Apulia: they assaulted the ancient city of Tarentum, interrupted
the trade and agriculture of a happy country, and sailed back to
the Hellespont, proud of their piratical victory over a people
whom they still presumed to consider as their Roman brethren. ^46
Their retreat was possibly hastened by the activity of Theodoric;
Italy was covered by a fleet of a thousand light vessels, ^47
which he constructed with incredible despatch; and his firm
moderation was soon rewarded by a solid and honorable peace. He
maintained, with a powerful hand, the balance of the West, till
it was at length overthrown by the ambition of Clovis; and
although unable to assist his rash and unfortunate kinsman, the
king of the Visigoths, he saved the remains of his family and
people, and checked the Franks in the midst of their victorious
career. I am not desirous to prolong or repeat ^48 this
narrative of military events, the least interesting of the reign
of Theodoric; and shall be content to add, that the Alemanni were
protected, ^49 that an inroad of the Burgundians was severely
chastised, and that the conquest of Arles and Marseilles opened a
free communication with the Visigoths, who revered him as their
national protector, and as the guardian of his grandchild, the
infant son of Alaric. Under this respectable character, the king
of Italy restored the praetorian praefecture of the Gauls,
reformed some abuses in the civil government of Spain, and
accepted the annual tribute and apparent submission of its
military governor, who wisely refused to trust his person in the
palace of Ravenna. ^50 The Gothic sovereignty was established
from Sicily to the Danube, from Sirmium or Belgrade to the
Atlantic Ocean; and the Greeks themselves have acknowledged that
Theodoric reigned over the fairest portion of the Western empire.
^51