lished by the Eecord Commission, in the Monumenta Histo-
rica Britannica, have by no means succeeded in indicating
the minute details and relative value of each of the Year-books,
written in various dialects, at different times, and in different
places, so as to elucidate the text, and render it more intelli-
gible to critics of the present day. We reserve, for a later
opportunity, a more strict investigation into these remark-
able productions of the early middle ages.
Ethelwerd's dry Chronicle is, in general, little more than an
elaboration of the early Saxon annals, in barbarous Latin ;
here and there, however, it is evident that some other popular
sources of information were employed by him. He rarely
gives any particulars of Alfred's life ; and it is peculiarly sur-
prising that he, a descendant of the royal family of Wessex,
should not have given a more circumstantial account of his
great ancestor ; considering, too, that only a hundred years
had elapsed since he flourished. No part of his work is so
grievously and hopelessly mutilated as the third chapter of
the fourth book, which treats of Alfred. The latest edition
is to be found in the Mon. Hist. Brit.
Mention has already been made of Florence ; we possess
an excellent edition, recently compiled with great care by
Thorpe for the English Historical Society, in which also the
most accurate text of Asser may be found.
Simeon of Durham, who, in composing his Chronicle, must
THE ANGLO-SAXON CHEONICLE. 13
have referred frequently to Florence, occasionally mentions
many details, particularly in 883, and when the subject
relates to the North of England.
Ingulph, Abbot of Croyland, once secretary to the Con-
queror, in the work attributed to him, and which chiefly
treats of the history of his convent, relates various events that
rest upon arbitrary assumptions or supposititious documents,
and seem to have arisen from ignorance of the authorities
above named. How could an Englishman, so imbued with
the Norman spirit, in the first fifty or sixty years after the
Conquest, avoid making some confusion in the accounts which
were given him of the condition of the conquered country
during the previous two centuries ? It appears that he
was acquainted with Asser's book, as he must have taken from
it his description of Alfred's method of measuring time. We
cite his work according to the edition, carefully prepared
by Sir H. Savile, of the Eerum Anglicarum Scriptores post
Bedam praecipui, Erancofurti, 1603.
Henry of Huntingdon has, unfortunately, never found an
intelligent editor even in the Mon. Hist. Brit., though he
merits one more than any other historian of the middle ages
of England. The spirited manner in which he describes
battles was, most probably, caused by his intimate acquaint-
ance with the old songs of the people ; and we shall often be
indebted to it in the following work, especially for the account
of the sea-fight in the year 897.
. "William of Malmesbury enjoys the reputation of being a
more learned historian, and of endeavouring to invest the dry
form of the Old Chronicle with a more attractive style ; but
his researches are often by no means correct, and his errors can-
not be forgotten. The best edition of the Gesta Keg. Angl.,
is that of the English Historical Society, by Th. D. Hardy :
London, 1840.
The old Erench rhyming Chronicle of Geoflrei Gaimar
takes that part which relates to our subject chiefly from
the Anglo-Saxon Year-books ; the copies of these, which the
poet had before him, differ in some points from those we
possess. He used, also, other authorities. The first edition
is to be found in the Mon. Hist. Brit.
The remaining historians who have treated of the Anglo-
Saxons, as Ailred of Eiveaux, Eoger of Wendovor, Matthew
INTRODUCTION.
of "Westminster, &c., will be acknowledged in the places
where they are quoted.
Two vary important authorities for, and aids in, our under-
taking, are the Laws of Alfred, in Thorpe's admirable edition,
" Ancient Laws and Institutes of England :" London, 1840 ;
and Kemble's Codex Diplomaticus, Aevi Saxonici, in which
excellent collection the documents of the ninth century equal
neither in number nor in authenticity those of the preceding
and subsequent ones.
Amongst later works, I am most particularly indebted to
the " History of England," by Lappenberg, in which, with
the translation made by Thorpe, and enriched by both these
learned men, the best and clearest directions are given
whereby to penetrate the labyrinthine mazes of early English
history. The Life and Times of Alfred the Great are by no
means exhausted in the plan of this book ; and the biographer
is at liberty to glean any other information he can meet with
for his purpose. "We are in a similar position with regard to
Lappenberg' s predecessor, the diligent Sharon Turner, and
to his successor, Kemble, who, in his latest work, "The
Saxons in England," II. : London, 1848, considers, in a series
of essays, written in a masterly style, the political and social
condition of the Anglo-Saxons.
Modern historical literature possesses special Biographies
of Alfred. The title of the first work of this kind is sufficient
to show in what spirit it was written, and what is to be
learnt from it : " The Life of Alfred, or Alvred, the first
Institutor of subordinate Government in this Kingdome, and
Eefounder of the University of Oxford; together with a
Parellell of our Soveraigne Lord King Charles, untill this
yeare 1634. By Eobert Powell. London : 1634."
The learned Spelman compiled aBiography of Alfred, during
the Eestoration, which Hearne published, in 1709, with his
own annotations in English1. Both of these works are very
unprofitable, in spite of the highly-meritorious industry dis-
played in them ; and this fact is mainly attributable to the
accumulation of quotations from a modern and second-rate
1 Sir John Spelman, JElfredi Magni Vita, fol. Oxon. 1678. Originally written in
English, and first translated into Latin by Dr. Obadiah Walker, of unhappy
memory. Spelman's Life of Alfred tha Great, jublished with additions and
remarks by Thomas Hearne, Oxf, 1709.
MODERN AUTHORITIES ON THE SUBJECT. 15
authority, who has never yet attained the honour of appearing
in print, but who is placed in the same rank, and even some-
times above our best sources of information. Judging by
this account of the sufferings of Alfred and his country, th*e
same monkish spirit seems to have existed in the Oxford of
the seventeenth century as was in operation there in the
twelfth and thirteenth.
Albrecht von Haller was the first German who wrote on
this subject, in his book entitled, " Alfred Konig der Angel-
Sachsen, Gottingen und Bern, 1773." He faithfully took
his materials from Spelman, and aimed at describing the
limited monarchy ; but, according to his usual custom, he has
obscured his otherwise lucid work by a fanciful and poetica*
style.
A. Bicknell (" Life of Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-
Saxons : London, 1777") endeavoured to bring the numerous
works of his predecessors before the public in a more intelli-
gible form. He treats the ecclesiastical part of the sub-
ject in the very free and somewhat derisive manner which
was characteristic of his time, whilst he evidently did not use
any diligent research, and consequently his conclusions are
capricious and incorrect.
F. L. Graf zu Stolberg has narrated the Life of Alfred in
his own admirable manner. His materials for this work he
obtained from Turner's " History of the Anglo-Saxons," in
which the subject was first treated with particular considera-
tion.
A History of Alfred the Great, compiled from Turner's
" History of the Anglo-Saxons," and the " Lodbroker-Quida,"
with a metrical translation by Dr. F. Lorentz : Hamburg,
1828.
The .last work on the subject, "The Life of Alfred the
Great, by the Eev. J. A. Giles : London, 1848," also deserves
to be mentioned in the last place ; so defective is it in all its
relations, so devoid of research into authorities, and so desti-
tute of all interest in the style. Truly, it does not reflect
much honour upon the English people, that a subject so im-
portant as the Life of " The Darling of Old England" should
not have been treated in a manner proportioned to its value,
up to the date of the Jubilee which commemorated the
thousandth anniversary of his birth !
16 THE ROYAL RACE OF THE WEST SAXON'S*
I.
RISE OF THE WEST SAXON KINGDOM — DESCENT Ol% TUB
RULERS FROM WODEN — THE EARLIER CENTURIES — EGBERT
— ETHELWULF.
THERE is matter for peculiar consideration in that section
of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which bears the date of the
year 855 ; and whose contents, recited from the earliest
times by the Scalds, were probably first reduced to writing in
the reign of Alfred. They relate the genealogy of the royal
family of the "West Saxons, and trace it back to "Woden and
the highest Gods1.
Alfred, who, more than any other king of the middle
/ages, was devoted with his whole soul to the belief in the
{ eternal truths of Christianity, neither desired, nor was able,
j to prevent his people from still continuing firm in their old
] faith in the closest connexion between their own royal race
^and the-ancient Pagan divinities. In the history of the origin
of the Saxon, as well as of every other nation, the forms of Gods
and heroes become blended in the same misty image, which at
last assumes the character of an ancient traditionary king.
It was only when the trust in the race of Cerdic, and with it
the faith in the old traditions, were broken, that foreign con-
querors could place themselves securely on the throne of
England.
Those traditions were, in all essential points, the same
amongst the Anglo-Saxons and all the rest of the German
races. They all traced their lineage back to the Deity, imd
1 We find this interesting information given in its fullest extent, and in the
least mutilated form, in the four oldest manuscripts of the Chronicle, where the
taMe of descent is brought down to King Ethelwulf; and also in a fragment
which is included in MS. Cotton. Tib. A, iii. and reaches as far as Edward II.
(-J- 978). Judging from this date, and from the form of the letters, this frag-
ment must have originated at the same time as our two oldest MSS. (Cott.
Tib. A. vi.) There is no reason for supposing it to have been of an earlier date,
as is suggested in the catalogue to the Cottonian collection ; more probably it is
the remaining part of a lost copy of the Chronicle. From this, the register of
descent is taken by Asser, Ethelwerd, and Florence. We possess also separate
genealogies in the Chronicle of the latter. Later historians faithfully copy from
these ancient authors, but continually increase the mutilation of the strange
sounding names, and often entirely omit them.
THE HOYAL EACE OF THE WEST SAXONS. 17
even called themselves by the names of the Gods. This
firmly-rooted conviction concerning their origin we find
amongst the Goths, as well as the Lombards a
nayians ;_ andthe family-registers, which wel^~T3
compiled and preserved, show the same names and descent
amongst totally different races. The genealogy of the "West
Saxon kings is the most perfect of all, and it affords a con-
vincing proof of the early importance of this race, and of the
ancient prophecies and fulfilments which have been linker]
with it from the earliest ages.
Some late researches have shown ns1, that in this table of
descent, AVoden assumes the^jnghestjplace ajjbhe^chjeJLIjQ^
and that by far the principal number of those remaining are
but epithets for one and the same person. Yet some of
these are of remarkable signification, when we are seeking for
the root of that family from which King Alfred proceeded ;
and from which also, though in a very remote connexion, the
present Queen of Great Britain is descended. Amongst
them we find the mythical hero, Sceafa, who, on the burning
of the dry land, was placed alone in a boat, exposed to the
waves, and driven about by them, until he landed in the
fabulous island, Scanzia. In Christian times, and probably
first in those of Alfred, a place was found for him in a gene-
alogical register of the Old Testament families, which trace
back to Noah and Adam. "We read again of the God Beo-
wulf, who is a prototype of the hero of the great Anglo-
Saxon Epic, the Beowulf Wa3gmunding. Then we find Geat,
a primary God of the general German mythology2. In the
book of Tacitus, the three principal German races are said to
descend from the three sons of the divine Mannus ; the Asen
were the divine ancestors of the North. The people, as
as their kings and heroes, also traced their origin to the
and the Saxons remained firmly convinced of their divin
descent, long after the light of Christianity, so rich in bless
ings, had dawned upon them. Their Alfred, also, was divine.1;
descended.
!J. M. Kemble in his interesting work written in German, Ueber die
Stammtafeln der Westsachen, Munchen. 1836, p. 9, 27. He has gone into all
the details of the inquiry, in his preface to the second vol. of " Beowulf," f . 3-
29. Vide also J. Grimm, German Mjthoiogy, p. 340-342, second edition.
2 Kemble, a. a. 0. p. 15, 18, 22.
18 CERDIC, THE FLB51 KING OF WESSEX.
The first individual of this race, which dates from the
most remote antiquity, whose existence, though still ob-
scured by the dim twilight of tradition, is still of historical
importance, is Cerdic, the founder of the West Saxon kingdom.
Scarcely fifteen years had elapsed since the arrival of the two
traditionary hero-brothers, Hengist and Horsa, when Cerdic,
with his son Cynric, landed on the south coast of England, at
a place called in the Chronicle, Cerdicesore1. The influx of
hordes of kindred pirates continued, without intermission, for
the next ten years. The spot on which Port, after fighting
victoriously, first set foot on British ground, and to which
tradition probably gave his name, has preserved his memory
to this day, and is a palpable geographical proof of the small
beginning of that kingdom which was destined, by degrees, to
unite in itself the whole southern extent of the island. Con-
quering their way, step by step, and fighting many desperate
battles, Cerdic, and his still braver son, took their country
from the Britons, who in vain endeavoured strenuously to
resist them ; and their resistance became more useless still,
when, in the year 514, two nephews of the first Conqueror,
Stuf and Wihtgar, landed with reinforcements from their
native country.
The founders of Wessex early distinguished themselves
from the rulers of the rest of the Saxon and Anglian king-
doms by their fierce, wild recklessness. They attacked not
only the common enemy of the Germans who came conquer-
ing to the west, the devoted Celts, now almost completely
annihilated, but turned their weapons quite as unscrupu-
lously against their own race and kindred. Amongst other
tribes, the Jutes had landed in Kent, and also in Wessex
and on the Isle of Wight, and had, as it were, laid the first
foundation of a German settlement, on which the Saxon race
now rested. Cerdic snatched from them the beautiful island
which guards the largest maritime fortress of England, and
gave it as a fief to his nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar,
vho, on the father's side, were perhaps Jutes themselves2.
When Cerdic died in the fortieth year after his arrival, he
nad borne for sixteen years the royal crown of the West
1 Chron. Sax. A. 494. 2 Lappenberg, History of England, i. j 12.
EISE OF THE KINGDOM OF TVESSEX. 19
Saxon kingdom1, which, at that time comprised the pvesent
counties of Hampshire, Dorsetshire, and part of Somerset-
shire ; the heroic King Arthur even, after making a vain
resistance against the valiant sons of Woden, had been com-
pelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Cerdic.
Tiiese are facts whose reality cannot reasonably be disputed ;
they are sufficiently confirmed by the rapid rise of Wessex.
Yet the hero form of Cerdic, as well as those of his British
adversaries, has been absorbed into a myth, as the numerous
traditions relating to them testify ; and his forty years' resi-
dence on English ground, and his sixteen years' rule, afford
an example of that chronological confusion in an age whose
only history is poetry, which was characteristic of the days of
Hengist and his descendants2.
This is not the place to give a detailed account of the
struggles on either side, or to distinguish the public and
private legal relations between the conquerors and the
vanquished Britons ; all these points have been satisfactorily
settled long since, by the distinguished historians who have
treated the whole of this section of English history, as
far as was possible with their limited sources of informa-
tion. Our aim is, in conformity with them, to bring forward
those eras in the history of Wessex, when that kingdom took
a new direction in its development, significant of its future
greatness.
Ceawlin, who assumed the government after Cynric's
death, followed unweariedly in the steps of his predecessors,
and, by his unusual skill in the contests with the Germans
and Britains, he raised Wessex to the highest position
amongst the neighbouring kingdoms. In the year 568, he
contested the dignity of Bretwalda with Ethelbert of Kent3;
he remained the victor on the field, and maintained his
1 It was the battle of Cerdicesford (Charford) which established the kingdom.
Chron. Sax. A. 519, " And siSiSan ricsadon Westscaxna cyncbearn of pam daege,"
and from that day the descendants of the royal race of the West Saxons held
sway.
2 Lappenberg, p. 72, f.
3 This does not mean u Supreme King, Lord of Britain," as has been maintained
in modern times. According to Kemble, " The Saxons in England," ii. 20, 21, it
signifies the "powerful Ruler;" and according to five manuscripts of the Chron,
Sax. is derived from the adjective bryten, foetus, dissipatus.
c 2
20 T1IE HIGHEST POINT OF WEST SAXON POWEK.
supremacy over the Germanic kings of the island. J3y per-
petual combats he drove back the Britons to the opposite
bank of the Severn, and to the Welsh promontory that rises
behind it ; and it would seem as though the bold conqueror
of Wessex was already planning the union of the numerous
small German principalities into one common monarchy.
Among them the belief in the old Pagan Gods was in no way
shaken, and if this most genuine descendant of Woden had
fulfilled his scheme, if, supported by his personal influence,
and the native strength of his firmly-united train of followers,
he had stood forth in the same manner as the Frisian Kadbod
or the Saxon Witikind did in later times, who shall say that
the fair Angles, effectually strengthened by union, might not
have successfully withstood even the Apostle Gregory the
Great ? It was, therefore, of the greatest consequence for the
History of the next century, that the Jutes of Kent, the
Angles of Mercia, and the Christian Britons of Wales, should
well understand from what side danger threatened them,
and should form immediately a defensive alliance against
their common enemy, who desired to bring them under
_theypke of feudal service to him. In the year 501 fol-
lowed the great battle of Wodnesbeorg, in Berkshire, which
place was within the boundaries of Wessex. But the God
under whose holy protection the battle was fought, turned
his face away from his valiant descendant, who was com-
pletely defeated, and went into exile, where he died at the
expiration of two years. The dignity of Bretwalda devolved
upon Kent, and the diminished kingdom descended to one of
his brother's sons.
This nephew was succeeded, in the year 597, by his brother
Ceolwulf, a man who was thoroughly embued with the spirit
of his uncle. The sceptre of the West Saxons devolved upon
him at the time when Augustine landed on the Kentish coast,
and when, after the baptism of King Ethelbert, the new
doctrines of salvation commenced their victorious career, still
taking a northern direction; until, in the course of a few
years, the whole east coast of England, the east Anglian artf
Northumbrian kingdoms prostrated themselves before tho
cross. But not a single teacher of the new faith ventured
into Wessex ; the name of its ruler rang with a wild and
terrible sound in the other kingdoms cf the island, and Ceol-
THE EOTAL SUCCESSION — DIVISIONS OF THE KINGDOM. 21
was willing and able to preserve to his race this cha,
-acter of fierce and stubborn Paganism. It is recorded o\
him in the Saxon Chronicles1, that he continually fought
against, and vanquished the kindred Angles, as well as the
Welsh, the Picts, and Scots. In the year 607, we find him
engaged in war with the neighbouring Sussex, which after a
short time he reduced to subjection. But all his own bravery,
and that of his immediate followers, was of no other avail than
to protect the possessions they had hitherto acquired; for
the supremacy of Wessex had long since departed, with the
lost dignity of Bretwalda, and danger threatened it at home
and abroad.
Notwithstanding the scanty records we possess, the un-
settled state of the royal succession is perfectly evident.
Under similar circumstances, this wag the case amongst all
the German-4-aces ^ the hereditary descent of the monarchy
from father to son had not then become the rule, and it has
been merely the result of time. Many centuries elapsed
before a strict line of succession was observed in the different
continental countries, and before the people ceased to choose
for their ruler the strongest or the comeliest, without regard
to the closer or more remote degree of relationship he might
bear to his predecessor. This was especially the case with
the "West Saxons, who clung so tenaciously to a royal lineage
descending from Woden, and amongst whom, brother and
cousin, son and nephew, followed each other indiscriminately ;
different individuals frequently bearing the title of king at
the same time. We have seen that, although Ceawlin had
many sons, he was succeeded, after his complete overthrow, by
his brother Ceolric, who, although he was not childless, was
followed by his brother Ceolwulf. After the death of the
latter, in 611, the kingdom passed again into his elder
brother's line ; still it was split into a great many portions,
for Cynegils by no means reigned alone. Cwichelm and others
were quite independent of him ; each ruled a part of West
Saxony, and only united in enterprises against the common
foe, as they did 'in the battle of Beam dune2. This division ol
wie same nation, under different leaders, must have seriously
1 Chron. Sax. A. 597. 2 Chron. Sax. A. 6H.
22 INTEODTTCTIOX OF CHRISTIANITt.
impaired the national strength, and its effects are SOOD
perceptible. The same evil consequences that precisely at the
same time attended the division of the kingdom of the
Frankish Merovingians, also affected the West Saxons, but
in a much less degree ; for their state, as we have seen, bore
within it from the first the germs of union and centralisation.
It was owing to this splitting asunder of their own strength,
that the danger which now menaced from without assumed an
aspect which became more and more serious.
It seems as if the West Saxon kings, the true descendants
of Woden, never, until their final conversion, abandoned the
idea that they ought to stand forward as champions of the
old Teutonic Paganism. Animated by his hatred of the
Christian faith, Cwichelm despatched a murderer to the court
of King Edwin of Deira (Northumbria), where already the
G-ospel had found access. But the malicious scheme failed ;
King Edwin's servant Lilla saved him with his own life.
'• Edwin, now justly enraged against the West Saxons, attacked
\ them, and slew five of their kings1, and then became a con-
i vert to Christianity in the year 626. Penda, a powerful
' heathen prince, began to reign in Mercia in the same year.
In an inconceivably short time he raised his kingdom, which
included Christians and heathens, Germans and Welsh, to a
high state of importance. In 628, he entered into an alliance
with the West Saxons. Cynegils had resisted him most
desperately at Cirencester, so that the battle remained un-
decided, and the two commanders concluded a treaty. A
faint glimmering of the old Paganism long remained among
the Mercians, but the apostles of the true faith soon dispersed
the light of the Gospel among the West Saxons. Their close
family connexion with Oswald, King of the Northumbrian
Bernicians, might have been the chief cause of this. It fur-
ther appears, that Bishop Birinus, the delegate of Pope
Honorius, and fully commissioned by him to preach the
Gospel to the uttermost limits of the island, at this time also
passed the boundaries ol Heathen West Saxony. And he was
not mistaken in his judgment of the moment when the
disputed supremacy of the sons of Woden seemed to be
declining. In the meagre records of the Chronicle, we read
1 Bede's Ecelesiastical History, ii. 9; Cliron. Sax. A. 626.
KING KENWALK, 23
that Cynegils was baptized in the year 6351, and Cwichelm in
636. Cuthred, the son and successor of the latter, also em-
braced Christianity, and established Birinus at Dorchester
in the first "West Saxon bishopric. As it happened in all
the newly-converted Anglo-Saxon countries, a reaction now
ensued in favour of the old faith amongst the "West Saxons.
Kenwalk, the son of Cynegils, had scarcely assumed the
kingdom when he openly professed heathenism, and married
a sister of Penda, the mighty Pagan monarch. But his own
rashness proved his ruin ; he repudiated his wife, and Penda
invaded and drove him from his kingdom in 645. It is
probable that many of the "West Saxons were already zealous
disciples of the preaching clergy, and therefore lent no aid to
Kenwalk. During his three years' exile, which he passed with
King Annas of East Anglia* he also embraced Christianity.
It seems that he brought down that destroyer of all weak
states, the wild Penda, on the head of his Christian host ; but
Kenwalk himself returned to his home, and received a
fraternal welcome from his relation Cuthred, whom he re-
warded for this conduct by conferring on him lands and the
title of viceroy. For the next twelve years, Kenwalk seems
to have been chief ruler of West Saxony ; and the period
during which he reigned is, on many accounts, not without
importance.
In the first place, he may rightly be considered as the
founder of the ecclesiastical constitution of "Wessex. It here
manifested an endeavour to assume a national character before
it did so in any other part of the island. After Birinus, a
foreigner named Egilbert was appointed bishop ; he was a
Frank, and it was soon asserted that the strange prelate could
not speak to the people in their own language. At the same
time, King Kenwalk proposed, on account of the great extent
of "Wessex, to divide it into two dioceses — he elevated "Win-
chester to be a new episcopal see, and placed there as bishop,
Wini, a Saxon who had been educated abroad. The Prankish
bishop was bitterly aggrieved at this ; he resigned his office
and went back to his own country, where he was shortly after-
wards created Archbishop of Parish But the capricious king
»Bede's Ecclesiastical History, iii. 7. assert tiat King Oswald of Beinura
was his godfather.
Bede's EccL Hist. iii. 8; Chron. Sax. A. 660.
24 CONTESTS WITH THE MERCIANS AND BRITONS.
did not long keep on friendly terms with Wini ; at the izo. of
three years he deprived him of his situation, which was ouco
more 'occupied by a foreigner, Leutherius, a nephew of
Egilbert, who himself recommended him.
Besides th'; first ecclesiastical perplexity, Kenwalkhad to
contend M'ith difficulties in his secular affairs. Although the
Mercian kingdom had at length become Christian, the hostile
position it occupied with regard to "Wessex remained the same.
Penda's Christian son, Wulfhere, repeatedly attacked the
neighbouring country ; he even once took the Isle of "Wight
from Kenwalk and gave it to the King of Sussex1. But on
the whole, Kenwalk knew how to protect his kingdom ; in
the contests with the Britons he was always victorious, and
thus strengthened and established his northern and western
boundaries. When he died in 672, his energetic wife Sex-
burga held the reins of government for the space of a year,
which proves to us that at that time the royal race could
furnish no more worthy successor. This queen, whose name
is recorded as the pride and support of her nation, takes
her place, and by no means the lowest one, in that wonderf
array of rare women, who, from Boadicea to Elizabeth, have,
from time to time passed over the pages of British history ;
and we cannot avoid joining in the praise and admiration which
William of Malmesbury bestows on her3. Unfortunately, at
the expiration of a year Sexburgha again, disappears from the
scene. She left the kingdom in a great state of confusion
as regarded the succession, in which it continued for fifteen
years.
According to the scarcely more than genealogical records
of the Tear-books, Cenfus, a great-grandson of Ceolwulf,
possessed the sovereignty for the next two years. We
may venture to place the more reliance on this fact, as
King Alfred himself mentions it, probably in his Manual,
from which William of Malmesbury and others were some-
times accustomed to copy3. From 674 to 676, Cenfus was
1 Chron. Sax. A. 661. Christianity was first preached here V; the Jutish
inhabitants.
2 William of Malmesbury, Gesta Reg. Angl. i. 32 , Ed. Hardy, Chron. Sax. A. 672.
3 Florent. Wigorn. is the authority for this ; Geneal. p. 693. Deinde Kenfua
dnobus annis secundum dicta regis yElfredi, juxta chronicam anglicam vero filius
ejus yEscvvinus i'ere tribus annis regnavit.
KING C^DWALLA. 25
succeeded by his son Escwin, who, like his predecessors>
fought with Wult'here of Mercia. After his death, or perhaps
whilst he was yet reigning, Kentwine, the brother of Ken-
walk, assumed the title of king. His attention was especially
directed towards the south-west boundaries of his kingdom,
where the Britons of Cornwall, incited and supported by their
brethren in Armorica beyond the sea, profiting by internal
dissensions among the West Saxons, were endeavouring by
force of arms to make good their old claims to the possessions
which had been torn from them. They "were, however, subdued
by the courage and skill of the German warrior ; and we do
not hesitate in attributing to Kentwine the merit of laying
the first foundation of the submission of the counties of
Devon and Cornwall to the West Saxon crown1.
The numerous connexions with the Celtic principalities of
the West, and even the influence which their national character
had at this time on that of the G-ermans, become particu-
larly evident through the frequent mixing up of events and
names in the history of both which appears in the Annales
CambrisB ; this has long since been skilfully pointed out2. The
similarity of names between C&dwalla, a relation of Kent-
wine, who revolted against him, and Cadwallader, the Welsh
prince, is no mere accident. Certainly the British annalists
may have taken pains to transfer the deeds and history of
the Saxon to their own similarly-named hero ; the Celtic
<ound in the name of the former cannot be denied. He and
..is brother Mul were sons of the inferior King Cenbert,
most probably by a British mother3. Their own history must
bear witness to this. The youth Ca3dwalla, the last Saxon who
adhered to the old idol-worship, was outlawed after the failure
of his ambitious designs on the throne, by King Kentwine.
He secreted himself in the Andredswald, which marked the
1 Chron. Sax. A. 682. Ccntwine geflymde bryt-we-alas op see. Florent. Chron.
A. 681, i. 37. Occidentals Britones.
2 Lappenberg, p. 250, f.
3 I here adopt the opinion indicated by Kemble in a work " On the names, sur-
names, and nicknames of the Anglo-Saxons: London, 1846, p. 4, 5;" according
to which the name Mul signifies nothing more nor less than " mule,'' fjfjLiovos,
the " half-bred." May not the similar sounding names in Lappenberg, p. 252, of
the Eburonen Cativulcus (Ca3s. de Bello Gall. vi. 31), and of the Gothic Ca-
tualda (Tac. Ann. ii. 62), have their origin in the same mixture of Celtish and
German blood? In the same manner I might call attention to the similarity :f
sound between the words W**— **• WaJdi. and Wallach.
26 KING C^EDWALLA..
boundary between Sussex and "Wessex. Concealed by tlie
thickets, lie assembled a daring band, composed partly of reai
Britons, and partly of a mixed race, who had fallen back into
the old Paganism, and who, as renegades, troubled them-
selves but little, if at all, about matters of faith. When we
remember that, in the commencement of all Germanic states,
the offspring of the marriages between the Germans and
the people conquered by them enjoyed no perfect freedom, and
if we assume that King Ina1 was the first to make arrange-
ments for this equality of rights among the West Saxons, we
can no longer wonder that, in so short a time, Ca3dwalla took
so threatening a position. His companions, who joyfully
followed him as their leader, were in a similar condition with
himself — their origin, their unbelief, the ban which suc-
ceeded their revolt, were all alike. With this band, who
fought for life and honour, Ceedwalla kept the South Saxons,
whose land was an established apple of discord between
Wessex and Mercia, in a constant state of fear and terror,
until, after the death of the reigning king, the Ealdermen
Berthun, and Ethelhun, succeeded in driving him from his
fastnesses. But his power was not yet subdued ; he still
continued as before to strive for the royal crown of Wessex,
Then, without our being able to assign any particular rea-
son for the step, Kentwine abdicated, entered a monastery2,
and Caedwalla took his place as King of the West Saxons.
Still he was not baptized, although he had been already
favourably disposed towards Christianity by the zealous
Bishop Wilfrith of York (who, exiled from his own church
:md office, then dwelt in Sussex), and by his own Christian
mother3. But inspired by the old wild fury, he first took
fearful revenge upon his enemies amongst the South Saxons ;
and then, in conj unction with his brother Mul, a beautiful
and athletic youth, he made a fierce attack on the Jutish in-
habitants of the Isle of Wight, who were also still heathens.
At last he yielded to the entreaties of Mul, who was animated
by as obstinate a spirit as his own, and invaded Kent wit*:
1 Lappenberg, p. 258.
2 Lappenberg, p. 253, n. 2, most probably takes this information from an ancient
poet in Alcuin's works ; wbo, according to May (Auctores Classic! e codd. Vatic
v. 387), is no other than Aldhelm.
• According to Kemble's supposition ;a the last-quoted passage from that au
thor, with whic!a may be compared Bede's Ecclesiastical History, iv. 16,
DEATH OF C^IDWALLA — ACCESSION OF INA. 27
fire and sword. Mul, who in his excessive rashness ventured
too far into the enemy's country, was, with twelve of his
companions, surrounded in a hut by the men of Kent, and
burnt alive1. For this deed his brother took terrible revenge
by blood and rapine. But suddenly he abandoned all, relin-
quished the crown in favour of his kinsman Ina, and, im-
pelled by an irresistible inward impulse, departed for Rome.
There he was baptized by Pope Sergius in the Easter of the
year 689 ; and eight days afterwards, April 20th, he died, still
clothed in the white robes of baptism2. Is not this like reading
a Welsh or British legend ? Thus, like a fiery meteor, which,
presaging war and desolation, burns brightly for a moment,
and then suddenly disappears, CaBdwalla, more Celt than
Grerman, flashes across the History of Wessex.
Ina's descent and degree of relationship to his kinsman
C&dwalla3, are not easily traced, on account of the contradic-
tions in the only genealogical table which we possess ; his
rule, which lasted six-and-thirty years, presents a great con-
trast to the otner governments of the little state, which were
rendered so unsettled by perpetual feuds and changes of their
supreme head. But contests with the neighbouring king-
doms were by no means wanting during his period of power.
The same warlike relations subsisted as before with the
Britons ; the historical records of the "Welsh have connected
Ina wdth their own Ivor ; but according to some Saxon
genealogies, Ina was a brother of the Saxo-Britons, C&dwalla
and Mul. Tor the murder of the latter, he, at any rate,
required additional satisfaction from the King of Kent, whom
he compelled to pay a heavy were-geld, which the Chronicle
indicates as a very considerable sum according to the stan-
dard of coinage at that time. There were continual con-
tests with the hated Mercians ; in the year 715 another
battle was fought at a place called Wodensbeorg (Wen-
borough in Wilts). But it is gratifying to find this prince,
1 Chron. Sax. A. 687 ; William of Malmesbury, i. § 35 ; Henry of Huntingdon,
lib. iv. 722.
2Bede's Ecclesiastical History, v. 7; Henry of Huntingdon, iv. 723; Paul.
Diac. Hist. Longob. vi. 15. The pilgrim found a hospitable reception from F.I-
melinde, the Kentish Queen of Lombardy.
3 His father Cenred appears as sub-regulus, and according to the most credible
testimony, was descended in a direct line from Ceawlin. Lappenber£? p. 266.
28 RISE OF WES SEX UKDEB KINO INA.
,
the first of all the Saxon kings, active in the ci\.l affairs
his state amidst the constant din of war. According to the
example of the King of Kent, he caused the laws of his
people to be recorded ; and these we still possess, as they
were collected and revised by Alfred. "We shall consider the
tenour and importance of these laws in a suitable place.
We might naturally look, during his life, for a rapid rise
in the development of the Church in Wessex, and of that
civilisation which was so intimately connected with it ; and
this rise assuredly could not have taken place without the
sanction of the sovereign. The strife between native and
foreign influence in the young Church had continued un-
interruptedly since the days of Kenwalk. We have already
spoken of C&dwalla's intercourse with Wilfrith. This rest-
less man had been banished from his diocese at York on
account of his enthusiastic zeal for the extension of the
national Church, in opposition to the wish of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Theodore the Greek. Tor many years, inces-
santly brooding on his wrongs, he wandered from one dio-
cese to another, and came into Wessex, in company with, and
under the protection of his yet unconverted patron. His
mind was still busy and restless there, and after some time
he was invested with one of the two bishoprics. There is no
further mention of the foreigner Leutherius, and we find
Hedde, a native, at the head of this diocese towards the close
of the seventh century. After his death in 703, Ina was
advised to separate another see from Winchester, and to
establish it at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire. He placed there,
as the first bishop, a highly distinguished man, whom w<
may, with good reason, suppose to have been personal /
intimate with him, the learned priest and poet, Aldhelm. It
is well known1, that he, a youth of high rank, and probably
even of the royal family of the West Saxons, was led by h/a
desire of learning to Canterbury ; that there, where alone
they were to be learns, at the feet of Theodore and the Abbot
1 Besides Bede's Eccl. Hist. v. 18, the chief authorities on the subject of Ald-
helm, are William of Malmesbrry, a pupil and monk of his monastery, in his Vi'j
Aldhelmi; and that MS. generally known as Lib. v. of the Gesta Pontif. ; au<
also Whnrton, in his Angli* Sacra, p. 2, 599. Some old MSS- of these differ
ni-rhtly from the text, but all contain the accounts which William took £\xn Kin*
Alfred's Manual-
THE CHURCH — BISHOP ALDHELM. 29
Hadrian, he attained perfect mastery over the classic lar.
puages of Greece and Borne, — and then returned home tc
tiie solitude of the forest by the Avon, and to his cloister
at Malmesbury ; and from thence, by word and writing, by
ballads in his native tongue, and by Latin poetry, he in-
fluenced, instructed, and improved his countrymen and the
Church, both at home and abroad. The same undertaking,
namely the protection of learning and education, both
threatened with destruction, which his great contemporary
Bede by various means attempted to achieve in the North
of England from his tranquil cell at Wearmouth — an under-
taking whose consequences soon became evident with the
diffusion of his works throughout Europe — Aldhelm per-
severingly carried on in the South, only in a different and
somewhat more practical manner. His Latin writings and
poems were of much value to the Catholic Church, the lever
and prop of all education in those times ; and we learn from
our Alfred himself, that Aldhelm preached on the high-
roads and on the bridges to the people, and sang Christian
hymns, whose old poetical form and familiar tones must
have produced a wonderful effect on the sturdy, half-barbaric
audience. If Bede penetrated into a different and more
speculative field of knowledge, Aldhelm possessed a pure
lyrical nature, which by its energy and deep German earnest-
ness could not fail in making an impression on the most
rugged characters. Of the good he effected as Bishop of
Sherborne, until his death in 709, we know scarcely any-
thing ; but he must have sown many of those seeds which, in
Alfred's days, bore such glorious fruits.
That Ina, in his endeavours for the good of the Church,
was also intimately connected with "Winfrid, the subsequent
great Apostle of North-West Germany — and that, indeed, he
made him his deputy to the Archbishop of Canterbury — we
learn from the biography of this celebrated man1.
The last years of the king's reign were disturbed by
internal dissensions, and by the conspiracies of the two
presumptive heirs to his throne. But he withstood these dif-
ficulties also, chiefly strengthened by the courageous support
of his consort Ethelburga, a woman of a masculine spirit
» Willibaldi, vita S- Bonifacii ap. Pertz MOD. Germ. SS. ii. 337
30 CUTHRED'S VICTORY OYER ETHELBALD of HEK<.IA
Soon afterwards, in the year 725, weary of the burden of
j sovereignty, and in compliance with the wishes of his queen,
I he abdicated the throne, and made a pilgrimage with her to
Borne, where they both closed their lives in prayer and
V^penance1.
Ina was succeeded by Ethelherd, the brother of his wife.
It seems that the passing of the crown into the female line,
although the present king belonged to the royal race of
Cerdic2, entailed many internal strifes and sufferings of u
serious nature on the kingdom ; which, at Ina's abdication,
ought .to have passed to a male relation of his own, and all
the succeeding kings had to contend against the insurrec-
tions^of princes of the royal blood. During the first years of
"Ins reign, Ethelherd had to struggle against the pretensions of
the Atheling Oswald. It is no matter of wonder therefore,
that encouraged by discords of such a nature, the so-ofteii
vanquished Britons sought to free themselves from their
bondage ; and they actually gained some victories over Ethel-
herd3, who was only able by great efforts to protect himself
and his boundaries against another enemy, whose power was
continually on the increase — King Ethelbald of Mercia.
After the death of Ethelherd in 739, Cuthred, a prince of
his family, assumed his difficult and responsible position.
At first he could alone obtain the ascendancy over the neigh-
bouring Britons by an alliance with his hereditary Mercian
foe. But the Mercian soon proved a more dangerous ad-
versary than before ; for the Angles, the South Saxons, and
the Welsh, became willing followers of his conquering army.
Almost at the same time, a still worse enemy arose in Cuthred' s
immediate vicinity, the overbearing Ealderman Ethelhun4.
According to a credible account, this most valiant warrior of
his time was only subdued after a desperate conflict, and
when a severe wound compelled him to lay down his arms ;
soon afterwards he performed a service to his king, whoso
consequences were of incalculable value to Wessex. It wa&
1 Bede's Eccl. Hist.,v. 18; Cliron. Sax. and Florent. i. 51, give this date 728.
2 Ethelburga is called " filia regii generio et unimi," by William of Malmesbury,
lib. i. § 35.
3 Florent. Chron. 5. 52.
4 He is thus named in the Chronicle, A. 750 ; Henry of Huntingdon, iv. 728,
styles him " audacissimus consul."
DEATH OF CYNEWULF. 31
to Ethelhun that, in the year 752, was intrusted the supreme
command of the Saxon troops against Ethelbald of Mercia.
At the head of his warriors, with the banner of the kingdom
on which the golden dragon shone, in his hand, he rushed into
the midst of the enemy's army at Burford ; the Mercian stan-
dard-bearer fell beneath his sword, and Ethelbald, who had
never before met his equal in the field, trembled at the sight
of such valour, and by his sudden flight decided the issue of
the contest1. This day, on which the West Saxons fought for
their independence, also bestowed on them the so-long con-
tested supremacy of which the Mercians were deprived; and
which from this time exalted Wessex, in spite even of an
Offa, to be the first state in the island.
Two years after this victory, which had decided so important
a point, Cuthred died, leaving no direct heirs, to the great
disadvantage of his country. His successor, who on account
of the similarity of his name, seems to have belonged to the
royal family of Essex, and not to the race of Cerdic, was so
intoxicated with the pride of his power, that he was guilty
of cruel tyranny towards the free-born West Saxons ; and
soon afterwards, driven by them from house and home, he
perished as an outlaw in the Andredswald. His short reign,
as well as that of the Cerdician Cynewulf, who was raised to
the throne in his stead by the assembled nobles, and whicH
lasted three-and-thirty years, show us in a striking manner
that the internal affairs of the state were riot well arrange*
for a long period, and that the succession especially needed h
fixed arrangement which might secure the kingdom from
tyrants, and the princes from usurpers. Only very slight in-
formation remains to us of the last ruler, with the exception
of some casual mention of his campaigns against Wales and
Mercia. His violent end is almost the only circumstance which
the native Tear-books relate with unwonted circumstantiality.
The narrative is as follows : Cynewulf was prosecuting a secret
1 The best account of Ethelhun and his heroic bravery is given by Henry ot
Huntingdon, iv. 728, who must have taken his materials for the description of the
battle of Burford from some old war-songs, which here and there seem to flow in
Latin rhythm, and which undoubtedly were much superior in language and
foetic diction to the far mire modern, but to us invaluable poetical descriptions
of the battles of Brunanberg and Maldon; Lappenberg, p. 220, 264, also relatm
these circumstances in the very words used by the battle-delineating chronicler.
S2 £INU BEETEIC.
amour at Mertor, in Devonshire, not sus; ecting that the
Prince Cyneard, a brother of the Sigebert whom he had
dethroned, was plotting against his life and his crown. The
traitor, with his adherents, surrounded the castle where the
king was staying ; and when the latter was about to place
himself at the gates to defend them against the assailants,
Cyneard perceived him, and he was immediately disarmed
and slain. The shrieks of the women roused the few atten-
dants from their sleep : bravely fighting, they also fell, disdain-
ing Cyneard's offers of life and reward. One Briton was kept
in Merton as a hostage. This man, though grievously wounded,
summoned, probably on the following morning, a royal troop
which had been left in the neighbourhood under the command
of some nobles. As they rode up to the place, they saw the
corpse of their king lying before the closed gates. The prince
began to treat with them for the crown, and made them the
most advantageous offers to gain their favour. But they were
inflexible, and declared, that since their beloved king was slain,
they would neither now nor at any time follow his murderer.
A summons to their relations within the castle to return home
and leave the cause of the rebel, was met with the answer
that their own people the day before had refused a similar
proposal. Then beneath the castle walls there once more
ensued a desperate conflict. At length the adherents of the
murdered king forced an entrance, and slew all whom they
found within, eighty -four in number, with the exception of
one man, who was the godson of the prince1.
By election, the crown now devolved on Bertric, who
oelonged to another branch of the royal race, passing over
those who had better-founded claims to the sovereignty.
i'or example, there was in existence a great grandson of
j-iigild, King Ina's brother, whose name was Elmund, and
who had obtained possession of the kingdom of Kent, we may
suppose, by force of a similar enterprise to that by which
1 I take this relation from the somewhat confused account given in the Chron.
Sax., which is erroneously placed under the year 755 instead of 783, and which
Thorpe. Flor. Wigorn. i. 61, n. 5, considers as a modern interpolation. It is
without doubt a fragment of an old song, whose antique form may be occasionally
recognised by the traces of alliteration, and in the conversation of the two bands of
warriors which is c.-'iied on in the first person; Florent. i. GO; Wilh. Malmesb. i
*& ; and Henric. lluntingd. iv. 731, must however be compared with Lappenbenj
BERTEIC. 33
Csedwaila had formerly attained Wessex. Elmund's son Eg-
bert, a daring and ambitious young man, remembered his old
rights to the crown of his hereditary lands ; the new ruler could
only maintain his power by forcing the pretender to leave the
kingdom, and even the island ; and Egbert did not venture,
during Bertric' s life, to make any attempt in favour of his
claims. Meanwhile, the "West Saxons had not been deceived
in their choice of a sovereign ; for the reign of Bertric, unlike
that of either of his predecessors, was throughout peaceful
and prosperous. It is true, however, that at this time,
harbingers of evil days appeared on the coast of Dorsetshire —
the first three ships of the pirate Northmen, who, in tho
course of a lew years, were destined to overwhelm the whole
fertile island ; but they committed then no further outrage
than some robberies, and the murder of the chief officer of
the king and his people, who had gone to meet them from
Dorchester, in order to oppose their lauding unless the
customary toll was paid1.
There now existed a lasting peace with Mercia ; for, im-
mediately after his accession to the throne, Bertric had
married Eadburga, the daughter of the great King Ofta. The
sword and spear now had a long resting time, and the hands
which had wielded them found more useful occupation in hold-
ing the plough. But in his wife, the king nourished a viper in
his bosom. She came from a mother w:ho had once plunged a
dagger into the heart of her own son-in-law ; and imagining
that her influence over her husband — which she well knew
how to turn to the advantage of her native land — was de-
creasing, she did not hesitate to mix poison in the drink of
the Ealderman Warr, a young and talented favourite of the
king. But Bertric also drank of the cup, and died a victim
to the crime of his wife2. Eadburga fled, laden with treasures ;
and after a long arid restless life, met a miserable and
ignominious end in Italy3.
'Chron. Sax. A. 787; Ethelwerd Chron. iii. prooem. p. 509; Florent. i. 62.
« Not before 801. According to the Cod. Dipl. No. 1.80, all this happened in the
year 802.
3 Asser, Gesta Alfredi, p. 471. As was remarked, p. 9, Asser relates the
.listory and fate of this unfortunate queen from the information received from his
royal friend. Florent. Wigorn. i. 76, and Simeon Dunelm. Chron. p. f 72, copy
from Asser.
D
34 EGBEBT AND CHARLEMAGNE.
Bertric en led his life exactly at the time when Charle-
magne set off for Home to claim the imperial crown from
the hands of the Pope. During his absence, Egbert, who
had passed his thirteen1 years of exile in the Prankish
camp, complied with the summons of his adherents, and
resolved to return home with all speed, to take possession of
that throne which in future no one dared dispute with him.
His long residence in the immediate neighbourhood of
Charlemagne had not been without the most decided and
lasting influence on the development of his own personal
character, and on the history of his government. There had
for a long time existed an extensive commerce between the
Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, but the two nations not only
exchanged their productions in a trading intercourse, they
had also many political relations of a friendly nature, and
were bound together by common spiritual interest. Both
fought against the same enemy : for the continental Celts
maintained unbroken their ancient connexion with those of
the Island of Britain ; and it also seemed probable that
the Christian Germanic tribes, on both sides of the Channel,
would be threatened by the dangerous foe which now first
began to appear on the seas. The requirements of the
Church and her ministers also induced Charlemagne, as they
had done his forefathers, to remain in a close alliance with
the learned and zealous islanders, and not to allow the ties
of friendship which bound him to the different courts of
Mercia and Northumberland to be loosened. The Franks
always bore in mind what they and their mighty state owed
to a Bonifacius ; after him, they had seen what had been
effected by Willehad ; and now they followed their teacher
Alcuin, full of astonishment at the extent of his learning.
When Charlemagne, animated by a feeling of gratitude,
willingly afforded an asylum to the fugitive prince, the latter
was also indebted to him for much instruction and many
benefits. The rough, honest Saxon not only learnt from the
more refined Frank a greater dexterity in the use of arms,
and a more polished demeanour, but he marked attentively
1 The No. III. instead of XIII. is a clerical error of the Chron. Sax. A. 836,
which has been adopted also by Florent. Wigorn. i. 69; and Henric. Huntingdon,
iv. 733. According to these authorities, it was Offa who persuaded his son-in-
Uw, on his accession, to take this measure against Egbert.
THE NAME OF ENGLAND GIVEN TO THE KINGDOM. 35
wliat was passing before his eyes ; he saw how, in a skilful
hand, the reins of government might be made to unite and
hold in a straight course the numerous Teutonic races, be-
tween whom, originally, no political connexion subsisted ; he
learnt the means by which the most obstinate enemy was in-
spired with terror and dismay, even at the furthest extremi-
ties of the kingdom ; and he could not but have admired the
care and ability by which the greatest ruler of his nation
endeavoured to maintain order and lasting peace.
Egbert did not neglect to profit by these excellent and
important lessons. From the moment when he set foot on
his native land as its king, the idea was uppermost in his
mind of forming one entire kingdom which might be able
to keep its enemies in check, and effect much internal
good, out of the numerous small states, which, in their
present state of isolation, had the greatest difficulty in main-
taining their existence. Directly on his arrival, however,
his northern neighbours endeavoured to place difficulties in
his path ; a band of Mercian Hwiccas passed over the boun-
dary river, the Isis, but this attack was defeated by a brave
troop of Wiltshire men, and a treaty was provisionally con-
cluded with King Cenwulf of Mercia1. No opposition was
raised to Egbert's accession, and thus, after many unquiet
reigns, during which one descendant of Cerdic strove
against another, the sceptre at last devolved on the true heir,
who was able to ensure its succession to his own family.
That he closely followed the example of the emperor, and was
anxious to bring into operation those plans which he had
already matured abroad, is clearly evident from the fact,
which, however, rests on somewhat modern authority, that
one of the first acts of his reign was to bestow the name
of England upon his kingdom and those provinces over
which his influence extended, at a Witenagemote held at
Winchester.
Assuming that this account, in its present form, is merely
a confused fabrication of the following century, we cannot
doubt that it contains a germ of truth. The Chronicles agree
unanimously in calling this king the last of the eight ac-
knowledged Bretwaldas. When the connexion of different
1 Lappenberg, p. 271.
3>~2
36 THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF EGBERT.
states under one inefficient power ceased, this title also be-
came extinct, and Egbert substituted for it something far
more definite. Without doubt, the new name of Anglia was
bestowed on the kingdom, and that of King of England on
the sovereign, during his reign, and by his express direc-
tions. Although the Saxons constituted the chief strength
of the kingdom, we cannot wonder that its name should have
been founded on that of the Angles ; for the Anglian colo-
nists had always been the most numerous, and among them
the Church had first taken a decided form, and unfolded
its blessings. Gregory the Great had already met with
Angles in the slave-market at Borne ; but he sent his apostle
equally to them and the Saxons. Abroad, the name had
always borne the most honourable sound ; and at home
there were sufficient reasons why the Saxon conquerors
should readily adopt it1.
We perceive, by Egbert's own actions, in what manner he
conducted his state to the desired goal. In the first place he
never for a moment lost sight of the task which had descended
to him from his heathen and Christian ancestors, that of ex-
tending the Grermanic rule in the West, and of taking more and
more land and influence from the Britons, who now again began
to stir themselves on both sides of the water. About the year
809, we find him completely victorious in campaigns in Corn-
wall, as well as in Wales. He chastised the Northern Britons
with fire and sword ; from those in the South he levied tribute,
as a mark of their dependence ; and the inhabitants of Devon-
shire and the extreme south-west point of England became
still more firmly bound to his dominion2. According to one
account, the Saxons at this time also took possession of the
kingdom of Powis3.
~- His position, however, with regard to the other neighbour-
ing G-erman states was of infinitely greater importance to
the success of his plans. The power of Mercia was still not
to be despised, although, soon after Offa's death, disputes had
arisen respecting the succession, which in no small degree
contributed to the impending downfal of this kingdom. Eg-
1 Lappenberg, p. 272 ; Translation, ii. 3.
2Cliron. Sax. A. 813, 823; Florent. Wigorn. i. 64, 65; Ethelwerd Chroo. ii
410; Caradoc, p. 25, 26.
• Brut y Tywysogion, Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 844; Annalei Cambr. ib. p. 835.
DESTRUCTION OF THE SMALL KINGDOMS. 37
bert had already reigned more than twenty years over the
Wnst Saxons, when, he became entangled in a war with
Bernwulf, who at that time aspired to the throne of Mercia.
A king of the East Angles appealed for protection to the
mighty Saxon monarch, and thereupon, according to their old
custom, the Mercians made a wild incursion deep into the
heart of the West Saxon territory, and were defeated with
fearful loss at Ellandune ("Wilton) in the year 832O The
consequence of this battle was, that the iHftncntTe which
Mercia had exercised over the small southern states of the
island, for the last quarter of a century, was now entirely
destroyed. "We may remember, that CaBdwalla once endea-
voured to establish the supremacy of West over South
Saxony, that Ina had done the same with regard to Kent, and
that the successors of his brother had even enjoyed the title
of king in that country ; and on the other side, the cruel King
Sigebert, and his nearest relations, seem, by the similarity of
their names, to have been connected with the East Anglian
monarch s. Moreover, Baldred, who was under the influence
of Mercia, assumed the royal title in Kent after the ancient
kingly line of the JEscingen had become extinct, and whilst
the successor of Ingild sat on the West Saxon throne. After
the subjugation of Mercia, Egbert sent his son Ethelwulf, ac-
companied by Bishop Ealstan of Sherborne, and the Ealder-
man Wulfherd on an expedition against Kent. Baldred fled
immediately across the Thames into the north, and never
again beheld his country or his throne. Sussex, Kent, and
Essex, as well as Suthrige (Surrey), now entirely lost their
independence ; the several members of their royal families
were either destroyed or degenerated, the small states felt
their own powerless condition, and from this time we find
them all united to the West Saxon crown, so that one or
more of them might at any time be transferred to the reign-
ing sovereign as a feudal possession. But within their several
1 Cbron. Sax. A. 823. Henric. Huntingd. iv. 733, says: " Ellendune rivus
cruore rubuit, ruina restitit, foetore tabuit." Robert de Brunne also says, in hi*
Rhyming Chronicle :
Ellendoune, Ellendoune. pi lond is fulle rede
Of pe blode of Bernewolf per he toke his dede.
King Bernwulf died two years later.
i)8 WESSEX THE PHIXCiPAL KINGDOM IN THE ISLAND.
limits, laws and customs continued for a long period widely
different.
In the year 825, Bernwulf lost the battle and his life in an
engagement with the East Anglians. His successor, Wiglaf,
after being defeated by Egbert, had much difficulty, first in
concealing himself from his wrath and revenge, and then in
becoming reinstated in his position as an independent sove-
reign. Egbert compelled the East Angles to recognise his
authority, and then penetrated with an army into the dis-
tricts beyond the Humber ; whilst his troops in the west, after
conquering the ancient Mona, bestowed on it the German
name of Anglesey1.
These submissions all took place in the course' of a few
years, although the results of the conflicts of some centuries
had contributed towards them ; and thus, at length, over the
numerous petty states, a new sovereignty became established
^— more efficient and powerful than the old fictitious dignity
of Bretwalda. Egbert's supremacy prepared the way for a
far more extended union and centralisation in future times.
This prince is generally pointed out and extolled as the
destroyer of the Heptarchy, but incorrectly, for he annexed
to his crown more than seven small kingdoms, and some
of these also included many principalities ; on the other
hand, Mercia and Northumbria retained, for some time, a
separate monarchy, although the latter was under the do-
minion of the Northmen, and the former was dependent on
Wessex. But Egbert effectually prevented any other prince
from attempting to rival him in his exalted position. The
kingdom of Wessex now commanded the respect of all the
remaining provinces by its geographical situation and extent;
it embraced a number of districts lying contiguous to each
other, inclosed by an unbroken boundary which extended
southward from the Thames to the sea, and besides the
ancient provinces, the counties of Hants with the Isle of
"Wight, Dorset, "Wilts, Somerset, Berks, and the southern half
of Oxfordshire, now included Devonshire, which was in-
habited by a mixed population, and the greatest part of
Gloucestershire. The small isolated principalities of the
North and South Britons in Wales and Cornwall next be-
Lappenberg, p. 276.
INVASION OF THE NOHTIIME2T. . 39
cams subject to Wessex, as well as the German states of
Sussex, Kent, and Essex. The inland Mercia, which had
always endeavoured to gain an outlet by conquests in a
south-east direction, and whose boundaries had latterly ex-
tended along the north bank of the Thames to its mouth,
was, in consequence of its situation and hitherto important
position, in a less subordinate condition; and the Anglian
states on the east coast were still less subdued.
Egbertv^evertheless, succeeded in uniting all these separate
districts by the ties of a" common interest ; and by that closs.
union, after indescribable difficulty, he first enabled the whole
German population to make a stand against the hordes of»
northern invaders.
And th'5sB~sc6urges of nations did not delay their ap-
proach. The crews of those three pioneering vessels who
had once landed near Dorchester, gave the first intelligence to
their comrades at home respecting that glorious island where
agriculture and commerce were in the first blush of pros-
perity. Even during the life of Egbert the Northmen paid
many visits to his coasts. AVe cannot here enter into the
historical reasons which induced this wild piratical race, after-
wards so richly endowed, to leave their poor and desolate
home, and trust themselves in bands to the waves in search
of plunder on more highly-favoured shores, and when their
destiny willed, or good fortune was propitious, to establish
settlements. It may also be remembered that, probably for a
long time past, the Scandinavians had established themselves
firmly in the small islands to the north of Scotland, in Scot- \
land itself, and in Ireland; but that in the beginning _of/
the ninth century, important events in the north drove
large masses of people from their ancient fatherland ; and it
is evident, that those who now began to disturb the whole of
Europe, were Danes from the Scandinavian continent and
islands. These events were undoubtedly similar to those
which once compelled the Germans to become a wandering
people. The voyages of the bold Vikings were in reality only
a continuation of these expeditions, and in this case were
not directed from the interior of the mainland towards the
sea-shore, but were prosecuted by the heathen Northmen on
their own element, and had for their object the attainmen
of a line of coast. They succeeded the most easily where
40 EGBERT'S DEATH.
the Germans had settled before them, for instance, on the
east coast of England and in Neustria ; they even extended
their march to the south of Spain1, and far along the Medi-
terranean shore. These latest national wanderings were,
indeed, calculated to bind firmly together the most extreme
points of the world, and must have been equally felt by the
Sclavonians in the north-east, and by the Eastern Emperors.
But to return to England. The Danes landed, in the
year 831, on the Island of Sheppey. In the following year,
they appeared with five-and-thirty ships oif Charmouth, in
Dorsetshire, and took King Egbert by surprise — and in spite
of his commanding his people in person, they recoiled before
the enemy. He immediately assembled his nobles in London,
and deliberated with them on the means of defence ; thus,
when the Danes again returned in 835, they found the king
and his people better prepared, and at Hengeston2 especially,
they were completely defeated and put to Sight. This fleet,
as well as most of those who attacked the south of England,
probably came from Ireland, and was in league with the
Britons in "Wales ; for it is recorded as Egbert's lasb act,
that he inflicted severe punishment on, and threatened
with utter extermination in his dominions, the Welsh wlio
had formed similar alliances in the kingdom of the Cnrlo-
vingians, and who had afforded assistance to the sea-robbers.
This prince had, indeed, accomplished great deeds, when his
career was arrested by death, in the year 8383 ; yet he could
not bequeath the kingdom to his son without deep anxiety,
caused by the approach of the new enemy.
This son Ethelwulf was, as our most authentic records
assert, the only heir of Egbert, by his consort Eedburgha4.
His character and disposition were but too well calculated to
1 In the year 843, fifty-four of their ships appeared before Lisbon, and from
thence coasted along the shore farther towards the south, and went up the
Guadalquiver as far as the walls of Seville. Conde Historia de la dominacion
de los Arabes en Espafja Madr. 1820, i. 283, from Arabian sources.
2 Chron. Sax. Flor. Wig. i. 69 ; Lappenb. p. 279, 287.
3 He did not die in 836, as Lappenberg asserts on the authority of Chron. Sax.
A. 836, for a document of his, dated 838, indict, i. is preserved in Kemble's Cod.
Diplom. n. 239 ; and n. 240, in which Ethelwulf ratifies a donation of his father,
dated A. 839, indict, ii. runs thus : " Primo videlicet anno regni ^Efteluulfi regis
post obitum patris sui." Vide also Hardy on William of Malmesburv, it 107,
4 Caradoc ed. Wync, p. 27.
KING ETHELWULF, 41
strengthen his father's forebodings ; for unwarlike as he had
been from his youth, he early showed an inclination to re-
sign himself to the influence of the clergy. If Egbert pro-
posed to himself the Emperor Charlemagne as a model,
and, in reality, attained it in many instances, his son
imitated Lewis the Pious, who, by his subjection to the
Church, let the power escape out of his hands, and nourished
evil discord in his own house. 'We shall have another oppor-
tunity of pursuing this parallel. Devoted also to peace and
its calm enjoyments, Ethelwulf found, in the protection of
the Church, a refuge and a consolation under all the cares
and struggles which were not wanting during a great part of
his reign. To the gratitude of the clergy for so many marks
of favour and rich donations, we may, with probability, attri-
bute the singular account given us by some historians, that
Ethelwulf had been originally destined for the Church, and,
at the time of his father's death, had been already invested
M'ith her highest dignities, from which he had received n
dispensation from the Pope, on account of the succession.
This sounds very strange and improbable. It seems,
however, to agree with the contradictory notices, accord-
ing to which Athelstan, the King of Kent, is sometimes
called Ethelwulf's son, and sometimes his brother. If
Athelstan were indeed a son of Egbert, of which we have
not one certain proof, nothing would have prevented the
eldest son from following the bent of his own inclination, and
avoiding the burden of governing, by becoming a member of
the Church. On the other hand, we see Ethelwulf sent by
his father, in the year 844, into Kent to take possession
there, and to rule and reign over it, invested with the royal
title. In none of the documents that we possess do we find
the slightest trace of his sacred office ; we rather learn from
them that he was King of Kent from 828 to 830, and
without doubt remained so until his father's death1. Neither
do we find Athelstan mentioned during Egbert's lifetime,
either in historical records or in state documents. But
after Ethelwulf's accession to the throne, both point him out
as ruler of Kent. According to the Saxon Tear-books, his
1 Kemble Cod. Diplom. n. 223, pro remedio animae meae et filii nostri Aethel-
uulfi qnem regem constituimus in Cantia, A. 828, ind. vi. n. 224, also signed
* Aethelwulf Rex Cantuariorum," A. 830, ind. viii.
42 KING ETHELWULF.
father gave up to him that kingdom, and the possessions bo-
longing to it, which, since their conquest, had always fallen
to the oldest son of the king, or to the successor to the
West Saxo" throne ; and the documents are always signed —
" Athelstan Kex1." Ethelwulf, too, as crown-prince, had
already been married, and could not, for this reason, have
been either priest or bishop ; and if he commanded an army
in the four-and-tweiitieth year of his father's reign, his eldest
son might very well be grown up in 838. But it is very
probable that this son, who was so much older than all the
rest of his children when Egbert died, was by another
mother2, and not by the Queen Osburgha. In this case,
Ethelwulf must have been married three times, instead of
twice, in the course of his life. After what has been now
advanced, no one will hesitate in rejecting, as incorrect, both
the assertion that Ethelwulf had entered the priesthood, and
that Athelstan was his brother instead of being his son.
And our view of the question is corroborated not a little by
the fact, that both assertions are indifferently maintained by
the same authorities3.
» Chron. Sax. A. 836 ; Kemble Cod. Diplom. n. 241, 252, 254, 259, 264. Nos.
256 and 1047 occurs this : " Aetlieluulfo rege presents atque Aethelstano filio ojus "
2 Roger de Wendover Flores Historian i. 279, ed. Coxe, and Matth. Westmonast.
A. 837, say of Athelstan: "Non de matrimonio natum;"but these authorities
stand alone, and are too modern.
3 Henric. Huntingd. lib. iii. p. 734, v. p. 737, is by far the most ancient ; he
makes Ethelwulf, Bishop of Winchester, and Athelstan, Egbert's son. Chron
Mailros. ap. Fell, i. p. 142, Roger de Hoveden Vei Savile, p. 412, 413, follows hSi
authority. The old Rhyming Chronicler of the twelfth century, Geoffrei Gaimar,
in his " L'Estorie deb Engles,'' v. 2482 (in Mon. Hist. Brit.), also writes thus:
" Adelstan estait al rei frere
Li uns estait frere Edelwolf."
Joh. Brompton, according to Twysden, X. Scriptt. p. 802, calls Ethelwulf " Epis-
copus Wintoniensis," but also makes Athelstan his youngest son, who died in his
earliest youth ! \Vilh. Malmesb. De Gestis Pontif. ii. 242, ed. Savile, asserts that
Kthelwulf had taken priest's orders, and that the Pope, whose name truly is not
given, absolved him from them; yet in the work De Gestis Reg. Angl. ii. § 108,
Athelstan is called his son. One of the most modern copies of the Saxon Chronicle
MS. Cotton. Domit. A. viii. styles Athelstan " his (Egbert's) oder sunu ;" but it
has been mentioned in our introduction of how little importance this copy must be
considered. Lappenberg, p. 292, seems somewhat inclined to the opinion that
Ethelwulf took priest's orders ; in the translation, ii. p. 23, both accounts have
doubts th-Dwr. upon them It is very amusing, and characteristic of the manner
of writing history in the middle ages, to find the various titles which the latei
EALSTAN AND SWITHI1S. 43
Let us now return from this digression to the history of
Ethelwulf. From his youth, he always seems to have had
two especial counsellors at his side, by whom the weak prince
allowed himself to be alternately guided. One of these,
Bishop Ealstan of Sherborne, was a man after Egbert's
own heart ; he was distinguished by a peculiarity which was
rare among the higher Anglo-Saxon clergy, and which, when
it appeared, was censured, but for which the Norman eccle-
siastics had been always noted ; and this peculiarity consisted
in preferring the sword to the pastoral staff, and in finding
his greatest pleasure in military employments. We have
seen how he accompanied his prince to the field ; he was
in fact a warrior and a statesman. The other counsellor of
the king, the learned Swithin, had been his earliest instructor,
and itwas he who chiefly strengthened Ethelwulf 's predilection
for the Church, and sought to turn his weakness to advantage1.
Whilst Ealstan' s activity shone forth conspicuously during
the earlier years of the king's reign, in warding oft' his dan-
gerous enemies, the influence of Swithiii was paramount in
times of peace, when the Church raised her head higher than
ever ; and whilst the memory of the former was never re-
membered with sufficient gratitude, the name of the latter
was ere long enrolled among the saints in the calendar.
War-cries and preparations against the vile robber-hordes
were resounding through the land at King Egbert's death.
At Southampton, the Ealderman Wulfherd repulsed the
crews of four-and- twenty ships in one day ; but on the
Island of Portland, the Danes, after a desperate conflict, re-
mained masters of the field. In the next year, they attacked
the country of the East Angles and Kent ; and committed
great slaughter in London, Canterbury, and Rochester. Not
long afterwards, King Ethelwulf in person took the command
of his army ; but at Charmouth he was obliged, as his father
had been before him, to leave the field to the crews of five-
and-thirty ships2. The evil with which the land was plagued
Chronicles give to Ethelwulf, as collected by Spelman, Vita Aelfredi, p. 2, n. ; he is
called: " monachus, diaconus, presbyter, episcopus Wintoniensis, electus, oder con-
secratus." The Rhyming Chronicler, Harding, even makes him a cardinal !
1 Gotselim Vita Swithuni in Acta Sanct. Juli. 1, p. 327; Wilh. Malmesb. Da
Gestis Pontif. ii. 242.
2 Chron. Sax. under the years 837 to 841.
44 BATTLES WITH THE NOBTHMEN.
took a more and more menacing aspect. On all the coasts
of the island where the Germans were settled, terror became
general : soon the wild navigators appeared to the north of
the Humber, where their presence was especially favoured
on account of the existing disputes respecting the royal suc-
cession.
The first complete victory over the enemy occurred in
Wessex, in the year 845, when the Ealdermen Eanwulf and
Osric, with their vassals from Somerset and Dorset, in con-
junction with the brave Ealstan, defeated the Danes at the
mouth of the little river Parrot. In the year 851, Eakler-
man Ceorl gained a second great victory at Wicgambeorg
(Wembury), in Devonshire ; whilst King Athelstan of Kent,
whose country was particularly exposed to devastation, and
his Ealderman Elchere, made the first attempt to engage the
bold invaders on their own element. The first fortunate sea-
fight took place at Sandwich — the Saxons captured eight
ships, and repulsed the remainder with great loss of life1.
Yet all these successes did not prevent other hordes, whose
number seemed inexhaustible, from landing on the Isle of
Thanet in the following winter, nor a formidable fleet of three
hundred and fifty sail from appearing in the mouth of the
Thames during the spring. The warriors from these ships
immediately dispersed themselves over the adjacent shores,
burning and plundering ; they followed the course of the river,
and advanced towards the north, where King Berthwulf in
vain endeavoured to make a stand against them. But when
the multitude were returning, laden with plunder, through
Surrey, to their ships, King Ethelwulf and his son, with their
followers, attacked them at Aclea, and after a desperate con-
Two years afterwards, the men
under their Ealdermen Huda and Eal-
njinj vv ci B, nijua,uiveu Liieiii ai/ .a
flict gained a partial victory2,
of Surrey and Kent, under t
1 Chron. Sax. A. 845, 851 ; Asser Vita Alfred!, p. 469 ; Florent. Wigorn. i. 73.
2 Chron. Sax. A. 851, says: " And paer paet maeste wael geslogen, pe we secgan
hyrdon oppysne andwaerdan daeg." Can this notice he contemporary ? It sounds
as if the writer knew nothing of Alfred's battles, in whose reign two great attacks
were made by the Danes on the country, and many fearful conflicts occurred.
Asser, p. 469, and Florent. Wigorn. i. 73, copy this. Lappenberg, p. 291, trans-
lation, ii. 22, has shown us from the Annals of Prudent. Trecens. A. 850, ap.
Pertz Mon. Germ. SS. i. 445, that this great fleet was a part cr the expedition Ot
Borik, a nephew of the Danish Prince, Hamld Klak.
COMMENCEMENT OF ETiii-LWULF's REIGN. 45
here, fought on the Isle of Tnanet ; and though the victory
at first seemed to incline towards them, yet, after their two
generals were slain, and great numbers of people killed and
wounded on both sides, they were obliged to yield to the
stubborn foe. The latter remained all the winter on the
Isle of Sheppey1, but made scarcely any inroads on the English
coasts. It has been remarked that their attacks always took
place by fits and starts, and in the pauses which ensued, they
were either obliged to rest, in order to repair their losses, or
else directed their attention to the shores of the continent.
Ever since the year 832, in which Egbert had first come into
collision with them, they had for twenty-three years filled all
his kingdom with war and terror ; and daring the next eight
years there was peace.
Soon after the battle of Aclea, Ethelwulf acceded to the
entreaties of Burhred, who had shortly before become King
of Mercia, and lent him aid with his victorious troops, in an
engagement with the Northern Welsh. The two kings pene-
trated into the Isle of Mona, and forced King Koderic Mawr
to acknowledge their supremacy2. This was the last warlike
deed of Ethel wulf's reign ; the rest of his life is closely
bound up with that of his illustrious son, and therefore be-
longs to the following section.
II.
ALFRED'S YOUTH, FROM 849 TO 866 — THE COMMENCEMENT
OF KING ETHELRED'S REIGN.
As our sources of information either relate to the warlike
expeditions and bloody combats of each succeeding year, or
confine themselves to dry documentary evidence, it is very
difficult to get an insight into the internal state of the
country, and the social condition of its inhabitants, during
these early centuries. Still more difficult is it successfully to
investigate the private life of any one individual, and to
distinguish his birth and position from among the rest of the
people. Only a name here and there, and a few happily-
established facts, serve, in such researches as these, as beacons
1 Chron. Sax. A. 853 ; Florent. Wigorn. i. 74; Asser, p. 470.
2 Lappenberg, 293.
46 STATE OF PUBLIC AFFA1BS IN ETHELWULF's TIME.
and landmarks to light the weary wanderer through the
desert and the darkness. These embarrassments in which the
historian finds himself, and which border so closely on utter
perplexity, must indeed fill him with sorrowful and despond-
ing consciousness of his own weakness, when he attempts to
write of England as she was in those days when her first
hero and deliverer was born. And as the sailor uses each
beacon to guide his vessel on a prosperous voyage over the
pathless ocean — but when driven by necessity, steers for the
nearest haven on a dangerous, but what may possibly prove
a fortunate course — so hope guides the author in his under-
taking ; and being compelled to throw himself on the indul-
gence of his readers, he yet trusts to obtain their approval.
We have already seen that Ethelwulf was little equal to
the difficult task of protecting a flourishing country from the
general ruin which so suddenly threatened it. In the mean
while, the first attack of the barbarians was passed, without
their having gained any firm footing among the German
inhabitants of the island; indeed, a great part of the native
population had scarcely learnt to know them. Besides, the
Anglo-Saxons were skilled in the Germanic mode of warfare,
on which their very existence as a people depended — at
least in a country where their enemies were descended from
the same race as themselves. Neither were leaders wanting
among them, who, after bravely fighting with the conquering
barbarians, would either leave their corpses on the battle-
field, or by their skill and courage gain a brilliant victory.
We see how Ethelwulf even roused himself to do battle with
all those oppressors who would have laid a fresh yoke upon
Britain. So the people had again a short breathing-time ;
the peasant once more could follow his plough unmolested ;
in churches and cloisters holy men might sing and read as
before, to the glory of God, and instruct the people in their
faith and in all kinds of useful learning ; although, in that
century, not one remained of all the great masters who had
taught in the preceding one, and intelligence had begun to
decline considerably even before the invasion of the Danes,
Since the important reign of Egbert, the old partition- wall A
between the many individual states and forest districts had
been constantly decaying ; instead of a number of petty
princes, there was now one who ruled all the rest ; and nobles,
THE KING'S MODE OF LIFE. 47
freemen, and serfs, in al the hitherto separate districts,
formed part of one community. They had all contributed to
the last struggle in defence of their country ; and between
Angles and Saxons became apparent their common bond of
union — that of descent and of faith.
The king, who in war was the commander-in-chief, in time
of peace the richest and most powerful landowner in the
country, lived like his subjects, according to the old customs ;
he took counsel with his nobles and freemen on the general
affairs of the kingdom, and assured himself of their aid in
case danger threatened from without. He only administered
his private affairs according to his own judgment, and for his
own advantage. "We find that Ethelwulf, out of the number
of his extensive possessions, was accustomed to make rich
donations, sometimes to a faithful follower in his train or
some valiant and victorious general, sometimes to churches
and cloisters for the sake of his own salvation, and sometimes
he commanded through the assembled AVitan that recently
acquired territories should be absolved from the customary
taxes. In time of peace he took great pleasure in the chase, and
in the exercise of his functions as chief magistrate — the only
occupations of princes in those days as of the other owners
of the soil. The arrangements for the defence of the country,
for the well-being of Church and State, and of his own pos-
sessions, requiring in unquiet times his presence in every part
of his dominions, he led principally a wandering life among
all the inhabitants of his kingdom. An ancestral castle, or a
capital city, where he might feel himself surrounded by his
family and court, was as little to be found among the Saxons
as among the Franks ; and the travelling court was received
in royal dwellings in the different parts of Wessex, and
the states that were subject to it. Accordingly, we find
Ethelwulf, in the first year of his reign, residing in a Kentish
mansion on the river Stour ; in the next year he was at
Southampton, occupied probably with the preparations for his
first expedition against the Danes. In 845, he was again in
Kent, at a place called "Weg ; two years afterwards, at the
city of Canterbury ; and in 85-1, at Wilton1. Together with
> These documents are to be found in Kcmble, n. 241, 24C, 259, 260, 272,
where the above-mentioned donations are also to be met with.
48 ETHELWULF'S MAEEIAGE — QUEEN OSBTJEGHA.
the seat of the archbishop, he may have honoured with hia
presence both the cathedrals of his ancestral domain, whose
bishops were his first ministers, in whose precincts were the
tombs of his ancestors, and where his own body would some
time or other find repose in death.
Wherever he went, he was followed by his family, his offi-
cial attendants, and his domestics. His eldest son Athelstan,
the child of his youth, ever since his father's accession to the
throne, had governed independently in Kent, and the districts
belonging to it. Ealdermen ruled over the small isolated
elates in the rest of the kingdom.
We must next occupy ourselves with the family of the
king. About the year 830, soon after he had become King
of Kent, Ethelwulf had married Osburgha, the daughter of
his cup-bearer Oslac. She and her father sprang from a
highly-honoured race; their ancestors were Jutes, the de-
scendants of the brothers Stuf and Wightgar, who had re-
ceived the Isle of Wight as a fief from their uncle Cerdic.
The names alone of father and daughter betokened their
unbroken G-erman, and, according to the then general
idea, divine descent. Oslac probably held possessions in
Kent, on some of the old Juten lands and heritages. The
young king appointed him to one of the first dignities of
his court, that of cup-bearer. Thus he married Osburgha at
a time when he had already assumed the royal dignity, and
it is therefore certain that Athelstan, who so soon afterwards
sprang to manhood, could not have been her son. History
has preserved to us but little information concerning this
remarkable woman, and her ultimate fate is unfortunately
shrouded in a veil of poetical mystery. Of noble lineage,
she was noble also in heart and spirit ; of extraordinary
piety1, she always fulfilled her duty to her children in the
best manner. She must, in fact, have been the ideal of
a true German mother. All her energies were devoted to
her household ; we find no trace of her having taken any part
in public affairs ; she never even affixed her signature to any
document, which queens and princesses so often did before,
and have done since her time. According to Asser's ac-
1 Asser, p. 469, has traced her descent, and calls her " religiosa nimiua
farnnna, nobilis ingenio, nobilis et genere."
ETHELWULF'S FAMILY — BIRTH OF ALFBED. 49
count, in consequence of the fearful catastrophe of Eadburgha,
she took DO other title among the West Saxons than that of
the wife of their king. So history is almost silent respecting
her, and does not penetrate into her quiet domestic life ; but
that she lived and laboured in the usual circle of home duties,
may be inferred from the little which a faithful friend learnt
from her son.
Osburgha bore to her husband a number of children, soon
after one another, all of whom undoubtedly passed their
early years by their mother's side. Ethelbald^^the eldest, had
already attained maturity in the year 850 ; forTrg" «ujujfllp5£-
nied his father to the assembly of the great men of the king-
dom1, and even to the field. He was present at the overthrow
of the Danes at Aclea. The two next sons, Etlielbert and
Ethelred, were only a few years younger, and appear, accord-
ing to the most genuine records, to have taken no part in
public affairs during their father's lifetime. The ivxt child
was a daughter, Ethelswitha ; after the fortunate issue of the
expeditions against the "Welsh, she married Burhred of Mercia,
although, as so frequently occurred in those times, she could
hardly have attained her fifteenth year. It wras at Easter,
853, when the two kings met at Chippenham, where Ethel-
vvulf had a royal mansion, and celebrated the marriage with
all due solemnities2. Ethelswitha accompanied her husband
into his kingdom, and soon appeared as Queen of the Mer-
cians, who never objected to the participation of women in
affairs of state, as was the case, not without good reasons,
with the West Saxons.
Scarcely four years before this marriage, in 849, Osburgha
gave birth to her youngest and last child, Alfred. The
precise day on which the boy first saw the light is not re-
corded ; it must, however, have been in the first half of the
year — probably, soon after Christmas or New Year's-day8.
The place of his birth was Wantage4, a royal residence in
1 In Kemble Cod. Diploin. n. 204, there is a grant of land in Kent to the
valiant Ealstan, signed "^Ethelbald rilius regis." A 850, ind. xii.
2 Chron. Sax. A. 853 ; Asser, p. 470.
3 Asser, p. 4G7, begins, "Anno dominicae incarnationis 849, natus est Aelfivd
Anguisaxonum rex." Florent. Wip,orn. i. 70 ; Simeon Dunelm. de GestLs Keg
Angl. p. 674; Roger de Wendover, i. 264; and Mattb. Westmonast. follow him.
* Asser, p. 467, in villa regia quae dicitur Wanating in ilia pagn, quae noun.
50 ALFRED'S EAELT CHILDHOOD.
Berkshire, where, at that time, a thick forest covered the
gently undulating ground, but where now the traveller flies
by on one of the great iron roads of England, through smil-
ing meadows and clumps of trees rich in foliage, to the plea-
sant little town which, since the days of the Saxons, has given
its name to a hundred.
What were the first impressions which must have influenced
the spirit of this child ? Surely they were the invigorating
pictures of surrounding nature, the verdant woods and fields,
the blue sky with its clouds driven over the island by the
fresh breezes ; and when his father broke up his household,
and removed to another far-distant domain, the illimitable,
ever- magnificent ocean, where " the whale reigns among the
rolling waves, and the sea-mew bathes its wings1." But on
this ocean also floated at that time those ungovernable hordes
at whose approach all flew to arms, and whose fury and cruelty
must have formed the theme of the earliest-comprehended
tales of his childhood. The boy throve visibly in the free air
and amid the din of war, more beautiful than either of his
brothers, more loveable in speech and demeanour. His gentle
disposition lent a singular charm to his innate desire of doing
honour to his noble descent by the culture of a noble spirit2.
That there could then be no education in the modern sense,
is self-evident. The Church, the sole instructress in that
day, cared only for the enlightenment of those who were
especially dedicated to her service. It was seldom, and only
an exception, when a distinguished layman, a king or noble-
man, impressed with the importance of knowledge and the
consciousness of its necessity, learnt to read and write. The
culture of youth consisted o*nly in the strengthening of the
body by warlike exercises and the chase, and in all Teutonic
nations the mind was early quickened by the songs and poems
of the fatherland. It was the mother or the nurse who first
spoke to the little one of the heroes of past days, and of their
natur Berrocscire ; quae paga taliter vocatur a berroc silva, ubi buxus abundan-
tissime nascitur. We shall see how affectionately Alfred remembered this place
in his later years. In Doomsday Book, i. 57 a. it was called a domain, until
Richard I. made it a fief for his vassals ; Lyson, Magna Britannia, i. 405.
1 The Anglo-Saxon poets term the sea, " hwseles eSel," Andreas, v. 274, ed.
I. Grimm, and ganotes bsed, Beowulf, v. 3719.
* " Ab incunabulis." says Asser, p. 473, who is the only authority on this point
ANECDOTE OF ALFRED'S THIBST FOR KNOWLEDGE. 51
battles with men and monsters. If any mother could do
this, Osburgha was eminently qualified for the task, for she
was well acquainted with the whole poetical treasure of her
people, which still lived entire on all lips and in all hearts.
And of this her Alfred could never hear enough, and his young
heart rejoiced, day and night, in those powerful ballads which
sang of his ancestors and of his people.
It was from Osburgha that the boy, in his earliest childhood
(he could scarcely have been four years old), learnt the first
^f these ballads, in the manner so touchingly related by Asser1.
One day, his mother showed him and his brothers a beautiful
volume, filled with Saxon poetry, and said, " The one among
you children who can first say this book by heart, shall have
it." Inspired by an almost divine instinct, and allured by
the richly-decorated initial letters, and the binding painted
in various colours with all the skill of the period, the little
Alfred came forward before his brothers, who were only his
superiors in age, not in mind, and eagerly asked his mother,
" Wilt thou really give it to the one who learns it the quickest,
and repeats it to thee ?" Osburgha smiled for joy, and said,
" Yes, to him will I give it." So he directly took the book
out of her hands, went with it to his teacher and read ; after
he had read it, he brought it again to his mother, and repeated
it to her. \
Who would dare to doubt the authenticity of this nar-
rative, in spite of all the objections that have been raised
against it ? But we may undoubtedly wish, with reason,
that the proof of its being a genuine one, as well as of its
occurrence so early in Alfred's life, could be placed on a
more solid footing. The first difficulty arises, manifestly, in
the damaged text of our biography. In the pages which im-
1 Asser, p. 474. " Cum ergo quodam die mater sua sibi et fratribus suis
quondam Saxonicum poematicae artis librum ; quern in manu habebat, ostenderet,
ait, ' Quisquis vestrum discere citius istum codicem possit, dabo illi ilium.' Qua
voce, immo divina inspiration instinctus, et pulchritudine principals litterae illius
libri illectus, ita matri respondens, et fratis suos aetate quamvis non gratia seniores
anticipans, inquit : ' Verene, dabis istum librum uni ex nobis, scilicet illi, qui
citissime intelligere et recitare cum ante te possit ?' Ad haec ilia arridens et
gaudens atque affirmans : ' Dabo, infit, illi ;' time ille statim tollens librum de manu
sua magistrum adiit, et legit, quo lecto matri retulit et recitavit." — Flor. Wig
i. 86, and Sim. Dunef 31, p, 676, give the same account,
E2
52 AUTHENTICITY OF THIS ANECDOTE.
mediately precede the anecdote, it is said that the boy, in his
twelfth year, first satisfied his thirst after knowledge by
learning to read ; and that his parents, and the persons who
had charge of him, had taken no pains with his instruction
or mental culture1. And yet it was certainly his mother who
promised him the book, and thus awakened in him the desire
of learning. We also find that a tutor was in the house.
Now it is undoubtedly an established fact, that only detached
fragments of the true biography have come down to us, and
the mutilation in this case is especially evident ; for past and
present events are confusedly mingled together, and the
whole episode is placed in the year 866, when Alfred was
not twelve, but eighteen years old, and had begun to think
of founding a house of his own. The carelessness of the
parents does not relate to Osburgha ; it might be correctly
related by Asser of King Ethelwulf, and his later wife, the
Franivish Princess Judith.
That this foreign step-mother (and this is the second point
in favour of our theory) cannot, as some have maintained2,
have taught Saxon poetry to the boy, is apparent on the
most hasty investigation; for she herself was scarcely thirteen
years old at the time of her marriage, and would hardly have
taken much pains with the instruction of her grown-up step-
children, some of whom must have been older than herself8.
It may, therefore, be considered as certain, that Alfred was
still living with his mother and his brothers, at least with
Ethelbert and Ethelred ; perhaps too, his sister was not
yet married. The children could not have lived with their
mother Osburgha later than the year 853, in which year the
youngest was sent away from home. We must conclude,
that soon after this the faithful mother herself died. No
historian of the period relates anything further of her ; only
some modern authors4 have asserted that Ethelwulf put away
1 " Indigna suorum parentum et iratritorum incuria ;" and shortly before we
find Asser saying: " Cum commuiii et ingenti patris sui amore."
2 Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons, book iv. ch. v. and Petrie, the editor
of the Corpus Historictim, preserved by the Kecord Commission. She is un-
doubtedly called "Mater sua" by Asser; and Sim. Dunelm. p. 676, evidently
Copying from Asser and Florence, says : " Dignissima ejus genitrix."
3 Thorpe, Florent. Wigorn. i. 86, n. 3.
« Kvon Lappenberg, p. 29G, 311; Th. Wright Biog. Brit, Liter, i. 38&
Thorpe a translation, ii. 41, places this opinion in a more probable light.
ALFEED IN HOME — 853. 53
the mother of his children, and renounced all care of their
education, when, as a grey-headed old man, he took a young
princess for his wife. We cannot fancy this prince to have
been so heartless, notwithstanding his known weak character
it is also very questionable whether he would so far have
put himself in opposition to the Church and her ministers,
to whom in all other cases he paid so much deference — or
whether Swithin, in particular, would have connived at such a
proceeding. It is inexplicable that Asser, Florence, Wilhelm,
and others, should have known nothing of so flagrant an act.
In all probability, Osburgha died before her husband set out
for Rome. Her death was quiet, as her whole life had been :
she had lived as the mother of her children, and not as a
queen, and therefore our sources of information take no
note of her. But that Alfred thanked her alone for his love
of the national poetry, inspired in his earliest youth by the
songs in that first book, he himself undoubtedly confessed to
Asser, whose account of the matter has come down to us
indeed, but in a mutilated state, and diverted from its proper
situation.
Finally, one more observation must be made on the sub-
ject. The mother did not desire the book to be read ; the
songs were to be learnt by heart — and so the little one
understood the wish. He went to his teacher, probably his
own and his brothers' attendant, and read, that is to say,
had the book read to him, and repeating after the reading,
learnt to recite the songs1.
In the year 853, the young boy, who, more than all the
rest of their children, had won his parents' hearts by his
amiability and brilliant qualities, was sent over the sea to
Rome. It is difficult to say what may have been his father's
motives for this proceeding ; we can only suppose that his
veneration for the capital city of Christendom, and for the
representative of Christ upon earth, made him hope to re-
1 Thorpe remarks, in Florent. Wigorn. i. 86, n. 3, that in those times this was
the usual mode of teaching and learning. I may here call attention to the different
uses of the following words, which are similar in their etymology: The old
northern raeda; the Gothic rodjan, loqui; the Anglo-Saxon redan, legere; in
which, according to J. Grimm, Gramm. i. 469, n. 2, ed. iii. " the meanings of
' loqui' and ' legere' are confounded with the idea conveyed in ' recitare.' " Neither
must the Greek Xeyeti/ nor the Latin legere be forgotten.
J4 THE CHURCH DUKES G ETHELWULF'S EETGN.
ceive the same gifts from the Holy Father which the earlier
{ opes had bestowed on the sons of Pepin and Charlemagne —
namely, their holy unction and benediction. He wished his
favourite child, whom he secretly desired might succeed him
on the throne, to receive, in the blessing of the Bishop of
Home, a kind of prophetic authorisation of the succession.
Alfred made the long and difficult journey, accompanied by a
great number of his father's retainers, both noble and com-
moners1. When he arrived in the Eternal City, the Pope,
Leo IV., received him in a manner befitting his own rank
and the consideration which his father enjoyed : he anointed
him king, and adopted him to the place of a child, as his
spiritual son2. It seems, however, that the young prince did
not remain long in Borne, but that after the wish of his father
had been fulfilled, returned with his followers to his own
country. But he was destined soon again to take this toil-
some journey, accompanied by his father himself.
It will be well in this place to speak somewhat more at
large of Ethelwulf's position with regard to the Romish
Church. In the foregoing pages, we have twice incidentally
had occasion to consider the development of ecclesiastical in-
fluence in the "West Saxon kingdom. We have seen that
the Church endeavoured to make itself an important element
in the national constitution ; but in the time of Ina it had
not attained much power, on account of the isolated position
of the State, which numbered no primacy among its bishoprics,
for from the time of the first conversion, Kent had been the
seat of the archbishop, who copied the decrees of the Synod
for the whole south of the island, appointed the bishops to
their dioceses, and Ina sent to him the young Winfrid as his
plenipotentiary. As long as the kingdom of Kent belonged
to its own hereditary princes, the influence of even the more
" Magno nobilium et etiam ignobilium numero constipatum." Asser, p. 470.
1 hat Bishop Swithin accompanied the prince is not certain.
2 So Asser, p. 470 ; and Cliron. Sax. A. 853 (in the three oldest MSS.), against
wbict) no historical reason can be adduced. Hearne (Spelman's Life of King
Alfred, p. 17, n. 2) shows us what absurdities have passed current on this point ;
for he says, on the authority of some obscure manuscripts of the later middle
ages, that Alfred was not alone the first and only King of England who received
tue Papal unction, but that after his father's victorious return from battle aa
King of South Wales, he was anointed the firat Prince <x Wales.
WESSEX THE CHIEF SEAT OF ECCLESIASTICAL POWEB. 5u.
powerful states in ecclesiastical matters was insignificant
Mercia had early endeavoured to assume the supreme autho-
rity : the powerful Offa and King Kenulf had even attempted
to establish an archbishopric of their own at Litchfield ; but
their plan did not succeed, owing to the steadfast opposition
of the then archbishop1. When Egbert, some ten years
later, finally subdued the Mercians, they were deprived, at
the same time, of all participation in the political and eccle-
siastical affairs of Kent. Their shadow-king, Baldred, fled
precipitately before the advancing Ethelwulf, who lived pro-
bably for fourteen years in the immediate vicinity of the
archbishop. Kent remained attached to Wessex, and by this
union of the whole southern states of the island, that most
distinguished of all the primacies once founded by the great
Gregory must also have been strengthened. During the
next century we learn nothing more of a collision between
the civil and ecclesiastical powers. The synods, which had
been frequently held under the Mercian kings, were, in the
reigns of Ethelwulf and Alfred, almost discontinued — a cir-
cumstance«which indicates friendly co-operation between the
two powers, although it may have been caused in part by
the severe sufferings which then weighed down the whole
country. Until towards the end of the next century, we
never even hear that an Archbishop of Canterbury distin-
guished himself, either in his private character or by his
public actions. Only the name and the year of the death of
each succeeding prelate are recorded. Of infinitely more
importance than the archbishop, in Ethelwulf 's reign, were
two men of whom we have already spoken : Church and State
at that time depended on their management. As Ealstan
strove in the battle-field for the protection of the united pro-
vinces, so S within laboured at the king's side for the increase
of the spiritual power. Although few authenticated incidents
in the life of the latter are preserved, we must not fail to
attach due importance to the great influence which he exer-
cised over the weak administration of Ethelwulf. He con-
stantly endeavoured to confirm the mind of this prince in the
idea that his sovereignty was closely bound up with the glory
of the Church. Perhaps S within held up before him, for
this purpose, the example of Charlemagne, in whose kingdom
» Lappenberp !>. 228, 233.
56 ETIIELWULF'S JOTTEXET TO ROME.
the strict bond of union with Rome rendered essential serviceto
the temporal ruler in the preservation of his authority. A pre-
cisely similar result might take place at that time in England.
Since the arrival of Augustin, the dwellers in the island
had held uninterrupted communion with Borne ; and this had
not long existed before a house was established there for the
reception of Anglo-Saxon pilgrims, and the instruction of the
elergy. We have seen that two kings of the West Saxons
went there to die, and the English archbishops received the
pallium, and many English bishops their consecration, from
the hands of the pontiff at Rome. OfFa's name was not less
known at St. Peter's than at the court of Charles. In the
year 799, the Primate Ethelheard went with Cynebert, a
bishop of West Saxony, to Rome1. In the first year after
his father's death, Ethel wulf was eagerly desirous of under-
taking the pilgrimage ; and it is said that a vision which ap-
peared to and much disquieted him, prompted him to demand
of Lewis the Pious a free passage through his dominions2.
For the son of Egbert was animated by the same longing
which formerly had not allowed his ancestors to rest in pciu-r
on the throne, and Swithin would certainly not be silent on
the great advantages which would accrue from such an under-
taking. But the doubtful position of his realm chained the
king at home for a long while ; and it was only when it first
appeared probable that the Saxons would master the Danes,
that he sent his favourite son into Italy, and soon after made
magnificent preparations for his own journey thither.
Accordingly, in the beginning of the year 855, after he had,
at an assembly of the states, made over more than the tenth
part of his private income in favour of the Church, and for
the salvation of his own soul and those of his ancestors3,
he set out from home, accompanied by his darling son and a
1 Chron. Sax. A. 799.
2 Prudent. Tree. A. 839, ap. Pertz. Mon. Germ. SS. i. 433.
3 I cannot make more than this from Asser's words, p- 470 ; but that Ethel-
wulf endowed the Church with the tenth part of the whole revenue of the king-
dom, is an early invention which has also been adopted in the following documents
of Kemhle's Cod. Dipl. n. 270, 272, 275, 276, 1048, 1050, 1051, 1052, 1053,
1054, 1057, in which the fraud is most obvious. Vide Thorpe, Florent. Wigorn.
L 74, n. 1, and Kemble's profound researches into the subject from collected docu-
ments and authorities. Saxons, ii. 480-490.
ETHELWULF AND ALFRED'S RESIDENCE IN ROME 855. 57
magnificent retinue. His road lay through the country of
the friendly King of the Franks. Charles the Bald received
him on his passage with all honour, bestowed on him every-
thing that he needed, and lent him his royal escort as far as
the boundaries of the kingdom1. Over the Alps and through
Lombardy the pilgrims went on their way to Home, where
they sojourned for a whole year2. The boy, who had been
there so short a time before, but who had grown older and
improved in mind and intelligence, must have been struck
with astonishment at the sight of the magnificent capital of
the world. He saw and learnt to comprehend all the great
results which had been effected by a nobly-gifted people and
the emperors in former days, and in the present by a flou-
rishing Church. The impressions which at this period his
susceptible spirit received, proved indelible; we recognise
them in later days influencing the Saxon king, who, next to
the love for his own people and their language, which he
inherited from his mother, cherished an affection for those
we call classic, and who steadily endeavoured to cultivate his
desire to become familiar with them, in spite of the greatest
obstacles.
In the mean while, Alfred's father improved his time also
— but after his own fashion. Freed from the burden of
sovereignty, he seems to have devoted himself exclusively to
ardent exercises of devotion, and to have displayed his great
affection for the Eomish Church by liberal offerings. By
these means he succeeded in appearing as a very different
and much more powerful prince than either of his ancestors,
Ca3dwalla and Ina, who both made pilgrimages to Home,
died there, and were buried in holy ground.
He left so many brilliant tokens of his presence behind
him, that they were judged worthy of being held up to the
grateful memory of posterity in the annals of the popes. The
king, whose strange-sounding name is never once correctly
written, bestowed gifts, consisting of a gold crown of four
pounds weight, two dishes of the purest gold, a sword richly
set in gold, two gold images, silver-gilt Saxon urns, stolea
bordered with gold and purple stripes, white silken garments
1 Asser, p. 470, and especially Prudent. Tree. Annal. A. 855, ap. Pertz. Mon.
germ. SS. i. 449.
2 Asser, p. 570 : Ibique anno integro commoratus est. Ch ron. Sax. A. 855.
58 ETHELWTTLF'S SECOND MAKBIAGKE.
for celebrating the mass, decorated with figures, and othei
costly articles of clothing required for the service of the
Church. He also, with the consent of Pope Benedict, be-
stowed rich alms in gold and silver on the temple of St.
Peter, on the bishops, the clergy, and on the dwellers in
Rome of every rank1. We cannot avoid feeling astonishment
at the magnificence displayed by a King of Britain in the
ninth century. The Saxon schools, which had already been
twice destroyed by fire since their establishment, he rebuilt
at his own cost, and further enriched them by the most
liberal endowments. He determined, for the welfare of his
soul, to send yearly to Eome, out of his private income, the
sum of three hundred marks, one hundred of which were des-
tined to fill the lamps of St. Peter's with oil, on Easter-eve
and the morning of Easter-day, one hundred for the same
service at 8t. Paul's, and one hundred were a present to the
Holy Father himself2. From the annual donation proceeded
the so-called Peter's penny, or Eomescot, which in later
times the island Saxons found so much difficulty in collect-
ing, and which was never again paid willingly to Borne up
to the time when she lost all power over England.
In employments such as these the year passed away, and
the royal guest of Benedict III. thought of returning home.
Once more Charles the Bald enacted the part of a host
towards him. At the Frankish court Ethel wulf tarried
many months, and in July 856 he was betrothed to Judith,
the eldest daughter of Charles. On the 1st October, the
marriage was solemnly celebrated at the royal palace of
Verberie, on the Oise. Hincmar, the Archbishop of Eheims,
espoused the royal pair, and pbced the crown on the head of
the bride — a ceremony which was not customary among the
West Saxons, but which the proud Charles would not allow
to be withheld from his daughter. Accompained by his
richly-dowered young queen, Ethewulf set out once more,
and crossed over with his retinue to England3.
1 Anastasius de Vitis Pontif. Roman, ap. Muratori Scriptt. rerr. Italic, iii. 251,
252 : Hujus temporibus rex Saxonum nomine — causa orationis veniens — et post
paucos dies vitam finivit et perrexit ad Dominum.
2 Asser, p. 472.
» Prudent. Tree. Annal. A. 856, ap. Pertz. i. 450. Edilwulf rex occidentalium
Anglorura, Roma rediens, Judith, n'liam Karli regis, ttense Julio desponsatun
ETHELBALD' s EETOLT. 59
Whatever may have induced the king, who was already
advanced in years, to marry so young a wife1 — whether it was
the prospect of more heirs to his name, or the pride of being
so closely connected with the King of the Franks — we have
no reason to suppose that Osburgha was still living to be a
witness of her husband's folly. But this folly must detain
our history for a while from the son of that noble woman,
and it must now relate the results of this marriage.
During the long absence of the king, a revolt took place
in the kingdom. It originated in his own family, and was
ostensibly caused by the intelligence of his second marriage
and of Judith's coronation. Ethelbald had probably still
deeper grounds than these, on which he endeavoured to
justify not only a revolt against his father, but also a revolu-
tion in the nature of the government itself : he was now the
3ldest son ; and as it is recorded that he had been king five
years when he died, he must have begun to rule in Kent
about the time that his father set out for Rome. At that
time Athelstan altogether disappears, no mention of any kind
being made of his death. It is probable that, as soon as
Ethel wulf departed on his pilgrimage, that Ethelbald, sup-
ported by the bishops and other nobles, was appointed regent
over the entire kingdom.
As far as may be gathered from the scanty records we can
collect, the designs and inclinations of this young man seem
to have been completely opposed to those of his peace-loving
father, who was such a devoted servant of the Church. This
revolt was an audacious and foolhardy step on his part.
All our accounts of it are known to proceed from clerical
authors: all, without exception, treat the prince in the
severest manner, not one of them makes any excuse for his
conduct, scarcely one ventures to speak a good word for him
at his death. In spite of this unanimity of opinion against
Calendis Octobribus in Vermeria palatio in matrimonium accipit, ut earn, Ing-
maro Durocortori Remorum episcopo benedicente, imposito capiti ejus diademate
reginae nomine insignit, quod sibi suaeque gente eatenus fuerat insuetum:
patratoque regiis aparatibus utrimque atque muneribus matrimonio, cum ea
Britanniam regni sui ditionem, navigio repetit. Chron. Sax. A. 855. Asser, p.
470. Vide Hardy, Wilh. Malmesb. lib. iii. § 109, n. 1.
1 Charles the Bald married Ermenherde, about the end of the year 842 ; Prudent,
Tree. Annal. A. 842, ap. Pertz. i. 439. Vide Thorpe, Florent. Wigorn. i. 86,
n. 3.
60 ETHELBALD'S KEVOLT.
liim, tlie very -weighty motives by which he may have been
actuated must not be overlooked. He perhaps drew tne
sword against his father, not only because he desired to obtaiir
the sovereignty, — the weakness of Etlelwulf was openlj
manifested to the world by this second marriage, which re.
peated the sad farce the world had once before seen when
Lewis the Pious allied himself with the elder Judith. The
son feared, in case of more offspring, a partition of the
dominions in favour of the younger children ; he also especially
dreaded that the ecclesiastical power, so full of avarice and
pretension, would act now as it had formerly done when it
stood by Lewis and his latest-born children. Ethelbald may
for some time have been prepared for all contingencies, but
first openly assumed an hostile position when the news of the
betrothment of Judith reached him1. The names of his ad-
herents speak loudly in favour of his cause, and lead us to
infer against what party the movement was really directed.
They were Ealstan, Bishop of Sherborne, always on the
side of valour and temporal power, and the no less warlike
Eanwulf, Ealderman of Somerset ; both ranked next to the
king in their hereditary Saxon lands, and both highly
reverenced and feared by the people2.
According to the account given by Asser and his copyists,
which was probably founded on information supplied by Alfred
himself, Ethelbald and his companions took no more decided
step than to bind themselves by a common and secret oath,
in the thick forest of Selwood, on the borders of Somerset
and Wilts. This proceeding is designated by the biographer
as an unheard-of crime, repugnant to all just feelings, origi-
nating in the bad, audacious mind of the prince alone ; al-
though his counsellors confirmed him in the idea of depriving
the king of his throne, contrary to all law, human and divine.
Such was the tempest brooding over England when
Ethelwulf, still glowing with the pleasure of his journey to
Eome, and delighted with his new marriage, landed on his
native shores. It is said that..on his arrival the whole pgorjte
received him gladly, and expressed their willingness to bamsTT
1 This seems to me to be indicated by Asser's twice-repeated introduction to
the narrative of the revolt: " Interea tamen Aethelwulfo rege ultra mare tan--
tillo tempore immorante," p. 470; und " Nam redeunte eo a ROCA," &c.
2 Asser, p. 470 ; Florent. Wigorn. i. 75.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM. 61
from_jjiajdngdom the false son and all his confederates,
ancTthat all the Saxon nobles espoused the father's side1. It
thus seemed inevitable that a struggle would ensue between
father and son. In what German state has this never been
the case ? The entire nation took one side or the other, and
such was the violent party-spirit prevailing, that civil war
seemed ready to burst forth3. But through the inimitable
mildness of Ethelwulf and the wise counsels that were be-
stowed on him, it was agreed that the leaders of each party,
with the consent of the assembled nobles, should meet together
in a convention, in which the quarrel might be accommodated
before swords were drawn on either side. But the arrange-
ment there entered into proved once more with what views
the son had raised the revolt, and that certainly all the Saxon
nobles and freemen had not gone to meet the father on his
landing with greetings of welcome and intentions of folio w-
ing his banner. A division of the country was decided on.
Kthelbald. received .Wessex, l^he principal part of the king-
dom, and to his father were allotted Kent and the hereditary
crown-lands, over which he had already ruled in the time of
Egbert. "Without doubt the mere name of the crowned queen
was obnoxious to the West Saxons, and they therefore will-
ingly sided with Ethelbald ; and both prince and people
carried their point. That Ethelwulf, on the other hand, was
welcome in Kent appears certain ; for according to Asser's
account, he placed his consort on the throne by his side until
his death, without any opposition from his nobles. From
the nature of the circumstances, the agreement could have
taken no other form, although by it the rebellious son ruled
where the father, by law and justice, ought to have held
sway3. Nevertheless, we must allow that Ethelbald, by his
conduct, averted still greater mischief from the country ; he
1 Asser, 471 ; Florent. Wigorn. i. 75. Even the Chron. Sax. A. 855, says: " And
aefter pam to his leodum com and hie paes gefaegene waeron." MS. Cott. Tib. B.
iv. only has " gesund ham cum."
2 Quin immo tota cum gente ambobus rebellante atrocius et crudelius per dies
singulos quasi clades intestina augeretur, &c.
3 Asser, p. 471 : Ubi pater justo judicio regnare debuerat, ib iniquus et pertinax
films regnabat — et Judithum— juxta se in regali solio suo sine aliqua suorum
nobiiium controversia et odio, usque ad obitum vitae suae contra perversam
illius gentis consuetudinem sedere imperavit. Asser joins to this the so-of'ten
mentioned History of Queen Eftburgha. Vide also Thorpe, Florent. Wigorn. i. 75,
7G, n. 1.
62 ETHELWULF'S DEATH AND TESTAMENT,
preserved the supreme power to Wessex. A] though Swithin's
name does not appear, he undoubtedly had a great share in
inducing the other side to give way so wisely.
Ethelwulf did not long survive his return from Borne and
his quarrel with his own son. The last months of his life wore
away in outward peace, but his heart must have been broken
at what he had lived to see. Before his death he drew up a
testamentary provision respecting the succession of his sons
and the inheritance of his private fortune. Besides this, he
provided richly for what, above all, lay nearest his heart —
namely, the poor, the church, and the salvation of his own
soul. In order to prevent any strife after his death among
his children, he willed that the kingdom should remain di-
vided between his two eldest sons; that Ethelbert should
receive Kent, but be excluded from the West Saxon kingdom ;
and if Ethelbald should die childless, Ethelred and Alfred
should follow him in succession. His estates were divided
between his sons, daughter, and other kindred ; the ready
money was devoted to the use of his children and the good
of his soul. On all his extensive estates he ordered that one
poor man in ten, whether native or foreigner, should be pro-
vided with meat, drink, and clothing, by his successors, until
the day of judgment. It was only stipulated as a condition,
that the land should be inhabited by men and cattle, and not
be allowed to lie fallow. The sum of money to be sent
annually to Home is also mentioned. At a general assembly
of the kingdom, this will was signed by the Witan1. Soon
afterwards Ethelwulf died, January 13th, 858, and was buried
at "Winchester2.
1 We do not possess the testament itself. Asser, p. 472, has drawn from it to a
great extent ; and Florent. Wigorn. i. 77, has copied from him. King Alfred gives
the item respecting the division of the kingdom and the landed property, in the
preamble to his own testament. Saxon, Kemble Cod. Diplom. n. 314. Latir.,
ibid. 11. 1067. In spite of Asser's high estimation of the good intentions of the
old king, it is difficult to believe that he intended to found a succession in Kent
for the second son. Ethelbert's decision, and other important causes, saved the
south of England in after-days from a lasting division from the rest of the
kingdom.
2 Florent. Wigorn. i. 78 : Defuncto autem luibus Januarii, Prudent. Tree.
Annal. 858, ap. Pertz. i. 451 ; Ethelwerd's Chion. iii. 512, post annum; Henric.
Huntingd. t 737, decimo nono anno regni su. Vide Hardy, Wilh. Malmesb. ii.
§ 117, n. 6,
ETHELBALD'S MABRIAGE WITH JUDITH. 63
He left no children by his young queen, but she is still
connected for a short time with the kingdom of Wessex ; for
in the same year that her first husband died, she gave her con-
sent to a deed unexampled in either Christian or Pagan annals,
and became the wife of her eldest step-son Ethelbald. So
little did she remember the solemn words of Hincmar, with
which the primate of the kingdom of the Franks had blessed
her former marriage1. The clergy, who were already displeased
at the unnatural spite of the son against the father, were still
more enraged at such a scandalous act as this ; the contem-
porary accounts of it were in later times eagerly gathered
together, and again handed down with still severer censures2.
In every point of view this was a bold, bad deed of Ethelbald' s :
he was already hated, and stood in a position which rendered
it difficult for him to win good opinions, and then, without
further scruple, without reverence for his father's memory,
and in defiance of religion, he took to himself the daughter
of the Prank, who willingly rushed into sin at the sight of
a more youthful spouse. Yet Ethelbald had dared still more \
— he had married a queen3. It is not precisely known whether /
the Saxons raised their voice against this latter crime as they (
had done not long before, but we may assume with certainty V
that Swithin4 was courageous enough to oppose the criminal \
pair, and urge their separation ; and the disgust of the whole
kingdom, in which at that time an active Christian spirit
1 The forms of Betrothment and Coronation, vei Bouquet Scriptt. rerr. GalL
vii. 621, 622, ut non videas alienum virum ad concupiscendum eum et non moecheris
in corpore vel corde tuo, etc.
2 Prudent. Tree. Annal. A. 858 : Relictam ejus, Judith reginam Edelboldus filius
ejns uxorem ducit. Asser, p. 472 : Juthittam cum magna ab audientibus infamia
in matrimomum duxit. Vide Florent. Wigorn. a. a. 0. Simeon Dunelm. p. 676 ;
Ingulph, p. 863 (ed. Francof.) ; Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 117.
3 Very worthy of note is the undoubtedly authentic document by Kemble, Cbd.
Diplom. n. 1058 ; it is dated A. 858, and signed Aedelbald Rex, Judith Regina,
SwrSun Episcopus.
4 This opinion rests alone on the authority of Matth. Westmonast. A. 859. and
of Thomae Rudborn Annales Eccles. Winton. ap. Wharton Anglia Sacra, i. 204.
Vide also Hardy, Wilh. Malmesb. Roger de Wendover, i. 295, indeed, says also :
" Athelbaldus ab errore resipiscens dimissa Judetha, noverca sua, CUJE.S torum
foedaverat, peracta poenitentia tempore quo supervixit regnum cum pace et jus-
titia, temperavit ;" but no earlier Chronicler says anything of the sort. Vide
Remble, the Saxons in England, ii. 408.
4 DEATH OF KING ETHELBALD.
vrevaiied, must have been excessive. But Ethelbald's was a
leadstrong character"; he ruled in an arbitrary manner and
i governed by fear ; it is therefore probable that he never parted
from Judith, and that she did not return home to her father1
until after her husband's death, aiid she had sold all her
possessions in England, fin the year 860 an early deat\
>natehod ftwaytheTcrime^-laden and much-hated Ethelbald;
with all his audacity he had only won the scorn of posterity.
But in spite of all this, the people of Wessex had to mourn
the loss of a brave and energetic king, for they were now
again obliged to take up arms against their cruel foes3, who
had remained quiet during Ethelbald's time. He had only
reigned over his country for five years, and two and a half of
these were after his father's death. He was buried in Ealstan's
cathedral at Sherborne3.
As there was no direct heir by Judith, the younger son
Ethelred was appointed to succeed by his father's will, which
had been universally recognised ; yet his brother, the King of
Kent, succeeded in uniting the hereditary crown with his own
realm, which consisted of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex4. Whether
this union resulted from the desire of the West Saxons, we
do not know, at any rate endeavours after centralization are
once more evident. We perceive them more particularly
when, soon after Ethelbert's establishment on the throne, all
1 Probably not earlier than 861. Annales Bertiniani (Hincmari), A. 862, ap.
Pertz. SS. i. 456. She married a third time, and by this marriage became the
ancestress of Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror; Warnkonig Hist.
Fland. i. 144.
- Asser and Florence call him " iniquus et pertinax." William of Malmesbury
styles him " ignavus et perfidus patri." Only Henric. Huntingd. v. 637, writes
to this effect: " Morte immatura praereptus estplanxit autem omnis Anglia Adel-
baldi regis juventutem, et factus est luctus vehemens super eum et sepelierunt
eum apud Scirebume. Sensitque posthac Anglia, quantum amiserit in eo."
3 Asser, p. 473. The day of his death fell probably in July, 860 ; that of Ethel
wulf on 13th January, 858. Vide Hardy, Will). Malmesb. ii. § 117, n. 6.
4 Asser, p. 473, omits Essex; it is possible that the Danes may have already
obtained possession of that country. Geoffroi Gaimer, " L'Estorie des Engles,'
v. 2534 (Ed. in Corp. Hist.), says of Ethelred, that he ruled over " Kent e Suth-
sexe e Hestsexe e Sudreie." Animated by his dislike of Ethelbald and by his cle-
rical prejudices, Asser says of the union of the kingdom, " Ut justum erat."
Chron. Sax. A. 860: pa feng ^Epelbriht to eallum pam rice his broftor and he hjl
hold mid godre gepwaernesse. (Consent.)
KING ETHELBEET. 65
the states were obliged, by the danger which threatened from
abroad, to seek protection for their country in better means
of defence.
It is said that in Ethelbert's days the great heathen army
first" came over to England from the land of the Pranks, which
they had ravaged under their leader, the Viking Weland.
They seized on Winchester, and destroyed the city1. As they
were returning to their ships, laden with their immense booty,
Osric Ealderman of Hampshire, and Ethelwulf of Berk-
shire, advanced to meet them, and slew many of the Danes ;
the rest " fled like so many women2." In the fifth year of
Ethelbert's reign, a Danish army wintered in the Isle of
Thanet. The people of Kent knew no better means of pro-
tecting themselves against it than to purchase the security of.
their possessions with money, and accordingly an agreement
was entered into. But these robbers knew nothing of trutli
or good faith ; they were well aware that they should obtain a
much larger sum by pillage than by treaties of peace.
Scarcely was the league concluded before they again broke
ifc, and "like cunning foxes," secretly and by night left their
camp and ravaged all the eastern side of Kent3.
Ethelbert does not seem to have met these attacks with any
vigour ; during his short reign we never once find him taking
the field in person, and nothing of the least importance is
recorded of him. It appears from some documents placed
before him for ratification, that Swithin must have been at
his court until 862, when this bishop died ; the father's most
faithful servant remained at the side of the more obedient
son ; and probably, as he had once been dismissed by Ethe-
bald, gave a willing consent to the assumption of the West
Saxon crown by Ethelbert. But a far more important cir-
cumstance for us is, that Alfred at this time was residing with
this brother, some of whose documents are signed by him4.
1 Prudent. Tree. Ann. A. 860 ; Hincmari Annales, A. 861, ap. Pertz. SS. i. 445,
456; Asser, p. 473; Chron. Sax. A. 860; Lappenberg, p. 298.
2 Muliebriter fugam arripiunt. Asser, p. 473. Two copies of the Chron. Sax. Li
MSS. Cotton. Tib. A. iii. and Tib. B. i. give Wulf herd instead of Osrio.
3 Asser, p. 473: Vulpino more. Chron. Sax. A. 865: Se here hine on nilit
up bestael. Florent. Wigorn. ; Simeon Dunelm.
« Kemble, Cod. Dipl. n. 285, 287, 288, 293, 294, 1059. Ethelbert generally
signs " Rex occidentalium Saxonum seu Cantuutiorum ;" Alfred signs simply
F
66 THE EDUCATION OF ALFRED'S YOUTH.
Among the documents of Ethelbald, we never meet with
the names of either of his brothers ; they remained together
in Kent during the lifetime of their father, and until their
eldest brother died. The young men maintained truly fra-
ternal relations with Ethelbert ; they followed him into
Wessex, and with the unanimous consent of the "West Saxons,
divided with him their inheritance, and the land which they
possessed in common, placing it all under his control1.
Whatever sorrows may have befallen Alfred's youth, they
were alleviated during Ethelbert' s reign; for after he had
attained his twelfth year, his intense desire of learning to
read and write was, with much difficulty, gratified2. Accord-
ing to Alfred's own account, there was no qualified teacher
in the whole Saxon kingdom at the time when Swithin, his
father's instructor, died, and when the tumults had already
begun. "We are scarcely able to form an idea of the difficulties
that must then have beset all attempts to attain even the first
elements of knowledge. Undauntedly, but with much toil,
the boy overcame all obstacles ; he began to read in his mo-
ther-tongue what he had already learnt by heart, and the old
poetry became all the more dear to him as he understood it
better. He soon began to turn his attention to the writings
and songs of the Church. He collected into one book the
services of the hours, and many psalms and prayers, and
always carried it about with him in his bosom. In later
times he never parted with this book by day or night, and
as Asser himself saw, he derived strength and consolation
from it in the most severe vicissitudes of his life. This in-
formation properly relates to a later period of his life, but we
find it also recorded that during his youth he assiduously
exercised and strengthened his body by the chase. He fol-
lowed the wild animals, boldly and untiringly, through field
•' filius regis ;" in the earliest documents, Ealstan's name stands next to
Swithin's.
1 And wyt Aeftered mit ealra Westseaxana witena gewitnesse, uncerne dael
oftfaestan Ae'Selbyrhte cincge, uncrum maege on fta geraedene fte he hit eft gedyde
unc swa gewylde swa hit Sa waes fta wit hit him oSfaestan, and he $a swa dyde,
ge ftaet yrfe, ge ftaet he mid uncre gemanan begeat, a"nd fiaet he sylf gcstrynde.
Alfred's testament by Kcmble, n. 314.
2 Asser, p. 473. At this time occur the first documents that are also signed by
Alfred. Instead of " lectores," Florent. i. 87 gives " grammatici ;" but his in-
struction ic Latin canj \»t be meant.
KING ETHELRED. 67
and wood, until he had accomplished their destruction. He
soon outstripped his companions in dexterity. Good for-
tune accompanied him in all things, like a gift from God1 .
He did not yet go out to battle against the heathen foe;
his time passed on in harmless preparations for the ap-
proaching earnest work, until, in the beginning of the year
866, King Ethelbert died — it is said, after a peaceful, mild,
and honourable reign, and when he was buried at Sherborne
beside his brother2, there was great grief in the land.
III.
THE TIME OF EDUCATION, FROM 866 TO 871.
IN conformity with the ancient order of the succession,
Ethelred, the third brother, now ascended the throne. Like
his predecessor, he preserved the union between the royal
dominions and the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex3, although,
according to the earlier usage, Alfred ought to have ruled in
the latter. But the circumstances of the time imperatively
required that this old arrangement should no longer be ob-
served. The south-eastern coast of the island was especially
open to an unexpected attack from the enemy, and nothing l
except a general union of all parts of the kingdom under one
leader, could ensure a successful defence. It does not seem
that Alfred put forward any pretensions ; on the contrary,
he clearly saw what course of action would be injurious,
and soon found that the best service he could render to the
king his brother and the realm, was to set an example of
1 Nam ineomparabilis omnibus peritia et felicitate in ilia arte, sicut et in cseteris
omnibus Dei donis fuit. Asser, p. 474.
2 Asser, p. 473, designates his reign as " pacifice et amabiliter et honorabiliter."
Florent. Wigorn. i. 69; Simeon Dunelm. p. 676; Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 118, follow
his authority " strenue dulciterque." Ingulph. p. 863, gives an invention of his
own: " Iste validissimus adolescens et Danorum triumphator invictus." Henric.
Huntingd. v. 739, assigns him a rule of ten years in Kent. According to Hardy's
supposition after Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 118, n. 2, he died somewhere in February.
Wilhelm gives him a quinquennium, as well as his predecessor and successor, and,
perhaps by a chronological mistake, does not include the two years and a half of
his rule in Kent.
3 He always signs himself " Etheired Rex occidentalium Saxonum nee non ot
Cantuariorum." Kemble, No. 294, 295, 298, 1061.
68 ALFBED AS CROWN-PRINCE.
submissive obedience. There is no record of any dissension
between him and Ethelred. As second in power, Alfred
occupied the highest position after the king, and was in-
vested with a certain degree of authority over all the states.
He was crown-prince, the acknowledged heir to the throne,
and to all the royal property1. Soon after Ethelred's ac-
cession a general assembly of the kingdom was held, and the
manner in which this property should be treated was de-
cided. Alfred wished that the inheritance left by his father
and his two brothers might be divided, and that he might
manage his share independently. Ethelred replied that he
had entered into his inheritance so long before his younger
brother, and had added so much, to it, that a just partition
would be very difficult ; but that, after his own death, Alfred
should be the sole heir. With this Alfred willingly complied ;
but some years later, when the kingdom was threatened with
destruction by the heathen enemy, both the brothers were
obliged, for the sake of their descendants, to make a different
arrangement2.
The time is now arrived when the History of England
takes a more general and connected form, for the country
was threatened by a common danger.
Before we proceed with our immediate subject, the Life of
Alfred, we must cast a glance beyond the boundaries of the
( Weifr -Saxon kingdom. Towards the end of the year 866,
the Danes made a more furious and terrible attack than ever
they had done before on the whole G-ermanic east coast of
the island. As commanders of the fleets there now appear
kings, the accounts of whose gigantic stature and ferocity
still savour somewhat of tradition ; but with every record in
the English annals these plundering and conquering people
stand out more clearly from their northern obscurity. Some
method now was visible in their hitherto apparently uncon-
nected campaigns, for they established settlements on the
coast, from whence they could, without opposition ravage
1 He is called " frater regis" by Kemble, No. 298, " filius regis" (prince), No.
1061. By Asser, p. 475, 476, 477, he is always styled " Secondarius" during hia
brother's lifetime.
2 Alfred's will : Kemble, No. 314 — which, according to its historical preamble, can
scarcely have been made earlier than the years 880 or 885.
CONTINUED RAVAGES OF THE DANES. 69
the interior of the country, so rich in cattle and agricultural
produce.
But the lives and actions of individuals are yet by no
means clearly distinguishable. It is a fruitless undertaking
to attempt to unite in one continuous history, the poetical
traditions of Scandinavia, founded on the exploits of the con-
quering heroes, with the short sketches of their names and
deeds given in the English Chronicles, which, at a later
period, were in a great measure mingled with the northern
myljis. Events and names are confusedly and incorrectly
stated. It is recorded that the dark and fearful King
Regnar Lodbrok fought in Northumbria during the pre-
ceding century, and met his dreadful death in the Serpent
tower of Ella ; and that the brothers Hingwar and Hubba
appeared in Northumbria to avenge their father ; but ac-
cording to history, they first came over with the great fleet,
and landed in East Anglia. It is also said, that in order to
be revenged on the adulterous King Osbert, the nobleman
Biorn Butsecarl summoned Gruthorm the Dane into the
country ; whereas, this warrior first appears on the scene ill
the country south of the Humber1. The real cause of these
attacks, and of the successful results which crowned them, is
not to be found in narrations of this kind, which, in spite of
their historical basis, belong to the region of poetry. The
simple fact is, that the rapacious people soon learnt by expe-
rience which was the weakest point of their opponents ; and
at the period of which we write, they attacked with all their
force the two kingdoms which were least able to make any
defence.
At that time, as we have seen, the supremacy of Wessex
was much less recognised in the north than in the south of
the island. If the Scandinavian pirates had delayed their
advent for a few years longer, it might have been easy for
the successors of Ethelwulf to put an end to the perpetual
struggles for the throne between the Northern Angles and
the weaker ones of the east. The West Saxons might have
asked then, to some purpose, which were the stronger, the
Pagan or Christian Germans ; but profiting by the dissen-
1 The narrative and the sources of both accounts may be found in Lappenberg
U. 30-32.
70 THE DANES AT YORK.
Bions amongst their adversaries, the Pagans succeeded with
inconceivable rapidity in gaining the ascendancy.
A brisk autumnal east wind now carried a fleet, which must
have been a very considerable one, straight from its island-
home to the Wash, whose broad shallow bay presented no
obstacle to a landing. The East Angles did not attempt k
enter into any contest with this great body of Pagans, as
their most celebrated leader, Hubba, appeared at their head,
but rather offered them shelter and support, provided them
with a winter residence, and furnished them with horses for
their march in the spring1. As soon as the weather became
milder, the Danes set out northwards, and entered the district
around York. Here, for five years, a powerful usurper, Ella,
who did not belong to the royal Berriician family, had de-
prived the rightful prince, Osbert, of the throne. The
weaker party still kept up the feud, and the whole province
was therefore in the most disastrous condition2.
When the great Pagan army crossed the Humber, spreading
desolation around its path, the two opposing kings, at the in-
stigation of the nobles of the country, and inspired by terror,
suspended their quarrel and united their forces for defence.
By the first of November the Danes had made themselves
masters of the city of York, and from thence had advanced as
tar as the Tyne. Wherever they passed, churches and clois-
ters were robbed of their treasures, and the buildings them-
selves set on fire. Towards the end of the winter the North-
umbrians, commanded by both their kings and eight earls,
made a stand against the plundering hordes, who with some
difficulty collected their scattered bands, and made a hasty
flight to York. They intended to defend themselves behind
the city walls, although these, as Asser remarks, were far
from being strong in those days. The Christians followed
close upon the fugitives : a great number entered the town
with them, and the rest commenced razing the walls. When
the Danes found themselves threatened with such danger in
their only fortress, they determined on making an attempt to
1 Chron. Sax. A. 866.
2 The chief authority for this is Simeon of Durham, Ecclesia. ii. 6. A. 867, by
Twysden. Asser gives a striking account of it also, although in wrong chronolo*
gical order, p. 474. Also Chron. Sax. A. 867, and Florent, Wigorn. i. 80.
WESSEX AND MEECIA. 71
fight a passage through the ranks of their valiant besiegers.
This took place March 21st, 8681. The Northumbrians gave
way before the impetuosity of the attack and the fearful
havoc made by the Danish weapons. A great number of the
Christians were slain, amongst others many nobles and both
the kings, for whom the Durham Chronicler has no pity, for
they had been the principal means of bringing this ruin on
their country, and besides, had wickedly squandered the pro-
perty of the Church.
This kingdom, sunk into a complete state of lethargy in
consequence of long years of anarchy, was not entirely in the
power of the Northmen. Those amongst the inhabitants who
had escaped destruction were compelled to submit to a dis-
graceful peace. It pleased the Danes to appoint a creature
of their own to be king of the lands north of the Tyne.
They kept the southern part of the district as a point oi
egress for their further enterprises. It soon became evident
in what direction they intended to commence their ravages ;
for at the approach of winter they invaded the neighbouring
district of Mercia, and took possession of the strong city of
Nottingham.
They now rested during the cold season, as they had done
at their first landing, and also at York ; with the spring they
renewed their attacks. But King Burhred was once more on
his guard ; he hastily summoned his Witan, and agreed to
send messages to his brothers-in-law, the King and the
Crown- Prince of the West Saxons, and to entreat them
earnestly to levy troops without delay, and hasten to assist
him in repelling the invaders3.
It will be necessary to pause for a time in this narration
of military affairs, in order to investigate the causes which
first induced the West Saxons to co-operate with that army
which they had so often met in battle ; and to consider also
the close connexion now formed between them and the
Mercians, with the events which resulted from it in the life
of Alfred. Hitherto no hostile ship had arrived on the coast
of Wessex, and during the first two years of King Ethelred's
reign no man had been compelled to take up arms. In con-
» Palm-Sunday, Florent. ed. i. which day fell in 867 on March 21st.
8 Cbron. Sax. A. 868 ; Asser, 475.
72 ALFRED'S HAKKIAGE.
sequence of this deficiency of martial subjects, our authorities
have recorded but two 'events. The first is the death of
Bishop Ealstan, which took place about the same time that
the Danes, those ancient foes of this valiant prince of the
Church, made themselves masters of York. This remarkable
man had attained a great age, and had been bishop for fifty
years. He resolutely maintained his position amidst all the
storms of life, and now he died in peace, at Sherborne, and
was buried in the royal vault1. The defence of the kingdom
was now left to younger hands. Next in rank to the king,
and destined soon to distinguish himself by skill and courage,
stood his brother Alfred, already arrived at years of man-
hood. He, who as a child had delighted his parents' hearts
by his beauty and amiability, as a young man was now the
pride and hope of the people. We have to thank A sser also
for this second account of him.
In 868, when he had reached his twentieth year, Alfred
was betrothed to Elswitha, the daughter of Ethelred Mucel
(the Great), Earl of the Gaini2. She was descended from the
royal family of Mercia, through her mother Edburga, a woman
worthy of all reverence, who, after the death of her husband,
lived as a widow to the end of her pious life. This we learn
from Asser, who had frequently seen her3. The father of
Elswitha, who bore the honourable surname of the Great, was
the chief of that district of the Angles, and appears to have
taken an active part in the public affairs of the kingdom ol
Mercia4. The choice of the prince was a wise one. By the
1 Asser, p. 475: Postquam episcopatum per quinquaginta annos honorabilitei
rexerat, in pace in Scireburnan sepultus est. Chron. Sax. A. 867, Wilh. Malmesb.
Gesta Pontif. ii. 247, give a similar account: Magnae in seculo potentiae. Simeon
Dunelm. de Gestis Reg. Angl. p. 677, Henric. Huntingd. v. 738, Florent. Wigorn.
A. 867, ed. i. enter at much length into his services to the State, rendered in
battles against Kent and East Anglia, as well as into his participation in Ethel-
bald's revolt.
2 Gainsborough in Lincolnshire still preserves the name of this district.
3 Asser, p. 475, who does not here mention the name of Ethelswitha, says of her
mother: "Quam nos ipsi propriis oculorum obtutibus non pauces ante obitum
suum annis frequenter vidimus, venerabilis scilicit foemina," etc. — Vide Florent.
Wigorn. i. 81.
* Tiiere is a Mucel who signs Burhred's documents from the years 864 and 866.
Kemble, No. 290. 291, 292, Chron. Sax. A. 90S, records the death of the Ealderttan
Athulf, the brother of Ethelswitha.
ALFEED'S MALADY. 73
marriage of his sister an alliance with the Mercians had
already been formed, and by this fresh union the two states
were still more closely connected together.
The marriage was celebrated with all the ancient solem-
nities in Mercia, probably at the home of the bride. The
guests, both men and women, wrere innumerable, and the
banquet lasted day and night. It wras in the midst of these
festivities that Alfred was suddenly seized by a malady. The
loud mirth of the guests was silenced at the sight of his suf-
ferings, and neither they nor all the physicians of the day
could assign any cause for it. Many suspected that some one
amongst the people who surrounded the prince had bewitched
him. by secret magic arts, or that the devil himself, malicious
at his virtue, had come to tempt him. Others supposed that
it was an unusual kind of fever, or the unexpected return of
a painful disease from which he had suffered much in his
earliest youth.
It is not quite clear to which of these latter suppositions
we must give credence, and the accounts we have of the
matter are extremely vague1. It seems that as he entered
1 The accounts ot both maladies are to be found in Asser, p. 474, 484, 485,
492, and also in the MS. Cotton. Florent. Wigorn. i. 87, 88, follows these au-
thorities, but places the events in better order, as do Roger de Wendover, i. 321,
and Matth. Westmonast. A. 871. But it is worthy of notice, that the older
chroniclers, as Ethelwerd, Henric. Huntingd. and Wilh. Malmesb. make no men-
tion whatever of these bodily sufferings. The minute relation given in Asser's
work appears suspicious merely for the following reasons: Why is not the narra-
tion given with the notice of Alfred's marriage in 868, where it chronologically
belongs, or in the section, p. 474, which treats of his youth and education ? We
find it under the year 884. sixteen years after the marriage, and introduced in a
description of the nuptial festivities. The whole passage is apparently torn from
the earlier portion of the work, and very clumsily and injudiciously inserted in a
wrong place by a later hand. The train of thought, too, is very confused in this
narration, which does not proceed according to the sequence of events, but
reverses them — relates them backwards: first mentions the marriage, then the
sudden attacks of illness, then the ficus, and, lastly, the mysterious reason of the
malady. The same words are likewise repeated twice, e.g., " in primaevo juven-
tatis suae flore." In the erroneous position, the incorrect tautology, and,
indeed, in the whole tenor of the account, I cannot do otherwise than recognise
a much mutilated part of the genuine Vita, into which many additions may have
crept at a later period, especially those which treat of miraculous events, and of
St. Neot. I maintain the facts related by Asser, and have preferred using them
in the text unabridged, only making a new and better arrangement of them, tf
omitting the improbable portions of the narrative.
74 ALFRED'S MALADY.
into manhood, he had to fight a hard battle \vith his animal
passions. On one side temptation assailed him powerfully,
and on the other his ardent love for all that was good and
noble held him back from the paths of vice. He was accus-
tomed to rise from his bed at the earliest dawn, and kneeling
before the altar, pray there to Q-od for help and strength.
He implored that a check might be given to these desires,
that some affliction might be sent him to keep him always
armed against temptation, and that the spirit might be en-
abled to master the weakness of the body. Heaven granted
his prayer, and sent this sickness to him, which Asser de-
scribes as a kind of fit. For many years he suffered ex-
cruciating pain from it, so that he often despaired of his
own life. One day whilst hunting in Cornwall, he alighted
at the chapel of St. Gruerir, in the solitude of a rocky valley,
where St. JN"eot afterwards took refuge and died. The prince,
who from a child loved to visit all sacred places, prostrated
himself before the altar in silent prayer to Grod for mercy.
He had long been oppressed by a dread of being unfitted for
bis royal office by his bodily infirmities, or of becoming an
object of contempt in the eyes of men by leprosy and
blindness. This fear now inspired him to implore deliverance
from such misery ; he was ready to bear any less severe, nay
any other trial, so that he might be enabled to fulfil his ap-
pointed duties. Not long after his return from that hunting
expedition, an answer was vouchsafed to his fervent prayer,
and the malady departed from him.
And now at the moment of his marriage, when the wedding-
guests were feasting and rejoicing in the banquet-hall, that
other trial came for which he had prayed. Anguish and
trembling suddenly took hold upon him, and from that time
to the date when Asser wrote, and indeed during his whole
life, he was never secure from an attack of this disease. There
were seasons when it seemed to incapacitate him for the dis-
charge of any duty temporal or spiritual, but an interval of
ease, though it lasted only a night, or a day, or even an hour,
would always re-establish his powers. In spite of these
bodily afflictions, which probably were of an epileptic naturje,
the inflexible strength of his will enabled him to rise above
the heaviest cares that were ever laid on a sovereign, to
vrage a victorious warfare with the wildest enem:es, and undei
TEEAiY BETWEEN THE MEECIANS AND DANES. 75
the pressure of corporeal weakness and external difficulties to
forward with untiring zeal his own and his people's advance-
ment to a higher state of mental intelligence. Thus Alfred
had scarcely entered into public life, scarcely laid the foun-
dation of his own household, when this burden also was laid
upon him ; how unweariedly and successfully he must then
have striven to prepare himself for the coming days of mis-
fortune, and to keep his courage and hop,e inviolate !
Only a short time could have elapsed after his marriage
and the first appearance of his treacherous malady, when
Alfred, with his young wife, returned to his brother's king-
dom. Soon after, the messengers from Mercia arrived, en- {
treating the speedy assistance of the "West Saxons. On i
receipt of the serious news, the brothers did not delay for an
instant ; after summoning a large army from all parts of the
kingdom, they marched with it straight into Mercia and joined
the troops already levied there. ^Bishops, abbots, and many
clergy, readily relinquished on this occasion their claim of
exemption from military service, and armed themselves with
alacrity to increase the defensive strength of the kingdom1.
It was necessary to snatch from the enemy the very place
from which Alfred had first led his young bride home.
When the united army appeared before Nottingham with the
unanimous wish of engaging in a pitched battle, the Danes
shut themselves up within the city, trusting to the strength
of its wall. A few slight skirmishes only took place, the be-
sieged not being willing to engage in a decisive battle. On
the other hand, the Saxons were not prepared for a systematic
attack on the fortress, whose thick walls resisted any attempts
they could make against them. Besides, winter was approach-
ing ; the short time of service for which the troops had been
levied was nearly expired ; and therefore, an agreement was
entered into between the Mercians and the Pagans, by which
the latter were to withdraw, and the two princes resolved to
return home with their soldiers. According to one account,
it was Hingwar who effected this arrangement by his fox-like
cunning, and his hypocritical speeches2.
1 Documents of Ingulph. p. 863, Kemble, n. 297, whose genuineness, indeed,
is not unquestioned. It is worthy of note, that Ethelwerd, iv. 513, says nothing
of the aid afforded by the West Saxons. According to him, Burhred concluded
an agreement with the Danes without, any further contest.
2 Asser, p. 475 ; Chron. Sax. A. 868 : " and pone here paer gemetton on pam
76 THE DANES IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
This commencement of the struggle argued but badly for
its result. The Danes truly, soon departed for the north,
and again settled in "York, remaining there longer than
they had before done ; but it was found impossible to eject
them by force from the country, or to take from them
the spoil they had already amassed. Neither did their ab-
sence in the north continue long. A part of the heathen
army soon moved once more towards the south ; it marched
unmolested through the Mercian territory into the country
of the East Angles ; at its head appeared the terrible bro-
thers Hingwar and Hubba, the bravest and most ferocious
of all the sea-kings — Hingwar of powerful mind, Hubba of
astonishing prowess1. Besides these, there were many other
leaders in this army whose terrible names have never been
forgotten. They encamped at Thetford, in the heart of the
country2.
About the same time, or perhaps rather earlier, another
division of the Danish host landed from the Humber, in
Lindsay (Lincolnshire) ; the rich cloister of Bardeney was
pillaged and burnt, and its inmates were slain. The ealderman
of that district, Algar the younger, who had won the admira-
tion of the West Saxon brothers in their late campaign by his
great courage, instantly assembled the valiant inhabitants of
the marsh lands. Algar with his followers hastened to arm
themselves, and even the rich cloisters of the neighbourhood
furnished a great number of men. Those from Croyland
were commanded by the lay-brother Toly, whose warlike fame
had long been known throughout Mercia.
On the day of St. Maurice, 21st September, 869, they met
the Danes at Kesteven, and a desperate battle took place —
three of the heathen kings fell in the first onslaught, and
when the enemy took flight, Algar pursued them to the very
entrance of their camp. But during the following night,
there came to the Danes' assistance the Kings Gruthorm,
Bagseg, Oskytal, Halfdene, and Amund, and the Jarls Frene,
Hingwar, Hubba, and the two Sidrocs. As soon as the
geweorce and hine inne besaeton, and paer nan hefiglic gefeoht ne weariS and
myrce frrS namon wr5 pone here." Henric. Huntingd. v. 738 : " Vulpecular
astutia verbisque delinitis inducias ab Ar.glis impetravit."
1 .Henric. Huntingd. v. 738 : Hinguar erat ingentis ingenii, Ubba vero fortita
dinis admirandae.
» Asser, p. 475.
DESTBTJCTION OF THE MONASTEBIES. 77
news of their arrival was spread among the Angles, the
courage of the greater number began to fail, and scarcely a
fourth part of the warriors remained with Algar. Yet he
and his faithful companions, ready to risk all in defence of
their country, received the Holy Sacrament, and then pre-
pared for the last desperate struggle. Toly and Morcar of
Brunn led the right wing ; Osgot of Lindsay, and Harding
of Eehal, the left ; the brave Algar himself took the centre.
The Danes, who had buried their fallen kings in the early
morning, now stimulated by revenge, rushed upon the scanty
remnant of the Christians, who withstood the first attack,
and remained the whole day firm as a rock, amidst a shower
of arrows. But when in the evening the cunning enemy
feigned a retreat, the Angles, disregarding the orders of their
generals, impetuously pursued, and then their fate was sealed.
The heathens turning suddenly, easily cut down the scattered
troops. Algar, Toly, and a few others, defended themselves
on a hill for a short time longer, and fought with true
lion courage ; then, covered with many wounds, they fell dead
on the bodies of their slaughtered countrymen ; a few youths
alone escaped to tell the fearful tale to the monks in Croy-
land.
There was no longer any hope of saving the numerous
cloisters, their inmates, or their treasures ; the plundering
hordes had already arrived, pillaging and burning all before
them. Croyland shared this fate; four days later, Medes-
hamstede (Peterborough) was destroyed, and soon afterwards
Huntingdon and Ely were completely ruined. Almost every
living creature fell beneath the sword; a few individuals
only were fortunate enough to escape from the general de-
struction ; the consecrated buildings were consumed by fire,
and nothing was saved but the gold and silver, which the
robbers divided among themselves1.
The East Angles seem to have made a less valiant resistance
than their northern neighbours. It is true that the Ealder-
man Ulfketel made a fierce attack on the Danes whilst they
were in Thetford, but after a short contest he was slain with
1 See the detailed and very animated description of the battle, and the great de-
vastation committed, by Ingulph p. 863-868, to whom we may give credence, as h«
was Abbot of Croyland.
78 DEATH OF KING EDMUND.
all his followers. In the winter of 870, the gentle King Ed-
immd, the last of the old royal Saxon race, who had neglected
to join his neighbours in their common bands of defence,
attempted an engagement with the enemy, and fell into the
power of the cruel Hingwar. The unfortunate king, during
the painful martyrdom which he suffered, manifested the
most unshaken courage and inflexible constancy. He died
for his faith; though vanquished in life, he triumphed in death,
and his royal name stands high in the roll of Catholic saints1.
East Anglia now no longer belonged to the number of
Christian states ; Gruthorm kept the kingdom for himself ;
but Northumbria was divided into several portions. As
soon as the districts along the coasts were thus disposed of,
and the last scion of their royal family destroyed, the interior
of the island lay open to the heathen. Mercia was unable
by itself to make any resistance, and all depended on whether
the West Saxons were powerful enough to save the Saxon
race and defend Christendom against the fierce Pagans.
The winter was not yet over when a large army of North-
men, headed by some chiefs, finding the east coast no longer
sufficient for their maintenance, embarked for "Wessex in
search of land and plunder. The two kings, Bagseg and
Halfdene, the Jarls Osbern, Frene, Harald, and both the
Sidrocs, with Gruthorm and others, thus departed to conquer
the Saxon principalities. They entered the Thames in their
ships, and before long the southern shores of the "West
Saxons were overrun by the Pagan hordes, who, like a mighty
stream, carried all before them3. Their number was so great
that they could only proceed in separate divisions. They soon
arrived at the royal fortress of Reading, which is situated in
Berkshire, at the spot where the little river Kennet joins
the Thames from the south. "Without the least opposition
they made themselves masters of the place, from which they
could conveniently carry on their plundering expeditions, for
a navigable river extended from it to the sea, as was the case
at "Sork also at that period. On the third day after their
1 Chron. Sax. A, 870 ; Asser, p. 475 ; Florent Wigorn. A. 870. The translation
of Lappenberg, ii 38-39.
* Henric. Huntingd. v. 738 : Exercitus novus et maximus quasi fluvius munuani
et omnia secuir. rolvens.
THE DANES AT BEADING. 79
arrival, two of the jarls took horse, and, accompanied by a
great number of warriors, left the fleet at Eeading, and rode
furiously through field and wood in search of intelligence and
booty1. In the mean while, those who remained behind con-
structed a wall to the south of the town2, between tne
Thames and the Kennet ; so that being protected on two
sides by the rivers, and fortified on the third, they might
safely bring their plunder to the place and be ready for
defence. The "West Saxons were not prepared to receive a
visitation of this kind at this early season of the year ; how-
ever, Ethelwulf, the ealderman of that district, speedily
assembled a small but valiant band, with which to make a
stand against the outriding party. He met the Danes at
Englafeld, attacked them courageously, and after a long and
desperate conflict, in which one of the jarls and part of his
company were slain, he put the whole band to flight3. Four
days after this first engagement, Ethelred and Alfred ap-
peared before Heading with the troops they had hastily col-
lected ; and all the heathens who ventured outside the gates
were slain without mercy. The King and Prince of the West
Saxons desired to rescue this place, one of the most im-
portant in the kingdom, from the hands of their cruel
enemies. But these, ever ready for any cunning exploit,
artfully took advantage of the moment when the Saxons
were encamping on the plain, and rushed suddenly out of the
gates upon them like wolves. A tremendous conflict now
ensued. Victory inclined now to the Christian and now to
the heathen arms ; but at length the latter triumphed, and the
Saxons, not yefc accustomed to the furious attacks of the
northern warriors, were obliged to retreat. The brave
Ethelwulf was among the fallen ; his followers were obliged
to leave his corpse on the field, and the Danes afterwards
1 Ethelwerd " obliti classe aut certe explorations ritu tarn celeres aut aetenii
imminis (?) per arva sylvasque ferunter." Chron. Sax. A. 871 ; Asser, p. 476;
Ktheiwerd, iv. 513; Florent. Wigorn. i. 82, all relate the subsequent battles, and
often elucidate each other.
2 " A dextrali parte." Asser.
3 Three MSS. of the Cliron. Sax. ( B. C. D. arranged according to their antiquity)
erroneously call him Sidroc. Asser and the chroniclers give no name to this jarl,
and by all accounts both the Sidrocs fell at Ashdune. Vide translation of Lap-
penberg, ii, 41, n. 1.
'SO BATTLE OF ASHDTJ5TB.
dragged it to Derby1. The two royal brothers were pur-
sued as far as "Wistley or Wichelet Green, near Twyibrt,
but they saved themselves by crossing the Thames not far
from Windsor, at a ford which was unknown to' the Danes2.
But the Saxons were not to be daunted by grief or shame
from defending their country; the Pagans must have also
perceived that they had now to contend with more resolute
adversaries than the Angles had been. Four days again
elapsed, and then both armies mustered their entire strength,
and encountered each other at Ashdune (Aston, in Berk-
shire)3; here they measured their powers. The Danes di-
vided themselves into two companies — one commanded by
both the kings, the other by the earls. When this was ob-
served by the Christians, they acted in the same manner, and
arranged themselves in two divisions. According to the old
German custom in war, King Ethelred ought to have com-
manded at that point where generals of equal rank to his
own were opposed to him, and Alfred's duty was to engage
with the second division of the enemy ; but on this day he
was destined to perform a more important part, and to show,
at his early age, that heroic deeds were natural to him.
At the break of day the state of affairs boded little good.
The Danes had taken possession of an eminence crowned
with a short thick underwood, and from this leafy wall they
directed well-aimed darts at the Saxons, who were endea-
vouring with difficulty to gain the summit. Asser relates
that he learnt from credible eye-witnesses, that Alfred arrived
early in the morning at the foot of the hill, whilst Ethelred
was still in his tent hearing mass, and declaring that until
the priest had ended, no human work should tear him away
from fulfilling his duty towards God4. The old historian
may attribute the victorious issue of that battle to the piety
of the king ; but it is clear that his delay would soon have
1 Especially according to Asser and Ethelwerd.
* Gaimar, v. 2964, ff. Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 801, is the only authority for this.
3 It is not clear what place is meant by Aescesdune. There is an Ashdown in
Sussex and in Devon ; but Berkshire was up to this period the scene of conflict,
and we must look for this battle-field either in that county or in Surrey or Hants.
4 " Sicut ab his qui viderunt veridicis referentibus audivimus." Asser, p. 476.
His account of the matter is by far the fullest: he had seen the woody battle-rVd
in later times, " quam nos ipsi propriis nostris oculis vidimus."
VICTORY OF THE SAXONS. 81
brought upon him a similar disastrous fate to that which
ui later times overtook a Saxon, who scrupulously awaited
the conclusion of the sermon whilst, in spite of Sunday, the
enemy overpowered his allies.
Happily for England, Alfred was in his proper place at the
right time. For a while he waited most anxiously for his\
brother, to whom belonged the chief command, and who ought
to have given the first order for battle. Still Ethelred did
not appear, and the enemy pressed with all its force on
the prince, so that he could no longer maintain his position
without giving way or advancing against orders. So at length,
confiding in God's protection, he gave the signal for attack,
and at the head of his troops, rusheu like a wild >'<\ir up the
hill against the two hostile divisions^ The heathens ".vivlled
him from their coverts with their darts, but they could not
force him to yield, and then a bloody conflict hand to hand
ensued. In the mean wrhile the king had arrived among
the combatants, and placing himself at the head of his division,
led it valiantly against the warriors commanded by Bagseg
and Halfdene, who were opposite to him~. The battle raged
along the whole line in the midst of the most frightful tumult,
and the greatest courage was displayed on both sides. But
the Saxons knew they were fighting for life and property, for
all they loved, and for their fatherland. At last the heathens
could no longer resist the repeated and close attacks made upon
them, their ranks began to waver, a fearful slaughter took
place, and the battle-field upon the wide large plain surround-
ing A shdune was covered with many thousand corpses. King
Bagseg was slain by Ethelred himself 5 amongst the dead were
found Sidroc the elder, Sidroc the younger, Osbearn, Frene,
Ilarald, and many noble youths3. From the time the Saxons
first landed in Britain, says Ethelwerd, never was there such
a battle known. The remainder of the army took flight in
wild confusion. The Saxons pursued them during tliat night
and the following day as far as Heading : a number of strag-
glers were slain on the way4. For the first time since 'he
1 " Viriliter aprino more."
2 Chron. Sax. and Henric. Huntingd. agree in saying that EtL< ' <: «arrie<;
out the pre-arranged plan.
3 Henric. Huntingd. v. 738.
* All our authorities agree concerning the issue of this battle.
82 DEATH OF KING ETHELEED.
battle of Aclea, the Northmen sustained an entire defeat
t'fom the West Saxons. From this victory Alfred not only
gained renown, but also a glorious and encouraging lesson for
his future life ; he felt that he had saved his country by his
undaunted conduct in a decisive moment.
But the conquerors dared not resign themselves to careless
repose, for the enemy still remained firmly ensconced in Head-
ing. Fresh troops continually crossed the Thames to replace
the losses they had sustained. Scarcely had a fortnight elapsed
before the two brothers again placed their warriors in battle
array near Basing, in Hampshire1. But this time the fortune
of war was less favourable to them. As at Ashdune, the Danes
occupied a more advantageous position, and they maintained
the field after an obstinate conflict ; but as we learn from
Ethelwerd, the victors carried off no spoils2. Soon after their
strength was considerably reinforced by the arrival of a fresh
body of their countrymen3; so that, notwithstanding the
victory which had lately been achieved, the danger which
threatened Wessex took a more and more menacing aspect.
An important part of the West Saxon kingdom lay open to
devastation; and in the district where wTar raged two
months later, we find a battle-field at no great distance from
Ashdune. At Merton, Ethelred and Alfred once mye
engaged with two divisions of the northern army4. Both
wings of the Saxons were victorious during the whole of the
day ; but they were obliged before night to abandon the field
to the enemy, having lost many of their brave warriors,
amongst whom was Heahmund of Sherborne, the worthy
successor of the valiant Ealstan5.
Thus, far from consolatory were the future prospects of the
only German state in England which had carried on the war
1 " JEt Basingum," Chron. Sax. ; " Basengas adierunt," Asser ; " in loco Basin-
gon," Ethelwerd ; " Apud Basingum," Henric. Huntingd.
2 Especially Ethelwerd, 1. c.
3 Asser, p. 477 : " De ultra marinis partibus alius paganorum exercitus societati
se adjunxit."
4 '• Meretune," Chron. Sax.; "Metantune," Ethelwerd; " Meredune," Henric.
Huntingd. v. 738, and Florent. Wigorn. i. 85. It is not certain whether the
place of this name in Oxfordshire, or that in Surrey, is meant. I am inclined to
believe the latter. Asser does not mention this battle. Vide Introduction.
5 Especially Chron. Sax. and Ethelwerd, 1. c.
THE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE. 83
with indomitable courage against the barbarians, when,
shortly after the defeat at Merton, King Ethelred died,
April 23rd, 8711. Whether he sunk under the wounds he
had received or died from natural causes, is not certain ; he
merited the esteem of posterity for his firm and admirable
conduct throughout his reign. Alfred, the heir to the
throne, who at this critical period assumed the government
of Wessex, caused his brother to be interred with royal
honours at Wimborne Minster, in Dorsetshire. It seems
more than, probable that Sherborne, which contained the
vault appropriated to the West Saxon kings, after the heroic
death of its last bishop, was either threatened or actually
occupied by the Danes2.
It is much to be regretted that, with the exception of Alfred's
te^anTieTrtr, we have no accurate information respecting Ethel-
red's last arrangements ; and the commencement of the reign
of his brother Ethelred left direct heirs, two infant sons, of
whom the eldest, Ethelwald, appeared as pretender against
his cousin Edward, at a later period when Alfred's career
was nearly ended. /The historian Ethelwerd was descended
in a direct line from Ethelred, as, after mentioning the death
of this king, he proceeds to relate in an apostrophe to the
Princess Matilda, who traced her descent from Alfred3. But
in those times of great and universal danger, none dared to
venture on placing the crown of Wessex upon the head of a
little child. In such a case as this the law of succession
from father to son was by no means irrevocable, and we have
seen that Alfred was destined by his father and his last bro-
ther to the sole inheritance of the throne. Ethelred, during
the latter days of his life, made no provision for his descendants,
except so far as regarded their private affairs. As the two
brothers were in constant dread of the Pagan foe, and appre-
1 Asser, p. 477: " Regno quinque annis per multas tribulationes strenue atque
honorabilitergubernato;" according to him and Kthelwerd, and Henric. Huntingd.
he died, " post Pascha;" according to the Cliron. Sax. " ofer Eastron;" according
to Florent. Wigorn. i. 85, IX. Kal. Maii, three weeks after Easter, which in the
year 871 fell on the 31st March.
2 MS. Cotton. Tib. b. i. says, m opposition to all other authorities, " JEt
Scireburnanmenster."
5 Ethelwerd, iv. 514, and the dedication which introduces his work. Vida
translation of Lappenberg, p. Ivii.
G2
84 ALFEED-S ACCESSION.
hensive of great danger to property and life, they settled at
a Witenagemot at Swineburgh1, that in case of the death of
either, the orphaned children should receive from the survivor
a sufficient maintenance out of their father's estates. The
entire inheritance, as well as the succession to the throne,
was secured to Prince Alfred. There is no intimation that
Alfred ascended the throne by usurpation, or by setting
aside his nephews. He had been appointed King of the West
Saxons, not only by the mystical anointing of Pope Leo IV.,
but he had long been acknowledged as crown-prince, and his
people could make no other and no better choice. At the
period of his accession, when it devolved upon Alfred to save
Wessex and the Christian faith from destruction, he showed
how he had profited by the education of his youth, and how
capable he was, when supported by his faithful subjects who
placed all their hopes upon him, of defending his beloved
country by his heroic bravery and high-souled inspiration.
IV.
THE TIME OP TEIAL : 871 to 881.
A TRULY wearisome task lies before author and reader when
they attempt to investigate Alfred's life, from the period of
his accession throughout a great part of his reign, for its
only interest consists in the narration of an unbroken series
of battles with the Northern enemy. The tenor of this
Anglo-Saxon history remains ever the same, its uniformity
becomes at last confusing, and brings ennui with it ; the only
relief is, that situations vary, and time marches steadily for-
ward, while two Q-erman races are constantly struggling for
the upper hand, and alternately subduing and being subdued
by one another. But to abstain on this account from giving
a faithful historical relation of events, would be as unjust as
to be content with jotting down the bare facts of each suc-
tvcding year. Our sympathy can only be kept alive by not
losing sight of the goal to which all the struggles tend, by
constantly keeping in mind at what price the conflict was
Carried on, what advantages the Danes strove to acquire,
1 On gemote a?t Swinbeorgum. Alfred's testament, Kcrabie, n 314.
ALFRED ATTACKS THE DANES. 85
what treasures the Saxons had to protect, and finally, by en-
deavouring to gain an insight during the whole period into the
heart and soul of the hero, who recognised as the problem of
his life the defence of his people from the fierce heathen, and
the preservation of their material and spiritual possessions1.
In other cases, especially in early times, the solemn march
of history halts for a moment at a fresh accession, and the
historian takes advantage of the pause to do homage to
the new monarch, from whom his contemporaries hope great
things, and whom he has undertaken to follow faithfully
through joy and sorrow, victory and defeat ; but we look in
vain for such a resting-point in Alfred's life. Not a single
word is said of any solemnities attending his accession: it is
evident that the condition of England in those days would
leave no time for keeping holiday. The young prince had to
fulfil immediately the most difficult duties of his station, and
he hastened straight from his brother's grave in the cloisters
of Wimborne, perchance to meet his own on the battle-field.
Soon after the fight at Merton, a large fleet, which had
made a summer voyage from its own shores, landed near
Beading2 ; with such a reinforcement the enemy penetrated
deep into the heart of the "West Saxon provinces. Alfred,
sorely grieved at the sufferings of his people, enjoyed none of
the pleasures of his new dignity ; he only felt its heavy
burdens, which now rested exclusively on his own shoulders.
After his brother's death, his very confidence in God seems
to have wavered ; he began to doubt whether he should be
able alone to make stand against and destroy the Pagan i
hordes. One whole month passed before he ventured to
march against the enemy with a small army ; probably from
Wimborne, for at that time he must have been residing in
the western part of the kingdom. He attacked the enemy
1 That such a treatment is not to be found in Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 121, who,
on similar grounds, rejects this wearisome task, is evident on the perusal of his
work ; he repudiates in boastful language the mode in which his predecessors and
contemporaries handle the subject. It might be expected that the words " sum-
matim igitur omnia exponam " would be followed by a pithy review of Alfred's
eventful life ; but instead of this, he relates at much length how St. Cuthbert
appeared in a vision to the king in the Wilderness of Athelney.
2 Chron. Sax. A. 871 : " Micel sumor-lida corn-to Readingum." Ethelwerd, iv.
614: " Advenit sine numero aestivus exereitus in loco Ik-adingon."
86 TKEATY WITH THE DANES.
in Wiltshire, near the fortress of Wilton, which stood on an
eminence on the left bank of the little river Wily. Alfred and
his few comrades fought valiantly with the overwhelming
force opposed to them ; the courage of despair lent strength
to the little band, and the day seemed already won, when the
foe suddenly took to hasty flight ; but again the exulting
conquerors were deceived by a northern war stratagem. In
the heat of pursuit they • were surprised by a new detachment
of Danes, against whom they could not maintain the field,
although the victory had been already their own1.
This was a bitter lesson for the young prince ; in spite of
his most strenuous efforts, he was not destined to stay the
wild career of the ravaging Danes, he rather found himself
obliged to give way before them. The exhausted country was
no longer in a condition to bear any heavy calls upon it, either
for money or troops. In the space of one year no less than
eight pitched battles2 had been fought, without reckoning the
numerous smaller conflicts thttt^ere continually occurring day
;m:l night. It is true, that during that time whole hosts of
.Northmen had been slain, besides one of their kings and nine
iarls ; but the Saxons had also lost many valiant warriors,
and the terror of the constantly advancing masses of the
j enemy began to shake the courage of the industrial part of
the population, as well as that of the warlike portion. So,
before the expiration of a year, Alfred, with the concurrence
of his nobles, found him self reduced to the humiliating neces-
sity of concluding a pecuniary contract with the Danes, ac-
cording to which they promised to quit all the land within the
bounds of Wessex. As Alfred was not in a condition again
to assist his brother-in-law, King Burhred, the Danes entered
the territory of that monarch, and after crossing the Thames,
took up their winter quarters in the neighbourhood of
Lpndon. The feeble king could do nothing to oppose them ;
v-and both he and his people believed themselves saved, when
about the end of the year 872, the enemy agreed to enter into
1 Asser, p. 477.
2 Asser, p. 477; Ethelwerd, iv. 514: " Certamina tria. excepto supra memo-
ratis bellis," i. e. at Englafield, Reading, Ashdown, Merton, and Wiiton ; of the
three others we know nothing certain. Chron. Sax. A. 871, Henric. Huntingd.
T. 739, Matth. West. A. 871, speak of nine battles.
DEATH OF KING BURHEED. 87
a treaty on payment of a tribute1, and left the country as
they came to it, by water.
But the Christian islanders were destined to learn by ex;-
perience how little dependence was to be placed on the solemn
promises and oaths of the heathen pirates. Their ships, in-
deed, left the Thames, and sailed along the east coast towards
the north ; but they landed in Northumbria, and reinstated
Egbert, who had formerly begun his reign under their pro-
tection, and who had been dislodged from his insecure throne
by a revolt of the people. As soon as this was accomplished,
and the winter passed, the Danes again appeared in the Mer-
cian territory, in the district of Lindsay, where they made
themselves masters of a place called Torksey. Once more the
Mercians willingly bribed them with a sum of money, and
trusted that now the contract would be respected. Yet
scarcely had a year expired when the Pagan army broke loose
from Torksey, and, without scruple or resistance, plunged
deep into the heart of Mercia. Hryeopendune (Repton, in
Derbyshire) fell into their hands, apparently without a single
sword being drawn in its defence. The highly-renowned
cloister in which the ancient kings of Mercia were interred
was razed to the ground. The unfortunate King Bnrhred,
who, six years before, had not dared to attempt a courageous
defence with the assistance of his own subjects alone, and
whose liege and kinsman, the young-King of Wessex, was
now no less weakened and discouraged than himself made sT
precipitate retreat. Owing to the wretched state" of 1i i s
native island, he dared not entertain a hope of winning back
his kingdom, over which he had reigned two-and-twenty
years. One consolation alone remained to him. As a Ca-
tholic Christian, he hastened over the sea, and wandered as a
pilgrim to far-distant Eome^ A similar fate there awaited
him to that of Csedwalla two centuries before. After having
surmounted all the difficulties of the long and wearisome
journey, he had scarcely attained the goal of his only wish
when he was summoned by death, in the year 874, far from
his country and his lost throne. His countrymen who were
dwelling in Borne interred him, with all the honours due to
1 Ethelwerd, iv. 514: " Myrcii confirmant cum eis foederis pactum stipendiaqus
fctatunnt." To the same effect is Asser's " pacem pangere."
