CHAPTER I

THE GOTHS AGAIN ATTACK CONSTANTINOPLE, AND ARE REPULSED BY THE CITIZENS, AIDED BY SOME SARACEN AUXILIARIES

AFTER the emperor Valens had thus lost his life, in a manner which has never been satisfactorily ascertained, the barbarians again approached the very walls of Constantinople, and laid waste the suburbs on every side of it. The people unable to endure this distressing spectacle, armed themselves with whatever weapons they could severally lay hands on, and sallied forth of their own accord against the enemy. The empress Dominica caused the same pay to be distributed out of the imperial treasury to such as volunteered to go out on this service, as was usually allowed to soldiers. On this occasion the citizens were assisted by a few of the Saracen confederates, who had been sent by Mavia their queen, to whom allusion has been already made; and by this united resistance, they obliged the barbarians to retire to a greater distance from the city.