_Theoderic_ thereupon led his nation into _Italy_,
conquered _Odoacer_, and reigned over _Italy_, _Sicily_, _Rhaetia_,
_Noricum_, _Dalmatia_, _Liburnia_, _Istria_, and part of _Suevia_,
_Pannonia_ and _Gallia_. Whence _Ennodius_ said, in a Panegyric to
_Theoderic_: _Ad limitem suum Romana regna remeasse._ _Theoderic_ reigned
with great prudence, moderation and felicity; treated the _Romans_ with
singular benevolence, governed them by their own laws, and restored their
government under their Senate and Consuls, he himself supplying the place
of Emperor, without assuming the title. _Ita sibi parentibus praefuit_,
saith _Procopius_, _ut vere Imperatori conveniens decus nullum ipsi
abesset: Justitiae magnus ei cultus, legumque diligens custodia: terras a
vicinis barbaris servavit intactas_, &c. Whence I do not reckon the reign
of this King, amongst the plagues of the four winds.
The plague of the northern wind, at the sounding of the fourth trumpet, was
to cause _the Sun, Moon and Stars_, that is, the King, kingdom and Princes
of the _Western_ Empire, _to be darkned_, and to continue some time in
darkness. Accordingly _Belisarius_, having conquered the _Vandals_, invaded
_Italy_ A.C. 535, and made war upon the _Ostrogoths_ in _Dalmatia_,
_Liburnia_, _Venetia_, _Lombardy_, _Tuscany_, and other regions northward
from _Rome_, twenty years together. In this war many cities were taken and
retaken.
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