88 THE FALL OF MERCIA.
his rank, in the church dedicated to the Virgin1 adjoining the
Saxon schools. His consort, Ethelswitha, a faithful compa-
nion in sorrow and in joy, could not keep up with him in his
nasty flight. In all probability she afterwards found a safe
asylum with her brother, and in later times she travelled into
Italy to visit her husband's tomb.
This was the end of a kingdom which for a long time had
stoutly contended for supremacy with that of Wessex. Its
sudden ruin, as well as the death of its last ruler, must have
made a deep and sad impression on Alfred. The ancient
foundations of his own house were also most grievously
shattered, and he saw his only sister leading a wretched life,
deprived of her husband and her throne. The fate of Mercia,
as was to be expected, was the same as that of the eastern
neighbouring states. It pleased the Northmen to set up in
Mercia also a native tributary king. The restless conquerors
themselves showed little inclination to settle down for any
length of time ; they preferred, as hitherto, to follow wind
and weather, and any prospect of a rich booty, wherever
these might promise fairly. The man who undertook this
dishonourable charge was a weak-minded thane of the exiled
king's2, Ceolwulf by name. Faithlessly he swore the required
oath, and gave the desired hostages. He promised to be
ready at any time indicated by his capricious masters to lay
down his indefinite power, and to advance, by every means at
his disposal, the interests of the army. As long as, in the
promised manner, he employed himself to the advantage of
the Danes, and especially as 'long as he extorted the revenues
of their acres from the landowners, and robbed of their trea-
sures those monasteries which had escaped destruction, so
long he was allowed to remain in his position. But in the
course of a few years, his masters, thinking they perceived
that his zeal in their service was cooling, made no further
scruple of dethroning him, of plundering him of all his wealth,
and leaving him to die in the extremest poverty3. A great
1 Chron. Sax. Ethelwerd, Asser, and Henric. Hundingd. agree in their accounts
of the events from 872 to 874. The two first are perhaps rather the most
correct.
'• " Hie saeldon Ceolwulfe anum unwisum cinges pegae myr.na rice." Cbr a
fcux. A. 874, is the most correct authority in this case.
Ingulpli. p. 870.
THE DANES AT WAREHAM. 89
part of the country was thus completely in the power of the
Danes, who now settled down in a civilised manner in the
cities and in large districts. It is known that some of these
places in the course of time laid down their ancient names,
and took Scandinavian ones instead ; and that in these neigh-
bourhoods, during a great part of the middle ages, many
traits of language and customs betrayed a northern influ-
ence1.
In the year 875, the great army divided. As soon as the
spring arrived, the Danes longed once more for the excite-
ment of their robber expeditions ; besides, it was impossible
that such an immense mass of people could any longer find
support at Hryeopendune. One division, commanded by
Halfdene, turned towards the north. He took up his quar-
ters at the mouth of the Tyne, and his troop laid waste all
the neighbouring districts. As there was little more treasure
left to seek among the Angles, the foray answered better
now among the Picts and the Celtish dwellers in Strath
Clyde, a state which extended from the Clyde along the
west coast to the south, and also included the present Cum-
berland. The poverty of the country compelled Halfdene to
divide portions of it amongst his warriors, and also to depend
for his own subsistence on agriculture2.
The other division of the army, commanded by Askytel,
Amund, and Gruthorm, who had found neither peace nor
quiet in his Anglian kingdom, turned southwards, and es-
tablished itself at Cambridge for the winter. During their
abode at this place, the crafty leader matured a plan for
bringing ruin on his most determined foe, the King of the
West Saxons, and seizing his far-extending possessions. In
the spring of 876, the Danes suddenly forsook their quarters ;
secretly and by night they went on board their ships, which
were always in sailing order, and landed unexpectedly on
the coast of Dorset. By a sudden surprise they made
themselves masters of Wareham, which at that time coulc
scarcely be called a town, and consisted chiefly of the ex
tensive buildings and estates of a nunnery. Still the place
was peculiarly favourable to their marauding excursions, for
1 Vide Lappenberp, p. 314.
* Chron. Sax. A. 815 ; Simeon Duneim. de Gest. Reg. Angl. p. 681.
90 FEESH TEEATY WITH THE DANES.
it lay between two small rivers, which fell into the sea at nu
great distance, and the water always formed the most secure
ramparts for the pirates ; it was only westward that the
country lay open, where they might repulse the attacks of
the Saxons, or commit their depredations. This last they
did without delay ; and a considerable portion of the neigh-
bouring district met with a fearful visitation. The Danes
experienced no warlike resistance from the inhabitants of
that part of the country. Alfred, during the previous year,
had frequently been out in the Channel with a small fleet ;
and had at one time engaged victoriously with seven ships, of
which he had taken one and put the rest to flight1, but was
now compelled, by the exhausted resources and sinking
courage of his people, to venture only small undertakings
of this kind. He was no longer able 'to cope with the su-
perior force of the enemy under their three sea-kings, and
so he resolved once more to procure their departure by
money. As soon as the avaricious heathen caught sight of
the gold, they promised to comply with all his demands.
According to the ancient custom among all the Germanic
races, the king himself selected from the army those men as
hostages whom he judged the most worthy to answer with
life and limb for the faithful observance of the contract2.
"With the most solemn forms he personally received the
promises of the assembled leaders. He first caused them to
swear on the relics of the saints ; an oath, says Asser, which,
next to one by the Deity, Alfred, as a Catholic Christian,
held in the highest estimation. But if the only king ha 1
attached importance to this oath, he might well be accuse I
of a pious folly in thinking to secure the good faith of the
heathen by such means. It is rather to be supposed that a
holy and supernatural influence was ascribed to mortal re-
mains by all the indo-European nations, and especially by
the Scandinavians3 ; and therefore no one has any right to
ridicule Alfred's credulity. He then caused the Northmen
to perform a still more impressive ceremony, by which until
1 Chron. Sax. and Ethelwerd, A. 875 ; Henric. Hunt. v. 739, mention seven
fillips; Asser, p. 478, and Florent. Wigorn. i. 92, speak of six only.
2 Chron. Sax. Ethelwerd, Asser, Florent. Wigorn. A. 876, confirmed by a
document of Kcmble's, No. 1069.
* Vide J. Grimm, Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache, p 150.
PERFIDY OF THE DANES. 91
that time they had never pledged themselves: they swore
once more, on a holy bracelet, which, smeared with the blood
of the sacrificial animals, was laid on an altar ; the highest
and most inviolable form of oath among the northern races1.
Thus the rites were radically the same on both sides, only
the Saxons observed them as Christians, and the heathens
according to the superstitions of their forefathers.
But Alfred must have already known how little binding
were contracts with such enemies, who had so often broken
their most solemn promises. Even in the night which fol-
lowed this solemn ceremony the Danes left Wareham in large
numbers, and a troop of Saxon horsemen whom they met with
on their march was attacked and destroyed2. A considerable
number of Danes being thus furnished with horses, they
overran and pillaged the neighbourhood in their hasty flight,
entered Devonshire, and made themselves masters of the city
Df Exeter. As this place was again not far from the sea, and
on a navigable river, it was as advantageously situated for
them as Wareham, which, however, they had by no means
abandoned. Exeter afforded many facilities for their expe-
ditions, which were connected in the closest manner with
the ravages of their countrymen on the continent. The
narrow Channel was no obstacle to the Danes in England ;
their ships occasionally plundered the Prankish seaports,
and Eollo, in later days the conqueror of Normandy, appears
to have rested from his wild ravages in England during one
whole winter3. All along the coast, the sea swarmed with the
fleets of the bold pirates, and wherever an attack was made
on Christian states, fresh swarms thronged to the scene of
conflict, allured by hope of participation in the booty. Tra-
versing the wild ocean in their frail barks, these ungovernable
hordes, by their valour in warfare, completely mastered their
1 Examples of this form of oath may be found in the translation of Lappen-
berg's History, ii. p. 49, taken from Arngrim Jonas Rer. Island, i. 7, and from
the Edda Torpe, Florent. Wigorn. i. 93, and in J. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsal-
terth timer, p. 50, 896.
2 Henric. Huntingd. v. 739, states alone, that they left on the following night.
The account of the Saxon horsemen is only to be found in Asser, p. 478.
3 This information, given by Asser, p. 479, was added by a later hand in MS.
Cotton. It is probably taken from the false Annals, which bear Asser's name,
printed by Gale, Script. Rer. Angl. iii. ] Go. Or it may have sprung from Chrou,
Turon. by Du Chesne Scriptt. Norman, p. 26.
92 ALFBED AT EXETEE.
opponents, who were indeed more disciplined, but somewhat
enervated by their peaceful habits. But Alfred was not yet
conquered ; as long as life remained to him, as long as one
man stood by him, as long as he possessed one ship, he might
venture to hope, and endeavour to defend his country. He
had already directed his attention to the sea, and perceived
that it was the principal stronghold of the enemy. As soon
as he could engage successfully with them on their peculiar
element, he felt that it would be possible for him to re-
animate the drooping courage of his people on land, and to
prepare some more effectual means of defence. When the
oaths of the Danes were again violated, he did not for a
moment delay the struggle, although the hordes of the enemy
were inexhaustible ; and if in one day thousands of them
were slain, on the next a double number would, as it were,
spring from the earth. After the winter of 876-7 was passed,
he collected together all his remaining forces to the conflict.
He himself hastened with one division of his army into Devon-
shire, and endeavoured to the best of his power to besiege
and blockade the city of Exeter, then in possession of the
Danes. He manned his ships with the boldest sailors, well
accustomed to the coast1, and gave them orders to cruise in
the Channel, and to watch that no transports laden with pro-
visions or troops came to the Danes who were in his domi-
nions. If any appeared, they were to be driven back ; and
if the king's men felt themselves sufficiently strong, a sea-
fight might be attempted.
Faithfully did they follow their king's behest. In the
spring of the above-mentioned year, the remainder of the
Danish garrison of Wareham embarked in a hundred and
twenty vessels ; the armed warriors trusted themselves to the
waves, and took a westerly direction, to carry aid to their
beleaguered countrymen in Exeter. But for once the ele-
ment usually so favourable to them, proved adverse. A
1 Or does the " piratis " of Asser, p. 479, really mean that Alfred set sea-
robbers in his ships? For I doubt the credibility of " jussit longas naves fabri-
cari per regnum," which, as I have already remarked in the Introduction, seems
to have been diverted from its right place. Chron. Sax. and Florence, state that
the shipbuilding took place in 897. It is impossible that Alfred could have had
ships built in his king.lom ; lie must have had recourse to the most desperate
means
•THE DANISH FLEET DESTKOYED, 877. 93
tk.ck fog1 lay upon the water, and violent spring storms had
lashed the angry waves into fury ; for a whole month the
fleet was tossed about, and not able to land. In the midst
uf these perplexities Alfred's armament advanced intrepidly;
the Danish fleet, scattered by a storm, could not defend itself.
The warriors in some of the ships were slain by the Saxons,
but the greater portion of the vessels struck on the rocks otf
Swnnage2, where they were beat to pieces, and with all they
contained buried beneath the waves3.
The Danes in Exeter were meanwhile reduced to the
greatest extremity; and as no help appeared, they were
obliged to request Alfred's permission to make a conditional
retreat. They gave him as many hostages as he required,
and swore many oaths besides. It was early in August, 877,
that they left Exeter4, and turned northwards; whilst one
division went into Mercia, the other entered Gloucester, and
left unmolested only the country lying immediately south of
the Thames. In Mercia, Ceolwulf had, up to this time, re-
tained his despicable situation ; but the Danes now deprived
him of a large portion of the kingdom, in order to settle in it
themselves, and to divide it into small territories. In the
meanwhile the Vikings, who had remained in Gloucester,
entered into an alliance with another band of their country-
men, which, a short time previously, had landed in a little
state of Demetia (South Wales) . This fleet was commanded
1 It is particularly said in Chron. Sax. A. 877: Ul5a mette hiae micel myst
on sae."
2 ( )n the coast of Dorset. A dangerous reef runs out into the sea, from a
place called Peverel Point.
3 Asser is our only authority for the sea-fight, all our other sources of infor-
mation speak of the destruction of the fleet by a storm. Ethelwerd's peculiar
account seems as if it were taken word for word from an old Anglo-Saxon song:
elevant vela (dant vento carines), procella ingruit tristls (mergitur pars nun
minima) centum numero carinae (supremae juxta resperu), quae Suuanannic
nuneupatur.
4 Cliron. Sax. A. 877: On haerfeste. All our authorities, with the exception of
Henric. Hunt, are little to be depended on for the chronology of the events in the
years 876 and 877; they go from one year to the other in the most unsystematic
manner. This confusion arises from the incorrect conclusions which the later
chroniclers drew from the short notices in the Cliron. Sax. ASMT twice relates
the destruction of the 120 ships; and this repetition was inlioduced into the
later MSS from the so-called Annalcs Asserii. This is a fresh proof of the
ilrncst 'rcivdiWe mutilation of the text.
94 THE DANES INVADE WESSEX.
by a brother of Hingwar and Halfdene ; liis name is not men-
tioned, but we may guess it, without much doubt, to have
been Hubba. The new comers, who expected booty in their
plundering expeditions among the poor Celts in their moun-
tains, and who soon found themselves disappointed in their
expectations, incited the band so lately expelled from Exeter
to join in a new attack on Wessex. The prospect of gain,
easily stifled any scruples of conscience on the part of the
faithless Northmen in Gloucester ; they troubled themselves
as little about the fate of their hostages as about their
solemn oaths. Accordingly, in the beginning of the winter,
partly on the north-western borders of the kingdom, partly
in Wessex itself, that fearful tempest began to gather, which,
in the spring of the important year 878, was destined ti
burst so fatally over Alfred and all his dominions.
The attack was now carried on by land and water, as it
had been a year before from Wareham, and was especially
directed against the western districts of the kingdom, which,
until this time, had been much less devastated than the rest.
"Whilst the unknown sea-king, after he had slain many of the
Christian Welsh, and robbed the poor people of the few goods
and chattels they possessed, put to sea with three-and-twenty
ships1 ; the land army2, probably much strengthened by rein-
forcements from Mercia, marched into Wiltshire, and took
possession of the royal castle of Chippenham, lying on the
left bank of the Avon. From this rallying-point their bands
ranged the country, destroying everything with fire and sword.
They overspread the land like locusts, and seemed, like them,
to rise out of it8. The inhabitants, once so brave, but whom
no hero-hearted ealderman now gathered under his banner,
were seized with fear and terror ; those who were able, took
their few remaining goods, and hastened to the sea-coast, tc
find a passage to the opposite kingdom of the Pranks, and
there seek refuge. In particular, bishops, priests, and
monks, endeavoured to convey to a safe asylum beyond sea
the relics, precious stones, and ornaments, belonging to their
1 Ethelwerd says thirty, " cum triginta moneribus."
2 According to later authorities, this was at Christmas. Asserii Annales,
p. 166, "post theophanium ;" and Gaimar, v. 3125, " Puis ei Noel, li felou
Daneis," &c.
8 Henric. Huntingd. v. 739 : " Operientesque terrain quasi locustae."
THE DANES DEFEATED AT ETNWITH. 95
monasteries. The people who remained were reduced to /
the condition of servants and beggars by their cruel op- \
pressors1, and both country and people were in the wildest [
disorder.
Some ships had meanwhile landed their troops in Devon-
shire. There many faithful followers of the king had thrown
themselves into a fortress which bore the name of Kynwith.
Under their count, Adda2, they fought bravely with the
heathen, and when forced to give way in the open field, they
retired behind their walls. The place was (as Asser relates
from his own personal observation3) well fortified by nature
on three sides, the east being excepted ; and here the ram-
part was but little fitted for defence, as, according to the
custom of that time, it consisted merely of a wall of earth.
The Danes, when they undertook the siege, thought they
could force the inmates of the fortress to a surrender by
starving them, but they were deceived ; for, notwithstanding
the beleaguered Saxons had no spring within their walls, and
suffered bitter]y for want of water, they held out courage-
ously. At last they determined to make an attempt at
victory, or else die the death of heroes ; in the first dawn of
morning they sallied forth, surprised the unprepared heathen,
and' destroyed the greatest part of the unknown sea-king's
army. Only a few stragglers in a wild flight reached their
ships, which were drawn up on the shore at no great distance.
A thousand Danes lay slain, at Kynwith4. According to a
romantic tradition, there was found, among the trophies borne
away by the victors, the famous war-standard of the northern
heroes, called the Raven, woven in one morning by the three
daughters of Eegnar Lodbrok, for their brothers Hingwar
and Hubba, and in whose centre the Sacred Bird fluttered
its wings as if living when victory impended, but hung
motionless and drooping when defeat was threatened5.
1 Asser, p. 480; Ethelwerd, iv. 515; Roger de Wendover, i. 329.
2 Only mentioned by Ethelwerd.
3 " Sicut nos ipsi vidimus." Asser.
4 Asser, p. 48 J, gives this narration at full length, and says that 1200 Danes
were killed. The Chronicle and Henric. Hunt, say 850- Ethelwerd, "80
decaden."
5 In the worst copies of the Vita this is taken from the supposititious Annals ;
but four MSS. of the Chronicle, B. C. D. E., also contain a short notice of it:
96 DISUNION AMOS G THE PEOPLE.
But this brilliant success of a handful of brave men was
the last courageous effort at resistance. As the country was
overspread far and wide with the robbing and murdering
hordes, all the valour of these Saxons was in vain ; their king
was not with them, and in no part of the kingdom did the
warriors gather themselves together for the defence of their
homes and goods, their wives and children All the weak
and timorous people bowed their necks to the joke of servi-
tude, and those who still had something left to hope for or
to save, fled over the sea, to lands where Christian people
dwelt, and would gladly extend protection to the oppressed
exiles. But besides the general panic and emigration, there
was yet another evil which flourished in the very heart of the
unfortunate state, and aided the enemy in bringing it to the
brink of ruin. It appears, not only from the general aspect
of the affairs of the country and the sudden surprise of all
the West Saxon district, but also from the testimony of an old
historian1, that in that time of great peril bitter strife reigned
among the inhabitants themselves. The discords engendered
rby difference of race and descent broke out once more ; the
JGeltic inhabitants of the west remembered that their ancient
dominion had been torn from them by force, and now, when
they saw their former conquerors threatened with a similar
fate to their own, they were little inclined to make common
cause with them. On the contrary, they rather leant towards
the Northmen, as we have before remarked, with a kind of
revengeful feeling ; although they must have hated the rob-
bers, and their treachery bore them bitter fruits. Whilst this
insubordination among his British subjects clouded Alfred's
prospects of resistance, he also saw among his German states
disunion combining with fear to work their ruin.
By far the greater part of the German inhabitants who
could not resolve on abandoning their homes, and who had
taken refuge in forests and waste places there, to witness the
destruction by the flames of those possessions descended to
" Mini paer was se gutS tana genumen pie hie raefn h£t»n." Vide respecting a
similar standard: Encomium Emmae, by Maseres, p. 16; and Langebek Scriptt,
Rer. Dank-, v. 95.
-1 Etholwerd, iv. 517, writes at a later period, A 886: " Aelfredo, quern in«
genio, quern occursu non superaverat civUis discordia saeva, hunc et redemptorera
8UH:»oere cuncte."
INEBTNESS OF THE SAXONS. 97
them from their ancestors, came forth from their hiding-
places, to till the ground in the sweat of their brows for their
greedy robbers. They saw their Anglian neighbours, after
more years of oppression than they themselves had endured,
still for the most part retaining their old property, and
speaking their old language ; and they saw how resistance
and courageous revolts had in their own case brought down
more complete ruin. No command, no prayer, no entreaties
of their once-beloved king, could move them to sacrifice their
small possessions and their own personal safety for the pre-'
servation of the whole state. In scarcely any of the districts
was there an earl, a noble, or bishop, who would place himself
resolutely at the head of his property or diocese, and set
a bold example of venturing on one last and desperate
struggle.
It is not probable that this general want of consideration
and courage broke out so suddenly as to have brought on the
crisis of the sad year 878 ? For ten years there had been al-
most continual fighting ; the numbers of the enemy had been
constantly increasing, and those of the defenders as constantly
diminishing. It has been before mentioned, that from the
time of his accession, Alfred had not been able to undertake
tiny great enterprise ; those means were no longer at his dis-
posal by which the battle of Ashdune had been won, and of
late years the strength of the country must have been greatly
diminished by the above-mentioned causes. That is therefore
an unlikely account given by a later chronicler, and eagerly
caught up by a modern biographer1, which sets forth, that
when the last attack of the Danes by land and water took
place (which all our authorities show to have been at two
different times, but which is considered here as one and the
same), Alfred assembled his remaining troops, and was de-
feated in a great pitched battle at Chippenham. Not one of
the ancient histories gives any information of such an event ;
the narrative of Bromptou rests, as is so frequently the case
with him, on a confusion of events arising from a chronolo-
gical error. The heroic renown of Alfred is by no means
' Dr. Giles, " Life of Alfred the Great," vii. 184, lays great stress on his dis-
covery, in Bromptnn. r>. 811. But would he really gain anything by the fact,
even if toe were able to prove it ?
K
98 ALFRED THE SHIELD OF HIS KINGDOM.
augmented by this story. On the contrary, his royal great-
ness was much more evinced by his conduct in the trying
circumstances in which he was placed ; for when all around
him was falling into decay by a slow ruin, he earnestly en-
deavoured to restore it, and never lost the hope of success.
That this is the concurrent testimony of all our oldest autho-
rities, will be seen by the following pages.
At the time when the Danes, leaving Gloucester for the
south, took Chippenham ; when the northern standard was
captured by the valiant defenders of Kinswith, of whose ulti-
mate fate there is no further record ; when the heathen over-
ran all the West Saxon_kingdom, and forced the inhabitants
/Tnto "STtibjection, there was oidyone1 who did not abandon the
| cause and hide from the sight of his friends as well as of his
1 enemies — Alfred, the king without a crown, but no less the
stronghold and shield of his kingdom. At the moment when
all seemed sunk in ruin, if he had lost hold of that trust in
his God which had sustained him daily and hourly through a
long series of trials ; if he had sought and found a desperate
P^ death, or again relied on the word of the perfidious heathen ;
if he had gone quietly to die as a pious pilgrim in Rome, like
the last King of Mercia-^-with him would have perished
the hope that England would preserve the Christian faith,
e British inhabitants would truly not have rescued
Christianity ; the monks, who, after the destruction of their
monasteries, had either fled singly into foreign countries or
taken up thoir abede^inwaste places as hermits, had made no
impression by their preaching on the minds of the rough bar-
barians^These, brought up amidst ice and storms, held fast
to their awful deities of Asgard and the Walhalla, and on the
ancient sites the abandoned Saxon worship was again replaced
by bloody sacrifices to Thor and -Woden. The conquered
Christians, who still retained many remnants of their ancient
superstition, now, when their leaders and teachers were
either departed or become powerless, forsook by degrees the
blessings of their conversion, and turned anew to the idol-
altars on which their conquerors sacrificed.
1 Four words in Chron. Sax. A. 878, are very powerful in their plain simplicity
" And paes aftres (folces) pone maes tandael hie geridon. And him te gecimon.
buton pam cyninge Aelfrede."
ALFRED IN SOMERSETSHIRE. 09
But Alfred lived, and in him the firm conviction that Pro-
vidence had elected him as the protector and champion of the
doctrines of the Cross, and the saviour and support of the
Saxon race. It was only because he was inspired by this
persuasion that he was able to suppress the desire he must
have felt, of endeavouring to provide for his own safety
and that of the few who were still bound to him by the
ties of blood or fidelity. His just discrimination in the
extremest need, when he saw his country devastated around
him, and his people fallen and put under the yoke, en-
abled him to select the place where he might conceal him-
self with a few companions until the interrupted contest
could be resumed. In the marshy lands, full of stagnant
water, rushes, and willow-plantations, in the wild and barren
districts of Somersetshire, where at that time agriculture had
scarcely begun to redeem the soil from the wilderness, he
sought an asylum, accompanied by some followers, among
whom was Ethelnoth1, the ealderman of the place. There
followed him his wife and his children, perhaps also his
mother-in-law and his sister, and all who still belonged to the
royal house of "Wessex, patiently to endure with him every
privation and every grief.
In the history of the world there is one often-recurring
fact, viz., that the saviour of a whole kingdom, and the re-
peller of its foreign conquerors, has sprung from some remote
province left rude by nature, and uncultivated from its diffi-
cult access. From the unimportant mountain-ridge of As-
turia, Pelayo, the last offshoot of the Goths, and the wonder-
accompanied hero of Spain, took the first steps towards the
expulsion of the Moors from the Peninsula, which was not
completely accomplished for more than seven centuries2.
From the eastern borders of Prussia resounded the first
call to arms, which had for its result the driving of Na-
poleon's army from Germany. It is a beautiful trait in
1 Ethelwerd, iv, 515, has preserved his name. He is the same man whom the
Chron. Sax. and Ethelwerd, under the year 894, point out as ealderman of the
district. Vide Lappenberg, p. 318, n. 3.
2 I find tliis interesting narration in Mariana's Historia de Espafia, lib. viL
c. I : " Solo el infante Don Pelayo, como el que venia de la alcuna y sangre de
los Godos, sin embargo de los trabajos que avia padecido, resplandecia, y se seas*
lava en valor 7 grandeza de ammo."
H2
100 ALFRED'S RESIDENCE IN THE MARSHES.
the character of a valiant nation when, after centuries have
elapsed, it holds in grateful remembrance1 the spot whence
its salvation from great danger once proceeded, and which
must ever be to it as the cradle of its freedom. And thus,
to this day, when Alfred, his sufferings and his deeds, are
the themes of conversation, the Englishman points out with
pride to the stranger the low lands of Somerset.
In this inhospitable spot Alfred and his companions had to
pass many wrinter months. We cannot of course, at this day,
describe in detail the privations they endured ; it is certain
that but scanty sustenance could be found in the marshes ;
and Asser2 relates, that the king with his little band, con-
sisting of a few nobles, warriors, and vassals, were sometimes
obliged to make a sally against the heathen, and even the
Christian dwellers in the neighbourhood who had succumbed
to the Danish authority, and, either secretly or in open con-
test, obtain something to eat and drink, and thus sustain
their own lives and carry back relief to the women and chil-
dren, who remained in the thickets. Alfred, whom the Danes
and conquered Saxons must have thought entirely lost, lived
such a needy and insecure life as probably never, to say the
least, fell to' the lot of any other king.
The interest that lies in these reverses of fortune afforded
a wide field foi fiction ; and it is therefore not surprising
that after their freedom was achieved, and the people were
informed of the sufferings their king had undergone, that a
series of narrations sprung up, which gradually took the
character of traditions. Men, inspired by gratitude, delighted
to embellish, in speech and writing, the history of the
miseries that preceded their deliverance, by relating many
exploits and mischances, and in adorning the simple beauty
of the truth by the creations of a natural poetry. If in later
centuries the English people, in its love for bodily courage
and mental independence, found such rich material for poetry
und romance in Hereward, the last Saxon, who so long bade
Defiance to William the Conqueror, from the marshes in the
1 " Ostenduntur ah accolis loca singula, in quibus vel malae fortunae copiam,
vei bonae persensit inopiam." Wilh. Malm. G. Reg. Angl. ii. § 121.
1 Florence says, in the same words, that Alfred fought also with Christians.
" ^ui se 1'aganorum subdiderant dominio," seems to me to belong to an earlier
occurrence.
TRADITIONS RESPECTING ALFRED. 101
Isle of Ely, and also in the bold yeoman, Robin Hood, who
bent his bow in Sherwood Fore&i, and with it protected the
poor man, and punished his oppressors, we can easily im-
agine that a similar poetical halo would surround the Saxon
king when he emerged from the wilds of Somerset as a con-
queror; especially when the dangers he had incurred became
known. Posterity treated him as one of the heroes of all
time1. The rich treasury of marvels belonging to the middle
ages is still open to us, and a popular warrior takes as im-
portant a place in it as a saint. Amongst the narratives of
Alfred's abode in the marshes, it is easy to make a distinc-
tion between those related by the people and those which
the monks blended with the tales of their saints. Legend
sprung from tradition, and these two different kinds of nar-
ration succeed each other in the order of their origin ; and it
is instructive to investigate their nature and development,
even if we do not expect to discover any truth in them,
arid wish to see all fiction excluded from the pages of genuine
history.
The following must be reckoned among the narrations of
the traditionary series, and is first met with in the "Life
of St. Neot," about the end of the tenth century, and is next
copied into the "Annals," and from thence into the later
manuscripts of the " Biography of Alfred2."
One day it chanced that the king arrived at the hut of one
of his cowherds, who kept in his faithful heart the secret of
his king's concealment. Whilst the man was gone to his
daily labour, and his wife was occupied in baking bread, the
stranger sat down by the fire, and began industriously to
mend and make bows and arrows and other implements of
warfare. The woman, who, from the stranger's poor and
needy aspect, thought that he was a serf and one of her
husband's companions, gave the bread in charge to him, and
went out to see after the cattle. After a while she returned ;
and when she found her baking burnt and spoiled, she flew
at him in a rage, and with abusive words cried out :
1 We are led to remember Frederick the Great, and one of the numerous
events of his life which have become traditional, related by Ranke : " Neun
Biicher Preussischer Geschichte," ii. 246.
* Asser, p. 480; "Life of St. Neot," in Saxon, by Gorham; History and
Antiquities of Eynesbury and St. Neots, i. 259.
102 DENEWULF, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.
Holla, companion !
Dos not see that the bread there is burning? Why lazily sit, and not turn it?
Rea -:y enough wilt thou be to take it from us and devour it.
The hexameters, which have crept into the prose narrative,
cast suspicion on it, and serve to convince us that the whole
had been a popular song. The pious reflections with which
the anonymous biographer of St. Neot accompanies the story,
do not add much to the evidence for its authenticity. Ac-
cording to him, the king, in the early years of his reign, was
supercilious to his inferiors with all the arrogance of youth, and
harshly rejected their complaints and petitions. Upon this his
kinsman, the holy Neot, who was still alive, was much grieved,
and in a prophetic warning unfolded to him the approach-
ing period of misfortune. But Alfred did not heed this, until
the Divine Disposer of all punishment visited his folly, and
reduced him so low, that he was driven from his throne, de-
prived even of necessaries, and roughly treated under the
roof where he had found shelter. In itself the tale is not
improbable, and it may very well have been among the
number of those which Alfred, in happier days, related to
Asser arid other friends1. But Florence says nothing of the
occurrence, and this shows satisfactorily that it is not to be
found in the genuine " Vita." Still it is worthy of note
that Florence, in one of his narrations, seems to indicate the
true foundation of the anecdote. In the account which he
gives of the elevation of Denewulf to the Bishopric of Win-
chester, he says : " This man, if we may trust the report2, at
his advanced age was not acquainted with the art of reading,
and in his early days had been a swineherd. When Alfred
lived an exile in the forests, he became acquainted with
Denewulf as he was driving his swine to the oak-woods to
feed on acorns. The natural talent of the man interested
the king, who took pains with his instruction, and afterwards
1 " Solebat ipse postea, in tempora feliciora reductus, casus suos jucunda
liilarique comitate familiaribus exponere." Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 121. Vide trans-
lation of Lappenberg, ii. 53, n. 2.
" Florent. Wigorn. i. § 97: "Si famae creditur:" but the "res digna mi-
raculo " seems rather enigmatical, if Denewulf, after the lapse of some years,
was converted from a swineherd into a bishop. The " vaccarius " of the Vita
Sti Xeoti, and of Asser, is also " subulcus." The " driving his ' porcos ad solita
pascua,' " is from Roger de Wend. i. 330, who follows the pseudo Asser in the rest
o( the narration.
LEGENDS RESPECTING ALFRED. 103
promoted him to a high dignity." "We here have an ex-
ample of how tradition sports with facts and persons, and so
completely overpowers them that the rescuing of the simple
truth is not possible.
In another narration, Alfred is said to have gathered toge-
ther a band of fugitive and valiant comrades in his fastness
at Athelney, and then to have gone disguised as a minstrel
into the camp of the Danish king, accompanied only by one
faithful servant. Alfred delighted the Danes by his skill in
singing and playing the songs of his native land, and during
his stay, which lasted many days, he penetrated into the
privacy of the royal tent, where he saw and heard the plans
and proceedings of his enemies. On his return from his re-
connoitring expedition, he immediately assembled his people,
made them advance silently on the Danes, and gained a bril-
liant victory1. This is all probable enough, and its proba-
bility is increased as we are aware of Alfred's love for min-
strelsy ; but the most ancient accounts drawn from Saxon
sources do not mention it. Norman authors alone relate that
the Saxon king performed a similar exploit to one achieved
afterwards by the Dane Aulaf, who went as a harper into the
camp of King Athelstan2. The spirit, too, which breathes
in this romantic story, is more Scandinavian-Norman than
Saxon.
Belonging to the legendary, or in other words, the ecclesi-
astical traditionary series, is another account, which proceeds
from the north of England, and rather does honour to the
wonder-working Cuthbert than to the person of the revered
monarch. According to William of Malmesbury, Alfred him-
self related to his friends how the holy bishop appeared to him
and aided his deliverance. The king was still dwelling at Athel-
ney in great need. His followers had gone to fish in a neigh-
bouring stream, and he was sitting in his hut, his wife only
being with him. He was endeavouring to console his spirit,
oppressed with the weight of cares, by reading the Psalms of
David, when a poor man appeared in the doorwav and prayed
for a piece of bread. Full of true humanity, Alfred received
the beggar as though he had been the Saviour himself, and
divided with him the last loaf of bread he possessed, and the
» Ingulph. p. 869; Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 121 ; Guido, by Alberich. 4. 880-
* WjJJj. Malroesb, ii. § 131,
104 LEGEND OF ALFRED AND ST. CUTHBEET.
Bcanty portion of wine that yet remained in the pitcher.
The guest suddenly vanished — the bread was unbroken, the
pitcher full of wine to the brim. Soon after the fisher-
men returned from the river laden with a rich booty. In
the following night St. Cuthbert appeared to him in a dream,
and announced that his sufferings were about to end, and
gave him all particulars of time and place. The king rose
early in the morning, crossed over to the main land in a boat,
and blew his horn three times, the sound inspiring his friends
with courage, and carrying terror into the hearts of his ene-
mies. By noon live hundred gallant warriors gathered round
him, he acquainted them with the commands of God, and
led them on to victory
This is the purport of the legend of St. Cuthbert, which,
from internal evidence, seems to have been drawn up in the
reign of King Edmund I. in the second half of the tenth
century, soon after the monks of Lindisfarn and Durham,
who had long wandered up and down the country with their
sacred treasures and the miracle-working bones of their saints,
had again found a quiet resting-place. How few correct his-
torical accounts of Alfred were extant in the north of the
island, may be learnt from the fact that Alfred was there
considered to have passed three whole years in the marshes
of Grlastonbury1.
William of Malmesbury2 gives a somewhat different version
of the legend of the Northumbrian saint. Cuthbert, accord-
ing to him, merely appeared to the sleeper, and addressed
him in a formal speech, to the effect that Alfred and his
country had now expiated their sins, and that in a short time
the exiled king would be restored to his throne, and his
people would be free. As a token that God had not for-
.gotten him, his companions who had gone out to fish should
return with nets well filled, although the water was at the
time covered with thick ice. On Alfred's awaking, he
found that his mother3, who slept near him, had dreamt
the same dream ; both were filled with astonishment at
1 Hist. St. Cuthherti, Twysden, p. 71-72.
2 De Gest. Reg. Angl. ii. § 121 ; also Ingulph. p. 869.
J This could not have been Oslmrgha, as Lappenberg states, p. 319: the older
authorities suppose it to have been his wife. His mother-in-law Eadburglia,
whom Asser had seen, may have been stili alive.
ALFRED FOBTIFIES ATHELKEY. 105
fche wonderful occurrence, when the fishermen soon after
dragged in their heavy burden, which would have been suffi-
cient to feed a large army. According to others, it was
St. Neot who appeared to the king in a vision of the night,
and who, after he had confessed his sins and undergone the
Divine punishment, encouraged him to inflict a speedy and
deserved revenge upon the enemies of his country and his
faith.
The inquirer into history ought in justice to abstain from
any decision on this variously-told legend ; its priestly origin
is evident. Founded on Alfred's distress, charity, and faith,
it associates him with St. Cuthbert, whose renown then first
penetrated into the south of the island. Perhaps the church
of Durham thought in this manner to evince its gratitude for
the donations by which at a later period it was enriched, and
which, although provided for by Alfred, were first actually
bestowed by his successor. But it is time that we leave this
digression into the regions of fable, and return to history.
Easter1 of the year 878 had arrived ; nature, roused from
her wintry sleep, began once more to live anew, and with
her wakening, brave hearts beat higher, and believed more
firmly in the possibility of freeing their fatherland. The
king and his followers left their huts and hiding-places, in
which they had taken refuge, from the cold of winter and
the attacks of their enemies. With their united skill they
constructed a fortification at a place which was very favour-
ably situated for the purpose, and which, under the name
of Aethelinga-Eig (pronounced together Athelney, i. e. the
Prince's Island), has become highly renowned as the point
from which Alfred sallied forth to reconquer his kingdom.
This island lay in the neighbourhood of the present Somer-
ton, east of the Parrot, at the place where it joins the little
river Thone3, and consists of an eminence rising high above
the surrounding country, which is always damp, and frequently
overflowed by the tide. This spot, owing to its difficulty of
access, needed but little and light labour from human hands
to render it impregnable. At the end of the seventeenth
1 Easter, in 878, fell on the 23rd March. All our authorities take the follow-
ing account from Sax. Chron. and agree unanimously on its principal points, as
•D the course of the events.
2 Lappenberg, translation, ii. 53.
106 ALFBED ASSEMBLES HIS FORCES.
century even, the nature of the ground rendered it unfavour-
able for military operations1.
That Alfred had chosen this place with the keen eye of a
general, and that he remained there for a long time, is evi-
dent by the inscription on the famous jewel which in later
times was found there, and which bears the name of the king,
as well as from the monastery which Alfred piously caused to
be erected out of gratitude to the place of his refuge.
From the stronghold of Athelney Alfred doubtlessly
unfolded his standard — that golden dragon which once
shone in battle against Mercians and Britons, and wrhich,
after a long resistance, had been forced to quail before the
northern raven. As soon as the people in the neighbourhood
saw it, and knew that their king yet lived, they all joyfully
hastened to him, and courage began to return to the faint-
hearted. The nobles of Somerset especially were among the
first to join him with their followers, and to bring effective
assistance to the enterprises which were now again actively
carried on against the Danish hordes. The little army was
kept in constant exercise, in order to form the solid germ ot
a larger one. And even now it was sufficient to show the
enemy that they were not yet undisputed masters of the
country ; it was sufficient to proclaim to the dispirited in-
habitants of the rest of the Saxon districts, that the time of
their deliverance was at hand, and at the same time to sum-
mon them to arms. After a short respite had taken place,
and his skirmishes had been crowned with success, Alfred
thought that the moment was arrived when he might attempt
an open attack. In the seventh week after Easter, between
the 5th and 12th May, on a pre-arranged day, he moved from
his fortress to Egbertes-stan (Brixton2), lying to the east of
the forest of Selvvood3, which at that time formed a boundary
between Devonshire and Somerset. To this place nocked,
weapon in hand, the inhabitants of the neighbouring counties
of Somerset, Wilts, and those dwellers in Hants who had not
1 Vide Macaulay's History of England, i. 604.
2 Now called " Brixton Deverill," in Wilts.
* Instead of " Sealwudu," the pasture wood, Simeon of Durham, de Gest. Reg.
Angl. p. 681, gives " Mucelwudu," which seems to be ratification of the false
translation of Asser and Florence: Silva magna — the Welsh Coitmawr. Or in
seal, sel an adjective meaning great ?
THE V1CTOET AT ETHAKDITNE. 107
fled beyond sea1. Eejoicingly they greeted their beloved
king, who, after long suffering, stood before them as one risen
from the dead. Alfred, who now first saw an army again
gathered round him, enjoyed one night of quiet sleep, and the
next morning, starting at earliest dawn, took a north-eastern
direction, in order to reach the Danes, who still held their
camp at Chippenham. The army rested the following night
at Okely2, and then, without further delay, marched till they
came up with the enemy in the afternoon, at a place called
Eth&ndune3.
On the news of Alfred's reappearance, the Danes had here
hastily assembled all their forces, and now they stood pre-
pared to defend their plunder against its rightful possessors.
A most desperate conflict ensued. Alfred made his warriors *
advance in a compact phalanx4, and, thanks to these tactics, L
sustained without wavering the furious onsets of the North- J
men, and finally gained a complete victory over the enemy.
Many were slain during a hasty retreat ; and before the con-
quered army could reach the gates of their fortress, which
we may suppose to have been Chippenham itself, many pri-
soners were taken by the victors, as well as a large number
of cattle.
1 Gaiiner, v. 3168, mentions the names of some of the nobles:
Co est del best de Selewode
Ceolmer vint centre le e Cbude,
Od les barons de Sumersete,
De Wilteschire e de Dorsete.
De Hamteschire i vint Chilman
Ki les barons manda per ban ;
but a confirmation of this is nowhere to be found, and the name Ceolmer, which
immediately follows Selewode, seems very suspicious, as it may have originated in
a misconception of the Celtic Coitmawr, which is found in Asser.
2 Or Iglea. Supposed to be Leigh, now West bury, Wilts.
3 I have permitted myself to take the time of day from the Norman rhyming
Chronicler, v. 3189:
E lendemain, a hure de none
Done sunt venuz a Edensdone.
According to Simeon, Alfred arrived before Ethandune " post tertium diem,'
and fought from sunrise throughout a great part of the day, Ethandune, most
probably, is Edington, near Westbury.
4 Asser : Cum densa testudine atrociter belligerans.
108 TREATY WITH THE DANES.
The captives were immediately put to the sword, and
^Alfred began to Lay siege to the place1.
This was a very great and sudden change of fortune, such
as rarely occurs in the life of man. A few days made a
conquering general of the exiled and supposed dead king,
and he who so shortly before had been obliged to hide in
the wilderness, now saw his followers joyfully hastening to
his banner, and held the flower of the enemy's strength, fast
besieged in its fortress.
Fourteen days elapsed, and then the Danes, vanquished by
hunger, cold, and misery, and reduced to the extreme of
despair by their necessities, prayed Alfred to raise the siege.
They submitted to him ; he was at liberty to take as many
hostages as he pleased from the army, while they did not
require one man on his part ; an unaccustomed concession,
by which the Danes acknowledged themselves vanquished.
They also promised to observe this contract more faithfully
.than they had done their former ones, which they had so fre-
quently broken, and to quit the kingdom with all speed.
Alfred, pitying the wretched men2, once more accepted
their hostages, and received their oaths ; but if other and
much firmer security had not been given, it is probable that
he would have had to rue, as bitterly as he had heretofore
done, his confidence in the vows of the heathen. Guthorm,
who commanded this army, and who was by far"tlie most
powerful Viking who had yet appeared in England, caused
it to be notified to the King of Wessex that he was de-
sirous of embracing Christianity. There is no reason to
suppose that Alfred had made this step one of the conditions
of the treaty ; the first idea of it, even though insincere, and
inspired alone by present necessity, seems to have arisen in
the mind of the heathen. He himself ruled over Christian
subjects, whose religious faith was stronger than their war-
like courage ; and there were already becoming evident the
first signs of the victory acquired by the Christian doctrine
over the arms of its oppressors, which, in the course of years,
1 Later authors, as Brotnpton and Gaimar, make Hubba fall at Chippenham,
bnt in the previous year — resting their opinion on the fact that a funereal mound
existed there, bearing the name of Ubbelowe.
* Asser : " Sua ipsius misericordia motus."
GTJTHOEM'fc CDNTEESIOK AND BAPTISM, 10D
so frequently occurred. To no one could such a conversion
be more welcome than to Alfred. He fought not only for
the restoration of his. kingdom, but also for the national
faith, and he joyfully took advantage of the circumstance,
when the first Danish king declared his wish to embrace
that faith. Alfred immediately ratified the treaty, and the
Danes departed northwards. Seven weeks1 afterwards,
Gruthorm, accompanied by thirty of his noblest warriors,
appeared in Alfred's camp, which was again pitched in
Somersetshire, at Aller, a place not far from Athelney. It
must have been a proud and inspiring hour for Alfred, when,
amidst all the solemnities of the Church, he presented
Gruthorm for baptism, and became sponsor for him, giving
him the name of Athelstan : his country was free, his greatest
enemy become a Christian, and his steadfast heart beat high
with solemn triumph. Gruthorm, with his companions, who
had allowed themselves to be baptized with their prince,
tarried for twelve days in the Saxon camp. On the eighth
day the solemn ceremony of the chrism-loosing2 took place
at "Wedmore. This was performed by the Ealderrnan Ethel-
noth3.
The meeting of the two kings in the beginning of July had
yet another object. Not only in a spiritual manner through
this baptism was a way to be opened for a reunion and peace-
ful intercourse between the two Grerman races, but a worldly
league had to be established in a political point of view.
Wessex was freed from the Danes, but it had no power to
drive them from the rest of England. It was therefore a
wise step cf Alfred's to leave the baptized sea-king in posses-
sion of those English lands that for many years he had called
his own. This settlement of the Danes became in the end ai
real blessing to the island, for by degrees the two people
became bound together by the bonds of religion and com-j
merce. At Wedmore, where the first West Saxon WfEeha-'
1 Cliron. Sax. A, 878, iii. : " Wucan " seems to be a clerical error.
2 The clorismal was a white linen cloth, put on the head when the rite of
b;iptism was performed, and taken off at the expiration of eight days.
3 Asser, Oct-;vo die; chrism-lising, Chron. Sax.; chrismatis solutio, Asser
und Florent. Wigorn. are undoubtedly the same with Ethelwerd's " dux pariter
Mthelnoth abluit post lavacrum eundem in loco Vnedrnor," and Gaimar's " &
VVednior f'urent desaleez."
110 THE TREATY BETWEEN ALFRED AND GUTHORM.
gemot1 was held after the time of oppression, the following
arrangements were entered into2. Alfred and the West
Saxon Witan on the one hand, and Gruthorm and the nobles
and inhabitants of East Anglia on the other, agreed that the
boundary of the two kingdoms should commence at the moutfi
of the Thames, run along the river Lea to its source, and at
Bedford turn to the right along the Ouse as far as Watling
Street. According to this arrangement, there fell to Alfred's
share a considerable portion of the kingdom of Mercia, which
was thereby protected from the invasions of the Scandina-
vians. The remaining part of this treaty comprehended the
foundations of the laws of national commerce, which, derived
from this source, were received in common by both nations ;
the Were- Geld, a fine for murder, was also confirmed, and a
strict judicial inquiry instituted into other points of dispute,
of which many must have existed among the colonised war-
riors. Under the successors of both kings, all treaties were
subject to ecclesiastical control. On the twelfth day after his
baptism, Gruthorm and his companions took leave of Alfred,
who loaded them with rich presents3. The Danish king led
his people to Cirencester, where he remained quietly en-
camped with the largest portion of them during the year
879 ; but all those who refused to become Christians received
warning to depart beyond sea under the command of the
powerful Hasting4. Conformably to the tenor of the
agreement, the whole army ought to have abandoned that
part of Mercia ; but Alfred seems to have had neither will
nor power to enforce its instant removal. There was work
enough for him at home in re-establishing all that had been
destroyed ; and the re-uniting of the many ancient bonds and
relations which had been torn asunder, cost him more time
and trouble than the fortunate reconquering of his country
1 Kemble, the Saxons in England, ii. 251, assumes this as certain.
2 " jElfredes and Gu'Srumes f rid in." Ancient Laws and Institutes of England,
ed. Thorpe, i. 151, ff.
3 For Asser's " Multa et optima aedificia," Lappenberg rightly reads " in
beneficia," The Chron. Sax. also says, " aud he hine miclum and his geferan
mid feo weortude." Henric. Hunt. : " Multa munera." Simeon Dunelm. : " Multa
dona."
* Will. Malmesb. i?. § 121 ; and in the same words, Elinand, in Alberich'a
Chron. A. 880, ed. Liebnitz.
THE DANES ON THE CONTINENT. Ill
had done. G-uthorm also, who had played so great and suc-
cessful a part in lawless expeditions by sea and land, could
not tame himself down immediately to lead a quiet life in his
principality as a Christian ruler. The unappeasable longing
after plunder and adventures tempted him as strongly as
ever, and he still hoped to gratify it in some mode or an-
other.
The mighty stream in which the northern sea-warriors at
that time swept over the whole west of Europe was yet by
no means passed by. Many bold Yikings, with their un-
governable hordes, filled the Christian states of the Continent,
and their weak princes, with terror and dismay. Here and
there, truly, the heathens sustained a complete overthrow ;
but experience soon showed that they were not to be driven
away by one defeat. Although Alfred had chastised and
chased them from his dominions, he was obliged to hold him-
self in constant readiness to meet fresh assaults. Yet it
seemed as though he had inspired the enemy with a certain
reverence for him by his speedily-won victory, for a large
body of Danes, which in 879 had sailed up the Thames and
settled at Fulham, at the end of winter returned to the
Netherlands. Their leader, the terrible Hasting1, who had
already for many years filled the Prankish coast, the adjacent
country, and even the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, with
his terrible renown, thought it advisable to seek further
plunder in the kingdom of the Carlovingians. With wThat
interest the Saxons at that time watched the devastating foot-
steps of their adversaries, is, during the next period, evident
by the short notices in the Chronicles. The land of the
Franks suffered fearfully ; beginning at Grhent, the ravaging
army poured on along the banks of the rivers Maas, Scheldt,
Somme, and Seine, towards the interior ; Conde and Amiens
were laid waste, and at Haslo and Sau court decisive battles
were fought3. At the same time pirates overspread the
seas, and Alfred, anxious for the safety and defence of his
1 The authorities for the history of his actions are collected together by Lap-
penberg, p. 321, n. 3. It seems very probable to me that Hasting had been at
Ethandune and Chippenham, and came to Fulham from Cirencester by sea.
2 Chron. Sax. A. 880 to 885; with which may be compared the Prankish His-
tories of Hincmar, A. 880, and Annal. Vedast. A, 880, Pertz M. G. S.S. L
612, 618.
112 ATHELSTAN TAKES POSSESSION OF HIS KINGDOM,
country, did not delay to set out himself, with the few ships
he possessed, to protect his shores from robbery. In the open
sea he met and gave battle to four Danish transports; the
Saxons fought bravely, conquered two of them, and slaughtered
their crews. The other two made a more desperate resist-
ance, and only surrendered to the king when their defenders
were no longer able, from the blows and wounds they had re-
ceived, to hold their weapons1.
How did the baptized Athelstan reconcile himself to his
unwonted state of peace, when he heard the ancient battle-
cry resounding over the sea? All connexion with his coun-
trymen, whose principal strength was now swarming on the
Frisian and Prankish coasts, was to all intents and purposes
broken off by his adoption of Christianity. In the beginning
of the year 880, he went with his army into East Anglia,
and took possession of the dominions assigned to him by the
peace of Wedmore, and divided the lands among his followers.
But the change from a wandering to a settled life, and still
more the transformation of the old sea-robber's nature, could
not be effected all at once. Before he had surrendered to
Alfred's victorious arms and abjured heathenism, Isembart,
a near relation of the Prankish monarch, and who had been
exiled, owing to a quarrel with his king, was received as a
guest by Guthorm, and accompanied him in his incursion on
the west of England. After the peace was concluded, and
its arrangements put in operation, military affairs recalled
Isembart, and Athelstan made no scruple ^ of joining him in
his expedition. The faithless vassal and the newly-baptized
heathen devastated the country with fire and sword, as
fiercely as the last-comers from the north, until at last they
were most deservedly vanquished in the battle of Ludwig, near
Saucourt2. Thereupon Athelstan probably returned at once
to his own dominions ; but when, a few years later, some of
1 Chron. Sax. A. 882.
2 Guidn. by Alherich, A. 881, and Chron. S. Richarii, ap. Bouquet, viii. 27?.
The traditionary Gormo, of the Saxo-Grammat. lib. ix. : and, Gorm liin Enskf,
(Gorm the Englishman), who was baptized in England, Chronic. Erici Regis ap.
Langebek Scriptt. Rer. Danic. i. 158; Gurmund, Willi. Malm. ii. § 121, am!
Aiberich ; and Guaramund, in Chron. Rich, are certainly one and the saint
person. The Anglo-Saxon form of the name is Guthrum. I have employed
with Kemble. \he complete Northern Guporm, i. e. the Battle-worm,
GUTHOEM-ATHELSTAN'S PERFIDY. 113
fche Vanquished Northmen appeared on the coast of Kent,
Alfred suspected that the ruler of East Anglia made common
cause with them. In the summer of 885 they landed near
Rochester, and prepared to besiege the castle, whilst they sur-
rounded themselves with a rampart. The ancient inhabitants
of Kent suffered much from their attacks. They were still
occupied with their fortifications when Alfred with his troops
levied in Kent, which had returned to its old allegiance
since the victory of 878, advanced to oppose these aggreks-
sioiiF. The heathen did not venture to make a stand against
him from their ramparts ; but made a hasty retreat to their
ships, and put to sea1. Horses and prisoners fell to the
share of the Saxons. In the mean while Athelstan and his
people had openly broken the treaty of "Wedmore. Their
perjury was shown by the fact that they neglected to fill up
the vacancies which occurred, by death or other circum-
stances, in the number of hostages who were in Alfred's
power ; and when a part of the fleet vanquished at Eo-
chester arrived at Beamfleot (Bemfleet), in Essex, they en-
tered into alliance with it, and recommenced their former
misdeeds2.
Alfred, who still remained in Kent, assembled and manned
all his available naval force to punish the faithless Athel-
stan, his godson and sworn ally, for his broken oath. The
fleet received instructions to show no mercy to the East
Saxon and Anglian shores3, but to treat them as an enemy's
country, and to do them all possible damage. At the
mouth of the Stour, the Saxons met sixteen ships of the
Viking ; a desperate sea-fight ensued, and the Northmen
were completely defeated and put to the sword. Their
1 Chron. Sax. Ethelwerd, iv. 516, Asser, p. 483.
2 Lappenberg, p. 326, n. has endeavoured to connect Ethelwerd, iv. 516, where
almost every word presents an enigma, with Chron. Sax. A. 885: " Se here on
Eastenglum braee frid wrS Aelfred cyriing." His judgment is far preferable
to that of the editor of the Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 516, n. d. who thinks that
doubtful period originally belonged to the year 894. Ethelwerd's Chronicle
especially is come down to us in a most deplorable condition — it cannot possibly
have been composed in such barbarous and unintelligible Latin.
8 Chron. Sax. 885; Asser, 483; Florent. i. 100: the " praedendi causa" of
the two last does not surprise me; Alfred had every right to allow the possessors
jf those provinces to be pillaged, as soon as they showed themselves inimical
to him.
114 DEFEAT or ALFRED'S FLEET.
vessels, with the treasures contained in them, were carried
off by the conquerors ; but as they were about to leave the
mouth of the river, on their return home, they were suddenly
attacked by the East Anglian and other Vikings, with a naval
force superior to their own, and saw their scarcely-won vic-
tory snatched from them. The results of this misfortune
might have been very important to Alfred and his nation, for
Gruthorm seems to have called a mighty ally to his aid,
the renowned Eollo, who without delay hastened across the
Channel from the siege of Paris to his old companion in arms1 ;
but we have no record to show whether or not the quarrel
was once more decided by force of arms ; according to con-
temporary history, England now enjoyed for many years
the long-desired blessing of being free from the attacks of
the Danes. Gruthorm- Athelstan remained monarch of East
Anglia to the end of his life, and conversion made rapid
strides among his people Alfred lived to see those peace-
ful and civilising plans which he had endeavoured to set
on foot by this arrangement carried out with success.
But the king had to exert himself in another district also,
to repair the mischief which the incursions of the northern
barbarians had caused, and to endeavour as much as possible
to secure to the original German inhabitants their material
and spiritual possessions. That part of Mercia which, after
the peace of Wedmore, the Danes had been forced to eva-
cuate, was now much more closely bound to the king-
dom of Wessex than East Anglia, yielded by Alfred to
Guthorm under a very loose title. Tiie boundary-line, with
which we are already acquainted, left undecided where the
independent Anglo- Christian population of the north of
Mercia joined the Scandinavian heathen colonists. The
strength of this district, which formed the heart of England,
lay in the west, especially in the present Worcestershire,
which since the time of their arrival had been inhabited by
the powerful Anglian family of the Hwiccas. During the
1 This account depends upon Norman authors alone. Dudo, p. 78; Will.
Gernet. ii. 4 (both by Duchesne) ; Wace Eoman de Rou, v. 1364, ft. ed. Pluquet
l/uppenberg, p. 327, was the first to throw light on the misconceptions of the
historian of the middle ages, who asserts a treaty to have been concluded
between Rollo and Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred, or even with Alfrei.
himself. Alsternut,Alstan, Athelstan, mean no other than the baptized Guthorra
ETHELRED OF MERCIA. 115
sovereignty of the Mercian kings, which was founded on
the union of many distinct territories, this district had
often distinguished itself by the bravery of its people under
the command of leaders from its hereditary royal family.
To it was assigned the task of protecting the borders of
Mercia from the Celtic Welsh, and it must therefore have
been of the greatest use to Wessex also, until the time when
Wales acknowledged the supremacy of Cerdic. Alfred
willingly recognised this service as soon as he possessed the
power to do so. He knew how to reward those men whose
assistance had enabled his family to retain that country.
Ethelred the Ealderman, and hereditary leader of the
Hwiccas, was entrusted with the viceroyship of the whole of
Christian Mercia, and became closely bound to Alfred by
receiving the hand of his daughter Ethelfleda. A complete
union of the Anglian and Saxon dominions was not to be
thought of at th'at time ; it remained for William the Con-
queror and his successors to destroy, with an iron hand, the
ancient barriers between the West Saxon and Mercian laws
and customs. Ethelred, on the departure of the Danes in the
year 8801, began to work in his capacity of prince in the service
of his liege. He assembled the Diet, and ratified its decrees,
always subject, however, to the approval of the West Saxon
king. Faithfully and steadily Ethelred performed his duties,
and restored to the district placed under his command that
peace and quiet which had long been strangers to it. At
Ins side stood Werfrith, the excellent Bishop of Worcester,
who laboured with equal fidelity in his vocation, and was
bound to his king by the ties of a common love of activity.
The indefatigable efforts of both these men are indisputably
evidenced by the fact that the Scandinavian influence did
not penetrate into the middle of England. Their endea-
vours to effect this end, form the subject of the following
sections, as far as the scanty records we possess of their
"ives will enable us to investigate them ; together with the
relation of the different military events which followed the
departure of the Danes, and an attempt to show in what
manner our Alfred ruled in his kingdom, and lived in his home
during the few happy years of peace.
1 The documents are in Kemble, n. 311, A. 880, ini. y
116 ALFRED'S COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE.
V.
ALFRED'S EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH AND STATE.
" AMIDST the deepest darkness of barbarism," writes a great
historian respecting Alfred1, " the virtues of an Antoninus, the
learning and valour of a Csesar, and the legislative spirit of a
Lycurgus, were manifested in this patriotic kingj^// And we
may truly look in vain, either in the history of ancient times,
the middle ages, or modern days, for a similar example of all
these beautiful features combining in such perfect harmony.
Admiration rises to astonishment when we consider how this
man, by his own unassisted efforts, acquired so many great
and varied qualities, whilst during nearly the whole of his
life he had to combat with the most adverse circumstances.
On this account a comparison with Frederic the Great 01
\ Charlemagne does not go far in enabling us to form a correc
I idea of this distinguished King of Wessex. ^
~~"We have already seen how, with the courage of a Ca3sar,
with true German endurance in time of need, and valour in
critical moments, Alfred struggled, ventured, and won ; how,
when the days of trial and suffering were past, he laid with
his sword the foundations of a happier future for his island.
Now he opposed the enemy with totally different weapons :
that which had been conquered by the sword could only be
protected by a higher state of civilisation. There is much
that is very appropriate in the comparison with Lycurgus,
especially in reference to the political condition of England
at that time ; but the image is too vague and remote. We
must rather, as we proceed, occasionally cast a glance at the
connected and contemporary nations of the Continent.
As in the extensive territories governed by the successors
of Charlemagne, a number of Teutonic families had united to
form a great state upon the basis of a conquered people, so
in England, after the lapse of centuries, the union of many
German and Celtic tribes under one general head had been
at last effected. But scarcely had the numerous small states
* Gio!)on, in the " Outlines of the History of the World— Miscellaneous Works;
ti. 3rd ed. 1814," written in his youth, and well worthy of attention.
ALFRED'S MODE or GOVERNMENT. 117
entered into this union when they sustained a sudden and
severe shock from barbarians allied to them by descent, whose
long-continued hostility threatened them with destruction.
That which had befallen the Franks, chiefly owing to the con-
quests of Hollo in Neustria, the dividing of their monarchy
into many single governments under powerful dukes and
barons, would unquestionably have followed in England, and
centuries must have elapsed before the country would have re-
covered its unity. Nothing but Alfred's patriotism, courage,
and foresight, joined to the brilliant successes of his heirs,
would have sufficed to avert the consequences of the north-
ern invasion from the Saxon people, until the period when
the old Berserker fury, cooled by the influence of the Ro-
mish Church, admitted of a beautiful combination of the two
elements.
What were now the principles which guided Alfred in his
labours ? He must have painfully experienced the collapse
of that political fabric of which his grandfather had been so
proud, and the stability of which his father's actions had
tended to undermine. Was it not natural, now that the
kingdom was placed in other circumstances, and rescued
from its former evil condition, to hold the reins of government
more tightly than before, and out of the loose political rela-
tions to create a well-compacted state ? The scanty records
that have descended to us through so many centuries show
that Alfred did endeavour to take a step of this kind. In-
deed, the hero has lately been reproached with having despo*
tically attempted to narrow the ancient liberties of his people.
This is not the place to refute such a charge, which must be
met by remembering the higher necessity which at that time
was at work in all the great Teutonic families, uniting and
centralising them under one mighty leader. What in our
time is comprehended in the term freedom, is indeed as far
removed as heaven from earth, from the independence of a
few half-civilised communities, and in the progress of history
it has been frequently promoted even by tyrants. Did Alfred
at any time act more despotically than Charlemagne, Otho I.,
or Henry III., whose judicious and stringent measures all
admirer On the contrary, we recognise with pleasure the
mild, but on that account not less effective method, by which
he undertook to change the existing relations of men aiid
ilS MERCIA, KENT, AND WESSEX.
things, and thus to prepare for a better and totally different
polity than that of his ancestors. His innovations* were more
of an ethical than of a political nature : it excites astonish-
ment, that after the dissolution of all political ties he allowed
the national constitution to remain so nearly in its former
state ; whilst, with a view to the welfare of his people, and
with a correct perception of the dangers that threatened, he
took that path of moral education in which no other prince,
even amongst those called " the great," had ventured to tread
with such decision and energy. But before this assertion
can be verified, it will be necessary to glance at the condition
of the country, and at Alfred's activity in its restoration.
We have already briefly considered the public condition of
the Anglo-Saxons under Ethelwulf. By the attack of the
Danes, the Cerdician kingdom had been brought to the very
verge of ruin. After it was saved from annihilation by Alfred,
but little change took place in its component parts.
He had indeed lost the supremacy over the states on the
east coast ; under Egbert it had never been very definite,
but now by the conversion and settlement of G-uthorm it
was in some measure restored. The three other territories
which composed the kingdom of "Wessex remained as before.
Mercia, which was the first to succumb to the northern
hordes, had ceased to be an independent kingdom ; and when
a great part of the district fell again into Alfred's power by
the treaty of Wedmore, he instituted a government differ-
ing essentially from that of his other provinces. Kent and
its dependencies had become a prey to the enemy at the first
attack — for the nature of the country presented no means
of defence. But when the conquerors were obliged to
cross the Thames, there was no question of again making
this an independent state. The old traditions of the Jutish
princes had ceased to be repeated by the people, but law
and custom remained unchanged so long as one peculiar
blood ran unmixed in their veins. Alfred did not think of
interfering with this nationality : it had characterised his
mother, and the rulers of the country had never made any
stand against it.
The custom of appointing the Crown-Prince of Wessex to
the sovereignty of Kent had been abolished in the reigu
of Alfred's brother ; the annexation of this district to
WESSEX THE CENTRE OF THE KINGDOM. 119
Wessex was already much more complete than that of
Mercia. The ancient provinces longest withstood the general
rain ; and it was from the most westerly district, wrhich had
scarcely ceased to be Celtic, and where the Saxon plough
had turned but shallow furrows, that the common deliverance
proceeded. Wessex now once more formed the centre of
the kingdom, the unstable Britons returned to their former
allegiance, and never, so long as the Saxon hero lived, did
they venture on an insurrection ; never, by union with the
Scandinavians, did they threaten to become dangerous to
their conqueror.
Little is known of the mode in which Alfred governed
these lands, where, although they were not extensive, and
the nature of the country presented but slight obstacles, so
much difference existed in origin, language, manners, and
customs. Tbe authorities mention many earls, as Ethelnoth,
Ealderman of Somerset, Ethelhelm of Wilts, Ethelbald of
Kent, but their activity is by no means to be compared with
that of earlier rulers, who nourished in the time of Ethel-
wulf. They seem to have been merely officers of the court
— their former hereditary sovereignty over their particular
districts begins to disappear. No Ealstan is seen amongst
the superior clergy ; however distinguished some individuals
may have been with w^hom Alfred filled his episcopal sees, he
never allowed them any further participation in the actual
affairs of state than appertained to their offices. These are
sufficiently distinct indications as to the progressive state of
the royal prerogative ; as Alfred alone was able to free his
country, so he was the principal also in reaping the fruit of
his success.
There is nothing which implies any violent proceeding.
It was natural that the common welfare should require a
firmer bond, and this bond could only be cemented by those
hands which had so valiantly wielded the sword. The people
made no complaint of any infringement on their rights
they rather in later days, when the yoke of the haughty
CQnm.iG>ror^weio;hed heavily upon them, remembered their
with imdinrnTnahed affection, and gratefully as-
cribed tn l"m fit may be unjustly) every advantage, every
t which t
ey continued to I'lijity} Prom
feeling arose the assertion made m ih& twelfth century,
120 THE WITENAGKEMOT.
that Alfred first divided the country into shires, hundreds,
and tithings1. But these divisions had existed from the first
settlement of the Germanic race in England, and formed the
peculiar basis of the state, only in Alfred's time their limits
were distinctly fixed, and on account of the localisation of
their political and social relations, the ancient communities
of the Mark and the Gra fell into decay.
It may be supposed that Alfred, after the spoliation of
public and private property, re-arranged the boundaries, al-
though the assertion that he caused a formal survey and
measurement of the lands to be made, seems to have been
taken from the History of the Doomsday Book2.
In the time of Alfred, the way was at least prepared for
another important change — -the separation of the judicature
from the government. Hitherto, the earl and the prefect
had administered justice in their own districts, and the king
in the Witenagemot ; but it seems that at that time special
judges were appointed, besides the officers of state and gover-
nors of the provinces3. The ranks of the earl and prefect
remained the same as before ; but they were enjoined to
watch more strictly over the public affairs of their districts,
and especially over the means of defence and the military
preparations4,
In the council of the nation, the Witenagemot, the affairs
of the community were discussed and arranged according to
ancient custom. The district tribunals were likewise suffered
to continue, although with the limited power of the earl their
importance became much lessened.
Amongst the Saxons and Angles, the Witenagemot was no
longer confined to one particular season of the year ; no men-
tion is made of a March or May sitting of the council, but as
1 Vide the Normans, Ingulph. p. 870, and Will. Malmesb. ii. 122. Asser men-
tions nothing of the kind.
2 This question is admirably handled by Kemble, the Saxons in England, i.
*47, 248.
3 Documents of 884, in Smith's Bede, p. 771, whose authenticity is, however,
questionable. We shall have to speak afterwards of the " Judices" of Asser.
Ingulph. p. 870, is of some importance. He says: " Praefectos vero provincianr.n
(qui antea vicedomini) in duo officia divisit, id est in judices, quos nunc justiciaries
vocamus, et in vice comites, qui adhuc idem nomen retinent."
* Perhji ps this is meant by " custodes regni constituit," Roger de Wen iover, i
863.
STEPS TOWARDS CENTEALISATION. 12
often as circumstances required, nobles and freemen were
accustomed to meet their king at his vill, or at some other
suitable place near at hand, to take counsel together. We
know of only two West Saxon Witenngemots being held in
Alfred's reign. In 878 the contract was concluded with
Guthorm at Wedmore, in presence of the Witan ; and be-
tween the years 880 and 885, a meet ing of the royal council
took place at Langedene, when King Ethelwulf's arrange-
ment of the inheritance was ratified, and Alfred's disposition
of nis estates approved1. These prove satisfactorily how much
the power of the king differed from that of the Normans and
Plantagenets, whose usurpations roused that free, popular
spirit, so carefully fostered by Alfred, to carry on the vic-
torious conflicts which resulted in the formation of parlia-
ments. Alfred never did more than the necessities of the
country required from him ; in the south of England, steps
had been taken towards centralisation long before his time.
He did not attempt to restore that which had fallen into
decay, and which would have acquired fresh strength by union ;
wherever he found any vitality in the old arrangements, he
infused new energy into them ; he even allowed some parts
of the kingdom to remain divided. It is wonderful to reflect
on all the important changes which the constitution of Great
Britain has undergone in the course of its development.
An essential point in the barrier between Wessex and Mercia
continued to exist. Language and custom still maintained a
division between the Anglian and Saxon population, and a
part of Mercia yet gave allegiance to a native race of princes.
These are the reasons of the separate government of that
province, and the elevated position assumed by the Ealder-
man Ethelred. He, appears as viceroy, governor, and ruler
of the kingdom of Mercia2. His wife Ethelfleda, the eldest
daughter of Alfred, was on a perfect equality with him in
rank, and even in political consequence ; in accordance with
the ancient Mercian usage, she was not only the wife of the
prince (cwen), but was herself endowed with power as
lady (hlsefdige). But as Burhred's marriage had alreadr
1 Kemhle Cod. Dipl. No. 314, and Saxons in England, ii. 251.
2 " Subrpgulus," Florent. i. 113. Even " rex," Ethel werd, iv. 518. "Mer.
riorum gentis ducatum gubernans procurator, in dominio regni Merciorum," Cod
Dipl. No. 106G, 1068. But also " comes," Asser, p. 489, and Florent. i. 101.
L22 CONNEXION BETWEEN MERCIA AND WESSEX.
testified the union which subsisted between the two states, so
Ethelred and Ethelfleda indicate the progress of a closer con-
nexion, for they are not invested with the royal title. Alfred
himself is called King of Mercia. Nothing was there effected
without his consent ; every decree, gift, and exchange, required
his ratification. As far as we know, there was never any
misunderstanding or disagreement between Alfred and his
earl ; and this arose from the strictly honourable character of
the son-in-law, as well as from the close relationship between
them. Ethelred was devoted body and soul to his lord and
king ; he entered with perfect sympathy into all Alfred's wise
thoughts and schemes, and never sought to gratify his own
ambition at the expense of the general unanimity.
A fortunate circumstance permits us to gain a deeper in-
sight into the affairs of Mercia than is possible with regard
to "Wessex. The documents relating to Ethelred' s govern-
ment are more numerous, and afford far more interesting
details, than those which treat of Alfred. In many of the
documents containing the resolutions and decisions of the
Mercian council, special mention is made of Alfred. A
"Witenagemot over which Ethelred presided, was held at Eis-
borough in the year 883. Another took place in 888 ; in 896
a full assembly met at Gloucester, and there is another, the
date of which is not so exactly stated. Soon after Ethel-
red's accession1, a council was called concerning the arrange-
ment of some property held by Bishop Werff ith. The man-
ner and form of the proceedings, and the persons who were
authorised to take part in them, are all described in a docu-
ment evidently prepared at Gloucester, the remaining con-
tents of which deserve to be translated from the original
Saxon, as a specimen of the method of managing affairs. It
runs thus :
" In the name of Christ our Lord and Saviour. After
eight hundred and ninety-six years had passed since his birth,
in the fourteenth Indiction, the Ealderman Ethelred sum-
moned the Mercian Witan, bishops, nobles, and all his forces2,
to appear at Gloucester ; and this he did with the knowledge
1 Vide Kemble, the Saxons in England, ii. 251 ; and Cod. Dipl. No. 1066,
1068, 1073, 1075; 327.
2 " Bisceopas and aldermen, and all his dftgu'Se;" the last word correctly ex-
presses the idea of power in the middle ages, i. e. military strength.
MERCIAN DOCUMENT, A. 896. 123
and approbation of King Alfred. There they took counsel
together how they might the most justly govern their com-
munity before God and the world, and many men, clergy as
well as laity, consulted together respecting the lands, and
many other matters which were laid before them. Then Bishop
Werfrith spoke to the assembled Witan, and declared that
all forest land which belonged to Wuduceastre, and the re-
venues of which King Ethelbald once bestowed on "Worcester
for ever, should henceforth be held by Bishop Werfrith for
wood and pasture ; and he said that the revenue should be
taken partly at Bislege, partly at Aefeningas, partly at
Scorranstane, and partly at Thornbyrig, according as he chose.
Then all the "Witan answered that the Church must make
good her right as well as others. Then Ethelwald (Ealder-
man ?) spoke : he would not oppose the right, the Bishops
Aldberht and Alhun had already negotiated hereon, he would
at all times grant to each church her allotted portion. So he
benevolently yielded to the bishops' claim, and commanded his
vassal Ecglaf to depart with Wulfhun, the priest of the place
(Gloucester? — properly, the inhabitant of the place). And
he caused all the boundaries to be surveyed by them, as he
read them in the old books, and as King Ethelbald had for-
merly marked them out and granted them. But Ethelwald
still desired from the bishops and the diocese, that they
should kindly allow him and his son Alhmund to enjoy the
profits of the land for life ; they would hold it only as a loan,
and no one might deprive them of any of the rights of pas-
ture, which were granted to him at Langanhrycge at the
time when God gave him the land. And Ethelwald declared
that it would be always against God's favour for any one
to possess it but the lord of that church to whom it had
been relinquished, with the exception of Alhmund ; and that
he, during his life, would maintain the same friendly spirit of
co-operation with the bishop. But if it ever happened that
Alhmund should cease to recognise the agreement, or if he
should be pronounced unworthy to keep the land, or thirdly,
if his end should arrive, then tie lord of the church should
enter into possession, as the Mercian Witan had decided
at their assembly, and pointed out to him in the books.
This took place with the concurrence of the Ealderman
Ethelred, of Ethelfleda, of the Ealdermen Ethulf, Ethelferth,
124 BISHOP WEEFKITH.
and Alhhelm, of the Priests Ednoth, Elfrsed, Werferth and
Ethelwald, of his own kinsmen, Ethelstan and Ethelhun, and
likewise of Alhmund his own son. And so the priest of the
place and Ethelwald' s vassal rode over the land, first to Gin-
n-ethlaege and Boddimbeorg, then to Smececumb and Sen-
getlege, then to Heardanlege also called Dryganleg, and as
far as Little Na3gleslege and the land of Ethelferth. So
Ethelwald' s men pointed out to him the boundaries as they
were denned and shown in the ancient books1."
Bishop Werfrith, who has been before mentioned, was the
highest ecclesiastical dignitary of Mercia ; he took the prin-
cipal part in the discussions of the Witenagemot relative to
his peculiar affairs, and also assumed a more important posi-
tion with regard to the arrangement of secular matters than
the Archbishop of Canterbury seems to have done at that
time in Wessex. A number of documents arranging dona-
tions and inheritances, testify his zealous adhesion to ter-
ritorial rights and tenures, and his eager desire to extend
the possessions of the see of Worcester2.
The resolutions made at Gloucester were also signed by
Ethelfleda, who probably sat on the throne with her husband.
There appear to have been ealdermen who took the highest
rank amongst the lay counsellors ; as in "Wessex they ruled
over single districts, but had no power over life and
deed3. There was a careful distinction made between them
and the rest of the assembly, which consisted of free
landowners, to whom a full participation in the general
government was assigned. The clergy seem to have been
completely divided from the laity ; two bishops attended the
meeting — they were ranked next to Werfrith, and pro-
bably filled the sees of Hereford and Lichfield. This Witen-
agemot presents a much more complete form than any of
the previous ones in the history of Wessex. In particular
instances the mutual relations of the Euler, the Possessor,
and the Server, were very similar in Wessex and Mercia,
and a closer inspection of the laws will bring this mors
evidently before us.
1 Cod. Dipl. No. 1073.
» Cod. Dipl. Nos. 305, 315, 325, 327, 1071.
» Their names are given in Cod. Dipl. Nos. 1066, 1068.
REBUILDING OF LONDON. 125
It was a circumstance of great consequence, to Mercia, that
London, the old commercial mart of the island, lay within
its jurisdiction, on the extreme south-eastern boundary of
the territory which had been arranged by the treaty of Wed-
more. In the year 880, Alfred formally installed the Eari
of Mercia as governor of London, after the place had been
rebuilt1, and rendered once more habitable, for it had often
suffered severely from fire and pillage, and the ravages of the
Danes. Alfred must have laid siege to London before
accomplishing this, for a troop of Northmen yet occupied
the ruins ; and when all those Angles and Saxons who had
either been dispersed by flight, or for long years had groaned
in the service of the Danes, again returned under his rule,
the king himself led them to the restoration of their only
important city2. And this name was then appropriate to
London exclusively, according to our present ideas. Although
there is no information given concerning its commerce and
wealth until the following century, yet from its former im-
portance in the days of British and Boman power, from its
subsequent rapid elevation, and from its incomparable advan-
tages of situation, we may gather that it contained a popula-
tion which industriously exported the country's produce,
wool and corn, and that foreigners from various continental
nations brought their goods to this great port, which was
destined to become the greatest in the world. What other
towns could at that time compete with London ? In Exeter,
Dorchester, Wareham, Dover, and other places near the
coast, a maritime trade was perhaps carried on ; but pros-
perity was only beginning to dawn on these and on
other towns in the interior of the island, many of which,
such as Sherborne, Winchester, Canterbury, Worcester,
and Gloucester, were indebted for the few advantages they
had acquired, to ecclesiastical influences, or the occasional
presence of the court, which latter circumstance gave birth
to the towns of Beading, Chippenham, Wantage, and
others. It is true, that in many places the almost impreg-
nable Boman walls, by affording protection against the
1 Asser, p. 489: " Londoniam civitatem honorifice restauravit et habitabilew
fecit, quam genero suo Aetheredo Merciorum comiti commendavit servandara. "
Chron. Sax. Florent. i. 101 ; Ethelwerd, iv. 517.
126 EXTENSION OF COMHEECE AND CITILISATION.
Scandinavians, tended to overcome the dislike the Germans
felt to living in cities. Each nation alternately besieged, or
took shelter behind, these ramparts. A more extensive com-
merce, and an increasing magnificence in the royal court and
the palaces of the bishops, were the first agents in the ad-
vancement of the English maritime and inland cities. During
Alfred's reign this development of so important a branch of
civil life was very evident. But his people, nobles and com-
moners, poor and rich, still preferred forest and plain to
places fenced and walled ; and the corn-field and the pasture
were sources of more profit to them than the inhospitable
sea.
Still the king and his household havl no fixed residence.
Like his forefathers, he journeyed from one royal fortress to
another, as circumstances guided. We gain the most certain
information of Alfred's presence in particular localities when-
ever military affairs called him to a post of duty. In the
summer of 897 he was at Winchester, which, under his suc-
cessors, became a capital city1. According to one document,
he stayed at a place called "Wulfamere, in the year 898. In
the following year he had an interview with Earl Ethelred,
Archbishop Plegmund, and Bishop Werfrith2, at Celchyth ;
from his signature to Mercian documents it may be pre-
sumed that he was present at the councils then held in that
province.
The signature of the king was either simply "Kex," or "Bex
Saxonum," or " Dei gratia rex Saxonum." His court already
represented the increasing power and splendour of the king-
dom ; it may be plainly seen how state officers began to arise
from the former nobles of the country, how the two are occa-
sionally blended together, and how the dignities peculiarly
connected with the court at last assume a definite form. In
different years we learn the names of individual ealdermen
(duces) ; these are, besides Ethelred the inferior sovereign,
Ethelhelm of Wiltshire, Beocca, Ethelwald, Ethelnoth from
a Mercian district, Ceolwulf, Ceolmund of Kent, Wulf'red of
Hampshire, Beorhtwulf of Essex, Ordulf, Wullaf, Garulf,
Byrhtnoth, who no longer as of old governed their particular
provinces, only one here and there among them appears to
1 Chron. Sax. A. 897. 2 Cod. Dipl. No. 234, 1047.
COURT AND GOVERNMENT OFFICERS. 127
Lave been invested with the title and employed in the service
of the king. Thus Ethelhelm, Ealderman of Wilts, Ealder-
man Beocca : Sighelm, and Athelstan, of whose rank nothing
exact is known, were charged with missions to Rome. There
are also two other nobles, Wulfred and Ethelred, who do not
bear the title of either thane or ealderman1. In the year 892
Elfric is called a royal treasurer (tbesaurarius, hordere, vide
Athelstan, legg. i. 3), in 897 Egwulf is said to be a marshal
(strator regis, cyninges horsPegn), in 892 Sigewulf2 is desig-
nated a cup-bearer (pincerna, byrel ? vide Beowulf, v. 2316,
Cod. Exon. 161, 8) ; all three filled the highest offices about
Alfred. Lucum on is called the king's reeve. Royal thanes were
a kind of inferior chiefs under the ealderman, as Eadulf of
Sussex. Ethelferth was termed the king's neat-herd3. A cer-
tain Beornwulf was burgrave of Winchester. Wulfric, who had
been marshal before Egwulf, and died in 897, held at the same
time the office of Wealhgerefa, or Welsh reeve, which most
probably consisted in the superintendence and jurisdiction of
the dependent Britons who might be found in Alfred's service,
and particularly on his lands in the west of the kingdom4.
Although these few accounts are very meagre, yet they aid us
_^ a correct idea of the life which Alfred led as king.
Jut his efficiency as a monarch was of much greater and |
'more recognised importance in legislation ; it was here that f
he endeavoured to give a moral education to his people, and
to establish entirely new principles on the foundation of the
old ones. His well-preserved code of laws gives the most
accurate and valuable material for an inquiry into this subject.
The idea has been long since formed that Alfred was in the
truest sense of the word peculiarly the legislator of his people ;
we are told that " amidst the tumult of arms and the din of
warlike instruments5" he found time to complete this great
work. We know however, that during many years of his
1 Kemble, the Saxons in England, ii. 128, with quotations from Florence; Cod.
Dipl. No. 1065.
2 Cod. Dipl. No. 320.
3 " Cynges geneat," Chron. Sax. A. 897.
4 Chron. Sax. A. 897 ; with which compare Kemble, Saxons, ii. 178, 179.
5 u Ille inter fremitus armorum et stridores lituonam leges tulit," occuis ill a
manuscript of Wilh. Malmesb. Hardy il. § 122.
128 ALFBED AS LEGISLATOR.
reign, peace was enjoyed in England, and we may venture to
conclude that the elaboration of his code must have occupied
him at a time when he had less of other matters to engage
his attention. The designation of lawgiver is strictly speak-
ing erroneous : he created no new laws, his aim was simply
to restore, to renovate, to improve. In every part of his
dominions Alfred met with existing laws upon which he
could take footing, but after the struggle for freedom, altered
circumstances required fresh arrangements, and the closer
connexion of the component parts of the kingdom, and the
elevation of the royal prerogative, called for a correction and
revision of the old laws, so tbat a more comprehensive system
of legislation was necessary.
Amongst particular tribes, and subsequent to the con-
version to Christianity, the ancient laws had for some
centuries acquired a durable character by being committed
to writing, and a perfect written language was formed in
the West Saxon dialect much earlier than in that of any
other German people. These circumstances, happily for
the British Island, tended to limit the power of the clergy
there, in a much, greater degree than was possible on the
Continent, and besides, made the German language the
vehicle of the laws, so that it was not until the arrival of the
Eomanised Normans that tlje_Eiig1ish ppppl^ W^TP judged and
sentenced in a language thny did nnt understand. In former
"clays, Kent, Wessex, and Mercia, had each its own laws in its
own dialects, and both these were closely allied. All the
people were of German origin. When Alfred undertook the
work, in which he was faithfully assisted by the advice and
co-operation of the wise and great men of his nation, he had
before him the Kentish collection of Ethelbert, the first
Christian king, with the supplemental additions of his suc-
cessors, HlothhaBre, Eadric, and Wihtrad ; his own ancestor
lua caused the West Saxon laws to be compiled ; and the
law-book of the great Offa was used in Mercia. There was
much in the three, of which, on inspection, he entirely ap-
proved, but several points did not please him, and these, i>y
the advice and consent of his counsellors, he rejected ; mean-
while, he had some intention of putting his own ideas in their
stead, but he knew not whether they would be approved b}
-iLFRED'S LAWS. 129
his successors1. Ina's collection was the only one received
$ntire into the Codex, which was chiefly applicable to the
condition of the West Saxons. A few articles were omitted
here and there from the Kentish and Mercian laws, but re-
search into this matter is not possible, as Ofta's book is lost.
Thus the substance of many particular laws was included
in the general work, and the principal parts of the old
Teutonic general and provincial law by this means attained
a wider signification and importance. It is superfluous in a
biography of the king to enter into a closer examination of
the peculiarities of the Anglo-Saxon laws, especially as this
subject has been successfully handled by many learned men,
in books that are universally accessible. But the necessity of
inquiring into the exact opinions and acts of the king requires
a notice of those points where his altering hand is discernible.
The motives which actuated him in his work of reformation
were twofold ; one, the high responsibility attached to the
exercise of royal authority, and the other, his peculiarly
earnest desire of infusing Christian principles into the ancient
national laws derived from Paganism, and even taking these
principles as a fresh foundation. Whenever traces of this
spirit appear in his Codex, we may recognise the influence of
Alfred, by whom new rules of action were thus created, or at
least pointed out to posterity.
The laws of King Ina present a striking picture of the inse-
curity and rude licentiousness which existedthroughoutWessrx
in his time. The distinctions of rank which had been preserved
amongst the people in their wanderings, had been put on a dif-
ferent footing by the division of landed property, therefore the
Were-geld, inflicted on all freemen, had been but little effi-
cacious in preventing constant breaches of the peace and
never-ending feuds. The Church had from its commencement
assumed the civil rights of the heathen priesthood, as well as the
relation of conqueror to the subj ugated native inhabitants, who
were almost reduced to the condition of serfs, and its daily in-
leasing acquirements of land kept the public legal aftairs in
perpetual confusion. Ina's book chiefly consists of a list of
1 " Forpam me waes uncud hwaet paes pam lician wolde pe softer it* wa?rc:i.
Introduction to Alfred's Laws, by Thorpe, "Ancient Laws and [natitttlf&ol
England," i. 58.
K
130 ALFRED'S LAWS.
punishments for breaches of the peace, for quarrels, murder,
robbery, and injury to forest and cattle ; or else it makes pro-
visions for the conditions of freedom and general government
of the slaves, and particularly of the numerous Welsh in the
western part of the kingdom, who had hitherto been in an
almost lawless condition. Alfred adopted much of this into his
book ; in some instances he made wise alterations. Formerly
different punishments had been awarded for stealing money,
horses, and bee-hives ; now they were all dealt with in an
equally severe manner, but a higher degree of punishment
was adjudged for robbery from the person; in other re-
spects, particularly in cases of bodily injury, he made a much
more strict and extensive regulation than his ancestor1.
The ancient law concerning boc-land (land granted by
writings), which was to be held by the same family, and to
descend to the male heirs, he likewise caused to be preserved
in all its force, as it appears in its most complete form in the
Mercian law-book2.
A recognition of the rights of property, and the intrusion
of elements decidedly foreign to the old Teutonic national
law, were now perceptible in many places. An entirely
new meaning was given to the very first article of the
code. Whosoever should break his oath, or fail to perform a
pledge, was sentenced to forty days' imprisonment in some
.royal place, and to undergo penance ordained by the bishop.
Already the use of the word "career" indicates that the depri-
vation of freedom for a longer or shorter space of time could
not have been known to the Saxons, and indeed in earlier
collections of laws nothing is to be found resembling it. But
from this period justice began to be administered with a more
powerful hand, and particularly with regard to the sacred obli-
gation of an oath, which, backed by its Christian importance
was most strictly enforced. The fourth article is still more sig-
nificant : " If any person, either by himself or others, practise
treachery against the life of the king or his lords, he shall
make compensation with his life and all his possessions ; if
he should desire to clear himself of the accusation by judicial
1 Compare Leg. JE\f. 44-77 with Leg. Athelb. 32-73.
2 Vide Kemble, Cod. Diplom. Introduction, p. xxxii. with reference to Leg.
ALFBED'S LAWS. 131
means, he shall be allowed to do so according to the exact
measure of the royal Were-geld." Here there is ail evidence
of the height of power to which the monarchy had risen, and
of the means whereby its authority was maintained and pre-
served inviolate. Yet still the king's Were-geld continued,
and this in a great measure placed him on an equality with
all other freemen, for those who were thus able to expiate
their offences might escape death. • But the new principle,
which alone was valid in later times, already began to be
developed, and its introduction must be ascribed to Alfred,
according to whose Scriptural notions reward and punishment
proceeded immediately from Grod, and who would likewise
protect earthly rulers by divine laws.
It does not seem to be quite just, on account of these
innovations to accuse Alfred of despotic aims, and to attribute
to him " anti-national and un-Teutonic feelings1." The strict
Judaic doctrines respecting civil and religious liberty which
had already for some time prevailed in the Catholic Church,
began also to influence the secular government ; for when
large kingdoms were established by the conquering Germans,
all the rulers suffered themselves to be guided in the arrange-
ment of their altered political relations, by the insinuating
counsels of the Romish clergy. The nature and tendency of
all that period of the middle ages prevented any Christian
country or Christian ruler from becoming an exception to this
rule ; it was not possible even for Alfred to accomplish his
important task of uniting and improving his people, by any
other means than those which were in universal use at the
time ; and yet experience had plainly taught him what would
become of the prosperity of the island, if in such a favourable
moment as the present, he were to leave matters in their old
condition. And had not his grandfather Egbert sought to
learn from Charlemagne a new method of governing his
kingdom ? So Alfred's reformation was a thorough one :
1 Kemble, Saxons, ii. 208, n. 2. This intelligent author, whose thoughts and
feelings partake so much of a German character, in attributing these errors to
Alfred, accounts for them by his partial love for foreign literature, and his over-
bearing character in his youth. The latter, at any rate, is not proved, and the
precise relative dates of his literary and legislative labours are certainly not esta-
blished. This view of the subject bears too much the stamp of the mode ol
thinking in our own day.
K2
132 ALFRED'S LAWS.
all that was once vigorous throughout the whole body of the
state, but which was now fallen into decay, he abandoned ; all
the other machinery of the government he left in action, and
to his fostering and improving hand it must be ascribed that
so much of it is in full activity at the present day in England,
whilst so many of the other European German states have
long had to mourn the loss of their ancient institutions. A
strict monarchy was the only condition on which the country
fiOTiljj^Tie saved at that time', and as all Alfred's efforts had
this end in view, he had no choice with respect to the meansL
Besides, the exalted position of the monarchy h.acTT}een
firmly established in the past days of the West Saxon state,
which had early included a number of hundreds, and ex-
tended itself over many districts, whilst the Jutish and
Anglian kingdoms seem to have consisted at most of only a
few. "We know that for centuries after their rise, Mercia
and Wessex continued to prosecute their conquests. In the
storm of conflicting circumstances, at length only "Wessex re-
mained standing ; all the other kingdoms had fallen, many of
them returning to their original form of provinces, but under
the West Saxon dominion. It therefore cannot be matter
of surprise that the power and dignity of the King of Wessex
far exceeded those of the ealdermen who governed the pro-
vinces. Alfred began to make special appointments to this
office, which under him ceased to be hereditary, excepting in
Mercia. Ealdermen and bishops, the two highest digni-
taries in State and Church, came by degrees to take the same
rank ; whilst in former times it was the king who was valued
equally with the bishops, and thus it may be easily perceived
that the king originally rose from and above the other
ealdermen. Whilst in the law-book of Ilia the same fines
were assigned for breaches of the peace against the king and
the bishop,, in Kent, robbery of the Church or of a bishop
or a priest was visited with a higher measure of punishment
than robbery of the king's property1. Alfred obtained a
higher compensation than any other ecclesiastical or secular
dignitary in the state ; his sum remained the same as under
the Kentish law, whilst those of the bishops and ealdermen,
1 Allen. Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in Kng
Vuid, p. r ad- ii.
ALFRED'S LAWS. 133
as well as those of the lower classes of nobility and freemen,
were proportionally lowered.
But Ina had already ordained, that whosoever1 should ven-
ture to draw his sword in the king's house, and to disturb
the peace, such a crime could be expiated only by death or
severe penance, according as the king might think fit. Alfred
transferred this law unaltered into his Codex3. In this and
similar decrees concerning crime, the laws providing for
personal security, originally founded on distinctions of rank,
tock a new development ; the importance of the old were-geld
began to decline, and corporeal punishment was established
in its stead. Notwithstanding this, all classes of the com-
munity preserved their respective ranks ; but it is gratifying
to find that there is scarcely any mention made in Alfred's
laws of the lowest order of the people, whilst the arrange-
ments of Ina relative to the Celtic slaves form a prominent
feature in his code.
The continuance of the frank-pledge (freoburh, friSgegyld)
was ratified by many articles : those who were exempt from
this arrangement, either as outlawed criminals or as foreign-
ers, were not amenable to its obligations, but, like the tra-
velling merchant, enjoyed, on the fulfilment of certain con-
ditions, the protection of the king and his justiciary3. The
necessity of forming new guilds may have become apparent
at that time, but their origin and progress were contemporary
with the rise of cities.
Many of the arrangements in the first part of Alfred's
collection of laws are to be attributed to the monopoly of
ecclesiastical power, but at the same time also to the growth
of Christian feeling ; and his efforts to educate the morals
of his powerful, but still uncultivated people, in accord-
ance with the doctrines of the Bible, are indeed beautiful
and excellent. His aim was not only directed towards the
1 Leg. Inae, 45 : King and bishop, 120 shillings ; ealderman, 80 ; a thane
(degen), 60; a gesithcundman, 35. On the contrary, we find in Leg. Aelf 40:
the king, 120 ; archbishop, 90 ; bishop and ealderman, 60 ; twelfthyndeman 30 ;
sixhyndeman, 15 ; ceorl (freeman), 5. See Kemble, Saxons, ii. 399.
2 Only instead of " house," he says " court." Compare Leg. Ina?, 6, with Leg.
Aelf. 7.
Leg. Aelf. 42, 27, 34. Translation of Lappen-berg, ii. 333.
134; ALFKED'S LAWS.
prevention of robberies and feuds, he also strove to check
every species of immorality amongst all classes. The seduc-
tion of nuns was dealt with most severely. Ina had com-
menced the work, but still the regulations of his great suc-
cessor, respecting such crimes, are much more numerous and
strict. In a similar proportion were punishments adjudged
for working on the Sunday, or other holy days1. Respecting
the rules for priests, the revenues due from land to the
Church, and for taking sanctuary, very little provision had
been made in the legislation of the eighth century ; but yet
King Ina had taken counsel on these points, not only with all
his Witan, but also with his two bishops, Hedde and Eorcen-
bald2. Alfred's high reverence for the Church and its faith
enabled him to make new and more extensive arrangements.
Although the highest ecclesiastical officers ranked far below
him in the degree of compensation, yet every offence against
their individual dignity was rigorously punished. Any one
who presumed to fight within sight* of the archbishop or
bishop, was compelled to atone for it by payment of 150 and
100 shillings. A priest so far forgetting himself as to kill
a man in combat, was to be delivered up to the bishop to
be deprived of all his property and to be divested of his
sacerdotal office. Stnet regulations were made concerning
sanctuary in churches and monasteries, in which criminals
and fugitives took refuge ; how long such persons should re-
main there, and their treatment during the time allowed
them. Bobbery of Church property was punished by the
infliction of a double fine, and the loss of a hand3.
Enough may be gathered from these instances to show what
progress the national law had made at that time, and on what
principles it was conducted. By a peculiar addition, Alfred
impressed upon the entire Codex the character of his own
mind, much more than that of the age in which he lived ; for
he began his new book of laws with extracts from the Bible
itself, both from the Old and New Testaments4. These
words were placed first : " And the Lord spake all these
» Leg. Inse, 27, 31, 3; Leg. Aelf. 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 25, 26, 43.
2 Leg. Inse, 1, 4, 5, 61, and Thorpe's Introduction, i. 102.
•Leg. Aelf. 15,21,2,5,6.
* Laws and Institutes, i. 44, ff.
ALFEED'S LAWS. 135
words, saying, I am the Lord thy God," &c. Then followed
the Ten Commandments, omitting the second, but the 23rd
verse of the chapter was inserted to make the Tenth Command-
ment. Then followed, with a few omissions, the 21st, 22nd,
and the first part of the 23rd chapters of Exodus, which
contain the Mosaic laws, treating of the relations between
masters and servants, of the punishments for murder,
homicide, theft, and other heinous sins, as well as the sacred
observance of holy and festival days. The last statute is :
" Make no mention of the name of other Gods, neither let it
be heard from thy mouth." Exod. xxiii. 13. Then the
book proceeds : " These are the laws spoken to Moses by the
Almighty God himself, who commanded him to keep them,
and afterwards the only Son of God, who is Christ our
Saviour came upon earth, and said, that he did not come to
destroy these laws and to abolish them, but in every way to
fulfil them ; and he taught mercy and humility. Then, after
he had suffered, but before his apostles had gone forth to
teach in all lands, and whilst they were still together, they
converted many heathens to God, and still remaining to-
gether, they sent messengers into Antioch and Syria to
preach Christ's laws. But when they learnt that these mes-
sengers met with no success, the apostles sent them a letter.
And this is the letter sent by the apostles to Antioch, Syria,
and Cilicia, which places are now converted from heathenism."
Here follows literally the Epistle from the Acts of the
Apostles xv., 23-29. Alfred then added, from Matthew
vii., 12 : " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them." " By this one Commandment
man shall know whether he does right, then he will require
no other law-book." This short epitome of the laws of
God upon earth proceeds further : " Since now it happens
that many nations have adopted the faith of Christ, se-
veral synods have assembled upon the earth, and also
amongst the English people since they have professed the
Christian religion, consisting of holy bishops with other dis-
tinguished Witan. Moved by the compassion which Christ
taught towards error, they ordained that by their permission,
secular lords, for nearly every misdeed, might in the first in-
stance make compensation by a fine, ercept for treason
against a lord, on which crime they dared not exercise ant
136 • ALFKED'S LAWS.
mercy, because the Almighty God would not grant it to those
who exalted themselves above Him, nor Christ, God's son, to
mm who sold Him to death, and He commanded that a lord
should be loved like Himself1."
In different synods different punishments were allotted for
various human offences, and different commandments were
written in the several synod-books : " Whereupon I, King
Alfred, have collected and commanded to be written down
those laws which our forefathers held, those which seem to
me good," &c. The manner in which he proceeded has been
already considered : " I, Alfred, King of the West Saxons,
showed them to all my Witan, and they said that they ap-
proved of them all, and would observe them." Then follow
his own statutes. It would be difficult to find in any other
collection of laws of the middle ages so large a portion of
Biblical matter as in this ; and we know, too, that no othe*
has so completely adopted the principles of the Mosaic law.
It is true that many passages from both Testaments are to
be found in the Prankish and other Continental codes, and
the general influence in legislation of eminent princes of the
Church and of the entire clerical body is indubitable ; but in
no other do we find the idea of blending the old Teutonic
law with the Hebrew- Christian, so perfectly carried into
effect.
How natural then is the conjecture that Alfred humbly
submitted himself to the control of the bishops, and allowed
them to have similar power in the state, to that which they
enjoyed in the country of the weak descendants of Charle-
magne, and even in England during the lifetime of his own
father, who had taught his son to fear God and the Church.
But a closer research into the condition of the English
Church and the activity of its supporters at that time, will
show us that this was by no means the case. Alfred, on the
contrary, ruled in the most perfect concord with his clergy,
and was, in fact, the head of the Church. We cannot deny
the tendency towards despotism which he introduced into the
government, this is evinced in various instances ; but never-
theless Alfred's name must be held in all honour, for he ad-
1 '' Lufioen seva hine selfne," not as one's self, as Thorpe translates it, but lik«
himself— viz. God. Kemble, Saxons, ii. 208.
ALFRED'S LAWS. 137
ministered law and justice according to the eternal and
divine precepts, and perfected the Old Testament Decalogue
by the grand addition of the Christian doctrine, that " a man
should love his neighbour as himself."
This peculiar construction of his code proceeded from the
earnest character of his religious belief, to which we may also
chiefly ascribe its high moral tone. The question indeed
presents itself: did Alfred really aim at governing his sub-
jects according to the letter of the Levitical regulations ?
"What could be done with reference to the punishments for
damaging vineyards ? Would it not have been absurd to
recal to the Saxons the memory of the captivity of the
Israelites in Egypt ? It is true that many fundamental laws
relative to property in land and cattle, as well as to assault
and murder, were precisely the same amongst the Grerman
and Semitic people ; and although Alfred made a Christian
law of that Hebrew one1 which bestowed freedom on a slave
after six years of service, yet on the whole, he merely held up
as an example to his subjects a code with which they were
well acquainted, and which showed them those points wherein
their Christian community was still deficient. He endea-
voured to impress upon them his ow^n conviction, that
punishment and rewrard belonged to Grod, who ordained the
king to be His representative upon earth to execute justice.
And yet it is singular enough to find the old Teutonic Were-
geld considered as a compensation for the Divine wrath !
It now only remains for us to add some particulars relative
to the administration of justice. We know from the testi-
mony of an historical eye-witness how strictly Alfred re-
quired every man to be treated according to the right and
equity of the Christian religion.
Prom a work which is undoubtedly the genuine produc-
tion of Asser, it may be gathered, that amongst the many
evils consequent on the Danish invasion, great irregularities
had entered into the administration of justice3. Throughout
the kingdom, the common and poor freemen had no other
1 The command of Moses, that a slave who wished to remain as a servant
with his master should have his ear pierced through with an awl to the gate of
the temple, Laws and Institutes, i. 47, n. 11, is vry similar to an old German
custom. Compare Grimm. Deutsche Kechtsalterthiimer, p. 339.
2 Asser, to\vards the end. Florent. Wigorn. i. 106
138 IGNOHANCE OF THE JUDGES.
protection than that afforded them by the king himself;
for the great and powerful men who admini stered the laws
were lifted up by pride, and occupied themselves with worldlv
matters rather than with such as would do honour to their
Christian name. In the regular tribunals, where the earls
and other officials sat to distribute justice, there were so
many discussions and quarrels about the meaning of the law,
that the judgments rarely gave satisfaction. . But the kiug_
caused all decisions to be laid before him, whether they~we"re\
just or unjust, and he investigated them strictly, especially
when the offence encroached on his own prerogative. The /
unsettled state of affairs at that time naturally caused the king
to be more and more considered as the principal guardian of
justice. But the confidence placed in Alfred by a large portion
of his subjects was fully justified by his extreme conscientious-
ness. He was more sincere than any other in the country
in his endeavours to discover a true and just judgment1, and
to bestow their lawful rights upon the poor and oppressed,
as well as upon the rich and powerful. In the same manner
he inquired into all the sentences which were given in the
district courts of his kingdom, whether they were just or
unjust ; he often summoned the judge to be brought before
him, and questioned him. Sometimes he obtained information
through the agency of one of his faithful servants. He did
this chiefly in order to discover whether injustice had been
practised from ignorance or malevolence, from love, or fear,
or hate, towards any one, or wholly from a desire of gain.
It sometimes happened that a judge would acknowledge his
ignorance, but then Alfred would seriously set before him his
folly, and would say : " I am astonished at your great teme-
rity, that you who, by God's favour and mine, have been
entrusted with the office and rank of the Wise2, should have
entirely neglected the studies and the labours of the Wise.
Either, therefore, resign your temporal power, or assiduously
apply yourself, as I require of you, to obtain wisdom."
Thus many nobles and officers of high rank would frequently
seek to acquire in their old age what they had neglected in their
youth3, and would choose to submit to be instructed, a thing
1 In exquendis judiciis discretissimus indagator. - Sapientes, witan.
• Uliterati ab infantia comites pene omnes, praepositi ac ministri.
ALFRED'S EFFORTS IN THEIR INSTRUCTION. 139
hitherto strange to them, and, like schoolboys, commence at
the rudiments of learning rather than relinquish their offices.
There is no good reason for doubting the truth of this
narration, it is expressly stated that such cases often occurred.
They became soon noticed by contemporary observers. In
the course of the century, indeed, the evil seems to have in-
creased, and to have greatly extended its ruinous effects ; and
the accounts of the thirteenth and following centuries assert
that the Saxon king was unmerciful enough to cause a great
number of unjust judges to be hanged, after being severely
reprimanded1. But how could the most beautiful traits of
Alfred's character be thus mistaken and censured? The
aim which peculiarly distinguished his legislation was to
raise the moral greatness of his people, and to promulgate
the Christian faith, and this is plainly shown us also by
Asser ; Christianity required that the same measure of jus-
tice should be allotted to the high as to the low. The state
in which this can be done, must have wise and learned judges
of the law ; and it must have been a source of great grief to
Alfred, that those men who, from their rank and wealth,
should have exhibited a brilliant example to all besides, and
who had such an important voice in the public administration
of justice, were found so deficient. They could not even read
in public the laws of their country ; the hitherto universally
acknowledged common law began now to be forgotten. And
with this is connected another point of no less importance to
us. Besides earls and governors, Asser mentions regular
judges2, who, although they appear from their title to have
had a right to practise their official employment, yet were
nable to do so. It is extremely probable that the nobles
and free landowners had so alienated themselves from the
community, especially during the time of war, that they
could no longer administer justice without further legal
knowledge. Thus there arose a tribunal, which perhaps had
been projected long before, and which the king now mo-
delled and fitted for its important office. Possibly, an ar-
rangement was then made in England similar to the missi
dominici if Charlemagne, leading to the establishment of the
> Andrew Home, Miroir des Justices, p. 296-298.
* They were various : comites, praepositi, judices.
140 THE KINGDOM OF EAST ANGLIA.
courts called Assizes, for whilst the people and their
sheriffs still retained the right of giving judgment, the king,
to whom alone belonged an executive power, practised a
strict inspection by means of messengers1. But the judges,
whose national title was unquestionably G-erefan (Earls),
were answerable for their interpretation of the law, and for
the judgment pronounced by them. And this responsibility
caused them to incur the anger of the king, their chief ma-
gistrate, in those cases when they exposed their ignorance3.
Before we leave this important subject, and conclude the
account of the political affairs of the period, it may not be
irrelevant to glance at that country which, in more than one
respect, was united in the dominion of Wessex— the Chris-
tian Danish kingdom, which, by the policy of Alfred, had
been established on the eastern coast. The first legal union,
the-short statute made and confirmed in the treaty of "Wed-
more between the two kings and their adherents, has been
already noticed. The few principal points are very brief,
and bear on them the stamp of necessity. Gruthorm -Athel-
stan could not avoid the consequences of this treaty. Al-
though he still adhered to piracy, the way was already pre-
pared for a union of his own followers with the original
Anglian population, when he died, in the year 890. Al-
though his death occasioned a new and desperate attack from
the Danes, and his immediate successor Eohric proved himseli
to be no pattern of fidelity, yet the work which had been
commenced was established on a firmer basis, and grew and
nourished even beneath the storms of a war that continued
for a year. An amplification of the resolutions of Wedmore is
extant, which was made at a later period, and designated the
Peace between Gruthorm and Edward. It is extremely im-
probable, and it is not confirmed by any proofs, that the latter,
Alfred's son, was invested with regal honours and princely
power so early as the year 890 ; the execution of the new
document must have taken place in Alfred's own reign.,
although there is only doubtful information of a Gruthorm
II.3, who succeeded Eohric in 905. These laws apparently
belong to the enlarged legislative code of Alfred; it is
1 Kemble, Saxons, ii. 41-45. 2 Rise of the German Kingdom, by Sybel, p. 235.
3 Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes, i. 166. On the authority of Walling-
ford, p. 539, 540.
THE EAST ANGLIAN LAWS.
Ill
expressly stated in the introduction, that these are the ordi-
nances of Alfred and Guthorm, which had been repeatedly
ratified between the Angles and Danes, and were now
revived by Edward. They bear in an extended form the
same features as were exhibited in Alfred's code, and they
give sufficing internal proof, that in the course of twenty
years Christianity had become the state religion, or rather
that it had conquered and completely overturned the old-
established heathen faith. Here, too, the first articles treat
of the Church, and of obedience to Christian commands.
One Grod only shall be loved, and he Avill reward and punish.
Peace towards the Church and towards the king, is alike to
be preserved inviolably. Dues are to be paid to the king
and to the Church ; they both protect morals and manners
from injury. Labour, swearing, and the ordeal, were strictly
forbidden to be practised on holy days. The punishment
against profanation of the latter seems to have been par-
ticularly necessary on account of the transgressions which
had lately been committed by the Northmen. The perform-
ance of pagan rites, witchcraft, and conjuration, were like-
wise punishable offences. But on the other hand, priests and
foreigners were to enjoy peculiar protection as amongst the
West Saxons, and the rights of the different classes of the free
population were based upon the ground of their respective pos-
sessions. It is, however, remarkable that a careful distinction
is made, in name at least, in the measure of compensation
awarded to the people of Saxon and of Danish origin1.
Thus then, after it had for a long time appeared probable
that the principal Christian state in England was destined
to destruction, it was not only delivered by the sword, but
its deliverer also restored internal order, and bound it to-
gether beneath his powerful protection. "We often see in
history great revolutionary events interrupting the quiet
progress of a nation ; all the ancient enfeebled institutions
become abolished ; the people, under the guidance of some
great man, struggle and are victorious, and then the seed
is sown of a well-organized government, whose fruits are
gathered in a happy future.
1 Next to the wer and wite of the Saxons was always placed the lah-slitte of
tl;e Northmen (lagsligt in old Swedish law). Laws an(? Institutes, i 168.
142 THE STATE OF THE CHURCH.
Alfred's active exertions in the government, and in the
administration of law, afford a glorious example of this.
When, in later times, his people sighed beneath the heavy
oppression of Norman kings, when might alone was right,
when troops of exiles sheltered in the forests, and the high
roads were perilous, they remembered with sorrow the security
which they had once enjoyed under Alfred's just rule ; and
in alleviation of their misery, they portrayed in poetry the
golden peace of the past, when the traveller might lose his
purse, full of gold, upon the way, and find it again untouched
at the end of a month on the same spot, and when golden
bracelets were hung up at the cross-roads in confidence that
no passer-by would remove them1.
But at the close of the great conflict, it became evident that
the Church, the guardian of the Christian faith, was not less
unsettled than the secular affairs of the country. How could
it be otherwise after heathenism had made so desperate an
attack upon the Christian state ? Since the days of Augus-
tine and Wilfrith, wealth in gold and silver had been accu-
mulating in the cathedrals and convents of the island. Eager
after spoil, the northern robbers had rushed into every sacred
place, the sword in one hand and the torch in the other ; the
few unwarlike inmates who remained to guard their precious
treasures died like martyrs. As soon as the Danes had taken
possession of the gold, they departed to the next consecrated
place, leaving nothing behind them but naked walls, blackened
by smoke, whilst many other costly things which they knew
not how to value — books on which the maintenance of civili-
zation depended — became a prey to the flames. The monks of
St. Cuthbert were not the only ones who, with the bones of
their saints and a few of the vessels appertaining to the
Church, wandered without shelter about the country ; every
establishment was involved in the universal destruction : the
Church of the Anglo-Saxons was defenceless. Happy were
those of her members who had escaped across the sea, and
could await better days in a foreign land !
> Ingulph. p. 870. Wilh. Malmesb. lib. ii. § 122. This seems to be the repe-
tition of an old tradition which has been already told by Bede, ii. 16, of the happj
reign of Edwy of Northumbria, and at a later period was related as occurring ill
the times of Frothis the Dane and Kollo the Norman. Lappenberg, p. 335.
INDOLENCE OF THE CLEEGT. 143
Bat as in worldly affairs many things had shown marks of
decay before the invasion of the Danes, so for a long time
many errors had existed in the Church which hastened her
ruin. It has been noticed before, how in the ninth century
no great individual Church teacher had appeared, and how
after the death of the learned Bede the study of the Scripture,
and the progress of all knowledge leading thereto, had been
constantly declining. When the work of conversion had
been completed at home, the most able men of York and
Canterbury turned their steps towards the Franks, and in
their service wrere most zealous in preaching the doctrines of
the Cross to the brethren in Northern Germany. Meanwhile
the English clergy led a quiet, indolent life, instead of study-
ing with earnestness and diligence. When, after the warlike
reigns of Offa and Egbert, the pious Ethelwulf began to rule,
the Church, having only her own advantage in view, seems to
have advanced her power so far as to be the true mistress of
state. Now for the first time, as was so frequently the
ase in subsequent ages, the Church of England, behind
e shield of piety and Romish orthodoxy, fell into iin-
-emly worldly corruption and indifference to all higher
bjects, whilst she almost entirely relinquished her most
oble employment, the education and improvement of the
eople, and cast aside the arms with which she should have
ought.
The destruction without, and the moral decay within, com-
ined to direct Alfred's attention to the true cause of such an
nhappy state of things. What peculiajMmpres^^
ave felt when he called to mind, ^how,Tn ms~earliest cnHd-
.ood, he had seen the greatest splendour displayed by his
ather before the supreme head of Christendom, and how, in
lis youth, his eager desire for acquiring knowledge was un-
atisfied, because the Church of his native land could not
iroduce a single master to instruct him in Latin! In
jrermanic England, as in every part of Europe converted by
Rome to Christianity, learning and the study of books were
matters entirely confined to the clergy, and as a rule, the free-
jorn laity remained in ignorance of such occupations.^ Never-
theless, Bede and his coadjutors had accomplished much, and
3ven prepared the way for more ; but it seemed as if these
itars had set too soon, and for ever. Alfred recalled those
14-1 ALFEED'S HEFOEMATIOX IN TUE CHURCH.
times with touching regret, when he wrote thus1 : " I have
very often thought what wise men there once were amongst
the English people, both clergy and laymen, and what blessed
times those were when the people were governed by kings
who obeyed Grod and his Gospels, and how they maintained
peace, morality, and authority at home, and even extended
them beyond their own country; how they prospered in
battle, as well as in wisdom ; and how zealous the clergy were
in tettchinglmd learning, and in all their sacred duties ; and
how people came hither from foreign countries to seek for
instruction, — and now, when we desire it, we can only obtain
it from abroad. So entirely has knowledge escaped from the
English people, that there are only a few on this side of tin.'
Humber who can understand the divine service, or even ex-
plain a Latin epistle in English ; and I believe, not manv on
the other side of the Humber either. But they are so 'few.
that indeed I cannot remember one, south of the Thames,
when I began to reign." There were still traces of former
greatness in the north. It was in Wessex, and in the country
south of the Thames, that the greatest ignorance prevailed ;
and at the beginning of the ninth century, in consequence of
the Danish invasion, any seeds of a higher civilisation and
education which had been casually sown, were threatened
with annihilation. ,J?or a considerable time there had like-
wise been great danger that the worship of Woden would bo
revived in some of the ancient and abandoned sites,' Alfred
now correctly perceived what was wanting. The Church ot
his country needed reformation ; in order to secure her from
ruin, that support of which she had been deprived ought again
to be secured to her, and this support could only consist in
the bestowing of a moral and intellectual basis. At that
time there could be no question of a Reformation, according
to our ideas of the word. In the west it was long before
there was any diversity of opinion respecting dogmas. Koine
had been the mother of the Church, and continued to be her
central point; and it was Alfred's most earnest endeavour to
cement yet more closely the hitherto uninterrupted alliance
1 Alfred's Preface to his Translation of the Regula Pastoralis of Gregor. I.
according to the MS. Hatton. 20, in the Bodlei'.n Library, r'intelin Parker't, an i
in V7'.a?'s editions of Asser.
CONNEXION OF ENGLAND WITH ROME. 145
between Rome and England ; for the chief seat of Christen-
dom never failed to send forth vital power, as the heart
impels blood into all parts of the body.
The perilous effects of the ambition of Rome had frequently
been felt in many continental countries. But she found it
more difficult to extend her power in that distant island,
where but little progress had been made by the Romish canons
in opposition to the national elements, where the language of
the country was still maintained in the services of the Church ;
where, since the first century after the conversion to Chris-
tianity, the clerical body had been entirely composed of na-
tives, and where the strict edicts relative to celibacy were by
no means rigidly observed. No Pope of the ninth century
professed that absolute power in England which had long
been exercised by Rome in other countries* Even a John
VIII. appears to have had neither the leisure nor the wish,
owing to his ceaseless efforts in Western and Eastern Europe,
to occupy himself in the affairs of Britain. It was a fortu-
nate circumstance for the Church of England that the inti-
mate connexion between herself and Rome was the most
zealously observed on her own side. Almost all the princes
of Britain in regular succession visited St. Peter's, and their
national seminary, the Saxon school, rose again from the
flames, and formed a perpetual bond of union.
It is much to be regretted that no Italian authorities are
extant, which would give us more accurate information con-
cerning the efficacy of that institution, and throw light on
the subject of the relations between the two powers. There
is no evidence in the present day to support the notion that
the Saxon school was, in the reign of Alfred, a tool of the
papistical pretension. The faithful zeal of his forefathers
was no less active in Alfred, but he had no desire, when
bowed down by the weight of his position, to lay aside for
ever all earthly cares at the miracle-working graves of the
saints, as Ina had done, nor did he give himself up to devo-
tion, like his father Ethel vnilf, neglecting all things besides
Yet the Pope was regarded by him also as the successor of
the first of the apostles ; he reverenced the relics of the
saints, and believed their legends to be true ; therefore, in
the age in which he lived, he could not fail to be considered
as a faithful Catholic Christian. Moreover, the deep imprea
146 ALFBED'S EMBASSIES.
sions which in his earliest youth were made upon him
in Rome were not extinguished, and as soon as he had
established peace at home, he commenced a systematic
intercourse with the head of Christendom. The following
accounts are given on this subject.
The Pope Martinus (882-884), soon after he ascended the
papal throne, sent gifts to the Saxon king, amongst which
was a piece of the holy cross ; whereupon, in 883, Alfred
despatched two of his nobles, Sighelm1 and Athelstan, to
make a return for these presents, by carrying his and his
people's offerings to the Church of Rome. These were per-
haps the very ambassadors who bore to the Pope the urgent
entreaty of their king, that out of love for him, the Saxon
school might be freed from all tributes and taxes, and it is
affirmed that the benevolent Prince of the Church readily
acceded to this request. Ethelwulf enjoined its fulfilment on
his successors ; this duty his sons now conscientiously dis-
charged. But a still more weighty commission was entrusted
to these two men. Rome was not the remotest part of the
globe to which Alfred's labours in the cause of Christianity
extended ; he carried them still further. At a time when the
Pagans were in possession of London (it is uncertain whether
in 880 or even later), Alfred made a vow2, that after their
defeat and expulsion, he would send an embassy with rich
gifts to the Christians of the far east, to the Churches in
India, which were called by the names of the apostles
Thomas and Bartholomew. If this had not been related by
the contemporary Saxon Tear-books, there might be some
reason to doubt the whole narration, and to pronounce it
a fable. But as Charlemagne had sent proofs of his magni-
ficence and renown to the Caliph of Bagdad, to places which
1 Chron. Sax. A. 884 and 885; Asser, p. 484; Ethelwerd, iv. 516; Florence, i.
99. The Chronicle is the most certain authority. It completely contradicts,
with regard to Sighelm, the " Suithelmus episcopus," who, according to Florence,
succeeded Asser at Sherborne in 883 (see Introduction, p. 5), and also the Bishop
Sighelm, of Wilh. Malmesb. Gest. Pontif. Angl. ii. 248 (ed. Frankf. 1601.) The
first name is not to be found in any of the genuine lists of the Bishops of Slier-
borne ; the second, in the fourth place after Asser, Monumenta Hist. Brit. p. 560,
n. (1 Sighelm was minister regis in the year 875. according to the documents IB
Ccd. Dipl. n. 307. Both ambassadors were probably distinguished laymeii.
Chron. Sax. A. 833, and Henric. Huntingd. v. 740.
DEATH OF ETHELSWITHA. 14
before had only existed in marvellous legends for the people
of the west, so out of gratitude for his own deliverance, the
most Christian king of his age desired to send messages of
peace and friendly gifts to his brethren in the faith at the other
extremity of the world. According to his own belief, and
that of his contemporaries, the Apostle Thomas himself had
once preached the gospel in India, and the Church established
by him still existed, although environed and oppressed by
heathens of all nations. An obscure account of the spread
of their doctrines has been preserved from the earliest times
by the western Christians1, and confirms our present know-
ledge that the Mahometans, on their first arrival in the east,
found there various Christian sects. But it is enough for us
that Alfred's messengers journeyed from Rome into that re-
mote country ; they returned, and, " Glod be thanked," says
the Chronicle, " they had been graciously enabled to fulfil the
vow." They brought home perfumes and precious stones, as
memorials of this wonderful journey, which were long pre-
served in the churches2. This was the first intercourse that
took place between England and Hindostan. In the year
887, Athelhelm, Ealdermaii of Wilts, who has been before
mentioned, carried to Home the tributes and gifts of his
sovereign and of the Saxon people3. In the following year,
Beocca, also an ealderman, had a similar commission. He
took charge of Ethelswitha, the widowed sister of Alfred, and
last Queen of Mercia, who appears to have left her brother's
court in order to proceed to Eome, and end her life in some
holy place there ; but the fatigues of the lengthened pil-
grimage were too much for the feeble woman, who had long
been bowed down by sorrow ; before she reached Rome she
died, at Padua, in 888*. In the next year no formal embassy
went to Italy ; only two couriers5 were despatched with letters
1 There is an Anglo-Saxon Vita Sti Thomae, in prose, in MS Cott. Calig. A.
xiv., where, in the poem relating to him, the apostle is represented as being sent on
a similar embassy with Andrew.
2 Wilh. Malmesb. de Gest. Pontif. Angl. 1. c., and de Reg. Angl. lib. ii. § 122 j
Matth. Westm. p. 333.
3 Chron. Sax. Asser, Florence.
« Chron. Sax. 888; Ethelwerd, iv. 517; Flor. i. 108.
* Twegen hleaperas. Chron. Sax. A. 889.
L2
] ±8 INTEECOURSE WITH FOREIGN CHURCHES.
from Alfred. In 890, Bernhelm, an abbot1, \vas charged with
the deliverance of the customary alms in the name of his king.
It is evident from all the accounts which we possess, that this
\vas done annually. No mention is made of a regular tithe ;
the tribute was voluntarily given, to obtain those advantages
which the king and his subjects might derive from Eome. It
is a remarkable and significant fact, that amongst the am-
bassadors to the Pope, only one, the last, appears to have been
invested with ecclesiastical dignity; the king usually entrusted
valuable and important commissions solely to his most con-
fidential officers.
Two accounts may be mentioned here in reference to the in-
tercourse with foreign countries, which was commenced or con-
tinued by Alfred, in ecclesiastical and religious aifairs. Owing
to their brevity and imperfect condition, they unfortunately
give us only a vague idea of that remote period ; but even
with these disadvantages they are invaluable, because they
are confirmed by contemporary authorities. Asser2 mentions
that he read the letters and saw the presents which were
sent to his king by Abel, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. It
appears by no means improbable that Sighelm and Athelstan.,
when they went to India, or on their return from thence,
also visited, by Alfred's command, the land of promise and
revelation ; that they were gladly received by the patriarch,
and dismissed to the far western island with a letter and
with gifts to their king. This account is of importance in
the history of the Church at Jerusalem, so little known
before the commencement of the Crusades, as one of the rare
traces of any intercourse betwreen the Christian land of the
west and the cradle of its faith.
The other notice relates to a neighbouring island, to Ire-
land, which had so gloriously distinguished itself at the first
promulgation of Christianity, but w^hich was now more en-
tirely excluded from its history than Jerusalem ; for the
Celtic Church, after the separation of a century, would not
again succumb to the doctrines nor the increasingly powerful
1 Beornhelm abbad. Cliron. Sax. A. 890.
2 P. 492: Nam etiam cle Hierosolyma Abel patriarchae epistolas et dona illi
directas vidimus et logimus. Simeon Dunelm. copies from him ; de Gteet. Reg
Angl. p C84.
IBELAND AND JEEUSALEMi. 140
ascendency of Borne. At a time when Alfred, in unison with
excellent fellow-labourers, was vigorously occupied in re-
establishing his Church, and when his renown had traversed
the sea, there suddenly appeared, in the year 891, on the
coast of Cornwall, three Scotchmen, Dubslane, Macbeth, and
Maclinmun. They had secretly left their country ; the Chris-
tian faith was grievously on the decline there, and Swifneh
(Subin1), the best teacher that had ever appeared amongst
the Scots, was dead ; from love to Grod they determined to go
on a pilgrimage, they cared little whither. In a frail boat,
patched together out of the hides of oxen, and provided with
food for a week, they trusted themselves to a stormy sea,
and did not land until the expiration of seven days. As soon
as they left their miserable bark, they hastened to the King
of the "West Saxons, who undoubtedly received these Celtic
sufferers with kindness, and when they laid before him their
wish to continue their pilgrimage to Borne and to Jerusalem,
he granted them his protection and assistance in their under-
taking. Only one of them returned home ; he perhaps was
the bearer of Abel's letter3.
The limited knowledge which we can gain from the few
records of Alfred's intercourse with Eome and the rest of
Christendom, increases our desire of becoming acquainted
with those means by which, in a short period, he so raised the
Church of his country from its state of total decay, as to gain
for her and for himself a noble position in Europe. But no
connected account of his proceedings Has reached us, and we
must endeavour to gather the wished-for information from in-
cidental details. The history of all the "West Saxon dioceses
during this period is very obscure, yet from subsequent
events it seems probable that the sees remained substantially
the same, and only towards the west, where the German in-
fluence had still to advance, was there any progress made.
The Saxon and Anglian bishoprics were all subordinate to tho
primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury. But the guidance
of the chief pastor had become weak and inefficient ; fol
during the assaults of the heathen, neither shepherd not
1 Vide Annales Cambriae and Brut, y Tywysogion in Mon. Hist. Brit. p.
836, 846.
2 According to the Chron. Sax. A. 891, and Florent. Wig. i. 109. Ethehverd iv
517, only mentions the pilgrimage to Rome aud the promised land, and its results
150 AKCHBISHOP PLEGMUND.
flock had thought of anything but saving their own im-
mediate possessions ; and owing to this confusion, no council
seems to have been held. The entire structure, weakened by
age, threatened to fall beneath the storms which surrounded
it, unless some skilful master-workman should appear, and
repair it from its foundation. This then, as soon as he could
attain peace and leisure, was Alfred's most peculiar care.
"We have already learnt from himself where the great de-
ficiency lay, which had caused such a lamentable state of
things ; and those men whom the king selected to be his
fellow-workers, were obliged to prepare themselves in the
most effectual manner for this remedial task. That he chose
four native Mercians for his first counsellors and assistants,
is a remarkable confirmation of his own assertion, that some
sparks of improvement and cultivation .still lingered north of
the Thames.
The zeal of Werfrith of "Worcester in the government of
his diocese has already been noticed ; Alfred appears to have
summoned him frequently into Wessex, to advance and
discuss matters of general interest ; two years before the
king's death, Werfrith took part in an assembly at Celchyth1.
He survived his king, and died about the middle of the reign
of Edward, leaving behind him worthy memorials of his active
exertions. The second notable Mercian was Plegmund,
whom Alfred made primate at the death of Archbishop
Athelred, in S902. A later account states, that when the
Danes took possession of his country, he fled from them into
a lonely island in Cheshire, and lived there as a hermit, oc-
cupied in peaceful labours, until the King of Wessex made
him the highest dignitary of his Church3. This eminent man
had even more intimate access to Alfred than Werfrith ; he
straightway became his instructor in many matters4 : that
great undertaking, the advancement of the clergy and of the
people to a higher degree of education, was doubtlessly
placed under his superintendence. During Alfred's life, he
had few opportunities of appearing in his position as a Prince
of the Church, but under Edward he again took his place as
a worthy successor of the former Archbishops of Canterbury ;
1 Cod. Diplom. n. 1 074. 2 Asser, p. 487.
3 Gervasius Dorobern. Acta Pontif. Cant. Twysden X. Scriptt. 1644.
4 Pleimundus magister Elfredi regis. Wilh. Malmesb. de Gest. Pont. Augl. i, 20Qi
THE LEAHNED CffilMBALD. 151
in one day lie consecrated seven bishops ; and in 903 he
made a solemn journey to Borne in his official capacity. His
death occurred in the year 9231.
Ethelstan and Werewulf, also natives of Mercia, obeyed a
summons into Wessex, where they acted as priests and chap-
lains in the immediate service of the king. There is no
further information concerning them3. In Wessex itselt
Alfred found no individual fitted for his purpose, with the
single exception of Denewulf, that child of nature, with whom,
if tradition is to be believed, he became acquainted in so sin-
gular a manner in the wilds of Somersetshire. It is, however
historically certain, that on the death of Dunbert, in 879,
Denewulf became Bishop of Winchester, and that he too lent
vigorous assistance to the general work, and governed in his
diocese until the beginning of Edward's reign3. The remain-
ing bishops whose names are known, were Swithulf of Roches-
ter, Ealheard of Dorchester, Wulfsig of Sherborne, Eahstan
of London4, and a Bishop Esne, whose see is not mentioned6.
But the island did not possess sufficient internal resources to
establish so great a work as that which Alfred had in contem-
plation. He himself exclaimed sorrowfully, that learning
must now be sought for out of the country ; and accordingly
he sent messengers into Franconia, where, in the German
and Romish provinces, many monasteries had become distin-
guished for the diligent study carried on within them, under
the direction of efficient men. Amongst them he hoped to
obtain a teacher for his establishments. He was successful
in finding one in the priest and monk Grimbald, who was a
most excellent singer, particularly skilful in ecclesiastical
discipline, and adorned with every good qualification6. In
all probability, he was a brother in the Flemish convent
of St. Omer, and having gained the permission of his supe-
riors, especially of the Archbishop Fulco of Rheims, he
readily agreed to go to Wessex. The account is much less
1 Chron. Sax. A. 923. 2 Asser, p. 87.
3 Florent. Wigorn, edited by Thorpe, i. 97. Cod. Diplom. n. 1085-1087.
« Chron. Sax. A. 897-898.
5 Aelfr. Testam. ap, Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 314.
6 Venerabilem videlicet virum, cantatorem optimum et omni moao ecclesiasticis
disciplinis et in divina scriptura eruditissimum et omnibus bonis moribus ornatnm
Asser, a. a. 0.
152 JOHN THE OLD SAXON,
certain that Grimbald was already provost of that convent
when Alfred made a pilgrimage to Home with his father ; at
that time he received his distinguished guests with much
kindness, and by his merit made a lasting impression on the
mind of the king's son, whose old and favourite wish was at
length gratified, when, at his entreaty, the abbot and the
brothers of St. Omer permitted their provost to depart for
England1. Alfred likewise obtained a German monk, a man
of acute intellect, John, the old Saxon, probably from the
monastery of Corbei3. He and the Fleming were accom-
panied by a number of priests, to assist them in arranging
new convents, and in imparting instruction. The similarity
of name, and perhaps an expression of Asser's, gave rise, at
a former period, to the Saxon being confounded with the cele-
brated John Erigena, the father of the Realists ; and this
confusion has caused historians to mistake one for the other,
or even to represent both of them as residing at the same
time in Alfred's court ; but there is no sufficient evidence
of the presence of the Irishman in England then ; his history
is connected with the person and court of Charles the Bald,
and of the Archbishop Hincmar3. Grimbald and John were
Alfred's mass priests, and in full activity at the completion
of his translation of Gregory's " Pastoral Care," as he men-
tions them with high praise in the preface, composed after
the year 890.
At length Alfred obtained the services of that man whose
narration, as far as possible, we have hitherto followed. The
only account we have of Asser is given by himself, and as
he describes his first meeting with Alfred very minutely, it
may not be deemed undesirable to give his own words, in
which many interesting details of the king's character are
contained. " About this time" (he writes of the year 884)
1 Mabillon, Acta Sanct. Ord. Bened. Sec. IV. ii. oil; Willi. Malmesb. lib. ii.
§ 122. It is difficult to believe in the authenticity of Archbishop Fulco's letter to
Alfred, given in Wise's Asser, p. 123-129, from a MS. in Winchester. The rest
is to be fonnd in a Cottoniun manuscript extracted in the Monasticon Anglicanum,
ii. 435, new edition.
* Asser, p. 487, 493 ; Mabillon, ii. 509.
3 Asser calls his John " acerrimi ingenii virnm," and thus Ingulph. p. 470, and
Malmesb. ii. § 122, easily confound him with the Dialectician. The account
of the attack is very similar in Asser and Malmesbury.
ASSER AND KING ALFRED. 153
t( I came into Saxony from the extreme limits of Western
Britain, summoned by the king. After I had set out, I
arrived, through many wide-intervening ways, in the country
of the South Saxons, which is called in Saxon, Suthseaxe
(Sussex), guided by some of that nation. There I first saw
him in the royal vill called Dene1. After being kindly re-
ceived by him, in the course of conversation, he urgently
entreated me to devote myself to his service, to give myself
wholly up to him, and for his love to relinquish all my pos-
sessions on the other side of the Severn ; he promised to
compensate me richly, as he actually did. However, I answered
that I could not immediately consent without consideration,
whilst it did not seem to me right to forsake those holy
places in which I had been brought up, educated, and conse-
crated, for the sake of earthly honour and power, unless I
were compelled to do so. Upon this he said : ' If you cannot
venture so far, at least grant me the half of your service •-
live six months with me, and the same time in 'Wales.' But
I replied that I could not directly promise even this without
the approbation of my friends. But when I perceived how
much he seemed to desire my service (although I could not
tell why), I agreed to return to him at the end of six months,
if I continued well, with such an answer as should be ad-
vantageous to me and mine, and agreeable to him. He de-
clared that he was satisfied with this, and when I had given
my word to be with him again at the appointed time, we left
him on the fourth day and rode homewards. But soon after
we had parted from him, a dreadful fever attacked me at
Winchester, where, for more than a year, I hovered day and
night between life and death. I could not, therefore, go to
him as I had promised at the time fixed, and he sent mes-
sengers to hasten my journey and inquire the reasons for my
delay. As I was unable to go, I sent another messenger to
inform him of the cause, and to assure him that as soon as I
recovered I would fulfil my promise. When the sickness
left me, all my friends agreed to my promise for the sake of
benefiting our sanctuary and all its inmates, and I devoted
myself to the king's service, stipulating that I should tarry
with him six months in every year, either six consecutively,
or alternately three in Wales and three in Saxony, so that
1 There is a West and an East Dean near Chichester.
15i MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENTS.
this condition was in this respect also serviceable to the
Cathedral of St. David1."
According to this, Asser was by birth a Welshman, and
had been brought up and ordained a monk in the monastery of
St. David, which at that time suffered much from the violence
of King Hemeid, who once drove out all the inmates of the
convent, with the Archbishop Novis, a relation of Asser, and
Asser himself. Thus, when Asser was allowed to have
friendly intercourse with the mighty Saxon king, he could
not do otherwise than turn it to the profit of his monastery
and his native land. He continues : " When I returned to
him at the royal vill called Leonaford, I was honourably
received by him, and remained with him six months from that
time at his court," busily occupied in various matters, and
munificently rewarded, as will be seen hereafter.
These were the same men whom, in the years immediately
succeeding the deliverance of the country, Alfred placed in
supreme authority over all affairs relating to churches and
schools : they appear to have acted in the most beautiful
mutual harmony. The archbishop and the two bishops, it
may be presumed, took charge of the Church in their own
dioceses ; to the foreigners their proper duties were assigned.
Scarcely one convent in Wessex could have survived the
years of war ; the regulations had in every place become lax,
either on account of the attacks of the Danes, or because
the people could not resolve to exchange the abundance of
worldly riches for a needy conventual life. Besides, it ap-
pears that in earlier times the Saxons were much less favour-
ably disposed towards monastic establishments than their
English neighbours3, for before the reign of Alfred very
little notice is to be found of any ecclesiastical foundation of
the kind. But the earnest, indefatigable king had long
known that all instruction and improvement in knowledge
1 Asser, p. 487-488. The latter sentence is merely guessed at, the original is
perfectly unintelligible: " Et ilia (conditione ?) adjuvaretur per rudimenta Sancta
Degni, in omni causa, tamen pro viribus." The name of the church is also muti-
lated. But the account is entirely characteristic of Asser, Who, to carry on a
fraud in his name, would take the trouble to add to " ad regionem dextralium
Saxonum," " quae Saxonice Suthseaxum appellatur?" No one but Asser, the
Monk of St. David, wrote thus.
2 Quia per multa retroacta annorum curricula monasticae vitae desiderium ab
iila tota gente, nee non et a multis aliis gentibus funditis desierat. Asser, p. 493
CONVENT OF ATHELNET. 155
were cherished in them. He promoted with the greatest
zeal the restoration of old monasteries, and the erection of
new ones. The superintendence of them was undertaken
by learned monks from abroad, and those priests and friars
whom they directed, formed the body of those congregations
in which the children of the land were to be brought up.'
The establishments prospered, and were followed by schools,
in which instruction was given in reading and writing, in the
mother tongue and in Latin, and above all, in the books and
doctrines of the Christian religion.
The following accounts relate to these foundations of the
king, and the men by whom their offices were held. At
Winchester, latterly the chief city of the Anglo-Saxon king-
dom, the new monastery (Newminster, Hyde Abbey) was
founded, and Grrimbald was appointed abbot of the same1.
Alfred could not complete this establishment in his lifetime,
having planned it on a much larger scale than any other.
His son finished it, in memory of his father, by whom it had
been commenced, and in the former part of the following
century it attained great importance. From gratitude to-
wards Grod, and in remembrance of his deliverance from great
danger, Alfred caused a convent for monks to be built upon
Athelney,, where he had once been obliged to make a strong-
hold, with a few faithful adherents, although there were many
difficulties arising from the thickets and marshes, which ren-
dered the island almost inaccessible. John, the old Saxon,
was placed there as abbot, with a small number of Prankish
monks, who resolved to dwell together in the desert, devoted
to the service of Grod and the instruction of themselves and
others2.
Even amongst the children who went thither to be taught
and educated for priests and monks, there were a great
many foreigners ; Asser himself had seen a youth of hea-
then, perhaps of Danish birth, who afterwards adopted the
monastic habit3. The universal dislike of the Saxons for
1 Wilh. Malmesb. lib. ii. § 122 ; Ingulph. p. 870 ; Monastic. Anglic, n. 437, ff.
2 Wilh. Malmesb. Gest. Pontif. Angl. ii. 255, says of the monks in Athelney, in
the twelfth century: " Sunt pauci numero et pauperes, sed qui egestatem suam
quietis et solitudinis amore vel magni pendant vel consolentur."
3 Unum paganicae gentis, juvenem admodura vidimus, non ultimuz: scilicet
eorum, p. 490.
15G ALFRED'S GIFTS TO ASSER,
monachism, but more particularly the seclusion of Athelncy,
prevented this place from ever attaining great prosperity.
Perhaps, too, the wicked attack which was made upon the
life of John the Abbot, which Asser has so copiously detailed
from the account of an eye-witness1, might have been another
cause of its unpopularity. A certain number of the Frankish
monks had conspired against their superior ; two of them,
armed, crept after him into the church, when he retired there
at night to pray alone, insidiously intending to murder him.
But he heard the sound made by the first movement of the
murderers, and not being ignorant of the use of arms, the
powerful Saxon defended himself until the brothers came to
his assistance. Although severely wounded, he escaped with
his life, and the villains were afterwards justly punished. So
scandalous an event was sufficient to damage the good cause
seriously, and indeed it gave a severe check to the esta-
blishment of foreign priests in English cloisters.
Nevertheless Asser, the scholar of St. David's, was called
upon to exert himself in the organization of monasteries and
their schools. We will return to his own words on this
topic: at the expiration of the eight months, he says,
" After I had frequently asked his (the king's) permission
to depart, which permission, however, I could not obtain,
and had at length resolved to demand it, he sent for me on
Christmas eve2, and delivered to me two letters, which con-
tained lists of the possessions of two monasteries, called in
Saxon Amgresbyri3 and Banwille. These two convents he
gave to me from that day, with all appertaining to them, and
with them a costly silk pallium and a man's load of incense,
with words to this effect: he did not give me so little
now because he was unwilling to give me still more at a
future time. And on a later occasion, and quite unex-
pectedly, he conferred upon me Exeter, with all the parishes
belonging to it in "Wessex and Cornwall. And then I re-
ceived permission to make a journey to these convents, which
were richly endowed with valuable estates, and from thence,
homeward4."
"We cannot venture to judge from this that Asser was
1 Ut audivimus de eo a quibusdam referentibus. 2 Probably, in 886.
• Called in one MS. Cungresbury, a place near Banweli, in Somerset.
« A*er, ?. 488, 489.
ASSER AND WULFSIGE. 157
so munificently rewarded merely on account of his learned
services as the king's teacher, he also took an important
part in the practical exercise of his teachings, and from his
Eromotion to the office of abbot, and even bishop, he was
nked for ever to Alfred and his country.
It is certain that he became a bishop, but the time when this
took place, as well as the diocese in which he was established,
is less clear. It is mentioned by our authorities in the fol-
lowing manner : The king's own expression, in his Preface
to the " Pastoral Care," is indisputable: he there alludes to
nis Bishop Asser1, with whose assistance ha completed the
translation of the book. Besides, a number of documents
from the year 901 to 909 were signed by Bishop Asser,
giving no clue, unfortunately, to his diocese2 ; at last, in the
collected manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Year-books, we
find that Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, died in the year 910.
According to this, the old "West Saxon bishopric was con-
ferred upon him by his king ; but elsewhere, until the begin-
ning of the tenth century, we meet with Bishop Wulfsige
of Sherborne, who, as well as Asser, might have been included
amongst the unmentioned bishops in Alfred's will3. Nothing
remains then but to take it for granted, that after the death
of Alfred, in the first year of Edward I., Asser succeeded to
the diocese, and thereupon took up his final residence in
Wessex. His own account by no means contradicts this, in
which he asserts that Alfred gave him Exeter, with a paro-
chial district (he expressly says, not diocese) in Cornwall
and Wessex. He here presided over districts for which, as a
Briton, he was peculiarly adapted, and over those Saxon
parishes which, only lately arranged, passed over with their
bishop to Sherborne, after the death of Wulfsige4. The
certainty that Exeter was first raised to a bishopric under
Edward the Confessor, cannot be affected by this view of the
matter ; the loose political connexion of the state with the
1 JEt Assere minuin biscepe.
2 Kefnble, Cod. Diplom. No. 335, 337, 1076, 1077, 1082, 1085, 1087.
3 Dam (bisceope) set Scireburnam ; in the Lai in text, et Assero de Shireburn.
4 I entirely agree here with the reasons given by Lingard, History and
Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ii. 420, 428, ed. ii., for differing rntk
Wright. Biogr. Brit. Lit. p. 405, ff.
158 ENDOWMENT OF MONASTERIES.
Celtic subjects by no means admitted of unity in Church
government, although the endeavour to restore such union
had not ceased. Thus it is quite clear, that in addition to
his labours in the court, Asser took an active part in the
management of churches and monasteries. But there is still
something to be added to the history of the latter. Unques-
tionably, women feel much more inclination than men to re-
nounce the world, and take upon them monastic vows. For
a long period nunneries had already existed in Wessex, like
that at Wareham, on the south coast. Two new ones were
now established, which were in existence until their final
abolishment, at the time of the Reformation. At Shaftesbury,
in Dorset, " at the south gate," Alfred founded a house for
nuns, perhaps in the year 887 ; and having endowed it, as well
as the convent at "Winchester, with rich benefices, he placed
his second daughter Ethelgiva in it as abbess, and many noble
ladies entered with her. The king's daughter, whose health
was infirm (she was probably deformed or lame), had chosen
this mode of life in a believing spirit, and was consecrated to
the Church in her early youth1 : and Alfred's wife, Elswitha,
for her soul's salvation, dedicated a nunnery to the Virgin
Mary at "Winchester, where she might retreat after the death
of her husband, and end her days2. Ethelred and Ethelfleda
manifested equal zeal in Mercia; they founded the monas-
tery of St. Peter at Gloucester, endowed it with costly gifts,
and placed there the relics of the holy King Oswald3.
After having thus collected the historical facts, a glance
must be given to the high moral purpose which our Alfred
kept constantly in view in all those appointments and regu-
lations, and which we have placed above all others in treating
this subject. His clergy were once more raised from their
degraded condition, and by means of instruction and know-
ledge a new and better life was infused into the Church. But
1 Besides, Asser, p. 485, 495, the document of the establishment, Eegistrum
de Shaftesbury. Kemhle, n. 310, where it is said; "And mine dochte Angelyne
for panne He was on broken ihadod;" this is signed by Apered Arcebisceop as
witness. Florence and Simeon mention the foundation in the year 887; v
llonast. Anglic, ii. 471, if.
2 Monast. Anglic, ii. 451, from the remaining annals of the establishment
Wilh. Malmesb. de Gest. Pontif. iv. 283,
SCHOOLS FOR CLERGY AND LAITY. 159
he likevrise desired that the rest of the people might have a
share in instruction, that his whole kingdom might advance
in civilisation and morality. That was the extensive sphere
of action to which he appointed men like Asser and Plegmund.
"With such an object he did not scruple to introduce these
foreigners. In the churches and convent schools their labours
commenced, sometimes under the most unfavourable circum-
stances ; but their results became evident in the next ten
years, when under Alfred's immediate successor the West
Saxon clergy took a much higher position in education than
they had ever done before.
But in the present day nothing increases our pleasure more
than when we read that Alfred acted with the same noble
spirit, and in conjunction with his coadjutors, for the mental
advantage of the laity. The king's own words, in his cele-
brated preface, most clearly confirm this. Hisjwish is, " that
all the freeborn youth of his people, who possess the means, |
may persevere in learning, so long as they have no other affairs 1
to prosecute, until they can perfectly read the English Scrip-
tures, and such as desire to devote themselves to the service)
of the Church may be taught Latin1." Golden words, sucn
as have been seldom uttered, by a great man of the middle
ages ; and only in much later days, with equal force by the
Reformers of the Church. As the most beautiful fulfilment
and realisation of this wish, Asser relates in what manner the
king commenced the work in his own family. He gave his
children that complete education, 'the want of which he
so painfully felt in his own case. His youngest son Ethel-
werd, who in particular showed great talent for intellectual
pursuits, was entrusted to the care of experienced teachers,
with almost all the children of the nobility, and many who
were not noble. The sons of the members of the royal house-
hold, whom he loved no less than his own, he caused to be
taught with great care, and was himself very, frequently pre-
sent during their instruction. In this school2 they eagerly
1 Daet eall sio giogiv$ $e nH is on angelcynne friora monna fiara fte $a spccUi
haebben, ^set hie dasm befeolan mzegen tden to liornunga oiSfaeste, fta hwile 'So
hie to nanre ofterre note ne maegen (>"$ ftone first "Se hie wel cunnen englisc gewrit
araedan. laere mon siSSan fui"5ur on laeden geftiodefla Se mon fur'Sor laeran wille.
and to hieran hade don wille. MS. Hatton. 20.
2 Asser, p. 485 : Cum omnibus pene totius regionis nobilibus infantibus, .el
160 THE KING'S CHILDREN.
learnt to read, and even to write Latin and Saxon ,• so that
before they were old enough to take part in hunting and other
manly exercises, such as are suitable and honourable for noble-
men, they were fully instructed in the liberal arts. Edward,
his eldest son, and Ethelswitha, his daughter, always rejnained
at court, under the charge of their attendants and nurses, and
were highly esteemed by every one, natives and foreigners,
on account of their affability and gentleness, and subjection to
their father, " in which," Asser writes, " they continue to this
day. Besides their other employments, they also pursue in
their leisure hours the study of the liberal sciences; they
have learned the Psalms, Saxon books, especially Saxoii
moems, and they read very frequently."
/I A regular establishment was also formed in Alfred's court,
where, in the constant occupation of teaching and learning,
/great blessings accrued to his family and subjects. Even
tKbse who were destined to rule in future, and who, in ac-
cordance with the customs of the age, were more disposed to
cultivate their bodily than their mental powers, participated
to a certain extent in the instruction, and became in parti-
cular well acquainted with the poetry of their native land.
With touching envy the untaught old looked upon the more
fortunate young ; and those judges and officers who had been
so severely censured by the king for their ignorance, and who
found learning to read too difficult a task, caused their sons
and relations, or their freedmen or servants, who had been
; taught at school, to read night and day from books, and to re-
cite their contents ; whilst they themselves lamented heartily
their own neglected childhood, and extolled the superior ad-
vantages of the youth of the present times1.
\Vliat pure happiness must have been felt by the great
king, when he witnessed such progress amongst his own chil-
dren, and the larger portion of his youthful subjects ! How
vast was the improvement now in the country south of the
Thames, compared with its state in the comfortless period
when he began to reign !
etiam multis ignobilibus, sub diligent! magistrorum cura traditus est, in qua sclioln,
etc. ; p. 486 : et literis imbuere solus die noctuque inter caetera non desinebat.
1 Suspirantes nimium intima mente dolebant, eo quod in juventute sua talibus
studiis non studuerint, Nices arbitrages hujus temporis juvenes, etc. Asser, y
497 (in conclusion).
DISPUTES BETWEEN OXFORD A1STD CAMBRIDGE. 161
SUPPLEMENT TO SECTION V.
The idea of attributing the establishment of a university
to Alfred, of whom so many incorrect assertions have been
made, could only have originated with persons totally unac-
customed to critical reflection, and living at a much later
date, and in an age of mere pretension to learning. A visit
which Queen Elizabeth paid to the University of Cambridge,
in the year 1564, gave occasion to an inventive orator to
boast of the superior antiquity of this institution to that of
Oxford, in a clever Latin oration. Upon this there ensued,
between the two seats of scholastic wisdom in England, a
dispute which was carried on through many decennia with
the greatest obstinacy. The most absurd arguments were
used on both sides, in order to establish the dates of their
respective establishments, and to bring them as near as pos-
sible to the arrival of the Saxons, the development of
Christianity amongst the Britons, and even to the Deluge.
An edition of Asser, which was compiled in 1603, from a pre-
pared manuscript in the possession of the celebrated historian
Camden, aimed to destroy the proofs brought forward by the
learned men of Cambridge. In this book is to be found a
detailed account of the serious discord which arose in 886
at Oxford, between Grimbald and the old scholars whom he
had found there on his arrival, and who refused to conform
to his new foreign regulations. This strife had lasted for
three years, when Alfred himself went to Oxford to appease
it. The adversaries of Grimbald had represented to him,
and endeavoured to prove from ancient annals, that although
their institution had certainly lost somewhat of its importance
owing to the oppressions of later days, it had flourished for
centuries by means of its acts and institutes ; and that Gildas,
Melldnus, Nennius, Kentigern, and others, had there studied
pious literature, and that even Saint Germanus had remained
there for half a year. Alfred succeeded in pacifying the quarrel,
and Grimbald indignantly returned to his monastery at "Win-
chester1. So far this genuine Oxford invention, in which we
perceive not only the endeavour to nullify the assertion of its
» The well-known paragraph in Asser, p. 489, 490. Turner, History of th>
Anglo-Saxons, book v. chap. vi. n. 42.
M
162 OXFORD AND ST. NEOT.
opponents, but also that spirit so characteristic of the j. lace in
all ages, the propensity to decry everything foreign.
But Archbishop Parker, the well-known scholar and be-
nefactor of Cambridge, had already, in 1574, caused the
first edition of Asser to be printed, in which this suspicious
narration was not to be found. No other manuscript of the
Biography, not even the oldest, which was then still uninjured,
contained a trace of it. "Whether Cam den allowed himself
to be misled by so manifest an invention, is doubtful. No-
thing but an infatuated desire of supporting ridiculous asser-
tions could have so far carried away the Oxford scholars, as
to make them perpetuate such a fallacy.
Having once accepted fabulous evidence, it was an easy
step to bring to the assistance of their theory confirmations
from sources familiar to the people, namely, the Legends of
the Saints. Not only was Grrimbald asserted to have been
professor at Oxford, in the days of Alfred, but St. Neot, that
pretended kinsman and pious admonisher of the afflicted
king, was likewise made to contribute in an especial manner,
by his counsels, to the foundation of schools in Oxford1.
I have purposely hesitated about bringing so purely my-
thical a personage into the narration of Alfred's life, but on
some accounts he deserves to be briefly noticed.
There are several Biographies of St. Neot, some in Latin,
one (MS. Cotton, Vespasian D. xiv.) in very good Saxon.
The original manuscript must have belonged to the tenth
century, when Alfred's deeds and experiences, which are
there mentioned, had already been formed into traditions by
the islanders. The saint is of course the principal person,
but as the great king, who had been dead for more than the
age of man, was his contemporary and relation, he was also
drawn into the circle of tradition.
The saint is called " Neotus, qui erat cognatus suus," in a
suspicious article in the false Annals of Asser, omitted in the
Vita. Several manuscripts of legends do not hesitate to call
him a son of Ethelwulf, and consequently Alfred's brother.
I do not wish to deny that Alfred in his earlier years may
have been connected with this saint, who lived in the south-
west of England, and unquestionably flourished about the
1 J. Brompton, Cbronicon ap. Twysden, X. Scnptt. p. 814.
OXFORD AND ST. NEOT. 163
middle of the ninth century, and that he may have taken advice
from him, and generally held him in high estimation1. It is
also probable that St. Neot, the day of whose death is noticed
in the calendar on the 31st July, was already dead in the year
877, when, according to the legend, he appeared to the king
in a dream at Athelney. In all the authorities adduced, the
assertion, that the closest blood-relationship existed between
the two, rests on a very slight foundation, and it can scarcely
be credited that, in modern times, a man who has gained for
himself much merit as an English historian, can go even
further than the monks of the tenth and eleventh centuries
in identifying this saint with Alfred's half-brother, Athelstan,
King of Kent, of whom nothing is known after the year 851.
John "Whitaker, in his book, which appeared in 18092,
zealously endeavours to support this opinion. According to
him, the King of Kent, after bravely fighting against the
Danes, and being unable to save his country, renounced the
glories and sufferings of the world, became a monk, and in
this character diligently studied the Scriptures in solitude,
and occupied himself zealously with pious devotions.
A conjecture like this, which selects the highest and beet
individuals, and blends them one with another at its own dis-
cretion, cannot be of much value, and it was very easy to
refute such arbitrary decisions by a somewhat more profound
comparison of the Legend of St. Neot with general history3.
Nevertheless, we find in the notorious " Tracts for the
Times," by means of which the later movements from Oxford
to Rome have been facilitated, a popular Life of St. Neot,
composed by a very skilful hand, in which a romantic account
is given of the transformation of King Athelstan into a saint,
on the battle-field upon the sea-shore, amongst the corpses of
the slaughtered Danes. It is sad that tales of such late
1 Ingulph. p. 870, says: Rex Alfredus sanctorum pedibus acclivis et subditus
S. Neotum in summa veneratione habebat.
2 The Life of St. Neot, p. 69-87.
2 This was first done by Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons, book v. chap. VM
and in a book by Gorham, the History and Antiquities of Eynesbury and St.
Neot's, in Huntingdonshire, ii. 1820-1824, which treats circumstantially of tiie
saint, and the later reverence paid to him, and in which also the Saxon Vita is
printed. Amongst other things, Gorham ref rs to the absurd assertions of the
Oxford professor, i. 41-43.
if 2
16-1 ANECDOTE.
origin should be diffused intentionally amongst the people,
with a view to their religious instruction.
Those early ages were prolific in romantic fictions, founded
in some degree on fact. By way of contrast to the foregoing,
I will here add an anecdote connected with Alfred, for which
I could find no other place in the book.
John of Tynemouth, a collector of anecdotes in the four-
teenth century, who likewise wrote a Life of St. Neot, relates
the following poetical incident1 :
One day, when Alfred was hunting in the forest, he heard
the cry of an infant, which appeared to come from a tree.
He despatched his huntsmen to seek for the voice. They
climbed the tree, and found on the top, in an eagle's nest, a
wondrously beautiful child, clothed in purple, and with
golden bracelets on its arms. The king commanded that it
should be cared for, baptised, and well educated. In remem-
brance of the singular discovery, he caused it to be named
Nestingus2. It was added, that the great-granddaughter of
this foundling was one of the ladies of whom King Edgar
was passionately enamoured. i
VI.
ALFRED AS AN ATJTHOE, AND THE INSTRUCTOR OF HIS PEOPLE
IN ALL KINDS OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.
IN the foregoing pages we have endeavoured to depict the
noble zeal which animated the king in his efforts to advance
the political and social well-being of his people. He did not
strive to repair the ruins around him by general measures
only, but also by directing his attention to many individual
details of reform and improvement, and thus, aided by the
most unwearied energy, he attained success. When we con-
sider this, an involuntary wish arises to penetrate into the
inmost workings of the spirit of that monarch who was ac-
tuated by such pure moral ideas in an age so proportionably
rude, and who sought to make those ideas the motive powers
1 Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, i. 256, ed. i. from the Historia Aurea cf John
Tinemuth. MS. in Bibl. BodL lib. 21. cap. 117.
2 J. Grimm, in his History of the German Language, gives many other equally
interesting passages, frooi which numerous charming taVs have originate;..
ALFRED'S LITERARY PURSUITS. 165
of all his actions. It seemed desirable on many grounds to
give precedence to the foregoing inquiry into the operation
of Alfred's strenuous efforts tore-establish Church and State,
especially as by so doing the thread of chronology is not
broken, and we can begin to consider the mental culture of
the king, at a period when he found leisure time to advance
it, not only by receiving but by imparting knowledge. It
appears from numerous authorities that Alfred did not give
himself up to literary pursuits until he provided for the
public weal in the fullest manner, and his industry as an
author was displayed in the second half of that interval
during which the struggle with the national foe was at rest.
In considering his eager thirst for knowledge and his per-
severing efforts in its attainment, we must bear in mind the
circumstances already related, from which these mainly pro-
ceeded : they were the love for the national poetry which
as an infant he imbibed at his mother's breast, and his jour-
neys to Eome, undertaken indeed in his earliest youth, but
the impressions of which were never effaced in his manhood ;
a dim remembrance of the heroes and glories of the ancient
world always lived in his mind, and did not fail to give a bene-
ficial colouring to his strong national feelings. It seems as
if there already existed in Alfred that blending of the two
elements, which in after times, when in an advanced state of
intelligence an acquaintance with the works of antiquity
was again cultivated, raised many a great man to high re-
nown.
His decided taste for the history of foreign nations and of
the condition of distant countries, as well as his desire of
becoming acquainted with them by observation, are at least
rare developments of the Germanic nature in those days, and
can only in some measure be accounted for by his having
attained a knowledge of that place where, amidst the rubbish
of many centuries, some sparks of the ancient glory still glim-
mered. The old times had long disappeared; classic purity
in literature and art, previously on the decline, had already
succumbed before the invasion of wild, uncultured strength ;
yet still there remained enough of it in the ruins of the
temples and palaces of eternal Eome, and in. passages from
former authors in the true Church, to fill a spiritually minded
prince of Grerman descent with reverential astonishment, and
166 THE NATIONAL LITERATUBE.
breathe into his soul a longing to peruse for himself the
relies of greatness in the writings of the ancients, and to
enable his subjects to become acquainted with them. Alfred
resolved to devote himself to this work, which belonged of
right to the Romish Church, but which she either uncon-
sciously or designedly neglected.
On the other hand, his innate love for the old poetry of his
nation manifested itself throughout the whole of his life,
lie was a German, and the influence of his descent was far
stronger than that which ancient Home exercised over him,.
Those powerful German songs which the boy had received as
a lasting gift from his beloved mother, often rang in his ears
during the vicissitudes of his chequered career. The youth
passionately following the chase, rejoiced in the gigantic
images of his traditionary ancestors, of whom poets sung in
all lauds from the Danube to the Ehine, from the Appen-
nines to his own island ; the king, in the most troubled hours
of his sovereignty, strengthened and confirmed his anxious
heart by the examples of patient endurance which this
poetry revealed to him ; and the father caused his own and
his people's children to learn betimes those poetical treasures
Adth which lie constantly consoled himself. We are assured
of this by repeated accounts in his Biography1. What
traditions at that time were familiar to him and to his people
can be gathered even at this day, without much difficulty,
from the fragments of Anglo-Saxon poetry which remain to
us ; they belonged, without doubt, to the great epic cycle
which was the common property of all the Germanic races.
