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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:47 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:47 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12061-0.txt b/12061-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..487a306 --- /dev/null +++ b/12061-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6954 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12061 *** + + DIO'S ROME + + + AN + + HISTORICAL NARRATIVE + ORIGINALLY COMPOSED IN GREEK + DURING THE REIGNS OF + SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, GETA + AND CARACALLA, MACRINUS, + ELAGABALUS AND ALEXANDER SEVERUS: + + AND + + + NOW PRESENTED IN ENGLISH FORM + + + BY + + + HERBERT BALDWIN FOSTER, + A.B. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), + Acting Professor of Greek in Lehigh University + + + + + SIXTH VOLUME + + + + +I. Books 77-80 (A.D. 211-229). + +II. Fragments of Books 1-21 (Melber's Arrangement). + +III. Glossary of Latin Terms. + +IV. General Index. + + + + 1905 + + + PAFRAETS BOOK COMPANY + TROY NEW YORK + + + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +77 + + +Antoninus begins his reign by having various persons assassinated, +among them his brother Geta (chapters 1-3). + +Cruelty of Antoninus toward Papinianus, Cilo, and others (chapters +4-6). + +Antoninus as emulator of Alexander of Macedon (chapters 7, 8). + +His levies and extravagance (chapters 9-11). + +His treachery toward Abgarus of Osrhoene, toward the Armenian king, +the Parthian king, and the Germans (chapters 12, 13). + +The Cenni conquer Antoninus in battle (chapter 14). + +He strives to drive out his disease of mind by consulting spirits and +oracles (chapter 15). + +Slaughter of vestals, insults to the senate, demise of others contrary +to his mother's wishes (chapters 16-18). + +Antoninus's Parthian war (chapters 19-21). + +Massacres of Alexandrians caused by Antoninus (chapters 22-24). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +Q. Epidius Rufus Lollianus Gentianus, Pomponius Bassus (A.D. 211 = a. +u. 964 = First of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th). + +C. Iulius Asper (II), C. Iulius Asper. (A.D. 212 = a.u. 965 = Second +of Antoninus.) + +Antoninus Aug. (IV), D. Coelius Balbinus (II). (A.D. 213 = a.u. 966 = +Third of Antoninus.) + +Silius Messala, Sabinus. (A.D. 214 = a.u. 967 = Fourth of Antoninus.) + +Lætus (II), Cerealis. (A.D. 215 = a.u. 968 = Fifth of Antoninus.) + +C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus. (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 = +Sixth of Antoninus.) + + +(_BOOK 78, BOISSEVAIN_.) + +[Sidenote: A.D. 211 (_a.u._ 964)] [Sidenote:--1--] After this Antoninus +secured the entire power. Nominally he ruled with his brother, but in +reality alone and at once. With the enemy he came to terms, withdrew +from their country, and abandoned the forts. But his own people he +either dismissed (as Papinianus the prefect) or else killed (as Euodus, +his nurse, Castor, and his wife Plautilla, and the latter's brother +Plautius). In Rome itself he also executed a man who was renowned for no +other reason than his profession, which made him very conspicuous. This +was Euprepes, the charioteer; he killed him when the man dared to show +enthusiasm for a cause that the emperor opposed. So Euprepes died in +old age after having been crowned in an endless number of horse-races. +He had won seven hundred and eighty-two of them,--a record equaled by +none other. + +Antoninus had first had the desire to murder his brother while his +father was still alive, but had been unable to do so at that time +because of Severus, or later, on the road, because of the legions. The +men felt very kindly toward the younger son, especially because in +appearance he was the very image of his father. But when Antoninus +arrived in Rome, he got rid of this rival also. The two pretended to +love and commend each other, but their actions proved quite the reverse +to be true, and anybody could see that some catastrophe would result +from their relations. This fact was recognized even prior to their +reaching Rome. When it had been voted by the senate to sacrifice in +behalf of their harmony both to the other gods and to Harmony herself, +the assistants made ready a victim to be sacrificed to Harmony and the +consul arrived to do the slaughtering; yet he could not find them, nor +could the assistants find the consul. They spent nearly the whole night +looking for each other, so that the sacrifice could not be performed on +that occasion. The next day two wolves climbed the Capitol, but were +chased away from that region: one of them was next encountered somewhere +in the Forum, and the other was later slain outside the pomerium. This +is the story about those two animals. + +[Sidenote:--2---] It was Antoninus's wish to murder his brother at the +Saturnalia, but he was not able to carry out his intention. The danger +had already grown too evident to be concealed. As a consequence, there +were many violent meetings between the two,--both feeling that they were +being plotted against,--and many precautionary measures were taken on +both sides. As many soldiers and athletes, abroad and at home, day and +night, were guarding Geta, Antoninus persuaded his mother to send for +him and his brother and have them come along to her house with a view to +being reconciled. Geta without distrust went in with him. When they were +well inside, some centurions suborned by Antoninus rushed in a body. +Geta on seeing them had run to his mother, and as he hung upon her neck +and clung to her bosom and breasts he was cut down, bewailing his fate +and crying out: "Mother that bore me, mother that bore me, help! I am +slain!!" + +[Sidenote: A.D. 212 (_a.u._ 965)] Tricked in this way, she beheld her son +perishing by most unholy violence in her very lap, and, as it were, +received his death into her womb whence she had borne him. She was all +covered with blood, so that she made no account of the wound she had +received in her hand. She might neither mourn nor weep for her son, +although, untimely he had met so miserable an end (he was only +twenty-two years and nine months old): on the contrary, she was +compelled to rejoice and laugh as though enjoying some great piece of +luck. All her words, gestures, and changes of color were watched with +the utmost narrowness. She alone, Augusta, wife of the emperor, mother +of emperors, was not permitted to shed tears even in private over so +great a calamity. + +[Sidenote:--3--] Antoninus, although it was evening, took possession of +the legions after bawling all the way along the road that he had been +the object of a plot and was in danger. On entering the fortifications, +he exclaimed: "Rejoice, fellow-soldiers, for now I have a chance to +benefit you!" Before they heard the whole story he had stopped their +mouths with so many and so great promises that they could neither think +nor speak anything decent. "I am one of you," he said, "it is on your +account alone that I care to live, that so I may afford you much +happiness. All the treasuries are yours." Indeed, he said this also: "I +pray if possible to live with you, but if not, at any rate to die with +you. I do not fear death in any form, and it is my desire to end my days +in warfare. There should a man die, or nowhere!" + +To the senate on the following day he made various remarks and after +rising from his seat he went towards the door and said: "Listen to a +great announcement from me. That the whole world may be glad, let all +the exiles, who have been condemned on any complaint whatever in any way +whatever, be restored to full rights." Thus did he empty the islands of +exiles and grant pardon to the worst condemned criminals, but before +long he had the isles full again. + +[Sidenote:--4--] The Cæsarians and the soldiers that had been with Geta +were suddenly put to death to the number of twenty thousand, men and +women alike, wherever in the palace any of them happened to be. +Antoninus slew also various distinguished men, among them Papinianus. + + ¶While the Pretorians accused Papianus (_sic_) and Patruinus + [Footnote: This is Valerius Patruinus.] for certain actions, + Antoninus allowed the complainants to kill them, and added the + following remark: "I hold sway for your advantage and not for my + own; therefore, I defer to you both as accusers and as judges." + +He rebuked the murderer of Papinianus for using an axe instead of a +sword to give the finishing stroke. + +He had also desired to deprive of life Cilo, his nurse and benefactor, +who had served as prefect of the city during his father's reign, whom he +had also often called father. The soldiers sent against him plundered +his silver plate, his robes, his money, and everything else that +belonged to him. Cilo himself they conducted along the Sacred Way, +making the palace their destination, where they prepared to give him his +quietus. He had low slippers [Footnote: Reading [Greek: blahytast] in the +place of the MS. [Greek: chlhapast]. This emendation is favored by Cobet +(Mnemosyne, N.S., X, p. 211) and Naber (Mnemosyne, N.S., XVI, p. 113).] +on his feet, since he had chanced to be in the bath when apprehended, +and wore an abbreviated tunic. The men rent his clothing open and +disfigured his face, so that the people and the soldiers stationed in +the city made clamorous objections. Therefore Antoninus, out of respect +and fear for them, met the party, and, shielding Cilo with his cavalry +cloak,--he was wearing military garb,--cried out: "Insult not my father! +Strike not my nurse!" The tribune charged with slaying him and the +soldiers in his contingent lost their lives, nominally for making plots +but really for not having killed their victim. + +[Sidenote:--5--] [But Antoninus was so anxious to appear to love Cilo +that he declared: "Those who have plotted against him have plotted +against me." Commended for this by the bystanders, he proceeded: "Call +me neither Hercules nor the name of any other god;" not that he was +unwilling to be termed a god, but because he wished to do nothing worthy +of a god. He was naturally capricious in all matters, and would bestow +great honors upon people and then suddenly disgrace them, quite without +reason. He would save those who least deserved it and punish those whom +one would never have expected. + +Julianus Asper was a man by no means contemptible, on account of his +education and good sense as well. He exalted him, together with his +sons, and after Asper had walked the streets surrounded by I don't know +how many fasces he without warning insulted him outrageously and +dismissed him to his native place [Footnote: I.e., Tusculum.] with abuse +and in mighty trepidation. Lætus, too, he would have disgraced or even +killed, had this man not been extremely sick. So the emperor before the +soldiers called his sickness "wicked," because it did not allow him to +display wickedness in one more case. + +Again he made way with Thrasea Priscus, a person second to none in +family or intelligence. + +Many others also, previously friends of his, he put to death.] + +[Sidenote:--6--] + + "Nay, I could not recite nor give the names all over" + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, II, verse 488.] of the distinguished men +whom he killed without any right. Dio, because the slain were very well +known in those days, even makes a list of them. For me it suffices to +say that he crushed the life out of everybody he chose, without +exception, + + "whether the man was guilty or whether he was not "; + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XV, verse 137.] and that he simply +mutilated Rome, by rendering it bereft of excellent men. [Antoninus was +allied to three races. And he possessed not a single one of their good +points, but included in himself all their vices. The lightness, the +cowardice, and recklessness of Gaul were his, the roughness and cruelty +of Africa, the abominations of Syria (whence he was on his mother's +side).] Veering from slaughter to sports, he pursued his murderous +course no less in the latter. Of course one would pay no attention to +an elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, and hippotigris being killed in the +theatre, but he took equal pleasure in having gladiators shed the +greatest amount of one another's blood. One of them, Bato, he forced +to fight three successive men on the same day, and then, when Bato +met death at the hands of the last, he honored him with a conspicuous +burial. + +[Sidenote:--7--] He had Alexander on the brain to such an extent that he +used certain weapons and cups which purported to have belonged to the +great conqueror, and furthermore he set up many representations of him +both among the legions and in Rome itself. He organized a phalanx, +sixteen thousand men, of Macedonians alone, named it "Alexander's +phalanx," and equipped it with the arms which warriors had used in his +day. These were: a helmet of raw oxhide, a three-ply linen breastplate, +a bronze shield, long pike, short spear, high boots, sword. Not even +this, however, satisfied him, but he called his hero "The Eastern +Augustus." Once he wrote to the senate that Alexander had come on earth +again in, the body of the Augustus, [Footnote: Antoninus meant +himself.] so that when he had finished his own brief existence he might +enjoy a larger life in the emperor's person. The so-called Aristotelian +philosophers he hated bitterly, wishing even to burn their books, and he +abolished the common messes they had in Alexandria and all the other +privileges they enjoyed: his grievance, as stated, was the tradition +that Aristotle had been an accomplice in the death of Alexander. + +This was the way he behaved in those matters. And, by Jupiter, he took +around with him numbers of elephants, that in this respect, too, he +might seem to be imitating Alexander, or rather, perhaps, Dionysus. + +[Sidenote:--8--] On Alexander's account he was fond of all the +Macedonians. Once after praising a Macedonian tribune because the latter +had shown agility in jumping upon his horse, he enquired of him first: +"From what country are you?" Then, learning that he was a Macedonian, he +pursued: "What is your name?" Having thereupon heard that it was +Antigonus, he further questioned: "How was your father called?" When +the father's name was found to be Philip, he declared: "I have all my +desire." He straightway bestowed upon him the whole series of exalted +military honors and before a great while appointed him one of the +senators with the rank of an ex-prætor. + +There was another man who had no connection with Macedonia, but had +committed many dreadful crimes, and for this reason was tried before him +in an appealed case. His name proved to be Alexander, and when the +orator accusing him said repeatedly "the bloodthirsty Alexander, the +god-detested Alexander," the emperor became angry, as if he were +personally slandered, and spoke out: "If Alexander doesn't suit you, you +may regard yourself as dismissed." + +[Sidenote:--9--] Now this great Alexandrophile, Antoninus, [kept many +men about him, alleging reasons after reasons, all fictitious, and wars +upon wars. He had also this most frightful characteristic, that he was +fond of spending money not only upon the soldiers but for all other +projects with one sole end in view,--to] strip, despoil and grind down +all mankind, and the senators by no means least. [In the first place, +there were gold crowns that he kept demanding, on the constant pretext +that he had conquered some enemy or other (I am not speaking about the +actual manufacture of the crowns,--for what does that amount to?--but +the great sums of money constantly being given under that name by the +cities, for the "crowning" (as it is called) of their emperors). Then +there was the provisions which we were all the time levying in great +abundance from all quarters, sometimes seizing them without compensation +and sometimes spending a little something on them: all this supply he +presented or else peddled to the soldiers. And the gifts, which he +demanded from wealthy individuals and from states. And the taxes, both +the new ones which he published and the ten per cent. tax that he +instituted in place of the twenty per cent. to apply to the emancipation +of slaves, to bequests left to any one, and to all gifts; for he +abolished in such cases the right of succession and exemption from taxes +which had been accorded to those closely related to persons deceased. +This accounts for his giving the title of Romans to all the men in his +empire. Nominally it was to honor them, but his real purpose was to get +an increased income by such means, since foreigners did not have to pay +most of those taxes. But aside from all these] we were also compelled to +build at our own expense all sorts of dwellings for him whenever he took +a trip from Rome, and costly lodgings in the middle of even the very +shortest journeys. Yet not only did he never live in them but he had no +idea of so much as looking at a single one. Moreover, without receiving +any appropriation from him we constructed hunting-theatres and +race-courses at every point where he wintered or expected to winter. +They were all torn down without delay and apparently the sole purpose of +their being called into existence was to impoverish us. + +[Sidenote:--10--] The emperor himself kept spending the money upon the +soldiers (as we said) and upon beasts and horses. He was forever +killing great collections of wild beasts, of horses, and also of +domestic animals, forcing us to contribute the majority of them, though +now and then he bought a few. One day he slew a hundred boars at once +with his own hands. He raced also in chariots, and then he would wear +the Blue costume. In all undertakings he was exceedingly hot-headed and +exceedingly fickle, and besides this he possessed the rascality of his +mother and of the Syrians, to which race she belonged. He would put up +some kind of freedman or other wealthy person as director of games +merely that in this occupation, too, the man might spend money. From +below he would make gestures of subservience to the audience with his +whip and would beg for gold pieces like one of the lowliest citizens. He +said that he used the same methods of chariot-driving as the Sun god, +and he took pride in the fact. Accordingly, during the whole extent of +his reign the whole earth, so far as it yielded obedience to him, was +plundered. Hence the Romans once at a horse-race uttered this among +other cries: "We are destroying the living in order to bury the dead." +The emperor would often say: "No man need have money but me, and I want +it to bestow it on the soldiers." Once when Julia chided him for his +great outlays upon them and said: "No longer is any resource, either +just or unjust, left to us," he replied, exhibiting his sword: "Cheer +up, mother: for, as long as we have this, money is not going to fail +us." + +[Sidenote:--11--] To those who flattered him, however, he distributed +possessions and money. + + ¶Julius Paulus [Footnote: Undoubtedly a mistake for the _Julius + Paulinus_ subsequently mentioned.] was a man of consular rank, + who was a great chatterer and joker and would not refrain from + aiming his shafts of wit at the very emperors: therefore Severus + had him taken into custody, though without constraints. When he + still continued, even under guard, to make the sovereigns the + objects of his jests, Severus sent for him and swore that he + would cut off his head. But the man replied: "Yes, you can cut it + off, but as long as I have it, neither you nor I can restrain + it," and so Severus laughed and released him. + +He granted to Julius Paulinus twenty-five myriads because the man, who +was a jester, had been led, though involuntarily, to make a joke upon +him. Paulinus had said that he actually resembled a man getting angry, +for somehow he was always assuming a fierce expression. [Footnote: None +of the editors, any more than the casual reader, has been able to find +anything of a sidesplitting nature in this joke. The trouble is, of +course, that the utterance sounds like a plain statement of fact. +Caracalla's natural disposition was harsh and irritable. Some have +changed the word "man" to "Pan (in anger)", but without gaining very +much. I offer for what it is worth the suggestion that a well-known +truth, especially in the case of personal characteristics, may sound +very amusing when pronounced in a quizzical or semi-ironical fashion by +a person possessing sufficient _vis comica_. Thus we may conceive +Paulinus, a professional jester, on meeting Antoninus to have blurted +out in a tone of mock surprise: "Why, anybody would really think you are +angry. You look so cross all the time!" There would then be a point in +the jest, but the point would lie not in the words but in the voice and +features of the speaker. Apart from this explanation of the possible +humor of the remark an excerpt of Peter Patricius (Exc. Vat. 143) gives +us to understand that it would be taken as a compliment by Antoninus +from the mouth of a person to whom he was accustomed to accord some +liberties, since Antoninus made a point of maintaining at all times this +character of harshness and abruptness.]--Antoninus made no account of +anything excellent: he never learned anything of the kind, as he himself +admitted. So it was that he showed a contempt for us, who possessed +something approaching education. Severus, to be sure, had trained him in +all pursuits, bar none, that tended to inculcate virtue, whether +physical or mental, so that even after he became emperor he went to +teachers and studied philosophy most of the day. He also took oil +rubbings without water and rode horseback to a distance of seven hundred +and fifty stades. Moreover, he practiced swimming even in rough water. +In consequence of this, Antoninus was, as you might say, strong, but he +paid no heed to culture, since he had never even heard the name of it. +Still, his language was not bad, nor did he lack judgment, but he showed +in almost everything a keen appreciation and talked very readily. For +through his authority and recklessness and his habit of saying right out +without reflection anything at all that occurred to him, and not being +ashamed to air his thoughts, he often stumbled upon some felicitous +expression. [But the same Antoninus made many mistakes through his +headstrong opinions. It was not enough for him to know everything: he +wanted to be the only one who knew anything. It was not enough for him +to have all power: he would be the only one with any power. Hence it +was that he employed no counselor and was jealous of such men as knew +something worth while. He never loved a single person and he hated all +those who excelled in anything; and most did he hate those whom he +affected most to love. Many of these he destroyed in some way or other. +Of course he had many men murdered openly, but others he would send to +provinces not suited to them, fatal to their physical condition, having +an unwholesome climate; thus, while pretending to honor them +excessively, he quietly got rid of them, exposing such as he did not +like to excessive heat or cold. Hence, though he spared some in so far +as not to put them to death, yet he subjected them to such hardships +that the stain [Footnote: This is very likely an incorrect translation of +an incorrect reading. The various editors of Dio have a few substitutes +to propose, but as all the interpretations seem to me extremely +lumbering I have turned the MS. [Greek] chêlidoysthai (taken as a +passive) in a way that may be not quite beyond the bounds of +possibility. The noun [Greek] chêlhist like the English "stain," often +passes from its original sense of "blemish" to that of the consequent +"disgrace."] of murder still rested on him. + +The above describes him in general terms. