312 THE DECLINE AND FALL slaves who could prove their title to the name of Barbarians. The ministers of the senate presumed to ask, in a modest and suppliant tone, " If such, O king ! are your demands, what do you intend to leave us?" "Your lives," replied the haughty conqueror : they trembled and retired. Yet, before they retired, a short suspension of arms was granted, which allowed some time for a more temperate negotiation. The stem features of Alaric were insensibly relaxed ; he abated much of the rigour of his terms ; and at length consented to raise the siege, on the [£225,000] immediate payment of five thousand pounds of gold, of thirty I £90 0001 1 •^ i- o ' •/ thousand pounds of silver, of four thousand robes of silk, of three thousand pieces of fine scarlet cloth, ^ and of three thousand pounds weight of pepper. ^^ But the public treasury was ex- hausted ; the annual rents of the great estates in Italy and the provinces were intercepted by the calamities of war ; the gold and gems had been exchanged during the famine for the vilest sustenance ; the hoards of secret wealth were still concealed by the obstinacy of avarice ; and some remains of consecrated spoils afforded the only resource that could avert the impending ruin of the city. As soon as the Romans had satisfied the rapacious demands of Alaric, they were restored, in some measure, to the enjoyment of peace and plenty. Several of the gates were cautiously opened ; the importation of provisions from the river and the adjacent country was no longer obstructed by the Goths ; the citizens resorted in crowds to the free market, which was held during three days in the suburbs ; and, while the merchants who undertook this gainful trade made a considerable profit, the future subsistence of the city was secured by the ample magazines which were deposited in the public and private granaries. A more regular discipline than could have been expected was maintained in the camp of Alaric ; and the wise Barbarian [A.D. 409] justified his regard for the faith of treaties by the just severity with which he chastised a party of licentious Goths, who had insulted some Roman citizens on the road to Ostia. His army, enriched by the contributions of the capital, slowly advanced into the fair and fruitful province of Tuscany, where he proposed to establish his winter-quarters ; and the Gothic standard became 80 [Rather, hides dyed scarlet.] 81 Pepper was a favourite ingredient of the most expensive Roman ccoker)', and the best sort commonly sold for fifteen denarii, or ten shillings, the pound. See Pliny, Hist. Natur. xii. 14. It was brought from India; and the same country, the coast of Malabar, still affords the greatest plenty : but the improvement of trade and navigation has multiplied the quantity and reduced the price. See Histoire PoViti'^'.ift ot Philosophiaue, &c, , ton. '.. P. '^^'Z.