This is shown by the poems of Beowulf, the God-descended
hero, who fought with monsters of all kinds, but lived in
harmony with all heroic natures, as appears in the Niebe-
luugen and in the songs of the Edda. It is also shown in
the poems of the wandering minstrels, who, at the courts of
Hermanric the Goth, Audoin the Lombard, and in short,
wherever the German tongue was spoken, sung to their
audience the deeds of their heroic ancestors, and received
therefore golden gifts2. In the small fragment entitled " The
Battle at Einnesbury" appears Hengist, the Mythic Warrior ;
and judging from the received tables of descent of the West
1 Asser, p. 473, 485, 497. 2 \V. Grimm, Deutsche Heldensage, p. 13-20.
ALFRED'S EDUCATION. 1G7
Saxons and their kindred neighbours, it seems most probable
that the vague accounts of the acts and deeds of celebrated
men which we possess, once resounded from the lips of
the wandering Scalds, and even in Alfred's day were living
only in song. The origin of Christian Anglo-Saxon poetry,
on the contrary, is chiefly to be ascribed to the impulse and
direction which Alfred and his age gave to the nation, and it
only began to nourish after the death of that great monarch.
In order to satisfy the desire of knowledge which had
animated him from his earliest youth, the man was obliged
to exercise childlike humility, and take the position of a
scholar at an advanced age. We know that his thirst for
learning was not appeased in his youthful days, and he found
no leisure in time of war. But his powerful mind never
relinquished the hope of winning back the lost opportunity,
and at the period of which we now speak, his long-cherished
resolve was crowned with success. Before he became ac-
quainted with Asser, he had already endeavoured to benefit
by the wisdom and learning of his bishops ; he caused one
of them to read to him at every leisure moment, so that one
must have always been within call, and in this manner he
mastered many books before he was able to read them for
himself1. He may already in his youth have learnt to read
his mother tongue, but he was grown to manhood before he
acquired the knowledge of Latin, and with regard to writing,
did not much outstrip Charlemagne, who, with his hand so
accustomed to the sword, made but small progress in that
art. As a skilful master had never presided over Alfred's
education, the self-instruction to which he was obliged to
have recourse must have been exceedingly tiresome, and no-
thing could have been more difficult to him than the acquisi-
tion of the mechanical art of writing. It is also uncertain
when he first mastered it, and whether that prayer-book
which he always carried in his bosom, and out of which the
king, in the days when all seemed lost, derived consolation,
was copied by his own hand. But the taste for collecting,
compiling, and preserving, seemed to have been born with
him ; and if he himself was not able to do it, he employed
some one else who could, to transcribe first the services of the
1 Asser, p. 487.
168 ASSEE AS ALFRED'S COMPANION.
hours, also some psalms and many prayers1. When in Liter
times he selected the faithful Asser as his teacher, all the
leaves of the book were already filled. The narration is as
follows :
Asser, after his recovery as we have already mentioned,
began his labours with the king at Leonaford, probably in
the year 885. He remained at court for eight months, and
this long period must have been invaluable to his pupil so
desirous of knowledge ; for from the first rudiments of educa-
tion with which he may have been but imperfectly acquainted,
he advanced to the study of works which were considered as
very learned in that age. He was desirous of mastering all the
literary resources which were at his command. His biogra-
pher relates, that during this residence at Leonaford, he read
to the king all the books that he desired, and that could be
procured2 ; for the habit had become a second nature to him,
amidst all his bodily and mental sufferings, either himself to
read books, or to listen whilst others read them. But the
presence of so congenial a companion gave rise to a mutual
interchange of ideas, and the active-minded king knew how
to draw no small advantage from this intellectual conversa-
tion. " As we were both one day sitting in the royal
chamber," says Asser3, " and were conversing as was our
wont, it chanced that I recited to him a passage out of a
certain book. After he had listened with fixed attention,
and expressed great delight, he showed jie the little book
which he always carefully carried about with him, and in
which the daily lessons, psalms, and prayers, were written, and
begged me to transcribe that passage into his book." Asser,
secretly thanking Heaven for the love of wisdom that was so
active in the king's heart, joyfully assented ; he was already
prepared to begin his writing, when every corner of the book
was found to be occupied, for Alfred had written many
things of all kinds therein4. Asser hesitated, the king be-
came urgent ; Asser then inquired, " Will it please you that
1 Asser, p. 474: " Celebrationes horarum, ac deinde psalmos quosdam et ora-
tiones multas."
2 Asser, p. 488 : " Recitavi illi libros quoscunque ille vellet et quos ad manum
haberemus."
* Asser, p. 491.
* Era,t enim omnino multis ex causis refertus.
ALFEED AS AN AUTHOR. 109
I transcribe this passage on a detached leaf ? "We cannot
tell whether we shall not meet with more similar passages
which you may like ; if this should happen, we shall be glad
to have already made a separate collection of them." " That
is a good thought," he answered. Asser directly arranged a
fresh sheet, and wrote the passage in the beginning. He
had rightly guessed what the king would do, for on the same
day he caused him to enter three more quotations. This
book also was soon filled with those quotations from their
daily conversations, which the king wished to impress firmly
on his memory. The activity of Alfred equalled that of the
bee, which flies from flower to flower, occupied in bearing
their sweet products to its well-stored cells.
It is evident that Alfred's industry was chiefly limited to
compiling, and his learning was of the same character. He
gained information himself, and laid up at the same time a
store of knowledge for himself and for his people. It is
only on this theory that we can explain the assertion which
is made by his biographers, and which has no other authority,
that on the same day when the above quotation was made
(it was apparently on St. Martin' s-day, November llth1), the
king began to study and translate into Saxon, with the desire
of being able to instruct others. This short account gives a
lively picture of the origin, progress, and aim of his studies.
It does not indeed tell us how quickly the king learnt Latin,
but that he did master it his works which we possess abund-
antly testify.
From a scholar he soon became an author, and this sphere
of activity was commenced by the common-place book which
Asser had begun, and which had been destined by Alfred for
his own private use, that he might learn the passages con-
tained in it, and thus profitably employ his time. The
writings of the masters which he thus perused furnished rich
material for annotation, so that in a short time the book grew
to the size of a Psalter ; and because he always wished to
have it at hand day and night, he named it his " Manual2."
1 Asser, p. 492 : " In venerabili Martini solemnitate." This occurrence is re-
lated indeed in the year 887, shortly after the last annalistic portion of the work,
and at the beginning of the last and longest episode. According to p. 488. Asser
came to Leonaford in the year 885, and directly began his instruction.
* Asser, p. 492 : Quern Enchiridion suum, id est manualem librura normnar
170 ALFRED'S MAXUAL.
Among the manuscript treasures of Saxon England it is
unfortunately useless to seek for a single entire copy of this
book, which, up to the middle of the twelfth century, must
have been quite commonly known. But from the fragments
of it that have descended to us through William the Monk
of Malmesbury, it must have comprised, besides a collection
from the Latin authors, many notes in the king's own hand,
relating to the early history of his people, and probably, too,
of his own family. Only very few of these invaluable relics
remain, and how many important observations may have been
lost with this private book1 ! From the historical notices it
contained, we may style it Alfred's only original work ; but
although all the rest of his with which we are acquainted
consist of translations, they are executed with such peculiar
freedom as almost to merit the title of original.
Among the translations from the ancients, the principal
one is the celebrated " Consolations" of Boethius. It is well
known in what high estimation this work of trie last Roman
poet and philosopher was held in the middle ages. It was a
monument of didactic writing, in which, with much talent,
and not without artistic 'beauty, the little that remained of
classic style under the sovereignty of the Groths was blended
with the progressive Christian spirit belonging to a new
epoch. In the misery and solitude of a fearful dungeon, into
which he had been flung by the powerful arm of a wrathful
Goth, the Roman consoled himself with reproducing the
Wessons of wisdom. Here, after the old Roman manner,
voluit, eo quod ad manum ilium die noctuque solertissime habebat." From the
subsequent narratiou of Asser we must conclude that that Manual was not iden-
tical with the Book of Prayers. Wright, Biogr. Brit. Lit. i. 395, considers the
two as one work, and says that u contained " prayers and psalms and his daily
observations." Nothing is anywhere said of the latter, and the author is perhaps
careless enough to translate Asser's " Otationes" by " Observations."
1 Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 123. Liber proprius, quern patria lingua Encheridion,
id est manualem librum appellavit. The detached fragments are contained in
Wilh. Malmesb. Vita Aldhelmi (Wharton, Anglia Sacra), and p. 2, treat of Ken-
terus, the father of Aldhelm, and his relationship to the West Saxon royal family;
and p. 4, to Aldhelm's poetry and its effect on the people. Further, in Florent.
Geneolog. p. 693, ed. 1592, with reference to the reign of Kenfus, it is said,
" Secundum dicta regis Aelfredi." In a catalogue of a Norman convent library,
MS. Bodl. 103, fol. 251, in the time of Henry I., there is a book called " Elfredj
regis liber Anglicus."
TRANSLATION OF EOETBTUS. 171
the noble doctrines of the peripatetics and the stoics were
explained by examples drawn from ancient traditions, and the
work was also penetrated with the Christian spirit of faith
and hope in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, whose
Gospel began its victorious career from the central point of
the Old World.
The Latin Church regarded and carefully preserved the
book of the last Roman, as an inheritance of the old classic
days, until its own foundations, and with these the support
of the revived and ever-youthful literature of Greece and
Borne were shattered by the free and universal spirit of the
valiant German Protestantism. The ascendancy maintained
by Boethius, during the middle ages, waned before the greater
lights of that time. The change that then took place rendered
his work valuable only as a model of philosophical and
grammatical learning, and it became the peculiar property of
the learned priesthood.
The great influence of monastic schools is evidenced by the
fact, that wherever a newly-formed language was applied to
literature, a translation of Boethius into the popular dialect
was never omitted ; we find one in the most ancient form of
the old High German, in the Proven9al, the North Frank
(Norman), and even Chaucer made one when he gave her
language to England. The Anglo-Saxons received one from
their best prose- writer, their king himself. Instructed by the
priests in the literature of his day, Alfred seems to have
studied this book above all others, and to have superintended
its translation himself. He had not, at that time, entirely
mastered the Latin language, and Asser must have simplified
and read aloud the text which the king rendered into Saxon1.
This arrangement may still be recognised in the abridged
form of the translation, in which many sections of the original
are missing ; but the characteristics which the work presents
are in such strict accordance with Alfred's other writings,
that great importance must be attached to it. With reference
1 Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 122. " Hie (Asserio, according to William's style)
sensum librorum Booetii De Consolatione planioribus verbis enodavit, qnos rex ipsa
in Anglicam linguam vertit." The Gest. Pontif. ii. 248, gives a similar account,
with the addition : " Illis diebus abore necessario, nostris ridiculo. Sed eniin
jussu regis factum est, ut levins av. »xlem in Anglicam transf'erretur serinonem.
172 ALFRED'S MANNER or TRANSLATING
to the other translations, we will remark, once for all, that
the king always handled his materials in the freest manner, and
in general did not confine himself to the letter of the works
before him. It therefore becomes difficult, on the one hand,
to discover his knowledge of Latin ; we must even conclude,
by the evident errors in tbe transcribing, that it was but im-
perfect ; but on the other hand, the method he followed left
open a wide field, on which he, as an independent author not
bound by the letter, might use his own discretion. It ac-
cordingly happens, that not only isolated traces of his
nationality appear from time to time in this translation of
Boethius1, but that entirely fresh matter, composed of the
king's own thoughts and feelings, amplifies the text of the
Roman, or completely suppresses and replaces it. We will
point this out by a few examples from Boethius. The wel1-
known tales of the Roman authors, such as those of Orpheus
and Eurydice, and of Ulysses, are entered into with a prolixity
which Alfred carries out far beyond the original. After he
has given the contents of the verses in which Boethius treats
of Nero, he continues with reflections on the cruel abuse of
power, which crime he traces back to the example of the
tyrant. Wherever in the Latin volumes there is mention
made of the nothingness of all earthly splendour and renown,
his noble soul inspires the smiting words of the lloman with
deeper fulness of meaning and with thoughts springing from
a truer humanity. Finally, when in the third book of
Boethius he comes to speak of the nature of Grod and man's
relation to Him, he casts aside all the fetters which up to
that time had more or less bound him to the text, and from
his own heart writes down all he thinks and feels of God's
goodness, and wisdom, and holiness. It is very difficult to
make a judicious selection from the rich materials which we
1 The name which he inserts, instead of that of Fabricius, is most curious.
Boethius, ii. 7, v. 15, asks : " Ubi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii manent ?" Alfred,
Boethius, ed. Cardale, p. 106, translates the passage thus: " Hwaet sint nu paes
foremaeran, and paes wisan goldsmrSes ban Welondes?" Grimm, Mythologie,
p. 351, supposes that the old skilful northern deity replaced Fabricius in
Alfred's mind, he erroneously deriving Fabricius from faber (smith). Tha
belief in the existence of this deity had long vanished ; but Alfred showed hit
correct and intimate acquaintance with the national mythology. See Kembla
Saxons in England, i. 421.
ALFRED'S IDEAS ON GOVERNMENT. 173
find in these records of Alfred's own thoughts, but one
example of the paraphrasing may be given.
In a short episode of his second book, Boethius1 asserts
that he never allowed himself to be influenced by ambition,
but desired only to obtain materials for discussion, that truth
mi'rht not be lost through silence. From this the king takes
occasion to explain at length his opinions respecting the
manner in which government should be conducted. He says
that materials and implements are necessary for carrying on
every kind of work. That of the king consists in providing
that the country should be thickly populated, and particularly
that the three classes in it, the clerical, the martial, and the
operative, should be largely represented. To maintain these
functions efficiently, he must furnish those who filled them
with estates and donations, weapons, bread, and beer, and
clothing ; in fact, with whatever is requisite for each. "With-
out these means he cannot preserve his tools, and without the
tools none of the duty devolving upon him can be performed.
Alfred states that his constant desire therefore is, to employ
them worthily ; but as all virtue and power are nothing with-
out wisdom, the results of folly must be useless. " This I
can now truly say, that so long as I have lived I have striven
to live worthily, and after my death to leave my memory to
my descendants in good works2."
This confession of the king and hero is so noble and so
great, that until the latest times those who read it will be
filled with astonishment and admiration.
The preface to the Anglo-Saxon Boethius could not pos-
sibly have been written by Alfred himself, but it is taken
chiefly from the preface to the translation of the Pastoral
Care, by Gregory the Great, and is an old and valuable testi-
mony that he was the author of the translation ; it explains
at the same time the method of study pursued by him :
" King Alfred was the translator of this book, which he
turned from Latin into English as it now stands. Sometimes
1 II. p. 7: Turn e^o, Scis, inquam, ipsa minimum nobis ambitionem mortalium
rerum f uisse dominatam ; sed materiam gerendis i«bus optavimus, quo ne virtus
tacita consenesceret.
2 Alfred's Boethius, edited by Cardale, p. 92 : pset is nu hraftost to secganne. pset
ic wilnode weorpfullice to libbanne pa hwile pe ic lifede, and gefter minum life para
monuum to laefanne pe aefter me waeren min gemynd on godum weorcum.
174 TRANSLATION OF BOETIirUS.
he translated word for word, sometimes sense for sense, ac-
cording as he could most clearly and intelligibly interpret it,
in the midst of the manifold and various worldly matters
which often claimed him bodily and mentally. It would be
difficult to enumerate the different affairs which in his time
oppressed the kingdom that he had received. Yet he studied
this book, and rendered it from the Latin into the English
tongue ; and afterwards he turned it into verse, as it now
stands. But now he begs of those who may please to read
the book, in God's name, to pray for him, and not to blame
him if they should understand it better than he was able to
do. For every man must, according to the ability of his in-
tellect, say what he says, and do what he does."
The continuation o'f the book forms a short historical in-
troduction, which proceeded unquestionably from Alfred's
own pen, and here, as well as on other occasions, there are
decided evidences of Alfred's taste for historical lore. It
treats of the times of Theodoric, but with the impressions
received by the author from the erroneous ecclesiastical nar-
rations ; and the consciousness that he is writing of a ruler so
nearly allied to himself by nationality and a similar exalted
station, is scarcely discernible in his account of Theodoric.
Only a few traces of the G-othic family-legends of Jor-
nandes are to be seen. Alfred states that the Groths came
from Scythia ; that Eaedgota and Eallerie1 reigned and
subdued the whole of Italy between the mountains and the
islands of Sicily. He also says : " Theodoric was Amal2," and
although he was a Christian, and at first mild and just to-
wards the Romans, yet he followed the Arian heresy, and
therefore caused much evil ; ordered the Pope to be put to
death, and most cruelly treated the learned and wise Boethius.
This is enough to demonstrate that Alfred's Theodoric is
far more the infernal tyrant of the orthodox Church than the
old powerful Bernese hero of German tradition.
Alfred's Boethius must have been a favourite book in his
own times, and it is not only mentioned by chroniclers of a
1 Vide the Traveller's Song, in Cod. Exon. ed. Thorpe, 322, 333, 334. ; J. Grimm,
Gesc-hichte der Deutschen Sprache, p. 446.
2 He waes Amaling. Kemb" ?, Saxons, i. 424. thinks Alfred had no Latin au
fchoritr for this designation.
TEANSLATION O5 OHOSIUS.' 175
;ater period, such as Malmesbury and others, but has a
come down to the present day in the form of two ancient
manuscripts1.
It appears, from various discrepancies and other reasons,
that Alfred could not have been the author of that transla-
tion of the work into Anglo-Saxon verse which is mentioned
in the old prose preface2. But the actual translator, who pro-
bably lived about the close of the following century, doubt-
lessly had Alfred's version before him, which he by no means
knew how to appreciate3.
The next work, and one which is far more interesting in the
present day than that of Boethius, is the translation of the
" Chronicle of the World," by Orosius. The reason which
induced the king to undertake this work, is to be found in
his desire to impart all the information then current respect-
ing the whole of the ancient world to the laity of his country.
A varied choice was not open to him when he selected the
meagre and incorrect composition of the Spanish priest ; al]
better sources of information were unattainable by him and
his contemporaries. Accident first led Orosius, who was not
distinguished for learning, to undertake the office of histo-
rian ; in the year 410, he became acquainted with Augustine,
a father of the Church, who at that time was occupied with the
eleventh book of his work, "De civitate Dei4." Augustine
persuaded his friend to write an historical work, with the view
of supporting his own refutation of the charge made by the
heathen writer, that Christianity had brought complete ruin
upon the Roman world ; so Orosius commenced with the his-
tory of the first man, and brought down the account of the
calamities of all the people of every country to the time of the
G-oths, Alaric, and Athaulf, the scourges of Eome. The
object of the work recommended it to the orthodox clergy, who
1 MS. Cotton. Otho, A. vi. sec. x., almost entirely destroyed by fire; a copy
nf the same by Junius, in Oxford ; MS. Bodley, 180, sec. xii. init. ; Rawlinson's
edition, 1698, and that of Cardale, 1829. A manuscript was in the library of
Bishop Leofric, of Exeter, about the middle of the eleventh century ; vide Wanley,
Catal. lib. MSS. p. 80.
2 And geworhte hi eft to letfSe. MS. Bodl.
3 See the instances noticed by Wright, Biogr. Brit. Lit. i. 56, 57 400 ff. The
manuscript is almost completely destroyed. Fox's edition, 1835.
* Augustinus de origine animae hoirunis, ad Beatum Hieronymum, ed. Bend*
diet, ii. 759.
176 TRANSLATION OF OEOSITTS.
turned with aversion from all better means of self- instruction.
Authors such as Trogus Pompeius, Justinus1, Livius, and
Polybius, whom Orosius had casually employed, were now
entirely neglected and forgotten.
Alfred again treats his text in the manner we have before
described ; he made it a principle to select only what was
applicable to existing circumstances. Accordingly he omits
entirely the dedication to Augustine, and many other pas-
sages, and contracts the seven books of the original into six3.
Besides the omissions, there are, in almost every chapter,
various alterations, repetitions, or slight addition a, some of
the most remarkable of which may be noticed. [When Orosius,
in the geographical survey of the ancient universe with which
he introduces the Chronicle, proceeds to speak of Hibernia,
the king remarks of the neighbouring island, that warmer
weather prevails there than in Britain, because it is nearer to
the setting-sun3.] Orosius mentions the refusal of M. Fabius
to accept the triumph offered to him by the senate after his
dearly-gained victory over the Veientes. Alfred appends to
this a description of the Eoman triumph, from sources of
which, unfortunately, we remain ignorant. He details the
entry of the victorious consul in a magnificently- adorned
chariot drawn by white horses, as well as the procession of
the senate. A dissertation concerning the position of the
two governing powers of ancient Home was also added4.
Attains bequeathed his estate to the Romans "to boclande,"
precisely like a king of the West Saxons5. The two visits of
Julius Csesar to Britain are included in one ; but he asserts
that the place where Cassar crossed the Thames, before his
last victorious battle with the Britons, is to be found at
Wallingford6. In the reign of Commodus, the capitol was
struck by lightning, which, amongst other buildings, de-
stroyed the library then existing there. Alfred inserts from
1 Alfred's Orosius, edited by Barrington, p. 37, quotes these two authors, as
follows, from Orosius, i. 8. : Pompeius se hseftena scop and his cnight Justinus
waeron "Sus singende.
2 The only manuscript extant now bears the still unexplained title : Hoimesta
Orosii. Some Latin manuscripts of Orosius are entitled Hormesta, or Hormesia
Mundi. Orosius, ed. Haverkamp, Leyden, 1738.
3 Aeifr. p. 30; Oros. i. 2. 5 Aelfr. p. 184; Oros. v. 10.
* Aelfr p. 66 : Oros. ii. 5. « Aelfr. p. 196 ; Oros. vi. 9.
ALFRED A GEOGRAPHER. 177
an earlier section of the original this addition " and all the
old books therein contained were burnt. As much damage
was then done as in the city of Alexandria, where a library
containing four hundred thousand books was burnt ;" this
happening at the same time that, in the presence of Caesar,
the fleet was destroyed by flames1. The reverence which
such a lover of books felt for so large a collection of them
would not permit him to pass over this account.
It may be easily perceived, from such examples as these,
that there is much in the work independent of the original ;
and a celebrated interpolation at the commencement of the
book is unquestionably one of the most important relics that
we possess of Alfred's writings. It consists of a geographical
sketch of the large tract of land which Alfred terms Ger-
mania, and of two original narratives received from northern
mariners2.
Alfred was acquainted with Ptolemy's principles of geo-
graphy ; he found that they were also followed by Orosius
in his second chapter, and he perfectly agreed with them in
respect to the three divisions of the earth. His own refer-
ences to Rome, Palestine, and India, have been mentioned
before. As regards the north he is better informed than his
author ; here he tacitly corrects the erroneous accounts, and
gives besides a description of the situation of every country
where the German language was spoken in the ninth century.
The boundaries of his Germania lay along the Rhine and the
Danube, and extended from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Gulf of Bothnia ; they are more extensive and better defined
than those before assigned by Tacitus. The actual German
land he divided into two large portions, which he endeavoured
to distinguish as the southern or East Frank, and the northern
or Old Saxon3. In this manner the Slavonic boundaries east-
ward were defined, and an arrangement was made of the
situations of the Germanic Danes of the south and north, as
well as those of Sweden.
1 Alfr. p. 221 ; Oros. vii. 16, vi. 15, with which compare Parthey, the
Alexandrian Museum, p. 32.
2 In what follows I rely entirely upon Dahlmann's excellent treatment of the
subject contained in his Inquiries, i. 401, ff., wi-'ch in every instance remains un-
refuted, in spite of Scandinavian pretensions.
sDahlmann, p. 418.
If
178 OHTHEEE AND WULFSTAN.
Then follows the account which was given by Ohthere to
his liege, King Alfred1, and which occupies an important
place in the history of discoveries. The narrator, a wealthy
mariner and whale-fisher from the province of Heliogoland
on the north coast of Norway, in the course of his voyages
(probably undertaken for the purpose of trading with fish)
reached England, became known to the king, so eager after
knowledge of all kinds, and after some time entered into
his service. But to designate Ohthere as an historical per-
sonage, and to recognise him again in a commander of the
same name, who led a plundering horde into England, is a
vain attempt of Scandinavian learning2. He informed his
sovereign that he had gone as far towards the north as the
land extended in that direction, and that he had turned with
the land to the east, and at length had sailed into a large
river (the "White Sea), whose coasts he found inhabited
by Finns. Amongst these people, the Beormen, who spoke
nearly the same language as the Finns, were the sole culti-
vators of the land ; and Ohthere conversed with their king,
and described their manner of life as similar to his own.
The second part of his narrative describes the large extent
of Scandinavia towards the south, and mentions the journey
undertaken by Ohthere, from his home in Heliogoland,
across Sciringesheal (in the Gulf of Christiania), probably
through the Great Belt to Schleswig (set Hse'Sum3).
The other navigator, from whose lips Alfred wrote down
the second account of travel, was a certain "Wulfstan, whose
native country is not mentioned, who sailed from Schleswig
to a place called Truso, which was probably situated in
modern Prussia, on the Gulf of Friesland, and who fur-
nished the earliest description of the then existing coasts of
Estonia4.
Neither of these accounts contradicts the erroneous opi-
nion entertained in preceding centuries, that Scandinavia
was a large island, and that the Gulf of Bothnia, or Quaner
Lake, flowed into the North Sea. But, notwithstanding
this, Alfred must be judged worthy of immortal praise, inas-
much as through these sources of information he acquired a
1 Ohthere saede his hlaforde Aelfrede kyninge, etc. Alf. p. 21.
* Duhlmann, p. 410. * Dahlmann, p. 427, 443. « Alfred, p. 25, ff.
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY. 179
knowledge of the more distant parts of our quarter of the
globe, and by his own true German energy and persever-
ance, acquainted himself with German ethnography. The
title of a geographer may be justly bestowed on the king,
who so eagerly sought after geographical and historical
knowledge, and he wras indisputably the greatest one of his
age. But how few, in the present day, are acquainted with
this merit, or know how to prize it according to its value1 !
As the royal author found the pagan kingdoms, and, to a
certain extent, the universal history of the Old World,
treated of by Orosius, so the invaluable work of his great
countryman, Bede, furnished him with the history of Chris-
tendom and of his own people. He undoubtedly descended
from generals to particulars, when he resolved, for the be-
nefit of the laity, to render into German this national work,
which had hitherto been available to the clergy only. Bede
wrote his ecclesiastical history at the beginning of the eighth
century, to preserve the remembrance of the conversion of
the Angles and Saxons, and the establishment of Chris-
tianity amongst them. But considerable parts of his work
treat necessarily of temporal subjects, and notice the de-
velopment of the numerous small principalities founded by
the German colonists upon the conquered island. That
Bede lived in the north of England, and never left that
part of the country during his long life, may be assumed
from the knowledge he exhibits concerning his imme-
diate neighbourhood. His knowledge of the south of the
island was chiefly derived from viva voce information.
But he also introduced, in their proper places, many
popular and legendary matters, which, at a later period,
may be again met with in the Saxon Tear-books. In
1 At present, only one manuscript of the Saxon Orosius is extant, MS. Cotton.
Tiber. B. i. legibly written, and almost contemporary. MS. Lauderdale, which
ought to have been in the possession of Lady Dysart, is not to be found. There
is a copy, by Junius, in Oxford. Sir John Spelman first inserted a Latin trans-
lation of the geographical portions in his Vita Aelfredi. In 1773, Daines Bar-
rington published the entire book, with a geographical treatise of Reinhold
Forster. Since that time, the pressing necessity of a satisfactory edition has
remained unfulfilled. Some parts only of the work, and amongst them Germania
and the two narratives of voyages, are critically treated, in Thorpe's Analects
Anglosaxonica, p. 81, ed. ii.
N2
180 TRANSLATION OF BEDE.
tins respect especially, he ranks in the third place amongst
the earliest national historians, although, in the better ar-
rangement of his materials, in the steady aim towards a
higher object, and particularly in the intelligence manifested
throughout the whole, he far surpasses Jornandes the Goth,
Gregory of Tours, and Paul the Deacon. During his life-
time, his fame reached Rome, and soon extended over
Western Europe.
One hundred and fifty years after the death of Bede, his
book was first translated into German. There is no trace to
be found in the translation that this was accomplished by
Alfred ; the name of the king does not occur in it, and it is
not furnished with any introduction by him. But the most
ancient testimonies leave no doubt that he alone was the
author1. It is likewise probable that the compilers of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, who must have undertaken the work
soon after the year 890, when they took into consideration
Bede's book, had already seen their king's translation of it ;
for one of the mistakes committed by Alfred was copied into
the Chronicle2.
Conformably to his purpose, Alfred prepared a selection
from this national historical work, which he evidently endea-
voured to adapt to the south of the island. He therefore
omits the prolix accounts of the relations of the Church at
York with the neighbouring Scots, who were of a different
faith ; whilst, on the contrary, the history of the first Chris-
tian kings of Wessex is literally translated. This is also the
case with the details of the first conversions. All the docu-
ments included by Bede in his work, the letters of bishops
1 Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 123, enumerates the works: Orosius, Pastoralis Gre-
gorii, Gesta Anglorum Bedae. The most ancient testimony is that of Archbishop
Aelfric, about the year 1000, in his daily Homilies, iiii. Id. Martis Sci Gregorii
papae urbis Romanae inclyti : Historia Anglorum : "Sa fte Aelfred cyning of Ledene
on Englisc awende, translated by Thorpe, the Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon
Church, ii. 116. Layamon, in his Brut. (Sir F. Madden's edition, i. 2), uses the
translation in 1205 :
he nam pa Englisca boc
pa makede seirit Beda.
* Beda, i. 9 : Maximus imperator oreatus est — thus translated by Alfred : se
casere was accenned (born), and Chron. Sax, A. 381, waos geboren. R. Sehmid,
Geschichte des Angelsachs. p. Ivii. note 1.
GREGORY'S PASTORAL CARE. 181
and popes, are wanting, with only a few exceptions — for
example, the first epistle of Gregory the Great, which is,
however, merely inserted in an abridged form, and indirectly
noticed ; neither do the hymns and epitaphs composed by
Bede upon saints and bishops find any place in the transla-
tion. But, again, the national history of the poet Caedmon
is faithfully retained, and the proof of his poetical talent
rendered into Saxon verse, which, in accordance with the rest
of our conclusions, must have been the production of Alfred,
for Caedmon himself wrote in the Anglian dialect.
Alfred considered that the miracles related by Bede ought
not to be withheld from the people. It is a singular fact, that
he places the full index of its contents before each chapter, and
also inserts the list of the numerous subjects omitted by him
in the translation1. These few remarks may suffice to show
the character of the book, on which the author bestowed
much less attention than on his other works, and in which
nothing is to be found to compensate for its manifold imper-
fections. It is matter of special wonder that Alfred did not
take advantage of the opportunity to supply from his own
knowledge the earlier history of Wessex, of which Bede
knew so little. But these deficiencies do not present suffi-
cient reason why the translation of Bede at the present day
_should not be considered as valuable as ever2.
The other works of Alfred relate to theological subjects.
He undoubtedly took peculiar delight in the writings of
Gregory the Great ; and after becoming acquainted with
them himself, he took pains to diffuse them in the national
language amongst his clergy and their flocks, in order to ad-
vance their spiritual welfare. Gregory, the first of all the
popes who assumed a prominent position in the world, has I
blended his history for ever with that of the British^islau d. J
By his exertions the Teutonic conqueror of the country was
won over to Christianity, and Alfred desired to render thanks
1 Wheloc's Beda, p. 8 ; Smith's Beda, p. 479, 480.
2 There are some manuscripts in existence, one in the University Library at
Cambridge, also MS. Corp. Christ! Coll. Cambr. 41; MS. Cotton. Otho, B. xi. is
burnt. Besides these, there are the original editions by Wheloc, 1643, and Smith,
1722. It is much to be lamented that Stevenson prepared none, when he published
his excellent lecture on the Historia Ecclesiastica (English Historical Society
1838).
182 GEEGOEY'S PASTOEAL CAEE.
to him in the name of his people for such a benefit, and at
the same time to make them acquainted with the literary
works of this prince of the Church. From the numerous
Gregorian writings which had become the widely-diffused
property of the Catholic Church, he next selected the Pas-
toral Care, " that book so full of deep knowledge of man-
kind, and of a devout spirit, which contains such simple and
comprehensive directions upon the great art of a wise and
gentle spiritual government1." Gregory had written the
" Regula Pastoralis " in the commencement of his pontificate,
when he was reproached with having attempted to avoid by
flight the election to the chair of St. Peter2. " In it he col-
lected together many passages that were scattered in various
parts of his writings. He endeavoured also to point out in
what spirit and manner the spiritual shepherd should enter
upon his office, how he ought to conduct himself therein,
how he should vary his mode of preaching, so as to suit the
different circumstances of his hearers, and how he must
guard himself from self-exaltation at the happy result of his
labours. In the following centuries this book had a decided
influence in awakening a better spirit amongst the clergy,
and in causing efforts to be made to improve the condition of
the Church. The reforming synods under Charlemagne
made it a standard for their proceedings with respect to the
amendment of ecclesiastical affairs3." Its renown, and the
persuasion of its excellence, passed from the Franks to the
Saxons ; the translation made by their king chiefly contri-
buting to this result. The original indeed was to be found
amongst the books once bestowed on Augustine by Gregory,
and in the fifteenth century it still remained in the library of
the monastery at Canterbury4.
Alfred may have first undertaken the translation about the
year 890, after being occupied for several years previously
» Stolberg, Leben des grossen Alfred, p. 271.
2 Lau, Gregor. I. der Grosse, p. 315.
3 Neander. Allgemeine Geschichte der Christlichen Religion und Kirche. in.
Vierter Abschnitt. i.
* Alfred himself, in the poetical introduction, MS. Hatton 20*
pis serend gewrit. Agostinus.
ofer sealtne sae. vu^San brohtao.
See Wanley's Catal. libr. MSS. p. 172.
ALFRED'S PREFACE TO THE WOBK. 183
with similar works, in the introductory chapters and pre-
faces of which, he frequently thanks Asser, Grimbald, and
Johannes, as well as his Archbishop Plegmund, for the assist-
ance they gave him. In this case also he sometimes trans-
lated word for word, sometimes meaning for meaning, as
these men deemed advisable. But amongst the compara-
tively large number of existing manuscripts, his translation
has hitherto never been published in print, the cause of
which may be attributed to the indifFererce to the subject,
which in our times has lost its interest amongst the few
learned men acquainted with Anglo-Saxon literature, who
might be capable of such an undertaking. It is, however,
easy to perceive, on a comparison of many principal portions
of the manuscripts at Oxford with the Latin text, that the
king translated the work of Gregory much more faithfully
than those of Boethius and Orosius, where more frequent
occasions were afforded him to give free course to the expres-
sion of his own ideas and experience. Neither does he appear
to have omitted anything essential, for it evidently was his
intention to make generally known the whole of Gregory's
book, which so few could understand in Latin.
But the most valuable memorial of his mind and writings
which he has bequeathed to us, is contained in the admirable
preface, in which he not only sets forth his purpose in pub-
lishing this book, but the far higher aim, entertained by no
other earthly ruler before his time, with which he devoted
himself to its study. He desired by his own example to re-
vive the learning which had so entirely vanished ; and to this
end he reminded his readers in stirring language of those
better times which were past, and whose glory could only be
regained by means of education and the instruction of youth.
It was therefore his anxious wish that the great scarcity of
books should be remedied, and he caused it to be so arranged
that each bishop in his kingdom should receive a copy of the
Pastoral Care, and at the same time a small golden tablet, of
the value of fifty marks1. Three of these copies have been
preserved to the present day, with inscriptions addressed to
Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, Werfrith, Bishop of
1 Ond to aelcum biscep-stole on minum rice wille ane onsendan. ond aelcie bilS
an aestel. se bi$ on fiftegum mancessan. MS. Hatton. 20.
184 TKA.NSLATION OF THE DIALOGUES.
Worcester, and Wulfsig, Bishop of Sherborne ; and in the
style of handwriting, they resemble each other in a remark-
able manner.
The preface concludes with a poetical prologue, and at the
end of the book there is an epilogue, also in verse, in which
nearly the same ideas appear as in the preface, but with the
peculiar expressions, drawn from nature and her analogies,
so characteristic of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Hitherto these
verses have been too little valued, although, as they are to be
seen in the original manuscripts, it appears to be indubitable
that they were Alfred's own production. It is useless to think
of publishing them, or the entire translation1.
The " Dialogues," another work of Gregory, was not trans-
lated by Alfred himself, but by his friend, Bishop "Werfrith
of Worcester. The eminent pope had written this book
at the urgent entreaty of his friends that he would recount
the lives and miracles of the Italian saints. He gave im-
portant aid towards the furtherance of superstition in his
own times and the next century, by the record of numberless
incredible and often very absurd legends, and in this work
he appears to have been the principal means of furnishing
the- Catholic Church with the doctrine of purgatory. As he
carried on these unconnected narrations in the form of con-
versations with his confidential friend Peter the Deacon, he
gave them the suitable name of Dialogues. It soon became
a favourite book in all countries, and was even translated
into Arabic and Greek2.
Bishop Werfrith did not undertake the translation of this
book from his own idea. The king commissioned him to do
so, and it must have been closely allied to similar works of
Alfred. It is, however, remarkable that it had been already
noticed by Asser3, who had not once mentioned Alfred's
1 Manuscripts: MS. Hatton. 20, in the Bodleian Library; MS. bibl. publ.
Univ. Camb. ; MS. Cotton. Tiber. B. xi., injured by fire. MS. Cotton. Otho, B. ii.,
which was burnt, was prepared by Hehstan, Bishop of London. There are, besides,
two earlier copies in Trinity College and Corpus Chrl^ti College, Cambridge. The
preface was printed in Parker's Asser, 1574; in Wise's Asser, 1722; and in
Wright's Biogr. Brit. Lit. 397.
2 Lau, Gregor. I. the Great, p. 315.
3 Asse.-, p. 486 : Werfrithum— qui imperio repis libros dialogorum Gregorii
papae et Petti sui discipuli de latinitate primus in Saxonicam linguam aliquandfl
THE SOLILOQUIES OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 185
works, although it must be inferred that he commenced the
Biography at the precise time when he was called up to
assist the king in his learned occupations.
Together with the numerous miraculous histories in the
book, there were also many relations of actual occurrences ;
and amongst others, the life and deeds of St. Benedict were
blended with the account of the former kings of the Ostro-
Goths, and here we may again recognise Alfred's sympathy
with the fate of this branch of his own family.
No one has ever yet attempted to publish the Saxon trans-
lation, but it is sufficiently testified by the manuscript copy,
and from the evidence of Asser, that Werfrith, following the
example of his king, did not strictly observe the letter of the
original. It is also probable that he only made a selection
from the legends, and scarcely translated one half of the four
books in the Latin version1.
The few sentences which introduce the Dialogues, were
perhaps written by Alfred himself; at all events, they are
written in his name and in accordance with his style. It is
there asserted that, from the perusal of holy books, he had
become persuaded that it behoved him, on whom God had
bestowed such great temporal glory, occasionally to with-
draw his mind from worldly pursuits, and to direct it towards
the consideration of divine and intellectual matters. He
therefore entreated his faithful friend2 to translate for him
such books as treated of the doctrines and miracles of saints,
wherewith he might console and strengthen his spirit beneath
the oppressions of this world. Thus the translation was
specially designed for himself: he was the child of his age,
and favoured its superstitions.
Another translation from the works of the earliest fathers
of the Church has some claim to be considered as Alfred's
production, the Anglo-Saxon Anthology, from a composition
by St. Augustine. The Bishop of Hippo Eegius wrote the
sensum ex sensu ponens, elucubratim et elegantissime interpretatus est. Cf.
Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 122, jussu regis.
1 I have only seen a MS. Hatton. 76 in the Bodleian Library, sec. xi., and that
is very fragmentary. The only other copy is MS. Corp. Christ. Coll. Cambi
No. 323, sec. xi.
2 aud ic forpam sohte and wilnode to ininum getrywum freondurn, &c, MS
Hatton. 76.
186 PECUI^lAB STYLE OF THE SOLILOQUIES.
two short book's of the Soliloquies about the year 387, before
he had taken any part in the great dogmatic controversies.
He there treats of the salvation of the soul, which is only to
be attained by faith, hope, and charity, and of the difference
between truth and error. The mind should strive after the
first, that it may itself become the seat of truth, and thereby
immortal. These ideas were pursued in the pleasing manner
subsequently adopted by Boethius, namely, in the form of a
dialogue between the author and Reason, and on this account
Augustine chose the title of the little work1. In the only
manuscript of the Saxon abridgment, which is much torn, and
very defective, the last mutilated words, leading apparently to
the conclusion, are these : " here end the Proverbs, selected
by King Alfred from the books, which we call"- — 2 But
this is the only evidence that Alfred prepared the selection ;
none of our authorities mention it amongst his other works.
A preface, which on account of its train of thought is by
no means worthless, and which exhibits some similarity with
those previously written by Alfred, may perhaps serve as
another proof; but unfortunately it comes to us in a very
imperfect state, as does also the entire book. It speaks alle-
gorically of the accumulation of wood which is necessary for
building a house to dwell in, but particularly for erecting the
high abode which is promised by St. Augustine, St. Gre-
gory, St. Hieronymus, and many other holy fathers. It pro-
ceeds to declare, that as every man receives the dwelling
erected by himself as a fief from his master, and desires to
enjoy it under his protection, so an earnest longing after a
heavenly abiding-place is recommended. The style is pecu-
liar, the treatment poetical, and by its not infrequent allite-
ration takes occasionally a metrical character. There is no
trace to be found of any specific purpose which the translator
naa IL. undertaking the work, whilst Alfred, in the prefaces
before mentioned as usually prefixed to his books, would not
have omitted a notice of this kind. It is also noticeable that
the whole work was written in impure Saxon, a circumstance
which probably is not to be ascribed entirely to the early date
1 S. Augustini Opera, ed. Bened. 1, 426.
2 Saer endiaft pa cwiftas pe Aelfted kining alses of paere bee pe we hat&S
MS. Cotton. Vitellius, A. la, sec. xii. Copy by Junius, in Oxford.
WORKS ATTRIBUTED TO ALFRED. 187
of the manuscript and its incorrect transcribers ; but there
are good reasons for supposing that the collector and trans-
lator of the proverbs in the twelfth century, wishing to hide
his unrenowned name, declared at the end of the book that
it was written by the beloved king whose works were then
still known and read by the people.
The Soliloquies also have not been published, and would
never have become known had it not been for the plan of
publishing a collected edition of Alfred's written works,
which was projected by more efficient men than ever before
had attempted the task, and they not only entertained the
idea, but carried it out on strictly critical principles.
At a later period of the middle ages, not only the deeds of
the King of the "West Saxons were amplified and poetically
exaggerated, but with regard to his literary efforts all kinds
of productions were attributed to him, of which at the pre-
sent day we are either ignorant, or which we must, without
hesitation, deny to be his. Towards the close of the follow-
ing century1, it was affirmed that the number of books which
he translated was unknown. The most valuable account we
possess is that of Malmesbury2, who states that Alfred began
to translate the Psalms, but had scarcely completed the first
part when death snatched him away. The Norman monk,
whose knowledge of the country's language was certainly not
very perfect, could not, however, without further proofs, at-
tribute the current Anglo-Saxon Psalter to King Alfred ; it
has descended to us in various manuscripts, and it may be
concluded to have been the work of Aldhelm ; there must
have been some earlier authorities for the observation that
the king died during the progress of his undertaking. At
all events, it was believed in the twelfth century ; and it was
soon declared that parts of the Scripture, and even the whole
Bible, had been translated by him3.
At the time when such assertions as these found credence,
many sayings of King Alfred passed current amongst the
people in a poetical form4.
1 Aethelweard, iv. 519: Volumina numero ignoto.
2 Gesta Reg. ii. § 123.
* Boston of Bury, and Historia Eliensis ; Hearne, Spelman's Life of King
Alfred, p. 213.
4 Ailred von Riveaux, by Twysden, X. Scriptt. p. 355: Ext^l parabolae ejus
1S8 PROVERBS ASCRIBED TO ALFRED.
A work of this kind is to be found in different manuscripts
and various dialects of the thirteenth century. Alfred, how-
ever, was not the author, but certainly the hero of the poem.
It opens with a description of an assembly of many bishops and
learned men, earls, and knights, which took place at Seaford,
over which King Alfred, the Shepherd and Darling of England,
presided ; but this is all pure invention, and it is particularly
difficult to connect the historical event with the place men-
tioned. Then follows a whole series of detached sentences,
each beginning with the words, " Thus said Alfred," and ad-
monitions are added respecting the fear of God, obedience,
wisdom, temperance, and many other virtues. In the thirtieth
section1 Alfred addresses his son, whose name was not men-
tioned, and imparts to him similar wise counsels.
The contents of this book of proverbs recur in various
forms, and throughout the middle ages, not in England
alone, but in all the other Germanic countries. The style of
the poem appears to indicate the twelfth century as the date
of its origin, and the transition state of the language employed
proclaims it to have been written in the earliest English
tongue, in which we also possess the long epic poem of the
priest Layamon. Like another Solomon, Alfred is made to
discourse in this manner at a solemn Witenagemot ; and it
proves how much national feeling the English people had re-
tained beneath the Norman rule, that they still had on their
lips, and even woven into poetry, the treasures of old popular
wisdom bestowed upon them by their greatest monarch, whose
memory they held in grateful remembrance. The depth of
this attachment, which was fostered more by tradition than
by history, is particularly shown in the beautiful designation
given to the king — " England's Darling," as well as in the
general conviction that Alfred wras the wisest and most pious
man that had ever lived in England ; and the tradition that
it was he who gave to the people those precious old laws, the
deprivation of which was so painfully felt by them.
A great number of such versified proverbs must have been
extensively known ; for in a somewhat later poem reference
plurimum habentes aedih'cationis, sed et venustatis et jucunditatis. Cf. Anna!
Winton. ap. VVharton, Anglia Sacra, i. 289.
1 Kemble's edition, Solomon and Saturn, p. 244. Aelfric Society.
ALFEED'S TRANSLATION or ESOP. 189
is made to several, which are not to be found in the so-called
Proverbs of King Alfred1.
In the same manner as the Parables and Proverbs, the king
is said to have also translated for the Anglo-Saxons the Fables
of Esop, so dearly loved by all the Germanic races. This in-
formation is derived from the conclusion of the Norman-
French fables of the poetess Marie of France, written in the
thirteenth century ; but it is probable that the name of the
Saxon king was only appended to those copies which were
circulated in England2. Besides, it is a decided fact that the
epic poem of Rein eke Fuchs (Reynard the Fox) was indige-
nous only amongst the Franks and Saxons of the Continent,
and not amongst the Anglo-Saxons.
Finally, it is asserted on a much later and less credible
authority, that Alfred, like the great Frederick II., wrote
a treatise upon hawking. It is well known that, like all
German princes and nobles, he was exceedingly fond of the
chase ; but that he treated it in a literary point of view,
seems an opinion founded on a misconception of a passage in
Asser, who relates that the king took pains to establish and
support falconers and fowlers of all kinds3.
1 The Owl and the Nightingale, in Kemble's Solomon and Saturn, p. 249.
2 Marie de France, Aesope in MS. Harlei. 978, fol. 87, b.
Por amur le cunte Willame
Le plus vaillant de nul realme,
Meintenur de cest livre feire
E del engleis en romans treire
Aesope apelum cest livre
Qu'il translata e fist escrire
Del griu en latin le turna
Li reis Alurez qui mut 1'ama
Le translata puis en engleis,
E ieo 1'ai rimee en franceis.
Roquefort's edition of the works of this poetess, ii. 34, ff., he substitutes the
name of Henri for that of Alurez, from another MS. A Latin manuscript of
Esop (MS. Mus. Brit. Eeg. 15, A. vii.) contains these words: Deinde rex Angliae
Affrus in Anglicam linguam eum transferri praecepit. A copy in Low Dutch,
quoted by Lappenberg in the Getting. Gelehrt. Anzeigen, April 1, 1844, mentions
Koning Affrus van Englant.
3 Liber Alured regis de custodienrire accipitribus, in Catal. libr. MSS. aed
Christi. A. 1315, apud Wanley Catal. jiraef. Asser, p. 486, et falconarios et acci-
pitrarios, canicularios quoque docere.
190 ALFEED THE FOUNDER OF A PEOSE STYLE.
These spurious works deserve to be briefly noticed, for
they show that an appreciation of the versatile literary cha-
racter of the West Saxon king existed at a time when very
few of his genuine works could be obtained. But enough of
the latter remained in existence to hand down their fame to
all ages. The knowledge of them became first revived when
a general taste was awakened for research into the German
language and history. Then, by degrees, the peculiarities of
Alfred's literary works became known and considered. It
goon appeared that he had written in the most pithy, and at
the same time the purest prose style of his native language.
We learn from the information possessed at the present
day, that poetry decidedly predominated in Anglo-Saxon
literature until the time of Alfred ; and that the merit un-
doubtedly appertains to him of being the founder of a prose
style which, in the age immediately succeeding his death,
displayed its richest fruits, chiefly consisting of religious
works. Aelfric, the best prose writer of the tenth century,
says that in his day there were no other godly books in the
Saxon language than those of King Alfred1.
It does not appear that the good example which the king1
set to all his subjects, of eagerness in the pursuit of know*
ledge, gained many imitators during his life ; amongst his
teachers, intellectual friends, and bishops, only Asser and
Werfrith attained any distinction as authors. An intimacy
may have existed between Alfred and the learned philosopher,
John Erigena, although it cannot be clearly proved; his
scientific and literary productions, however, never flourished
in the soil of England.
There is an important but anonymous work which is in-
disputably connected with the person and actions of the
king, and, in all probability, owes its first publication to the
revived interest in the literary and scientific studies of
Alfred ; and this is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the principal
authority for his history. The oldest manuscript2, contain-
ing the first of the Tear-books, written in German prose,
reaches in its oldest form down to the year 891, and perfectly
1 Aelfric's Preface to his Homilies, Thorpe's edition, i. 2: baton ram bocum'Sfl
AeH'red cyning snoterlice awende of Ledene of Englisc.
2 MS. Corp. Christ! Coll. Camb. clxxiii.
THE ANGLO-SAXON CHKONICLE. 191
resembles those manuscripts which we possess of Alfred's
time.1 In the part where a later hand began to write, the elec-
tioifoi Plegmund as Archbishop of Canterbury is mentioned ;
and formerly, on no very reasonable grounds, the entire merit
of the more complete records in these Tear-books was ascribed
to this instructor and first ecclesiastical dignitary of the
king. But these historical works had no author's name
affixed to them. The monks of one of the south-eastern
convents of England, deriving their only knowledge of the
north from Bede, and whose dialect presented but a slight
resemblance to the English language, apparently already
possessed in their calendar-lists similar brief historical data
concerning the earlier centuries. Some of these were taken
out of Bede's national work, others originated from "Welsh,
and particularly from Saxon traditions, which evidently bear
in some cases traces of the national poetry. This fact, and
the decided purpose of the king to substitute his native
tongue for the unfamiliar Latin as the language of literature,
occasioned a history to be written in Saxon. Moreover, the
events of the age and the deeds of its great heroes, which
were very remarkable from the year 851, gave to the Chro-
nicle a very different and more comprehensive form ; and
there can scarcely be a doubt that for the next forty years,
the Chronicle is nearly contemporary with the events it re-
cords. Alfred's great taste for historical learning is very
important to us, for to it we owe that a part at least of the
records of his life and times has reached us in an authentic
form.
It is certain that the first article in the Chronicle dates
from that period when, for the second time, he waged war
against the Danes ; the records of the following part relate
to the first half of the next century ; and from that time to
the middle of the twelfth, the notices of this very remark-
able literary memorial are formally arranged in a regular
manner1. A wide field was thus opened to thinking minda
1 Might Gaimar refer to the Chronicle when he mentions Alfred's works aa
follows? v. 3451:
II fist escrivere un livre Engleis
Des aventures, e des leis,
E de b;1'»illes de la terre,
E des reis ki firent la guere.
192 ARCHITECTURE IN ALFRED'S
amongst the Anglo-Saxons, where they might exercise them-
selves in learning and teaching; and their king himself took
the first steps in the formation of a literature.
His constant exertions for the country's good were
directed in other channels also, where, indeed, there was
evident room for improvement, and where his efforts
were no less conspicuous than in his literary pursuits.
Alfred caused various arts to be sedulously studied, and
in many instances appeared as the author and inventor of
new plans and schemes. Scarcely anything is known at
present of all the artistic works which were produced under
his direction ; and the desire to know something of Alfred's
taste, and that of his contemporaries, must ever remain un-
gratified. It is difficult to say whether or not his visits to
Rome exercised an early influence upon him with respect
to architecture. Since the seventh century, the ecclesias-
tical buildings of the Anglo-Saxons approached very nearly
to the style then prevailing in Rome : but whether the
powerful impression which had been left by that city upon
the boy might have caused him, when he became king, to aspire
to the perfection of the Italian models, must still remain a
question to be solved ; for throughout England there is no
structure to be found of which it can be affirmed with cer-
tainty, that it bears any traces of that time, or was erected
under Alfred's superintendence. We must therefore con-
tent ourselves with the few details given occasionally by his-
torians on this subject.
With immediate reference to the buildings which were
undertaken by him, it is explicitly stated that he did not
bind himself to follow the customs of his ancestors ; but
that from new and, in. fact, original inventions, endeavoured to
erect something much more costly and worthy of admiration1.
We are evidently given to understand that these buildings
were chiefly churches and convents ; for as it was necessary
that so many holy places which had been consumed, should
be restored, it is possible that new methods and a better
style of architecture was employed for this purpose. Where
such as had been rased to the ground were to be replaced,
necessity compelled an entirely new erection, and from ne-
1 Asser, p. 486 : Venerabilia'a et pretiosiora nova sua machinatione.
MONASTEEIES AND CITIES REBUILT. 193
ceasity invention arose. This must have been the case espe-
cially with the two monasteries of Athelney and Shaftesbury,
although Alfred had recourse to foreign aid in the prosecu-
tion of his artistic designs, as well as in his literary works. It
is well known that innumerable artists and labourers, skilled
in every kind of work, and procured from different nations,
were to be met with in his employment1.
In the little island of Athelney, hemmed in by water and
thick bushes, there was great want of space, especially as
Alfred desired that the place which had once served him as
a stronghold, should always remain one ; being surrounded
by water, it was only accessible from the east by a bridge,
which at both extremities, and particularly on the western
end, was furnished with strong fortifications2. Upon the
island itself he caused the convent to be erected, where it
would be defended from the wild and insecure character
of the neighbourhood. From the records of the twelfth cen-
tury, at which period it was still in good preservation, it
appears that the church was very small, but that it had been
constructed according to an entirely novel style of architec-
ture. Four piers were sunk in the ground, no doubt on account
of the swampy nature of the soil, supporting the whole edifice,
and upon them four arches were placed in a circular form3.
Alfred built the town as well as the convent of Shaftes-
bury, so early indeed, if the account is credible, as the year
8804. The rebuilding of London has already been men-
tioned. The new minster at "Winchester, dedicated by Alfred
to the Virgin, must have been used in his lifetime, for Grim-
bald officiated as abbot there ; it was first completed in the
year 908, when Archbishop Plegmund consecrated the tower6.
He likewise caused the cities and fortified places through-
out the kingdom to be repaired or entirely rebuilt; and
he provided modes of defence, consisting of walls and en-
trenchments, in case of a return of those invasions with
1 Asser, p. 495: Ex multis gentibus collectos et in omni terreno aedificio
edoctos.
2 Asser, p. 493 : In cujus pontis occidental! limite arx munitissima pulchemma
operatione consita est.
3 Wilh. Malmesb. Gesta Pontif. ii. 255.
* Wilh. Malmesb. Gesta Pontif. ii. 251 ; Asser, p. 495.
Ethelwerd, iv. 519.
O
194 ALFRED'S METHOD OF COMPUTING TIME.
which the country was continually threatened. Those citi(«
thus protected by Alfred cannot be accurately specified ; and
it appears that in most instances he did not proceed far with
the work, for the innate indolence of his subjects placed an
invincible obstacle in his way1.
Alfred displayed regal magnificence at those places where
he was accustomed to reside with his court. According to
his command2, the buildings were adorned with gold and silver,
and halls and royal chambers were constructed from stone
and wood with great skill. Some stone vills were removed
from their former sites, and placed in situations better adapted
for royal residences.
But amongst all his ideas, there was one which was most
successfully carried out. The perfection which he attained
in the art of ship-building, and the occasion which led him
to acquire it, will be noticed in the following section.
Our attention is now particularly directed towards the
minor inventions which were produced in his day, and
amongst them to the contrivance for measuring time, disco-
vered by Alfred himself. His biographer describes this in-
vention. Only by the help of strict punctuality could the
great ruler have succeeded in the accomplishment of such
extensive and various duties. But the blue sky with its
planets did not indicate the time to him with any regularity.
In his country there were many gloomy clouds and con-
stant showers, which often prevented the calculation of time
from the sun and moon. Alfred's inventive genius, however,
discovered a remedy for such perplexities. He caused his
chaplains, whose names we know were Athelstan and Were-
wulf, to supply him with sufficient wax to weigh down
seventy-two pence in the scales3. Prom this quantity he
ordered six candles to be made, each of equal weight, and
twelve inches long, with twelve divisions marked in each
inch. These six candles burnt for twenty-four hours, day and
night, before the relics of the saints, which always accom-
panied him on his journeys. But here, too, the weather
seems to have interfered with his schemes. The boisterous
1 Asser, p. 493 : Propter pigritiam populi imperata non implentur, &c.
2 Asser, p. 492 : Illo edceeute.
* Asser, p. 496 : Tanta cgra quae septuaginta duos denarios wnsaret.
ALFBED'S JEWEL. 195
wind, which often blew without intermission day and night,
penetrated the slight doors and windows of the churches,
and through the crevices in the walls and planks, and
the thin canvas of the tents. The light either became ex-
tinguished, leaving the king in darkness, or it burnt down
quicker than usual, so as to prevent the observance of the
astronomical point with which to begin the daily reckoning.
Alfred removed this obstacle in the following manner : he
had a lantern carefully made of wood and thin plates of horn ;N
the horn was white, and scraped so thin as to be scarce!)
less transparent than a vessel of glass. The door of the
lantern was also made of horn, and closed so firmly that no
breath of wind could enter. In this secure receptacle he
could now place his candles without fear of injury; when they
burnt down they were instantly replaced by others, and with-
out a water-clock, or any other more ingenious contrivance
still undiscovered, he computed the time, which to him was
so exceedingly precious.
As he caused all kinds of ornaments to be fabricated, he
could not by any means dispense with goldsmiths1. A very
remarkable specimen of their craft has been preserved to the
present day, and has been frequently represented; it is
called Alfred's jewel, and is a beautiful work of art. It
was discovered in the year 1693, at Newton Park, in the
lowlands of Somersetshire, near the river Parret, somewhat
to the north of the spot where the island and fortress of
Athelney were formerly situated2. There the king, in per-
haps the most sorrowful days of his life, lost this token of
his sovereignty ; it remained hidden in the marshes, until,
after the lapse of many centuries, it was accidentally brought
to light once more. It is now preserved as a precious
memorial of the olden time, in the Ashrnolean Museum
at Oxford. This work of art consists of a polished crystal
of an oval form, rather more than two inches in length
and half an inch thick, inlaid with a mosaic enamel of
green and yellow. This enamel represents the outline of u
human figure, which appears to be in a sitting posture, hold-
ing in each hand a sort of lily-branch in blossom. Those
who have described the jewel have made various guesses
1 Asser, p. 486, says that he instructed goldsmiths (aurifices).
2 Airman's Archaeological Index, p. 143, table six. 1.
o2
196 ALFBED'S JEWEL.
respecting this figure, calling it St. Cuthbert, St. Neot, and
even Christ ; but the least perplexing solution would be, that
it is merely a representation of a king in his state attire,
The reverse is covered by a plate of fine gold, in which not
without taste, and somewhat fancifully, a flower is engraved ;
the oval-shaped sides are bordered by beaten gold admirably
and durably manufactured, bearing around them these re-
markable words, which banish all doubts respecting the former
possessor of the jewel :
AELFBED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN.
Alfred had me made.
The letters of this inscription are all capitals, and in their some-
what stiff" form agree entirely with the initial letters in the
principal parts of the authentic manuscripts of Alfred's time.
Still more than the letters, the form of the two middle words,
by their primitive, genuine orthography, bears witness to the
age claimed by the motto. At the extreme end, where the
crystal and its border join the gold, it is finished by a
beautifully worked dolphin's head in gold, whose empty eye-
sockets must have once contained precious stones, and from
whose open jaws a small golden pin protrudes. This pro-
bably served as a fastening to a cane, or some beautiful staff,
on the point of which the jewel was placed. It is a strange
freak of fortune which thus presents to us, in this extra-
ordinary work of art, what in all probability was a part of
Alfred's sceptre ; it gives a very favourable impression of the
state of art a£ that period, and of the skill and ability of the
artist.
It is certain that many works were executed in this man-
ner, and Alfred himself speaks, in his preface to the " Pastoral
Care," of some gold work, which he had caused to be exe-
cuted, referring to four small golden tablets1, one of which he
presented with each copy of the book. They were worth
fifty mancuses each, and it is not unlikely that "William
of "Malmesbury saw one of them2. Now when they are
1 Aestel, an index or small tablet with columns : pugilkres ,
2 Gesta Reg. ii. § 123: Cum pugillari aureo in quo est manca auri. The rela-
tion to each other of manca, mancusa, and marca, has net yet been clearly
ascertained. Du Cange, p. 5
COINS AND MANUSCRIPTS. 197
all lost, nothing can be accurately known of their value and
workmanship.
There are a great number of coins extant with Alfred's
stamp on them, but in their execution they are far inferior
to the coinage of other Anglo-Saxon princes. The image of
the king is in general so rudely engraved, that every attempt
to trace any resemblance in even a single feature must be
abandoned. There is no doubt that Oifa once employed
Italian coiners ; his stamp could not otherwise have attained
that perfection which every one must grant it to possess ;
and in the time of Athelstan, Alfred's grandson, traces of
artistic skill are again perceptible in the coinage, which then
first became the object of legal enactments. From the
coarse alloy1 of Alfred's money, we may infer that the diffi-
culties of the age prevented him from improving it, and that
he probably had recourse to expedients similar to those which
Frederick the Great could not avoid using. His laws contain
no reference to coinage, although there is frequent mention
made in them of pounds, shillings, and pence. The shilling and
the penny existed as coins, as well as a third part of the latter2.
On the pieces of money we possess, the king is simply desig-
nated Aelfred, or Alfred rex, or Elfred MXX. ; the places where
money was coined were Dorovernia, Oxnaforda, and Londinia.
A particular branch of medieval art is formed by its ma-
nuscripts. "We remember that book whose illuminated let-
ters first smiled on the child, so anxious to acquire knowledge.
The few manuscripts of Alfred's day which are still in exist-
ence are very simply written ; the hand is flowing, and very
legible, especially in the old copies of the " Pastoral Care."
The initial letters of the chapter are regularly decorated, but
without great splendour. Dragons or monsters of the bird
species and distorted human countenances are drawn with a
black pencil around the base of the letters, the red colour is
then added afterwards for shading.
These are the only fragments from which, at the present
day, we can derive even an inadequate idea of the state of art
and knowledge in England during the second part of the
ninth century. But notwithstanding the great obstacles
1 Ruding. Annals of the Coinage, ed. iii. vol. L p. 125.
* Legg. Alf. 71 : priddan dael paeuninges.
198 MENACED HOSTILITIES.
which present themselves in the research, we may clearly
perceive how Alfred ceaselessly endeavoured to elevate the
intellectual condition of his people, as long as was possible,
by means of his own influence, and all the resources that he
could command. The next century enjoyed the fruits of his
efforts, which had regained the lost ground, and provided
efficient defence against fresh disasters.
VII.
RENEWED CONTEST AND SUCCESSFUL EESULTS — THE KINGDOM
DESCENDS STRENGTHENED TO EDWARD I.
THE years of peace, which could not have been more nobly
and profitably employed by Alfred for the mental and bodily
welfare of his subjects in all branches of legislation and poli-
tical economy, and in the cultivation of the arts and sciences,
were rapidly drawing to a close. Many things indeed still
remained to be accomplished ; some might be effected in the
quiet intervals of the immediately succeeding years, but
others would be unavoidably left to later governments,
with still less hope of success. The pressure of outward
circumstances on the West Saxon kingdom began again
to overpower all consideration of its internal condition, into
which the incomparable exertions of its king had infused such
new vigour. Once more Alfred was destined to resist the
piratical foe, the terror of all organised forms of government.
Harbingers of such a misfortune had not been wanting
during the time that had elapsed since the king pro-
cured a happy tranquillity for the country. Bumours of
the exploits of the heathens, who still molested in large
numbers all the coasts of the opposite continent, were con-
stantly brought over to the Saxons, and claimed the serious
attention of Alfred. Yet it seemed that the solemn doc-
trines which, after great efforts, he had succeeded in impart-
ing to the marauders, had still some influence over them, and
restrained them during this period from making any fresh
attack on his dominions. Since the year 885, they had made
no actual attempt at hostility ; the two people so nearly re-
lated, but who had so hated one another when they were
separated by different religions and habits, had learnt to
DISCORDS IN WALES. 199
know their common interest since the conversion of many
Northmen in East Anglia and even in Northumbria. It
seems as if the admission of the Danes into the more civil-
ised Anglo-Saxon community had formed a strong bulwark
against any further attacks of heathendom.
There had been no occasion for campaigns and battles
during this period ; the deep wounds inflicted on the Saxons
by the lengthened war were slowly healing. New influence
had been gained for them by the heroic king, by which, in a
peacaable manner, the boundaries of the kingdom were ex-
tended, and its supremacy acknowledged by its hitherto
unconquered neighbours. Alfred succeeded also in effect-
ing what no other king had been able to accomplish be-
fore him, the establishing a peaceful intercourse with the
Welsh Britons, and convincing them of their dependence
upon the powerful neighbouring state. During the long con-
test with the Danes, the old national hatred had not once been
thoroughly excited ; it is true the Welsh had by their enmity
contributed not a little to the sufferings of the year 878, but
they had experienced painfully enough that the Danes, with
whom they thought to make common cause, did not spare
them, but added severely to the wretchedness of their
condition. Amongst the petty princes of their land there
were continual disagreements and quarrels, it was therefore
natural that the weaker side should first turn to that
country which had, in fact, long possessed the dominion
over them.
It was about the time when Alfred became acquainted
with Asser that discords such as these prevailed in the native
land of the latter, information of which is only derived from
him1. He applied to the King of the West Saxons on behalf
of himself and his monastery of St. David, for protection
against the constant provocations and injustice of Hemeid,
the Prince of Demetia, and he formally made Alfred's
promise of aid one of the conditions towards attaining
that mutual relation which the king so much desired. But
Alfred also took advantage of this state of things to fix deci-
sively his authority over the Welsh. Being severely oppressed
by the six sons of Eotri Maur (Eoderick the Great), the
1 Asser, p. 488.
200 WALES BECOMES SUBJECT TO ALFRED.
Lords of Venedotia, or North Wales, Hemeid first submitted
to the Saxon power, with his little territory of Demetia.
Helised, son of Tendyr, and King of Brecknock, overpowered
by the same adversaries, yielded himself to the sway of Alfred.
Howel, son of Ris, and Prince of Glevesing, in the present
counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan, Brocmail and Fern-
mail, sons of Mouric, and princes of G-went-by-the-Severn,
could neither of them any longer withstand the harsh mea-
sures of Ethelred, the powerful Ealderman of Mercia, who
desired to have peace within the borders, and they went
voluntarily to solicit the protection of King Alfred. At
length Anaraut, the son of Eotri, after renouncing the friend-
ship of the Anglo-Danes in Northumbria, from which he had
gained nothing, but had rather suffered injury, came with his
brothers to declare his willingness also to submit without ap-
pealing to arms. When he came into the presence of Alfred,
the king received him with all due respect, adopted him as
his godson from the hands of a bishop, probably Werfritb,
presented him with rich gifts, and caused him with all his
vassals, and with regard to all his seignorial rights, to enter
into the same feudal relation with Wessex in which Ethelred
and Mercia stood. When this compact was explained and
comprehended on both sides, it might be justly asserted that
all the lands of South- Western Britain belonged to King
Alfred1. They never again opposed him, nor lent any aid
to his northern foes, so long as he wielded the West Saxon
sceptre.
The principal causes of the again-threatened outrages of
the Danes against England must be attributed to the rest-
less character of this people, and to the great losses they so
frequently sustained on the Prankish coasts, but at the same
time also to the events which took place in those parts of Eng-
land which were inhabited by a mixed population. In the
year 890, for instance, Guthorm-Athelstan2, the King of East
Anglia, died : during his later years he had lived much more
tranquilly, compelled either by age or the force of circum-
1 Asser, p. 488 : Omiies regiones dexteralis Britanniae partis ad Aelf red regem
pertinebant et adhuc pertinent. Dexteralis means southern, in which direction
it was then considered the regions inhabited by Britons were situated.
» Chron. Sax. A 880; Florent. Wigorn. i. 108.
STATE OF AFFAIRS IN NOBTHUMBEIA. 201
stances, and seems to have performed faithfully the contract
formerly entered into. He was buried at Thetford1. With
respect to the succession in his kingdom, there is much ob-
scurity in the sources of information, which however tend to
show that circumstances had occurred to impede its regular
course. After him a Northman named Eohric reigned ; and
under Edward I., the son or nephew, Guthorm II.2, is first met
with. But it is probable that after the death of Gruthorm,
the principles of heathenism were revived in Suffolk and
Norfolk. Egbert had reigned over one part of Northumbria
during the latter part of the time that had elapsed since tho
death of Halfdene, and Guthfrid of the Danes, over the other
part. The origin of this prince is obscure ; it is said that
he was a son of the Danish king, Hardicanute3 ; he was a
Christian, and an especial benefactor to the church at Dur-
ham. He had sworn to maintain a sacred peace towards
Alfred ; he died on the 24th of August, 894, and was interred
in York Cathedral4. Under his rule, the influence of Alfred
seems to have obtained pre-eminence in Northumbria; and
after his death, the Danish power, which was represented by
the three sons of the deceased, vainly attempted to resist
it. The attacks which were meanwhile in preparation from
abroad, were perhaps connected with events of this kind.
Hitherto the Northmen had been unable to make a firm,
footing, and to establish settlements upon the coasts of the
German and Prankish Carlo vingians. In spite of the defi-
ciency of power in those kingdoms, and the great defeats
they had sustained, the warfare was continually carried on,
and the vagrant enemy was never allowed to have any rest.
Wherever they appeared anxious to settle, they were either
repulsed by some unexpected assault, or their own restless-
ness urged them onwards until they again met with another
adversary, who was resolute in defending his possessions.^ At
last the German king, Arnulf, who was once more destined
»Gaimar, v. 3383: Le cors de lui gist a Thuetfort; but according to the
annals of the pseudo-Asser, in Headlaga.
2 Vide above, p. 140.
3 Simeon Dunelm. Gesta Reg. Angl. A. 883, ap. Twysden,
« Ethelwerd, iv. 518 : In natalitia Sancti Bartholomaei. Simeon Dunelm. Gesta
Angl. p. 685.
202 THE DANES LAND IN KENT.
to do honour to the race from which he descended, engaged
with the enemy on his northern borders1, with a considerable
army, consisting of Franks, Saxons, and Bavarians.
A defeat which was sustained by him at first, was soon fol-
lowed by the splendid victory on the banks of the river Dyle,
near Louvaine, on September 1st, 891. Arnulf surprised the
Danes, and completely vanquished them before their ships
could come up. The battle was so decisive, that in future
the Danes never attempted to fix themselves for any length
of time upon German territory2.
But another large army, which in the most fearful manner
continued to ravage the northern kingdoms of France, stood
in no immediate connexion with the Danes who had been
conquered in Flanders, and therefore felt no actual alarm at
this defeat. Hasting, who must then have been approaching
old age, was the dreaded leader of this division. Within a
year, he had already pillaged the district by the river Somme ;
now he had taken a firm position at Amiens, and from thence
he attempted, by sudden attacks, to plunder the rich establish-
ments of St. Vaast and St. Omer. King Odo, who marched
against him, several times suffered grievous loss. In con-
sequence of the incessant devastations, a universal famine
visited these countries in the year 892 ; immense hordes of
Danes, who found nothing more to plunder there, and who
were joined from the north by the remnant of the army which
was defeated at the Dyle, assembled together at Boulogne,
and embarked with their horses in a fleet of 250 ships,
for England3. They landed at the mouth of the little river
Limene (Lymne), in East Kent, on the eastern side of the
Andredswald, which the Chronicle describes as being 120
miles long, and 30 miles broad. Here they probably availed
themselves of an old Romish fortification, which has been re-
cently discovered. They brought their ships four miles up the
river into the Wald, and came upon a fortress which had been
1 Chron. Sax. A. 891.
2 Annal. Fuld. 891 ; Pertz. M. G. S.S. L 408.
» Annal. Vedast. A. 892 ; Pertz. Monum. i. 528 ; Chron. Sax. A. 893, in the
original Cambridge manuscript, 892, which year is also noted by Ethelwerd, iv.
518. Lappenberg, p. 342, n. 2, supposes, in accordance with Guido, Alberich,
A. 895, that Bjorn Eisenrippe was the conductor of this fleet.
RENEWED DEVASTATIONS. 203
thrown up by some Kentish peasants ; and as it was still in
an incomplete state, the defence made there was unsuccessful.
A little further on, the army settled near Appeldore. Not
much later, in the year 893, another fleet of eighty sail landed
in the mouth of the Thames, commanded by Hasting himself,
from whom, unquestionably, the entire enterprise originated,
and who, being compelled to leave the coasts of France, came
to England in the hope of finding fresh booty, and perchance
a kingdom, as others of his countrymen had done before. He
went up the Swale, and also landed in Kent, where he raised
a fortress at a place called Milton1.
In this position the two armies remained quietly until
towards the close of the following winter. About Easter, in
the year 894 (March 31st), the Danes left their camp at
Appledore, and, protected by the thickets and marshes, they
penetrated into the neighbouring districts. Their destructive
march extended into Hampshire and Berkshire2. The fickle
inhabitants of East Anglia and Nortlmmbria, some of whom
were still heathens, who had shortly before renewed their
oath of fidelity to Alfred, the Northumbrians even giving
him six hostages, acted in perfect unison with the large
hosts of strangers, joining them in their incursions into the
contiguous West Saxon and Mercian provinces, as often as
they went from Appledore or Milton in search of plunder.
The moment was now arrived when Alfred once more
grasped the sword, which had long rested in the scabbard
whilst he was exercising the weapons of the mind in the
peaceful days of leisure. The dexterity and cunning of the
foe were, from long and painful experience, well known to
him. How often he must have seen that the Danes never
practised a brave and honourable method of warfare, but were
accustomed to steal cunningly out of the heat of battle, and by
treacherous ambush, to gain the upper hand. Alfred therefore
resolved to make the utmost use of this experience, which
had been so dearly bought, and to employ the greatest cau-
tion and similar craft in his own plans. So long as the
Danes remained quietly in their fortified encampments he
did not attack them, for the localities they selected were
* Chron. Sax. A. 893 ; Ethelwerd, iv. 518.
3 Ethelwerd, iv. 518.
204 ALFBED'S MEASUBES FOB DEFENCE.
wholly inaccessible on account of the forest and the bogs.
But every preparation was made to give them a bloody re-
ception on more favourable ground.
In the interval of peace Alfred had also provided for
the warlike defence of his country, especially in the fol-
lowing arrangements : all who were capable of bearing
arms were to be divided into two parts, one to guard
constantly house, field, and labour, whilst the other part
opposed the enemy in the battle-field; at the appointed
time an exchange was to be made, and the two divisions were
to relieve each other. There was, besides, one particular
troop which formed the garrison of the fortified places, and
remained always under arms1. But Alfred unquestionably
caused all his soldiers to practise the arts of defence during
the whole time, and many of them had already been in battle.
Immediately after the arrival of the Northmen, Alfred seems
to have placed a small troop ol spies on the south-eastern
part of his kingdom, under the command of his youthful son
Edward, the crown-prince, who received information concern-
ing every movement of the enemy2. The Ealderman Ethelred
had likewise summoned his troops, especially placing those
under his jurisdiction to garrison the newly-fortified city
of London. When Edward announced that the heathen had
passed near him on their march, although he was unable
to obstruct them, Alfred arose with the whole strength of
his troops and encamped between the two hostile divisions, as
near as he could possibly approach, owing to the forest and the
morasses on both sides, and so as to be able to attack either on
the instant it might venture into the open plain. He could not
have selected a more advantageous position, as in front he not
only separated the two armies from each other, but also kept
them apart from those who were in the Danish interest on the
eastern coast. It seems that Hasting was induced by this to
promise that he would soon quit the country, and that, on this
occasion, he sent his sons as hostages to the Saxon king,
who sent them back to their father1, after causing them to
1 Haefde se cyning his fierd on tu tonumen. swa pset hie wseron simle healfe
at ham. healfe ute. bfttan psem monnum pe pa burga healdaa scoldeik.
Chron. Sax. A. 894.
2 This is likewise to be gathered from Ethelwerd, iv 518 • Praenotata stint
haec clitoni turn Eaduuerdi filii regis, etc.
CONTESTS WITH THE DANES. 205
be baptised, he and his son-in-law Ethelred being their
sponsors.
The Danes, with a view to plunder, went in small bands
along the edge of the forest. Similar small detachments
were sent out by the king in pursuit of them, partly selected
from his own forces, partly from those forming the garrison
of the towns : by day and night there ensued perpetual
collisions and skirmishes. The Danes only twice ventured
out with their whole strength ; once, immediately after
their landing, when the Saxons had not yet opposed
them ; the next time, most probably, when the division
which had invaded the remote districts of Hampshire had
returned heavily laden with booty. Apparently, the purpose
of the heathen was to go across the Thames and to reach
Essex, whither their ships had already sailed. Alfred im-
mediately went with his troops in order to cut off their
retreat. At Farnham, in Surrey, he compelled them to fight,
completely defeated them, and took from them all the spoil
they had amassed. The Prince Edward gloriously dis-
tinguished himself in the bloody conflict ; the heathen king
(Bjorn ?) fled wounded from the battle-field. His army rushed
in wild confusion towards the north, and passed over the
Thames, being unable to discover more than one ford, which
was probably between Hampton and Kingston. They re-
turned into Essex, and first reassembled in the island of
Thorney, which lies at the outlet of the Colne, where their
vessels had previously gone.
Alfred at once despatched a part of his army in the same
direction. For a long time the Saxons blockaded the Danish
ships, but at length their provisions failed; the time of
service of that division which maintained the siege had
expired, and in all probability they had no ships with which
to approach the enemy by sea. The soldiers, by whom the
siege had been commenced and then relinquished, were re-
turned home, and Alfred was himself approaching with the
1 This is borrowed by Lappenberg, p. 343, from Chron. Sax. 894: Haefdon hi
hiora onfangen aer Hsesten to Beamfleote come, und from Ethelwerd, iv. 518:
Obsecrant pacis barbari jamqiie foederisque statum : obsides dantur ; adfirmant
jure exire regno praefati regis : actus et sermo simul una complentur.
206 BATTLE WITH HASTING AT BAMFLEET.
ed army
troop appointed to take their place, to keep the besieged
in check, and fully to annihilate it, when he received intelli-
gence of a sudden attack which had been made by the faithless
Northumbrians and East Angles upon the western coasts of
his kingdom. The Danes, who had not yet recovered the
heavy losses which they had sustained at Farnham, and being
impeded by their severely- wounded king, who could not keep
up with them, had, in order to overtake their allies, collected
together several hundred vessels, in which they sailed for
some distance along the south coast, and threatened to take
possession of Exeter, whilst a fleet of forty ships went into
the Bristol Channel, and commenced an attack upon a citadel
in the north of Devonshire. The scheme was cunningly
devised, for that part of the kingdom was then entirely
destitute of every means of defence. When this intelligence
was conveyed to Alfred, he resolved to return immediately
with the principal part of the troops then remaining with
him, to make preparations for defending his western pro-
vinces, and to prevent the enemy from every attempt at
gaining possession of them1.
But whilst the king provided for the accomplishment of
this object, he had at the same time to carry on the warfare
in the east. For this purpose he had left behind a strong
body of his forces, which marched towards London, and with
other auxiliary troops hastening thither from the west, re-
inforced the garrison already there. Unquestionably this
army, commanded by the Ealderman Ethelred, on whom de-
volved the duty of protecting the eastern parts of the king-
dom, penetrated into Essex as far as Bamfleet. Thither
Hasting had gone with his troops, shortly after the battle
at Farnham, again occupying that fortress which he had
abandoned in the year 885. The large army which had been
formerly settled at Appledore, and had then been driven to
the mouth of the Colne, was also opposed to him ; it was now
within the citadel, and Hasting was engaged in a plundering
expedition, when the Saxons appeared before it in all their
strength. They easily overcame the resistance attempted
against them, stormed the fortress, and took possession of all
they found therein, women and children, as well as every
Cliron. Sax. A. 894.
HASTING ATTACKS MERCIA. 207
kind of property, and returned home to London enriched
with much spoil. The ships which they had found ashore at
Barafleet, were partly broken to pieces or burned, partly taken
to London and Kochester.
Amongst the prisoners were the wife and the two sons of
Hasting, who were sent to King Alfred ; he did not avenge
himself upon them, however, but once again showed his
generous and Christian nature by sending them back to the
treacherous Dane, with costly presents. Hasting, who had
violated his oath to the godfather of his children, could not
yet be won to improvement and conversion. Even after his
fortress was taken, and he had experienced the most bene-
volent treatment from Ethelred and Alfred, he did not ab-
stain from devastating in the wildest manner the dominions
of his benefactors1. He knew that his brave opponent
was busily engaged in the distant west, and, in a short time,
he effected a union of the scattered hordes in Essex, which
be reinforced by fresh allies from the coasts of Northumbria
and East Anglia. He formed with them a strong entrench-
ment at Shobury, somewhat to the east of Bamfleet. He
soon considered his forces sufficiently strong to attack
Mercia ; then marched up the left bank of the Thames,
and passed across the country, until he reached the Severn,
intending to follow the course of that river towards the
south.
But Ethelred did not look idly on during these disturb-
ances, he collected together all the troops under his com-
mand ; Ethelhelm, the Ealderman of "Wiltshire, Ealderman
Ethelnoth, and the royal Thanes who occupied the garrisons,
also came with their forces. Those places east of the river
Parrot, and east and west of Selwood, sent their soldiers, as
did the countries north of the Thames and west of the
Severn, and even North Wales. With this great army
Ethelred marched against the Danes, and encountered them
at Buttington, on the banks of the Severn, where they were
secured behind their fortifications. He immediately sur-
1 And eft oftre sifte he waes on hergaS gelend on pset ilce rice, pa pa man his
geweorc abrsec. Chron, Sax. A. 894, where the twice-repeated capture of
Basting's sons ia considered as one.
208 TICTORT OYEK HASTING.
rounded them on every side, and for many weeks1 prevented
them from making any attempt to escape. As all means of
conveyance were cut off, a fearful famine ensued amongst
the besieged army ; they had already devoured the greater
number of their horses, and many had died of starvation,
when Hasting found himself compelled to risk a sally to-
wards the east. A fearful battle ensued, in which many
royal Thanes were killed, amongst them one named Ordheh ;
but the Christians were victorious, and scattered the North-
men in wild flight2.
If that is true which we gather from the incomprehen-
sible words of Ethelwerd, Hasting concluded a treaty, by
which he promised to quit Mercia. It is clear that he was
obliged to do so without delay ; and his victors appear to
have permitted him to depart unmolested. He reached his
fortress in Essex ; but before the winter3, he hastily gathered
together the dispersed remnant of his countrymen, and
fresh troops of East Angles and Northumbrians, and formed
them into a large army. They gave their women, their
ships, and all their property, into the charge of the East
Angles, and then journeyed, day and night, in unbroken
marches back again to the north-west. The pirate seems
to have laid much stress upon effecting his passage to the
western coast ; perhaps he purposed advancing to the assist-
ance of the great fleet on the coast of Devonshire, which
was in the mean time hard pressed by Alfred.
Immediately after the victory at Buttington, Ethelred had
dismissed the Mercian troops according to custom. Thus
Hasting met with no opposition to his departure, and he
reached Chester, which lies at the entrance of the penin-
sula of Wirral4. But he did not succeed in surprising the
garrison, which was safe behind the walls ; and the Danes
contented themselves with besieging the city for two days,
1 $a hie pa fela wucena sseton on twa healfe paere e. Chron. Sax. A. 894.
2 Gesta haec quippe in Buttingtune praedicantur a priscis, says Ethelwerd,
alluding in intelligible words to the songs which in his time were doubtlessly
sung about this battle.
3 Onforan winter.
« On anre westre ceastre on Wirhealum. seo is Legaceaster gehaten. Chroa
Sax. A. 894.
EAVAGE5 OF HASTING AND SIGEFEETH. 209
killing the few people whom they found without the walls,
and driving all the cattle from the fields. They burnt the
corn which fell into their hands, or consumed it themselves
with their horses1.
Hasting passed the winter at Wirrnl ; in the spring
of the year 895 he made preparations for going into
North Wales, for the supplies of cattle and corn had either
been exhausted by his troops or again taken from him2. In
Wales they advanced towards the south, and especially
ravaged Grwent, Brecknock, and many other adjacent dis-
tricts8. With the plunder which they obtained there they
returned to the north, passed inland across Northumbria
arid East Anglia, so that the Mercians who went in pursuit
could not overtake them. They probably approached York,
and then went through the Mercian territory towards the
south. Near Stamford, on the river Welland, in Northamp-
tonshire, a battle must have taken place between Hasting
and the Ealderman Ethelnoth, who advanced against him
from the west4. The greater number of the heathens re-
turned, however, to Essex, and established themselves in the
island of Mersey.
At the same time that Hasting went into Wales, a pirate
named Sigeferth sailed with his fleet from Northumbria, and
devastated and pillaged along the coasts, after which he re-
turned home laden with booty5.
Meanwhile Alfred had kept the field in Devonshire for a
1 On aslcere efenelvSe — always at evening, if the word is correct.
-' Chron. Sax. A. 895.
3 Annales Cambriae, A. 895. Nordmanni venerunt et vastaverunt Loyer et
Brecheniauc et Guent et Guinliguiauc ; also Morganwg and Buallt, Brut y
Tywysogion, A. 894, in Mon. Hist. Brit.
I infer this from the incomprehensible account of Ethelwerd, from which
Lappenberg gathers, somewhat incorrectly, that it occurred in the following year,
whilst two years had passed since the landing of the heathen. The words,
w'liich defy all interpretation, areas follows: ab occidentali profectus est parte
tune Anglorum Aetlielnoth dux ; adit in hoste Evoraca urbe, qui non parva teni-
toria pandunt in Myrciorum regno loci in parte occidentali Stan ford a, hoc est inter
rlucnta amnis Uueolod et condenso sylvae quae vulgo Ceoftefne (Ceostefne) nun.
cupatur.
Ethelwerd, p. 518. We do not learn whither the march was directed. Ac-
cording to the Annals of Ulster, p. 65, Sigeferth, Jngvars son, had killed i~L»
brother Guthferth.
210 THE DANES ENCAMP NEAR LONDON.
year, although no decisive event appears to have
taken place in this part of the kingdom ; but he prevented the
germ of his state, the old West Saxon province, from being
devastated by the Danes, and at length compelled the great
fleet which had vainly attempted to blockade Exeter to put
to sea again and to sail homewards.
On their way thither, the Danes and East Angles made a
sudden onslaught upon the coast of Sussex, not far from
Chichester ; but the citizens of that place attacked them, put
them to flight, killed several hundreds of them, and seized
some of their ships ; the remainder joined their comrades
in the island of Mersey1.
Before the end of the winter, the Danish encampment
there was in motion ; they had left their ships afloat, and now
towed them up the Thames, and thence up the Lea. The
winter was passed in erecting a fort at a distance of four
German miles north of London, in the neighbourhood of
Hertford or Ware. With the summer of 896 a considerable
number of Saxons and others came out of the garrison in
London and assailed the fortress ; but they were repulsed by
the Danes, and four royal Thanes were killed. About the
time of harvest, Alfred, with a powerful army, encamped in
the vicinity of London, in order that the people might carry
their crops without molestation from the Danes. One day,
when the king was riding by the side of the little river Lea
he discovered a place where the channel might be very easily
disturbed, so that the stream could be diverted from its
course, thus preventing the enemy from bringing out their
vessels. He began by causing two forts to be constructed
on both sides of the Lea2. His soldiers had encamped near
the spot, and were busily engaged in the work, when the
Danes observed that the water was flowing off", and that it
would be impossible for them to take away their ships. They
therefore abandoned them ; they had before left their women
in the charge of the East Angles, and they then hastened to-
1 Chron. Sax. 895.
- Chron. Sax. 896. Harrington, in his translation of Aelf. Oros. p. 60, suggests,
with great probability, that Alfred was induced to undertake the task of divert-
ing the course of the Lea by remembering a bimilar exploit of which he bad read
k Orosius, performed by Cyrus at the Euphrates.
HASTING LEAYES ENGLAND, 897. 211
wards the north, and again marched through the country to-
wards the Severn, and encamped near Bridgenorth1 in Shrop-
shire. Whilst Alfred despatched his army in pursuit for
some distance, the inhabitants of London took the forsaken
ships into their possession. Such as were useless were all
destroyed, but the serviceable ones were taken to London2.
In the summer of the following year, the great army of
Northmen left the Severn, and divided into three parts, one
of which returned home into East Anglia, and another went
into Northumbria. The third division, which was in the
greatest need, procured ships, and led by Hasting, went
southwards across the sea to the mouth of the Seine3. Here
the old pirate understood how to compel King Charles the
Simple to give up a piece of land in the province of Chartres,
the possession of which was quietly enjoyed by Hasting until
fifteen years later, when Eollo conquered Normandy4.
Thus, after three years' valiant defence, the kingdom of
the West Saxons was delivered from the destructive foe who
had endeavoured to penetrate into it from all sides, by land
and by water, and who at last were forced to abandon their
purpose, and to depart as poor as they came. " Thanks be
to God," writes the old Saxon chronicler, "this time the
heathen did not so utterly despoil the English people5."
And we may venture to conjecture from Alfred's character,
that he and all his people celebrated a joyful festival of
thanksgiving in the restored and well-guarded churches.
But another evil, from which the Saxons suffered greater losa
than in the battle-field, was the contagious sickness, which,
in consequence of the ravages and other distresses attendant;
on war, raged amongst men and beasts. Even the highest
classes of the community were not exempt from the pesti-
lence, and amongst the most honoured dignitaries and officers
in the kingdom who died at that time were the Bishops
Swithulf of Eochester, and Ealheard of Dorchester ; the
Ealdermen Ceolmund of Kent, Beorhtulf of Essex, and
1 JEt Cwatbricge be Saefern.
2 pe paer staelwyr'Se wasron, took with them what was worth stealing.
3 Chron. Sax. A. 897, and Asserii Annales ad A. 895.
4 Wilh. Gemet. ap. Du Chesne Scriptt. rer. Norm. p. 221, 228.
5 nasfde se here, Godes ponces. Angel — cyn ealles for swrSe gebrocod
Chron. Sax. 896,
212 ALFBED'S SHIP- BUILD ING.
Wulfred of Hampshire ; the Thane Eadulf , Beornwulf, the
Burggrave of Winchester, and Ecgulf, the king's riding-
master ; all of whom belonged to those important ranks upon
which depended the welfare and security of the country.
Yet the courage of the people and of their king by no
means failed ; once more, and, indeed, for the last time in
Alfred's life, they were obliged to make preparations for de-
fence. The hostile troops, which came from Bridgenorth
into Northumbria and East Anglia, and Avhich consisted of the
faithless inhabitants of those parts, and of many homeless
Danes, ventured again to attack the West Saxon territory,
and endeavoured especially to reach the southern coast, where
hitherto they had gained but little plunder, in the light
vessels fabricated by them long since, in anticipation of such
an enterprise1. Alfred, who had learnt to meet the enemy
with their own weapons, and who had always succeeded, now
resolved to attack them with all his power upon the sea itself.
Amidst so many other cares, it had been until now impos-
sible for him to arrange a fleet. A great many ships had been,
indeed, repeatedly seized by his people in past years, and
now lay in the harbours of London and Eochester. He might
have very well employed them for his purpose, but the Danish
vessels were small and frail ; besides, the Saxons were not such
bold and hardy mariners as the Danes.
Alfred sought in the stores of his inventive and persevering
| mind for means to remedy this evil. He caused long ships
to be built, nearly twice the length of the Scandinavian
ships2, most of them propelled by sixty or even more oars.
He proposed to gain stronger, higher, and at the same
time more rapid vessels ; and in this aim he copied neither
from Frisian nor Danish models, but produced an entirely
national result, and furnished his country with a means of
defence which, in later years, became the pride of the island
and made her the sovereign of the seas. <MThus in the history
of England's naval power, also, Alfred is found to have taken
an important onward step. In order to man this new fleet,
Ealra swiftest mid paem ae* )um pc hie f'ela geara aer timbredon. Chron.
Sax. A. 897.
- These so called snekkar (snakes) had generally only twenty oavs. Sir
Harris Nicholas, History of the Royal Navy, i. 10.
SEA-PIGHT OFF THE SOUTH COAST.
obtained, besides the mariners on his own coasts, certain
Frisians who were particularly good sailors, and had not
only lived and traded peaceably with the opposite island,
but in the continual conflicts with the same foe must have
acquired considerable skill in maritime war. Frisians and
Saxons were both Low Germans and Christians ; they agreed
together admirably, and endeavoured unanimously to repel
heathenism.
"When the Danes in their old manner commenced their
ravages on the south coast, Alfred determined to chastise
them, with his new fleet. Six hostile ships wrere stationed
off the Isle of "Wight, and disturbed by unexpected landings
the opposite coast as far as Devonshire1 ; they had even en-
tered a port of that province, when nine of Alfred's galleys
appeared at the entrance, and blocked up their egress by
sea. The Danes rowed against them with three of their
ships, the three others remained aground somewhat further
up the stream, where the tide had ebbed, and permitted the
rapacious troops to land. The Saxons immediately began
the conflict in six of their ships, seized upon two of the three
Danish vessels and killed the crews ; the third escaped, after
losing all its men excepting five. But in the heat of the
battle the Saxons had failed to notice the shallowness of the
water ; three of their ships went ashore before the commence-
ment of the affray, on the same side as the three Danish ves-
sels were stranded, and the Saxons succeeded in landing
there. The other Saxon ships ran in upon the opposite shore,
and this gave one of the enemy's ships an opportunity to
escape, but all means of communication with their comrades
was cut off". Meanwhile the Danes who reached the land
had acquired knowledge from the past, and as the sea had
so far receded that all the ships which lay ashore on their
side were by this time at a great distance2 from the water,
in the fury of desperation they hastened to attack the Saxons.
Upon the shore a furious conflict ensued between the twro
forces, in which one hundred and twenty Danes were killed ;
but on the Saxon side, Lucumon, the king's reeve ; Ethelferth,
the king's neat-herd ; the Frisian seamen, Wulfheard, Aebbe,
' Chron Sax. A. 897.
* pact waeter waes ahebbod fela fur!ai/g<t irom pwm scipum,
214 ALFRED SUBDUES THE DATTEST.
and Ethelhere, with sixty-two other brave men, were slain.
Those Saxons whose ships remained immovable on the other
bank of the river, so that they could not hasten to the rescue,
were almost desperate when they were obliged to witness
such a disaster1. Already the victory seemed nearly decided
in favour of the Danes, when they perceived that their ships
began to be afloat before those of their opponents. They
hastily rushed into them, seized the oars, and guided them out
to sea. They had gained an important advantage when the
nine large Saxon ships were released and able to follow
them. The vessels of the pirates were so much injured, that
they could not venture to take them along the dangerous
coasts of Sussex : the sea cast two of them on shore, where
the inhabitants seized the crews, and took them prisoners to
Winchester. Alfred, who was at that place, caused the cap-
tives to be hanged together on the gallows. The crew of the
remaining ship came sorely wounded into East Anglia. In
the same summer twenty Danish vessels were wrecked upon
the south coast, and every soul on board perished2.
These are the last-recorded hostilities during Alfred's reign.
His attempt to cope with the enemy by sea could not in this
instance be called successful — his people had gained the
battle only after severe losses, and his large ships had been
taken into a channel for which they were certainly not
fitted. Much was still needed before the Saxons could com-
pete with their adversaries by sea, in boldness and ability,
yet they ventured to do so, and were able to defend their
coasts from hostile attacks with the new fleet, especially in
the ensuing year. The Danes wrere now exhausted in the
British island, they were kept in perfect restraint by the
vigilance of Alfred.
Posterity knows scarcely anything of the four last years of
the king's life : after peace was restored, the old authorities
had nothing more important to record than the death of some
exalted personages, such as the Marshal Wulfric, the brave
1 Henric. Huntingd. v. 741, derives his account from the Chronicle, but he
gives a more lively and poetical description : Videres autem gentem sex naviuin
helium aspicientem, et auxilium ferre nequientem pugnis caedere pectus, et
nnguibus rumpere crines.
2 Mid monnum, mid ealle. Chrra. Sax. A, 897,
DEATH OF ALFRED, A. 901. 215
Ealderman Ethelhelm, and Eahstan, Bishop of London1. But
besides what we know and have already minutely consi-
dered respecting Alfred's diversified sphere of action, we
may confidently venture to fill up the chasm still left, by
assuming that the king continued to enjoy the leisure time
of peace by advancing his own mental improvement and that
of those who belonged to him, as far as he was permitted by
the affairs of his office and his bodily sufferings. He pro-
moted the welfare of his country by a just administration of
his laws ; the instruction of his youthful subjects prospered
under his special superintendence ; and the time that was
left at his disposal, after the fulfilment of his other duties,
was devoted as before to study. After the years of peril had
passed, he undoubtedly resumed his long-suspended literary
labours in conjunction with his learned companions, and per-
haps completed many works which had been previously com-
menced.
But the bodily weakness caused by an insidious disease,
from which Alfred suffered during the most precious years of
his life, and which must have been much aggravated by
severe privations and rigorous weather throughout a long-
sustained war, brought, in all probability, a premature age
upon him ; his powers, which he had so greatly exerted with
unwearied energy in spite of all obstacles, now failed, and he
died, on the 28th of October, 901, at the early age of fifty-
three years and six months3. The exact particulars relating
to his death were never recorded. But he died, as he had
lived, happy in the consciousness of having fulfilled his duty
to his best ability. His body was buried in the monastery
founded by him at "Winchester, in which place most probably
» Chron. Sax. A. 897, 898.
2 Chron. Sax. A. 901 : syx nihtum aer ealra haligra maessan, that is, the 26th
October ; but no doubt instead of syx, the word ought to be f'eower, a mistake easy
to arise in cypher, for the Anglo-Saxon Calendar mentions the 28th as the day ot
theDepositio Aelfredi regis, and Florent. Wigorn. i. 116, expressly states: Quarta
feria, v. Kal. Novembris. The Chronicle also falsely reckons the duration of his
reign to be twenty -eight years and a half, for we know that he began to reign
on the 23rd April, 871 : see p. 80. Florence has more correctly, xxix annis sexque
mensibus regni sui peractis. Simeon Dunelm. Gesta Reg. Angl. on the contrary,
records his death in 899, after twenty-eight years, but gives in his other works
tiie correct Imliction iv.
216 ACCESSION or EDWAED.
his death occurred, and which had risen rapidly of late
fro be the chief city of the kingdom; here also his father
and most of his ancestors were interred. According to a
more recent account, he was previously buried in the epis-
copal cathedral where these graves actually were, because
the new monastery of the Virgin Mary was not yet
finished ; but when the canons of the Church, excited by
.their national credulity, and by hostile feelings towards the
clergy of the new monastery, declared that the spirit of the
great king might be seen wandering about at night, his son
ordered the coffin to be removed into the adjoining build-
ing, which was nearly completed1. In the reign of Henry I.
the ashes were again removed into Hyde Abbey, opposite the
northern gate of Winchester, where they were preserved
until the ^Reformation, and the destruction of that edifice2.
The country enjoyed a happy peace, when it had recovered
from the grief occasioned by the death of its deliverer. He
had been able to keep under his sceptre the wrhole of the
English nation, excepting the east coast, where, before his
accession, the Danes had succeeded in establishing them-
selves ; but they, too, were dependent on him, and Wales
obeyed without resistance. The eldest son of Alfred followed
the course destined for him by his father, and immediately
claimed his right of inheritance ; more fortunate than Alfred
had been at his accession, when the enemy occupied the land,
and engaged him in lengthened battles. Edward had already
attained his majority, his father had educated him to rule,
and had proved that he was worthy. It is known that in
898 he took part in the affairs of government3. During his
reign he always justified the confidence placed in him by his
father, and he quickly gained that of his subjects also.
Even in the first year he showed his efficiency. His
cousin Ethelwald, the second son of King Ethelred, yet a
child at the time of Alfred's accession, and excluded from
the throne by his father's express regulation4, attempted to
claim his rights : he was actuated by feelings in favour of
1 Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 124. Florent. Wigorn. i. 116, in riovo monasterio.
2Townshend, Winchester, p. 17. Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, w. 11,
» Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 324, Donation document of the year 898.
4 See page 84.
ETHELWALD'S EEYOLT. 217
a direct succession, which, hitherto had never been fullv re«
cognised in the kingdoms of Christendom. "Without the ap-
proval of all the people acknowledging him as the legiti-
mate successor of Alfred, and without the consent of the
Witan, he took possession of two royal domains. He en-
deavoured to maintain them with a troop of audacious ad-
venturers, but he could find no party to his cause through-
out the country of the Saxons. Besides, he was, in the
opinion of the world, guilty of a heinous sin, having taken
a maiden, who had been previously consecrated a nun, to be
his wife, without permission from the king or the bishop.
When Edward had advanced with his followers, and en-
camped in the neighbourhood of Wimborne, the beleaguered
prince swore that he would either live or die there ; but in
the night he stole secretly out of his fortress, and escaped to
join the Danes in Northumbria. With their help, joined
with that of the enemy within the country, he believed that
he could establish his claims. They indeed acknowledged
him as their ruler, and obeyed his commands1.
According to the custom of the pirates, he visited the
domains of Edward with repeated devastations, but it was
not until the year 905 that he ventured to invade Mercia
with a large army, commanded by Eohric, King of the East
Angles. He reached the Thames at Cricklade, and crossed
the river, intending to carry home his plunder eastward
through his cousin's territory. At length he was attacked
by Edward, near the Ouse. 'Unfortunately for the king, and
notwithstanding his commands, the Kentish men, who con-
sidered that the term of their service was expired, and who
had gone home, could not be induced to return. They were
punished for this refusal by a defeat from the Danes ; but
immediately afterwards, the foe was completely vanquished
by Edward, and amongst many other hostile leaders, King
Eohric and the Prince Ethelwald were slain2.
This victory was of no slight importance. The Pretender
himself, whom none of the Christian people would accept,
and who had thrown them into the power of the heathen,
had fallen in battle, and his colleagues were also conquered
and punished. Shortly after, Edward compelled the Danes
1 Chron. Sax. A. 901 2 Chroa. Sax. A. 905,
218 DEATH OF ETHELEED OF MERCIA, 912.
in East Anglia and Northumbria to conclude the treaty of
Yttingaford1, M'hereiii he, with the new prince, Gruthorm II.,
entered into those resolutions which we have already recorded,
as a ratification of the peace of Wedmore, concluded by Al-
fred.
However, this peace was not sufficiently durable to secure
the country from fresh invasions ; in connexion with events
in Prance, and particularly with Hollo's conquest of Nor-
mandy, the Danes, who had been converted to Christianity,
moved to the east coasts, especially in the years 911 and
918, and invaded them repeatedly both by sea and land,
but Ethelred of Mercia and King Edward always repulsed
them with great loss. The king, who was strong and brave,
like his father, was on all occasions fortunate and successful ;
the people prospered under his government, and they reso-
lutely opposed the foe whenever they appeared. The mind
of Alfred lived and operated both in king and subjects, and
brought to perfection that of which he had laid the founda-
tions amidst toils and dangers. Edward effected the security
of the country not only by the construction or restora-
tion of a large number of fortresses, but he fortified many
towns, which contributed greatly towards its prosperity. As
proofs of this, the authorities give such names as Chester,
Hertford, Stafford, Tarnworth, Warwick, and others. Towns
like Towcester were for the first time surrounded by stone
walls, and it was decreed in the laws of Edward that all labour
and traffic should be only carried on within fortified places2.
Like a careful prince, he endeavoured to secure his subjects
and their property from every disadvantageous alliance with
the deceitful foe.
He gained for the kingdom itself prosperity as well as pro-
tection. For in 912, when his brother-in-law, Ethelred, died,
London and Oxford immediately appertained to "Wessex,
and Edward gladly seized on both these places, taking them
into complete and lasting possession. The remainder of
Mercia continued under the powerful sway of his sister Ethel-
fleda, who governed and ruled like a true daughter of Alfred.
She built fortresses in conjunction with Edward, marched
to the field herself, and in particular, defeated the Welsh
1 Chron. Sax. A. 906. 2 Legg. Eadweardi, Laws and Institutes, i 158.
DEATH OF KING EDWAHD. 219
prince, Owen, who had revolted and entered into a league
with the Danes. Allied with this daring woman, the king
was enabled to extend the eastern boundaries of the king-
dom, and to resist the encroachments of the Northmen. This
occurred especially at Derby, Leicester, Huntingdon, and
also at Essex, where the citadel of "VVitham adjoined Maldon.
Beyond the boundaries, the Danes in Northumbria and East
Anglia again submitted to the supremacy of the West
iSaxons. The power of the ruling state extended to Strath-
clyde, the Celtish kingdom in Southern Scotland. "When
Ethelfleda, that wonderfully active and energetic woman, died
on the 12th of June, 9191, Edward took possession of the
kingdom of Mercia, hitherto governed by her, undisturbed
by the pretensions of Aelfwyn, his sister's only daughter,
whom he sent into "Wessex. This was a politic step on his
part, for it was not desirable that the border-land should
remain in the dominion of a female descendant, because by
marriage she would have it in her power to form an alliance
with the foe.
King Edward died at Farndon, in the year 924, at the sum-
mit of his renown, which, so far as it was founded upon regal
power, exceeded that of his father, but in nobility of soul
and literary acquirements Edward never attained the height
reached by Alfred3. Athelstan afterwards inherited the fame
as well as the power of both. After he had arranged the burial
of his father in the new cloister at Winchester, he was solemnly
proclaimed and crowned at the royal castle of Kingston, with
the unanimous consent of his people.
In battles with the ancient foe he acquired the name of a
victorious hero. York fell before his troops, and in the
much-extolled battle of Brunandune (Bamborough), so
famous in song, a most glorious victory was achieved by
Alfred's grandson over the united forces of the Northmen
and the Scottish Celts. His deeds, like those of Alfred,
were celebrated in poetry. Feared as well as esteemed
abroad, he formed friendly relations with conquered Norway,
and in many other states arranged a foreign policy which
1 Florent. Wigorn. i. 128.
2 Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 125: Literarum scientia multuinpatre inferior, seil regni
pctestate incomparabiliter gloriosior.
220 ALFRED'S FAMILY.
possessed its most secure support in the flourishing com-
merce and the greatly enhanced prosperity of England. At
the time of Athelstan's death, which took place on the 27th
of October, 940, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom had reached the
highest point of its glory, from which nothing could have
removed it during the two next centuries, except the power
of the great rulers of the North, the weakness of the ener-
vated descendants of the race of Cerdic, and the presump-
tuous arrogance of a proud clergy henceforth no longer
unanimous.
VIII.
ALFRED IN HIS PRIVATE AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
THAT the immediate descendants at least of the great
king did honour to their name, is testified by the histories
of Edward and Athelstan. They sprang from an heroic
race, and kings and heroes themselves, they trod in the foot-
steps of their father. But besides the successors to his
throne, Alfred saw a numerous offspring grow up around
him, and all record of the character and fate of these descen-
dants is not lost. It does not, therefore, seem out of place to
consider the conscientious care which the king extended to
his subjects, and the father to his children, and finally to
glance at the high moral position which he took in all his
relations towards them.
Our only authorities on this subject do not agree in all
their statements, and this may be owing to the deficiency
of historical evidence ; but we must acknowledge with grati-
tude that in one document at least, known as Alfred's Will,
there is preserved to us an invaluable means of becoming-
acquainted with the condition of the king's family. This
document is founded on the Will of King Ethelwulf, which is
unfortunately lost, and on the agreement which Alfred, as
crown-prince, entered into with his brother Ethelred at
Swineburgh1. By that agreement the succession was assured
to him, in spite of the claims of the elder branch, and at the
same time the royal private property was legally divided
' P. 84.
ELSWITHA. 221
About the year 8851 a Witenagemot was held at Langadene,
before which Alfred laid his father's will: the assembly
recognised the king's right, as the kingdom and the principal
part of the royal property were delivered into his hands to
dispose of his own possessions in the manner he might judge
to be most advantageous for his relations. The "Witan will-
ingly ratified the several arrangements he made for this pur-
pose, and the records of them remain to this day2, presenting
a lively picture of the affectionate consideration with which
Alfred treated his wife and children and his other friends.
He remained attached through his whole life with true con-
jugal fidelity to his consort Elswitha ; the sufferings which
they underwent together during the troubled period of war
and exile never invaded his domestic peace. Elswitha did not
attempt to move in an active sphere among the Saxons ; this
would not have been permitted her : she lived in the retire-
ment of her home, occupied only in care for her husband
and in the first education of her children. We nowhere find
the slightest intimation that this beautiful harmony ever
suffered any disturbance. Alfred appointed many estates
tor her maintenance, and it is a significant fact, and noble
evidence of the fine and delicate mind of Alfred, that amongst
these estates are those of Wantage and Ethandune3, the one
his own birthplace, the other the battle-field on which he
had won freedom for his country with his sword. Wantage
remained crown property until the time of the Plantagenets.
History, occupied with other matters, relates little else of
Elswitha. She was a Grod-fearing woman, as her mother had
pre-eminently been ; she survived her husband, and as the
mother of the succeeding king, lived near him until her death,
in the year 90S4.
Elswitha bore a number of children to her husband, of
whom some died in their early youth. Amongst those who
1 Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 314, finds good reasons in ths document for placing
it between the years 880 and 885.
2 And hi ealle me ftaes hyra wedd sealdon and hyra handsetene.
3 ftone ham set Lamoburnan and set Waneting and set Etandune.
4 Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 333. Some documents from the year 901, respect-
ing an exchange of lands with the convent of Malmesbury, are signed by King
Edward, and a'so by Ealhswifi mater regis, Aelfred coniunx. Chron. Sax A. 9Ua
222 PRINCE EDWARD.
survived the eldest was Ethelfleda, the Lady of Mercia, a
woman of strong mind and masculine courage. She stood
faithfully by her consort Ethelred, and after his death took
the reins of government into her own hands. Many docu-
ments bear witness to her share in public affairs1. She died
July 12th, 919, and there seems to have been no descendant
from her only child, a daughter. In common with all her
sisters, she was richly provided for by Alfred in his will.
Edward, the heir to the throne, brought up under the eye
and direction of his father, showed as a boy that his natural
predilections were more in favour of corporeal than mental
virtues, and his own reign confirmed the fact that his talents
lay in this direction. His son Athelstan bore brilliant tes-
timony to his descent from so noble a race. History has
exalted his personal heroism even above that of his father,
and poetry surrounds his birth as well as his victorious
career, lib is related that as Prince Edward was once riding
over the country, he alighted at the hut of a shepherd, whose
daughter Egwina, already forewarned by a vision of her high
destiny, fascinated him by her beauty2. This woman, who
may have been of higher than peasant birth, but certainly
was not the equal of the prince, was the mother of Athel-
stan, and another child, a daughter. The boy grew up at the
court of his grandfather, who, delighted with his beauty and
the gentleness of his demeanour, prophesied a happy reign
for him, and in his earliest youth attired him as a warrior,
and presented him with a mantle of purple, a girdle set
with precious stones, and a Saxon sword in a gold scabbard3.
The grandson, thus as it were knighted, nobly fulfilled in
later days Alfred's prophecy. We are told that Edward
had twelve children by two other wives, who ranked as
queens. Many of these children have been saved from
oblivion by their position and history, and especially by their
marriages, which strengthened and extended the foreign rela-
tions of the West Saxon kingdom. One of his daughters,
I
' Kemble, n. 311, 330, 339, 340, 1068, 1073, 1075.
2 Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 139 and § 126, calls her, " illustris foemina," and again.
§131, " ut ferunt concubina." By Florent. Wigorn. i. 117, she is designated,
" mulier nobilissima."
» Wilh. Malmesb. ii. 133.
THE SAXON PRINCESSES. 223
Edgiva, became the consort of Charles the Simple, the King
of the Franks; another, Ethilda, married Hugo the Great,
the son of Robert, the powerful Duke of Neustria, Burgundy,
and Francia. Athelstau, by these marriages, became con-
nected with both the opposing races in the AVest Frankish
kingdom, the Carlovingian and the Capetian, who were striving
for the sovereignty. But the greatest alliance that he con-
tracted was by the marriage of his sister Edgitha with the
great emperor, Otho I. The ancient union between the
continental and island Saxons was more firmly established
than ever, and their common head and greatest prince held
in his hands the destiny of Europe. A fourth daughter of
Edward, whose name must have been Edgiva, espoused a
prince in the neighbourhood of the Alps1. The youngest and
most beautiful of all, Elgiva, became the wife of Duke Lud-
wig, of Aquitania. The third son, Edmund, succeeded the
childless Athelstan on the throne. These are the branches
of a powerful and widely-extended genealogical tree.
Alfred's third child was Ethelgeda, the Abbess of Shaftes-
bury, who, on account of her delicate health, early chose a
spiritual life, in which, with the express permission of her
father, she continued until her death, the date of which is not
recorded.
His third daughter, Elfrida, Alfred gave in marriage to
Count Baldwin of Flanders, the son of his step-mother
Judith. Among other estates indicated in her father's last
will, Elfrida received Lewisham in Kent, which she be-
queathed, in the year 916, to the Convent of St. Blandin in
Ghent3. The first Norman Queen of England, Matilda, the
wife of the Conqueror, was descended from her. She died in
the year 9293.
To the great delight of Alfred, his youngest son, Ethel-
ward, was in his earliest boyhood a zealous scholar, and
became a fine example to studious youth. He received as
the principal part of his inheritance the family possessions
situated in various parts of the kingdom, and some of which
1 Aethelweard prooem, i. 498; Ingulph. p. 878; Wilh. Malmesb. ii. § 127 c£
Hrotsuithae Carmen de gestis Oddonis, 1, ap. Pertz, M. G. S.S. iv. 321.
2 See Lappenberg, p. 347, n. 1.
3 Auuales Blandinienses, ap. Pertz, M. G. S.S. v. 24.
224 ALFRED'S TWO XEPHEWS
were even within the Celtic borders. He appears as crown-
prince during the reign of his brother, and some documents
are signed by him1. He died on the 16th of October, 922,
and was buried in the royal vault at Winchester2. There
are records remaining of three of his children, and after them
there is no trace of his descendants.
In accordance with the before-mentioned treaty of Swine-
burg, Alfred faithfully bequeathed their father's possessions
to each of his two nephews, Ethelhelm and Ethelwald. The
will mentions particularly the names of the estates. The
youngest, however, was not content with his inheritance,
which must have been as sufficient for him as for his kins-
man to maintain the rank and position of a near blood-rela-
tion of the royal house. He not only endeavoured to extend
his possessions, but even to seize the crown, which would
have descended to him by right of succession, and was irre-
vocably secured in stringent documents. He therefore be-
came an enemy to the king and a traitor to his fatherland.
His death in the year 905 has been already mentioned.
Ethelhelm was of a more contented disposition than his
brother ; he is probably that son of King Ethelred from whom
the historian Ethelwerd boasts of being descended3.
In his will Alfred also remembered a kinsman Osforth4, to
whom he bequeathed some villages, but whose degree of
relationship to the royal family is not further mentioned.
His name leads us to suppose that he may have been a
descendant of the family of Osburgha.
These are the direct and lateral branches of Alfred's
family. In order to enable them all to live in a manner
worthy of their rank, they received bequests in land and
money; Alfred provided for them in the most minute points,
and always conscientiously carried out the wishes of his pre-
decessors. But above all, he carefully kept in view the im-
portant necessity of providing a direct heir who should rank
above all his relations and all the nobles of the kingdom, in
1 Ethelward filius regis, Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 335, 337.
- Florent. Wigorn. i. 130.
3 Ethelwerd, iv. 514.
4 Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 314: " Osferde mlnum maege." " Osferft minister'
is fbtJid in many of King Edward's documents.
ALFRED'S WILL. 225
wealth and landed property, and enjoy a separate establish-
ment. The old conservative principles upon which he acted
in this matter will be best explained in his own words :
" And I will that the persons who hold land follow the
command in my father's will as far as is possible. And if 1
have detained any money from any man, I will that my
relations repay it. I will that those to whom I have be-
queathed my boc-land shall never after their lifetime let it
go out of my family, but if so be that they have no children,
it must go to my nearest of kin. But I most especially desire
that it may remain in the male line as long as one is found
worthy of it. My grandfather bequeathed his land to the
spear half, and not to the spindle half1. If, therefore, I have
bestowed any of his possessions on a female, my relations
must redeem it, if they will, while she is living ; but if not, it
can be dealt with as we have before settled. But if they
take it, it must be paid for ; because those are my heirs to
whom I shall give what I have to give as it seems best to me,
whether male or female2."
The sums of money set apart by Alfred furnish many in-,
teresting evidences of his relations with his family and
officers. To each of his two sons, as chief heirs, he be-
queathed £500 ready money, and to each of his three
daughters, and to his consort Elswitha, £100. Each of his
ealdermen (and those related to him, Ethelhelm, Ethelward,
and Osforth, are mentioned by name) was to receive 100
marks. To Ethelred, the Governor of Mercia, is left by
special mention a sword of 120 marks' value. Among his
serving men, whom he was accustomed to pay at Easter3,
£200 were to be divided according to the claims of each, and
in the manner pointed out by himself. His faithful and
devoted clergy also find a place in his will. To the arch-
bishop4 the sum of 100 marks was bequeathed, and the same
amount to the Bishops Esne5, "Werfrith6, and the Bishop
Here the sexes are designated from the implements used by each — the mail
from the spear, the female from the spindle.
2 Kemhle, Cod. Diplom. n. 314. Compare Leg. Aelfr. 41.
8 Sam mannum fte me folgiaS, Se ic on eastertidum feoh sealde.
4 Ethelred, Archbishop of Canterbury, died A. 888.
5 Ksne, Bishop of Hereford, died A. 885.
a Werfrith, Bishop of Worcester, died A. 911 or 915-
226 ALFRED'S WILL.
of Sherborue, by whom it is not known whether Asser or
Wulfsige is meant1. A sum of £200 was devoted to the sal-
vation of his own soul, that of his father, and those of the
friends to whom he or his father hnd promised benefits.
This money was divided into four equal parts of £50 each :
one for the whole body of mass-priests throughout the king-
dom ; one for God's poor servants ; one for the distressed
poor; and one for the church where he himself should rest.
This was that of Winchester, to whose bishopric was already
bequeathed all the landed property which Alfred possessed in
Kent. The document then proceeds to set forth that Alfred
did not exactly know whether his treasury would suffice for
all these legacies, but he presumes that it would amount to
still more. If this should be the case, the surplus is to be
divided equally among all the legatees, the earldermen and
servitors included. With regard to earlier arrangements,
when his fortune was larger and his kindred more numerous,
he remarks that he burnt all the writings connected with
them after he had altered the arrangements ; but it' any of
the documents should be produced, they were to be consi-
dered of no value, and the present will, accredited by the
council of the nation, was to be followed in all respects.
f The document concludes with a beautiful and humane
) decree of the kings. Alfred grants important alleviations
to all his bond and free men. His personal dependents as
well as the actual ceorls2 in his service were to enjoy full
liberty to go over to another master and to another estate at
their own pleasure. No one was to extort any indemnifica-
tion from them, and an unlimited choice of service lay open
to both classes of servitors. In the name of God and his
saints he prays his relations and testators to provide with all
diligence for the fulfilment of this provision, and not allow
any landholder to oppose these arrangements, made by him-
self, and recognised as a law by the West Saxon Witan.
Such were the provisions for the future disposal of his
property made by Alfred, as a father and a king, soon after
1 In a more modern Latin translation of the will, " Assero de Schireburn" is
specih'ed. Kemble, Cod. Diplom. n. 1067.
2 Cyrelif is a, person who has a ri#ht of choice, or who has exercised a choice,
Kernbk, the Saxons in England, i. 504
ALFBED'S MANAGEMENT OF HIS EEVENUE. 227
he had reconquered his throne, and without doubt they were
conscientiously carried out. But the various endeavours to-
wards providing for the security of Church and State, and
for the elevation of his people to a higher state of morality,
with which he was constantly occupied during the following
years, must have required in his time also much aid in money,
and he applied the revenues of his own royal property to this
purpose. In the management of this property, he caused
that economy and love of order to be exercised which we have
already seen in the regularity with which he discharged the
manifold duties which devolved upon him.
His possessions in money, replenished by his yearly in-
come, were divided into two parts1 : the one was destined for
the maintenance of worldly power and welfare ; the other for
that of the spiritual. Each had three branches of adminis-
tration— the first of which was directed to the payment of
the War department of the state, which also was not for-
gotten in his will. We have thus an opportunity of learning
in what manner the noble officers and the assembled war-
like troops which must always have been about the court,
fulfilled their bounden duties in their different stations.
Alfred established a formal code of services, according
to which the whole body was separated into three divi-
sions, one of which was always to be at court, and do
duty for the space of a month. At the beginning of a new
month it was released by the next detachment, so that two-
thirds of the whole were always at liberty to go to their
homes and follow their own business, and Alfred, who always
rigidly enforced this management, did not require service for
more than three months in the year from his subjects. All
were paid for their time of service in proportion to their
rank and occupation.
A second sum was yearly set aside for building, which gave
employment to a large number of mechanics, some even from
foreign countries. The third sum was apportioned to
strangers who came from the most distant parts to Alfred's
court, whether *,hey demanded help or not ; in either case,
the liberality of the king provided the means to satisfy their
1 Asser, p. 495, 496, is th 5 authority for the following account. It seems to bs
the most genuine part of the *ork.
228 ALFRED'S PERSONAL APPEABANCE.
wants. The second half of the revenue was set aside for ec-
clesiastical necessities, and was divided into four subdivisions.
The first was applied to the charitable relief of the poor of
all nations, in which, as Asser relates, Alfred observes the
saying of Gregory the Great : " Give neither much to him
who needs little, nor little to him who needs much ; deny
not him who needs something, nor give to him who needs
nothing1." The second part belonged to the two monasteries
endowed by Alfred, and to the support of the brethren as-
sembled in them. With the third the schools were supported,
which he had endowed principally for the use and advantage
of the noble youth of his kingdom. Finally, the fourth sum
was devoted to all the neighbouring cloisters in Wessex and
Mercia, as well as in the course of years to many ecclesias-
tical establishments in Wales and Cornwall, France, Armorica,
Northumbria, and even in Ireland, by which he assisted the
pious servants of God even in foreign lands, and was enabled
to stimulate them to good works. Some of this money may
also have been given to the church of Durham, which in later
days ascribed Alfred's donations to St. Cuthbert2.
These beautiful examples of the conscientiousness and gene-
rosity of the king enable us, in conclusion, to cast a brief
but comprehensive glance on all the virtues and excellent
qualities with which he was endowed.
No one has left a description of Alfred's personal appear-
ance, such as we possess of Charlemagne fromEinhard's mas-
terly sketch. We do not associate the idea of a colossal
figure with the name of Alfred, we rather picture to ourselves
a naturally sturdy, healthy form, whose stamina, early weak-
ened by constantly-recurring illness and continual bodily ex-
ertion, was finally destroyed before he attained any great
age, by the severegnjjerings from which he was exempt only
at rare intervals. | But Alfred endured his affliction with in-
comparable fortitude, considering that it was sent from God :
his combats and privations on the battle-field, the efforts
which it cost him to animate the sluggish nature of his people,
by his own energy ; the manifold intellectual labours which
constantly occupied him ; all these must have aided him in
1 Asser, p. 496. " Nee parvum cui multum, nee multura cui parvum ; nee
nihil cui aliqnid, nee aliquid cui nihu "'
2 Simeon Dunelm. ; Hist. Keg. Angl. A 883 ; Ejusd. Hist. Eccles. ii. 13.
ALFRED'S CHAEACTEB. 229
forgetting the pain which seldom left him, and in suppress-
ing any outward expression of it from those with whom he
associated. His strong, active, and elastic spirit continually
gained the mastery over his frail body. The character of hi's
mind was that of a statesman and a hero, but elevated and,
at the same time, tempered by a longing for those higher and
immortal things on which all the power and glory of this
world depend.] Unshaken courage was the steadfast founda-
tion of his whole being ; as a young man, he early manifested
this quality on the battle-field at Ashdown. Once it seemed
as though it were about to fail, when the young king looked
forward to a long life, with his country in the hands of the
enemy, and his people in despair ; but again it shone forth,
when he emerged, strengthened and victorious, from the purify-
ing school of Athelney, to meet the future. Many valiant men
would do well zealously to emulate his example.
We must, for many reasons, notice another feature in
Alfred's mind, scarcely less rich in results ; he had a decided
inventive talent, with which he was not only enabled to aid
his bodily necessities, but especially to apply new ideas to the
improvement of all kinds of artistic and mechanical work.
The quadrant on which the church of Athelney is raised —
the long ships — the directing the channel of a river — his time-
candles — all bear witness to the power of his mind, no less
than the battles that he won. It seems to have been espe-
cially easy for him to learn anything new, and to turn what
he learnt to practical account. "When, after a long pause, the
Danes again engaged him in a contest, Alfred endeavoured to
meet them with craft and subtlety like their own, and actually
succeeded in mastering them by these means. The maTTamTT
the king turned his attention at an advanced age to literature, j
and accomplished therein what no prince of his time, and ofj
many centuries after him, could have even attempted. But
industry and perseverance formed the principal features of
his character, and they were the most powerful aids towards
his attainment of such noble results. Biding and the chase,
which he so passionately followed when a boy, he continued
to practise through the whole of his life, in order to strengthen
his frame, regardless of bodily suffering. (^ With the greatest
assiduity he promoted the re-establishment of cities, fortresses.
230 ALFRED'S CHARACTER.
churches, and monasteries/ and he never omitted anything
that could be suggested by his own genius as tending to the
advancement of his highest aim, that of the education of his
people. /He continually drew to his court, by gifts and
friendly invitations, strangers of all nations, among whom
were Franks, Frieslanders, Britons, Scots, Armoricans, and
even Pagans1, in order that he with his nobles and clergy
might benefit by their acquaintance./The king, in consequence
of his own indomitable energy, perfected the learning which
he so eagerly desired in his youth ; and it redounded to his
honour, that he raised himself to be one of the first authors
of the age, and contributed greatly to the instruction and
amusement of his people, in works which, after the lapse of
jnanv__ceiituries, are still gratefully acknowledged.
The piety with which Alfred submitted to the requirements
of Christianity, was not only evinced in his obedient subjec-
tion tp the orthodox Church of his day, but it was an innate
principle which produced and nourished in his heart a living
faith in divine things. The long series of sufferings, trials,
and privations, which extended throughout his life, had more
influence in creating this feeling than the sight of Borne or
the arrogant pretensions of the Pope. Alfred always ranked
as a valiant warrior of the cross against heathenism, which his
ancestors had long since renounced ; he protected the country
from the repeated attempts that were made for its renewal, and
endeavoured by conversion to reduce the conquered foe to com-
plete subjection. With sword and pen, with hand and heart,
he fought for his faith, and during his life he obtained the
victor's reward. In the exercise of his spiritual duties he
always manifested the same conscientiousness which charac-
terised his conduct in other respects. The half of his time,
as well as the half of his fortune, wras dedicated to the service
of God2. Wherever he was, it wras his daily wont, not only
for the sake of being an example to others, but from the deep
inward necessity he felt for spiritual things and for the so-
lemn ceremonies of religion, to hear the Psalms and appointed
Lessons read, and he often wrent at midnight to the church
to humble himself in quiet prayer, far from all disturbing in-
1 Asser, p. 486. 2 Asser, p. 495.
ALFRED'S CHAEACTEB. 231
luences1. As a dispenser of alms, lie treated \vith equal libe-
rality the poor and needy of his own land and those of foreign
churches and monasteries ; they were all benefited by his
gifts till long after the period of his death. || In a true Chris-
tian spirit he was accustomed to say to nis most intimate
friends, and to confess with self-abasement to his Creator,
that he had not striven to partake of the divine wisdom, nor
employed the means of attaining it3. Pride and haughtiness
were strangers to him. The consciousness of his own weak-
ness told him that he was not in a situation to perform ffralx
which he ought. Eminent by this piety over his whole nay
tion, he was as far removed as any of his contemporaries from*
becoming a religious enthusiast, who would bow willingly be-\
fore a haughty priesthood, and would neglect the safety of his /
temporal kingdom and of his subjects for the exercise of his
holy duties. He knew well what his country had suffered
from his father's all-engrossing submission to ecclesiastical
influence. It is impossible to draw a parallel between Alfred
and his descendant, Edward the Confessor. Edward gaveV
away his kingdom, and was canonized ; Alfred protected it \
with his sword and firm faith in God, and the Komish ]
Church gave him no thanks for it ; but he lived with his deeds /
in the hearts of his people, and became the hero of their/
poetry.
There was no subject of discord with the supreme head oi'
the Church during Alfred's time ; he rather cemented a bond
of friendship with one Pope, and did not abolish the tribute
to Home which Ethelwulf had established. It was his stead-
fast conviction that Eome ought to be the central point of
the Church, and that all regulations in matters of faith ought
to proceed from thence ; for he, as well as his contemporaries,
swore unquestioning allegiance to the errors and abuses which
then were rife, without surmising that Christianity in its
early days had been a very different and a purer thing. But
the comparatively independent position of the Anglo-Saxon
Church became established during his reign ; its first digni-
taries were native-born Saxons.
1 Asser, p. 486.
- Eo quod Deus omnipotens eum expertem divinae sapientias et liberalium artiuro
fecisset. Asser, p. 486
232 ALFRED A1STD THE I HTJHCH.
But, on the other hand, Alfred did not avoid bringing
foreign clergy into the country, and 'he especially set them
at the head 'of the new ecclesiastical establishments. The
language of the country continued to be employed in the
services of the Church ; the king indeed enforced the study
of Latin, but he strenuously endeavoured to supply all classes
of his people with a translation of the Bible in the Saxon
tongue. The time occupied in the general affairs of his
people, and the great distance of England from Rome, pre-
vented him from strictly following its dictation in matters of
doctrine. The Decalogue in the beginning of his code of laws
affords a particular instance of this : Alfred omits the Second
Commandment in accordance with the decree of the Council
of Nice, but he supplies it in the tenth place by the very un-
Eoman but Mosaic commandment concerning image- worship1.
We have documentary evidence that John of Ireland, a clear-
seeing philosopher for the dark age in which he lived, re-
ceived from Alfred a hospitable reception ; and it was, in fact,
worthy of the high-hearted king to protect a man who,
because he entertained a different opinion on transubstantia-
tion and predestination, underwent most bitter persecution
from Home2. Alfred's independent spirit could not submit
itself unreservedly to those bonds by which all free exercise
of opinion was fettered, and even tin's instance of it was not
allowed to go unpunished by Eome. In spite of his predilec-
tion for the Church, Alfred felt and thought more as a Ger-
man than a Homan Catholic, and in his character we see the
first germs of the independence of Protestantism.
^—^He imbued all his worldly enjoyments with the same inde-
pendent spirit. Providence had sent him upon earth at a
time when the nature of the kingdom was undergoing a
decided change. The bias of all the Teutonic races towards
democracy was disappearing, but in England it was less on
the decline than on the Continent. The transition to
feudalism took place very slowly, and was the result of
regular causes, as all political changes have been in this
remarkable island. It must not be forgotten that Alfred's
1 Lingard, History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ii. 468.
2 Bicknell, Life of Alfred the Great, p. 290, 294, whsre much that is correct is
mingled with many errors.
ALFEED'S POLICY. 233
reign was one. step towards this development. We have
compared Egbert to Charlemagne, but among the Franks
the disturbances and alterations only began to make rapid
progress with the decline of the Carlovingian race, whilst
Alfred still continued to preserve the German nation in all
its purity during this century, so that it was only by degrees
that it was disturbed by the influence of a new and powerful
system.
"We perceive in Alfred a prince of an entirely different
nature from the military chiefs of the little German states ;
the nucleus of a court began to show itself around him ; the
formerly independent nobility, who were only inferior in rank
to the king, began to render service, and to renounce their
hereditary power ; the royal person now stood like a tower,
high above all the surrounding buildings. An arbitrary long-
ing after something new never actuated Alfred. It is re-
markable to consider the prudence by which he was guided
in the construction of his legal code. A genuine conservative
feeling moved him to preserve all those ancient customs
which still remained in efficient operation ; that circumspec-
tion in carrying out measures of reform, wThich the great
statesmen of England display in our day, was also cha-
racteristic of Alfred whenever he resolved to abolish any-
thing old, and replace it by a new arrangement in accordance
with his own religious views, and in harmony with the spirit
of Christianity. His efforts for the diffusion of the latter
were at least as great as his evident desire to attain high
temporal authority as a Christian monarch.
He never disturbed the original political foundations of his
nation. When all lay in ruins, he laboured unweariedly to
re-establish, as far as possible, the former state of things.
The roots of all the evils of the Saxon and Low German
national character, sluggishness and indolence, he distin-
guished, with his keen glance, above all other failings, and
endeavoured to combat them in every possible manner ; now
by kind teaching and exhortation — now, when his patience
became exhausted by repeated disobedience, by well-meant
punishment. His active mind was needed to set in motion
the slumbering strength of his people, and to see justice
ione to its real value, as well as to drive out stubborn pre-
231 ALFRED AS A KING AND A MAN.
^udices1. When the aged were not willing to receive in*
struction, and especially when they retarded the execution
of justice, he shamed them by the industry of youth, in
which he knew how to sow the seeds of knowledge and a
better comprehension of the right. By his own example
alone was he able to induce the people to apply themselves
to the strengthening and defence of the country. He car-
Aried his point, and Saxons of all ranks rejoiced in the re-
) conquered freedom which Alfred had given them, a freedom
J whose nature was more secure than before, and the nume-
I rous class of serfs, who until then had been treated as living
\ property, received the invaluable gift of liberty of choice in
their masters ; and, in common with their noble and free
V countrymen, held the memory of their king in grateful re-
membrance long after his death.
So stands the image of Alfred, shining brightly in the
book of the world's history, never defaced by malice or igno-
rance, nor dimmed by his own errors. These he necessarily
possessed, but they have been entirely forgotten in the blaze
of his virtues, over which the lapse of centuries has cast no
cloud. Severe trial and purifying cleansed him like a noble
metal from all dross. Praise can never degenerate into flat-
tery in the case of a great man whose strong sense of duty
and exalted principles of morality have led him to employ
his time in a truly noble manner. No king nor hero of an-
tiquity or modern times can be compared with Alfred for
so many distinguished qualities, and each so excellent.
Princes more renowned for power and glory, and reigning
over greater nations, have always had some defect in their
moral character, which forcibly contrasts witli our high esti-
mation of their mental qualities ; and although by the side
of Alfred, ruling in his narrow Wessex, their forms appear
to towrer high amongst the stars, yet his figure, in its smaller
Eroportions, remains one of the most perfect ever held up
y the hand of Grod as a mirror to the world and its rulers.
As such a noble example he has lived in the memory of a
1 Asser, p. 492 : Leniter docendo, aduiando, hortando, imperando, ad ultimum
inobedientes post longam paientiam acrius castigando, vilgarem stultitiam et
pertinaciam omni modo obominando.
THE ANGLO-SAXON EACE. 235
thousand years, and during that period the people whom
he governed have spread over the earth, making homes for
themselves, and establishing freedom and independence of
thought and deed to its most remote bounds. That tree,
which now casts its shadow far and wide over the world, when
menaced with destruction in its bud, was carefully guarded
by Alfred ; but at the time when it was ready to burst forth
into a plant, he was forced to leave it to the influence of time.
Many great men have occupied themselves with the care of
this tree, and each, in his own way, lias advanced its growth.
William the Conqueror, with his iron hand, bent the tender
branches to his will ; Henry the Second ruled the Saxons
with true Roman pride ; but in Magna Charta the old Ger-
man nature became roused, and worked powerfully even
amongst the barons. It became free under Edward the
Third, that prince so ambitious of conquest ; the old lan-
guage and the old law, the one somewhat altered, the other
much softened, opened the path to a new era. The nation
stood like an oak in the full strength of its leafy maturity,
and to this strength the Reformation is indebted for its
accomplishment. Elizabeth, the greatest woman who ever
sat on a throne, occupied a central position in a golden age
of power and literature. Then came the Stuarts, who, with
their despotic ideas, outraged the deeply-rooted Saxon indi-
viduality of the English, and by their own fall contributed
to the surer development of that freedom which was founded
so long before. The stern Cromwell and the astute William
the Third aided in preparing for the now-advanced nation
that path in which it has ever since moved.^The Anglo-
Saxon race has already attained maturity in the New World,
and, founded on these pillars, it will triumph in all places
and in every age. Alfred's name will always be placed amongst
those of the great spirits of this earth ; and so long as men
regard their past history with reverence, they will not ven-
ture to bring forward any other in comparison with him
who saved the West Saxon race from complete destruction,
and in whose heart the virtues dwelt in such harmonious
concord. /
CHEONICLE
OF THE
WEST SAXON HISTORY,
FROM 838 TO 901.
YEAR.
DATS.
LOCALITY.
EVENTS.
838
On the Stour.
King Egbert died.
King Ethelwulf.
839
Southampton.
King Ethelwulf.
845
On the Weg.
King Ethelwulf.
847
Canterbury.
King Ethelwulf.
849
Wantage.
Alfred born.
852
853
Easter (April 4).
Chippenham.
Battle near Ockley.
Burhred of Mercia marries Ethels
witha.
Alfred's first journey to Rome.
854
Wilton.
King Ethelwulf.
855
Ethelwulf arid Alfred at Rome.
856
July.
France.
Ethelwulf is atlianced to Judith.
October 1.
Verberie.
Marriage with Judith.
858
860
January 13.
July (?)
King Ethelwulf dies.
King Ethelbald dies.
861
Judith returns to France.
Alfred learns to read.
862
866
867
July 2.
February (?)
November 1.
'.'.'.
Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, dies
King Ethelbert dies.
Arrival of Hingwar and Hubba.
Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, dies
868
March 21.
Battle at York.
Alfred marries Elswitha.
869
September 21.
Conflict at Nottingham.
Battle near Kesteven.
870
November 20.
King Edmund of East Anglia dies.
871
January (?)
After 3 days.
The Danes take Reading.
Flight at Englafeld.
Battle at Reading.
After 4 days.
Battle near Ashdune.
'.'.'.
After 14 days.
After 2 months.
Battle near Basing.
Assembly at Swineburgh.
Battle at Merton.
April 23.
May.
••
King Ethelred dies.
Battle at Wilton.
872
Autumn.
Compact of the Danes with Burhred
of Mercia.
Werfrith, Bishop of Worcester.
873
Fall of the kingdom of Mercia.
874
875
Rome.
King Burhred dies.
Division of the Danish army.
...
A small sea-fight in the Channel
CHRONICLE — continued.
237
TEAR.
\ DATE.
LOCALITY.
EVENTS.
876
The Danes take Wareham.
877
...
The Danes march towards Exeter.
August.
Sea-fight.
878
The Danes leave Exeter.
...
They take Chippcnham.
Blockade of Kymvith Castle, in
j
Devonshire.
i
Alfred in Somerset.
Easter (Mar. 23)
Atheiney.
Intrenchment there.
May 5 -12.
Sally to Brixton.
Battle at Edington.
14 days later.
July.
12 days later.
Chippenham taken.
Treaty of Wedmore.
Guthorni-Athelstan leaves Wedmore
879
Retreat of the Danes.
Hasting in Fulham.
Denewulf, Bishop of Winchester.
882
Sea-fight.
883
Embassy to Rome and the East
884
Dene.
Aisser arrives at Alfred's court.
885
Summer.
The Danes land near Rochester.
Sea-fight at the mouth of the Stour.
November 11.
!.(•;.; ;aford.
Alfred commences his intellectual
pursuits.
886
London rebuilt, and confided to
Etholred.
887
Ethelhelm sent on an embassy to
Rome.
888
Beocca sent to Rome.
Padua.
Queen Ethelswitha dies.
890
Beornhelm sent ambassador to Rome.
King Guthorm-Athelstan dies.
891
S<i2
September 1.
Battle near Louvaine, on the Dyle.
The Panes land in Kent
894
Easter (Mar. 31).
The Danes go into Berkshire.
Battle at Farnham.
August 24.
York .
Guthred of Northumbria dies.
Danes in Devonshire.
Storming of the fortress of Bamfleet
Hasting besieged at Buttingtou.
Passes the winter near Chester, and
in Wales.
895 ;
Devastations in Wales.
Return to Essex.
896 !
Fortifications on the Lea.
The Danes march to Bridgenorth.
|
Witenagemot at Gloucester.
897
Dispersion of the Danes.
Sea- fight on the coast of Devonshire
Summer.
Winchester.
Alfred on the coast.
898 .
Wulfamere.
Alfred meets Ethelred and hii
bishops.
S99 '
Celchyth.
The same.
HOI ,
October 28.
King Alfred dies.
KING ALFRED'S
ANGLO-SAXON VERSION
OF
THE HISTORY OF PAULUS OROSIUS.
BOOK I.
I.
UR6 ylbpan ealne Sypne ymbhpyppc Sypep mibbanjeapbep.
cpseft Opopmp. ppa ppa Oceanup ymblije'S utan. pone man £appe;z;c
hacaft. on Speo cobaelbon. 3 hu hy fa ]jpy baelap on tSpeo
tonembon. Spiam. 3 6upopam. 3 Hpppicam. J>eah pe fume
men paebon J>aet )>aep naepon butan cpe^en bselaf. Spa. 3 paec
o6ep €upopa ; • Xpa if bepanjen nub Oceanup J»aem jappecje
be puSan. 3 nop^an. •] eapcan. -3 ppa ealne pypne mibbanjeajib
ppam 8sem eapc baele healpne behsepS ; • Donne on ftsem nop<5
baele. faec ip Spia. on ]>a ppi^pan healpe. in Damn jwpe ie.
]>aep Spia } Gupopecojs&bejielicjaS. "3 J)onne op paepe dean ie
Danai. pu6 "jlanj penbel pa&p. ^ ]>onne pi5 pepcan !Mexanbj»ia
faejie bypij. Spia -3 Spppica cojaebepe licjaS ;•
6upope hio onjinS. ppa ic aap cpasS. op Danai ])8epe ie. 810
ip ypnenbe op nop$ bg&le op Ripping ]>s&m beopjum. ]>a pmbon
neah ]?ajm jappecge ]>e mon haceS Sapmonbipc. y pio ea Dana.
ypnfi panon puSjuhce. on pepc healpe Slexanbpep hepja. on in
Rochouapco Saepe Seobe ; • pio pypcft paec paenn. ]>e man hacefi
ODeocebipc. ~\ fonne popS mib micle plobe neah paejie bypig )>e
man haceb Theobopia. prS eapcan uc on fa pa& plopeS J>e man
haec 6uxinup. "3 fonne mib lanjpe neaponeppe puft fanon be
eapcan Eonprancmopolim Ejieca bypij Iije6. ^ Jwnne pop6 fanon
uc on penbel pse ; • Se pepc-pu6 enbe Gupope lanb-jemypce
ip in Ippama pepcepeapbum aec ]> asm japipecje. 3 maepc aec f aem
ijlanbe fee Ea'Sep hacce. ]?aep pcyc pe penbel pas up op paem
jappec^e paep 6pcolep pyla pcanba<5 ;. On ])oem ilcan
pae on liype pepc enbe ip Scoclanb ;•
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
OF
KING ALFRED'S YERSION
OF
THE HISTORY OF PAULUS OROSIUS.
BOOK I.
I.
OUR forefathers divided all the orb of this earth, saith
Orosius, which is encircled by the ocean that is called Garsecg,
into three, and named those three parts Asia, and Europe, and
Africa, though some men have said that there were only two
parts ; Asia, and the other Europe. Asia is bounded to the
southward, northward, and eastward, by the ocean, and thus
comprises half of all this earth from the eastern part. Then
in the north part, that is of Asia, and on the right side, Europe
and Asia join together in the river Tanais ; and then from
this same river Tanais, soutli along the Mediterranean, and
west of Alexandria, Asia and Africa join together1.
Europe begins, as I sr'd before, from the river Tanais,
which takes its source from the northern parts of the Biphaean
mountains, which are near the ocean that is called the Sarma-
tian ; and the river Tanais thence runs directly south, on the
west side of Alexander's temples2, to the nation of the Eho-
covasci. It forms the fen which is called Maeotis, and thence
forth with a great flood, near the city called Theodosia, flows
to the eastward into the sea called the Euxine, and then
with a long narrowness south from thence passes east of
Constantinople, the Greek city, and thence out into the
Mediterranean. The boundary of the south-west end of
Europe is in Spain westward at the ocean, and especially at
the island called Cadiz, where the Mediterranean flows from
the ocean where Hercules's pillars stand. In this same Me-
diterranean, to the westward, is Scotland.
240 KING ALFRED'S OKOSITJS.
A'pppica 3 Spa hypa lanb-gemypco onjinnaS op
6tiypca bypij. 3 lip paec lanb-gemaepe pub" panon opeji Nilup
pa ea. 3 ppa opep Gchiopica pepcenne oft pone puS gappec;*;.
3 paepe !Spppica nop5-pepc jemaepe ip aec paem ilcan penbel pae.
):e op paem jappecje pcyc paep 6pcolep pyla pcanbaS. 3 hype
pihc pepc enbe ip aec paem beopje pe man Xchlanp nemnefi.
~ a&c ]>aem iglanbe ]?e man haec Fopcunacup ; •
Scopclice ic haebbe nu gepaab ymbe ]>a pjiy ba&lap caller
)>ypep mibbanjeapbep. ac ic pille nu. ppa ic £ep gehec. papa
]>peopa lanb-pica jema&pe peccan. hu hy mib hyjia paecpum
Spia onjean ]>s&m mibbele on paem eapc enbe. paaji licjeS pe
muSa uc on pone jajipejc paepe ea pe man haceS lianbip. pone
jappejc mon haec Inbipc. be puSan paem muSan. pio* pone
jajipejc ip pepopc pe mon haec Ealijapbamana : • Be puftan-
eapcan pam popce. ip paec iglanb Deppobane. ^ ponne be
iiopSan paem Eanbip pe muSa. paep paep Eaucapup pe beoph
enbaS. neh paem jappecje. paep ip pe pope Samepa. be nopban
paem popce ip pe mutla paepe ic pe man nemneft Occopogoppe.
pone jappejc man haec Sepicup ; .
Daec pine Inbea jemaepo. paep paep Eaucapup pe beoph ip
be nopfian. -3 Inbup peo ea be pepcan. -3 peo Reabe pae be puSan.
3 pe jappejc be eapcan ; • On Inbea lanbe ip peopep 3 peopepcij
Seoba. bucan paem ijlanbe Tappabane. paec haepS on him cyn
bypij. bucan oSpum mane^um ^epecenum ijlanbum ; • Op paepe
ea Inbup. pe be pepcan eallum paem lanbe lift, becpux paepe ea
Inbup. 3 paepe pe be peptan hype ip Tijpip hacce. pa plopafi
buca pu5 on pone Reaban pae. "j becpeoh paem cpam ean pynbon
pap lanb Opacappia. 3 Papchia. "3 Spilia. 3 PappiSa. 3 Cbebia.
peah pe jeppica ope nemnan ealle pa larib OCebia. o6Se Sppipia.
•3 pa lanb ]-inbon ppyfte beophce1. 3 paep pynb ppySe pceappe
pejap "3 pcanije ;• Dajia lanba nop6 jemaejio pynbon aec paem
beopjum Eaucapup. 3 on puS healpe peo Reabe pae. 3 on paem
lanbe pynbon cpa myccle ea. Ipappep 3 Spbip. on paem lanbe
ip cpa ^3 cpencij peoba. nu haec hie man eall Papchia ;• Donne
pepc ppam Tijpip paepe ea oS Guphpace pa ea. ponne becpeox
paem ean pynbon pap lanb Babylonia. "} Ealbea-3 GDepopocamui ;
Buman paem lanbum pynbon eahca 3 cpencij peoba '.- pypa
nojiS gemaepo pynbon aec paem beopjum Taupo 3 Eaucapa. j
hyjia pu5 jemaepo licja^ co pam Reaban pae ;• Snblanj \rj&'
ALFRED'S OROSius.jT^ / 241
Of Africa and Asia the land-boundaries begin from Alex-
andria, a city of Egypt, and that boundary lies south from
thence over the river Nile, and then over the Ethiopian
desert, as far as the Southern Ocean. And the north-
western boundary of Africa is at the same Mediterranean sea,
which flows from the ocean where Hercules' s pillars stand ;
and its right western boundary is at the mountain called
Atlas, and at the island called the Fortunate.
Now I have shortly spoken of the three parts of all this
earth ; and I will now, as I before promised, tell of the
boundaries of those three regions, how with their waters they
lie to each other.
Towards the middle of Asia, in the eastern part, lies the
mouth of the river called Granges, out in the ocean. This ocean
is called the Indian. To the southward of that mouth, on the
ocean is the port called Caligardamana. To the south-east of
that port is the island Taprobane ; and then to the north of
the mouth of the Granges, where mount Caucasus ends, near
to the ocean, is the port of Samara ; to the north of that port
is the mouth of the river called Octorogorra. That ocean is
named Sericus.
These are the boundaries of India : there mount Caucasus
is to the north, the river Indus to the west, and the Eed Sea
to the south, and the ocean to the east. In the land of India
are four-and-forty nations, besides the island of Taprobane,
which has ten cities in it, besides many other inhabited islands.
From the river Indus, wrhich lies to the west of all that
country, betwixt the river Indus, and the river to the w^est of
it, called the Tigris, both which flow south into the Eed Sea,
are the countries of Aracosia, Parthia, Assyria, Persia, and
Media, though writings often name all these lands Media or
Assyria ; and these lands are very mountainous1, and there
are very sharp and stony ways. The northern boundaries of
those lands are at the mounts Caucasus, and on the south side
the Eed Sea ; and in that country are two great rivers, the
Hydaspes and the Arbis ; in that land are two-and-twenty
nations ; now it is all called Parthia. Then west from the river
Tigris to the river Euphrates, and between those rivers, are
the countries of Babylonia, and Chaldsea, and Mesopotamia.
Within those countries are eight-and-twenty nations. Their
north boundaries are the mounts Taurus and Caucasus, and
their south boundaries lie on the Eed Sea. Along the Eeci
242 KINO ALFBED S OEOSHJS.
Reaban faef. paef baelef J>e J>aep nop$ fcvr. lift -p lanb
•3 Saben 3 (Bubomane. ofep p/aepe ea Guphpace. pepc o$ )>one
penbel fae. 3 nop$ popneah 08 $a beopjaf J^e man Taupif
haec. 06 }>aec lanb >e man haec Xpmenie. 3 epc fuS 06 Gjypce
maneja feoba f ynbon )>aef lanbef . f>sec if Eomagena. -3 Venicia.
^ Damafcena. •] Eoelle. ~) GOoab. ~] Smmon. 3 Ibumei. "j lubea.
^ Palej-cina. -3 Sappacene. "j feah hie mon haec eall Sypia:-
Donne be nopfian 8ypia fynbon ]>& beopgaf ]>e man Taupuf
haec. "] be noji^an ]>aem beopgum fynbon ]>a lanb Eappabocia
•j Spmenie. ~] hio Spmenie if be eafcan Eappabocia. y be pefcan
Eappabocia if ]^aec lanb ]>e man haec feo Laeffe Sfia. -3 be
nopSan Eappabocia if faec jepylbe. ]>e man haec Temefepaf .
J>onne becpux Eappabocia. -j paepe Laeffan Sfiam if ]^aec lanb
Eilicia. -j If f aupio ; •
8eo Sfia on aelce healfe hio if bepanjen mib fealcum paecepe
bucon on eafc healfe. on noji6 healfe if feo fae Guxmuf. ^j on
pefc healfe feo fae ]>e man haec Ppoponcif. -3 Gllefponcuf. -3
^enbel fae be piftan ; • On j^aepe ylcan Spam if f e hyhfca beoph
Olympuf ; •
8eo ^jpcuf . ]>e uf neap if. be nopftan hype if ]>aec lanb
Palefcme. "3 be eafcan hype Sappacene J>aec lanb. ^ be pefcan
hype Libia )>aec lanb. •} be fu^an hype fe beoph ]>e Elimax
mon hacce;- Niluf feo ea hype aepylme if neah paem clipe
paepe Reaban fae. peah fume men fecgan ]>aec hype aepylme
fy on pefc enbe Sffpica. neah paem beopje Schlanf. 3
fonne fuljia^e ]>aef fie eafc ypnenbe on ]>aec fanb. -3 ]?aep fy
efc flopenbe up Of J>aem fanbe. "3 ]>aep pypcS mycelne
fae. "3 )?8ep heo aepefc uppy!6. hy hacaS ]m men Nuchul. 3
fume men Dapa. 3 }>onne of J>aem fae faep hio up of ]>aem
fanbe cym6. heo if eafc yjmenbe fpam eaj-c baele ]mph
6chiopica pefcenne. "3 J?aep man haec pa ea Ion 08 'Sone
eafc bael. 3 ]>s&]\ fonne pyp6 co miclum fae. 3 faep ]?onne
befincS efc in on ]?a eopSan. "3 ]>onne efc nopS J>anon upp-
aj'ppmc'S neah paem chfe pi6 ])one Reaban fae fe ic aep befopan
faebe. |>onne of ])aem aepylme man haec ]?aec paecep Niluf
ea. 3 p/onne fOpS pej-c panon ypnenbe. heo colit5 on cpa ymb
an ijlanb J)e man haec OOepeon. 3 ]>anon nopS bu^enbe. uc on
j)one J7enbel fae. )>onne on faem pincpijum cibum pyji6 j-e
muSa fopbpifen fopan cnam paem nopSepnum pinbum.
feo ea bit5 flopenbe Ofep eall G^ypca lanb. 3 hio gebeS mib
J>aem flobe fpii5e }>icce eop^-paefcm»f on Ggypca lanbe;. 810
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. T"/ f 243
Sea, at the part that runs north, lies the land of Arabia,
Sabsea, and Eudaemon. Beyond the river Euphrates, west-
ward as far as the Mediterranean, and northward almost
as far as the mountains called Taurus, as far as the land
called Armenia, and again south as far as Egypt, are many
peoples of that land, namely, Commagena, and Phoenicia, and
Damascus, and Coelle, and Moab, and Ammon, and Idumsea,
and Judaea, and Palestine, and Saracene, though it is all
called Syria. Then to the north of Syria are the mountains
called Taurus, and to the north of those mountains are the
countries of Cappadocia and Armenia, and Armenia is to the
east of Cappadocia, and to the west of Cappadocia is the
country called the Lesser Asia, and to the north of Cappadocia
is the plain called the Themiscyrian ; then betwixt Cappadocia
and the Lesser Asia is the country of Cilicia and Isauria.
Asia is surrounded on every side with salt water, except
on the east side ; on the north side is the Euxine Sea, and on
the west the sea called Propontis, and the Hellespont ; and
the Mediterranean is on the south. In this same Asia the
highest mountain is Olympus.
To the northward of hither Egypt is Palestine, and to the
eastward the land of Saracene, and to the west the land of
Libya, and to the south the mountain called Climax. The
source of the Nile is near the shore of the Bed Sea, though
some men say that its source is in the west part of Africa,
near mount Atlas, and then rapidly flows running eastward
into the sand, and near there again flows up from the sand,
and there forms a great lake; and where it first springs up
the land is called Nuchul, and by some Dara. And then
from that lake, where it rises from the sand, it runs east from
the east part, it runs through the Ethiopian desert, and there
the river is called Ion, as far as the eastern part, and there
then becomes a large lake, and there then sinks again into the
earth ; and then again north from thence springs up near to
the shore of the Eed Sea, as I mentioned before ; then from
that source the water is called the river Nile ; and then run-
ning from thence westward, it separates in two round an
island called Meroe, and thence bending northward out into
the Mediterranean. Then, in the winter seasons, the mouth
is driven by the northern winds, so that the river is flowing
over all the land of Egypt, and makes with that flood very
abundant fruits in the land of Egypt. The farther Egypt
R 2
24 i KING ALFEED'S OBOSIUS.
p-yppe Gjypcup li<5 eapc anblang f aep Reaban paep on pu8 healpe.
•] on eapc healpe f sep lanbep lift gappejc. "j on hype pepc healpe
if peo up neape G$ypcup. 3 on f aem tpam e^ypcum if peopep
3 cpencig fieoba ; •
Nu haebbe pe appicen faepe ISpiam pu<5 bael. nu pille pe pon
Co hype nopft baele ; • Daec ip f onne op f aem beopgum f e man
haec Eaucapup. ]>e pe a&p bepopan pppaecon. J»a J?e be nopSan
Inbea jynbon. ^ hio ongmnat) sepepc eaptane op ]?a&m jappecje.
•] ponne licjaS peptpihte ot5 ISpmenia beopjap. fa lanb-leobe
hi hara8 Papcoabpap. fsep op faem beop^um pylS peo ea puS-
peapb €uppace. •] op J>aem beoji^um ]>e man Papcoabpap haec
lic^aS fa beopigap pepcpihte. ]>e man Taupop haet. oft Eilicum
J>33tlanb> Donne be nop^ian faern beop^um. anblanj faap
^appecgep. oS fone nop^-eapc enbe ]>yreF mibban^eapbep. f aep
Bope peo ea pcyc ut on fone gappecg. ^ fanon pepc anblanj
J>aep jajipec^ep. on J>one ps& ]?e man haec Eappia. fe ]> aep uppcyc
co paem beopgum Eaucapup. faec lanb man ha&c fa ealban
SciS^ian. j Ipcamam '• Ds&p lanbep ip fpeo "j peopepci^ feoba
pibe copecene pop unpaepcmbaepneppe faej* lanbep I • Donne be
pepcan paem pa& Eappia o$ Danaip t>a ea. 3 oS f aec penn f e man
haec GOeocebipc. •] fonne pu$ 06 f one penbel pae. 3 06 fone
beoph Taupup. ^ nopt5 06 f one jappe^c. ip call SciSSia lanb
binnan. ]>eah hie man conemne on cpa1} on fpicij feoba'.- Sc
fa lanb on eapc healpe Danaip. f e f asp neah pynbon. Slbani h)r
pynb jenemneb in Lacma. -3 pe hy hacat? nu Liobene;- Nu
haebbe pe pcopchce jepaeb ymb !Spia lanb- gemaepe ; •
Nu pille pe ymbe €upope lanb-jemaepe peccan. ppa mycel
ppa pe hie pypmepc piCon. ppam faepe ea Danaip pepc o$
Rm Sa ea peo pylS op f a&m beopge f e man Slpip haec. ~] ypnS
fonne nop^pyhce on faep ^appecgep eapm. fe faec lanb ucan-
ymbhS f e man Rpyccanma haec. ~] epc jiitS 08 Donna fa ea.
faepe aepylme ip neah faepe ea Rmep. 3 ip pi66an eaj'C ypnenbe
pits Epecalanb uc on f one J7enbel pae. ^ nopb of f one gappejc
f e man Epen-pae haec. binnan f aem pynbon maneja Seoba. ac
hie man haec eall Eepmama '. •
Donne j>iS nopSan Donua aepylme. ^ be eapcan Rine
pynbon €apc-Fpancan. j be pu^an him pynbon Spaepap. on
oSpe healpe faepe ea Donua. 3 be pu^an him "j be
eapcan pynhon Bae^Spape. pe bael fe man Rejne-buph haec.
ALFBED'S OBOSITTS. i , ( 245
lies east along the southern side of the Red Sea, and on the
east side of that country lies the ocean, and on its west side
is the nearer Egypt to us, and in the two Egypts are four-
and-twenty nations.
We have now written of the south part of Asia, now will
we proceed to the north part. That is then of the mountains
called Caucasus, of which we before spoke, which are to the
north of India, which begin first east from the ocean, and
then lie due west as far as the Armenian mountains. The
people of the country they call Parcoatrse. There from those
mountains the river Euphrates flows southward, and from
the Parcoatrian mountains lie the mountains due west called
Taurus as far as the land of Cilicia. Then to the north of
those mountains, along the ocean, as far as the north-east end
of this earth where the river Bore runs into the ocean, and
thence west along the ocean, into the Caspian Sea, which ex-
tends to the mountains of Caucasus ; all this land is called
Old Scythia, and Hyrcania. In this country are three-and-
forty nations, situated at great distances from each other, on
account of the barrenness of the soil. Then to the west of the
Caspian Sea, unto the river Tanais, and to the fen called Maeotis,
and then south to the Mediterranean and mount Taurus, and
north to the ocean, is all within the land of Scythia ; though
it is divided in two-and-thirty nations. But those lands on
the eastern side of the Tanais, which are near there, are called,
in Latin, the Albani, and we now call them Liobene. Now
I have shortly said concerning the boundaries of Asia.
Now we wjll relate of the boundaries of Europe, so much
as we best know concerning them ; from the river Tanais,
westward to the river Rhine, which takes its rise in the
mountains called Alps, and then runs direct north to the arm
of the ocean, that surrounds the land called Britain, and
again south to the river Danube, whose source is near that
of the river Rhine, and then runs eastward towards Greece
out into the Mediterranean, and north to the ocean which is
called Cwen Sea, within which are many nations : but the
whole of it is called Germany.