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 213(?)] [Sidenote:--12--] Now we shall state what sort +of person he showed himself in war. [Abgarus, king of the Osrhoeni, when +he had once got control of the kindred tribes, inflicted the most +outrageous treatment upon his superiors. Nominally he was compelling +them to change to Roman customs, but in fact he was making the most of +his authority over them in an unjustifiable way.] He tricked the king of +the Osrhoeni, Abgarus, inducing him to visit him as a friend, and then +arrested and imprisoned him. This left Osrhoene without a ruler and he +subdued it. + +The king of the Armenians had a dispute with his own children and +Antoninus summoned him in a friendly letter with the avowed purpose of +making peace between them: he treated these princes in the same fashion +as he had Abgarus. The Armenians, however, instead of yielding to him +had recourse to arms and not one of them thereafter would trust him in +the slightest particular. Thus he was brought by experience to +understand how great the penalty is for an emperor's practicing deceit +toward friends. [The same ruler assumed the utmost credit for the fact +that at the death of Vologæsus, king of the Parthians, his children +proceeded to fight about the sovereignty; what was purely accidental he +pretended had come about through his own connivance. He ever took +vehement delight in the actions and dissensions of the brothers and +generally in the mutual slaughter of foreign potentates.] He did not +hesitate, either, to write to the senate regarding the rulers of the +Parthians (who were brothers and at variance) that the brothers' quarrel +would work great harm to the Parthian state. Just as if barbarian +governments could be destroyed by such procedure and yet the Roman state +had been preserved! Just as if it had not been, on the contrary, almost +utterly overthrown! It was not merely that the great sums of blood money +given under such conditions to the soldiers for his brother's murder +served to demoralize mankind: in addition, vast numbers of citizens had +information laid against them,--not only those who had sent the brother +letters or had brought him presents [Footnote: Reading [Greek: +dôrophorhêsantest] (Reimar) for the MS. [Greek: doruphoraesantes].] when +he was still Cæsar or again after he had become emperor, but all the +rest who had never had any dealings with him. If anybody even so much as +wrote the name of Geta, or spoke it, that was the end of him then and +there. Hence the poets no longer used it even in comedies. [Footnote: +Geta was a common name for slaves in Latin comedy. It came into Rome +through Greek channels and was originally merely the national adjective +applied to a tribe of northern barbarians.] The property, too, of all +those in whose wills the name was found written was confiscated. + +[Many of his acts were committed with a view to getting money. And he +exhibited his hatred for his dead brother by abolishing the honor paid +to his birthday, by getting angry at the stones which had supported his +images, and by melting up the coinage that displayed his features. Not +even this sufficed him, but more than ever from this time he began his +practice of unholy rites and often forced others to share his pollution +by making a kind of annual offering to his brother's Manes.] + + [Sidenote: A.D. 213 (_a.u._ 966)] [Sidenote:--13--] Though + holding such views and behaving in such a way with regard to the + latter's murder he took delight in the dissension of the + barbarian brothers, on the ground that the Parthians would suffer + some great injury as a result of it. + +[The Celtic nations, however, afforded him neither pleasure nor any +pretence of cleverness or courage but proved him to be nothing more nor +less than a cheat, a simpleton, and an arrant coward. Antoninus made a +campaign among the Alamanni and wherever he saw a spot suitable for +habitation he would order: "There let a fort be erected: there let a +city be built." To those spots he applied names relating to himself, yet +the local designations did not get changed; for some of the people were +unaware of the new appellations and others thought he was joking. +Consequently he came to entertain a contempt for them and would not keep +his hands off this tribe even; but, whereas he had been saying that he +had come as an ally, he accorded them treatment to be expected of a most +implacable foe. He called a meeting of their men of military age under +promise that they were to receive pay, and then at a given signal,--his +raising aloft his own shield,--he had them surrounded and cut down; he +also sent cavalry around and arrested all others not present. + +¶Antoninus commended in the senate by means of a letter Pandion, a +fellow who had previously been an understudy of charioteers but in the +war against the Alamanni drove his chariot for him and in this capacity +was his comrade and fellow soldier. And he asserted that he had been +saved by this man from a portentous danger and was not ashamed to evince +greater gratitude to him than to the soldiers, whom in their turn he +regarded as our superiors.[Footnote: There is a gap of a word or two +here (Dindorf text), filled by reading [Greek: hêlen hechôn] (with +Boissevain).] + +¶Some of the most distinguished men whom Antoninus slew he ordered to be +cast out unburied. + +¶He made a search for the tomb of Sulla and repaired it, and reared a +cenotaph to Mesomedes, who had written a compilation of citharoedic +modes. He honored the latter because he was himself learning to sing to +the zither and the former because he was emulating his cruelty.] + +Still, in cases of necessity and urgent campaigns, he was simple and +frugal, toiling with painstaking care in menial offices as much as the +rest. He trudged beside the soldiers and ran beside them, not taking a +bath nor changing his clothing, but helping them in every labor and +choosing absolutely the same food as they had. Often he would send to +distinguished champions on the enemy's side and challenge them to single +combat. The details of generalship in which he certainly ought to have +been most versed he managed least well, as if he thought that victory +lay in the performance of those services mentioned and not in this +science of commanding. + +[Sidenote:--14--] He conducted war also against a certain Celtic tribe +of Cenni. These warriors are said to have assailed the Romans with the +utmost fierceness, using their mouths to pull from their flesh the +missiles with which the Osrhoeni wounded them, that they might give +their hands no respite in slaughtering the foe. Nevertheless even they, +after selling the name of defeat at a high figure, made an agreement +with him to go into Germany on condition of being spared. Their women +[and those of the Alamanni] all who were captured [would not, in truth, +await a servile doom, but] when Antoninus asked them whether they +desired to be sold or slain, chose the latter alternative. Afterward, as +they were offered for sale, they all killed themselves and some of their +children as well. [Many also of the people dwelling close to the ocean +itself, near the mouth of the Albis, sent envoys to him and asked his +friendship, when their real concern was to get money. For after he had +done as they desired, they would frequently attack him, threatening to +begin a war; and with all such he came to terms. Even though his offer +was contrary to their principles, yet when they saw the gold pieces they +were captivated. To them he gave true gold pieces, but the silver and +gold money with which he provided the Romans was alloyed.] He +manufactured the one of lead with a silver plating and the other of +bronze with a gold plating. + +[Sidenote:--15--] [The same ruler published some of his devices +directly, pretending that they were excellent and worthy of +commendation, however base their actual character. Other intentions he +rather unwillingly made known through the very precautions which he took +to conceal them, as, for example, in the case of the money. He plundered +the whole land and the whole sea and left nothing whatever unharmed. The +chants of the enemy made Antoninus frenzied and beside himself, hearing +which some of the Alamanni asserted that they had used charms to put him +out of his mind.] He was sick in body, partly with ordinary and partly +with private diseases, and was sick also in mind, suffering from +distressing visions; and often he thought he was being pursued by his +father and his brother, armed with swords. Therefore he called up +spirits to find some remedy against them, among others the spirit of his +father and of Commodus. But not one would speak a word to him except +Commodus. [Geta, so they say, attended Severus, though unsummoned. Yet +not even he offered any suggestion to relieve the emperor, but on the +contrary terrified him the more.] This is what he said: + + "Draw nearer judgment, which the gods demand of thee [Footnote: + Emended (by Fabricius and Reiske) from a corruption in the MS.] + for Severus," + +then something else, and finally-- + + "having in secret places a disease hard to heal." + +[For letting these facts become public many suffered unseemly outrage. +But to Antoninus not one of the gods gave any response pertaining to the +healing of either his body or his mind, although he showered attention +upon all the most distinguished shrines. This showed in the clearest +light that they regarded not his offerings, nor his sacrifices, but only +his purposes and his deeds. He got no aid from Apollo Grannus [Footnote: +Grannus was really a Celtic god, merely identified with Apollo. He was +honored most in Germany and Dacia (also known in Rhætia, Noricum), and, +inasmuch as many inscriptions bearing his name have been found near the +Danube, it may probably be conjectured that he had a temple of some +importance in that vicinity. For further details see Pauly, II, p. 46; +Roscher, I, col. 1738.] nor Asclepius nor Serapis, in spite of his many +supplications and his unwearying persistence. Even when abroad he sent +to them prayers and sacrifices and votive offerings and many runners +traveled to them daily, carrying things of the sort. He also went +himself, hoping to prevail by appearing in person, and he performed all +the usual practices of devotees, but he obtained nothing that would +contribute to health. + +[Sidenote:--16--] While declaring that he was the most scrupulous of all +mankind, he ran to an excess of blood-guiltiness,] killing four of the +vestal virgins, one of whom--so far as he was able--he had forcibly +outraged. For latterly all his sexual power had disappeared, as a result +of which it was reported that he satisfied his vileness in a different +way; and associated with him were others of similar inclinations, who +not only admitted that they were given to such practices but maintained +that they did so for the sake of their ruler's welfare. + +A young knight carried a coin with his image into a brothel and people +informed against him.[Footnote: Conjecture, on the basis of Reiske and +Bekker.] For this he was at the time imprisoned to await execution, but +later was released, as the emperor died before he did.] This maiden of +whom I speak was named Clodia Læta. She, crying out loudly, "Antoninus +himself knows that I am a virgin, [he himself knows that I am pure,]" +was buried alive. [Three others shared her sentence. Two of them, +Aurelia Severa and Pomponia Rufina, met a similar death, but Cannutia +Crescentina threw herself from the top of the house. + +And in the case of adulterers he did the same. For though he showed +himself the most adulterous of men (so far, at least, as he was +physically able) he both detested others who bore the same charge and +killed them contrary to established laws.--Though displeased at all good +men, he affected to honor some few of them after their death.-- + +¶Antoninus censured and rebuked them all because they asked nothing of +him. And he said, in the presence of all: "It is evident from the fact +that you ask nothing of me that you lack confidence in me. And if you +lack confidence, you are suspicious of me; and if you are suspicious of +me, you fear me; and if you fear me, you hate me." He made this an +excuse for severe measures. + +¶Antoninus being about to cause Cornificia to take leave of earth bade +her (as a token of honor) choose what death she wished to die. She, +after many lamentations, inspired by the memory of her father, Marcus, +her grandfather, Antoninus, and her brother, Commodus, ended with this +speech: "Pining, unhappy soul of mine, shut in a vile body, make forth, +be free, show them that you are Marcus's daughter, whether they will or +no!" Then she laid aside all the adornment in which she was arrayed, +and having composed her limbs in seemly fashion severed her veins and +died. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 214 (_a.u._ 967)] Next, Antoninus arrived in Thrace, +paying no further heed to Dacia. Having crossed the Hellespont, not +without danger, he did honor to Achilles with sacrifices and races, in +armor, about the tomb, in which he as well as the soldiers participated. +For this he gave them money, assuring them that they had won a great +success and had in very truth captured that famous Ilium of old, and he +set up a bronze statue of Achilles himself.] ¶Antoninus by arriving at +Pergamum, while there was some dispute about it, [Footnote: The sense of +these words is not clear. Boissevain conjectures that there may have +been some who doubted whether an emperor so diseased would ever live to +reach Mysia.] seemed to bring to fulfillment the following verse, +according to some oracle: + + "O'er the Telephian land shall prowl the Ausonian beast." + +He took a lasting delight and pride in the fact that he was called +"beast," and his victims fell in heaps. The man who had composed the +verse used to laugh and say that he was in very truth himself the +verse-maker (thereby indicating that no one may die contrary to the will +of fate, but that the common saying is true, which declares that liars +and deceivers are never believed, even if they tell the truth). + +[Sidenote:--17--] He held court but little or not at all. Most of his +leisure he devoted to meddlesomeness as much as anything. People from +all quarters brought him word of all the most insignificant occurrences. +For this reason he gave orders that the soldiers who kept their eyes and +ears wide open for these details should be liable to punishment by no +one save himself. This enactment, too, produced no good result, but we +had a new set of tyrants in them. But the thing that was especially +unseemly and most unworthy, both of the senate and of the Roman +people,--we had a eunuch to domineer over us. He was a native of Spain, +by name Sempronius Rufus, and his occupation that of a sorcerer and +juggler (for which he had been confined on an island by Severus). This +fellow was destined to pay the penalty for his conduct, as were also the +rest who laid information against others. As for Antoninus, he would +send word that he should hold court or transact any other public +business directly after dawn; but he kept putting us off till noon and +often till evening, and would not even admit us to the ante-chamber, so +that we had to stand about outside somewhere. Usually at a late hour he +decided that he would not even exchange greetings with us that day. +Meanwhile he was largely engaged in gratifying his inquisitiveness, as I +said, or was driving chariots, killing beasts, fighting as a gladiator, +drinking, enjoying the consequent big head, mixing great bowls (beside +their other food) for the soldiers that kept guard over him within, and +sending round cups of wine (this last before our very face and eyes). At +the conclusion of all this, once in a while he would hold court. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 214-215] [Sidenote:--18--] That was his behavior while +in winter-quarters at Nicomedea. He also trained the Macedonian phalanx. +He constructed two very large engines for the Armenian and for the +Parthian war, so that he could take them to pieces and carry them over +on boats into Syria. For the rest, he was staining himself with more +blood and transgressing laws and using up money. Neither in these +matters nor in any others did he heed his mother, who gave him much +excellent advice. This in spite of the fact that he entrusted to her the +management of the books and letters both, save the very important ones, +and that he inscribed her name with many praises in his letters to the +senate, mentioning it in the same connection as his own and that of his +armies, i.e., with a statement that she was _safe_. Need it be mentioned +that she greeted publicly all the foremost men, just as her son did? But +she continued more and more her study of philosophy with these persons. +He kept declaring that he needed nothing beyond necessities, and gave +himself airs over the fact that he could get along with the cheapest +kind of living. Yet there was nothing on earth or in the sea or in the +air that we did not keep furnishing him privately and publicly. [Of +these articles he used extremely few for the benefit of the friends with +him (for he no longer cared to dine with us), but the most of them he +consumed with his freedmen. Such was his delight in magicians and +jugglers that he commended and honored Apollonius [Footnote: The famous +Apollonius of Tyana.] of Cappadocia, who had flourished in Domitian's +reign and was a thoroughgoing juggler and magician; and he erected a +heroum to his memory. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 215 (_a.u._ 968)] [Sidenote:--19--] The pretext for his +campaign against the Parthians was that Vologæsus had not acceded to his +request for the extradition of Tiridates and a certain Antiochus with +him. Antiochus was a Cilician and pretended at first to be a philosopher +of the cynic school. In this way he was of very great assistance to the +soldiers in warfare. He strengthened them against the despair caused by +the excessive cold, for he threw himself into the snow and rolled in it; +and as a result he obtained money and honors from Severus himself and +from Antoninus. Elated at this, he attached himself to Tiridates and in +his company deserted to the Parthian prince. + +[Sidenote:--20--] [Antoninus surely maligned himself in asserting that +he had overcome by slyness the audacity, rapacity and faithlessness of +the Celtæ, against which arms were of no avail. The same man commended +Fabricius Luscinus because he had refused to let Pyrrhus be +treacherously murdered by his friend.--He took pride in having put +enmity between the Vandili and Marcomani, who were friends, and in +having executed Gaiobomarus, the accused king of the Quadi. And since +one of the latter's associates, under accusation at the same time with +him, hanged himself before execution, Antoninus delivered his corpse to +the barbarians to be wounded, that the man might be regarded as having +been killed in pursuance of a sentence instead of dying voluntarily +(which was deemed a creditable act among them). + +He killed Cæcilius Æmilianus, governor of Bætica, on suspicion that he +had asked an oracular reply from Hercules at Gades.] + +[Sidenote:--19--] Before leaving Nicomedea the emperor held a +gladiatorial contest there in honor of his birthday, for not even on +that day did he refrain from slaughter. Here it is said that a +combatant, being defeated, begged for his life, whereupon Antoninus +said: "Go and ask your adversary. I am not empowered to spare you." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (_a.u._ 969)] And so the wretch, who would probably +have been allowed by his antagonist to go, if the above words had not +been spoken, lost his life. The victor did not dare release him for fear +of appearing more humane than the emperor. + +[Sidenote:--20--] For all that, while so engaged and steeped in the +luxury of Antioch even to the point of keeping his chin wholly bare, he +gave utterance to laments, as if he were in the midst of great toils and +dangers. And he reproved the senate, saying for one thing that they were +slothful, did not understand readily, and did not give their votes +separately. Finally he wrote: "I know that my behavior doesn't please +you. But the reason for my having arms and soldiers alike is to enable +me to disregard anything that is said about me." + +[Sidenote:--21--] When the Parthian monarch in fear surrendered both +Tiridates and Antiochus, he disbanded the expedition at once. But he +despatched Theocritus with an army into Armenian territory and suffered +defeat amounting to a severe reverse at the hands of the inhabitants. +Theocritus was of servile origin and had been brought up in the +orchestra; [he was the man who had taught Antoninus dancing and had been +a favorite of Saoterus, and through the influence thus acquired he had +been introduced to the theatre at Rome. But, as he was disliked there, +he was driven out of Rome and went to Lugdunum, where he delighted the +people, who were rather provincial. And, from a slave and dancer, he +came to be an army leader and prefect.] He advanced to such power in the +household of Antoninus that both the prefects were as nothing compared +to him. Likewise Epagathus, himself also a Cæsarian, had equal influence +with him and committed equal transgressions. Thus Theocritus, who kept +traveling back and forth in the interest of securing provisions and +selling them at retail, proved the death of many persons because of his +authority and for other reasons. One victim was Titianus Flavius. The +latter, while procurator in Alexandria, offended him in some way, +whereupon Theocritus, leaping from his seat, drew his sword. At that +Titianus remarked: "This, too, you have done like a dancer." Hence the +other in a rage ordered him to be killed. + +[Sidenote:--22--] Now Antoninus, in spite of his declaration that he +cherished an overwhelming love for Alexander, all but destroyed utterly +the whole population of Alexander's city. Hearing that he was spoken +against and ridiculed by them for various reasons, and not least of all +for murdering his brother, he set out for Alexandria, concealing his +wrath and pretending to long to see them. But when he reached the +suburbs whither the leading citizens had come with certain mystic and +sacred symbols, he greeted them as if he intended to entertain them at a +banquet and then put them to death. After this he arrayed his whole +force in armor and marched into the city; he had sent previous notice to +all the people there to remain at home and had occupied all the streets +and in addition all the roofs in advance. And, to pass over the details +of the calamities that then befell the wretched city, he slaughtered so +many individuals that he dared not even speak about the number of them, +but wrote the senate that it was of no interest how many of them or who +had died, for they all deserved to suffer this fate. Of the property, +part was plundered and part destroyed. + +[Sidenote:--23--] With the people perished also many foreigners, and +not a few who had accompanied Antoninus were destroyed for want of +identification. As the city was large and persons were being murdered +all over it by night and by day, it was impossible to distinguish +anybody, no matter how much one might wish it. They simply expired as +chance directed and their bodies were straightway cast into deep +trenches to keep the rest from being aware of the extent of the +disaster.