I will ordain a
lower ransom; I will spare Rome.'
A murmur arose among the warriors behind him. The rapine and
destruction which they had eagerly anticipated was denied them for the
first time by their chief. As their muttered remonstrances caught his
ear, Alaric instantly and sternly fixed his eyes upon them; and,
repeating in accents of deliberate command, 'I will ordain a lower
ransom; I will spare Rome,' steadily scanned the countenances of his
ferocious followers.
Not a word of dissent fell from their lips; not a gesture of impatience
appeared in their ranks; they preserved perfect silence as the king
again advanced towards the ambassadors and continued--
'I fix the ransom of the city at five thousand pounds of gold; at thirty
thousand pounds of silver.'
Here he suddenly ceased, as if pondering further on the terms he should
exact. The hearts of the Senate, lightened for a moment by Alaric's
unexpected announcement that he would moderate his demands, sank within
them again as they thought on the tribute required of them, and
remembered their exhausted treasury.
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