Then to the north of the source of the Danube, and to
the east of the Rhine, are the East Franks, and to the south
of them are the Swabians, on the opposite bank of the
Danube, and to the south and east of them are the Bavarians,
2 16 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
-j pihte be eafcan him fynbon Berne, -3 eafc-nopfe fynbon
Dypinjaf. -3 be nopftan him fynbon Galb-Seaxan. -3 be iiopftan
pefcan him fynbon Fpyfan. j'be pefcan 6alb-8eaxum if ^Ijre-
muSa paepe ea -3 Fpyflanb. -3 panon pefC-nop$ if paec lanb pe
man IXngle haec 3 Sillenbe "3 pimne bael Dena. -3 be nojiftan
him if Spbpebe. -3 eafc-nopS pylce J)e man ^Epelban hsec.
^ be eajran him if pmebalanb. ]>e man haec Syjyle. ~y eafc-pi5
opep fumne ba&l GOapoajio. ~] hi ODapoapo habbaS be pefcan
him Dypmjaf "j Behemaf ^ BaejSpape healpe. •j be fu6an
him on oftpe healfe Donua ]>&]\e ea if ]?aec lanb Eapenbpe.
fu6 oS Sa beopgaf J>e man ha3c Slpif . co ]>3&m ilcan beopjum
licjaS Baaj^papa lanb-jemaepe ^ Spaepa. "j Sonne be eapcan
Gapenbpan lanbe. be^eonban ]?aem pejrenne. if Puljapa lanb.
•j be eaftan Jjaem if Epeca lanb. j be eafcan GOapoapo lanbe
if pifle lanb. 3 be eafran faem pnb Dacia. ]>a ^e m paepon
lioecan;- Be eafCan-noptSan GDapoapa fynbon Dalamenfan.
•] be eafcan Dalamenfam finbon popichi. ^ be nop^an Dala-
menfam pnbon Suppe. "j be peftan him pnbon Syfele.'- Be
nopSan popichi if OOa&j'Salanb. -3 be nopftan GOaej^alanbe
8epmenbe ot> 6a beopjaf Rippin. ^ be pefcan 8u6-Denum if
]?aef gapfecgef eapm Ipe ht5 ymbucan ]>aec lanb Bpiccanma. 3
be nopSan him if ps&f j-aej* eapm ]>e man haec Ofc-fae. -j be
eafcan him "3 be nop^an him fynbon Nop6-Dene. aejfep je
on paem mapan lanbum. ge on paem i^lanbum. j be eafcan him
fynbon Spbpebe. ^ be fuSan him if 2Elpemu$a J>aepe ea. -j
6alb-8eaxna fum bael;- Nop^5-Dene habbaS him be nopfcan
}>one ilcan faef eapm J>e ma.n O]T-fae haec. j be eafcan him
finbon OfCi 8a leobe. "3 Spbpaebe be fu^an ;. OfCi habbaft be
nopSan him pone ilcan faef eapm. "3 pmebaf "3 Bupjenbaf . ^3
be fuSan him fynbon paepelban;- Bupjenban habbat5 fone
ylcan fa&f eapm be pefcan him. j Speon be nop^an. j be
eafcan him fine 8epmenbe. "3 be piftan him 8uppe;. Speon
habbaft be fu^an him pone fsef eapm OfCi. j be eafcan
him Sepmenbe. "3 be nopSan opep pa pepcennu if Epenlanb.
3 be pefcan-nop^an him pnbon Scpibe-Fmnaf. -3 be pefcan
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. jT, ^ 217
that part which is called Kegnesburh, and due east from them
are the Bohemians, and to the north-east the Thuringians,
and to the north of them are the Old Saxons, and to the
north-west of them are the Frisians, and to the west of the
Old Saxons is the mouth of the river Elbe, and Friesland, and
thence to the north-west is the land which is called Angeln,
and Seeland, and some part of Denmark ; to the north is
Apdrede, and to the north-east the Wylts, who are called
^Efeldan, and to the east of them is Wendland, which is called
Sysyle, and south-east, over some part, Moravia, and these
Moravians have to the west the Thuringians and Bohemians,
and part of the Bavarians, and to the south, on the other side
of the river Danube, is the country called Carinthia, soutli
as far as the mountains called the Alps. Towards the same
mountains lie the boundaries of Bavaria and Swabia; and
then to the east of the Carinthian land, beyond the waste is
Bulgaria, and to the east of that is Greece, to the east of
Moravia is the Vistula land, and to the east of that are the
Dacians, who were formerly Cloths. To the north-east of the
Moravians are the Dalamensae ; east of the Dalamensa3 are
the Horithi, and north of the Dalamensse are the Surpe, and
to the west of them are the Sysele. To the north of the
Horithi is Maegthaland, and north of Ma3gthaland, Sermende,
as far as the E/iphaean mountains, and to the west of the South
Danes is that arm of the ocean that surrounds Britain, and
to the north of it is that arm of the sea which is called the
East-Sea, and to the east of that and to the north of it are
the North Danes, both on the continent and on the islands ;
and to the east of them are the Afdrede, to the south is the
mouth of the river Elbe, and some part of the Old Saxons. The
North Danes have, to the north, that same arm of the sea
which is called the East-Sea, and to the east of them is the
nation of the Osti, and Afdrede to the south. The Ostihave,
to the north of them, that same arm of the sea, and the Wends
and the Burgundy, and to the south of them are the Haefel-
dan. The Burgundae have the same arm of the sea to the
west of them, and the Swedes to the north ; and to the east
of them are the Sermende, and to the south of them the Surfe,
the Swedes have to the south of them the arm of the East-Sea,
and to the east of them Sermende, and to the north, over the
wastes, is Cwenland, to the north-west are the Scride-Fins,
and to the west the Northmen.
218 ZING ALFEED'S OROSITJS.
Ohchepe paabe hip hlapopbe .ZElppebe kynmcge paec he eaipa
NopSmanna nopftmepc bube ; • pe cpaeft paec he bube on paem
lanbe nopftepeapbum pift pa pepc pae. he paebe Seah paec paec
lanb py ppy^e lang nopft panon. ac hit ip call pepce bucon on
peapum pcopum pciccemaelum piciaft Finnap. on huncaSe on
pincpa. 3 on pumepa on pipcofte be paepe p ae ; • pe paebe ]>sec
he aec pumum cyppe polbe panbian hu lan^e J>3&t lanb nop8-
jnhce la&je. o&Se hpaej^eji senij man be nopfian ]>&m pefcene
bube ) • Da fop he nop^pihte be faern lanbe. lee him ealne
pej jiaec pepce lanb on J>aec pceopbopb. "3 pa pib fa& on baecbopb.
]?py bajap . }>a paef he ppa feop nop6 )7a hpsel-huncan pyppepc
papaS ;• Da poji he J^a-jyc nop^pyhce. ppa he mihce on faem
oSpum fpim bajum jepejhan. J?a beah psec lanb ]?aep eaj-c-
pyhce. oSSe po f83 in on past: lanb. he nyj'ce hpaepep. bucon
he pipce paec he pa&p bab pejran pmbep. o8(5e hpon nopSan. •j
j-e^lebe panon eaj-c be lanbe. ppa ypa he mihte on peopep bajum
jepejhan. pa pceolbe he paep biban pyhce noji^an pmbep.
pop^an paac lanb psep beah pu'Spihte. ot5Se peo pae in on paec
lanb. he nypce hpaepep. pa peglebe he panon pu^pihce be
lanbe. ppa ppa he mihce on pip bajum jepejhan ;• Da laejpaep
an mycel ea up in paec lanb. pa cypbon hy up in on fta ea.
poppaem hy ne boppcon popS be paepe ea pejhan pop unppifte.
poppaem pa&c lanb paep call jebun on oftpe healpe paepe ea ; • Ne
mecce he aep nan jebun lanb pySSan he ppam hip ajnum
hame pop. ac him paep ealne peg pepce lanb on paec pceopbopib
bucan pipcepan. 3 pugelepan. ^j hunt an. 3 paec paepon ealle
Finnap. 3 him paep a pib pae on paec baecbopb ; . Da Beopmap
haepbon ppiSe pell jebun hypa lanb. ac hi ne boppcon paepon
cuman. ac papa Teppmna lanb paep call pepce. bucan paep
huncan gepicobon. o^(5e pipcepap. o&Se pugelepap ; •
Fela ppella him paebon pa Beopmap. ae^peji je op hypa
ajenum lanbe. je op paem lanbe pe ymb hy ucan paepon. ac
he nypce hpaec paep po^ep paep. poppaem he hie pylp ne jepeah ;-
Da Finnap. him puhce. ^ pa Beopmap j-ppaacon neah an
je^eobe ; • SprSopc he pop Sybep. co-eacan paep lanbep pcea-
punje. pop paem hopp-hpaelum. poppaem hi habba^ ppySe
8et5ele ban on hypa coftum. pa ceS hy bpohcon pume paem
cymncje. j hyjia hyb biS ppi^e job Co pcip-papum > Se
hpael biS micle laeppa Sonne oSpe hpalap. ne biS he len^pa
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. T, I 249
" Ohthere told his lord King Alfred, that he dwelt north-
most of all the Northmen. He said that he dwelt in the
land to the northward, along the West-Sea ; he said, how-
ever, that that land is very long north from thence, hut it is
ail waste, except in a few places, where the Fins here and
there ^well, for hunting in the winter, and in the summer
for fishing in that sea. He said that he wras desirous to try,
once on a time, how far that country extended due north, or
whether any one lived to the north of the waste. He then
went due north along the country, leaving all the way the
waste land on the right, and the wide sea on the left, for three
days : he was as far north as the whale-hunters go at the
farthest. Then he proceeded in his course due north, as far
as he could sail within another three days ; then the land
there inclined due east, or the sea into the land, he knew
riot which, but he knew that he there waited for a west wind,
or a little north, and sailed thence eastward along that land
as far as he could sail in four days ; then he had to wait for a
due north wind, because the land there inclined due south,
or the sea in on that land, he knew not wrhich ; he then sailed
thence along the coast due south, as far as he could sail in five
days. There lay a great river up in that land ; they then
turned up in that river, because they durst not sail on by
that river, on account of hostility, because all that country
was inhabited on the other side of that river ; he had not
before met with any land that was inhabited since he came
from his own home ; but all the way he had waste land on
his right, except fishermen, fowlers, and hunters, all of whom
were Fins, and he had constantly a wide sea to the left. The
Beormas had well cultivated their country, but they did not
dare to enter it ; and the Terfinna land was all waste, except
where hunters, fishers, or fowlers had taken up their quarters.
" The Beormas told him many particulars both of their
own land, and of the other lands lying around them ; but he
knew not what was true, because he did not see it himself;
it seemed to him that the Fins and the Beormas spoke
nearly one language. He went thither chiefly, in addition to
seeing the country, on account of the walrusses, because they
have very noble bones in their teeth, some of those teeth they
brought to the king : and their hides are good for ship-ropes.
This whale is much less than other whales, it being not longer
250 ETNG ALFBED'S OEOSIUS.
ponne pypan elna Ian;?, ac on hip agimm lanbe ip pe becpca
hpael-huncafi. pa beoS eahca 3 peopepcijep elna lange. 3 pa
maepcan pipcijep ehia lanje. papa he peebe paec he pyxa pum
opplo^e pyxcij on cpam bagum ;. pe paep ppyfle ppebi^ man on
psem aehcum ]>e heopa ppeba on beoft. ty if on pilbeopum;-
Pe haepbe pa-jyc. fa he pone cynmgc pohce. tampa beopa
unbebohcpa j-yx hunb;- Da beop hi hacat5 hpanaf. fajia
paejion pyx )Tael-hpanaj\ 8a beo^ fpy^e bype mib Fmnum. jroji-
^Saem hy po5 J»a pilban hpanap mib ; •
Pe paep mib fg&m pyppcum mannum on ]>3em lanbe. naepbe
he feah ma fonne cpencij hpyfiejia. "j cpenci j pceapa, j cpencig
ppyna. 3 ]>aec lycle fa&c he epebe. he epebe mib hojipan. ac hypa
ap ip msepc on fa&m japole fe ]>a Finnap him gylbao". ]>£ec japol
bi8 on beopa pellum. j on pujela pe^ejium. j hpaelep bane. ~]
on ]>aem pcip-papum ]>e beo6 op hpaelep hybe jepopht ^ op peolep ; •
^jhpilc gyle be hyp jebypbum. pe bypbepca pceal gylban pip-
ryne meapt5ep pell. -] pip hpanep. ^ an bepan pel. -j cynambfia
pe'Spa. •] bepenne kyptel oJ5Se ycepenne. ^ cpegen pcip-papap.
^S^P IT ryxc'S ema lanS- ol76^ IT °F hpselep hybe jepophc.
ot5ep op piolep ; .
Pe paebe )>aec NopSmanna lanb paepe ppytSe lang j ppySe
pma&l ; - Gall ]>aec hip man a]?ep oSSe eccan o6Se epian ma&j.
]>aec liS pi(5 ])a pge. ^ -p ip J^eah on pumum pcopum ppy^e clubij.
3 licjaS pilbe mojiap pi5 eapcan. j p?6 uppon emnlanje ]>aem
bynum lanbe ; • On ]>aem mopum eapbia^ Finnap. 3 paec byne
lanb ip eapcepeapb bpabopc. *] pymle ppa nopftop ppa pmaelpe * .
Gapcepeapb hie ma&j bion pyxcij mila bpab. oS6e hpene bjis&bpe.
•j mibbepeapb fpitij o^Se bpabpe. "j nop^epeapb hecpaeS. f>a&ji
hie pmalopc pa&pe. ^ hie mihce beon J>peopa mila bpab co f»aem
mofie. j pe mop pyfipan on pumum pcopum ppa bpab ppa man
maeg on cpam pucum opeppepan. j on pumum pcopum ppa
bpab ppa man maeg on pyx bajum opeppepan;. Donne ip co-
emnep faem lanbe pu'Sepeapbum on o])pe healpe J?aep mopep
Speolanb o^ Saec lanb nojiSepeapb. j co-emnep ]>aem lanbe
nop^epeapbum Epenalanb|- Da Epenap hepjiaS hpilum on
j^a Noptimen opep pone mop. hpilum pa Nopftmen on hy;
paep pine ppifte micle mepap peppce jeonb pa mopap. ~] bepaS
pa Epenap hypa pcypu ope|i lanb on pa menap. "j panon
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. jT// 251
than seven ells ; but in his own country is the best whale-
hunting, there they are eight-and- forty ells long, and most of
them fifty ells long ; of these he said that he and five others
had killed sixty in two days. He was a very wealthy man in
those possessions in which their wealth consists, that is in
wild deer. He had at the time he came to the king, six
hundred unsold tame deer. These deer they call rein-deer, of
which there were six decoy rein-deer, which are very valuable
amongst the Pins, because they catch the wild rein-deer with
them.
" He was one of the first men in that country, yet he had
not more than twenty horned cattle, and twenty sheep, and
twenty swrine, and the little that he ploughed he ploughed
with horses. But their wealth consists for the most part in
the rent paid them by the Fins. That rent is in skins of
animals, and birds' feathers, and whalebone, and in ship-ropes
made of whales' hides, and of seals'. Every one pays accord-
ing to his birth ; the best-born, it is said, pay the skins of
fifteen martens, and five rein-deer's, and one bear's-skin, tern
ambers of feathers, a bear's or otter's skin kyrtle, and two
ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, made either of whale-hide or
of seal's.
" He said that the Northmen's land was very long and
very narrow ; all that his man could either pasture or plough
lies by the sea, though that is in some parts very rocky ; and
to the east are wild mountains, parallel to the cultivated land.
The Fins inhabit these mountains, and the cultivated land is
broadest to the eastward, and continually narrower the more
north. To the east it may be sixty miles broad, or a little
broader, and towards the middle thirty, or broader; and
northward, he said, where it is narrowest, that it might be
three miles broad to the mountain, and the mountain then
is in some parts so broad that a man may pass over in two
weeks, and in some parts so broad that a man may pass over
in six days. Then along this land southwards, on the other
side of the mountain, is Sweden, to that land northwards ; and
along that land northwards, Cwenland. The Cwenas some-
times make depredations on the Northmen over the moun-
tain, and sometimes the Northmen on them ; there are very
large fresh meres amongst the mountains, and the Cwenas
carry their ships over land into the meres, and thence make
252 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
on J>a Nopftmen. hy habbaS ppyfte lycJb pcipa.
leohce '. •
Ohchepe paebe -p pio pcip hacce palgolanb ]?e lie on bube ; •
pe cpaeft j? nan man ne bube be nopSan him \ • Donne ip an
pope on pu<5epeapbum faem lanbe. ]>one man haec Scipingep-
heal J>ybep he cpaeS ty manne mihte gepejhan onanum monSe.
gyp man on nihc picobe. 3 aelce baege haepbe ambypne pmb. j
ealle J)a hpile he pceal pejlian be. lanbe. -3 on J>aec j-ceopbopb
him bio" aepejT Ijialanb. •] ]?onne ]?a ijlanb j?e jynb becux Ipa-
lanbe. "j ]?ifj'um lanbe ',• Donne if J>if lanb o'S he cym6 co
Scipm^ef-heale. 3 ealne peg on J>sec baecbopb Nop^peje. piS
pu^an fone Scipmgef-heal pyl5 ppy^e mycel pas up in on J?a&c
lanb. peo ip bpabjie ponne semj man opeppeon maege. ^ if
liotlanb on o^pe healpe onjean. 3 pi^Sa Sillenbe ; • 8eo ps& h^
maenij hunb mila up in on ]>8et; lanb. 3 op Scipingej-heale he
cpa&S ^ he pejlobe on pip ba^an co J>aem popce ]?e mon hs&c aec-
PaeSum. pe pcent becuh pmebum. *] Seaxum. *] Sngle. ~] hyji^5
in on Dene \ •
Da he ])ibeppeapb pejlobe ppam Scipm^ep-heale. }>a peep
him on ]?8&t; baecbopb Denameapc. ^ on J»aec pceopbopb pib pae
J?py bagap. y p-a cpe^en ba^ap a&p he co paeftum come, him paep
on fa&c pceopbopb Eoclanb. -3 Sillenbe. 3 iglanba pela. on J>«m
lanbum eapbobon Gngle. aep hi hibep on lanb comon. j hym
paep ])a cpejen bajap on tSaec baecbopb fa iglanb ]>e inco Dene-
meapce hypaS ', •
pulppcan paebe ^ he gepope op paa^um. J>aeC he paape on
Tpupo on pypan bajum ^ nihcum. p-aec ])aec pcip pa&p ealne pej
ypnenbe unbep pejle. |7eonoblanb him paep on pceopbopb. *] on
baecbopb him paep Langalanb. ~\ Laelanb. y Falpcep. y Sconej.
•j ]?ap lanb call hypaS co Denemeapcan. •] fonne Bupgenbalanb
paep up on baecbopb. ^ ]>a habbafi him pylp cynin^;- Donne
aepcep Bupjenbalanbe paepon up )>ap lanb fa pynb hacene
aapepc Blecmja-eg ^ GDeope. ^j Goplanb. ^ Doclanb on baecbopb.
3 J>ap lanb hypaS co Speon. anb ]7eonoblanb paep up ealne peg on
pceopbopb. o'ft J7iple-mu$an ; • 8eo piple ip ppySe mycel ea. ^ hio
cohS ^iclanb ~] p'eonoblanb. ~] faec J/iclanb behmpeS cc
Gpcum. -3 peo piple liS uc op peonoblanbe. 3 liS in Gpcmepe.
3 pe Gj-cmepe ip hupu pipcene mila bpab ; • Donne cymeS Ilpmci;
eapcan in Gpcmepe op }>aem mene fe Tpupo pcanbeS in pca5e. 3
ALFBED'S OROSITTS. T , < 253
depredations on the Northmen ; they have very little ships,
and very light.
" Ohthere said that the shire in which he dwelt is called
Helgoland. He said that no one dwelt to the north of him ;
there is likewise a port to the south of that land, which is
called Sciringes-heal ; thither, he said, no one could sail in
a month, if he landed at night, and every day had a fair
wind ; and all. the while he would sail along the land, and on
the starboard will first be Iraland, and then the islands which
are between Iraland and this land. Then it is this land
until he comes to Sciringes-heal, and all the way on the
larboard, Norway. To the south of Sciringes-heal, a very
great sea runs up into the land, which is broader than any
one can see over ; and Jutland is opposite on the other side,
and then Seeland. This sea lies many miles up in that land.
And from Sciringes-heal, he said that he sailed in five days,
to that port which is called ^t-Hsethum (Sleswig), which is
between thfe Wends, and Seaxons, and Angles, and belongs to
Denmark.
" When he sailed thitherward from Sciringes-heal, Den-
mark was on his left, and on the right a wide sea for three
days, and two days before he came to Hasthuni, he had on
the right Jutland, Seeland, and many islands. In these
lands the Angles dwelt before they came hither to this land.
And then for two days he had on his left the islands which
belong to Denmark.
" Wulfstan said that he went from Sleswig to Truso in
seven days and nights, that the ship was all the way running
under sail. Wendland was on his right, but Langeland,
Lolland, Falster, and Skaane on his left, and all these lands
belong to Denmark, and then Bornholm was on our left,
which has a king of its own. Then after Bornholm, the
lands of Blekinge, Meore, Oland, and Gothland, were first
on our left, and these lands belong to Sweden ; and Wendland
was all the way on our right, to the Vistula mouth. The
Vistula is a very large river, and it separates Witlaud from
Wendland ; and Witland belongs to the Esthonians, and
the Vistula flows out of Wendland, and flowrs into the
Frische Half, and the Frische Haff is at least fifteen miles
broad. Then comes the Elbiug, from the east into the
Frische Haff, from the lake on the shore of which stands
254 KING ALFIIED'S OROSIUS.
cumaS uc pamob in €pcmepe Ilpinj eapcan op Gapclanbe. 3 pirlf
fufian op pinoblanbe. j ponne bemmS p'iple Ilpmj hipe naman,
~] li^eS op paem mepe pepc. j nojift on pae. popfiy hie man haec
piplemuSan ; • Daec 6apclanb ip ppySe mycel. •] paep biS ppySe
manig buph. "j on aelcepe bypig biS cymngc. ^ paep br5 ppyfte
mycel huijn •] pipcaS. 3 pe cymnj "j pa picopcan men bpincaS
mypan meolc. ~] pa unppebijan •] pa peopan bpmcaS mebo *•
Daep biS ppy<5e mycel jepinn becpeonan him. j ne biS paeji
naenij ealo jebpopen mib Gpcum. ac paap biS mebo jenoh ;•
Snb pa&p ip mib GjTum Seap. ponne paep bi6 man beab.
)>a&c he Ir5 mne unpopbaepneb mib hip magum ~] ppeonbum
monaft. je hpilum cpejen. j pa kyninja]"] pa o^pe heahSun^ene
men ppa micle lencj ppa hi mapan ppeba habba<5. hpilum healp
jeap. ^ hi beoS unpopbaepneb. -3 licjaft bupan eop^an on hypa
hupum. "j ealle pa hpile ]>e paec lie biS mne. psep pceal beon
gebpync -3 pleja. 06 pone baej pe hi hme popbaepnaft '. • Donne
J>y ylcan baeje hi hineco paem abe bepan pyllaS. ponne tobaelafi
hi hip peoh. paec ])aep co lape biS aepceji paem jebpynce -3 paem
plegan. on pip o^6e pyx. hpilum on ma. ppa ppa paep peop anbepn
biS | • !MecjaS hie ponne pophpaeja on anpe mile, pone maepcan
bael ppam paem rune, fonne oSepne. t5onne paene ))fiibban. op
]>e hyc call aleb biS on paepe anpe mile. °j pceall beon pe laepca
bael nyhpc ]^83m curie, pe pe beaba man on lift \ •
Donne pceolon beon jepamnobe ealle pa menn pe ppypcojre
hopp habbaS on )>aem lanbe pophpaeja on pip milum. o^Se on
pyx milum ppam paern peo.'- Donne aepnaS hy ealle copeapb
paem peo. ponne cymeS pe man pe paec ppipce hopp hapaft co
j>aem aepepcan baele. ~\ co paem maepcan. j ppa aelc aepcep o^pum.
o$ hie biS eall genumen. 3 pe mmS t5one laepcan bael pe nyhpc
?iaem cune ftaeC peoh jeaepneS. ^ 'Sonne pibeft aelc hyp pejep mib
San peo. 3 hyc mocan habban eall. 3 pop'Sy paep beo<5 pa
ppipcan hopp unjepohje bype \ • Snb Sonne hyp gepcpeon beoS
]mp eall appenbeb. ponne bypft man hme uc. ~\ popbaepneS mib
hip paepnum "j hpaejle. °] ppiSopc ealle hyp ppeba hy pojippenbaS.
mib pan langan lejepe paep beaban mannep mne. ~) paep ]>e
hy be paem pejum alecjaS. pe Sa pjiemban co-aepna5. -j
nimaS;-
-] bsec if mib Gpcum Seap Saec paep pceal aelcep jeSeober man
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. X / ' 255
Truso, and the Elbing flows from the east from Eastland,
and the Vistula from the south from Wendland, and then
the Vistula deprives the Elbing of its name, and runs out of
that mere west, and north into the sea ; therefore it is called
the Vistula's mouth. Eastland is very large, and there are
in it many towns, and in every town is a king ; and there is
also a great quantity of honey and fishing, and the king and
the richest men drink mares' milk, and the poor and the slaves
drink mead. They have many contests amongst themselves,
and there is no ale brewed among the Esthonians, for there
is mead enough.
" And there is a custom among the Esthonians, that when
any one is dead there, he lies unburnt with his relations
and friends for a month, sometimes two, and the kings and
other great men, as much longer as they have more wealth ;
sometimes it is half a year that they are unburnt, and lie
above ground in their nouses. And all the while that the
corpse is in the house there are drinking and sports till the
day on which it is burnt. Then the same day that they
carry it to the pile, they divide his property which is left,
after these drinking bouts and sports, into five or six, some-
times into more, according to the vaiue of the property.
They then lay the largest part about a mile from the dwell-
ing, then another, then a third, until it is all laid within the
mile ; and the least portion must be nearest to the dwelling
in which the dead man lies.
" Then shall be assembled all the men who have the swiftest
horses in that country, that is, within five or six miles from
the property. They then all run towards the property ; then
he who has the swiftest horse comes to the first and largest
portion, and so each after other, till the whole is taken, and
he takes the least portion who takes that which is nearest
the dwelling, and then every one rides away with the pro-
perty, and they may have it all ; and, on this account, swift
horses are there excessively dear. And when his wealth is
thus dispersed, then they carry him out and burn him, with
his weapons and clothes ; and chiefly they spend the whole
wealth of the deceased, by the dead man's continuing so long
in the house, and because they lay on the way that to which
the strangers run and take.
" And it is a custom with the Esthonians, that people of
£o6 KING ALFEED'S OKOSITTS.
beon popbaepneb. 3 gyp Sap man an ban pmbe<5 unpopbaepneb.
hi hie pceolan miclum jebecan ; • 3 J?aep if mib Gajruin an
m»^S ]>aec hi magon cyle jepypcan. -3 ]>y 'Saep hcjaft Sa beaban
men fpa lanje j ne puhaS. ~p hy pypcaft ]?one cyle lime on. -j
]>eah man apecce cpejen paecelf full ealaS O(5<5e psecepef . hy
jebot) ^ oSep biS ofepfpopen. fam hie j-y fumojx. fain
psncep1 ; •
Nu pille pe f ec^an be f u^an Donua ]?sepe ea ymbe Ejiecalanb.
]>e h^ py^ eafcan Eonfcancmopolim Epeca bypig. if fe fai
Ppoponbici]2. "j be nopSan Eonfcancmopohm Epeqa bypij.
jcyc fe fa& eapm up of ]?8em fae peftpihce. ]>e man haac Guxmuf .
•] be pefran-nopftan f'a&jie bypij Donua muSa J>sepe ea fcyc
fu<5-eafc uc on )>one faa Guxmuf. -3 on fuft healfe. •j on pejr
healfe pasf mutian finbon GOoefi Epeca leobe. ^ be pefcan J>a&pe
bypij finbon Tpaci. 3 be eaftan faape bypij OOacebome
*] be )-u^an pgepe bypij. on jni6 healpe ]>82f fsef eapmef pe man
hasc Gjeum j-mbon Schena. "j Eopmchuf }>a lanb. ^ be peftan-
ruftan Eopmchon ij- !Schaie ^ lanb. aec ]?33m J7enbel f32 ;• Daf
lanb fynbon Ejieca leobe. ^ be pefcan Schaie. anblang ]?j&f
penbel foaf if Dulmacia ])est lanb. on nop6 healfe ]>S&Y ]'&]'• ~]
be nop^an Dalmacia finbon Pul^ape j Iftpia. ~j be piSan
IjTjna if fe penbel fae f>e man ha&c Sbpiacicum. ~) be pejran
pa beojijaf ]?e man haec Slpif . •j be nop^an f>cec pej'cen. ^) if
berux Eapenbpan -3 Puljapum ; •
Donne if Icalia lanb pefc-nop5 lanj. •] eafC-fuS lanj. j hie
beliS p'enbel f aa )rm':) ea^ ucan bucon pefcan-nop'5an '. • T£C
}ja&m enbe hie belicjaS Sa beopjaf j^e man ha&c Slpif . ]>a on-
jinnaS peftane fjiam ]?aem penbel ]-a& in Napbonenfe faepe
Seobe. ^ enbiafi epc eafC in .Dalmacia f>aem lanbe aec 'Saem fae.
Jni lanb J>e man haec liallia Beljicaj- Be eafcan psem if po ea
)>e man hsec Rin. ^j be fuSan J>a beopjaf ]>e man ha&c Xlpip. -]
be pefcan-j-uSan fe gapfecj pe man ha&c Bpicanifca. -j be
nop^an on o^pe healfe ]?8&f japf ecjef eapme if Bpiccanma ; •
Diec lanb be pefcan Li^ope if JEquicama lanb. 3 be pit$an
^Equicama if ]>a&f lanbef fum bael Napbonenfe. -3 be pefcan-
fuSan Ifpania lanb. ~] be pefcan gapfecj be f uSan Napbonenfe
if fe penbel j-ae fsep paep Roban feo ea uc-pcyc. ^j be eafcau
ALFRED'S OROSITTS. .Z"/ / 257
every language shall be burnt ; and if any one finds a bone
unconsumed, they must make compensation with a large sum.
And there is among the Esthonians, a tribe that can produce
cold, and therefore the dead, in whom they produce that cold,
lie so long there and do not putrefy ; and if any one sets two
vessels full of ale or water, they contrive that one shall be
frozen, be it summer or be it winter."
Now will we speak concerning the south of the river
Danube, about Greece. To the east of Constantinople, a
Greek city, is the Propontis, and to the north of Constanti-
nople an arm of the sea issues due west from the sea called
the Euxine to the westward, and to the north-west of that
city, the mouth of the river Danube flows out south-east into
the Euxine sea, and on the south side and west side of this
mouth are the Mcesians, a Greek nation, to the west of that
city are the Thracians, and to the east of that city the Mace-
donians ; and to the south of that city, on the south side of
the arm of the sea called the JEgean, are the lands Athens
and Corinth, and to the south-west of Corinth is the land of
Achaia, near the Mediterranean. These countries are Greek
nations, and to the west of Achaia, along the Mediterranean,
is the land of Dalmatia ; on the north side of that sea, and to
the north of Dalmatia are Bulgaria and Istria, and to the
south of Istria is the mediterranean sea called Adriatic ; and
to the west the mountains called Alps ; and to the north that
desert which is between Carinthia and Bulgaria.
Then is Italy long to the north-west and south-east, and
the Mediterranean surrounds it on every side but the north-
west. At that end it is inclosed by the mountains called
Alps, which begin west from the Mediterranean in the Nar-
bonase country, and end east in the land of Dalmatia, at the
sea/ those lands that are called G-allia Belgica. To the east
of it is the river called Ehine, and to the south the
mountains called Alps, and to the south-west the ocean
called the British, and to the north, on the other side of
this arm of the ocean, is Britain. The land to the west
of Liguria is Aquitaine ; and to the south of Aquitaine is
some part of the Narbonese country, and to the south-west
is the land of Spain, and to the west of the ocean, to
the south of the Narbonese, is the Mediterranean, where
the river Rhone flows out, and to the east of it the Provence
258 KING ALFRED'S OBOSITJS.
lam Ppopenc pae. 3 be pepean him Ppopenc pae opep J?apepcenii.
jeo up neappe Ippama. j be pepcan him *] nojiflan Gquicama.
-} papcan be nopftan ; • Ppopene pae haepft be nop<5an hype )>a
beopjap pe man !Mpip haec. } be pu<5an hype ip penbel pae. ~]
be nopSan hype 3 eapcan pynb Bupjenbe. 3 papcan be
pepcan1 ; •
Ippania lanb ip ppypcyce. 3 eall mib pleoce ucan-ymbhaapb je
eac bmnan-ymbha&pb opep J>a lanb. ae^ep %e op faem jappecje
ge op ]?am penbel pae. 3 an t5a&pa jajiena1 Iit5 puS-pepc on^ean
}>a&c ijlanb ]>e Eabep hatce. y otSep eapc ongean ]>aec lanb Nap-
bonenpe. •} pe 6pibba nop^-pepc. onjean Bpijancia Ijalliabuph.
•] onjean Scodanb. opep fione paep eajim. on gepyhce ]?aene
muSan ]>e mon ha&c Scene ; • 8eo up p-yppe Ippania hype ip be
pepcan gappecg ~] be nopSan. penbel pa& be puSan ~] be eapcan.
peo up neappe Ippania. be nopftan |>a&pe pync Gquicama. ^j be
nop^an-eapcan ip pe pealb Pypeni. "j be eapcan Napbonenpe. -]
be puSan penbel pae ; •
Bpiccamna ])aec ijlanb. hie ip nop5-eapc lanj. ^ hie ip eahca
hunb mila lanj. ~] cpa hunb mila bpab. fonne ip be puSan him.
on o$pe healpe J>a&p pa&p eapmep. Eallia Belgica. ^ on pepc
healpe on oppe healpe )>aep paep eapmep ip Ibepnia ]>aec iglanb.
~] on nop^ healpe Opcabup )>aec ijlanb ; • Ibepnia. ty pe Scoclanb
hacaS. hie ip on aelce healpe ymbpangen mib gappecge. •] popSon
J>e pio punne |)aep ja&5 neap on peel J>onne on oftpum lanbe.
]?8&p pynbon lySpan pebepa ponne on Bpiccannia ; • Donne be
pepcan-nopSan Ibepnia ip }>a&c ycemepce lanb )>aec man haec
Thila. "j hie ip peapum mannum cuS pop )>;epe opep-pyppe;-
Nu haebbe pe gepaeb ymbe ealle Gupope lanb-jemaepo. hu hi
colicjat). nu pille pe ymbe Spppica hu fa lanb-gemaepo colic-
5a6> Upe ylbpan cpaebon f hio paepe pe ftpibba bael Sypep
mibban^eapbep. naep na popSam ]>e f>aep lanbep ppa pela paepe.
ac popSam ]>e pe J7enbel pae hie ha&p6 ppa cobaeleb. pop^an ]>e
he bpycft ppi^op on ]>one puS bael forme he bo on pone nopS
bael. y pio haece haep'5 jenumen ]?aep pu'5 baelep mape ]?onne pe
cyle Saep noptS baelep haebbe. popSon j?e aelc pihc maej bee
cyle fonne pit5 haece. pop fam ])injon ip Xpppica aa^fep je on
lanbum je on mannum laeppe fonne Gupope ; •
KING ALFRED'S OEOSRJS. -2/ ' 25D
sea ; and to the west of the Provence sea, over the wastes,
is the nearer part of Spain, to the north-west of it Aquitaine,
and Gascony to the north. The Provence sea has to the
north of it the mountains called Alps, to the south of it is the
Mediterranean, and to the north-east of it the Burgundi, and
to the west the Gascons.
The land of Spain is triangular, and all ahout surrounded
with water, and also over the country inclosed either by
the ocean or by the Mediterranean. And of the three
angles one lies south-west opposite to the island called
Cadiz; another east towards the land of the Narbonese;
and the third north-west towards Brigantia, a town of Gaul,
and towards Scotland, over the arm of the sea, and opposite
to the mouth of the Seine. That [part of] Spain, which
is farthest from us, has to the west and the north the ocean,
the Mediterranean to the south and to the east. The
[part of] Spain nearer to us has to the north Aquitaine, and
to the north-east the wold [called] Pyreni, and to the east
the Narbonese, and to the south the Mediterranean.
The island of Britain is long towards the north-east, and
it is eight hundred miles long and two hundred miles broad :
then to the south of it, on one side of the arm of the sea, is
Belgic Gaul, and on the west side, on the other side of the
arm of the sea, is the island of Ireland, and on the north
side the Orcades. Ireland, which we call Scotland, is sur-
rounded on every side by the ocean, and because it is nearer
to the setting sun than any other country, the seasons are
milder than in Britain. Then to the north-west of Ireland
is that utmost land called Thule, which is known to few, on
account of its distance.
Now have we said concerning all the boundaries of Europe,
how they are divided ; now we will [speak] of Africa, how
those boundaries are divided. Our forefathers said that it
was the third part of this earth ; not because there was so
much of this land, but because the Mediterranean has so
separated it, because it breaks with greater force on the south
part than it does on the north part ; and the heat has con-
sumed more of the south part than the cold of the north ;
because every creature may withstand cold better than heat ;
for which reason Africa is less than Europe, both in lands
and men.
s2
260 KING ALFRED'S OKOSIUS.
Hpppica on£in5. ppa pe aep cpaebon. eafcan peftpepb ppam
e^ypcum. aec paepe ea pe man Nilup haec. ponne if po eafc-
niefce peob hacen Libia Eipimacia. hipe if be eafcan po uf
neappe JEjypcuf. 3 be nopSan }7enbel fae. pe man haec Libia
jEchiopicum. •} be pefcan 8ypcef maiopef |-
Be pefcan Libia JEchiopicum if fio uf pyppe .^Ejypcup
•j be puftan fe japfecg fe man haec Gchiopicum. •] be pefcan
Rogachicuf Tpibulicania po J>eob. ]?e man ot>pe naman haer
Spzujef. hio haepS be eafcan hype fone 8ypcef maiopej-
~] RojaJ)ice pa lanb. "j be nop^an ^one penbel fae. pe man
haec Sbpiaticum. y pa peobe pe man base Sypcef mmopef.
^ be pefcan Bizantmm. oS pone fealcan mepe. ~) be
fu^an hype Natabpef . 3 Hreothulaf. ^ Urapamancef 08 pone
japf egc Bizannum | • 810 piob paep fae-beoph1 if Sbpumecif
•j 8eujef. "j po piob paep po myc lebuph if Eapcaina. ~j
Numibia po peob hi habbaS be eajran him Saet lanb Syptej-
mmopef •] pone fealcan mepe. "j be nopftan him if p'enbel
fae. 3 be peftan him GOaupitama. -3 be piSan him Uzepa pa
beopgaf. ^ be fuSan pam beopgum pa fimbel-papenban
jEchiopef. 08 'Sone japfecj OOaupicama. hype if be eafcan
Numebia. j be nopftan penbel fa&. ~] be pefcan GOalua fio ea.
*j be fu^an SfCpix ymb pe beop/af pe coba&la^ ^ paefcmbaepe
lanb. -3 paec beab pylle fanb. pe fyS6an hS pi$ on pone gapfecj
OOaupicama. pe man oftpe naman haet Tingecana. be eafcan
hype if ODalua fio ea. •] be nopftan Sbbenaf pa beopgaf ^
Ealpif. o^ep beoph. paep fcyc fe enbe up op pam gapfecge.
becuhpan cpam beopjum eafCpeapb. paep 6pcolef fyla fCanbaS.
•] be pefcan him if fe beoph Schlanf. 06 'Sone japfecj. j
fu^an pa beopjaf pe man haec ^Efpepof. "j be piSan him
Sulolum po peob 0$ Sone japf ec^ ; •
Nu haebbe pe ymb Spppica lanb-gemaepco y^s&b \ • Nu pille
pe fec^an ymb pa iglanb pe on pa penbel fae pnbon \ • Eippof
paec ijlanb hie ht5 ongean Eihcia 3 Iffaupio. on pam faef
eapme pe man haec OOepcof. 3 hie if an hunb mila la«j j pip
•j hunb-fypanci^ ^j an hunb mila bpab 3 cpa 3 tpentij ; • Epeco
$ ijlanb him if be eafCan fe fae pe man Sppac um haec. 3 pefcan
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. -2V 261
Africa, as we have before said, begins from the east west-
ward from Egypt at the river culled Nile ; and the most
eastern nation is called Libya Graramantica ; to the east of
which is the [part] of Egypt nearest to us, and to the north
the Mediterranean, which is called Libya ^Ethiopica, and to
the west the Syrtes Majores.
To the west of Libya ^Ethiopica is the farther Egypt,
and to the south the ocean called .^Ethiopicum, and to the
west of Eogathitus is the nation of Tripolitania, which is
called by another name, Arzuges, this nation kas to the east
of it the Syrtes Majores, and the land of Bogaftriti ; to the
north the mediterranean sea, which is called the Adriatic,
and the nation called the Syrtes Minores ; and to the west of
Byzacium, to the salt mergj^ and to the south of it the
Natabres, Getuli, and Graramantes, to the sea of Byzacium.
The principal sea-ports there are Hadrumetum and Zeuges,
and .the principal large town there is Carthage. And the
people of Numidia have to the east of them the country of
the Syrtes Minores and the salt mere, and to the north of
them is the Mediterranean, and to the west of them Mauri-
tania, and to the south of them the mountains of Uzara, and
to the south of the mountains the ever-wandering Ethiopians,
to the Mauritanian ocean. To the east of them is Numidia,
and to the north the Mediterranean, and to the west is the
river Malva, and to the south the Astrix, near the mountains
which divide the fruitful country from the barren and welling
sands, which lie south towards the Mauritanian ocean, which
by another name is called the Tingetanian. To the east
of it is the river Malva, to the north the mountains of Ab-
benis, and Calei, another mountain ; there the end of the
ocean flows between the two mountains eastward, where
Hercules' s pillars stand ; and to the west of them is Mount
Atlas, as far as the ocean ; and to the south the mountains
called Hesperius, and to the south of them the nation of the
Auloli, as far as the ocean.
We have now said concerning the boundaries of Africa ;
we will now speak of the islands that are in the Mediter-
ranean. The island of Cyprus lies opposite to Cilicia and
Isauria, on that arm of the sea called the Mesic ; and it is a
hundred and seventy-five miles long, and a hundred and
twenty-two miles broad. To the east of the island of Crete
is the sea called the Carpathian, and. to the west and
282 KING ALFBED'S OBOSITJS.
3 be nopSan EpeCicum re rae. 3 be pefcan Sicilium. }>e man
o6pe naman haec Xbpiacicum. hie if an hunb mila long. 3
hunb-f ypancig 3 p ipcig mila bpab i • Dapa iglanba J>e man haec
Ciclabef J>apa pnbon )>peo -3 pipcig. 3 be eafcan him if fe Rifca
rae. 3 be fuftan fe Epecifca. "3 be nopftan re Gjifca. "3 be
pefcan Sbpiacicum ) • Sicilia paec ijlanb ir ^jiyrcyte. on
aelcef j-ceacan enbe rmbon beopgar. ]>one nopS j-ceacan man
haec Pelopef . ]?aep ip reo buph neah GDefrana. ~\ re pi8 rceaca
hacce Pachmum. ]?aep neah if po buph Sipacuprana. 3 fone
perc rceacan man haec Lilibeum. pasp if j'eo buph neah ]>e
man haec Lilibeum. 3 hie ir an hunb 3 jypan •] pipcig mila lang
fu5 3 nop6. -3 re fpibba j-ceaca if an hunb 3 fypan j hunb-
fyfancij, pefC lanj. "j be eajcan ])gem lanbe if fe penbel fae ]>e
man haec Sbpiacicum. j be fu^an ]>am man haec Sffpicum. 3
be pefcan ])e man haec Tippenum. j be nop^an if fe fae ]>e
sej^ep if ge neapo je hjieoh ; •
J7iS Icalia ]>am lanbe 8apbima 3 Eoppca }>a iglanb cobaeleS
an lycel faef eapm. fe if cpa ^ cpencij mila bpab. Sapbima if
l^peo -3 ppicig mila lanj -3 cpa } cpencig mila bpab. him if be
eafcan fe p'enbel j'ae. J>e man haec Tippenum. ]>e Tibep fio ea
ac fcyc on. "j be fuftan fe fae J?e litS ongean Numebia lanbe.
j be pefcan ]?a cpa iglanb. pe man haec Baleapif. ^ be nopSan
£opf ica faec ijlanb i • Eopf ica him if Rome buph be eafcan.
3 Sapbima be futSan. -j be pefcan J>a i^lanb Baleapif. 3 be
nopftan Tufcama J>aec lanb. hie if fyxcene mila lanj. -3 nyjan
mila bpab [• Baleapif pa cu ijlanb. him if be nopftan Sffpica.
•j Eabef be pefcan. y Ifpania be nopftan'.- Scopclice haebbe
pe nu gefaeb be ]>sem gefeceneffum iglanbum. J>e on J>aem
|7enbel fae f mbon \ •
II.
J£p j^aem fe Romebuph gecimbpeb paejie ]>pim hunb pmcpa.
-] fufenb pincpa. Nmuf Sffypia kynm£ onjan manna aepej-c
picfian on Syj-um mibbanjeapbe. ^ mib unjemaeclicpe jepil-
nunj;e anpalbef he paef hepienbe ~] peohcenbe pipcij pincpa.
oft he haefbe ealle Spam on hif gepealb genyb. piS ppam ))aem
Reaban fae. "3 fpa nopS o^ pone fae ]>e man haec €uxinuj\
bucan p»aem ]>e he eac opcpaeblice pop mib miclum gepeohrum
KING ALFBED'S OEOSIUS. / lt 2G3
nortli tLc Cretan Sea, and to the west the Sicilian, which
by another name is called the Adriatic ; it is a hundred miles
long, and a hundred and twenty miles broad. There are
three- an d-fifty of the islands called the Cyclades ; and to the
east of them is the Eisca Sea, to the south the Cretan ; to the
north the JEgean, and to the west the Adriatic. The island
of Sicily is triangular, at each angle there are mountains ; the
north angle is called Pelorus, near which is the town of Mes-
sina ; and the south angle is called Pachytum, near to which
is the city of Syracuse ; and the west angle is called Lily-
baeum, near to which is the city called Lilybseum ; and it is
a hundred and fifty-seven miles long, south and north, and
the third angle is a hundred and seventy-seven long west ;
and to the east is the mediterranean sea, called the Adriatic,
and to the south of it the African, to the west the Tyrrhenian,
and to the north the sea is both narrow and rough.
Opposite to the land of Italy a small arm of the sea sepa-
rates Sardinia and Corsica, which is two-and-twenty miles
broad ; Sardinia is three-and-thirty miles long, and two-and-
twenty miles broad ; to the east of it, is [that part of] the
Mediterranean called the Tyrrhenian Sea, into which the
river Tiber runs ; and to the south, the sea which lies oppo-
site to the land of Numidia ; and to the west the two islands
called the Balearic ; and to the north the island of Corsica.
To the east of Corsica is the city of Borne, and Sardinia to
the south, and on the west the Balearic islands, and the
country of Tuscany to the north ; it is sixteen miles long,
and nine miles broad. Africa is to the south of the two
Balearic islands, and Cadiz to the west, and Spain to the
north. Thus have we now shortly spoken the positions of
the islands that are in the Mediterranean Sea.
II.
Thirteen hundred years before the building of Borne,
Ninus, king of Assyria, began first of men to reign in this
world ; and having great desire of power, he committed de-
vastations, and carried on wars for fifty years, till he had re-
duced all Asia to the south of the Bed Sea into his power,
and to the north as far as the Euxine. Not to mention that
he likewise often invaded hostilely the north countries of
264 KINS ALFEED'S OEOSIUS.
on 8eiSt5ie fa nop^ lanb. fafte jecpebene pynbon faheapbepcan
men. feah hy pyn on fypon popolb-jepaelfon fia unppebjepcan.
3 hy fa. unbep faem fe he him onpinnenbe paep. pupbon
jepabe pijcpaepca. feah hi aep hypa lip bylpitlice alypben. ~] hy
him aepcep faem gpimme popjulbon fone pijcpaepc. fe hy aec
him jeleopnobon. -3 him Sa peapS emleop on hypa mobe ^ hy
jepapon mannep blob agocen. ppa lnm ps&p fapa nycena meolc
fe hy m33j-c bilibbaS ;• Snb he Nmup Sopoaj-cpem Baccpiana
cyninj. pe cuSe manna s&pept bpycpaeptap. he hine opeppann
~] opploh. anb fa sec nyhptan he paep peohcenbe piS SciSo'ie on
ane buph. ~\ faep peap8 oppcocen mib anpe plane. -3 aepcep
hip bea8e Samepamip hip cpen penjc sejfep je co faem gepmne
je to faem pice. 3 hio f aet ylce jepm fe hio hine on beppon
mib manigpealbum pipen-lupcum. cpa ^ peopepnj pmcpa paep
bpeo^enbe. -3 hype f a-jyc co lycel fuhce faep anpalbep f e pe
cyningc aep gepunnen haepbe. ac hio mib piphce mt>e paep
peohcenbe on faec unbepienbe pole ^Echiopiam1. 3 eac on
Inbeap. fa nan man ne aep ne pyftSan mib gepeohce ne jepop
bucon !Mexanbep ', • pio paep pilmenbe mib jepmnum faec hio
hy opepppiSbe. feah hio hie Suphceon ne mihce ', • 810 gicpun^
fa -j fa gepin paepon jpimlicpan fonne hy nu pyn. popSon hy
hypa nane bypene aep ne cuSan. ppa men nu picon. ac on
bilpicneppe hypa lip alypbon ; •
8eo ylce cpen 8amepamip. pyS6an ty pice paep on hype
jepealbe. nalep -p an faec hio 'byppcenbe paep on pymbel mannej-
blobep. ac eac ppelce mib ungemechcpe ppaenneppe mamjpealb
jehjpe ppemmenbe paep. ppa faec aelcne fapa fe hio jeacpiar
myhce. faec kyne-kynnep paep. hio Co hype jeppon pop hype
jeli^epneppe. "3 py^San hio hy ealle mib pacne beppac co beaSe.
3 fa aec nehpcan hype agenne punu hio genam h)rpe co jelijepe.
3 popSon fehio hype pipen-lupce puljan ne mopce bucan manna
bypmpunje. hio gepecce opep call hype pice, faec nan popbypb
naepe aec gehgepe becuh nanpe pibbe \ •
III
fe Romebuph jecimbpeb paepe fupenb pmcjia j an
hunb 3 pyxci^. faec paepcmbaepe lanb. on faem Sobome ^ Ijo-
moppe fa bypij on paepon. hie peap'S ppam heoponhcum pype ppo-
baepneb.- ^aec paep becuh Sjiabia 3 Palepcina fa
KING ALFRED S OROSIUS.
( 3 2G5
Scythia, wh ) are considered the liardiest men, although in
the goods of this world they are the poorest. By his making
war against them, however, they straightways became war-
like, although they had previously lived a life of innocence ;
and they paid him dearly afterwards for the art of war, which
they had learned from him ; and then it became as plea-
sant to their minds to see man's blood shed, as it was the
milk of cows, on which they chiefly live. And Ninus over-
came and slew Zoroaster, king of Bactria, who first of men
understood the magic arts, and then at last he was fighting
against the Scythians, against a town, and was there shot
with an arrow ; and after his death his queen, Semiramis,
succeeded both to the war and to the kingdom ; and that
same war which she had drawn on him by her manifold sinful
passions, she carried on for two-and-forty years ; and still
the empire which Ninus had conquered appeared to her toe
small. But she, with feminine hate, made war on the inno-
cent ^Ethiopians, and also on the Indians, whom no one,
neither before nor since, overran with war, except Alexander.
She was very desirous to subdue them by war, although she
could not effect it. Cupidity and wars were then fiercer than
they now are, because they had no previous examples, as mer
now have, but had passed their lives in innocence.
This same Queen Semiramis, after the empire was in her
power, was not only constantly thirsting for human blood
but was also with boundless lust perpetrating manifold pros-
titutions, so that every one of those she might hear of that
was of royal race, she enticed to her for her lewdness, and
afterwards deceived, and put them to death ; and then at
last took her own son to lie with her ; and because she could
not follow her sinful lusts without the reproach of men, she
established throughout her realm that there should be no
obstacle to intercourse between any relations.
III.
A thousand and sixty years before the building of Rome the
fruitful land on which Sodom and Gromorra stood was burnt by
heavenly fire. It was between Arabia and Palestine those mani
2GG KING ALFRED'S OEOSIFS.
fealban paepcmap paepon. popSam ppiSopc ]>e lopbamp peo ea aelce
jeape J>aec lanb mibbepeapb opeppleop mib pocepjncce plobe. ~] hit
)>onne mib Sam gebyngeb peapS \ • Da paep ]>aec pole J>aep micclan
pelan unjemeclice bpucenbe. oS J>aec him on pe miccla pipen-
lupc on mnan apeox. •] him com op paem pipen-lupce Lrobep
ppaco. ])aec he eal ^ lanb mib ppeplenum pype popbaepnbe. p
pfrSan J>»j> pa&p pcanbenbe ps&cep opep ]?amlanbe. ppahicj^aepe1
ea-plob aep gepleop. ~\ J)a&p baelep pe bsel pe ^ plob ne jpecce. yp
gyc co-baeg paepcmbaepenbe on aelcep cynnep blsebum. ~\ pa
pynbon ppySe paegepe •] lupcumhce on Co peonne. ac ]>onne hij
man on hanb nym$. Jwnne peojiSa'S hij Co acxan ;•
IV.
^Ep Saem ]>e Romebupih jecimbpeb pa&pie fupenb pmcpa j
hunb-pypancij. Thelepcipep -j Eiappachi ]>& leobe becuh him
jeptn uphopon. ^ ]>aec bpugon 08 hi mib ealle opplejene psepon.
bucan ppyge peapum. 3 ppa-peah $ ]>aep co lape peap6 }>apa
Thelepcipa. hy heopa lanb opjeapan. "j jepopan Ro^um p/aec
ijlanb. pilnienbe -^ hy aelcum jepmne oSplojen haepbon. ac hy
Epeacap J>aep onpunbon. j hy mib ealle popbybon ". •
V.
JEp Sam ]>e Romebuph gecimbpeb paepe eahca hunb pmcpa.
mib Gjypcum peapS pypan geap pe unjemechca eopS-pela. *j hy
aepcep j?am pajpon on ]>am maepcan hun^pe oSpe pypan geap.
~\ him ]^a lopeph. pihcpipman. mib jobcunbe pulcume jehealp >
Fpiom Sam lopepe Pompemp2. pe haapena pcop. ~] hip cmhc
lupcinup paepan Sup pingenbe. lopeph ]-e]>e Jin^pc paep hyp
gebpoSpa. ~] eac jleappa opep hi ealle. ^ him ]>a onbpaabenbum
]>&m jebpoSpum. hy genamon lopeph -3 hme jepealbon in
Gjypca lanb. Da poebe he Pompemp 'p he J>a&p bpycpaepcap
jeleopnobe. •] op }>8em bpycpaepcum -^ he jepunobe monije
p-unbop co pypcenne. ~] f he mihce ppa pel ppepn peccan. y eac
J>a3C he op p»8em cpaepce Phapaone ]>s&m cyninge ppa leop pupbe.
3 he paebe ^ he op paem bpycpa&pce jeleojmobe gobcunbne pip-
bom. ^ he ^p lanbep psepcmbaepneppe fapa pypan jeapa aap
bepopan paebe. 3 ]>apa oSepa pypan geapa paeble. ]?e faep aepcep
com. 3 hu he gejabepobe on ]?am aeppan pypan geapan nub
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
fold fruits were, because the river Jordan annually over-
flowed the midst of the country with a flood a foot thick,
with which it was afterwards manured. Then was that na-
tion enjoying to the utmost this great prosperity, till enor-
mous sinful lust waxed within them, and for that sinful lust
G-od's vengeance came on them, so that he burned the whole
country with sulphureous fire; and afterwards water was
standing over the land as the deluge had formerly overflowed
it ; and that part which the flood did not touch, is to this
day fertile in every kind of fruit, and which are very fair and
delightful to look upon ; but when any one takes them into-*""
his hand, then they turn to ashes.
IV.
In the year a thousand and seventy before the building
of Rome, the Telchises and Carsathii began a war between
them, and carried it on till they were all slain except a very-
few, and yet those of the Telchises who survived, abandoned
their country, and went to the island of Rhodes, hoping that
they had escaped from all war ; but there the Greeks found
them, and entirely destroyed them.
y.
Eight hundred years before the building of Borne there
was a vast plenty, for seven years, in Egypt, and after that
for the next seven years there was a terrible famine ; and
Joseph, a righteous man, much assisted them by the divine
support. Of this Joseph, Pompeius, the heathen poet, and
his servant, Justin, thus sang. Joseph was the youngest of
his brethren, and also wiser than them all; so that his
brethren, dreading him, took Joseph and sold him in the
land of Egypt. Pompeius then said that he there learned
magic, and through that magic was wont to work many
wonders ; that he could well interpret dreams, and alt<o
that he was beloved by Pharaoh, the king, for that craft :
and he said that by magic he had learned heavenly wis-
dom, so that he foretold the seven years of fruitfulness,
and the other seven years of famine which came after ;
and how he gathered in the first seven years, through
268 KING ALFEED'S OBOSIUS.
hyp pipbome. ^ he pa aepcepan pypan geap eall ^ pclc jepcylbe
pr5 pone nnclan hunjop. j paebe ^ GOoypep paepe paep lopepep
pinu. ^ him paepan ppam him bpycpaepcap gecynbe. popSon pe
he monije punbop pophce in (Bjypcum. 3 pop paem pole ]>e on
]>aec lanb becom. pe pcop paep pecjenbe •}) Gjypci abpipen GQoypep
uc mib hip leobum. popSon paebe Pompemp 3 ]>a 6jypcipcan
bipceopap. f fa Eobep punbop ]>e on hiopa lanbum jepojiben.
psepon to ]?on jebon -J) hi hiopa agnum ^obum gecealbe paepon.
•^ pmc biopoljilb. nalep J>am po'San Eobe. popSon J>e hiopa jobu
pynbon bpycjiaepca lajieopap. j ^ pole nu jyc ^ cacn lopepep
gepecneppe aepceji-pyl^eaS. -J> ip 'p hy jeapa jehpilce J^one pipcan
bael ealpa hiopa eopfi-paepcma paeni cynmge co gapole jepyllaS '. •
paep pe hunjep on J>aep cynmjep bagum on Gjypcum. J>e
mon haec Smoj-ep. peah 6e hiopa J>eap paejie -p hy ealle hiopa
cynmgap hecan Phapaon ] • On paepe ylcan cibe picpabe
Baleup pe cynm^ in Sppipia paep ae]i paap *Nmu)' ; • On ]?aem
leobum ]>e monSpji haec picpabe Spip pe cynmjc '. • On faepe
cibe naep na ma cynmja anpealba. bucan pypan ppim picum.
ac pySftan paep pio bypen op him opep ealle pojilb ) • "Kc Saec ip
co punbpianne. p/aec ]>a 6gypti ppa lycle poncunje pipcon
lopepe. faep ]?e he hy aec hungpe ahpebbe. f hi hjp cyn ppa
jia^e jeunapebon. ~] hy ealle co nyblingum him jebybon \ •
Spa eac ip jyc on ealpe ]\vppe pojiulbe. p/eah Cob lanjpe Cibe
pille hpam hyp pillan co-poplaecan. ~] he ponne ]>aep epc lyCeljie
cibe p/ohge. •}} he pona popgyc ^ job ty he aep haepbe. "j
j^aec ypel paec he ponne haep6 ; •
VI.
J&]\ Saem pe R.omebuph ^ecimbpeb J>aepe eahca hunb pincpa
•] cyn jeapan. picpobe A'mbiccio pe cyninj in Schena Epeca
bypij \ • pe paep pe ppibba cyninj }>e aepceji Eecpope J>aenr.
cynin^e picpabe. pe aepepc paep }?aepe bupje cyninj ; • On J?aej
!Smbiccionej' Cibe pupbon ppa mycele paecep-plob jeonb ealle
poplb. •} peah maepc m Thapalia Epeca bypij ymb pa b^opjap
pe man haec Papnappup. paep pe cyninj Theuhaleon picpobe. f
popneah eall •]? pole poppeap^. ~) pe cynmjc Theuhaleon ealle
)>a pe co him mib pcypum o^plujon Co paern beopjum. he
hy paep onpenjc. -3 hy paep apebbe ; • Be paem Theuhaleon
pajp gecpeberi. ppilce mon bippel paebe. ^ he paepe moncynne-
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. X/^/ * 269
his wisdom, so that in the second seven years he protected all
the people against the great famine, and said that Moses was
this Joseph's son, from whom he learned magic, because he
wrought many wonders in Egypt. And on account of the
plague which happened in that land, the poet says that the
Egyptians drove Moses out with his people ; because, said
Pompeius and the Egyptian bishops, that those miracles of
God which were performed in their land were done that they
might be ascribed to their own gods, who are devils, not to
the true God, because their own gods are teachers of magic.
And that nation still follows that token of Joseph's ordinance,
that is, that they every year give a fifth of the fruits of the
earth to their king for a tax.
This famine happened in the days of the king of Egypt,
called Amasis ; though it was their custom to call all their
kings Pharaoh. At the same time King Baleus ruled in As-
syria, where Nimus had been previously. Over those people,
who are called Argivi, King Apis ruled. In those days there
were no governments of kings but in these three kingdoms ;
but afterwards the example of them was [followed] over all
the world. But is it to be wondered at, that the Egyptians
showed so little gratitude to Joseph for having delivered them
from famine, that they so quickly dishonoured his kin, and
made them all their slaves. So, however, it still is in this world;
though God permits every one to have his will for a long
time, and he then suffer for a short time, he soon forgets the
good which he had before, and remembers the evil which
he then has.
VI.
Eight hundred and ten years before the building of Borne,
King Amphictyon reigned in Athens, a city of Greece. He
was the third king that reigned after Cecrops, who wras the
first king of that city. In the time of this Amphictyon,
there was so great a flood over the whole world, and particu-
larly in Thessaly, a Greek town, near the hills called Parnas-
sus* where King Deucalion reigned, that almost all the folk
perished ; and the King Deucalion received and fed all those
who fled to him for refuge in ships to the mountains. It
wis said of this Deucalion, as if told as a fable, that he was
270 KING ALFEED'S OBOSITTS.
tybpienb. ppa ppa Noe psepi- On paem ba^um paep fe
man-cpealm in ^Ethiopian Spppica leofce. ppa paec heopa peapa
to lape pupbon ; • Gac on paem bagum paep -p Libep Pacep
opeppan pa unbepijenban Inbea Seobe. 3 hy popneah mib-ealle
popbybe. aejpep je mib bpuncennyppe. ge mib pipen-lupcum.
ge mib man-plyhcum. peah hy hme epc aepcep hyp baege heom
pop job hsepbon. j hy paebon ^ he psejie eallef gepmnep
palbenb ; •
VII.
.2Ep tSam ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paepe eahta hunb pmtpa.
3 pip pmcpum. jepeapS ]>&t QOoypep laebbe Ippahela pole oj:
^Egypcum. aepcep ]>xm mane^um punbpum ]>e he ]?aep jebon
haepbe;- Daec paep paec popme. -p hypa paecep pupbon to
blobe!- Da pasp ]>aec aepcep pe. •p ppoxap comon jeonb call
€jij^)ca lanb. ppa pela ^ man ne mihce nan peopc pypcan. ne
nanne niece gejyppan. ^ ]7apa pypma nsepe empela faem
mere aep he jegeappob psepei- Djubbe ypel paep aepcen j)am.
•f jna&ccap comon opep call J>aeC lanb. je mne je uce. mib pyp-
pmeopcenbum bicum. ^ aejSep je fa men ^e ]?a nycenu una-
blinnenlice pinienbe pa&pon> Da paep faec people. J>aer
ealpa pcamhcojc paep. •}) hunbep pleogan comon jeoi.b call Jwt
mancyn. ~\ hy cjiupon ]?aem mannum becpuh |>a 'Seoh. je
jeonb call ]>a limu. ppa hie eac pell jebapenobe. f»aec Bob j^a
maepcan ofejimecco gem^pobe mib paepe bipmeplicepcan ppace.
•3 psepe unpeop^licopcan \ • Daec pipce paep hypa nycena
cpealm;- Daec pyxce paep. ])aec eall pole paep on blaebpan. y
fia paepon j-pi^e hpeophce beppcenbe. j J>a popmp ucpionbe '. •
Daec pypefte paep. •)) 8aep com hajol pe paep pi$ pype jemenjeb.
}>aec he aejftep ploh je ]>a menn. je pa nycenu. je eall paec on
|>aem lanbe paep peaxenbep 3 jpopenbep | • Daec eahco^e paep.
j>aec jaeppcapan comon. 3 ppaecon ealle'pa ^aepp-ci^ap. pebupan
]>aepe eopSan paepon. je pupSon pa jaepj'-ci^ap. ~] pa pypcpuman
pceoppenbe paepon ; • Daec nygoSe paep. paec paep com hajol 3
ppa mycel pyrcepnep. je baejep ^;e nihcep. j ppa jebpepeblic.
5aec hie man gepelan mihce \ • Daec ceoSe paep. paec ealle pa
cmhcap. -] ealle pa maebena pe on paem lanbe ppumcenne^e
paejion. pupbon on anpe mhc acpealbe. ~] peah paec pole nolbe
aep liobe abujan. hy hpae^pe pa hypa un^ancep him gehyppume
paepon. ppa ppySe ppa hi aep GOoype.1] hyppolce paep uc-paepelbe;
KING ALFBED'S OEOSIUS. T, £ /- 7 271
the parent of mankind, as Noah was. In those days there
was the greatest plague in Ethiopia, a nation of Africa, so
that few of them survived. In those days also it was, that
Liber Pater subdued the innocent Indian people, and almost
entirely destroyed them, either by drunkenness and sinful
lusts, or slaughters ; though after his day they held him for
a god, and said he was ruler of all war.
VII.
Eight hundred and five years before the foundation of
Eome, it happened that Moses led the people of Israel out
of Egypt, after the many miracles that he had performed
there. The first was, that their water was turned to blood.
The second was, that frogs came over the whole land of
Egypt, so many that no one could do any work, nor prepare
any meat, so that there were not reptiles as much as meat
before it could be dressed. The third evil was, that gnats
came over all the land, both within doors and without, with
bites smarting like fire, and both men and cattle were un-
ceasingly pained. Then was the fourth, which was the most
shameful of all, that dog-flies came over all that people,
creeping between men's thighs, yea, over all their limbs ; so
that it was also well fitting that God should humble the
greatest pride with the most ignominious and most humi-
liating vengeance. The fifth was the plague of their cattle.
The sixth was, that all the people had boils, which burst very
virulently, and thence issued corruption. The seventh was,
that hail came mixed with fire, which killed both men and
cattle, yea, everything that waxed and grew on the land.
The eighth was, that locusts came and devoured every blade
of grass which was above the earth, yea, even gnawed off the
grass and the roots. The ninth was, that hail came, and such
great darkness, both by day and night, and so thick that it
might be felt. The tenth was, that all the boys and all the
maidens, who were the first-born in the land, were killed in
one night ; and though that people would not before submit
to Grod, yet they then, against their wills, were obedient
to Him ; as much as they before had forbidden Moses and his
people to depart from Egypt, so much were they the more
272 XING ALFRED'S OROSIFS.
pynnbon. ppa micle hy paepon geopnpan. psec hy him ppam pul-
gen;- "Re peo hpeoppunj. pe him pa gepeapt).' ppySe pa$e on
pyppan jepanc jehpyppeb;- ppaeblice pe cyninjc pa nub luj
p;tlce heom paep aepcep-pyljenbe. 3 hy jecyppan polbe epc c<>
6(zypcum ) • 8e kymnjc Phajiaon haepbe pyx hunb pig-paegria. ~j
ppa pela paep o'Spep hepep psep. $ man maeg panon oncnapan.
pa him ppa pela manna onbpebon ppa nub GOoype psepon. psec
paep pyx hunb pupenba manna > PpaeSpe Gob pamiclan Pha-
paonep menge gelyclobe. •j hypa opejimaecan opepmecco je-
ny^epobe. -j bepopan GOoype 3 hip polce. ~] 6one Reaban pae on
tpelp pejap abpijl-e. paet hi bpi^an pocan paene pae opeppep-
bon ; • Da paec jepapon pa Gjypce. hy pa gecpymebon hyp:*
bpyap. Eeamep -3 GOambpep. 3 gecpupebon mibhy'pa bpycpaepc-
um. paec hy on Sone ilcan pej pepan meahcan. pa hi J>a on
mnan paem pse-paejielbe paepon. pa gebupon hi ealle 3 abpun-
con ; • Daec cacn nu jyc ip opjyce on paep paep pca^e hpsep
papa pij-paejna hpeol onganjenbe paepon \ • Daec beS Eob co
cacne eallum mancynne. ^ peah hie pmb'o^Se paep plob mib
ponbe opepbpipen. ^ hie 6eah biS epc ppa jepyne ppa hie aeji
paepi- On paepe cibe paep pio opep-myccle haeco on ealpe
populbe. nalep ^ an ^ men paepon miclum jej-pencce. ac eac
ealle nycenu ppytie neah poppujibon. ^ pa puSmepcan ^Echio-
pian haepbon bpyne pop Saepe haece. y Settle 8a no]it5mepcan
haepbon unjepunelice haeton \ • Da haepbon monije unpipe
rnenn him Co popbe. 3 Co leapung-ppelle. f pio haece naepe pop
hiopa pynnum. ac paebon ^ hio paepe pop Feconcippoppcapunge.
anep mannep ! •
VIII.
^Ep ^Saem ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paepe pyx hunb pincpan
•j pip. in Gjypcum peapS on anpe mhc pipcij manna opplegen.
ealle ppam hiopa ajnum punum. j ealle pa men comon ppam
cpam jebpo^jian ; • * Da pip jebon paep pa-^yc 1\ peban pa
£ebpofipa> 8e ylbpa paep hacen Danaup. pe paep ypt-^-j-
opbppuma paep. pe peapS op hip pice abpsepeb. ~] on A'pge ]^rec
lanb he pleonbe becom. •j hip pe cynmj paep Tenelaup nnlbelice
onpenj. peah hehichim epc mibypele poji^ulbe. pa he hinecphif
jiice abjiaepbe \ • On paem bajum on G^ypcan psep paep kyninge;
KING ALFRED'S OKOSIUS.
Xf ~J l * 273
desirous that they should depart from them. But the re-
)entance which then came over them was very soon turned
;o worse thoughts. Quickly was the king, with his people,
bllowing after them, and would bring them back again to
Egypt. King Pharaoh had six hundred war-chariots, and
:here were so many of the other host, which may thence be
\nown, when so many men dreaded them as were witli
Moses, that was six hundred thousand men. God, however,
essened the great multitude of Pharaoh, and humbled their
?xcessive pride before Moses and his people, and dried up
:he Red Sea into twelve ways, so that they crossed that sea
with dry feet. When the Egyptians saw that, their magicians,
G-eames and Mambres, encouraged them, and they trusted
:-hat by their sorceries they could cross over the same road ;
Hit wiien they were in the sea-road, they all sank and were
drowned. The track is still known on the sea-shore where
;he wheels of their war-chariots passed. God does this as a
oken to all mankind, so that, though the wind or sea-flood
cover it with sand, yet it will be again seen as plain as it
;as before. At that time was the very intense heat all over
the world, so that not only men were sorely afflicted, but also
ill the cattle were very near perishing. And the southmost
Sihiopians had burning in place of heat ; and the Scythians,
the most northern, had unusual heats. Then many unwise
nen uttered the opinion and falsehood, that the heat was not
for their sins, but said that it was through the transformation
)f Phaeton, [who was only] a man !
VIII.
In the year six hundred and five before the building of
Rome, fifty men were slain in Egypt in one night, all by
ir own sons, and all these men came from two brothers.
When this was done, the brothers were* yet living. The
?lder was named Danaus, who was the author of this evil,
was driven from his kingdom, and came a fugitive to the
and of Argos, and there, Sthenelaus, the king, received him
dndly, though he afterwards requited him with evil, when
le expelled him from his kingdom. In those days it was the
274 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITTS.
peap BopipiSip. -p ealle }>a cuman. p/e hme gepohcon. he to biota
jebybe. 3 hip jobum bebeab ; •
Ic polbe nu. cpaeS Opopiup. ty me J>a geanbpypban. J>a p/e
pecgaS J>aet J>eop poplb py nu pyppe on Syran cpiptenbome.
}?onne hio aep on ]>aem hae)>enpcype paepe. p/onne hi ppylc gebloc
3 ppylc mopS bonbe paepon. ppylc ic hep aep bepopan paebe ; •
Ppaep if nu on aenijan cpijrenbome. becuh him fylpim. ^
mon him fupjre fpilc onbpasban. ^ hine mon senigum jobum
bloce. o^Se hpaap fynbon upe jobap. pe j-pylcpa mana gypnen.
'fpilce hiopa psepon ? | •
On })a&m bajum Pepf euf j-e cynm^c op Epeca lanbe m Spam
mib pypbe pop. j on ])a Seobe pinnenbe pa&p. oS hi him IP.-
hyppume paapon. 3 J>aepe peobe o^epne naman apcop be him
pyluum. ppa hi mon py&6an hsec Peppi )•
Ic pac jeape. cpae8 Opopiup. -f> ic hip pceal hep pela opeji-
hebban. ~\ ])& ppell ]>e ic pecje ic hi pceal gepcypcan. popSon ]>e
Sppypie haepbon LX. pmtpa ~] an hunb "j an J>upenb unbep
pipcigan cynmga pice. 8s&c hie na bucon gepynne naep. ottyaer
Sapbanapolip opplejen peapS. j pe anpalb pi^San on OOaeSe je-
hpeapp ; • Ppa ip p/aec call Sa ypel }>e hi bonbe paepon apecjean
ma&je o^Se apeccean ? \ • Gac ic pille jeppijian Toncohp ^
Philopep. 6apa pcanblicepcepa ppella. hu maneja bipmephce
jepm Tontolup jeppemebe. p)r(SSan he cynmgc psep. ymb ]>one
cmhc ]?e he neabmga jenam. Eraneme])ip. ^ hu he hip ajenne
punu hip jobum to blote acpealbe. 3 hine him pylp pi^6an to
mete ^ejyppebe .' • 6ac me pceal a^peocan ymbe Philopep.
ymbe Tapbanu]-. ~) ymbe ealpa fapaTpoiana ^epin to apecgenne.
popt5on on ppellum •] on leoSum hiopa jepm cu^e pinbon \ • Ic
pceall eac ealle poplaetan. ]?a Se op Peppeo 3 op Eabmo gepaebe
fynbon. -3 eac ^5a jpe op Thebam -j op Spaptam jepaabe pynbon ;•
€ac ic pille geppijian ]> apa man-baeba fapa Lemmaftum. j Pan«
tluonip paep cymngep. hu hpeophce he peapt5 abpaepeb op Sthe-
niencium hip ajenpe ]?eobe. ^ Stpejap ^ ThigepSep. hu hi heopf
pa&bepap opplogan. j ymb hiopa hetehcan pophjneppa. ichit et
pojilaece ' • Gac ic hep poplaete Sbipup. hu he a&j^ep opploh
hip ajenne paebep. ge hip pteop-paebep. je hip pceop-punu | <
])sem ba^um paepon ppa ungemethce ypel. ty ]>a men
fcaet heponep tunjul hiopa ypel plugon | •
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. •* / * 27o
custom of the king, Busiris, in Egypt, tliat all strangers who
resorted to him he sacrificed and offered to his gods.
I would now, says Orosius, that those would answer me,
who say, that this world is now worse, in this Christianity,
than it was before in heathenism, when they were enacting
such sacrifices and murders, as I have just now mentioned.
"Where is there now, in any [part of] Christendom, among
themselves that men need to dread being sacrificed to any
gods ? or where are our gods who desire such atrocities as
those were ?
In those days Perseus the king went from Greece into
Asia with an army, and made war on that people until they
were obedient to him ; and gave another name to the nation
from himself, so that they were afterwards called Persians.
I well know, says Orosius, that I shall here omit many
things of this [time], and that those narratives which I
shall relate, I shall shorten ; because the Assyrians, for 1160
years, under the reigns of fifty kings, were never without war,
till Sardanapalus was slain, and the power was then trans-
ferred to the Medes. Who is there that can relate or enume-
rate all the evils that they did ? I will also pass by in silence
the most abominable histories of Tantalus and Pelops ; how
many disgraceful wars Tantalus carried on after he was king,
on account of the youth Granymede, whom he forcibly took ;
and how he sacrificed his own son to his gods, and afterwards
prepared him for himself for food. It would weary me also to
relate about Pelops, and about Dardanus, and about all the
wars of the Trojans ; because their wars are known in histories
and in songs. I shall likewise omit all that has been said
about Perseus and Cadmus, and also what has been said of
the Thebans and Spartans. I will also pass in silence the
crimes of the Lemnians, and of King Pandion, how cruelly
he was driven from the Athenians, his own people ; and of
Atreus and Thyestes, how they slew their fathers, and about
their execrable lusts, I shall omit it all ; I shall also here
omit Oedipus, how he slew both his own father and his step-
father, and his stepson. In those days there was such enor-
mous evil that men said that the stars of heaven flew fro:n
their wickedness.
276 KING ALFEED'S OROSIUS.
IX.
^Ep 6am )>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paepe pyx hunb pmtjium
j pyxtygum. peapS ty unjemeclice mycle gepeohc betpeoh Epe-
cenpe ~) Xchemenpe J>aem polcum. *] ])a Epetenpe haepbon ftone
Spimlican pije. -3 ealle 8a aeSelepcan beajm ]>apa Xchemenpa hy
genamon. 3 fealbon Saem GQmocaupo to ecanne. ^ paef healp
mann healf leo ; • On 6 gem bajum psej- ty Laphice -3 Thef j-ali
pjepon pmnenbe him becpeonan. ftonne 8a I^aphice jefapon
Thefj-ali ty pole op hiopa hoppan beon jreohtenbe piS hi. j^onne
hecan hi Eentaupi. -p jynbon healf hopf •] healp men.
hi on hoppe peohcan ne gepapon aep fa ; •
X.
.2Ep faem ^5e Romebuph jecimbpeb paepe peopep hunb pintpan
;j hunb-eahcacijum. Yepojep Gjypca cynmj paep pmnenbe on
put) baele Spiam. 06 ]?e him pe maepta bael peap8 unbepSeobeb.
•3 he Yepojep Gjypca cyninj paep pytStSan mib pypbe papenbe on
SciSftie on ]>a nopS bselap. "3 hip aepenbpacan bepopan apenbe co
faepe Seobe. -3 him untpeogenbhce pecgan hec. ^ hi oftep pcolbon.
oSSef) lanb aec him alypan. o^tSe he hi polbe mib gepeohte poji-
bon 3 pophepjian | • Py him ])a jepcabpiphce anbpypbon ~]
cpaebon. ^ hie jemahlic paepe 3 unpihclic. ^ ppa opepplenceb
cyninj pceolbe pinnan on ppa eapm pole ppa hi paepon. her an
him )>eah ^ anbpypbe pecjan. -p him leoppe paepe piS hine Co
peohcanne. J>onne ^apol Co jylbenne ',• PI ^ gelaepcon ppa. ~]
pona ftone cyningc jeplymbon mib hip poke. -3 him aepcep pol-
gienbe paepon. "3 ealle Gj^pca apepcon. bucan o"aem pen-lanbum
anan. "3 ]?a hi hampeapb penbon. be pepcan paepe ea 6uppace.
ealle Xpiam hy jenybbon ty hi him japol julbon. ^ Saep paepon
pipcyne jeap ^ lanb hepgienbe 3 pepcenbe. 06 hiopa pip him
penbon aepenbpacan aepcep. ~] him paebon. ty hi o<5ep bybon.
o^Se ham come. ofrSe hi him polbon oSeppa pepa ceopan>
Pi }>a ty lanb poplecon. ^ km hampeapb pepbon;-
KING ALFHED'S OEOSIUS. ^ t^' 277
IX.
In the year six hundred and sixty before the foundatioi.
of Rome, happened that exceedingly great fight between the
Cretans and Athenians, and the Cretans had a bloody victory,
and they took all the noblest children of the Athenians, and
gave them to the Minotaur to be eaten, which was half man
half lion. In those days it was that the Lapithie and Thessa-
lians warred with each other. "When the Lapitha3 saw the
Thessalians fighting against them on horseback, they called
them Centaurs, that is half horse half man ; because they
had never before seen fighting on horseback.
X.
Four hundred and eighty years before the building of
Eome, Vesoges, king of Egypt, carried on a war in the south
part of Asia, till most of it was subjected to him ; and he,
Vesoges, king of Egypt, afterwards marched with an army
into the north parts, into Scythia, and sent his ambassadors
before him to that nation, and commanded them to say un-
equivocally, that they should either redeem that land from
him, or he would ruin and desolate them with war. They
thereupon discreetly answered him, and said, that it was
wicked and unjust, that so highly exalted a king should
make war on so poor a nation as they were. They, how-
ever, bade that answer to be given him : that it was more
agreeable to them to fight against him than to pay him tri-
bute. That they made good, and soon put the king with his
people to flight ; and pursued him and laid all Egypt waste,
except the fen-lands alone. And as they returned home-
wards, on the west of the river Euphrates, they compelled
all Asia to pay tribute to them, and they were there plunder-
ing and ravaging that country for fifteen years, till their wives
sent messengers after them, and said to them that they must
do one or the other, either return home, or they would choose
other husbands. They then left that country and went home-
wards.
278 / KixTG ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
)n paepe ylcan tibe pupbon cpejen aeSelmgap aplymbe op
Sci8o"ian. Plemup 3 Scolopeciup paepan hacene. •] gepopan ^
lanb. 3 jebubon becpeoh tappabociam 3 Poncum. neah J>aepe
laeppan Spam, •} 8aep pmnenbe paepion. oS'p hi him ])aep eaph
(xenamon. ^ hi J>aep. aepcep hpaeblice cibe. ppiam paern lanbleobum
Suph peapia opplejene pupbon'- Da pupbon hiopa pip ppa
papije on hiopa mofce. 3 ppa ppiolice jebpepeb. sejftep je tSajia
ae^ehnja pip. je ]>apa otSejipa manna. t5e mib him ojrj'lejene
paepan. ^ hi pgepna naman. to }>on ^ hi heopa pepap ppecan
Sohcan. y hi J?a hps&bhce aeprep J?aem ojrflojonealle^apaepneb-
menn ]?e him on neapej'ce psejion \ • FopSon hy bybon ppa }>e
hi polbon J)8ec ]>a oSpe pip psepan empapige heom. ^ hy p^^San
on him pulcum hsepbon. •}) hi ma meahton hypa pejiap ppecan ;•
pi J)a ]?a pip ealle cogsebejie jecypbon. •] on ]?sec pole pmnenbe
psepon. ^ ]>a paepneb-men jleanbe. 06 hi ]?£ep lanbep haepoon
mycel on hiopa anpealbe *. • Da unbep Sa&m jepmne. hi jena-
mon ppi^5 piS Sa pa&pneb-men ; • 8yt5San paep hiopa Seap. -^ hi
aelce jeape ymbe cpelp monaS copomne pepbon. 3 paep Sonne
beapn ajrpynbon. epc 8onne ]?a pip heopa beapn kenbon. Sonne
pebbon hi ]m maaben-cilb. "j flojon pahyfe-cilb. 3 Saem mseben-
cilban hi popcenbon ^ PPy^pe bpeopc popan. ^ hie peaxan ne
pceolbe. ^ hi haejrban ]?y ptpengjian pcyce. pop^on hi mon hec
on Epeacipc Smazonap. ^ ip on Gnglijx- popcenbe \ • piopa cpa
paepan heopa cpena. GOappepia y Lampiba paepan hacene. hy
heopa hepe on Cpa cobaelbon. oi5ep aec ham beori. hiopa lanb co
healbenne. oSep uc-papan co pinnanne ;• Py pySSan ^eeobon
Gupopam *] Spiam Sone maepcan bael. "3 jecimbjiebon 6pj:ep.im
?ia buph. •] monije o$pe on J>aepe laeppan Spiam. 3 pi^an
hiopa hepep J>one maepcan bael ham penbon mib hiopa hepe-
hy^e. ~] Sone oSepne bael f»aep lecon. ^ lanb Co healbenne \ •
Daep peajiS GOappepia pio cpen oppla^en. ^ mycel faep hepep }>e
mib hype baepcan paep \ • Daep peap^ hype bohcop cpen. Sinope.
pio vice cpen Sinope. co-eacan hype hpaecpcype j hype mom-
pealbum bu^u^um. hype lip jeenbobe on mae^habe|-
On ]>aem bajum paep ppa mycel ege ppam paem pipmanmnn.
j} Gupope ne Spia ne ealle fa neah Seoba ne mihcan afiencan
ne acpaepcan. hu hy him pi^pcanban mihcan aepSon hi gecupon
Gpcol Sone enc. ty he hi pceolbe mib eallan tpeaca cpaepcum
beppican. ~] 8eah ne boppce he gene^an ^ he hi mib pyjibe je-
Fope. aeji he on^an mib Epeaca pc^-pum. ]>e mon buhnnnuj
J
KING ALFRED'S OROSIFS. T , 10 . 279
At that same time two princes were expelled from Scythia,
their names were Plenus and Scolopythus, and proceeded to
and ruled the country between Cappadocia and Pontus, near
to the Lesser Asia, and there carried on war till they took
their habitation there, and there in a short time were slain
by the country people by treachery. Then were their wives
so sorrowful in their minds, and so afflicted, both the wives
of the two princes, as well as of the other men who were slain
with them, that they took arms to avenge their husbands,
and soon afterwards killed all the males nearest to them.
They did so, because they would that the other wives should
be as sorry as they, that they might then have support in
them, that they might better avenge their husbands. All
these wives then combined together, and carried on the war
against the people and slew the males of the country, until
they had much of the country in their power. Then during
the war, they made peace with the males. Afterwards it was
their custom every year or twelve month to come together,
and there then to beget children. Then, when the women
had brought forth their children, they fed the maiden-children,
and slew the male children ; and of the maiden-children they
burned off the right breast, that it might not grow, that they
might have the stronger shooting power ; therefore they were
called in Greek, Amazonas, that is English burned1. Two of
these were their queens; their names were Marpesia and
Lampedo. They divided their army into two ; one [part] to
be at home to defend the land, the other to go out to war.
They afterwards overran the greatest part of Europe
Asia, and built the city of Ephesus, and many others in the
Lesser Asia, and afterwards sent home the greater part of
their army, with their booty, and left the other part there,
to keep possession of the country. There was the queen
Marpesia slain, and many of the army that remained behind
with her. Then was queen her daughter, Sinope, that same
Queen Sinope, who in addition to her bravery and manifold
virtues, ended her life in maidenhood.
In those days there was so great dread from those women,
that neither Europe, rior Asia, nor all the nations near could
devise or resolve how they might withstand them, till they
chose the giant Hercules, to overreach them with every kind
of Grecian cunning. And yet he durst not venture to in-
.vade them with an army before he had commenced with
280 KING ALFEED'S OROSITJS.
haet. ]>& man fec£5 f an fcip mae^e an ftufenb manna1,
nihtef on un^eappe hi on befcael. 3 hi fpiSe popploh j popbybe.
•3 hpae]>epe ne meahte hi ]>aef lanbef benaeman | • On tiaem
bajum j^aep paepan tpa cpena. J>a paepan gefpeofcpa. Snthiopa
•j Opithia. 3 f/aep peapS Opichia jepangen ) • ^Efcep hype penjc
co paem pice Penthepha. f 10 on ])aem Tpoiampcan jepeohce f pitSe
ma&pe ^epeapS ; •
Pie if fconbhc. cpaet5 Opopup ymb j-pylc to j-ppecanne.
hpylc hie ])a pa&j'. ]>a ppa eapme pijrmen [^ j'pa el^eobje ha&p-
bon jejan J)one cpaejrc^efcan bsel. -3 )>a hpatej-can men eallep
Jjipej* mibban^eapbef. ]>get ps&j- Spam ^ Gupope pel popneah
mib-ealle apuppon. 3 ealba ceajxpa. ~] ealb bejnj copuppon. ^
sefCep Sam hie bybon aa^Sep je cymnja picu faecan. je nipe
ceapcpa nmbpebon. 3 ealle |>a pojiolb on hiopa agen pill on-
penbenbe pa&pon polneah C. pincpa. ^ j-pa jepunobe men
pG&pon selcep bpocep ]>a&rte hie hie jrolneah to nanum Ia8e
naapbon. ]?sette hie2] hy ppa tincpejebon. j nu Jja Eotan
comon op ])am hpatejran mannan Ijepmama. }>e aejSep
je Pippuf fe pet5a Epeaca cynmjc. ^e ISlexanbep. je lulmf
fe cpaefti^a cafepe. hie alle fpam him onbpebon. ^) hi hi
mib gefeohte fohte3 > pu unjemetlice je Rompape be-
mupcniaft ^ bej-ppecaS. fa&t eop nu pypf fie on ]>yfan cpiften-
bome. J>onne Ips&m. Seobum J>a pa&pe. f op^on ]?a liotan eop hpon
opephep^oban. 3 eoppe buph abpaacon. ^ eopep peape opplo^an.
•] pop hiopa cpaeftum 3 pop hiopa hpaetpcype eoppa pelppa
anpalbef eoppef un^ancef habban mihcan. ]>e nu luftlice pb-
fumef ppi^ef. j ]*umne bael lanbef a&t eop bibbenbe fynbon.
to Son ^ hi eop on pultume beon moton. ~\ hit aep 'Syj-an jenoh
aametij laeg j jenoh pep te. ~] £e hif nane note naef bon | • pu
blmbhce momje feoba fppecaS ymb Sone cpiftenbom. ^ hie
nu pyjife jy fonne hit aep pa&pe. f hi nellaS je^encan. oSSe ne
cunnan. hpaep hit jepupbe aep fiaem cpiftenbome. ^ aenij Seob
o8pe hype pillum ppi^ep baebe. bucon hype 6eapp paepe. o^tSe
hpaep aemj Seob aet o^jie myhte ppi^ bejitan. o^Se mib golbe.
oSSe mib peolppe. ot)Se mib aenijan peo. bucan hi him unbep-
Seobeb psepe;- Sc fy$San Epift jebopen paef. ]>e eallef mib-
banjeapbef if pbb 3 ppiS. nalep ^ an •]? men hi mihtan alyfan
mib peo op Seopbome. ac eac fieoba him becpeonan. butan 8eop-
^ome. jep ibpime paepon | • Nu pene ^e hpylce f ibbe )>a pepaf
haefbon aep Saem cpiftenbome. ]>onne hiojia pip fpa momjpeaib
ypel bonbe paepon on ftypm mibbangeapbe!'
KING ALFBED'S OROSITTS. !T»I0 281
tliose Grecian ships, which are called dulmuns1, of which it
is said that one ship may contain a thousand men, and then
stole upon them in the night unawares, and slew and de-
stroyed vast numbers of them ; and yet he could not take the
country from them. In those days there were two queens,
who were sisters, Antiope and Orithyia, and Orithyia was
taken prisoner. After her Penthesilea succeeded to the king-
dom, who gained great glory in the Trojan war.
It is shameful, says Orosius, to speak about such [a state
of things] as was, when such miserable women [and so
foreign] had subdued the most powerful part and the bravest
men of all this earth : that was, Asia and Europe they well
nigh totally prostrated, and destroyed old cities and old towns ;
and after that they sought royal realms, and built new cities,
and turned the whole world according to their will, for very
near one hundred years, and so accustomed men were to
every calamity, that they almost accounted it no evil that
they so tormented them. And now the Goths came from the
bravest men of Germany, of whom Pyrrhus, the fierce king of
Greece, and Alexander, and the powerful Julius, all stood
in dread, lest they should seek them in warfare. How
immoderately ye Romans murmur, and complain that ye are
now worse in this Christianity than those Gentiles were ;
because the Goths have plundered you a little, and taken
your city, and slain a few of you ; and by their crafts and
bravery might have had dominion over you in your own de-
spite ; who now ardently pray you for a tranquil peace, and
some portion of land, that they be of aid to you ; which
land previously lay sufficiently unoccupied and sufficiently
waste, and ye had no enjoyment of it. How blindly many
people speak about Christianity : that it is worse now than
it was before, and will not or cannot call to mind where it
happened before Christianity, that any nation voluntarily
sued another for peace, without having need of it, or where
any nation could obtain peace from another, either with gold
or with silver, or with any money, without being subjected
to it. But since Christ was born, who is the peace and love
of all the earth, not only might men redeem themselves from
thraldom with money, but nations also were at peace with
each other, without slavery. Now, think what peace men
had before Christianity, when their women did so much evil
on this earth.
282 KING ALFRED'S OROSIFS.
XI.
^Ep Sam ]> e Romebuph jecimbpeb paepe peopep hunb pmcpt
•3 ppicig pincpa. gepeapft -^ Slexanbep. Ppiamipep punu. o"asp
cynm^ep op Tpoiana Saepe bypij. genam paep cynmgep pij.
GOonelaup. op Laecebemoma. Epeaca bypij. Glena;-* Ymb 'hi
peapS ^ maepe gepin -3 pa miclan jepeohc. Epeaca -3 Tpoiana.
fpa paec Epeacap haepbon M. pcipa ]?apa miclena bulmuna. j
him becpeonum jeppopan. j) hi naeppe nolbau on cy^t>e cuman.
a&p hi heojia ceonan geppaecon. -] hi fa ryn jeap ymb (Sa buph
piccenbe pa&pon ~] peohcenbe '. • Ppa ip ty apiman msage hpa.ic
]>3&]i moncynnep poppeapS on sejSpe hanb ? \> Omepup pe pc-op
ppeocohcopc pa&be. popSon nip me J?aep feapp. cps&S Opopiuf .
co pecjenne. pop^on hie langpum ip ~j eac monegum cu6 ; •
Deah ppa hpilcne mon ppa lypce •p pican. jiaebe on hip bocum
hpilc unjecima •] hpilce tibejmeppa. 8&j5ep ^e on mon-plyhcar.
je on hunjpe. ^e on pcib-gebpyce. je on miplicpe poppceapunje
ppa mon on ppellum pe^S \ •
Da pole him becpeonum pulle cyn pincep ]><a gepmn ppecenbe
paepon. je^ence Sonne tiapa ciba. ^ nu Syppa. hpaeSep him bee
lician !•
Da pona op ft'.m jepeohce paep o^ep 8epcep-p}Tljenbe. 6neap
mib hip pypbt pop op pasm Tpoiampcan jepeohce in Icaliam. -^
mBaj man eac on bocum pceapian. hu maneja jepmn -3 hu
maneja jepeohc he faep bpeojenbe paep ', •
XII.
^Ep 'Saem pe Romebuph jecimbpeb psepe peopep 'j p\rxcij
pincpa. picpabe SapSanapolup pe cynmj in S!ppipia. paep Ninup
pe cyninj aepepc picpabe. 3 8apSanapolup paep pe piftmepra
cynmjc. pe on ft&m lanbe picpobe'. • pe paep ppiSe pupftumlic
man -3 hnepchc. -3 ppySe ppaene. ppa f he ppiftop lupabe pipa je-
baepa ponne paepneb- manna ] • Daec pa onpunbe Spbacup hip
ealbopman. pe he gepec haepbe opep GOeSap ^ lanb. he on^an
pippan mib pam polce pe he opep paep. hu he hine beppican mihce.
•3 appeon him ppam ealle pa pe he onbpeb -j> him on pylpce beon
polbon|- Da j-e cynmj; -^ onpunbe. paec him man ^eppicen
haepbe. he pa hine p\lpne popbaepnbe. "3 py55an haepbon GDaeSe
KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS. J~i lfi /^ 283
XI,
Pour hundred and thirty years before the building of
Rome, it happened that Alexander, son of Priam, king ot
the city of Troy, took Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king ot
Lacedsemon, a Greek city. For her was that long war and
those great battles between the Greeks and Trojans, such
that the Greeks had a thousand ships of those great dulmuns,
and had sworn among them that they would never return to
their country ere they had avenged their wrongs ; and they
were ten years investing the city, and fighting. Who is there
that can number the human beings that perished on each
side ? as Homer the poet has most manifestly said : there-
fore, says Orosius, there is no need for me to say it, because
it is long, and also known to many ; though whoever desires
to know it, let him read in his books what mishaps and what
sacrifices, either by slaughter, or by hunger, or by shipwrecks,
and by various vicissitudes, as it is said in histories.
These nations continued at war between them for full ten
years. [Let any one] think then of those times, and now of
these, which he likes best.
Immediately after that war another ensued. Eneas with
his army went from the Trojan war to Italy. It may also be
seen in books, how many wars and how many battles he was
there engaged UL
XII.
Sixty-four years before Rome was built, King Sardanapalus
reigned in Assyria, where King Ninus had first ruled, and
Sardanapulus was the last king that reigned in that land.
He was a very wonderful man, very effeminate, and very libi-
dinous, so that he more loved the manners of women than
of men. When his viceroy Arbaces, whom he had set over
the land of the Medes, found this, he began to plot with the
people, over whom he was, how he might deceive him and
entice from him all those who he feared would be a support
to him. When the king found that he had been deceived,
he burned himself, and the Medes then had sway over the
284 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
onpalb opep ^ppipie ; • pit ip unySe Co pecgenne hu maneja
jepm pyfrSan paepan betuhx GQaeSum. 3 Ealbeum. -j SciSSian.
ac paet mon maag pican. ponne ppaopepmaethcu picu onpcypebe
pa&pon. hu manige mippenhce mon-cpealmap on pam gepinne
gepupbon \ •
^Eptep 8aem picpabe Fpaoptep pe cyninjc in CfteSen. aepcqi
Saem Fpaopte picpobe Dioclep. pe GOaefia pice ppiSe jemiclabe.
aeptep $am Diocle jrenj Sjnai to pice. j*e naepbe naenne junu.
ac he nam hip nejran him to puna op Peppan faepe Seobe. Eipuj-
paep haten. pe ]?a nub Son J>e he gepeox. him fa op^mcenbum •]
J?am Peppeum. ^ hi on hip eamep anpalbe psepori. -3 on Sapa
GDeSa. ac1 hi £epm uphopon ; • pe ]?a Sptiai pe cyngc beSohte
ppiftopt to Sppellep hip ealbepmen. •}) he nub hyp cpa&pte hip
nepan mib ^epeohte piSptobe. popfton ]>e pe cyn^c ne gemunbe
J>apa manejjia teonena. ]>e hiopa aejftep o^pum on aeji-bajum
gebybe. j hu pe cynmjc het hyp punu opplean. ^ hyne pySSan
^83m pa&bep to mete ge^yppan ;• Deah hiopa jepinn pa je-
pemeb paepe. he J>a pe ealbepman mib pypbe pop onjean faam
Peppeum. •] pona fsep polcep 6one maeptan bael pleonbe mib-ealle
fopla&bbe. •] mib peappe Saem Peppeo cynin^e on anpalb jebybe.
3 on J>am jepeohte OOa&'Sa cpa&pt •] hiopa bujuS ^epeol ; • Da
pe cymnj ^ pacn onpunbe. pe pe ealbepman pi6 hme gebon
haepbe. he Seali gegabepobe pone pultum pe he p/a mihte. "3 piS
pam nepan pypb jela&bbe. ^ he llipup. Peppa cymnjc. ha&pbe
ppibban bael hyp pypbe baeptan him. on ^ jepab. ^ip a&mg paepe
pe pypplu^e2 pe on pa&m gepeohte paep. ponne to paem polce pe
paep baepcan psbp.'p hme mon ploje ppa pafte ppa mon hiopa pynb
polbe ; • Da peah-hpaepepe gebypebe him. f hi hpaet-hpapa ge-
bujan to pleonne. hi pa hiopa pip him ongean ypnenbe hy ppiSe
topn pypbon. j ahpebon. gip hi peohtan ne bopptan. hpibep
hi pleon polbon. ^ hi oftep jenep naepbon. buton hi on hypa
pipa hpip ^epiten ; • pi pa hpaebhce. aeptep 8aem Se pa pip hi
ppa pcanbhce ^epaeht haepbon. jepenbon ept onjean Sone cynin^;.
•] ealne hyp hepe jeplymbon. ^ hme pylpne jepen^on ', • pe pa
Eipup ajeap ^aem cynmje. hyp eame. ealle pa ape pe he aej.
haepbe. butan -J) he cynjc naepe. 3 he paet paep call poppacenbe.
popSon pe him Sppeilap pe ealbopman aep to beppice peapfi
mib hip ajenpe peobe. ac him Eipup hip nepajej'ealbe Ipcamam
ALFRED'S OEOSITTS. J, ( II. 285
Assyrians. It is not easy to say how many wars there were
afterwards between the' Medes, and Chaldeans, and Scy-
thians ; but any one may easily know that, when such im-
mense kingdoms were excited, how many various slaughters
happened in that warfare.
After this, King Phraortes reigned in Media ; after Phra-
ortes, Deioces reigned, who greatly increased the empire of
the Medes ; after Deioces, Astyages succeeded to the kingdom,
who had no son, but he adopted his nephew, called Cyrus, a
Persian by nation, who, when he grew up, both he and the
Persians taking it ill that they were under the dominion of
his uncle and the Medes, raised up a war. King Astyages
then chiefly bethought him of Harpagus, his general, that
he with his power might withstand his nephew in war ; for
the king did not remember the wrongs which one had
formerly done to the other ; and how the king had com-
manded his son to be slain, and afterwards to be prepared
as food for his father. Though their enmity was then
appeased, he, the general, having gone with an army
against the Persians, soon taking to flight, completely be-
trayed the greater portion of the people, and treacherously
delivered them into the power of the Persian king, an'd
in that battle the power and valour of the Medes fell.
When the king discovered the guile that the general had
used against him, he, nevertheless, collected what force he
could, and led his army against his nephew. And Cyrus,
king of Persia, had a third part of his army behind him,
in order that, if any one fled who wTas in the battle,
towards the people that were behind, they should slay
him as readily as they would their enemies. When, never-
theless, it happened that they inclined somewhat to flee, their
wives, running towards them, were highly incensed, and
asked, if they durst not fight, whither they would flee ; that
they had no other place of refuge, unless they would pass
into the wombs of their wives. They then quickly, after
their wives had so reproachfully addressed them, turned
again against the king, and put to flight all his army, and
took himself prisoner. Cyrus then gave up to the king, his
uncle, all the possessions he had previously had, except that
he was not [longer] king ; and he renounced all that, be-
cause his general, Harpagus, had deceived him with his own
286 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
<5a peobe on anpalb co habbenne \ • Daep peajiti fiCae?>e onpalfr
geenbob. ac Eipup mib Peppeum Co paem anpalbe penj. ac l)a
bypij. pe on monegum peobum GOaeftum aep gapol julbon. pup-
bon Eipupe co monejum jepeohcum \ -
On 8aem bajum pilnabe )-um aeftelmjc co picpanne m Sp-
gencme paepe peobe. Falopep paep hacen. he paep op Sicilia (5aem
lanbe. ~] mib unjemeclicpe pmunje he psef f pole cpilmenbe.
Co 8on "}) hi him anbugon \ • Da pgej- ]>gep j* um aj)-jeocepe. pe
mihce bon mippenlica anhcneppa. he Sa pe ^eocepe jebeab 6aem
a&ftelmje. poji^on ]?e he him cpeman }>ohce. -p he him aec psepe
pinunje pylpcan polbe. J>e he f»a&m polce bonbe psep. he 'Sa ppa
bybe. 3 jepeophce anep peajipep anhcneppe op ape. co Son ])onne
hie hac J)aepe. ~) mon J>a eapman men on mnan bon polbe. hn
j-3 hlyn maepc paepe. Sonne hi faec pupl fsep on Jjpopienbe
paepon. •} eac }>83C pe se^elin^c ae£5ep haepbe je hip plejan £e
hip jepiU. |>onne he papa manna cmcpejo opephypbe \ • Da
]>cTRC }>a onhaac paep. j call jebon ppa pe jeocepe paem a&Sehnje
a&fi behec. pe aeSehnjc ty pa pceapobe } cpae'5. paec Saem peopce
nanum men aep ne gepipe bee co panbienne ponne pam pyphcan
pe hie pophce. hec hine pa mman. j paepon bepcupan '. • Foji
hpi beppicaft nu men pap cpipcenan ciba. •j j'ecjaS -p nu pyppan
Ciba pyn ponne pa paepan. pa peah hpa paepe mib pam cymnjum
on hiopa gepill ypel bonbe. *p hi ppa-fteah aec him ne meahcon
mib py nane ape pinban ? •} nu cynm^ap. ^ capejiap. peah hpa
pi5 hiopa pillan jejylce. hi ^eahpopEobeplupan. be paep
mae^e. popjipneppe bot5 ; •
XIII.
^Ep ^5am pe Romebuph ^ecimbpeb paepe ppicij pincpa. paep
paec Pelopenpium. ^j Tfchemencium. Epeaca peoba. mib eallum
hiopa cpaepcum him becpeonum pinnenbe paepon. ~] hi Co ^on
ppi?)e popplejene pupbon on a&jppe hanb. ty heopa peape co lape
pupbon ; • On paepe ylcan cibe. paepan epc oftpe pi5e papipmen
pinnenbe on Spiam pe aep on Sci^iSian paepan. 3 hi ppySe apepcau
3 pophepgoban ; .
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. ~7, . t, 3 287
people ; but Cyrus, his nephew, gave him to rule over the
land of Hyrcania. Then was ended the power of the Medes,
and Cyrus, with the Persians, succeeded to the sovereignty ;
but the cities, which, in many countries, previously had paid
tribute to the Medes, cost Cyrus many wars.
In those days a certain prince aspired to reign in the
country of Agrigentum, who was named Phalaris ; he was of
the land of Sicily, and destroyed the people with unheard-of
torments in order to make them submit to him. There was
at that time a brass-founder there who could make various
likenesses, and this founder offered to the prince, thinking to
please him, that he would assist him in the torments he was
inflicting on the people. And he did so, and wrought in
brass the likeness of a bull, in order that when it was hot,
and when the miserable men were thrown into it, [he might
hear] how great the cry would be, when they were suffering
torment in it, and also that the prince might have both his cli •
version and his will, when he heard the torments of the men.
When it was heated, and all done as the founder had previously
directed the prince, the prince looked at it, and said, That no
one was better fitted first to make trial of the work than the
workman who made it. He ordered him then to be seized,
and shoved into it. Why do men now complain of these
Christian times, and say that now times are worse than those
were ; when, although any one were with those kings doing
evil at their desire, they might not yet find any mercy from
them ? And now, kings and emperors, though any one sin
against their will, yet, for love of God, grant forgiveness ac-
cording to the degree of guilt.
XIII.
Thirty years before the building of Eome, it was that the
Peloponnesians and Athenians, nations of Greece, carried on
war with each other with all their powers, and so many were
slain on each side, that few of them remained. At the same
time the women, who were formerly in Scythia, again, a
second time, made war on Asia, and greatly laid it waste and
ravaged it.
288 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
XIY.
Ssem f e Romebuph gecimbpeb paepe tpentigum pmtpum
Laecebemome 3 GOepiane. Epeaca leobe. him becpeonum pin.
nenbe paepan Cpenci pmcpa. popfton GOepiane nolbon "p Laece-
bemonia maegben-men mib hiopa oppjieben. -j hiopa £obum
onpaejben \ • Da aec nyhpcan hi haepbon gecojen eall Epeaca
pole co faem gepmnum. fa Laecebemoman bej'aecon fa buph
GOaepe tyn pincep. •] aSap geppopan ty hi naeppe nolban aec ham
cuman. aep hi faec 3 eppecen haepbon [• Da paebban hi him be-
cpeonum. j cpsebon. •p hi co paSe polbon pulcumleape beon
a&c hiopa beapn-ceamum. fa hi f aep ppa lanje f ohcon co beonne.
3 -p mib hiopa pebbum gepaepcnob haepbon. } *p hi hiopa peonbum
bee bybe ftonne pypp !• COib fam jecpaeban fa. faec fa fe aep
aec Saem a^um naepe. faec fa ham gepenban. 3 be eallan hypa
pipum beapn apcpynbe. 3 Sa oSpe piccenbe paepan ymb Sa
buph. 08 f e hi hy jepunnene haepbon. f eah hi him lycle hpile
^ehyppume paepon ; • Sc jecupan him aenne pcop co cymn^e of
Schemenpem. ~] epc mib py'pbe popan pit) fa GOeppene ! • Da hi
him genealaehcon. fa jecpeonobe hi hpaeSep hi pi6 him mihce1 \ •
Se hiopa cyninj on^an Sa pm^an. •] jibbian. *] mib fam pcop-
leoSe hiopa mob ppiSe jecpymebe. Co fon •p hi cpaebon -p hi
GOej-iana polce piSjranban rnihcen. heopa 'Seah pupbon peape Co
lape on a$pe hanb. ~\ faec Epeaca pole pela geapa him be-
Cpeonan bpeo^enbe paepon. ae^ep £e op Laecebemoma. je op
GOepiane. ge op Boecium. je op Schemencmm. •] monije oSpa
<5ioba co fam ilcan jepinne gecugon | •
Nu ip hit pcopchc ymbe faec ^epaeb faec aep ^epeapS aep
Romebuph gecimbpeb paepe. f paep ppam ppymSe mibban-
^eapbep peopep t5upenb pmcpa. 3 peopep hunb. ^ cpa j hunb-
eahcaci^. anb aepcep faem fe hio ^ecimbpeb paep. paep upej
Dfuhcenep akennep ymb pypan hunb pmcpa y cyne ; •
pep enbaS pio popme boc. "3 onjmtJ pio aepcejie)-
KING ALFEEP'S OROSIU8. *l • ltf> • 289
XIV.
Twenty years before the building of Eome, the Lacedae-
monians and Messenians, Greek people, were at war with
each other for twenty years ; because the Messenians would
not permit the Spartan virgins to make offerings with theirs
and sacrifice to their gods. "When at last they had drawn all
the Grecian people into those wars, the Lacedaemonians be-
sieged the town of Messena for ten years, and swore oaths,
that they never would return home, till they had avenged it.
Then they consulted together, and said, that they should
very soon be helpless on the part of their families, as they
thought of being there so long, and had bound themselves by
their pledges, and that they were rather doing better for
their enemies than worse. They determined, therefore, that
those who were not at those oaths, should return home and
beget children on all their wives, and the others should be-
siege the town, till they had conquered it ; although they
were but a little while obedient to them. But they chose
them an Athenian poet for king, and again marched with an
army against the Messenians. When they approached them,
they doubted whether they could go against them. Their king
then began to sing, and make verses, and with his poetry
so greatly confirmed their courage, that they said they should
be able to oppose the Messenians. Yet few were left on
either side, and the Grecian nation suffered for many years
among themselves, either from the Lacedaemonians, or the
Messenians, or the Boeotians, or the Athenians, and drew
many other nations into that same war.
Now it has been shortly said, what happened before the
building of Eome, that was from the beginning of the world
four thousand four hundred and eighty-two years ; and after
it had been built seven hundred and ten years, was the na-
tivity of our Lord.
Here ends the first book, and begins the second.
290 KING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS.
BOOK II.
I.
IE pene. cpaeS Opopiup. ]> aet nan pip man ne py. butan he
jenoh geape pice. ^ Cob pone aepeptan man pihtne 3 gobne
£epceop. ^ call mancynn mib him ;• Xnb popSon pe he ^ job
j.oplet. J>e him gepealb paep. 3 pyppe geceap. hie Eob pySSan
lanjpumhce ppecenbe paep. aepept on him pyluum. 3 pySpan on
hip beapnan. geonb ealne 6yfne mibbanjeapb. mib momgpealb-
um bpocum j jepmnum. ge eac J)ap eopSan J?e ealle cpice
pilica bi hbbab\ ealle hype psej-cmbaepo he gelyclabe ;• Nu pe
pican ty upe Dpihren uf jepcop. pe pitan eac ^ he upe peccenb
ip 0 uj- mib pihthcan Jjin^an1 Iuj:at5 fonne aemj mon ;• Nu pe
pi can ^ ealle anpalbay ppam him jynban. pe pican eac ]>xt ealle
picu jynban ppam him. popSon ealle anpalbap op pice jynbon ;•
Nu he 6apa le&ppena pica peccenb ip. hu micle ppiSop pene pe
•p he opep ]>a mapan py. pe on ppa ungemechcum anpalbum
picpebanl- Kn paep Babylomcum. ]?sep Ninup picpabe ' • paec
o^ep paep Epeaca. ]>sep fflexanbep picpabe '. • ppibba paej
Xpppicanum. ])aep Phcolomeup picpebon:- 8e peopfta ij
Romane. pe j;yc picpienbe pmbon|- Dap peopep heapobhcu
picu pinbon peopep enbap pypep mibbangeapbep. mib unapec-
jenblicpe Cobep tacnunge ; • Dsec Babylomcum paep ^ popme.
3 on eapcepepbum \ • paec aeptepe pa&p ^ Epecipce. ^ on
nopSepepbum ; • pa&tr %ibbe psep paec Spppicanum. y on
puSepeapbum \ • past people ip Romane. "j on pepcepeapbum ; •
Babylompce ^ aepepce. *] Romane j? pi^mepte. hi paepan ppa paebep
•3 punu. ponne hi hiopa pillan mocan pell pealban ]• pa&cEpe-
cipce. "j paec Spppicampce. paepan ppa ppa hi him hyppumebon. ~\
him unbept)eobeb paepe;- Daec ic pille eac jepcabpiphcop
jepecjan. ^ hie man jeopnop a^ycan maeje ' •
Se aepepca cyninj paep Ninup haten. ppa pe aep bepopan paeban.
~] pa hine mon ploh. pa peng Samepamip hip cpen Co paem
pice, ^j jecimbpebe pa buph Babylome. co Son ty Ino paepe
heapob eallpa Xppipia. ~^ hie pela pmcpa pi'So'an on paem pcob.
08 paec Kpbacup. CTe^a ealbopman. Sapftanapolum. Babylonia
"yninjc. opploh ;• Da peapft Babylonia "j Sppipia anpalb jeenb-
KING JLLFRED'S OEOSIUS. 2"/ / 291
BOOK II.
I SUPPOSE, said Orosius, that there is no wise man but
full well knows that God created the first man just and good,
and all mankind with him ; and because he forsook the good
which was given to him, and chose worse, Grod slowly avenged
it, first on himself, and afterwards on his children, through-
out all this world with manifold miseries and wars, yea, also
of this earth, by which all living creatures live, he diminished
the fruitfulness. Now we know that our Lord created us,
we know also that he is our ruler, and with all righteous-
ness loves us more than any man. Now we know that all
powers are from him, we know also that all kingdoms are
from him, because all powers are derived from a kingdom.
Now he is the ruler of the smaller kingdoms, how much more
may we think that he is over the greater, which ruled over
such immense powers ? One was the Babylonian, where Ninus
reigned ; the second was the Greek, where Alexander ruled ;
the third was the African, where the Ptolemies ruled ; the
fourth is the Roman, who are still ruling. These four princi-
pal empires are at the four ends of this earth by the ineffable
dispensation of God. The Babylonian was the first arid east-
ward ; the second was the Grecian and to the northward ; the
third was the African and to the southward ; the fourth is
the Roman and to the westward. The Babylonian the first,
and the Roman the last, were as father and son, when they
could well command their will ; the Grecian and the African
were as though they obeyed them and were subordinate to
them. That I will also more distinctly explain, that it may
be the better understood.
The first king was called Ninus, as we before said ; and
when he was slain, Semiramis, his queen, succeeded to the
kingdom, and built the city of Babylon, that it might be the
capital of all Assyria ; and it so continued many years after,
till Arbatus, a prefect of the Medes, slew Sardanapalus, king
of Babylon. Then was the power of the Babylonians and
u2
292 KING ALFHED'S OHOSIUS.
oh. j jehpeapp on OOe^afi' On paem ylcan jeape pe pip psep.
Ppocop. Numecopep pa&bep. onjan picpian in Icahapaem lanbe.
paep aepc Romebuph jecimbpeb peapS | • 8e Ppocop paep Nu-
mecopep paebep. 3 GOuliepep. 3 paep Siluian earn ; • 810 Siluie
paep Remupep mobop 3 Romulep. pe Romebuph gecimbpebon \ •
Daec pille ic gecyftan. ^ pa picu op nanep mannep mihcum fpa
jecpaefcjabe ne pupbon. ne pop nanpe pypbe bucan ppam Hobef
jepcihcun^e '.• 6alle pcaep-ppicepap pecjeaS. *p Sppipia pice a&c
Nmupe bejunne. -j Romana pice aec Ppocope bejunne '. • Fpam
Jjsem sepepcan jeape Nnmpep picep. ot5 paec Babylonia buph
jecimbpeb pa&p. psepan peopep ^ pyxcij pincpa. eac op f a&m il-
can geape 6e Ppocop picpobe in Icalia psepan eac ppylce peopeji
•3 pyxcij pincpa. sep mon Romebuph gecimbpebe | • Dy ylcan
geape. fe Romana pice peaxan ongan -j myclian. on Ppocop
bsege. J»aep cymnjep. Sy ylcan geape jepeol Babylonia. ~} call
Sppipia pice. •] hiopa anpalb ; • JEpcep Saem ]>e mon hiop
cynmjc opploh. Sapftanapolum. piSSan hs&pbon talbei pa Ian
gebun on ppeobome. }>e nyhpc ]>aepe bypij pa&pon. J>eah GDe5
hsepbe ]?one anpalb opep hi. oSftaec Eipuj1. Peppa cyninj. picpiar
onjan. ~] ealle Babylonia apepte. j ealle Sppipie. ^ ealle GOe^e or
Peppa anpalb gebybe. ty fa ppa ^elamp f on pa&pe ylcan cibe. p
Babylonia J>eopbome onpenj ppam Eipupe psem cynmje. -^ Ro
mana alypeb peap'S op feopbome ]>apa unpihcpipepcena cynmja
-] ]>ajia opepmobijeptena. J)e mon hec Tapcuime. -3 pa paec eapc
pice in Sppipia jepeoll. pa eac •}) pepc-pice in Romana ajiap \
liyc j-ceall ic. cpaeS Opopiup. mamjpealblicop pppecan piS Sa ]>c
I ec^aS •p pa anpalbap pyn op pyjiba ma&jenum jepopbene. nale
op Gobep jepcihcun^e ; •
}?u emlice hie jelamp ymb pap cpa heapob-picu. Sppipia
Romana. ppa ppa pe s&p paebon. ^ Ninup picpabe on pone eapc
pice cpa "3 pipcig pincpa. ~] sepcep him hip cpen. 8amepamip. cpa-
peopepcij pincpa. j on mibbepeapbum hype pice hio jecimbpeb
Babylonia pa buph;* Fpam psem jeape pe heo jecmibpe*
peap'S. paep hype anpalb pupenb pincpa "j an hunb ~\
pulneah peopep. sep hio hype anpalbep benumen pupbe. ^ beppi
cen ppam A'pbace. hypa a^enum ealbojimen. j GDeSa kynm^e
peah rySSan ymb pa buph lycle hpile ppeobom pa&pe bucan an
palbe. ppa pe a&p paebon. ppam Ealbei pam leobum. ~] ppa ea
fpjlce peapS Romebuph ymb M. pincpa. ~) an hunb 3 pyxcij
KING ALFRED'S OROSIFS* I , ( 293
Assyrians ended, and devolved on the Medes. In that same
year that this happened Procas, father of Numitor, began to
reign in the land of Italy, where Home was afterwards built.
This Procas was the father of Numitor and Amulius, and
was uncle to Silvia. Silvia was the mother of Eemus and
Eomulus, who built Home. That I will declare, that those
kingdoms were not rendered so mighty by the powers of
any man nor through any fate, but by Grod's dispensation.
All historians say, that the Assyrian empire began with
Ninus, and the Eoman empire with Procas. From the first
year of Ninus' s empire till Babylon was built, were sixty-
four years ; also from the same year that Procas reigned in
Italy were likewise sixty-four years before Eome was founded <
That same year, in which the Eoman empire began to nourish
and increase, in the days of Procas the king, in that same
year Babylon and all the Assyrian empire and their power
fell. After their king Sardanapalus was slain, the Chaldeans
had inhabited those lands in freedom which were nearest to
the city, though the Medes had sway over them, till Cyrus,
king of Persia, began to reign, and laid waste all Babylonia
and all Assyria, and reduced all the Medes under the Persian
power. It then so happened, that at the same time in
which Babylonia received servitude from Cyrus, the Eomans
were delivered from servitude to their most unrighteous,
and most proud kings, who were called Tarquins ; and when
the east empire in Assyria fell, then also the west empire of
the Eomans arose. I shall yet, says Orosius, more fully speak
against those who say that powers are from the influences of
fate, not from the dispensation of Grod.
How similarly it befel with regard to these two chief em-
pires, the Assyrian and the Eoman ! as we before said, that
Ninus reigned in the east empire two and fifty years ; and
after him his queen Semiramis two and forty years ; and in the
middle of her reign she built the city of Babylon. From the
year in which it was built, its empire continued nearly eleven
hundred and sixty-four years, before it was deprived of its
power and overthrown by Arbatus, their own prefect, and
king of the Medes ; though afterwards, around the city, for
a little while, there was freedom without dominion, as we
before said, under the Chaldean nation. And so in like manner
was Eome about a thousand one hundred and nearly four
294 KIXG ALFRED'S onosius.
pulneah peopep. -p 6allpica. hipe ealbopman. 3 Corona cynm;$.
hype anpalbep hi bemman polban. *j hio hpaef epe onpealh on
hipe onpalbe aeptep Ssem f uphpunabe '. • peah aejfep <Kppa
bupga fuph Eobep bi;z;elneppa f up getacnab pupbe. aepepc Baby-
lonia, fuph hype agenne ealbopman. fa he hype cynmjc beppac.
ppa eac Roma. fa hi hipe a^en ealbopman. ~] Eotona cymng. hypa
anpalbep bemman polbon. hit f eah I/ob pop hiopa cpiftenbome
ne gejmpobe. naf>ep ne pop hiopa caj-epap. ne pop hypa pylppa.
ac hi nu jyc pynb picpenbe. s&Jfep je mib hiopa cpipcenbome.
je mib hiopa anpalbe. je mib hiopa capepan \ •
Dip ic pppece nu. pop^aem ]>e ic polbe ty fa on^eacon ]>e J>a
Ciba upep cpipcenbomep leahcpiaS. hpilc miltpung pi^8an paep.
jyt5t5an pe cpiptenbom pa&p. 3 hu mam^pealb polba&pnep ])8&pe
populbe s&p Ssem pa&p. •] eac ^ hi oncnapen hu gehmphce upe
Cob on Sa&m aeppan cibum ]?a anpalbap 3 fa picu pette. pe ylca
pej>e jyc peccenbe ip. 3 penbenbe s&lce anpalbap "j aelc pice co
hip pillan. hu jehc anjm fa tpa bypig haepbon. ^ hu gelice
hiopa bajap paapan. se^f ep ge on 6a3m jobe. ge on Saem ypele ; •
He hiopa anpalba enbap paepan ppi'Se unjehce. pop^on f e Baby-
lonie mib mom^pealbum unpihcum ^ pipen-lupcum. mib hiopa
cymnje. buton aelcpe hpeope. hbbenbe paepon. ^ hi hie na je-
becan nolban. aep^on hi Urob mib f aem maepcan bipmepe jeeab-
mebbe. fa he hi a&Jfpep benam. ge hiopa cynmjep
heopa anpalbep ; . 'Kc Roman e mib hiopa cpiptenan cynmje
Eobe feopienbe paepan. ^ he him pop t5aem a&j^pep jeutJe.
hiopa kynmjep. ge heopa anpalbep |« Fop^aem magan hiopa
pppaece jemec^ian fa f e Saep cpipcenbomep pi^epphtan pinb.
SYF hy jemunan pilla'S hiopa ylbpena uncla&nneppa. y hiopa pol-
gepmnan. •] hiopa mom^pealban unpibbe. •] hiopa unmikpunje.
fe hi to Eobe haepbon. je eac him pelpum betpeonum. -f hi
nane milbheopcneppe ^5uphceon ne mihcan. sepfton him pio
boc op faem cpipcenbome com. fe hi nu ppiftopc caelaS ;•
II.
Ymb peopep hunb pincpa. •] ymb peopeptij. f aep f e Tpoiana.
Epeaca buph. apepceb paep. peapS Romebuph jecimbpeb. ppam-
cpam jebpo^pan. Remup } Romulup. ~\ paSe aepcep San. Ro-
mulup hiopa an^in jeunclaenpobe mib hip bpo^op plege. ~) eac<
fy^San mib hip hipunge. "3 hir jepepena. hpylce bypena he faej.
•rellenbe paep. mib faem fe hi Daeban Sabne fa buphpape. f h
ALFRED'S DEOSira.jC^ I j 1 293
years, when Alaric, her count, and king of the Goths, would
deprive her of her power, and yet she continued after that
unbroken in her dominion. Although both of these cities,
through God's secrets, were thus distinguished ; first Babylon
by her own prefect, when he deceived her king, so also
Rome, when her own count and king of the Goths would
deprive her of power ; yet God, on account of their Chris-
tianity, would not permit it, not for their Ca3sars nor on their
own account : but they are now yet ruling with their Chris-
tianity and their power, and with their Caesars.
This I say now because I am desirous that those may un-
derstand who inveigh against these times of our Christianity,
what mercy there was after Christianity was, and how mani-
fold was the world's calamity before that was ; and also that
they may know how fitly our God in those early times
established those dominions and those realms, the same who
yet establishes them and turns every power and every realm
to his will ; how like a beginning those two cities had, and
how alike were their days, both in good and in evil : but
the ends of their power, however, were very unlike ; for the
Babylonians, with their manifold unrighteousnesses, and sin-
ful lusts, together with their king, were living without any
repentance, so that they would not amend before God ha'd
humbled them with the greatest ignominy, when he deprived
them both of their king and their power. But the Romans,
with their Christian king, served God, so that he granted
them both their king and their power. Therefore may those
moderate their speech who are adversaries of Christianity, if
they will recollect the uncleanness of their forefathers, and
their calamitous wars, and their manifold dissensions, and
their cruelty, which they had to God and also between them-
selves, so that they would perform no mercy, before the atone-
ment of Christianity came, which they now vehemently re-
proach,
II.
About four hundred and forty years after the destruction
of Troy, the Greek city, Rome was built by two brothers,
Remus and Romulus, and Romulus soon afterwards denied
their undertaking with his brother's slaughter, and also after-
wards with the marriage of himself and his associates. What
examples he there set, when they asked the Sabine towns-
206 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
him ;$eu(5an heopa bohtpa him to pipum to haebbenne. 3 hi
heom paepa bena poppypnbon. hi ppa-Seah hiopa unftancep mih
ppicbome hi begeaton. mib paem pe hi baeban ^ hi him pylptan
moptan. ^ hi hiopa gobum pe y$ blotan meahton. pa hi him
paep getrSoban. pa haepban hi him to pipum. ^ hiopa paebepum
eft agypan nolban ; • Ymb paet peapS j) maepte gepm moni£
jeap. 08 pe hi popneah mib-ealle popplegene ~] poppopbene
po&pan on aejfepe healpe. ty hi mib nanum J)in^e ne mihtan
jepemebe pyp^an. s&p ^apa Romana pip. mib hiopa cilbum.
ypnenbe psejian jemang; J>am jepeohte. *] hypa pa&bepum psepon
to potum peallenbe. -j bibbenbe ^ hi. pop ftapa cilba lupan. J>aep
jepmnep pumne enbe jebyben ; . Spa peop^hce ~\ ppa milbehce
pa&p Romebuph on ppuman gehalgob mib bpoSoji blobe. "j mib
ppeopa. -3 mib Romulupep eame Numetopep. J>one he eac
opploh. ]?a he cynmjc paep. ^ hj m pj Ip py<5(5an to faam pice
Dup gebletpobe Romulup Romana pice on ppuman. mib hip
bpoSop blobe J>one peall. j mib Sapa j-peopa blobe J>a cypican.
^ mib hip eamep blobe -p pice. 3 piSSan hip agenne )~peop
to beaSe beppac. pa he hine to him appeon. ~] him gehet ^ he
hip pice piS hine bselan polbe. ^ hine unbep paem opploh ; • pe
Sa Romulup a&ptep Sypan unbeppenj Emmenpa jepinn. papa
buphpapana. pop^on J?e he Sa-^yt lytel lanb-pice haepbe.
butan pa&pe bypij anpe|- FopSon pe Romulup 3 ealle
Romepape oSpum polcum unpeople pa&pon. popSon ]>e hi on
cmhthabe paepan o%a manna nyblm^ap ; • Da hi pa ha&pbon
Eimnenj'a pa buph ymbpeten. ^ pa&p mycelne hun^ep polienbe
paepan. pa gecpseban hy. •}) him leoppe paepe. ty hi on 'Saem
yprnSum hiopa lip jeenbabe. ponne hi paet jepinn popletan.
oS5e pprS 5enaman> pi paep pa pinnenbe paepan. 06 hi 8a
buph abpaecon. "j aeptep paem pit) Sa lanbleobe on aslce healpe.
unablmnenlice pinnenbe paepan. oS hi paep ymbutan ha3p-
bon moneja bypij be^itene ; •
'Re pa cynmjap. Se aepcep Romulupepicpeban. paepan popcuo"-
pan ^ eapjjian ponne he paepe. 3 paem polcum lafipan •j
unjetaeppan. o^paet Tapcummp. pe pe aepi ymb paebon. pe
hiopa eallpa ppaco'Sopt paep. ae^pep je eaji^opt. je ppaenopt. ^;e
opepmobi japt ; • Galle papa Romana pip. pa pe he mihte. he
to ^elijpe ^enybbe. 3 hip puna ^epapobe. ^ he laej mib Latinup
pipe, Lucpetie hatte. Bputupep ppeoptop. pa hi on pypbe pae^
ALFRED'S oEOSirs.<7T L 297
men to give them their daughters for wives, and they refused
I their prayer; yet they got them against their will by treachery,
whilst they intreated their assistance that they might the
more easily sacrifice to their gods ; when they had complied
with this, they took them for wives, and would not restore them
to their fathers ! On account of that there was a very great
war for many a year, until they were almost all slain and
j destroyed on either side, so that they could not by any means
be reconciled, before the wives of the Romans with their
I children ran amongst the combatants, and fell at their fathers'
feet, and intreated, that for love of their children they would
put an end to the war. So worthily and so mildly was the
j city of Rome first hallowed with the blood of a brother and of
1 their fathers-in-law, and of Romulus' s grandfather, JSTumitor,
whom he also slew whilst he was king, and himself succeeded
to the kingdom !
Thus did Romulus at first bless the empire o Rome : the
wall with his brother's blood, and the temples with the blood of
IJ their fathers-in-law, and the kingdom with his grandfather's ;
ij and afterwards treacherously put to death his own father-in-
Ilaw, when he enticed him to him and promised to divide his
I kingdom with him, and under that [pretext] slew him. After
I this, Romulus made war against the Cseninenses, because he
| had as yet little land- dominion, but only the city. The Ro-
| mans were despised by other nations, because in their boy-
|i hood they had been slaves to others. Now when thery had
besieged the town of Ca3iiina, and were suffering greatly from
hunger, they said that they had rather end their lives in
I those miseries, than abandon the war, or accept peace. They
|then continued the war there, till they took the town, and
I after that they warred incessantly with the people of the
W country on every side, till they had acquired many cities
• thereabout.
But the kings who reigned after Romulus, were more de-
ipraved and wicked than he was, and more hateful and noxious
I to the people ; till Tarquiu, of whom we have before spoken,
I who was the most detestable of them all, the most depraved,
| the most libidinous, the proudest. He debauched all the Ro-
I man women that he could, and allowed his son to lie with
Collatinus's wife, named Lucretia, the sister of Brutus,
while they were engaged in war, although they were the most
298 KIXG ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
pon. ]>eah hi Romana bpymupce paepon co paem
pio )>a Lucpecie hy pylpe pop fiaem acpealbe> Da patic
Lacmup. hype pep. jeahpobe. 3 Bpucup. hype bpoftop. pa
poplecon hi 8a pypbe. pe hi bepican pceolban. •j pa hi ham
coman. J>a abpaep.bon hy aejpep je pone cyning. je hip punu.
je ealle $a pe paep cyne-cynnep piepan. op 8y pice mib-
ealle i • Pirn pa Romane aepcep J)sem unbeji-lacceopap jepec-
Can. pe hi Eonj-ulap heton. ^ hiopa pice heolbe. an jeap. an
man ; •
III.
^Eptep 6sem ]>e Romebuph gecimbpeb ps&p cpa hunb pmtpa
•] peopep. ]>a&c Bpucup paej* popma conpil;- Romulup. hiojia
popma cyninj. ~\ BpuCup. heopa popma conpil. pupbon emn
peftej' Romulu]' jloh hip bpotSop. ^ hip earn, •j hij* ppeop.
Bjiutuf j'loh hip pip jnina. "3 hip pipep tpegen bpo^jia. popSan
)>e hy pppsecon psec hie betepe psepe. J»s&c Romane epc heopa
cyne-cynne onpengon. ppa hy aep hs&pbon. pop ?am he hy hen
jebmban. ^ bepopan eallum fam polce mib bepman ppinjan. ~)
pyi56an mib sexum hypa heapob op-aceoppan ; • Tapcuinup pa.
]>e aep Romana cyning pa&p. appeon Tupcea cyninj him on
pilcum. Pojij-enna pa&p hacen. -p he pe ea6 mihce pinnan piS
Bpucupe. °] pi(5 eallum Romanum ', • pe )>a Bpucup jecpaeS
anpij prS ])aene cynin^. embe heopa peonbpcipe. ac him
Tapcuinup oSepne Sejn ongean penbe. Xppunpep. punu
faep opepmobijan. "3 heopa J>aep ae^pep oSepne opploh \ •
^Eptep pam Poppenna 3 Tapcuinup. pa cynmjap. embpaecan
Romebuph. "j hy eac begeacon ]?aap. jip GDutiup naepe. an man
op ]>*pe byjii^;. he hy mib hip popbum jeejpobe. pa hy hine
gepengon \ • pa pmeban hy hine mib J>am paec hy hip hanb
'bsepnbon. anne pm^ep ~] anne. ~] hine pecgan hecon. hu
pela papa manna paepe. pe pi6 ]>am cyninje Tapcume ppiSopc
piSpacen haepbe. ]m he ]>sec pecjan nolbe. pa ahpobon hi hine.
liu pela ]?a&p ppylcepa manna paepe ppylce he paep. pa paebe he
heom. psec pa&p pela papa manna paepe. ~] eac geppopen
ha&pbon paec hy oftep popleopan polban. oSSe heopa ajen lip.
o^^5e Pojipennep. paap cynmgep ] • Da paec pa Poppenna gehypbe.
he paec peel 3 paec gepinn mib-ealle poplec. pe he sep ppeo-
pmcep bpeojenbe pa&f \ •
KIXG ALFRED'S onosius. 299
illustrious of the Romans [next] to the king1. For thia
Lucretia then killed herself. When Collatinus, her hus-
band, and Brutus, her brother, heard this, they left the
-army which they were appointed to command, and when
they came home they drove both the king and his son, and
all there who were of royal race, altogether from the king-
dom. After this the Eomans appointed under-leaders, whom
they called Consuls, who should hold the government, one
year one man.
III.
After that the city of Eome had been built two hundred
and four years, Brutus was the first consul. Romulus, their
first king, and Brutus, their first consul, were equally cruel.
Komulus slew his brother, and his grandfather, and his
father-in-law ; Brutus slew his five sons and his wife's two
brothers, because they said it would be better that the Ro-
mans received their royal race again, as they had before. For
this he ordered them to be bound and scourged with rods,
before all the people, and then to have their heads cut off with
axes. Tarquin then, who had before been king of the Romans,
induced the king of the Etruscans, named Porsena, to assist
him, that he might the more easily make war against Brutus
and against all the Romans. Brutus then offered single
combat against the king for their enmity ; but Tarquin sent
against him another officer, Aruns the son of the proud
[tyrant], and each of these there slew the other. After-
wards the kings, Porsena and Tarquin, besieged Rome, and
they would also have taken it, if it had not been for Mucius,
a man of the city ; he terrified them with his words when they
had taken him prisoner. They then tortured him by burning
his hand, one finger after another, and commanded him to
say how many men there were of those who had most strongly
declared against king Tarquin. When he would not say
that, they asked him how many of such men as he was there
were ? Then said he to them, that there were many of those
men, and who had also sworn either to lose their own lives, or
to kill king Porsena. When Porsena heard that, he aban-
doned the siege, and the war altogether, which he had been
carrying on for three years.
300 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
IY.
Sam paep faet Sabmipce jepinn. 3 him "Romana faet
/pySe onbpaebenbe paepon. "j him gepetton. faet lypa an latteop
paepe fonne hypa consul. }>sene fe hy Tictatopep heton1. ^ hi
mib fam tictatope mycelne pije haepbon;- JEptep fam
Romane betpux him pylpum. fa pican menn } fa eapmpan.
mycel gepinn up-ahopan. 3 him f aet to lanjpumpe ppace come,
fsep hi f e hpa^op ne gej'emeb ne pupbon ] • On ]?am bajum
paspon fa mseptan un^ecima on Romanum. sejfep je on
hun^pe. ^e on man-cpealme. unbeji fam tpam conjailum. Tica
•j Pubha hatcon. ^ hy heopa ^epeohca fa hpile hy jepejron.
f eah hy f aep hungpep ^ faef man-cpealmej" ne mihtan. ac fa
memjpealbaii yPm^a f3- pepi^an bujih j^y^e bpoci^eiibe
paepon;. ^Ep6am fe peo pol geenbob pa&pe. Ueijencej- j
Gcpufci. fa leoba. pit) Romanum gepmn up-ahopon. ~] piS fam
Cpam conjnlum. GOapcupe ~] Ijneafe. ^ fa Romane him onjean
popan. 3 heom becpeonum a'Sap jeppojion. f aet heopa nan nolbe
epc eapb jepecan. butan hi pije haepbon> Ds&p paepon
Romane ppa ppy^e poppla^ene. feah hy pge haepbon. f sec hyjia
an conpul. fe heom to lape peapft. poppoc faene cpiumphan.
fe him man onjean bpohte. fa he hampeapb paep. *] paebe f aet
hy haepbon bet gepyphte ^ him man mib heope onjean come,
fonne mib tpmmphan;- Daet hy tpmmphan heton. ^ paep
f onne hy hpylc pole mib gepeohte opepcumen haepbon. fonne
paep heopa feap. faet pceolbon ealle hypa penatap cuman
ongean hypa conpulap. aepcep fam ^epeohte. pyx mila ppam
faepe bypig. mib cpaet-paene. mib jolbe ^ mib jimptanum
jeppaetpebum. •] hi pceolbon bpingan peopep-petep. tpa hpite.
fonne hi hampeapb popon. fonne pceolbon hypa penatap piban
on cpaet-psenum piS-aeptan fam conpulum. 3 fa menn bepopan
him bpypan ^ebunbene. f e f aep jepanjene paepon. faet heopa
maepfia pceolbon f e f pymhcpan beon ; • Sc fonne hy hpylc
pole butan jepeohte on hypa ^epealb gen\bbon. fonne hy
hampeapb paepon. fonne pceolbe him man bpin^an onjean. op
faspe bypi^. cpaat-paen. pe paep mib peolppe jejypeb. "j a&lcep
cynnep peopep-petep peop an. heopa conpulum to maepfte!-
Daet paep fonne tpiumpheum ; • Romulup ^epetce aepept
manna penatum. fast paep an hunb rnanna. feah heopa septep
KING ALFEED'S oBosius.T* Jf- 801
IT.
After that was the Sabine war, which the Romans greatly
dreaded, and decreed that they would have one leader, who
should be above their consul, whom they called a Dictator, and
with that dictator they had a great victory. After this the
Eomans among themselves, the rich men and the poorer,
raised a great war, and which would have come to a length-
ened vengeance, if they had not quickly been reconciled. In
those days were the greatest misfortunes on the'Eomans, both
by famine and pestilence, under the two consuls, called Titus
and Publius ; and they rested the while from their battles,
though they could not from the hunger and the plague ; but
these manifold miseries continued to afflict the distressed city.
Before the pestilence was ended, the Veientes and Etrusci
raised up war against the Eomans, and against the two con-
suls, Marcus and Gneus ; and the Eomans marched against
them, and swore oaths among themselves that none of them
would again seek their country, unless they had victory.
There were the Eomans so terribly slaughtered, though they
had the victory, that the one of their consuls who was left
refused the triumph, which was brought to meet him, when
he returned homewards, and said that they would have done
better to have met him with lamentation than with a triumph.
What they called a triumph, that was when they had over-
come any people in war, it was then their custom that after
the war all their senators should meet their consuls six
miles from the city with a chariot, ornamented with gold
and precious stones, and should bring four-footed [cattle],
two of them white, when they proceeded homewards : then
should their senators ride in chariots behind the consuls,
and drive before them the men that had been captured,
that their glory might be the grander. But when they
had reduced any nation under their power without fighting,
when they were on their return home, then they were
met by a chariot ornamented with silver, and one of every
kind of four-footed cattle, in honour to their consuls.
That then was a triumph. Eomulus, first of men, esta-
blished the senate, that was a hundred men, although after a
302 KING ALFEED'S oEosiua.
pyppce paepe J>peo hunb | • Da paepon pymble b mnan Rome-
bypig pumgenbe. to San -p hy heopa paeb-J>eahcepap paepon. 3
conpulap petton. *] paet ealle Romane him hyppumebon. 3 J>aec
hi bepipcon call -p hcgenbe peoh unbep anum hpope. )>aet hi
begeaton. o'SSe on japole. oSSe on hepgunge. -J5 hy hit pyftSan
mihton him eallum gemaenehce to nytce jebon. pam )>e J^aep
buton feopbome paapon ; • Da conj-iila]*. ]>e on J>am bagum
J>aet Sabmij'ce gepmn unbeppenjon. j?e man het call hypa cynn
Fabiane. jrop^an hit ealpa Romana senlicoj-c pgej- -j cjia&pc-
ejoft | • Nu gyt to baeje hit ij* on leoSum junjen. hpylcne
bemm hi Romanum gepeollan ; • Gac }>am manega ea pynbon
be nanian nemnebe. pop J>am jepeohte. ^ eac ]>a jeata. ]>e hi
ut op Romebypij to ]?am ^epeohte pepbon. him man a gepceop
]>a naman J>e hy jyt habbatS1 ; • ^Epcep ]?am Romane cupon
J>peo hunb cempena ~] pyx cempan. ^ pceolbon to anpige
^anjan pi6 ppa pela Sabina. j jecpupebon ^ hi mib heopa
cpaeptum pceolbon pije gepeohtan. ac 8abmi. mib heopa
peappum. hi ealle ])3&p opplo^on. butan anum. pe ^ la^ppell aet
ham jebobobe ! • Ngep na on Romane anum. ac ppa hit on
fceop-leoSum punjen ip. ]?aet jeonb ealne mibbanjeapib paepe
capu. *) ^epmn. j e^e:-
Eipup. Peppa cyninj. ]>e pe aep bepopan paebon. fa hpile
])e 8abim j Romane punnon on ]?am pept-baele. J>a hpile
pann he ae^fep je on SciSSije ^e on Inbie. oS he haepbe
maepc ealne p/aene eapt-bael apej't. y aeprep ])am pypbe
^elaebbe to Babylonia. J>e ]>a pelejpe paep )>onne semj o^ep
buph. ac hine Danbep peo ea lanje jelecte paep opep-paepelbep.
pop6am fe ]?aep pcipa naepon!- paet ip eallpa pejjpcpa
paecepa maepc. bucan (Buppate ; - Da jebeotobe an hip pejena
j) he mib punbe J»a ea opeppajian polbe mib tpam tyncenum.
ac hine pe ptpeam popbpap ; • Da jebeotobe Eipup ty he hip
J>ejen on hype ppa geppecan polbe. ]>a he ppa gpam peapS on
hip mobe. *] piS pa ea jeboljen. pa&t hi mihton pipmenn be
heopa cneope opeppaban. ]>83p heo a&p paep nyjan mila bpab.
]>onne heo plebe ps&p;- Pe J>aec mib bsebum jelaepte. 3 hi
up-poplec on peopep hunb ea. 3 on pyxtij ea. 3 py^San mib hip
pypbe J>aep opeppoji -j aeptep ]>am 6uppace ]>a ea. peo ip maepc
eallpa peppcpa paetepa. -3 ip ypnenbe Sujih mibbepeapbe Baby-
lonian buph. he hy eac mib* jebelpe on memje ea upp-poplec.
"j j'yb'San mib eallum hip polce on ]>aepe ea-janj. on pa buph
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. T , If 303
time there were three hundred of them. These al *ays dwelt
within the city of Eome, that they might be their counsellors,
and appoint the consuls, and that all the Eomans might obey
them, and that they might have the care of all the treasure
under one roof, which they got either by taxes or from plun-
der, that they might afterwards employ it in common for the
benefit of all who were not in a state of slavery. The consuls,
who in those days undertook the Sabine war, were of the race,
all of which wrere called the Fabian, because it was the most
eminent of all the Eomans, and the most strenuous. Now yet
to this day it is sung in ballads what a loss they were to the
Eomans. Many rivers, too, are named after their name, on
account of that contest, and also the gates, out of which they
went from Eome to that war, have ever since borne the names
which they yet have. After this the Eomans chose three
hundred and six champions, who should go to combat so many
Sabines, trusting that they writh their might would gain the
victory ; but the Sabines, with their stratagems, slew them all
save one, who announced the sad tidings at home. Not alone
among the Eomans, but, as it is sung in poems, throughout
all the world, there was care, and war, and terror.
Cyrus, the king of the Persians, as we before said, while
the Sabines and Eomans were warring in the west, was at
the same time warring both in Scythia and in India, until
he had laid waste almost all the eastern parts, and afterwards
led an army to Babylon, which was then more opulent than
any other city ; but the river Gyndes long prevented his
crossing, because there were no ships there. That is of all
fresh waters the greatest except the Euphrates. Then one
of his officers declared that he would cross the river by swim-
ming with two " tyncens," but the stream carried him away.
Cyrus then threatened that he would so avenge his officer on
it (as he was so exasperated in his mind and angry with the
river), that women might w^ade over it, [the water only reach-
ing] to their knees, where it before was nine miles broad, when
it was flood. That he made good by deeds, and drew it off
in four hundred and sixty rivers, and then with his army
crossed over, and afterwards the river Euphrates, which is the
greatest of all fresh waters, and runs through the middle of
the city of Babylon: this he also by digging drew oft' into
many rivers, and afterwards with all his folk proceeded in
30i KINO ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
papenbe paep. "j hi jepaehce;. Spa ungelypebhc if aenjjure
men "p to pecganne. hu aenij man mihce ppylce buph
gepypcan. ppylce j-eo paep. oSSe ept abpecan ; .
Nembpafi pe enc ongan aepepc cimbpian Babiloma. 3 Ninup
pe cynmj aepcep him. 3 Samepamip hip cpen hi geenbabe aepcep
him on mibbepepbum hype pice> 8eo buph paep jecimbpab
on pilbum lanbe. 3 on ppifte emnum. 3 heo paep ppiSe paejep on
Co locianne. j heo paep ppiSe pihce peopeppcyce. ~\ ]?aep peallep
mycelnypp *] ps&ptnyjy ip un^elypeblic Co pecgenne. -^ ip ^ he ip
L. elna bpab. y II. hunb elna heah. 3 hip ymbjanj ip hunb-
peopancij mila. ^j peopeSan bael anpe mile. *] he ip gepophc op
cijelan. -3 op eop$-cypepan. ^ ymbucan ]?one peall ip peo maepca
bic. on )>am ip ypnenbe pe unjepochcorca pcpeam. ^ piSucan
Sam bice ip jepophc cpe^pa elna heah peall. } bupan ]?am
mapan pealle. opep eallne }?one ymbjonj. he ip mib pca&nenum
pi jhupum bepojihc ; . Seo ylce buph Babylonia, peo J>e msepc
psep -j aepepc ealpa bup^a. peo ip nu laepc 3 pepcapc. Nu peo
buph ppylce ip. ]>e sep peep eallpa peopca psepcapc ^ punbophcof c.
~] msepapt. jelice ^ heo paepe Co bypne apcealb eallum mibban-
eajibe. ^ eac ppylce heo pylp pppecenbe py co eallum mancynne.
~] cpe^e. Nu ic )mp jehpopen com. 3 apej-jepicen. hpaec je
ma^on on me onjican j oncnapan. •}> je nanuhc mib eop nab-
ba^ psepcep ne pcpan^ep -pee J>uphpuman mse^e;.
On ]>am bagum J>e Eipup. Peppa cynj. Babylonia abpaec. ]>a
paep Epoepup. pe Li'Sa cyninj. mib p)rjibe jepapen Babylomum co
pulcume. ac ]?a he pipce ^ hy him on nanum pulcume beon ne
mihce. 3 -p peo buph abpocen paep. he him hampeapb pepbe. co
hip ajenum pice. 3 him Eipup paep aepcep-pyhgenbe o5 he hine
jepenj -j opploh;. Onb nu upe cpipcene Romana bepppycS.
•^ hype peallap pop ealbunge bpopman. nalaep na poptSam ]>e hio
mib pophepjunge ppa jebypmepab paepe. ppa Babylonia paep. ac
heo poji hype cpij'Cenbome nu jjrc ip gepcylb. •p aej^ep je neo
pylp. je hype anpealb. ip ma hpeopenbe pop ealbbome. }>onne op
aeni^ep cymngep niebe * •
./Epcep ^5am Eipup jelaebbe pypbe on Sci^Sie. ~\ him faep an
^ionj cyning mib p>rpbe onjean pop. 3 hip mobop mib him.
Damapip ; • Da Eipup pop opep ^ lanb- jemaepe. opep ]?a ea pe
hacce Spaxip. him paep pe geonja cyninj; paep opep-paepelbep
poppyfinan myhce. ac he popSam nolbe. py he mib hip polce
^ecpupabe -p he hine beppican mihce. py&San he binnan pam je-
KING ALFRED'S onosius. I.Lf. 305
;he bed of the river on to the city and took it. So incredible
is it for any man to say how any man could build such a city
as that was, or again capture it !
Nimrod the giant first began to build Babylon, and Ninus
:he king after him, and Semiramis, his queen, finished it after
lim in the middle of her kingdom. The city was built on
the campaign land and on very level [ground], and it was
very fair to look on, and was very exactly quadrangular, and
the magnitude and strength of the wall is incredible to say,
that is, that it is fifty ells broad, and two hundred ells high,
and its circuit is seventy miles and one seventh of a mile,
and it is wrought of bricks and bitumen, and round the wall
is an immense ditch, in which runs a most unfordable stream ;
and without the ditch a wall is constructed two ells high ;
and above the great wall, over all the circumference, it is
beset with stone towers. This same city of Babylon, which
was the greatest and first of all cities, is now the least and
most desolate. Now is the city that whilom was the strong-
est and most wondrous, and greatest of all works, like as it'
it were set as an example to all the earth, and also as if it
were speaking to all mankind, and saying: " Now I am thus
fallen and passed away, something ye may learn and know
from me : that ye have nothing with yourselves that is firm or
strong that can continue."
In those days that Cyrus the king of Persia took Babylon,
Croesus the king of Lydia marched with an army to aid
Babylon. But when he found that he could be of no help
to them, and that the city was taken, he turned homewards
to his own kingdom, and Cyrus followed him until he took
him prisoner, and slew him. And now our Christian Rome
announces that her walls are decaying from age, not because
she has been so maltreated by hostile ravages as Babylon
was ; for she, for her Christianity, is yet shielded, so that
both herself and her power are falling more from age than
by the violence of any king.
' After that Cyrus led an army into Scythia, and there a young
king encountered him, together with his mother, Tomyris.
When Cyrus marched over the frontier, over the river called
the Araxis, the young king could there have prevented his
crossing, but he would not, because he trusted that with his
folk he might circumvent him, after he was within the con-
306 KINO ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
maepe paepe. j pic-ptopa name ;• Sc fa Eipup geaxpobe •f hine
pe jeonja cyninj faep pecan polbe. 3 eac •]? fam polce pelbpyne 3
uncuSe paepon pmep bpencap. he popf am op f aepe pic-pcope apop |
on ane bigle ptope. 3 faep beaeptan poplet call f faep hftep paep J
ppetep. ^ J?a pe Jionja cymnj fpi^5op myccle penenbe paej- f hy ]>&-
non pleonbe paepon. ]?onne hy senijne ppicbom cySan boppcan. ]>a
• Jiy hie f a&p j-pa a&menne jemecton. hy ]?8ep fa mib mycelpe bh&
nepfe. bucon gemecgunge. ^ pin bpmcenbe psepon. 08 hi heojia
pylppa lytel gepealb ha&fbon. he fa Eipup hy fa&p befypobe. -3 mib-
ealle Of floh. ^ jy^San paej* jrapenbe fsep fasf cyninjej- mobop mib
f am tpam bselum faej* polcep pumgenbe paep. fa he pone f pibban
bael mib fam cyninje beppicen ha&p be : • peo fa. f eo cpen Dame-
pip mib mycelpe gnopnunge ymb f aep cynmgep pleje. hype puna.
Sencenbe paep. hu heo hit jeppecan myhce. ^j f eac mib baebum
jelaepce. -3 hype pole on tpa cobaelbe aejfep je pipmen je paep.
neb-men, pop&an f e f aep pipmen peohca^. ppa pame ppa paepneb.
men. hio mib f am healpan ba&le. bepopan f am cyninje papenbe
pa&p. ppylce heo pleonbe paepe. oS hio hine gelaebbe on an my eel j
plaeb. j pe healpa bael paep Eipupe aepcep-pyhjenbe. faep peapS I
Eipup opplejen. •j cpa1 Supenb manna mib him • • 8eo cpen her I
fa fam cynmge ^ heapob op-aceoppan. •] bepyppan on anne
cylle. pe paep apylleb mannep blobep. *] fup cpaeS. Du f e fyppc*
enbe paepe mannep blobep xxx. pmcpa. bpmc mi Sine pylle;-
fam f e Romebuph jecimbpab paep tpa hunb pmtj
e Eambip penj to Peppa pice. Eipupep punu. pe
fan f e he 6jypte opeppon. jebybe f nan haeSen cynj aep ge
ne boppte. f aet paep ty he heopa gob-jylbum eallum pifpoc.
aaptep fam mib-ealle topeapp ;• ^Eptep him pixabe Dapiup. |
pe apenbe ealle Xppipige -j Ealbei ept to Peppeum. f e aep ppam |
him gebogene paepon ; . ^Eptep fam he pann on SciSSie. aejf ep I
,Xe pop Eipupep plege. faep cynm^ep hip maejep. je eac popSam ;
);e him man faep pipep poppypnbe2 ; • pip hepep paep peopon hunb i
l>ujenba, fa he on ScrSSie pop. hpaefepe fa SoSSie uolbon hine
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. 307
3, and hj*d fixed his camp. But when Cyrus was informed
,hat the young king would seek him there, and also that po-
rtions of wine were uncommon and unknown to the people,
le marched away from his encampment into a secret place,
md left behind all that was delicate and sweet ; so that the
-oung king imagined much more that they were fleeing thence,
han that they durst plan any deceit. When they found it'
o deserted there, they then with great joy drank the wine
without moderation, until they had little power over them-
selves. Cyrus then there entrapped them, and slew the
whole of them, and then marched to where the king's mother
vith two parts of the people was staying, when he had de-
ceived the third part with the king. She then, the queen
Tomyris, was with great lamentation thinking of the death
of the king her son, [and] how she might avenge it, and also
made that good by deeds, and divided her people in two,
)oth women and males ; because there the women fight the
same as the males. She [then] with the half part went
jefore the king as if she were fleeing, until she had led him
on to a great swamp, while the [other] half was following
. There was Cyrus slain and two [hundred] thousand
uen with him. The queen then commanded the king's head
to be cut oft' and cast into a leathern vessel that was filled
with man's blood, and thus said : " Thou who hast been
bursting after man's blood for thirty years, drink now thy
ill.
Y.
After the city of Eome had been built two hundred and
six years, Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, succeeded to the king-
dom of Persia, who, when he had conquered Egypt, did what
no heathen king before durst do, that was, that he disowned
all their idols, and afterwards totally destroyed them. After
him Darius reigned, who reduced all the Assyrians and Chal-
deans again under the Persians, who had previously with-
drawn from them. After that he made war on Scythia, both
on account of the slaying of Cyrus his kinsmen, and also be-
cause they had refused him the wife [he desired]. His army
was seven hundred thousand when he marched to Scythia
BOS ZTNG ALFEED'S OROSITTS.
gepecan to polc-gepeohte. ac f onne hy geonb *J? lanb topapene
pa&pon. hi f onne hy plocmselum plogon ; • Da paepon fa Pejipe
mib fam ppyfte geegpobe. } eac onbpebon •}) man fa bpycje
poppypcean polbe. f e set fam jemaepe paep. -f> hy pyfiSan nyptan
hu hy fanon comon;. pe fa pe cyng. aeptep fam fe hip pole
pprSe popplejen paej\ ]>86p poplec hunb-eahcacij fuj-enba be-
a&fcan him. ^ hy fsep ]?a-^yc len^ pmnan j-ceolban. -3 he j-ylp
fanon jepac on 6a Isejyan Spam. -3 hy jrophepjobe. -3 j*y$t5ad
on GDaecebomam. 3 on lonaj". Epeca leobe. -3 J?a hi butu
opephep^obe. ~] pop pySSan pypp on Epecap. ^ gepm up-ahop
piS Schemenpep. popftam ]?e hie OOseceboniam on pultume
paepon • . 8ona ppa Sthemenpe pipcen ^ Dapmp hy mib je-
peohce pecan polbe. hi acupon enbleopan Jmpenb manna, j him
onjean popan. 3 J>one cymnj sec J)aepe bune meccon J)e mon ,
hsec GOopocchome \ • peopa lacceop psep hacen pceppeup. pe >•
paep mib hip bsebum pnelpa ponne he maegenep haepbe. pe £e-
pojihce mycelne bom on 8am gepeohte. J>a peapS tpa hunb
J>upenba Peppea opplejen. ^ 8a o^pe jeplymeb ;. Da epc haepbe
he pypbe gegabepob on Peppeum. j -^ ppecan ))ohte. ])a jepop I
he:-
!Sptep him penj hip punu to Peppea pice. Xepxip. ~] -p jepm
ty hip psebep aptealbe. he bijelhce pop fam pip geap pcipa
pophce. •] pultum je^abepobe *. - Da paep mib him an ppseccea
op Loecebemoma. fipeca buph. pe paap haten Damepa^. j-e -fi
pacn to hip cy^SSe jebobabe. 3 hit on anum bpebe appat. •]
pySSan mib peaxe bepophte!- Xefixip. fa he an Epecap pop.:
haepbe hip agenep polcep vm. c. pupenba. ~j he haepbe op j
oSpum 'Seobum abeben 1111. c. M. ~] he haepbe pcipa p-aepa
mycclena bulmuna an. M. J n. hunb. ~] J»aepa pcipa paepon
in. M. ]>e heopa mete baepon. ~] eallep hip hepep paep ppylc
un^emet f mon ea$e cpe^an mihte ty hit punbop paejie hjniji
hy lanbep haepbon. ^ hy mihton on-jepician. oSSe paetepep -^
h^ mihton him p-uppt op-abpincan. ppa-feah peo ungemetlicej
menigeo faep polcep paep fa yftpe to opeppmnenne fonne heo j
up py nu to gepimenna oSSe to ^elypanne ;• Leom^a. Lsecefte-;
moma cymnj. Epeca buph. haepbe 1111. fupenb manna, fa he
onjean Xepxip pop. on anum neappan lanb-pieptene. *] him
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. J , £ 309
however, the Scythians would not engage with him in a
general battle, but when they (the Persians) were dispersed
over the country, they then slew them in swarms. The Per-
sians were thereby greatly terror-stricken, and also dreaded
lest they should destroy the bridge which was on the boun-
dary, so that they might not know how to escape from
thence. The king then, after his people had been much
slaughtered, left there eighty thousand behind him, that they
might yet longer carry on the war there, and himself departed
thence into the Lesser Asia, and laid it waste, and afterwards
into Macedonia and Ionia, Greek nations, and ravaged both
of them ; and afterwards went further into Greece, and raised
a war against the Athenians, because they had aided the
Macedonians. As soon as the Athenians knew that Darius
would make war on them, they chose eleven thousand men,
and marched against him, and found the king at the moun-
tain that is called Marathon. Their leader was named
Theseus, who was bolder in his deeds than [in proportion to]
the power he had. He gained great glory in that battle :
there were two hundred thousand Persians slain, and the
others put to flight. When again he (Darius) had gathered
an army in Persia, and would avenge it (his defeat), he died.
After him his son Xerxes succeeded to the kingdom : and
for the war that his father had undertaken, he secretly for
five years wrought ships and gathered aid. There was with
him an exile from Lacedsemon, a Greek city, who was named
Demaratus, who announced that device to his country, and
wrote it on a board, and then covered it over with wax.