--That was the fate of the natives. The foreigners were all +driven out except the merchants, and even they had all their wares +plundered. Also some shrines were despoiled. In the midst of most of +these atrocities Antoninus was present and looked on and personally took +a hand, but sometimes he issued orders to others from the temple of +Serapis. He lived in this god's precinct even during the nights and days +that witnessed the shedding of Egyptian blood. [And he sent word to the +senate that he was observing purity during the days when he was in +reality sacrificing there domestic beasts and human beings at the same +time to the god.] Yet why should I have spoken of this, when he actually +dared to devote to the god the sword with which he had killed his +brother? + +Next he abolished the spectacles and the public messes of the +Alexandrians and ordered Alexandria to be broken up [Footnote: The +reading is [Greek: dioikisthaenai].] into villages, with a wall fully +garrisoned bisecting the city, that the inhabitants might no longer +visit one another with security. Such was the treatment accorded unhappy +Alexandria by the _Ausonian Beast_, as the tag of the oracle about him +called him; and he said he liked the title and was glad to be +distinguished by the honorific appellation of "Beast." Never mind how +many persons he murdered on the pretext that they had fulfilled the +oracle. + +[Sidenote:--24--] [The same man gave prizes to the soldiers for their +campaign, allowing those stationed in the pretorian guard to get some +six thousand two hundred and fifty [Footnote: The common reading is +"twelve hundred and fifty," but since it seems incredible that the +Pretorians should have obtained less, instead of more, than the ordinary +soldiers, Lange with much reason proposed the change carried out +above,--a change which requires the insertion (or restitution) of but +one Greek numeral-letter that might easily have been overlooked by some +copyist.] and the rest five thousand [lacuna] + +[That model of temperance (as he was wont to put it), the rebuker of +licentiousness in others, at the consummation of a most vile and at the +same time most dangerous outrage, appeared, in truth, to be indignant; +but by not giving that indignation sufficient free play and further by +allowing the youths to do what no one had ever yet dared to propose, he +greatly corrupted the latter, who had imitated the habits of women of +the demi-monde and of professional male buffoons.] + +[On the occasion of the Culenian [Footnote: Nobody knows what the +Culenian games were; Valois guesses that they may have been an +Alexandrian festival. The text of this whole chapter is in a very ragged +condition, and should not be held too strictly accountable in the matter +of sense or cohesion.] spectacle severe censure was passed, not only +upon those who there carried on their accustomed pursuits, but also upon +the spectators.] + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +78 + + +Antoninus's treacherous campaign against Artabanus, the Parthian +(chapters 1-3). + +Antoninus's death (chapters 4-6). Foreshadowings of his death, and +the abuse heaped upon him dead (chapters 7-10). + +About Macrinus Augustus, and his excellencies and faults (chapters +11-15). + +His letters and commands to the senate, and other official acts +(chapters 16-22). + +Death of Julia Augusta (chapters 23, 24). + +Inauspicious signs: peace arranged with Artabanus after submitting to +a defeat (chapters 25-27). + +Uprising of the soldiers: Pseudantoninus is proclaimed as emperor by +the soldiers (chapters 28-31). + +How Macrinus, conquered in battle, took to flight and was cut down +after the capture of his son (chapters 32-41). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 = +Sixth of Antoninus.) + +C. Bruttius Præsens, T. Messius Extricatus (II). (A.D. 217 = a.u. +970 = Seventh of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th to April 8th.) + +M. Opellius Macrinus Aug., Q.M. Coclatinus Adventus. (A.D. 218 = a.u. +971. The first year of Macrinus ends April 11th and his second year +is abruptly terminated June 8th.) + + +_(BOOK 79, BOISSEVAIN.)_ + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (_a.u._ 969)] [Sidenote:--1--] The next thing was a +campaign against the Parthians and the pretext that was used was that +Artabanus had refused to view favorably his wooing and give him his +daughter in marriage. (But he knew well enough that, while pretending to +want to marry her, he in fact was anxious to detach the Parthian +kingdom.) So he damaged a large section of the country around Media by +means of a sudden incursion, sacked many citadels, won over Arbela, dug +open the royal tombs of the Parthians, and flung the bones about. The +Parthians would not engage him at close quarters, and therefore I have +had nothing of especial interest to record concerning the doings of that +expedition except, perhaps, one anecdote. Two soldiers who had seized a +skin of wine came to him, each claiming the booty as entirely his own. +Being bidden by him to divide the wine equally they drew their swords +and cut the wine skin in two, apparently expecting each to get a half +with the wine in it. They so dreaded their emperor that they troubled +him even with such details and showed such scrupulousness as to lose +both wineskin and wine. + +Now the barbarians took refuge in the mountains and across the Tigris in +order to perfect their preparations. But Antoninus suppressed this fact +and, assuming that he had utterly vanquished a foe whom he had not even +seen, he displayed becoming pride; and, as he himself wrote, he was +particularly gratified because a lion ran down from the mountains and +fought on his side. + +[Sidenote:--2--] Not only in other ways did he live unnaturally and +transgress laws, but in his very campaigns [[lacuna] but truth; [Footnote: +Here begins the parchment codex, Vaticanus 1288. See Volume I, page 8.] +for I have run across the book written by him about it. He understood so +well how he stood with all the senators that, in spite of many protests, +their slaves and freedmen and intimate friends were arrested by him and +were asked under torture whether "so-and-so loves me" or "so-and-so +hates me." For the charts of the stars under which any of his foremost +courtiers had been born gave evidence, he said, as to who was friendly +to him and who was hostile. And on this basis he honored many persons +and destroyed many others. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 217 (_a.u._ 970)] [Sidenote:--3--] When the Parthians and +the Medes, greatly enraged at the treatment they had received, equipped +a large body of troops, he fell into an ecstasy of terror. He was very +bold in threats and very reckless in daring, but very cowardly in +following a slow course involving danger, and very weak in hard labor. +He could no longer bear either great heat or armor, and consequently +wore sleeved tunics made in such a shape as more or less to resemble +breastplates. Thus having the appearance of armor without its weight he +could be safe from plots and also arouse admiration. He often used these +garments when not in battle. He wore also a cavalry cloak, now all +purple, now purple with white threads, and again of white with purple +threads, and also red. In Syria and in Mesopotamia he used Celtic +clothing and shoes. He furthermore invented a costume of his own by +cutting out cloth and stitching it up, barbaric fashion, into a kind of +cloak. He himself wore it very constantly, so that it led to his being +called Caracalla, [Footnote: A word of Celtic origin, signifying a long, +ulster-like tunic plus a hood. This was a Gallic dress.] and he +prescribed it by preference as the dress for the soldiers. The +barbarians saw what sort of person he was and also heard that his men +were enervated through their previous luxury; for, to give an instance +of their behavior, the Romans passed the winter in houses, making use of +everything belonging to their entertainers as if it were their own. +[They further perceived that their opponents had become so physically +worn and so dejected in spirit by their toils and by the hardships which +they were now undergoing that they no longer heeded the presents which +they kept receiving from their commander.] Elated, therefore, to think +that they should find them rather helpers than foes, they made ready to +attack. [Footnote: The last five words are a conjecture of Bekker's.] + +[Sidenote:--4--] Antoninus made preparations in his turn, but it did not +fall to his lot to enter upon the war: he was struck down in the midst +of his soldiers, whom he most honored and in whom he reposed vast +confidence. A seer in Africa had declared (in such a way that it became +noised abroad) that both Macrinus the prefect and his son Diadumenianus +[Footnote: His full name was M. Opellius Diadumenianus.] must reign. +Macrinus, sent to Rome, had revealed this to Flavius Maternianus, who at +the time commanded the soldiers in the city, and he had at once sent +word to Antoninus. It happened that this letter was diverted to Antioch +and came to [his mother] Julia, since she had been given orders to read +over everything that arrived and thus prevent a mass of unimportant +letters being sent to him while in a hostile country. Another letter +written by Ulpius Julianus, who then had charge of appraisements, went +by other carriers straight to Macrinus and informed him of the state of +the case. It was in this way that the letter to the emperor suffered a +delay and the despatch to his rival came to the attention of the latter +in good season. Now Macrinus, becoming afraid that he might be put to +death by Antoninus on account of all this, especially since a certain +Egyptian Serapio had told the prince to his face that Macrinus should +succeed him, did not find it well to delay.--Serapio had first been +thrown to a lion for his pains, but when he merely held out his hand, as +is reported, and the animal did not touch him, he was slain. He might +have escaped even this fate (or so he declared) by calling upon certain +spirits, if he had lived one day longer. + +[Sidenote:--5--] Macrinus came to no harm but hastened his preparations, +having a presentiment that otherwise he should perish, especially since +Antoninus had suddenly, one day before [Footnote: "One day before" is a +conjecture of Bekker's. (The birthday of Antoninus seems to have been on +the sixth of April.)] his birthday, removed those of Macrinus's +companions that were in the latter's company, alleging one reason in one +case and another in another with the general pretext of doing them +honor. Not but [lacuna] expecting that it was fated for him to get it +he had also made a name which owed its origin to this fact. Accordingly, +he suborned two tribunes stationed in the pretorian guard, Nemesianus +and Apollinarius, brothers belonging to the Aurelian gens, and Julius +Martialius, who was enrolled among the evocati and had a private grudge +against Antoninus for not giving him the post of centurion on request. +Thus he made his plot, and it was carried out as follows. On the eighth +of April, when the emperor had set out from Edessa to Carrhæ and had +dismounted from his horse to go and ease himself, Martialius approached +as if he wanted to say something to him and struck him smartly with a +small knife. The assassin at once fled and would have escaped detection, +had he thrown away the sword. The weapon led to his being recognized by +one of the Scythians on the staff of Antoninus, and he was brought down +with a javelin. As for Martialius [lacuna] the military tribunes pretending +to come to the rescue slew [lacuna] + +[This Scythian attended him, not merely to be an ally of his, but as +keeping guard over him to a certain extent. [Sidenote:--6--] For he +maintained Scythians and Celtæ about him, free and slaves alike, whom he +had taken away from children and wives and had equipped with arms; and +he affected to place more dependence upon them than upon the soldiers. +To illustrate, he kept honoring them with posts as centurions, and he +called them "lions." Moreover, he would often converse with emissaries +sent from the very provinces, and in the presence of no one else but the +interpreters would urge them, in case any catastrophe befell him, to +invade Italy and march upon Rome, assuring them that it was very easy to +capture. And to prevent any inkling of his talk spreading to our ears he +would immediately put to death the interpreters. For all that, we did +ascertain it later from the barbarians themselves: and the matter of the +poisons we learned from Macrinus.] It seemed that he partly sent for and +partly bought quantities of all kinds of poisons from the inhabitants of +Upper Asia, spending altogether seven hundred and fifty myriads upon +them, in order that he might secretly kill in different ways great +numbers of men,--in fine, whomsoever he would. They were subsequently +discovered in the royal apartments and were all consumed by fire. [At +this time the soldiers, both for this reason and, beyond other +considerations, because they were vexed at having the barbarians +preferred to themselves, were not altogether so enthusiastic over their +leader as of yore and did not aid him when he became the victim of a +plot.] Such was the end that he met after a life of twenty-nine years +[and four days (for he had been born on the fourth of April)], and after +a reign of six years, two months, and two days. + +[Sidenote:--7--] There are many things at this point, too, in the story +that occur to excite my surprise. When he was about to start from +Antioch on his last journey, his father confronted him in a vision, girt +with a sword and saying: "As you killed your brother, so will I smite +you unto death;" and the soothsayers told him to beware of that day, +using so direct a form of speech as this: "The gates of the victim's +liver are shut." After this he went out through some door, paying no +heed to the fact that the lion, which he was wont to call "Rapier," and +had for a table companion and bedfellow, knocked him down as he went +out, and, moreover, tore some of his clothing. He kept many other lions +besides and always had some of them around him, but this one he would +often caress even publicly. It was thus that these events occurred. + +And a little before his death, as I have heard, a great fire suddenly +fastened upon the entire interior of the temple of Serapis in +Alexandria, and did no other harm whatever save only to destroy that +sword with which he had slain his brother. [Later, when it stopped, many +stars shone out.] In Rome, too, [a spirit wearing the likeness of a man +led an ass up the Capitol and later up the Palatine, seeking, as he +said, its master and stating that Antoninus was dead and Jupiter +reigned. Arrested for his behavior, he was sent by Maternianus to +Antoninus, and he declared: "I depart, as you bid, but I shall face not +this emperor but another." Afterwards on coming to Capua he vanished. + +[Sidenote:--8--] This took place while the prince was still alive.] At +the horse-race [held in memory of Severus's reign] the statue of Mars, +while being carried in procession, fell down. This perhaps would not +arouse such great wonder, but listen to the greatest marvel of all. The +Green faction had been defeated, whereupon, catching sight of a jackdaw, +which was screeching very loud on the tip of a javelin, they all gazed +at him and all of a sudden, as if by previous arrangement, cried out: +"Hail Martialius, Martialius hail, long it is since we beheld thee!" It +was not that the jackdaw was ever so called, but through him they were +greeting, apparently under some divine inspiration, Martialius, the +assassin of Antoninus. To some, indeed, Antoninus seemed to have +foretold his own end, inasmuch as in the last letter that he sent to the +senate he had said: "Cease praying that I may reign a hundred years." +The petition mentioned had always been uttered from the beginning of his +sovereignty and this was the first and only time that he found fault +with it. Thus, while his words were simply meant to chide them for +offering a prayer impossible of accomplishment, he was really indicating +that he should no longer rule for any length of time. And when certain +persons had once called attention to this fact, it also came to my mind +that when he was giving us a banquet in Nicomedea at the Saturnalia and +had talked a good deal, as was usual at a symposium, then on our rising +to go he had addressed me and said: "With great acumen and truth, Dio, +has Euripides remarked that + + "'Neath divers forms the spirit world is lurking, + Much passing hope the gods are ever working. + Oft disappointment strikes down sure ambition: + The unthought chance God brings to full fruition. + This story leaves things in just that condition.'" + +[Footnote: Lines that occur at the end of several of Euripides's +dramas.] + +At the time this quotation seemed to have been mere nonsense, but when +not long after he perished the fact that this was the last speech he +uttered to me was thought to infuse into it a certain truly oracular +significance with regard to what was to befall him. Similar importance +was attached to the utterance of Jupiter called Belus, [Footnote: The +same as Baal.] a god revered in Apamea [Footnote: This is the Apamea on +the Orontes, built by Seleucus Nicator.] of Syria. He, years before, +when Severus was still a private citizen, had spoken to him these +verses: + + "Touching eyes and head, like Zeus, whose delight is in thunder, + Like unto Ares in waist, and in chest resembling Poseidon." + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, II, verses 478-9.] + +And later, after his accession as emperor, the god had made this +response to an enquiry: "Thy house shall perish utterly in blood." +[Footnote: Adapted from Euripides, Phoenician Maidens, verse 20.] + +[Sidenote:--9--] [Accordingly the body of Antoninus was then burned, and +his bones, brought secretly by night into Rome, were deposited in the +mausoleum of the Antonines. All the senators and private individuals, +men and women, without exception entertained so violent a hatred of him +that all their words and actions relating to him were such as would +befit the downfall of a most implacable foe. He was not officially +disgraced, because the soldiers did not get from Macrinus the state of +peace which they had hoped to secure by a change. Deprived of the +profits which they were wont to receive from Antoninus, they began to +long for him again. Indeed, their wishes subsequently prevailed to the +extent of having him enrolled among the heroes: of course this was voted +by the senate.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 217, _a.u._ 970] In general, abundant ill was +consistently spoken of him by everybody. They would no longer term him +Antoninus, but [some called him Bassianus, [Footnote: He was originally +Septimius Bassianus, named after his maternal grandfather.] his old +name, others] Caracalla, as I have mentioned, [Footnote: In chapter 3.] +[others] also Tarautas, from the appellation of a gladiator who was [in +appearance] very small and very ugly and [in spirit very audacious and] +very bloodthirsty. + +[Sidenote:--10--] Now his affairs, however one may name him, were in +this state. As for me, even before he came to the throne, it was +foretold me in a way by his father that I should write this account. +Just after his death methought I saw in a great plain the whole power of +Rome arrayed in arms, and it seemed as if Severus were sitting [on a +knoll there and] on a lofty tribunal conversing with them. And, seeing +me standing by to hear what was said, he spoke out: "Come hither, Dio, +to this spot; approach nearer, that you may both ascertain accurately +and write a history of all that is said and done."