Editing Athaulf (section)

==Declaration==
The authenticity of Athaulf's declaration at [[Narbonne]], as Orosius reported it in a rhetorical history that was explicitly written "against pagans" (it was completed in 417/18) has been doubted. Antonio Marchetta<ref>Antonio Marchetta, ''Orosio e Athaulfo nell'ideologia dei rapporti romano-barbarici'' (Rome: Istituto Isorico per il Medio Evo) 1987. The first chapter deals with the doubts raised by previous historians as to the authenticity of the discourse.</ref>  concludes that the words are indeed Athaulf's and distinguishes them from their interpretation by Orosius, who was preparing his readers for a conclusion that Christian times were felicitous and who attributed Athaulf's apparent change of heart to the power of his love for Galla Placidia, the instrument of divine intervention in God's plan for an eternal Roman Empire. Marchetta finds the marriage instead an act of hard-headed politics.