Xerxes, when he marched against Greece, had of his own
people eight hundred thousand, and of other nations he had
demanded four hundred thousand ; of ships he had of those
great " dulmuns " a thousand and two hundred, and of ships
that bore their food there were three thousand ; and of his
whole army there was such an immense number, that it might
easily be said, that it was a wonder where they could have
land on which they might encamp, or water that they might
quench their thirst; yet was the immense multitude of
people more easy to overcome than it may now be for us
to count or to believe. Leonidas, king of Lacedemonia, a
Greek city, had four thousand men when he marched against
Xerxes in a narrow land-pass, and there withstood him with
310 KING ALFRED'S OROSIFS.
faep mib gepeohte piftptob ]• Xepxip ty oi5ep pole ppa pp:8e pop-
peah. ^ he axobe hpaet pceolbe aet ppa lyclum pepobe mapa
piltum. butan fa ane fe him f aep aep abolgen paep on fam
aeppan gepeohte. tyte paep on OOepothoma faepe bune. ac
gepette fa men on aenne tpuman. f e mon heopa magap aep on
•5am lanbe ploh. } pipte ^ hy polbon jeopn pulpan beon faepe
ppace fonne o8pe men. 3 hy ppa paepon 08 hy faep ealle
maept opplegene pupbon * • Xepxip ppiSe him fa opftmcenbum
•]) hip pole ppa popplejen paep. he pylp fa faep topop. mib
eallum fam maegene fe he faepto gelaeban myhte. j faep
peohtenbe paepon in. bagap. 08 faepa Peppea paep unjemetlic
pael geplegen. pe het fa faet paepte lanb utan ymbpapan. f>
him man pceolbe on ma healpa on-peohtan fonne on ane ' •
Leom<5a ty fa geaxpobe. ^ hine mon ppa befpybian polbe. he
fanon apop. ~] hip pypbe jelaebbe on an oftep paeptpe lanb.
3 faep gepunobe 06 niht. 3 him ppam apapan het ealle fa
buphpape. fe he op oftpum lanbe him to pultume abeben
haepbe. ^ hi heom gepunbe bup^an. pop^am he ne ufte ^ aemj
ma polca pop hip finjum poppupbe. fonne he pylp mib hip
agenpe f eobe. "Re he fup paep pppecenbe "j ^eompienbe. Nu
pe untpeogenbhce pitan ^ pe upe agen lip poplaetan pcolan. pop
fam ungemethcan peonbpcipe f e upe ehtenbe on pynbon. uton
feah-hpaeSepe acpaeptan. hu pe heojia an fyppa mhta majan
ma&pt beppican. j up pylpum betpt popb 3 lanjpumapt aet
upum enbe jepypcan \ • pu mycel ^ ip to pecjenne. "pte
Leoni^a mib vi. c. manna, vi. c. M. ppa jebypmpabe. pume
opploh j pume jeplymbe'-
Xepxip paep fa aet tpam cyppum on fam lanbe ppa gepcynb
mib hip opmaetum menijeo. he f a-^yt fpibban pi^e paep pilni-
enbe mib pcip-pypbe. ^ he faep gepmnep mihte mape jeppemman.
^j him lonap. Epeca leobe. on pultum geppeon. f eah hi aep opep
heopa pillan him to-gecypbon. "j hy him geheton. ^ hi ^
jepeoht aepept mib him pylpum ftuphteon polbon. feah hi him
ept pacen jelaeptan. fa hy on fam pae peohtenbe paep on;-
Themiptoclep hatte Sthemenpa latteop. hy paepon cumen
LeomSan to pulcume. feah hy aet fam aeppan jepeohte him
ne myhton to-cuman[- 8e Themiptoclep jemyn^abe lonap
J>sepe ealban paeh^e f e Xepxip him to jepopht ha&pbe. hu he
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. -IT, j~ 311
battle. Xerxes so greatly despised the other folk, that he
asked why against so little an army there should be more
force besides those alone who had before been exasperated
against them in the former battle, that was on the hill of
Marathon ? and placed those men in one body, whose relatives
had before been slain in that country, knowing that they
would naturally be fuller of revenge than other men. And
they were so, until almost all of them were there slain.
Xerxes then sorely vexed that his people had been so
slaughtered, proceeded himself with all the force he could
lead thither, and Avas fighting there for three days, until there
was a great slaughter made of the Persians. He then com-
manded them to make a circuit round the pass, that they
(the enemy) might be attacked on more sides than one.
Leonidas then found that they would thus surround him,
[and] marched from thence, and led his army into another
stronger place, and there continued till night, and com-
manded all the citizens, that he had called to his aid from
another land, to depart from him, that they might safely
secure themselves ; for he would not allow any more people
to perish for his sake, than himself with his own nation. But
he was thus speaking and groaning : " Now we undoubtedly
know that we shall lose our own lives on account pf the
exceedingly great enmity entertained by our persecutors.
Yet let us devise how we one of these nights may most de-
ceive them, and for ourselves, acquire at our end the best
and most lasting renown." How wonderful it is to say,
that Leonidas with six hundred men so maltreated six hun-
dred thousand, slaying some, some putting to flight !
Thus was Xerxes, on two occasions, with his enormous
multitude, so disgraced in that land ; yet he was still desirous,
a third time, with a naval force, of prosecuting the contest, and
of alluring the lonians, a Greek nation, to aid him ; although
they before, against their will, had turned to his side ; and
they promised him that they would first settle the conflict by
themselves, although they afterwards acted guilefully towards
him, when fighting at sea. Themistocles was the name of
the Athenian leader. They had come to the assistance of
Leonidas, although at the first battle they were not able to
come to him. Themistocles reminded the [onians of the old
enmity that Xerxes had exercised towards them, how he had
31 KING ALFKED'S OROSIUS.
hy mib pophepjunje. •j mib heopa maga plihtum. on hip
gepealb genybbe> pe baeb hi eac •}) hy gemunbon faepa
ealbena tpeopa. ~] faep unapimeblican ppeonbpcipep. fe hi
•s&jfep haepbon. ge to Sthemenpum £e to Laecebemomum. aep
..on ealb-bagum. 3 hi bibbenbe paep -J) hy mib pume peapa-
ppence ppom Xepxe f am cyninge pume hpile apenbe. •}> hy ~\
Laecebemome moptan piS Peppum faep gepinnep )iimne enbe
jepypcan. 3 hy him faepe bene jetigCebon/ Da f a Peppe
ty jepapon. ^ him fa ppambugan. fe hi betpt getpeopbon. f
him pceolbe pige jepeohtan. hi pylpe eac pleonbe paep on. "J
heopa, faep peapft pela opplegen. ^ abpuncen. 3 jepanjen;-
Xepxip fegen paep haten GOapftomup. pe hme paep geoprie
laepenbe. ty he ma hampeapb pope, f onne he faep lenj bibe.
f y laep aenegu unjef paepnepp on hip a^enum pice ahapen pupbe.
•j cpae6 •}> hit jepipenhcpe paepe. -p he ty jepinn him betsehte.
mib f am pultume f e faep to lape f a-gyt: paep. lenj to pinnenne.
•j paebe ^ hit f am cynje laeppe ebpit paepe. gip f am polce buton •
him fa-^yt mipppeope. ppa him aep bybe \- Se cyning fa Xepxip
ppic5e gelypeblice hip f e^ene jehypbe. "j mib pumum baele hip i
pultume f anon apop ; • Da he fa hampeapb to faepe ic com.
f e he aepi peptpeapb het fa opepmetan bpic(t;e mib ptane opep-
jepypcan. hip pige to tacne. f e he on f am pi^e Suphteon 'Sohte.
fa paej peo ea to San plebe. ^ he ne myhte to faepe bpycje
cuman ;• Da paep fam cynge ppi^e anje on hip mobe. f na^aep
ne he mib hip pultume naep. ne ^ he opep fa ea cuman ne
mihte. to-eacan fam he him paep ppifte onbpaebenbe. ^ him hip
pynb paepon aeptep-pyhgenbe. him fa to-coman pipcepe. 3
uneafte hme aenne opep-bpohte ; • pu liob fa maeptan opep-
metto. "3 ^ maepte anjmn on ppa heanlice opepmetto geny-
Sepabe. f pefe him aep gefuhte. ^ him nan pae piShabban nei
mihte. "J) he hme nub pcipum 3 mib hip pultume ap^'llan ne«
mihte. ty he ept paep bibbenbe anep lytlep tpojep set anum
eapman men. ^ he mihte hip peoph genepian >
GDopSomup. Xepxip f ejn. poplet fa pcipa. f e hy on-psepenbe
paepon. j pop to anpe bypij on Boetium. Epeca lonbe. "j hr
abpaec ; • pirn mon ^ aeptep fam hpaebhce popjealb. fa hi
mon jeplymbe. j ppit5e popploh. f eah fe Sthemenpum pe pi^e.
KING ALFRED'S OHOSIUS. 3C, 5"" 313
reduced them under his power by devastation and the
slaughter of their relatives. He, moreover, besought them
to remember their old compacts and the numberless friend-
ships that they had entertained both for the Athenians and
Lacedemonians in former days ; and he besought them that by
some artifice they would for some time desert king Xerxes,
that they and the Lacedaemonians might put an end to
this war against the Persians. And they granted them their
prayer. "When the Persians saw that they (the lonians)
withdrew from them, on wThom they had most relied that
they would gain the victory for them, they themselves also
took to flight, and many of them were there slain, and
drowned, and taken prisoners. The general of Xerxes was
named Mardonius : he earnestly advised him rather to pro-
ceed homewards than to abide longer there, lest some discord
should be stirred up in his own kingdom ; and said that it
were more fitting that he should commit the war to him
with the support that still was left there to carry it on longer.
And said that it would be a less reproach to the king, if the
people without him were to speed ill as they had done
before. The king Xerxes heard his general very implicitly,
and with a part of his forces departed from thence. When
on his way home, he came to the wrater, over which he before
had ordered the immense bridge of stone to be constructed
westward, in token of his victory, which on that march he
thought of completing, there was the water at such high
flood that he could not come to the bridge. Then was the
king very anxious in mind that he wras neither with his
army nor could cross over the water, in addition to which he
was very fearful that his foes were in pursuit of him. Then
there came a fisherman to him and with difficulty conveyed
him over alone. How God humbled the greatest arrogance,
and the greatest undertaking in such shameful arrogance,
that he to whom it before had seemed that no sea could re-
sist him, that he could not quell it with ships and with his
forces, that he was afterwards begging a little boat of a poor
man, that he might save his life !
Mardonius, Xerxes' general, then left the ships in which
they had been faring, and proceeded to a city in Bceotia, a
Greek country, and took it. Tor that he was afterwards
quickly requited, being put to flight and sorely beaten with
314 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
3 peo peapung paep Peppipcan peop co mapan pconbe pupbe.
popfton pyS<5an hi pelegpan paepon. hi eac blitSpan jepupbon;-
^Epcep 6am Xepxip peapS hip ajenpe feobe ppiSe unpypS. -j
hine hip agen ealbopman Spcabacup bep\ pobe "j opploh ; .
€ala. cpaeS Opopiup. hu lupcbaeplice ciba on pam bajum pa&pon.
fpa j-pa fa j-ec^aS pe paep cpij-cenbomep pi^epplican fynb. $
Uf nu iepcep ppylcum lanjian ma&je fpylce ]>a paejion. ]>a ppa
my eel pole, on ppa lyclum pypjre. s&c ppim polc-^epeohcum
foppupbon. -^ paep mjon x. hunb Jmpenba op Peppa anpa
anpealbe. bucon heopa pi^eppmnum. a&^pep je op SciSSmm je
op Ejiecum;. Daec cacnobe Leom^a on hip ]?am nexcan
gepeohce ^ Peppa. hpylc man-cpealm on Epeca lonbe psep. mib
momgpealbum beat5um. mib Sam }>e he pppecenbe pa&p co hip
gepepum. sec hip unbepn-gepeopbe. aep he co Sam jepeohce
pope. Ucon nu bpucan Syppep unbepn-mecep. ppa pa pceolon.
J>e heopa aepen-jypl on helle gepeccan pculon \ • Deah he fa
ppa cpaebe. he cpseS epc oSep popb. Deah ic aep paebe. -p pe co
helle pceolbon. feah ne geopcpupige ic na Lrobe. •p he up ne
maeje jepcylban co becepan cibon ponne pe nu on pynb;.
LeomSa paebe •)) pa ciba pa ypele paepon. ^ pilnabe -p him
copeapb becepan paepon. j nu pume men pecgaS ^ pa becepan
paepon ponne nu jynb ; . Nu hi ppa Cpj^ypbije pynbon. fonne
paepon ae^fep jobe je ]>a seppan. ppa pume menn nu pec^aS.
je eac pap aepcpan. ppa hi aep paebon. •] naepon na paepe on
Sance. jip hi ponne po<5 ne paebon. fonne naepon naSop jobe.
ne pa ne nu ; •
Nu pe pceolon epc. cpaeS Opopiup. hpyppan neap Roma. )>aep
pe hie aep poplaecon. poppon ic ne maeg eal pa momjpealban
ypel enbemep apeccan. ppa ic eac eallep Sypep mibbaneapbep.
na mapan baelep ne an^ice. bucon -^ce on cpam anpealbum
jepeapS. on fam aejiepcan. 3 on pam piSemepcan. ^ pynb
Romane;.
VI.
^j-^ji pam fe Romebuph jecimbpab paep n. hunb pmcpa
•3 hunb-eahcacijum. py ylcan jeape pe Sabini Romane ppa
beppicon. pa heopa in. b mb 3 pyx men. op aejSeppe healpe. co
XING ALFRED'S OKOSIUS. 315
great slaughter ; though the victory and plunder of the Per-
sian treasure proved a great scandal to the Athenians ; for
after they were wealthier they became also more luxurious.
Afterwards Xerxes became very contemptible to his own
nation ; and his own prefect, Artabanus, plotted against him
and slew him. Ah ! says Orosius, what joyous times there
were in those days, as they say who are the adversaries of
Christianity ; so that we may long after such as they were,
when so great a [number of] people in so little a space, pe-
rished in three national wars, that was ninety hundred thou-
sand men of the Persian power alone, exclusive of their ad-
versaries, both Scythians and Greeks. Leonidas, in his last
battle with the Persians, announced what a pestilence there
was in the land of Greece through the numerous deaths,
when he said to his companions at his morning-repast, be-
fore he went to battle : " Let us now eat this morning-meal
as those should who are to seek their evening-refection in
hell." Although he thus spoke, he again said other words:
" Although I before said that we shall go to hell, I yet do
not lose trust in God, that he may shield us for better times
than those in which we now are." Leonidas said that those
times were evil, and desired that better might be at hand for
them. And now some men say that those were better than
[those that] now are. Now are they so ambiguous. Then
were both good, the former times, as some men now say, and
also the later, as they formerly said, and were not grateful
for them. If they did not speak truth, then were neither
good, neither those nor [those that are] now.
Now we will again, says Orosius, return nearer to Borne,
where we before left it ; for after all I cannot recount all
the manifold evils of all this earth, as I am not acquainted
with the greater part, except that which is within two em-
pires, the first and the last ; those are the Assyrian and the
feoman.
VI.
After Borne had been built two hundred and eighty years,
in the same year that the Sabines so deluded the Bomans,
when three hundred and six of them on either side went to
KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
anpi;$e eobon. peapft mycel punbop on heopenum gepepen,
ppylc eall pe heopon bypnenbe paepe. f tacen peapS on
Romanum ppifte jepputelab. mib pam mycclan pol-bpyne mann-
cpealmep. pe him pafte paep aeptep com. ppa -p hy healpe behpene
pujibon. -j heopa tpegen conpulap. pe hi pa haepbon. ge pa sec
nexcan. pa J>e' paep to lape beon mopton. paepon to Sam
meSige. -p hy ne myhcon pa pop'Spapenan to eopSan bpinjan ;•
foona gepceji pam ealle heopa peopap piS pa hlapopbap pmnenbe
paepon. ^) hi benamon heopa heapob-ptebep. -p hi fcapitolium
hecon. •] hi miccler jepeoht ymb ty hsepbon. ot5 hi opplojon
pone aenne conpul.,pe hi ]>a nipan jepet haepbon. Seah ]>a
hlapopbap on pam enbe ha&pbon heanlicne pije. ^ pona fasp. py
aeptepan jeape. Romane punnon prS Fulpci -p pole, j paep
pupbon ppi'Se popplejene. ^ pe bael ]>e J?a3p to lape peep. peapS
on an paepten bebpipen. y paep pupbon mib hungpe acpealbe.
paep heopa pa ne gehulpe pa paep aet ham paepon. mib pam ]>e
hi gegabepoban eall moncynnep •p paep laepeb paep. "j jenamon
aenne eapmne man him to conpule. paepi he on hip aecepe eobe
•j hip j-ulh on hanba haepbe. -] pj^SSan to Fulpcipci pam lanbe
pepbon -3 hi ut-popleton ; •
yEptep ]>am paep an j;eap pullice. 'p opep eall Romana pice
peo eopt5e paep cpacienbe 3 bepptenbe. ^j aelce baej man com
unapimeblice opt to penatum. ^ him paebon ppam bupgum ^
ppam tunum on eopftan bepuncen. ^ hy pylpe paepon aelce baeg
on paepe onbpaebmje hpaenne hi on ]>a eopSan bepuncene
pupbon '• ^Eptep pam com ppa mycel hete jeonb Romane. -^
ealle heopa eopS-paeptmap. je eac hi ]*ylpe. neah poppupbon>
^Epcep pam ]?aep peapS pe maepta hun^ep \ • JEptep pam
Romane jepettan him x. conpulap. paep hi aep tpe^en haepbon.
to pan -p hi heopa ae bepiptonj- peopa an paep Elaubmp
haten. pe him paep onteonbe ealbopbom opep pa oSpe. peah hi
him paep gepapienbe naepon. ac pit) hine pmnenbe paepon. oft
pone pyppt pe hi pume to him ^ecypbon pume nolbon. ac ppa
on tpa tobaelbe. him betpeonan punnan. >p hi popjeatoli paepa
uttpa jepeohta. pe him on henbe paepon. 06 ealle pa con-
pulap tojaebepe ^ecypbon. ^ Elaubium. pone aenne. mib paglum
opbeoton. j pj^tS'fian heopa agen lanb pepjenbe paepon \-
Yjpelice. cpaeS Opopmp. 3 pceoptlice ic haebbe nu ^epaeb
hiopa m-jepmn. peah hi him paepon popneah ]7a maeptan. -3 J>a
pleoleceptan. -p eac 65na ^ ppeplene pyp tacnobe. pa hit upp
KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS. JT/ & 317
combat, there was a great wonder seen in the heavens, as if
all the heaven were burning. That token was sorely mani-
fested to the Romans by the great deadly pestilence which
soon after came, upon them, so that the half of them pe-
rished, together with their two consuls that they then had ;
so that at last those that might be left were enfeebled to
that degree that they could not bring the departed to the
earth. Immediately afterwards all their slaves made war
against their masters, and they took their chief place that
they called the Capitol, and they had great battles about it,
until they had slain one consul who had been newly ap-
pointed ; although the masters finally had an inglorious vic-
tory ; and immediately after, in the following year, the Eo-
inans made war against the Volscian nation, and were there
sorely beaten, and the portion that was left was driven into
a fastness, and had there perished by hunger, if those had
not helped them who were at home, by gathering all the
males that remained, and taking a poor man for their consul,
where he was going in his field, and had his plough in his
hand, and then marched to the A7olscian land and released
them.
After this it was full a year that over all the Bom an terri-
tory the earth quaked and burst, and every day there came
men innumerable times to the senate, and told them of sunken
towns and villages ; and they themselves were every day in
dread when they should be sunk in the earth. After that
there came so great a heat throughout Home that all their
earth-fruits, yea, also themselves, nearly perished. After
that there was the greatest famine. After that the Ro-
mans appointed ten consuls, when before they had had
[only] two ; to the end that they might take care of
their laws. One of them was named Claudius, who would
arrogate to himself the supremacy over the others, although
they would not concede that to him, but strove against him,
until the time when some turned to him, some would not,
but, thus divided in two, contended with each other, so that
they forgot their external wars that they had on hand, until
ail the consuls combined together and beat the one, Clau-
dius, with clubs, and afterwards defended their own country.
Familiarly and shortly, says Orosius, I have now spoken
of their intestine calamities, although they were almost the
greatest and most perilous, which Etna also, that sulphureous
318 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
op helle geace apppang on Sicilia ]>am lanbe. hpylce jepmn pa
paepon. be )>am J?e nu pynbon. 3 Sicilia pela opploh. mib bpyne
•3 mib pcence. ac pySSan hie cpipcen peapft. f helle pyp paep
pyftftan geppeftpab. ppa ealle ungecima paepon. •]? hie nu ip bucon
ppylcum tacnungum j?8&f ypelef ]?e hie a&p by be. ]>eah hie aelce
jeape fjf bpabpe ^j bpabpe ;•
YII.
Sam }>e Romebujih jecimbpab pasp in. hunb pinrpa
an. fee Sicilie unjepabe paepon him becpeonan. -3 hi healpe
appeonnon Laecebemonie him on pulcum. ^ healpe Schemenj-ep.
Epeca feoba. ]>e a&p aecgaebepe pi6 Peppe pinnenbe paspon. ac
piftftan hi on Sicilmm punnon. hi eac pi&San becpeonum him
pylpum pinnenbe paepon. oS -p Dapmp. Peppa cyninj. Laecebe-
monium on pulcume peapt5. piS pam Schemenpep. pop fam
^epmnum hip ylbpena ; • y&f -J) mycel punbop f eall Peppa
anpealb j Laecebemoma. f hi 18 myhto'n Xchene fa buph apepc-
an. fonne hi -p pole meahcon co heopa pillum jenyban ! •
Snb pona aepcep fam. ]>y ylcan jeape. Dapmp jepop. Peppa
cyn^. j hip 11. puna ymb f pice punnon. Sptecpeppep -3 Eipup.
oS heopa ae^ep f maepce pole on jean ot5epne jeceah. 3 ]>a
unpibbe mib jepeohcum bpeogenbe paepon. oS Eipup opplajen
peapS. pe faep jmjpa paep> On ]>am bajum paep an buph in
Spppica. peo paep neah J?ape pae. o^5 an pae-plob com. 3 hy apepce.
3 fa menn abpencce1 ;.
VIII.
]?am ]?e Romebuph jecimbpab paep in. hunb pmcpa
•3 Lv. fee Komane bepsecon Ueiopum J>a buph x. pincep. 3
him f peel ppit5o}i bepobe fonne fam fe ]>aepinne paepon. aejftep
je on cyle je on hunxpe. bucon ]>am ]>e mon ope hepjobe.
ae^ep je on hy pylpe je on heopa lanb aee ham. 3 hi )>a hpaebhce
bepopan heopa peonbum poppeopfian pceolbon. faep hi 8a bupb
ne abpaecon mib J>am cjisepce f e ]»a pcanblicopc pasp. feah he
KING ALFRED'S OKOSIUS. JT, lt J/ 5 319
fire, showed (when from the gate of hell it sprang up in the
land of Sicily), what calamities those were compared with
those that now are : and in Sicily killed many with burning
and with stench. But since it became Christian, that heli-
fire was mitigated, as well as all calamities were ; so that it
now is without such manifestations of evil as it caused before;
although it every year is broader and broader.
VII.
After Borne had been built three hundred and one years,
the Sicilians were at variance among themselves, and half of
them drew the Lacedaemonians to their aid, and half the
Athenians, Greek people, who had previously warred together
against the Persians ; but after they had made war in Sicily,
they also made war between themselves, until Darius, the Per-
sian king, gave aid to the Lacedaemonians against the Athe-
nians, on account of their wars with his forefathers. That
was a great wonder that all the Persian and Lacedemonian
power could more easily lay waste the city of Athens than
they could force the people to their wrills.
And immediately after, in the same year, Darius, the
Persian king, died, and his two sons, Artaxerxes and Cyrus,
contended for the kingdom, until each of them had brought a
vast number of people against the other, and carried on their
enmity by battles until Cyrus was slain, who was the
younger. In those days there was a town in Africa that wad
near the sea, until a sea-flood came and destroyed it, and
drowned the inhabitants.
VIII.
After Rome had been built three hundred and fifty-five
years, the Romans besieged the city of the Veii for ten years,
and the siege was much more detrimental to them than to
those that were in it, both through cold and hunger ; be-
sides which they (the Veii) often made hostile incursions
both on themselves and on their lands at home, and they
would speedily have perished before their enemies, if they
had not taken the city by that craft which was then most
320 Ki^a ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
him ept ye peop<5epta pupbe. ^ paep ^ hi ppam heopa pic-ptopum
unbep paepe eopSan bulpon. 08 hi bmnan paepe bypig up-eobon.
3 hi nihtep on ppum-plaepe on beptaelan. 3 pa buph mib-ealle
apeptan;- Dypne nyttan cpaept. peah he aphc naepe. punbe
heopa tictatop Eamillup hatte '. • Sona aeptep pam peapft
Romana gepmn j paepa Eallia. pe paepon op 8enno paepe bypij.
"p paep aepepc .popj?am ]>a. Eallia hsepbon bepecen Tupci f>a
buph> Da penbon Romane sepenbpacan to Eallmm. -3 hi
baebon -J) hi ppiS pi^ hi haapbon \ • - Da on J>am ylcan bae^e.
a&pcep J>am ]?e hi ]?ip ^epppecen haepbon. puhcon Eallie on ]>a
buph. ]>a gepapon hi Romana aepenbpacan on hi peohcenbe mib
]?am buphpapum. hi pop fam hi jebuljon. j ]?a buph poplecon.
~] mib eallum heopa pulcume Romane pohton. -] him Faump pe
conpul mib gepeohte on^ean com. ^ eac pa8e geplymeb peapS
epc in co Romebypig. *] him I/allie paepon aepcep-pyhgenbe oS
hi ealle J>aep bmnan paepon. jelice ~] mon maebe mape hy paepon
f>a buph hepgienbe ^ pleanbe. bucon aelcepe pape \ • Daec
cacen nu jyt cu^ ip. on J»a&pe ea noman. ]?aep conpulep plejep
Fauiupep. ne pene ic. cpaeS Opopmp. faec aemj man atellan
maeje ealne ^one bem J>e Romanum aec ]>am cyppe gebon
peapt5. ]>eah hi pa buph ne popbaepnbon. ppa hi ]>a gebybon. •j
]>a peapan ]>e paap co lape pupbon. gepealbon M. punba ^olbep
pr3 heopa peojie. 3 hi ^ bybon pop Sam ppiSopc. J>e hi 'Sohcon ^
hi pyfrSan heopa unbepj»eopap paepon. -j pume bmnan -p paepten
o^plujon. ty hi Eapicolmm hecon. hi ]>a eac bepaecon. oS hi
pume hungpe acpaelon pume on hanb eobon. -j hi pySSan o^pum
polcum him piS peo gepealbon;- pu Smc8 eop nu. cpaefi
Opopiup. ]>e faep cjuptenbomep ciba leahcpiaS. py^San Callia uc
op Saepe bypij apopan. hu bh^e tiba Romane aepcep J>am
haepbon. J?a 6a yjimmjap ]>e paep to lape pujibon. ut op J>am
holan cpupan. ]?e hy on luteban. ppa bepopene ppylce hy op
oSeppe populbe comon. ]?onne hi bepapon. on pa bepenjban
buph •] on ]>a peptan. ^ him pa paep pynbpi^ e^e. paep him aep
paep peo maepte pynn. eac butan pam ypele nahton hi napop.
ne paepinne mete, ne paepute ppeonb \ •
Daet paepon pa tiba. pe Romane nu aeptep pecaS. ~] cpeSaft.
f him Eotan pyppan tiba gebon habbr i ponne hi a&p haepbon,
KINO ALFRED'S OEOsius.X/ i 321
scandalous, but which, on the other hand, was most valuable
to them ; which was, that from their camp they delved under
the earth until they came up within the city, and stole on
them by night in their first sleep and totally destroyed the
city. This useful craft, although it was not honourable, was
devised by their dictator, named Camillus. Immediately
after was the war of the Eomans and the Gauls, who were
from the city of Sena. That was, at first, because the Gauls
had besieged the city of the Etruscans. Then the Eomans
sent messengers to the Gauls, and prayed them that they
might have peace with them. "When on the same day, after
they had said this, the Gauls were fighting against the city,
they saw the Roman messengers fighting against them with the
inhabitants, at which they were incensed, and, abandoning
the city, with all their force sought the Eomans, and Fabius
the consul met them in battle, and was also speedily driven
into the city of Eome, and the Gauls followed him, until they
were all within ; and like as when a meadow is mown they
ravaged the city and slaughtered without any heed. The sign
is yet known, in the name of the river, of the defeat of
3?abius. I do not imagine, says Orosius, that any man could
recount all the misery that was inflicted on the Eomans at
that time, [even] though they (the Gauls) had not burnt the
city as they then did ; and the few that remained gave a
thousand pounds of gold for their lives ; and they did that
chiefly because they thought that they afterwards might be
their slaves : and some fled away into the fastness that they
culled the Capitol, where they also besieged them, until some
perished from hunger, some delivered themselves up, and
they afterwards sold them to other nations for money. "What
think ye now, says Orosius, [ye] who calumniate the days of
Christianity, what joyous times the Eomans had after the
Gauls had gone from the city, when the poor wretches who
were left there crept out of the holes into which they had
crouched, weeping as though they had come from another
world, when they looked on the burnt city and on the ruin ;
that was to them dreadful beyond everything, where before
had been the greatest joy ; moreover, besides that evil, they
had neither food within nor a friend without.
Those were the times which the Eomans now long after,
and say, that the Goths have caused them worse times than
T
322 KINO ALFRED'S OEOSITTS
1 naenon on hy hepgienbe. buton ppy bajap. 3 Dallie paepon
aep pyx mona'S bmnan paepe bypig hep^ienbe. 3 pa buph
baepnenbe. 3 him -p pa-gyt to lycel ypel Suhte. buton hi peep
naman bename. ^ hi nan pole naepon \ • 6ft pa Irotan paep
laeppan hpile hepgebon. -J> hi pop paep cpiptenbomep ape. -j o"uph
Jlrobep eje. ^ hi napep ne pa buph ne bsepnbon ne psej- pone
pillan na&fbon -p hi heopa namon hi benamon. ne papa nanne
ypehan nolban. pe to pam Eobej- huj-e o^jrlujon. peah hi hseftene
psepon. ac j-piSop miccle paepon pilmenbe ^ hi jemonj him
mib pbbe pttan moj-tan. 3 uneaSe mihte aep aemj pam
Ealhum opfleon o^Se otShyban. 3 pa ^a liotan peep lytle hpile
hepjebon. ne mihte mon buton peapa ojrjiagenpa jeaxian * •
Daep paep jejyne Ijobef ypPe- Fa ne°Pa aejienan beamap. •]
heopa anhcneppa. Jwi hi ne mihton ppam Eallipcum pype
popbaejmbe peoji^an. ac hi hepenhc pyp aet pam ylcan cyppe
popbaepnbe | • Ne pene ic. cpaeS Opopmp. nu ic lange ppell
ha&bbe to pecgenne. ty ic hi on Syppe bee jeenbian maeje. ac ic
oSepe onjinnan pceal ; •
BOOK ILL
I.
SFT6R pam pe Romebuph ^etimbpab peep in. hunb pmtpa
3 Lvn. on pam bajum pe ISallie Rome apepthaepbon. pa jepe
peo maepte pibb -j peo bypmoplecopte. betpih Laecebemonmm.
Ejieca lonbe. "j Peppum. aeptep pam pe Laecebemome haepbon
Peppe opt opeppunnen ; • Da jebubon him Peppe ty hi haepbon
in. pmcep pibbe pi6 hi. pepe ^ polbe. 3 pepe ^ nolbe. ^ hi
polban pa mib jepeohte ^epecan ; • pi pa Laecebemonie luptlice
paepe pibbe hyppumebon. pop pam lytlan eje pe him mon<
gebeab [ • On pan mon maej pputole oncnapan hu mycelne
pillan hi to 8am gepinne haepbon. ]7a heopa pcopap on heopa
leoSum jybbienbe pynbon. "j on heopa leappellunjum \ • Ne
jeSmcS pe ppylc jepinn noht luptbaepe. cpaeS Opopmp. ne pa
tiba pe ma. j?te him hip peonb maeje ppa eaSe hip mib popbum
jeptypan ;• ^Eptep 8am pe Laecebemonie hgepbon opeppunnen j
Athene pa buph. hiopa ajene leobe. hy hi pa up-ahopon.
p;nnan onjunnan on aelce healpe heopa. je pit> heopa a^en pole.)
$e piS Pejipe. je piS pa laeppan Spiam. je pi8 Athene pa buph.1!
KING ALFIIED S OROSIUS. 323
they had before, and yet they were only three days plunder-
ing them, and the Gauls before were six months within the
city ravaging and burning, and that seemed to them too little
an evil, unless they could deprive them of their name, that
they might be no more a nation. Again the Goths plundered
and ravaged there for a less period, [and] so that they in
honour to Christianity, and through fear of God, neither
burnt the city, nor had the desire to deprive them of their
name, nor would they do evil to any one of them who fled to the
house of God, although they were heathens ; but were much
more desirous that they might settle among them in peace.
And with difficulty could any one before flee or hide him-
self from the Gauls. And when the Goths had plundered
there a little while, no one heard of more than a few slain.
There was seen the wrath of God, when their brazen beams
and their images, when they could not be burnt by the
Gaulish fire, but heavenly fire at the same time burnt them1,
do not imagine, says Orosius, now I have long narratives
to relate, that I can end them in this book, so I shall begin
another.
BOOK III.
THREE hundred and fifty-seven years after the building of
Rome, in those days when the Gauls had laid Home waste,
then was the great and most ignominious peace between
Lacedaemon, a Greek country, and the Persians, after the
Lacedaemonians had often overcome the Persians. Then the
Persians enjoined them to have a peace of three years with
them, those that would ; and those that would not they would
seek with war. Thereupon the Lacedemonians gladly sub-
mitted to the peace, on account of the little dread that was
inspired into them. By which it may be clearly known how
great a will they had for that war, as their poets sing in their
songs and in their fables. Let not such a war appear to thee
anything agreeable, says Orosius, nor yet those times, when
a man's enemy may so easily govern him with words. After
the Lacedemonians had conquered the city of Athens, their
own nation, they exalted themselves, and began warring on
every side of them, against their own people, and against the
Persians, and against the Lesser Asia, and against the city of
Y 2
324 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
pe In aep apeptan. popfton pa peapan pe paep ut oSplu gon. haepbon
ept pa buph gebogene. 3 haepbon Thebane. Ejieca leobe. him
on pultum apponen;. Laecebemome paepon ppa up-ahapene.
•J) aejSep ge hy pylp penbon. ge ealle fa neah peoba. ^ hi opep
hi ealle mihton anpealb habban. ac him Xthemenpe mib The-
bana pultume piftp tobon. j hi mib jepeohte cnypebon : - ^Ejrcep
fam Laecebemome jecupon him to latteope Ipcchbif pgef
haten. ^j hme fenbon on Pepye mib fultume. pift hi to
jejreohtanne. him ]>a Peppe mib heopa tpam ealbopmannum
onjean comon. o^ep hatte Fapnabufep o^ep Dipppapnon;-
8ona ppa psepa Laecebemoma labteop pipte J he pi$ ]>a tpejen
hepap peohtan pceolbe. him fa peebhcepe geSuhte ^ he piS
oSejme ppi$ Rename. ^ he fone oSepne ]>e yg opepcuman
mihte. •] he ppa jebybe. ~] hip sepenbpacan to J>am o8pum
onpenbe. 3 him pecjan het. ^ he jeopnop polbe pibbe pit)
hme fonne gepinn;. pe J>a pe ealbopman ^elypeblice mib
pibbe paepa sepenba onpen^. y Lsecebemoma J>a hpile geplym-
bon pone oftepne ealbopman ; .
^Eptep ]>am Peppa cymng benam pone ealbopman hip pcipe.
pe sep pam ppifte onpenj aet Laecebemomum. ~] hi gepealbe
anum ppeccean. op Xthene. Epeca bypi^- re P^F haten Eonon.
•] hme penbe mib pciphepe op Peppum to Laecebemomum;.
Snb hi penbon to €gyptum Laecebemome. "] him pultumep
baebon. -3 hi him gepealbon an c. paepa mycclena ppiepe-
'Spena ; . Laecebemome haepbon him to labteope aenne pijue
man. peah he healt paepe. pe paep haten Sgepilaup. ^ him to
jylp-popbe haepbon. ^ him leoppe paepe. ^ hi haepbon healtne
cynmj ponne healt pice \ • pi py^SSan on ^am paa togaebepe
popan. ^ paep ppa unjemethce jepuhton. ^ hi neah ealle
poppupban. ^ napaep ne mihte on oftpum pije ^epaecan. pgep
peajiS Laecebemoma anpealb "j heopa bom alejen ] . Ne
pene ic. cpaeft Opopmp. paet a&mj tpejen latceopap emnap
gepuhton ; .
^Eptept pam Eonon gelaebbe pypbe epc on Laecebemome. y
"p lanb buton paepe bypig. on aelcum t5mjum mib-ealle apepte.
f te pa pe aep ute o^pa peoba anpealba £ypnbon. him pa ^ob
puhte. paep hi mihte hy pylpe aet ham pit) peopbom bepepian ;•
Pippanbep hatte pum Laecebemoma latteop. he gepohte I!lonon
njib pcipum. pa he op Laecebemomum pop. 3 paepa polca
KINO ALFEED'S onosius. HL, ( 325
Athens that they had before laid waste; because the few
that had fled from thence, had again inhabited the city, and
had drawn the Thebans, a Greek people, to their aid. The
Lacedemonians were so up-lifted, that both they themselves
and all the neighbouring people imagined that they might
have power over all of them ; but the Athenians, with the
aid of the Thebans, withstood them and overcame them in
battle. After that the Lacedaemonians chose a general named
Dercyllidas, and sent him to Persia with a force to fight
against that nation. The Persians with their two generals,
one named Pharnabazus, the other Tissaphernes, marched
against him. As soon as the Lacaedemonian general knew
that he should have to fight against the two armies, it seemed
to him most advisable to make a truce with one, that he might
the more easily overcome the other : and he did so, and sent
his messengers to the one, and commanded them to say that
he would rather have peace with him than war. Thereupon
the general credulously received the message with peace, and
the Lacedaemonians in the meanwhile put the other general
to night.
Afterwards the Persian king deprived that general of his
province, who had previously accepted peace from the La-
cedaemonians, and gave it to an exile from Athens, the Greek
city, who was named Conon, and sent him with a fleet from
Persia to Lacedaemonia. And the Lacedaemonians sent to the
Egyptians, praying them for aid, and they gave them a hun-
dred large triremes. The Lacedaemonians had for general a
wise man, although he was lame, who was named Agesilaus,
and had as a vaunt, that they would rather have a lame king
than a lame kingdom. They afterwards came together at
sea, and there fought so fiercely that they nearly all perished,
so that neither could gain a victory over the other. There
was the Lacedaemonian power and glory prostrated. I do not
think, says Orosius, that any two leaders fought more equally.
After that Conon led an army in return against Lacedae-
monia, and totally laid waste the country, exclusive of the
city, on all sides ; so that to them who before had coveted
power over other nations abroad, it now seemed good if they
could defend themselves against thraldom at home. There
was a Lacedaemonian general named Pisander, who went in
search of Conon with a fleet, when he left Lacedaemonia,
326 KitfG ALFRED'S OROsrcs.
a&goep on oSpum. mycel pael geplojan;. Daep pupbon Laece-
bemonie ppa pprSe popplajen. ty hi nafop naepbon pyftftan. nc
heopa namon ne heopa anpealb. ac heopa hpype peapft Hrhe-
num to apaepneppe. •}) hi fone ealban teonan geppecan mihton.
pe him on aep-bagum gemaene peep;- Snb hi 3 Thebane hi
jegabepebon. 3 Laecebemome mib gepeohte pohton. j hi
geplymbon. "] hi on heopa buph bebpipon. •} j^San befseton ;.
Da buphpape penbon )?a aepceji Sjepilaupe. ^e mib heopa hejie
peep in Sfiam. 3 baebon ^ he tibhce hampeapb paepe. ^ heopa
^ehulpe. 3 he j-pa gebybe. •] on Schene unjeappe becoman.
hi gejrlymbon ; . Schenienj-e pa&pon ]>a him j^pi^e onbpae-
benbe ty Laacebemome opep hi pixian mihcon. ppa hi aep bybon.
pop J?am lytlan pi^e. J>e hi fa opep hi haepbon ; . pi penbon ]?a
on Peppe a&ptep Eonone. j hme ba&bon ^ he him on pulcume
paepe. ^j he heom )?aep jecit5abe. -3 hi mib micclum pciphepe
^epohte. j hi La&cebemome maefC ealle apepcan. 3 hi to tSan
jebybon. •p hy hi jylpe let on aegSep je pop heane ge pop un-
ppaepte ; . JEptep ]>am Eonon jelenbe to Sthene J>a&pe bypij.
hip ealb cySSe. y ]>aep mib micclum gepean Jjapa buphleoba
onpan^en paep. 3 he J»aep hip pylpep lange jemynejun^e gebybe.
mib ]>an }>e he jenybbe aegSep je Peppe ge Laecebemome. ^
hi gebetton j,a buph. fe hi aep tobpaecon. ^j eac -p Laecebe-
monie J»aepe bypig pySSan gehyppume paepon. feah hi aep lange
heopa pi^eppmnan paepon ; . ^Eptep feopan jepinne. jepeapS
•jfce Peppe jebubon ppi^5 eallum Epaeca polce. naep na popfam
J>e hi him aenigpa joba ufan. ac poji^am ]>& hi punnon on
Glyptic. ^ hi moptan pop him J>y bet J>am jepmne pull^anjan ; .
!Sc Laecebemome haepbon J)a hpile mapan unjnllnejja
fonne hi mae^enep haepbon. -3 paepon ppiftop pinnenbe on
Thebane fonne hi pultumep haepbon. -3 hloSum on hi
ptalebon. o$ hi abpaecon Spcabum heopa buph;. ^Eptep
]>am Thebane hi mib pypbe jepohton. 3 him Laecebemome
oSpe on^ean bpohton;- Da hi lange puhton. fa clypabe
Laecebe ealbopman to Spcabium. 3 baebon -p hi faep gepeoht-
ep jej'picon. ^ hi mopton Sa beaban bebypian. )>e heopa
polcep opplajen paepon ; • Daet ip mib Epecum f eap. •}> mib
Cam popbe biS jecy^eb. hpae^ep healp hsep? )>one pije;.
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. jBI; / 327
and both of these nations fought, one against the other,
with great slaughter. There were the Lacedemonians so
totally defeated that they afterwards had neither their name
nor their power ; but their fall was the raising up of the
Athenians, so that they could avenge the old grudge which
in former days had been mutual. And they and the Thebans
assembled, and sought the Lacedemonians with warfare, and
put them to flight, and drove them into their city, and then
laid siege to it. The inhabitants thereupon sent for Agesi-
laus, who was with their army in Asia, and requested him to
return home speedily and aid them ; and he did so, and came
on the Athenians unawares and put them to flight. The
Athenians then greatly dreaded lest the Lacedaemonians
should rule over them as they before had done, in conse-
quence of the little victory they had gained over them. So
they sent to Persia after Conon, and besought him to aid
them, to which he consented, and sought them with a large
fleet, and they laid waste the greater part of Lacedaemonia,
and so reduced them, that they regarded themselves both as
too base and too powerless. After that Conon landed at the
city of Athens, his old country, and was there received with
the great joy of the citizens, and he there made a long re-
membrance of himself, by compelling both the Persians and
the Lacedaemonians to repair the city which they before had
ruined, and the Lacedaemonians to be thenceforth obedient
to the city, although they previously had long been its adver-
saries. After this war it happened that the Persians offered
peace to all the Greek people, not because they would give
them any benefits, but because, being at war with the Egyp-
tians, they might the better for themselves terminate the
contest.
But the Lacedaemonians meanwhile were more restless than
powerful, and made war on the Thebans more vigorously than
their force admitted ; but stole on them in bodies, until they
took their town from the Arcadians. After that the Thebans
sought them with an army, and the Lacedaemonians brought
another against them. When they long fought together, the
Lacedaemonian general called to the Arcadians, and requested
that they would cease from fighting, that they might bury
the dead that had fallen of their people. It is a custom
among the Greeks that with those words it is declared which
328
Fop'San ic polbe gepecgan. cpaeS Opopmp, hu Epeca gepinn.
fe op Laecebemoma faepe bypig aepept onptaeleb paep. ~j mib
ppell-cpybum gemeapcian. a&pept on Xthena pa buph. 3
pyftftan on Thebane. 3 py$$an on Boetie. -3 pyfrSan on
GDacebome. pippe paepon ealle Epeca leobe. 3 pySSan on fa
laeppan !Xpiam. "j fa on fa mapan. 3 j^58an on Pepj-e. ^
j-y^San on G^yptie ; - Ic jreal eac fy lacop Romana ijropia
apecjan. fe ic ongunnen ha&pbe*.
II.
pam pe Romebuph jecimbpab psep in. hunb pncpa 3
Lxxvi. peep in Schie eopSbeopanj. "j tpa bypij. €bopa ^ 61ice.
on eopSan befuncon ; • Ic maeg eac on upum agemim cibura
jelic an^mn pam pecgan. feah hie ppylcne enbe nsefbe. ^ce
Eonjtrancmopolim. Epeca buph. on ppylcepe cpacunje paef . ^
hype gepitejab pggj- Op pot5j:83ftum mannum. ty heo pceolbe on
eopftan bepncan. ac heo peap^ gepcylb ^uph pone cpifcenan
caj-epe. Spcabmj-ap. ~] tSuph ^ cpiftene pole, pe on pam bup^um
paefi' "P Setacno^e ? EpifC if ea^mobejpa help -3 opep-
mobigpa pyll '. • OOape ic ftypep ^emynjobe fonne ic hip mib-
ealle apaabe. jip hip hpa py luptpull mape to pitanne. pece him
ponne pylpi- Da on Sam bajum £epeapS. fte Fulpci 3
Fahpci. pe a&p pa&pon Lxx. pintpa pi8 Romane pinnenbe. ^ hi
hi fa opeppunnon. •} heopa lanb opephepgobon. ^ pa^e a&pceji
pam. Suttpian ^ pole paepon hepgienbe on Romane. oS paspe
bupge jeaca \ • pit Romane aeptep ^am hpaebhce mib jepeohte
•3 mib hep^un^e him popgulbon. 3 hi ^eplymbon ;•
III.
fam fe Romebuph jetimbpab paep in. hunb pmtpa |
Lxxxm. pa^a Laucmp. fe o<5pe naman paep haten Hrenutiup. f
•j Qumtup. fe ot5pe naman paep haten Seppilmp. pa hi pajpon j
conpulap on Rome. gepeapcS pe miccla man-cpealm on pam ;'
lanbe. nalaap. ppa hit ^epuna ip. op untibhcuni gepybepum.
ip op paetum pumepum. ^) op bpijum pmtpum. •] op
KING ALFRED'S OKOSIUS. 2Ev '> 2/3 329
side has the victory. Because it has been my wish to relate*
and in narratives describe, says Orosius, how the Greek war,
which first proceeded from the city of LacedaBmon [extended
itself], first to the city of Athens, and afterwards to Thebes,
and then to Bceotia, and then to Macedonia (all these were
Greek nations), and then to the Lesser Asia, and then to
the Greater, and then to Persia, and then to Egypt, I shall
the later recount also the Eoman history, which I had
begun.
II.
After Borne had been built three hundred and seventy-six
years, there was an earthquake in Achaia, and two cities,
Ebora and Helice, sank into the earth. I may also in our
own times relate a beginning like to that, although it had
not such an end : that Constantinople, the Greek city, was
in a similar quaking, and it was prophesied of it by veracious
men, that it should sink into the earth ; but it w<as shielded
through the Christian emperor, Arcadius, and through the
Christian people who were in those towns. That manifested
that Christ is the help of the humble and the ruin of the
proud. More of this I would have commemorated than I
have altogether related of it : if any one be desirous to know
more, then let him seek it himself. It happened in those
days that the Volsci and Falisci, who had previously been
warring on the Bomans for seventy years, were overcome by
them and their lands ravaged ; and soon after that the nation
of the Sutrini laid waste the Eoman [territory] as far as the
gates of the city. After which the Eomans quickly requited
them with war and destruction, and put them to flight.
III.
After Eome had been built three hundred and eighty- three
years, when Lucius, who by another name was called Genu-
cius, and Quintus, who by another name was called Servilius,
when these were consuls at Eome, happened the great pesti-
lence in the country, not as it is wont, from unseasonable bad
weather — that is, from wet summers and from dry winters,
and from fierce spring heats, and with excessive autumnal
330 KING ALFREI/S OROSIUS.
lenccen-haetan. •] mib unjemetlican haeppepc-paetan. -j sepcep-
haeSan. ac an pmb com op Ealabpia pealbe. 3 pe pol mib
fam pinbe|- Dep man-cpealm paep on Romanum pulle n.
geape. opep ealle men gelice. }>eah ]>e pume beabe paepon. j-ume
unease jebpehte apeg-comon. 06 ^ heopa bipceopap paebon. ^
heopa gobap baebon. ^ him man pophte ampitheatpa. f man
mihce ]>one haeSempcan plegan p/aepmne bon j heopa beopol-
jylb. ^ pa&pon openlice ealle unclaenneppa'.-. pep pe majon
nu. cpaeft Opopiup. J?a jeanbpypban. ])e faep cpiptenbomep
piftepphtan jynbon. hu heopa jobap. Jmph heopia blotunje. j
]>uph heopa beopoljylb. ]>aep man-cpealmep gehulpon. buton
}>aec hy ne onjeacon mib hpylcum pcmcpaepce ~] mib hpylcum
lotppence hie beopla bybon. naep na pe poSa liob. ty hi mib fy
ypele J?a menn ppencton. to Son -^ hy jelypbon heopa opppun^a.
•] heopa beopoljylbum. ~] •p hi )>anon mopcon to Sam paplum
becurnan. 3 f hi mopton tapian mib J>aepe maepton bipmpunge.
ac heopa ampitheatpa J>a paepon unapimebe. j me nu ma&nij-
pealb to apecjanne. popSon Su. pajbep Sjuptmup. hy haeppt on
t5mum bocum ppeotole jepaeb. 'j ic gehpam pille paepto taecan.
J?e hme hyp lypt ma to pitanne \ •
^Eptep ^ypon. on Sam ylcan geape. tohlab peo eopSe bmnan
Romebypij. }>a paebon heopa bipcopap epc. -p heopa Sobar
baebon. ty him mon pealbe anne cucenne mann. ]?a him Jmhte |,
•^ hy heopa beabpa to lyt ha&pbon. T peo eopSe ppa gmienbe
bab. oS )>aet GOapcup. p/e oSpe namon hatte Euptiup. mib;i
hoppe ^ mib paepnum. ]>sep on-mnan bepceat. j heo piSSanli
Coga&bepe behlab ; •
IY.
JEpcep Sam fe Romebuph getimbpeb paep in. hunb pmtpai
•] Lxxxvm. ^ Irallie opephepjebon Romane lanb oS mi. mila tc1
Saepe bypnj. "j fa buph mihcon eaSe be^itan. jip hy faep ne j
gepacoban. popj)am Romane paepon ppa pophte ^ ppa aemobe. 1}|
hy ne penbon •}? hy ]>a buph bepepian mihton.'- Sc ]?aep or
mopgen Titup. heopa labteop. ]>e oSpan namon paep hater
Qumtiup. hy mib pypbe jepohte. Saep gepeaht GOanhup anpij
J>e oSpe namon paep haten Topcuatup. piS anne liallipcne mann
j hme opploh. y Titup Qumtiup fa oSjie pume jeplymbe. pumt
KING ALFEED'S OKOSIFS. "EC, 3,lj- 331
rains and after-heats ; but a wind came from the forest of
Calabria, and with that wind the plague. This pestilence
was full two years in the Eoman [territory] over all men
alike ; though some died, some afflicted with difficulty escaped,
mtil their priests said that their gods commanded amphi-
theatres to be built for them, that the heathen games might
therein be enacted, and their idolatries, that were manifestly
all uncleannesses. Here may we now, says Orosius, answer
those who are adversaries of Christianity [who assert] how
their gods, through their sacrificing and their idolatry, helped
them in this pestilence, only that they knew not by what
sorcery and by what artifice of devils they did it (it was not
the true God), [and] that they afflicted men with that evil, in
order that they might trust in their offerings and to their idols,
and that they might thence come at their souls, and that they
might treat them with the greatest contumely ; for their am-
phitheatres then were innumerable, and too many for me to
relate ; [and] because thou, Father Augustine, hast manifestly
said it in thy books, I will direct every one thereto who de-
sires to know more of the subject.
After this, in the same year, the earth yawned within the
city of Eome ; whereupon their priests said that their gods
commanded a living man to be given them, as it seemed to
them they had had too few of their dead. And the earth so
continued gaping, until Marcus, who by another name was
called Curtius, with horse and weapons cast himself therein,
and it afterwards closed together.
IV.
After Eome had been built three hundred and eighty-eight
years, the Gauls ravaged the Eoman territory to within four
miles of the city, and might easily have gained the city, if
they had not lost their energy, because the Eomans were so
timid and so pusillanimous, that they did not suppose they
could defend the city. But on the morrow, Titus, their
general, who by another name was called Quinctius, sought
them with an army, where Manlius fought in single combat,
who by another name was called Torquatus, with a Gaulish
man, and slew him. And of the others Titus Quinctius put
some to flight and some he slew. How many were there slain
332 KING ALFRED'S OEOSEUS.
opploh ! * Be J>am mon mihte onptan hpaet }>aep oppla^en paep .
pa heopa pela Jmpenba jepanjen paep : •
V.
Sam ]>e Romebuph getimbpeb paep 1111. hunh
11. -p Eaptama paepe bupje aepenbpacan comon to Rome,
him gebubon ^ hy ppiS him betpeoimm haepbon. poppon hy on
an lanb J>a pmnenbe paepon. ty paep. on Benepente ; • GDib Sam
pe Sa sepenbpacan to Rome comon. J>a com eac mib him peo
opepmsete heapbpaelnep. ^j mone^pa J>eoba ypmSa. peo lonje
aepteji pam peaxenbe pasp. ppa hit heponep tunnel on Sam tiban
c^Senbe paspon. ty hit paep mht oS mibne ba&j. ^j on pumejie
tibe hit ha^olabe ptanum opep ealle Romane> On Sam
bagum pa&p Slexanbep ^ebopen on Epecum. ppa ppa an mycel
ypt come opep ealne mibbaneapb. j Ocup. Peppa c^'nmj. J?one
mon oSpum namon het Sptecpeppip. aeptep Sam }>e he Ggypcum
pophepjabe. he jepop piSSan on luSana lanb. *] heopa pela
pophep^abe. piSSan on Ipcamam fam lanbe. he heopa ppiSe
peala gepette piS ]>one pa& ]>e mon Eappia haet. j hy ]>aep gepet-
tene pint git oS Jnpne baeg. mib bpabum polcum. on Sam to-
hopan. ^ hy jurne piSe Eob fanon abo to heopa agnum
lanbe]- SiSSan ISptecpeppip abjiaec SiSonem. Fenitia bujih.
peo ps&p J>a pelegapt on J?am bajum ', •
^Eptep J?am Romane angunnon ^ Sommticum gepmn ymbe
Eampena lanb. hy |)a lange 3 optpaebhce ymb ty puhton. on
hpeoppenbum pigum ] • Da getugon Somnite him on pultum
Pippupan. Gpipa cyninj. ]>one maeptan peonb Romanum;-
Daet jepinn peapS hpae]?pe pume hpile geptilleb. pop]>on Punici
piS Romane pinnan ongunnon. piSSan ^ gepmn onjunnen
paep .' • Ijip aenig mann py. cpaeS Ojioj'iup. ]>e on geppitum pmbau
mae^e. ^> lanap bupu piSSan belocen pupbe. butan anum
jeafie. ^) ^ paep popSam J>e Romane ealne ]?one geap on mann-
cpealme laejan. aepept on Octaviamip baeje. ]>aep capepep1;-
^ hup haepbon Romane to Sam anum tacne gepopht. -^ on
ppylce healpe ppylce hy ]?onne pmnenbe beon polbon. ppa puS.
ppa nopS. ppa ept. ppa pept. )>onne unbybon hy ]?a bupu. pe on
}>a healpe open paep. ^ hy be ]?am pipton hpibep hy pceolbon.
mib pam pe hy Sapa bupa hpylce opene jepapon. ponne tujon
hy heopa hjiaejl bupan cneop. ~] jipebon hy to pige. j be ]>am
J-,*+/*~ 333
•may be conceived from this [circumstance], that many thou-
i sands of them were taken.
Y.
After Eome had been built four hundred and two years,
messengers came from the city of Carthage to Eome, and
proposed that they should have peace between them, because
they were warring together in a country, that was, in Bene-
ventum. When the messengers came to Eome, with them
also came the overwhelming calamity and miseries of many
nations, which went on increasing long after that, as the stars
of heaven at that time testified, so that it was night till mid-
day, and at one time it hailed stones over all the Eoman
[territory]. In those days Alexander was born in Greece, as
a great tempest comes over all the earth ; and Ochus, king
of Persia, who by another name is called Artaxerxes, after he
had laid Egypt waste, proceeded to the land of the Jews and
destroyed many of them ; afterwards in the land of Hyrcania ;
he settled many of them by the sea called the Caspian, and
they are yet settled there to this day in considerable numbers,
in the hope that at some time God will conduct them thence
to their own land. After that Artaxerxes took Sidon, a city
of Phoenicia, which was the wealthiest in those days.
After that the Eoman s began the Samnite war about the
land of Campania. They fought long and often for it with
alternate victories. The Samnites then drew to their aid
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, the greatest enemy of the Eoman s.
That war was, nevertheless, for some time suspended, because
the Carthaginians had begun to war on the Eomans since
that (the Samnite) war was begun. If there be any man,
says Orosius, who can find in writings that the door of Janus
was afterwards closed, except for one year, and that was be-
cause the Eomans were all that year afflicted with the pesti-
lence, hrst in the time of the emperor Octavianus. That
temple the Eomans had built for that one sign : that on
whatever side they would be at war, whether south, or north,
or east, or west, they then undid the door which was opened on
that side, that they might thereby know whither they should
[proceed] ; and when they saw any one of the doors open,
they then drew up their robe above the knee, and prepared
334 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
pipcan ty hy piS pum pole ppiS ne ha&fbon. •] ponne hy ppift
haepbon. ]>onne paepon ealle $a bupa becynebe. 3 hi lecon heopa
hpaegl opbune Co pocum'.- Sc papa Occavianup pe capepe co (
nice peng. pa pupbon lanap bupa becynebe. 3 peapS pibb ^ ppift
opep ealne mibbangeapb '• ^Epcep pam pe Peppe ppiS genamon
pi$ Romanum. prSSan jelicobe eallum polcum. ^ hy Romanum
unbeppeobeb paepe. ^ heopa ae co behealbenne. •] ppa
ppiSe pone ppi^ lupebon. ^ him leoppe paep. *j) hy Romampce
cymngap haepbon. ponne op heopa agnum cynne ; • On pam
paep ppeocole jecacnab ^ nan eopShc mann ne mihce ppylce
lupe j ppylce pibbe opeji ealne mibbanjeapb jebon ppylce
pa paep;. Sc heo pop Sam paep pe Epipc on pam bagum
gebopen paep. pe pibb ip heoponpape ~] eopftpape ; • Daec eac
Occavianup ppeocole gecacnobe. pa^a Romana him polbon
opppian. ppa ppa heopa gepuna paep. 3 paebon. ty peo pibb on hip
mihce paepe. ac he aejSep pleah. je pa baeb je pa paegene. ^
eac pylp paebe. -p peo baeb hip naepe. ne eac beon ne mihce
nanep eopolicep mannep. ^ ealpe populbe ppylce pibbe bpinjan
mihce. ty cpa peoba aep habban ne mihcon. na •ft laeppe paep. cpa
gemaejSa ; •
VI.
6am ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep 1111. hunb pincpuiy
3 vin. jepeap^ ^ Romane ^ Lacme punnon;- On ]>am
popman jepeohce peap6 Romana conpul opplajen. GOanlmp. ]>e
o6pum namon paep hacen Topcuacup. "j heopa o8ep conpul.
\>e mon Deciup hec. 3 oSpum namon GOupe. hip ajenne
punu opploh. popfon he opepbpaec heopa gecpibpaebenne.
•^ paep. ^ hy haepbon jecpeben. ty hy ealle emnhce on Lacme
cenjbon;- 'Re ])aep an uc-apceac op Lacma pepobe y anpijep
baeb. 3 him J>aep conpulep punu on^ean com. ~\ hme J>aep
opploh | • Fop ]>am jylce nolbon Romane bpmjan J?am conpule
pone cjnumphan. ]?e heopa jepuna paep. peh he pije haepbe1 ; •
On jmm aepcepan geape }?aep. GDmucia hacce an pipman. ]>e •
on heopa pipan pceolbe nunne beon. peo haepbe gehacen heopa |
jybenne Dianan. -p heo polbe hype lip on paemnanhabe alibban. |
]?a roplaej heo hy pona : - Py fa Romane. pop ]>am jylce |>e j
he~ hype jehac aleah. ppa cuce hy on eopSan bebulpon. j nw j
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. TS^/^ 335
them for war ; by which it was known that with some nation
they were not at peace. And when they had peace, then all
the doors were closed, and they let their robe down to their
feet. But when the emperor Octavianus succeeded to the
empire, then were the doors of Janus closed, and there was
peace and quiet over all the earth. After the Persians had
made peace with the Eomans, it pleased all nations to be
subject to the Eomans and to observe their law; and so
greatly did they love that peace, that it was more agreeable
to them to have Eoman kings than of their own race. By
which it was manifestly indicated that no earthly man could
cause such love and such peace over all the earth as that was.
But it was because Christ was born in those days, who is the
peace of the inhabitants of heaven and of earth. That also
Octavianus manifestly indicated, when the Eomans would
sacrifice to him, as was their wont, and said that the peace
was through his might ; but he disclaimed both the act and
the speech, and also said himself, that the deed was not his,
nor could it be of any earthly man, that could bring such
peace to all the world, what previously two nations could not
have, nor, what was less, two families.
VI.
After Eome had been built four hundred and eight years,
it befel that the Eomans and the Latins made war. In the
first battle the Eoman consul, Manlius, who by another name
was called Torquatus, was slain ; and their other consul,
named Decius, and by another name, Mus, slew his own son,
because he transgressed their agreement, which was, that
they had declared they would all equally assail the Latins.
But there one of the Latin army rushed forth and demanded
a single combat, and the consul's son advanced against him
and there slew him. For that crime the Eomans would not
bring the triumph to the consul, which was their custom, al-
though he had the victory.
In the year after this, a woman named Minucia, who in their
manner is said to have been a nun, had promised their god-
dess Diana that she would pass her life in maidenhood ; but
she soon committed fornication. The Eomans thereupon, for
the siu of having belied her vow, buried her alive in the-
836 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
gyt to-baege. pam Jylte to tacne. mon haet ty lanb manpelk
J>aep hy mon bypibe | •
RaSe aptep pam. on paepa tpegpa conpula baege. Elaubiup. pe j
oSpum namon hatte GDapcellup. 3 Ualepianup. pe oSpum
namon hatce Flaccup. Sa gepeapS hit. peh hit me pconbhc py.
cpaetS Opopmp. ^ pume Romana pip on ppylcum pcmlace pupbon.
•] on ppylcum pobum bpeame. •)? hy polbon aelcne mann. je pip
ge paepneb. ]>a&pa fe hy mihton. mib attpe acpellan. ^ on mece
ot>o"e on bpmce to ^e^icganne gepyllan. ^ ty lange bonbe paepon.
aep *J) pole pipte hpanon ^ ypel come, buton -p hy paebon ^ hit
upane op paepe lypte come, aep hit Jmph aenne ]?eopne mann
geyppeb peap^1 ; . Da paepon ealle pa pip bepopan Romana pitan
jelaSobe. faepa paep in. hunb j Lxxx. 3 faeji paepon genybbe. -f
hy -p ilce figebon ^ hy aep o^5pum pealbon. ^ hy paep beabe
paepon bepopan eallum )?am mannum :•
VII.
^Eptep pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paep mi. hunb pmtna
•j xxn. ISlexanbep. 6pipotapum cymnj. paep mapan Xlexanbpep
earn, he mib eallum hip maegene pi6 Romane pinnan ongan.
^j aet Sommte gemaepe -j Romana jepaet. -j pa nihptan lanb-
leobe on aegSpe healpe him on pultum geteah. 06 Somnite
him jepuhton piS. j pone cymnj opploh;. Nu ic Sipep Slex-
anbpep hep gemynbgabe. cpaeS Opopiup. nu ic pille eac p32p
mapan Ifflexanbpep jemunenbe beon. paep o^pep nepan. peh ic
ymbe Romana jepinn on pam jeap jepime popft. oS $ [ic]
jeteleb haebbe ; •
Ic pceal hpaeppe ept-gepenban. -p ic aelcne hu^u bael gepecje
Slexanbpep baeba. 3 hu Phihppup. hip paebep. mi. hunb pmtpum
aeptep pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paep. he penj to
GDaceboma pice 3 Epecum. ~] ty haepbe xxv. pmtpa. j -binnan
paem jeapum he geeobe ealle pa cyne-picu pe on Epecum
paepon;- !Sn paep Sthemenpe. o6ep paep Thebane. in. paep
Theppali. 1111. Laecebemome. v. Folcenpep. vi. OOepn. vn. GOace-
borne, -p he aejiept haepbe > Phihppup. pa he cmht paep. he ps3f \
Thebanum to jiple jepealb Gpammunbe. pam ptponjan
KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS. 12-, £/ 7 3'J7
earth ; and now to this day, in token of that sin, that land is
called the " Campus sceleratus," where she was buried.
Soon after that, in the time of the two consuls, Claudius,
who by another name was called Marcellus, and Valerius,
who by another name was called Flaecus, it befel, though I
feel shame, says Orosius, [to relate it], that some Roman
women were in such [a state of] magical delusion and such
frantic passion, that they would kill every human being, both
female and male, that they could, by poison, and give it
them to take either in food or drink. And this they did for
a long time, before the people knew whence the evil came,
only that they said it came from above, from the air, until it
was made known by a slave. Thereupon all those women
were summoned before the Eoman senators (there were
three hundred and eighty of them), and were there forced to
consume that which they had before given to others, so
that they died before all those men.
VII.
After Eome had been built four hundred and twenty-two
years, Alexander, king of the Epirots, the uncle of Alexander
the Great, began to war on the Romans with all his power,
and posted himself on the boundary of the Samnites and
Romans, and drew to his aid the nearest people of the coun-
try on either side, until the Samnites fought against them
and slew the king. Now I have here made mention of this
Alexander, says Orosius, I will also mention the Great Alex-
ander, the other's nephew ; although I shall recount concern-
ing the Roman wars in that year, until I have related them.
I shall, however, retrograde, that I may relate every, even
small, portion of Alexander's deeds ; and how his father,
Philip, four hundred years after the building of Rome, suc-
ceeded to the realm of Macedonia and the Greeks, and held
it for twenty-five years, and in those years he conquered all
the states that were in Greece. One was the Athenian, the
second was the Theban, the third was the Thessalian, the
fourth the Lacedaemonian, the fifth the Phocian, the sixth
the Mcesian, the seventh Macedonia, which he had first.
When a boy, Philip had been given as a hostage to the
Thebans, to Epaminondas, that powerful king and most
338 KING ALFKED'S OEOSIUS.
•3 fam jelaepebeptan philopope. ppam hip apium bpeSeji
Klexanbpe. ]>e Laecebemoma jiice fa haepbe. 3 mib h:m jelaepeb
peapS. on fam Spym geapum fa he Saep paep ;. Da peapS
2Qexanbep oppla^en. hip bpoftop. ppom hip a^enpe mebep. f eh
heo hype oftepne punu eac aep opploje. pop hype gehjepneppe.
3 heo paep Phihppupep p teopmobop ; . Da peng Phihppup co
GOaeceboma pice. -3 hie ealle hpile on miclan pleo •] on miclan
eapjre^an hsepbe. ty sejcSep je him1 monn ucane op o&pum lanbe
him onpann. ge eac ^ hip ajen pole ymb hip ajen peoph pypebe.
paec him ]>a aec mhptan leoppe paep/^ he uce punne fonne he
aec ham pa&pe ; . pip popme gepeohc pa&p pi6 Schemenpe. ^ hy
opepponn. -3 aepcep fam piS lUipicop. |>e pe Pul^ape hataS. 3
heopa maemj pupenb opploh. ~] heopa maeptan buph geeobe.
Lajiippan. -j pit56an on Theppah he ^ jepinn ppi^opc bybe. poji
Sa&pe pilnun^e fe he polbe hy him on pulcum ^eceon. pop
heopa pijcpaepce. -j popt5on ]>e hy cu(5on on hoppum ealpa
polca peohcan becpc. 3 aepept hy ]>a. ae^ep ^e pop hip eje
pop hip olecunje. him to jecypbon ; • pe f a jegabepabe. mib
heopa pulcume -3 mib hip a^enum. ae^ep je pibenbe je janj-
enbpa. unopeppunnenblice hepe ; .
^Epcep fam ]>e Philippup haapbe Schemenpe ^ Theppah him
unbepjnobeb. he begeac Spuhep bohcop him co pipe. GOalo-
polum cynm^ep. OhmphiaSe heo pa&p hatenu ;. Spuhep penbe
•p he hip pice jemichan pceolbe. fa he hip bohcop Phihppupe
pealbe. ac he hme on faepe pununge jebanb. j him on genam
ty he pylp haepbe. •j hme piSSan poppenbe. 06 he hip lip poplec ; .
^Epcep f am Philippup peahc on Ochone ]?a buph. on Thebana
pice. -3 him J>aep peapS ty o6ep eaje mib anpe plan uc-
apcocen;. pe peh-hpaeo'pe fa buph jepann. -3 call ty ma
cynn acpealbe. ^ he faspmne jemecce. 3 sepcep fam mib
hip peappum he jeeobe call Epeca pole, popfon heopa jepuna
pasp. f hi polbon op aalcepe bypig him pylp anpealb habban.
nan o5ep unbepfybeb beon. ac paapon him ppa becpeonum
pinnenbe ; . Da bsebon hy Philippup a&pc op anpe bypij f onne
op o^eppe. ^ he him on pulcume paepe plS 6a f e him onpunnon *•
ponne he fa opepppiSeb haepbe. f e he f onne onpmnenbe pa&p.
nub fam polce fe hme aep pulcumep baeb. fcnne bybe he him
co anpealban. ppa he belycejabe ealle Epece on
ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. ~^£/ 7 339
learned philosopher, by his own brother, Alexander, who then
had the realm of Lacedaemonia. and was taught by him
(Epaminondas) during the three years that he was there.
Then was Alexander, his brother, slain by his own mother,
although she had before slain also her other son, for the sake
of her adultery, and she was Philip's stepmother. Philip then
succeeded to the kingdom of Macedon, and held it all the while
in great peril and with great difficulty ; for both from with-
out, from other countries, war was made on him, and his
own people also plotted against his life, so that at last it was
preferable to him to make war abroad than to be at home.
His first war was with the Athenians, and them he overcame ;
and after that with the Illyrians, whom we call Bulgarians,
and of them he slew many thousands, and took Larissa, their
largest city, and afterwards carried on the war principally
against the Thessalians, in consequence of his desire to draw
them to his aid, on account of their military skill, and because
they of all people could fight the best* on horses ; and at the
first, either through dread of him, or through his flattery, they
turned to him. He then, with their force and with his own,
gathered an invincible army of both horse and foot.
After Philip had reduced the Athenians and Thessalians
under his subjection, he obtained the daughter of Arucha,
king of the Molossians, to wife, whose name was Olympias.
Arucha thought that he should increase his kingdom when
he gave his daughter to Philip ; but he confined him to his
dwelling, and took from him what he already had, and after-
wards banished him, until he ended his life. After that,
Philip fought against the city of Methone, in the Theban
realm, and there was one of his eyes shot out with an
arrow. He, nevertheless, won the city, and slew all the
people that he found in it. And afterwards, by his artifices,
he conquered all the Greek nations, because it was their
usage, that they would of every city have the power to
themselves, and no one be subject to another, but were thus
\varring among themselves. They then besought Philip, first
from one city, then from another, that he would aid them
against those who were warring against them. Then, when
lie had overpowered those with wrhom he was then at war,
with [the aid of] the people who had before sought his help,
he reduced them both to his si .bjection. Thus he deluded
z 2
3-10 KING ALF11ED-S OHOSIUS.
gepealfc ;. Da Epece ty fa unbepgeatan. ~] eac him ppifte
opSmcenbum. ^ hy an cymng. ppaySehce bucon aelcon jepinne.
on hip jepealb befpybian pceolbe. gehce •} hi him feopienbe
paepon. he hy eac op1 oSpum polcum opcpaebhce on feopoc
pealbe. f e aep nan pole ne mihte mib gepeohce gepmnan. hy pa
ealle pi5 lime gepmn up-ahopon. 3 he hme geeaSmebbe to
fam polce. fe he him f aep heapbopc anbpeb. ty paeponThejjali.
3 on hy gelec ^ hy mib him on Schene punnon ; . Da hy
Co |>am gemaepe comon mib heopa pypbe. ]?a haepbon hy heopa
clupan belocene ; • Da Phihppup psep-bmnan ne mihce. ^ he
hij- teonan geppsece. he ]?a penbe on fa ane }>e him )>a jecpype
paepon. "j heopa buph jepop. j •p pole mib-ealle pojibybe.
-] heopa hepgap topeapp. ppa he ealle by be. J>e he ahpep je-
mecte. ge eac hip ajene. o£> ^ him ]?a bipceopap psebon. ^ ealle
^obap him yppe paepon. ~] piSpmnenbe. "3 feah hy him ealle yppe
paepe on ]>am xxv. pincpum. J?e he pinnenbe paep 3 peohcenbe
he na opeppunnen ne peapft ; . ^Epcep pam he gepop on Eappa-
bociam ^ lanb. j J>a&p ealle fa cynmjap mib hip ppice
opploh. 3 py^San ealle Eappabociam him jehyppumebon.
3 hme pi^San penbe on hip Spy gebpofipa. } aenne opploh. j fa
•cpegen o^plujon on Olmchum fa buph. peo paep paepcapc j
pelegapt GQaecebonia picep. ^) him Phihppup aepcep pop. •] ]>a
buph abpaec. 3 fa bpofop opploh. j eall f a&c faepinne paep.
fa fpy jebpo^pa naepon na Phihppupe gemebpeb. ac paepon
Sepaebpeb;.
On f am ba^um. on Thpacia f am lanbe. paepon cpegen cymngap
ymb ^ pice pinnenbe. fa paejion jebjioSpa. fa penbon hy Co
Phihppupe. •] baebon -p he hy ymbe •p pice jepembe. -3 on
])aepe gepicneppe paepe ^ hie emne gebaeleb paepe \ . pe fa
Phihppup Co heopa gemoce com mib micelpe pypbe. ^ fa
cynmjap be^en opploh. ^ ealle fa pican. j penj him Co Sam
picum bam ;. ^Epcep fam Schemenpe baebon Phihppup. ^ he
heojia labceop paepe piS Focenpep fam polce. feh hy asp heojia
clupan him ongean beluce. ~) ty he oSep f aepa bybe. oSSe hy
gepembe oSSe him gepulcumabe. ^ hy hy opeppmnan mihcan.
he him fa gehec. ^ he him gepulcumian polbe. f hy hy opep-
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. ISC, 7 341
all Greece into his power. When the Greeks became sen-
sible of that, and also being sorely mortified that a king, so
easily, without any war, should reduce them under his
power, as though they were his slaves (he also often
sold them in thraldom to other nations, whom before no
nation could overcome in war) ; they thereupon all raised
war against him, and he humbled himself to that people
whom he most sorely dreaded, namely, the Thessalians, and
by his flattery induced them to make war with him on the
Athenians. When they came to the boundary with their
army, they [the Athenians] had shut up all the passes.
When Philip could not enter, that he might avenge his
mishap, he turned against those who alone had been true to
him and took their city, and slew all the people and over-
threw their temples, as he did all that he found in any place,t/
yea, even his own, until the priests said to him that all the gods
were wroth with him, and warring against him ; and although
they all were wroth with him for the five-and-twenty years
that he was engaged in war and fighting, he was not over-
come. He afterwards proceeded to the land of Cappadocia,
and there, by his treachery, slew all the kings, and after-
wards all Cappadocia submitted to him ; and he afterwards
turned against his three brothers and slew one [of them],
and the two fled to the town of Olynthus, which was the
strongest and wealthiest of the realm of Macedon ; and
Philip followed them and captured the town, and slew his
brothers and all that were in it. The three brothers were
not [related] to Philip by the mother, but by the father.
In those days, in the country of Thrace, there were two
kings contending for the kingdom ; they were brothers.
They then sent to Philip, and prayed that he would recon-
cile them with regard to the kingdom, and be witness that it
was equally divided. Philip thereupon came to their assem-
bly with a large army, and slew both the kings and all their
councillors, and succeeded to both the kingdoms. After that
the Athenians prayed Philip to be their leader against the
Phocians, although they had previously closed their passes
against him; and that' he would do either the one or^the
other, either reconcile them, or aid them that they might
overcome them [the Phocians]. He thereupon promised
them that he would aid them, so that they should conquer
342 KIXG ALFRED'S OROSIFS.
•Ainnon*. Gac a&c pam ilcan cippe. baeban Focenpe hif
f ulcumep piS Xchene. he him pa gehec paec he hy jefeman
polbe ; . SiSSan he pa chip an on hip gepealbe ha&pbe. pa bybe
he him eac pa picu co gepealban. ~) hip hepe geonb pa bypij
cobaelbe. 3 he bebeab. -p hy ty lanb hepjienbe paepon. o$ f
hy hie apepcon. ty pam polce paep aegpep pa. je ^) hy ^ maefcp
Vfel jropbepan pceolbon. je eac ^ hy hif pcipan ne bopfCan. ac
he ealle ]>a picofcan fopflean hec. ^ pa o^pe fume on ppaecp<5
fopj-enbe. j-ume on ot5pa meapca jepecce ; . 8pa he Philippup
pa miclan picu jeni^epabe. peh pe aep anpa ^ehpylc penbe j>
hit opep momge o^pe anpealb habban mihce. )>aec hy pa see
nihiftan. hy pylfe to nohce bemsecan ; .
Phihppupe gepuhte septep pam. ^ he on lanbe ne mihce
pam pice mib gipim gecpeman. pe him on pmbel pa&pon mib-
pinnenbe. ac he pcipa jejabepabe. 3 picm^ap pupbon. •] pona
aec anum cyppe an c. 3 eahcacij ceap-pcipa jepenjon;. Da
ceaj he him ane buph pi$ pa pae. Bizancium pa&p hacen. co
)>on. ^ him gelicobe. ^ hy paep mihcon becpc bmnan ppi3
habban. 3 eac ^ hy paap jehenbajre psepon ^ehpylc lanb
panon to pinnanne. ac him pa buph-leobe paep pi^cpaebon.
Philippup mib hip p ultume hy bepast y him onpann ; . 8eo ilce
Bizancium peep aepep t jetimbpeb ppam Paupania. Laecebemoma
labteope. ^ septep pam ppam Eonpcancmo. Sam cpipcenan
capepe. geieceb. ~] be hip namon heo pa&p jehatenu Eonptan-
tinopohm. "] ip nu ^ heahpce cyne-petl. ~j heapob eallep eajr-
picep> JEptep 'Sam ]>e Philippup lange pa buph bepecen
ha&pbe. pa oppuhce him ^ he ty peoh co pellenne nsepbehip hepe.
ppa hy gepuna pa&pon. he )>a hip hepe on tpa tobaelbe. pum
ymb pa buph paet. j he mib pumum hloSum pop ^ maneja
bypi^ bepeapobe. on Ehepampce. Epeca polce. ^ piSSan pop on
SciSSie. mib Slexanbpe hip punu. pa&p Stheap pe cyning pice
ha&pbe. pe aep hip gepopta pa&p piS IpSpiana jepmne. 3 pa on ^
lanb papan polbe. ac hy }>a lanb-leobe piS ^ jepapnebon. j
him mib pypbe on^ean popan ; . Da paec pa Philippup geahpobe.
J?a penbe he aeptep mapan pulcume co pam ]>e Sa buph ymb-
peten haapbon. y mib eallum maejene on hy pop ; . Deh pe
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. J^T/ / 343
them. At the same time the Phocians also prayed him to
aid them against the Athenians. He then promised that he
would settle their difference. After he had the passes in his
power, he also reduced those countries to subjection, and dis-
persed his army among all the towns, and commanded that
they should harry the land until they had laid it waste. That
was a calamity to the people, both that they had to bear that
greatest of evils, and also that they could not free them-
selves from it ; for he had commanded all the most powerful
to be slain, and of the others sent some into exile, [and]
placed some in other confines. Thus did Philip humble
those large realms, although each of them before had ima-
gined that it could have power over many others ; so that at
last they esteemed themselves as nought.
It seemed to Philip after that, that on land he could not
conciliate the people with gifts who had been constantly
fighting [in alliance] with him, but he collected ships, and
they became pirates, and soon, at one time, they captured a
hundred and eighty merchant-ships. He then chose him a
city on the sea called Byzantium, in order (what seemed de-
sirable to him) that they might therein best have peace, and
also that they there might be the nearest at hand to make
war from thence on any country. But the inhabitants of the
town refused him this, [and] Philip, with his forces, besieged
them and made war on them. This same Byzantium was first
built by Pausanius, the Lacedemonian general, and after
that enlarged by Constantine, the Christian emperor, and
from his name it was called Constantinople, and is now
the highest royal seat and head of all the eastern empire.
After that Philip had long laid siege to the town, it pained
him sorely that he had not money to give to his army, as
they had been accustomed to receive. Thereupon he divided
his army in two, stationed some about the town, and he with
some bodies went and plundered many towns of the Cherso-
nesus, Grecian people, and afterwards marched to Scythia,
with his son Alexander (where King Atheas ruled the realm,
who had previously been his associate in the Istrian war),
and would enter that country ; but the people of the country
forbade him that, and marched with an army against him.
When Philip was apprized of this he sent for a larger forco
to those who were besieging the town (Byzantium), and
344 KING ALFRED'S OKOSIUS.
ScrSSie haepbe mapan manna maemge. 3 hy pelpe hpoetpan
paepon. py J>eah Phihppup bepipebe mib hip loccppencum.
rnib pam pe he hip hepep ppibban bael gehybbe. 3 himpelp mib
psep. "3 pam cpam baelum bebeab. ppa hy peohcan onjunnon.
•j) hy pit) hip plugon. ty he piftSan mib }>am tipibban baele hy
beppican mihce. )>onne hy topapene paepon ; . Dajp peapfi
8ci^Sia xx. M. opla^en } ^epan^en. pipmanna ^ paepmanna.
•j ]>ae]i paap xx. M. hoppa gepangen. feh hy fa&p nan licgenbe
peoh ne mecton. ppa hy s&p gepuna pa3pon. ponne hypael-pcope
^epealb ahcon ; . On Sam gepeohte paep sepepc anpunben
8ciS6ia pannppeba ; . Gpc ]>a Philippup paep panon cyppenbe. ]>a
op-pop hyne oftepe SciSSie mib lytelpe pypbe. Tpibaballe
paepon hatene. Philippup him bybe heopa pig unpeopS. oft
hyne an cpene pceac J'uph ty 'Seoh. ^ -p hopp paep beab. ]?e he
on upan paet • . Da hip hepe gepeah ^ he mib py hoppe apeol.
hy pa ealle plu^on. ^ eall ^ hepe-peoh poplecon. ]>e hy aep
gepangen haepbon ; . paep *p micel punbop. f ppa micel hepe
pop paep cynmjep pylle pleah. ]>e na aep pam pleon nolbe. ]>e
hip monn pela pupenba opplo^e;. Philippup mib hip lotc-
ppence. J>a hpile ]>e he punb paep. alypbe eaUum Epecum. ^ heopa
anpealbap mopton ptanban him becpeonum. ppa1 aep on ealb-
bajum bybon ; . 'Kc pona ppa he gelacnob paep. ppa hepgabe
he on Athene ;. Da penbon hy to Laecebemonmm. 3 baebon
ty hy jeppiynb pupbon. ]>eh hy aep lonje SeFynfc) p*pon. 3
baabon -p hy ealle ^emaenehce cunnobon. mihcan hy hypa
jemaenan peonb him ppam abon ; . Py pa pume him getnSebon.
•] gejabepobon mapan mann-pultum ponne Philippup haepbe.
pume pop e^e ne bopptan ; . Phihppupe 5e])uhte }m -p he lenj
mib polc-jepeohcum piS hy ne mihce. ac optpaebhce he paep
mib hlotSum on hy hepgenbe. •] onbutan pyppenbe. o$ hy epc
tocpaembe paepon. 3 ]?a on unjeapepe on Schene nub pyp^e
^epop : . JBC pam cyppe pupbon Schemenpe ppa pselhpeoplice
popplajen -3 pophyneb. f hy pi66an nanep anpealbep hy ne
bemaecan. ne nanep ppeobomep ; '
JEpcep pam Philippup jelaebbe pypbe on Laecebemome 3 on
Thebane. 3 hy micclum cmcne^abe 3 bipmepabe. 06 hy ealle
ALFEED'S OROSIUS. "JEL , 7 3i5
with all his power marched against them. Although the
Scythians had a greater multitude of men, and were them-
selves more vigorous ; yet Philip deceived them with his arti-
fices, by hiding himself with a third part of his army, with
which he himself was, and commanded the two parts, that,
when they began to ^ fight, they should flee towards him, that
he then, with the third part, might ensnare them, when they
were dispersed. There wrere twenty thousand Scythians
slain and captured, females and males, and there were
twenty thousand horses taken ; though they there found no
treasure, as they had previously been accustomed to do,
when they kept possession of the field of battle. In that
war the poverty of the Scythians first became known. "When
Philip was on his return, other Scythians met him with a
little army ; these were called Triballi. Philip regarded their
hostility as contemptible, until a woman shot him through
the thigh, so that the horse was killed on which he sat.
When • his army saw that he had fallen together with his
horse, they all fled, and left all the booty they had before
taken. It was a great wonder that so large an army fled in
consequence of the fall of the king, which before that would
not flee from those who slew many thousands of them.
Philip, with his cunning, during the time he was wounded,
allowed all the Greeks to retain their sovereignty among
themselves, as they had done before. But as soon as he was
cured, he committed ravages on the Athenians. Thereupon
they sent to the Lacedaemonians, and besought them that
they might be friends, although they had before long been
foes, and besought that they might all endeavour in common
to drive from them their common enemy. To this some ac-
ceded, and collected a larger force than Philip had ; some
from fear durst not. To Philip it then seemed that he could
no longer withstand them in great battles, but he frequently,
with detachments, made hostile inroads on them, and laid
ambushes around them, until they wrere again divided, and
then unexpectedly marched with his army on Athens. On
;his occasion the Athenians were so cruelly slaughtered and
tumbled, that they never afterwards assumed to themselves
any power or any freedom.
After that Philip led an army against the Lacedaemonians
and the Thebans, and sorelv afflicted and misused them, until
316 KITS Q ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
pa&pon popbon ~] pophyneb;. ^EfcejiSam ]>e Phihppup haepb«
ealle Epecap on hip jepealb jebon. he pealbe hip bohcop
fflexanbpe ]>am cyninje. hip agenum ma&je. ]>e he aep Gpipa
pice gepealb haepbe ; • Da on ]?am bsege plejebon hy op hoppum.
aegSep ge Philippup ge Slexanbep. p/e he him hip bohcop pyllan
polbe. ge Slexanbep hip agen punu. ppa heopa ]?eap sec ppylcum
psep. -j eac mani^e oSepe mib him ;• Da Philippupe jebypebe
•|) he pop )>am plejan uc op ]?am mann-pepobe apab. ]>a ge-
mecce hine ealb gepana pum. ~) hme opj-canj;. Ic nac. cpasS
Opopiup. pop hpi eop Romanum pynbon f»a aeppan jepmn ppa
pel gehcob. ~] ppa lupcpumhce on leoft-cpibum co ^ehypanne. ~]
pop hpy je fa ciba ppelcpa bpoca ppa pel hepigeao". •j nu ])eh
eop lyclep hps&c ppelcpa jebpoca on becume. J»onne maenad ge
hie co 6am pyppepcan cibum. -3 majon hy ppa hpeophce pepan.
ppa ge majon fsepa oSpa bliSelice hhhhan \ • dp je ppylce
])ejnap pine ppylce je penaS •$ ^e pien. ]>onne pceolbon ge ppa
lupclice eoppe ajenu bpocu apepman. ]>eh hy la&ppan pyn. ppa
je heopa pine co jehypanne. ]?onne ]?uhce eop ]>ap ciba becepan
^onne ]>a. poppon eoppe bpocu nu laeppan pmbon. ponne heopa
J>a paepe. popf on Philippup paap xxv. pincpa. Epeca pole hynenbe.
aej^ep je heopa bypij baapnenbe. je heopa pole pleanbe. 3
pirne on ellfeobe poppenbenbe. j eopep Romana bpocu. f>e je
J?aep ealne ba&g bpipaS. naap bucon |>py bagap;. Philippupep
ypel myhce feh J?a-gyc be pumum ba&le jemeclic fyncan. aap pe
ppel^enb co pice peng ISlexanbep. hip punu*.. Deh ic nu hip
baeba pume hpile jepupian pcyle. o^5 ic Romana gepecje. ]>e on
J>am ilcan cibum jebone paapon ;•
YIII.
]>am ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep 1111. hunb pincpa
3 xxvi. Eaubenep Fupculap peo pcop jepeapS ppiSe maepe. 3
jic co-baeje ip pop Romana bipmepe ; . Daec jepeapS sepcep
}>am jepeohce. |>e Romane 3 8omnice haepbon. ppa pe aep bepojmn
paebon. J>a papa Somnice xx. M. opplajen pupbon. unbep Fauio
fam conpule:* 2£c Somnite aet o^pan jepeohce mib mapan
pilcume. 3 mib mapan paeppcipe. co Romana jemecmje
ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. i#-/// 347
they were all undone and ruined. After I^hilip had reduced
all the Greeks under his power, he gave his daughter to the
king Alexander, his own kinsman, to whom he had before
given the kingdom of Epirus. On that day when they were
playing on horseback, both Philip and Alexander, to whom
he would give his daughter, and also Alexander his own son,
as was their usage on such [occasions], and also many
others with him ; when Philip, in the course of the play,
had occasion to ride out from the company, he was met by
one of his old enemies and mortally wounded. I know not,
says Orosius, why by you, Romans, these old wars are so
well liked and listened to in poems, and why you so warmly
praise times of such miseries ; and now, though a very little
of such miseries befal you, you bemoan it as the worst of
times, and can as bitterly bewail it as you can joyfully laugh
over those others. If you are such persons as you imagine
you are, then you should as willingly bear your own afflic-
tions (although they are less) as you are [willing] to hear
[those] of those [times] ; then might these times appear
better to you than those, as your afflictions are now less
than theirs then were ; because Philip was for twenty-five
years devastating the Greek nation, either burning their
towns or slaying their people, and sending some into exile ;
and your Roman afflictions, which you are all day adducing,
were for three days only. Yet might the evil caused by
Philip in some degree be thought moderate, before the
drunkard Alexander, his son, succeeded to the kingdom ;
though I will now for a while be silent as to his deeds, until
I relate [those] of the Bornans, which were done at the
same time.
VIII.
four hundred and twenty-six years after the building of
Eome, the place [called] Caudinae Furculae became very
famous, and yet to this day is a reproach to the Romans.
That befel after the war that the Romans and Samnites had,
as we have before said, when twenty thousand of the Samnites
were slain [by the former] under the consul Fabius. But
in a second war, the Samnites came with a larger force and
with more caution than before to meet the Romans, at the
348 KING ALFRED'S onosius.
coman. ponne hy aep bybon. set paepe ptope J>e mon het
Eaubenep Fupculap. -j paep Romane ppiSopt pop pam bipmepe
paepon. pe him •p lanb uncuSpe paep ponne hit Somnitum paepe.
•j on ungepip on an nypepett bepopan oS hy 8ommce uton
bepopan. •}? hy piSSan oSep pceolbon. oSSe pop metelepte heopa
lip aleton. oSSe Somnitum on hanba ^an \. On ]>am anpealbe
paepon Somnite ppa bealbe. ty pe sej^elmj ]?e heopa labteop paep.
Pontmp paep hacen. hec ahxian J)one cynmj hip psebep. ]?e j>aep
aet ham pgep. hpa&pep him leoppe paepe. }>e he hy ealle acpealbe.
\>e hy libbenbe to bipmpe gepeman hete ; - py ]?a pe aepehn^
to fam bipmpe getapabe. J>e J>a on ]>am bajum maept paep. •]?
he hy bepeapobe heopa cla^a 3 heopa paepna. •] vi. hunb ^ipla
on hip gepealb unbeppeng. on ^ jepab. ty hy him pi'Sfan ece
peopap paepon. 3 pe ae^elinj bebeab pumum hip polce. -p hy
gebpohton Romana conpulap on heopa ajnum lanbum. *] him
bepopan bpipan ppa ppa niebhngap. ^ heopa bipmep ]>y mape
psepe;. fieopnop pe polbon. cpaeS Opopiup. eoppa Romana
bipmopa beon poppugienbe ponne pec^enbe. Jjaep pe pop eoppe
ajenpe jnopnunje mopte. J»e ge pi'5 ]mm cpiptenbome habbaS :•
Ppaet ge pitan •J) je jyt to-baeje paejion Sommcum peope. gip
je him ne lujon eoppa pebb j eoppa aSap. ]>e ge him pealbon.
] ge mupcma^ nu. poppam J>e monega pole J>e je anpealb opep
haepbon. nolbon eop jelaeptan ^ hy eop behecon. y nellaS je
Sencean. hu laS eop pylpum paep to laeptanne eoppe a<5ap f»am
]>e opep eop anpealb haepbon ; . 8ona ]>aep. on Sam aeptepan
geape. popbpaecon Romane heopa a'6ap. J?ehy Somnitum jepealb
haepbon. "j mib Papipio. heopa conpule. hy mib pypbegepohton.
•3 ]?aep beablicne pije jepopan. poppam ]>e ae^ep faepa polca
paep paep gepeohtep geopn. 8ommte pop Sam anpealbe. ]>e hy
on ae^Spe healpe haepbon. •} Romane pop Sam bipmepe. ]>e hy
aep aet him jepopan. oS Romane jepen^on Somnita cyninj. -j
heopa paepten abpaecon. -3 hy to japol-jylbum gebybon;. 8e
ilca Papipmp paep aeptep pam gepeohte mib Romanum ppylcep
bomep beleb. ty hy hine to pon jecopen haepbon. ^ hy mib
gepeohte mihte J>am mapan Slexanbpe piSptanban. jip he
fcaptane op Spiam Itaham gerohte. ppa he jecpeben haefbf^ ; .
-/ 319
place called Caudinae Furculae ; and there the Eomans suf-
fered disgrace chiefly because that land was more unknown
to them than it was to the Samnites, and in their ignorance
they marched into a narrow pass, until the Samnites encom-
passed them without, so that they must then do one or the
other, either perish from want of food, or yield themselves to
the Samnites. In their power the Samnites were so confident,
that the prince, who was their general, named Pontius, caused
the king, his father, who was at home, to be asked, whether
he preferred that he should slay them all, or order them to be
preserved alive as a mockery. The prince then treated them
with that contumely which in those days was the greatest. He
bereft them of their clothes and their weapons, and received
six hundred hostages into his power, on condition that they
should afterwards be perpetual slaves to him; and the prince
commanded some of his people to conduct theKoman consuls
to their own territories, and to drive them before them like
thralls, that their ignominy might be the greater. We would
rather, says Orosius, be silent than speaking on the disgraces
of you, Eomans, if we might, notwithstanding your own
discontent which you have with Christianity. "What ! you
know that, even at this day, you would be the slaves of the
Samnites, if you had not belied your pledges and your oaths
that you gave them ; and you now murmur because many
nations, over whom you had power, would not perform wrhat
they had promised you. And will you not call to memory
how hateful it was to yourselves to perform your oaths to
those who had power over you ? Immediately after this, in
the following year, the Eomans broke their oaths that they
had given to the Samnites, and with Papirius, their consul,
sought them with an army, and gained a deadly victory (for
both of those nations were eager for battle ; the Samnites on
account of the power that they had on every side, and the
Eomans because of the disgrace they had undergone from
them) ; till at length the Eomans captured the king of the
Samnites, and took their fastness and made them tributaries.
The same Papirius was, after that war, invested with such
authority, that they chose him to withstand in war the Great
Alexander, if he from the East, from Asia, should invade
Italy, as he had said.
KING ALFEED'S OROSITTS.
IX.
Sam fe Romebuph jetimbpeb paep 1111. hunb
xxvi. fenS 2Oexanbep to GOaeceboma pice aeptep Philippupe hip
jraebep. 3 hip aepeptan fejnpcipe on fon jecybbe. fa he ealle
Epecap mib hip pnyttpo on hip gepealb gemebbe. ealle Sa f e
piS hme gepinn up-ahopon ;• Daet peapS aepept ppom Peppum.
fa hy j-ceolbon1 DemojThanafe. fam philoj-ophe. lic^enbe peoh.
piS Sam J>e he gelsepbe ealle Epecaj* •]? hy Slexanbpe piSpocon ; •
Hchene bubon gepeohc fflexanbpe. ac he hy yona popfloh i
geplymbe. ty hy j^SSan ungemetlicne e^e jrpam him haefbon. ~\
Thebana faepcen abpaec. "3 mib-ealle topeapp. ^ asp psef ealpa
Epeca heapob-pcol. ~\ fiSSan eal f pole on ellSeobe him pi'5
peoh jepealbe. 3 ealle fa oSpe feoba fe on Epecum paepon. he
Co gapol-gylbum jebybe buton GOaecebomam. fe him epc to
jecypbon. ~] fanon pa&p papenbe on Illipice 3 on Thpacn. J hi
ealle to him gebigbe. •] p$5an he ^abepabe pypbe piS Peppe. "]
fa hpile f e he hy jabepobe. he opploh ealle hip majap f e he
gepaecean mihte : • On hip peSe-hepe paepon xxxn. M. -3 fa&p
jehoppeban pipte healp M. "j pcipa an hunb ~] eahtatij;.
Nac ic. cpaeS Opopmp. hpaefep mape punbop paap. f e he. mib
ppa lytle pultume. f one maeptan bael f ipep mibbanjeapbep jejan
mihte. fe •}> he. mib ppa lytlan pepiobe. ppa micel anjinnan
boppte ;-
On Sam popman gepeohte f e Slexanbep jepeaht piS Dapiup
an Peppum. Dapiup haepbe pyx hunb M. polcep. he peapS feh
ppiSop beppicen pop Hlexanbpep peapepe f onne pop hip gepeohte ' •
Daep paep unjemetlic pa&l geplajen Peppa. ~] Slexanbpep naep na
ma f onne hunb tpelptig on Sam pabe-hepe. ~] mjon on fain
peSej- Da apop 31exanbep fanon on Fpigam. Spiam lanb. 3
heopa buph abpaec •} topeapp. fe mon haet Sapbipl- Da
paebe him mon ^ Dapiup haepbe ept pypbe jegabepob on
Peppum;- Slexanbep him -p fa onbpeb. pop faepe neapepan
ptope f e he fa on paep. -3 hpaeSlice pop f am e^e fanon apop
Ofep Taupu] an f one beoph. -3 unjelypeblicne micelne peg on Saop
ALFBED'S OEOSIUS. Hi , 351
IX.
Four hundred and twenty-six years after the building of
Rome, Alexander succeeded to the kingdom of Macedon,
after his father, Philip, and manifested his earliest ability by
reducing by his policy all the Greeks under his power, all
those who had raised up war against him. That arose first
from the Persians, when they gave Demosthenes, the philo-
sopher, treasure, in order that he might instruct all the
Greeks to oppose Alexander. The Athenians declared war
against Alexander, but he forthwith beat and put them to
flight, so that from that time they stood in boundless awe of
him ; and took the fastness of the Thebans, and totally de-
stroyed it, which before had been the capital of all the
Greeks ; and afterwards sold all the people into foreign
countries ; and all the other nations that were in Greece he
made tributaries, except Macedonia, which again returned
to him ; and thence he marched against the Illyrians and
Thracians, and subjected them all to him ; and afterwards
lie gathered an army against Persia, and while he was gather-
ing it, he slew all his relations that he could reach. In his
foot-army there were thirty-two thousand, and of cavalry
four thousand five hundred, and of ships a hundred and
eighty. I know not, says Orosius, which was the greater
miracle, that he with so small a force could overcome the
greatest part of this earth, or that he with so little an army
durst undertake so much.
In the first battle that Alexander fought with Darius and
the Persians, Darius had six hundred thousand people, yet
he was defeated more by Alexander's craft than his fighting.
There was an immense slaughter of the Persians, and of
Alexander's [force] there were no more than a hundred and
twenty of the cavalry and only nine of the infantry [slain].
Alexander then marched thence to Phrygia, a country of
Asia, and took and destroyed their town called Sardis. It
was then told him that Darius had again gathered an army
in Persia. At this Alexander was in dread, on account of
the narrow place in which he then was, and [urged] by that
fear, speedily marched from thence over Mount Taurus, and
352 KING ALFRED'S onosius.
baege gepop. oft he com to Thappum paepe bypij. on Eihemm
pam lanbe ', • On J>am baeje he jemette ane ea. feo haep be
ungemethcne cealb psetep. peo paep EySnup haten. ]>a onjan lie
hyne baSian paepon ppa ppatijne. pa pop pam cyle him je-
pcpuncan ealle aebpa. •}) him mon paep hpep ne penbe ; • Rafie
aeptep Sam com Dapmp mib pypbe to Slexanbpe. he haepbe in.
hunb pupenba peSena. 3 an hunb M. gehoppebpa ; • 31exanbep
peep ]?a him j-pit5e onbpgebenbe pop J?a&pe miclan maemje. 3 pop
J>a&pe lytlan fe he pylp hsepbe. ]>eh }>e sep mib psepe ilcan
Dapmp mapan opepcome:- Daat SeFeonc P^F jebon mib
micelpe jeopnpulnepj-e op t5am polcum bam. 3 J>aep paepan pa
cynmjap bejen ^epunbob ; • Da&p paep Peppa x. M. opplagen
gehoppebpa. y eahtatij M. peSena. -3 eahtatij M. jepanjenpa.
3 J?aep pa3p un^emethce licjenbe peoh punben on pam pic-
pcopum ; • Da3p pa&p Dapmp mobop gepangen. -3 hip pip. peo
pasp hip ppeoptep. 3 hip tpa bohtpa;- Da beab Dapmp healj:
hip pice Slexanbpe pit5 ^am pipmannum. ac him nolbe fflexanbep
]> 33]' geti&an ; • Dapmp ]> a-gyt fpibban pit5e je^abepabe pypbe
op Peppum. -3 eac op oSpum lanbum. ]?one pultum ]>e he him
to appanan mihte. 3 pi$ Mexanbpep pop ;• Da hpile ]>e Dapmf
pypbe gabepabe. pa hpile penbe Slexanbep Papmemonem hif
labteop. f he Dapmp pciphepe aplymbe. j he pylp pop in Sipmm.
~] hy him ongean comon. ^ hij- mib eafimobnejyan onpenjan. 3
he ])eah na pe laep heopa lanb opephepgabe. "j ty pole pum paep
ptcan let. pume panon abpaepbe. pume on ellpeobe him piS peo
jepealbe. -3 Tipup. pa ealban buph -] pa pelejan. he bepaet 3
tobpaec. ~] mib- ealle topeapp. poppon hy him lupthce onpon
nolbon. 3 pi^San pop on Eihcmm. -3 ^ pole to him genybbe. 3
j-itStSan on Robum -J) i^lanb. -3 -^ pole to him genybbe. -3 aspteji
pam he pop on Ggyptie. 3 hy to him ^enybbe. -3 paep he het pa
buph atimbpian. pe mon pi^San be him het Slexanbpia. 3
j-iSSan he pop to pam heapge pe €jypti paebon ty he paepe
Smmonep heojia jobep. pe paep lobepep punu. heopa oSpef
jobep. to pon ^ he polbe belabian hip mobop Nectanabuj'ej*
paep b)iyp. pe mon paebe f heo hy piS poplae^e. -3 ^ he IMexan-
bpep paebep paepe;- Da bebeab !Mexanbep pam haeftenan
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. &~'tf 353
proceeded an incredibly long way on that day, until he came
to the city of Tarsus in the land of Cilicia. On that day he
met with a river that had exceedingly cold water, which was
called Cydnus, and all sweaty began bathing in it, when,
through the cold, all his veins shrank, so that no one sup-
posed him alive. Quickly after that Darius came with an
army to Alexander: he had three hundred thousand foot
and 'a hundred thousand horse. Alexander greatly dreaded
lim, on account of that great multitude, and of the little that
le himself had ; although he had before with the same Darius
overcome a greater. The battle was fought with great
obstinacy by both nations, and both kings were there
wounded. Of the Persians there were slain ten thousand
:iorse and eighty thousand foot, and eighty thousand
captured, and there was an immense treasure found in the
camp. The mother of Darius was there taken, and his wife,
who was his sister, and his two daughters. Darius then
offered half his kingdom to Alexander for the women, but
Alexander would not grant him that. Yet a third time Darius
gathered an army from the Persians, and also what aid he
could draw to him from other countries, and marched against
Alexander. While Darius was collecting an army, Alexander
sent his general Parmenio to put the fleet of Darius to
light, and he himself marched into Syria, and they came to
meet him, and received him with great humility ; yet he,
nevertheless, ravaged their country, and of the people he let
some remain, drove some thence, sold some into foreign
countries. And the ancient and rich city of Tyre he besieged
ind took, and totally destroyed, because they would not
voluntarily receive him ; and afterwards proceeded to Cilicia,
ind subdued that people, and afterwards to the island of
Rhodes, and reduced that people under his subjection, and
after that proceeded against the Egyptians, and reduced
;hem to subjection, and there commanded the city to be
Duilt that from him was afterwards called Alexandria ; and
if'terwards he proceeded to the temple which the Egyptians
said was [that] of their god Ammon, who was the son of
Jove, their other god, for the purpose of exculpating his
11 other with reference to Nectabanus the sorcerer, with
idiom it was said she had committed adultery, and that lie
s the father of Alexander. Thereupon Alexander com-
354 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
bipceope. -p he gecpupe on paep Smmonep anlicneppe. ]>e lime
on pam heapje paep. aeppam pe he 3 -p pole hy paep gabepabe.
3 psebe hu he him an hip gepill bepopan pam polce anbpypban
pceolbe. paep he hyne acpabe ; • Erenoh ppeotohce up gebybe
nu to pitanne Slexanbep hpylce pa haeftenan jobap pmbon to
peopSianne. -p hit ppiSop ip op paepa bipceopa jchloSe. j o>
heopa ajenpe jepypbe. ^ ^ hy pecgeaS. ponne op fsepa joba
mihce | •
Op ps&pe ptope pop IMexanbep ppibban pitSe onjean Dapmp.
•3 hy sec Thappe paepe bypij hy gemeccon ; • On pam jepeohce
paspon Peppe ppa ppiSe popplajen. ^ hy heopa miclan anpealbep
3 langpuman hy pylpe pi^San pi3 Slexanbep to nahte bemsetan ; •
Da Dapmp jepeah -p he opeppunnen beon polbe. pa polbe he
hme pylpne on pam jepeohte popppillan. ac hme hip pejnap
opep hip pillan ppam atujon. "p he pippan pa&p pleonbe mib paepe
pypbe. "j Slexanbep paep xxxiu. ba;z;a on ]?aepe ptope. a&p he pa
pic-ptopa y -p pael bepeapian mihte. ^j pi^tSan pop an Peppe. ~]
jeeobe Peppipolip pa buph. heopa cyne-ptol. peo ip gyt pelejapc
ealpa bupja".- Da pasbe mon Slexanbpe. -p Dapmp hsepbe
jebunben hip ajene ma^ap mib jylbenpe pacentan. Da pop he
piS hip mib pyx M. manna, y punbe hme anne be pe^e hcjean.
mib ppepum topticob. healp cucne ; • pe pa Mexanbep him
anum beabum lytle milbheoptneppe jebybe. 'p he hme her
bebypijean on hip ylbpena bypig. pe he piftftan nanum enbe
hip cynne ^ebon nolbe. ne hip pipe, ne hip mebep. ne hip
beapnum. ne -p ealpa laept paep. hip Jin^pan bohtop. he nolbe
buton haeptnybe habban. peo paep lytel cilb ; • UneaSe mae^
mon to geleappuman ^epec^an. ppa maemjpealb ypel ppa on pam
ftpim jeapum gepupbon. on ^pim polc-^epeohtum. betpeox
tpam cymngum. -p paepon piptyne hunb pupenb manna, -p
bmnan pam poppupbon. anb op J»am ilcan polcum poppupbon
lytle aep. ppa hit hep bepopan pec£5. nigontyne hunb pupenb
manna, butan miclan hepjungum. ]>e bmnan pam Spim jeapum
jepupbon. on mom^pe peobe. -p ip -p Sppipie eall peo peob apepc
peaptS ppam ISlexanbpe. ~\ moneja bypij on !Spiam. -3 Tipup
peo maepe bujih. eall topeoppenu. y Eihcia -p lanb eall apept. •}
Lappabocia f lanb. •] ealle Gjyptie on peopote gebpohc. 3 j
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. JJ^/ *J 355
manded the heathen priest to creep into the image of Ammon,
that was within the temple, before he and the people had
assembled there, and said how he, according to his will,
should answer before the people to what he might ask him.
Plainly enough Alexander has now given us to know what the
heathen gods are for [objects of] worship, [and] that it ia
rather from the body of priests and their own utterance that
which they say, than from the power of the gods.
From that place Alexander marched for the third time
against, Darius, and they met each other at the city of Tarsus,
lu that battle the Persians were so totally defeated, that
their great and long power they afterwards esteemed as no-
thing against Alexander. When Darius saw that he should
be overcome, he was desirous of perishing in the battle, but
his officers drew him away against his will, so that he after-
vvards fled with the army ; and Alexander was thirty- three
days on the place before he could plunder the camp and the
dead, and afterwards marched into Persia and took the city
of Persepolis, their royal residence, which is still the wealthiest
of ail cities. Then it was told to Alexander that his own
relations had bound Darius with a golden chain. He then
marched towards him with six thousand men, and found him
alone lying by the way pierced with spears, half dead. Alex-
ander then showed to him alone [when] dead a little compas-
sion, by ordering him to be buried in the tomb of his ancestors,
which he would not afterwards show to any part of his kin,
not to his wife, nor his mother, nor his children, not to that
which was least of all, his younger daughter, [whom] he
would have only in captivity, who was a little child. Not
easily [even] to 'the credulous can be related so many evils
as in those three years befel, in the three great battles be-
tween the two kings. It was fifteen hundred thousand men
';hat perished within that [time] ; and of the same nations
.here perished a little before, as has before been said, nineteen
iiindred thousand men, not to mention the great ravaged
tvhich took place within those three years among many a
people; that is, in Assyria all the nation was plundered
:>y Alexander, and many cities in Asia, and Tyre, the great
nty, were destroyed, and all the land of Cilicia laid waste, and
he land of Cappadocia, and all Egypt reduced to slavery, and
2 A2
356 L$& ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
Roftum ^ ijlanb mib-ealle apept. 3 monig oSpe lanb ymbe
Taupop pa muntap ; •
Na laep ^ an ^ heopa tpejpa gepinn fa paepe on pam eapc
enbe pipep mibbangeapbep. ac on emn p am. IKjiSip Spaptana
cynmg. 3 Sntipatep. oSep Epeca cyning. punnon him be-
cpeonum. 3 Xlexanbep 6pipia cymng. paep miclan 31exanbpep
earn, pe pilnobe paep pept-baelep. ppa pe o^ep bybe faef eaj-c-
baelef. "j pypbe jelaebbe m Icaliam. j faep hpaeblice opj^lajen
peapS. 3 on J>aepe ilcan tibe. Zoppipion Ponco cynmj mib pypbe
jepop. 3 he •] hif pole mib-ealle faep poppeap^]- Slexanbep
sepcep Dapiup beat5e. jepann ealle GOapbof. -j ealle Ipcaman. •]
on o^pe hpile Jje he ]?aep pmnenbe psep. ppepelice hme jepohce
CDmothea. peo SciSSipce cpen. mib Spym hunb pipmanna. Co
fon ^ hy polban piS Slexanbep ~] piS hip meepeptan cem-
pan beapna ptpynan ', • ^Epcep fam pann Slexanbep pi?
Papthum J?am polce. 3 he hy neah ealle opploh j popbybe.
sep he hy jepmnan mihte. 3 s&pcep }>am he geponn Dpan-
cap ^ pole. 3 Guepgetap. 3 Papamomenap. 3 Sppapiap. 3
monega o^pa Seoba. J>e jepetene pine ymbe J>a muncap Eau-
capup. 3 pap hec ane buph acimbpian. ]>e mon pifrSan hec
IMexanbpia !• Naep hip pcmlac. ne hip hepjunj on pa ppeme-
ban ane. ac he gelice ploh 3 hynbe pa pe him on piml paepon
mibpapenbe -3 pmnenbe *• ^iEpepc he opploh Smintap hip mo-
bpian punu. 3 piSSan hip bpoftop. •] pa Papmemon hip pegn. 3
pa Filotep. ^3 pa Eaculupan. pa Gupilohup. pa Paupamap 3
moneje o^pe. pe op GOaeceboniam picopce paepon. 3 Ehtup. pe
paep s&jSep je hip 8egn ^e »ep Phihppupep hip paebep ; • Da hy
pume pi'Se bpuncne aec heopa pymble paeton. pa on^unnon hy
cpeahcigean hpa&^ep ma maephcpa baeba geppemeb ha&pbe. pe
Phihppup pe Slexanbep. pa paebe pe Ehtup pop ealbpe hylbe. f
Philippup ma haepbe gebon ponne he \ • pe pa !Slexanbep ahleop
pop paepe paegene 3 opploh hme. co-ecan pam pe he hynenbe
paep aejSep ge hip ajen pole ge oSepa cyninga. he paep pin- j
pyppcenbe mannep blobepi- RaSe aeptep pam he pop mib1
p^pbe on Lhopapmop 3 on Dacop 3 him co japol-jylbum hy
genybbe*. • Ehahpcen pone pilopopum he opploh. hip emn-
pceolepe. pe hy aecjaabepe jelaepebe paepon. aec Spipcocelef
heopa ma^ipcpe. 3 mone^a menn mib him. poppon hy nolban
t.o him jebibbm. ppa co heopa gobe;*
KINQ ALFRED'S OEOSITJS. JII. 357
the island of Rhodes totally laid waste, and many lands about
the mountains of Taurus.
Not only was then the war of those two in the east part
of this earth, but coeval with that Agis, the Spartans' king>
and Antipater, another Greek king, were at war with each
other ; and Alexander, the uncle of Alexander the Great,
desired the west part as the other did the east part, and led
an army into Italy, and was there speedily slain. And at
the same time, Zopyrion, king of Pontus, marched with an
army, and he and his people there totally perished. After
the death of Darius, Alexander won all the Mardi and all
Hyrcania ; and at another time, when he was there carrying
on war, Minothaea, the Scythian queen, with three hundred
women, shamelessly sought him, because they wished to con-
ceive children by him and his greatest warriors. After that
Alexander made war on the Parthian nation, and slew and de-
stroyed them nearly all before he could overcome them. After
that he subdued the nations of the Drangse, the Euergetae,
and the Parapameni, and the Adaspii, and many other nations
that are seated about the mountains of Caucasus, and there
commanded a city to be built, that was afterwards called Alex-
andria. Neither his treachery nor his ravages were exercised
only on foreigners, but he slew and injured alike those who
were constantly his associates and fellow- warriors. First he
slew Amyntas, the son of his maternal aunt, and afterwards
his brother, and then Parmenio, his general, and then Phi-
lotas, and then Attains ; then Eurylochus, then Pausanias,
and many others that were the most powerful of Macedonia ;
and Clitus, who was both his servant and previously his father,
Philip's. When they on one occasion were sitting drunk
at their feast, they began to discuss who had performed the
greater deeds, whether Philip or Alexander; when Clitus,
from old affection, said that Philip had done more than he.
Alexander then, on account of that speech, leapt up and
slew him ; besides that, he was the oppressor both of his
own people and those of other kings ; he was ever thirsting
after human blood. Quickly after that he marched with an
army against the Chorasmi and Daha3, and forced them to
be tributaries to him. Callisthenes, the philosopher, his
fellow-disciple, he slew (they had been taught together by
their master, Aristotle), and manv men with him, because
they would not worship him as their god.
858 ETJTG ALFEED'S OROSITTS.
tmm he pop on Inbie. to J>on ^ he hip pice jebnaebhe
08 pone eapc jappec^ ;• On ]>am piSe he jeeobe Nipan. Inbia
heapob-buph. -j ealle }>a beopjap J>e mon Debolap haec. 3 call -^
pice Eleoppilep J>aepe cpene. 3 hy co gehgpe genybbe. 3 pop )>ani
hipe pice epc-ageap ; • JEpcep J>am }>e IMexanbep haepbe ealle
Inbie him co gepylbon gebon. bucon anpe bypij. peo paej' un-
jemaetan paspce. mib clubum ymbpeaxen. J>a geahpobe he ^
6pcol pe enc. J?aep paap co-jepapen on a&p-bajum. co J>on ^ he
hy abpecan ]>ohce. ac he hie poppam ne angan )?e })8&p peep
eop^beopung on faepe Cibei- pe fa 2flexanbep hie ppit5opc
popfam ongann )>e he polbe ^ hip maep^a paepon mapan ponne
6pcolep. ]>eh ]>e he hy mib micle poplope ]?aep polcep begeate ; •
^pcep }>am !Mexanbep haepbe jepeohc piS Popope. )> am pcpenj-
epcan Inbea cynmje 1 • On J>am ^epeohce paepon J>a maejran
blob-gycap on aej^pe healpe faepa polca * • On fam gepeohce
Pop op 3 Slexanbep ^epuhcon anpig on hoppum. ]>a opploh
Popop Hlexanbpep hopp. J)e Bucepal paep haten. 3 hme pylpne
mihce ])aep. jip him hip pegnap co pulcume ne comon. j he
haepbe Popop monejum punbum jepunbobne. "j hme eac £e-
pylbne bybe. pi^San hip pegnap him Co comon. 3 him ept hip
pice co-poplec pop hip pejenpcipe. fy he ppa ppiSe paep peohcenbe
andean hme ; • Snb he Slexanbep him hec pitS^San cpa bypij
acimbpian. o^ep paep hacenu be hip hoppe Bucepal. o$ep
Nicea ; • 8it5San he pop on Sbpaepcap J>a leobe. 3 OR Eachenap.
^j on Ppepibap. ^ on Iran^epibap. 3 piS hi ealle ^epeahc 3
opepponn ; • Da he com on Inbia eapc ^emaepa. J>a com him
]?aep on^ean cpa hunb fupenba jehoppabep polcep. 3 hy Slex-
anbep unease opepponn. aegSep je pop )>33pe pumop-haece je
eac pop t5am opcpaeblican jepeohcum ;• 8i5^an aepcep ]>am he
polbe habban mapan pic-pcopa. Jjonne hip jepuna aep paepe.
popfon he him piSSan aepcep }> am jepeohce. ppiSop anpaec }>onne
he aep bybe \ • ^Epcep ]>am he pop uc on jappecj. op Sam
muftan J>e peo ea paep hacenu Gjmenpe. on an ijlanb. )>aep Smop
•J) pole 3 leppomap on eapbobon. 3 hy Gpcol faep aep gebpohce
•3 gepecce. ^j he him ]?a Co gepylbum jebybe ) • ^Epcep ]>am he
pop co Jam ijlanbe J>e mon f pole GDanbpap hsec. -3 Subagpop.
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. JiEtf 359
After that he proceeded to India, for the purpose of ex-
tending his dominion to the eastern ocean. In that expedi-
tion he took Nyssa, the chief city of India, and all the
mountains called Daedali, and all the realm of Cleophis, the
queen, and compelled her to prostitution, and for that re-
stored to her her kingdom. After Alexander had reduced
all India under his power, excepting one town that was ex-
ceedingly strong, surrounded by rocks, he was informed that
Hercules, the giant, had journeyed thither in days of old,
with tLe design of taking it ; but he did not attempt it, be-
cause there was an earthquake at that time. He, Alexander,
then undertook it, chiefly because he would that his glory-
should be greater than Hercules' s, although he gained it
with a great loss of his people. After that Alexander had a
battle with Porus, the most valiant king of India. In that
battle there was infinite bloodshed of those people on both
sides. In that battle Porus and Alexander fought in single
combat on horseback, when Porus killed Alexander's horse
that was named Bucephalus, and might [have killed] himself,
if his attendants had not come to his succour ; and he had
wounded Porus with many wounds, and also made him pri-
soner, after his attendants had come to him ; and left him his
kingdom again, on account of his valour, because he had so
stoutly fought against him. And Alexander afterwards
commanded him to build two cities, one was called after his
horse, Bucephala, the other jS"icaea. He afterwards proceeded
against the nation of the Adrestae, and against the Cathaei,
and against the Praesidse, and against the Grangaridae, and
fought against them all and overcame them. When he came
to the east confines of India, there came against him two
hundred thousand people on horseback, and Alexander with
difficulty overcame them, both on account of the summer
heat, and of the frequent battles. After that, he would have
a larger encampment than he was previously wont to have ;
because, after that battle, he stayed within it more than ho
had done previously. After that he inarched out to the
ocean, from the mouth of the river which was called Acesine,
on to an island where the nation of the Sibi and the G-essona3
dwell (and Hercules had before brought them thither and
established them), and them he reduced to subjection.
After that he proceeded to the island the people of which
360 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
•3 hy him bpohtan angean ehtahunb M.1 peSena. j Ix. M. gehoppa-
bep polcep. ^ hy lange paepon -J) bpeogenbe. aep heopa afep
mihte on oSpum pije gepaecan. aep Hlexanbep lace unpeopft-
licne pige gepaehte .' • JEptep fam he jepop to anum paeptene.
fa he faep to com ]>a ne mihton hy naenne mann on fam
paeptene utan gepeon ; • Da pimbpabe ISlexanbep hpi hit ppa
aemenne paepe. 3 hpsebhce fonepeall pelp opepclomm. ~] he |)aep
peap8 ppam t5am buphpapum mn-abpoben. *j hy hip pi^San
paepon ppa ppi"3e ehtenbe. ppa hit ip ungehepebhc to pecjenne.
je mib gepceotum. je mib ptana toppunjum. ge mib eallum
heopa pijcpa3ptum. "j ppa-J>eah ealle J»a buphpape ne mihton
hme aenne ^enyban ^ he him on hanb gan polbe \ • Sc J>a him
•p pole ppit5opt onfipang. fa jeptop he to anep peallep by^e. *j
hme J?a&p apejiebe * • Snb ppa eall ^ pole peapS mib him anum
ajaeleb. ^ hy faep peallep nane jyman ne byban. ot5 Slexanbpep
}>ejnap to-emnep him ]>one peall abpaecan 3 faepmn comon|-
Daep peajiS Slexanbep Suphpcoten mib anpe plan unbepneotian
•p o^ep bpeopt '. • Nyte pe nu hpaej>ep py ppiSop to punbpianne.
J>e ty hu he ana pi^ ealle ]>a buphpape hme apepebe. }>e ept J>a
him pultum com. hu he Jmph $ pole geftpang. f he fone ilcan
opploh. }»e hme s&p ftuphpceat. ]>e ept ]?83pa Se^na ongm. fa hy
untpeo^enbhce penbon ty heopa hlapopb pa&pe on heojia peonba
gepealbe. oSSe cuca o'SSe beab. ^ hy ppa-feah nolbon ]?aep peall-
jebpecep ^eppican. ^ hy heopa hlapojib ne geppaecon. feh J>e hy
hme metSigne on cneopu pittenbe metten;- SiSSan he fa
buph haepbe him to gepylbum gebon. fa pop he to oftpe bypij.
f a&p Smbipa pe cynmj on punabe. f a&p poppeapS micel fflex-
anbpep hepep pop gesettpebum ^epcotum. ac Slexanbpe
peapS on 6a&pe ilcan mht on ppepne an pypt o^ypeb. fa nam
he fa on mepgen. ^ pealbe hy fam gepunbebum bpmcan. y hy
pupbon mib fam jehaeleb. ^ pi^San fa buph jepann 3 he piSSan
hpeapp hampeapb to Babylonia, f sep paspon aepenbpacan on
anbibe op ealpe peopolbe. ^ pajp ppam Spaneum. 3 op Spppica.
•j op Eallmm. -3 op ealpe Italia'.- Spa egepull paep Slexanbep.
f af a he paep on Inbeum. on eaptepeapbum f ipum mibbaneapbe.
•J5 fa ppam him abpeban fa paepon on peptepeapbum | • €ac
him comon a&jira&pacan op monejum f eobum. fe nan mann
ALFHED'S OROSIUS-. JM-', ^ 361
are called Mandrse and Subagri, and they brought against
jhim eight hundred thousand foot1 and sixty thousand horse,
and they were long contending before either of them could
attain the victory over the other, until Alexander at length
gained a dishonourable victory. After that he proceeded to
a fortress, when he came to which he could from without see
no man in the fortress. Thereupon Alexander wondered
why it was so deserted, and quickly climbed over the wall
himself, and he was there dragged in by the inhabitants, and
they then assailed him so violently that it is incredible to
relate, both with arrows and casting of stones, as well as
with all their warlike devices; and yet all the inhabitants
could not compel him, a single man, to surrender to them.
But when the people pressed on him most violently, he stept
to the angle of a wall and there defended himself. And thus
were all the people hindered by him alone, so that none
guarded the wall, until Alexander's followers broke down
the wall opposite to him and came in. There was Alexander
pierced with an arrow underneath one of his breasts. "We
know not now which is most to be wondered at, how he alone
defended himself against all the inhabitants, or, on the other
hand, when aid came to him, how he pressed through that
people, so that he slew the same who had before shot him ; or
again, the conduct of his followers, when they knew without
a doubt that their lord was in the power of their enemies,
either alive or dead, that they, nevertheless, would not cease
from breaking down the wall, [and] that they did not avenge
their lord, although they found him faint, resting on his
knee. After he had reduced the city to subjection he pro-
ceeded to another city, in which the king Ambira dwelt,
where many of Alexander's army perished by poisoned
arrows. But in that same night a plant was shown to
Alexander in a dream ; this he took in the morning, and
gave it to the wounded to drink, and they were thereby
healed, and afterwards took the city ; and he afterwards re-
turned homewards to Babylon, where ambassadors were
awaiting him from all the world, that was, from Spain, and
from Africa, and from Gaul, and from all Italy. So terrible
was Alexander when he was in India, in the east of this
earth, that those dreaded him who were in the west. There
came to him also ambassadors from many nations to whom
362 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
Hlexanbpep gepeppcipep ne penbe. ty mon hip namon pipte. j him
ppiftep co him pilnebon \ • Da-gic fa Xlexanbep ham com co
Babylonia, f a-gic paep on him pe maepca f uppc mannep blobep ] •
He fafa hip gepepan onjeacan "p he f aep jepmnep fa-jic jeppi-
can nolbe. ac he paebe ty he on Spppica papan polbe. fa geleopne-
bon hip bypelap him betpeonum. hu hy him mihcon ty lip
oSfpunjan. j him jej'ealban atcop bpincan. fa poplec he hip
lip | • Gala, cpaeo" Opopmp. on hu micelpe bypi^neppe menn nu
pinbon on fypon cpipcenbome. ppa-feah fe him lyclep hpaec
uneSe py. hu eappo^lice hy hie jemaenaS ; • O5ep f apa ip.
oSSe hy hie nyton. o68e hy hie pican nyllaS. an hpelcan bpo-
cum fa hpbon f e aep him paepan. nu penaS hy hu f am psepe f e
on Slexanbpep jepalbe pa&pan. fa him fa ppa ppitSe hine anbpe-
ban f e on pepcepeapbum f ipep mibbangeapbep pa&pan. ^ hy on
ppa micle nef in^e. -3 on ppa micel ungepip. ae^ep ge on paep
pyphco. je on pepcennum pilbeopa ^ pypm-cynna mippenhcpa.
je on feoba jepeopbum. •}) hy hine aaptep ppi^5e pohcon. on
eaptepeapbum f ypan mibban^eapbe ' • Sc pe pitan geopne. -p
hy nu ma pop yphfte. naf ep ne buppan. ne ppa peop ppiS gepe-
cean. ne pupfon hy pelpe aac heopa cotum pepian. fonne hy
mon aec ham pec8. ac •)) hy fap ciba leahtpien )•
X.
f am feRomebuph getimbpeb paep 1111. hunb pincpa
3 L. unbep f am cpam conpulum. f e ot5ep paep haten Fauiup. 3
oSpan namon ODaximup. *] unbep f am f e Epincup paep haten. 3
oSpan namon Decmp. on heopa conpulatu. on Icalium peopep
fa pcpenjepcan feoba hy him becpeonum jepppaecan. ^ paepan
Umbpi. j Dpypci. ^j Sommce. ^ I/allie. -J) hy polbon on Romane
pnnan. •j hy him •p ppi^e onbpeban. hu hy piS him eallum
enbemep mihce. "3 ^eopne pipebon hu hy hy tocpaeman mihcan.
•j jepealbenne hejie on Dpypci ^ on Umbpe penbon an hep-
junje. -3 ^ pole Co amyppanne;- Da hy $ geacpeban. fa
penban hy him hampeapb. co fon ^ hy heopa lanb bepepeban.
3 Romane fa hpile mib heopa majian pulcume. f e hy aec ham
KING ALFEED'S OKOSITTS. J&, °/)l° 3G3
no one of Alexander's associates imagined that his name
was known, and desired peace of him. Even after Alex-
ander came home to Babylon, there was in him the greatest
thirst after human blood. But when his associates found
that he yet would not desist from war, for he said he would
march to Africa, his cup-bearers devised among themselves
how they might deprive him of life, and gave him poison to
drink. He then abandoned his life. Alas ! says Orosius, in
how great a delusion men now are in this Christendom ;
although [only] some little thing befal them that is un*
pleasant, how bitterly they bewail it. It is one of these,
they either do not know, or they will not know, in what
miseries those lived who were before them. Let them now
think how it was with those who were in the power of Alex-
ander, when they who were in the west of this earth so
greatly feared him, that they were in such great degradation
and such great ignorance, that not only on the dread of the
sea, and in the deserts of wild beasts and the various ser-
pent kinds, and in tongues of people, they sought him for
peace in the east of this earth. But we know well that they
now, more from fear, neither dare either seek peace so far
away, nor, indeed, defend themselves in their cots, when any
one seeks them at home ; but [yet] that they criminate these
times.
X.
After Borne had been built four hundred and fifty years,
under the two consuls, one of whom was called Pabius, and,
by another name, Maximus, and under him who was named
Quintus, and, by another name, Decius, in their consulship
four of the strongest nations in Italy, the Umbrians, the
Etruscans, the Samnites, and the Gauls, agreed among them-
selves to make war on the Romans ; and they greatly dreaded
how they might finally withstand them, and diligently
planned how they might divide them, and sent a powerful
army to harry on the Etruscans, and on the Umbrians, and
to ruin that people. When they were apprized of that, they
returned homewards, that they might defend their country ;
and the Romans in the meanwhile with their large force,
364 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
haepbon. popan ongean Somnite. •] on jean liallie | • Baep on
f am gepeohte paej" Epintup pe conpul opplajen. 3 Fauiup pe oSejv
conpul. aapoep fa&p oftpep pylle. j-ige haepbei- Daep peapS
Sommta 3 Eallia peopeptij M. ojrjiagen. 3 peopon M. Romana.
on ]> am baele f e Decmp on opplajen pasp ; • Donne paebe Libiup
$ Sommta 3 Eallia paspe oj>ep healp hunb M. opplajen faapa
peSena. j peopon M. jehoppebpa;- Gac ic gehypbe to poCunt
pecgan. cpaaS Opopmp. ^ hie na nsepe on Sam ba^um mu
Romanum buton jepmne. oS6e piS o6pa pole o6Se on him
pelpum. mib momjpealbum polum *] mann-cpealmum. ppa ppa
hit fa psep ; • Da Fauiup pe conpul op J?am gepeohte hampeapb
poji. J»a bybe mon ]?one tpiumphan him bepopan. )>e heopa
jepuna pajp fonne hy pije ha&pbon ; • Sc pe gepea peapS ppiSe
pa6e on heopa mobe to gebpaapebneppe jecyppeb. ]?a hy je-
papan ]>a beaban menn ppa 6ichce to eopSan bepan. fe ]>s&p a&ji
set ham pa&pan. popfon ]>e J>aep pajp pe micla mann-cpealm on
Saepe tibe ; •
3 ]>8&p ymb an ^eap. Sommte gepuhton piS Romanum. ~j hy
jeplymbon. "j hy bebpipan into Romebypig. ^ hpseblice aepteji
}»am Somnite apenban on oSpe pipan. segSep je heopa pceopp.
ge call heopa pa&pn opep-pyleppeban. to tacne f> hy o^ep
polban. oft^e ealle libban. oSSe ealle hc^ean \- On fam bagum
jecupon Romane Papipmp him to conpule. ~] pa^e faep pypbe
gelaebban onjean 8ommtum. ]>eh ]>e heopa bipceopap ppam
heopa gobum paebon. ^ hy ^ jepeoht popbube|- He he
Papipmp fa bipceopap pop J> aepe pejene ppiSe bipmpebe. 3 f
paepelb ppa-feah gepop. ~) ppa peopShcne pi^e haapbe. ppa he aep
unpeop^lice papa goba bipceopan opephypbe;- Daep peapS
8ommta tpelp M. oppla^en. ^ 1111. M. gepangen. j paSe aeptep
Jmm masplican pige. hy pupbon ept jeunpett mib mann-
cpealme. ^ pe pasp ppa unjemethc ^ ppa lanjpum. fast hy fa
aat mhptan pitenbe mib beopol-cpasptum pohton hu hy hit
Reptilian mihtan. 3 gepetton epcolapmp fone pcmlacan mib
f aspe ungemetlican naabpan. fe mon GpiSaupup het. y onhcopt
bybon ppylce him na&ppe aep f am gelic ypel on ne become, ne
aepteji f am ept ne become | • Dy aepteppan geape ]> aap ]> e
Fauiup heopa conpul. fe o^pum namon pa&p haten Eupiup.
jepeaht piS Sommtum. 3 heanhce hampeapb oftfleah. fa polbaa
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. 305
which they had at home, marched against the Samnites and
against the Grauls. There in that war, Quintus, the consul,
was slain, and Fabius, the other consul, after the other's fall,
gained a victory. Of the Samnites and Gauls forty thou-
sand were there slain, and seven thousand of the Romans,
in that part where Deems" was slain. Now Livy has said,
that of the Samnites and Grauls a hundred and fifty thousand
foot were slain, and seven thousand horse. I have also heard
say for a truth, says Orosius, that with the Eomans in those
days it was nothing but war, either against other nations or
among themselves, together with manifold plagues and pes-
tilences as then were. "When the consul Fabius returned
homewards from that war, they brought a triumph to meet
him, as was their custom when they had victory. But joy
was very quickly turned in their minds to grief, when they
saw the dead bodies so thickly borne to earth, that had been
previously at home ; because the great pestilence was there
at that time.
And about a year afterwards the Samnites fought against
the Eomans and put them to flight, and drove them into
Eome, and speedily after that the Samnites changed to
another fashion, and covered with silver both their garb and
all their weapons, as a token that they would either all live
or all fall. In those days the Eomans chose Papirius for
their consul, and soon after led an army against the Sam-
nites, although their priests told them from their gods that
they (the gods) forbade the war. But Papirius scoffed much
at the priests for their declaration, and, nevertheless, pro-
ceeded on his march, and had as honourable a victory as he
before had dishonourably contemned the priests of the gods.
Of the Samnites there were twelve thousand slain and four
thousand taken. And soon after that glorious victory they
were again saddened by pestilence, and it was so violent and
so lasting, that they at last wittingly sought by devilish arts
how they might stay it ; and fetched the image of JEscula-
pius with the immense adder that is called the Epidaurian;
and they did like as if a similar evil had never before befallen
them, and was afterwards never to befal them again. In the
second year after this, Fabius, their consul, who by another
name was called G-urges, fought against the Samnites, and
ignominiously fled homewards. Thereupon the senate would
366 KING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS.
fa penacup hme apeoppan. popfon he -J) pole on pleame £e-
bpohce. fa baeb hip paebep. paep eac Fauiup hacen. f )>a penacuj
jropgeapon f am puna Sone gyle. 3 -J) he mopce mib Sam puna
aec oSpan cyppe piS Sommcum mib heopa ealpa pukume. 3 hy
him f aep jeci'Sebon ', - Da bebeab pe paebep pam conpule. ^ he
mib hip pipbe onjean pope. 3 he bea&ptan jebab mib pumum
J>am pulcume;- Da he gepeah ^ Ponciup Sommca cynmj
haepbe fone conpul hip punu bepipeb. *] mib hip polce ucan
bejranjen. he him ]?a Co pulcume com. j hme ppiSe jeanmecce.
3 Ponciup Sommca cynmj jepenjon ; • Daep peapS Somnica
xx. M. opplajen. 3 1111. M. jepan^en mib J>am cyninje!- Dsep
peapS Romana gepmn ~\ Somnica jeenbob. popf on ]> e hy heopa
cynmg jepengon. ty hy sep bpeojenbe psepon Lvuii. pincpa.
Daep on o6pum ^eape Eupiup pe conpul mib Romanum jepeahc
piS Sabinan. 3 heopa unjemec opploh. 3 pige haepbe. be Son
mon mihce pican. fa hi J>a conpulap hy acellan ne mihcan ; •
XI.
JEpcep Sam f e Romebuph gecimbpeb paep 1111. hunb pincpum
3 Lxm. fafa Dolabella 3 JDomiCiup paepon conpulap on Rome,
fa Lucani. 3 Bpuci. 3 Sommce. j tallie op Senno angunnon
piS Romanum pinnan \ • Da penbon Romane aepenbpacan co
Urallmm ymbe ppiS. fa opplojon hy fa aepenbpacan | • Da
penbon hy epc Eecihum heopa ppecopium mib pypbe fsep
liallie j Bpuci aec^aebepe paejion. "j he faep peapS opplagen.
•p pole mib him. -p paep xvm. M .'• Spa ope fcalli piS Romanura
punnon. ppa pupbon Romana neh gecnypebe \ • Fopf on.
Romane. cpaeS Ojiopiup. f onne ge ymbe ^ an gepeohc ealnej
ceopiaS fe eop fcocan jebybon. hpi nellaS je geSencan fa
monejan aeppan. f e eop Irallie opcpaeblice bipmeplice Suphcu-
Ic pceal eac jemynb^ian be pumum baele f aep f e fflexanbpep
aepcep-pylgenbap bybon on Sam ciban. ]>e Sip jepeapS on Rome-
KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS. JU-, tof 'f 367
depose him, because he had brought the people to flight j
then his father prayed (he was also named Fabius) the senate
to forgive his son his crime, and that, with his son, he might
a second time march against the Samnites with their whole
force: and this they granted him. The father then com-
manded the consul that he with his army should go against
(the enemy), and he would stay behind with some of the
force. "When he saw that Pontius, the king of the Samnites,
had ensnared the consul, his son, and surrounded him with
his people, he came to his succour, and greatly encouraged
him ; and they took Pontius, the king of the Samnites. Of
the Samnites twenty thousand were there slain, and four
thousand taken, together with the king. There was the war
of the Eomans and the Samnites ended, because they (the
Eomans) had taken their king, which they had been carrying
on for fifty-nine years. In the second year after this, Curius,
the consul, with the Eomans, fought against the Sabines, and
slew an infinite number of them, and had the victory ; which
may be known by that, that they, the consuls, could not
reckon them (the slain).
XI.
After Eome had been built four hundred and sixty-three
years, when Dolabella and Domitius were consuls in Eome,
the Lucani, and Brutii, and Samnites, and the Seno-Galli
raised war against the Eomans. Thereupon the Eomans
sent ambassadors to Gaul [praying] for peace; and they
slew the ambassadors. They then afterwards sent Caecilius,
their pr&tor, with an army to where the Gauls and the Brutii
were together, and he and the people with him were there
slain, that was eighteen thousand. As often as the Gauls
warred with the Eomans, the Eomans were nearly crushed.
Therefore, ye Eomans, says Orosius, when ye are always
murmuring about that war which the Goths made on you,
why will you not think of the many earlier ones that the
Gauls frequently, to your disgrace, have carried on against
you?
I shall also record in some measure what the successors of
Alexander did ic. those times, when this took place at Eome,
868 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
bypij. hu hy hy pvlpe mib mippenhcan gepeohtuin popbybon>
PIC ip. cpaeS he. J>am gehcopc. f onne ic hip jef encan pceal. f e ic
ptce on anpe heahpe bune. "3 jepeo f °nne on pmetmm pelba
pela pypabypnan. ppa opep eall GDaeceboma pice, ty ip opep ealle
fa mapan Spam, j opep 6upope fone maeptan bael. "3 ealle
Libiam. -p hie na naej* buton here -3 gepmnum ; • Da ]?e unbep
Slexanbpe fypmejt paepan. J^aep ]?sep hy aapcep him pixeban hy
^ mib ^epinnum apepcan. ^ J>sep J^aep hy nsepan. hy jebyban
J>one ma&)-can ege. ppylce pe bicepepca pmic upp-apci^e. 3 J>onne
pibe topape]- Slexanbep xn. ^eap J)ipne mibbanjeapb unbeji
him J>pypmbe ^j ejpabe. ^j hip s&pcep-polgepap xim. jeap hie
cotu^on ^ tocaspon. ]>am gelicopt ]?onne peo leo
hip hunjpegum hpelpum hpaec to etanne. hy ]?onne
on f>am a&ce hpylc heopa maepc maeg ^ehpyppcman 1 •
Spa ]7onne bybe Phcolomeup. Slexanbpep fejna an. pa he
togaebepe ^epceop ealle Gjyptum *] Spabia. j Laumebon. hip
oSep pe^n. pe bepeng ealle Sppipie. "j Thelenup Eiliciam. ~\
Filocop Illipicam. *] Scpapatup ]?a mapan GOe^iam. -j 8cpomen
J>a Isejjan GOe^iam. •] PepSice fa laeppan Spiam. ^ Supana J?a
mapan Fpijan. j Sncigonup Liciam ^j Pamphiham. ^ Ne-
apchup Eapiam. ^ Leonacup ]>a laeppan Fpigiam. "3 Lipimachup
Thpaciam. -3 6umenep Eappabociam 3 Paplajomam. 3 Seleucuj-
haepbe ealle fa aeSeleptan menn Slexanbpep hepep. -3 on len^Se
mib him he begeafc ealle fa eapc lanb. "3 Eappanbep fa cempan
mib Ealbeum. -3 on Paccpmm -3 on Inbeum pa&pon fa ealbop-
menn fe 2Qexanbe}i gepetce. "3 ^ lanb becux fam cpam can.
Inbupe 3 Kappene. haepbe Taxilep. -3 Ichona haepbe calome. fa
feobe on Inbeum. -3 Papapamenap haepbe Oxiapchep. aec faep
beopjep enbe Eaucapup. -3 Spa j Spachapihebpop haepbe 8ibup-
cup. 3 Sconcop haapbe Dpanceap -3 Speap fa ^eoba. -3 Omincaf
haepbe Xtpianup. ^ Sicheup haepbe Sortianop -p pole. 3 Nicanop
haepbe Papthor. -3 Philippup Ipcanop. -3 Fpacapepnep haepbe
Spmeme. "3 Theleomomop haepbe GOaeSap. -] Feucepcup haepbe
Babylomap. -3 Pelaupop haepbe Spchop. -3 Spchelaup GOepopoca'
miam1 ; • Gall heopa jepinn apaecnebon aepepc ppam Slexanbpej-
epipcole. popfon fe he faepon bebeab. ^ mon ealle fa ppeccan
on cyfif e lece. f e on fam lanbum paejion f e lie aep pylp jehep-
ALFRED'S onosrus. J5^, /» 309
how they ruined themselves with divers wars. It is, says
he, when I think of it, most like as if I were sitting on a
high mountain, and then see many fires burning in the
smooth field ; so over all the realm of Macedonia, that is,
over all the Greater Asia, and the greatest part of Europe,
and all Libya, it was nothing but hate and wars. They who
were foremost under Alexander, ravaged with wars there
where they reigned after him; and there where they were not,
they caused the greatest terror, like as the bitterest smoke
ascends and is then widely dispersed. Alexander, for twelve
years, oppressed and terrified this world under him ; and his
successors, for fourteen years after, rent and tore it, most
like to when the lion brings his hungry whelps something to
eat ; then they show in that food which of them can tear it
the most. So then did Ptolemseus, one of Alexander's
officers, when he united together all Egypt and Arabia, and
Laomedon, his other officer, who seized on all Assyria, and
Thelenus Cilicia, and Philotas Illyria, and Atropatus the
Greater Media, and Stromen the Lesser Media, and Per-
diccas the Lesser Asia, and Susana the Greater Phrygia, and
Antigonus Lycia and Pamphylia, and Nearchus Caria, and
Leonnatus the Lesser Phrygia, and Lysimachus Thrace, and
Eumenes Cappadocia and Paphlagonia ; and Seleucus had all
the noblest men of Alexander's army, and at length with
them he acquired all the east lands, and Cassander the
common soldiers, together with the Chaldeans. And in
Bactria and in India were those prefects whom Alexander
had appointed ; and Taxiles had the land between the two
rivers, the Indus and the Hydaspes, and Pithon had the
colonies, nations in India, and Oxyartes had the Parapar-
meni at the end of Mount Caucasus, and Sibyrtius had the
Arachosii and G-edrosia, and Stasanor had the nations of the
Drangae and the Arei, and Amyntas hadjbhe Bactrian people,
Pa
and Scythseus had the Sogdiani, and Nicanor had the Par-
thians, and Philippus the Hyrcanians, and Phrataphernes
had Armenia, and Tlepolemus'had the Medes, and Peucestes
had the Babylonians, and Archon had the Pelasgi, and
Archelaus Mesopotamia. All their wars arose first from
Alexander's epistle, because he therein commanded, that all
the exiles should be permitted [to return to their] country,
who were in those lands which he himself had previously
2B
370 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
gab haepbe ; • Da nolban Epecap ]>am bebobe hypan. pop)>on
hy onbjieban. Jjonne hy hyg egabepebon. ty hy on him geppaecan
Jra ceonan J>e hy aep mib him gepoleban. ge eac prSpocon ^ hy
Wg pi$ Laecebemomum hypan nolban. paep heopa heapob-ptol
paep : • Snb paSe paep Xthemenpe gelaebban xxx. M. polcep 3 tpa
hunb pcipa ongean Xntigone. pam cyninge. pe eall Epeca pice
habban pceolbe. popfon ]>e he ]>a&p s&penbej* aepenbpaca paef
fpam 2£lexanbpe. -] ^ej'etcon him to labceope Demoftenon ))one
fdoj-opim. ~] afponon him co pulcume Eopinchum J>a buph-
leobe. •] Sihonap. 3 ODapjaj-. 3 beyaecan Sntipatpum. J?one
cynmj. on anum peefcene. pop^on )>e he paep SnCigone on
fuluume ; • Dasp peapft Leofcenef . ot5ep heopa labceopa. mib
anpe plan oppcoten \ • Da hy ppam p83pe bypig hampeapb
paepon. ]>a gemecton hy Leonantmp. fe pceolbe Sntipacpume
to pultume cuman. ~] |>83p opplagen peaji^ \ • ^Eptep ]> am
Pep^icca. J>e J»a Iseppan Spiam hsepbe. onjann pinnan pifi Spia-
pa^e. Eappaboca cyninje. 3 hine bebpap into anum paeptene. ~]
pa buphpape pelpe hit onbsepnbon on peopep healpa. ty eall
p oppeapj? ^ J?aep bmnan paep \ •
-^Eptep fain Hntigonup *] Pep'Sicca jebeoteban ty hy polban
him betpeonum gepeohtan. y lanje ymb ^ pipeban hpaep hy hi
^emetan polban. 3 monij iglanb apepcan on fam ^eplite.
Upaepep heopa mihte mapan pultum him to geteon | • On fam
anbibe PepSicca pop mib pypbe on Ggyptum. paep Phtolomeuf
pa&p pe cymng. popfon |>e him paep gepaeb. ^ he polbe Sntigone
f ylpcan. fam cyninge 1 • Da gegabepabe Phtolomeup micle
pypbe ongean him ; • Da hpile ]>e hy tojaebepe-peapb punbe-
ban. jepuhton tpejeri cymnjap. Neoptolemup ^ Gumenep. "3 he
Gumenep geplymbe Neoptolemup. ^ he com to Antigone, fam
cyninje. ^ hme ppeon ^ he on Gumenep unmynblinga mib hepe
become ] • Da penbe ISntijonup hine pylpne. *] hip oSepne pejn
Polipepcon mib miclan pultume. ty hy hine beppicen> Da
geahpobe ty Gumenep. ^ poppaetabe hy ]>aep J>aep hy gefoht
haepbon ^ hy hine bepaetebon. 3 hy begen opploh. -3 ]?a o8pe je-
plymbe ; • ^Eptep fam gepeahc PepSicca -3 Phtolomeup. 3 faap
peapS PepSicca opplagen \ • JEptep ]?am peapS GDaecebonium
cuS. $ Gumenep. ^ Pipon. -3 Ilipgup. 3 Slceta. Pep^iccan bpo-
KING ALFHED'S OROSIUS. 2ZT, // 37^
ravaged. Then the Greeks would not obey that command,
because they dreaded, when they were all gathered [to-
gether], that they would avenge on them the injuries that
they had previously suffered with them; yea, they even
refused longer to obey Lacedaemonia, where their chief city
was. And soon afterwards, the Athenians led thirty thousand
men and two hundred ships against the king Antigonus,
who was to have all the Grecian realm, because he was the
messenger of that errand from Alexander; and they ap-
pointed for their leader Demosthenes, the philosopher, and
drew to their support the inhabitants of Corinth, and Sicyon,
and Argos, and besieged the king Antipater in a fortress,
because he was a supporter of Antigonus. There was Leo-
sthenes, another of their leaders, shot with an arrow. When
they were [returning] homewards from that city, they met
Leonnatus, who was coming to the aid of Antipater, and was
there slain. After that, Perdiccas, who had the Lesser Asia,
began to war against Ariarathus, king of Cappadocia, and
drove him into a fortress, and the inhabitants themselves
burnt it on four sides, so that all that were within it
perished.
After that, Antigonus and Perdiccas threatened that they
would fight with each other, and were long planning about
where they should meet, and laid waste many islands in the
contest, which of them might draw to him the greater aid.
In that interval, Perdiccas proceeded with an army into
Egypt, where Ptolemy was king, because it had been told
him that he (Ptolemy) would aid King Antigonus. There-
upon Ptolemy gathered a great army against him. While
they were proceeding to meet each other, the two kings,
Neoptolemus and Eumenes, fought, and Eumenes put Neo-
ptolemus to flight, so that he came to King Antigonus, and
prevailed on him to come unawares upon Eumenes with an
army. Thereupon Antigonus sent himself (Neoptolemus)
and his other officer, Polyperchon, with a large force, that
they might take him by surprise. When Eumenes was in-
formed of that, he beset them where they had thought to
beset him, and slew them both, and put the others to flight.
After that Perdiccas and Ptolemy fought, and Perdiccas was
there slain. After that, it became known to the Macedonians
that Eumenes, and Pithon, and Illyrius, and Alceta, the
372 ZING ALFRED'S OBOSITJS.
fcop. polban pinnan on hy. 3 pinbon •)} Xntigonup him pceolbe
mib pypbe onjean cuman ; • On J>am gepeohte jeplymbe Xnti-
jonup Gumenep. "3 hme bebpap into anum pa&ptenne. 3 hine
paep bepaet ; • Da penbe Gumenep to Xntipatpe pam cymnje.
3 hine pultumep baeb ) • Da Sntigonup j? onjeat. pa poplet he
|> petl | • !Sc he Gumenep him penbe pjiam Xntigonup ham-
p aepelbe micelpa untpeopSa. 3 him Co pultume appon ]>a fe aep
paepon Slexanbpep cempan. ]?a paepan hatene Spjipappi^ef.
pop]>on )?e ealle heopa pa&pn paepan opep-pyleppebe ; • Da on
pam tpeon. J>e hy ppa unjeopne hip pillan pulleobon. J?a becom
him Sntigonuf mib pypbe on. 3 hy benaembe ae^ep je heopa
pipa. je heopa beapna. ge heopa eapbep. je eallep ]>aep lic-
jenoan peop. fe hy unbep Slexanbpe bejeacan. ^ hy j-ylpe
unease ot5plu^on to Gumene ; • ^Eptep ]?am J?a penbon hy to
Snti^one ymb heopa ^ maepte bipmep. ^ hine baebon -^ he him
ageape -p he a&p on him bepeapobe ; • Da onbeab he him. f he
him J?aep getyg'Sian polbe. jip hy him Gumenep. J>one cynmj. pe
heopa hlapopb ]>a paep. gebunbenne to him bpohte. ^ hy f
geppemeban ppa | • Sc he heopa ept aagftep ge mib bipmepe
onpenj. je hi eac on pone bipmephcoptan eapb gepette. ty paap
on J»am ycemeptan enbe hip manna. ~] him ppa-J?eah nanuhc
agipan nolbe paep pe hy bena paepon \ •
^Eptep pam Gupi^ica. SpiSeupep cpen. GOaeceboma cymnjep.
heo paep )?am polce monig ypel bonbe. puph Eapj-anbep. hipe
hlapopbep pegn. mib pam heo haepbe bypne jehjpe. ^ unbep ]>am
heo gelaepbe pone cynmg. -p he hine ppa upp-ahop. ^ he paep
bupan eallum pam pe on pam pice paepon to pam cyninge. 3 heo
gebybe mib hype lape. f» ealle ODaecebome paepon pam cyninge
piSeppeapbe. 06 hy pur, -on ^ hy penbon aeptep Ohmpia^um.
Slexanbpep mebep. j) heo him gepylpte. •}} hy mihtan aegSep je
pone cyning ge pa cpene him to gepylbum ^ebon ; • peo pa
Ohmpia^e him to com mib 6pipa pultume. hipe agenep picep.
3 hipe to pultume abaeb Gaceban. GOoloppopum cyninj. 3 hy
butu opploh. ge pone cynmj je pa cpene. -3 Eappanbep
o^pleah. j Ohmpia^e peng to pam pice. 3 pam polce pela laftep
jebybe. pa hpile pe heo pone anpealb haetbe ; • Da Eappanbf p
KLNTG ALFRED'S OROSIUS. 7K-, // 373
j brother of Perdiccas, would make war on them, and settled
(that Antigonus should go against them with an army. In
I the battle Antigonus put Eumenes to flight, and drove him
into a fortress, and there besieged him. Thereupon Eumenes
sent to King Antipater, and implored his aid. When Anti-
I gonus was apprized of that, he abandoned the siege. But
1 Eumenes, expecting from Antigonus a homeward march of
| great perfidies, would draw to him the aid of those who had
1 been previously Alexander's soldiers, who were called Agyr-
I aspidse, because all their weapons were silvered over. While
I in doubt whether they, though with no zeal, should fulfil his
i wishes, Antigonus came upon them with an army, and took
1 from them their wives, and their children, and their land,
and all the treasure, which they had acquired under Alex-
ander ; and they themselves with difficulty fled to Eumenes.
After that they sent to Antigonus, on account of this great
contumely, and prayed him that he would restore that of
which he had previously bereft them. He thereupon an-
nounced to them that he would grant it them, if they would
bring to him King Eumenes bound, who was at that time
their lord ; and they did so. But he afterwards both received
them with contumely, and also set them on the most squalid
land, which was at the extreme end of his people, and, at
the same time, would restore them nothing that they had
prayed for.
After that, Eurydice, the queen of ArridsBus, king of
Macedon, did much evil to the people, through Cassander,
her lord's minister, with whom she had secretly criminal
intercourse, and during which she persuaded the king that
he so raised him up, that he was above all who were in the
kingdom [next] to the king ; and by her counsel she was the
cause that all the Macedonians were hostile to the king,
until they resolved on sending for Olympias, the mother of
Alexander, that she might support them, that they might
compel both the king and the queen to their will. Then
she, Olympias, came to them with a force of Epirots, of her
own realm, and requested aid from ^Eacidas, king of the
Molossians, and they slew both the king and the queen,
and Cassander fled ; and Olympias succeeded to the kingdom,
and did much that was hostile to the people while she had
the government; When Cassander was apprized that she
374 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
•f> jeacp abe. ^ heo pam polce laftabe. pa jegabepabe he pypbe \ •
Da heo ty jeacpabe ty psep polcep paep ppa pela to him jecippeb.
pa ne tpiepbe heo ^ hipe polbe pe oftep bael gelaptpull beon. ac
^enam hipe pnope Roxan. Hlexanbpep lape. ~] Hlexanbpep punu
(Bpcolep. 3 pleah to pam pseptene pe FiSnam paep haten. 3
Eappanbep hipe aeptep-pop. ~] ty fae]"ten abpsec. ~] OlimpiaSum
opfloh. "j ]>a buph-leobe o^bjiubon J>a fnope mib hype puna. |m
hy ongeatan ^ ^ paepten fceolbe abpocen beon. 3 hy j-enbon
on oftpe fsej'tpe jreepten. "j Eajjanbep hy het J»aep bej'ittan. 3
him eallef faep anpealbep peolb GOseceboma picep ;• Da penbe
mon ty ^ ^epinn geenbab psepe betpeox Slexanbpej* poljepum.
]>a 'Sa paepan jejeallen pe ]>9ep ms&pt jepunnon. ^ psef PepSicca.
•3 €umenep. ^j SlciSen. -3 Polipepcon. 3 OhmpiaSa]-. ^j Snti-
patep. ^ manege o^pe|- Sc Sntijonuj*. fe mib un^emete
gipnbe anpealba ojrep ot5pe. j to J>am pseptene pop ]?aep
IHlexanbpep lap paep. y hip punu. ^ hy J>aep bejeat. to ]>on -^ he
polbe "p pa pole him J>y ppitSop to buje. )>e he haepbe heopa ealb
hlapopbep punu on hip gepealbe;. 8i66an Eappanbep -p ge-
ahpabe J?a gepoptabe he pr5 Phtolomeup. "j pi^ Lipimachup. j pi5
Seleucup. fone eapt cymng. y hy ealle pmnenbe pa&pan piS
Sntijonup ^ pi$ Demetpiup hyp punu. pume on lanbe pume on
paetepe ; • On J)am jepeohte gepeoll pe maepta bael GDaceboma
bugufte on se^pe healpe. J?eah hy pume mib Snti^one paepe
pume mib Eappanbpe '. . Deep peap^ Sntijonup jeplymeb. 3 hij
punu;- ^Eptep pam Demetpiup. Xntigonep punu. jepeaht on
pcipum piS Phtolomeup. 3 hme bebpap on hip ajen lanb:-
^Eptep J>am Hntigonup bebeab. ^ mon aeg'Sep hete cymnj ge
hme je hip punu. pop]?on ]?e Slexanbpep polgepap na&pan aep
))am ppa gehatene. buton labteopap ;• Eiemonj )?am ^epmnum.
Sntijonup him onbpeb Spcolep. Slexanbpep punu. f ^ pole hme
polbe to hlapopbe ^eceopan. popj>on ]>e he pyht cyne-cynnep
paep. het pa aej^ep opplean. ge hme ge hip mobop ; • Da }>aet
]>a Spy jeahpoban. ^ he hy ealle beppican pohte. hy pa ept hy
^ejabepeban ^ piftpunnan * . Da ne boppte Eappanbep pylp on
pam paepelbe cuman pop hip pam nihptan peonbum. pe him ymb
psepan. ac penbe hip pulturn to Lipmache hip jepoptan. "j
ha&pbe h^p pipan ppi^opt bepoht to Seleucupe. poppon pe he
KING ALFRED'S onosius. 22^ // 375
was detested by the people, he gathered an army. "When
she was informed that so many of the people had turned to
him, she did not trust that the other part would be obedient
to her, but took her daughter-in-law, Eoxane, Alexander's
Telict, and Alexander's son, Hercules, and fled to the fortress
which was called Pydna ; and Cassander followed her, and
took the fortress, and slew Olympias ; and the inhabitants
carried off the daughter-in-law with her son, when they were
aware that the fortress would be taken, and sent them to
another stronger fortress ; and Cassander ordered them to be
besieged there, and wielded all the power of the Macedonian
realm. Now, it was imagined that the war among Alex-
ander's successors was ended, when those had fallen who
had most contended in it, namely, Perdiccas, and Eumenes,
and Alceta, and Polyperchon, and Olympias, and Antipater,
and many others. But Antigonus, who immoderately desired
power over others, proceeded to the fortress where Alex-
ander's relict was with his son, and got them, because he
would that the people should the more readily submit to
him, when he had their old lord's son in his power. When
Cassander was informed of that, he made a league with
Ptolemy, and Lysimachus, and with Seleucus, the east king,
and they all made war on Antigonus, and on Demetrius, his
son, some on land, some on water. In that war the greatest
part of the flower of Macedonia fell, although some were
with Antigonus, some with Cassander. There was Anti-
gonus with his son put to flight. After that Demetrius, the
son of Antigonus, fought in ships against Ptolemy, and drove
him to his own country. After that Antigonus commanded
that the people should call both him and his son king ; be-
cause Alexander's successors had not previously been so
called, but generals. In the midst of these wars, Antigonus
dreaded Hercules, the son of Alexander, lest the people
should choose him for sovereign, because he was of the right
royal race: he therefore commanded both him and his
mother to be slain. When the three were informed that he
intended to deceive them all, they again assembled and
warred against him. But Cassander himself durst not join
in the expedition, on account of his nearest enemies, who
were about him ; but sent his force to his ally, Lysimachus.