--Such was the life +and the overthrow of Tarautas. [After him there perished also those who +had shared in the plot against him, some at once and others before a +great while. His intimate companions and the Cæsarians likewise +perished. He had been, as it were, coupled with a spirit of murder that +operated equally against enemies and against friends.] + +[Sidenote:--11--] Macrinus, by race a Moor from Cæsarea, came from most +obscure parents [so that with considerable justice he was likened to the +ass that was led to the Palatine by the apparition]. For one thing his +left ear had been bored, according to the custom [generally] in vogue +among the Moors. His affability was even more striking. As to duties, +his comprehension of them was not so accurate as his performance of them +was faithful. [Thus it was, thanks to the advocacy of a friend's cause, +that he became known to Plautianus, and at first he took the position of +manager of the latter's property; subsequently he ran a risk of +perishing together with his employer, but was unexpectedly saved by the +intercession of Cilo and was given charge of the vehicles of Severus +that passed back and forth along the Flaminian Way.] From Antoninus +[after securing some titles of a short-lived procuratorship] he obtained +an appointment as prefect and administered the affairs of this +responsible position excellently and with entire justice, [so far as he +was free to act independently. This, then, was his general character and +these the steps of his advancement. Even during the life of Tarautas he +was led, in the way that I have described, to harbor in his mind the +hope of empire;] and at his death [he did not, to be sure, either that +day or the two following days occupy the office, in order to avoid the +imputation of having killed him with such intentions: but for that space +of time the Roman state remained completely bereft of a ruler possessing +authority, though without the people's knowing it. He communicated with +the soldiers in every direction,--that is to say, the ones who were in +Mesopotamia on account of the war but instead of being in one body were +scattered all about; and he won their allegiance through the agency of +his [Footnote: Reading [Greek: ohi] (Dindorf) instead of [Greek: hos].] +friends], among his various offers being a suggestion that they might +secure a respite from the war, which was an especial cause of +dissatisfaction to them: and so on the fourth day [the anniversary of +Severus's birthday] he was chosen emperor by them [after making a show +of resistance]. + +[Sidenote:--12--] [He delivered an address full of good points and held +out hopes of many advantages to the rest of mankind as well. Those who +had been doomed to some life punishment for an act of impiety, of the +kind that is so named with reference to attitude toward emperors, were +absolved from their sentence; and complaints of that nature which were +pending were dismissed. He rescinded the measures enacted by Caracalla +relating to inheritances and emancipations and, by asseverating that it +was a sacrilege to kill a senator, he succeeded in his appeal for the +pardon of Aurelianus, whose surrender was demanded by the soldiers +because he had proved most obnoxious to them in many previous campaigns. +Not for long, however, was it in his power to behave as an honest man +[lacuna] and Aurelianus [lacuna] soldiers [lacuna] this man [lacuna] by +him [lacuna] absolute power [lacuna] wrath [lacuna] and two hundred and +fifty denarii [lacuna] there had been public notice of giving more +[lacuna] fearing that [lacuna] Aurelianus, the only one then present not +only of ex-consuls but of those who were senators at all [lacuna] by aid +of money [lacuna] upon him [lacuna] glad to divert the blame for +Caracalla's death [lacuna] and about the [lacuna] them [lacuna] the +[lacuna] the [lacuna] great masses both of furniture and of property of +the emperors. But as not even this on account of the soldiers sufficed +for the [lacuna] of senators [lacuna] kill [lacuna] no one, but putting +some under guard [lacuna] of the knights and the freedmen and the +Cæsarians and [lacuna] causing those who erred in even the slightest +respect to be punished, so that to all [lacuna] of them [lacuna] the +procuratorships and the excessive expenditures and the majority of the +burdens recently laid upon them by Tarautas [lacuna] of the games +[lacuna] multitude [lacuna], gathering the presents which had +unnecessarily been bestowed upon any persons, and he forbade any silver +image of him being made over five pounds in weight, or any golden image +of over three. Greatest of all, the hire of those serving in the +pretorian guard [lacuna] to that appointed [lacuna] by Severus [lacuna] + +[Sidenote:--13--] Though in truth he was praised by some for this (and +not without reason), still he incurred (on the part of the sensible) a +censure that quite counterbalanced it. The adverse sentiment in question +was due to the fact that he enrolled certain persons in the ranks of +ex-consuls and immediately assigned them to governorships of provinces. +Yet he refused the following year to have the reputation of being consul +twice because he had the honors of ex-consul: this was a practice begun +during the reign of Severus and followed also by the latter's son. This +procedure, however, both in his own case and in that of Adventus was +lawful enough, but he showed great folly in sending Marcius Agrippa +first into Pannonia and later into Dacia to govern. The previous +officials of the districts mentioned,--Sabinus and Castinus,--he +summoned at once to his side, pretending that he wanted their company, +but really because he feared their surpassing spirit and their +friendship for Caracalla. It was in this way that he came to despatch +Agrippa to Dacia and Deccius Triccianus [Footnote: _Ælius Deccius +Triccianus_.] to Pannonia. The former had been a slave acting as master +of wardrobe for some woman and for this cause [Footnote: It is hard to +see why, unless in the age of Severus slaves were forbidden to have +charge of women's attire.] had been tried by Severus, although at the +time he was attached to the fiscus; he had then been driven out to an +island for betraying some interest, was subsequently restored, together +with the rest, by Tarautas, had taken charge of his decisions and +letters, and finally had been degraded to the position of senator, with +ex-consular rank, because he had admitted overgrown lads into the army. +Triccianus served in the rank and file of the Pannonian contingent, had +once been porter to the governor of that country, and was at this time +commanding the Alban legion. + +[Sidenote:--14--] These were some of the grounds that led many persons +to find fault with him. Another was his elevation of Adventus. Adventus +had drawn pay as one of the spies and detectives, had left his position +there and served among the letter-carriers, had later been appointed +cubicularius, and still later was advanced to a position as procurator. +Now although old age prevented him from seeing, lack of education from +reading, and want of experience from being able to accomplish anything, +the emperor made him senator, fellow-consul, and prefect of the city. +This upstart had dared to say to the soldiers after the death of +Caracalla: "The sovereignty properly belongs to me, since I am elder +than Macrinus: but inasmuch as I am extremely old, I make way for him." +His behavior was regarded as nonsensical, as was also that of Macrinus, +in granting the greatest dignity of the senate to such a man, who could +not when consul carry on a plain conversation with anybody in the +senate, and consequently on the day of elections pretended to be sick. +Hence, before long Macrinus assigned the direction of the city to Marius +Maximus in his stead. It looked as if he had made him præfectus urbi +with the sole purpose of polluting the senate-house. And this pollution +took place not only in virtue of the fact that he had served in the +mercenary force and had performed the duties belonging to executioners, +scouts, and centurions, but in that he had secured control of the city +prior to fulfilling the demands of the consulship. In other words, he +became city prefect before senator. Macrinus connived at his promotion +with the definite intention of blinding the public in regard to his own +record, which would have shown that he had seized the imperial office +while yet a knight. + +[Sidenote:--15--] Besides these not unmerited censures that some passed +upon him, he also attracted adverse criticism for designating as +prefects Ulpius Julianus and Julianus Nestor, who possessed no +particular excellence and had not been tested in many undertakings, but +had become quite notorious for rascality in Caracalla's reign; for, +being at the head of the late prince's messengers [Footnote: Mommsen +thinks that by this expression Dio probably means the position of +_princeps peregrinorum_.] they had been of great assistance to him in +his unholy meddling. However, only a few citizens took account of these +details, which did not tend wholly to encourage them. The majority of +individuals, in view of their having recently got rid of Tarautas, which +was more than they could have hoped, and comparing the new ruler in the +few indications afforded with the old, and in view of all the other +considerations and expectations, did not deem it fitting to condemn him +so soon. And for this reason they mourned him exceedingly when he was +killed, though they would certainly have felt hatred for him had he +lived longer.] + +For he began to live rather more luxuriously and he took official notice +of those who reproved him. His putting Maternianus and Datus out of the +way was not reasonable,--for what wrong had they done in being attentive +to their emperor?--but it was not unlike human nature, since he had been +involved in great danger. But he made a mistake in venting his wrath +upon the rest, who were suspected of disliking his low birth and his +unexpected attempt upon the sovereign power. He ought to have done +precisely the opposite; realizing what he had been at the outset and +what his position then was, he should not have been supercilious, but +should have behaved moderately, cultivated the genius of his household, +and encouraged men by good deeds and a display of excellence unchanged +by circumstances. + +[Sidenote:--16--] These things [lacuna] in regard to him [lacuna] have +been said by me [lacuna] in detail [lacuna] of any [lacuna] just as +[lacuna] nominally throughout his entire reign [lacuna] of all [lacuna] +of it [lacuna] that he said in conversation with the soldiers [lacuna] +it was proved [lacuna] and he dared to utter not a few laudations of +himself and to send still more of them in letters, saying among other +things: "I have been quite sure that you also would agree with the +legions, since I enjoy the consciousness of having conferred many +benefits upon the commonwealth." He subscribed himself in the letter as +Cæsar and emperor and Severus, adding to the name of Macrinus the titles +of Pious, and Fortunate, and Augustus, and Proconsul, of course without +awaiting any vote on our part. He sent the letter without being ignorant +that he was, on his own responsibility, assuming so many and great +designations nor [lacuna] name [lacuna] of Pretorians as formerly some +[lacuna] not but what [lacuna] so wrote [lacuna] in the beginning +[lacuna] war chiefly [lacuna] of barbarians [lacuna] near [lacuna] in +the letter he used simply the same terms as the emperors before +Caracalla, and this he did the whole year through [lacuna] memoranda +found among the soldiers. Thus [lacuna] of things accustomed to be said +with a view to flattery and not inspired by truthfulness they became so +suspicious as to ask that they be made public, and he sent them to us, +and the quæstor read them aloud, as he did other similar documents in +their turn. And a certain prætor, as the senate was then in session and +none of the quæstors was present, also read an epistle once composed by +Macrinus himself. + +[Sidenote:--17--] The first letter having been read, appropriate +measures were passed with reference to both Macrinus and his son. He was +designated Patrician, and Princeps Iuventutis, and Cæsar. He accepted +everything save the horse-race voted in honor of the beginning of his +reign; from this he begged to be excused, saying that the event had been +sufficiently honored by the spectacle on the birthday of Severus. Of +Tarautas he made no mention at this time, in the way of either honor or +dishonor, save only that he called him Emperor. He ventured to term him +neither Hero nor Foe, and, as I conjecture, it was because the deeds of +his predecessor and the hatred of much of mankind made him shrink from +the former epithet, and the thought of the soldiers restrained him from +the latter. Some suspected that it was because he wanted the disgracing +to be the act of the senate and the people rather than his own, +especially since he was in the midst of the legions. He did say that +Tarautas by his wrongdoing had been chiefly responsible for the war and +had terribly burdened the public treasury by increasing the money given +to the barbarians, inasmuch as it was of equal amount with the pay of +the soldiers under arms. No one dared, however, to give utterance +publicly to any such statement against him and vote that he was an +enemy, for fear of immediate annihilation at the hands of the soldiers +in the City. Still, they abused him in their own fashion and heaped +insults upon him as much as they could, going over the list of his +bloody deeds, with the name of each victim, and ranging him alongside +all the evil tyrants that had ever held sway over them. + +[Sidenote:--18--] At the same time the public demanded that the +horse-race given on his birthday be abolished, that absolutely all the +statues, both gold and silver, erected [Footnote: Supplying, with Reiske, +[Greek: hidruthentas].] in his honor be melted down, and that those who +had served with him in any capacity as informers be made known and +punished with the utmost speed. For great numbers, not only slaves and +freedmen and soldiers and Cæsarians, but likewise knights and senators +and numerous very distinguished women, were believed to have given +secret hints during his reign and to have blackmailed various persons. +And although they did not attach to Antoninus the name of Enemy, they +did keep vociferating that Martialius (on account of the similarity of +his name to that of Mars, as they pretended,) ought to be honored with +enconiums and with statues for worship. They also showed for the moment +no indication of annoyance at Macrinus], the reason being that they were +so overwhelmed by joy on account of the death of Tarautas as not to have +leisure to think anything about his humble origin, and they were glad to +accept him as emperor. They were less concerned about whose slaves they +should be next than about whose yoke they had shaken off, and were +impressed with the idea that any chance comer who might present himself +would be preferable to their former master. [All the unusual +expenditures were rehearsed that had been made, not only by the Roman +Treasury but privately for any persons and on the part of any foreign +nations as a result of the former sovereign's direction: and thus the +overthrow of those charged with carrying out the enactments made by him +and the hope that in the future nothing similar would be done inclined +people to be satisfied with the existing arrangement. + +[Sidenote:--19--] However, they soon learned that Aurelianus was dead +and that Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus, had been appointed Cæsar. This +last was nominally the act of the soldiers, through whose ranks he +passed when summoned from Antioch to meet his father, but really it was +accomplished by Macrinus. People further learned that their ruler had +assumed the name of Antoninus. (He had done this to win the favor of the +soldiers, partly to avoid seeming to dishonor his predecessor's memory +entirely, especially in view of the fact that he had secretly thrown +down some of the statues offered to him in Rome by Alexander and set on +pedestals by Antoninus himself: and again he wanted to get an excuse for +promising them seven hundred and fifty denarii more.) So persons began +to think differently and reflected that previously they had held him in +no esteem. Taking account, furthermore, of all the additional ignoble +manifestations on his part that they suspected and thought likely, they +began to be ashamed and did not [lacuna] Caracalla any more than +[lacuna] things pertaining to him differently [lacuna] by deprecating +the [lacuna] of Severus [lacuna] of Antoninus [lacuna] they displayed +[lacuna] and hero and what befitted his reign, not to be sure [lacuna] +and wholly the judgments of all men in Rome [lacuna] underwent a change +[lacuna] senate [lacuna] to him [lacuna] me [lacuna] however, when all +were questioned man by man regarding his honors, both others answered +ambiguously and [lacuna] Saturninus [lacuna] in a way attributing +[lacuna] prætors [lacuna] that it was not permissible for him to put any +vote about anything, in order that they might avoid the consul's +jealousy. This procedure was contrary to precedent, for it was not +lawful that there should take place in the senate-chamber an inquiry +into any matter, except at the command of the emperor. + +[Sidenote:--20--] The crowd, because they could obscure their identity +at the contest and by their numbers, gained the greater boldness, raised +a loud cry at the horse-race on the birthday of Diadumenianus, which +fell on the fourteenth of September: they uttered many lamentations, +asserting that they alone of all mankind were destitute of a leader, +destitute of a king; and they invoked the name of Jupiter, declaring +that he alone should be their leader and uttering aloud these words: "As +a master thou wert angry, as a father take pity on us." Nor would they +pay any heed at first to either the equestrian or the senatorial order +[lacuna] and commending the emperor and the Cæsar to the extent of +[lacuna] in Greek saying: "Ah, what a glorious day is to-day! What noble +kings!" and desiring that the others also should share their opinion. +But they stretched out their arms toward the sky and exclaimed: +"[lacuna]. this is the Roman Augustus: having him we have all!" So true +it is that among mankind respect is a distinct characteristic of the +better element and contempt a characteristic of the worse. For these two +now regarded Macrinus and Diadumenianus as henceforth absolutely +non-existent and trampled upon their claims as though they were already +dead. This was one great reason why his soldiers despised him, and paid +no heed to what was done to win their favor. Another still more +important cause lay in the frequent and extraordinary insolence shown +toward him by the Pergamenians, who were deprived of what they had +formerly received from Tarautas; and for this conduct he imposed upon +them public sentence of loss of citizenship. [Sidenote:--21--] The +attitude of the soldiers is straightway to be described. At this time +Macrinus neither sent to the senate, as they were demanding, nor +published otherwise any document of the informers, saying either truly +or falsely (to avoid a great disturbance) that none such had been found +in the royal residence. For Tarautas had either destroyed the majority +of those containing any accusation or had returned them to the senders +themselves, as I have stated, [Footnote: The passage to which Dio refers +is lost.] to the end that no proof of his baseness should be left. But +he did reveal the names of three senators whom, from what he had himself +discovered, he deemed to be especially deserving of hatred. These were +Manilius and Julius, and moreover Sulpicius Arrhenianus, who had +blackmailed, among others, Bassus, the son of Pomponius, whose +lieutenant he had been when Bassus was governor of Moesia. These men +were banished to islands, as the emperor expressly forbade their being +put to death. "We would avoid,"--he wrote--these were his very +words,--"ourselves appearing to do the things for which we censure +them."--And Lucius Priscillianus [whose name was presented by the senate +itself,] was as much renowned for his insulting behavior as he was for +his killing of wild beasts. [He fought them at Tusculum every now and +then, and contended with so many each time that he bore the scars of +their bites.] Once he, unassisted, joined battle with a bear and +panther, a lioness and lion at once, but far more numerous were the men, +both knights and senators, whom he destroyed as a result of his +slanders. [For both of these achievements] he was greatly honored by +Caracalla [was enrolled among the ex-prætors and became (contrary to +precedent) governor of Achæa. He incurred the violent hatred of the +senate, was summoned for trial] and was confined upon an island. These +men, then, came to their end as described. + +[Sidenote:--22--] And Flaccus was entrusted also with the dispensation +of food stuffs,--an office which Manilius had formerly held,--for he had +secured [Footnote: Reading [Greek: eilaephos] (Reimar).] it (with the +added ratification of Macrinus) as a reward of his information against +him; and he was subsequently made superintendent of the distribution of +dole which took place at the games given by the major prætors, save +those celebrated in honor of Flora [lacuna] moreover the iuridici +possessing authority in Italy had to stop rendering decisions outside +the traditional limits set by Marcus. [Footnote: The text of the early +part of this chapter may be characterized as "jagged." The sentences +lack clearness and the relation of the individual words is not always +certain. The reader may be interested to see a translation of +Hirschfeld's interpretation of the section, taken from his book entitled +_Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der Roemischen Verwaltungsgeschichte_ +(pp. 117-120). + +a [Flaccus]--It is here a question of a high senatorial office, which +can only be the _præfectura alimentorum_. + +b [The iuridici]--Perhaps the person entrusted with the execution of +this ruling was C. Octavius Sabinus, who had the title of _electus ad +corrigendum statum Italiæ_. + +c [The orphans]--Probably during the latter portion of Caracalla's +reign, as also under Commodus, the funds for food had been available +either not at all or at irregular intervals, and therefore the +restitution of district prefects was determined upon. + +From these Food Prefects for a particular district those officials must +be distinguished who bear the general title of _præfectus alimentorum_ +without any local limitation, and show a marked difference from the rest +in that they are invariably of consular rank, whereas the position of +district prefect, like that of curator of roads, was usually held by a +candidate that had only passed the prætorship. The inscriptions of these +_consular_ prefects begin not earlier than the end of the reign of +Marcus Aurelius, perhaps not till Commodus, and extend to the time of +Macrinus, while during this whole time (a period, that is, of about +forty years) all trace of the district prefects vanishes. Under these +circumstances the conclusion seems to me inevitable that towards the end +of the second century (probably from the first years of Marcus Aurelius +on) the district prefecture was abolished and the administration was +centralized in Rome under a consular _præfectus alimentorum_, whose +authority extended over the whole of Italy. + +Now very probably it was the introduction under Marcus Aurelius of the +_iuridici_ which occasioned this change, even if not immediately, and +that these duties of distribution, as well as other administrative +functions, were placed in their hands; one thing that would seem to +recommend this view particularly is that their position in general +tended to make them official examiners of the affairs of the +_municipia_. When, in addition, we have evidence that Macrinus in the +year 217 reduced the authority of the _iundici_ to the limits originally +imposed by Marcus Aurelius and that further the same emperor instituted +certain rulings for the amelioration of food distribution; when, +moreover, we consider in connection with this the coincidence of the +disappearance of the _consular food prefects_ for Italy on the one hand +and the reappearance of the _pretorial district prefects_ on the other, +it will not appear overbold to suppose that Macrinus, in the course of +the reform affecting the _iuridici_, also detached from them the right +to supervise foods, restored it to the curators of roads (as in the +original arrangement) and abolished the central bureau in Rome.]