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[48] After that, King Odoacar made war on the Rugi, 1 and in a second campaign vanquished and utterly destroyed them. Then, since he was a man of good intentions and favoured the Arian 2 sect, “it happened that once, when in the presence of the holy man many nobles, as often happens, were praising and flattering the said king, as men will do, he asked what king they had extolled with such high commendations. And when they replied 'Odoacar,' he said 'Odoacar is safe for between thirteen and fourteen years,' thus, of course, indicating the years of his safe reign.”

1 Living in what was in modern times Austria and Moravia.

2 The correct spelling is Arian, from Arius, but the ignotus auctor, as well as some other late writers, spelled it Arrius, after the analogy of numerous Roman gentile names (T.L.L. ii. 507, 59). It seems best to use Arrius in the text. Arius in the translation. On his sect, see note, p. 569.

Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.

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