The Defeat and Death of Edovicus

Although the city of Arles was closely besieged by the army of Honorius, Constantine still held out against the siege, because word came that Edovicus was close at hand with many allies. This frightened the generals of Honorius beyond measure, and they decided to go back to Italy and carry on the war there. When they had agreed on this plan, word came that Edovicus was nearby, so they crossed the river Rhone. Constantius, who commanded the infantry, quietly waited for the enemy to approach, while Ulphilas, his fellow general, lay in ambush not far off with his cavalry. The enemy passed by the army of Ulphilas and were about to engage the troops of Constantius, when a signal was given, and Ulphilas suddenly appeared and attacked the enemy from the rear. They fled at once. Some escaped, some were killed, and others threw down their arms, asked for pardon, and were spared. Edovicus mounted his horse and fled to the estate of a certain Ecdicius, a landowner to whom he had once done an important service, and whom he therefore imagined to be his friend. Ecdicius, however, cut off his head and presented it to the generals of Honorius, hoping to receive some great reward and honor. When Constantius received the head, he declared that the state owed Ecdicius thanks for what Ulphilas had done. But when Ecdicius was eager to go along with him, he ordered him to leave, for he did not think the company of a treacherous host would be good for himself or for the army. And so the man who had dared to commit the most unholy murder of a friend and a guest in misfortune went away, as the proverb says, gaping at nothing. [a]