His councillors had also bethought themselves ei Seleucus,
376 KING ALFKED'S OEOSITJS.
monige anpealbap mib gepmnum geeobe on pam eapt-lanbum.
$ paep aepept Babylome. 3 Paccpiane. j aepcep pon he jepop on
Inbie. psep nan man aep ne piftSan mib pypbe gepapan ne boppte.
buton Slexanbpe. 3 he Seleucup genybbe ealle pa labteopap to
hip hyppumneppe. 3 hy ealle Hntigonup anb Demetpiup hif
punu mib pypbe gepohton. on pam jejreohce paej* Sncijonuj-
opflajen. 3 hif funu oj: ]?am pice abpaejreb ; • Ne pene ic. cpae£
Opoj-mj-. J aemj psepe ]?e f acellan mihte. J on J>am
On ]?aepe tibe SeF°P Eajyanbep. ^ hif pinu pen^ to J>am
pice. Philippup | • Da penbe mon epc oSpe ]*it5e ^ ^ jepmn
!£lexanbpep plgepa jeenbob pa&pe'.- Sc hy j-ona feBf him
becpeonum punnon. •] 8eleucuj~ ^ Demecpiup Sntijonuf pinu.
heom cojsebepe je]>oj:Ceban. 3 pi^ 'Sam Spim punnon. Phil«
ippuj-e. Eafj-anbpej- puna. 3 pitS Phcolomeuj-e. -3 pit5 Lifimachupe.
•j hy "J> jepmn pa paef licopc anjunnon. pe hy hit aep ne
onjunnon ; • On J>am jepinne opfloh Sntipatep hif mobop.
Eajyanbpep lape. peh J?e heo eapmlice hipe peopej* to him
pilnobe ; • Da bseb Slexanbep hipe pinu Demetpiup. f he him
jepylfte. ^ he hif mobop j*lege on hij* bpeSep jeppecan mihte.
3 hy hyne pa6e J?sep opflojon ; . ^Eptep pam jepunnon Deme-
tjnuf -j Lipmachu]'. ac Lipmachuj- ne mihte Demetpmpe
piSptanban. pop^on pe Dopup. Thpacea cynmj. him eac
onpann ; • Da paep Demetpiup on psepe hpile ppit5e jeanmett.
•j pypbe jelaebbe to Phtolomeupe • • Da he ^ jeahpobe. )>a
bejeat he Seleucup him to pultume. 3 Pippup 6pipa cynmj. j
Pijijmp him poppam ppi^opt pylpte. pe he him pylpum pacabe
OOaeceboma onpealb. 3 hy pa Demetpiup op pam abpipan ^j
Pippup topen^ ; • jjEptep pam Lipimachup opploh hip ajenne
punu Sjathoclen. ^ Sntipatep hip apum]- On pam bagum
Lipimachia peo buph bepanc on eopftan mib polce mib-ealle. 3
aepcep pam pe Lipimachup haepbe ppa pi^ hip punu gebon ~\ pi8
hip apum. pa onpcunebon hyne hip agene leobe. 3 monije ppam
him cypban. y Seleucup ppeonan. ty he Lipimachup beppice> |
Da jyt ne mihte pe ni^ betux him tpam ^elicjean. peh heopa
pa na ma ne hpbe. paepa pe !Mexanbpep poljepap psepon. ac ppa
ALFRED'S oitosius.
377
use he had conquered many states by wars in the east
untries, namely, first the Babylonians and the Bactrians,
.d after that he marched to India, where no man, before or
ince, durst march with an army, save Alexander. And he,
sleucus, reduced all the generals to his obedience, and they
1 sought Antigonus and his son, Demetrius, with an army,
n that war Antigonus was slain, and his son driven from
he kingdom. I do not imagine, says Orosius, that there
as any one who could tell what [number] perished in that
ar.
At that time Cassander died, and his son, Philip, suc-
d to the kingdom. Then again, a second time, people
agined that the war of Alexander's successors was ended,
ut soon after, they warred among themselves ; and Seleucus,
d Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, made a league toge-
her, and warred against the three, against Philip, the son
f Cassander, and against Ptolemy, and against Lysimachus ;
d they entered upon that war just as if they had not pre-
iously begun it. In that war Antipater slew his mother,
' e relict of Cassander, although she miserably begged her
ife of him. Thereupon Alexander, her son, prayed Deme-
rius to aid him, that he might avenge his mother's death
n his brother ; and they soon after slew him. After that
emetrius and Lysimachus made war ; but Lysimachus
uld not withstand Demetrius, because Dorus, king of
hrace, also made war on him. Then was Demetrius at that
ime greatly elated, and led an army against Ptolemy. When
received intelligence of that, he got Seleucus to aid him,
md also Pyrrhus, king of the Epirots. And Pyrrhus chiefly
supported him, because he was craftily aiming at the domi-
lion over Macedonia ; and they then drove Demetrius from
t, and Pyrrhus took possession [of the kingdom]. After
hat Lysimachus slew both his own son, Agathocles, and
ntipater, his son-in-law. In those days the city of Lysi-
achia sank into the earth with all its inhabitants. And
fter Lysimachus had so acted towards his son and his son-
n-law, his own people shunned him, and many turned from
ini, and prevailed on Seleucus to deceive Lysimachus. Not
ven yet could the grudge between the two be allayed,
'though at that time no more of them were living who had
followers of Alexander ; but old as they then were, they
878 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
ealbe p pa hy pa paepon hy jepuhton ] • Seleucup haepbe f eopon
} hunb-peopontij pmtpa. •} Lipimachup haepbe ppeo 3 hunb-
peopontij pmcpa ; • Daep peapS Lipimachup opplagen. 3 paep ymb
ppeo nihc com Phtolomeup. pe Lipimachup hip ppeopcep haepbe.
^ bygellice aeptep Seleucupe pop. pa he hampeapb paep. oft hyp
pyjib topapen paep. j hme opploh ; • Da paep peo pibb 3 peo
milcheopcnep jeenbab. ]>e hy aec Slexanbpe geleopnobon. ty
paep ^ hy Cpejen. ]?e ]?a&p lenjpce lipbon. xxx. cynmja opplogon.
heopa ajenpa ealb jepepena. ^ him ha&pbon piSSan ealle ]>a
anpealbap. ]>e hy ealle aep haepbon gemong ]?am jepmnuml-
Lipimachup poplec hip xv. puna, pume he pylp opploh. pume on
jepeohcum bepopan him pylpum mon opploh [ • Dyllicne
gebpoSoppcipe. cpae^ Opopmp. hy heolban him becpeonum ]>e
on anum hipebe pa&pan apebbe 3 jecybe. ^ hie ip up nu ppi^op
bipmpe gelic. -p pe ])aep beppecaS. "] f f pe gepinn nu hacaS,
fonne up ppembe 3 ellfeobige on becuma&.-j lyclep hpaec on uf
jepeapaS. ^ up epc hpa&bhce poplaecaS. "j nellaS ^e^encan hpylc
hie pa paep. ]?a nan mann ne mihte aet o^pum hip peoph je-
bycjan. ne puppon ty pa polban geppiynb beon. ]>e paepon
jebpo^pa op paebep -j op mebep ; •
BOOK IV.
I.
}>am pe Romebuph jetimbpeb paep cccc. pmtpum
•3 Lxim. Tapencme -p pole plejebon binnan Tapencan heopa
bypig. aet heopa peacpa. pe paep binnan gepopht paep. pa
jepapan hy Romana pcipa on paepe pae ypnan. pa hpaebhce
coman Tapentine to heopa ajnum pcipum. ^ pa o^pe hmban
oppopan. •] hy ealle him to gepylbum jebybon. bucon v. j pa
pe paep jepan^ene paepan. hy capeban mib paepe msepcan
unie^neppe. pume opplojan. pume opppungon. pume him piS peo
jepealban ; • Da Romane -p jeahpoban. pa penbon hy aepenb-
paean co him. "3 baeban ty him mon gebetce. ty him p
to aebyljSe jebon paep | • Da tapebon hy ept pa aepenbpacan
mib pam maepcan bipmepe. ppa hy pa oSpe aep bybon. ~\ h
pi^San ham popletan ', • ^Epcep pam popan Romane on Tap en
tine, j ppa claene hy namon heopa pultum mib him. ^ heop»
ALFRED'S OHOSITTS.J^ // ^// 379
Fought. Seleucus was seventy-seven years [old], and Lysi-
machus was seventy-three. There was Lysimachus slain, and
phree days after came Ptolemy, whose sister Lysimachus had
j-narried, and marched secretly after Seleucus, as he was pro-
ceeding homewards, until his army was dispersed, and slew
pirn. Then that peace and mercy which they had learned from
Alexander, were ended. That was, that those two, who
ived the longest, had slain thirty kings, their own old com-
panions, and afterwards had for themselves all the dominions,
kvhich they [the thirty] had previously had during those
krars. Lysimachus lost his fifteen sons, some he himself
slew, some were slain in the wars before his eyes. Such
brotherhood, says Orosius, they held among themselves, who
'were nurtured and instructed in one family, tha^ it is now
bo us rather ridiculous that we complain, and that we now
3all it war, when strangers and foreigners come upon us, and
plunder us of some little, and again quickly leave us, and
ivill not think how it then was, when no man could buy his
ife of another, nor even would those be friends, who were
jrothers by father and by mother.
BOOK IV.
I.
AFTEE Eome had been built four hundred and sixty-four
fears, the Tarentine people were playing in their city of
Darentum, at their theatre, which had been therein built,
vhen they saw Eoman ships running on the sea. There-
ipon the Tarentines went quickly to their own ships and
sailed after them, and got them all into their power, save five,
md those who were there taken they treated with the
greatest barbarity: some they slew, some they scourged,
some they sold for money. "When the Eomans were informed
f that, they sent envoys to them, and demanded reparation
or what had been done to [excite] their indignation. They
hen treated the envoys with the greatest ignominy, as they
md before done the others, and afterwards let them go home,
lifter that, the Eomans marched against the Tarentines, and
10 completely took [all] their force with them, that [even]
380 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
ppoletapn1 ne mojTon him baeptan beon]- Daet paepon pa
pe hy gepetce haepbon. ty pceolban be heojxa pipum beapna
pcpynan. ponne hy on jepin popan. 3 cpaebon fy him piphcpe
Jmhte. ty hy pa ne poplupe pe paep utpope. haepbe beapn pe
pe mihte \ •
Py pa Romane comon on Tapentme. "j paep call apeptan ty hy
jemetcan. 3 monega bypig abpaecan]- Da penbon Tapencme
aeghpap aejrcep pulcume. paep hy him aemgej- penbon. ~) Pippup
6pipa cynmj. him com to mib pam ma&jran pulcume. sej^ep
ge on jan^-hepe je on pab-hepe ; • pe paaj- on 'Sam bajum
jemaepj-ob ojrep ealle o^pe cynmjap. aaj^ep je mib hif miclan
pulcume. je mib hip paeb-peahtunge. je mib hip pigcpsepte ] •
Foppam pylpte Pippup Tapentmum. poppon pe Tapence peo
buph paap jecimbpeb op Laecebemomum. pe hip pice pa paep. 3
he haepbe Theppali him to pultume. *] GQaecebome. ^ he haepbe
xx. elpenba to pam gepeohte mib him. pe Romane a&p na ne
jepapon. he paep pe popma mann pe hy aepept on Italmm
bpohce. he paep eac on flam bajum jleapapt to pi^e 3 co
Jepmne. buton pam anum ty hine hip jobap j hip biopoljylb be-
ppicon pe he begangenbe paep ; • Da he hi ahpobe hip jobap.
hpaeSep heopa pceolbe on o^pum pije habban. pe he on Roma-
num. pe Romane on him. pa anbpypban hi him tpeohce ^j
cpaebon. Du haeppt o$8e naeppt2 ; • Daet popme gepeoht ty he
piS Romanum haepbe. hit paep m Eompama. neah paepe ea pe
mon Lipum haet ; • Da aeptep pam pe paep on aegSpe healpe
micel pael geplejen paep. pa het Pippup bon pa elpenbap on ^
jepeohcl- 8ippan Romane -^ jepapan. ^ him mon ppylcne
ppenc to bybe. ppylcne hy aep ne gepapon. ne pecjan nehypbon.
pa plugon hy ealle buton anum menn. pe paep GOinutiup haten.
he geneftbe unbep anne elpenb. ^ he hine on pone napelan
opptan^ \' Da prSSan he yppe P^r T jepunbob. he opploh micel
paep polcep. ^ ae^Sep je pa poppupbon pe him on upan paepan.
je eac pa o8pe elpenbap pticabe 3 jpemebe. ^ pa eac maept
ealle poppupbon. pe paep on upan paepon. *] peh pe Romane
geplymeb paepe. hy paepan peh jebylbe. mib pam ^ hy piptonhu
hy to pam elpenbam pceolban \ • On ^am jepeohte paep Ro-
mana xim. M. opplajen peSena. ^ hunb-eahtatij ^ vin. hunb.
gepangen. ^ paepa gehoppebpa paepan opplagen m. hunb j an
M. ^J paep paepon vn. hunb ju^panena jenumen> pit naepna
ALFBED'S OEOSIJS. 1E-; / 381
their proletarii might not remain behind. These were those
whom they had appointed that they might heget children by
their wives, while they went forth to war, and said that it
seemed to them wiser not to dispense with those who there
went forth, let whoever might have children.
The Eomans then came upon the Tarentines, and there
Laid waste all that they found, and took many towns. There-
upon the Tarentines sent everywhere for aid, where they
could expect any: and Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, came to
:hem with the greatest aid, both of foot and horse. He was,
n those days, famed above all other kings, as well for his
great army as for his counsels, and for his military skill.
Pyrrhus aided the Tarentines, because the city of Tarentum
md been built by the Lacedaemonians, who were then under
lis government ; and he had the Thessalians to aid him, and
;he Macedonians ; and he had twenty elephants with him for
;hat war, which [animals] the Romans had not before seen :
ic was the first man who introduced them into Italy : he
was also in those days the most expert in battle and warfare,
except only that his gods and his idols that he worshiped
deceived him. When he inquired of his gods, which of them
hould have victory over the other, he over the Eomans, or
;he Eomans over him, they answered him ambiguously :
Thou wilt have it or not have it." The first battle that he
lad with the Eomans was in Campania, near the river called
;he Liris. There, after a great slaughter was made on both
sides, Pyrrhus commanded the elephants to be led into the
mttle. When the Eomans saw that such a wile was prac-
ised on them, such as they before had not seen nor heard
spoken of, they fled, all save one man, who was called
Minutius. He ventured [to go] under an elephant, so that
le stabbed it in the navel. When it was angry and wounded
t slew many of the people, so that both those perished who
vere upon it, and he also wounded and irritated the other
elephants, so that most of those also perished who were on
hem ; and although the Eomans were put to flight, they
were, nevertheless, emboldened by knowing how they should
act] with elephants. In that battle fourteen thousand foot
»f the Eomans were slain, and eight hundred and eighty
aken prisoners ; and of the horse there were slain one thou-
sand three hundred ; and there were seven hundred ensign*
382 KINO- ALFRED'S OBOSITJS
jejaeb hpaec Pippupep polcep jepeallen paepe. pop],on hit nsep
feap on fam cibum. fy mon aemj pael on fa healpe jiimbe. fe i
fonne pylbpe paep . bucon faep fy laep opplagen paepe. ppa mib,
Slexanbpe paep. on fam popman gepeohce. fe he pi$ Dapmf'
peahc. faep naep hip polcep na ma opplajen forme nigonl- Kci
Pippup gebicnebe epc hu him peo pige jelicobe. J>e he opep Ro-
mane ha&pbe. ]?a he cpaeS aec hip jobep bupa. •] hie ppa ))32pon
appac. Dane hapa Su lopep. ^ ic pa mopce opeppmnan. ]>Q
a&p paepon unopeppunnen. ~) ic eac ppam him opeppunnen
com ;• Da ahpebon hine hip J?ejnap. hpi he ppa heanlic popb be
him pylpum jecpaebe. ^ he opeppunnen paepe. ]?a anbpypbe he
him 3 cpa&S. Hip ic jepape epc ppylcne pije aec Romanum. fonne
maej ic piS^an bucan aelcon ]?ej;ne Epeca lanb pecean1 ; • Dsec |
peapft eac Romanum on ypelum cacne oSypeb aep fam jepeohce. j
fa hy on pypbe paepon. ty f aep polcep pceolbe micel hpype beon,
fa Sunop opploh xxmi. heopn pobpepa. ^ fa oSpe jebpocabe i
apej comon;- ^Epcep fam jepuhcon Pippup j Romane ml
Spulia. f aepe feobe. fa&p peaptS Pippup punb on oSpan eapme.
•3 Romane haepbon pige. •] haepbon geleopnob ma cpaepca. hu hy
fa elpenbap beppican mihcon mib fam fe hy namon cpeopu. ^
plogon on o^epne enbe monije pceappe ipene na&glap. j hy
mib plexe bepunbon. ~\ onbaepnbon hie. ~j bef ybbon hie fonne on
Cone elpenb hmban. •}> hy fonne popan pebenbe. aejSep ge popji
f aep plexep bpyne. ge pop f aepa naejla pcicunje. -p aec aelcan ]®
poppupbon aepepc f e him on upan paepan. ^ piSSan -p o^ep pole
paepon ppa ppiSe pleanbe. ppa hy him pcilban pceolban;. On
fam gepeohce paep Romana ehca M. opplajen. "j xi. guftpanoE
jenumen;- Snb Pippupep hepep paep xx. M. opplagen. -] hyj
ju^pana [Lin.]2 jenumen;. Da peapS Pippupe cu6 ^ Kja-
choclep. Sipacupa cyninj. faepa buph-leoba. paep jepapen or
8iciha fam lanbe> Da pop he fibep. ~] f pice co hiralj
genybbe ; •
8ona ppa -p jepinn mib Romanum geenbob paep. ppa paep f aep
feo momjpealbepce pol mib man-cpealme. je eac ^ nanuhc
bepenbep. ne pip ne nycen. ne mihcon nanuhc libbenbep tie-
bepan. ^ hy fa aec nyhpcan paepon opcpeope. hpae^ep him
aenij mann eac acuman pceolbe. fa penbe Pippup ppam Sicilmra
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. -Zty / 383
taken. It was not said how many of Pyrrhus's people were
slain, because it was not the custom in those times to count
any slaughter on that side which was the prevailing one,
unless a very small number were slain, as it was with Alex-
ander, in the first battle he fought against Darius, where of
lis people there were no more than nine slain. But Pyrrhus
testified afterwards how he liked the victory he had over the
Romans, when at the door of his god he said, and thereon so
wrote it : " Have thanks, thou Jove, that I have been able
to overcome those who before had not been overcome ; and I
am also overcome by them." His officers thereupon asked
him why he said such debasing words of himself, that he was
overcome, when he answered : " If I again gain such a vic-
;ory over the Romans, I may afterwards return to Greece
without any soldier " For the Romans also it appeared as
an evil token, before the battle, when they were in camp,
that there would be a great fall of the people, when thunder
slew twenty-four of their fodderers, and the others came
away half-dead. After that Pyrrhus and the Romans fought
in the country of Apulia, where Pyrrhus was wounded in one
f his arms, and the Romans had the victory, and had learned
nore devices, how they might circumvent the elephants, by
taking stakes, into one end of which they drove many sharp
ron nails, and wound flax about them and set it on fire, and
,hen drove it into the hinder part of the elephant, so that they
ran raging mad, both in consequence of the burning of the
flax and the pricking of the nails ; so that with every one
hose first perished that were upon them ; and afterwards
hey as impetuously slew the other people as they should
lave protected them. In that battle eight thousand of the
Romans were slain and eleven ensigns taken. And of
3yrrhus's army twenty thousand were slain, and [fifty-three]
>f his ensigns taken. It then became known to Pyrrhus,
hat Agathocles, king of the citizens of Syracuse, was dead
n the land of Sicily. Thereupon he proceeded thither, and
ubjected that realm to him.
As soon as that war with the Romans was ended, there
was such a complicated pestilence with mortality, that even
lothing bearing, neither women nor cattle could bring forth
ny thing living ; so that at last they were in despair whether
any man should be born to them. Pyrrhus then turned
884 KINO ALFRED'S OROSIITS.
ept to Romanum. 3 him onjean com llupiup. pe conpul. •)
heopa -p Spibbe gepeoht paep on Lucamam. on Kpopmp f aepe
bune> Deh fe Romane1 pume hpile haepbon ppi'Sop pleam
gef oht f onne gepeoht. aep f onne hy gej-apon ty man fa elpenbap
on ^ jepeoht bybe. ac piSSan hy fa gepapan hu hy hi sejpe-
meban. ^ hy fa peepan ppiSe pleanbe fe hy pylptran pceolban. •]
Pippupep hepe peap^ popfam ppi^Sopc on pleame ; . On fam
jepeohce Pippup haepbe hunb-eahcacig M. pe^ena. -j v. M. je-
hoppebpa. 3 J>a&p ps&p xxxvi. M. opplajen. -j 1111. hunb jepanjen ;.
JEptep fam Pippup pop op Itahum. ymb v. jeap ]>aep f e he aep
f sepon com. ^ pa^e fsep ]>e he ham com. he polbe abpecan
Spjup )>a buph. ~] faftp peap^ mib anum ptane oppoppen ; .
JEptrep J?am fe Tapencme jeahpoban •}) Pippup beab pap.
fa penbon hy on Spppice. to Eaptagmienpep. septep pultume.
•j ept pi8 Romanum punnan. -3 pa$e f sep J>e hy toja&bepe co-
mon. Romane hsepbon pi^e ; . Dsep onpunbon Eaptajimjenpep
•p him mon opepppif an mihte. ]>eh hy nan pole sep mib jepeoht«
opeppmnan ne mihte ; • Eemonj f am fe Pippup piS Romane
pmnenbe psep. hy hs&pbon ehta legian ; . Da haepbon hy fa
eahte^an Rejienpe to pultume ^epette ; . Da ne jetpupabe
pe ehtaSa bael faepa legian ^ Romane Pippupe pitSptanban
mihte. anjunnon fa hep^ian *] hynan fa f e hy ppi^ian pceol-
ban ; . Da Romane -f> jeahpoban. fa penbon hy f ybep Denu.
tiup heopa conpul mib pultume. to fon f he on him geppsece,
•p hy fa plojon ^ hynbon fe ealle Romane ppi^ian polbon. ~\ he
fa ppa jebybe;. 8ume he opploh. pume gebanb -3 ham penbe.
^j f sep ps&pan piSSan pitnabe. "3 piSSan fa heapba mib ceopp-
aexum op-acoppene : .
II.
fam fe Romane-buph ^etimbpeb paep cccc. pmtpum
Lxxvn. gepupbon on Rome fa ypelan punbop. j) psep aep epc.
Sunop toploh hypa hehptan ^obep hup. lopepep. 3 eac f aefie
up^e peall micel to eopSan jehpeap. j eac ^ fpy pulpap on,
anpe mht bpohton anep beabep mannep hchoman binnan fa
bnph. 3 hyne f aep pi$6an ptycceroselum tobpubon. oS fa IT enn
KING ALI-BED'S OKOS:US. ; 385
rom Sicily again to the Eomans, and Curius, the consul,
;ame against him, and their third battle was in Lucania, on
he mountain of Arusius. Although the Eomans had for
some while thought more of flight than of fighting, before
hey saw that the enemy brought the elephants into the
>attle ; yet after they saw how they could irritate them, so
hat they impetuously slew those whom they should aid,
Pyrrhus' s army was chiefly on that account put to flight.
[n that battle Pyrrhus had eighty thousand foot and five
;housand horse, and there were thirty-six thousand slain and
bur hundred captured. After that Pyrrhus departed from
[taly, about five years from the time he first came thither;
and soon after he came home, he would take the city of
Argos, and was there mortally struck with a stone.
After the Tarentines had been informed that Pyrrhus was
dead, they sent to Africa, to the Carthaginians, for succour,
and again warred against the Eomans; and quickly after
;hey came together the Eomans had the victory. There the
arthaginians found that they could be overcome, although
no people had before been able to conquer them in war.
While Pyrrhus was warring against the Eomans, they had
eight legions. They then appointed the eighth to aid the
people of Ehegium. "When this eighth part of the legions felt
not confident that the Eomans could withstand Pyrrhus,
they began to plunder and oppress those whom they should
protect. When the Eomans were informed of that, they
sent thither their consul Grenucius with & force, in order
that he might take vengeance on them, for slaying and op-
pressing those whom all the Eomans should protect; and he
did so. Some he slew, bound and sent some home, and there
they were afterwards scourged, and their heads afterwards
cut off with axes.
II.
After the city of Eome had been built four hundred and
seventy-seven years, there happened in Eome evil prodigies.
The first was, that thunder struck the house of their highest
god, Jove ; and also much of the city-wall fell to the earth;
and also three wolves, in one night, brought a dead man's
body into the city, and there afterwards tore it piecemeal,
2c
386 KING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS.
onpocan. 3 ut-ujmon. ~] hy piSSan onpeg plugon ; . On |?am |
bajum jepeapft. -p on anpe bune neah Romebypig. tohlab peo
eopSe. 3 paep bypnenbe pyp up op )>aepe eop&an. ty on aelce
healpe j?»p py<pep peo eopSe paep pip aecepa bpaebe co axpan ge-
bupnen ; . 8ona J>aej*. on J?am aepceppan jeape. geF°P Semppo-
muj- fe conpil. mib pypbe pi^S Pencentef Italia pole;. Da
mib }>am )>e hy hi jetpymeb haepbon "j togaebepe polban. J>a
peajiS eop^beopunj. -p a&^ep paepa polca penbe untpeojenbhce. |
•^ hy pceolban on J>a eopSan bepmcan. •] hy ]?eah ppa anbpas- j
benbe jebiban ^ pe e^e opepjan pa&p. •] )?aep pit55an paeljpnnljcej
jepuhcori> Daep pa&p pe msefca blob^yce on s&jSpe healpe
]>a&pa polca. ]?eh J?e Romane pige ha&pbe. ^a peapan J?a&p to lape
pupboni- Da&p paep jejyne ty peo eopSbeopunj tacnabe ]>9
miclan blob-bpyncap. ]>e hyjie mon on J>sepe tibe to-poplet ! •
III
fam ]>e Romebuph jetimbjieb paep 1111. hunb pintpuifi
Lxxx. jemonj J?am o^pum monegum punbpum. J?e on <5an
bajum jelumpan. ^ mon gepeah peallan blob op eopftan. *
pinan meolc op heopenum ', • On ]>am bagum Eaptajimjenpe]
penbon pultum Tapentmum. •p hy ]>e eaS mihton peohtan pit
Romanum^ Da penbon Romane aepenbpacan to him. ~\ hj|
ahpebon pop hpy hy ^ bybon ; . Da oS)*popan hy }>am aepenb |
paean mib ]?am bipmephceptan a^e. ty hy him naeppe 01 '
pulcume naepon. J>eh fe J>a aSap psepan neap mane J>onn«
po^e ; . On }>am ba^um Ulcmienpep "j Thpupci ]>a pole popneal •
ealle poppupbon pop heopa agnum bypije. poppam J>e hy pirn*!
heopa ]>eopap jepjieoban. ^ eac him eallum pupbon to milbe *t
to popjipene 1 • Da opjmhte heopa ceoplum1. ^ man J>a feopas
ppeobe. •] hy nolbe ! • Da pi^papan hy J>am hlapopbum 3 }M|
Jjeopap mib him. o^ hy pylbpan paepon fonne hy|- Snb h;
piS^an mib-eaUe op Sam eapbe abpipon. "j him to pipum byboi
]?a ]>e xji paepan heopa hlaepbian '. • Da piSSan jepohtan ])!
hlapopbap Romane. ~] hy him jepylptan. ^ hy ept CO beojn
ajnum becomon ; .
KING ALFEED'S OEOSIUS.
2/
387
the men awoke and ran out, and they afterwards fled
iway. In those days it befel, that on a hill near the city of
~ >me, the earth opened and there was burning fire up from
the earth, so that on each side of the fire, the earth, for the
)readth of five acres, was burnt to ashes. Soon after this, in
the following year, Sempronius the consul marched with an
irmy against the Picentes, a people of Italy. Then, when
they had put themselves in array, and would engage, there
an earthquake, so that both people imagined indubitably
that they would sink into the earth, and they, nevertheless,
mtinued thus dreading until the terror had passed over,
id afterwards there fiercely fought. There was a vast
loodshed of those people on both sides, though the Romans
lad the victory, when few were left there. There was seen
that the earthquake betokened the great blood-drenchings
riiich they let flow on her.
III.
After Eome had been built four hundred and eighty years,
mong many other wonders that happened in those days,
lood was seen to boil from the earth, and milk to rain from
he heavens. In those days the Carthaginians sent succour
the Tarentines, that they might the more easily fight
inst the Eomans. Thereupon the Eomans sent messengers
them, and asked them why they so did ? They then swore
the messengers with a most shameful oath, that they had
.ever afforded them aid; although those oaths were nearer to
alsehood than to truth. In those days, the nations of the
'ulsinienses and Etruscans almost all nearly perished through
iheir own folly, because they had freed some of their slaves,
md were also too mild to them all, and too indulgent. Then
heir churls took it ill that the lords had freed the slaves,
d would not [free] them. They thereupon rose against
he lords, and the slaves with them, until they were stronger
han they. And they afterwards entirely drove them from
he country, and took for wives those who had previously
3n their mistresses. Afterwards the lords applied to the
>raans, and they aided them, so that they again came to
heir own.
2c2
388 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIFS.
IV.
^Epcep 8am fe Romebuph gecimbpeb paep cccc. pmtpum 3
Lxxx. becom on Romane micel mann-cpealm. •)> hy fa aec
nyhpcan ne ahpeban hpaec faepa gepapenpa psepe. ac hpaec
heopa f onne Co lape paepe ) • Snb eac fa beopola f e hy on
pymbel peopSobon hy amypbon. co-eacan fam oftpum monij-
pealbum bipmpum f e hy laepenbe paepon. •p hy ne cuSan ongi-
can •$ hie Eobep ppacu paep. ac hecon fa bipceopap ^ hy
paebon fam polce. ty heopa gobap mm ps&pon yppe. Co fam ^
hi him fa-gic ppiftop opppebon "3 bloccon fonne hy aep byboni-
On f aepe ilcan cibe Eapeppome paep hacenu heopa goba nunne.
fa gebypebe hype ^ heo hy poplaeg \ • Py f a Romane pop fam
gylce hi ahenjan. "j eac f one fe f one gyle mib hype gepophce.
3 ealle fa f e f one gyle mib him pipcon -3 mib him haelon ; . pu
pene pe nu Romane him pylp Syllice ppicon 3 peccon pop heopa
agenum gylpe -3 hepinge. -3 f eah gemong f aepe hepmje f yllica
bipmepa on hy pylpe apaebon. hu pene pe hu monegpa mapan
bipmpa hy pojipygebon. aegSep ge pop heopa agenpe lupan 3
lanbleoba. ge eac pop heopa penacum ege ; •
BG nSRTSINS EeiUINNe ; • Nu pe pculon pon. q>«« Opo-
fiup. ymb ^ Pumca gepmn. •{) paep op fam polce op Eapcama f aepe
bypij. peo paep gecimbpeb ppam Ghpann fam pipmen Lxxxn.
pincpum aep Romebuph. ppa pome faepa buphpapena ypei 3
heopa bipmepep peapS lycel apaeb j appicen. ppa ppa Tpogup 3
Jupcmup paebon. pcaep-ppicepap. popf on f e heopa pipe on naenne
pael pel ne gepop. na^ep ne innan ppam him pylpum. ne ucane
ppam ot5pum polcum ; • 8pa-feah. co-eacan fam ypelum. hy
gepeccon. fonne him micel mann-cpealm on becom. f hy
pceolbon menn heopa gobum blocan | • Spa eac fa beopla. f e
hy on gelypbon. gelaepbon hy ^ fa fe faep onhaelebe paepan. f»
hy hale pop hy cpealbon. "3 paepon fa menn co f on bypige. ty hy
penbon ty hy mihcon ^ ypel mib fam gepcillan. ^ fa beopla1 co
fon lycige. ^ hy hie mib fam gemicleban. y popfon fe hy ppa
bypige paepon. him com on Hobep ppacu. on jepeohcura
ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
IV.
ij After Eome had been built four hundred and eighty years,
1 great mortality came on the Eomans, so that at last they
[id not ask how many had died, but how many of them then
jemarned. And also the devils, whom they constantly wor-
[hiped, led them astray, in addition to the other manifold
Icandals that they taught them, so that they could not under-
itand that it was the vengeance of Grod ; but commanded
jhe priests to tell the people that their gods were wroth
rith them, in order that they might more frequently offer and
acrince to them than they had ere done. At the same time
fc happened that a vestal of their gods, who was named
i^apparonia, committed incontinence. For that crime the
Romans hanged her, and also him who had perpetrated the
rime with her, and all those who were privy to the crime,
jnd concealed it among themselves. How can we now
hiugine, that the Eomans themselves wrote and composed
bch [narratives] for their own glory and praise, and yet, in
he midst of the praise, have related such disgraces of them-
elves ? How many may we imagine greater disgraces they
ave passed in silence, both for love of themselves and
ountrymen, as well as for fear of their senate ?
OE THE CARTHAGINIAN WAR. We will now, says
)rosius, begin concerning the Carthaginian war (that was of
he people of the city of Carthage, that was built by the
of
Elisa eighty-two years before Eome), as of the
alamities of the citizens and their disasters little has been
aid and written, as Trogus and Justinus, the historians,
ave related; because their affairs at no time succeeded well,
either within among themselves, nor without from other
ations. And yet, in addition to these evils, they decreed,
rhen a great pestilence came upon them, that they should
acrifice men to their gods. In like manner, the devils, in
rtiom they believed, instructed them, that for those who
rere unhealed there they should slay the hale; and men
ere so foolish, that they imagined they might thereby still
le evil, and the devils so crafty that they thereby aug-
lented it. And because they were so very foolish, the
engeance of God came upon them, in wars, besides other
390 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
co-eacan oSjmm ypelum. paet paep optopt on Sicilmm 3 on Sap-
tSinium pam ijlanbum. on pa hy gelomlicopt punnon '.• ^Eptep
pam pe him ppa optpaebhce miplamp. •]? hy anjunnon hit pi tar
heopa labteopum 3 heopa cempum heopa eappeSa. 3 him be-
bubon "p hy on ppaecpiSap popan j on ellpiobe ; • Rafte aeptep
pam hy baeban. ty hy mon to heopa eapbe poplete. ^ hi moptan
gepanbian. hpaeSep hy heopa mebpa&l^a opepppiSan mihcon|-
Da him mon ]>aep poppypnbe. J>a jepohcan hy mib pipbe ; • On
|>aepe hepjunje jemecce pe ylbepca labceop. GOazeup. hip a^enne
punu. mib puppupum je^ypebne on bipceophabe. he hine )>a pop
[>am jypelan gebealh. j he hine opeppon hec ~] ahon. •j penbe ^
he pop hip poppepenneppe ppelc pceopp pepebe. popj>on hie naep
|)eap mib him f aemj ot5ep puppupan pepebe bucon cymnjum ; •
Ra^e aepcep J>am hy bejeacan Eapcama ]?a buph. ^ ealle ])a
a&lcaepepcan opplojon. ]?e J)3epmne paepon. ^ ]?a o^pe to him
jenybbon ; • Da set nihptan. he peapS pylp bepypeb y oppla-
jen ; • Dip paep jepopben on Cipupep baeje. Peppa cynmjep ; •
y.
]7am Pimilco. Eaptama cynmj. jepop mib pypbe on
8icihe. •j him J>sep becom ppa paeplic ypel. •p J>a meiin paspion
ppa paSe beabe. ppa hit him on becom. ty hy ]?a aet nihptan hy
bebypjean ne mihton. ^ pop fam eje hip unpillum penbe. -)
ham pop. mib fam pe paep paepon |- Sona ppa ^ popme pcip
lanb jepohte. *] ty ejephce ppell jebobabe. ppa paepon ealle pa
buphpape Eapta^inijenpep mib ppiShce heape ^ pope onptypeb.
•] aelc ahpienbe -3 ppmenbe aeptep hip ppynb. -] hy untpegenblice
nanpa tpeopSa him ne penbon. buton ty hy mib-ealle pop-
peopSan pceolban ; • GDib pam pe pa buphpape ppa geomoplic
anjm haepbon. pa com pe cynmg pylp mib hip pcipe. 3 lanb je-
pohte mib ppiSe lySephcan gejypelan. 3 ae£5ep je he pylp ham-
peapb pop. ^e ^ pole ^ him ongean com. call hit him pepenbe
hampeapb poljobe. 3 he pe cymnj hip hanba psep upppeapbep
bpaebenbe pift paep heoponep. "] mib opepheoptneppe him paep
pamenbe aejftep ge hip ajenne heapbpaelpa. ge eallep paep polcep.
3 he pa-syt him pylpum jebybe f paep pyppt paep. pa lie to hif
ALFREDS OROSIUS.
/ * 391
evils. That was oftenest in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia,
in which they most frequently warred. After they had so
often been unsuccessful, they began to blame their generals
and their soldiers for their disasters, and commanded them
to go into exile and banishment. Shortly after, they prayed
to be re-admitted to their country, that they might try
whether they could overcome their bad fortune. When this
was refused them, they attempted with an army. In the
ravage, the general-in-chief, Mazeus, met his own son clad in
purple, though one of the priesthood. On account of that
garment he was incensed, and he commanded him to be
seized and crucified; and thought that in contempt of him
he wore such a garment ; because it is not a custom with
them that any other should be clad in purple but kings.
Shortly after this they got the city of Carthage, and slew all
the chiefs that were in it, and reduced the others to sub-
jection. Then at last, he was himself circumvented and
slain. This happened in the days of Cyrus, king of the
Persians.
V.
After that Himilco, king of Carthage, proceeded with an
army to Sicily, and there came upon them such a sudden evil,
that men were dead as soon as it came upon them, so that at
last they could not bury them ; and from fear against his
will departed, and proceeded home with those that there
were. As soon as the first ship reached the land and an-
nounced the fearful intelligence, then were all the Cartha-
ginian citizens affected with violent groaning and weeping,
and every one asking and inquiring after his friends, and
would positively believe nothing true, but that they must all
have perished. "While the citizens were engaged on so
mournful a subject, the king himself came with his ship, and
landed in a very squalid garment, and both he himself pro-
ceeded homewards, and the people who had come to meet
him, all followed him homewards weeping; and he, the king,
stretched out his hands upwards towards heaven, and with
overflowing heart, bewailed both his own hard fortune and
that of all the people ; and he, moreover, did to himself that
which was worst, when he came to his house, when he there
392 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
inne com. fa he -p pole faep-ute becynbe. 3 hine aenne faep-
inne beleac. ~] hine pylpne opploh * • jE$ cep fam paep pum pehj
mann binnan Eaptama. pe paep haten panno. j paep mib unje-
mete f aep cynebomep gypnenbe : • "Kc him gef uhte j) he mib
f aepa pitena pillum him ne mihte tocuman. ^ him Co paebe
jenam ^ he hy ealle to jepeopbum to him gehet. ty he hy
pSSan mihte mib attpe acpellan. ac hit gepeapS fuph fa
amelbob. J>e he jefoht haepbe ^ him to Saepe ba&be pylftan
fceolbe ;. Da he onpinbe ^ ^ cnS psef . )>a gejabepabe he ealle
fa feopap ^j fa yplan menn f e he mihte. 3 f ohte ty he on fa
buphpape on ungeapepe become, ac hit him peapS aepop cuft \ •
Da him aet f aepe bypi^ ne jeppeop. fa gepenbe he mib xxiai. M.
to anpe o^eppe bypi^. •-] fohte -p he fa abpsece :• Da hsepbon
fa buph-leoba GOaupitane him to pultume. 3 him on^ean comon
butan fagptene. ^j pannon jejrenjon. ^j fa oftpe ^eplymbon. "j
f aep pfrSan tintpejab peapS ; ^Epeft hine man ppang. fa
fticobe him mon fa egan ut. 3 pSSan him mon ploh fa hanba
of. fa ^ heapb. y call hif cynn mon ojrj-loh. fy laej* hit mon
ujrepan bajum ppaece. oSSe a&mg o^ep bopfte ept fpylc ongm-
nan 'm • Dip gepeapS on Philippupep bseje. f aep cynmgep " • ^Eftep
f am hypbon Eaptanienfep ty pe maepa Mexanbep haejrbe abpocen
Tipum fa buph. peo pa&j- on aep-bajum heopa ylbpena eSel. ^
onbpebon •]? hy eac to him cuman polbon ; . Da penbon hy
fibep Kmilcop. heopa f one jleapeptan mann. ^ he Slexanbpej*
pij-an befceapobe. ppa he hit him ept ham onbeab. on anum
bpebe appiten. 3 pS^an hit appiten paep he hit opep-pophte
mib peaxe )• 6pt fa Mexanbep ^epapen pasp 3 he ham com. fa
tugon hine f a&pe bupje pitan. ^ he heopa ppicbomep piS Slex-
anbep ppemmenbe paepe. "j hine pop f aepe tihtlan opplojon [ •
JEptep fam Eaptanienpep punnon on Sicilie. f sep him pelbon
teala jeppeop. 3 bepaetan heopa heapob-buph. Sipacupep peep
hatenu \ • Da ne onha^obe Sjathocle. heopa cynmje. ^ he
piS hy mihte buton pa&ptene gepeohtan. ne eac ^ hy ealle
mihton pop metelepte f aep binnan jebiban. ac leton heopa
pultum f a&p binnan beon. be fam baele. f e hy aej^ep mihton ge
heopa paepten jehealban. ge eac f fa mete haepbon fa hpile. 3
j-e.cymnj mib fam oSpum ba&le on pcipum pop on Eaptanienpe.
3 hy paSe f aep popbsepnan het. f e he to lanbe jepop. popfoo
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS. _--/ 393
shut the people out, and locked himself therein alone, and
slew himself. After that, there was a wealthy man in
Carthage, who was named Hanno, ana was immoderately
craving after the kingship. But it seemed to him that with
the will of the senators he could not attain it, and he took
the resolution that he would bid them all to a feast, in order
that he might then kill them by poison. But it was divulged
through those who he had thought would have aided him in
the deed. "When he found that it was known, he gathered
all the slaves and the evil men that he could, and thought
that he could come on the citizens unawares ; but it had been
previously made known to them. "When he did not succeed
at the city, he betook himself with twenty-four thousand to
another city, and thought he could capture it. But the
citizens had the Mauritanians to aid them, and came against
him outside the fortress, and took Hanno, and put the others
to flight, and there he was afterwards tortured. First they
scourged him, then put his eyes out, and afterwards struck
off his hands, then his head, and slew all his kin, lest they at
a future day might avenge it, or any other might again dare
the like. This happened in the days of Philip the king.
After that, the Carthaginians heard that the Great Alexander
had taken the city of Tyre, which, in days of old, was the
country of their forefathers, and dreaded lest they should also
come to them. Thereupon they sent Amilcar thither, their
most expert man, that he might observe Alexander's move-
ments, so that he might announce it to them at home written
on a board ; and after it was written, he worked it over with
wax. After Alexander was dead and he was come home, the
senators of the city accused him of having acted treache-
rously towards them with Alexander, and for that accusation
slew him. After that the Carthaginians made war on Sicily,
where they seldom succeeded well, and besieged their chief
city called Syracuse. Then it did not seem advisable to
Agathocles, their king, that he should fight with them outside
his fortress, nor also that, on account of want of food, they
should all remain within it; but let a part of their force be
within, both that they might hold their fastness, and also
that during that while they might have food ; and the king
with the other part proceeded in ships to the Carthaginian
territory, and immediately after he had reached land com-
394 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
he nolbe f hip pynb heopa ept aenijne anpealb haepbe. -3 him
J>aep pa'6e paepten jepophce. "3 psep f) pole J>anon-ut pleanbe 3
hynenbe. o$f panno. J>sep polcep o$ep cymng. hine a&c J>am
paeptene jepohte mib xx. M. '. • Sc hine Sjathoclep jeplymbe
•3 hi]' polcep opploh n. M. 3 him aeptep-pyljenbe pa&p 06 v. mila
co J?a&pe bypij Eapcanienpe. •] J>sep oSep paepcen jepophce.
~] ]>aep ymbucan pa&p hepjenbe -3 baapnenbe. ^ Eapcamienpe
mihcon jepeon op heopa bypij -^ pyp. ^ ]>one teonan fonne
hy on pope pa&pon \ • Ymbe fone timan ]?e Sip pa&p . Snbpa
]?33p hacen Sjachoclep bpoSop. )?one he a&c ham on J>aepe
\>ypjj him bea&pcan lee. he bepipebe ty pole ]>e hi embpeten
haepbon. on anpe mht ungeapepe. -3 hit maept call opploh.
^ J>a o^pe co pcipan o^plujon ; . Snb pat5e faep J>e hy ham
comon. 3 ^ ppell cuS peapS Eapcaimenpum. ppa pupbon hy
ppa ppiSe pop})ohce. ty nalaep ^ an ^ Sjachocle manega bypij
to japol-jylbum pujibon. ac eac hy him heapmaelum pylpe
on hanb eobon. ppa eac Opeplep pe cymnj. mib Eipene hip polce
hme eac gepohce;. Sc ISjachoclep jebybe uncpeophce pib
hine. ^ he hine on hip paepum beppac 'j opploh. ppa him eac
pylpum pifrSan aeptep lamp ; . dp he Sa ])a ane uncpeopfta ne
gebybe. ppom ]?am ba&ge he mihte butan bpoce ealpa Eaptama
anpealb bejitan ; . On fa&pe hpile ]>e he J>one unpaeb Suph-
teah. Bomilcop [2?milcop]. Pena cyninj. psep mibpibbe piS hip
papenbe. mib eaEum hip polce*.. 3Sc betux Hgathocle 3 hip
polce peapS unjepeebnep. ^ he pylp opplajen peapS;. ^Eptep
hip beaSe popan ept Eaptainienpep on Sicilie mib pcipum * • Da
hy -^ jeahpebon. fa penbon hy aepteji Pippupe. 6pipa cynmje. -3
he him pume hpile jepylpte ; .
TI.
pam ]>e Romebuph getimbpeb pasp cccc. pintpum
•3 Lxxxm. penbon OOameptme. Sicilia pole, aeptep Romana
pultume. J> hy pi$ Pena polce mihte ; • Da penbon hy him
Sppmp riaubmp J)one conpul mib pultume :• 6pt ]>a hy
KING ALFRED'S OROsius.IZ^ *~t & 395
manded them to be burnt, because he would not that his
enemies should have afterwards any power over them ; and
he there speedily constructed a fortress, and was driving out
the people thence and oppressing them, until Hanno, the
people's other king, sought him at the fortress with twenty
thousand men. But Agathocles put him to flight, and slew
two thousand of his people, and followed after him to within
five miles of the Carthaginian city, and there constructed
another fortress, and there about was harrying and burning,
so that the Carthaginians might see the fire from their city,
and the calamity, while they were [out] in the expedition.
About the time that this was, the brother of Agathocles, who
was named Andro, whom he had left behind him at home in
the city, overcame by artifice the army that had besieged him,
in one night unexpectedly, and slew them almost all, and the
others fled to their ships. And immediately after they came
home, and the intelligence became known to the Cartha-
ginians, they were so despised, that not only many cities
became tributaries to Agathocles, but also surrendered to
him in bodies. So also Ophelias, the king, with Gyrene,
his people, likewise sought him. But Agathocles acted
treacherously towards him, by deceiving him into a compact
with him, and slew him ; as it happened afterwards also to
himself. If he had not done that one act of treachery, he
might from that day, without difficulty have acquired the
rule over all the Carthaginians. During the time that he
was following that evil counsel, Bomilcar, the Punic king,
was peaceably marching towards him with all his people.
But there was dissension between Agathocles and his people,
so that he himself was slain. After his death the Cartha-
ginians proceeded again to Sicily with ships. "When they
(the Sicilians) were apprized of that, they sent for Pyrrhus,
king of Epirus, and he for some time aided them.
VI.
After Rome had been built four hundred and eighty-three
years, the Mamertini, a Sicilian people, sent to the Ro-
mans for aid, that they might withstand the Punic people.
"Whereupon they sent to them the consul, Appius Claudius,
with aid. Then after they had proceeded together with their
396 ZING ALFEED'S OROSITTS.
cogaebepe-peapb popan mib heopa polcum. pa plugon Pene. ppa
hy epc pylpe paebon. j hy punbpeban f hy aep plujon aep hy
cogsebepe genealaehcon ; . Fop pam pleame panno. Pena
cynmg. mib eallum hip polce. peapS Romanum Co gapol-jylbum.
•j him aelce jeape gepealbe cpa hunb calencana peolppep. on
aelcpe anpe calencan paep Lxxx. punba ; - ^Eftep pam Roir.ane
bej-aetan )>one ylbpan pannibalan. Pena cynmj. on Sjpijence.
Sicilia bypi^. 06 he popneah hun^pe fpealt;. Da com him
Pena o$ep cyninj co pultume mib pciphepe. panno pasj- hacen.
•] ]?3ep jeplymeb peap'5. 3 Romane pft<5an f paapcen abpaecan. -]
Panmbal pe cynmj; on mhc uc-oSjrleah mib peapum mannum. ^j
Lxxx. f cipa gegabepabe. ^ on Romana lanb-gemaepo hejijabe ; •
On pa ppace punbon Romane aepep; ty hy pcipa pophcan. f
geppemebe Duiliup heopa conjTil ^ ty un^in peapS tibhce
Jmphtogen. ppa ty a&pceji pyxci^um ba^a faep J?e 'p timbep
acoppen paep. J)gep pa&pon xxx. 3 c. geapopa. ge mib maepte je
mib pejle. -3 oftep conpul. pe paap hacen Eopnehup Spma. pe
jepop on Lipapip •}> ijlanb. Co panmbale co punbop-pppa&ce
mib xvi. pcipan. ]>a opploh he hine ; • Spa ^ J>a pe oftep conj-ul
jehypbe. Duiiiup. ppa gepop he Co J>am ijlanbe mib xxx. pcipum
~] panmbalep polcep in. hunb opploh. y hip xxx. pcipa ^enam. j
xin. on psa bepencce. -3 hyne pylpne jeplymbe.'- ^Epcep ]>am
Punici. ty pmbon Eapcamenpe. hy gepeccon pannonan opep
heopa pcipa. ppa panmbalep paep aep. ty he bepepebe SapSimam
^j Eoppicam J?a i^lanb piS Romanum. ~] he paSe faep pi^ hy
gepeahc mib pciphepe. ^ oppla^en peapft • •
Daep on J>am aepcepan jeape Ealacinup pe conpul pop mib
pypbe co Eamepmam. Siciha bypij. ac him haepbon Pene ]?one
peg poppecen. J>a&p he opep J>one munc papan pceolbe ; • Da
jenam Ealacinup in. hunb manna mib him. •] on anpe bijelpe
pcope pone munc opeppcah. ~] ]?a menn apsepbe ^ hy ealle
onjean hine paepon peohcenbe. -3 J>one pej lecan bucan pape.
•^ peo pypb piftftan ]>a&p 5uph pop. ~] paep peap<5 pa in. hunb
manna opplagen ealle. bucon pam conpule anum. he com punb
apeg \ • ^Epcep Sam Punice gepeccon epc pone ealban pan-
mbalan. -f he mib pcipum on Romane punne. ac ept pa he paep
KING ALFBED'S OROSIUS.!£, 6 397
people, the Carthaginians fled, as they themselves said
afterwards ; and they wondered that they fled before they
had engaged together. Through that flight, Hanno, the
Punic king, with all his subjects, became tributaries to the
Eomans, and paid them every year two hundred talents of
silver, in each single talent were eighty pounds. After that
the Eomans besieged the elder Annibal, the Punic king, in
Agrigentum, a city of Sicily, until he nearly perished with
hunger. Then the other Punic king, who was named Hanno,
came to his aid with a fleet, and was there put to flight, and
the Eomans afterwards took the fortress, and the king,
Annibal, fled away by night with a few men, and gathered
eighty ships, and pillaged on the Eoman coasts. In re-
taliation, the Eomans first resolved to construct ships, w hich
Duilius, their consul, promoted, so that the undertaking was
speedily accomplished; so that after sixty days from the
time that the timber was cut, a hundred and thirty were
ready, both with mast and sail ; and the other consul, who
was named Cornelius Asina, proceeded to the island of
Lipara with sixteen ships, to a private conference with
Annibal, when he slew him. When Duilius, the other
consul, heard that, he proceeded to the island with thirty
ships, and slew three hundred of Annibal' s people, and took
thirty of his ships, and sank thirteen in the sea, and put
himself to flight. After that the Poani, that is, the Cartha-
ginians, placed Hanno over their ships, as Annibal had
previously been, that he might defend the islands of Sardinia
and Corsica against the Eomans ; and he soon after fought
against them with a fleet and was slain.
In the year after this, the consul Calatinus proceeded with
an army to Camerina, a city of Sicily; but the Carthaginians
had beset the way, where he was to pass over the mountain.
Calatinus thereupon took with him three hundred men and
ascended the mountain at a secret place, and the men feared
that they were all fighting against them, and left the way
without defence, so that the army afterwards passed there-
through; and there were all the three hundred men slain,
save the consul alone; he came away wounded. After that
the Carthaginians again appointed the old Annibal to make
war on the Eomans with ships; but again, when he was
about to harry there, he was quickly put to flight, and in the
KING ALIEEL 3 OBOSIUS.
hepgean pceolbe. he peapft pafte geplymeb. ~] on fam pleame
hyne opcyppbon hip agene gepepan '. • JEpcep fam Sciliup ye
conpul apepce Lipapum "j GQehcam. Siciha iglanbl- JEpcen
fam popan Romane on Xpppice mib mi. hunb pcipa y
f picigum '. • Da p enbon hy heopa cpejen cynmgap him onjean
pannan1} Smilcop. mib pcipum. ~] faep pupbon begen geplymeb.
3 Romane jenamon on him Lxxxmi. pcipa. -3 p88anhy abpaecon
Elypeam heopa buph. 3 pa&jion hepjenbe oS Eapcama heopa
heapob-buph ; • ^Epcep fam Re^uluj- j-e consul unbeppenj
Eapcama jepinn ; • Da he sepej-c fibep mib pypbe jrapenbe psef .
Jja gepicobe he neah anpe ea. feo paef haten Ba^paba. fa com
op J>am paecepe an naebpe. feo paap unjemechce micel. 3 fa
menn ealle opploh ]>e neah fam paetepe comon ;• B6 D^ER6
N^EDRSN ;• Da gegabepabe Rejulup ealle fa pcyccan fe on
J>am paepelbe paepon. ^ hy mon mib planum opepcome. ac
fonne hy mon ploh o^6e pceac. fonne jlab hie on fam pcillum.
j-pylce hie paepe pmeSe ipen ; • Da hec he mib fam palipcap.
mib fam hy peallap bpaecan. fonne hy on r~j-cenne puhcon. -p
hipe mon mib fam f pipep onpuppe \ • Da peapS hipe mib
anum pyppe an pibb popob. -j> heo pi'SSan maejen ne haepbe
hy co jepcylbanne. ac pafie f a&p heo peap^5 opplajen. popf on
hie ip naebpena gecynb. -p heopa ma&jen j heopa pe$e bift on
heopa pibbum. ppa o^epa cpeopenbpa pypma bi§ on heopa
pocum ;. Da heo jepylleb paep. he hec hy behylban. j fa hybe
co Rome bpmjan. j hy faap co maeptSe afenian. popfon heo
paep hunb-cpelpcijep poca lanj ; • ^Epcep f am jepeahc Re^ulup
piS Spy Pena cynmgap on anum jepeohce. piS cpegen papbpu-
balap. 3 pe ftpibba paep hacen Smilcop. pe pa&p on Sicihum him
co pulcume jepecc;- On fam jepeohce paep Eapcamienpa
xvn. M. opplajen. 3 xv. M. ^epanjen. 3 ix. elpenbap jenumen.
*] Lxxxn. cuna him eobon on hanb ;•
Da aepcep fam f e Eapcaimenpe jeplymbe paepon. hy pilnebon
ppiSep Co Rejule. ac epc fa hy onjeacan. ^ he ungemeclic
japol piS fam ppi^e habban polbe. fa cpsebon hy -p him leoppe
paepe ^ hy on ppylcon mSe beaS popname. f onne hy mib ppylcan
niebe ppi& bejeace ; • Da penbon hy aepcep pulcume. a;$Sep je
on Ijalhe. je on Ippanie. je on Laecebemome. aepcep Gxancipupe.
fam cyninge ; • Gpc fa hy ealle ^epomnab paepan. ]>& bef ohcan
hy ealb heopa pi^cpaepcap co Gxancipupe. 3 he pi(3t5an fa pole
KING ALFRED'S OEOSits._/jC- £ 399
flight his own companions stoned him to death. After that
the consul Atilius laid waste the Sicilian islands of Lipara
and Melita. After that the Eomans proceeded to Africa
with four hundred and thirty ships. Thereupon they sent
their two kings, Hanno and Amilcar, against them with ships ;
and there were both put to flight, and the Eomans took from
them eighty-four ships, and they afterwards took their city
of Clupea, and harried as far as their chief city, Carthage.
After that the consul Eegulus undertook the Carthaginian
war. When he first came thither with an army, he en-
camped near a river that was named Bagrada, when there
came from the water a serpent that was enormously large,
and slew all the men that caine near the water. OF THE
SERPENT. Thereupon Eegulus gathered all the archers that
were in the expedition, that they might overcome it with
arrows ; but when they struck or shot at it, it (the missile)
glided on its scales as if they were smooth iron. He then
commanded that with the balistas, with which they break
walls when they fight against a fortress, they should cast at
it obliquely. Thereupon with one cast one of its ribs was
broken, so that afterwards it had no power to protect itself,
but shortly after was slain ; because it is the nature of
serpents, that their power and their locomotive faculty is in
their ribs, as of other creeping worms it is in their feet.
When it was killed, he ordered it to be flayed and the hide
brought to Eome, and there to be stretched out as a wonder ;
because it was a hundred and twenty feet long. After that,
Eegulus fought against three Punic kings, in one battle,
against the two Asdrubals, and the third called Amilcar,
who was in Sicily, [but] fetched to aid them. In that battle
seventeen thousand Carthaginians were slain, and fifteen
thousand captured, and nine elephants taken, and eighty-two
towns surrendered to him.
Then, after the Carthaginians had been put to flight, they
desired peace from Eegulus ; but after they had ascertained
that he would have an immoderate tribute for the peace,
they said that they would rather that death should destroy
them in such [a state of] hate, than that they under such
hard conditions should obtain peace. Thereupon they sent
for succour to Graul, to Spain, and to Lacedaemonia, to the
king, Xantippus. After they were all assembled, they com-
400 KING ALFKED'S OKOSITTS.
jeiaebbe paep hy Cogabepe gecpeben haepbon. 3 gepecce Cpa jrolc
biegelhce on cpa healpa hip. 3 ftpibbe beaepcan him. 3 bebeab
pam tpam polcum. ponne he pylp mib pam pypmepcan baele
piS pap aepcemepcan pluge. ^ hy ponne on Regulep pypbe on
cpa healpa ppypep onpope. paep peapft Romana xxx. M. opplagen.
3 Re^uluj- jepanjen mib v. hunb manna;- Dep pje gepeapft
Punicum on ]?am ceoSan geape heopa jepmnej- *] Romana '. •
RaSe ])8&p Gxantipuj* pop epc co hif ajnum pice. 3 him Romane
onbpeb. pop]>on ]>e hy pop hip lape sec heojia jemiccmje
beppicene pupbon ; • JEpcep pam ^Emilmp Paulup pe conpul pop
on Spppicam mib in. hunb pcipa Co Elypeam f»am ijlanbe.
} him comon fa&p onjean Punice mib ppa pela pcipa. j faep
jeplymbe pa&pon. j heopa polcep paep v. M. opplajen. ~\ heopa
pcipa xxx. gepangen. •] 1111. *] an hunb abpuncen. 3 Romana
paep an c. ~] an M. opplagen. •] heopa pcipa ix. abpmncen. -3 hy
on fam i^lanbe paepcen pophcan. 3 hy paep epc Pene jepohcon
mib heopa cpam cymnjum. ]?a paepan bejen pannon hacene.
•j paep heopa paepon ix. M. opplagen. 3 pa o'Spe jeplymeb ; •
GDib psejie hepe-hy^e Romane opephlaeptan heopa pcipa. pa hy
hampeapb paepon. -f> heopa gebpap cc. 3 xxx. 3 Lxx. peapS co
lape. 3 unease jenepeb mib pam f hy maepc ealle uc-apuppon
f paepon paep:. ^Epcep pam Smilcop. Pena cymng. pop on
Numibiam 3 on ODaupicaniam. -j hy opephep^abe. -3 co japol-
jylbum jepecce. poppon pe hy aeji Rejule on hanb eoban '. •
Daep ymb vi. jeap Seppihup Eepio anb Sempponiup Blepup. pa
conpulap. popan mib in. hunb pcipa j Lx. gum on Spppice. 3
on Eapcamenpum moneja bypig abpaecon. j pi^San mib
miclum pin^um hampeapb popan. 3 epc heopa pcipa opep-
hlaepcan. ^ heopa jebpupon L. -3 c. > ^Epcep pam Eocca pe
conpul pop on Sicilie 3 hy ealle pojihepgabe. paep paepon ppa
micle mannplyhcap. on ae^pe healpe. -p hy mon aec nyhpcan
bebypjean ne mihce ; • On Luciupep bae^e Eehupep. paep con-
pulep. 3 on GOecellupep Eaiupep. 3 on Fupiupep Pacilupep. com
^j-cepbal. pe mpa cymnj. op Lapcamum on Lilibeum f i^lanb
nn& xxx. M. jehoppebpa. 3 mib IJLX. gum elpeKbaj c. 3 paSe paef
KING ALFKED'S OEOSIUS. 401
mitted all their military force to Xantippus, and he subse-
quently led those nations to where they had agreed together,
and placed two nations secretly on each side of him, and the
third behind him, and commanded the two nations, when he
himself with the foremost part should flee towards the hind-
most, that they then should march on the army of Eegulus,
on each side obliquely. There were slain thirty thousand
Eomans, and Begulus with five hundred men was taken.
This victory happened to the Carthaginians in the tenth year
of their war with the Eomans. Shortly after, Xantippus
returned to his own kingdom, and the Eomans were fear-
stricken, because by his instruction, in their engagement,
they had been overreached. After that, the consul JEmilius
Paulus proceeded to Africa with three hundred ships, to the
island of Clupea, and there the Carthaginians came against
him with as many ships, and were there put to flight, and
five thousand of their people were slain, and thirty of their
ships taken, and a hundred and four sunk ; arid of the
Eomans one thousand one hundred were slain, and nine of
their ships sunk : and they constructed a fortress on the
island ; and there the Carthaginians again sought them with
their two kings, who were called the two Hannos, and there
nine thousand of them were slain, and the others put to
flight. With the booty the Eomans overloaded their ships
when they were [proceeding] homeward, so that two hundred
and thirty were lost, and seventy were left, and with difficulty
saved, by casting out almost all that was in them. After that,
Amilcar, the Punic king, proceeded to Numidia and to
Mauritania, and ravaged them, and made them tributary,
because they had before submitted to Eegulus. Six years
after, Servilius Carpio and Sempronius Blsesus, the consuls,
proceeded with three hundred and sixty ships to Africa, and
took many towns from the Carthaginians, and afterwards-
with much spoil proceeded homewards, and again so over-
loaded their ships, that a hundred and fifty of them were
lost. After that, the consul Cotta proceeded to Sicily, and
ravaged it all ; there were so many slaughters on both sides,
that at last they could not be buried. In the days of the
consul Lucius Caelius, and of Metellus Caius, and of Furius
Pacilus, Asdrubal, the new king of Carthage, came to the
island of Lilyba3um with thirty thousand horse, and with a
2D
402 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
gepeaht piS GOetellup pone cynmj ' • He piSSan GOetellup pa
elpenbap ocepcom. piSSan he haepbe eac jiafte -p o$ep pole
jeplymeb ; • ^Eftep pam pleame. Xptepbal peapS opplajen ppam
hip ajnum polce ; •
Da paepon Eaptaimenpe ppa opepcumene. 3 ppa jebpepebe
betux him pylpum. ty hy hi to nanum onpealbe ne bemsecanu
achy gepeapft. ^ hy polban to Romanum ppiftep pilman'-
Da fenbon hy Rejulup Sone conpul. J>one hy haepbon mib him
pip pmtep on benbum. 3 he him geppoji on hip joba namon. ^
he ae^ep polbe. je ^ aepenbe abeoban. ppa ppa hy hine hecon.
ge eac him ^ anbpypbe ept gecySan. 3 he hie ppa ^elaepce. -]
abeab ^ aaj'Sep J»9epa polca oftpum ajeape ealle J>a menn fe hy
^ehepgab haapbon. ~] pi&San him becpeonum pibbe heolban. j
aspcep J>am ]>e he hit aboben hsepbe. he hy halpobe. Jj> hy
nanuht p-sepa aepenba ne unbeppengon. ^ cpaeS. ^ him to micel
aepipte paspe. ^ hy ppa emnlice ppixlebon. } eac ^ heopa
gepipna na&pe ^ hy ppa heane hy jefohtan. ^ hy heopa gelican
pupbon. Da aeptep J>am popbum. hy bubon him -^ he on
cyfr5e mib him punobe. ~j to hip pice penge. ]?a anbpypbe he
him j cpaaS. ty hit na gepeopSan pceolbe. *$ pe paape leoba cymng.
pepe sep paep polce J>eop. Da apaeban hip gepepan hu he heopa
aepenba abeab. fta popcuppon hi him p«a tpa aebpan. on tpa
healpa }>aepa eajan. ty he aeptep J>am plapan ne mihte. 06 he
ppa peapijenbe hip lip poplet ; •
JEptep J>am Stiliup Rejulup "j ODanliup Ulpco. )>a conpulap.
popon on Eaptame on Lilibeum ^ ijlanb. mib tpam hunb
pcipa. -3 J?aep bepaetan an paepten ;. Da bepop hine J>aep pan-
nibal pe geonga cynin^. Smilcopiep punu. J>aep hy ungeapepe
bucon paeptene paetan. •] J»aep ealle opplajene pa&pan buton
f eapum ; • ^Eptep fam Elaubiup pe conpul pop ept on Punice.
3 him panmbal ut on pae on^ean com j ealle opploh. butan xxx.
pciplaepta ]?a ofcplujon to Lilibeum ]>am iglanbe. p/aep paep
oppla^en ix. M. 3 xx. M. jepanjen;- ^Eptep Jmm pop Camp
luniup. pe conpul. on Spppice. "j mib eallum hip paepelbe on
pa& poppeapS \ - Dsep on ]>am aepteppan jeape. panmbal penbe
pciphepe on Rome, j fa&p unjemetlic gehepjabon ; • ^Eptep
|>am Lutatia pe con/Til pop on Xpppice mib in. hunb pcipa,
ALFBED'S OKOSIUS. j9£y 403
hundred and thirty elephants, and immediately after fought
with the king Metellus. But after Metellus had overcome
the elephants, he also quickly put the other people to flight.
After the flight, Asdrubal was slain by his own people.
Then were the Carthaginians so overcome and so perplexed
among themselves, that they could not assume to themselves
any power, but they determined that they would desire peace
of the Romans. Thereupon they sent the consul Regulus,
whom they had had five years with them in bonds ; and he
swore to them, in the name of his gods, that he would both
announce the errand, as they commanded him, and also again
declare the answer. And that he so performed, and an-
nounced, that each people should restore to the other all the
men that they had captured, and afterwards preserve peace
between them. And after he had announced that, he im-
plored them not to accept aught of the errands, and said, that
it would be a great disgrace to them to exchange on such
equal terms ; and also that it was not fitting that they should
think so meanly of themselves that they were their equals.
Then, after those words, they enjoined him to stay at home
with them, and assume the government ; but he answered
them and said, that it could not be that he should be a king
of nations, who had before been a slave to people. "When
his companions had related how he had announced their
errands, they cut the two nerves on the two sides of his eyes,
so that after that he could not sleep, until thus enduring
pain, he yielded up his life.
After that Atilius Eegulus and Manlius Vulso, the consuls,
proceeded against the Carthaginians, on the isle of Lilybaeura,
with two hundred ships, and there besieged a fortress. Then
the young king, Annibal, the son of Amilcar, betook him-
self there where unprepared they were sitting about the
fortress, and there all were slain save a few. After that the
consul Claudius again proceeded to Carthage, and Annibal
met them out at sea and slew them all, except thirty transports
that escaped to the island of Lilybseum. There were slain
nine thousand, and twenty thousand captured. After that
the consul Caius Junius proceeded to Africa, and perished at
sea with his whole expedition. In the year after, Annibal
«ent a fleet to Eome, and there they committed great ravages.
Mter that, Lutatius, the consul, proceeded against Africa
2D2
404 KING ALFBED'S OBOSIUS.
co Sicihum. ~) him Punice J>aep pio" gepuhton. fta&p peapfl
Lutatia punb Jmph ^ oSep cneop. J>aep on mepgen com panno
mib panmbalep pypbe. "j J> a&p gepeaht pi)> Lutatia )>eh he punb
paepe. 3 pannan geplymbe. 3 him aeptep pop. oS he com to
Einam J>aepe bypig | • Ra<5e Jjsep comon ept Pene mib pipbe co
him. 3 jeplymbe pupban. ^ opplajen n. M. |-
Da pilnebon Eapcame o8pe pi^e ppi^e]- Co Romanum. ^) hy
hie him on ^ gepab jeapan. -^ hy him Siciliam co ne cujon.
ne 8ap8miam. ^ eac him jepealbon j?aep on-upan in. M. talentana
aelce geape ; •
VII.
)>am ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep v. hunb pincpum.
•} vn. peapS unjemeclic pypbpyne mib Romanum. j) nan mann
nypte hpanon hit com ', • Da ^ pyp alet. ]>a peapft Tibep
j-eo ea ppa plebu ppa heo naeppe a&p nsep ne pit5San. ^ heo maept
eall jenam ty bmnan J>aepe bypij paap J?a&pa manna anblypene.
je eac on heopa getimbpum | • On J?am bajum ]>e Titup
Sempponiup 3 Epatiap Eaiup paepon conpulap on Rome, hy
jepuhton piS Falipcip J>am polce. ^ heopa opplojon xn. M. '•
On ]>am geape pupbon Ijallie Romanum pi^eppeapbe. J>e
mon nu haste Lan^beapbap. 3 pat5e J)33p heopa pole cojaebepe
jelaebbon. on heopa J?am popman gepeohte pa&p Romana in. M.
opplagen. •] on fam septepan jeape pasp Dallie 1111. M. opplagen.
•3 11. M. ^epanjen ; • Da Romane hampeapb psepan. ]?a nolban
hy bon J»one tpmmphan bepopan heopa conpulum. ]>e heopa
^epuna paap fonne hy pije haepbon. pop]?on ]>e he aet J>am a&ppan
^epeohte pleah. -3 hy ^ piSSan peala geapa on mippenlicum
pijum bpeogenbe pa&pon ; • Da]?a Titup GOanhup. ^ Topcpatup
naiup. j Stiliup Bubulcup paepan conpulap1 on Rome, pa
onjunnon SapSmie. ppa hy Pene ^elaepbon. pinnan piS Ro-
manum. •] paSe opepppiftbe paepon ; • ^Eptep )>am Romane
punnon on Eaptame. poppon ]>e hy ppi8 abpocen ha&pbon ; -
Da penbon hy tua heopa aepenbpacan to Romanum aeptep
. 3 hit abibban ne mihton;. Da aet }>am Spibbar.
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. -2^/ 6/7 405
with three hundred ships to Sicily, and the Carthaginians
there fought against him. There was Lutatius wounded
through one knee. On the morrow came Hanno with
Annibal's army, and there fought against Lutatius, although
he was wounded, and he put Hanno to flight, and proceeded
after him, until he came to the city of Erycina. Quickly
after, the Carthaginians came to him again with an army,
and were put to flight, and two thousand slain.
The Carthaginians then a second time sued for peace to
the Romans, and they granted it to them on condition that
they should not take possession of Sicily nor Sardinia ; and
should, moreover, pay them three thousand talents every
year.
VII.
After Home had been built five hundred and seven years,
there was an immense conflagration among the Eomans, and
no man knew whence it came. "When the fire ceased, the
river Tiber was so swollen as it had never been before nor
since; so that it carried away almost all the sustenance of
the people that was within the city, yea, even in their dwell-
ings. In those days, when Titus Sempronius and Caius
Gracchus were consuls at Borne, they fought against the
people of the Falisci, and slew twelve thousand of them.
In that year, the Gauls, who are now called Longobards,
were hostile to the Romans, and shortly after, led their
people together. In their first battle three thousand of tii-o
Eomans were slain ; and in the following year four thousand
Gauls were slain, and two thousand captured. When the
Eomans were [returning] homeward, they would not make a
triumph before their consuls, as was their wont when they
had victory, because in the first battle they had fled ; and they
for many years after endured that in divers victories. When
Titus Manlius, and Caius Torquatus, and Atilius Bulbus
were consuls at Eome, the Sardinians, as the Carthaginians
had taught them, began to war against the Eomans, and were
soon overpowered. After that the Eomans made war on the
Carthaginians, because they had broken the peace. They
thereupon sent two of their messengers to Eome for peace,
but could not obtain it. Then, at the third time, they sent
406 ZING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS.
cyppe hy penbon x. heopa ylbeptan pitena. •] hy hit abibban ne
mihton ; • JE& fam peopftan cyppe hy penbon pannan heopa
pone unpeopfteptan f egn. 3 he hit abeab'- p'ltobhce. cpae'S
Opopmp. nu pe pinbon cumen to fam goban tibum. }>e up
Romane o^pitaS. •} to f aepe gemhtpumneppe. fe hy up ealnij
pope gylpaS. ^ upe ne pen fam jelican ; • He ppme hy mon
}>onne. aeptep hu monega pmtpum p eo fibb jepujibe. paef J>e hy
s&ppt unpbbe piS mone^um polcum haepbon;- Donne
aeptep L. pintpa -3 cccc. Xhpje fonne ept hu lanje feo fib
gef tobe. fonne pa&p ^ an jeap \ •
Sona ]>aef on ]>am aepteppan geape. ISallie punnon pi^S Ro«
mane, y Pene on oftpe healpe ; • pu SmcS eop nu Romanum.
hu feo pibb jepaeptnob paepe. hpaa^ep heo pi Jmm jelicopt ]>e
mon mme anne elep bpopan ~] bpype on an mycel pyp. ~] Sence
hit mib pam abpaspcan. J>onne ip pen ppa micle ppit5opi ppa
he ftencS ^ he hit abpaspce. ^ he hit ppa micle ppiftop on-
tynbe ;• 8pa fonne paep mib Romanum. -p an geap f hy pibbe
haepbon. ^ hy unbep faepe pibbe to ]?aepe mseptan pace become.
On heopa ]>am aepeptan jepmne. Smilcop Eaptama cyninj.
]>& he to Romanum mib pypbe papan polbe. fa peapfi he ppam
8penum bejjpibab •] opplajen ; • On J>am jeape Ilipice opplogan
Romana 33penbpacan • . ^ptep Jjam Fuluiup Poptumiup pe
conpul pop ]>am on hi pypbe gela&bbe. ^ pela opplagen peapft on
ae^pe healpe. 3 he )>eah pije haepbe;- 8ona J>aep on fam
*pteppan jeape. jelaepban Romana bipceopap ppylce mpe
pasbap. ppylce hy pull opt aep ealbe gebybon. fa him mon on
8peo healpa onpmnenbe paep . ae^ep ge Eallie be pufan mun-
tum. ge Dallie be nop8an muntum. ge Pene. ^ hy pceolban
mib mannum pop hy heopa gobum blotan. "j faet pceolbe beon
an Hallipc pa&pneb-mann. *) an Dallipc pipmann. -5 hy fa Ro-
mane be fa&pa bipceopa lape. hy ppa cuce bebyp^bon '. • "Re
hit Cob ppaec on him. ppa he aep ealneg bybe. ppa opt ppa hy
mib mannum opppeban. ^ hy mib heopa cucum gulbon ^ hy
unjyltije cpealboni- Daet paep aepept gepyne on fam je-
peohte fe hy pit5 Gallium hsepbon. feh f e heopa ajenep pul-
tumep pajpe eahta hunb M. buton ot5pum polcum fehy haepbon
to-apponen. -f hy paSe plujm. faep fe heopa conpul opplajen
KING ALFRED'S oaosiirs.IZE^ J 407
ten of their eldest senators, and they could not obtain it. At
the fourth time, they sent Hanno, their unworthiest minister,
and he obtained it. Verily, says Orosius, we are now come
to the good times that the Romans twit us with, and to the
abundance that they are always boasting of before us, [saying]
that ours are not like to them. But let then any one ask
them, after how many years the peace was, from the time
they first had war with many people ? It is then after four
hundred and fifty years. Then let him again ask, how long
the peace lasted ? It was one year !
Immediately after, in the following year, the Gauls made
war against the Romans, and, on the other side, the Cartha-
ginians. How think ye now, Eomans, how the peace was
established, whether it were not likest to any one taking a drop
of oil and dropping it on a great fire, and thinking thereby
to quench it, when the probability is much greater that, when
he thinks that he quenches it, he makes it burn so much
more fiercely ? So then it was with the Eomans, that the
one year they had peace, during that peace, they fell into
the greatest strife.
In their first war, Amilcar, king of Carthage, when he was
about to proceed against the Eomans with an army, was
surrounded by the Spaniards and slain. In that year the
Illyrians slew the Eoman envoys. After that Fulvius
Postumius, the consul, on that account, led an army against
them, and many were slain on both sides, yet he had the
victory. Soon after, in the following year, the Eoman priests
taught, as new doctrines, such as they had very often prac-
tised in former times : when a war was raging on three
sides of'them, with the G-auls on the south of the mountains,
the G-auls on the north of the mountains, and the Cartha-
ginians, that they should sacrifice for themselves to their
gods with human beings, and that should be a Gaulish
man and a Gaulish woman. And the Eomans then, by the
instruction of their priests, thus buried them alive. But
God avenged it on them, as he had always done before. So
often as they sacrificed with human beings, they paid with
their living ones, for having slain the guiltless. That was
first seen in the battle that they had with the Gauls, al-
though their own force was eight hundred thousand, besides
other nations that they had drawn to them, when they quickly
408 ZING ALFRED'S OKOSITJS.
paep. 3 heopa oSpep polcep in. M. ty him fa jeSuhte ppylc ^
maepte pael. ppylc nY °FC ^P F°P na<hc haepbon'.- Mfc heopa
oSpan gepeohce peep I/allia ix. M. opplagen. f aep on f am Spibban
jeape GOanhup Topcuatup 3 Fulmup Flaccup paepon conpulap
on Rome, hy gepuhton piS Ijallium. ~] heopa hunb M. opflogon.
^ vi. M. jepenjon;-
On ]?am s&pceppan geape paepan moni^e punbpa jepepene. an
paej" ^ on Piceno J>am puba an pille peoll blobe. ^ on Thpacia
j>am lanbe mon peah ppylce pe heopon bupne. ^j on Spimmio
J>aape bypi^ pa&p mhc oS mibne bsej. ~] peapS ppa micel eopftbeo-
pun^. ^ on Eapia 3 on RoSum. ]?am iglanbum. pupbon micle
hpypap. •] Eoloppup jehpeap *. . Dy geape Flaminiup pe conj-ul
poppeah J?a ps&^ene ]?e fa hlyccan him paebon. ^ him lojan ^ he
sec ]>am gepeohce ne come pr3 Iiallie. ac he hie ftuphceah. -}
mib peopftpcipe ^eenbabe. J?s&p paep liallia vn. M. opplajen. -] xv.
M. jepanjen:- ^Epcep ]>am Haubiup pe conpul jepeaht pi(5
liallie. 3 heopa opploh xxx. M. ^ he pylp ^epeaht piS J>one
cynmj anpig ^ hyne opploh. j GOegelan ]>a buph ^eeobe '. • ^Epcep
|>am punnon Iptpie on Romane. ]>a penbon hy heopa conpulap
ongean. Eopnehup •] GQinutiup. J>aep psep micel pael geplagen on
s&g^pe healpe. •] Ipcpie pupbon feh Romanum unbepjjeobbe*.-
VIII.
J?am ]?e Romebujih gecimbpeb paep v. hunb pincpum
3 xxxni. panmbal. Pena cymnj. bepaec Sajuncum Ippama buph.
poppon ]>e hy on pimbel piS Romane pibbe heolban. j faep paep
pitcenbe vm. monaS. o^ he hy ealle hunjpe acpealbe j fa buph
copeapp. f eh ]> e Romane heopa aepenbpacan to him penbon. 3
hy pipmetcon ^ hi f jepm poplecon. ac he hy ppa unpeopShce
poppeah. ty he heopa pylp onpeon nolbe on fam jepmne. j eac
on monejum oSpum;- -^pcep J?am panmbal jecy^be J?one
ni6 3 fone hete. ]>e he bepopan hip paebep jeppeop. fa he nijon
pjncpe cmhc paep. ^ he naeppe ne puribe Romana ppeonb ;. Daf a
KING ALFRED'S onosius. J*-i // ; 409
fled, because their consul was slain, and of their other people
three thousand : that seemed to them as an immense slaughter,
what they had often before regarded as naught. In their
second battle, nine thousand Grauls were slain. In the third
year after this, Manlius Torquatus and Pulvius Flaccus
were consuls at Rome. They fought against the Grauls, and
slew a 'hundred thousand of them and took six thousand.
In the year after, there were many wonders seen. One
was, that in the wood of Picenum a spring welled with blood ;
and in the land of Thrace it was seen as if the heavens were
burning ; and in the city of Ariminum there was night until
mid-day; and there was so great an earthquake that in Caria
and the isle of Rhodes there were great ruins, and the
Colossus fell. In this year, the consul Flaminius despised
the sayings that the augurs had said to him, and falsely warned
him not to engage in war against the Grauls ; but he carried
it through and with honour ended it. There were seven
thousand of the Grauls slain, and fifteen thousand captured.
After that, the consul Claudius fought against the Grauls
and slew thirty thousand of them; and he himself fought
with the king in single combat, and slew him, and took the
city of Milan. After that, the Istrians warred against the
Romans; they thereupon sent their consuls, Cornelius and
Minucius, against [them]. There was a great slaughter made
on both sides, though the Istrians became subjected to the
Romans.
VIII.
After Rome had been built five hundred and thirty-three
years, Annibal, the Punic king, besieged Saguntum, a city of
Spain, because they had ever held peace with the Romans ;
and was sitting there eight months, until he had killed them
all by hunger and destroyed the city ; although the Romans
sent their messengers to him, and prayed him to abandon the
war, but he so injuriously slighted them, that he declined
even the sight of them in that war, and also in many others.
After that, Annibal manifested the enmity and hate, that he
had sworn before his father, when he was a .boy of nine years,
that he would never be a friend of the Romans. When
410 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
Publiup Eopnehup. y Scipio Publiup. ^ Semppomup Longup1. fa
hy paepon conpulap. pannibal abpaec mib jepeohce opep fa
beopjap ]>e mon ha&tc Pepenei. fa pinbon becpyx Hialleum ^
Spaneum. •} pi88an he gepop opep J)a monejan f eoba. oS he com
co ISlpip fam muncum. j faep eac opep abpaec. f eh him mon
opcpaeblice mib jepeohcum piSpcobe. 3 f onne peg jepophce opep
munci. pop ppa. f onne he to fam pynbpi^um pcane com. fonne
hec he hme mib pype onhaecan. ^ pitS'San mib mactucum
heapan. *] mib ]>ain ma&pcan jeppmce )>a muncap opeppop \ .
pip hepep psep an M. pe^ena. 3 xx. M. gehoppebpa ; . Dane
ha&pbe on j?am emnecce jepapen oS he com co Ticinum paepe
ea. fa com him J»aep onjean Scipio pe conpul. 3 faep ppecenlic i
jepunbob peapS. j eac opplajen paepe. jip hip punu hip ne ge
hulpe. mib J?am fe he hme popan poppcob. 08 he on pleame
pealh. J>aep peapS Romana micel pael jeplajen ;. peopa aepcepe
gepeohc paep a&c Tpepia J>a&pe ea. j epc paepon Romane popplegen
^ jeplymebi- Da ]?a&c Sempponmp jehypbe. heojia o^ep
conpul. pe paep on 8icilmm mib pypbe ^epapen. he ]>onan apop
•j bejen fa conpulap paepon mib pypbe ongean pannibal. ^ heopa
gemiccmg paep epc aec Tpepia J>aepe ea. y eac Romane geplymeb
•3 ppiSop poppla^en. ^ pannibal gepunbob | • ^Epcep fam pop
pannibal opep Bapban fone beoph. ]>eh J?e hie ymbe J>one ciman
paepon ppa micel pnap-geblanb. ppa ^ aejSep ge faepa hoppapela
poppupbon. je ]>a elpenbap ealle bucon anum. je fa menn pylpe
unease fone cyle jenaepan \ • He pojif am he jene^be ppi'Sopc
opep Sone munc. fe he pipce ^ Flamimup pe conpul penbe ^ he
bucon popje mihce on fam pmcep-pecle jepuman. f e he fa oiv
paep mib f am polce f e he fa gegabepab haepbe. •] uncpeojenbhce
penbe f nan naepe f e -J> paepelc ymbe f one Ciman anjinnan
boppce o6Se mihce. pop f on ungemechcan cyle | • GOib f am
fe pannibal Co fam lanbe becom. ppa jepicobe he on anpe
byjelpe pcope neah fam oSpum polce. 3 pum hip pole penbe
jmb •}) lanb co baepnanne ^ Co hepjeanne. ty pe conpul paep
penenbe ^ eall ^ pole paepe jeonb ^ lanb tobpaeb. ~) fibepi-
peapb papenbe paep. 3 Sencenbe $ he hy on f aepe hepjunje
beppice. ~] ty pole bucon cpuman laebbe. ppa he pipce ^ •)? oSepi
paep. oS -p pannibal him com ftpypep on mib fam pulcume fe
he a&cjaebepe haepbe. ^ fone conpul opploh. j f aep ot$pep polcef
KING ALFEED'S OEOSnjs. 411
Publius Cornelius, and Publius Scipio, and Semproniua
Longus were consuls, Annibal burst with warfare over the
mountains called the Pyrenees, that are between Gaul and
Spain, and afterwards he traversed many nations, until he
came to the mountains of the Alps, and burst across them
also, although oftentimes opposed with battle ; and then
wrought a way over the mountain [and] so proceeded. "When
he came to the rock itself, he commanded it to be heated
with fire, and afterwards hewed with mattocks, and with
the greatest -toil crossed the mountains. Of his army there
were a [hundred] thousand foot and twenty thousand horse.
When he had marched on the plain until he came to the
river Ticinus, the consul Scipio came against him, and was
there dangerously wounded, and would also have been slain,
if his son had not helped him, by placing himself before him,
until he betook himself to flight. There was a great slaughter
made of the Romans. Their second battle was at the river
Trebia, and the Romans were again beaten and put to flight.
When Sempronius, their other consul, who was gone with an
army to Sicily, heard that, he departed thence, and both
consuls proceeded with an army against Annibal, and their
meeting was again at the river Trebia, and the Romans [were]
also put to flight, and more completely beaten, and Annibal
wounded. After that, Annibal proceeded over the Apenuine
mountains, although about that time there were such great
snow-storms, that of the horses many perished, and all the
elephants but one ; yea, the men themselves with difficulty
could sustain the cold. But he ventured across the mountain,
chiefly because he knew that the consul Flaminius imagined
that he might without apprehension abide in the winter-
station in which he then was with the army he had gathered,
and imagined undoubtingly that there was no one who durst
or could undertake the passage at that season, on account of
the intense cold. When Annibal came to that land, he en-
camped in a secret place near the other army, and sent some
of his people over the country to burn and pillage ; so that
the consul imagined that all the army was dispersed over the
land, and proceeded thitherward, and thought he should
circumvent them in the plundering, and led the army in dis-
order, as he knew that the other was, until Annibal came
upon his flank with the force that he had toge fter, and slew
412
xxv. M. 3 vi. gepangen. 3 panmbalep polcep paep cpa M. opplajen ;.
^Eptep fam Scipio pe conpul. f aep oSpep Scipionep bpoftop. paej
moneja gepeoht bonbe on Ippamum. •j GOajonem Pena labteop
gepeng ; • 3 moneja punbop gepupbon on f aepe tibe ; • ^Epef c
paep. "J) peo punne psep ppylce heo paepe eal gelytlabu;- OSep
paep -p mon gepeah ppylce feo punne -3 j-e mona puhton;.
Dap punbop jepupbon on Sppip J>am lanbe. 3 on SapSmium mon
jej*eah tpegen pcylbap blobe ppascan. •] Falij'ci *}> pole hy jej'apan
fpylce j*eo heopon paepe tohliben. } Schium ^ pole him gefmhce.
•f hy heopa copn-pipan 3 heopa caplap apylleb hsepbon. ^ eall
fa cap pa&pon blobige .' •
IX.
J>am ]>e Romebuph gecimbpeb paap v. hunb pincpum
^j xl. J>aJ>a Luciup ^Emiliup. "3 Paulup Publiup. j Tepenciup
Uappo1. fa hy paepon conpulap hy jepopan mib pypbe onjean
panmbal. ac he hi mib fam ilcan ppence beppac. ]?e he aec heopa
aeppan ^emetin^e bybe. 3 eac mib fam mpan. ]>e hy aep ne
cuSan. faec paep. ^ he on paepcpe ptope lee pum hip pole. 3 mib
fumum pop on jean fa conpulap. 3 paSe ]>a&p ]>e hy copomne
comon. he pleah piS fa&p2 baeptan paepan. ^ him fa conpulap
paepon aepcep-pyljenbe. •] ^ pole pleanbe. j penbon ^ hy on f am
baeje pceolban habban f one maeptan pige. ac pa^e f aep f e pan-
nibal on hip pulcume com. he jeplymbe ealle fa conpulap. ^j on
Romanum ppa micel pael jejloh. ppa heopa naeppe naep. ne aeji
ne pifrSan. aet anum gepeohce. faec paep xlim. M. ^ faepaconpula
tpegen opploh. "j f one ftpibban jepenj. ^ fa on baeg he mihce
cuman co ealpa Romana anpealbe. faep he popS SeF°Pe co
Saepe bypij • . ^Epcep f am panmbal penbe ham to Eapcama
Spieo mibb jylbenpa hpinja hip pige Co tacne ; • Be f am hpmg-
um mon mihce pican hpaec Romana bu^u^e jepeallen paep. pop-
f on f e hie paep feap mib him on fam bagum. ^ nan o^ep ne
mopte 'gylbenne hpmj pepian. buton he aetSelep cynnep paepe : -
^Eprep fam jepeohce paepon Romana ppa ppiSe popfohce. ^
Eecihup GOecellup. f e fa heopa conpul paep. je ealle heopa pena-
ALFRED'S oBOSius. / 413
the consul, and of the other people twenty-five thousand, and
six [thousand] were captured ; and of Annibal's people two
thousand were slain. After that, the consul Scipio, the
brother of the other Scipio, fought many battles in Spain,
and took Mago, a general of the Carthaginians, prisoner.
And many wonders happened at this time. The first was,
that the sun was as if it were all diminished. The second
was, that it was seen as if the sun and moon were fighting.
Theee wonders happened in the land of Arpi. And in
Sardinia two shields were seen to sweat blood. And the
people of the Falisci saw the heavens, as it were, cloven.
And it seemed to the people of Antium, that, having thrown
their bundles of corn into their baskets, all the ears were
bloody.
IX.
After Eome had been built five hundred and forty years,
when Lucius JEmilius, and Paulus Publius, and Terentius
Varro were consuls, they marched with an army against
Annibal ; but he deceived them by the same stratagem that
he had used at their former meeting, and also with a new one
which they knew not before ; which was, that he left some of
his army in a strong place, and with some marched against
the consuls, and as soon as they came together, he fled
towards those who were behind, and the consuls pursued him
and slew his people, and thought that they on that day should
have the greatest victory. But as soon as Annibal came to
his force, he put all the consuls to flight, and made so great
a slaughter of the Romans as never had been of them, neither
before nor since, in one battle ; that was forty-four thousand ;
and he slew two of their consuls and captured the third ; and
on that day he might have come to the dominion of all the
Romans, if he had marched on to the city. After that
Annibal sent home to Carthage three measures of golden
rings, in token of his victory. By the rings might be known
how many noble Romans had fallen ; because it was their
custom in those days, that no one might wear a golden ring,
unless he were of noble lineage. After that battle the
Romans were so very desponding, that Csecilius Metellus,
who was then their consul, yea, all their senate, had resolved
414 KING ALFEED'S OEOSITTS.
tup haepbon jefoht. -p hy pceoibon Romebuph poplaetan. je
pupSon ealle Italiam. 3 hy ^ ppa jelaepton. gip him Scipio ne
geptypbe. pe paep faepa cempena ylbept. mib fam fe he hip
ppeopbe gebpaeb. 3 ppop ty him leoppe paepe. f he hine pylpne
acpealbe. J>onne he poplete hip paebep-eftel. ^ paebe eac ^ he
faepa aelcep ehtenb polbe beon. ppa ppa hip peonbep. fe faep
popbep paepe ^ ppam Romebypig f ohte. j he hy ealle mib f am
genybbe. -^ hy at5ap ppopan. 'p hy ealle secjsebepe polbon. o^Se
on heopa eapbe licjean. oSSe on heopa eapbe hbban ; • ^Eptej i
|>am hy gepeccan ticcatop. f he pceolbe beon heppa opep ]>a
conpulap. pe pa&p hacen Dec i up lumup. he naep bucon xvn.
pincjie1. j Scipian hy jepetcon co conpule. •} ealle fa men J?e hi
on }>eopbome hsepbon. hy geppeobon. on ^ jepab. ^ hy aSap
ppopan. ty hy him sec J>am jepmnum gela&pton. 3 pume J»a ]>e
heopa ppejean nolban. oS hme anjobe -^ hymihton. fonnejul-
bon hi fa conpulap mib heopa gemaenan peo. ~\ pi^San ppeobon.
•3 ealle pa pe popbemebe psepon sep J>am. o^6e hy pylpe pop-
pojihc hsepbon. hy hit call popjeapon. pi6 ]?am pe hi him aet J?am
jepmnum pulleobon. paapa manna peep vi. M. pa hy jejabepab
paepon. j ealle Icaliam geppican Romanum. j co panmbale je-
cypbon. popfon J»e hy paepon oppene. hpaeSep aeppe Romane to
heopa anpealbe become ; • Da gepop panmbal on Benepente. -j
hy him on^ean comon. *] him to gecipbon ; • yEptep ]>am Ro-
mane haepbon gegabepab 1111. lejian heopa polcep. y penbon
Luciup Poptumiup pone conpul on fa Dallie f e mon nu Lang-
beajibap haet. j faep opplajen peajiS. 3 p/aep polcep pela mib
him ; • ^Eptep f am Romane gepetton Elaubmp GOapcellup to
conpule. pe paep aap Scipionep gepepa. he pop beapnmga mib je-
pealbenan pultume on f one enbe panmbalep polcep p e he pylp
on p33p. •] pela p/aep polcep opploh. -3 hine pylpne geplymbe ;. Da
haepbe QOapcellup Romanum cuS gebon. ty mon panmbal je-
plyman mihte. p/eh he hy aep tpeobe hpae^ep hine mon mib
aemjon man-pultume jeplyman mihte ; . Eemon^ f am gepm-
num. fa tpejen Scipion. fe fa paepon conpulap 3 eacjebjioSop.
hy paepon on Ippamum mib pypbe. ~j gepuhton piS paptepbale.
Panmbalep paebepan. 3 hme opplo^on. ^ hip polcep xxx. M.
**ume opplojon pume gepengon. pe pasp eac Pena oSep cyng ) •
J>am Eenteniup Penula pe conpul baeb f p«natur him
KING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS. M£< ^ 415
to abandon the city of Eome, and, in fact, all Italy ; and they
had so done, if Scipio had not restrained them, who was the
eldest of the soldiers, when he drew his sword, and swore
that he would rather kill himself than abandon his paternal
country ; and said also that he would pursue every one of
those as his foe, who should give his vote for leaving Eome;
and he, at the same time, compelled them to swear oaths that
they would altogether either fall in their country or live in
their country. After that, they appointed a dictator, who
should be master over the consuls ; he was named Decimus
Junius ; he was only seventeen years, and Scipio they ap-
pointed consul, and all the men that they had in servitude
they freed, on condition that they swore oaths, that they
would aid them in the wars ; and some, whose masters would
not, until they were indemnified to enable them, the consuls
paid for with their public money, and then freed them ; and
all those who had previously been condemned or perpetrated
crime, they forgave all, on condition of their rendering full
service in the wars. Of these men there were six thousand,
when they were gathered together. And all Italy deserted
from the Eomans and turned to Anniba], because they were
without hope that the Eomans would ever recover their
power. Annibal then marched on Beneventum, and they
came to meet him and turned to him. After that, the Eomans
had collected four legions of their people, and sent Lucius
Posturaus, the consul, against those Gauls that are now
called Langobardi, and he was there slain, and many people
with him. After that the Eomans appointed Claudius Mar-
cellus for consul, who had previously been the companion of
Scipio : he marched secretly with an overwhelming force
against that part of Annibal's army, in which he himself was,
and slew many of his people, and put him himself to flight.
Thus did Marcellus make manifest to the Eomans, that
Annibal could be put to flight, although they had before
doubted whether any one with any human force could defeat
him. During these wars, the two Scipios, who were then
consuls and also brothers, were in Spain with an army, and
fought against Asdrubal, Annibal's uncle, and slew him ; and
of his thirty thousand men slew some and captured some : he
was also the Carthaginians' other king. After that, Centeniua
Penula, the consul, requested the senate to give him a foi^e,
416 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
pulcum pealbon. ^ he mihte pannibal mib gepeohte jepecean.
•] he faep opplagen peapS. 3 vm. M. hip polcep> ^Eptep fara
Sempponmp lipaccup pe conpul pop ept mib pypbe ongean pan-
nibal. T geplymeb peapS. 3 hip hepep paep micel pael opplagen ' •
pu magon mi Romane. cpaeft Opopmp. to poSe gepec^ean. ty
hy fa haepbon betpan tiba f onne hy mi habban. fa hy ppa mo-
neja ^epmn haepbon enbemep unbeppongen. an pa&p on Ippania.
oSep on GOaacebonia. fpibbe on Eappabocia. people aec ham pi6
pannibal. 3 hi eac opcopc geplymbe pupbon. 3 jebipmpabe ; •
He ^ pasp ppiSe ppeotol. -Ji hy fa ps&pon betepan f ejnap ]> onne
hy nu pen. ^ hy feh f aep gepmnep jeypican nolbon. ac hy ope
gebiban on lyclum ptafole. "3 on unpenlicum. ^ hy fa aec
nihptan hajpbon ealpa f s&pa anpealb. f e sep neah heopa haep-
X.
Spcep fam fe Romebuph gecimbpeb pa&p v. hunb pmcpum
j xlm. cbapcelluj- Elaubiup pe conpul pop mib pciphepe on
Sicilie. •] begeat Sipacupep heopa fa pelejepcan buph. f eh fe
hy aec fam aeppan paepelce be^ican ne mihce. fa he hi bepecen
haepbe. pop Spchime^ep cpa&pce. pume 8icihe fe^nep;- On
8am teoSan geape f aep f e pannibal ponn on Italie. he pop op
Campania fam lanbe. ot5 Speo mila Co Romebj'pij. •] aec f aepe
ea jepicabe f e mon Snmanep hset. eallum Romanum co fam
maepcan eje. ppa hie mon on f aepa paepneb-manna ^ebaepum
ongitan mihte. hu h^ apyphtebe psepan ^ a^aalpebe. fa fa
pipmen upnon mib ptanum piS faepa pealla. "j cpaebon ^ hy fa
buph pejujan polbon. gip fa paepneb-men ne boppcan \ • Daep
on mopgen pannibal pop to f aepe bypij. 3 bepopan fam jeate
hip pole jetpymebe. f e mon haet fcollma ; . Sc f a conpulap
nolban hy pelpe ppa eap^e gefencean. ppa hi fa pipmen aep
popcpaeban. ^ hy hi bmnan faejie bypij pepijan ne boppcan.
ac hy hi butan fam geate ongean pannibal tpymebon ; . "Re
fa hy togaebepe polbon. fa com ppa ungemethc jien. ^ heopa
nan ne mihce nanep paepnep jepealban. 3 popfam copopan'. •
Da pe pen ablon hy popan ept tojaebepe. 3 epc peapC o5ep
{f 417
that he might give battle to Annibal, and he was there slain,
and eight thousand of his people. After that, Semproniua
Gracchus, the consul, again marched with an army against An-
nibal, and was put to flight, and of his army a great slaughter
was made. How can the Romans now, says Orosius, say with
truth, that they had better times then than they now have,
when they had, at the same time, undertaken so many wars ?
One was 'in Spain, a second in Macedonia, a third in Cappa-
docia, a fourth at home against Annibal ; and they were,
moreover, oftenest defeated and disgraced. But it was very
manifest that they were better soldiers then than they now
are ; that they, nevertheless, would not flinch from the war ;
(but they often rested on a little and hopeless foundation), so
that at last they had dominion over all those, whom before
they had had for their neighbours.
After Rome had been built five hundred and forty-three
years, the consul, Claudius Marcellus, proceeded with a fleet
to Sicily, and acquired Syracuse, their wealthiest city, al-
though in the former expedition he could not obtain it,
when he had besieged it, by reason of the craft of Archi-
medes, a Sicilian officer. In the tenth year from the time
that Annibal made war in Italy, he proceeded from the land
of Campania, as far as three miles of Eome, and encamped by
the river that is called the Anien, to the great terror of aU
the Romans ; as in the conduct of the men it might be
understood how frightened and panic-stricken they were;
when the women ran with stones to the walls, and said that
they would defend the city, if the men durst not. On the
following morning, Annibal proceeded to the city, and arrayed
his army before the gate that is called the Colline. But the-
consuls would not think themselves so dastardly as the
women had before charged them [with being], that they
durst not defend themselves within the city : but they
arrayed themselves against Annibal without the gate. But
when they would join battle, there came such an overwhelm-
ing rain, that none of them could govern any weapon, and
they therefore separated. "When the rain had ceased, they
came together again, and again there was another such rain,
2s
418 ZING ALFRED'S OROS1TTS.
fpylc pen. ^ hy epc copopan * • Da onjeac pannibal. 3 him
pylp paebe. peh pe he pilnienbe paepe 3 penenbe Romana
onpealbep. ty hie Eob ne gepapobe ;• Eepecgafi me mi Romane.
cpaeft Opopmp. hpaenne -p jepupbe oSSe hpapa. aep pam cpipcen-
bome. offiSe je oftSe oftepe sec aemjum gobum mihcon pen
abibban. ppa mon piSSan mihce. piSftan pe cpijTenbom paep. ^
nu gyc majon moneje jobe sec upum haelenbum Epijre.
J>onne him Jjeapp bi^ '. • pic paej* J>eah f pifte ppeocol. •$ pe ilca
EpifC. fef e hi epc co cpijrenbome onpenbe. ^ j-e him pone pen
co gepcilbnejje onpenbe. ]?eh hi paep pyp^e naepan. co )>on ^
hy pylpe. ~^ eac momje o^Spe ^5uph hy. co 6am cpipcenbome 3
to J>am j-oSan jeleapan become ; •
On J>am bajum ]?e }?ip jepeapS. paspon cpe^en conpulap
opplajen on Ippama. fa paepon jebpo^op. "j paapon bejen
Scipian hacene. hy pupbon beppicene ppam papcepbale Pena
cynmje '. • On )>aepe cibe Quincup Fuluiup pe conpul jeejpabe
ealle J>a ylbepcan menn ]>e on Campania paepon. ^ hy hy pylpe
mib accpe acpealbon. j ealle pa ylbepcan menn. ]>e paepon on
Eapu psepe bypi^. he opploh. poppon pe he penbe -p hi polbon
panmbale on pulcume beon. peh pe pa penacup him haepbe pa
bsebe paepce popboben ;- Da Romane jeahpebon -J) pa conj-ulap
on Ippanmm oppla^en pupbon. pa ne mihcon pa penacup naenne
conpul unbep him pinban. pe boppce on Ippanie mib pypbe
jepapan. bucon paepa conpula o^pep punu. Scipio paep hacen.
pe paep cmhc ', • 8e paep jeopne bibbenbe. ty him mon pulcum
pealbe. ^ he mopce on Ippanie pypbe jelaeban. 3 he ^ paepelbe
ppipopc pop pam puphceah. pe he pohce ty hyp paebep ^ hip
paebepan jeppaece. peh pe he hie paepce pi$ j'enacup haele \
'Re Romane paepon psep paepelcep ppa jeopnpulle. peh pe hy
ppit5e jebpocobe paepon on heopa licjenban peo pe hi gemaene
haepbon. pop pam gepmnum pe hy pa haepbon on peopep healpa.
•^ hy eall him jepealbon ^ hy pa hsepbon. pam paepelce co
pulcume. bucon ^ aelc pipman haepbe ane ynbpan jolbep.
an punb peolppep. 3 aelc paepneb-man anne hpmj. j ane
hoppan ; •
Da Scipio haepbe gepapen co paepe mpan bypij Eapcama. pe
mon nu Eopbopa haec. he bepaec GOajonem. panmbalep bpo^op.
3 poppon pe he on pa buph-leobe on ungeapepe becom. he hi
on lyclan pypjte mib hunjpie on gepealb jenybbe. •f him pe
KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS. ~]S*, fO 419
and they again separated. Then Annibal was sensible, and
to himself said, though he was desirous of and hoping for the
dominion over the Romans, that God did not permit it. Tell
me now, Romans, says Orosius, when it happened or where,
before Christianity, that either ye or others could by prayer
obtain rain from any gods as men afterwards could, after
Christianity was, and may now yet many blessings of our
Saviour Christ, when they have need. For it was very
manifest, that the same Christ, who afterwards converted
them to Christianity, sent them the rain as a protection, al-
though they were not worthy of it, in order that they them-
selves, and many others also, through them, might come to
Christianity and to true belief.
In the days that this happened there were two consuls
slain in Spain, they were brothers, and were both named
Scipio. They were drawn into an ambuscade by Asdrubal,
the Punic king. At that time, the consul, Quintus Fulvius,
terrified all the chief men that were in Campania, so that
they killed themselves with poison. And all the chief men
that were in the city of Capua he slew, because he thought
that they would be a support to Annibal, although the senate
had strongly forbidden him that deed. When the Romans
were informed that the consuls were slain in Spain, the
senate could not among themselves find any consul that durst
proceed with an army to Spain, except the son of one of the
consuls, who was named Scipio, who was a youth. He
earnestly entreated that they would grant him support, that
he might lead an army to Spain, and he was chiefly desirous
to accomplish this expedition, because he hoped he could
avenge his father and his uncle ; although he strictly con-
cealed this from the senate. But the Romans were so eager
for the expedition, although they were greatly broken in
their treasure, which they had in common, in consequence of
the wars, which they had on four sides, that they gave
him all that they had, in aid of the expedition, excepting that
every woman retained one ounce of gold and one pound of
silver, and every man one ring and one bulla.
When Scipio had marched to the new city of Carthage,
which is now called Cordova, he besieged Mago, the brother
of Annibai, and because he came unawares on the inhabitants,
he in a little time reduced them under his power by hunger,
2E2
420 KING ALFRED'S OROSITTS.
cynmg pylp on hanb eobe. -) he ealle pa oflpe pume opploh
fume gebanb. ~] pone cynmg gebunbenne Co Rome penbe. ~]
monije mib him paepa ylbepcena peocena;. Bmnan paepe
bypij paep micel licgenbe peoh punben. pum hie Scipio co Rome
fenbe. pum he hie hec pam polce baelan ;• On J»aepe tibe pop
Leumuf pe conpul op GOaeceboma on Sicilie mib pciphepe. -3
paep jeeobe Sgpijentum pa buph. "j jefenj pannonan heopa
labceop. fi^San him eoban on hanb xl. bupja. 3 xxvi. he jeeobe
nub gepeohte ; • On paepe cibe pannibal opjloh Eneup Fuluiup
pone conpil on Icalium. ^ eahca M. mib him;. ^Epcep pam
panmbal peahc pi^ GOapcellup pone conpul Spy bajap. py popman
bsege pa pole peollan on ae;8pe healpe jehce. py aepcepan basge
panmbal hsepbe pi^e. py Spibban bae^e haepbe pe conpil;.
^Eptep pam Faump CDaximup pe conpul pop mib pciphepe co
Tapencan paape bypij. ppa panmbal nypce. •} pa buph on nihc
abpsec. ppa ]?a nypcan pe psepmne paepon. "j panmbalep labceop
opploh. Eapcolon. j xxx. M. mib him ;• Daep on pam sepcepan
^eape panmbal bepcael on GDapcellup Elaubiup J>one conpul.
paep he on pypbe paec. °] hme opploh. 3 hip pole mib him ;• On
pam bagum Scipio geplymbe papcepbal on Ippamum. panni-
balep oSepne bjioSop. ^ paep polcep him eobe on hanb hunb-
eahcacig bup^a ; • 8pa laS paep Pena pole Scipione. pa he hy
jeplymeb haepbe. ppa-peh pe he hy pume pi$ peo jepealbe. f he
•^ peopS nolbe a^an -J) him mon pi6 pealbe. ac hie oftpum man-
num pealbe ; . On pam ilcan jeape beppac epc panmbal cpejen
conpulap. GOapcellup j Epippmup. 3 hy opj'loh;. Da Elaubiup
Nepo anb GOapcup Lmmp Salmacop paepan conpulap. papcepbal.
panmbalep bpo^op. pop mib pypbe op Ippamum on Icalia.
Panmbale co pulcume. pa ^eahpebon pa conpulap •}) aep panm-
bal. "j him ongean comon. ppa he pa muncap opeppapen haepbe
3 paep haepbon langpum jepeohc. aep paepa polca apep pluje. f
pae]' ppiftop on pam jelanj. ^ papcepbal ppa lace pleah. poppon
pe he elpenbap mib him haepbe. •j Romane haepbon pije ; . Dap
peapS papcepbal opplagen. -j LIU. M. hepep. 3 v. M- ^epanjen;-
Da hecon pa conj'ulap papcejibale •-p heapob op-aceoppan. ^
apeoppan hie bepopan panmbalep pic-pcope ;• Da panmbale
cu5 paep -p hif bpoSop opple^en paep. y )>aep polcep ppa pela mib
KING ALFRED'S GHOSTUS."/?, 1C 421
so that the king himself surrendered, and of all the others
some he slew, some bound, and sent the king bound to Home,
and with him many of the chief senators. "Within the city a
great treasure was found: some of it Scipio sent to Kome,
some he ordered to be divided among his people. At that
time the consul Lsevinus proceeded with a fleet from Mace-
donia to Sicily, and there took the city of Agrigentum, and
captured Hanno, their leader. Afterwards forty towns sur-
rendered to him, and twenty-six he gained by warfare. At that
time Annibal slew the consul Cneus Fulvius in Italy, and
eight thousand with him. After that Annibal fought against
Marcellus, the consul, for three days : on the first day, the
people fell alike on either side ; on the second day, Annibal
had the victory; on the third day, the consul had. After
that, the consul, Fabius Maximus, proceeded with a fleet to
the city of Tarentum, unknown to Annibal, and captured the
city by night, so that they knew it not who were therein ;
and slew Carthalo, Annibal' s general, and thirty thousand
with him. In the year after this, Annibal stole on the consul,
Claudius Marcellus, where he sat with his army, and slew him
and his people with him. In those days Scipio put to flight
Asdrubal in Spain, the other brother of Annibal, and of that
people there surrendered to him eighty towns. So hateful
were the Punic people to Scipio, that, when he had defeated
them, although he sold some for money, he would not possess
the value that had been given him for them, but gave it to
other persons. In the same year, Annibal again circumvented
two consuls, Marcellus and Crispinus, and slew them. When
Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator were consuls,
Asdrubal, Annibal' s brother, marched with an army from
Spain to Italy, to the aid of Annibal. Then the consuls were
apprized of that before Annibal, and came against him when
he had crossed the mountains, and there they had a long
battle ere either of the armies fled. It was chiefly in conse-
quence of his having elephants with him that Asdrubal was
so slow to flee ; and the Eomans had the victory. There was
Asdrubal slain, and fifty-three thousand of his army, and five
thousand captured. The consuls then commanded Asdrubal's
head to be cut off and cast before Annibal' s camp. "When
it was known to Annibal that his brother was slain, and so
many of the people with him, then he first felt fear of the
422 KLBTG ALFBED'S OROSITTS.
liim. pa peapS him aepept ege ppam Romanum. ^ gepop on
Bputi ty lanb ;. Da haepbe pannibal -3 Romane an geap ptil-
neppe him betpeonum. poppon pe pa pole butu on pepep-able.
mib ungemete ppulton ; . On J>aepe ptilneppe Scipio jeeobe
ealle Ippanie. -3 piSSan com to Rome. 3 Romanum to pgebe
jelaepbe. ^ hy mib pcipum pope on panmbalep lanb ; . Da
penbon Romane hme. ^ he paep paepeltep conpul paepe. 3 pafte
paep pe he on Pene com. him com ongean panno pe cyninj
unpaephce. ^ J>aep peap8 oppla^en ; • On psepe cibe pannibal
peahc piS Sempponiup ]?one conpul on Icaham. "j hme bebpap
mco Romebypij ; . JEpcep )>am popan Pene onjean Scipion
mib eallum heopa pultume. ~) pic-jrope namon on tpam pco-
pum. neah J>aepe bypij pe mon Ucica hec. on ot5pe paepan
Pene. on oSpe Nume8e. ]>e him on pulcume paepon. -3 gepohc
haspbon j) hy faep pceolban pmcep-pelt habban • . Sc piSSan
8cipio jeahpobe ^ J>a popepeapbap pa&pon peop j>am pa&ptenne
gepecce. y eac ^ )>aep nane o^pe neap paepan. he )>a byjellice
gelaebbe hip pypbe becuh J>am peapbum. y peapa menn to oftpum
j>aepa paepcenna onpenbe. to J>on f hy hip aenne enbe onbaepn-
bon. *f> pi^^an maepc ealle J>e J>aep binnan paepan. paepon pi8 J>aep
pypep peapb. co )>on ^ hy hie acpencan ]?ohcon ; . pe )>a Scipio.
gemong )>am. hy maepc ealle opploh ;. Da f ]>a o^jie onpunbon.
J>e on fam ot5pum paepcenna paspon. hi paepan plocmaelum J?ibep-
peapb J?am oSpum to pultume. ~] hy Scipio paep ealle J>a niht
pleanbe ppa hi J>onne comon ot5 baej. 3 pi^an he ploh opep
ealne J>one baej pleonbe. "3 heopa tpegen cymnjap. paptepbal ~j
Sipax. ot5plujon to Eaptama paepe bypig. ^j gejabepeban pone
pultum pe hi pa haepbon. *] onjean Scipian comon. ^ ept pup-
bon jeplymeb into Eajitama ; . 8ume o^plu^on to Epetan pam
ijlanbe. •] him Scipio penbe pciphepe septep. ^ mon pume
opploh pume jepenj. 3 Sipax peapS jepanjen. heopa oftep
cynmj. -3 piSt5an paep to Rome on pacentan penbeb ;•
On pam jepeohtum paepon Pene ppa pophynbe. •p hy na
piSSan hy pi^S Romane to nahte ne bemaeton. •j penbon on
Icalie aeptep panmbale. 3 baeban ^ he him to pultume
come, j he him pepenbe paepe bene getyjftabe. poppon pe
he pceolbe Icaham poplaetan. on pam ppeoteoftan jeape. pe
he aep on com. "3 he ealle opploh pe op pam lanbum hip
menn paepon. j mib him opep pae nolban • . Da he ham-
peajib pejlebe. pa het he anne mann ptijan on pone maei't,
ALFRED'S. OEOSIUS. JXf Jo 423
Bomans, and marched into the land of the Bruttii. There-
upon Annibal and the Romans had a year of stillness between
them, because of both armies vast numbers died of fever.
During that stillness, Scipio conquered all Spain, and after-
wards came to Rome, and counselled the Romans to proceed
with ships to Annibal's land. Thereupon the Romans sent
him, that he might be the commander of the expedition ; and
as soon as he came to Carthage, Hanno, the king, came
against him unawares, and was there slain. At that time
Annibal fought against the consul Sempronius in Italy, and
drove him into Rome. After that the Carthaginians pro-
ceeded against Scipio with all their force, and pitched a camp
in two places, near the city that is called Utica ; in the one
were the Carthaginians, in the other the Numidians, who
were in aid of them, and had thought they should there have
winter-quarters. But when Scipio learned that the foremost
watches were stationed far from the fortress, and also that
there were no others nearer, he secretly led his army be-
tween the watches, and sent a few men to one of their fast-
nesses, that they might set one end of it on fire, that then
most of all those that were within would run towards the fire,
for the purpose of quenching it. He then, Scipio, in the mean
while, slew almost all of them. When the others, who were
in the other fastness, discovered that, they went thitherward
in flocks, to aid the others ; and Scipio was all that night
slaying them as they came, until day; and afterwards he
slew those fleeing through the whole day ; and their two
kings, Asdrubal and Syphax, fled to the city of Carthage, and
gathered the force that they had there, and came against
Scipio, and were again driven into Carthage. Some fled to
the isle of Cirta, and Scipio sent a fleet after them, so that
some were slain, some taken ; and Syphax was taken, one of
their kings, and was afterwards sent in chains to Rome.
In these wars, the Carthaginians were so reduced, that they
afterwards esteemed themselves as naught against theRomans,
and sent to Italy for Annibal, and prayed that he would come
to their aid, and he granted their prayer weeping, because he
must abandon Italy, in the thirteenth year after he had first
come thither ; and he slew all his men that were of those
countries, who would not [cross] the sea with him. When he
sailed homewards, he commanded a man to ascend the mast
424 KING ALFRED'S ososius.
3 locian hpaeftep he ty lanb gecneope ty hi topeapb paepon. pa paebe
he him. ty he ^epape ane tobpocene bypjenne. ppylce heopa
peap paep *J) mon picum mannum bupan eopSan op ptanum
pophte * . Da paep pannibale. aeptep heopa haepempcum jepunan .
•f) anbpypbe ppifte laS. ~] him unpanc paebe paep anbpypbep. 3 ealne
pone hepe he het mib pam pcipum panon penban ]>e he ge)>ohc
ha&fbe. ^j up comon aet Lepcan J)am tune. •] hpseblice jrop co
Eaptama. ^ bibbenbe paej* f he moj-ce pi$ Scipion j-ppecan. j
pilnienbe paef ^ he ppiS becpeox pam polcum pinban pceolbe ; .
Sc hy heopa pinbop-]*ppaece ]>e hy betpeox fam pocum togae-
bepe-peapb jepppaecon. [^] to unpbbe bpohton. ~] hy to
gepeohte jypebon. ~] pat5e J»aef ]>e hi tojsebepe comon. panni-
balep pole peapS jeplymeb. -3 xx. M. opplajen. ^ v. himb ~]
eahtatij elpenba. ^ panmbal oSpleah peopepa pum to Hftpa-
metum ]?am pa&ptenne ; . Da penbon pa buph-leobe op Eaptama
aeptep pannibale. j cpaebon ty him pelept paepe. ^ hy ppi^ep to
Romanum pilnabe ; . Dapa fiamp Eopnehup ~] Lentulup Pub-
liup1 paepon conpulap. peapS Eaptamum ppift alypeb p|iam
Scipion. mib paepa Senatupep pillan. on ty jepab. 'f pa ijlanb
8icilia 3 Sapbima hipbon to Romanum. ^ ^ hy him selce geape
jepealbe ppa pela talentana peolppep. ppa hy him ponne alypbe.
•j Scipio net v. hunb heopa pcipa up-ateon -3 popbaepnan. y
pfrSan to Rome hampeapb pop ; . Da him mon pone tpiumphan
ongean bpohte. pa eobe paepmib Teppentmp pe maepa Eap-
tama pceop. 3 baep haett on hip heapbe. poppon Romans
haepbon pa niplice jepett. ^ pa pe haett bepan mopton. ponne
hy ppylc pole opeppunnen haepbon. ty pa mopton sejSep habban.
je peoph je pjieobom \.
XL
^Eptep pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paap v. hunb pintpum
^j L. paep geenbab -p aeptepe Punica jepmn 3 Romana. ^ hi
bpeojenbe paepan xmi. pintep. ac Romane paSe paep o^ep
onjunnon piS GOaecebome ; • Da hlutan pa conpulap. hpylc
heopa ^ gepmn aepept unbeppon j-ceolbe;- Da gehleat hiC
Quintiup Flammiup. -3 on pam $epmne moneja jepeohc
ALFRED'S OROSITJS. l¥,/o, // 425
and look whether he knew the land towards which they were
going. Then he said to him that he saw a ruined sepulchre,
such as it was their custom to make above the earth of stonea
for rich men. Thereupon was to Annibal, according to their
heathen custom, that answer extremely distasteful, and he ex-
pressed his dissatisfaction at the answer, and he commanded
all the army with the ships to turn from the place to which
he had resolved [to go], and arrived at the town of Leptis,
and speedily proceeded to Carthage, and prayed that he
might speak with Scipio, and desired that he might settle a
peace between the [two] nations : but their private confer-
ence, which they had with each other, they brought to a
hostile termination, and prepared themselves for battle ; and
soon after they had come together, Annibal's army was put
to flight and twenty thousand slain, and five hundred and
eighty elephants ; and Annibal with three others fled to the
fortress of Adrumetum. Thereupon the inhabitants of Car-
thage sent for Annibal, and said that it would be best for them
to desire peace of the Romans. When Caius Cornelius and
Publius Lentulus were consuls, peace was granted to the
Carthaginians by Scipio, with the consent of the senate, on
condition that the islands of Sicily and Sardinia should belong
to the Eomans, and that they should pay them every year as
many talents of silver as they then conceded to them ; and
Scipio ordered five hundred of their ships to be drawn up
and burnt, and then proceeded homeward to Eorne. Then
they brought the triumph to meet him, when therewith went
Terentius, the great Carthaginian poet, arid bare a hat on his
head ; because the Eomans had newly decreed, that those who
might bear a hat, when they had overcome such people, might
have both life and freedom.
XI.
After Eome had been built five hundred and fifty years,
the second war of the Carthaginians and Eomans was ended,
that they had been carrying on for fourteen years ; but the
Eomans, immediately after, began another against the Ma-
cedonians. Then the consuls drew lots, which of them
should first undertake that war. The lot then fell on Quinc-
tius Flamininus, who in that war fought many battles, and
ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
Suphteah. 3 optopt pije haepbe. oft Phihppup heojia cynmj
fpiftep baeb. ~] hit him Romane alypbon. 3 piSb'an he fop on
Laecebememe. 3 Quintmp Flammiup jenybbe begen fa cy-
mnjap. •)? hy pealbon heopa puna to giplum. Philippup GOaece-
boma cyninj pealbe Demetpiup hip punu. ~\ Laecebemoma
cyninj pealbe Spmeman hip punu. -] ealle fa Romanifcan menn
J>e panmbal on Epece gefealb ha&jrbe. him bebeab |*e conjnl. -^
hy eall heopa heapob bepceapon. to tacne f he hy op feopbome
abybe;- On Saepe tibe Inj-ubpef ^ Eenomanni J>a pole, hy
toja&bepe hy jefomnoban. pop 2?m Icopep lape. pannibalej*
bpeSep. f one he aep on Italmm him beaeptan poplet. ^j pi86an
popan on Placentie ^ on Epemone fa lanb. •] hy mib- ealle
apepton ; . Da f enbon Romane f ibep Qaubiup Fuluiuj-1 f one
conpil. 3 he hy unease opeppann ;. ^Eptep fam Flamimup pe
conpil jepeaht pit5 Philippup. GOaceboma cyninj. •] piS Thpaci.
•} pift Ilipice. ~] pi8 moneja o$pe 'Seoba on anum jepeohce. 3
hy ealle geplymbe. faep paef GOaeceboma ehta M. opplajen. }
vi. M. jepanjen!- ^Eptep fam Sempponmj- pe conpul peapS
opplajen on Ippania mib ealpe hip pypbe;. On fa&pe tibe
ODapcelluf pe conpul peapS geplymeb on Gtpupia fam lanbe. fa
com Fupmp o8ep conpul him to pultume. -j pije haapbe. 3 hy
pif f an f lanb eall apeptan ; • Daf a Luciup Ualepiup y Flaccup
CIDapcup2 paapon conpulap. fa onjan Sntiochup 8ipia cyninj
pinnan piS Romanum. 3 op Spia on Gupope mib pypbe jepop ;•
On faepe tibe bebubon Romane ^ mon panmbal Eapcaina
cynmj jepenje. j hine pi^San to Rome bpohte ; • Da he "p
jehypbe. fa pleah he to Sntiochupe. Sipia cymn^e. f a&p he on
tpeojenbhcan onbibe paep. hpa&fep he pi8 Romanum pinnan
boppce. ppa he onjunnen haepbe ; • 'Kc hine panmbal appon.
•f) he ^ jepinn lenj ongan ' • Da penbon Romane Scipion
3!pppicanup heopa aepenbpacan to Sntiochupe. fa het he
Panmbal. -p he pits fa aepenbpacan pppaece. ~] him jeanbpypbe ; .
Da hy nanpe pibbe ne gepeapS. fa com aeptep fam 8cipio pe
conpul mib Elappione. oSpum conjTile. •j Xntiochupep polcep
opploh xl. M. faep on fam aeptepan jeape jepeaht Scipio pi5
Panmbal ute on pa&. ~) pije haepbe ;. Da Sntiochup •p ^ehypbe.
fa baeb he Scipion ppit5ep. 3 him hip punu ham onpenbe. pe paef
XLNG ALFBED'S OROSITJS. ~3&; 427
aftenest had the victory, until Philip, their king, sued for
peace, and the Eomans granted it to him ; and he after went
to Lacedcemonia, and Quinctius Mamininus compelled both
kings to give their sons as hostages. Philip, the Macedonian
king, gave his son Demetrius, and the Lacedaemonian king
gave his son Armenes. And of all the Eoman men that
Annibal had sold into Greece, the consul commanded their
heads to be shaved, in token that he released them from
slavery. At that time the nations of the Insubres and Ce-
nomani assembled together, at the instigation of Amilcar, the
brother of Annibal, whom he had before left behind him
in Italy, and they afterwards proceeded against the lands
of Placentia and Cremona, and totally laid them waste.
Thereupon the Eomans sent thither the consul Claudius
Fulvius, and he with difficulty overcame them. After that
the consul Flamininus fought against Philip, the king of
Macedon, against the Thracians, and against the Illyrians,
and against many other nations, in one battle, and put them
ail to flight. There were of the Macedonians eight thousand
siain, and six thousand taken. After that the consul Sem-
pronius was slain in Spain with all his army. At that time
the consul Marcellus was routed in the land of Etruria,
when Furius, the other consul, came to his aid and had vic-
tory, and they afterwards laid waste all that land. When
Lucius Yalerius and Marcus Elaccus were consuls, Antiochus,
the Syrian king, began to war against the Eomans, and came
from Asia into Europe with an army. At that time, the
Eomans commanded that Annibal, the Carthaginian king,
should be seized and afterwards brought to Eome. "When
he heard that, he fled to Antiochus, the Syrian king, where
he was in a state of doubt, whether he durst war against the
Eomans as he had begun. But Annibal induced him that
he carried on the war longer. Thereupon the Eomans sent
Scipio Africanus, as their ambassador, to Antiochus, when
he commanded Annibal to speak with the ambassadors, and
answer them. When they obtained no peace, the consul
Scipio came after that with Grlabrio, another consul, and of
the people of Antiochus slew forty thousand. In the fol-
lowing year, Scipio fought against Annibal out at sea, and
had the victory. When Antiochus heard that, he prayed
Scipio for peace, and sent his son home to him, who was in
428 KING ALFRED'S OROSITTS.
on hip pealhe. ppa he nypte hu he him to com. bucan ppa fume
menn paeban. •}? he pceolbe beon on hepjunje jepanjen. oSfte
on peapbe;- On faepe pippan Ippame poppeapS emihup pe
conpul mib eallum hip polce. ppam Lupitamam faepe feobe ; •
On fam bajum poppeapft Lucmp Beuiup pe conpul. mib eallum
hip folce. ppam Gtpupci fam leobum. ty fs&p nan to lape ne
peapS •}) hit to Rome gebobabe;- JEptep J>am Fulump pe
conpil pop mib pypbe on Epece to fam beop^um J>e mon
Olimphuf het. }>a ps&j- J^sej- polcep pela on an psepten oSplojen.
J>a on fam jepeohte. }>a hi ^ pa&pten bpecan polban. paej* pela
Romana mib planum oppcotob. 3 mib ptanum optoppob. J>a pe
conpul onjeat •p hy ^ pgepten abpecan ne mihton. J>a bebeab
he pumum J>am polce. ^ hy ppam fam pa&ptenne apopan. "j fa
ot$pe he het ^ hy pi^ faejia o<5eppa plujan J>onne ^ gepeoht
maept paepe. ^ hi mib fam aloccoban ut ]?a fe J)aep bmnan
pa&pan ; . On ]>am pleame. fa fa buphpape ept pi6 f aep paepte-
nep plugon. heopa peap6 opplajen xl. M. "j fa f e f aep to lape
pupbon him on hanb eoban ; . On f am bajum pop GOapcup pe
conpul on Ligop ^ lanb. "3 jeplymeb peap^. ^ hip polcep opplagen
mi. M. | • Daf a COapcup Elaubmp 3 GOapcellup Quintup1 pajpon
conpulap. Phihppup. OOaeceboma cyninj. opploh Romana aepenb-
pacan. ^ penbe Demetpiup hip punu to f am penatum. ^ he j?
yppe ^epette pift hy. •j f eh f e he ppa jebybe. fa he ham com.
Phihppup het hip oSepne punu f he hme mib attpe acpealbe.
popf on f e he teah hme •]) he hyp unjepipna pppa&ce piS fa pena-
tup ; • On f aepe ilcan tibe panmbal hip agnum pillan hme
lylpne mib attpe acpealbe ; - On f a&pe tibe oSiepbe Fulcama
•^ iglanb on Sicihum. ^ naap gepepen aep fa ; . On f aepe tibe
Quintup Fuluiup pe conpul jepeaht pi"5 fa pyppan Ippame. -3
pje haapbe-. Daf a Lepibup OOutiup2 paep conpul. polbe peo
jtpenjepte f eob pinnan on Romane. f e mon fa het Baptepne.
3 nu hy mon haet punjepie. hy polban cuman Peppeupe to
pultume. GOa&ceboma cyninje. fa pa&p Donua peo ea ppa ppiSe
opepppopen. ^ hy jetpupebon ^ hy opep fam ipe papan
mihton. ac hy ma&pt ealle f aep poppupbon ; • Daf a P. Liciniup
Epappup ^ Eraiup Eappiup paepon conpulap. fa gepeapft ^ GOaece-
bonipce gepmn. ty mon ea^e maaj to fam maeptan ^epinnum
getellan. jropf am f e on fam bagum paepon ealle Italic Ro-
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. 2- 429
his power, as he knew not how he came to him, unless, as
some men said, that he had been captured while plundering,
or on his watch. In the further Spain, ^Emilius, the consul,
perished with all his army by the Lusitanian nation. In
those days, the consul, Lucius Bsebius, perished with all his
army, by the Etruscan nations, so that none was left to an-
nounce it at Eome. After that, the consul Fulvius pro-
ceeded with an army to Greece, to the mountains that are
called Olympus, where many of that people had fled to a
fastness. Then, in the fight, when they would capture the
fastness, many of the Eomans were shot with arrows and
struck with stones. When the consul was sensible that they
could not take the fastness, he commanded some of the army
to depart from the fastness, and the others he ordered to flee
towards the others, when the fight was hottest, that they
might thereby entice out those that were there within. In
the flight, when the inhabitants fled back towards the fast-
ness, forty thousand of them were slain, and those that were
left surrendered to him. In those days, the consul Marcius
went with an army to the land of Liguria, and was put to
flight, and four thousand of his army were slain. When
Marcus Claudius and Marcellus Quintus were consuls,
Philip, king of Macedon, slew the Eoman ambassadors, and
sent his son, Demetrius, to the senate, that he might allay
their anger : and, although he did so, when he came home
Philip commanded his other son to kill him with poison, be-
cause he accused him of speaking disparagingly of him before
the senate. At the same time, Annibal voluntarily killed
himself by poison. At that same time, appeared the island
of Vulcan, in Sicily, which had not been seen before then.
At that time the consul, Quintus Fulvius, fought against
the further Spaniards, and had victory. When Lepidus
Mucius was consul, that most fierce nation called the Bas-
ternse (but now called Hungarii) resolved to make war on
the Eomans. They wished to come to the aid of Perseus,
the Macedonian king. At that time the river Danube was
so greatly frozen over, that they trusted that they could pass
over the ice, but almost all of them there perished. When
P. Licinius Crassus and Caius Cassius were consuls, the
Macedonian wrar took place, which may well be numbered
among the greatest wars, because in those days all the Italians
430 KING ALFRED'S onosius.
manum on pulcume. 3 eac Phcolomeup G^ypca cymnj. •}
Hpjeacup Ijappabocia cyninj. 3 6umemp Hpia cyntng. j
GOapmippa NumeSia cyning ; • Xnb Peppeupe GOaeceboma cy-
ninje. him paepon on pulcume ealle Thjiaci 3 Ilipice. ~] paSe
paep pe hy copomne comon. Romane pupbon jeplymeb. 3 paSe
paep aec 08 pum jepeohce hy pupbon eac geplymeb. ^j aepcep
}>am jepeohcum Peppeup pa&p ealne pone jeap Romane ppitSe
ppencenbe. 3 piSSan he pop on Ilipice. ^j abpaec Sulcanum
heopa buph. peo paep Romanum unbeppeob. ~] micel J>aep mann-
cynnep. pum acpealbe pum GOaecebome laebbe ; - JEpcep J?am
jepeaht Luciup 6milmp pe conpul piS Pejipeup 3 hine opejiponn.
•] hip polcep opjioh xx. M. ^ he pylp aec J>am cyppe o^pleah. ^j
paSe aepcep pam jepangen peajiS. 3 co Rome bpohc. ^ paep
opplagen. "3 moneja jepeohc jepupbon on pam bajum on
monejum Ian bum. j) hie nu ip ro lon^pum ealle co pecjanne ;.
XII.
pam pe Romebuph jecimbpeb paep vi. hunb pincpum
papa Luciup Lucimup. 3 Lucullup ISula1 paepon conpulap. peapS
Romanum pe maepca eje ppam Sceltipepum. Ippania polce. ^
nanne mann naepbon pe pibep mib pypbe boppce jepapan.
bucan Scipion pam conpule. pe paep aepcep pam paepelce Sppjn-
canup hacen. poppon pe he pa oSpe pifte pibep poji pa nan
oftep ne boppce. peh pe Romane haepbe jepopben hpene aep. ^
he on Spiam pajian pceolbe. ac he monega jepeohc on Ippamum
on mippenhcum pijum puphceah ; • On pam bagum Sepuiup
lialua. Scipion jepejia. gepeahc pi6 Lupicamam. Ippania polce. ~]
jeplymeb peapS ; • On pam bagum bebubon Romana gobap
pam penacum ty mon cheacpum pophce him co plegan. ac hie
Scipio2 opcpaeblice him abeab. ^ hy hie ne anjunnon. j eac
pylp paebe. pa he ham op Ippamam com. •]) hie paepe pe maepca
unpaeb. 3 pe maepca gebpola ; • Py pa Romane pop hip cibinje.
J ^uph hip lape. opephypbon pam jobum. *] eall ty peoh ^ hi
paepco pamnob haepbon. pe hy pi8 pam pylum. "j piS pam popce
pyllan polban. hy hie piS oSpum Sinjum pealban ; • Nu maej
pam cpipcenan jepcomian. pe ppylc beopoljylb lupiaS y bejonja?.
pa pe jepe cpipcen naej\ hie ppa ppiSe poppeah. pepe hie
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. •&'> >i;/Z- 431
were in aid of the Eomans, and also Ptolemy, king of Egypt,
and Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, and Eumenes, king of
Asia, and Massanissa, kinp; of Numidia. And of Perseus,
king of Macedon, there were in aid all the Thracians and
Illyrians. And soon after they came together, the Bomans
were put to flight, and soon after, in a second battle, they
were also put to flight; and after those battles, Perseus
greatly harassed the Eomans all that year, and afterwards
marched into Illyria, and took their town of Sulcanum,
which was subject to the Eomans, and of the people some he
slew, some led into Macedonia. After that, Lucius ^Emilius,
the consul, fought against Perseus and overcame him, and
slew twenty thousand of his army, and he himself on that
occasion fled, and soon afterwards was captured and brought
to Borne, and there slain. And there were many wars in
those days in many lands, which it is now too tedious to
relate.
XII.
After Eome had been built six hundred years, when Lu-
cius Licinius and Lucullus Aulus were consuls, the Eomans
were in the greatest fear of the Celtiberians, a Spanish peo-
ple, and had no man who durst proceed thither with an army,
except the consul Scipio, who after that expedition was called
Africanus, because he a second time went whither no other
durst [go] ; although the Eomans, a little while before, had
decreed that he should go to Asia; but he fought many
battles in Spain with divers victories. In those days, Servius
Galba, a companion of Scipio, fought against the Lusitanians,
a people of Spain, and was defeated. In those days, the Bo-
man gods commanded the senate to build them a theatre
for plays ; but Scipio oftentimes enjoined them not to un-
dertake it, and also himself said, when he came from Spain,
that it would be the greatest imprudence and the greatest
error. The Eomans then, through his chiding and his advice,
contemned the gods ; and all the money that they had thereto
collected, with which they had intended to pay for the pillars
and for the work, they paid for other things. Now may
those Christians feel shame, who lore and cultivate such
idolatry; when he, who was not a Christian, so greatly
432 KING ALFRED'S OROSITTS.
pypSpian pceolbe. aeptep heopa ajnum gepunan | •
J?am Sepump Ealua pop ept on Lupitame. -] ppiS jenamon pio"
hy. j hy unbep )>am ppifte beppac 1 • 8eo baeb peapS popneah
Romanum to pam maeptan heapme. ty him nan pole ne jetpu-
pobe. pe him unbeppeob paep ; •
XIII.
)>am |)e Romebuph getimbpeb psef vi. hunb pmtpum
n. J>a]?a fcenfopmuf GOapcuj- 3 GOanhuf Lucmj-1 paepon con-
jmlaj*. )>a jepeap^ ^ 8pibbe gepmn Romana ^ Eapcama. ^j
jepeap'S )>a penacuf him becpeonum. jip hy mon Spibban fi^e
opeppunne. ^ mon ealle Eaptama topuppe. ~) epc penbon
Scipian Jnbep. •] he hi a&c heopa popman jepeohce jeplymbe. •]
bebpap into Eapcaina ; • ^Epcep )>am hy baeban ppiSep Romane.
ac hie Scipio nolbe him alypan piS nanum ot5pum Smge. bucon
hy him ealle heopa psepeno ajeapon. ^ ]>a buph popleton. ~j fy
nan ne paece h^'pe x. milum neah;- ^Epcep )>am ]>e ty jebon
paep. hy cpaebon ty him leoppe paepe ^ hi mib ]>33pe bypij
aecjsebepe poppupbon. J)onne hi mon buton him topuppe. 3
him ept paspeno pophton. ]>a ]>e ipen haepbon. -3 ]>a ]>e naepbon.
hy pophton pume op peolppe. pume op tpeopum. •] jepetton
him to cymn^um tpejen paptepbalap * • Nu ic pille. cpaetJ
Opopmp. pecjan hulucu heo paep hype ymbejanjep xxx. mila
bpab. 3 call heo paep mib pa& utan bejangen. butan t5pim
milum. -] pe peall paep xx. pota Sicce. j xl. ealna heah. 3 paep
paep bmnan o^ep laeppe paepten. on jmm paep clipe. ^ paep tpegpa
mila heah2 ]• p^ f>a Eaptamienpep aet ])am cyppe ]>am buph
apepebon. ])eh }>e 8cipio aep pela paep peallep tobpocen haepbe. ^
piSSan hampeapb pop \ •
Dapa Eneo topnehup ^ Lentulup Lucihup paepon conpulap.
)>a poji Scipio Spibban pi$e on Spppice. to ]>on ^ he f ohte
Eajitaman topeoppan. j pa he ]>aep com. he paep vi. bajap on
pa buph peohcenbe. 06 pa buphpape baebon -p hy mopton beon
heopa unbeppeopap. ]>a. hy bepepian ne mihton ; • Da het
Scipio ealle fa pipmenn. faepa paep xxvi. M. 3 pa Jm paepneb-
KING ALFRED'S OROSIFS. 2/ '*"' '* 433
despised it, who should have furthered it according to their
own custom. After that, Servius Galba went again to Lusi-
tania, and made peace with them, and during that peace cir-
cumvented them. That deed was almost of the greatest
harm to the Romans, so that no people would trust them
who was subject to them.
XIII.
After Rome had been built six hundred and two years,
when Censorinus Marcus and Lucius Manilius were consuls,
there happened the third war of the Romans and Cartha-
ginians : and the senate agreed among themselves, that, ii
they overcame them a third time, they would destroy all
Carthage. And they again sent Scipio thither, and in their
first battle he put them to flight and drove them into Car-
thage. After that, they sued the Romans for peace ; but
Scipio would not grant it them on any other condition, except
they would all give up their weapons, and abandon the city,
and that no one should settle nearer than ten miles to it.
After that was done, they said that they would rather perish
together with the city, than that it should be destroyed with-
out them ; and they again made themselves weapons, those
that had iron ; and those that had not, made them, some of
silver, some of wood, and appointed the two Asdrubals for
their kings. Now I will, says Orosius, relate how in circuit
it was thirty miles about, and was all without surrounded
with sea, except three miles ; and the wall was twenty feet
thick and forty ells high ; and within there was another less
fastness, on the sea-shore, that was two miles high. The
Carthaginians then, at that time, defended the city, although
Scipio had before broken down much of the wall, and after-
wards returned homewards.
When Cneus Cornelius and Lucius Lentulus were consuls,
Scipio proceeded a third time to Africa, because he intended
to destroy Carthage ; and when he came there he was six:
days fighting against the city, until the citizens prayed that
they might be their thralls, as they could not defend them-
selves. Thereupon Scipio commanded all the women, of
whom there were twenty-six thousand, and then the men,
the number of whom was thirty thousand [to go out] ; and
434 ZING ALFRED'S OROSTTTS.
menn faepa paep xxx. M. 3 pe cyninj paptepbal hme pylpn*
acpealbe. 3 hip pip mib hype cpam punum hi pylpe popbaepn&e
pop faep cymnjep beafte. "j Scipio hec ealle fa buph copeoppan.
3 aelcne hiepe pcan tobeatan. -^ hy co nanum pealle piSSan ne
mihcon. 3 peo buph innepeapb bapn xvi, bajap. ymb vn. hunb
pmtpa pa&p pe heo aep jetimbpeb paep!- 3Da paep ^ ftpibbe
gepmn jeenbob Punica -j Romana. on pam peopSan jeape psef
pe hie a&p onjunnen paej*. peh pe Romane haepbon aep lan^pum
^emot ymbe ty. hpaetSep him pa&bhcpe paepe. pe hi fa buph
mib-ealle popbybon. f hy a pftftan on pa healpe ppiS ha3pbon.
|>e hy hi pcanban poplecan. to pon ^ him gepmn epc ]>onan
apoce. poppon hy onbpeban. gip hi hpilum ne punnon. f hy co
pafte aplapebon ^ aeapjabon ; • Spa1 ^ eop Romanum nu epc
cut$ peap^. pSSan pe cjnpcenbom psep. cpaeS Opopiup. ty je
eoppa ylbpena hpecptan poplupon. eoppa gepmna. ^ eoppep
hpeecpcipep. popfon je pynbon nu ucan paette -} innan hlaene.
ac eoppe ylbpan paepon ucan hlaene -) innan paecce. pcpongep
mobep ^ paepcep ; • Ic nac eac. cpaeS he. hu nycc ic ]>a hpile
beo. fe ic ]?ap popb pppece. bucon ^ ic mm jeppinc amyppe ]•
PIC biS eac geopnlic. ^ mon heapblice gmbe ]>one hnepcepcan
mealm-pcan. aepcep }>am ty he Sence pone pelepcan hpecj'can
on co gepaecanne ; • Spa fonne if me nu ppifte eappe'Se heopa
mob co ahpeccan. nu hie natSop nele beon. ne pceapp ne
heapb ; •
BOOK V.
I.
IE pat. cpeeft Opopiup. hpaec pe Romana gilp ppi^ojt ip. popfon
j-e hi maneja pole opeppunnan. •] manega cynmjap bepopan
heopa tpmmphan optpaebhce bpipan. ^ pmbon fa gobeunban
tiba. f e hy ealne peg popegdpaft. jehcopt pam fe hi nu cpsebon.
•p pa tiba him anum gepealbe paepan. "j naepan eallum polce. ac
faep hi hie jeopne onjican cuSan. ponne paepon hi eallum pol-
cum ^ema≠- dp hi ponne cpetiaft. -^ fa ciba jobe paepon.
popfon hi fa ane buph pehge jebyban. f onne majon hi pihcoji
cpetJan. $ fa paepan fa ungepaeh^ej tan. popfon fe tJuph faepe
KING ALFRED'S OROSIFS. !>•> '- 435
the king Aadrubal, killed himself, and his wife with her two
sons burned themselves, because of the king's death ; and
Scipio commanded all the city to be destroyed, and every
hewn stone to be beaten to pieces, that they might not after-
wards [serve] for any wall. And the city within was burning
for sixteen days, about seven hundred years from the time
when it was first built. Then was the third war of the Car-
thaginians and Eomans ended, in the fourth year from the
time when it was first begun ; although the Eomans had pre-
viously a long consultation, as to whether it were more advi-
sable totally to destroy the city, that they might ever after
have peace on that side, or they should leave it standing,
that war might afterwards be raised up from thence ; because
they dreaded, if they had not sometimes war, that they would
too quickly become slothful and spiritless. So that it is now
manifest to you, Eomans, that since Christianity was, says
Orosius, that ye have lost the whetstone of your forefathers,
of your wars and your energy ; because ye are now fat with-
out and lean within ; but your forefathers were lean without
and fat within, of strong and firm mind. I also know not,
says he, how useful I may be while I am speaking these
words, or whether I may lose my labour. It is also de-
sirable for a man to rub hardly the softest metal, if he
intends the most excellent whetstone to work upon it. So
then it is to me now very difficult to whet their mood, now
when it will be neither sharp nor hard.
BOOK Y.
I.
I KNOW, says Orosius, what the Roman vaunt chiefly is ; [it
is] because they have overcome many nations and have often-
times driven many kings before their triumphs. Those are the
blessed times that they are always boasting of, as if they now
said, that those times were given to them alone, and not to
all people ; but, if they could well understand it, they were
common to all nations. But if they say that those times
were good, because they made one city prosperous, then more
justly may they say, that they were the most unhappy, be-
cause through the pride of that one city, all the others were
2r2
436 KING ALFRED'S OROSITS.
anpe bup ge plenceo pupbon ealle oSpe to paeblan jebone ; dp
hi J)onne )>aep ne jelypan. acpian fonne Italia, hypa ajene lanb-
leobe. hu him J>a tiba gelicobon. ]>a hi man ploh ~] hynbe. } on
oSpe lanb pealbe xx. pintpa 3 c. gip hi )>onne him ne gelypan.
acpje Jxmne Ippanie. }>e -^ ylce paepan bpeo^enbe tpa hunb
pincpa. ~] manije oSpe J»eoba. •} eac fa manejan cynmjap . hu
him licobe. fonne hi man on geocon y on pacencan bepopan
heopa cpiumphan bpipon. him to gilpe. pi8 Romane peapb. •}
jy^San on capcepnum lajon. 08 ]?e hi bea^e ppulton ; . Snb
hi mamje cynmjap jej-penctan. to fon ^ hi eal gepealbon ty hi
)>onne ha&pbon. pi8 heopa eapman lipe;. 5Sc poppon hit if up
uncu8 •] un^elypeblic. pop]>on ]?e pe pynb on 8am ppifte je-
bopene. fe hi )>a unease heopa peoph1 mib geceapobon ; . Daec
paep pyftftan Epipt jebopen paep. ty pe psepon op a&lcon feopbome
alypebe. 3 op aelcon eje. gip pe him puljanjan pylla^ ;.
II.
]>am ]>e Romana buph getimbpeb paep vi. hunb
pintpum ^ vi. -p pasp fy ilcan jeape ])e Eaptama topoppen paep.
aeptep hype hpype. fcneo Eopnelmp ~] Lentulup Lucio2 to-
puppon Eopmthum. ealpa Epeaca heapob-buph ; • On hype
bpyne gemultan ealle J>a anlicneppa tojaebepe. )>e J>aep binnan
paepan. je gylbene. ge pylppene. je aepene. je cypepene. j on
pyttap bepuncon ; . Erit to-baeje man haet Eopmthipce patu
ealle ]> e paepop jepophte pasjian. popfon J>e hi pint paejepan ^)
byppan ]> onne aenije oSpe ; .
On J?am bagum paep an hypbe on pippamum pe paep Uepiatup
haten. ^ paep my eel Seopman. ^ on Saepe ptalunje he peapS
peapepe. ~] on ])am peaplace he him jeteah to mycelne man-
pultum. •] mani^e tunap opephep^obe ; . ^Eptep ]>am hip pepob
peox to )>on ppiSe ty he manije lanb pophepjobe. } Romanum
peap8 micel eje ppam him. j Uetihup J?one conpul onjean hme
mib pypbe penban. "j he J>aep jeplymeb peapS. j hip polcep pe
maepta bael oppla^en ; . JEx o^pum cyppe fybep pop Eamp
Foluciup pe conpul. ^ eac geplymeb peapS ; . _/Ec Spibban cyppe
fj'bep pop Elaubmp pe conpul. •j ])ohte -p he Romana bypmop
jebetan pceolbe. ac he hit on f>am paepelbe ppytSop jeyhte. "j un-
eat$e pylp apej com ;. ^iEpter J?am Uepiatuj jemetce. mib fyum
ALFREDS OEOsius
."5j/,^ i37
reduced to indigence. But if they do not believe this, let
them ask the Italians, their own countrymen, how they liked
those times, when they were slain, and oppressed, and sold
into other lands for a hundred and twenty years ? But if
they do not believe them, let them ask the Spaniards, who
were suffering the same for two hundred years, and many
other nations. And also the many kings, how they liked it,
when in yokes and in chains they were driven in pride before
their triumphs towards Borne, and afterwards lay in prisons
until they perished by death? And many kings they
afflicted, that they might give them all that they had for
their miserable life. But therefore it is unknown to us and
incredible, because we are born in that peace that they could
hardly buy with their lives. It was after Christ was born
that we were redeemed from every thraldom and from every
fear, if we will fulfil his precepts.
II.
After Eome had been built six hundred and six years, that
was in the same year in which Carthage was destroyed:
after its fall, Cneus Cornelius and Lucius Lentulus destroyed
Corinth, the chief city of all the Greeks. In its burning,
all the statues that were in it, were melted together, of gold,
of silver, brazen, or of copper, and sunk into pits. Tet to
this day we call Corinthian vessels all that were made
thereof ; for they are fairer and dearer than any others.
In those days there was a shepherd in Spain, who was
named Viriathus, and was a great thief, and in his stealing
he became a robber, and in his robberies drew to him a large
force of men, and plundered many towns. After that his
gang increased so much that he ravaged many lands, and the
Romans were in great dread of him, and sent the consul Ye-
tilius against him with an army, and he was there put to
flight, and the greatest part of his people slain. At the
second time, Caius Plautius the consul proceeded thither,
and was also put to flight. At the third time, the consul
Claudius proceeded thither, and thought that he would re-
pair the Roman disgrace ; but he in that expedition rather
increased it, and escaped himself with difficulty. After that
438 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
mmb manna. Rom ana an M. on anum puba. paep paep Uepiacupej
polcep hunb-peoponcij opplagen. j Romana in. hunb. j pa oSpe
geplymebe pupban ; . On pam pleame peapS an Fepiacup pejen
pam oftpum Co lanje aepcep-pylgenbe. oft man hip hopp unbep
him oppceac. pa polban pa oSpe ealle hine aenne opplean. oftfte
gebmban. pa ploh he anep mannep hopp. mib hip ppeopbe. ty
him panb ^ heapob op. pi<5<5an psep eallum pam oftpum ppa
mycel eje ppam him. -jj hi hine jpecan ne boppean ; . JEpcep
pam Sppmp Elaubiup pe conpul jepeahc piS riallie. "j pa&ji
jeplymeb peajiS. •] pa^Se pa&p epc p>rpbe jelaebbe pift hi. ^ pije
haepbe. y heopa opploh vi. M. ;. Da he hampeapb paep. pa bseb
he ty man bybe bepopan him ]>one cpiumphan. ac Romane him
uncpeoplice hip poppypnbon. *] hie unbep ^ labebon. poppon pe
he a&p 3&c |>am o^pum cyppe pije na&pbe ; . jEpceji pam paep
ppa mycel man-cpealm on Rome, ty paep nan ucen-cumen man
cuman ne boppce. ~\ manije lanb bmnan paepe bypij paepon
bucan aelcum yppepeapbe ;. pi picon peah ^ ^ ilce ypel opep-
fcobe bucan ^ebloce. ppa pa manegan aep bybon pe hi penbon -p)
hy mib heopa beopolgylbum jeptypeb ha&pbon ; . Bucan cpeon.
t<ip hi pa blocan mihcan. hi polban pecgean ty him heopa jobap
jehulpan ; . 'Re hie paep Eobep jipu. ^ ealle pa lajon pe hie bon
pceolban. 08 hie pylp opepeobe ; . JSpcep pam Famup pe conpul
pop mib pypbe ongean Fepiacup. ^j jeplymeb peapft ; . 8e conpul
gebybe eallum Romanum pa bypmephcepcan baebe. pa he
appeon op Scippmm ]*yx hunb manna Co him hip gepopcena. *]
pa hi him co coman. hec him eallum pa hanba op-aceoppan1 ;.
^Epcep pam pop Pompeiup pe conpul on Numancmap. Ippania
peobe. ~] geplymeb peapS ; • Ymbe peopepcyne jeap paep pe
Uepiacup pi8 Romane ongan. he peapS ppam hip agenum man-
num opplajen. j ppa ope ppa hine Romane mib jepeohce je-
pohcon. he hi pimle geplymbe ; . Daep byban peah Romane lycle
cpeoppa. ^ him pa paepan labe ~] unpyp^e pe heopa hlapopb
beppicon. peah pe hi him leana co ]>aepe Cibe penban ; . Ic pcea]
eac nybe ^apa manejpa gepinna jeppijian. pe on pam eapc-
lanbum jepupban. hip me ]-ceal appeocan pop Romana gepm-
ALFRED'S OBOSITJS. >7 *" 439
Viriathus, with three hundred men, met with a thousand
Romans in a wood, where of Viriathus' people seventy were
slain, and of the Eomans three hundred, and the others were
put to flight. In the flight there was a soldier of Yiriathus
following at too great a distance from the others, until his
horse was slain under him, when all the others [Eomans]
would slay or bind him, a single man. Thereupon he slew a
man's horse with his sword, so that its head flew off, where-
upon the others were in such great fear of him that they
durst not encounter him. After that, the consul, Appius
Claudius, fought against the Grauls, and was put to flight,
and soon after again led an army against them, and had the
victory, and slew six thousand of them. When on his return
home, he begged that the triumph might be brought to meet
him ; but the Eomans positively refused it, and excused it
under the [plea] that he previously, on the other occasion,
had not the victory. After that there was so great a pesti-
lence at Eome that no stranger durst come thither, and many
lands within the city were without any inheritor. They
knew, however, that the same evil would pass away without
sacrifice, as the many others had done, that they imagined
they had repressed by their idolatries. Without doubt, if
they could then have sacrificed, they would have said that
their gods had helped them. But it was God's grace that
they all lay [sick] who should have done it, until it passed
over of itself. After that, Fabius, the consul, marched with
an army against Viriathus, and was put to flight. The con-
sul did a most disgraceful deed for all the Eomans, when he
enticed to him from Scythia six hundred men of his associates,
and when they came to him, commanded the hands of them
all to be cut off. After that the consul Pompeius proceeded
against the JSTumantines, a nation of Spain, and was put to
flight. About fourteen years from the time when Viriathus
began to [make war] against the Eomans, he was slain by
his own men ; and as often as the Eomans had sought him
with battle, he always put them to flight. There, however, the
Eomans showed a little regard to faith, and that those were
hateful to them and unworthy who betrayed their lord,
although they at that time expected rewards. I shall also
from necessity pass in silence the many wars which took
place in the east lands. I shall grow weary of these Eomau
440 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
num ; • On faepe tibe GOitpibatip. Paptha cynmg. ^eeobe Babi-
loniam, 3 ealle ]>a lanb pe becpeox pam cpam can paepon.
pinbupe 3 Ibappe. ]>a paepon aep on Romana anpealbe. j pi&San
he gebpaebbe hip pice eapt 08 Inbea gemaepo. } Demetpiup.
ISpia cynmj. hme tpipa mib pypbe gepohte ; . Me o$pum cyppe
he peapS geplymeb. 8ec o^pum jepanjen ; . pe paef on Romana
anpealbe. pop)?on J>e hi hme ]?8&p gefecton ; . ^Ep cep pant
GOancmuj- fe conful pop on Numancme. Ippama pole. 3 J>aej
paej* pmnenbe. 06 he nam ppift pi^5 ty pole. ~] py^San hme apej
bejta&l ; • Da he ham com. fa heton hme Romane gebmban. 3
jebpmgan bepopan Numantia pa&pcenep jeace ; . Da nafiep ne
hme J>a epc ham laeban ne boppcan. J?e hme fybep laebban. ne
hip J>a onpon nolbon. fehme man to bpohce. ac ppi^e hpeoplice
ppa jebenb he on anpe ptope bepopan ]>am jeace paep pumenbe.
oS he hip lip poplec ; .
On J>am ba^um Bputup pe conpul opploh Ippama polcep Lx.
M. )>a paepan Lupitamam on pulcume. •] pat5e fs&p he pop epc
on LupiCame. ~] hyjia opploh L. M. 3 vi. M. ^epeng ; . On ]?am
bajum pop Lepibup pe conpul on J>a neapan Ippame. 3 ^eplymeb
peapS. •] hip polcep paep opplajen vi. M. 3 J>a J>e faep apej coman.
hi oftplujon mib ]>am msepcan bipmope ; • PpaeSep Romane
hie picon aenijum men co pecjanne. hpaec heopa polcep on
Ippamam on peapa geapon poppupbe. ]>onne hi ppam gepaehjum
Cibum ^ilpaS. fonne paepon ]?a him pylpum fa un^epaehj-
epcan \ •
Dafa Sepump Fuluiup ~] Flaccup Qumcup paepon conpulap1.
peapft on Rome an cilb gebopen ty haepbe peopep pec. -3 peopep
hanba. j peopep eajan. y peopep eapan> On fam jeape
apppanj up 6cna pyp on Sicihum. ^ mape paep lanbep popbaepnbe
J>onne hit aeppe aep bybe ". •
III.
]>am fe Romana buph jetimbpeb paep vi. hunb
pintpum 3 xx. j?afa CDancmup gebybe ]>one ypelan ppy8 on
Numantium. ppa hit Romane pylp paebon. ^ unbep heopa
anpealbe nan bypmoplicpe baeb ne jepupbe. buton on J>am
KING ALFEED'S OEOSIUS. .>> **>' 441
wars. At that time, Mithridates, king of the Parthians,
conquered Babylonia and all the lands that were between the
two rivers, the Indus and the Hydaspes, which had previously
been under the Eoman power : and afterwards he extended
his dominion east as far as the confines of India ; and De-
metrius, the king of Asia, sought him twice with an army.
At one time he was put to flight, at the other captured. He
was under the Roman power, because they had established
him there. After that, Mancinus, the consul, proceeded
against the Numantines, a people of Spain, and was there
warring until he made peace with that people, and afterwards
stole himself away. When he came home, the Romans
ordered him to be bound and brought before the gate of the
fortress of Numantia. Then, neither those who had led him
thither durst lead him back, nor would those receive him to
whom he was brought ; but very cruelly, thus bound, he con-
tinued in one place, before the gate, until he gave up his
life.
In those days, the consul Brutus slew of the Spanish
nation sixty thousand, who had been aiding the Lusitanians ;
and immediately after, he again proceeded against the Lusi-
tanians and slew fifty thousand of them, and captured six
thousand. In those days, the consul Lepidus proceeded to
the hither Spain, and was put to flight, and of his army six
thousand were slain, and those who came away, fled with
the greatest disgrace. Can the Romans reproach any man
for saying how many of their people perished in a few years
in Spain, when they boast of happy times, while those were
to themselves the most unhappy ?
