1. King Theodoric to Alaric, King of the Visigoths.

Dissuades Alaric the Visigoth from war with the Franks.

'Surrounded as you are by an innumerable multitude of subjects, and strong in the remembrance of their having turned back Attila[275], still do not fight with Clovis. War is a terrible thing, and a terrible risk. The long peace may have softened the hearts of your people, and your soldiers from want of practice may have lost the habit of working together on the battlefield. Ere yet blood is shed, draw back if possible. We are sending ambassadors to the King of the Franks to try to prevent this war between our relatives; and the ambassadors whom we are sending to you will go on to Gundibad, King of the Burgundians, to get him to interpose on behalf of peace. Your enemy will be mine also.'

[The battle of Vouglé in which Alaric was overthrown by Clovis, was fought in 507; but the date of this letter is probably 506 (Dahn's date) rather than 507, as there were no doubt some premonitory symptoms before the war broke out.

Binding i. 181 (n. 608), and Pallmann ii. 55 n. 1, and 135 n. 2, incline to a date somewhat earlier even than 506, thinking that there may have been earlier threatenings of war, which Theodoric succeeded for the time in averting.

The earlier the date the better will it suit the allusion to Clovis (and Alaric) as 'Regii Juvenes' in the following letter. Clovis was born in 466, and was therefore 41 years of age at the battle of Vouglé.]