--A +certain Domitius Florus had formerly had charge of the senate records +and ought to have been next appointed ædile, but before entering upon +office had been deprived of all hope on account of Plautianus; he now +had recourse to sedulous office-seeking, recovered his lost standing and +was appointed tribune. Anicius Faustus was sent into Asia to govern in +place of Asper. The latter had at first obtained very great honor from +Macrinus, who thought he could settle affairs in Asia: afterwards, when +he was already _en route_ and was approaching the province (Macrinus had +not accorded a favorable reception to the petition forwarded to +Caracalla and delivered to him, in which the inhabitants begged that +Asper be not sent them as proconsul), the emperor offered him a terrible +affront in rejecting him. It was reported to the prince that Asper had +made some improper remarks, and moreover he affected to think that old +age and disease constituted a second reason for relieving him of his +duties, and therefore he delivered Asia into the keeping of Faustus, a +man who had been overlooked in the order of allotment by Severus. As the +time for him to govern turned out to be short, Macrinus bade him hold +the office for the following year in place of Aufidius Fronto. To the +latter he would entrust neither Africa (which he had drawn by lot), +because the Africans begged that he be not allowed to come, nor yet +Asia, though he had first transferred him thither. As a fitting +recognition, however, Macrinus proposed that twenty-five myriads be +given him to stay at home. Fronto, however, would not accept that, +saying that he wanted not money but a position of authority, and +accordingly later he received the province from Sardanapalus. + +Besides these events aid was extended to the orphans, whose hopes of +support were small, from the [lacuna] age of childhood to military +years. [Footnote: See note 2c, page 58.] + +[Sidenote:--23--] Now Julia, the mother of Tarautas, chanced to be in +Antioch, and at the first information of her son's death she was so +affected that she struck herself violently and undertook to starve +herself to death. The presence of this very same man, whom she hated +alive, became the object of her longings now that he had ceased to +exist; yet not because she desired him to live, but because she was +furious at having to return to private life; and this led her to abuse +Macrinus also long and bitterly. Subsequently, as no change was made in +her royal suite or in the guard of Pretorians attending her, and the new +emperor sent her a kind message (not having yet heard what she had +said), she took courage, laid aside her longing for death, and, without +writing him any response, held some negotiations with the soldiers she +had about her, especially [lacuna] and as they were angry with Macrinus +[lacuna] as they had a pleasanter remembrance of her son, how she might +attain the imperial position, rendering herself the peer of Semiramis +and Nitocris, since she came in a way from the same regions as +they; [Footnote: Boissevain's conjecture for the succeeding sentences +(valuable, of course, only as the guess of an expert) is the following: + +But when nobody would cooperate with her and letters came from Macrinus +making certain announcements at which, in view of her circumstances, she +felt herself depressed in spirits, she renounced her ambitions out of +fear that she might be deprived of the title of Augusta and be forced to +depart to her native land, and al [lacuna] drea [lacuna] wom [lacuna] ad +[lacuna] eake [lacuna] and mos [lacuna] any one behol [lacuna] she +decided to do just the reverse and submit lest she be forced eventually +to return to Rome and be there compelled by Macrinus to remain at home +for the future for appearing to be opposed to his policy. Afterwards, +however, she was intending to take measures that would enable her to get +away by ship, if possibility still offered, when he ordered her, etc.] +as [lacuna] coöperated [lacuna] and letters [lacuna] of Macrinus +[lacuna] some for which [lacuna] judgment [lacuna] fearing that she +might be deprived of the title of Augusta and to [lacuna] native country +be forced to return [lacuna] to fear [lacuna] go to Rome [lacuna] +Macrinus [lacuna] seeming to do the opposite [lacuna] how [lacuna] might +depart and he ordered her to depart from Antioch with all speed and go +whithersoever she would. [And when she heard what was said in Rome about +her son] she no longer cared to live. The cancer in her breast, which, +for a very long time had remained stationary in its progress, had been +made angry and inflamed by the blow which she struck her chest on +hearing of her son's death; this helped to undermine her constitution +and she made sure of her demise by voluntary starvation. + +[Sidenote:--24--][And so this queen, sprung from a family of common +people and raised to a high station, who had lived during her husband's +reign in great unhappiness on account of Plautianus, who had beheld her +younger son butchered in her own lap and had borne ill-will to her elder +son while he lived, finally receiving such tidings of his assassination, +withdrew from power while in the full flush of life and thereafter did +herself to death. Hence a person reviewing her career could not deem +infallibly happy all those who attain great authority; indeed, in no +case unless some true and undefiled pleasure in life belongs to them, +and unswerving, permanent good fortune.--This, then, was the fate of +Julia. Her body was taken to Rome and placed in the tomb of Gaius and +Lucius. Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were +transferred by her sister Mæsa to the precinct of Antoninus. + +[Sidenote:--25--] Nor was Macrinus destined to survive for long,--a fact +of which he doubtless had previous indications. A mule bore a mule in +Rome and a sow had a little pig with four ears and two tongues and eight +feet. A great earthquake occurred, blood flowed from a pipe, and bees +formed honeycombs in the Forum Boarium. The hunting-theatre was smitten +with thunderbolts on the very day of the Vulcanalia [Footnote: August +twenty-third.] and such a blaze ensued that all its upper circumference +and the whole circuit of construction and the ground-level were burned +and thereupon the rest of it caught fire and fell in ruins. No human aid +availed against the conflagration, though every possible stream of water +was directed upon the blaze, nor could the downpour from the sky, which +came in great amount and violence, accomplish anything. The force of +both kinds of water was exhausted by the power of the thunderbolts, and +to a certain extent, at least, the building only received additional +injury; [Footnote: Reading [Greek: prosesineto](Bekker).] wherefore the +gladiatorial spectacle was held in the stadium for many years. + +This naturally seemed to foreshow what was to be. There were other fires +besides and imperial possessions were burned especially often during his +reign,--a thing which in itself has always been regarded as of ill omen; +but the fact that it seemed to have overthrown the horse-race of Vulcan +had a direct bearing upon the emperor. This accordingly gave rise to a +feeling that something out of the ordinary was in process of +consummation, and the idea was strengthened by the behavior on that same +day of the Tiber, which rose until it invaded the Forum and the roads +leading to it with such impetus as to sweep away even human beings. And +a woman, as I have heard, grim and gigantic, was seen by some persons +and declared that these disasters were insignificant as compared with +what was destined to befall them. + +[Sidenote:--26--] And so it proved, for the evil did not confine itself +to the City alone, but took possession of the whole world under its +dominion, with whose inhabitants the theatre was customarily filled. The +Romans, defeated, gave up their war against the barbarians and likewise +received great detriment from the greed and factional differences of the +soldiers. The progress of both these evils I am now to describe.] +Macrinus, seeing that Artabanus was exceedingly angry at the way he had +been treated and had invaded Mesopotamia with a large force, at first of +his own accord sent him the captives and used friendly language, urging +him to accept peace and laying the blame for the past upon Tarautas. But +the other would not entertain his proposition and furthermore bade him +build up the forts and demolished cities, abandon Mesopotamia entirely +and offer satisfaction in general, but particularly for the damage to +the royal tombs. [For, trusting in the large force that he had gathered +and despising Macrinus as an unworthy emperor, he gave reign to his +wrath and expected that even without the Roman's consent he could +accomplish whatever he wished.] Macrinus had no opportunity to think it +over, but, meeting the enemy already on the way to Nisibis, was defeated +in a battle begun by the soldiers about water, while encamped opposite +each other. And he came very near losing the rampart itself, but some +armor-bearers and baggage-carriers happened along and saved it. In their +confidence, they had started out ahead and made a rush upon the +barbarians; and the unexpectedness of their sally was of advantage to +them, making them appear to be armed soldiers and not mere helpers. But +the [lacuna] both was not present then and [lacuna] the night [lacuna] +the camps [lacuna] and the Romans followed on. The enemy, perceiving the +noise that they made in going out, suspected [lacuna] flight, but seeing +them at a glance [lacuna] the Romans barbarians [lacuna] forced by their +[lacuna] and the flight of Macrinus, they became dejected and were +conquered. And as a result [lacuna] from Mesopotamia especially [lacuna] +they overran Syria [lacuna] he abandoned. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] This took place at the season under +consideration: but in the autumn and winter, during which Macrinus and +Adventus became consuls, they no longer came to blows with each other +but kept up an interchange of envoys and heralds until they had reached +an agreement. + +[Sidenote:--27--] For Macrinus, through native cowardice (being a Moor +he was tremendously timorous) and by reason of the soldiers' lack of +discipline, did not dare to begin a war. On the contrary] he expended +for the sake of peace enormous amounts, in the shape of both gifts and +money, to Artabanus himself and to his assistants in the government, so +that the entire outlay came to five thousand myriads. [And the emperor +was not unwilling to effect a reconciliation, both for the reasons +mentioned and because his soldiers were extremely restive,--a condition +due to their having been away from home an unusual length of time, as +well as to the scarcity of food. No supplies were to be had from stores, +since there were no stores ready, nor from the country itself, because +part had been devastated and part was controlled by forts. Macrinus, +however, did not forward an exact account of all their proceedings to +the senate and consequently triumphal sacrifices were voted him and the +name of Parthicus was bestowed. But this he would not accept, being +apparently ashamed to adopt the appellation of an enemy by whom he had +been defeated. + +Moreover, the war that had been waged in the regions of the Armenian +king subsided. Tiridates received the diadem sent him by Macrinus, and +got back his mother (whom Tarautas had confined in prison eleven +months), together with the booty captured from Armenia and all the +territory that his father possessed in Cappadocia, with hopes of +obtaining the annual payment often furnished by the Romans. And the +Dacians, after damaging parts of Dacia, held their hands in spite of a +desire for further conflict, and got back the hostages that Caracalla, +under the name of an alliance, had taken from them. This was the course +of these events. + +[Sidenote:--28--] But a new war broke upon the heads of the Romans, and +no longer a foreign but a civil strife. It was the soldiers who were +responsible for the outbreak. They were somewhat irritated by their +setbacks, but their behavior was owing still more to the fact that they +would no longer endure any hard work if they could help it, but were +thoroughly out of training in every respect and wanted to have no +emperor that ruled with a firm hand but demanded that they get +everything without stint, and chose to perform no task that was fitting +for them. They were further angered by the cutting off of their pay and +the deprivation of prizes and exemptions (these last among the +privileges of the military), which they had gained from Tarautas, even +though they personally were not destined to be affected by these +measures. Their resolution was definitely strengthened by the delay +which they had undergone in practically one and the same spot while +wintering in Syria on account of the war. It should be stated that +Macrinus seemed to have shown good generalship and to have acted +sensibly in debarring the men in arms from no privilege, but preserving +to them intact all the rights allowed by his predecessor, whereas he +gave notice to such as intended to enlist anew that they would be +enrolled only upon the old schedule published by Severus. He hoped that +these recruits, entering the army a few at a time, would hold aloof from +rebellion, at first through peaceful inclinations and fear and later +through the influence of time and custom, and that by having no +corrupting effect upon the rest they would quiet them. + +[Sidenote:--29--] If this had been done after the members of the army +had retired to their individual fortresses and were consequently +scattered, it would have been a correct move. Perhaps some of them would +not have shown indignation, believing that they would really be put at +no disadvantage because temporarily they suffered no loss: and even if +they had been vexed, yet, each body being few in number and subservient +to the commanders sent by the senate, they could have accomplished no +great harm. But, united in Syria, they suspected that they should be +liable to innovations if they separated;--for the time being they could +well believe they were being pampered on account of the demands of war. +And again [lacuna] So the others killed certain soldiers and ravaged +portions of Mesopotamia, and these men butchered not a few of their own +number and also overthrew their emperor; and, what is still worse, they +set up another similar ruler, by whom nothing was done save what was +evil and base. [Sidenote:--30--] It seems to me that this occurrence had +been foreshadowed more clearly, perhaps, than any previous event. A +very distinct eclipse of the sun [had taken place] about that time, [and +the comet-star was seen for a considerable period. And another] +luminary, whose tail extended from the west to the east, for several +nights caused us terrible alarm, so that this verse of Homer's was ever +on our lips: + + "Rang the vast welkin with clarion calls, and Zeus heard the tumult." + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XXI, verse 388.] + +It was brought about in the following way: + +Mæsa, the sister of Julia Augusta, had two daughters, Soæmias and +Mammæa, by her husband Julius, an ex-consul. She had also two male +grandchildren. One was Avitus, the child of Soæmias and Varius +Marcellus, a man of the same race,--he was from Apamea,--who had been +occupied in procuratorships, had been enrolled in the senate, and soon +after died. The other was Bassianus, the child of Mammæa and Gessius +Marcianus, who was himself also a Syrian, from a city called Arca, and +had been assigned to various positions as procurator. Now Mæsa at home +in Emesa her life [lacuna] her sister Julia, with whom she had made her +abode during the entire period of the latter's reign, having perished. +For Avitus, after governing in Asia, sent by Caracalla from Mesopotamia +into Cyprus, was seen to be limited to the position of adviser to some +magistrate who suffered from old age and sickness; and again [lacuna] +him, when [lacuna] he died, one Eutychianus, that had given satisfaction +in games and exercises, and for that reason [lacuna] who [lacuna] +[Sidenote:--31--] [lacuna] upon [lacuna] becoming aware of the strong +dislike of the soldiers for Macrinus [lacuna] wall [lacuna] and partly +persuaded by the Sun, whom they name Elagabalus and worship devotedly, +and by some other prophecies, he undertook to overthrow Macrinus and put +up Avitus, the grandson of Mæsa and a mere child, as emperor in his +stead. And he accomplished both projects, although he had himself as yet +not fully reached manhood and had as helpers only a few freedmen and +soldiers [lacuna] and Emesenian senators [lacuna] pretending that he was +a natural son of Tarautas and arraying him in clothing which the latter +had worn when a child, Cæsar by the [lacunæ] introduced into the camp at +night, without the knowledge of his mother or his grandmother, and at +dawn on the sixteenth of May he persuaded the soldiers, who were eager +to get some starting-point for an uprising, to revolt. Julianus, the +prefect, learning this (for he happened to be not far distant), caused +both a daughter and a son-in-law of Marcianus, together with some +others, to be assassinated. Then, after collecting as many of the +soldiers remaining as he could in the short time at his disposal, he +made an attack upon what was, to all intents and purposes, a most +hostile fortress. [Sidenote:--32--] He might have taken it that very +day, for the Moors sent to Tarautas according to the terms of alliance +fought most valiantly for Macrinus, who was a countryman of theirs, and +even broke through some of the gates. But he refused the opportunity, +either because he was afraid to rush in or because he expected that he +could win the men inside to surrender voluntarily. As no propositions +were made to him, and they furthermore built up all the gates during the +night, so that they were now in a securer position, he again assaulted +the place but effected nothing. For they carried Avitus (whom they were +already saluting as "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus") all about upon the +ramparts, and exhibited some likeness of Caracalla when a child as +bearing some resemblance to their new ruler, declaring that the latter +was truly Caracalla's child and his proper successor in the imperial +office. "Why do you do this, fellow-soldiers?" they exclaimed. "Why do +you thus fight against your benefactor's son?" By this means they +corrupted all the soldiers with Julianus, especially as the troops were +anxious to have a change, so that the attackers killed their commanders, +save Julianus (for he effected his escape), and surrendered themselves +to the False Antoninus. For when an attempt to restrain them was made by +their centurions and the other subordinates, and they were, as a result, +hesitating, Eutychianus sent Festus (thus--according to the cubicularius +of Tarautas--was one of the Cæsarians named) [Footnote: The text is +emended in accordance with a tentative suggestion of Boissevain.] and +persuaded them to kill all such officers and offered as a prize to each +soldier who should slay his man the victim's property and military rank. +The boy also harangued them from the wall with fictitious statements, +praising his "father" and [lacuna] Macrinus, as [lacuna] + +[Fourteen lines are lacking.] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote:--33--] [lacuna] those left to be restored to their original +property and status as citizens. But the most effective means by which +he attached them to himself was his promise to give each and every one +unlimited amounts of money, and to restore the exiles,--an act which +would seem to make him out in truth a legitimate son of Tarautas +[lacuna] + + * * * * * + +[Fourteen lines are lacking.] + +[Sidenote:--34--] [lacuna] Marcianus [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] (for +Marcellus was dead) he put this person to death; but, lacking courage to +proceed further on his own responsibility without Macrinus, he sent for +the latter. Macrinus came quickly to the Alban soldiers at Apamea and +appointed his son emperor in spite of the lad's being but ten years old, +in order that with this excuse he might mollify the soldiers by various +means, chief among which should be the promise of five thousand denarii; +he assigned them a thousand each on the spot and restored to the rest +complete allowances of food and everything else of which they had been +deprived: in this way he hoped to appease them. With this same end in +view he bestowed upon the populace a dinner worth one hundred and fifty +denarii a head before revealing to them anything about the uprising; for +he wanted it to be thought that he was banqueting them not because of +that event but to show honor to his son. And on that occasion first one +of the revolted soldiers approached him carrying the head of Julianus +(who had been found somewhere in hiding and slain), in many linen cloths +and tied up very strongly indeed with ropes, pretending it was the head +of the False Antoninus. He had sealed the package with the finger ring +of Julianus. After doing that the soldier ran out when the head was +uncovered. Macrinus, upon discovering what had been done, no longer +dared either to stay where he was or to assault the fortification, but +returned to Antioch with all speed. So the Alban legion and the rest who +were wintering in that region likewise revolted. The opposing parties +continued their preparations and both sides sent messengers and letters +to the provinces and to the legions. As a result perturbation was caused +in many places by the first communication of each side about the other +and by the constant messages contradicting each other. In the course of +the uncertainty numerous letter-carriers on both sides lost their lives, +and numbers of those who had slain the followers of Antoninus, or had +not immediately attached themselves to their cause, were censured. Some +perished on this account and some merely incurred a small loss. Hence I +will pass over most of this (it is all very much alike and permits of no +considerable description in detail) and will give a summary of what took +place in Egypt. + +[Sidenote:--35--] The governor of that country was Basilianus, whom +Macrinus had also made prefect in place of Julianus. Some interests were +managed also by Marius Secundus, although he had been created senator by +Macrinus and was at the head of affairs in Phoenicia. In this way both +of them were dependent upon Macrinus and for that reason put to death +the runners of the False Antoninus. As long, therefore, as the outcome +of the business was still in dispute, they and the soldiers and the +individuals were in suspense, some wishing and praying and reporting one +thing and others the opposite, as always in factional disturbances. When +the news of the defeat of Macrinus arrived, a riot of some magnitude +followed, in which many of the populace and not a few of the soldiers +were destroyed. Secundus found himself in a dilemma; and Basilianus, +fearing that he should lose his life instanter, effected his escape +from Egypt. After coming to the vicinity of Brundusium in Italy he was +discovered, having been betrayed by a friend in Rome to whom he had sent +a secret message asking for food. So he was later taken back to +Nicomedea and executed. + +[Sidenote:--36--] Macrinus wrote also to the senate about the False +Antoninus [as he did also to the governors everywhere], calling him +"boy" and saying that he was mad. He wrote also to Maximus, the +præfectus urbi, giving him such information as one might expect, and +further stating that the soldiers recently enlisted insisted upon +receiving all that they were wont to have before, and that the rest, who +had been deprived of nothing, made common cause with them in their anger +at what was withheld. And to omit a recital, he said, of all the many +means devised by Severus and his son for the ruin of rigid discipline, +it was impossible for the troops to be given their entire pay in +addition to the donatives which they were receiving; for the increase in +their pay granted by Tarautas amounted to seven thousand myriads +annually, and could not be given, partly because the soldiers and again +because [lacuna] righteous [lacuna] but the recognized expenditures +[lacuna] and the [lacuna] could he himself and the child as [lacuna] +himself [lacuna] and he commiserated himself upon having a son, but said +that he found it a solace in his disaster to think that he had outlived +the fratricide who attempted to destroy the whole world. He also added +to the