"When Servius Fulvius and Quintus Flaccus were consuls,
a child was born at Rome that had four feet, and four hands,
and four eyes, and four ears. In that year fire sprang up
from Etna, in Sicily, and burned more of that land than it
had ever done before.
III.
After Rome had been built six hundred and twenty years,
when Mancinus made the evil peace in Numantia, as the
Romans themselves said, that, during their dominion, no
more disgraceful deed had taken place, except at the battle
442 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
jepeohce aec Eaubenep Fupculup. pa penbon Romane Scipion
on Numancie mib pypbe ; • pi pynbon on pam nopft-pepc enbfe
Ippania. 3 hi hi pylp aep ]>am mib 1111. M. apepebon peopepcyne
pmcep pi$ Romana xl. M. -3 opcopc pje haepbon > Da bepaec
hi Scipio healp geap on heopa paepcene. "3 hi co pon gebpocobe.
^ him leoppe paep -p hi hi pylpe popnepbe. ponne hi pa ypmpa
lencg ppopebon ; . Da f e 8cipio onjeac ty hi ppylcej* mobej-
pa&pan. pa hec he pirn hif pole peohcan on ^ paepcen. ^ hy mib
pam ^) pole uc-aloccoban ;• Da buphpape Co pon pajene ~] co
j/on bli^e. ^ hi peohcan mopcan. 3 jemanj ]?am jepean hi hi
fylp mib ealafi opepbpenccan. ^j ucypnenbe paepon asc cpam
Beacon ;• On paepe bypij paep aepepc ealo-jepeopc onjunnon.
poppon ]?e hi pin naepbon ; . On pam ppicbome peapS Numancia
bu^ut5 jepeallen. -3 pe bael |>e paep co lape peapS popba&pnbon
ealle pa buph. poppon pe hi ne uSon ty heopa pynb Co heopa
ealban gepcpeonon penjon. •} aepcep pam hi hi pylpe on }>am
pype popppilbon ; .
Da pe Scipio hme hampeapb penbe op pam lanbe. pa com
him co an ealb man pe paep Numencipc. pa ppae^n pe Scipio
hine. on hpy hie jelarij paepe f Numancie ppa paSe ahnepco-
bon. ppa heapbe ppa hi lanje paepan. pa paebe he him. ^ hi
paepan heapbe pa hpile pe hi heopa anpaebneppe jeheolban him
becpeonan. 3 anpealbnyppe. ^ pona ppa hi him becpeonum unje-
paebneppe up-ahopon. ppa poppupbon hi ealle • . Da peapS pam
Scipion ^ anbpypbe ppi^e anbpypne. ~\ eallum Romanum picum.
fop pam anbpypbe 3 pop pam popbum hi pupbon ppi^e mib
jeejepobe. pa he ham com. poppon pe hi pa haepbon unjepaeb-
nyppe him becpeonum • .
On paape Cibe Epeaccup paep hacen an papa conpula. 3 he
pmnan onjann piS ealle pa o$pe. o'S hi hine opplojon. -3 eac on
paepe Cibe on Sicilium pa peopap punnan piS pa hlapopbap. 3
unease opeppunnene pupbon. -3 vn. M. opplajen aep man hi
jebijan mihce. 3 aec paepe anpe bypi^ GOmcupnan heopa man
ahenj pipce healp hunbpeb ;.
KING ALFEED'S OBOSITJS,. "^ , 3 443
of Caudinae Furculae ; the Romans sent Scipio against the
Numantines with an army. They are in the north-west end
of Spain, and had previously defended themselves with four
thousand [men], for fourteen years, against forty thousand
Romans, and oftenest had victory. Scipio then besieged
them a half year in their fastness, and reduced them to such
straits, that they preferred devoting themselves, to longer
enduring those miseries. When Scipio was aware that they
were of such a mind, he commanded some of his army to
fight against the fastness, that they thereby might entice the
people out. The inhabitants [were] much rejoiced and much
elated at being enabled to fight, and amid their joy over-
drenched themselves with ale, and ran out at two gates.
In that city ale- works were first begun, because they had no
wine. By that device the flower of Numantia fell, and the
part that was left burned the entire city, because they
would not allow their enemies to succeed to their ancient
treasures ; and after that they destroyed themselves in the
fire.
When Scipio was returning homeward from that land,
there came to him an old man, who was a Numantine.
Then Scipio asked him, what the cause was that the Nu-
mantines had so rapidly become so enervated, so bold as they
had long been. He thereupon said to him, that they were
bold as long as they preserved unanimity and simplicity
among themselves ; but as soon as they raised up discord
among themselves, they all perished. To Scipio that answer
appeared of serious import, and to all the Eoman senators ;
by that answer, and by those words, they were greatly terri-
fied when he came home; because they then had discord
among themselves.
At that time one of their consuls was named Gracchus,
and he began to war against all the others, until they slew
him. And also at that time in Sicily the slaves made war on
their lords, and were with difficulty overcome, and seven
thousand slain before they could be reduced. And at the
single town of Minturnge four hundred and fifty were cru-
cified.
444 KING ALFRED'S OBOSIVS.
IV.
fam f e Romebuph getimbpeb paep vi. hunb pintpura
•3 xxi. Lucmiup Epappup pe conpul. he paep eac Romana ylbepta
bipceop. he gepop mib pypbe ongean Xpiptomcupe J>am cy-
nmcje. pe polbe him geagman fa laeppan Spiam. f eh f e hi aeji
Httaliup. hip ajen bpoSop. haepbe Romanum to boclanbe
jepealb ; . Epappupe paepon manige cymngaf op manegum
lanbum Co pulcume cumen. an1 paep Nicomebia. tpegen op
Bichmia. ^Spy op Ponto. mi. op Spmenia. v. op Sp^eaca. vi. op
Eappabocia. vn. op Filimme. vm. op Paplagoma. •] J?eah-hpa&])epe
pa^e faep )>e hi cojaebepe coman. pe consul peapS aplymeb.
}>eah fe he mycelne pulcum haepbe ; . Da ^ Peppena jehypbe.
pe o^5ep conpul. he ]?a hpaeblice pypbe jejabepabe. 3 on \ one
cynmcg unpaepne becom. fa hip pypb eall topapen paep . "j hme
bebpap into anum paeptene. 3 hme bepaet o^ hme ealle |>a
buph-leobe ajeapan fam conpule. 3 he hme het pyfiSan to
Rome bpmjan. "j on capcepne bepcupan. 3 he ]>aep laej oS he
hip lip poplet * . On faepe tibe Sntiochupe. Sppipia cynin^e.
jefuhte ^ he pice jenoh naepbe. -3 pilnobe ^ he Papthe bejeate.
•3 fybep pop mib manejum Supenbum. y hme faep Papthe
yftehce opeppunnan. ^ fone cynmj opplogon. ~] him -p pice
jeahnebon. popfon Sntiochup ne jymbe hpaet he haepbe manna
jepimep. ~) ne nam nane pape hpylce hi paepan. popfon heopa
paep ma popcufcpa fonne aeltaeppa;. On J>aepe tibe Scipio. pe
betpta -3 pe pelepta Romana pitena 3 fe^ena. maenbe hip
eappeSa to Romana pitum. faep hi aet heopa Demote paepon.
pop hpy hi hme ppa unpypftne on hip ylbe byban. •} ahpobe hi.
pop hpi hi nolbon jeSencean ealle fa bpocu "3 fa jeppmc f e he
pop heopa pillan. -3 eac pop neob-f eappe. pela pmtpa bpeojenbe
paep unapimeblice opt pi^um. 3 hu he hi abybe op panmbalep
feopbome. "3 op manigpe o^Spe ^eobe. "3 hu he him to f eopbome
^epylbe ealle Ippanie. 3 ealle Spppice. 3 fa on faepe ilcan niht.
f e he on baej f ap popb pppaec. Romane him jeftancebon eallep
hip jeppmcep mib pyppan leane fonne he to him geeapnob
hipbe. fa hi hme on hip bebbe apmopeban -3 aSpypemoban. f
ALFRED'S OBOSIFS. "J , l+~ 446
IV.
After Borne had been built six hundred and twenty-one
years, the consul, Licinius Crassus, who was also the chief
priest of the Romans, proceeded with an army against Aris-
tonicus, the king, who would appropriate to himself the
Lesser Asia, although Attains, his own brother, had pre-
viously given it to the Eomans by his will. To the aid of
Crassus there came many kings from many lands : one was
from Nicomedia, two from Bithynia, three from Pontus, four
from Armenia, five from Argeata, six from Cappadocia, seven
from Pylemene, eight from Paphlagonia ; and yet, soon after
they came together, the consul was put to flight, although
he had a great force. When Perperna, the other consul,
heard that, he hastily gathered an army, and came on the
king unawares, when his army was all dispersed, and drove
him into a fortress, and besieged him until all the inhabitants
delivered him to the consul, and he afterwards ordered him
to be brought to Rome and cast into prison, and he there
lay until he gave up his life. At that time it appeared to
Antiochus, king of Assyria, that he had not realm enough,
and was desirous of acquiring Parthia, and proceeded thither
with many thousands, and there the Parthians easily over-
came him, and slew the king, and appropriated to themselves
the kingdom ; because Antiochus recked not what number
of men he had, and took no heed of what sort they were, there
were therefore more dissolute than decent among them. At
that time, Scipio, the best and the most excellent of Roman
senators and officers, bewailed his hardships to the Roman
senators, when they were at their meeting, [demanding]
why they treated him so unworthily in his age ; and asked
them, why they would not remember all the miseries and
the toils that he had undergone for their sake, and also from
necessity, for many years and at countless times, and how he
had saved them from Annibal's thraldom, and of many
another nation ; and how he had reduced to their servitude
all Spain and all Africa. And then, on that same night, after
the day on which he had spoken, the Romans thanked him
for all'his toil with a worse reward than he had earned from
them, when they smothered and suffocated him in his bed,
446 KING ALFBED'S OROSIUS.
he hip lip alec;. Gala Romane hpa msej eop nu cpupian. fa
ge ppylc lean bybon eoppum f am gecpypepcan pican ; . Daf a
€milmp aepepcep1 paep consul. Gcna pyp apleop up ppa bpab 3 ppa
mycel ^ jreapa fapa manna mihce beon eapbpaepce. Seon Lipajie
pape in fam iglanbe. ]>e f aep mhc paef. pop psepe haece. -j pop
pam fcence ;. Ee ealle fa clipu fe neah J>aepe fae paepon. j:op-
bupnen Co ahfan. ^ ealle pa fcipu popmulcan. J>e J?eah ]?am pae
papenbe paepon;. Ee ealle ]>a pixaf. J?e on J?am fa& paepon.
acpaelan pop f>aepe haecan ; .
Dafa GOapcup Flaccup paep conpul. coman gaeppcapan on
Spppice. -} aelc uhc poppcpupon J>aep J>e on J?am lanbe paep
peaxenbep y jpopenbep ; . JEpcep pam J>e hi abpuncene
paepan. hi peapp peo pae up. y pi&San maepc call poppeapS ty on
]>am lanbe psep. ge manna, ge nycena. je pilbeop. pop J>am
pcence;.
V.
)>am ]>e Romana bupuh jetimbpeb psep vi. hunb
pincpum •] xxim. fafa Luciup GDella ^ Qumcup Flammmp2
paepon conpulap. fa gepeapft J>am fa penacup. -p man epc pceolbe
timbpian Eapcama;. Sc faepe ilcan mhc fe man on baej
haepbe fa bupuh mib pcacum jemepcob. ppa ppa hi hi fa
pupcean polban. fa cujon pulpap fa pcacan up. fa poplecon hi
j? peopc popfam. y lan^ gemoc haspbon. hpaefep hie cacnobe
f e pibbe f e unpibbe. j hi hy ppa-f eah epc jecimbpeban ; .
On f aepe Cibe ODecellup pe conpul pop on Baleapip -p lanb. •]
opeppann fa picingap fe on ^ lanb hepgoban. feah fe faepa
lanbleoba pela poppupbe '.•
VI.
JEpcep fam fe Romana buph gecimbpeb paep vi. hunb pin-
cpum -3 xxvii. Fauiup pe conpul gemecce BecuiCupan. Ealha
eynmj. 3 hme mib lyclum pulcume opepcom '.•
KING ALFRED'S OROsmsr /«f* 447
so that he lost his life. Alas, Eomans ! who can now trust
you, when you so rewarded your most faithful senator?
When .ZEmilius and Orestes were consuls, the fire of Etna
fiowed up so broad and so much, that few of the inhabitants
of the island of Lipari could remain in their dwellings, who
were there that night, on account of the heat and of the
stench. Tea, all the cliffs, that were near the sea, were burnt
to ashes, and all the ships were consumed, although they
were sailing on the sea. Tea, all the fishes, that were in the
sea, perished from the heat.
When Marcus Flaccus was consul, locusts came into
Africa, and every morning cropped off whatever was waxing
and growing on the land. After they were drowned, the sea
cast them up, and afterwards almost everything perished
that was on the land, both men and cattle, and also the wild
animals, by reason of the stench.
V.
After the city of Eome had been built six hundred and
twenty-four years, when Lucius Metellus and Quintus
Flamininus were consuls, the senate decreed, that Carthage
should be rebuilt. But on the same night of the day on
which they had marked the city out with stakes, so as they
wished to construct it, the wolves pulled up the stakes;
then, because of that, they abandoned the work, and had a
long consultation, whether it betokened peace or war ; but,
nevertheless, they rebuilt it.
At that time, Metellus the consul proceeded to the Balearic
islands, and overcame the pirates who plundered in those
islands, although many of the inhabitants perished.
VI.
After the city of Eome had been built six hundred and
twenty-seven years, the consul Fabius met Bituitus, king of
Gaul, and, with a small force, overcame him.
448 KING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS.
VII.
JEpcep J>am J?e Romana buph gecimbpeb paep vi. hunb pm«
cpum 3 xxxv. ]?a)>a Scipio Napica anb Lucmp Ealpupmup paepan
conpulap. Romane punnon pi3 Eeopeopftan. NumeSa cyninj;-
8e ilca EeopeopSa paep GOecippupep maeg. Numefa cymngep. ~)
he hine on hij- geogoSe unbeppenj. •] hme peban hec. j laepan
mib hip tpam pmum. j J>a pe cyninj jepop. he bebeab hif
cpam pinum -^ hi faef picef 'Spibban bsel IjeopeopSan feal-
bon ; . Sc p^San j-e Sjubba bael on hif gepealbe paef. he
befpac bejen J?a pinu. oSepne he opfloh. oSepne he abpaefbe.
•] he pSSan je^ohte Romane him co jrpiSe. ~] hi j-enbon Eal-
pipnan Sone conpil mib him mib jypbe ; . 'Re Eeopeoppa je-
ceapobe mib hip peo aac }>am conpile. ^ he faep gepinnep lycel
Suphceah .'• ^Ejrcep |>am Eeopeop^a com co Rome. 3 bijellice
geceapobe co Sam penacum. to anum "j co anum. -^ hi ealle
paepon ymbe hine cpypypbije ; • Da he hine hampeapb op
paepe bypi^ penbe. }>a Ca&lbe he Romane. •] hi ppiSe bij-mopobe
mib hip popbum. ^j pa&be -^ man nane buph ne mihce y?5 mib
peo geceapian. jip hype aemg man ceapobe ; . Deep on )>am
aepcepan jeape Romane penbon Snihup Popcumiup ]>one con-
pil. mib Lx. M. ongean ZieopeoSan ; . peopa gemiccmcg paep
aec Ealama paepe bypig. ~] ]?aep psepan Romane opeppunnen. ~y
pi^San lycle hpile hi genamon ppiS him becpeonum. -j pit5San
maepc ealle Spppice gecypbon co IjeopeopSan ; . ./Epcep ])am
Romane penbon epc GOecellup mib pypbe on jean IjeopeopSan.
~] he pi^e haepbe aec cpam cyppum. -j aec Spibban cyppe he
bebpap IjeopeopSan on Numeftian. hip ajen lanb. j hine
jenybbe ty he pealbe Romamim Speo hunb jipla. ^j he J>eah
piSSan na ]?e Isep ne hepjobe on Romane;. Da penbon hi
epc OOapmp fone conpul onjean HieopeopSan. a ppa lycijne. ~] a
ppa bpebenbne ppa he paep. ~\ pop co anpe bypij jehcop: ]>am J>e
he hi abpecan J»ohce ; . Sc pona ppa EeopeopSa haepbe hif
pulcum co ]?aepe bypij jelaeb ongean GOapiup. ]>a poplec he
OOapiup ty paepcen. *] pop co oftpum ]>aep he ^eahpobe •]? Eeo-
peopSan golb-hopb paep. -j jenybbe fa buph-leobe f hi nim
eoban on hanb. j him ajeapon call -^ licgenbe peoh. -^ )>aep
binnan paep ; . Da ne jecpypobe EeopeojiSa hip ajenum polcc
KING ALFBED'S
YII.
After the city of Rome had been built six hundred and
thirty-five years, when Scipio Nasica and Lucius Calpurnius
were consuls, the Romans warred against Jugurtha, king of
Numidia. The same Jugurtha was the son of Micipsa, king of
Numidia, and he adopted him in his youth, and ordered him
to be fed and taught with his two sons : and when the king
died, he commanded his two sons to give a third part of his
realm to Jugurtha. But when the third part was in his
power, he deceived both the sons, one he slew, the other he
drove away, and he afterwards applied to the Romans for
protection ; and they sent the consul Calpurnius with him
with an army. But Jugurtha with his money bribed the
consul, so that he performed but little of warfare. After
that, Jugurtha came to Rome, and secretly bribed the
senators, one by one, so that they were all vacillating about
him. When he returned homewards from the city, he re-
proached the Romans, and insulted them with his words, and
said, that no city could be bought more easily with money, if
any one were inclined to buy it. In the following year, the
Romans sent Aulus Postumius, the consul, with sixty thousand
[men] against Jugurtha. Their meeting was at the city of
Calama, and there the Romans were overcome, and a little
while after, they made peace between them ; and afterwards,
almost all Africa turned to Jugurtha. After that, the Ro-
mans again sent Metellus with an army against Jugurtha,
and he had victory on two occasions, and, on the third occa-
sion, he drove Jugurtha into Numidia, his own land, and
compelled him to give the Romans three hundred hostages ;
and he yet afterwards made depredations on the Romans.
They then after that sent the consul Marius against Ju-
gurtha, [one] ever as crafty and cunning as he was ; and
[he] proceeded to a city exactly as if he intended to besiege
it. But as soon as Jugurtha had led his force to that city
against Marius, he, Marius, then abandoned that fortress,
and marched to another, where he had learned that Jugurtha's
treasure was, and compelled the inhabitants to surrender to
him ; and they gave up to him all the treasure that was
therein. Jugurtha then did not trust his own people after
2 a
450 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
opep J>aec. ac jepopcube him pi5 Bohan. GOaupicania cynmcge.
3 he him com co mib miclum man-pulcume. 3 opcpaebhce on
Romane pcalobe. o$ hi gecpaeban polc-gepeohc him becpeo-
num ; . To pam gepeohce haepbe Boho Iieopeopt>an gebpohc
Co pulcume Lx. M. gehoppebpa bucon peSan ;. ODib Romanum
naep aep ne piSSan ppa heapb jepeohc ppa J>aep paep. popfon J>e
hi pupbon on aelce healpe ucan bepangen. 3 heopa eac maepc
poppon poppeapS. ]?e heopa mitinc pa&p on panbmtpe bune. f
hi pop bupte ne mihtan jepeon hu hi hi behealban pceolban.
to-eacon Jmm hi bepobe se^Sep ge Suppc je haete. ~] ealne
J>one b33j pa&pon ^ jmpienbe oS mhc;. Da on mepgen hi
paepon ^ ilce bonbe. ^ epc psepon on aelce healpe ucan bepang-
en. ppa hi aep paepon. "j ]>a hi ppi^opc cpeobe hpae^ep hi apej
coman. J>a jecpaeban hi ty hi pume hi beaepcan paepebon. ^
pume Supuh ealle ]?a Cpuman ucan apuhcan. gip hi mihcon ; .
Da hi ppa gebon haepbon. J>a com an pen •] ppiSe. ty GOaupicame
paepon mib ]>am jepepjobe. pop])on J>e heopa pcylbap paepon
becogene mib ylpenban hybum. ^ hi heopa peapa pop J»am
paecan ahebban mihce. 3 pop J>am jeplymebe pupbon. popj>on
pe elpenbep hyb pyle bpincan paecan gehce an ppmje be& ; .
Daep peap^ GOaupicama oppla(Ten xl. M. "3 i. hunb manna |-
JEpcep ]>am Boho ^enam pjuS pi8 Romanum. -j him Eeo-
peopSan jebunbenne ageap. j hine man b\ be piSSan on capcepn.
3 hip cpejen puna. 06 hi faep ealle acpaelon ; .
VIII.
|?am ]>e Romane buph gecimbpeb pa&p vi. hunb pm-
cpum 3 xln. pa]?a GOalliup 3 Quincmup1 paepon conpulap. Ro-
mane jepuhcon pit5 Eimbpop. -] pi$ Teuconap. -3 pitS Smbponop.
}>ap )?eoba paejion on Ijallium. ~j ]?aep ealle oppla^ene pupbon.
bucon x. mannum. ^ paep xl. M. •] J'aep paep Romana oppla^en
hunb-eahcacig M. ^ heopa conpul 3 hip Cpejen puna;, ^pceji
]>am pa ylcan peoba bepaecan GDapmp Sone conpul on anum
paepcene. 3 hie lang pippc paep aep he uc papan polbe co gepeohce.
aep him man paebe. f) hi polban papan on Icaliam. Romana
lanbl* Kc pt5t5on he him pop Co uc op pam paepcene. )>a hi hi
ALFRED' s onosius. Y ^J • 451
that, but associated himself with Bocchus, king of Mauri-
tania, and he came to him with a large aid of men, and fre-
quently stole on the Eomans, until a general battle was re-
solved on between them. For that battle Bocchus had
brought to the aid of Jugurtha sixty thousand horse besides
foot. With the Eomans there was not, neither before nor
since, so hard a fight as there was, because they were sur-
rounded on every side, and also the most of them perished,
because their meeting was on a sandy down, so that for dust
they could not see how they should* defend themselves; be-
sides which they were annoyed both by thirst and heat, and
all that day they were enduring that until night. In the
morning they were doing the same, and were again sur-
rounded on every side, as they had been before : and when
they were most doubting whether they could escape, they
resolved that some should protect their rear, and some, if
they might, fight [their way] out through all the cohorts.
When they had so done, there came a rain, and so violently,
that the Mauritanians were wearied by it, because their
shields were covered with the hides of elephants, so that few
of them could raise them, in consequence of the wet, and
were, therefore, put to flight ; because an elephant's hide
will drink water as a sponge does. Of the Mauritanian
there were slain forty thousand one hundred men. After
that, Bocchus made peace with the Eomans, and delivered
Jugurtha to them bound, and he was afterwards cast into
prison and his two sons, until they there all perished.
VIII.
After Eome had been built six hundred and forty-two
years, when Manlius and Quintus were consuls, the Eomans
fought against the Cimbri, and against the Teuton es, and
against the Ambrones (these nations were in Gaul), and
all were there slain, except ten men, that was forty thousand1 ;
and of the Eomans were there slain eighty thousand, and
their consul and his two sons. After that, these same nations
besieged the consul Marius in a fortress, and it was a long
time before he would go out to battle, until it was told him
that they would go into Italy, the land of the Eomans. But
452 KING ALFEED'S OBOSIUS.
on anjie btme gemetton. J>a maenbe J>aep conpulep pole to him
heojia ]>uppt ]>e him jetenge paep. fa anbpypbe he him. *] cpaeS.
6afte pe majon gepeon. on oftpe healpe uppa peonba. hpa&p pe
bpinca hip jelang. )>e up nyhpt ip. ac popj>am J>e hi up neap
pynb. pe hi ne magon buton jepeohte to-cuman1 ;. Daeji
haepbon Romana pge. ^ ]>aep paef Erallia^pfla^en tpa hunb
fuj-enba •] heopa labceop. 3 hunb-eahcacig M. gepangen;.
IX.
]?am ]?e Romana buph jenmbpeb paej- vi. hunb pm-
cpum ~] xlv. on J>am piptan jeape )>e GQapmp paep conpul. "j eac
}>a mib Romana pa&p pb op oSpum polcum. ^a onjunnon Ro-
mane ]?a maepcan pace him becpeonum up-apaepan. feah ic hie
nu pceoptlice pec^an pcyle. cpae<5 Opopiup. hpa paep opbppuman
paepon. ^ paep a&pepc GOapmp pe conpul. "3 Luciup. ~] Spulemp. j
Sacupmnup. ^ hi abpaepbon OQecellup t5one conpul on etyeobe.
pe pasp conpul aep GOapiup ) • pic paep fa ppyfte opSmcenbe fam
oSpum conpulum. Pompeiupe "j Eacon. ]?eah J>e hi mib Jjaepe
pfiace Jmm abpaepbon on nanum pcaele beon ne mihcan. hi)>eah
jjuphcujon f hi opplogon Luciup j Sacupmnup. *] epc paepan
bibbenbe •}? GOecellup to Rome mopte. ac him J>a-jyt GOapiup ^j
Fupiup poppypnban. ^ him ]>a pifrSan pe peonbpcipe paep be-
tpeonum pexanbe. J>eah ]>e hit hi openlice cy^an ne bopptan.
pop paepa penatum ege \ •
X.
fam ]?e Romana buph getimbpeb paep vi. hunb pm-
cpum •j Lxi. on )>am vi. jeape J?e luliup pe Eapepe paep conpul.
•j Luciup GOaptiup. peapS opep ealle Italia unjepephc unpib. -3
openlice cuft betuh luhupe 3 Pompeiupe. J>eah hi hit aep ppife
him betpeonum bypnbon > Snb eac on $am jeape jepupbon
manije punbop on manegum lanbum ; • !Sn paep f man gepeah
ppylce an pypen hpmcj nopftan cumen. mib mycclum ppeje;-
OSep peapS on Tapentam faepe bypij. set anpe peopme. fonne
KING ALT-BED'S OEOSIUS. "i vtf ,#; lo 453
after he went towards them out of the fortress, he met them
on a down, when the consul's men complained to him of their
thirst, which was oppressive to them; whereupon he an-
swered them and said : " We can easily see, on the other
side of our enemies, where the drink is to be had that is
nearest to us ; but because they are nearer to us, we cannot
come to it without fighting." The Eomans there had victory,
and of the G-auls there were slain two hundred thousand and
their leader, and eighty thousand taken.
IX.
After the city of Eome had been built six hundred and
forty-five years, in the fifth year that Marius was consul, and
also when there was peace with the Romans from other
nations, then the Eomans began to raise the greatest strife
among themselves ; though I shall [but] shortly now say,
says Orosius, who its authors were. That was, in the first
place, the consul Marius, and Lucius, and Apuleius, and
Saturninus, because these drove the consul Metellus into
exile, who was consul before Marius. The other consuls
then, Pompey and Cato taking this extremely ill, although
they could stand the exile, with regard to his banishment, in
no stead, nevertheless, succeeded in slaying Lucius and Satur-
ninus, and afterward requested that Metellus might [return]
to Eome ; but Marius and Furius still forbade it ; and the
enmity between them was afterwards increased; although
they durst not openly manifest it for fear of the senate.
X.
After the city of Eome had been built six hundred and
sixty-one years, in the sixth year that Julius Caesar was
consul, and Lucius Martius, there was over all Italy unna-
tural and open hostility between Julius and Pompey; al-
though they had previously completely concealed it between
themselves. And also in that year many wonders happened
in many lands. One was, that people saw as if a fiery ring
came from the north, with a great sound. The second was
in the city of Aretium, at a feast, when the loaves were
454 KING ALFBED'S OHOSIFS.
manpahlapap ppat to picgenne. ponne apn paep blob ut'>
Daec Spibbe paep ^ hit hagolabe baejep 3 mhtep opep ealle Ro-
mane. j on Somma pam lanbe peo eopfte tobaepipt. 3 panon up
paep bypnenbe pyp pi$ paep heoponep. •j man gepeah ppylce hie
paepe an gylben hpincj on heopnum bpabbpe )>onne pinne. ^
pa&f ppam J>am heopne bpabienbe ni^ep oS J>a eopt5an. -3 paej-
epc papenbe pitS J?aef heojronej- ; • On paepe Cibe Picenbe ^ pole.
3 Uej-tme. -3 GOapp. j Peligm. -3 OOappucmi. 3 Sommce. -3
Lucam. hi ealle gepeapS him becpeonum. ]) hi polban Romanum
jefpican. -3 opplogon Eaiuf Sepuiliuj*. Romana ealbopman. pe
pa&p mib sepenbum to him apenbeb ; • On pam ba^um apebban
J>a nycena j j?a hunbap J>e paepan on Somnitnim | • ^Epcep
pam jepeahce Pompeiup pe conpul pi$ Jja pole. -3 jeplymebpeapj).
3 luhup pe eapejie jepeahc piS GOappe pam polce. •] geplymeb
peapS. •j pa^5e J>aep luhup jepeahc pi^ Sommtum ^ piS Lucanum.
^ hi geplymbe ; • ^Epcep J>am hine man hec Eapepe * • Da
baeb he ^ man jione cpmmphan him ongean bpohte. )>a penbe
him man ane blace hacelan on^ean him. on bypmop pop Cpi-
umphan. 3 epc hi him penbon ane tnnecan. ]>a J?e hi to-
jeheton. -^ he eallep buton apm^e to Rome ne com ; • ^Eptep
)>am 8illa pe conpul. Pompeiupep jepepa. gepeaht piS Bpepmum
pam polce. j hi geplymbe \ • ^Eptep |>am gepeaht Pompemp
pi^5 Picentep J>am polce. 3 hi geplymbe ; • Da bpohtan Romana
pone tpmmphan onjean Pompeiup mib micelpe pyp'Spulnyppe.
pop ]>am lytlan pije pe he pa ha&pbe. ^ nolbon luliupe nanne
peopftpcipe bon. peah he mapan bsebe jebon haepbe. buton ane
tunican. 3 heopa gepmn mib pam ppiSe ^epettan)- JEptep
pam luhup 3 Pompeiup abpaecon Spculum pa buph on GDs&ppum.
3 paep opplogon ehtatyne M. ; • ^Eptep pam jepeaht Silla pe con-
pal piS Sommtum. 3 heopa opploh xvm. M. | •
XI.
pam pe Romana buph getimbpeb paep vi. hunb pin-
tpum 3 Lxn. Roirane penbon 8illan pone conpul ontean OOe*
KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.^,^" 455
scored for eating, there ran blood out. The third was, that
it hailed day and night over all the Eoman [territory], and
in the Samnites' land the earth burst asunder, and thence
fire burnt up to the heavens, and there was seen as it were a
golden ring in the heavens, broader than the sun, and ex-
tending itself from the heavens down to the earth, and after-
wards returned towards the heavens. At that time, the
nation of the Picentes, and the Vestini, and the Marsi, and
the Peligni, and the Marrucini, and the Samnites, and the
Lucani, all agreed together that they would revolt from the
Eomans, and slew Caius Servilius, the Eoman praetor, who
had been sent to them with messages. In those days, the
cattle became mad, and the dogs that were with the Sam-
nites. After that, the consul Pompey fought against those
nations and was put to flight ; and Julius Ca3sar fought
against the nation of the Marsi, and was put to flight ; and
shortly after Julius fought against the Samnites and against
the Lucani and put them to flight. After that they named
him Ccesar. He then demanded that the triumph should
be brought to meet him, when they sent him a black
mantle, as an insult, instead of a triumph ; and afterwards
they sent him a toga, which they had promised, so that he
did not come to Eome altogether without honour. After
that, Sylla, the consul, the companion of Pompey, fought
against the people of JEsernia, and put them to flight. After
that, Pompey fought against the nation of the Picentes, and
put them to flight. The Eomans then brought the triumph to
meet Pompey, with great honour, for that little victory that
he had had, and would not do any honour to Julius, although
he had done a greater deed, except a toga, and therewith
freatly confirmed their [mutual] hostility. After that,
ulius and Pompey took the town of Asculum from the
Marsi, and there slew eighteen thousand. After that, the
consul Sylla fought against the Samnites, and slew eighteen
thousand of them.
XL
After the city of Eome had been built six hundred and
sixty-two years, the Eomans sent the consul Sylla against
456 KltfG ALFRED'S OR081US.
tpibacip Papcha cynmc^e *• Da opfuhce f QQapmpe fam con-
yule. luliupep eame. •}) man ty jepinn him becaecean nolbe. 3
baeb ^ man him pealbe fone peopofcan conpulacum. •j eac f
jepinn. popf on hit paep feap mib heom ty man ymbe xn. monaS
bybe alcep conpulep peel anum pyle hyppe f onne hie aep paep ', •
Da Silla geahpobe on hpylc jepab GDapiuf com Co Rome, he J>a
hpaeblice mib eallpe hif pyjibe piS Romepeapb papenbe pa&p. -j
OOapiuj' bebpap inco Romebyjn^ mib eallum hip polce. 3 nine
piS^on ]?a buph-leobe jepenjon •] jebunbon. y hme piftfton ]?ohcon
Sillan ajipan | • Sc he pleah faepe ilcan nihce op ]?am benbum
J?e hme man on baej jebenbe. "j pi^Son pleah puS opep pae on
Spppicam. ]>aep hip pulcum maepc paep. 3 pa^e epc ps&p cyppenbe
piS Romepeapb '. • pirn paepon tpegen conpulap on pulcume.
Einna ~) Septopmp. fa paepon pimble aelcep ypelej' opbppuman '. •
^j pa^e fsep ]>e fa penatup jehypbon. ^ GOapiup co Rome
nealaehte. hi ealle ucplujon on Epeaca lanb aeptep Sillan ~]
aepcep Pompeiupe. fybep hi fa mib pypbe gepapene paepon *. •
Da paep Silla mib mycelpe geopnpulneppe papenbe op Epecum
pit5 Romepeapb. } piS GDapiup heapblice jepeohc Supuhteah. •j
hme jeplymbe. *] ealle opploh binnon Romebypij f e OOapiupe
on pulcume paepon ; • Rafte f aep ealle fa conpulap paepon beabe
bucon cpam. GDapiup 3 8illa jepopan him pylp. •] Emna paep
opplajen on 8mypna. Spia bypij. ^ Septopiup paep opplajen on
Ippania ; •
Da unbeppenj Pompemp Papcha jepinn. popf on GOeCpibacep
heopa cynmj ceah him Co fa laeppan Spiam ^ eall Epeaca lanb.
ac hme Pompemp op eallum f am lanbe aplymbe. ^ hme bebpap
on Spmenie. j him aepcep pyhjenbe paep oS hme oSpe men
opplojon. "j genybbe !Spchelaup fone labceop. ^ he paep hip un-
bepf eop ; • pic ip nu ungelypebhc Co pecjenne. cpaeS Opopmp.
hpaec on fam jepmne poppeapS. ^ hi paepon bpeojenbe xl. pin-
cpa aep hie jeenbob beon mihce. aej^ep ^e on f eobe pophep-
jun^e. je on cynmga plihcum. je on hungpei-
Da Pompemp hampeapb paep. fa nolban fa lanb ^ paepcen
alypan a&c piepupalem. him paepon on pulcume xxn. cyninja:-
Da hec Pompemp f man $ paepcen bpaece. 3 onpuhce bat^ep. ^
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.^? , '' 457
Mithridates, king of the Parthians. Then Marius the
consul, the uncle of Julius, took it ill that they would not
commit that war to him, and demanded that a seventh con-
sulate should be given to him, and also that war ; because it
was a custom with them, that after a twelvemonth they
raised the seat of every consul higher by a cushion than it
was before. When Sylla was informed with what design
Marius had come to Eome, he instantly marched towards
".Rome with all his army, and drove Marius into the city of
Eome with all his people ; and the citizens afterwards seized
and bound him, and afterwards resolved on delivering him to
Sylla. But he fled in that same night from the bonds with
which they had bound him in the day ; and afterwards fled
south over the sea to Africa, where his greatest support was ;
and quickly again turned towards Eome. Two of the consuls
were his supporters, Cinna and Sertorius, who were ever
authors of every evil. And immediately after the senate
heard that Marius was approaching Eome, they all fled out
to the land of Greece, after Sylla and after Pompey, whither
they had then proceeded with an army. Thereupon Sylla
with great diligence proceeded from Greece towards Eome,
and fought obstinate battles against Marius, and put him
to flight, and slew within the city of Eome all who had been
in aid of Marius. Immediately after, all the consuls died
save two. Marius and Sylla died voluntarily, and Cinna was
slain at Smyrna, a city of Asia ; and Sertorius was slain in
Spain.
Pompey then undertook the Parthian war, because Mithri-
dates, their king, had taken to himself the Lesser Asia, and
all the land of the Greeks ; but Pompey made him flee from
all that land, and drove him into Armenia, and pursued him,
until other men slew him ; and he compelled Archelaus, the
general, to be his underling. It is now incredible to say,
says Orosius, how many perished in that war, which they
endured for forty years, before it could be ended, as well
through the devastation of nations, the slaughters of kings,
and hunger.
When Pompey was [on his way] homewards, those nations
would not deliver up the fortress at Jerusalem. They were
supported by twenty-two kings. Then Pompey commanded
the fortress to be taken, and fought against it by day, and
458 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
nihtep pimble onlseg aeptep o$pe unpepige. -3 -f> pole mib ,7am
aftpytan. ^ hi him on hanb eoban ymbe Spy monSap paep pe hi
man aep began;. Daep paep lubea opplajen xm. M. 3 man
copeapp }>one peall nySep o$ pone jpunb. 3 man laebbe Spipto-
bulup co Rome gebunbenne. pe psep aejSep ge heopa cynmj ge
heopa bipceop *.
XII.
JEptep pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paep vi. hunb pmcpum
^ Lxvn. Romane gepealbon Eaiupe lulmp peopon lejion to )>on ^
he pceolbe pip pmtep pinnan on Callie •.
^Eptep J>am J?e he hi opeppunnen haepbe. he pop on Bpyt-
conie ty iglanb. -3 pitS J?a Bpytcap jepeahc. ~] jeplymeb peajiS on
}?am lanbe ]je man hsec Eentlanb ; • RaSe fsep he gepeahc pi^S
J?a Bpyccap epc on IZrentlanbe. j hi pupbon aplymebe. peopa
tSpibbe gepeohc ps&p neah ]?8&pe ea )?e man haec Temepe. neah
]>am popba Ipe man haec pehngapopb 1 • JEpcep ]>am jepeohce
him eobe on hanb pe cyninj ~] ]>a buphpape. J>e pa&pon on Eypn-
ceapcpe. 3 pi^Son ealle ]?e on ^am iglanbe paspon ; -
JEpcep )>am lulmp pop co Rome. 3 b*b fy him man bpohce
J>one cpmmphan ongean. J>a bebubon hi him. ^ he come mib
peapum mannum to Rome. •} ealne hip pultum beaaptan him
lete;. "Re ]>a he hampeapb pop. him coman onjean J>a Spy
ealbopmenn pe him on pulcume psepon. "3 him pa&bon ty hi pop
hip Sinjum abpaepbe paepon. -3 eac f ealle pa legian. pe paepon
on Romane anpealbe. pa&pon Pompeiupe on pultume gepealb. •p
he pe paeptlicpe jepinn mihte habban pi$ hme ; . Da penbe epc
lulmp co hip ajenum polce. -3 pepenbe ma&nbe pa unape pe man
him but on gepyphcon bybe. "3 ppiSopt papa manna pe pop hip
ftingum poppupbon. "3 he him appeon to pippan pa peopon legian
pe paepon on Sulmone pam lanbe;.
Da Pompemp 3 Eato ^j ealle pa penatup •}> jehypbon.
pa popan hi on Epeacap. "3 micelne pultum gejabepoban
on Thpaci Saape bune;. Da pop lulmp to Rome. -3
tobpaec heopa mabm-hup. -3 call gebaelbe ty paepinne paep ; .
Daet ip unalypeblic to pecganne. cpaeS Opopmp. hpaec j>»
ALFEED'S OBOSIUS. i • 159
by night, one after another, unwearied pressed it, and
thereby so harassed the people, that they surrendered to
him three months after they had first invested it. There
were thirteen thousand Jews slain, and the walls were cast
down to the ground ; and Aristobulus was led bound to Borne,
who was both their king and their priest.
XII.
After Borne had been built six hundred and sixty-seven
years, the Bomans gave Caius Julius seven legions, that he
might war five years in Gaul.
After he had overcome them, he proceeded to the island of
Britain, and fought against the Britons, and was put to flight
in the land that is called Kentland. Soon after, he again
fought against the Britons in Kentland, and they were put
to flight. Their third battle was near the river that is called
Thames, near the ford that is called Wallingford. After that
Dattle, the king surrendered to him, and the inhabitants that
were in " Cyrnceaster," and afterwards all who were in the
island.
After that, Julius went to Borne, and demanded the triumph
;o be brought to meet him ; whereupon they commanded
lim that he should come to Borne with few men, and leave
;he whole of his force behind him. But as he was proceeding
lomewards, there came to meet him the three senators who
were his supporters, and said to him, that they, on his ac-
count, had been driven away ; and also, that all the legions,
;hat were in the power of the Bomans, had been given to aid
Pompey, that he might have the securer contest with him.
Julius thereupon returned to his own army, and, weeping,
complained of the dishonour that had been so undeservedly
done him, and chiefly [on account] of those men who had
Derished for his sake : and he afterwards enticed to him the
seven legions that were in the land of Sulmo.
When Pompey, and Cato, and all the senators heard that,
they went to the Greeks, and gathered a large force in the
mountain of Thrace. Then Julius marched to Borne, and
broke open their treasury, and divided all that was therein.
It is incredible to say, says Orosius, how much there was of
400 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
caller p*r;. -^Fceji pam he pop to QOappiliam f anb.
paep lee Speo lejian beaeptan him. to Son j) hi ty pole
to him genybbon. 3 he pylp mib pam oSpum baele pop on
Zppanie. paep Pompeiupep lejian paepon mib hip Spim latceopum.
~] he hi ealle to him genybbe;. JEptep pam he pop on
Epeacalanb. paep hip Pompemp on anpe bune onbab mib xxx.
cynmgan. bnton hip ajerium pultume;. Da pop Pompemp
paep OOapcellup paep. luliupep labteop. -3 hme opploh mib eallum
hip polce ; . JEptep pam luhup bepaet Topquatup. Pompeiupep
latteop. on anum paeptene. 3 him Pompemp aeptep pop. J>sep
peapS lulmp jeplymeb. -3 hip polcep pela popplajen. poppam pe
him man peaht on tpa healpa. on oSpe healpe Pompemp. on
oftpe healpe pe labteop;. SrSSan pop luhup on Theppaham. ~\
J?aep hip pultum jejabepabe ; . Da Pompemp •)) jehypbe. fa
pop he him aeptep mib ungemethcum pultume. he hsepbe
hunb-eahtatij cooptana. ^ pe nu tpuman hatat5. ^ paep on
]>am bajum pip hunb manna. 3 an M. ]np eall he ha&pbe buton
hip agenum pultume. ^ butan Eatone hip gepepan. ^) buton
fapa penatupep ; . Snb lulmp haspbe hunb-eahtatij cooptana ; .
Peopa 8ejt5ep haspbe Lip pole on 8pim heapum. 3 -hi pylpe
paepon on ]>am mibmeptan. ^ ]>a o^pe on tpam healpa heopa;.
Da lulmp haepbe aanne faapa basla geplymeb. J>a clypobe
Pompemp him to ymbe Romane ealbe gecpybpajbene. ]>eah ]>e
hi jylp jelaeptan ne ]>ohte. Eepepa. jepepa. jemyne ^ tSu upe
jepeppaebenne ~] cpybpaebenne to lanje ne opepbpa&c ; . Da
anbpeapbe he him. -3 cpa&S. On pumepe tibe Su paepe mm je-
pepa. ^ pop]?am ]>e Su nu ne eapt. me ip eall leopopt ^ Se ip
lat>opt \. Daet paep peo jecpybpaeben ]>e Romane gepet ha&pbon.
^ heopa nan ot5epne on Sone anbphtan ne ploje. ]?aep paep hi
hi set jepeohtum gemecton ; . ^ptep J?am popbum Pompemp
peapft jeplymeb mib eallum hip polce. ~] he pylp pi^6an o^pleah
on 25piam mib hip pipe, j mib hip beapnum. j py66on he pop on
6jyptum. "3 hip pultum ep basb aet Phtolomeupe fam cynmje.
^ pa?5e J>aep J>e he to him com. he him het ty heapub op-
aceoppan. 3 hit py$$on het luhupe onpenbon. -3 hip hpmj mib ; .
2?c pa man hit to him bpohte. he paep maenenbe pa baebe mib
miclum pope, poppon he paep ealpa manna milbheoptapt on
pam bajum;. JEptep pam Phtolomeup jelaebbe pypbe pi
luliupe. 3 eall hi • pole peapfl geplymeb. -3 he pylp jepanjen .
^'V 461
it all. After that he proceeded to the land of Marseilles,
and there left three legions behind him, that he might reduce
that people to subjection, and he himself, with the other
part, proceeded to Spain, where Pompey's legions were with
his three generals, and he subjected them all to him. After
that he proceeded to Greece, where Pompey awaited him on
a mountain, with thirty kings besides his own force. Pompey
then inarched to where Marcellus, Julius' general, was, and
slew him with all his army. After that, Julius besieged
Torquatus, Pompey's general, in a fortress, and Pompey pro-
ceeded after him : there was Julius put to flight, and many
of his people slain, because they fought on both sides of him,
on one side Pompey, on the other the general. Julius then
inarched into Thessaly, and there gathered his force. When
Pompey heard that, he marched after him with an immense
force : he had eighty cohorts, which we now call truman,
which in those days were of a thousand five hundred men :
all this he had besides his own force, and besides [that of]
Cato, his associate, and besides that of the senate. And
Julius had eighty cohorts. Each of them had his force in
three bodies, and they themselves were in the middlemost,
and the others on the two sides of them. When Julius had
put one of the bodies to flight, Pompey called to him about
the old Eoman compact, although he himself did not think
of observing it : " Comrade, comrade, remember that thou do
not too long infringe our old fellowship and covenant."
Thereupon he answered him, and said : " At one time thou
wast my comrade, and because thou art not [so] now, that is
most desirable to me that is most hateful to thee." This
was the compact that the Romans had established, that none
of them should strike another in the face, wherever they met
in battles. After those words, Pompey was put to flight
with all his army ; and he himself afterwards fled into Asia
with his wife and his children, and afterwards he went to
Egypt, and asked aid of Ptolemy the king. And soon after
he came to him, he commanded his head to be cut off, and
afterwards sent to Julius, and his ring with it. But when it
was brought to him, he bewailed the deed with much weep-
ing ; because he was of all men the most compassionate in
those days. After that, Ptolemy led an army against Julius,
and all his people were put to flight, and he himself cap-
462 KING ALFRED'S
ealle pa men luliup het opplean. pe aet paepe lajie paepan ^ man
Pompeiup oi;ploh. 3 he ppa-peah ept poplet Phtolomeup co
hi]* pice;. JEptep pam luhup jepeaht pi$ Phtolomeup ppipa.
3 aat aelcon cyppe p ige haepbe ; .
JEptep pam gepeohte ealle (Bjypti pupbon luliupe unbep-
peopap. -j he him pyfiSon hpeapp to Rome. -3 ept pette penamj .
~] hme pylpne man gepecce ^ he psep hyppe ])onne conpul.
hi hetan cictatop ; . jJEf cep pam he pop on Xpppice a&pceji
Eacone pam conpiile ; . Da he ^ jeahpobe. pa la&pbe he hip
punu ^ he him onjean pope. ^ hme him co ppiSe jepohre.
poppon. cpae^ he. pe ic pat. ^ nan ppa job man ne leopaft ppa
he ip on pippon lipe. peah pe he me py pe laSopta. y poppon
ic ne maeg pinban set me pylpum. ty ic hme s&ppe jepeo ;.
^Iptep pam popbe he eobe to paepe bup^e peallum. -3 pleah
ut op-ep. ^ he eall tobaejjpt ; . !Sc pa lulmp to pa&pe bypn
com. he him paep ppiSe maenenbe ^ he to him cuco ne com. -]
J he ppylcon bea^e ppealt ; . ^Eptep pam luhup jepeaht pic5
rompeiupep jenepon. ^ pi(5 manije hip majap. *] he hi ealle
opploh. ~] piSSon to Rome pop. 3 paep paep ppa anbpypne. ^ him
man bybe peopep piSon pone tpiumphan pa he ham com;.
SiSSon he pop on Ippame. "] jepeaht pi6 Pornpeiupep tpam
punum. -3 paep paep hip pole ppa ppifte popplajen. ^ he pume
hpile penbe -p man hme jepon pceolbe. 3 he pop ftaepe
onbpaebinje paep pe ppiSop on •p pepob ppang. poppon pe
him paep leoppe -p hme man opploje. ponne hme man je-
bunbe;.
^Eptep pam he com to Rome. 3 ealle |>a gepetnyppa pe paep
to ptpanje paepon 3 to heapbe. he hi ealle jebybe leohtpan -)
liSpan. hit pa eallum pam penatum opSmcenbum. 3 pam con-
p ulum. ^ he heopa ealban jepetnyppa tobpecan polbe. ahleopon
pa ealle. 3 hme mib heopa met-peaxum oppticebon on heopa
jemot-epne ; . Dapa punba paep xxvu. ; .
XIII.
^Eptep pam pe Romana imjm getimbpeb paep vn. hunb
pmtpum -j Lx. penj Octavianup to Romana anpealbe. heojia
unSancep. aeptep luliupep phge hip maejep. poppon J>e hme
ALFRED'S OEOSius.1 , \l , '$ 4G3
tured ; and Julius commanded all the men to be slain who
were of the counsel for slaying Pompey ; and he, neverthe-
less, dismissed Ptolemy again to his kingdom. After that
Julius fought thrice against Ptolemy, and at every time had
victory.
After that war, all the Egyptians were subdued by Julius ;
and he afterwards returned to Borne, and re-established the
senate, and appointed himself to be higher than consul, what
they called a dictator. After that he proceeded to Africa
after the consul Cato. When he [Cato] heard that, he ad-
vised his son to go to meet him, and sue to him for peace :
" Because," said he, " I know that so good a man as he is
lives not in this life, although to me he is the most hostile,
and therefore I cannot prevail on myself ever to see him."
After that speech, he went to the city walls, and flew out
over them, so that he was all burst to pieces. But when Julius
came to the city, he greatly grieved that he had not come to
him alive, and that he had died by such a death. After that,
Julius fought against the nephews of Pompey, and against
many of his kin, and he slew them all, and afterwards pro-
ceeded to Home, and was there in such veneration, that they
granted him the triumph four times after he came home.
Afterwards he proceeded to Spain and fought against Pom-
pey's two sons, and there his army was so slaughtered, that
he for some time thought he should be captured, and, by
reason of that dread, he the more pressed into the [hostile]
army, because it was to him more desirable to be slain than
bound.
After that he came to Borne, and all the laws there that
were too severe and too hard, he made lighter and milder.
All the senate then and the two consuls taking it ill that he
would destroy their old laws, all rushed upon him, and
stabbed him with their daggers in their senate-house. The
wounds were twentv-seven.
XIII.
After Borne had been built seven hundred and sixty years,
Octavianus succeeded to the dominion of the Bomans, with-
out their concurrence, after the slaying of Julius his kins-
464 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
haepbe luliup him aep mib geppitum gepaepcnob. paet he aepceji
him co eallum hip geptpeonum penje, poppon ]>e he hine pop
maejpaebene gelaepbe 3 jecybe 3 he py)>]>on 1111. jepeohc pel
cynelice jepeahc 3 Suphteah. ppa ppa luliup hip mse^ bybe aep.
an piS Pompeiup. oSep piS ISntomup J?one conpul. Spibbe piS
Eappmp. peopfte pifi Lepibup. J?eah \>e he pafte J?aep hip ppeonb
pypbe. 3 he eac jebybe $ Snconiup hip ppeonb peapfi. •$ he hip
bohcop pealbe Occaviane co pipe. 3 eac -^ Occavianup pealbe hip
ppeopcop Sncomupe ; .
SiftSon him jeceah Snconmp co jepealbe ealle Spiam;.
^Epcep Jjam he poplec Occavianupep ppeopcep. ~) him pylpum
onbeab jepmn. ~] opene peonbpcipe. ^ he him hec co pipe je-
peccean Eleopacpan ]>& cpene. J>a haepbe lulmp a&p. ^ hipe
popjjam haepbe gepealb call 6jypta ; . RaSe ]?aep Occavianup
jelaabbe pypbe pi$ Snconiup. -3 nine paSe jeplymbe Jjaep J>e hi
cojaebepe coman ; . Da&p ymbe t5peo nihc hi jepuhcon uc on
pae;. Octavianup haapbe xxx. pcipa 3 cc. J>apa micelpa
•fipypeSpena. on pam paepon papenbe eahca le^ian. 3 Snconiup
haepbe hunb-eahcacij pcipa. on ]>am paepan papenbe x. lejian.
topfon ppa micle ppa he laep haepbe. ppa micle hi paepon bece-
pan j mapan. poppon hi paepon ppa jepophc. ^ hi man ne
mihce mib mannum opephlaepcan. ^ hi naepan cyn poca heaje
bupan paecepe;. Daec gepeohc peapS ppiSe maepe. peah ]>e
Occavianup pije haepbe. J>aep Sncomupep1 polcep paep opplajen
xn. M. ~] Eleopacpa hip cpen peapft geplymeb. ppa hi cogaebepe
coman mib hipe hepe ; • ^Epcep J>am Occavianup jepeahc pi6
Snconmp 3 piS Eleopacpan. j hi jeplymbe. ^ paep on J>aepe
cibe kal. Xjupcup. ~] on }>am bae^e J>e pe hacaS hlapmaeppan ;.
SiSSon paep Occavianup Sjuptup hacen. pop)>on ]> e he on ]>aepe
cibe pije haepbe ; . ^Epcep J?am !Sncomup ~) Eleopacpa haepbon
^ejabepab pciphepe on }>am Reaban pae. ac fa him man paebe
f Occavianup fybeppeapb paep. ]>a jecypbe call f pole Co
Occavianupe. •] hi pylpe oSplujon to anum lytlum pepobe ; .
Peo J?a Eleopacpa hec abelpan hype bypi^enne. y J>aep on-mnan
eobe. ]>a heo paepon jelegen paep. J>a hec heo niman up nalip
J>a naebpan, j bon to hipe eapme. ^ heo hi abice. popj>on ]>e
[>aepe naebpan gecynb ip 8aec aelc uht J?aep ]>e heo abit pceal hi^
ALPEED'S OEOsjus."5^,l3 465
man; because Julius had previously confirmed to him by
writings, that he after him should succeed to all his acquisi-
tions ; because he had, on account of kinship, instructed and
educated him. And he afterwards most royally fought in and
carried on four wars, as Julius, his kinsman, had done before ;
one against Pompey, the second against the consul Anthony,
the third against Cassius, the fourth against Lepidus, though
he quickly after became his friend ; and he also acted so that
Anthony became his friend, so that he gave his daughter to
Octavianus to wife, and also that Octavianus gave his sister
to Anthony.
Afterwards Anthony reduced all Asia under his power.
After that he forsook the sister of Octavianus, and declared
war and open hostility against himself; and he commanded
the queen Cleopatra to be fetched to him for a wife, whom
Julius had previously had, and on that account had given to
her all Egypt. Immediately after, Octavianus led an army
against Anthony ; and speedily put him to flight after they
had come together. After this, they fought for three days
out at sea. Octavianus had thirty ships and two hundred
of the large triremes, on board of which were faring eight
legions, and Anthony had eighty ships, on board of which
were faring ten legions ; because by so many as he had fewer,
by so much were they better and larger ; for they were so
constructed that they could not be overloaded with men,
being ten feet high above the water1. The battle was very
great, though Octavianus had victory. Of Anthony's people
there were slain twelve thousand, and Cleopatra, his queen,
was put to flight when they engaged with her army. After
that, Octavianus fought against Anthony and against Cleo-
patra, and put them to flight : it was at that time the first of
August, on the day that we call Lammas. Octavianus was
afterwards called Augustus, because he at that time had
victory. After that, Anthony and Cleopatra collected a
naval force on the Bed Sea ; but when it was told them that
Octavianus was [coming] thitherward, all their people turned
to Octavianus, and they themselves fled to a little army.
Cleopatra then ordered her sepulchre to be dug, and entered
into it. "When she was laid in it, she then commanded an
adder to be taken up and applied to her arm, that it might
bite her ; because it is the nature of the adder, that every
2H
166 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
lip on plaepe geenbian. ^j heo pop ]>am ppa bybe j) heo nolbe
hi man bpipe bepopan f>am cpiumphan pi8 Romepeapb ; . Da
Hntomup gepeah ty heo hi co beaSe jypebe. J>a oppcicobe he
hine pylpne. ~] bebeab ^ hine man on pa ylcan bypjenne co
hipe ppa pamcuce alejbe •. Da Occavianup J>ybep com. ]?a hec
he niman o^pep cynnep nsebpan. uippillup1 ip hacen. peo maej
aceon aelcep cynnep accop uc op men. jip hi man ciblice co
bpmc^S. ac heo paep pop^papen aeji he pybep come;. 816^011
Occavianup begeac !Sleyanbpiam Gjypca heapob-buph. ~] mib
hipe gepcpeone he jepelgob * Romebuph ppiSe. ^ man aelcne
ceap mihce be Cpam pealbum bee ceapian. ponne man aep
mihce • .
XIV.
JEpcep J>am ]>e Romane buph jecimbpeb paep vn. hunb pin-
cpum "j pip j xxx. gepeapft ^ Occavianup Eeapap on hip pipcan
conpulacu becynbe lanep bupu. •] jepeapiS ^ he haepbe anpealb
eallep mibbanjeapbep ; . Da2 paep ppeocole gecacnob )>a he
cmhc paep. ~\ hine man pi6 Romepeapb laebbe aepceji lulmpep
plege ; . Dy ilcan baeje. J»e hine man co conpule pecce. jepeapo"
f man jepeah ymbe pa punnan ppylce an jylben ping. 3 bmnan
Romebypij peoll an pylle ele ealne baej ; . On ]>am hpmje paep
gecacnob ^ on hip bajum pceolbe peop6an jebojien pe)>e leohc-
jia ip j pcmenbfia fonne peo punne J>a paejie. anb pe ele jecac-
nobe milciiai^a eallum mancynne. ppa he eac maenij cacen
pylp gebyoe J?e epc jepupbon. ]?eah }>e hi unpicenbe bybe. on
Itobep bypene;r Sum paej- aepepc -p he bebeab opep ealne
mibbanjeapb ty aelc mae^S ymbe jeapep pyne cojaebepe come
•fy aelc man J>y geapop pipce hpajx hi pibbehaepbon. paec cacnobe
f on hip bajum pceolbe beon jebopen. pefe up ealle co anum
maeg-gemoce gelaj>obe. ^ bi6 on }>am copepban lipe;- O5ep
paep ^ he bebeab ty call mancyn ane pibbe haepbon. ~y an japol
julbon. f cacnobe -p pe ealle pceulon aenne jeleapon habbon. ~\
aenne pillan jobpa peopca ; . Dpibbe paep ^ he bebeab ^ aelc
Sapa ]>e on aelSeobijnyppe paejie. come co hip ajenum jeajibe
3 co liif fsebep e^le. 50 J>eope ^e ppi^e. •] j-efe f nolbe. he bfc-
ALFEED'S OROSITJS;'^®'' ^~ 467
creature that it bites will end its life in sleep. And she did
so because she would not be driven before a triumph towards
Rome. When Anthony saw that she was preparing herself
for death, he stabbed himself, and commanded, thus half dead,
to be laid in the same sepulchre. "When Octavianus came
thither, he commanded another kind of adder to be taken, called
psyllus, which can draw every kind of poison out of a man, if
it be applied in time. But she had expired before he came
thither. After that, Octavianus got Alexandria, the chief
city of Egypt, and with its treasures greatly enriched Rome,
so that every commodity might be bought better by twofold
than it could previously.
XIV.
After Eome had been built seven hundred and thirty-five
years, it came to pass that Octavianus Caesar, in his fifth
consulship, closed the doors of Janus ; arid it befel that he
had dominion of all the earth. That was manifestly betokened
when he was a boy, and \vas brought to Home after the slay-
ing of Julius. On the same day on which he was appointed
consul, it happened that there was seen about the sun as it
were a golden ring, and within the city of Eome, a spring,
for a whole day, welled forth oil. By the ring was betokened
that in his days there should be born he who is lighter and
brighter than the sun then was ; and the oil betokened
mercy to all mankind. So he [Octavianus] also himself made
many a sign, which afterwards came to pass, though he un-
wittingly did them, by God's incitement. One was, first,
that he commanded, over all the earth, that every nation,
after the course of a year, should come together, that every
man might know the more readily where he had peace. This
betokened, that in his days should be born he who has
invited us all to one kindred meeting, which will be in the
life to come. The second was, that he commanded all men
to have one peace and pay one tribute. That betokened,
that we should all have one belief, and one will of good
works. The third was, that he commanded all those who
were in foreign lands to come to his own dwelling, and to his
paternal home, both servile and free ; and those who would
2E2
468
beab -p man fa ealle opploge. papa paepon vi. M. )>a hi £egabe
pab paepon. paet tacnobe ty up eallum if beboben ty pe pceolon
cuman op Sippe populbe to upep paebep eSle. "J) ip to heoponum
pice. ~] pepe f nele. he pypo" apoppen } opplajen;.
XY.
JEptep pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paep VH. hunb pmtpum
•3 xxxvi. pupbon pume Ippanie leoba Xgupcupe prSeppinnan. pa
onbybe he ept lanep bupu. 3 piS hi pypbe Isebbe. •] hi geplymbe.
~] hi pi^Son on anum paeptene bepaet. ty hi piSSon hi jylpe pume
opplojon. pume mib attpe acpealbon ; . jEptep ]>am maenije
peoba punnon pi6 Sjuptup. a&jSep je Illipice. je Pannonn. je
Sepmenne. je manije oSpe Seoba;. Xjuptupep latteopap
mane^a micle gepeoht piS him ^uphtu^on. buton Sguptupe
pylpum. s&p hi opepcuman mihtan;. JEptep pam Kjuptup
penbe Qumtihup J»one conpul on Cepmame mib 8pim legian.
ac heopa peapt5 aelc opplajen. buton ]> am conpule anum ; . Fop
)>8epe baabe peapS Sjuj'tup ppa papig. ^ he opt unpitenbe ploh
mib hip heapbe on ]>one pah. fonne he on hip petle paet. j fone
conpul he net opplean ; . -3Eptep ]>am Ulepmanie ^epohcon
ffjuptup unjenybbe him to ppit5e. 3 he him pojijeap fone nifi.
{>e he to him pipte1 ; .
^ptep ]>am )>eop populb call ^eceap Sjuptupep ppi$ ^ hip*
pibbe. -3 eallum mannum nanuht ppa job ne Jmhte. ppa ty hi to
hip hylbon becoman. -3 ty hi hip unbepfeopap pupbon;. Ne
pop^on -p aemjum polce hip a^enum s& jehcobe to healbenne.
bucon on ]>& pipan J?e him Sjuptup bebeab ; . Da pupbon laner
bupu ept betyneb. -3 hip loca puptige. ppa hi naeppe sep nae-
pon ;. On )>am ilcan jeape ]>e ]n]- call gepeaptS. ^ paep on pam
tpam j peopeptijjmn pintpe Sjuptupep pice. ]>a peajiS pe £ebo-
pien. pepe J>a pibbe bpohce ealpe populbe. ^ ip upe bpihten
hselenb Epipt;. Nu ic haebbe jepaeb. cpaet5 Opopmp. ppam
ppymfte Sippep mibban^eapbep. hu call mancyn onjealb paep
aejieptan mannep pynna mib miclum teonum. nu ic pylle eac
pop^-jepecjan. hpylc miltpunj -] hpylc je^paefinepp piS^on prep.
prSSon pe cpiptenbom paap. jelicopt ]^am ]>e manna heopran
apenbe. popfon pe pa aepjian ]>m^ ajolbene pa&pon ;.
Pep enbaS peo v. boc. 3 onpnfi peo Ti.>
KING ALFKED'S oiiosius/J , i£-*>
469
not lie commanded all to be slain. Of these, when they
were gathered, there were six thousand. That betokened,
that it is commanded to us all to go from this world to the
country of our Father, that is, to the heavenly kingdom ; and
whosoever will not, shall be cast out and slain.
XY.
After Rome had been built seven hundred and thirty-six
years, there were some Spanish nations adversaries of
Augustus. He then undid again the doors of Janus, and
led an army against them, and put them to flight, and after-
wards besieged them in a fortress ; so that they afterwards
some slew themselves, and some perished by poison. After
that many nations warred against Augustus, Illyrians, Pan-
nonians, Sarmatians, and many other nations. The generals
of Augustus fought many great battles against them, with-
out Augustus himself, before they could overcome them.
After that, Augustus sent Quinctilius, the consul, to Ger-
many, with three legions ; but of them every one was slain,
except the consul alone. For that deed Augustus was so
sorrowful, that he often unwittingly struck with his head on
the wall, when he sat on his seat : and he commanded the
consul to be slain. After that, the Germans sued Augustus
voluntarily for peace, and he forgave them the enmity they
had shown him.
After that, this world all chose Augustus's peace and his
friendship, and to all men nothing seemed so good as to come
to his homage and become his subjects. Nor, indeed, to any
nation did it seem agreeable to hold its own law, except in such
wise as Augustus commanded it. Then were the doors of
Janus again closed, and his locks rusty, as they had never
been before. In the same year that all this came to pass,
which was in the forty-second year of Augustus's reign, was
born he who brought peace to all the world, that is, our Lord
Saviour Christ. I have now said, says Orosius, from the
beginning of this world, how all mankind paid for the first
man's sins with great tribulations : I will now also go on to
relate what mercy and what concord were afterwards, after
Christianity was ; most like as if the hearts of men had been
changed, because those former sins had been paid for.
Here ends the fifth book and begins the sixth.
470 KING ALFRED'S OBOSIFS.
BOOK VI.
I.
NU ic pille. cpaeS Opopmp on popepeapbpe )>ippe vi. bee ge-
peccean. -p me peah liobep bebob paep. J>eah hie pcpanj paepe.
hu emlice pa peopep anpealbap papa peopep heapob-pica pippep
mibbanjeapbep gepcobon. DaeC aepepce paep on Sppipmm. on
pam eapcemaepcan anpealbe. on Babylonia paepe bypij. peo
£epcob cupa peopon hunb pincpa on hipe anpealbe. aep heo
jepeolle. ppam Ninuj-e. heopa s&pej-can cynm^e. 06 SapSana-
polum. heopa nehjran. ^ ij* 1111. hunb pincpa ~] an M. pa Eipuf
benam Babylonia hipe anpealbep J>a onjan s&pepc Romana
peaxan ; • 6ac on pam bagum paej* ^ nopt5emefce michenbe on
OOacebomam. ]?3ec geftob lycle ponne vn. hunb pincpa ppam
heopaaepefrancynm^e.Eapane.oSPepj-euf.heopaseFCemej-can ; •
Spa eac on Spppicam. on Sam puSemepcan. Eapcama j*eo buph
heo jepeoll eac bmnan vn. hunb pincpa. ^ ymbe lycelne fypj'c
paef J^e heo aepepc Di5o pe pipman jecimbpebe. 06 hi epc Scipio
topeapp. j*e conpul \ • Spa eac Romana. pe ip maepc •] pefcemepc.
ymbe vn. hunb pincpa 3 ymb lycelne eacan. com mycel fyp-
cyn j mycel bpyne on Romebuph. ty faep bmnan popbapn xv.
cimaj*. ppa nan man nypce hpanori ^ pyp com. "3 paep poppeap5
maepc call ^ paep bmnan peep f paep unease aemj jpohc
fcaSolep o^pcob \ • GOib pam bpyne heo paep ppa ppi^e pophyneb.
psec heo naeppe piSSon ppilc epc naep. aep hi Sjupcup epc ppa
micle bee jecimbpebe ponne heo aeppe aep paepe. py geape pe
Ejnpc jebopen pa&p. ppa ty pume men cpaeban ^ heo pa&pe mib
jim-pcanum geppa&cepob. pone pulcum ~] ty peopc Sjupcu]-
(Tebohce mib pelaM. calencanaj- PIC paep eac ppeocole jepyne
^ hie paep Ijobep pcihcunj ymbe papa pica anpealbap. ]mpa
!Sbpahame paep gehacen Epipcep cyme, on pam cpam 3 on peo-
pepcigepan pincpa paep pe Nmup picpobe on Babylonia '. •
Spa eac epc on pam piSemepcan anpealbe. ~] on pam pepce-
mepcan. p ij- Rome. peapS pe ilca jebopen. pe aep Sbpahame
^ehacen paep. on pam cpam J peopepcigepan jeape J>aep pe
Kjupcup picpobe. $ paep piSSon Romebuph gecimbpeh paep vn.
ALFRED'S OROSIUS. >K> 471
BOOK VI.
I.
I WILL now, says Orosius, in the beginning of this sixth
book, relate, that it was, nevertheless, God's commandment,
although it were rigorous, how equally the four powers of the
four chief empires of this world existed. The first was in
Assyria, in the eastmost empire, in the city of Babylon ; it
existed twice seven hundred years in its power, before it fell,
trom Ninus, their first king, to Sardanapalus, their last, that
is a thousand and four hundred years, when Cyrus deprived
Babylon of its power. Then first began the Eoman [power]
to increase. Also in those days was the northmost increas-
ing in Macedonia, which existed little [less] than seven hun-
dredyears, from their first king, Caraunus, to Perseus, their
last.^N^o also in Africa, in the southmost, the city of Car-
thage fell also within seven hundred years and a little space,
from the time that the woman Dido first built it, until
Scipio, the consul, afterwards destroyed it. So also the
Eoman, which is the greatest and westmost, about seven
hundred years and a little more [when tiiere] came a great
sort of fire, and a great conflagration on the city of Eome,
which burned in it fifteen quarters, and no man knew whence
the fire came, and there perished almost all that was therein,
so that hardly any particle of foundation remained. By that
conflagration it was so greatly ruined, that it never after
was such again, until Augustus had again built it so much
better than it had ever been before, in the year that Christ
was born ; so that some men said, that it was adorned with
gems. That aid and that work Augustus bought with many
thousand talents. It was also manifestly seen, that it was
God's dispensation, with regard to the sway of those em-
pires, when Christ's advent was promised to Abraham, in the
forty and second year from the time that Ninus reigned in
Babylonia.
So again likewise, in the latest empire and the westmost,
that is, the Eoman, the same was born who had before been
promised to Abraham, in the two and fortieth year of the
reign of Augustus, that was after Eome had been built seven
472 KING ALFRED'S OROSITTS.
hunb pincpa ^ cpa j pipcij ; . Si$6on gepcob Romebuph cpelp
jpincep. mib miclum pelum. fa hpile fe Xjupcup eaftmeco pifc
liob jeheolb. f e he onjunnen haepbe. f aec paep f aec he pleah ^
popbeab ^ hme man job here, ppa nan cyninj nolbe f e aep him
paap. ac polbon ^ man to him cobaebe 3 him opppebe \ • Sc
f aef on fam cpelpcan jeape. Hanif hif jenepa pop op Ggypcum
on Sypie. hie hsepbe Xguj-tuj- him Co anpealbe jepealb. J>a nolbe
he him jebibban co pam selmihcijum liobe. ]?a he co piepu-
palem com. J?a hie man Sjupce paebe. fa hepebe he fa opep-
mecco. *] nanuhc ne leahcpab^ \ • Rat5e f eep Romane onjulbon
faep popbep mib ppa miclum hungpe. faec Sjupcup abpap op
Romebypig healpe fe fsep bmnan paepan'.- Da peapS epc
lanep bupu unbon. popf on f e fa lacceopap paapon Sjupcupe op
manejuin lanbum unjepabe. f eah f a&p nan gepeohc Supuhcojen
ne pupbe ) •
II.
^Epcep f am f e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep vn. hunb pmcpum
3 Lxvn. penj Tibepmp Co pice pe cepap a&pcep Sgupcupe .*• pe
pa&p Romanum ppa popgypen y ppa milbe. ppa him nan anpealba
nsep aap fam. 06 Pilacup him onbeab ppam piepupalem ymbe
Epipcep cacnunja. ^) ymbe hip mapCpunga. •] eac -p hme
meenije pop job ha&pbon > Sc fa he hie paebe fam penacum.
fa pupbon hi ealle prtS hme ppySe pi^eppeajibe. popf on f e hie
man ne paebe a&pop. ppa hie mib lnm gepuna pa&p. f aec hi hie
pftfton mihcon eallum Romanum cy^an. 3 cpa&bon -p hi hme
pop job habban nolbon ; • Da peapS Tibepmp Romanum ppa
ppaft -j ppa heapb. ppa he him aep paep rmlbe ~] lef e. -J) he pop-
neah naenne f aepa penacuppa ne lee cucune. ne f apa cpa 3
cpencijpa manna f e he him Co pulcume ha&pbe acopen. ty hi
hip paeb-f eahcepap paepon. fa man hec pacpiciop. ealle fa he
hec opplean. bucon Cpam. je hi)' ajene cpejen puna : . pu Cob
fa fa maepcan opepmecco geppaec on fam polce. ^j hu ppifie hi
hip onjulbon ppam heopa ajenum capepe. f eah hie eallum fam
polcum on oftpum lanbum ppa ppifte jeppecen ne pupbe ppa hie
ope aep paep:- On fam xu. jeape Tibepiupep picep peapS epc
Jtrobep ppacu Romanum. fa hi aec heopa cheacpum paepon mib
ALFRED'S OROsius,!/^ 473
hundred and fifty-two years. Home afterwards stood twelve
years in great prosperity, while Augustus observed humility
towards God, as he had begun ; that was, that he shunned
and forbade that any one should call him a god, as no king
would that was before him, but would that people should
worship them and make offerings to them. But in the
twelfth year after, Caius, his nephew, went from Egypt to
Syria (Augustus had given it him to govern), and would
not worship the Almighty God, when he came to Jerusalem.
When this was told to Augustus, he praised, and in no way
blamed, his arrogance. Soon after this, the Romans paid for
this word with so great a famine, that Augustus drove from
Borne half of those that were within it. Then again was
the door of Janus undone, because the generals in many lands
were at variance with Augustus, although no battle was fought.
II.
After Borne had been built seven hundred and sixty-seven
years, Tiberius, the emperor, succeeded to the empire after
Augustus. He was so indulgent and so mild to the Bomans,
as no monarch had ever been to them before, until Pilate
announced to him from Jerusalem concerning Christ's
miracles, and concerning his sufferings, and also that many
held him for a god. But when he told that to the senate,
they were all very adverse to him, because it had not been
told them before, as was the custom with them, that they
might afterwards make it known to all the Bomans ; and
said that they would not have him for a god. Thereupon
Tiberius was *so wroth with the Bomans, and so severe as he
before had been mild and gentle to them, so that he hardly
left one of the senate alive, nor of the twenty-two men whom
he had chosen to aid him, that they might be his counsellors,
who were called patricians. All these he ordered to be slain,
except two, yea, even his own two sons. How God then
their excessive pride avenged on that people, and how dearly
they paid for it from their own emperor ! although on all the
people in other countries it was not so severely avenged as it
had often been before. In the twelfth year of the reign ot
Tiberius, God's vengeance was again on the Bomans, while
they were at their theatre with their plays, when it all JeU
474 KITTG ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
heopa plegon. pa hie call copeoll. -3 heopa opploh xx. 5i. '„ •
pypfligpe ppace hi poppupbon pa. cpaeS Opopmp. pa pe heopa
pynna pceolbon hpyppian 3 baebboce bon. ppiSop ponne heopa
plejan began, ppa heopa gepuna paep aep ]>am cpipcenbome ; •
On pam eahcaceoftan jeape hip picep. pa Epipc paep onhangen.
peapS mycel Seopcepnyp opep ealne mibbanjeapb. -3 ppa mycel
eop^beoping. ty clubap jreollan op muncum. ^j J>aet; psepa punbpa
maepc pa&p. fa pe mona pill pa&p. ^ ]>aepe punnan pyppepc
heo J?a apyptpabe \ • JEptep f am Romane acpealbon
mib accpe. he hse^t. pice xxm. pmcpa ; •
III.
fe Romebuph ^ecimbpeb psep vn. hunb pmcpum
•3 Lxxxx. peapS Camp Ealijula capepe 1111. jeap;. pe pa&r
ppi^e ^epylleb mib un^eapum. ^ mib pipen-lupcum. *] call he
paep ppylce Romana J>a pyp^e psepon. popj>on ]>e hi Epipcef
bebob hyppcon "j hie poppapan ; . Sc he hie on him ppa ppiSe
ppaec. j hi him ppa la$e paepon. fa&c he ope pipcce. ^ ealle
Romane hsepbon aenne ppeopon. ^ he hme pa<5opc popceoppon
mihce. j mib ungemete ms&nenbe paep. ^ paep pa nsep ppilc pacu
ppilc paep ope aep paep. -3 he pylp pop ope on o^pe lanb. ~] polbe
jepmn pmban. ac he ne mihee buton pibbe;. Unjelice
paepon pa eiba. cpae^ Opopmp. piSt5on Epipt ^ebopen paep.
pi^Son man ne mihee unpibbe pinbon. -3 aep pam man ne
mihce mib nanum Sin^um popbujon ; . On pam ba^um com
eac Zrobep ppacu opep lubeum. ^ hi ae^Sep haepbon un-
jeppaepneppe ge becpeonum him pylpum. je to eallum polcum.
ppa-peah heo paer rpi^orc on Slexanbpia paepe bypij. ^ hi
liaiup hec ut-abpipan ; . Da penbon hy Filonem. heopa pone
jelaepebepcan man. co pon ^ he him pceolbe Eaiupep mikpe
jeaepenbian. ac he pop paepe gepilnunge ppySe bypmopabe. ~\
bebeab ^ hi man on aelce healpe hynbe paep man ponne mihce.
•3 bebeab -p man apylbe biopol^ylba pa cypicean aec piepu^alem.
^ man hip agen biopolj^lb paeji co-mibbep apecce. ^ paep hip
a^en anlicnep. 3 Pilacup hc haepbe on ppeacunga. 06 he hme
fylpne oppcanj. he gebembe upne bpihcen co bea^e;. Ra6e
KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJ^. "J « ^'^ '475
down and slew twenty thousand of them. By a worthy ven-
geance they then perished, says Orosius, when they should
have repented of their -sins and done penance, rather than
attend their plays, as was their wont before Christianity. In
the eighteenth year of his reign, when Christ was crucified,
there was a great darkness over all the earth, and so great an
earthquake, that huge stones fell from the mountains ; and
what was the greatest of those wonders, when the moon was
at full and farthest from the sun, that it was then eclipsed.
After that the Eomans killed Tiberius by poison. He had
the empire twenty-three years.
III.
After Borne had been built seven hundred and ninety
years, Caius Caligula became emperor for four years. He
was wholly filled with vices and with sinful lusts, and was al-
together such as the Eomans were then worthy of ; because
they had derided the commands of Christ and despised them.
But he so severely avenged it on them, and they were so
hateful to him, that he often wished that all the Eomans had
one neck, that he might the most speedily sever it; and most
vehemently complained, that there was not then such strife
as there had often been formerly; and he himself often
went into other countries, and desired to find war, but he
could find only peace. Unlike were the times, says Orosius,
after Christ was born, when men could find no war; and
before that men could by no means avoid it. In those
days, God's vengeance came also over the Jews, so that
they had dissension both among themselves, and with all
nations ; though it was the greatest in the city of Alexandria,
and Caius commanded them to be driven out. They there-
upon sent Philo, their most learned man, for the purpose of
asking Caius' s clemency for them ; but he, for that desire,
sorely insulted them, and commanded that they should be
treated with contumely on every side where it was possible ;
and commanded that "the temples at Jerusalem should be
filled with idols and that his own idol should be there set
in the midst, which was his own image. And Pilate he
threatened until he stabbed himself: he had doomed our
476 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS.
}>aep Romane opplojon Camp plaepenbe ; • Da punbe man on
hip irat$m-hup tpa cypta. pa paepon attpep pulle. 3 on oftpe paej
an geppit. paep paepon on appitene ealpa papa piceptpa manna
namon. pe he acpellan pohte. -fi he hi pe laep popjeace*. Da
jeat man ^ attop ut on pone pae. 3 paSe paep )>sep com up
mycel pa&l beabpa pipca ; . ^E^ep paej* ppi^e jepyne Erobej'
ppacu. ^ he -^ pole coptian lee. je epc hip milcpun^e. )>a he hi
popbon ne lee. ppa hit Eaiup jepoht haepbe ;.
IV.
J?am pe Romebuph getimbpeb pa&p vn. hunb pincpa j
xcv. pa penj Tibepiup Qaubiup to Romana anpealbe*. On
J>am a&peptan jeape hip picep Petpup pe apoptolup com to
Rome. 3 J»aep pupbon aepept cpiptene men Suph hip lape ; .
Da polbon Romane opplean Haubiup. pop Eaiupep J>mjum hip
maegep. paep aeppan capepep. "j ealle pa pe pa&pe maegSe paepe.
ac mib pon pe hi paep cpiptenbomep onpenjon. hi psepon ppa
^eppaepe ~] ppa jepibpume. ^ hi ealle popjeapon pam capepe. pa
paehpe pe hip ma&j haepbe pit5 hi gepopht. ^j he pop^eap him
eallum pa unpiht •] -p pacen. ^ hi him bon pohton;. On
paepe tibe jepeapfc eac ofiep tacen on Romana anpealbe.
pr5Son him pe cpiptenbom to com. ty pa&p ^ Dalmatie polbon
jepyllan Scpibamanupe pam latteope heopa cynepice. 3 piSSon
piS Romane pmnan. ac pa hi gepomnab psepon. "3 hine to
cyninje bon polbon. pa ne mihtan hi pa guSpanan up-ahebban.
ppa heopa Seap pa&p ponne hy anpealbap petton. ac pupbon him
pylpum pi^eppeapbe ^ hi hit aeppe onjunnon. ^ Scpibamanup
opplojon> -^Etpace nu. cpaeS Opopiup. pepe pylle. oStSe pepe
buppe. •}> 'f anjm naepe jeptilleb pop paep cpiptenbomep
Hobep. 3 SeFecSe nPaP EeniS SePmn ^P ))am cpiptenbome ppa
jehpuppe. jip hit on$unnen paspe ;• O^5ep punbop gepeapS eac.
py peoppan jeape Elaubiupep picep. -p he pylp pop aeptep ^e-
pmne. j nan pinban ne mihte ; . On Sam jeape paep mycel
hunjon on 8ijna. *) on Paleptma. buton f 61ena. Sbiabena
KING ALFBED'S OEOsius.1I i ^ ? ** 477
Lord to death. Soon after, the Romans slew Caius sleeping.
In his treasury were then found two chests that were full of
poison ; and in one was a writing, in which were written the
names of all the most powerful men, whom he had intended
to kill, that he might the less forget them. Thereupon they
shed the poison out into the sea, and immediately after, there
came up a large havock of dead fishes. [Here] were manifestly
seen both God's vengeance, in letting the people be tempted,
and again of his mercy, when he would not suffer them to
perish, as Caius had intended.
IV.
After Rome had been built seven hundred and ninety-five
years, Tiberius Claudius succeeded to the dominion of the
Romans. In the first year of his reign, the apostle Peter
came to Home, and there were first Christian men [at
Rome], through his teaching. Then would the Romans slay
C]audius, on account of his kinsman, Caius, the former em-
peror, and all who were of that family. But after they had
received Christianity, they were so gentle and so pacific, that
they all forgave the emperor the injury that his kinsman had
wrought against them; and he forgave all of them the injus-
tice and the guile that they had intended to perpetrate against
him. At that time, there was also another sign in the Roman
dominion, after Christianity had come to them: that was,
that the Dalmatians would give their kingdom to the general
Scribonianus, and afterwards make war against the Romans.
But when they were assembled, and would make him king,
they were unable to raise the ensigns, as was their custom
when they established governments ; but were angry with
themselves that they had ever undertaken it, and slew Scri-
bonianus. Let him deny, says Orosius, who will or who dares,
that that attempt was quelled through the God of Christen-
dom ; and let him say where any war, before Christianity,
was so averted, if it had been begun. Another wonder also
befel in the fourth year of Claudius's reign, that he himself
went in search of war, and could find none. In that year
there was a great famine in Syria and in Palestine, excepting
that Helena, queen of the Adiabeni, gave corn enough to the
$78 KING ALFRED'S OROSITJS.
cpen. jealbe'pam munucum copn jenoh. pe paej/on aec piepu-
palem. poppon pe heo pa paep nipilice cpipcen ;. On pam pipcan
jeape Elaubiupep picep. peapS oSypeb an ijlanb becuhThepam.
3 Thepapiam. peopon mila bpab 3 pp mila lanj;. On pam
peopopan geape hip picep peapft ppa mycel ungeppaepnep on
piepupalem. becuh pam pe cpipcene naepan. ]) paep paepon xxx.
M. oppla^en. j aet J>am jeace optpeben. ppa nan man nypce
hpanon peo ppoht com;. On pam nigepon jeape hip picep
peapS .mycel hunjop on Rome. -3 Claubmp hec uc-abpipan
ealle )?a lubeap ]>e pa&p-bmnan paepon ; . ^Eptep fain Romana
picon Daubmpe ]>one hunjop. f e him gecencge paep. j he peapft
him ppa jpam. -p he hec opplean paepa penatopum xxxv. ~] papa
oSpa 'Spec hunb. pe J>aep ylbepce paepon. septep pam Romane
hine acpealbon mib atcpe ; .
V.
JEptep pam pe Romebuph gecimbpeb paep vm. hunb pmcpa
~] ix. peng Nepo Co Romana anpealbe. 3 hine hsepbe xim. ^eaji.
•] he haepbe jyc ma unpeapa ponne hip earn haepbe aep. liaiup.
co-eacon pam maemgpealbum bipmpum pe he bonbe paep ; - pe
hec aec pumon cyppe onbaepnan Romebypig. *] bebeab hip
ajenum mannum. ^ hi pimble jejpipon paep hcgenban peop. ppa
hi maepc mihcan. -3 co him bpohcon. ponne hie man uc-
oSbpube. 3 jepcob him pylp on pam hyhpcan coppe pe paeji-
bmnan paep. ^ ongan pypcean pceop-leo8 be pam bpyne. pe
paep vi. bajap bypnenbe -3 vii. nihc;. !Sc he ppaec hip un-
jepealbep. aepepc on paepe bypig heopa mipbaeba. paec hi Pecpup
•3 Paulup jemapcpeban. -3 piolSon on him pylpum. pa he hine
oppcang ; . pe paep manna aepepc ehcenb cpipcenpa manna ; .
hip pylle peap^S papa capapa maejS o^peallen ;.
VI.
^Epcep pam pe Romebuph gecimbpeb paep viu. hunb pincjmm
3 xxiv. penj Ealpa co Romana anpealbe;. Daep on Sam vn.
monfie hine opploh Ochon an man. 3 him Co pam anpealbe
ceng ; . 8ona ppa Romane aepepc cpipcenpa manna ehcon. ppa
Nepo onpcealbe. ppa pupbon ealle pa pole heopa pifteppmnan.
ALFRED'S ouosir g ."JJ f 4>f 5^6 473
monks that were at Jerusalem, because she was newly a
Christian. In the fifth year of Claudius's reign, an island
appeared between Thera and Therasia, seven miles broad and
five miles long. In the seventh year of his reign, there was.
so great a dissension at Jerusalem, between those who were
not Christians, that thirty thousand were there slain, and
trodden down at the gate, and no one knew whence the
dispute came. In the ninth year of his reign, there was a
great famine in Home, and Claudius commanded all the Jews
that were therein to be driven out. After that, the Bomana
accused Claudius of the famine that was so grievous to them,
and he was so incensed against them, that he commanded
thirty-five of the senators to be slain, and three hundred of
the others, who were the chief; after which the Eomans killed
him with poison.
V.
After Borne had been built eight hundred and nine years,
Nero succeeded to the dominion of the Bomans, and had
it fourteen years. And he had yet more vices than his uncle
Caius had formerly had, in addition to the manifold scandals
that he perpetrated. At one time he ordered the city of
Borne to be burnt, and commanded his own men always to
seize of the treasure as much as they could, and bring it
to him, when it was snatched out ; and himself stood on the-
highest tower that was therein, and began making poems on
the conflagration, that was burning for six days and seven
nights. But he avenged involuntarily, first on the city their
misdeeds in having martyred Peter and Paul, and next on
himself, when he stabbed himself. He was the first man
that persecuted Christian men. After his fall the race of the
Caesars became extinct.
VI.
After Borne had been built eight hundred and twenty-four
years, Gralba succeeded to the dominion of the Bomans. In
the seventh month after, a man, named Otho, slew him, and
succeeded to the empire. As soon as the Bomans first per-
•ecuted Christian men, as Nero had instituted, all the nations
480 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
J>e be eaptan 8ipia paepon. ge eac hi pylpe him becpeonum
haepbon ungepaebneppe ; . Uitelhup. liepmama cyning. jepeahc
J>pipa pi$ Othon. 3 hme opploh on Jmm Spibban mono"e paep ]>e
hi pmnan onjunnon ; .
VII.
y£ptep fam )>e Romebuph getimbpeb psep Dccc. pmrpa 3
xxv. pen;$ Uerpapianup to Romana anpealbe;. Da peapS ept
pb ojrep ealne Romana anpealb. j he beab Ticuj-e. hij* funa.
paet he topeapp ty tempel on piepuj-alem. ^ ealle |>a buph.
fOp'Son J>e Irob nolbe ^ hi J>one cpiftenbome lenc^ mypbon. ^
popbeab ^ man naftep ept ne timbpebe. j he popbybe |>apa
lubea enblupon pSon hunb M. pume he opploh. pume on o5ep
lanb gep ealbe. pume he mib hungpe acpealbe ; . ^Ipcep J»am
man bybe him cpam J^one tpmmphan. Ueppapiane ~] Ticupe ; •
8eo anpyn peapS mycel punbop Romanum. popfon ]>e hi aep ne
jepapan cpe^en men aecpomne ]?aepon pictan ; . pi becynbon
lanep bupu ; . JEpcep J)am Ueppapianup jepop on ucpihce on
J>am ix. geape hip picep. on anum cune bucon Rome ; .
VIII.
JEptep J>am J>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep vm. hunb pintpa
3 xxix. penj Titup to Romana anpealbe. 3 hme haepbe tpa
geap ; . pe paep ppa gobep pillan. ty he paebe ty he poplupe ]>one
baeg ]?e he naht on to gobe ne jebybe \ . pe jepop eac on ]?am
ilcan tune fe hip paebep bybe. 3 on paepe ilcan able ;.
IX.
^Eptep ]>am ]?e Romebuph ^etimbpeb paep vm. hunb pintpa
3 xxx. peng Domitianup to Romana anpealbe. Titupep bpoSop
•3 hit haepbe xv. jeap ;. pe peapft ept ehtenb cpiptenpa man
na. ~] paep on ppa micle opepmetto aptijen. f he beab -f> man
on jelice to him onbugon pceolbe ppa to gobe;. Snb he
bebeab •$ man lohannep J»one apoptol gebpohte on Thomone
fam i jlanbe on pjiaecpi^e ppam oSymm cpiptenum mannum ; .
Snb bebeab ^ man acpealbe eal Dauibep cyn. to J>on ^ip T.pipr
KING ALFRED'S OROSiu8."rl^ 431
that were to the east of Syria became their adversaries ; yea,
even among themselves they had dissension. Vitellius, king
of the Germans, fought thrice against Otho, and slew him in
the third month after they had begun to make war.
VII.
After Eome had been built eight hundred and twenty-five
years, Vespasian succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans.
Then there was peace again over all the Eoman empire; and
lie commanded Titus, his son, to destroy the temple at Jeru-
salem, and all the towns ; because God would not that they
should longer obstruct Christianity, and forbade that either
should be again built, and he ruined of the Jews eleven times a
hundred thousand : some he slew, sold some into other lands,
some he killed by hunger. After that the triumph was made
for them two, Vespasian and Titus. The sight was a great
wonder to the Eomans, because they had never before seen
two men together sitting therein. They closed the doors of
Janus. After that Vespasian died of diarrhoea, in the ninth
year of his reign, in a villa outside of Eome.
VIII.
After Eome had been built eight hundred and twenty-nine
years, Titus succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans, and
had it two years. He was so desirous of good, that he said
that he lost the day on which he had done nothing good. He
died also in the same villa in which his father died, and of the
same disease.
IX.
After Eome had been built eight hundred and thirty years,
Domitian, the brother of Titus, succeeded to the dominion of
the Eomans, and had it fifteen years. He was again a per-
secutor of Christian men, and had risen to such great arro-
gance, that he commanded that men should bow to him like
as they would to a god. And he commanded John, the apostle,
to be conveyed in exile from other Christian men to the island
of Thomone. And commanded all of David's kin to be slain,
2i
482 ZING ALFEED'S OEOSIUS.
pa jic jebopen naepe. ty he pi&5on na jebopen ne pupbe. poppon
picejan paebon. $ he op Sam cynne cuman pceolbe ; . jEpcep
pam bebobe he peapfc pylp unpypolice opflajen;.
X.
JEptep pam pe Romebuph jetimbpeb paep Dccc. pincpa 3
xlvi. pa penj Nejipa to Romana anpealbe. j poppam pe he ealb
paep he jeceap him to pultume Tpaianup pone man \ • Da je-
ppaecon hi him becpeonum -f hi polbon copenbon ealle pa je-
petneppa "j ealle pa jebobu. pe Domicianup haepbe aep jepec.
poppon pe he him paep aep bam Ia6. ^j hecon epc lohannep je-
bpmjan aec hip mynptpe on Gpepum. ppam pam populb-ypm^um
]>e he hpile on pa&p \ • Da gepop Neppa. •]
Tpaianup haepbe pone anpealb xix. jeap aepcep him. -3 he
unbeppeobbe Romanum ealle pa pole pe him niphce jeppicen
haepbon. ~] bebeab hip ealbopmannum ^ hi paepon cpipcenpa i
manna ehcenb > Da paebe him hiopa an. Plmmp paep hacen. -p1
he poh bube. •} miclum on pam pyn^obe. he hie pa hpaeblice epc
pojibeab ; • On paepe Cibe paepon lubei on miclum jephce ^
on micelpe unpibbe piS pa lanbleobe. paep paep hi ponne paejion. i
ot5 heopa pela pupenba poppupbon on aej^pe hanb ;• On paepe |
Cibe Tpaianup ^epop on ucpihce on Seleucia paepe
XI.
pam pe Romebuph jetimbpeb paep Dccc. pmcpa 3
Lxvu. penj Sbpianup Co Romana anpealbe. Tpaianupep jenepa.j
~) hme haepbe xxi. pintep)- 'Rub paSe j^aep pe him cpipcene;
bee cufte paepon Suph aenne papa apopcola ^eonjpena. Qua- i
bpacup psep haten. he popbeab opep ealne hip anpealb. •$ mar
nanum cpipcenum men ne abulje. 3 jip aemj cpipcen agylce. -\ jj
pe ponne psepe bepopan him. 3 him ponne bembe pylp ppa hincj
r,nhc puhce;. pe peajiS pa Romanum ppa leop 3 ppa peopft. *f
tii hme nanulic ne hecon bucon paebep. ^ him co peop8pcipe h
hecon hip pip Eapepn ;• Snb he hec opplean ealle pa lubeipcai
SING ALFRED'S OBOSIUS*^ , ^ f 10, \l 483
with the object that, if Christ were not yet born, he might
not afterwards be born ; because prophets had said, that he
was to come of that kin. After that command, he was him-
self ignominiously slain.
X.
After Eome had been built eight hundred and forty-six
years, Nerva succeeded to the dominion of the Romans, and
because he was old, he chose to aid him the man Trajan.
Then they spoke together that they would abrogate all the
laws and all the decrees that Domitian had previously enacted ;
because he had before been hateful to them both ; and they
commanded John to be brought back to his minster at Ephe-
sus, from the worldly miseries in which he a while had been.
Nerva then died, and
Trajan had the dominion nineteen years after him, and he
reduced under subjection to the Romans all those nations
that had newly fallen off from them ; and commanded his
prefects to be persecutors of Christian men. Thereupon
one of them, named Plinius, said to him that he commanded
wrong, and therein greatly sinned. He then quickly coun-
termanded it. At that time, the Jews were [engaged] in
great dissensions and great hostility towards the inhabitants,
where they then were, until many thousands of them
perished on both sides. At that time, Trajan died of
diarrhoea in the city of Seleucia.
XL
After Rome had been built eight hundred and sixty-seven
years, Hadrian, Trajan's nephew, succeeded to the dominion
of the Romans, and had it twenty-one years. And as soon
as the Christian books became known to him, through one
of the disciples of the apostles, named Quadratus, he forbade,
over all his dominion, any one to vex any Christian man ;
and [ordered] if any Christian offended, that he should be
[brought] before him, and he himself would then adjudge to
him what to him might appear right. He was by the Ro-
mans so beloved and so honoured, that they called him
nothing but Father, and in honour of him, they called hi*
wife Augusta. And he commanded to be slain all the Jewish
2i2
484 KING ALFBED'S OROSITTS.
men. J>e paepon on Palepcma. 'p man hec lubea lanb. poppon
J>e hi cpipcene men pmebon;- Hnb he bebeab ^ man cim-
bpebe on paepe pcope piepupalem ]>a buph. 3 }>aec hi mon pi$-
8an hecce be naman Gliam >
XII.
-32pcep }>am }>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep Dccc. pincpa J
Lxxxvm. penj Pompemp Co Romana anpealbe. )>e man ofcpe
naman hec Pmp. 3 him pealbe lupcmup ]*e philofophuf ane
cpijrene boc. pop heopa f peonbj-cipe ; . SiSfton he fa jeleopnob
haepbe. he peapb" cpipcenum mannum ppa leop 3 fpiSe holb. o5
hif lipef enbe;.
XIII.
Alpcep ]>am ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep Dcccc. 3 xi.
pincpa. penj GDapcuj* Snconmup Co Romana anpealbe mib hif
bpe^ep Supehupe*.. pi pa&pon ]>a s&pepcan men ]>e Romana
anpealb on Cpa Cobaelbon. ^ hi hine hs&pbon xim. jeap. ~y hi be-
bubon ^ man selcne cpipcene man opplo^e : • ^Epcep fam hi
haepbon mycel jepm piS Papche. ~] him p^Son becom on fpa
mycel hungop. popfon ]?e hi haepbon apejr ealle Eappabociam.
•3 '^pmeniam. y ealle Sipiam ; . ^Spcep ]>am hi genamon ppi^
piS Papche. "3 him p8$on becom on j*pa mycel hunjop ^ micel
man-cpealm. ^ heopa peapa Co lape pupbon;. ^Epcep )>am hi
becoman on ^ Denjj-ce jepin. mib eallum Eepmanum ; • Da
on Sam basje J?e hi peohcan pceolbon. him com an ppa mycel
haece. 3 ppa mycel Jmppc. ^ hi him heopa peopep ne penbon ; •
Da baeban hi fa cpipcenan men. ^ hi heopa on pime pipan
jehulpon. ^ on^eacan ty hie pasp Urobep ppacu ', • Da abseban hi
sec fam aelmihcigum Dobe. ^ hie ppa ppi^e pmbe. f hi ha&pbon
paecep genoh on-upon faepe bune. 3 ^ )>aep ppa micel Sunop
com. J)83C he opploh peala M. manna jemanj j?am jepeohce;-
Da aepcep J?am Romana ealle pupbon cpipcenum mannum ppa
holbe. ^ hi on manegum cemplum appican ^ a&lc cpipcen man
haepbe ppift 3 pibbe. 3 eac f aelc faepa mopce cpipcenbome onpon
pe)>e polbe '. • Snb Snconmup pop jeap eall ^ gapol "$ man co
Rome pyllan pceolbe. ^ hec popbaepnan ^ ^epfnc fe hie on
appicen paep hpaec man on geape jylban pceolbe. 3 faej on fara
aepcpan ^eape he jepop ; •
ZING ALFEED'S OROSIUS."^ )/, |^,I3 485
men that were in Palestine, which is called the land of Judea
because they had tortured Christian men. And he com-
manded that they should build on the site of the city of
Jerusalem, and that it should afterwards be called JElia.
XII.
After Home had been built eight hundred and eighty-eight
years, Antoninus succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans,
who, by another name, was called Pius. And Justin, the
philosopher, gave him a Christian book, in token of their
friendship. After he had learned it, he became dear to
Christian men and very kind [to them] till his life's end.
XIII.
After Borne had been built nine hundred and eleven years,
Marcus Antoninus succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans,
with his brother, Aurelius. They were the first men that
divided the Eoman empire into two, and they had it fourteen
years ; and they commanded that every Christian man should
be slain. After that, they had a great war with the Par-
thians, and afterwards there came upon them a great famine,
because they had laid waste all Cappadocia, and Armenia,
and all Syria. After that they made peace with the Par-
thians, and afterwards there came upon them so great a
famine and so great a mortality, that few of them were left.
After that the Danish war, with all the Germans, came upon
them. Then, on the day that they were to fight, there came
upon them so great a heat, and so great a thirst, that they
despaired of their lives. Thereupon they prayed the Christian
men in some wise to help them, and ascertained it was God's
vengeance. They then obtained from Almighty God that it
rained so abundantly that they had rain enough upon the
down ; and that so great thunder came, that it slew many
thousand men during the fight. Then after that, all the
Eomans became so friendly to the Christian men, that in
many temples they wrote, that every Christian man should
have peace and protection ; and also, that every one of them
might receive Christianity that would. And Antoninus for-
gave all the taxes that were to be paid to Eome, and com-
manded the decree to be burnt in which it was written what
should be paid yearly ; and in the following year he died.
486 ZING ALFBED'S
XIV.
J>am J?e Romebuph getimbpeb psep Dcccc. pmtpa 3
xxx. penj Luciup Hntomnup co pice. 3 hit haepbe xin. ^eap;-
Pe pa&p ppiSe ypel man ealpa peapa. buton )>a&t he paep cene. ^
ope peahc anpij. -3 peala J>apa peuatopum he het opplean. J>e
}>a&p becj-te paepan;- ^Epcep J?am an Sunop toploh heopa
Eapicolmm. fe heopa gobaj* mne paepon. ^ heopa beopuljylb. ^
heopa bibliof eca peapS popbaepneb ppam Jjam ligette. 3 ealle
heojia ealban bee popbupnan faepmnei- Da&p paap an ppa
micel bem gebupnen ppa on !Slexanbpia pasp. ]?aepe bypij. on
heopa bibhoj>ecan. faep pojibupnon peopep hunb M. boca ; •
XV.
jEptep ]>am ]?e Romebuph getimbpeb pasp Dcccc. pmtpa 3
xlm. penj Seuepup to Romana anpealbe. y hine ha&pbe xrn.
jeap | • pe bepaec Pepcenniup on anum paepcenne. o$ he him
on hanb eobe. 3 he hine pi^Son hec opplean. popfon he polbe
picpian on Sipie y on Ggypte ;• ^Epcep fam he opploh Slbinuj-
J>one man on Gallium, popfon ]>e he eac polbe on hme pinnan ;•
8i6Son he pop on Bpytanme. ^j |>aep ope jepeahc piS Peohtap 3
pi(5 8ceotcap. sep he Bpytcap mihte pitShi bepepian. j hecaenne
peall J>pypep opep eall ty lanb apettan ppam pae ot5 pa&.
faep he gepop on Gopeppic ceapcpe*.
XVI.
fam ]>e Romebuph jetimbpeb paep Dcccc. pincpa -j
Ixii. penj hip punu to pice Sntonmup. ^j hit haapbe vii. jeap ;•
pe ha&pbe tpa geppeoptop him to pipum ;. pe ha&pbe pole je-
jabepab. 3 polbe pinnan pit5 Papthe. ac he peapfc opplajen on
f>am pa&pelbe ppam hip ajenum mannum ', •
KING ALFRED'S oRosnrs.TI' o 43?
XIV
After Rome had been built nine hundred and thirty years,
Lucius Antoninus succeeded to the empire, and had it
thirteen years. He was a very evil man in all his morals,
except that he was brave, and often fought in single combat.
And he commanded many of those senators to be slain, who
were the best. After that, a thunderbolt struck down their
Capitol, in which their gods were, and their idols ; and their
library was burnt by the lightning, and all their ancient
booka were burnt therein. There was as great a damage by
the conflagration as was in the city of Alexandria, in their
library, where four hundred thousand books were burnt.
XV.
After Borne had been built nine hundred and forty-three
years, Severus succeeded to the dominion of the Romans,
and had it seventeen years. He besieged Pescennius in a
fortress, until he surrendered to him, and he afterwards com-
manded him to be slain, because he would reign in Syria and
in Egypt. After that, he slew the man Albums in Gaul,
because he also would war against him. JEe afterwards went
to Britain and there often fought against the Picts and Scots,
before he could protect the Britons against them ; and com-
manded a wall to be constructed across over all that 1
from sea to sea; and shortly after, he died in the cit
York.
XVI.
After Rome had been built nine hundred and sixty-two
years, his son, Antoninus, succeeded to the empire, and had
it seven years. He had two sisters for wives. He had
gathered an army, and would war against the Parthians, but
ne was slain on his march by his own men.
488 KING ALFEED'S OBOSIUS.
XYII.
pam ]>e Romebuph gecimbpeb paep Dcccc. pintpa 3
Ixx. pens CEapcup Supehup to Romana anpealbe. y hine haepbe
peopep jeaji. hine opplojon eac hip agene men. 3 hip mobop
mib ; .
XVIII.
^Epcep pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paep Dcccc. pmcpa 3
Ixxini. peng Supelianuj- !Mexanbep to Romana anpealbe. 3 hme
haepbe xvi. jeap. 3 OOammea. hip peo ^obe mobop. penbe aeptep
Opigenepe pam gelaepebeptan maeppe-ppeopte. "] heo peapS pr&5on
cfiipcen ppam him. -3 pel gelaepeb. •] jebybe ^ hipe punu paep
cpij-cenum mannum ppyfie holb ; • pe jepop mib pypbe on
Peppe. 3 opploh Pep pan heopa cymnj •. j^ptep pam he poplet
hip lip on CTDa^entptan J>sepe bypig \ •
XIX.
JEptep pam pe Romebuph jetimbpeb pa&p Dcccc. pmtpa j
Lxxxvi. penj OOaximmup to Romana anpealbe ]• pe bebeab
ept ^ man cpiptene men bpocube. 3 -p man fa goban GOam-
meam jemaptpobe. ~] ealle fa ppeoptap pe hipe pol^ebon. buton
Opigenep. he o^pleah on (Bgypte. •] GDaximinup opploh hip a^ene
ealbopman. on fam Spibban geape hip picep. on Squile^ia faepe
XX.
p pam pe Romebuph jetimbpeb paep Dcccc. pmtpa -j
xc. penj Eopbianup to pice, j hit haepbe vi. jeap ;. pe opploh
pa cpejen ^ebpo^po. pe aep GOaximinup opplojon. •] he pylp pa6e
XXI.
pam pe Romebuph getimbpeb paep Dcccc. pmtpa ^
xcvn. penj Philippup to Romana anpealbe. -j hine haepbe VH.
geap]- pe peaptS bijellice cpipten. poppon he eapunja ne
boppce;- On pam in. jeape hip picep hit ^epeap^. ppa hit
KING ALFBED'S
XVII.
After Eome had been built nine hundred and seventy years,
Marcus Aurelius succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans,
and had it four years. His own men slew him also, and his
mother with [him].
XVIII.
After Eome had been built nine hundred and seventy-four
years, Aurelius Alexander succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans, and had it sixteen years. And Mammaea, his good
mother, sent after Origen, that most learned mass-priest, and
she afterwards became a Christian through him, and well
instructed, and caused her son to be very kind to Christian
men. He went with an army against the Persians, and slew
Xerxes, their king. After that, he expired in the city of
Mentz.
XIX.
After Eome had been built nine hundred and eighty-six
years, Maximinus succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans.
He commanded that Christian men should be again perse-
cuted, and that the good Mammaea should be martyred,
and all the priests that followed her, except Origen, he fled
into Egypt. And Maximinus was slain by his own prefect,
in the third year of his reign, in the city of Aquileia.
XX.
After Eome had been built nine hundred and ninety years,
Gordian succeeded to the empire, and had it six years. He
slew the two brothers, who had before slain Maximinus, and
he himself died shortly after.
XXI.
After Eome had been built nine hundred and ninety-seven
years, Philip succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans, and
had it seven years. He was secretly a Christian, because
openly he durst not [be one]. In the third year of his reign,
490 KIITG ALFBED'S OKOSIITS.
Cob jej-cihtabe. -j) paej- ymb an <5uj*enb pintpa Jjsej- )>e Rome-
buph getimbpeb paej-. -p ae£5ep ge heopa capepe peapft cpij-cen.
je eac f hi J>a miclan jreopme Sigebon Epijrej- Sancej-. set ]>aef
carepej- palencj-an. J>e hi aap a&lce jeape ^ijebon sec heopa
beopoljylbum. $ paej- beojrla Sancef. ^SseC ealle Romana polban
ymb xn. monat5 bpin^an tojsebepe fone j-elejran bael heopa
joba ge^eapob to heopa jebloce. 3 heopa p8t5on feala pucena
aecja&bepe bpucan •. ^Ejrtep )>am Deciuj*. an pice man. be^pac
p one cap epe. y penj him p8$on to ]>am anpealbe | •
XXII.
J>am J?e Romebuph jetimbpeb paap M. pintpa } 1111.
penj Decmj* to Romana anpealbe. •] hine hsBjrbe in. jeap. ~|
pona jebybe fpeotol tacn •f he Philippuf sep bejypebe. mib )>am
f he het cpijrenpa manna ehtan. 3 manige jebybe to haljum
maptypum. y jefette hif pinu to J)am anpealbe to him. } pa^e
faej- hi pupbon bejen setfomne opflajen ; •
XXIII.
]>am }>e Romebuph getimbpeb paej- M. pintpa 3 vin.
Dalluj* Oj-tihanuf to pice. ^ hit ha&pbe tpa jeap : • Da
peapS ept Eobef ppacu on Rome, fpa lanje fpa feo ehtney paep
faepa cpijrenpa manna, j-pa lanje him un^emaethc man-cpealm
jetenge. f nan huj* naej- bmnan faepe bypig. -p hit naejrbe faspe
ppace an^olben '. • ^Ef tep )>am 6mihanuf offloh lialluf. ^
haejrbe him Jjone anpealb ; • Daef eac on ]?am Spibbon monSe
hine man opfloh ; •
XXIV.
jEptep ]>am ]>e Romebuph jetimbpeb pa&f M. pintpa j x. J>a
gepetcan Romana tpe^en caj-epaj* ;. OSep paep mib Gmilitum
J>am polce. Ualepianup pgej* haten. o^ep paej bmnan Rome
bypij. liallienuj- paej- haten;. Da fceolbon on pmbel beon
pmnenbe fasp hit ]>onne J>eapp psej- ; . Da bebubon hi be^en
cpijrenpa manna ehtnyfpe. ac hpaeblice on hi bejen becora
ALFBED'S OBOsius
it happened as God had ordained it, that was about a thou-
sand years from the time when Some was built, that both
their emperor was a Christian, and also that they celebrated,
in honour of Christ, at the emperor's palace, the great feast,
which they had previously celebrated every year at their
heathen festivities. It was in honour of devils, that all the
Eomans would, every twelfth month, bring together the
choicest part of their goods [provisions] prepared for their
sacrifice, and enjoy them together for many weeks after. After
that Decius, a powerful man, circumvented the emperor, and
afterwards succeeded to the dominion.
XXII.
After Eome had been built a thousand and four years,
Decius succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans, and had it
three years, and soon gave a manifest token that he had be-
fore been a traitor to Philip, when he commanded Christian
men to be persecuted, and many made holy martyrs ; and
established his own son in power with him ; and shortly after,
they were both slain together.
XXIII.
After Eome had been built a thousand and eight years,
Gallus Hostilianus succeeded to the empire, and had it two
years. Then was again God's vengeance on Eome : as long
as the persecution of Christian men was, so long did a wide-
spreading mortality weigh on them, so that there was no
house within the city that had not paid the penalty. After
that JEmilianus slew Gallus, and had the power to himself.
In the third month after, he also was slain.
XXIY.
After Eome had been built a thousand and ten years, the
Eomans established two emperors ; the one was with the
nation of the Ehaetians, who was called Valerian, the other
was within the city of Eome, who was called Gallienus.
These were to be ever warring where it was necessary. Then
both commanded a persecution of Christian men, but God's
492 KING ALFRED'S OBOSITJS.
liobep ppacu;. Ualepianup pop niib pypbe ongean Saphan.
Peppa cymnge. j paep jepanjen paep. 3 piSSon he paep Sapan pam
cynmje to pam gepett. oft hip lipep enbe. f he pceolbe ppa ope
ptupian. ppa he to hip hoppe polbe. 3 he ponne pe cynmj haepbe
hip hpic him to hlypon;. Dam oSpum Uralhanupe paepon
manije pole onpinnenbe. ^ he hip pice mib micelpe unpeop6-
neppe 3 mib micelpe uneaSnyppe jehaepbe ; . -iiEjiepc Eeap-
manie. \>e be Donua paepon. pophep^ebon Icaliam o5 Repennan
pa buph. ~} Spsepap pophepjobon ealle Ealliam. 3 Eotan opep-
hepjoban ealle Ijpiecon lanb. ~\ pa la&ppan Spiam. ^ Sepmenne
jenybbon ealle Datie ppam Romana anpealbe. ~\ punap pophep-
jobbn Pannomam. -] Papthe pophepjobon GOepopotamiam -j
ealle 8ipie*. To-eacon pam Romane haepbon jepinn becpuh
himpylpum;. ^Eptep pam Dallienup peap6 opplagen on GDe-
biolane 8*pe bypij. ppam hip ajenum mannum \ .
XXV.
pam J>e Romebuph jetimbpeb pa&p M. pmtpa -j xxv.
penj Qaubiup to Romana anpealbe;. Dy ilcan geape he
opeppan Dotan. •] hi abpap ut op Epeacum. 3 him Romana
jebybon anne jylbenne pcylb. paepe baebe to peopSmynte. ~\ ane
jylbenne anlicnyppe. j hen^on hi up on heopa Eapitohum ; .
Daep on J>am aeptpan jeape he gepop. j hip bpopop Quintillup
penj to pam anpealbe. •] psep on }»am xvn. bae^e he peap£
opplagen;.
XXVI.
J>am \e Romebuph jetimbpeb paep M. pmtpa 3 xxvn.
penj Supehanup to Romana anpealbe. 3 hme haepbe v. jeap 3
vi. monaft. 3 abpap Cotan be nopSan Donua. ^ |>anon pop on
Sipie. 3 hi gen^bbe ept to Romana anpealbe. ~] pi6Son he pop
on Callie. 3 opploh Tetpicum pone man. poppy pe he hi him
ceah to anpealbe ; . ^Eptep pam he bebeab cpiptenpa manna
ehtnyppe. j pa8e }>aep peapS opplajen ;.
KING ALFRED'S onosnj.sZ3p& 493
vengeance came speedily on them both. Valerian went with
an array against Sapor, king of Persia, and was there taken
prisoner ; and afterwards he was, till his life's end, appointed
for King Sapor, that he should stoop as often as he [Sapor]
would mount his horse, and he, the king, then had his back
to leap on. On the other, Gallienus, many nations made
war, so that he held his sway with great unworthiness and
great difficulty. First, the Germans, that were on the
Danube, ravaged Italy, as far as the city of Eavenna, and the
Suevi ravaged all Gaul, and the Goths overran all the land of
Greece, and the Lesser Asia, and the Sarmatians forced all
Dacia from the Eoman dominion, and the Huns ravaged
Pannonia, and the Parthians ravaged Mesopotamia and all
Syria. In addition to which, the Eomans had wars among
themselves. After that, Gallienus was slain in the city of
Milan by his own men.
XXV.
After Rome had been built a thousand and twenty-five
years, Claudius succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans.
In the same year he overcame the Goths, and drove them
out of Greece. And the Eomans made him a golden shield,
in honour of the deed, and a golden statue, and hung them
up in their Capitol. In the year after he died, and Quintillus,
his brother, succeeded to the empire, and on the seventeenth
day after he was slain.
XXVI.
After Eome had been built a thousand and twenty-seven
years, Aurelian succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans,
and had it five years and six months, and drove the Goths to
the north of the Danube, and thence proceeded to Syria,
and again reduced them to subjection to the Eomans ; and
afterwards he proceeded to Gaul, and slew the man Tetricus,
because he had drawn them under his power. After that he
commanded a persecution of Christian men, and was aooD
afterwards slain.
KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
XXVII.
JEpcep )>am ]>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep M. pincpa 3 xxxu.
pens Tacicup Co Romana anpealbe. 3 )>aep on 8am vi. monSe he
peapfo" opplajen on Ponco lanbe;. JSpcep ]>am Flopianup penj
co ]>am anpealbe. 3 paep opplajen paep on ]>am fpibban mouSe.
on Thapj-a )>am lanbe ;.
XXVIIL
JEjxep fam J>e Romebuph jecimbpeb p»r M. pmcpa 3 xxxiu.
jrenj Ppobuj- co Romana anpealbe. -3 hine ha&pbe vi. geap 3 iv.
monSaf. 3 he abybe punaf op Eallmm. •] heopjlohSacupninum.
J>e sepcep anpeaibe pan ; . ^Epcep ]?am he offloh Ppoculuf -j
Bonofuf . ]>a gypnbon eac sepceji }>am anpealbe ; . ^Epcep ]>am
he peapft fylp opflajen on Sypmie fsepe bune ;.
XXIX.
)>am pe Romebujih gecimbpeb p*f M. pmcpa 3 xxxix.
penj Eapup co Romana anpealbe. ~] hine ha&pbe cpa jeap. 3
jepeahc cpypa pit5 Papche. 3 geeobe heopa bupja cpa. J>a paepon
on Tijpif j-ca})e J?»pe ea;. RaSe faef hine opploh an 8unop.
3 hij* pinu Numepiamif penS co ^am anpealbe. 3 pafte ]?aef hme
opploh hij* ajen fpeop ;.
XXX.
J?am }>e Romebuph jecimbpeb paep M. pmcpa 3 xh,
penj Dioclecianuj* co Romana anpealbe. 3 hine ha&pbe xx. pm-
cpa;. pe gej-ecce unbep him gingpan capepe. GOaximup paep
hacen. 3 hine penbe on Gallic, popfon fe hi mphce haepbon
jepmn up-ahapen. ac he hi eaSelice opepcom ; . On paepe cibe
paepon Diocleciane Spy cymnjap on pmnenbe. Eapaupiup on
Bpeclanbe. Schileup on 6jypca lanbe. 3 Nappeup op Peppum ; •
Da jepecce he 111. capepap unbep him. an paep OOaximianup.
ooep Eonpcancmup, tJpibbe Uralepiup;. OOaximianup he penbe
KING ALFBED'S
XXVII.
Aft3r Rome had been built a thousand and thirty-two
rears, Tacitus succeeded to the dominion of the Romans,
and in the sixth month after, he was slain in the land of
Pontus. After that, Florianus succeeded to the dominion,
and was slain the third month after, in the land of Tarsus.
XXVIII.
After Rome had been built a thousand and thirty-three
years, Probus succeeded to the dominion of the Romans, and
had it six years and four months ; and he expelled the HunB
from Gaul, and he slew Saturninus, who was striving after
dominion. After that he slew Proculus and Bonosus, who
were also yearning after dominion. After that he was him-
self slain in the mountain of Sirmium.
XXIX.
After Rome had been built a thousand and thirty-nine
years, Cams succeeded to the dominion of the Romans, and
had it two years, and fought twice against the Parthians, and
took two of their cities, that were on the banks of the river
Tigris. Soon afterwards he was slain by thunder, and his
son, Numerian, succeeded to the dominion, and was soon after
slain by his own father-in-law.
XXX.
After Rome had been built a thousand and forty-one
years, Diocletian succeeded to the dominion of the Romans,
and had it twenty years. He set a younger emperor under
him, named Maximian, and sent him to Gaul ; because they
had newly raised up a war ; but he easily overcame them.
At that time there were three kings making war on Dio-
cletian : Carausius in Britain, Achilleus in Egypt, and Narsea
from Persia. Thereupon he appointed three Caesars under
him: one was Maximian, the second Constantius, the third
406
on Xpppice. } he opeppan heopa pifteppinnan • . Eonptantmuf
he penbe on I/allie. •] he opeppan !Mamanie •j) pole. 3 piftSan he
jeeobe Bpettaniam ty iglanb. ~] he pylp Dioclecianup pop on
6jypte. "J bepaet Hchileup ]>one cyninj vin. monSap. on Slex,
anbpiapa&pe bypij. 08 hine j>a buph-leobe him ajeapon. } piSSon
opephepgobe eaDe Gjypte ; . lialepiup he penbe on Peppe. j
jepeahc cpeopa piS Nappeup fone cynmj. -p heopa na^op naepbe
pi^e ; . JEc heopa Spibban gepeohce Halepiup peap8 jeplymeb.
D mib micelpe pyphcneppe com to Diocletiane. ac he hip apenj
mib micelpe unpypftneppe. -3 hine hec ypnan on hip ajenum
puppupan peala mila bepopan hip pab-paene ; . JEptep J?am ]>e
hip mob paep mib ]>am bipmpe ahpec. he pop epc on Peppe. -j hi
jeplymbe. j Nappeup jepenj. "j hip pip. j hip beapn. )>a onpenj
Dioclecianup Ealepiupe peopSpullice ; . Dioclecianup j GDaxi-
mianup bebubon ehcnyppe cpipcenpa manna. Dioclecianup eapc-
ene. °] ClOaximianup pepcene. ~] pop )>am jebobe pupbon peala
raapcypap on x. pintpum pyppce ; . Da gepeapS hi him be-
cpeonum -^ hi polban J?a anpealbap poplsetan. ~] ]>& puppujian
alec^an )>e hi pepebau. ~\ polbon heopa bagap on pepcneppe jeen-
bian. •] ^ ppa jelaepcan ; . Diocletianup gepaec on Nicomebia
paepe bypij. -3 CIDaximianup gepaet on OOebiolane faspe bypij. 3
lecan )>a anpealbap co Ealepiupe y to Eonptantmupe. ~\ hi hme
tobaelbon piS^on on tpa ; . Ijalepiup Illipice j bejeonbon |>am
fone eapt enbe. 3 )>one maeptan basl Sippep mibbanjeapbep. ~\
Eonptantmup nam ealle Italic, "j Spppicam. ^ Ippanie. j Dallie.
j Bpyttame. ac he paep hpon jypiienbe J'Jppa populb-^m^a 3
micelpa anpealba. } popfam he poplet hip ajenum pillan Ita-
liam ^ Spppicam to fjalepiupe;. Da jepette Eialepiup tpejen
cynmjap unbep him. otSep paep haten Seuepup. ]?am he gepealbe
Italiam ^ ?fpppicam. 3 ODaximinup he gepette on fa eaptlanb ;.
On J>am bajum com Eonptantmup. pe milbheoptepta man.
J pop on Bpyttame. 3 J»aep jepop. j gepealbe hip puna ^
pice. Eonptancmupe. pone he ha&pbe be 61enan hip pipe ; . Da
polbe OOaxentiup. OOaximianup punu. habban J>one anpealb on
Italiam ; .
Da penbe Ealepiup him ongean Seuepup mib pypbe. J>e him
re anpealb asp gepealb paep. "j he faep beppicen peapS ppann hip
ajenum mannum. 3 opplajen neah Rapenna J>»pe bypij : • Da
KING ALFBED'S cmosiusIH t&& 497
Galerius. Maximian he sent to Africa, and he overcame
their adversaries. Constantius he sent to Gaul, and he over-
came the nation of the Alamanni, and afterwards he conquered
the island of Britain. And he himself, Diocletian, went to
Egypt, and besieged the king Achilleus eight months, in the
city of Alexandria, until the inhabitants delivered him up,
and afterwards ravaged all Egypt. Galerius he sent to
Persia, who fought twice against Narses, the king, so that
neither of them had victory. In the third battle, Galerius
was put to flight, and in great fear came to Diocletian ; but
he received him with great indignity, and commanded him
to run in his own purple many miles before his chariot.
After his courage had been whetted by that disgrace, he
proceeded again to Persia, and put them to flight, and took
Narses prisoner, and his wives and children: thereupon
Diocletian received Galerius honourably. Diocletian and
Maximian ordered a persecution of Christian men, Diocletian
in the east, and Maximian in the west ; and, in consequence
of that decree, there were many martyrs for a space of ten
years. Then they agreed between themselves that they
would abandon their powers, and lay aside the purple that
they wore, and would end their days in tranquillity ; and
they did so. Diocletian settled in the city of Nicomedia,
and Maximian settled in the city of Milan, and [they] left
their power to Galerius and to Constantius ; and they after-
wards divided it in two. Galerius [had] Illyricum, and be-
yond that the east end, and the greater part of this earth.
And Constantius took all Italy, and Africa, and Spain, and
Gaul, and Britain ; but he was little desirous of these worldly
things and of great powers, and, therefore, he resigned, of
his own will, Italy and Africa to Galerius. Galerius, there-
upon, appointed two kings under him, one was named
Severus, to whom he gave Italy and Africa ; and Maximinus
he placed in the east lands. In those days came Constantius,
the most kind-hearted man, and proceeded to Britain, and
there departed [this life], and gave the empire to his son,
Constantine, whom he had by Helena his wife. Maxentius,
then, the son of Maximian us, would have the power in Italy.
Thereupon Galerius sent Severus against him with an
army, to whom the government had already been given, and
he was there betrayed by his own men, and slain near the
2 K
498 KING ALFEED'S OBOSITTS.
GOaximianup genhpobe ^ hip punu pens to pam anpealbe. he ]>a
hpaebhce poplet ]>a buph. ]?e he on jepeten paep. •} pohte hip
punu to beppicanne. 3 piSSon pon co 8am anpealbe. ac ]>a hit pe
punu ap.unbe. )>a abpaepbe he })one paebep. 3 he pleah on Eiallie,
1 polbe Eonptantmup beppican. hip ajnim. -3 habban him ^ pice,
ac hit onpunbe hip bohtop. 3 hit Eonptantmupe jepaebe. 'j he
hine geplymbe pi^^on on ODappiham. •] he J»gep opplagen peaptJ ; •
Da gepealbe Ealepiup Licmiupe Italiam •] ISpppicam. 3 he het
ealle ]>a cpiptenan. ]>e J>aep betpte paepon. jebpmjan on elfteobe ;•
^Eptep ]>am he peapS on micelpe untpumneppe. j him to jehet
mani^e laeceap. -j hypa nan him ne mihte beon on nanum gobe.
ac him ps&be hypa an. ^ hit paepe Eobep ppacu ; • Da het he
•p man J>a cpiptenan men ept gebpohte on hypa eajibe. aelcne
jjaep he asp paep. ppa-]?eah he gepop on faepe mettpymneppe. -j
Licmiup penj to ]?am anpealbe;. ^Eptep J»am peapS gepm
betpuh Eonptantmupe ^j GOaxentmpe. 3 paSe faep Eonptantinuj-
opploh ODaxentmp binnan Rome, a&t faejie bpycg )>e man OOul-
ump haet ; • On ]>am bagum GOaximinup bebeab cpiptenpa
manna ehtnyppe. 3 pa6e ))8ep jepop on Thappa J>aepe bypij;.
On fam bajum Licmmp bebeab -f nan cpipten man ne come
on hip hipebe. ne on hip paepelbe. ~\ paSe J?aep peaptS jepm
betpeoh him ^ betpeoh Eonptantmupe. -j optpaeblice jepeohc.
otS Eonptantinup jepenj Licmiup. -3 hine pi$6onhet beheapbian.
~) piS^on penj to eallum Romana anpealbe ; . On J>am bajum
Sppiup pe maeppe-ppeopt peapS on gebpolan ymbe |>one pihtan
jeleapon. ymbe ]?one teonan paep jejabepob fpeo hunbpeb
bipceopa^j ehtatyne. hine to opepphtenne ~] to amanpumianne ;•
On ]>am bajum Eonptantinup opj-loh Epippum hip punu. -3 Li-
cmium hip ppeoptoyi-punu. ty nan man nypte hpaet pe "gylz paep
buton him anum | • ^Eptep ]?am he unbepfeobbe him j*ylpum
mamje ]>eoba. fe aep paepan Romane unjepylbe. 3 het atim-
bpian ane buph on Epecum. ^ het hi be him hatan Eonptan-
tmopolim ',• pe het aepept manna ^ man cypiceantimbpebe.
1 $ man beluce aelc beopoiljylb-hup : • pe gepop ymb an -3
Spittij pintpa paep ]>e he pice haepbe. on anum tune neali Ni-
comebia paepe bypij ;•
KING- ALFEED'S OROSiusJ*0 499
City of Ravenna. When Maximiaii was informed that his
son had succeeded to the government, he speedily left the
city in which he was seated, and thought to circumvent his
son, and afterwards succeed to the government ; but when
his son found that, he drove away his father, and he fled
into G-aul, and would circumvent Constantine, his son-in-
law, and have the empire to himself ; but his daughter disco-
vered it, and told it to Constantine, and he afterwards drove
him to Marseilles, and he was there slain. Then G-alerius
gave Italy and Africa to Licinius, and he commanded all the
Christians, who were there the best, to be sent into exile.
After that he fell into a great sickness, and ordered to him
many physicians ; and none of them could be of any
good to nim; but one of them said to him that it was
G-od's vengeance. Thereupon he commanded that the
Christian men should be brought again to their own country,
each to where he had been before. Nevertheless, he died of
that sickness, and Licinius succeeded to the dominion.
After that, there was war between Constantine and Maxen-
tius ; and shortly after, Constantine slew Maxentius within
Kome, at the bridge called the Milvian. In those days
Maximinus commanded a persecution of Christian men, and
shortly after died in the city of Tarsus. In those days
Licinius commanded that no Christian man should come into
his family nor in his retinue ; and shortly after, there was
war between him and Constantine, and frequent battles,
until Constantine took Licinius prisoner, and afterwards
ordered him to be beheaded, and then succeeded to the whole
Eoman empire. In those days, Arius, the mass-priest, fell
into error concerning the right belief. In consequence of
that crime, there were assembled three hundred and eighteen
bishops, to confute and excommunicate him. In those days
Constantine slew his son, Crispus, and Licinius, his sister's
son, so that no one knew what their sin was, save him alone.
After that he subjected to himself many nations, that before
were unsubdued by the Romans ; and commanded a city to
be built in Greece, and commanded it to be named from him-
self, Constantinople. He first of men commanded churches
to be built, and that every heathen temple should be closed
He died thirty-one years after he had the empire, in a villa
near the city of Nicomedia.
2K2
600 KING AT-FHED'S OBOSIUS.
XXXI.
pam pe Romebuph jecimbpeb pa&p M. pmtpa ~] xci.
Eonpcanciur co pam anpealbe mib hip tpam bpoftpum.
Eonj-cantme 3 Eonpcance. •] he Eonpcancmp haepbe xxm.
pincpa ; . PI pupbon ealle pa ^ebpoftpu on pam Xpianipcan
^ebpolan ; • Eonptancmup 3 Eonpcanp punnon him becpeoiram. oft
Eonp cancinup peapS opplajen ; • ^Ef cep pam GOajnencrap opploh
Eonpcanp. •] penj him co J?am pice, j^aec paef Ealliam -3 Icaliam ; .
On J?am bajum Illipice ^ej-eccan Uecepomonem J>one man to
hypa anpealbe. co fon ty hi fitSt5on mihcon pmnan pift GOagnen-
cmj-e. •] hi mne nybbon to leopnunja. ]>eah he jepmcpab paepe.
ac Eonj-cancm]- hme benaembe ae^^ep je ]>&]• anpealbej-. ge
paepe puppupan J>e he pepebe. je faepe j-cole )>e he on leop-
nobe> JEf cep J?am he jepeaht pi$ ClOajnencmfe. •] hme je-
flymbe. •] bebpap into Lucchma paepe bypij. ~] he hme jylpne
j-jSSon ojrj-cicobe> jEpep pam EonjTanciuf jefecce lulianup
co cafepe unbep him. fe paef aep Co biacone jehal^ob. ~$ fenbe
hme on Gallic mib jypbe. ~] he hpaeblice opeppan ealle pa pe on
Eallie punnon. y paef aepcep t5aepe baebe ]ja, up-ahajren. ^ he
polbe ealne Romana anpealb him jeajman. •] mib pypbe paep
fapenbe paep Eonp cancmj- paej- mib ot5epe Fypbe piS Pajiche ; •
Da he f jeahj-obe. ~] him onjean-peapb paef . pa jepp he on
]>am paepelbe ; •
Snb lulianuf penj co pam anpealbe. 3 hme haefbe an jeap
rj eahca mon^ar:- Da paef he pona jeopttpill f he polbe
bijolice pone cpifcenbom onpenban. ~) fopbeab openhce •}) man
nane jraej-ce-boc ne leopnobe. 3 paebe eac ty nan cpipcen man
ne mofce habban naenne hif unbep-poljoSa. ^ hi mib pam
pohce bej-pican ; . Sc ealle hi paepon paep pojibef. fpa pe hie
epc-rec^an jeh^pbon. cpaeS Oporiur. f him leoppe paej- re
cpij'cenbom co bejanne. ponne hif f cipa co haebbenne ; .
JSpcep pam he ^ejabepobe pypbe. 3 polbe jrapan on Pepfe. 3
bebeab ponne he epc paepe eajrene hampeapb. -p man haepbe
ampiceacpum jepophc aec piepuj-alem. f he mihce Irobef
peopaj- on bon. f hi beop paepmne abican;. Sc Eob ^eppaec
on pam pgepelbe fpit5e jebap enlice on pain apleapan men hif ap-
leapa jepohc. mib pam ^ hme jemicce an man. pa he pop ppam
Ecepphonce paeye bypij. jelicojT pam pe he plyma paepe. j
KING ALFRED'S onosius.*SXi3/ 501
XXXI.
After Rome had been built a thousand and ninety-one
^ears, Constantius succeeded to the empire, with his two
Brothers, Constantine and Constans, and he, Constantius,
ladit twenty-three years. All the brothers were of the
irian heresy. Constantine and Constans made war on each
ther, until Constantine was slain. After that, Magnentius
lew Constans, and succeeded to the empire, that is, of Gaul
ind Italy. In those days the Illyrians set up the man
^etranio to govern them, that they might make war on Mag-
nentius ; and they forced him to learning, although he was
full of years. But Constantius deprived him of the power,
and of the purple that he wore, and of the school in which
he learned. After that he [Constantius] fought against
Magnentius, and put him to flight, and drove him into the
city of Lyons; and he [Magnentius] afterwards stabbed
himself. After that, Constantius appointed Julian to be
Caesar under him, who had before been consecrated a deacon,
and sent him into Graul with an army ; and he speedily over-
came all those who were making war on Gaul ; and was, after
that deed, so uplifted, that he would appropriate to himself
all the Bom an power, and went with an army to where
Constantius was with another army against the Parthians.
When he [Constantius] was informed of that, and was pro-
ceeding against him, he died on the march.
And Julian succeeded to the dominion, and had it one year
and eight months. Then was he soon desirous of secretly
subverting Christianity, and openly forbade any man to learn
the fast-book ; and said also, that no Christian man should
have any of his under-offices, and thereby thought to overreach
them. 'But they were all of the resolution, as we have heard
it repeated, says Orosius, that they would rather cultivate
Christianity than have his provinces. After that he gathered
an army, and would proceed to Persia, and commanded, that
when from the east he was again on his way homewards, an
amphitheatre should be built at Jerusalem, that he might put
into it God's servants, that wild beasts might devour them
therein. But in that expedition God very fittingly avenged on
that base man his base intention, when a man met him, as he
came from the city of Ctesipbon, exactly as though he were a
502 KING ALFRED'S OROSIUS,
him psebe. •}> he hme mihte laeban Supuh ty pepten. f he on
Pepp e on ungeapupe become ' . 'Kc fa he hme to-mibbep f a&p
peptenep haepbe gelaebb. fa jeppac he him. ^ nan man nypte
fsep pa&pelbep hpap he com. ac popan hpeappienbe geonb ^
pepten. ty he nypte hpap he ut pceolbe. oS f aep polcep pa&p fela
poppopben. aejSep je pop fuppce je eac pop hunjpe;. Da
com him ongean an uncuS man. 3 opploh lulianup ).
XXXII.
)?am fe Romebuph jecimbpeb psep M. pintpa •] an
hunb ~\ xvn. penj loumianup to Romana anpealbe'. pine
man jeceap on Sam pepcenne. fy ilcan ba&ge ]>e man lulianup
oppcanj * . pe jepealbe Pejipum Nippbi J?a buph. ^ healpe
OOepopocamiam ty lanb. pit5 fam •}> hi mopcan op ]>am lanbe
bucon la^e ;. On Sam vin. monSe J)8&p J»e he to Sam anpealbe
penj. he polbe papan on Illipice. fa paep he pume niht on
anum mp-cilctan hupe. fa het he betan fsepinne micel pyp.
popfon hit pa&p cealb pebep. fa ongan pe cealc mib ungemete
ptmcan. fa peapS louimanup mib fam bpsefe oppmopob;.
XXXIII.
fam fe Romebuph getimbpeb psep M. pintpa 3 an
hunb 3 xvm. pen^ Ualentimanup to Romana anpealbe. ~] hme
hsepbe xi. SeaP- ^e psep sepfam lulianupep cempena ealbop-
man;. pe him bebeab ty he poplete fone hip cpiptenbom.
oSSe hip pol^oS. fa paep him leoppe f he poplete hip polgoS.
f onne fone cpiptenbom ; . Sc him ^epylpte Ik>b ept to ma-
pan ape. fa he fa laeppan pop hip lupe poplet. ^ he f a&p ilcan
picep ahte gepealb. f e hip piSeppmna sep ahte ; . RaSe f s&p he
^epealbe Ualente. hip bpeSep. healp hip pice. -) he het opplean
Pepcopmp f e fa picpian polbe. ~] manije oSpe mib him * .
Ualenp pa&p jelaepeb ppam anum Sppiampco bipceope. Guboxuf
paep haten. ac he hit hael ppiSe paepte piS hip bpoSop. popfon
he pipte. $ he hit on him ppecan polbe. gip he onpinbe f he
KING ALFRED'S OROSIITS. Ju ,3»,SV 503
fugitive, and said to him, that he could lead him through the
waste, so that he might come on the Persians unawares. But
when he had led him to the middle of the waste, he deceived
him, so that no man knew where he was on his way ; but they
went wandering about the waste, so that he knew not where
they should come out ; until many of the army perished, both
from thirst and also from hunger. Then there met them an
unknown man, and slew Julian.
XXXII.
After Rome had been built a thousand and one hundred
and seventeen years, Jovian succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans. He was chosen in the waste on the same day that
Julian was slain. He gave the city of Nisibis to the Persians,
and half the land of Mesopotamia, on condition that they
might depart from the country without molestation. In the
eighth month after he had succeeded to the empire, he would
proceed to Illyricum : there he was one night in a newly-
cemented house, when he ordered a large fire to be made in
it, because it was cold weather. Then the chalk began to
stink immoderately, when Jovian was smothered by the
vapour.
XXXIII.
After Eome had been built a thousand and one hundred
and eighteen years, Valentinian succeeded to the dominion
of the Eomans, and had it eleven years. He had previously
been a tribune of Julian's soldiers. He [Julian] commanded
him to renounce his Christianity or his service, and he pre-
ferred to renounce his service than his Christianity. But God
aided him after to greater honour, when he had renounced the
less for love of Him, so that he gained possession of the same
empire that his adversary had previously possessed. Shortly
after, he gave to Valens, his brother, half his empire ; and he
commanded Procopius to be slain, who would rule there, and
many others with him. Valens had been instructed by an
Arian bishop, named Eudoxius ; but he concealed it very
strictly from his brother ; because he knew that he would
avenge it on him, if he found out that he was of another be-
504 KING ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
on oSpum geleapon paepe. on oftpum he pylp paep. popfon he
pipce hu paepcmob he paep aep on hip geleapon. fa he laeppan
anpealb haepbe;- On fam ilcan geape Urobenpic. Irotena
cymng. gebybe peala maptypa on hip f eobe cpiptenpa manna ;.
On fam bagum Ualentimanup genybbe ept fa Seaxan to hypa
agenum lanbe. J>a hi polbon pmnan piS Romana. fa paepon
eapbpaepce neah |>am jappecje ; . Snb Bupjenbum he geftypbe
eac. ty hi on fiallie ne punnon*. CDib fam J>e him paep
ppiSopc jeptypeb. •p him man genet pulluht;- On fam xi.
jeape hip picep Sepmenne hepjobon on Pannomam. fa he
fybeppeapb paep mib pypbe. fa gepop he on blobpyne ; .
XXXIV.
JEpcep fam fe Romebujih gecimbpeb paep M. pintpa "] C. "3
xxix. peng Ualenp. Ualencmianupep bpo^op. to Romana an-
pealbe. j Cpatianup. Ualentmianupep punu. penj to Italia an-
pealbe. j to Ijallia. ^ to Ippania unbep Ualenpe * . pe f a
Ualenp oSypbe openlice ^ he aep bijelice %ehjb haepbe. ]-pa f
he bebeab ^ munucap. fe populbhce fmj popjan pceolban. 3
paepna gepeoht. ^ hi paepna namon. ^ mib fam puhton. ~] ypel
bybon mib oSpum mannum. *] penbe on Gjypte 'j het topyppan
ealle fa munuc-hp f e hip bpo^5op aep geptaf elobe. -3 pume fa
munucap he het opplean. pume on elfeobe popbpipon*. On
fam bagum Fipmup paep haten pum man on Spppicum. pe paep
faep pilmenbe faep anpealbep;. Da penbe Ualenp fybep
Theobopiup hip ealbopman mib pypbe. faep joban Theobopiupep
paebep. fe ept paep capepe;. On fam paepelbe Fipmup paep
jepanjen 3 popS-jelaebeb to pleanne. fa baeb he pylp f aet hine
man aep gepullobe. -j f a he gepullob paep. he paep Supuh faep
maeppe-ppeoptep lape. f e hme pullobe. on ppa pullan jeleapon
heopon-picep. ^ he cpaeS to fam poke. DoS nu ppa ge pillan. 3
him pylp leat popft. -p him man aploh f heapob op. 3 peap8
Epipcep maptip ; . On fam bagum Epatianup jepeaht on
Eiallium pi^ Slamanne fam polce. 3 hypa pela M. opploh \- On
]>am Spibban geape hip picep. fa he ^ maepte poh bybe pi^5 fa
liobep f eopap. fa abpipon hme Eotan ut op hyjia eapbe. } hi
KING ALFKED'S ottosius5*r^?T""i 505
lief than that of which he himself was ; because he knew how
steadfast he had previously been in his faith, when he had
less power. In the same year, Athanaric, king of the Goths,
made many martyrs of Christian men among his people. In
those days, Valentinian forced the Saxons back into their
own land, when they would war against the Eomans. They
were inhabiting near the ocean. The Burgundians also he
prevented from warring against the Gauls. What chiefly
restrained them was, that they were promised baptism. In
the eleventh year of his reign, the Sarmatians ravaged
Pannonia. "When he was [marching] thitherward with an
army, he died of an effusion of blood.
XXXIV.
After Eome had been built a thousand and one hundred
and twenty-nine years, Valens, the brother of Valentiniau,
succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans, and Gratian,
the son of Yalentinian, succeeded to the dominion in Italy,
in Gaul, and in Spain, under Valens. He then, Valens,
showed openly what he had before secretly hidden, so that
he commanded that monks, who should renounce worldly
things and strife of weapons, should take arms and fight with
them, and do evil with other men. And he sent to Egypt,
and commanded all the monasteries to be destroyed that
his brother had before founded. And some of the monks
he commanded to be slain, some driven into exile. In those
days there was a man in Africa, named Firmus, who was
there desirous of dominion. Thereupon Valens sent thither
his count, Theodosius, with an army, the father of the good
Theodosius, who aiterwards was emperor. In that expedi-
tion, Firmus was taken, and led forth to be slain, when he
himself prayed that he might first be baptized. When he had
been baptized, he was, through the instruction of the mass-
priest, who had baptized him, in such full belief of the king-
dom of heaven, that he said to the people : " Do now as ye
will," and bowed forward to them, so that his head was struck
off: and he was Christ's martyr. In those days Gratian
fought in Gaul against the Alamannic nation, and slew many
thousands of them. In the third year of his reign, when he
was doing the greatest wrong to God's servants, the Gotha
506 KIKG ALFRED'S OEOSIUS.
popon piSSon opep Donua pa ea on Ualenpep pice. 3 pilnoban
co him. ^ hi mopcan on hip pice mib pprSe jepccan * • Da
opephogobe he ty he him aSep bybe. o83e pypnbe. oSSe cipobe.
ac In lee pecan paep paep hi polbon ; . kc hip gepepan 3 hif
ealbopmen nybban hi aepcep gapule. ~] micel jeplic haepbon
ymb f . 08 fa Eocan hi mib jepeohce jeplymbon ;. Da Ualenp
f geahpobe on Xnciochia fgepe bypij. }m peapft he fpitSe papij.
^ jefohce hip mifbseba. hu hi hme baeban pihcep jeleapan ^j
pullpihcef ba&Sej'. ~] he him penbe Sppienipce bipceopap co
lapeopum ~] jebpolmen. ppa he pylp pasp. j hps&c he haepbe
Gobej- feopum on opcp^ap co lafte jebon ; . pec peah penban
aepcep. faep he aenne hbbenbene pipce. peah he ^ lace bybe. ^
him pSSon hec jeapian;. On )>am peop^5an jeape hip picep
he peahc piS Cocan. j geplymeb peaptJ. y bebpipen on aenne
cun. •] peapS on anum hupe popbaepneb;. Daep paep ppiSe
pihc bom jeenbob. ^ hi pone populbhce popba&pnbon. ]>e hi
pohce baepnan on ecnyppe;.
XXXV.
]>am he Romebuph jecimbpeb paep M. pincpa ^ c. 3
xxxin. penj Ijpacianup Co Romana anpealbe. •] hme haepbe vi.
jeap. ~} jepecce Theobopiup him co jnilcume. fopfon him
je]>uhce ^ ]>a J>eoba ]?e hypa jepmnan paepon. paepon co ppifte
jepcpanjobe. ^ hi man leng ne mihce mib gepeohcum opep-
ppiSan ;. Sc Theobopiup jenam ppiS pit5 hi. -3 on faepe pibbe he
laebbe kchanapicup hipa cymnj mib him Co Eonpcancmopolim
j?aepe bypij. 3 J)aep pa^e paep hip lip geenbobe ; • RaSe paep pe
Cocan onjeacan hu job Theobopiup paep. ae£5ep je hi. je ealle
peoba pe on SciftSium paepon. gecupon hip ppi^ ; . On pam
bagum jecupon Bpyccanme GOaximianup him co capepe. opep
hip pillan. pe paepe pypSe ealpa Romana anpealba. pop hip
maemjpealbum buguSum. bucon ^ he pa pi$ hip hlapopb pann
pop oSpa manna lape. y paSe paep he pop on liallie. ~] tpa-
cianup opploh. ~] Ualencmianup hip bpot5op he ab/iap uc o*,
Icaliam. j> he o^pleah co Theobopmpe ;•
507
drove him out of their country ; and they afterwards passed
over the river Danube into Valens' realm, and desired of him
that they might settle in his realm in peace. Thereupon he
disdained to do the one or the other, either to refuse or per-
mit, but let them settle where they would. But his prefects
and officials sued them for tribute, and they had great conten-
tion on that account, until the Goths, in a battle, put them
to flight. "When Valens was informed of that in the city of
Antioch, he was very sorry, and thought of his misdeeds, how
they had prayed him for right belief and the bath of baptism,
and he had sent them Arian bishops and heretics (as he him-
self was) as teachers, and what he, on frequent occasions, had
done to the injury of God's servants. Then, wherever he
knew one to be living, he commanded him to be sent for ;
although he did it late, and afterwards commanded him to be
honoured. In the fourth year of his reign, he fought against
the Goths, and was put to flight, and driven into a village,
and was burnt in a house. There was a righteous doom com-
pleted, when they burnt him in worldly fashion, who thought
to burn them eternally.
XXXV.
After Borne had been built a thousand and one hundred
and thirty-three years, Gratian succeeded to the dominion of
the Eomans, and had it six years, and appointed Theodosius
to aid him ; because it seemed to him that the nations that
were their adversaries, were grown too strong to be longer
overcome by wars. But Theodosius made peace with them,
and, during that peace, he led Athanaric, their king, with him
to the city of Constantinople, and shortly after he [Athan-
aric] there ended his life. As soon as the Goths knew how
good Theodosius was, both they and all the nations that were
in Scythia, chose peace with him. In those days, the Britons
chose Maximus for their emperor, against his will, who was
worthy of the rule of all the Eomans, for his manifold vir-
tues, excepting that he warred against his lord, at the insti-
gation of other men : and shortly after, he proceeded to Gaul,
and slew Gratian, and drove his brother, Valentinian, out of
Italy, so that he fled to Theodosius.
508 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITJS.
XXXVI.
fam f e Romebuph getimbpeb paep M. pintpa 3 c. 3
xxxvin. peng Theobopiup to Romana anpealbe. -3 hme haepbe xi.
geap. he haepbe vi. geapum aep anpealb opep fa eapt-baelap ;.
pe fa Theobopiup paep Sencenbe hu he Dpatianup hip hlapopb
geppecan mihte. ~\ eac hip bpoftop on fam anpealbe jebpmjan.
•3 pypbe jelaebbe on Italia. faep OOaximup mib pypbe abab aec
Squilepa faepe bypig. 3 hip ealbopmen SnbpajaSie haepbe
beboben }>a clupan to healbenne ; . Sc pe ealbopman hi be-
ta&hte lij)pum mannum to healbenne. "j pohce him pylp on pci-
pum to papenne eapt-ymbutan. 3 J?onne beptelan on Theobopiup
hinban ; . Sc mib fam J?e he ppam J>aepe clupan apapen paep
piS ]>apa pcipa. )>a com Theobopiup ]?septo. 3 punbe faepset
peapa manna, fa paepon ypele -3 eap^e. -3 he hi pa^e apej
afypbe. "3 fa clupan tobpaec. "3 pi^Son pop opep $a muntap. oS
he com to Squilegia. -3 ODaximup op]loh ; . Da -^ pe ealbopman
gehypbe. ba abpencte he hme pylpne ; . pu yt5ehce Ijob geen-
bobe ^ mycle jepin. mib hypa tpe^pa pylle. fe GOaximup j hip
ealbopman haepbon up-ahapen mib manejum 8eobum ; .
^Eptep fam penj ept Ualentimanup to hip pice, j fa&p ymb
tpa jeap. fe he on Urallium com. hme oppmopobe Spbogaepcep
hip ealbopman. -3 hme pit58on mib papum be fam ppeopan up-
ahenj. gelicopt f am f e he hme pylpne unpitenbe haapbe apipjeb.
•3 jepette Bujemup to f aep picep naman. •}> he capepe paspe. ^
penj him pylp to fam anpealbe. popfam he ne mihte pylp hab-
ban faep anpealbep naman. popfy he naep Romampc. ac laepbe
f one o^epne $ he beopuljylb jeopne beeobe ; . Da gelsebbe
epc Theobopiup pypbe pi8 him tpam. to faspe ilcan clupan fe
he aep haepbe pi^ GOaximup ; . Da penbe Theobopiup Cotena
pultum bepopan him. f hi fa clupan tobpa&con. ac hi pupbon
ucon-ymbpapen op fam muntum. "3 ealle opplajen. faet paepon
x. M. ;. Da pop Theobopiup fybeppeapb. -3 pipte f hme man
polbe mib fam ilcan ppence bef pibian ; . Da hi tojaebepepeapb
popan. fa f ohtan 6ugemup "3 Spbo^aeptep. ty hi pceolban aepept
op fam muntum hi gebigean mib heopa plana jepceocum. ac
aelc com ofep f apa. ofifte on hi pylpe oSfie on fa eop^an. 3
Theobopiup haepbe f one pmb raib him. ^ hip pulcum miht«
509
XXXVI.
After Rome had been built a thousand and one hundred
and thirty-eight years, Theodosius succeeded to the dominion
of the Eomans, and had it eleven years. He had six years
before had the dominion of the east parts. He then, Theo-
dosius, was thinking how he could avenge his lord, Gratian,
and also bring his brother to power ; and led an army to
Italy, where Maximus was staying with an army, at the city
of Aquileia, and had commanded his general, Andragathius,
to hold the pass. But the general committed the holding
of it to inert men, and resolved with himself to go east-
about with ships, and steal on Theodosius's rear. But when
he had marched from the pass towards the ships, Theodo-
sius came thereto, and found thereat few men, who were bad
and slothful, and he speedily routed them and forced the
pass, and then marched over the mountains, until he came
to Aquileia, and slew Maximus. When the general heard
that, he drowned himself. How easily G-od ended that great
war, by the fall of them both, which Maximus and his general
had raised up with many nations !
After that, Valentinian again succeeded to his empire, and
two years after, when he came into Gaul, Arbogastes, his
officer, smothered him, and afterwards hung him up by the
neck with ropes, as if he had voluntarily strangled himself;
and placed Eugenius to be emperor with the name of the
sovereignty, and he himself succeeded to the power, because
he could not himself have the name of the [supreme] power,
in consequence of not being a Eoman ; but taught the other
to be a zealous worshiper of idols. Thereupon Theodosius
led an army against them both, to the same pass that he
had formerly gained against Maximus. Theodosius then sent
a force of Goths before him to take the pass, but they were
surrounded from the mountains and all slain : they were ten
thousand. Thereupon Theodosius marched thitherward, and
knew that they would circumvent him by the same artifice.
When they were in face of each other, Eugenius and Arbo-
gastes thought they could drive them from the mountains
with the shootings of their arrows ; but every one came either
on themselves or on the earth ; and Theodosius had the wind
510 KING ALFRED'S OEOSITTS.
maepcne aelcne heopa plana on heopa peonbum apaeptnian;.
Daep peapft (Bugeniup opplagen. 3 Xpbojaepcep oppcanj hme
fylpne ; . jEpcep pam Theobop nip pop on Icalie. 3 pa he com
co GOaegelange paepe bypig. pa jeenbobe he hip lip. 3 becaehce
hip cpam punum pone anpealb ; .
XXXVII.
pam pe Romebuph jecimbpeb paep M. pmcpa J C. 3
xlix. peng !Spchabiup co anpealbe co Sam eapc-baele. ~] hme
haepbe xn. jeap. 3 ponopiup co }?am pepc-baele. j nu jic haejr6.
cpa&S Opopmp * .
Snb poppam pe hi jeonje paepon. he hi becaehce hip cpam
ealbopmannum co bepicanne.'!Spchabiup pa&p becaehc Rupmupe.
~] ponopiup paep becaehc Scilecan ; . Sc hi gecy^bon pa<5e
paep hpilce hlapopb-hylbo hi J>ohcon co cy^anne on heopa ealb
hlapopbep beapnum. jip hi hie J>ujihceon mihcon> Rupmup
polbe habban him pylp pone anpealb J»aep eapc. ~] Scileca polbe
pyllan hip puna pipne hep pepc ; . Snb pop J>am peonbpcipe he
poplec liocan on Icalie. mib heopa cpam cynmgum. Slpican •]
Raebgocan. -j pohce piSSon ^ pole opeppunben paepe. f hi
pi^t5on polbon call ty he polbe. •] penbe eac f he pam Cocan paep
gepmnep mihce pat5e gepcypan. poppam he op heopa lanbe je-
bopenpaep*.. Ra^e paep fflapica peapS cpipcen. -3 Raebjoca
haeften puphpunobe. ^ baejhpamlice paep blocenbe beopuljylbum
mib manphhcum. *] pimle him paep leopopc. ^ pa paepon Ro-
mampce>
Nu gic eop Romane maej jepcamian. cpaeft Opopmp. f je
ppa heanhc jepohc pceolbon on eop jeniman. pop anep mannep
eje. ~] pop anep mannep jebloce. pe je paeban f pa haeSenan
Ciba paepon becejian ponne pa cpipcenan. 3 eac ^ eop pylpum
paepe becepe f 56 eopepne cpipcenbom poplecon. ~$ Co pam
haeftempcean peapum penjan. pe eoppe ylbpan aep beeobon \ •
De majon eac je^encean hu hean he epc peapS hip jebloca ^
hip beopuljylba. pe he on lypbe. papa je hme gebunbenne haep-
ban "j hme pit5Son acujon ppa ppa ge polbon. ~] ealne hip pulcum.
paec paep. ppa ppa ge pylpe paebon. cpa hunbpeb pupenb. ppa eopep
naa ne
ALFRED'S OBOsnjsB^36>f 3^ -511
with him, so that his force could fasten almost every cne of
their arrows on their enemies. There was Eugenius slain,
and Arbogastes stabbed himself. After that, Theodosius
proceeded to Italy, and when he caine to the city of Milan,
he ended his life, and committed the power to his two sons.
XXXVII.
After Borne had been built a thousand and one hundred
and forty-nine years, Arcadius succeeded to the dominion of
the east part, and had it twelve years ; and Honorius to the
west part, and yet has it, says Orosius.
And because they were young, he [Theodosius] committed
them to the guardianship of his two officers : Arcadius was
committed to Bufiims, and Honorius was committed to
Stilicho. But they soon after made manifest what lordly
homage they intended to pay to the children of their old
master, if they could accomplish it. Bufinus would have for
himself the dominion of fhe east, and Stilicho would give his
son that of the west. And in consequence of this enmity, he
let the Goths remain in Italy, with their two kings, Alaric
and Bhadagaisus, thinking that after the people were over-
come, they would all that he would ; and imagined also that
he might speedily check the Goths in their war, because he
was born of their country. Shortly after, Alaric became a
Christian, but Bhadagaisus continued a heathen, and daily
sacrificed to idols with man-slayings, and it was always most
desirable to him that they were Romans.
Now may ye Romans be ashamed, says Orosius, that ye
should have harboured so disgraceful a thought, from fear of
one man, and from one man's sacrifices, as to say that the
heathen times were better than the Christian ; and also that
for yourselves it were better to renounce your Christianity,
and adopt the heathen practices that your forefathers formerly
cultivated. Ye may also bear in mind how humble he was
afterwards with his sacrifices and his idols, among which he
had lived, when ye had him bound, and then treated him as
ye liked, and all his force, which was, as ye yourselves said,
two hundred thousand, so that not one of you was wounded.
512 KING ALFRED'S cmosius.^I r
XXXVIII.
fam J>e Romebuph getimbpeb paef M. pmtpa "3 C. 3
Lxiin. riob jebybe hip miltrunge on Romanum. ]>a]>a he heojia
mifba&ba ppecan lee. j? hie J>eah bybe ISlpica. re cpijrenejra
cyning "3 pe milberta. "3 he mib rpa lyclum nifte abpaec Rome-
buph. ^ he bebeab •p man nanne man ne floje. 3 eac ^ man
nanuhc ne panobe ne ne yjrelobe. fs&f J?e on }>am cyjucum paepe
•] fona J»aef. on 'Sam t5pibban ba&je. hi gejopan uc of |>aepe byp.'j
heopa ajenum pillan. j*pa J>*p ne peapS nan huf heopa pillan
popbaepneb ; •
Deep genam pettulp. Slpican ma&j. ponopmfef fpeoftop J>aef
cymnjef. -3 pSSon piS hme jefm^obe. -3 hi him to pijre jenam ;•
8i]?J)on j*aecan fa Eocan J>aep on lanbe. jnme be ]>aef cafepep
pillan. fume hij* unpillan. fume hi popan on Ifpanie. "3 J>aep ge-
f»3can. pime on Spppice:-
Pep enba8 peo vi. boc>
XXXVIII.
After Eome had been built a thousand and one hundred
and sixty-four years, God bestowed his mercy on the Romans,
when he let their misdeeds be punished, and yet Alaric did
it, the most Christian and most clement king ; and he with
so little enmity took Rome, that he commanded that no one
should be slain, and also that nothing should be impaired
or damaged that was in the churches. And immediately
after, on the third day, they marched out of the city of their
own accord, so that there was not a house wilfully burnt.
There Ataulf, the kinsman of Alaric, took the sister of the
king Honorius, and afterwards made a treaty with him, and
took her to wife. Afterwards the Goths settled in the land
there, some with the emperor's will, some against his will ;
some went to Spain, and there settled, some to Africa.
Here ends the sixth book.
CONTENTS OF OROSIUS
LIB. I.
PAGB
I. UR€ ylbpan ealne 8yrne ymbhpypp on Speo tobaelbon 238
It. pu Ninuj* Sjyypia kynmjc onjan manna aepert pic-
pan on ^yfum mibhanj. -3 hu Samepamif hif open
jrenj to ]>xm pice seftep him. mib mycelpe psejrnejje
3 ppaennepre ....... 262
III. pu J?set heoponlice pyp ppbaepnbe ))8ec lanb. on J>aem
paapon ]>a cpa bypij on jecimbpeb. Sobome •] Eo-
moppe ........ 264
IV. Pu Telefci ^ EiapfaSi. J>a leobe. him becpeonum
punnan 266
V. Pu lofeph j~e pihcpifa mon ahpebbe 6jypca folc
aec ]?3em feopn jeapon miclan hungpe mib hif
BOOK I.
