Injurieswereaggravatedbyinsults；thesenseofactualsufferingswasimbitteredbythefearofmoredreadfulevils；andasnewlandswereallottedtothenewswarmsofBarbarians，eachsenatorwasapprehensivelestthearbitrarysurveyorsshouldapproachhisfavoritevilla，orhismostprofitablefarm。Theleastunfortunatewerethosewhosubmittedwithoutamurmurtothepowerwhichitwasimpossibletoresist。Sincetheydesiredtolive，theyowedsomegratitudetothetyrantwhohadsparedtheirlives；andsincehewastheabsolutemasteroftheirfortunes，theportionwhichheleftmustbeacceptedashispureandvoluntarygift。^143ThedistressofItaly^!wasmitigatedbytheprudenceandhumanityofOdoacer，whohadboundhimself，asthepriceofhiselevation，tosatisfythedemandsofalicentiousandturbulentmultitude。ThekingsoftheBarbarianswerefrequentlyresisted，deposed，ormurdered，bytheirnativesubjects，andthevariousbandsofItalianmercenaries，whoassociatedunderthestandardofanelectivegeneral，claimedalargerprivilegeoffreedomandrapine。Amonarchydestituteofnationalunion，andhereditaryright，hastenedtoitsdissolution。Afterareignoffourteenyears，OdoacerwasoppressedbythesuperiorgeniusofTheodoric，kingoftheOstrogoths；aheroalikeexcellentintheartsofwarandofgovernment，whorestoredanageofpeaceandprosperity，andwhosenamestillexcitesanddeservestheattentionofmankind。
[Footnote138:Tacit。Annal。iii。53。TheRecherchessurl\'AdministrationdesTerreschezlesRomainsp。351—361
clearlystatetheprogressofinternaldecay。]
[Footnote139:Afamine，whichafflictedItalyatthetimeoftheirruptionofOdoacer，kingoftheHeruli，iseloquentlydescribed，inproseandverse，byaFrenchpoet，LesMois，tom。
ii。p。174，205，edit。in12mo。Iamignorantfromwhencehederiveshisinformation；butIamwellassuredthatherelatessomefactsincompatiblewiththetruthofhistory]