missive something like the following: "I know that there are +many who are more anxious to have emperors killed than to have them +live, but this is one thing I can not say in respect to myself, that any +one could either desire or pray that I should perish." At which Fulvius +Diogenianus exclaimed: "We have all prayed for it!" + +[Sidenote:--37--] The speaker was one of the ex-consuls, but not of very +sound mind, and consequently he caused himself as much exasperation as +he did other people. He also [lacuna] the subscription [lacuna] of +letter [lacuna] and to the [lacuna] leather it had been entrusted to +read [lacuna] and those [lacuna] and [lacuna] others and also [lacuna] +be sent [lacuna] directly as [lacuna] hesitating [lacuna] ordering +[lacuna] by the [lacuna] and both to others [lacuna] of foremost to the +[lacuna] any care for the common preserver [lacuna] over [lacuna] that +the False Antoninus finding in the chests of Macrinus not yet [lacuna] +he himself voluntarily [lacuna] published [lacuna] calumny [lacuna] +making with reference to the soldiers. And he marched so quickly against +him that Macrinus could with difficulty encounter him in a village of +the Antiochians one hundred and fifty stades distant from the city. +There, so far as the zeal of the Pretorians went, he had him conquered +(he had taken from them their breastplates scales and their grooved +shields and had thus rendered them lighter for the battle): but he was +beaten by his own cowardice, as Heaven had foreshown to him. For on that +day when his first letter about the imperial office was read to us a +pigeon had lighted upon an image of Severus (whose name he had applied +to himself) that stood in the senate-chamber. [And subsequently, when +the communication about his son was sent, we had convened, not at the +bidding of the consuls or the prætors (for they did not happen to be +present) but of the tribunes,--a practice which by this time had fallen +more or less into disuse. And he had not written even his name in the +preface of the letter, though he termed him Cæsar and emperor and +indicated that the contents emanated from them both. Also, in the +rehearsal of events, he mentioned the name Diadumenianus, but left out +that of Antoninus, though he had this title too. Such was the state of +these [Sidenote:--38--] affairs; and, by Jupiter, when he sent word +about the uprising of the False Antoninus, the consuls uttered certain +formulæ against him, as is regularly done under such circumstances, and +one of the prætors and another of the tribunes did the same. War was +declared and solemnly proclaimed against the usurper and his cousin and +their mothers and their grandmother, and immunity was granted to those +that had taken part in the uprising, in case they should submit, +according as Macrinus had promised them. For the conversation he had had +with the soldiers was read aloud.] As a result of this, we all condemned +still more strongly his abasement and folly. [For one thing] he was most +constantly calling himself "father" and Diadumenianus his "son," and he +kept holding up to reproach the age of the False Antoninus, though he +had designated as emperor his son, who was much younger. [Now in the +battle Gannys hurriedly took possession of the narrow place in front of +the village and disposed his soldiers in good order for warfare, +regardless of the fact that he was most inexperienced in military +matters. Of such surpassing importance is good fortune in comparison +with other qualifications, that it actually bestows understanding upon +the ignorant.] But his army made a very weak fight and the men would not +have stood their ground, had not Mæsa and Soæmias [for they were already +in the boy's retinue] leaped down from their vehicles and, rushing among +the fugitives, by their lamentations restrained them from flight, and +had not the lad himself been seen by them (by some divine disposition of +affairs) with drawn sword on horseback charging the enemy. Even so they +would have turned their backs again, had not Macrinus fled at sight of +their resistance. + +[Sidenote:--39--] The latter, having been thus defeated on the eighth of +June, sent his son in charge of Epagathus and some other attendants, to +Artabanus, king of the Parthians. He himself went to Antioch, giving out +that victory was his, to the end that he might be offered shelter there. +Then, when the news of his defeat became noised abroad, in the midst of +many consequent slaughters both along the roads and in the city, +springing from somebody's favoring the one side or the other, he made +his escape. From Antioch he proceeded by night, on horseback, with his +head and whole chin shaved, and attired in a dark garment worn over his +purple robe in order that he might, so far as possible, resemble an +ordinary citizen. In this way, with a few companions, he reached Ægæ in +Cilicia, and there, by pretending to be one of the soldiers that carried +messages, he got a wagon, on which he drove through Cappadocia and +Galatia and Bithynia as far as the shipyard of Eribolus, which is +opposite the city of Nicomedea. It was his intention to make his way +back to Rome, expecting that there he could gain some assistance from +the senate and from the people. And, if he had escaped thither, he would +certainly have accomplished something. For their disposition was +decidedly more favorable to him, in view of the hardihood of the +Syrians, the age of the False Antoninus, and the uncontrolledness of +Gannys and Comazon, so that even the soldiers would either +voluntarily [Footnote: Reading [Greek: 'hechhontast'] instead of +[Greek: thnhêschontast].] have changed their attitude or, refusing to do +so, would have been overpowered. As it turned out, however, if any one +recognized him in the course of his journey so far described, at least +no one ventured to lay hands on him: but he came to grief on his voyage +from Eribolus to Chalcedon. He did not dare to enter Nicomedea [through +fear of the governor of Bithynia, Cæcilius Aristo], and so he sent to +one of the procurators asking for money, and in this way he became +known. He was overtaken [while still] in Chalcedon and, on the arrival +of those sent by the False Antoninus in order that [lacuna] now if ever +[lacuna] he was arrested [by Aurelius Celsus, a centurion,] and taken to +Cappadocia [like a man held in no honor]. Ascertaining there that his +son had also been captured [(Claudius Pollio, the centurion of the +legion, had arrested him while driving through Zeugma, where, in the +course of a previous journey, he had been designated Cæsar)], he threw +himself from the conveyance (for he had not been bound) and at the time +suffered a fracture of his shoulder; but subsequently (though not a +great deal later) being sentenced to die before entering Antioch, he was +slain by Marcianus Taurus, a centurion, and his body remained unburied +until the False Antoninus could come from Syria into Bithynia and gloat +over it. + +[Sidenote:--40--] So Macrinus, when an old man,--for he was fifty-four +years of age [lacking three or five days],--and eminent in experience of +affairs, displaying some degree of excellence and commanding so many +legions, was overthrown by a mere child of whose very name he had +previously been ignorant,--even as the oracle had foretold to him; +[[lacuna]] for upon his applying [to Zeus Belus] it had answered him: + + "Old man, verily warriors young harass and exhaust thee: + Utterly spent is thy strength, and a grievious eld comes upon thee!" + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, VIII, verses 102-103.] + +And fleeing [lacuna] or [lacuna], having played part of runaway slave +through the provinces which he had ruled, arrested like some robber by +common officers, beholding himself with villains most dishonored +[lacuna] guarded before whom often many senators had been brought; and +_his_ death was ordered who had the authority to punish or to release +any Roman whomsoever, and he was arrested and beheaded by centurions, +when he had authority to put to death both them and others, inferior and +superior. And his son likewise perished. + +[Sidenote:--41--] This proves that no one, even of those whose +foundations seem unshakable, is sure of his position, but the exceeding +prosperous, equally with the rest, are poised in the balance. + +And this man would have been lauded beyond all mankind, if he had not +himself desired to become emperor, but had chosen some person enrolled +in the senate to stand at the head of the Roman empire and had +appointed him emperor; and only in this way could he have avoided blame +for the plot against Caracalla, for by such action he would have +demonstrated that he resorted to it to secure his own safety and not on +account of a desire for supremacy. Whereas, instead, he got himself into +disrepute and ruined his career, becoming subject to reproach, and +finally falling a victim to a disaster that he richly deserved. And +having grasped at sole sovereignty before he had even the title of +senator, he lost it very quickly and in the most disappointing way. He +had ruled only a year and two months, lacking three days (a result +obtained by reckoning to the date of the battle). + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +79 + + +Dio's Roman History 79:-- + +About Avitus, called also Pseudantoninus, and the slaughter that he +wrought (chapters 1-7). + +About his transgression of law and how he married the Vestal (chapters +8-10). + +About Eleogabalus [Footnote: It will be noted that the spelling of this +word in the Greek "arguments" of the MSS. differs from that in the +Greek text of the same.] and how he summoned Urania to Rome and united +her in bonds of wedlock with Eleogabalus (chapters 11-12). + +About his licentiousness (chapters 13-16). + +How he adopted his cousin and also renamed him Alexander (chapters 17, +18). + +How he was overthrown and slain (chapters 19-21). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +The remainder of the consulship of Macrinus and Adventus, together with +four additional years, in which there were the following magistrates, +here enumerated. Pseudantoninus (II) and Q. Tineius Sacerdos. (A.D. 219 += a.u. 972 = Second of Eleogabalus, from June 8th.) + +Pseudantoninus (III) and M. Valerius Comazon. (A.D. 220 = a.u. 973 = +Third of Elagabalus.) + +C. Vettius Gratus Sabinianus and M. Flavius Vitellius Seleucus. (A.D. +221 = a.u. 974 = Fourth of Elagabalus.) + +Pseudantoninus (IV) and M. Amelius Severus Alexander. (A.D. 222 = a.u. +975 = Fifth of Elagabalus to March 11th.) + + +(BOOK 80, BOISSEVAIN.) + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] [Sidenote:--1--] Now Avitus, alias +False Antoninus, alias Assyrian or again Sardanapalus and also Tiberinus +(he secured the last appellation after he had been slain and his body +thrown into the Tiber) [on the very next day after the victory entered +Antioch, first promising the soldiers attending him five hundred denarii +apiece on condition that they should not sack the town,--a thing which +they were very anxious to do. This amount he levied upon the people. And +he sent to Rome such a despatch as might have been expected, speaking +much evil of Macrinus, especially with reference to his low birth and +his plot against Antoninus. Here is a sample of what he said: "He who +was not permitted to enter even the senate-house after the proclamation +debarring everybody other than senators from doing so, this man, I say, +dared treacherously to murder the emperor whom he had been trusted to +guard, dared to appropriate his office and to become emperor before he +was senator." About himself he made many promises, not only to the +soldiers but also to the senate and the people. He asserted that he +should do everything without exception to emulate Augustus (to whose +youth he likened his own) and also Marcus Antoninus. Yes, and he wrote +also the following, alluding to the derogatory remarks made about him +by Macrinus: "He undertook to censure my age, when he himself appointed +a five-year old son." + +[Sidenote:--2--] Besides forwarding this communication to the senate, he +sent to the senate the records discovered among the soldiers and the +letters of Macrinus written, to Maximus, and sent them likewise to the +legions, hoping that these would cause them to hold the preceding +emperor's memory in greater detestation, and to feel greater affection +for him. In both the despatch to the senate and the letter to the people +he subscribed himself as emperor and Cæsar, son of Antoninus, grandson +of Severus, Pius, Felix, Augustus, proconsul, and holder of the +tribunician power, assuming these titles before they were voted,[lacuna] +the [lacuna] not the [lacuna] but the [lacuna] of [lacuna] +used [Footnote: Illegible MS.--Boissevain conjectures: "And he used not +the name of Avitus, but that of his father."] [lacuna] the records of +the soldiers [lacuna] for of Macrinus [lacuna] Cæsar [lacuna] Pretorians +and Alban legionaries who were in Italy [lacuna] and as consul should +proclaim [Footnote: "He sent another letter to the Pretorians and to the +Alban legionaries who were in Italy, in which he stated incidentally +that he was consul and high-priest." (Boissevain's conjecture.)] +[lacuna] and the [lacuna] Marius Censorinus [lacuna] superintendence +[lacuna] accepted [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] himself since not +sufficiently by his own voice [lacuna] public [lacuna] read [lacuna] the +letters of Sardanapalus [lacuna] registered among the ex-consuls and +gave him injunctions that if any one should resist him he should use the +band of soldiers. As a consequence, though against its will, it read +everything to those [lacuna] [Footnote: "Most of it Marius Censorinus, +who was their commandant, read aloud, but the news about Macrinus he +suppressed, because he thought that his single voice could not give it +sufficient publicity; at the same time, however, he took it upon himself +to have the letter of Sardanapalus read to the senate through the medium +of Claudius Pollio, who had been enrolled among the ex-consuls; thus, if +any opposition should develop, he would be in a position to use the band +of soldiers. As a consequence the senate, though against its will, read +everything to those enlisted." (Boissevain's conjecture.)] + +For, by reason of the necessity thrust upon them, they were not able to +do anything that they should or had better have done [lacuna] but were +panic-stricken by fear [lacuna] and Macrinus, whom they had often +commended, they voted should be regarded as a public enemy and they +abused him, together with his son; and Tarautas, whom they had often +wished to declare an enemy, they now exalted and of course prayed that +his son might be like him. + +[Sidenote:--3--] This was in Rome. And Avitus assigned [lacuna] Pollio +to govern [lacuna] Germany [lacuna] since the latter had very rapidly +reduced Bithynia to subjection. He himself, after sojourning some months +in Antioch until he had established his authority there in every +direction, went into Bithynia, coadjutor [lacuna] often [lacuna] making +Gannys, as had been his custom in the case of Antioch. + +Having passed the winter here he proceeded into Italy through Thrace and +Moesia and both the Pannonias, and there he abode to the end of his +life. One action of his was worthy of a thoroughly good emperor: for, +whereas many individuals and communities alike, + + including the Romans themselves, + both knights and senators, + +had privately and publicly, by word and deed, heaped insults upon [both +Caracalla and] himself as a result of the letters of Macrinus, he +[neither threatened to make reprisals] in the case of a single person, +nor did he make reprisals. But on the other hand he drifted into all the +most obscene and lawless and bloodthirsty practices. [Some of them never +before known in Rome, took root and grew like ancestral institutions. +Others, taken up tentatively from one time [Footnote: Reading [Greek: +allote] (Bekker, Dindorf) in place of [Greek: alla te].] to another by +various individuals] flourished for the three years and nine months and +four days during which he ruled (to compute from the battle in which he +gained supreme control). [In Syria, he caused the assassination of +Nestor and Fabius Agrippinus, the governor of the country, as well as of +the foremost knights belonging to the party of Macrinus; but he +inflicted a similar fate upon men in Rome who were on most friendly +terms with him. In Arabia, he executed Pica Cæsianus, [Footnote: _P. +Numicius Pica Cæsianus_.] entrusted with the administration, because he +had not immediately declared his allegiance; and, in Cyprus, Claudius +Attalus, because he had fallen out with Comazon. Attalus had once been +governor of Thrace, had been expelled from the senate by Severus in the +war with Niger, but was restored to it by Tarautas, and had at this time +been assigned to Cyprus, as the lot directed. He had incurred Comazon's +ill-will by having formerly reduced him to the position of rower in a +trireme as a punishment for some villany which the latter committed +while serving in Thrace.] + +[Sidenote:--4--] This incident sheds some light on the character of +Comazon, who got this name from mimes and buffoonery. [Footnote: This +statement is an error on the part of Xiphilinus, who thought that +"Comazon" (in Greek=The Reveler) was a nickname for a certain +Eutychianus. Investigations, however, show that there was a M. Valerius +Comazon prominent at this time and that the word should be taken as a +proper and not as a vulgar noun.] He commanded the Pretorians and, +though holding no position of management or superintendence whatever, +except over the camp, [he obtained the consular honors] and subsequently +actually became consul. [Also he became city prefect] not merely once, +but twice and thrice, as could be recorded in no other case. Wherefore +this, too, must be enumerated among the most illegal proceedings. [It +was on his account, then, that Attalus was put to death. + +Triccianus came to his end on account of the Alban legion, which he +commanded with good discipline during Macrinus's reign, and Castinus +[Footnote: _C. Iulius Septimius Castinus_.] because he was energetic and +was known to many soldiers in consequence of the commands he had held +and his association with Antoninus. He had accordingly been sent out in +advance by Macrinus without reference to other events and was living in +Bithynia. The emperor put him to death in spite of having written +concerning him to the senate that Triccianus had been banished from +Rome, like Julius Asper, by Macrinus, and that he had restored him. He +took similar vengeance on Sulla, who had been governing Cappadocia but +had relinquished it, because Sulla both meddled in some matters that did +not concern him and when summoned to Rome by Elagabalus had managed to +meet the Celtic soldiers returning home after their winter in Bithynia, +a period during which they had raised some little disturbance. These men +perished for the reasons specified and no statements about them were +communicated to the senate. Seius Carus, the descendant of Fuscianus, +who had been city prefect, was killed because he was rich, great, and +sensible, on the pretext that he was forming a league of some of the +soldiers belonging to the Alban legion; and, on the basis of some +charges preferred by the emperor alone, he was accused in the palace, +where he was also slain.] Valerianus Pætus lost his life because he had +stamped some likeness of himself upon gold pieces to serve as ornaments +for his mistresses. [This led to the accusation that he intended to +remove to Cappadocia, a country bordering on his own (he was a Gaul), +for the purpose of starting a revolution, and that this was why he made +gold pieces bearing his own figure. + +[Sidenote:--5--] On these charges] Silius Messala and Pomponius Bassus +[also were condemned to death by the senate: they] incurred blame +because they were not pleased with what he was doing. He did not +hesitate to write this statement about them to the senate, and called +them investigators of his habits of life and censors of proceedings in +the palace. ["The proofs of their plot I have not sent you," he said, +"because it would be useless to read them, in view of the fact that the +men are already dead."] There was another cause of dislike underlying +[the case against Messala,--the point, namely, that he sturdily made +public many facts in the senate. This was what led the emperor at the +outset to send for him to come to Syria, pretending to have very great +need of him, whereas his real fear was that Messala might bring about a +change of attitude on the part of the senators. + + +The cause in] the case of Bassus was that he had a wife both fair to +look upon and of noble rank; she was a descendant of Claudius Severus +and of Marcus Antoninus. Indeed, the prince married her, not allowing +her even to mourn the catastrophe. Now of his marriages, in which he +both married and was bestowed in marriage, an account will be given +presently. He appeared both as man and as woman, and performed the +functions of both in the most licentious fashion [lacuna] about [lacuna] +and [lacuna] by whom [lacuna] own [lacuna] Sergius [lacuna] and [lacuna] +out of [lacuna] any [lacuna] making [lacuna] him [lacuna] blame for +[lacuna] slaughter the [Sidenote:--6--] [lacuna] and of knights [lacuna] +Cæsarians [lacuna] [lacuna] were destroyed [lacuna] nothing [lacuna] but +by killing in Nicomedea at the very start of his reign Gannys, who had +arranged the uprising, who had introduced him into the camp and had +likewise caused [the soldiers to revolt, who had presented him with the +victory over Macrinus, one who had reared and managed him,--by this act +he came to be regarded as the most impious of men. To be sure, Gannys +was living rather luxuriously and was fond of accepting bribes, but for +all that he brought no injury upon anybody and bestowed many benefits +upon many people. Most of all, he always showed a deep respect for the +emperor, and he was thoroughly satisfactory to Mæsa and Soæmias, suiting +the former because she had brought him up and the latter because he +practically lived with her. But these were not the reasons why the +emperor put him out of the way, seeing that he was willing to give him a +marriage contract and appoint him Cæsar. It was rather that Gannys +compelled him to live temperately and prudently. And his own hand was +the first to give his minister a mortal blow, since no one of the +soldiers had the hardihood to take the initiative in his murder.