I. OUE forefathers divided all this world into three . 239
II. How Mnus, king of Assyria, began first of meii
to rule in this world; and how Semiramis,"his
' queen, succeeded to the kingdom after him, with
great firmness and lewdness (Oros. lib. i. cap. 4) . 263
III. How heavenly fire burnt the land, on which were
built the two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah (Oros. i.5) 265
IV. How the nations of the Telchines and Carpathii
made war with each other (Oros. i. 7) . .267
V. How the upright man Joseph saved^ the Egyptian
people, in the seven years of great famine, by hi?
L L
514 CONTENTS OF OEOSIUS.
PAOB
pipbome. 3 hu hi piftSan pone pipcan bael ealpa hipa
paepcma hypa kynmge Co gapole jepyllaS aepcep hip
Jepecneppe 266
VI. pu on Schiae peapft micel plob on Smbicciomr ba-
gum paep cymnjep . 268
VII. pu GOoypep laebbe Ippahela pole ppom ^jypcum
opep Sone Reaban pae ...... 270
VIII. Pu on Ggypcum pupbon on anpe mhc L. manna
opplagen ppam heopa agnum punum. •j hu Bopipibip
pe cymng hec bon co gebloce ealle Sa cuman Se
hme jepohcon. 3 ymb manegpa oSpa polca jepm . 272
IX. pu Ejiecenpe -j Schemenpe. Epeca leobe. him becpe-
onum punnon ....... 276
X. Pu Vepo^ep Gjypca kynmg polbe him co jeceon Sone
puS bael. paec [if] S'pia. ge pone nopt5 bael. paec pmb
SciSSie. "j hu cpegen aepehnjap pupbon aplymbe op
8ciSpium. "j ymbe Sa pip pe man hec Smazonap. 3
ymbe pa Hocan pe him pope onbpebon ^e Pippup pe
pepa Ejieca kymng. ge pe GOaepa Slexanbep. je luliup
pe Eaj-epe ... . .276
XI. pu eiena paep cynmjep pip peapo" genumen on Laece-
bemomum paepe bypij. y hu 6neap pe cymnj pop
mib pypbe on Icalie ...... 282
T. pu Sapbanapolup paep pe pi^mepca kymnj in Sppypia.
•j hu hme beppac !Spbacup hip ealbopman. 3 hu pa
pipmen bipmpebon hiejia pepap pa hie pleon polbon. ~]
hu pe ap-geocepe gepophce anep peappep anlicneppe
psem sepelmje . . 282
XIII. pu Pelopenpium ~\ Schemencium pa pole him
becpeonum punnon ...... 286
XIV. pu Laecebemome 3 GOeppiane him becpeonum pun-
non pop hiepa ms&gbena opppunja .... 288
LIB. II.
I. Pu Opopiup paebe paec upe Dpihcen ftone aepepcan man
ppi^e pihcne •] ppiSe jobne gepceop. •] ymb fa peopep
anpalbap pippep mibbanj ...... 290
CONTENTS OP OEOSIUS. 515
wisdom ; and how they afterwards, after his institu-
tion, give i;o their king, as tribute, the fifth part of
all their fruits (Oros. i. 8) 2G7
VI. How in Achaia there was a great flood, in the days
of Amphictyon the king (Oros. i. 9) . 269
VII. How Moses led the people of Israel from Egypt
over the Eed Sea (Oros. i. 10) . . . ' . 27 i
VIII. How in Egypt, in one night, fifty men were slain
by their own sons ; and how Busiris the king com-
manded all the strangers who visited him to be
sacrificed ; and concerning the wars of many other
nations (Oros. i. 11) 273
IX. How the Cretans and Athenians, Greek nations,
made war between them (Oros. i. 13) . . . 277
X. How Vesoges, king of Egypt, would acquire for him-
self both the south part, that [is] Asia, and the
north part, that is, Scythia ; and how two princes
were expelled from Scythia; and concerning the
women who were called Amazons ; and concerning
the Goths, of whom stood in dread Pyrrhus, the
fierce Grecian king, and the Great Alexander, and
Julius the Caesar (Oros. i. 14) . . . 277
XI. How Helen, the king's wife, was taken from the city
of Lacedaemon ; and how Eneas, the king, went
with an army to Italy (Oros. i. 17) ... 283
XII. How Sardanapalus was the last king of Assyria,
and how Arbaces, his viceroy, deceived him ; and
how the women reproached their husbands, when
they would flee ; and how the brassfounder wrought
a bull's likeness for the prince (Oros. i. 19) . .283
XIII. How the Peloponesian and Athenian nations
warred with each other (Oros. i. 21) . . . 287
XIV. How the Lacedaemonians and Messenians warred
with each other, on account of the maidens' sacrifices
(Oros. i. 21) 289
BOOK II.
How Orosius said that our Lord created the first
man very just and very good ; and of the four
powers of this world (Oros. ii. 1) . . . . 291
2L2
516 CONTENTS or OKOSITJS.
PAGB
T.I. Pu Remuj* 3 Romuluf ]?a £ebpo]?pa Romana bup/i ge-
timbpebon on Icalium ...... 294
III. Pu Romuluf 3 Bpucuj- mib hpelcum mane hi jehal-
joban Roma 298
IV. Pu Romane 3 Sabme him becpeonum punnon. 3 hu
Eypup peapS opflajen on SciSSium .... 300
V. pu Cambyj*ej* j*e cyning jropj-eah pa G^yptipcan beopol-
gylb. 3 ymbe Dapiupef jepm. ^ Xepxij'. ^ Leom^an . 306
VI. pu Romanum peapt5 an punbop ofiepeb j-pelce* ye
heofon bupne 314?
VII. pu Sicilia leobe paepon him betpeonum pmnenbe . 318
VIII. PU Romane bepaeton Ueiopum fa buph cyn
pincep. ^ hu Ijallie oc Senno abpsecon Romebuph . 318
LIB. III.
I. pu fio bipneplice pb 3 pacenhce peap]> becpeonum
Lsecebemonium •] Peppim . . . . .322
II. Pu on Schiaa peap8 eop^beopunj .... 328
III. pu fe micla man-cpealm peap8 on Rome on cpegpa
conj-ula baege. •] hu GOapcuj- Euptmf bejreac on 6a
jynienban eop^an ....... 328
IV. pu Ealhe opephepgobon Romana lanb 06 fpeo mila
to ]?a&pe bypig 330
V. PU Eaptame aspenbpacan comon co Rome. 3 him ppiS
jebubon . 332
VI. Pu Romane 3 Latme punnon him becpeonum. ^j hu
an nunne peapS cuco bebypjeb .... 334
VII. pu Slexanbep pe kynmj pan pitS Romanum. J/aef
mapan Slexanbpef earn. ~) hu Phihppuj' fsef mapan
Slexanbpep paebep feng co GOaecebome pice. 3 he him
geceaf Bizancmm ]>a buph . . . . .3!
VIII. pu Eaubenej- Fupculuj- po j-cop peajiS ppiSe pib-
maepe fop Romana bifmepe ..... 340
CONTENTS OF OEOSIUS. 517
PAGE
II. How the brothers, Eemus and Romulus, built the
city of Eome in Italy (Oros. ii. 4) ... 295
III. How Eomulus and Brutus, with what crime they
hallowed Eome (Oros. ii. 6) 299
IV. How the Eomans and Sabines warred with each
other ; and how Cyrus was slain in Syria (Oros.
ii. 5—7) 301
V. How Cambyses the king despised the Egyptian idols ;
and of Darius's war, and of Xerxes and Leonidas
(Oros. ii. 8—12) 307
VI. How a prodigy appeared to the Eomans, as if.the
heavens were burning (Oros. ii. 12) . . . 315
VII. How the Sicilian people warred with each other
(Oros. ii. 15—18) 319
VIII. How the Eomans besieged the city of the Veii
for ten years ; and how the Gauls of Sena took
Eome (Oros. ii. 19) 319
BOOK III.
I. How the disgraceful and insidious peace was between
the Lacedaemonians and Persians (Oros. iii. 1, 2) . 323
II. How there was an earthquake in Achaia (Oros. iii. 3) 329
III. How there was a great mortality at Eome in the
days of the two consuls, and how Marcus Curtius
precipitated himself into the yawning earth (Oros.
iii. 4) . . . . . . . . .329
IV. How the Gauls ravaged the lands of the Eomans
to within three miles of the city (Oros. iii. 6) . 331
V. How Carthaginian messengers came to Eome, and
proposed peace to them (Oros. iii. 7, 8) . 333
VI. How the Eomans and Latins warred with each
other; and how a nun (vestal) was buried alive
(Oros. iii. 9, 10) . 335
VII. How Alexander the king, uncle of Alexander the
Great, warred against the Eomans ; and how Philip,
the father of Alexander the Great, succeeded to the
kingdom of Macedon, and chose for himself the city
of Byzantium (Oros. iii. 11—14) . . .339
VIII. How the place Caudina? Furculae was greatly
famed for the disgrace of the Eomans (Oros.
iii. 15) 347
518 CONTENTS OF OROSIUS.
FAOB
IX. pu pe GOaepa !Slexanbep peng to GDaeceboma pice. *]
hu he het pumne bipceop pecjan on hip jepill hpa hip
paebep pa&pe. 3 hu he Dapmm pone kynmg opeppan.
^ hu he pylp peapft mib attpe acpealb . . . 350
X. pu unbep tpam conpulum polbon peopep pa ptpenj-
epcan peoba Romane opeppmnan. ~j hu pe micla
man-cpealni gepeapS on Rome. ~\ hu hi him heton
jepeccan to 6j*colapiuj- J?one pcmlacan mib paepe
pcmlacan naebbpan ...... 362
XI. pu unbep tpam conpilum pupbon Somnite ^ Dalhe
op Senno paepe bypij Romanum piSeppmnan. "j hu
Slexanbpej- hepecojan hypa lip on unpibbe jeenbebon
aeptep Slexanbpep beafte ..... 366
LIB. IV.
I. Pu Tapentine gefapon Romana pcipo on Sam pa&
ypnan. J>a hi plejebon on hypa theatpum . . 378
II. Pu J>a manejan yjrlan punbop pupbon on Rome . . 384
III. PU man jej-eah pman meolc Of heoponum. ~] peallan
blob of eop^an ....... 386
IV. Pu on Romane becom mycel man-cpealm. "j hu
Eapepone f 10 nunne peajiS ahanjen. "j hu J»a buphleobe
on Eaptama bhocan men hijia jobum . . .388
V. PU pimelco. Eaptama cyning. pop mib fypbe on
Sicilie. "j hu panna an man peep anpalbep gypnenbe. ^
hu Eapcame hiepbon 'p j-e OOsepa Mexanbep haefbe
abpoken Tipum pa buph '. . . . 390
VI. Pu Siciha folc 3 Pena punnon him betpeonum. j hu
Romane bepseton pannibalan Pena kymnj. -3 hu
Ealacinup pe conpul pop mib fypbe to Eamepman.
Sicilia bypig. y hu Punice jepetton epc pone ealban
pannibalan paet he mib pcypum piS Romane punne. j
hu Romane popon onXffpice mib ppim hunb pcypa ^j
mib )pitigan. y hu Regulup pe conpul opploh J?a un-
CONTENTS OF OROSIUS. 519
IX. How Alexander the Great succeeded to the king-
dom of Macedon, and how he commanded a priest
to say, according to his will, who his father was,
and how he overcame Darius the king, and how he
himself was killed by poison (Oros. iii. 16—19) . 351
X. How under the two consuls, four most powerful na-
tions would overcome the Romans ; and how the
great mortality was in Rome ; and how they ordered
the image of JSsculapius to be fetched to them,
with the idol serpent (Oros. iii. 21, 22) . . . 363
XI. How under the two consuls, the Samnites and Gauls
of Sena were adversaries of the city of Rome ; and
how Alexander's generals ended their lives in strife
after Alexander's death (Oros. iii. 22, 23) . . 367
BOOK IV.
I. How the Tarentines saw Roman ships running on
the sea, while they were playing in their theatre
(Oros. iv. 1—3) . 379
II. How there were many evil prodigies in Rome (Oros.
iv. 4) 385
III. How it was seen to rain milk from heaven, and
blood to bubble from the earth (Oros. iv. 5) . . 387
IV. How a great mortality came on Rome ; and how
Capparonia the nun (vestal) was hanged ; and how
the inhabitants of Carthage sacrificed men to their
gods (pros. iv. 5, 6) . . 389
V. How Himilcar, king of Carthage, went with an army
to Sicily ; and how a man [named] Hanno was de-
sirous of power; and how the Carthaginians heard
that Alexander the Great had taken Tyre (Oros.
iv. 6) .391
VI. How the people of Sicily and the Carthaginians
warred with each other ; and how the Romans be-
sieged Annibal, the Carthaginian king; and how
the consul Calatinus went with an army to Came-
rina, a city of Sicily ; and how the Carthaginians
again appointed the elder Annibal to war against
the Romans with ships ; and how the Romans went
to Africa with three hundred and thirty ships ; and
520 CONTENTS OF GROSIUS.
P4.0B
^emeclican naebbpan. 3 hu Rejulup gepeahc pift p/py
Pena cynmgap on anum gepeohce. 3 hu Gmihup pe
conpul pop on Xpppican mib ]?pim hunb pcypa. 3 hu
Eotta fe consul opephepjobe Sicilie ; • pu tpejen
conpulap popon on Spppice mib J>pim hunb pcipa. onb
hu on fpeopa conpula baege com paptepbal pe nipa
kymng co Libeum pam iglanbe. j hu Elaubmp j'e
conpul pop epc on Punice. -3 hu Eaiup pe conpul pop on
Spppice. } on J)am pa& poppeapS. 3 hu Lucacia pe
conpul pop on Spppice mib j)pim hunb pcipa . . 394
VII. Pu pe unjemetlica pyp-bpyne peapft on Rome. ^ hu
Eallie pupbon Romanum piSeppeapbe. •] hu Sapbmie
punnon on Romanum ppa hi Pene gelaepbon. j hu
Opopmp paebe ^ he pa&pe cumen to f>am joban cibum
fe Romanc ept popejulpon. 3 hu Urallie punnon on
Romane. 3 Pene on oSpe healpe. "j hu tpejen
conpulap puhcon on liallium. 3 hu ma&nig punbop
psepon jepepen. -3 hu Elaubiup pe conpul opploh
Pallia xxx. M. ... 404
VIII. Pu panmbal Pena cymnjbepaet Sa^uncum. Ippama
buph. -j hu panmbal Pena cymnj abpaec opep Pjpenei
)>a beopjap. "3 hu 8cipio pe conpul jepeahc on
Ippamum. j hu mame punbop jepupbon on Saepe
tibe 408
IX. pu panmbal beppac tpe^en conpulap on hipa je-
peohce. ~\ hu Romane him jepercon ticcatop^j Scipian
co conpule. 3 hu Romane penbon Lucmp J>one conpul
on Urallie mib J»pim legion ... . 412
X. pu GOapcellup pe conpul pop mib pciphepe on Sicilie. 3
hu panmbal gepeaht piS GOapcellup fone conpul ppy
bajap. j hu panmbal bepcael on GOapcellup fone
conpul 3 hme opploh. -3 hu papcepbal. panmbalep
bpo^op. pop op Ippamum on Icalie. 3 hu Eaptamum
peapS ppi6 alypeb ppam Scipiam ])am conpule , . 410
XI. pu Romana septepe jepm peapS jeenbob. j hu 8em-
CONTENTS OF OEOSIUS. 521
PAGE
how Regulus, the consul, slew the huge serpent ;
and how Regulus fought against three Punic kings
in one battle ; and how JEmilius, the consul, went
to Africa with three hundred ships ; and how Cotta,
the consul, ravaged Sicily; how the two consuls
went to Africa with three hundred ships ; and how
in the days of the three consuls, Asdrubal, the new
king, came to the island of Lilybseum ; and how
Claudius, the consul, went again to Carthage ; and
how Caius, the consul, went to Africa, and perished
at sea ; and how Lutatius, the consul, went to
Africa with three hundred ships (Oros. iv. 7 — 11) . 305
. How an immense conflagration happened at Rome ;
and how the Gauls were hostile to the Romans ;
and how the Sardinians warred against the Romans,
as the Carthaginians had instructed them ; and how
Orosius said that he was come to the good times of
which the Romans boasted; and how the Gauls
warred on the Romans, and the Carthaginians on
another side ; and how the two consuls fought in
Gaul ; and how many prodigies were seen ; and
how Claudius, the consul, slew thirty thousand
Gauls (Oros. iv. 11—13) 405
VIII. How Annibal, king of the Carthaginians, be-
sieged Saguntum, a city of Spain ; and how Anni-
bal, king of the Carthaginians, forced a way over
the Pyrenasan mountains; and how the consul
Scipio fought in Spain; and how there were many
prodigies at that time (Oros. iv. 14 — 16) . . 409
IX. How Annibal overreached the two consuls in their
war ; and how the Romans appointed a dictator,
and Scipio for consul ; and how the Romans sent
Lucius, the consul, to Gaul with three legions
(Oros. iv. 16) 413
X. How Marcellus, the consul, went with a fleet to
Sicily ; and how Annibal fought against the consul
Marcellus for three days ; and how Annibal stole
on the consul Marcellus and slew him ; and how
Asdrubal, Annibal's brother, marched from Spain
to Italy ; and how peace was granted to Carthage
by Scipio, the consul (Oros. iv. 17 — 19) . . 417
XI. How the second war of the Romans was ended :
522 CONTENTS OF OEOSIUS.
pponiup pe consul peapft opplagen on Ippania. 3 hu
Phihppup GQseceboma cyninj opploh Romana gepenb-
pacan. j hu J>aec GQsecebompce gepm gepeapft. 3 hu
emihup re conpul opeppan Peppup J?one cyninj . . 424
XII. Pu Romanum peapS pe maepta eje ppam Scekipepum
Ippania folce ........ 430
XIII. Pu ]>aec ppibbe gepm peap8 jeenbob Romana 3
Eapcama kynm^ej- ...... 432
LIB. y.
I. Pu Opopuf fppa&c ymb Romana jylp. hu hi maneja
pole opeppunnan. 'j hu hi manega kymngap bepopan
hiopa tpmmphan piS Romepepb bpipon . . . 434
II. pu on anum geape pupbon ]>a tpa bypi^ copoppene.
Eapcama *] Eopmchum. •] hu Fepiacup pe hypbe
onjan picpian on Ippamum. j hu Daubmp pe conpul
jeplymbe liallie. j hu GOancmup pe conpul jenam
ppiS pi8 Ippanie. ^ hu Bpucup pe conpul opploh
Ippania pyxcij M. manna. ^ hu an cilb peaptS jebopen
on Rome . . 436
III. Pu Eomane penbon Scipian on Ippania mib pypbe. 3
hu Epaccup pe conpul pan pift J>a oSpe conpulap. o^5 hi
hme opplo^an. ^j hu ]?a J>eopap punnon pyS J?a
hlapopbap 440
IV. Pu Lucmiup pe conpul. pe]>e eac paep Eomana ylbepta
bipceop. pop mib pypbe ongean Spiptomcupe )>am
kymnge. y hu Snciochup. Spia cyninj. pilnobe
Papcha anpalbep. j hu Scipia. pe becpca Eomana
p/ejn. maenbe hip eappefu to Romana pytum. ~] hu
6cna pyp up-apleop 444
V. Pu Eomana hecon epc ^ecimbpian Eaptama. y hu pe
conpul GOecellup opeppann J>a picm^ap . . . 446
VI. Pu Faump pe ronpul opepcom Betpitupan
CONTENTS OP OROSIUS. 523
PAGE
and how the consul Semproniua was slain in Spain ;
and how Philip, king of Macedon, slew the Roman
envoys ; and how the Macedonian war took place ;
and how ^Emilius, the consul, overcame Perseus,
the king (Oros. iv. 20) 425
XII. How the Eomans were in the greatest fear from
the Celtiberians, a Spanish people (Oros. iv. 21) . 431
XIII. How the third war was ended of the Romans and
the king of Carthage (Oros. iv. 22, 23) . . . 433
BOOK Y.
I. How Orosius spoke of the Romans' vaunt of how
many nations they had overcome, and how many
kings they drove before their triumph towards
Rome (Oros. v. 1) 435
II. How in one year the two cities, Carthage and
Corinth, were destroyed; and how Yiriathus, the
shepherd, began to rule in Spain ; and how Clau-
dius, the consul, put the Gauls to flight ; and how
Mancinus, the consul, made peace with Spain ; and
how Brutus, the consul, slew sixty thousand men
in Spain ; and how a child was born at Rome (Oros.
v. 3-7) -137
III. How the Romans sent Scipio to Spain with an
army; and how Gracchus, the consul, warred
against the other consuls, until they slew him ; and
how the serfs warred against the lords (Oros. v.
7—9) . . 441
IV. How Licinius the consul, who was also chief priest
of the Romans, went with an army against Aris-
tonicus the king; and how Antiochus, king of
Asia, craved the dominion of Parthia; and how
Scipio, the best officer of the Romans, bewailed his
hardships to the Roman senators ; and how fire
flowed up from Etna (Oros. v. 10, 11) . . 445
V. How the Romans commanded Carthage to be re-
built ; and how the consul Metellus overcame the
pirates (Oros. v. 12, 13) . .447
VI. How Fabius, the consul, overcame Bituitus, king
of the Gauls (Oros. v. 14) 447
524 CONTENTS OF OBOSITJS.
PAGE
VII. PU Eomane punnon pift lieopypftan Numebia cyninj 448
VIII. PU Eomane jepuhcon piS Eimbpop. -3 piS Teutonap.
anb piS Smbponap 450
IX. PU Romane agunnan unpibbe kim betpeonan up-
ahebban. on }>am piptan geape ]>e GQapiup paep
conpul 452
X. PU ojrep ealle Italie peapS unjejreplic unpb on ]>am
jyxcan geape fe luliuj- j-e Eaj-epe paep conj-ul . . 452
XI. PU Romane penbon Sillan fone consul onjean GDecpi-
bacej" Pajicha cynmj 454
XII. PU Romane pealbon luliupe J>am conj-ule fypan
legion. 3 hu luliuf bepsec Topcpacup Pompeiuj" lac-
ceop on-anum faejxene. ^ hu luliuj* gejieahc pift Phco-
lomeup ])pipa 458
XIII. PU Oetavianuj- jrenj to Romana anpalbe hypa
unpillum . . . . . . . . 4(52
XIV. PU Octavianuf fe Eapepe betynbe lanep bupu . 466
XV. PU pune Ifpanie leobe paepon Sjujruj-e prSeppmnan 468
LIB. VI.
I. PU Opopup pse)' fppecenbe ymbe ]>a peopep anpalbap
])apa peopep heapob-pica Jjij-pep mibbangeapbep . 470
II. PU Tibepiup penj to Romana anpealbe. pe capepe
sepcep Sjupcup 472
III. PU Camp peapS capepe peopep jeap . . 474
IV. Pu Tibepmp Elaubiup peng co Romana anpalbe . 476
V. PU Nepo peng to Romana anpalbe .... 478
VI. Pu Ealpa peng to Romana anpalbe. pe capepe . . 478
VII. pu Feppapianup peng to Romana anpalbe . . 480
CONTENTS OF OBOSIUS. 525
PAGE
VII. How the Eomans warred against Jugurtha, king
of Numidia (Oros. v. 15) 449
VIII. How the Eomans fought against the Cimbri, and
against the Teutones, and against the Ambrones
(Oros. v. 16) 451
IX. How the Komans began to raise up dissension
among themselves, in the fifth year that Marina
was consul (Oros. v. 17) 453
X. How over all Italy there was an unnatural war in
the sixth year that Julius Csesar was consul (Oros.
v. 18) .453
XL How the Eomans sent the consul Sylla against
Mithridates, king of the Parthians (Oros. v. 19, 20 ;
vi. 4, 6) 455
XII. How the Eomans gave Julius, the consul, seven
legions; and how Julius besieged Torquatus,
Pompey's general, in a fortress ; and how Julius
fought thrice against Ptolemy (Oros. vi. 7, 9,
16, 17) • 459
XIII. How Octavianus succeeded to the dominion of
the Eomans without their consent (Oros. vi. 18, 19) 463
XIV. How Octavianus Csesar closed the door of Janus
(Oros. vi. 20) • 467
XV. How some Spanish nations were adversaries to
'Augustus (Oros. vi. 21, 22) . . 469
BOOK VI.
I. How Orosius was speaking about the four powers of
the four chief empires of this world (Oros. vi. 1 ;
vii. 3) • 471
II. How Tiberius succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans, the emperor after Augustus (Oros. vii. 4) 473
III.1 How Gains was emperor four years (Oros. vii. 5) . 475
IV. How Tiberius Claudius succeeded to the dominion
of the Eomans (Oros. vii. 6) . . 477
V How Nero succeeded to the dominion of the Eomans
(Oros. vii. 7) . . • • • . • 479
VI. How the Emperor G-alba succeeded to the dominion
of the Eomans (Oros. vii. 8) . 479
VII. How Vespasian succeeded to the dominion of the
'Eomans (Oros. vii. 9) ... -481
526 CONTENTS OF OE03IUS.
VIII. Pu Ticup peng co Romana aupalbe . . . 480
IX. pu Domicianur. Ticupep bpoSop. penj co Romana
anpalbe 480
X. Pu Nepua penj Co Romana anpalbe . . . 482
XI. pu Xbpianup penj co Romana anpalbe . . . 482
XII. pu Pompemp penj co Eomana anpalbe . . . 484
XIII. pu GOapcup Hnconiup penj cb Eomana anpalbe
mib Xupeliup hip bpeflep .....
XIV. pu Luciup peng Co Eomana anpalbt,
XV. pu Seuepup penj co Eomana anpalbe
XVI. pu hij* punu peng Co pice Snconmf
XVII. pu GOapcup peng co Eomana anpalbe .
XVIII. pu Supeliup peng co Eomana anpalbe
XIX. pu GOaximuf pen^ co Eomana anpalbe
XX. pu tiopbianaf penj co Eomana anpalbe
XXI. pu Philippur penj co Eomana pice
XXII. pu Deciuj- peng Co Eomana pice
XXIII. pu Eallup peng co Eomana pice
XXIV. pu Eomane gepeccon cpejen capepap .
XXV. pu Elaubiup penj co Eomana pice
XXVI. pu Xupeliup penj co Eomana pice
XXVII. Pu Tacicup penj co Enmana pice .
XXVIII. Pu Ppobuj pen^ co Eomana pice .
CONTENTS OS1 OEOSIUS. 527
VIII. How Titus succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans (Oros. vii. 9) 481
IX. How Domitian, Titus' brother, succeeded to the
dominion of the Eomans (Oros. vn. 10) . . 481
X. How Nerva succeeded to the dominion of the Eo-
mans (Oros. vii. 11) 483
XI. How Hadrian succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans (Oros. vii. 13) . ... 483
XII. How Pompeius [Antoninus] succeeded to the
dominion of the Eomans (Oros. vii. 14) . . 485
XIII. How Marcus Antoninus succeeded to the do-
minion of the Eomaus, with his brother Aurelius
(Oros. vii. 15) 485
XIV. How Lucius succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans (Oros. vii. 16) 487
XV. How Severus succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans (Oros. vii. 17) 487
XVI. How his son, Antoninus, succeeded to the empire
(Oros. vii. 18) . 487
XVII. How Marcus succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans (Oros. vii. 18) 489
XVIII. How Aurelius succeeded to the dominion of
the Eomans (Oros. vii. 18) 489
XIX. How Maximinus succeeded to the dominion of
the Eomans (Oros. vii. 19) 489
XX. How Grordian succeeded to the dominion of the
Eomans (Oros. vii. 19) 489
XXI. How Philip succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 20) 489
XXII. How Decius succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 21) 491
XXIII. How G-allus succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 21) 491
XXIV. How the Eomans appointed two emperors
(Oros. vii. 22) .491
XXV. How Claudius succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 23) 493
XXVI. How Aurelius succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 23) 493
XXVII. How Tacitus succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 24) .... . 495
XXVIII. How Probus succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 24) 496
528 CONTENTS OF OROSTT7S.
PA OB
XXIX. pu Eapup peng to Eomana pice . . . 494
XXX. pu Diocletianup penj to Eomana pice . . 494
XXXI. pu Eonptantinup peng to Eomana pice mib hip
tpam bpoSpum ....... 500
XXXII. pu luuianur penj to Eomana pice . . 502
XXXIII. pu Ualencimanup peng to Eomana pice . 502
XXXIV. pu Ualenp peng to Eomana pice . . . 504
XXXV. PU Epatianuj* peng to Eomana pice, "j hu Bpi-
tannie namon GDaximum heom to kapepe opeji hip
pillan 500
XXXVI. Pu Deobopmp peng to Eomana anpalbe. •j hu
Ualentmianup peng ept to pice .... 508
XXXVII. pu Xpchabmp peng to Eomana pice. 3 pono-
pmp to J>3em pept-pice . . . . .510
XXXVIII. pu Cob jebybe Eomanum hip miltpunje . 512
XXIX. How Carus succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 24) ... ... 495
XXX. How Diocletian succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 25) .... . 495
XXXI. How Constantine succeeded to the Eoman em-
pire with his two brothers (Oros. vii. 26) . . 501
XXXII. How Jovian succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii. 31) .... . 503
XXXIII. How Valentinian succeeded to the Eoman
empire (Oros vii. 32) . . 503
XXXIV. How Valens succeeded to the Eoman empire
(Oros. vii 33) . .... 505
XXXV. How Gratian succeeded to the Eoman empire ;
and how the Britons nominated Maximus for their
emperor, against his will (Oros. vii. 34) . . 507
XXXVI. How Theodosius succeeded to the dominion
of the Eomans ; and how Valentinian again suc-
ceeded to the empire (Oros. vii. 35) . . . 509
XXXVII. How Arcadius succeeded to the Eoman em-
pire, and Honorius to the Western empire (Oros.
vii. 36, 37) .511
XXXVIII. How God showed his mercy to the Eomans
(Oros vii. 39, 40) .... 512
NOTES.
239 note ». King Alfred's account
not being very clear, I have
thought it desirable to give the
Latin original, both in this
and all similar cases: I quote
from the edition of Orosius by
Havercamp, printed at Ley den
in 1767, 4to.
P. 10. Majores nostri orbem
totius terra, Oceani limbo cir-
cum septum, triquadrum sta-
tuere: ejusque tres partes,
Asiam, Europam et Africam
vocaverunt : quamvis aliqui
duas, hoc est, Asiam, acdeinde
Africam in Europam accipien-
dam putarint. Asia tribus
partibus Oceanocircumcincta,
per totam transversi plagam
orientis extenditur. Hsec oc-
casum versus, a dextra sui, |
sub axe septentrionis incipien-
tern contingit Europam: a
sinistra autem Africam di-
mittit: sub ^gypto vero et
256 notes i and 2. In both places
the text seems defective
258 note l. All this of Equitania,
Vascan and Burgende seems
an addition by Alfred
— note"2, gapena. My interpreta-
tion of gapa or gape is con-
jectural
260 note l. pe-beoph is apparently
an error for rse-buph. The
passage should probably stand
thus:' 810 rae-buph baep. In
the following line the letters
have fallen out of their right
order. Read ; mycle buph
264 note ». ^ unbepienbe yolc
JEthiopiam : a translation of
ap.vp.ovas A'ldionfjas. 11. A.
422
266 note '. >aepe, apparently an
error for >ser
— note*. Trogus Pompeius, of
whose work the epitome by
Justin is all that is extant
279 note1. Such is Alfred's render-
Syria mare nostrum, quod I ing of Amazones
Magnum generaliter dicimus,
habet
— note2. Alexander's temples.
The original (p. 11) has
(Tanais fluvius) prjpteriens
aras ac termiuos Alexandri,
etc.
MO note ]. beojihce. No doubt in-
tended as a derivative from
beojih, mountain. The Latin
(p. 14) has: situ terrarum j
montoso et aspero
280 note l. An infinitive is to be
understood here : healban ? A
similar ellipsis frequently oc-
curs
— note 2. An interpolation, and a
very corrupt one, from the
Lauderdale transcript. It is
not in the Cotton MS. I have
endeavoured, though very un-
satisfactorily, to render it less
unintelligible than it appears
in Barrington's edition
2M
530
NOTES.
PAGE
280 note 3. rohce for the pi. rohcon.
A similar inaccuracy fre-
quently occurs
•2801 note1, dulmuns. The Latin
281) has longae naves The A. S.
word is probably a corruption
of the O. Norse dromundr
284 note '. ac seems redundant
— note*, j-ypyluge; undoubtedly
an error for jroprluge
288 note '. Here again an infinitive
is to be understood
290 note l. mape or a comparative
of like meaning seems wanting
here. Qu. pihchcpan?
299 note1. This ellipsis of next
or alter is not unfrequent:
other instances will occur
300 note '. Before J>onne the word
mapan, or one of similar im-
port, seems wanting. Ticcaco-
per should, no doubt, be Ticca-
cop
302 note '. Da conrular .... SYC
habba'5. This passage seems
very corrupt, though the sense
is clear enough.
306 note '. hunb is omitted by the
scribe. Orosius has ducenta
millia
— note2. Attyro,regiScytharum,
hac vel maxima causa bellum
intulit, quod filiae ejus petitas
sibi nuptias non obtinuisset.
Oros. p. 107.
318 note1. Tune etiam Atlante
civitas, Locris adharrens, terrae
contigua, repentino maris in-
petu abscissa, atque in insu-
lam desolata est. Ib. p. 139
jElfred calls it a town in
Africa, being apparently mis-
led by the name of Atlante.
S23 note '. Readers will perhaps be
glad to see the original of the
passage thus rendered: Fa-
tendum est, in hac clade prae-
senti plus Deum sasvisse,
homines minus, cum per-
agendo ipse, Quod ilh Ii*>n ifil~
PAGE
323 plevissent, cur eos miserit, de-
monstravit: quippe cum supra
humanas vires esset, wcendert
(Eneas trabes, et subruere mag-
narum moles structurarurn
.... Oros. p. 142
332 note '. This passage is evi-
dently incomplete
334 note l. It was not the consul
Decius Mus, but Manlius
Torquatus, who put his son
to death
336 note1, )>uph senne >eopne man
jeyppeb peapft. The crime
was revealed by a female:
quadam ancilla. Oros. p. 166
340 note >. ojr seems redundant
344 note l. The nom. hi seems
wanting here
350 note l. rceolbon : evidently an
error for realbon
360? note1, ehca hunb M., an error
361) for eahcacig M. eighty, octo-
ginta millibus. Oros. p. 191
368 note1. On comparing this list
with the Latin (Oros. p. 201),
it will be seen that Alfred
has made sad work with the
names of persons and places
380 note '. ppolecapii. hoc est, qui
in Urbe semper sufficiendae
prolis causa vacabant, Oros.
p. 214
— note2. According to Ennius.
the answer was:
Aio te, ^acida, Romanes
vincere posse
384 note1. This passage is very
inaccurately rendered from
the Latin : — Itaque primo con-
cursu, cum Pyrrhi milites Ro-
manorum inpressione trepida-
rent, et circumspectantes fu-
f/am hello cedere molirentur.
JPyrrhus elephantos ex sut>-
sidiis jussit induci. Oros.
p. 219
386 note 1. The manumitted slaves
are meant by these ceoplar.
though the text is very baciry
NOTES.
531
PAGE
386 rendered ; the Latin has
Tune etiam Vulsinienses
luxuria pene perierunt. Nam
cum licentia in consuetudinen
prorogata, servos suos passim
liberos facerent, conviviis ad
legerent, conjugiis honesta-
rent, libertini in partem po-
testatis recepti, plenitudinem
per scelus usurpare meditat
sunt ; et liberati servitutis
jugo, ambitu dominationis
arserunt, etc. Oros. p. 222
404 note l. Here and in many other
places uElfred has made three
consuls out of two. Head
Titus Manlius Torquatus and
Caius Atilius Bulbus
410 note l. Bead Publius Cornelius
Scipio and Titus Sempronius
Longus
412 note '. Read Lucius
Paullus and Caius Terentius
Varro
- note 2. MSS. M. and L. read :
fcsepe be beaepian
414 note1, xvn. jnntpe. A mistake,
for he raised recruits from
that age: Quis, delectu habito
ab annis decem et septem.
Oros. p. 257
424 note '. Read Cn. Cornelius
Lentulus and Publ. ^Elius
Paetus
426 note '. Read Lucius Furius the
praetor
— note"2. Read Lucius Valerius
Flaccus and Marcus Porcius
Cato
428 note l. Read Marcus Claudius
Marcellus and Quintus Fabius
Labio
— note 2. Read Lepibur ~\ GDutiur
paejion conrular
130 note '. Read Lucius Licinius
Lucullus and Aulus Postu-
mius Albinus
- note 2. This was Scipio Nasica
432 note l. Read Lucius Censori-
rius and Marcus Manilius i
2 M
432 note2. The Latin of this curi-
ous version is : Arx, cui Byrsae
nomen erat, paulo amplius
quam duo millia passuum
tenebat
434 note1. The following is the
original of this obscure pas-
sage: Quod cum ita sit, cur
Christianis temporibus inpu-
tant hebetationem ac rubi-
ginem suam, qua foris crassi,
intus exesi sunt ? qui porro
ante sexcentos fere annoe,
sicut sui prudentes timen-
tesque praedixerant, cotem
illam magnam splendoris et
acuminis sui Carthaginem
perdiderunt. Itaque finem
volumini faciam, ne forsitan
collidendo vehementius, dis-
cussa ad tempus rubigine, ubi
necessarium acumen elicere
non possum, supervacuam as-
peritatem inveniam : quam-
quam obviaritem asperitatem
nequaquam expavescerem, si
interioris spem acuminis inve-
nirem. Oros p. 282
436 note >. Should apparently be
heopa jreope
— note2. Read Cn. Cornelius Len-
tulus and Lucius Mummius
438 note '. A curious misconcep-
tion of the original: Fecit
facinus etiam ultimis barbaris
Scythia?, non dicam Romanae
fi<!ei et moderationi, exsecra-
bile. Oros. p. 294
440 note*. Read Sextus Fulvius
Flaccus and Quintus Calpur-
nius Piso
444 note '. Another singular mis-
conception of the original —
the substitution of the cardinal
numbers for the ordinal :
therefore, for one, two, three,
etc., read the./?rs/, second, etc.
The names of the kings, too,
are oddly blended with those
of countries
532
TTOTES.
PAGE i PAGE
446 note >. seperter. A mistake of I 464 note >. The MSS. erroneously
Alfred or probably of
ignorant scribe for Operter.
Eead, therefore: Da>a emilmj-
•} Operter psepon conrular
— note 2. Read Quintus Caecilius
Metellus and Titus Quinctius
Flamininus
450 note l. Read Caius Manlius
consul and Quintus Csepio
proconsul
451 note l . The forty thousand were
quadraginta millia calonum
atque lixarum. Oros. p. 327
452 note1. Bafle pe to-cuman.
This passage is by no means
clear. For hir we should ap-
parently read ir, and for the
last hi, him ; or, if to-cumau
governs an accusative, read:
pe hme (>one bpmcan) to- l
cuman.
tense unknown to me
have Occavianufer
465 note*. The Saxon has: so that
they were not ten feet, etc.
466 note1, uirrillur. ^Elfred mis-
takes the Psylli, a people of
Libya, who were skilled in the
art of sucking poison from
wounds, for the name of a
serpent applied for that pur-
pose. Frustra Caesare etiam
Fsyllosadmovente, qui venena
serpentum e vulneribus ho-
minum haustu revocare at-
que exsugere solent. Oros.
p. 439
— note2. Da, apparently an error
for Diet.
468 note1, piree — an error for
pirton, singular for plural, of
frequent occurrence in Oro-
sius.
ANGLO-SAXON ALPHABET.
Contractions.
^ a -} and
b f ]>»e that
L c
B
L
D b i7"-
fc e J?a J>am them.
F F f
E S g
P h
I i
K k Note.—T, was probably in ancient
I times always sounded as K, tlie
latter very rarely appearing in
00 m early manuscripts, ti and Le after-
•^ wards became the English che and
chi, as ceap, cheap; ceopl, churl;
O O cijuce, church (old English chirche);
p cicen, chicken, dimin. of coc, cock,
with the change of vowel (Ger.
R ji r umlaut).
8 \ s
T c
U u
V p w
X x
Y y
Z z
Dp $ ]> dh, th, as in though and thing ; though
generally used indiscriminately.
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR,
NOUNS.
There are three genders, neuter, masculine, and feminine,
as, neut. pip, wife, woman, cilb, child; masc. mona, moon, bael,
part ; fern, pmne, sun, hoc, look.
DECLENSION.
SIMPLE ORDER.
Neut. cage, eye. Masc. rteoppa, star. Fern, cunje, tongue.
Nom. eag-e
Gen. eag-an
Abl. and Dat. eaj-an
Ace. eaj-e
Nom. and Ace. eaj-an
Gen. eaj-ena
Abl. and Dat. eag-um
COMPLEX ORDER.
Neut. leaf, leaf. Masc. baeg, day. Fern, rcepn, voice.
Singular.
ba&g ftefn (rtefen)
baej-ef ftefn-e
bseg-e rcepn-e
Singular.
rteopp-a
rteopp-an
rteopp-an
rteopp-an
tunj-e
tunj-an
tung-an
tun g- an
Plural.
fteopp-an
rteopp-ena
rteopp-um
tun 5- an
tunj-ena
tung-um
Nom. leajr
Gen. leaf-ef
Abl. and Dat. leaf-e
Ace. leaf
baeg
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GBAMMAE. 535
Plural.
Nom. leap baj-af jrepn-a
Gen. leap-a baj-a rcepn-a (-ena)
Abl. and Dat. leapum baj-um j'tejrn-um
Neut. tpeop, tree; pice, realm. Masc. bpo)>ep, brother;
man, man. Fern, hoc, book; buph, town.
Singular.
Nom. & Ac. epeop juc-e bpo>ep man hoc buph
Gen. epeop-ef pic-er bpoj^ep mann-ef bee bupj-e
Abl. & Dat. tpeop-e pic-e bpe>ep men bee bypij
Plural.
Nom. & Ac. tpeop-u pic-u bpoj?p-u men bee bypig
Gen. rpeop-a pic- a bpoj>p-a mann-a boc-a biaps-a
Abl. & Dat. cpeop-um pic-um bpoj?p-um mann-ura boc-um bupg-ura
ADJECTIVES.
Adjectives, as in G-erman, have a definite and an indefinite
inflection. The former is used when the adjective is pre-
ceded by the definite article, by any other demonstrative, or
by a possessive pronoun ; the latter in all other cases.
DEFINITE DECLENSION.
paec gobe, the good.
Singular.
Neut. Masc. Fern.
Nom. )>aet gob-e
Ace, J>aet
Gen. J>j»r job-an jjaepe ^ob-an
Dat. J>am job-an |>aepe job-an
Abl. J>ysob-an fy job-an
Plural.
Nom and Ace. fa gob-an ^
Gen. ]>apa job-ena > For all gecdere
Abl. and Dat. fam ^ob-um )
53G
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAB.
INDEFINITE DECLENSION.
^ob, good.
Singular.
Neut. Masc. Fern.
Nom. job job job
Gen. jober jobep jobpe
Dat. jobum jobum jobpe
Ace. job jobne jobe
Abl. jobe jobe jobpe
Plural.
Nom. and Ace. jobe
Gen. . . . jobpa
Abl. and Dat. jobum
COMPAEISON.
The Comparative and Superlative Degrees are regularly
formed by adding op and ore to the indefinite form, as leop,
leop-op, leop- opt, dear, dearer, dearest ; & usually becomes a,
as rmael, rmal-op, rmal-orc, small, narrow, etc. This ending
is, however, only adverbial. As an adjective, the Compara-
tive is formed in pe pa pe, whether used definitely or inde-
finitely, as (]>aet) leop-pe, (re) leop-pa, (reo) leop-pe, the
dearer. The Superlative has both the definite and indefinite
inflections, the former in -ope or -ere (also the adverbial
form), the latter in -orte, -opca, -opce, or -epte, etc., as
leop-opc, dearest, J>aec leop-opce, etc., the dearest.
Posit.
heapb, hard i
paet heapbe, the hard \
EXAMPLE.
ADJECTIVE.
Comp.
(J>8et)heapb-pe,
the harder
ADVEEB.
Super!.
heapb-orc, hardest
)>aec heapb- of ce, the
hardest
heapb-e, hardly heapb-op, hardlier heapb-oyc, hardliest
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GEAMMAE.
537
IEEEGULAE COMPAEISON.
Posit.
ianj, long
strong
Comp.
(lenj)
Superl.
lenjejT
hpaeb (hpafte), quick
ealb, old
neah, nigh
heah,- high
eatS, easy
op)
hpaeSpe (hpaSop)
ylbpe ylbept
neappe(neap,nyp) nyhpt, nehrc, next
hyppe hyhj-t, hehpc
ea&pe (eftpe, eft) eaftopt
FYPIie (jyp) FYPPerc
•z,eong, young
fceopc, short
rcypcpe
rcypcerc
further
pop, soft reFcre (reFc)
reptejT
aep, ere, before *ppe (a&pop)
job (pel), good, well betepe (bee)
aepepc
betejr, becrc
ypel, evil pypfe (PYPf)
pyppepc, pypjr
micel, great mape (ma)
maepc
lytel (lye), little laefr6 (lser)
laepc
popme (pope), former,
pyjimepc, pypjr
fore
la&c (lace), late, slow laecpe (lacop)
lacojr, laecemerc
riS, /«^e, since riSpe (p^op)
pSopc, piSemejr
upepeapb (up), upward, upepe (upop)
ypemepc
above
(aepcep), after aepcpe
ucepeapb (uc), outward, ucpe (ucop)
aepcemepc
ycemepc
ow^
mib (mibbepeapb), mid
mibmejT
PEONOUNS.
I. PEESONAL.
The Personal Pronouns are ic, /; ]?u, ^cw; hit, he, heo,
it, he, she. The first two are the only Anglo-Saxon words
having the dual numOer.
538 OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GEAMMAB.
Singular.
Norn, ic ]?u
Gen. mm ]>m
Ace. me }>e
Abl. and Dat. me }>e
Dual. Plur. Dual Plur.
Nom. pic pe gic ge
Gen. uncep upe mcep eopep
Ace. unc uf me eop
Abl. and Dat. unc ur me eop
Singular.
Neut. Masc. Fern.
Nom. hie he heo
Gen. hir hif hipe
Ace. hit hme hi
Abl. and Dat. him him hipe
Plural.
Nom and Ace. hi, hy
Gen. hipa, hypa, heopa
Abl. and Dat. him, heom
II. POSSESSIVE.
The Possessive Pronouns are formed from the genitives of
the first and second person, as mm, mine, my ; J>m, thine, thy ,
uncep, upe, our ; mcep, eopep, your. These are declined as
indefinite adjectives. The genitive of the third person is
used unchanged, as hif , its, his ; hipa, their. To determine
more precisely the idea of reflection, the genitive of rylp, self,
or the word agen, own, must be added, which is regularly
declined as an adjective, but used only indefinitely.
III. DEMONSTEATIVE.
The Demonstrative Pronouns are paet, re, reo, that, also
the relative which, who, that, and the article the s and Jnr,
J»ef, J>eoj*, this.
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GBAMMAE. 539
Singular. Singular.
Neut.
Masc. Fern.
Nom. f aec
pe peo
Gen. faep
faep faep
Dat, fam, f ae:
m fam, faem faep
Ace. faec
fone fa
Abl. fy
Jtf )>y
Plural.
Nom. and Ace. fa
Gen. f apa, faepa
Abl. and Dat. fam
IV. INTEEEOGATIVE.
The Interrogates are hpsec ? hpa ? what ? who ? hpylc ?
10%2'cA .? hpaef ep ? whether ? which, ?
Neut. Mas. and Fern.
Nom. hpaec hpa
Gen. hpaep hpaep
Dat. hpam, hpaem hpam, hpaem
Ace. hpaec hpone, hpaene
Abl. hpy hpy
V. INDEFINITE.
The Indefinite Pronouns are ppa hpaac (ppa), whatsoever;
ppa hpa (ppa), whosoever ; ppa hpylc (ppa), whichsoever ; aeghpaeC
(gehpaec), seghpylc, etc., whatsoever, etc. ; selc, each, every one ;
eal, all; aemg, any ; naemj, not any, none; anhpig (aenhpij),
single, alone ; mamg (maenig), many ; genoh, enough ; an,
one ; pum, some, a, a certain ; placed after a cardinal number
in the genitive, it implies one more, as pif-yna pum, one of
sixteen; pela, much, many; peapa (pea), Jew; man (like
Ger. man, Fr. on), one, they, people; apihc(apuhc), aphc, ahc,
aught, anything; riaphc (nahc), naught, nothing; ofep, other,
second; apfep, afep, one of two, either; napfep (naf»op),
neither; aegfep, either.
NUMBEES.
Cardinal. Ordinal
an one ^ popme, pe popma, peo
popme, first
cpa two ^, pe, peo of ep, second, etc.
fpeo, fpy three -p fpybbe, pe fpybba, -eo
fpybbe
540
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GKA.MMAR.
Cardinal.
peopep
pp
px, ryx
four
five
reopon
seven
eahca
eight
ni^on
nine
Cyn
ten
enblupon
eleven
cpelp
twelve
JjpeotCyne
thirteen
peopejityne
fourteen
pipcyne
fifteen
pxtyne
sixteen
reopontyne
seventeen
eahtatyne
eighteen
mjontyne
nineteen
Cpentij
twenty
ppyttig
thirty
peopepti^
forty
piptij
fifty
rixtis
sixty
hunb-peoponti^
seventy
hunb-eahtatij
eighty
hunb-ni^ontij
ninety
hunb, hunbpeb )
hunb-teontig 5
hundred
hunb- enblupon 1 15
hundred and
ten
hunb-tpelptij
hundred and
twenty
pupenb
thousand
Ordinal.
people, peopfa, people
pipte, -a, -e
pxte, -a, -e
peopofe, -a, -e
eahto|/e
teoj»e
enblypte
tpelpte
J>pytteoJ>e
peopepteoj?e
pipteope
pxteope
peoponteope
eahtateo]>e
tpencugofe
peopepci^ojje
hunb-]'eoponcijo]?e
hunb-eahtangope
hunb-nijoncijofe
hunb-ceontigofe
hunb-enblupontijo])e
hunb-Cpelpci^ofe
Sn follows the indef. decl. of adjectives, and in the accus,
sing. masc. often forms aenne for anne ; used definitely : ane,
ana, ane, and standing after its noun, etc., it signifies alone.
Tpa and ]?peo are thus declined :
Neut. Masc. Fern. Neut. Masc. Fern.
Nom. and Ace. tpa (tu) tpejen cpa J>peo }>py J>peo
Gren. cpejpa (tpe^a)
Abl. and Dat. tpam (cpaem)
fpeopa
J>pym
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR. 541
Ba, bejen, ba, loth, follows tpa ; prefixed to tpa it forms
batpa (butu), loth, which is indeclinable. The numbers
from peopep to tpelp inclusive, when used absolutely, have a
nominative in -e, as ealle peopone, all the seven ; tpelp has also
tpelpa and tpelpum ; pip and pix are found with a gen. in -a,
as an fippa pipa. Tpentig and the others in -tig, form a gen.
in -tigpa, abl. and dat. in -cijum. punb prefixed to the tens
after pixtig is sometimes dropt, when hunb, hundred, goes
before, as pcipa an hunb ^ eahtatig, of ships one hundred and
eighty.
pealp, half, placed after an ordinal number, reduces it by
half, as ofep-healp, one and a half(Ger. anderthalb) ; j>pibbe-
healp, two and a half. From an, tpa, J>peo, are formed *ne,
once; tpipa (tupa), twice; fpipa (}>pypa), thrice.
YEEBS.
There are two Orders of Verbs, as of nouns, viz., the
Simple and the Complex (or, according to Grimm's nomen-
clature, the Weak and the Strong). The simple order forms
its imperfect by adding -obe (-ebe), -be, or -ce to the root;
the participle 'past by adding -ob (-eb), -b, or -t. In the
complex order the imperfect is monosyllabic, and changes its
vowel, and the participle past ends in -en. The former is
divided into three classes, forming one Conjugation ; the
latter into two Conjugations of three classes each.
SIMPLE ORDER, on FIRST CONJUGATION.
lupian, to love ; hypan, to hear ; tellan, to tell, count.
INDICATIVE.
Present.
Singular ic lup-i^e hyp-e tell-e
Jm hip-apt hyp-pt tel-pt
he lup-aS hyp-« cel-6
Plur. pe, se, hi Iup-ia3 j hyp-a6 | teU-a
lup-i^e * hyji-e ) teU-e
IMPEKFECT.
Sing, iclup-obe hyp-be teal-be
]>\L lup-obept hyp-bept teal-bept
he lup-obe typ-be teal-be
Plur. pe, ^e, hi lup-obon hyp-bon teal-bon
512
OUTLINE OF ANGLO- SAX03T GEAMMAB.
SUBJUNCTIVE.
Present.
Sing, lup-ije
Plur. lup-ion
hyp-e
hyp-on
IMPEEFECT.
teU-e
teU-on
Sing, lup-obe
Plur. lup-obon
hyp-be
hyp-bon
teal-be
teal-bon
IMPEEATIVE.
Sing, lup-a
i. lup-ije
hyp
( hyji-aS
I hyp-e
tel-e
( tell-aS
I tell-e
INFINITIVE.
Pres. lup-ian hyp-an
Gerund to lup-i^enne to hyp-enne
Part. pres. lup-ijenbe hyp-'enbe
Part, past (je)lup-ob (ge)hyp-eb
tell- an
to tell-anns
tell-enbe
The first form of the present indicative plural and of the
imperative plural is used when the pronoun either precedes
or is omitted, as : pe hip mS, we love ; hypaft, hear ; the
second when the pronoun immediately follows, as : telle ge,
tell ye. The gerund, which is always preceded by co, answers
both to the Latin supines and the future in rus.
Pabban, to have ; pyllan, to will, velle ; and nyllan, to will not,
nolle, are thus conjugated :
Indie, pres. 1 haebbe (habbe) Sub. pres. habbe
(hsebbe)
2
3
Plur. 1, 2, 3
Imp erf.
Plur.
Infin. pres.
Gerund
haeppt (hapapt)
haepft (hapat5)
(habba'S (hapiaS
lhaabbe (habbe)
haepbe (-pt)
haepbon
Plur.
Imp.
Plur.
Imper.
Plur.
haebban (habban) Part. pres.
habbenne Part, past
habbon
ha&pbe
haepbon
hapa
rhabbaS
|habbe
haebbenbe
bsepb
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GEAMMAE.
543
ludic. pres. 1 pille
2 pile
3 pile
Imperf. polbe (-ft)
Plur. polbon
Indie, pres. 1 nelle
2 nelc
3 nele (nyle)
Subj. pres.
Plur.
Imp.
pille
pillon
polbe
Plur.
polbon
Infin. pres.
Part. pres.
pillan
pillenbe
Subj. pres.
Plur.
nelle (nylle)
nellon
Imp.
Plur.
(nyllon)
nolbe
nolbon
Imper.
Plur.
nelle
nellaS
Infin.
nyllan
Imperf. nolbe (rt)
Plur. nolbon
COMPLEX OEDEE.
The Complex Order changes the vowel in the imperfect.
The imperfect ends with the characteristic, which, if bb,
becomes p; if g, h. In the 2nd pers. sing, and in the plur.
h again becomes g.
The SECOND CONJUGATION changes certain vowels in the
2nd and 3rd persons sing, present. The part, past sometimes
changes its vowel
EXAMPLES: — bjiecan to break; healban, to hold; bfiajzan,
to draff, draw.
CLASS I.
Sing. 1 bpece
2 bpicrc
3 bjuc«
Plur.
Sing. 1 bpaec
2 bpaece
3 bpaec
Plur. bpaecon
CLASS II.
CLASS III.
INDICATITE.
Present.
healbe
hylcj-c
h^lc (healc)
fhealbaS
Ihealbe
bpaje
Ibpa^e
IMPEEFECT.
heolb
heolbe
heolb
heolbon
bnoh
bpo^e
bpoh
bpojon
544
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GEAMMAE.
Sing, bpece
Plur. bjiecon
Sing, bpaece
Plur. bpaacon
Sing.
"»•
bpec
{ft?
SUBJUNCTIVE.
Present.
healbe
healbon
IMPERFECT.
heolbe
heolbon
IMPEEATIVE.
healb
bpaje
bpajon
bpoje
bpogon
Pres. bpecan
Ihealbe
INFINITIVE.
healban
Ger. to bpecanne
Part. pres. bpecenbe
Part, past (je)bpocen
Pres.
Plur.
to healbanne
healbenbe
(;$e)healben
, to be, is thus conjugated :
INDICATIVE.
1 com Imp. 1 paep
2 eapt 2 paepe
3 if (yr) 3 paej-
rynb (rynbon) Plur. paepon
SUBJUNCTIVE.
bpajan
to bjiajannc
bpagenbe
Pres.
Plur.
ry (P5'
j*yn
IMPEEATIVE.
per
Plur.
Imp. psepe
Plur. psepon
INFINITIVE.
Pres. peran
Ger. to pej*anne
^pej-e Part. pres. pepenbe
Part. past, (ge)pej-en
"With some of the above forms the negative ne is com.
bined :
Pres. 1 (ic) neom (I) am not; 3 nir (nyr) ; Imp. n»jr
Subj. imperf. naepe, etc.
Epefan, to say, is thus conjugated :
OUTLINE OF ANGLO- SAiON GRAMMAR, 545
Ind. pres. cpefe, cpyrc, cpy3 ; imperf. cpaeft, cpaebe, cpaeft,
plur. cpsebon ; Subj. pres. cpefe; imperf. cpsebe; part, past
(je)cpeben. In other respects it is regular.
Iktnjan (^an) to go; bon, to do, and buan, to inhabit,
cultivate, are thus conjugated :
INDICATIVE.
Pres. 1 jange (ga) bo bue
2 gserc bert byjr
3 taeo" be^ byS
Plur. -5 -
Ija Cbo
Imp. eobe (jeonj) by be bube
SUBJUNCTIVE.
Sing, ga bo bu
Plur. gan bon bun
IMPERATIVE.
Sing, gang (ja) bo
INFINITIVE.
Pres. SanSan (5an) bon buan
(^er. co bonne
Part. pres. ^an^enbe bonbe buenbe
past (se)5ansen (jan) fee) bon
In the THIRD CONJUGATION the vowel remains the same
in the present.; but that of the imperfect is changed in t
2nd pers. sing., and in the whole plural.
EXAMPLES : bmban, tolind; bpipan, to drive; clupan, tc '.leave.
CLASS I.
CLASS 11.
CLASS 11J
INDICATIVE.
Present.
Sing. 1 bmbe
2 binpc
bpipe
clupe
clupjc
3 bmc
bpipS
clupS
«»• (SSf
fbpipa6
Ibpipe
('clupaS
Iclupe
2N
546
OUTLINE OP ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR.
IMPERFECT.
Sing. 1
2
3
Plur.
banb
bunbe
banb
bunbon
bpap
bpipe
bpap
bpipon
cleap
clupe
cleap
clupon
SUBJUNCTIVE.
Present.
Sing.
Plur.
binbe
binbon
bpipe
bpipon
clupe
clupon
IMPERFECT.
Sing.
bunbe
bunbon
bpipe
bpipon
clupe
clupon
IMPERATIVE.
Sing.
Plur
bmb
(.binbe
bpip
fbpipaS
1 bpipe
clup
( clupaft
I clupe
INFINITIVE.
Pres.
Ger.
Part. pres.
— past
binban bpipan
to bmbanne to bpipanne
binbenbe bpipenbe
(je)bunben (je)bpipen
clupan
clupanne
clupenbe
(je)clopen
, to be, to become, is thus conjugated :
Ind. pres. sing. 1
2
3
people
pyppc
pyp«
people, etc.
pupbe, etc.
peopS
Ipeopfe
Imperf. sing. 1 peap8
2 pupbe
3 peapft
Plur.
Subj. pres.
Imp.
Imper.
Plur.
Ipeoppe
Infin. pres. peopj>an
Ger. to peopj>annn
Part. pres.
— part,
peopj>enbe
(se)popben
pupbon
Beon, to be, is defective.
Ind. pres. sing. 1 beo Subj. pres. beo
2 bypt Plur. beon
3 by$ Imper. beo
P1- (w* P1- (b^
Infin. beon Ger. to beonne Part. pres. beonbe
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR. 547
Ceopan, to choose, makes 3 pers. pres. cyjt ; imperf. ceap,
2 pers. cupe, pi. cujion ; part, past (je)copen. And so
others in -ran.
Seoftan, to seethe, makes 3 pers. pres. pyS ; imperf. peaS, 2
pers. robe ; part, past (ge)roben. And so otLers in -San.
Fleogan, or contr. pleon, to fly, flee, has f-eoje and pleo,
plur. pleoS, pleo ; so likewise teogan or teon, to draw ; ppeon,
to cover ; and p/eon, to thrive.
Seon, to see, makes imperf. peah or fell, rape or rege ; im-
per. reoli or pyh ; part. pres. peonbe ; part, past (;z;e)pepen or
(-pean), to rejoice, has imperf. gepeah or -peh,
jepaje or -peje ; part, past jepagen or jepaejen.
ANOMALOUS VERBS.
Tlie following Verbs are anomalous, having for their pre-
sent an old imperfect of the Complex Order, and for imper-
fect one subsequently formed according to the Simple Order.
Pres. 1. 3. ah, 2. aje, pi. agon ; imperf. ahte ; infill, agan ;
part, past agen, to owe, own. Also combined with the nega-
tive ne: nah, nance.
Pres. 1. 3. an, 2. unne, pi. unnon ; imperf. ufte; infin.
unnan ; part, past (ge)unnen, to grant.
Pres. 1. 3. can, 2. cunne or canpc, pi. cunnon; imperf.
cupe ; mfin. cunnan ; part, past (je)cu6, to can, be able, Lat.
posse, valere.
Pres. 1. 3. beah, 2. buje, pi. bugon ; imperf. bohce; infin.
bujan, to be good for, worth.
Pres. 1. 3. beap, 2. beapjc, pi. buppon ; subj. buppe; im-
perf. boppce ; infin. beapan, to dare,
Pres. 1.3. jeman, 2. gemanrc ; pi. gemunon ; imperf. je-
munbe ; infin, jemunan, to remember.
Pres. 1. 3. mseg, 2. mihc, pi. majon; subj, mseje (ma^e) •,
imperf, mihce (meahce) ; infin. majan, to may, can, be able.
Pres. 1, 3. moc, 2. mope, pi, mocon ; subj. moce ; imperf.
morce, may, might, must.
Pres. 1, 3, pceal, 2. pcealc, pi. pceolon (pculon) ; subj.
pcyle; imperf. pceolbe ; infin. pculan, shall, owe.
Pres. 1. 3. pat, 2. papc, pi. picon ; imperf. pipte (pippe) ;
subj. pite; imper. pice, picaS ; infin. pican ; ger. co picanne;
part. pres. picenbe ; part, past piten, to know. Also nycan;
not to know.
2 N2
548 OUTLINE OF ANGLO- SAXON GRAMMAR.
Pres. 1. 3. l>eani:, 2. ])eappt or Jmppe, pi. Jmjijron; subj.
fmppe; imperf. poppce; infin. peappan, to need.
AUXILIARIES, ETC.
The Anglo-Saxon has no future tense, the present beinff
used to express both the present and the future ; pillan ana
rculan are used only to express will, duty, etc. The present
of beon has usually a future sense. The perfect and the
pluperfect are formed, as in English, by the verb habban, to
have, as ic hsebbe or ha&pbe gelupob, I have or had loved,
There is no passive voice, the passive being expressed by
means of the auxiliaries pepan, peop]>an, and beon, as ic eom
or people (ge)lupob, lam loved; ic psep or peopS (ge)lupob,
etc.
Impersonal verbs are as in other tongues, as hie pm3, it
rains ; hie jehmpS, it happens, etc.
SYNTAX.
I. SYNTAX or NOUNS.
Nouns of time, answering to the question how long ? are
put in the ace. or abl.
Answering to when ? they stand in the abl., dat. with on,
or gen.
Measure, value, age and the like are used in the gen.
The matter, to which a measure is applied, generally
stands in the gen. as hunb miccena hpaecep, a hundred
measures of wheat.
The means or instrument stands in the abl. or dat., with or
without the prep, mib, with.
II. SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES.
Adjectives, generally speaking, but particularly those
denoting want, desire, knowledge, remembrance and the like,
have a gen. of the noun which defines them, as peop pana,
wanting money • aecep jeopn, desirous of food.
Adjectives denoting pleasure, profit, injury and the like,
govern a dat. as eallum anbpeng, acceptable to all; gehpylcum
unnyc, useless to every one.
Comparatives require J>onne or J>e, than, with a nomin., 01
an abl. or gen. without ; superlatives require a geu.
OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR. 549
III. SYNTAX OF VERBS.
Verbs of naming have an accus. of the object named, and
a nomin. of the name, as J>one unjemelice eapjan ]m mihc
hatan hapa, the immoderately timid thou mayest call hare.
Raeban, to rule, counsel, abpejban, to draw (a sword},
robpegban, to cast off (sleep) govern an abl., as penben hi
j>y pice paeban morton, while they might rule the realm; an oj:
pam ]>y rpeopbe abpaeb, one oj them drew a sword.
Verbs of bidding, forbidding, serving, following, obeying,
consenting to, opposing, pleasing, trusting, injuring, etc.,
govern a dat.
Verbs of motion, also onbpaeban, to dread, often have a
redundant dat. of the subject, as $a ]> e popS, go forth ; him
]>a Scylb gepac, Scyld then departed.
Verbs of desiring, needing, tempting, wondering at, using,
remembering, forgetting, ceasing, etc.; also penan, to hope;
neopan, to visit, govern a gen., as pe gepilmaS ppifej" piS eop,
we desire peace with you ; hpy panbige ge mm ? why tempt ye
me ? hi J?9ej- ne jymbon, they cared not for that.
Some impersonals govern the person in the ace. or dat. ;
hie, it, is often omitted, as hyngpaft hine, he is hungry ; hipe
gebypaft, it becomes her. Others have besides a gen. of the
remote object, as J>one pehjan lyre anpealbef, the wealthy
lusts after power.
SYNTAX OF PREPOSITIONS.
The following govern the accus. : jeonb, through,, oner
Jmph, through,-, piS-sejrcan, behind, after ; ymb (ymbe), about.
These govern the dat. be (bi, big), of, about, by; OJT, off,
from, of', ppam, from, by ; aet, at, to ; co, to ; inco, into ;
3&]\, ere, before • jreop, far, far from ; unpeop, near ; neah
(nean), nigh; gehenbe, near, handy; aepcep, after; bupn,
on-upan, above ; beaepcan (baajrcan), behmban, after, behind;
beheonan, on this side ; butan, without, outside ; betpynan
(becpeonum, becpeonan), between, among, co-emnej-, along ;
co-mibber, on-mibban, amid-, bmnan, pi$-mnan, on-mnan,
within, inside • ascpopan, coppan, before', copeapb, towards-,
co-eacan, besides.
Xnblang, along, governs a gen.
The following govern the accus. or dat. : pope and bejropan,
before; onbutan, about, around-, oft, unto, till] uppon, upon ;
550 OUTLINE OF ANGLO-SAXON GHAM3JAH.
innan (mnon), within; on, in, on, into; (on-^emang, among ,
betpeox, betwixt, among; utan (uton), piftucan, without,
outside; opep, over; unbep, under; togeaner, onjean, to-
wards, against ; bejeonban, beyond.
Fop, for, and mtb, w^A, govern the accus., abl., or dat.
J7r8, against, with, governs the accus., dat., or gen.
A preposition sometimes stands after its case, as hi him
mib raeton, they sat with him.
Ymbutan is sometimes divided, as, ymb hancpeb utan
about cockcrowing.
SYNTAX or CONJUNCTIONS.
The following require the verb in the indicative : anb, and;
eac, eke, also; ac, but, for, Lat. nam; rpa, so; rpa rpa, so as ;
]>a, )?onne, then ; ]7a, )>a}>a, when, as ; (pop) hpy, why ? mib }n
(J)e), mib J?am (J>e), when, while; Jjenben, while; pttyan,
since; o<5o"e — oSSe, o&5e-tpega — ofrSe, and o^Se J»apa — o^Se,
either — or; ge — ^e and aegfep ge, «s well — as, both — and
]"pa-]>eah and (]>eah-) hpaej^epe, yet, nevertheless; nalaep — ac,
not only — but; (pop) J>y (]?e),/or, because, therefore.
The 'following require the subjunctive: ]?aec, faecce, that,
p>eah-(J>e), though; fonne and hpaenne, when; hpsep (hpap),
where; )>y-laej- (]>e), /e«^; to ]>on (])e), in order that; a-J?y
— ]>e, so JwwcA /5Ae — as; o%, o^sec, until; a&p, 8&p])am (f»ej,
ere, before ; hpaefep (J>e) and ram — ram, whether — or ,-
tpp, */"; nemne, nsepne, nym]>e, unless, except; hu, humeca,
how.
J7u ne, with an indicative, and hpa&pep, with a subjunctive,
are used to make propositions interrogative, as hu ne bofc
manpille f pa ? r/o wo/5 the wicked do so ? hpae^ep ge nu j ecan
jolb on tpeopum ? rfo ye now seek gold on trees ? Epyrc ]>u,
or re^rc )>u ? *«y<?s^ ^/bw / answer the same purpose with an
indicative, as cpe]>e ge haebbe je rupl ? Ao»e ye meat ? reSrc
]m maeg j*e blmba ]>one blinban laeban ? c«w ^Ae J/*we/ lead the
blind ?
Ucon (utan) with an infinitive expresses a wish, as uton
gan, let us go.
Two or more negatives are frequently used, as ne pep ]?u
na, weep not.
Butan (buton), but, only, takes ne before it, as pe nabbaft
buton pip hlafaj-, we have but Jive loaves.
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
Vote. — All substantives ending in a, rcype (rcipe), hab, and bom, are
masculine. Those in unj, ner (nyr, nip), are feminine. Words be-
ginning with the prefix a or ge are ranged according to their root*.
ft.
ft, ever, always
ftc, but, for, Lat. nam, enim
ftcran, ashes
r,e-acj*ian ^
tre-ahrian I to ask, be informed
Ere-axian ( of, hear say, or tell
fthxian j
ftb, m. pile
ftbl, f, disease
M,f. law
. indignation
m. field, acre
f. vein, nerve
m. evening
ever
after, again
next, second, after
follower, succes-
i, everywhere, on all sides
either, both ; ses>ep ge
. . . ge, both . . . and
JElc, each, every. See Ylc
^Elmihcig, almighty
^Elcsep, honest, good, honourable
^El>eobisnyr, exile, foreign parts
, desolate
waste, desert
, pusillanimous
any
JEnhc, unique, excellent
^Ep, ere, before; aepop, earlier
seperr, first
Mp, n. brass
in days of old
, formerly
, of brass
, n, errand, message
Ere-sepenbian, to obtain by message
JEpenbpaca, messenger, ambassa-
dor
jEpert, erst, first
j .(Epnan. See Ypnan
Ire-a&pnan, to get by running
1 *"— former
before that
JEc, at, with, in
Mr, m. ? food
-*Erg8ebepe, together
lie-aeccpeb, poisoned
, disgrace
e,/.? spring, source
, /. axe
l, noble, precious
, m. noble, prince
ftgan, pret. ahce, to own, pc?se»a,
have
ftjen, own
Ire-asman, to appropriate
fthran, ashes
fthpan, to ask
fthce. See ftsan
552
GLOSSAET TO OROSIUS.
, 7/1. a certain vessel or mea-
sure
TCmbypne, favourable (wind)
"Xn, for, on
5"n, a, one; ane, alone
3!na, -e, alone, cal/
IStobib, n. delay, expectation, at-
tendance
ffnbugan, pret. -beah, pi. -bugon,
to bow, submit
JS"nb, and
Snbepi, worth, value
ffnblang, along
Snblyjren,/. sustenance, substance
ISnbpaeban. See Onbpaeban
Siibpyrne, terrible, formidable
TCnbphca, face, countenance
Unbpypbe, n. answer
!Snjrealbner, simplicity
TCnpnban, to find. See Fmban
TCnje, anxious
S"nsean, against. See Ongean
Sngilban, to pay. See frilban
-, brass-founder
ke-apian, to honour, have pity
on
Sping, honour
Splear, void of honour, base
3"phc, honourable.
See Ypnan
away
TCpeg-cuman, to come away, escape,
See Luman '
TCxian. See teacrian
Sxran, ashes
3"S, m. oath
S]?ep, either
?C>uni, son-in-law
B.
Ba, /. 7i. dat, bam, both
Baecbopb, larboard, left
Baeb. See Bibban
Bsepcan. See Beseycan
Sngican, to know, be acquainted
with
Xngobian, pret. angobe (an error
or contraction for angobobe), to
indemnify
TCnhcner, image, idol, statue
ISe-anmeCan, to encourage
Snpsebner, unanimity
Snpccan, to stay in. See Eericcan
Snryn,/. sight, spectacle
Snpealb \ m' Power» dominion
Snpealba, monarch
Snpig, m. single combat
Snbpypban ) ,
rre-anbpypban}toanswer
TCngm, n. beginning, undertaking, | te-bjep, n.? conduct, behaviour
enterprise Baepnan, to burn, pret. bapn, pL
See Ongmnan bupnon, v. n.
BeeS, m. bath
| Ban, 7i. bone
Bajnan, to bathe
Beeejrcan, behind
Beah, inclined. See Bujan
Bealb, bold
ISe-bealh. See kebelgan
Beam, m. tree, beam
Beapn, n. child
Beapn-eeam, in. progeny
Bebicgan, to sell. See Bicgan
Bebob, n. command, order
Bee, gen. dat. abl. sing. nom. and
ace. pi. of boc, book
Spbpebe, the country of the Obo- ! Becuman, to come upon. See
tritse, a Slawish people to the ! Euman
north of the Old-Saxons, in- I Beb, n. bed
habiting the greater part of i Bebelpan, to bury. See Delpan
Mecklenburg I l^-beben, demanded. See Bibban
, f. wealth, income I Bebpiyan, pret. -bpay, pi. -bpiyon,
to drive
Bejranseri, encompassed. See BejroB
Befajian, to betake. See Fapan
. mercy, honour
^P>/- possession
Xp, n. brass
GLOSSARY TO OKOSIUS.
553
IJep» n, to contain, comprise; utan
bejron, to encompass. See Fon
Beyopan, before
Began / to venerate, cultivate,
Begangan ( encompass. See tan
Begen, m. both
Begeonbon, beyond
Begmnan, pret. -gan, pi. -gunnon,
to begin
Begitan > pret. -geat, to get, ob-
Be-gytan J tain
Behabban, to comprise
Behatan, pret. -het, to promise
Beheajrbian, to behead
Behealban, 3 pers. -hylt, pret.
-heolb, to hold, observe, see
Behhban, to close up. See To-
hhban
Behylban, to flay
Belabian, to unload, exculpate
"X beltan C3 pers" -b?l&> Pret
wS£* -bealh, pi. bulgon,
( to enrage, incense
Behcgan, to enclose. See Licgan
Behyan, pret. belap, part, belifen,
to remain
Belucan, pret. -leac, pi. -lucon, to
lock, close; part, belocen
Belytegian, to circumvent
Bemaetan, to presume, esteem
(oneself?) Ger. vermessen? I
am not aware of the occurrence
of this verb in any other author
Bemupcnian, to murmur
Bena, supplicant, supplicating
Benseman, to deprive, take away
Benaman, to name
Benb, /«./. band, bond
tre-benb, bound. See Bmban
Ire-benban, to lay in bonds
Bemman, pret. benam, part, be-
numen, to take away, deprive of
S-beoban, to announce. See
Beoban
Beoban "j pret. -beab, pi. -bu-
Be-beoban I bon, to command,
Ire-beobanJ enjoin, offer
Beopgan ^ pret. beaph, pi. bup-
te-beopgan V gon, part, -bopgen,
Bupgan ) to sav?, secure
Beoph, m. mountain
Beopmar, the people inhabiting
the country called Biarmaland,
east of the Dwina. See Aall,
note to Snorri, i. p. ft
£e-beotian, to threaten, promise
carry,
Bepa, bear
Bepeapan, to bereave of, plunder
Bepen, of bearskin
Beprtan, pret. bseprt, pi. buprton,
to burst
Beraetian, to beset, lie in wait for
Berapon, beheld. See 8eon
Berceapian, to see, observe
Berceotan, pret. befceat, to shoot,
dart, rush, precipitate
Bercujran, pret. -rceajr, pi. -rcujron,
to shove, push
Bercypan, pret. -rceaji, to shave
Berem, besom, broom, rod
Berencan, to sink: v. a.
Berengan, to singe, scorch, burn
Bermcan, pret. -ranc, pi. -runcon,
to sink, v. n.
Berittan, pret. -rset, part, -reten,
to besiege
Berpon, drawn, attracted. See
3ypanan
Berppecan, to talk about, an-
nounce, complain. See Sppecan
Bertelan, pret. rtsel, to steal, i. e.
to go clandestinely
Berpican, pret. -rpac, pi. -rpicon,
to deceive, calumniate, betray,
circumvent; berpice beon, to
deceive
Berypian ) to ensnare, circumvent,
Bepipian £ plot against
Bet, better, adv. >y bet, the better
Betsecan ) pret.-tsehte, to commit,
Betsecean^ entrust, deliver
T, rto make reparation,
rl b^ran atone' rePair5 becan
( jryp, to make up a fire
Betepe. comp. of gob, better
Betogen, covered, from beteon
See Teon
Betrt, best
554
GLOSSARY TO OROS1US.
Betux "I
Becpux I between, among
Becpih J
Becynan, to close, shut
Bepeopcan, to work over, or cover,
construct
Bepeoppan £ pret. -peapp, pi. -pup-
Bepyppan $ pon, to cast
Bepepian, to defend
Bepmban, pret. -panb, pi. -punbon,
to wind about
Bepican, pret. bepirce, to take care
or charge of, command
Bepopen, shedding tears, from
pepan
Be>pybian, to force, encompass?
Bejjyban, to urge, impel
Bi, by
Ire-bicnian, to signify, show
Biban "^ pret. -bab, pi. -bibon,
ft-biban > to abide, stay, con-
Ire-biban ) tinue
Bibban J pret. baeb, to pray,
fce-bibban $ worship, demand
S-bibban, to solicit, obtain by solici-
tation. See Bibban
Ire-bijan, to bow, subdue
Bilibban, to live by or on
Bilpicner, meekness, gentleness
( pret. -banb, pi. -bun-
{
Binnan, within
Birceop, bishop, priest
Birceophab, priesthood
Birmep > infamy, ignominy, blas-
Birmop ) phemy. n)ockery
Birmepian. See Erebyrmepian
Bifmoplic, disgraceful, ignomini-
ous, squalid
Birmpung, insult, ignominy, dis-
grace
Birpel, n. proverb
Bic, m.l bit, bite
ft-bican, pret. -bar, pi. -bicon, to
bite
Birep, bitter
1 Blac, black, a*o pale, Ger. bleich
Blseb, / fruit
Bleebpe,/ boil, tumour
ISe-blanb, n.? mingling; rnap-ge-
blanb, snow-storm
Ge-blecrian, to bless
Blmbhce, blindly
Blinnan ) pret. blan (blon) pi.
S-blmnan £ blunnon, to cease
Bh^, blithe, luxurious, joyful
Bh'Shce, blithely, joyfully
Bhftner, blitheness, gladness
Blob, n. blood
Blob-bpync, m. blood-drinking
Blob-gyce, m. bloodshed
Blobig, bloody
Blob-pyne, m. effusion of blood
Ire-bloc, n. sacrifice
Blotan, to sacrifice
Blocung, sacrifice
Boc,/. book
Boc-lanb, n. land held by charter
or testament
Ire-bob, n order, ordinance
Ire-bobian, to announce
Ire-bogen, inhabited, from bugan
S-boljen ) exasperated, angry.
te-bolgen 5 See Sbeljan
T^e-bopen, born, from bepan
Bot, f. atonement, from becan
Bpab, broad, wide- spread
Bpabian, to widen, extend, spread
Bpseb,/. breadth
Bpseban ) to spread, extend,
Ire-bpseban ) widen
Bpse'S, breath, vapour
lie-bpec, n. breaking, breach
/" pret. -bjisec, part, -bpo-
Bpecan S cen, to break, capture
S-bpecan 1 byassault,Lat.expug-
(. nare, violate, burst
Bpeb, n. board, tablet
pret' ^P8*' PL -bPu'
Bpebenb, cunning, crafty
Bpeorc, n. breast
Bpe^ep, dat. and abl. of bpoftep
Bpmgan ) pret. bpohce, to
r/e-bpingan ^ bring
Bpoc, n. misery, affliction, trouble
GLOSSARY TO OROSITTS.
Bpocian ) to afflict, distress.
Se-bpocian £ maim, half kill
3pohce
Sporman, to decay
Se-bpopen, brewed
5po>op, brother
[*e-bpo>oprcipe, brotherhood
re-bpoftpa ) brethren, brothers ;
re-bpo$pu 5 Ger. Gebriider
3pucan, pret. bpeac, pi. bpucon, to
enjoy, use, eat
3pyc5,/. bridge
3pyc'5, breaks. See Bpecan
; f famed, renowned
JjJcIIlc J
, m. burning, tire
^3 pers. by'5, pret
Suan \ bube, part, -bun to
re-buan 1 inhabit, dwell, cul-
(. tivate
lupan, above
Buran C Pret* 'beah'
part SeboSen,tobc,w,
u ^ J bend, submit, turn,
-buSan ..
lie-bun, inhabited, cultivated ; from
buan
T/e-bunben. See Bindan
Jiupjenba-lanb, Bornholm
Bupgenban, the Burgundians.
These in Alfred's time appear
to have dwelt to the north of the
Osti. We find them at another
period on the east bank of the
Oder. They have given name
to the isle of Bornholm (Bor-
gundar-holm)
Buph-leobe, m. pi. citizens
Buphpapu, f. townsfolk, inhabitants
Bucan, bucon, but, save, except,
unless, without
Bucu, both
JSe-bycgan, pret. -bohre, to buy
Byje, m. bending, angle
Ire-bylb, emboldened
Bylpiclice, innocently, meekly
Byn, cultivated, from buan
ke-bypb,/. birth
555
, ,.-.,-•, of best birth
Bypele, cup-bearer
Bypgen, / sepulchre
fce-bypian. v. impers. to happen
Bypis, dat. ahl, and nom. pi. oi
buph ; also of beoph, mound,
barrow, sepulchre
Bypijen,/. sepulchre, grave
Bypnan, pret. bapn, pi. bupnon, to
burn. Lat. ardere
Bypen,/. example, precept
Iie-bypmepian, to treat with con-
tumely, maltreat
L.
Lapcepn, n. prison
Lapepe, Ca?sar, emperor ; Ger.
Kaiser
Lapl, m. basket
Lealc ?
Eealb, cold
Leap, m. chap (as in chapman),
chattel, commodity
Leapian )
r,e-ceapian ^
Leap-j-cip, n. merchant-ship
Lear. See Leoran
Lempa, champion, soldier
Lene, bold, valiant
Lennan, to bring forth
2T-ceopj'an, pret. aceapp, to cut, cut
off, part, acoppen
Leopp-aex, /'. axe
Leojnan, to murmur
Leopl, m. churl, peasant
Leopan
Libing, ching
Lilb, n. child
Lipice,/. church, temple
Llsene, clean, completely
^, m. cloth, garment
Lhp, n. shore, clitf
Llub, m. rock
Clubig, craggy, rocky
Llupe, narrow pass, strait
Dlypian, to call
Uneop, n. knee
Unihc, boy, youth
556
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
Lmhehab, boyhood
SS3U}111 "
Loopta, cohort
?f-copen, chosen. See Leorau
Lopn, ». corn
Loycian, to tempt
Lor, cot, cottage
Lpa&jrc, pi. cpajxar, m. craft, device,
power
S-cpsejrran, to resolve, devise?
Le-cpaefCgian, to strengthen, render
powerful
Lpaej-TiS, crafty, powerful
Lpaer-paen, m. cart-wain; chariot,
car
Lpeopan, pret. cpeap, pi. cpupon,
to creep
Lpircen, Christian
Lpircenbom, Christianity
Lpircenerc, most Christian
Lucu ^
Luca > quick, living
Luco.)
Luman, 3 pers. cym^S, pret. com, to
come
S-cuman, to come, be born. See
Luman
Lunnan : ic can, pi. cunnon ; pret.
cu$e, pi. cu'Son, to know, be
able, can
Le-cunman, to try, attempt
Lupon "^
S-cupon > see Leoran
te-cupon 3
Luft, known, manifest. See
Lyban
Lu'Son. See Lunnan
Lpacian, to quake
Lpacung, quaking
Lpealm, m. mortality, pestilence,
plague
S-cpelan, pret. acpsel, to die, perish
Lpellan ) pret. cpealbe, to slay
S-cpellan f kill
Gulf of Bothnia and the White
Sea, including Finmark
Lpeu-rse, m. the White Sea
f 3 p. cpy'5, pret. cpw'S,
Lpe'San \ pi. cpsebou, to say,
Iie-cpe'5an 1 speak, agree on, de-
(^ clare
Lpic, quick, living
Lpilman, to kill
Lpybpaeben >/. compact, cove-
lie-cpybjiaeben \ nant
Lyl, m. leathern bag
yle, m. cold
.ym'S, comes. See Luman
,yn, n. kin, kind, sort, race
Se-cynb, n. nature; adj. natural
yne, royal ; used as a prefix, as
cyne-cymier, of royal race
,ynebom, kingdom
,ynehce, royally, nobly
Cyne-pice, n. kingdom
yne-retl, «. royal seat or resi-
dence
yns )
Lynins V
Cymngc }
Cypepen, of copper
m. time, occasion
Lyppan "^
Irie-cyppan ^ to turn, return
Ire-cippan j
L}rpice,y. church
Lyre,/ chest, box
( pret. -cy'Sbe, cybbe,
) part. -cv}>eb, to make
— ~ — f J
Lpene|queen' W0man
S-cpencan, to quench
Lpenlanb, the country between th
king
country
D.
Dseb,/. deed
Deebbor,/. penance, repentance
Daeg, m. day; pi. bagar
Dsel, m. part
Dselan ) to deal, divide, distri-
lie-baelan ^ bute
Ire-bajreman, to be fitting
lie-baj-eiilice, fittingly
Dalamenran, the Dalamensae,
Slavonic people, formerly inha-
biting Silesia
GLOSSARY TO OBOSIUS.
5:7
Deab, dead
Deabhc, deadly
Deapnmga, secretly
Deappan, ic beap (beop) pe buppon,
pret. boprce, to dare
DeatS, m. death
Ere-belj-, n. delving, digging
Delpan > pret. bealj:, pi. bulpon,
ft-behran C to delve, dig
Dem )
Demm)
m. loss, detriment
Le-beman, to doom, sentence
Denameapc, Denmark; though not
in the modern sense, but the
then Danish provinces of Skaane
(Scania) and Halland, which
were, in fact, the ancient seat of
the Danes, and constituted a
part of that kingdom until 1658,
when they were ceded to Sweden
535}"*
Deoj'ol-c-jiEejrc, m. diabolical art
Deoj-ols5Tlb, n. idol, idolatry
Deopilgylb-hur, n. heathen temple
Deop, n. deer, beast
Depian, to hurt, injure, annoy
Die,/, dike, ditch
Digel, dark, secret
Di^elner, darkness, secret, mystery
Dohcop, daughter
Dom, m. doom, authority, dignity
Don
>rs. beS (boS), pret.
pers.
lie-bun 3 b>rbe' part 5ebon' to do'
(. make, reduce, bring
S-bon, to do, take, remove, re-lease
See Don
Doprce. See Deajipan
S-bpseban. See Onbjiseban
7C-b]ia&}'an. drive out, expel
Le-bpaeyebner, grief, sorrow
Dpeain, tn. frenzy
Dpecan / pret. bpehre, to tor-
Le-bpecan £ ment, afflict
Le-bperan, to perplex, trouble,
afflict
Ire-bpejrebhc, turbid, dense
Dpenc, m. drink, potation
ft-bpencan, to drown, v. a.
Dpeogan, 3 pers. bpyS, pret. bpeah,
pi. bpugon, to suffer, sustain
to drive' ur?e
, to be wrecked. See
Dpijran
Dpij, dry
S-bjngan, to dry up
Dfiihcen, m. lord
Dpmca, drink
Djnncan, pret. bpanc, pi. bpuncon,
to drink
7C-bpmcan, to be drowned. See
Dpincan
Dpopa, drop
Dpuncen, drunk
7C bpuncen, drowned. See Dpincan
Dpuncennyr, drunkenness
D]i\r, wizard, magician
Dpycpeeyc, m. witchcraft, magic
Dpyhren, lord
Ire-bpync, n. drinking
Dpypan, to drip, drop
Dugu'5, f. nobility, flower (of a
people), virtue
Dulmun, a sort of large ship, dro-
mond
Dun,/, down, mountain
Dupu,/. door
Durc, n. dust
ft-bjwrcan, to quench
Ire-bpola, error, heresy
Ire-bpolman, heretic
Dybe. See Don
S-bybe. !See Sbon
ne-bypn, pret. -beaj:, pi. -bupon,
to dive, sink
, to dung, manure
~yj* dear, precious
Deoji J
Dyjm, dark, secret
Dypnan, to conceal
Dyps, n. folly, adj. foolish
Dvrigner, folly, delusion
6a, /. river ; ea-sang, course or
bed of a river
6ac, eke, also
Caca, addition, increase
Cage, n. eye
eahra, eight
558
GLOSSAUY TO OROSIUS.
GahcateoH, eighteenth
Gahraris (hunb), eighty
£££{-**
Gala, alas
GalaS, m. ale
Galb, old
Calbbom, age
Galbopbom, eldership, supremacy
Galbopman, prefect, tribune, ge-
neral
Galbung, age
Bali
Galo-ge-peopc, n. ale-brewery
Gam, uncle*
Gapb, m. country, habitation
Gapbrserc, abiding
Capbian, to inhabit, dwell
Gapyeft ) f. difficulty, hardship,
Gapyoft ^ mishap
GapjxrShce, hardly, sorely
Gaps, bad, slothful, cowardly
X-eapjian, to become cowardly,
etc.
Capm, m. arm
Capm, poor, miserable
Capmhce, miserably, piteously
De-eapman, to merit, earn
Carr, east
Carcane, from the east
Garc-bsel, m. east part
Carcene, in the east
Garremerc, eastmost
Garcepeapb, eastward
Carrlanb, the country of the Osti,
or Estas, Esthonia. See Orn
Garrpyhce, due east
Carc-ymburan, east about
€apun£a, publicly, openly
Ga'S, easier, more easily. See Y$
Ga'Se, easily
Le-eaSmeban, to humble
GaSmeco ) f humility
J '
Ga'Smobig, humble
Ca'Smobner, humility
6ce, eternal, perpetual
Ccnyr, eternity
Cbpic, reproach, contumely
6}:-, again, after
, to give back. See
6jrc-?;epenban, to turn back, retro-
grade
ejx-recgan, to say again, repeat.
See Secgan
Cje, m. awe, fear, terror
ejjepill formidable
terrible, dire
Chran, to follow, prosecute, assail
Persecution
ele, m. oil
eil|>eob, f. exile
Gin,/, ell
Glpenb, m. elephant
Gmbe. See Ymbe
Gmbricran. See Ymbrittan
Ginyela, equally many
Grnleoy, equally pleasing
Gmhc > similar , emhce, emnhce,
Gmnlic ) similarly, equally.
Gmn, even, equal; co- in comp. emne|
equally, level ; emnap, moro
equally ; on emn, simultaneous
Gmner, m. ? plain, level country
Cmnlanje, along
Cmn-rceolepe, co-disciple
Gmrapij, equally sorrowful
Gnbe, m. end, extremity, part
Cnbemer, after all, at length
SSU'-nd
l^;l*-
Gnc, m. giant
Gobe ? c ~
Gop'Sbeojrung, earthquake
Gop'Se, e?rth
GLOSSARY TO OIIOSIUS.
559
CopShc, earthly
Gopft-cypepe, earth- tar, bitumen j
GopS-psercm, m. fruit of earth
Gopftpape,^ pi. inhabitants of earth
Gopft-pela, abundance of earthly
produce
Gop, you, to you
Gpian, to plough
Gcan, 3 pers. yc, pret. sec, to eat
Gccan,for ecan, to eat? or pasture?
or for heccan, to hunt?
Gubomane, Arabia Eudaimon
6>el, m. n. country
F.
Facen ) n. artifice, deception, de-
Facn \ vice
Facian, to contrive, plot, scheme
Fsebep, father
Faebepa, paternal uncle
Faebep-eJ^el, m. n paternal country
Lre-jrsebpeb, related through the
father
Feegep, fair, beautiful
Fseh'S,/. feud, hostility, enmity
Fsemnanhab, maidenhood
, to fear
r — j
Fsepelb
». expedition, march,
I86'1 ; } retinue
Fsepelbe )
Fs&plic, sudden
Fserc, fast, strong, firm
Fserce, fast, firmly, closely
Faej-ce-boc,/ fast-book?
Faercen, n. fastness, fortress
Fserchc, firm, secure
Faercmob, firm
C to fasten, fix, con-
A-rsercman \ fi reg
^-veercman ^ establish
Fsercnyr, fastness, strength
Fsec, n. vessel; pi. Kacu
Fsec, fat
Fsecelr, n. vessel
en I 0-1 ad, joyful
tie-}-an5en, captured, taken (pri-
soner). See Fon
C pret. j:op, to fare, go,
journey, experience,
capture, ravage, gain
(a victory), die; se-
t. yapen, departed, dead
TT-jrapan, to go from
Ire-j:ea, joy
Fealb, m. fold
Fealh. See Filhan
Fa an
e ratian
aUan FeoU,tofall
Feaji, m. bull
Feap, few
Le-yeccan, pret. -pehce, (-yecre) to
fetch, seek, get
£eba" } to feed, rear
A-peban ^
Fel, n. fell, hide
Fela, much, many
fre-jrelan, to feel
Fanbian 7 to try, explore, at-
Ire-ranbian J tempt
Fen-lanb, n. fen- land
n. fight, war
Feohcan ) pret. -jreahc, pi. -pih-
A-j:eohcan \ ron, to fight
Ee-yeohran,tofight,gainby fighting
Feonb, rn. foe
Feonbrcipe, enmitv
Feoji, far
Feoph, n. life
Feopm,/. feast
Feop>a -e, fourth
Feopep, four; j-eopepa rum, ona
and four others, or one of four?
Feopep-rec, m. quadruped, cattle
Feopepri'yce, quadrangular
Feopejicij;, forty
Feopepcij^e, fortieth
Feopepcyne, fourteen
ne-}-epa," comrade, associate
Fepan, pret. pepbe, to go, march
ke-jreppseben,/. fellowship
Feprc, fresh
ke-j:epreipe,fellowship,compamona
te-rerc, fetched, sent for. See
Leyeccan
660
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
Fe)?e, gait, locomotive power
FeJ>e-hepe, m. foot army, in-
fantry
Fir, five
Fry ce, fifth ; ppte healf, four and a
half
Fijns, fifty
Firtyne, fifteen
Filb, open, campaign
Filhan, pret jrealh,' to betake one-
self?
Finban C Pr' nb, pi. pinbon,
Fingep, in. finger
Fipen-lurt, m. sinful lust; from
ppen, sin, and lure, lust
Fipmetran, to request ? In the
Cott. MS. the word has over it
in a later hand bs&bon
Fippa, further
Fire, pi. pxar, m. fish
Firca'S ) m. the occupation of fish-
FlfCoU) ing
Fircepe, fisherman
Fla, f. arrow
Fleah. See Fleojan
Fleam, m. flight
Flebe, flood, flood-tide
Fleoja, fly
Fleogan ) pret. yleah, pi. jrlugon, to
Fleon \ flee,fly ; pleonbe, fleeing
Fleo-, water, sea
Flex, m. flax
ISe-flit, n. contest, dispute
Flocmaelum, in flocks
Flob, m.f. n. fiood
-Fleop, to flow,
flood
Flugon. See Fleogan
Flyma, fugitive
Fobpejie, fodderer
Folc, n. folk, people
Folc-gejreoht, n, general battle
Foljejie, follower, successor
Folsian, to follow
FoljjoS, m. train, service, Lat. mi-
nisterium, sequela
Fon
f 3 pers. jreh'S. pret. jrenj,
N part, gej-anjen, to
receive, take, begin,
succeed to
Fop,/, journey, march
Fop, for, on account of
Fopbaepnan, to burn, be burnt
Fopbeoban, pret -beab, pi. -bubon,
part, -boben, to forbid
Fopbepan, to endure, bear. See
Bepan
Fopbpecan, pret. -bpsec, part.
-bpocen, to break, violate
Fopbugan, pret. -beah, pi. -bujon,
to eschew, avoid
Fopbypb, obstacle, hindrance
Fopceopjran, pret. -ceapr, pi. -cup«
yon, to cut, sever
Fopcuft, depraved, wicked
Fopcpe>an, to accuse, charge with.
See Epe'San
Fopbeman, to condemn
Fopbon, to foredo, destroy, also to
perish. See Don
Fopbpipan, to drive. See Dpipan
Fope, before
Fope-gilpan, pret. -galp, pi. -gul-
pon, to vaunt
Foppeapb, forward, early
Fop^leosan, to run away. See
Fleogan
Fopjan, to forgo. See tan
, to forgive. See
indulSent' compliant
Fopgiyner, forgiveness
Fopgiran ) pret -Seat, pi. -gicon,
Fopgyran 3 to forget
Fopgylban, pret. -Sealb, pi. -£ul-
bon, part, -golben, to pay, requite
Fophepgian, to ravage, plunder,
harm
Fophepguns, ravaging, devastation
Fophr, afraid, fearful
Fophpae^a, ? about
Fophjnan, to bring down, reduce,
humble
Foplaeban, to mislead
j Foplaeran, pret. jroplec, to leave,
forsake, dismiss, aliandoA, allow
GLOSSAET TO OBOSITJS.
561
Fople«<fan, 3 pers. -lyrt, pret. -leaj*,
?1. -lupon, part, -lopen, to lose
u ophcsan, to commit incontinence,
v. refl.
Foplop, loss
Fopma, -e, foremost, first
Fopmelran, to be consumed by fire.
See Iremelcan
Fopneah, almost all, very near
Fopneban, to devote, sacrifice?
Fopnmian, to take away (by
death), destroy. See Niman
Fopob, broken
Fopracan, pret. -roc, to refuse,
deny, renounce
Fopraerian, to beset, lie in wait for
Foprapon, despised. See Fopreon
Foprcapung \ metamorphosis, vi-
Foprceapung \ cissitude?
Foprcpij-an, pret. -repay, pi. -rcpu-
yon, to crop off, gnaw off
Foprenban, to send away, banish
Fopreon, to despise. See 8eon
Foprepenner, contempt
Fopptcan, to obstruct, occupy.
See teritcan
Foprleari, 3 pers. -rl^S, pi. -rlon>
pi. -rlogon, part, -rlagen (-rle-
Sen), to kill, destroy, beat
Foprpillan, to destroy
Foprtanbari, to stand before. See
Scanban
to lea^ forth
to sa/ forth. See
Secgan
Fot, m. foot; betpeox |>am rocum,
t6te-a-tete
Fpaco«}Profligate'indecent
from, by, through, of
Fpambusan, to desert, abandon.
See kebugan
Fpecenhce, dangerously
Fperehce, wantonly, lasciviously
Fpegea, lord, master
Fpegnan, pret. vjisesn, pi. rpujnon,
to ask, inquire of
Fpembe, strange, foreign
Ire-rpemian 7 to effect, perpetrate,
tre-jrpemman ^ promote, perform
Fpeobom, freedom, liberty
Ife-ppeo^an, pret. -rpeobe, to free,
emancipate
Fjieonb, friend
Fpeonbrcipe, friendship
Fpeoran, pret. rpop, part,
to freeze
j Fperan, pret. j-pser, to devour
Fpij, free
Foprupian I to pass in silence
FojirysianJ
Fopcenban, to burn
Fpirian, pret. rpan, pi. j-jiuuon, to
ask, inquire
Fpi'S, m. peace
ioppeopcan
Foppypcan
'to destroy, make cri-
minal. See kepeop-
Foppeop>an, to perish. See f eop-
}>an
Foppypnan, to warn, forbid, clttvy,
refuse
Foji'5, forth, on
"
Fo]iJ?am > because
Fojijxm )
Fophencan, to despise, despond
j-op>ohc, despised. See Dencan
Fop-Srapan, to go forth, die
departed, dead
j Fpi'Sian, to protect
I Fpox, m. frog
Fpum-, first, used as a prefix
Fpuma, beginning
Fpum-cenneb, firstborn
Fpum-rlaep, m. first sleep
Fpym'5,/. beginning
I,e-rpynb, friends, used collectively
Fuj;eL| m. fowl, bird
Fugelepe, fowler
Fulgan, to follow
Fuhan, to corrupt, rot
Full, full
Fulleobon, to fulfil. See kan
/to complete, accom-
Fullgan ) plish, terminate,
perform duty. See
r/au
2o
562
GLOSSARY TO OEOSIU3.
Fulhan, to baptise
Fulhce, fully
Fullpihc, m. baptism
Fulneah, nearly
FuljiaSe, very quickly, very soon
Fulcum, m. help, aid, force
Ire-jrulcimnan, to aid, support
Fulcumleap, without help
Funbian, to tend, hasten
Fup>on, indeed, even
Fup>umhc, wonderful, singular?
Ere-jrylbe, n. plain
Fyll,/. fill, glut, fall, destruction
S-jyllan, to fill
S-pyllan, to quell
Ire-j-yllan, to fell, strike down, slay
Fylrcau I ^ ._,
&e-Fylrcan } to aid' 8UPP°rt
Fyl5, falls. See Feallan
Erts-j-ynb, foes; from jreonb
Fyp, n. fire
Fyp-bpyne, m. conflagration
Fyp-cyn, n. sort of tire
Fynb,/. army
FyptMi, fiery
X-jyjihtan, to frighten, terrify
Fyphcner, fear, terror
Fyphco,/ fear
Fypmerc, first, foremost, chiefly
Fypp, farther; comp. of feoji
Fyppers, farthest ; superl. of peop
Fyprc> w». space of time
Fyprc, first, chief
Fypj>pian, to further, promote
I,.
£e-£abepian, to gather, collect
/C-jaelan, to strike with a panic;
part, agaeleb (agaelpeb ), busy
Iraepr-ciS, m. blade of grass
kseppcapa, grasshopper, locust
Irapol, n. tribute
Erajrol-sylba, tributary
n, to overrun, conquer. See
lian
tiausenbe, going, foot soldiers
Tfanj-hepe, m. army of foot
trana, point? p. 258
taprecg, m- ocean
ke, yea, also
teap, n. year. In seap-basum, in
days of yore. Pages 332, 1. 30,
and 430, 7. geap is masc.
Ireapb, m. home, dwelling
keape, readily, well ; comp.
Seapoji
Treapo, ready
5eac, n. gate
Ireac. See teocan
Irejrea, joy
T/eleajra, belief, faith
Iremsene ) common ; Semsems-
tremseniglic 5 hce, in common
fremong, among, during
lieoc, n. yoke
Ireomoplic, sad, doleful
teompian, to sigh, groan, lament
Erenoh, enough
Leonb, throughout, over
treons >
teongpa, junior, disciple
keopn, diligent, desirous
Ireopne, earnestly, diligently, well,
comp. geopnop, rattier
Ireopnjnil, desirous, diligent
teopnjrulner, zeal, energy
Ireopnhc, desirable
lieotan, pret. Seat, pi. gucon, to
shed, pour
keotepe, founder
tibbian, to sing, make verses
Irlf, if
ISijran ) pret. SeaF> pi- S1?011* to
give
to give up, restore. See
Irtjrl, meal, refection
Dipu,/. gift, favour, grace
Irilban ) pret. gealb, pi. gulbon,
TC-gilban 3 to pay, requite
^P | m. vaunt, boast
Lim-rcan, m. gem, precious stone
Lmb. See Leonb
Eingpa. See Leongpa
Lingrc, youngest
Lmiaii, to yawn
ITripian, to prepare
GLOSSAET T b OEOSIUS.
5G8
wi. hostage
, /. cupidity
, skilful, sagacious
Erhban, pret. slab, pi. ghbon, to
glide
I/neec, m. gnat
rmiban, pret. gnab, pi. gnibon, to
rub
complaint, murmuring
nob, God
kob, n. good, a$. good
Ik)bcunb, divine, blessed
Erob-sylb, n. image of a god, idol
Ijolb, n. gold
kolb-hopb, m. treasure
£pam, incensed, angry
kperan, pret. Spetce, to greet,
meet, encounter
, pret. -gpap, pi. -
to gripe, seize
trpohc, n. grain, groat, grit
trpopan, to grow
tkiftjrana, gonfanon, war-banner,
ensign
to
ftabban, 3 pers. hsej^S, pret.
to have
)>acele,/. mantle, garment
Jiaejrbon. See n>abban
J>8ejrrnyb,/ captivity, thraldom
Iie-haelan, to heal, cure
)>selenb, Saviour
|>eepj-erc, m. harvest, autumn
ftsete
heat
hea-
. hat
J}«J>e, heat?
)>8e>en, heathen, hse^emrc,
thenish
J)w>um («t), Haithaby, now Had-
deby, on the south bank of the
Slie. This now forgotten city
has long been supplanted by the
more modern Sleswig. Its an-
cient church is all that remains
of it
J}agol, m. hail
ftagolian, to hail
Jial, hale, whole, sound
te-halsian, to hallow, consecrate
ftalig, holy
ftalrian, to implore
ftam, m. home
ftam-jraepelb, march home
bampeapb, homewards
J}anb, f. hand; on hanb £an, to
yield, surrender
Jiac, not
ftaran > pret. -her, to command,
Ire-hacan £ promise
J}aran, to call, be called;
harce (hec), part, jehareu
)>e, he
]>eay, m. groan, groaning
J}eaj:ob, r. head
fteayob-buph, /. chief city
^eaj-obhc, head, chief
fteayob-pice, n. chief empire
to clothe, ornament, fteajrob-rtebe, m. chief place
fteajrob-rtol, m. chief seat,
tropolis
fteah. high
)>eahj)unsen, of high rank
fryben, goddess
Irylben, golden
Irylpan > pret. Sealp, pi.
Dilpan i vaunt
&ylpe-popb, w. vaunt-word, boast
tylr, m. guilt, crime
to sin, offend
Iryman, to heed ; yov. gen.
r,yme,/. heed
garment, clothing
pret
ISypian
tre-sypian ^ prepare
Irypnan, to yearn, desire; gov. gen
lie-syppan, to prepare
Lye, yet, still
stand
pret. onseac, to under- )>ealban, 3 pers. hylc, pret. heolb,
* *«. Vn-J/1 ^>/\nnnf»t.
2 o2
to hold, conduct
564
GLOSSAET TO OBOSIUS.
. half, side
ftealc, halt, lame
Jiean, mean, base, contemptible
fteanhc, disgraceful, contemptible,
lowly
)}eap, m. body (of men), band,
corps
fteapmselum, in bodies
Jieapb, hard, cruel, rugged, bold;
heapbort, chiefly
Tieapbhce, hardly
fteapm, m. harm, injury, prejudice
Jieapan, pret. heop, to hew, cut
3!-hebban, 8 pers. alieyiS, pret. ahoy,
part, ahayen, to heave, lift, raise
ftelan, pret. hsel, to conceal
ftelp, help
Le-helpan, pret. -healp, pi. -hulpon,
to help, gov. gen.
Ire-henb, handy, convenient
Jienbe, on henbe, on hand
, sighing, groaning, lament
Tieojron-pice, n. kingdom of heaven
fteojronpape, inhabitants of heaven
)}eopte, /. heart
)}ep, here
Jiepe, m. army
>epsian, to ravage, plunder, harry,
capture
)>e]isung. harrying, warfare
)>epms, praise, glorification
Jieppa, for heahpa, higher. See
fteah
)>ec. See )>acan
J>te, f. heat
Tiete, pret. subj. of hatan
Tietehc, hateful, execrable
Tii > they, them, pi. of he, he«
Tiy £ hie
Tiiep, hewn, p. 434, 3. ? hiepne
Timban, behind, after
Time, accus. of he, he
to belong
Tiipeb, m. family, household
T>it, it
Tiipuns, marriage
Tilseybie, lady, mistress
TilaepmBerre, Lammas
IMsene, lean
)>laj-, m. loaf, bread
TMayopb, m. lord, master
S-hleapan, pret. ahleop, to run,
leap up, rush on
Tileotan \ pret. hleac, pi. hlucon,
te-hleocan \ to draw lots
Tihhhan, pret. hloh, pi. hlogon, to
laugh
Tilyn, m. cry, noise
Jilypan, to leap
Jilytxa, augur, diviner by lots
]}nerc, soft
S-hnercian, to become effeminate,
enervated
Jinerchc, soft, effeminate
T}ol, n, hole, cave
)>olb, kind, well-disposed
ff-hon, pret, aheng, to hang, v. a.
ftoppe,/. Lat. bulla; an ornament
or amulet, worn on the neck of
noble or free-born children
ftopichi, a people to the east of the
Dalamensa?
)>opr, n. horse
Ire-hopreb, horsed, cavalry
ftopr-hpael, m. walruss
Tipseblic, short
Jipseblice, speedily
Tipsegl, n. garment, clothes
ftpsen, m. raindeer ; pi. hpariar
Jipa'S, quickly, soon ; comp
hpa'Sop, sooner, more speedily
tehpear. See tehpeoran
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
5G5
S-hpebban, to preserve, save
ftpeoh, rough
Ere-hpeoran, pret. -hpear, 2 pers.
-hpupe, part. Sehpopen, to fall
ftpeorenbe, falling, decaying
)}peop,/. repentance
ftpeophce, cruelly, bitterly
)>peoprung,/. repentance
Dpic, m. back
))pijr, womb
ftping, m. ring
ftpor., m. roof
, TO. fall, rain
ftpyJ>ep, n. ox
Du, how
.ftunb, TO. dog
ftunb, hundred. frunb is generally
placed before the tens after
sixty, without affecting the num-
ber, as hunb-reoyoncis, seventy
Dungep, TO. hunger, famine
Dumg, n. honey
Dunca, hunter
Duntaft, m. hunting, chase
l}ur, n. house, temple
C-e-hpa, each, every
Dpwl, m. whale; pi. hpalap
J>p8&l-hunca, whale hunter
Dpaej^epe, notwithstanding, yet,
nevertheless, however
J}psenne, when
ftpaer, what
]>paec, vigorous, active
Dpsec-hpapa, somewhat
Dpsecj-cipe, vigour, activity, valour
Dpanon, whence
)>pacej-c, boldest, most energetic
J>peappan, to go round about,
wander round and round
f>pelp, m. whelp
somewhat
)>peopr.an
)>pypj:an
te-hpeopjran
pret. -hpeapr, pi.
hpu]ij:on,to turn,
return ; hpeop-
yenbe, alternate
ftpetrtan, m, whetstone
!S!-hpeccan, to whet
) why ; onhpi, from what
cause
ftpibep, whither
?>pil,/. while, time; hpilum, some-
times
which» what» some» anX
J}pic, white
)>pon, little, but little
Ere-hpylc, any, every, whichsoever
lie-hpypjrcnian, to tear?
]>yb,./: hide, skin
tre-hyban, to hide
C f. homage, grace, favour,
ftylb ) fidelity, affection; hla-
)>ylbo 1 jropb-hylbo, homage to a
(. superior lord
ftynan, to abuse, injure, oppress
peol, n. wheel
]>ypbe, shepherd
J}ype, her
J>yppe, higher, comp. of heah
£e-hyprum, obedient
pyprumian J b
te-hyjirumian J
Ge-hyprumner, obedience
J>yre," boy, youth; hyre-cilb, male
"child
ftyrpan, to despise
I.
Ic, I
le, /. river
£e-iecan, to eke, enlarge
Ijlanb, n. island
lie, same. See Ylc
In-gepmn, n. intestine war or di*
sension
Inn, house, inn
}nnan } within
Inne $
Innepeapb, within
Inco, into
lojrer, Jove, Jupiter
566
GLOSSARY TO OBOSITJS.
Ijialanb, Ireland or, rather, Scot-
land. Possibly an error for
Iralanb, Iceland
If, n. ice
Iren, n. iron; also adj.
IS, easily. See Y«
K.
Kennan. See Lennan
Kynins- See Hymns
L.
te-lacman, to heal, cure
Labian, to excuse, exculpate
Latteop} guide' leader» general
tre-lsecan, to flatter
Laece, m. leech, physician
Laepan, to leave
Laenan, to teach, advise
lie-laepeb, learned
La>r, less
Ire-laertan, to perform, execute,
make good, aid
Laet. late, slow
Laetan, to let, esteem, regard,
value
Laetan 1 pret. -let, to leave, re-
TC-lsetan } sign
Laj:,y. remainder, relict, widow; ro
lapebeon or peop)>an, to be left
Lanb. n. land, country
Lanb-jraerten, n. land-fastness, or
pass
Lanb-semaape, n. frontier, confine
Laub-leobe, m. people of the country
Lanb-pice, w. territory, region
Lang, adj. long; lanje, adv. long
Ire-lans, owing
Lanjian, to long
-Langrum, long, tedious, lasting
Lansj-umlice, slowly
Laji,/. lore, instruction, advice
Lapeop, doctor, teacher
5e-laf rpull, oflBcious, obedient
Late, late, slowly
Latop, comp. of l«t and late
LaS, calamity
La«, hostile, hateful, hostility
n. sad intelligence
£e-leajra, belief
te-leaprum, credulous
S-leah. See ffleogan
Leahtpian, to blame, criminate
Lean, n. reward
Lear-rpell ) n. fiction, fable,
Learung-rpell 5 falsehood
TC-lecgan, pret. -lebe, to lay, lay
down, place
S-legen, prostrated
Legep, illness, sick-bed
Lencten, lent, lenten, spring
te-lenban, to land
Leng, comp. of lange
LenS'S, length
Leo, lion
Leob, m. people, nation
Leop,dear; leoype, preferable
Leopan, to live
Leosan 7 pret. leah, pi. luson, to
S-leosan J lie, belie
Leoht, light, easy
Leopnung,/. learning
Leotan, pret. leat, pi. luton, to
bow, incline forwards
LeoS, n. poem, song
LeotS-cpibe, m. poem
Ire-letan, to let, hinder
Le>e. See Li>e
g^JtoH^taa.Hfc
Lie, n. corpse
lie-lie, like
Ire-hca, an equal
pret. la&s, part, le-
Sen, to lie, die, be
allayed ; hcgenbe
j-eoh, treasure
Lichonia, body, corpse
ISe-hcian, v. impers. to like, to
please
Liy, n. life
, adultery
Licgan
Ire-hcsan
Ire-licsean
GLOSSARY TO OROSItTS.
567
. lightning
Lira, n. limb
ke-hmpan, pret. -lamp, pi. -lum-
pon, to happen
Ge-limphc, fitting, proper
Tre-limphce, fittingly, properly
LrSe, soft, delicate, kind, mild
3Moccian, to entice
Locian, to look
&e-lomlic, frequent
Lonb, n. land
Lon^rum, long, tedious
Lotppenc, m. trick, artifice
CDsesSalanb, the Polish province of
Mazovia?
CDȣ$hab, maidenhood
Lupan, to love
LuJ^bSphc ] Plefant agreeable,
Lurtrumhcj desirable, joyful
Lurcpill, desirous
Lujrhce, gladly
Lunan, to lurk, crouch
3!-lypn, to allow, permit
De-lyjran, to believe
S-lypben, lived. See Tflibban
ISe-lyjrebhce, trustingly, implicitly
SMyran, to release, redeem, de-
liver
Lyrcan, to lust, desire, QOV. gen.
Lye, little, few
Lycel, little; l»rt, least
crafty
te-lychan, to make little, diminish
Ly*5, mild
Ly>ephc, squalid, pool, mean
CD.
CDa, more
CDabm-hur, n. treasure-house
CDseben-cilb, n, female child
meadow
CDaeg, m. parent, kinsman, relation
GD8&S, may ; subj. mae^e.
mihce, might
CDsesben-man, maiden, virgin
Ere-msene, common, general
f
CDsenisjrealblice, manifoldly, multi-
fariously; comp. -or
reat, famous
Ee-msepe, n. boundary, frontier
lie-mseprian, to exalt; gemaenrob,
famed
CD8ep~S,/. greatness, glory, wonder
COserre-ppeorc, mass-priest
CDserc, most greatest, almost
CDse'S,/. measure, degree
CDajan, >u miht, pret. mihce or
meahce, to may, can, be able.
Lat. posse
GDasircep, master
te-mahlic, wicked
JJone; Fr. on; Ger. man
CDan, n. wickedness, falsehood
CDan-cpealm ) m. pestilence, mor-
CDann-cpealm tality, plague
, n. strength, efiicacy, virtue,
faculty
CDsej-semot, m. meeting of kin
COa&Spseben,/. kinship
tribe, people, family
CDancyn, 71. mankind
(Dan-b8eb,y. crime
CDanjrelb, m. field of sin
GDann-pileum, m. body of men
CDan-rhhc, m. slaughter
?C-manrumian, to excommunicate
CDan-pepob ) n. body of men, com-
CDann-pepob J pany
CDape, more ; comp. of micel
te-mapcpian, to martyr
pret. I CDajicpung, suffering
CDaptyp, m. martyr
CDaccuc, m. mattock, pickaxe
CDapan, to mow
O. N.
CDealm-rcan, m. metal, ore.
malmr.
CDeapc,/. march, boundary, confine
Efe-ineapnan, to define, describe
568
GLOSSAKT TO OROSTTJS.
(Deap'S, m. marten
CCebep, dat. and abl. of mobop
Ire-mebpeb, related through the
mother
CDebraelS,/. ill fortune
CDebu, m. mead
ff-melbian, to announce, disclose
lie-melran, pret. -mealc, pi. -mul-
con, to melt, burn, consume (by
fire)
T/e-menjan, to mingle
CDenigeo,/. many, multitude
CDeolc,y. milk
lie-mepcian, to mark out
CDepe, m. mere, lake
CDepgen, m. morning, morrow
Ire-met, n. mote, meeting
CDecan 1 pret. mecte, to meet,
tre-metan £ find
OCere, m. meat, food
ODecelert,/. ? want of food
Ire-metsian, to moderate
te-menns, meeting, engagement
Ire-mecsuns, moderation
CDec-reax, m. f. n. meat-knife,
dagger
ODettpymner, malady
CDeJ>ig, faint, enfeebled
much, great
Ire-miclian, to increase
CDiclum, greatly
CDib, with
CDib, mid
CCibmert, middlemost
CDibb, a certain measure, about a
peck
CCibbaneapb J ^ h
CDibbangeapb $
CDib-ealle, totally, altogether
CDibbepeapb, towards the middle
CDibpapan, to go with, accompany.
See Fapan
CDib J>am, when, while
COiht, /. might, power
CDil,/. mile
CDilb, mild, gentle, kind
GDilbelice, kindly
CDilbheopce, mild-hearted, compas-
sionate
QDilbheopcner, mercy, pity
QDilcrung, mildness, mercy
fDirbaeeb,y. misdeed
CDirhmpan, to be unsuccessful
CDirrenhc, various
CDif fpopan, to speed ill
GDinnc, meeting
lie-miccan, to meet
Ire-miccing, meeting, engagement.
CDob, n. mood, mind, courage
CDobop, mother
CDobpie, maternal aunt
CDon. See GDan
CCona, moon
CDona'S, m. month
CDoncynn, n. mankind
tre-mong, among, during
CDon'S, m. month
QDop, m, mountain
CDo]i'S, n. deadly sin, murderous
deed
CDoran, must, might
Ire-munan, to remember, make
mention
CDunc, m. mount, mountain
CDunuc, m. monk
CDunuc-hj-, n. monastery
CDu|icnian, to murmur
CDuj^a, mouth (of a river)
CDycelnyr, magnitude
Ireniyiian. See Iremunan
lie-myngian } to commemorate,
Le-mynbgian \ mention
lie-niynejuns, remembrance, me-
morial
CDynrcep, n. minister, monastery
kemypc, n. boundary, march
CDype, mare
GDyppan 1 to hinder, corrupt,
S-myppan ^ waste
N.
Na, not
NabbaS, for nehabbaff. See )>abban
Nsebpe, /. serpent, adder
Nsej-pe, never
Neegel, m. nail
Nsenne, accus. sing. masc. of nan
Nsejie, for ne j'sepe. See .pep an
Njer, for ne peer
GLOSSARY TO OROSITJS.
569
Le-n»ran, pret. -nar, to preserve,
sustain
Najrela, navel
Nahc, naught, nothing
Nahcon, for ne ahcon, from agan
Nalaer 1 not; nalser •£ an, not that
Naler } alone
Nahr, p. 464, 1. 35 ?
Nama, name
Nan, no, none
Nanuhc, naught
Nac, for ne pac, know not; from
piran
Ne, not, no
Neabmga, by force, needs
Neah, near
ke-nealeecan, pret. -laehte, to ap-
proach
Neap oner, narrowness, strait
Neapu, narrow
Neap, comp. of neah, near
Neaperc, proximity
Nepa, nephew
Nehrc, last
Nellan. See Nyllan
Nemnian, to name
Neob-peapj:,/. necessity
te-nep, n. refuge, asylum
te-nepian, to save
Nexta, next, last
ke-nej>an, to dare, venture
Ne)>ins, degradation?
Nieb ) /. need, compulsion, vio-
Neob \ lence, oppression
Nieblxng. See Nyblmg
Nijoncis, ninety
Nijoncyne, nineteen
Nigoj^e, ninth
Nihrc, next
Nihc,/. night; mhtef, by night
Ee-mhcrumner, abundance
Niman \ pret. -riam, part, -nu-
£re-mman ^ men, to take, accept
Nip, new
Nipan, newly
Nip-cilcc, newly cemented, from
cilc, chalk
Ni'S, m. jealousy, hatred
ke-noh, enough
Nohc, no, not, naught
Nolbe, for ne polbe. See f illan
Noma, name
Nop'S, north
Nop^an, from the north
Nop'Semerc, northmest
Nop>epn, northern
Nop'Smenn, the Norwegians
Nop^pihte, due north
Noc,/. use, enjoyment
Nu, now
Nunne, nun, vestal
te-nyban, to force, reduce to (sub-
jection)
Nyblmj, m. thrall, serf.
Nyhrt, nearest, sup. of neah
Nyllan, contr. for ne pillan, pret
"nolbe, to will not. Lat nolle
Nypepetc, n. narrow pass
Nyrcan, for ne pirton
Nyrce, for ne pirce
N use, useful
Nyren, n. cattle, beast
O.
Oy-aceopyan, to cut off. See
Sceopyan
Op-abpmcan, to quench. See
Dpincan
Ojrbeatan, pret. -beoc, to beat to
death
Oj'bune, down
Ofep, over, above, against, con-
trary to, throughout
Ojrepbpecan, to transgress, in-
fringe See Bpecan
Ofepchmman, pret. -clomm, pL
-clummon, to climb over
Ojrepcuman, to overcome. Se«
Luman
Ojrepbpencan, to overdrench
Oyejiyaepelb, m. passage over
570
GLOSSARY TO OEOSIUS.
to cross over. See
Fapan
Ofepyepan, to traverse
Ojepjlican, to refute
Ojrepjlopan, pret. -pleop, to overflow
Oreppon, to take by surprise, seize.
See Fon
Oyepjrpopen, frozen over. See
Fpeoran
Ojreppyp,/. transit
Opepgan, to pass over. See tan
Opephebban, to pass over. See
Shebban
Oyepheopcner, overflowing of heart
Opephepgian, to overrun, ravage
Ojrephlsertan, to overload
Opephogian, to despise, disdain
Ojrephypan to hear, overhear,
contemn
Oj-epmetto,/. pride
Ojrepmobig, proud
O^epreon, to see over or across
Ojreprtigan, pret. -rtah, pi. -rtigon,
to pass over
OjreprpiJ>an, to overcome, prevail
over
Opeprylrjuan, to silver over
Opeppaban, to wade or pass over.
See J7aban
Opeppeopcan, to work over, cover.
See peopcan
Opeppmnan, to conquer. See pin-
nan, part, opeppunnen
Opepplenceb, proud, exalted
Oppapan, to go out, pursue. See
Fapan
Opppian, to offer, sacrifice
Opppung, offering, sacrifice
Oppceoean, pret. -pceat, pi. -pcuton,
part, -rcoren, to shoot
Orjlean. See Slean
On*mopian, to smother, suflbcate
Oprncian, to stab
Oyrcmgan, pret. -rcang, pi. -rtun-
Son, to stab, pierce
Oprpmgan, to scourge. See Spmgan
Ojrc, often; ojrcorc, oftenest
Ojrtoppan, to cast (stones), lapi-
date
Ojrtpsebhce, often, frequently
Oyrrpeban, pret. -tpseb, part.
-cpeben, to tread down
Ojrcri'S, oftentimes
Ojrcypjran, to stone, lapidate
Ojrpeoppan, prct. -peapp, pi. -pup-
pon, part, -poppen, to strike
down, slay
Oj:J>incan, to take ill, repent. See
pmcan
Olecung.y! flattery
On, in, on, from, against
Onbsepnan, to burn, set on fire
Onbeoban, to announce. See Beo-
ban
Onbib, expectation
Onbutan, about
Oncnapan, 3 per. -cnsepft, pret.
-cneop, to know, understand,
recognise
Onb, and
Onbon, to undo. See Don
Onbpseban, pret. onbpeb, to dread
Onbps&binj;,/. dread, fear
Onjrapan, to proceed on or against.
See Fapan
Onpnban, to find, find out. See
Finban
Onjron, to receive. See Fon
Ongean, against, towards
Onjean-peapb, against
Ongilban, to pay. See Mban
Ongm, n. enterprise, conduct
Ongmnan, pret. ongan, pi. ongun-
non, to begin, undertake
Ongican, pret. -Seat, to under-
stand, perceive
Onhseleb, unhealed
Onhaec, hot
Onhaecan, pret. -her, to heat
Onhagian, to please, seem advisable
Onhangen, crucified. See Onhon
Onhon, to hang, crucify. See J>on
On-mnan, in, within
Onhcgan, to press, urge. See
Lacgan
Onrsegan, to sacrifice
Onrcuman, to shun
Onrenban, to send
Onreon, to look on. See Seon
Onrcselan, to raise, set on foot
GLOSSARY TO OEOSIUS.
571
Onftellan, pret. -rtealbe, to ap-
point, establish, order
Onrtypian, to excite, affect
Onceon, to draw. See Teon
Oneynban, to kindle
Onpacan, pret. -poc, to awake
Onpealh, sound, whole
Onpes, away
Onpenban, to turn, convert, per-
vert, subvert
Onpeoppan, pret. -peapp, pi. pup-
pon, to cast on or against
Onpinnan, to make war on. See
J7mnan
Onhpingan, pret. -J>pan£, pi.
-bpungon, to throng on, press on
Open, open
Openhce, openly, publicly
Opbjrpuma, author, originator
Opsyte, known ?
Opmaece, without measure, im-
mense
Opcpeop, desponding, without
faith
Ire-opcpupian, to despair
Oppene, without hope
Orei, the Estas of Wulfstan, and
Osterlings of modern times.
They dwelt on the shores of the
Baltic to the east of the Vistula
OS, until; o^set, until, till that
O'Sbpeban, pret. -bpseb, pi. -bpu-
bon, to draw away, withdraw
O>ep, other, second, either, one
O'Sj-eallan, to fall, be extinct
Oftpleosan \ pret. -jrleah, pi. -jrlu-
Oftrleon J son, to flee, escape
OiShyban, to hide from
* appear
Oftrpepan, pret. -rpop, to deny on
oath
OtSpican, to twit, reproach
Oftypan, to show, reveal
e, or ; otS>e .... o-S^e, either
, to expel, force from.
Palentje, palace
Pahrce, balista
Piman, to torture
Pmuris, torment
Plega, play, game
Plegtan, to play
S£h}». Peril, danger
Pleohc, dangerous
Popr, m. port
Punb, n. pound
Puppupe,/. purple
Pyle, pillow, cushion
Pyr, m. pit
R.
Racente,/ chain
te-pab, «. condition
Le-pab, ready
Rab-hepe ) m. horse-army, c»-
Rabe-hepe ) valry
Rab-psen, m. riding-wain, chariot
Le-psecan, pret. -psehce, to reach,
attain, capture, reproach ; work?
p. 434, 1. 22
Rseb, 77i. counsel
Reeban, to deliberate
Raeblic, advisable
Raeb-J>eahcepe, counsellor, coun-
cillor
counsel
, f. exaltation
Rap, m. rope
Ra>e, quickly, soon ; pa}>e t>»r>
soon after
Reab, red
Reapepe, m. robber
£e-peapan, to plunder
Reaplac, n. plundering, robbery
Reajrung, plundering
Reccan, pret. pehce, to interpret
reckon
Reccenb, m. ruler
Ire-pejra, reeve, prefect; Lat. comes
TC-pepman, to bear, endure
Regnerbuph, the modern circle of
Regen, of which Regensburg
I (Ratisbon) is the chief city
572
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
Ren, m. rain
te-peman, to adorn, to dress up
(as a mockery) ?
te-peopb, n. meal, refection, lan-
guage
te-percan, to rest, desist from
Re'S, fierce, cruel
Ribb, rib
Ric, rich, powerful
Rice, n. empire, state
Ricpan, to rule, govern, reign
Riban > pret. -pab, pi. -pibon, to
S-piban J ride, ride out
Rihc, right, just
Rihchc, right, righteous
Rihtprp, righteous
te-pim, n. number
ft-Tman ] to count, number, re-
De^pmtan ) C°Unt
Rman, to rain
Ripa, sheaf, bundle of corn
!S-piran, pret. apar, to arise
Ire-piran, to be fitting
£e-pirenhc, fitting, proper
te-pirne, fitting, becoming ; SePjr-
na beon, to be of (the number
of) unbecoming things
Risian. See Ricrian
Rome-buph, the city of Rome
Rurcig, rusty
ke-pyhc, straight, direct
Ryne, m. course
8.
Sacu,/ strife
8a&, m.f. sea, lake
Sae-ysepelb, f. sea-course
Saejen,/ saying, utterance
8a&l, m. time
Ere-raelij;, happy, blessed
te-rsel'5,/. happiness, blessing
Sahl C m' c^u^' ^°^e
Sam .... ram, whether . .
. . or
Samcuce, half alive
Le-ramman, to assemble
Sanb, n. sand
Sanbihr, sandy
8apis, sorry, sorrowful
Sapl,/ soul
te-rcabpirhce, distinctly, dis-
creetly
£e-rcamian, to feel shame
Scamlic, shameful
S3S) *•**»*•
Scanblic, scandalous, shameful
Sceal, pi. rculon, pret. rceolbe
(rcolbe), shall, must, debeo, Ger.
sollen
Sceap, n, sheep
te-rceapan, pret, -rceop, (-rcop),
to shape, create, give (a name)
Sceapp, sharp
Sceapian, to see, behold
Sceapung, f. view, seeing
8ceop ) poet, bard ; rceop-leo^J,
Scop $ poem, song
Sceopjran, to bite off", or gnaw
Sceopp, n. garb, dress
Seeopc, short
Sceopchce, shortly
Ire-rceoc, n. shooting, arrow
Sceotan, pret. rceac, pi. rcucon, to
shoot, run, flow
Scib-gebpyc, n. ? shipwreck
Scil, scale (of a serpent, &c.)
Scilban. See Ire-rcylban
I/e-rcilbner, protection
Scmcpaej-c, m. magic, sorcery, arti-
fice
Scmenb, shining
Scmlac, n. delusion, treachery,
image, idol
8cip, n. ship.
Scip-rypb,/ fleet
Scip-hepe, m. ship-army, fleet
Scip-lserc, transport-ship
Scip-pap, m. ship-rope
8cip,y. shire, province
Scipan to destroy, clear of, get rid of
8cipmser-heal. In the south of
Norway there was in ancient
time'? a trading place, which has
since been forgotten, named
Skiringssalr. This was, how-
ever, strictly the name of a dis-
trict (herred) in the most south-
GLOSSARY TO OROS1HS.
573
western part of Vestfold, the
present parish (sogn) of Thj Sl-
ing, between the mouth of the
river Laagen and the Sande-
fjord ; but the site of the town
may still be recognised in the
name of Kaupang (Kaupangr)
attached to a farm (gaard).
Munch, Historisk-geogr. Beskri-
velse over Konqenket Norye, i
Midddalderen, Moss, 1849. See
also A all, Snorri, i., p. 35.
8col,/ school
8comian, to feel shame
Sconbhc, shameful, disgraceful
8cop, m. poet
8cpibe-Fmnar, the inhabitants of
that part of Bothnia which lies
between the Angerrnan and the
Tornea, perhaps including those
dwelling to the north of Nor-
way
Ire-rcpmcan, pret. -rcpanc, pi.
-rcpuncon, to shrink
Sculan, pres. ic rceal, pi. rculon,
(rceolon), debere, shall
Scylb, m. shield
r/e-rcylban, to shield, protect
rre-rc\Tnban, to shend, put to shame
S-rcyppan, pret. -rceop (-rcop),
part, -rceapen, to shape, create,
bestow (a name)
Ire-rcyptan, to shorten
8cyc, shot, power of shooting
Scycta, shooter, archer
8e,* the, inasc. Ger. der
Ire-reah. See Seon
8ealc, n. salt, also salt, adj.
Seapa-ppenc, m. stratagem, device
8eapian, to sorrow; part, reapi-
genbe
8eapu, /. stratagem, artifice, snare
Tre-recan, pret. -rohte, to seek, visit,
goto
Sel, good, desirable
8elbon, seldom
Selbryn, rare
8elc,"p. 422, 1. 15, apparently an
error for retl
te-remian, to reconcile, allay
Senban, to send
ee°Jthe, fern. Ger. die
olO )
8eoye>a, -e, seventh
to say,
tell, recount
8ejxner, softness, ease
Se^el, m. sail
Seolpep, n. silver
3 pers. -ryh'S, pret.
. -rapon, part.
8eojroncyne, seventeen
8eofo'5a!i -e, seventh
Sepmenbe, Sarmatia, a country to
the north of Msegthaland, and
to the east of the Burgendas,
extending to the Eiphsean moun-
tains, being the modern Livonia,
Esthonia, and part of Lithuania
Seel, n. seat, setting, siege
Setcan ^ to set, set up, plac*,
S-rettan > establish, confirm,
Le-retcan) appoint, allay
SeJ?e, who, masc.
Sib, /. kin, relationship
8ibb,/. peace
8ige, m. victory,/ at p. 382, 1. 6
Simbel-j-apenbe, ever journeying,
wandering
8m-, ever; used as a prefix
Smgan, pret. ran?;, pi. run-on, to
sing
8m-J?yprCenbe, ever thirsting
to Ia snares' Plot' COn'
Svppan
Ire-pecan, pret. -rser, to sit, post
(oneself)
574
GLOSSABY TO OROSIUS.
Sixcyne, sixteen
81'$, m. journey, way, time
SiSmepc, last
81«b, ». plain, Dan. slette? swamp?
mountain-pass?
Sleep, m. sleep
Sla&penbe, sleeping
!£-rlapian to grow slothful
81ean, 3 pers. flyiS, pret. ploh,
pi. rl°S°n> part, se-rlagen (ge-
rlesen), to slay, strike
S-rlean, to strike off. See Slean
Siege, m. slaying, slaughter
Shhc, m. slaughter
Slos (ploh), pret. of rlean
Smsel, small, narrow
Smeopcenb, smarting
Smefte, smooth
Smic, m. smoke
?C-rmopian, to smother
Snap. m. snow
Snel, bold, active
Snoji, daughter-in-law
Snyccpo, /. prudence, sagacity
tre-pomnian, to assemble
Sona, soon, immediately; rona^aer,
immediately after
Sonb, n. sand
Sops, m. sorrow, apprehension,
care
Soft, sooth, true
SoSperc, veracious, righteous
X-rpanan 1 pret. arpeon (arpon),
Le-ppanan j to draw to, entice
Speb, f. opulence, prosperity
Spebig, opulent
Spell, n. discourse, narrative, tale
Spell-cpybe, m. narrative
U-rpenban, to disperse, distri-
bute
Speon, pret. of rpanan, to draw to,
entice. See ffrpanan
Spepe, n. spear
Spinge,/. sponge
te-rpon, enticed, attracted. See
Xrpanan
te-rpopan, pret. -j'pe°P> to thrive,
succeed
Sppecan ) 3 pers. rppyc'S, pret.
Ire-rppecan \ j-ppaec,to speak,say
Spjisec,/. speech
ft-rppmsan, pret. apppang, pi. j>
rppungon, to spring up
Scace,/. stake
Scsel, m. place
Sreel-hpaen, m. decoy-raindeer, pi.
-hpanaf
Scsenen, of stone
Scaep-ppitepe, historian
Scahan, to steal, come unawares
Scaluns,/. stealing, theft
Scan, m. stone
(3 pers. rcenc, pret.
Scamj, stony
Ire-pcapan, pret. -pcop, to step
Sca^, n. shore, bank
£e-pcaf>elian, to found
8ca}>ol, m. foundation
Scellan > pret. apcealbe, to set
3!-rcellan ) up, set on foot, begin
Scene, m. stench
Sceop-psebep, stepfather
Sceop-mobop, stepmother
8ceop-punu, stepson
Sceopbopb, n. starboard, right
Sciccemselum, piecemeal, here and
there
Scician, to stick, pierce
Sncung, sticking, piercing
Scigan 1 pret. pcah, pi. pngon, to
TC-pcigan £ go (up or down)
tercmcian, to dispose, ordain
Scihcung 1 dispensation, provi-
Le-pcihcuns / dence
Scilnep, quiet, tranquillity
Snncan, pret. pcanc, pi. rcuncon,
to stink, emit odour
Scop,/, place
s- anr Cstron^' Powerful> valiant;
comp." rcpenSpa, sup.
ISe-pcpanjian, to strengthen
Scpeam, m. stream
Iie-rcpeon,/ gain, treasure
GLOSSARY TO OEOSIUS.
575
strong, powerful
8rupian, to stoop
8ryccem8&lum, piecemeal
ke-rcypan ) to regulate, restrain,
ISe-rcypian ) govern
8ulh, n. plough
8um, some, a, an
Sumop, m. summer
Sunb, swimming; Lat. natatio
te-runb, sound, whole
Sunbop-rpps&c,/. private conference
Sunne, sun
8unu, son
Suppe, a Slavonic people inhabiting
Lusatia, Misnia, part of Bran-
denburg and Silesia. Their
capital was Sorau
Surl, 7i. torment
r/e-rupian, to pass in silence, silere
8uS, south
Suftemerc, south most
Suftpihe, in a southward direction ;
ruftpihte, due south
Spa, so, such, as; rpa rpa, like as
Spaeran, pret. rpaecte, to sweat
Spang. See Spingan
Spa rame rpa, as well as, the same as
Spans, sweaty
8pa-J?eah, nevertheless, however
Spepel, m. sulphur ; rpeylen, sul-
phureous
Spepn, n. dream
Speg, m. sound, noise
Spelgepe, drunkard, glutton
Spelean, pret. rpealc, pi. rpulcon, to
die, perish (by death)
afflict
Speop, father-in-law
Bpeopa, neck
Speopb, n. sword
Speorcop, sister
te-rpeorrpa, sisters
Speocohce, manifestly
Spepian ? pret. rpop, part. 'g
te-rpepian ) rpopen, to swear
Spec, sweet
&e-rpehpian, to mitigate
Spic, craft, guile
ke-rpican, pret. -rpac, pi. -rpicon,
to deceive, desist from ; gov. gen.
withdraw from, desist
Spicbom, fraud, deceit, treachery
Cre-rpiSian. See Irerupian
Spile )
Spylc >such
Spelc J
te-rpinc, n. toil
Spingan, pret. rpang, pi. rpungon,
to scourge
Spiftlic, violent; nn^lice, violently
Spiftop, more; comp. of rpift
8pi>ort, superl. of rpift, above all,
chiefly; most violently
Spiftpa, right, dexter
Ire-rputehan, to make manifest,
show
Spylce, as if, as though
Spyn, n. swint,
8y, subj. pres. of peran, to be
Syyan, seven
Syl./. post, pillar, column
Sylr, self
Sylypen, of silver
Syllan 7 pret. realbe, to sell,
Le-fyllan ^ give
Symbel, n. feast
Symbel I ever, always ; on jnmbel,
Symble \ continually
8yn,y. sin
Synbpig, singular, extra, apart
Ire-ryne, visible, from reon
Syngian, to sin
Syrele, the country of the Wends
" so called
T.
Tacen, n. token, sign
Tacnian 7 to betoken, show, de-
Ire-cacnian y clare
Tacnung,/ tokening, appointment,
sign, miracle
Ts&can, pret. caehce, to teach,
direct
Tselan, to blame, increpate
Talenca, talent
Tarn, tame
Tapian, prepare, treat
ke-eeah. See Teon
Teala, welJ
576
GLOSSARY TO OROSITIS.
3!-cellan ) pret. -realbe, tell, count,
Ii?-rellan \ recount, reckon
T .impel, n. temple
Tengan, to march on, rush on
Ire-cense, heavy, oppressive
Teon S 3 pers. tyh'S ; pret.
3!-ceon V ceah, pi. cugon, to
tr2-ceon ) draw, lead, go, accuse
Teona, injury, wrong, accusation,
tribulation
Teo>e, tenth
Teppnna-lanb, the country be-
tween the northern point of the
Bothnian Gulf and the North
Cape
Tibepner, sacrifice
Tib,/, time, tide
Tibhce, betimes, soon, in time
Tigel, m. tile, brick
Tihcle./ accusation
Tima, time, hour
Timbep, n. timber, material
tire-cimbep, n. structure, habita-
tion
Timbpian }
2C-Cimbpian > to build
Ire-cimbpian )
Tmcpegian, to torment, afflict
Tmcpego, torments
Titian "1
Ire-d^ian I to grant, consent to
Ire-ci£5ian J
To, to, too; co >on, in order, to the
end
Tobeacan, to beat to pieces
Tobeprcan, pret. -bsepr c, to burst
Tobibban, to pray to, adore. See
Bibban
Tobpecan. pret. -bpsec, part, -bpo-
cen, to break to pieces, demolish
Tobpeban, pret. -bpaeb, pi. -bpu-
bon, to pull or tear in pieces,
disperse
To-cuman, to come to, attain. See
Human
Tobaelan, to divide, separate, dis-
perse
To-eacan, in addition to, besides
To-emner, even with, opposite,
along
Tojrapan, to disperse, separate,
proceed to. See Fajmn
Toveoll, pret. of Cojreallan. See
Feallan
To-yojilsecan, to let, leave, allovr,
admit. See Foplsecan
Togsebepe, together
Togs&bepe-peajib, towards each
other
To-gehacan, pret. -hec, to promise
Tohhban, pret. tohlab, to gape,
open
To-hopa, hope
Tolicjan, to lie to or towards, to be
separated
To-mibber, in the middle
Tonemnan, to name, distinguish
by name
Top. m. tower
Topping, hurling, casting
Topn, m. anger
Toreccan, to settle
Torlean, pret. -rloh, to strike
down, destroy. See Slean
Toromne, together
Torncian, to pierce
Toceon ) to draw, drag, pull to
To-geceon j pieces. See Teon
Tocepan, to tear in pieces
Tocpaeman, to divide
Topeapb, towards, to come, future
Topenban, to overthrow, subvert;
abrogate (a law)
Topeoppan, pret. -peapp, pi. -pup-
pon, to overthrow, destroy
Tol5, m. tooth, pi. ce'5
Tjieahcigean, to discuss
Tpeop, n. tree, stake
Tpeop,/ covenant, treaty
De-tpiepan, to trust
Tj^g} trough, boat
Tpuma, cohort, body (of men)
bucan cpuman, without order
Tpuro, a town on the border of the
mere or lake from which the
river Ilfing (Elbing) flows in its
course towards the city of that
name
|Ee-cpymian
eucolge
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
577
6e-cpyp, true, faithful
Tu, two
star, heavenly body
Tun, m. town, villa, vill
Tunece,/ tunic, toga
Tupa, twice
Tpa,/. w. two
Tpegen, m. two
Tpelp, twelve
Tpelpeis (hunb), hundred and
twenty
Tpencig, twenty
Tpeogan, pret. cpeobe, for tpeogbe,
to doubt
Tpeosenbhc, doubtful
Tpeohce, doubtfully, ambiguously,
equivocally
Tpeon, m. doubt
te-rpeoman, to doubt
Tpeopa}
Tpipa [ twice
Tpypa )
TPypyPblS> ambiguous, equivocal
te-tyan, to instruct
Tybpian, to bring forth (offspring)
£e-tysJnan. See tetrSian
Tyn, ten
Tyncen?
U.
Upan, up; on-upan, upon
Upane, from above
Upep, ulterior; upepan bagum, at
some future day
Uhc, «.? thing, creature, wight
Unablinnenhce, incessantly. See
Bhnnan
Unap,/. dishonour
Ere-unapian, to dishonour
Unapimeb, unnumbered, number-
less
Unapimebhc, countless
Unapecgenbhc, unspeakable
Unbebohc, unsold. See Bebicgan
Unclsenner, uncleanness, impurity,
unchasteness
fre-uncla&nrian, to pollute, defile
Uncu"S, unknown
Unbep, under, among i an- ares
Unbepjrens. See Unbepj-on
Unbepron, to undertake, receive,
adopt. See Fon
Unbepgycan, pret. -Jeac, to under-
stand, perceive
Unbepienbe, innocent
Unbepn, morning, nine o'clock
a.m.
Unbepneo^an, underneath
Unbep>eob '
Unbep-beop, thrall, serf
Unbon, to undo. See Don
Unea>e, with difficulty, hardly
Unea'Sner ) harshness, barbarity,
Ume'Sner J difficulty
TJne'Se, difficult, unpleasant
Unpopbaepneb, unburnt
Unpju'S, m. hostility
Unjeapu, unaware; unjeapej'e.
unawares
Ungeappe, unawares
Ungepephc, unsocial
iSepohge, excessively
Ungej-othc, impassable on foot
Unjema&c > immense; mib unje-
Ungemet \ mere, immoderately
Unjemethc, immense; ungemer-
lice, exceedingly
Ungenybb, without compulsion,
spontaneously
Ungeopne, reluctantly, unwillingly
Ungepab, discordant; disagreeing
Ungepsebner, dissension
Ungejupne, unfitting, unbecoming
Undersells, unblessed, unhappy
Un^ecaep, barbarous, untractable,
detestable
Unsecima, mishap, calamity (at p.
318 we should probably r»a<l
ungeciman)
Ungepealber. involuntarily
Unjepip, uncertainty
Ungepunehc. unusual
Un^epylb, unsubdued
pner, dissension, discord
, guiltless
lack of pity, cruelty
Unmynblmsa, unexpectedly, un-
578
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS
Jnoyeppunnen, unconquered
Unopeppunnenb, unconquerable
Unpseb, m. evil counsel
Ire-unpett, saddened
IJnptht, n. injustice, wrong
Unpihthc, unrighteous
Unpihtpir, unrighteous, unjust
Unpb,/. enmity
Unrpebig, not opulent
Unrtilner, unstillness, restlessness
Untibhc, untimely, unseasonable
Uncpeophce, faithlessly
UntpeopS, /: treachery, perfidy
Untpumner, sickness, malady
Untpegenbhce
UnP*P I m
•{ not doubting,
L positively
Unpaephce
Unpsertmbsepner, unfruitfulness
Unpenhc, hopeless, desperate
UnpypS )
TJnpillum, unwillingly; hir unpil-
lum, against his will
Unpir, unwise
Lnpitenbe, unwittingly, volun-
tarily?
Unppart, weak, powerless
Uny^e, not easy
Un>anc recgan, contr. to J?anc
recgan, to take amiss
UnJ?ancer, against the will. Lat.
invite
UnJ>eap, m. vice
Ui>-ahebban, to raise. See fthebban
Up-aheng, hung up. See Shon
Up-ahoyon. See Up-ahebban
Up-apsejian, to raise
Up-eobon, ascended, went up. See
tan
Up-j'oplsecan, to divide (a river).
See Foplaecan
Uppepeapber, upwards
Up-rcyc, runs up. See Sceotan
Up-pyI5, springs up. See J7eallan
Upe, our
Uc, uce, out, external, adj.
Uc-aloccian, to entice out
Ucan, without, from without
Uc-arceoran, pret. -rceac, to shoot
out, dart forth. See Sceotan
Ucen (utan)-cumen, stranger
Ucfapan, to go out. See Fapan
Ucj-leojan, to flee out. See Fleogan
Uc-yopla&can, to let out, deliver.
See Fopla&can
Ucon, let us
Ucon-ymbyapen, surrounded
Uc-o'5bpeban, to draw out. See
3!bpeban
Ucrihc, diarrhoea
Ucrionbe, flowing, running (as a
sore)
Uc-ypnan, to run out. See Ypnan
U>on. See Unnan
Ire-uiSan. See Uiinan
Unnan
V-
^a, woe, woful, sad
X-pacan. pret. apoc, to wake, aris«
te-pacian, to flinch
paban, pret pob, to wade, go
X-pseenian, to awake, arise
7aebla, poor
, n. slaughter, death
78elgpimlice, fiercely, cruelly
'selhpeophce, cruelly
sel-pcop,/ field of battle
sepen, n. weapon, arm
'«p,/. compact, covenant
'sepian, to protect, guard
'a&prcipe, caution
'sercm, m. fruit
'aertm-bsepo,/. fruitfulnesa
7sec, wet
7a&ta, wetness, humidity
s&cep, n. water
?ah, m. wall
7an. See ^mnan
J7aman, to diminish, impair
^annrpeb,/. poverty
J7ap./ care, caution
^ape, heed, guard, protection
Tre-papman, to warn, prohibit
Fat (ic), know (I). See J7itan
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUG.
570
eaib, TO. forest
pealban > pret. peolb, to govern,
ke-pealban £ command
te-pealben, powerful
p'eall, m. wall
feallan, 3 pers. pyliS, pret. peoll, to
well, bubble up, boil
J7eapb, m. ward, guard, advanced
post
p'eapft. See peop'San
J7ejax, n. wax
feaxan } pret. peox, part, pex-
fexan V an be, to wax, grow,
S-peaxan J increase
_peb, n. pledge
J7eban ) pret. pebbe, to become
S-peban J mad, rage
J7ebb, n. pledge
pebep, n. weather
fej, m. way
fel, well
fela, wealth, pi. riches; prosperity
Ere-peljian, to enrich
rich
7en,/ hope, expectation
7enan, to ween, imagine
J7enbel-rse, Mediterranean
feonoblanb, the country of the
Vinedi or Wends. Under the
name of Vindland was at one
time comprised the whole coast-
land from the Slie to the mouth
of the Vistula
J^eopc, n. work
Ire-peopcan ) pret. -pophce, to
ke-pypcan £ work, make, do
5-peoppan, pret. -peapp, pi. -pup-
pon, to cast, depose
J7eop8, worthy, honourable ; su-
perl. peop>erc
,-3 pers. pyp'S; pret.
peap'S, pi. pupbon,
feop'San part, sepopben, to
&e-peopl5an 1 become, be, hap-
pen ; to decree,
L determine
Peopftj-'ulhce, honourably
^eop>ian, to honour, worship
eop>hc, honourable ; peopblice,
honourably
/eop'Smync, n.f. dignity, honour
, ^eopftr cipe, worship, honour
. 7eoca. See frta
7epan, pret. pop, to weep, bewail
7ep, man, husband
tre-pepgian, to weary
lto defend ;
J Senbe for peplSenbe
episan
7epian, to wear
repis, weary, afflicted
7epob, n. army, host, band
ITeran, eom, eapc, ip (yr); subj. ry,
peepe, to be
7erc, waste, desolate
7erc, west
j7ercan, from the west
7C-perran, to lay waste, desolate
7erc-bael, m. the west par};
/ercemerc, westmost
] 7ercen, n. waste, wilderness
' 7ercene, in the west
J7ej*cepeapb, westward
erc-r«, the West-sea, or that part
of the German ocean that washes
the coasts of Norway, Jutland,
and Holstein. Dan. Vester Hav.
south-west
Tre-pician, to encamp
icing, tii. viking, pirate
ic-rcop,/ camp
i^, M-ide
ibe, widely, far apart
ij:, n. wife, woman
'ijiic, womanly
'ipman, woman
'15, m. war, battle
'iScpsejrr, m. military knowledge
"i7iS-hur, n. tower
ig-pBejn, /«. war-chariot
' 7ihc, /: thing, creature, wight
' 7ilb, wild
overpowered; co gepyl-
bum bon> to subdue,
overcome
filbeop, n. wild beast
lie-pill, will, desire
f ilia, will
f illan, pret. polbe, to w'U
r,e-pilb
580
GLOSSAET TO OEOSIUS.
7ille,/. well, spring
7ilman, to will, desire, gov. gen.
7ilnung, desire
7m, n. wine
7mb, m. wind.
7mban, pret. panb, pi. punbon, to
wind, whirl, roll
Ire-pinn, n. war
te-pmna, foe
J7mnan. pret. pan (pon), pi. punnon,
to war, win
J7mtep, m. winter, year. The
northern nations reckoned by
winters
^mtep-retl, n. winter-quarters
tie-pmtpab, full of years
J^mtpig, wintry
'-pipgan, to strangle
/i7, wise
7|*" > f. wise, manner, way
^ira, counsellor, councillor
ircan, to wish
'irbom, m. wisdom
'irlic, wise
'ita, senator
'itan, to accuse
'itan, pret. jnoton ? to impute
7itan; ic pat, pi. piton, pret. pirte,
to know; pitenbe, voluntarily?
lie-pitan, pret. -pat, pi. piton, part.
gepiren, to go, pass away
J7itega, prophet
tre-pitegian, to prophesy
J7itlanb, the country bordering on
the east bank of the Vistula
Ire-pitner, witness
J7icnian, to punish
J7i'3, against, towards, with, on
J7i'3-8ej:tan, after, behind
J7i'ScpeJ>an, refuse, oppose. See
Lpe>an
7i'3epj-hta, adversary
7i}>eppeapb, adverse, hostile
7i>eppmna, adversary
7i'Shabban, to resist
7i-3racan, pret. pitSroc, to renounce,
deny, declare enmity
J7i'3reon, pret. -reah, pi. rapon, to
rebel. See Seon
pi'Srtanban, to withstand. See
Stanhan
J7i'Sutan, without
fi'Spmnan, to war against. See
J7mnan
p'lenceo, f. pride
J7ob, wood, mad
|7oh, n. crooked, wrong
7ol, m.f. plague, pestilence
^olbaejiner, pestilence, calamity
bl-bpyne, m- pestilence
blbe. " See f illan
bl-gepinn, pestilential war
'on. See J7mnan
'op, m. wail, weeping, whoop:
from pepan, to weep
fopc, ra. work
opb, n. word, speech, resolve
Tre-popht, wrought. See Erepeopcau.
bplb. See |7opulb
ojimr. m. corruption, pus
opulb,yi world
opulbhc, worldly, secular
"opulb-5rpmv3,/ worldly, miserr
opulb-binj, n. worldly thing
pacu.y. vengeance, retaliation
'18ecoa I exile
paeccea }
paecri^, m. exile, banishment
psene, libidinous
paenner, libidinousness, lust
pat. See J7pitan
pa'S, wroth
pecan ) pret. ppsec, to avenge,
Ire-pjiecan ^ punish
J7penc, m. trick, devise
te-ppit, 7i. writing, testament, book
(• pret. ppat, pi. ppiton,
to write, score. The
y TllC3.Il T • i
S-ppitan j per convivia frange-
l rentur
^7]uxhan, to exchange
7poht,/ crime, evil
7uce,/. week
7ubu, m. wood, forest
7ulj-, m. wolf
te-jmna, wont, usage
punb,^/. wound; adj. wounded
Le-punbian, to wound
J7unbop, n. wonder, miracle, pro-
digy
wonderful
to wonder
GLOSSARY TO OROSIUS.
581
,/ habitation
Ire-pybep, n. tempest, bad weather
pylb, powerful, prevailing
ke-pylban, to subdue, subject
fylle, rolling?
fylce, the Wilzen, a people that
settled in Germany in the sixth
or seventh century; they oc-
cupied the east of Mecklenburg,
and the Mark of Brandenburg.
The river Havel was the boun-
dary between them and the
Sorabi
fynn,/. delight, joy
fypb,/. fate
Ire-pypb, n. word, utterance
Ire-pyphc, part, of gepypcan ; buton
gepyphcum, undeservedly. See
Irepeopcan
J7yphca, wright, workman
pypm, m. worm, serpent
J7ypm-cyn, n. the worm or serpent
race
pypnan, to warn, refuse, deny
ypp, m. cast
ypperc, worst
worse
rpt,/. n. herb, plant, wort
^ypc-puma, root
yp>an.
yp>e, worthy
ypjjpolner, honour
Y.
Ire-yean, pret. -yhte, to eke, in-
crease
Yfel, evil, subst. and adj.
Yjrehan, to harm, injure
Ylc, same
Ylberc, eldest, chief
Ylbpa, elder, forefather
Ylpenb, m. elephant
Ymbe[about'around
Ymbpapan, to go round or about.
See Fapan
Ymbgang, m. circumference
Ymbhsejrb, surrounded; part, of
ymbh abban
Ymbhpyprc, m. circuit, orb
Ymbhcgan, to lie around, encircle
Ymbriccan, to besiege, invest (a
place)
Ymbucan, round aboat
Ymbpeaxan, pret. ymbpeox, part.
ymbpeaxen. to grow about
Ynbre,y: ounce
Ypyepeapb, m. heir, inheritor
YphS,/ sloth, fear
Ypming, poor wretch
YpmS,/. misery
Ypnan, pret. ana, pi. upnon, to run
Yppe, n. ire, anger; adj. angry
Yrc, m. tempest
Ycemerc, outmost ; sup. of uc
Ycepen, of otter-skin ; from
otter
Y5, comp. of ea$, easy; >e y«,
more easily
YswTceH1^'*'*'*1''*
Y>pe, more easily
D.
Da, when, then; >a-gyc, still, yet
Da, pi. of }>£ec
Daene, i. q. >one
Daep, there, where. Orosius fre-
quently uses J>aep in the sense
of £iF, if
Dsepsec, thereat
Daepinne, therein
Dsepmib, therewith
Dsepoy, thereof
Dsepco, thereto
Dsepuce, thereout
Deer, after; j?ser on
morning after
Dsec, that, the
Dapan ^ to approve, permi*
te->apan \ endure
Da-gyc, yet, still
Dane, m. thought
Dane, m. thanks
Dancer, ft>r the sake or love of
1* tns
582
GLOSSA.EY TO OKOSIFS.
Tie-hancian, to thank
Oanon, thence ; >anon-ut, out from
thence
Dap, accus. fern, of >ip
De, who, which, that, the
f)e, whether; he . . he, whether . . or
Delf } thouSh' although
Deah- 1 hpaehepe, yet, neverthe-
Beh- j less
l)eapf,y. need, necessity
Deap, m. custom, morals, manners
K>egen, minister, officer, soldier,
person
Dejnpcipe, valour, ability, man-
hood
P^t. hohce, to think,
devise, intend
S-heman, to stretch out, expand
Deob,/. nation, people
Deopman, thief
Deoh, n. thigh
Deopan for Jnppum ? p. 326, 1. 24
Deopcepnyp, darkness
Deop, ?«. slave, serf; adj. servile
Deopbom, slavery, thraldom
Deopian, to serve, to be a slave
Deopot, m. servitude, slavery
to eat, drink, partake
Dican
Du-lice, thickly
Dibep, thither
Dibeppeapb, thitherward
Dmcan ) pret. huhce, to seem; v.
Dyncan 3 impers.
Ding, n. thing ; on aslcum hingum,
in every way, totally ; pop hip
hingum, on his account
ke-hinsian, to agree with, mediate
Erf- hopca, companion, associate,
ally
I»e-hoptian, to associate, ally with I
te-hoht, m. thought, intention, '
design
Dohce. See Dencan
Le-hohan } to suffer' UIlder§°
Don, that ; co J?on, in order to
Doncung,/. thanking, gratitude
Done, ace. masc. him, that
Donne, than, then, when
Dpeagung,/. threat
, to weary, tire
Djieoreohe, thirteenth
Dpibba -e, third
pret, -hpanj, pi.
, to throng, press
Dpi £15, thirty
Dpopian, to suffer, endure
Dpymhc, grand, magnificent
Dpypcyce, triangular
IS-hpypemobian, to suffocate
Dpypmian, to oppress
S-j?pypcjuan, to darken, eclipse
Dunop, m. thunder
Duph-pceoran, to shoot through.
See Sceoean
Duphceon to car — through, ac-
complish. See Teon
Duphpuman, to continue
Duppc, m. thirst
Dupenb, thousand
Dy, abl. of >aec, therefore
Dy-laep, lest
Dylhc, such
Dyjipcan, to thirst
te-hp»p, gentle, agreeing
Le-hpaJ]>nep, harmony, concord
across, obliquely, athwart
Dypcejmep, darkness
, to drive away.
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