--These +events, then, took place in this way. + +[Sidenote:--7--] [lacuna] Another pair executed were Verus, who had +likewise mustered courage to make an attempt upon the sovereignty while +in the midst of the third (Gallic) legion, which he was commanding; and +Gellius Maximus, on the same sort of charge, though he was lieutenant in +Syria proper and at the head of the fourth (Scythian) legion. For to +such an extent had everything got upside down, that these men, too, one +of whom had been enrolled in the senate from the ranks of the centurions +and the other of whom was the son of a physician, took it into their +heads to aim at the imperial office. I have mentioned them alone by +name, not so much because they were the only ones who appeared entirely +insane as because they belonged to the senate; for other attempts were +made. A certain centurion's son undertook to throw into disorder the +same Gallic legion, and another, a worker in wool, tampered with the +Fourth, and a third, a private citizen, with the fleet in harbor at +Cyzicus when the False Antoninus was wintering at Nicomedea. And there +were many others elsewhere, so that it became a very ordinary thing for +those who so wished to hazard the chance of fomenting rebellion and +becoming emperor. They were encouraged partly by the fact that many +persons had entered upon the supreme office without expecting or +deserving it. Let no one be incredulous of my statements, for the facts +about the private citizens I ascertained from men who are worthy of +confidence, and of what I have written about the fleet I gained an exact +knowledge in Pergamum, close at hand, the affairs of which, as also of +Smyrna, I managed, having been assigned to duty there by Macrinus. And +in view of this attempt none of the others seemed at all incredible to +me. + +[Sidenote:--8--] This is what he did in the way of murders. His acts +which varied from our ancestral precedents, however, were of simple +character and inflicted no great harm upon us. Some noteworthy +innovations were his applying to himself certain titles connected with +his sovereignty before they had been voted, as I have already described, +[Footnote: See Chapter 2.] and again his enrolling himself in the +consulship in place of Macrinus when he had not been elected to it and +did not enter upon any of its duties (the time expiring too soon): yet +at first, in three letters, he had referred to the year by the name of +Adventus, as if assuming that the latter had been sole consul. Other +points were that he undertook to be consul a second time, without having +secured any office previously or the privileges of any office, and that +while consul in Nicomedea he did not employ the triumphal costume on the +Day of Vows. [Footnote: Translated by Sturz "_votivorum ludorum die_." +What festival is meant is uncertain, but it is probably _not_ the +Compitalia (III. Non. Ian.). [Sidenote:--11--] With his infractions of +law is connected also the matter of Elagabalus. The offence consisted, +not in his introducing a foreign god into Rome, or in his exalting him +in very strange ways, but in his placing him before even Jupiter and +having himself voted his priest, in his circumcising his foreskin and +abstaining from swine's flesh [on the ground that his devotion would be +purer by this means. He had thought of cutting off his genitals +altogether, but that was an idea prompted by salaciousness; the +circumcision which he actually accomplished was a part of the priestly +requirements of Elagabalus. Hence he mutilated in like manner numerous +of his associates.] A further offence was his being frequently seen in +public clad in the barbaric dress which the Syrian priests employ, a +circumstance which had more to do than anything else with his getting +the name of "The Assyrian." + +[Sidenote:--12--] ¶ A golden statue of False Antoninus was erected, +distinguished by its great and varied adornment. + +¶ Macrinus, though he found considerable money in the treasury, +squandered it all, and incomes did not suffice for expenditures. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 219 (_a.u._ 972)] [Sidenote:--9--] As to his marriage. +He espoused Cornelia Paula in order that he might sooner (these are his +words) become a father,--he, who could not even be a man. On the +occasion of his marriage not only the senate and the equestrian order +but also the wives of the senators received some distribution of +presents. The people were given a banquet at the per capita rate of one +hundred and fifty denarii, and the soldiers had one that cost a hundred +more. There were contests of gladiators at which the prince wore a +purple-bordered toga, the same as he had done at the ludi votivi. +Various beasts were slain, among them an elephant and fifty-one tigers, +a greater number than had ever yet been despatched at one time. +Afterwards he dismissed Paula on the pretext that she had some blemish +on her person and cohabited with Aqulia Severa,--a most flagrant breach +of law. She was consecrated to Vesta and yet he most sinfully ravished +her and actually dared to say: "I did it in order that godlike children +may spring from me, the high-priest, and from her, the high-priestess." +He felicitated himself on an act which was destined to lead to his being +maltreated in the Forum and thrown into prison and subsequently put to +death. However, he did not keep even this woman for long, but married a +second, and then a third, and still another; after that he went back to +Severa. + +[Sidenote:--10--] Portents had been taking place in Rome, one of them on +the statue of Isis, which is borne upon a dog above the pediment of her +temple: it consisted in her turning her face towards the +interior.--Sardanapalus was conducting games and numerous spectacles, +in which Helix, the athlete, won renown. How far he surpassed his +adversaries is shown by his wishing to contend in both wrestling and +pancratium at Olympia, and by his winning victories in both at the +Capitolina. The Eleans, being jealous of him, and through fear that he +might prove the eighth from Hercules (as the saying is), [Footnote: +The history and significance of this proverb are not known.] would not +call any wrestler into the stadium, in spite of their having inscribed +this contest on the bulletin-board. But in Rome he won each of the two +games,--a feat that no one else had accomplished. + +[Sidenote:--11--] And here I must omit mention of the barbaric chants +which Sardanapalus chanted to Elagabalus, and his mother and +grandmother, all three, as also of the secret sacrifices that he offered +to him: at these he slaughtered boys, and used charms, besides shutting +up in the god's temple a live lion and monkey and snake, throwing in +among them human genitals, and practicing other unholy rites, while he +wore invariably innumerable amulets. [Sidenote:--12--] But to run +briefly over these matters, he actually (most ridiculous of all) courted +a wife for Elagabalus, on the assumption that the god wanted marriage +and children. Such a wife might be neither poor nor low-born, and so he +chose the Carthaginian Urania, summoned her to come thence, and +established her in the palace. He gathered wedding gifts for her from +all his subjects, as he might have done in the case of his own wives. +All these presents that were given during his lifetime were exacted +later, but in the way of dowry he declared that nothing should be +brought save the gold lions, which were melted down. + +[Sidenote:--13--] But this Sardanapalus, who thought it right to make +the gods cohabit under the form of marriage, himself lived from first to +last most licentiously. [He married many women] and had liaisons with +many more [without any lawful title], yet it was not that he cared about +them; he simply wanted to imitate their actions when he should lie with +his lovers [and get accomplices in his excesses by returning to them +indiscriminately]. He used his body for doing and allowing many unheard +of things which no one would endure telling or hearing, but his most +conspicuous acts, which it would be impossible to conceal, were the +following. He would go by night, wearing a wig of long hair, into the +taverns and ply the trade of a female huckster. He frequented the +notorious brothels, drove out the prostitutes, and prostituted himself. +Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his +indecencies, standing all the time naked at the door of it, as the +harlots do, and shaking the curtain, which was fastened by gold rings, +the while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by. +Certain persons had been given special orders to let themselves be +attracted to his abode. For, as in other matters, so in this business, +too, he had numerous detectives through whom he sought out the persons +who could please him most by their foulness. He would collect money from +his Patrons and put on airs over his gains: he would also dispute with +his associates in this shameful occupation, saying that he had more +lovers than they and took in more money. [Sidenote:--14--] This is the +way he behaved to all alike that enjoyed his services. But he had, +besides, one chosen man whom he accordingly desired to appoint Cæsar. + +Also, arrayed in the Green uniform, he drove a chariot privately and at +home,--if one can call that place home where contests were conducted by +the foremost of his suite [and knights and Cæsarians], the very +prefects, his grandmother, his mother, his women, and likewise several +members of the senate, including Leo, the præfectus urbi, and where they +watched him playing charioteer and begging gold coin like any vagabond, +and bowing down before the managers of the games and the members of the +factions. + +[Now in trying anybody in court he really did have the appearance of a +man, but everywhere else his actions and the quality of his voice showed +the wantonness of youth. For instance, he used to dance not only in the +orchestra but more or less also while walking, performing sacrifice, +greeting friends or making speeches. + +And finally (to go back now to the story which I began) he was bestowed +in marriage and was termed wife, mistress, queen. He worked in wool, +sometimes wore a hair-net, painted his eyes [daubing them with white +lead and alkanet], and once he shaved his chin and celebrated a festival +to mark the event. After that he went with smooth face, because it would +help him appear like a woman, and he often reclined while greeting the +senators. [Sidenote:--15--] "Her" husband was Hierocles, a Carian slave +[once the favorite of Gordius], from whom he had learned +chariot-driving. It was in this connection, also, that by a most +unexpected chance he won the imperial approbation. At a horse-race +Heirocles fell out of his chariot just opposite the seat of +Sardanapalus, losing his helmet in his fall. Being still beardless and +adorned with a crown of yellow hair, he attracted the attention of the +prince and was at once carried hastily to the palace; and by his +nocturnal feats he captivated Sardanapalus more than ever and rose to +still greater power. Consequently his influence became even greater than +his patron's and it was thought a small thing that his mother, while +still a slave, should be brought to Rome by soldiers and be numbered +among the wives of ex-consuls. Certain other persons, too, were not +seldom honored by the emperor and became powerful, some because they had +joined in his uprising and others because they committed adultery with +him. For he was anxious to have the reputation of committing adultery, +that in this respect, too, he might imitate the most lascivious women; +and he would often get caught voluntarily and in the very act. Then, for +his conduct, he would be brutally abused by his husband and would be +beaten, so that he had black eyes. His affection for this "husband" was +no light inclination, but a serious matter and a firmly fixed passion, +so much so that he did not become vexed at any such harsh treatment, but +on the contrary loved him the more for it and actually wished to appoint +him Cæsar;--he threatened his grandmother when she interfered, and +chiefly on this man's account he became at odds with the soldiers. It +was this that was destined to lead his destruction. + +[Sidenote:--16--] As for Aurelius Zoticus, a native of Smyrna, whom they +also called "Cook" (from his father's trade), he incurred the +sovereign's thorough love and thorough hatred, and consequently his life +was saved. This Aurelius had a body that was beautiful all over, as if +ready for a gymnastic contest, and he surpassed everybody in the size of +his private parts. The fact was reported to the emperor by those who +were on the lookout for such features and the man was suddenly snatched +away from the games and taken to Rome, accompanied by an immense +procession, larger than Abgarus had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates +in that of Nero. He was appointed cubicularius before he had been even +seen by the emperor, [was honored by the name of his grandfather, +Avitus, was adorned with garlands as at a festival,] and entered the +palace the center of a great glare of lights. Sardanapalus, on seeing +him, rose with modesty; the newcomer addressed him, as was usual, "My +Lord Emperor, hail!" whereupon the other, bending his neck so as to +assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes wide open upon +him, answered without hesitation: "Call me Not Lord, for I am a Lady." +Then Sardanapalus immediately took a bath with him, and, finding his +guest when stripped to correspond to the report of him, burned with even +greater lust, reposed upon his breast, and took dinner, like some loved +mistress, in his bosom. Hierocles began to fear that Zoticus would bring +the emperor into a greater state of subjection than he himself was able +to effect, and that he might suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as +often happens in the case of rival lovers. Therefore he had the +wine-bearers, who were well-disposed to him, administer some drug that +abated the visitor's ferocity. And so Zoticus after a whole night of +embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all +that he had obtained, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and +later out of the remainder of Italy; and this saved his life. [However, +the emperor drove himself to such a frenzy of lewdness that he asked the +physicians to contrive a woman's vagina in his person by means of an +incision, and held out to them the hope of great pay for this +achievement.] + +[Sidenote:--17--] Sardanapalus himself was destined not much later to +receive his well-deserved pay for his own defilement. For his acting in +this way and for making himself the object of these actions he became +hated by the populace and by the soldiers to whom he was most attached, +and at last he was slain by them in the very camp. + +¶The False Antoninus was despised and put out of the way by the +soldiers. When any persons, particularly if armed, have accustomed +themselves to feel contempt for their rulers, they set no limits on +their right to do what they please but keep their arms ready to use even +against the very man who gave them whatever rights they possess. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 221 (_a.u._ 974)] This is how it happened. He introduced +his cousin Bassianus before the senate, and, having stationed Mæsa and +Soæmias on either hand, adopted him as his child. Then did he +congratulate himself on being suddenly the father of so large a child +(as if he surpassed him in age) and declared that he needed no other +offspring to keep his house free from despondency. + +Elagabalus, he said, had ordered him to do this and further to call his +son's name Alexander. And I for my part am persuaded that it came about +in very truth by some divine intention, and I base my inference not upon +what he said but upon what was said to him by some one, viz., that an +Alexander would come from Emesa to succeed him, and again on what took +place in upper Moesia and in Thrace. [Sidenote:--18--] A little before +this a spirit, declaring that he was the famous Alexander of Macedon, +wearing his appearance and all his apparatus, started from the regions +near the Ister, appearing there in I know not what way. It traversed +Thrace and Asia, reveling in company with four hundred male attendants, +who were equipped with thyrsi and fawn-skins and did no harm. The fact +was admitted by all those who lived in Thrace at that time that lodgings +and all the provisions for It were provided at public expense. And no +one dared to oppose It either by word or by deed,--no governor, no +soldier, no procurator, no heads of provinces,--but It proceeded, as if +in a daylight procession prescribed by proclamation, to the confines of +Bithynia. Leaving that point, it approached the Chalcedonian land and +there, after performing some sacred rite by night and burying a wooden +horse, it vanished. These facts I ascertained while still in Asia, as I +stated, and before anything at all had been done about Bassianus in +Rome. + + ¶One day the same man said this: "I have no need of titles + derived, from war and blood. It suffices me to have you call me + 'Pious' and 'Fortunate'." + + ¶The False Antoninus on receiving praise from the senate one + day remarked: "Yes, you love me and, by Jupiter, so does the + populace and likewise the foreign legions. But I do not satisfy + the Pretorians, to whom I keep giving so much." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 222 (_a.u._ 975)] [Sidenote:--19--] So long as +Sardanapalus continued to love his cousin, he was safe. But, since he +was suspicious of all men, and learned that their favor was turning +solely and absolutely to the boy, he dared to change his mind and worked +in every way to effect his overthrow. + + ¶Some persons were conversing with the False Antoninus and + remarked how fortunate he was to be consul along with his son. He + rejoined: "I shall be more fortunate next year, for then I'm + going to be consul with my truly-begotten son." + +The moment, though, that he tried to destroy him, he not only +accomplished nothing but ran the risk of being killed himself. +Alexander was sedulously guarded by his mother and his grandmother and +the soldiers, and the Pretorians, on becoming aware of the attempt of +Sardanapalus, raised a terrible tumult. They would not cease their +rebellious attitude until Sardanapalus, with Alexander, visited the +camp; and he poured out his supplications and under compulsion gave up +such of his companions in lewdness as the soldiers demanded. In behalf +of Hierocles he pled piteously and lamented him with tears, foretelling +his own death, and adding: "Grant me this one man, whatever you are +pleased to suspect about him, or else kill me!" and thus with difficulty +he succeeded in appeasing them. On this occasion, then, he was saved, +though with difficulty. His grandmother hated him for his practices +(which seemed to show that he was not the son of Antoninus) and was +coming to favor Alexander, as being really sprung from him. + +[Sidenote:--20--] Later he again made a plot against Alexander and, as +the Pretorians raised an outcry at this, entered the camp with him. +Then, he became aware that he was under guard and awaiting execution, +for the mothers of the two, being more openly at variance with each +other than before, were stirring up the soldiers to action. He then made +an attempt to flee, and intended to escape to some point by being placed +in a box, but was discovered and slain, having reached eighteen years of +age. His mother, who embraced and clung tightly to him, perished with +him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped +naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the woman's trunk +was cast off in some corner, while his was thrown into the river. + +[Sidenote:--21--] With him perished Hierocles, and others, and the +prefects; and Aurelius Eubulus, who was an Emesenian by race [and had +gone so far in lewdness and defilement that his surrender had earlier +been demanded by the populace]. He had been entrusted with the general +accounts [Footnote: One of the _rationales summarum_.] and there was +nothing that escaped his confiscations. So now he was torn to pieces by +the populace and the soldiers, and Fulvius, the city prefect, with him. +Comazon succeeded the latter, as he had succeeded Fulvius's predecessor. +Just as a mask used to be carried into the theatres to occupy the stage +during the intervals in the acting, when it was left vacant by the +comedians, so was Comazon put in the vacant place of the men who had +been prefects in his day over the city of Rome.--As for +Elagabalus, [Footnote: Elagabalus, the god.] he was banished from Rome +altogether. + +Such was the story of Tiberinus: and none of those even who helped him +arrange the uprising and attained great power in return, save perhaps a +single individual, [Footnote: This probably refers to Comazon.] survived. + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +80 + + +Why Dio was not able to relate in detail the history of the reign of +Alexander (chapter 1). + +About Ulpian, Pretorian Prefect, and his death (chapter 2). + +Undertakings of Artaxerxes the Persian against the Parthians and Romans +(chapters 3, 4). + +Dio's second consulship, his return to his own country, and conclusion +of the History (chapter 5). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +Duration of time eight years, in which the following are enumerated as +consuls. + +Antoninus Elagabalus (IV), M. Aurelius Severus Alexander Coss. (A.D. 222 += a.u. 975 = First of Alexander, from March 11th.) + +L. Marius Maximus (II), L. Roscius Ælianus. (A.D. 223 = a.u. 976 = +Second of Alexander.) + +Iulianus (II), Crispinus. (A.D. 224 = a.u. 977 = Third of Alexander.) + +Fuscus (II), Dexter. (A.D. 225 = a.u. 978 = Fourth of Alexander.) + +Alexander Aug. (II), C. Marcellus Quintilianus (II). (A.D. 226 = a.u. +979 = Fifth of Alexander.) + +Lucius Albinus, Max. Æmilius Æmilianus. (A.D. 227 = a.u. 980 = Sixth of +Alexander.) + +T. Manilius Modestus, Ser. Calpurnius Probus. (A.D. 228 = a.u. 981 = +Seventh of Alexander.) + +Alexander Aug. (III), Cassius Dio (II). (A.D. 229 = a.u. 982 = Eighth +of Alexander.) + +[Sidenote: A.D. 222-229 (_a.u._ 975-982)] [Sidenote:--1--] Alexander +became emperor immediately after him [and at once proclaimed Augusta, +his own mother, Mammæa, who had in hand the administration of affairs +and gathered wise men about her son, that by their guidance he might be +duly trained in morals; and she chose out of the senate the better class +of counselors, to whom she communicated everything that had to be done]. +He entrusted to one Domitius Ulpianus the command of the Pretorians and +the remaining business of the empire.--These matters I have set down in +detail, so far as I was able, in each case, but of the rest I have not +found it feasible to give a detailed account, for the reason that for a +long time I did not sojourn in Rome. After going from Asia to Bithynia I +fell sick, and from there I hurried to my duties as head of Africa. On +returning to Italy I was almost immediately sent to govern in Dalmatia +and from there into Upper Pannonia. After that I came back to Rome and +on reaching Campania at once set out for home. + +[Sidenote:--2--] For these reasons, then, I have not been able to +compile an account of what follows similar to that which precedes. I +will narrate briefly, however, all the things that were done up to the +time of my second consulship. + +Ulpianus corrected many of the irregular practices instituted by +Sardanapalus; but, after putting to death Flavianus and Chrestus, that +he might succeed them, he was himself before long slain by the +Pretorians, who attacked him in the night; and it availed nothing that +ran to the palace and took refuge with the emperor himself and the +latter's mother.--Even during his lifetime a great dispute had arisen +between the populace and the Pretorians, from some small cause, with the +result that they fought each other for three days, and many were lost by +both sides. The soldiers, on getting the worst of it, directed their +efforts to firing the buildings, and so the populace, fearing that the +whole city would be destroyed, reluctantly came to terms with them. +Besides these occurrences, Epagathus, who was believed to have been +chiefly [Footnote: Reading [Greek: to pleon] (Reimar, Bekker, +Boissevain).] responsible for the death of Ulpianus, was sent into +Egypt, supposedly to govern it, but really to prevent any disturbance +taking place in Rome when he met with punishment. From there he was +taken to Crete and executed. [Alexander's mother, being a slave to +money, gathered funds from all sources. She also brought home for her +son a spouse, whom she would not allow to be addressed as Augusta. After +a time, however, she separated her from her son and drove her away to +Libya, in spite of the woman's possessing his affections. Alexander, +however, could not oppose his mother, for she ruled him absolutely.] + +[Sidenote:--3--] Many uprisings were made by many persons, some of which +caused serious alarm, but they were all checked. But affairs in +Mesopotamia were still more terrifying, and provoked in the hearts of +all, not merely the men of Rome but the rest of mankind, a fear that had +a truer foundation. Artaxerxes, a Persian, having conquered the +Parthians in three battles and killed their king, Artabanus, [made a +campaign against Hatra, which he endeavored to take as a base for +attacking the Romans. He did make a breach in the wall but, as he lost a +number of soldiers through an ambuscade, he transferred his position +into Media. Of this district, as also of Parthia, he acquired no small +portion, partly by force and partly by intimidation, and then] marched +against Armenia. Here he suffered a reverse at the hands of the natives, +some Medes, and the children of Artabanus, and either fled (as some say) +or (as others assert) retired to prepare a larger expedition. +[Sidenote:--4--] He accordingly became a source of fear to us; for he +was encamped with a large army over against not Mesopotamia only but +Syria also and boasted that he would win back everything that the +ancient Persians had once held, as far as the Grecian Sea. It was, he +said, his rightful inheritance from his forefathers. He was of no +particular account himself, but our military affairs are in such a +condition that some joined his cause and others refused to defend +themselves. The troops are so distinguished by wantonness, and +arrogance, and freedom from reproof, that those in Mesopotamia dared to +kill their commander, Flavius Heracleo, and the Pretorians found fault +with me before Ulpianus because I ruled the soldiers in Pannonia with a +strong hand; and they demanded my surrender, through fear that some one +might compel them to submit to a régime similar to that of the Pannonian +troops. + +[Sidenote:--5--] Alexander, however, paid no attention to them, but +promoted me in various ways, appointing me to be consul for the second +time, as his colleague, and taking upon himself personally the +responsibility of meeting the expenditures of my office. As the +malcontents evinced displeasure at this, he became afraid that they +might kill me if they saw me in the insignia of my office, and he bade +me spend the period of my consulship in Italy, somewhere outside of +Rome. Later, accordingly, I came both to Rome and to Campania to visit +him. After spending a few days in his company, during which the soldiers +saw me without offering to do me any harm, I started for home, being +released on account of the trouble with my feet. Consequently, I expect +to spend all the remainder of my life in my own country, as the Divine +Presence revealed to me most clearly at the time I was in Bithynia. +Once, in a dream there, I thought I saw myself commanded by it to write +at the close of my work the following verses: + + "Hector was led of Zeus far out of the range of the missiles, + Out of the dust and the slaying of men, out of blood and of uproar." + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XI, verses 163-4.] + + * * * * * + + + + +PRESERVED FROM BOOKS +PRECEDING No. 36. + + * * * * * + +(The "Fragments" of Dio.) + +[Frag. I] + + +1. Dio says: "I am anxious to write a history of all (that is worth +remembering) done by the Romans both at peace and in war, so as to have +nothing essential lacking, either of those matters or of others. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +2[lacuna] everything about them, so to speak, that has been written +by any persons, and I have put in my history not everything but what I +have selected. However, let no one entertain any suspicions (as has +happened in the case of some other writers), regarding the truth of it +merely because I have used elaborate diction to whatever extent the +subject matter permitted; for I have been anxious to be equally perfect +in both respects so far as was possible. I will begin at the point where +I have obtained the clearest accounts of what is reported to have taken +place in this land which we inhabit. + +This territory in which the city of Rome has been built" [Lacuna] +(Mai, p. 135.) + +[Frag. II] + +1. Ausonia, as Dio Cocceianus writes, is properly the land of the +Aurunci only, lying between the Campanians and Volsci along the +sea-coast. Many persons, however, thought that Ausonia extended even as +far as Latium, so that all of Italy was called from it Ausonia. (Isaac +Tzetzes on Lycophron, 44. and 615, 702.) + +2. Where now Chone is there was formerly a district called Oenotria, in +which Philoctetes settled after the sack of Troy as Dionysius and Dio +Cocceianus and all those who write the story of Rome relate. (Idem, v. +912.) + +3. ¶ About the Etruscans Dio says: "These facts about them required to +be written at this point in the narrative, and elsewhere something else +and later some still different fact will be told as occasion demands, in +whatever way the course of the history may chance to prepare the point +temporarily under discussion. Let this same explanation be sufficient +[Footnote: The MS. here has [Greek: ekontes] = "being (plural) +sufficient." I have adopted the reading [Greek: eketo], suggested by +Melber.] to cover also the remaining matters of importance. For I shall +recount to the best of my ability all the exploits of the Romans, but as +to the rest only what has a bearing on the Romans will be written." +(Mai, p. 136.) + +[Frag. III] + +1. Dio and Dionysius give the story of Cacus (Tzetzes, History, 5, +21). + +2. In this way the country was called Italy. Picus was the first king of +it, and after him his son Faunus, when Heracles came there with the rest +of the kine of Geryon. And he begat Latinus by the wife of Faunus, who +was king of the people there, and from him all were called Latins. In +the fifty-fifth year after Heracles this Æneas, subsequent to the +capture of Troy, came, as we have remarked, to Italy and the Latins. He +landed near Laurentum, called also Troy, near the River Numicius along +with his own son by Creusa, Ascanius or Ilus. There his followers ate +their tables, which were of parsley or of the harder portions of bread +loaves (they had no real tables), and likewise a white sow leaped from +his boat and running to the Alban mount, named from her, gave birth to a +litter of thirty, by which she indicated that in the thirtieth year his +children should get fuller possession of both land and sovereignty. As +he had heard of this beforehand from an oracle he ceased his +wanderings, sacrificed the sow, and prepared to found a city. Latinus +would not put up with him, but being defeated in war gave Æneas his +daughter Lavinia in marriage. Æneas then founded a city and called it +Lavinium. When Latinus and Thurnus, king of the Rutuli, perished in war +each at the other's hands, Æneas became king. After Æneas had been +killed in war at Laurentum by the same Rutuli and Mezentius the +Etruscan, and Lavinia the wife of Æneas was pregnant (of Silvius +[Footnote: Reimar thinks this word a later interpolation.]), Ascanius +the child of Creusa was king. He finally conquered Mezentius, who had +opposed him in war and had refused to receive his embassies but sought +to command all the dependents of Latinus for an annual tribute. When the +Latins had grown strong because of the arrival of the thirtieth year, +they scorned Lavinium and founded a second city named from the sow Alba +Longa, i. e. "long white,"--and likewise called the mountain there +Albanus. Only, the images from Troy turned back a second time to +Lavinium. + +After the death of Ascanius it was not Ascanius's son Iulus who became +king, but Æneas's son by Lavinia, Silvius,--or, according to some +Ascanius's son Silvius. Silvius again begat another Æneas, and he +Latinus, and he Capys. Capys had a child Tiberinus, whose son was +Amulius, whose son was Aventinus. + +So far regarding Alba and Albanians. The story of Rome follows. +Aventinus begat Numitor and Amulius. Numitor while king was driven out +by Amulius, who killed Numitor's son Ægestes in a hunting party and +made the sister of Ægestes, daughter of the aforesaid Numitor, Silvia +or Rhea Ilia, a priestess of Vesta, so that she might remain a virgin. +He stood in terror of an oracle which foretold his death at the hands +of the children of Numitor. For this reason he had killed Ægestes and +made the other a priestess of Vesta, that she might continue a virgin +and childless. But she while drawing water in Mars's grove conceived, +and bore Romulus and Remus. The daughter of Amulius by supplication +rescued her from being put to death, but the babes she gave to +Faustulus, a shepherd, husband of Laurentia, to expose in the vicinity +of the river Tiber. These the shepherd's wife took and reared up; for +it happened that she had about that time brought forth a still-born +infant. + +When Romulus and Remus were grown they kept flocks in the fields of +Amulius, but as they killed some of the shepherds of their grandfather +Numitor a watch was set for them. Remus being arrested, Romulus ran +and told Faustulus, and he ran to narrate everything to Numitor. +Finally Numitor recognized them to be his own daughter's children. +They with the assistance of many persons killed Amulius, and after +bestowing the kingdom of Alba on their grandfather Numitor themselves +made a beginning of founding Rome in the eighteenth year of Romulus's +life. Prior to this great Rome, which Romulus founded on the Palatine +mount about the dwelling of Faustulus, another Rome in the form of a +square had been founded by a Romulus and Remus older than these. + +(Is. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1232. Consequently Dio must have written +what is found in Zonaras 7, 3 [vol. II, p. 91, 7-10:]) "Romulus has +been described as eighteen years old when he joined in settling Rome. +He founded it around the dwelling of Faustulus. The place had been +named Palatium." + +3. I have related previously at some length the story how Æneas +founded Lavinium, though these ignorant persons say Rome. See how +_they_ tell the story. Æneas received an oracle to found the city on +the spot where his companions should devour their own tables. Now when +they came to Italy and were in want of tables they used loaves instead +of tables. Finally they ate also the tables--or the loaves. Æneas, +consequently, understanding the oracle founded there the Lavinian +city, even if the ignorant do say Rome. (Is. Tzetz. on Lycophr. 1250.) +(Cp. Frag. III, 4.) + +4. ¶Rome is part of the Latin country and the Latins have the same +name as Latinus, who is said to be the son of Odysseus and Circe, and +the Tiber, once called Albulus, received its change of name from the +fact that King Tiberius lost his life in it; this is proclaimed by +Dio's history among others. The Tiberius here meant by the history is +not the one subsequent to Augustus, but another who came earlier. He, +they say, died in battle and was carried away by the stream, and so +left his own name to the river. (Eustathius on Dionysius, 350.) + +5. Arceisius--Lærtes was a son of Arceisius who was so called either +from [Greek: arkeo arkeso] [Footnote: These are the first two principal +parts of a Greek verb meaning "to be sufficient."] as if he were able +merely to be sufficient ([Greek: eparkeo]), whence comes the epithet +[Greek: podarkaes] (sufficient with the feet) or else because an _arkos_ +or _arktos_ (bear) suckled him, just as some one else was suckled by a +horse or goat, and still others by a wolf, among whom were also the +Roman chiefs (according to Dio),--Remus, that is to say, and Romulus, +whom a wolf (lykaina) suckled, called by the Italians _lupa_; this name +has been aptly used metaphorically as a title for the _demi-monde_. +(Eustathius on the Odyssey, p. 1961, 13-16.) + +[Frag. IV] + +1. [Lacuna] [lacuna] (for it is not possible that one who is a mortal +should either foresee everything, or find a way to turn aside what is +destined to occur) children to punish his wrongdoing were born +[infinitive] of that maiden. [Footnote: I.e., Rhea Sylvia.] (Mai, p. +136.) + +2. ¶Romulus and Remus, by their quarrel together, made it plain that +some can bear dangers straight through life altogether more easily +than good fortune. (Mai, p. 136.) + +3. On Romulus and Remus Dionysius of Halicarnassus makes remarks in +his History, and so do Dio and Diodorus. (Scholia of Io. Tzetzes in +Exeg. Hom. II. p. 141, 20.) + +4. After they had set about the building of the city a dispute arose +between the brothers regarding the sovereignty and regarding the city, +and they got into a conflict in which Remus was killed. (Zonaras, 7, +3, vol. II, p-90, 7 sqq.) (Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +5. Whence also the custom arose that he who dared to cross the trench +of the camp otherwise than by the usual paths should be put to death. +(Zonaras, ib., p. 90, 16-18.) + + 6. They themselves [Footnote: The Cæninenses, Crustumini, and +Antemnates are meant (Bekker).--Compare Livy, I, 10, 11.] learned well +and taught others the lesson that those who take vengeance on others are +not certainly right merely because the others have previously done +wrong, and that those who make demands on stronger men do not +necessarily get them, but often lose the rest besides. (Mai, p. 136.) + +7. ¶Hersilia and the rest of the women of her kin on discovering them +one day drawn up in opposing ranks ran down from the Palatine with +their little children (children had already been born), and rushing +suddenly into the space between the armies aroused much pity by their +words and their actions. Looking now at the one side and now at the +other they cried: "Why, fathers, do you do this? Why, husbands, do you +do it? When will you stop fighting? When will you stop hating each +other? Make peace with your sons-in-law! Make peace with your +fathers-in-law! For Pan's sake spare your children, for Quirinus's +sake your grandchildren! Pity your daughters, pity your wives! For if +you refuse to make peace and some bolt of madness has fallen upon your +heads to drive you to frenzy, then kill at once us, the causes of +your contention, and slay at once the little children whom you hate, +that with no longer any name or bond of kinship between you you may +gain the greatest of evils--to slay the grandsires of your children +and the fathers of your grandchildren." As they said this they tore +open their garments and exposed their breasts and abdomens, while some +pressed themselves against the swords and others threw their children +against them. Moved by such sounds and sights the men began to weep, +so that they desisted from battle and came together for a conference +there, just as they were, in the _comitium_, which received its name +from this very event. (Mai, p. 137.) + +8. Tribous Trittys; or a third part. Romulus's heavy-armed men, three +thousand in number (as Dio tells us in the first book of his History), +were divided into three sections called _tribous_, i. e. trittyes, +which the Greeks also termed "tribes." Each trittys was separated into +ten _Curiæ_ or "thinking bodies"--_cura_ meaning thoughtfulness--and +the men who were appointed to each particular _curia_ came together +and thought out the business in hand. + +Among the Greeks the _curiae_ are called _phratriae_ and +_phatriae_--in other words _associations, brotherhoods unions, +guilds_--from the fact that men of the same _phratry phrased_ or +revealed to one another their own intentions without scruple or fear. +Hence fathers or kinsmen or teachers are _phrators_,--those who share +in the same _phratry_. But possibly it was derived from the Roman word +_frater_, which signifies "brother." (--Glossar. Nom. Labbaei.) + +9. (And he named the people _populus_.) Hence in the Law Books the +popular assembly has the name _popularia_. (Zonaras 7, 3 (vol. 11, p. +91, 17 and 18.) Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +10. She [i. e. Tarpeia] having come down for water was seized and +brought to Tatius, and was induced to betray the fathers. (Zonaras, +ib., p. 93, 15-17.) + +11. It is far better for them [senate-houses?] to be established anew +than having existed previously to be named over. (Mai, p. 137.) + +12. ¶Romulus assumed a rather harsh attitude toward the senate and +behaved toward it rather like a tyrant, and the hostages of the Veientes +he returned [Footnote: Mai supplies the missing verb.] on his own +responsibility and not by common consent, as was usually done. When he +perceived them vexed at this he made a number of unpleasant remarks, +and finally said: "I have chosen you, Fathers, not for the purpose of +your ruling me, but that I might give directions to you." (Mai, p. 138.) + +[What is said of Romulus in John of Antioch, Frag. 32 (Mueller) to +have been drawn from the extant books of Dio. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ +XIV.] + +13. Dio I: "Thus by nature, doubtless, mankind will not endure to be +ruled by what is similar and ordinary partly through jealousy, partly +through contempt of it." [Footnote: This is probably a remark in regard +to the quarrels of the Roman elders over the kingdom after the death of +Romulus.--Compare Livy. I, 17.] (--Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 15.) + +14. Dio in I: "What time he threw both body and soul into the balance, +encountering danger in your behalf." [Footnote: Perhaps a reference to +the father of Horatius defending his son, or even to Romulus.] (Ib. p. +165, 27.) + +[Frag. V] 1. Romulus had a crown and a sceptre with an eagle on the +top and a white cloak reaching to the feet striped with purple +embroideries from the shoulders to the feet: the name of the cloak was +toga, i. e. "covering," from _tegere_ the corresponding verb (this is +the word the Romans use for "cover") and a purple shoe which was +called _cothurnus_, as Cocceius says. (Io. Laur. Lydus, De Magis. +Reip. Rom. 1, pp. 20-22.) + +Therefore the words of Zonaras II, p. 96, 5, may be attributed to Dio: +"(Romulus) also used red sandals." + +2. "Shedding ashes from the hearth over the earth, they skillfully +traced the prophesies with this wand, as they gazed at the sun and +foretold the future. This wand Plutarch terms _lituos_, but _lituoi_ +is what Cocceianus Cassius Dio says." (Io. Tzetzes, Alleg. Iliadis 1, +28.) + +3. Numa dwelt on a hill called Quirinal, because he was a Sabine, but +he had his official residence in the Sacred Way and used to spend his +time near the temple of Vesta and sometimes even remained on the spot. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +4. For since he understood well that the majority of mankind hold in +contempt what is of like nature and consorts with them through a +feeling that it is no better than themselves, but cultivate what is +obscure and foreign as being superior, because they believe it divine, +he dedicated a certain lot of land to the Muses [lacuna] (Mai, p. 138.) + +5. ¶The gods, as guardians of peace and justice, must be pure of +murder; and not listen to or look at anything pertaining to divinity +in a cursory or neglectful manner, but must exist enjoying leisure +from other affairs and fixing their attention on the practice of piety +as the most important act.--Zonaras, 7, 5 (vol. II, p. 100). + +6. Dio, Book I: "This, then, is what Numa thought" (Bekker, Anecd. p. +158, 23.) + +7. Furthermore, also, that they became composed at that time through +their own efforts, and took the sacred oath; after which they +themselves continued at peace both with one another and with the +outside tribes throughout the entire reign of Numa, and they seemed to +have lighted upon him by divine guidance no less than in the case of +Romulus. Men who know Sabine history best declare that he was born on +the same day that Rome was founded. In this way, because of both them +the city quickly became strong and well adorned: for the one gave it +practice in warfare,--of necessity, since it was but newly +founded,--and the other taught it besides the art of peace, so that it +was equally distinguished in each of these two particulars. (Valesius, +p. 569.) + +8. Dio the Roman says that Janus, an ancient hero, because of his +entertainment of Saturn, received the knowledge of the future and of +the past, and that on this account he was represented with two faces +by the Romans. From him the month of January was named, and the +beginning of the year comes in the same month. (Cedrenus, Vol. 1, p. +295, 10, Bekker.) + +9. Book 1, Dio:--"For in some beginnings, when grasping at ends, the +costs that we endure are not unwelcome." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 161, 3.) + +10. (Numa) having lived for a period of three more than eighty years, +and having been king forty and three years.--Zonaras, 7, 5. (Cp. +Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +[Frag. VI] + +1. Dio, Book 2: "that their [Footnote: Probably refers to the people of +Alba.] reputation would stand in the way of their growth." (Bekker, +Anecd., p. 139, 12.) + +2. ¶Neither of the two [Tullus or Mettius] sanctioned the removal, but +both championed their own pretensions. For Tullus in view of the report +about Romulus and the power they possessed was elated and so was +Fufetius in view of the age of Alba and because it was the mother city +not only of the Romans themselves but of many others; and both felt no +little pride. For these reasons they withdrew from that dispute but +plunged into a new quarrel about the sovereignty: for they saw that it +was impossible [Footnote: Refers to the Romans.] to keep them free from +party feeling, dwelling with them in safety on fair terms; and this was +due to the inherent disposition of men to quarrel with their equals, and +to desire to rule others. Many claims also regarding this they preferred +against each other, to see if by any means the one party would +voluntarily concede either of the two favors to the other. They +accomplished nothing, but formed a compact to struggle in her behalf. + +(Mai, p. 139.) + +3. Dio, Book 2.--"and attacking them who expected no further danger." +(Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 15.) + +4. ¶Tullus was deemed most able against the enemy, but absolutely +despised and neglected religion until, during the recurrence of a +plague, he himself fell sick. Then, indeed, he paid the strictest +regard to all the gods, and furthermore established the Salii Collini. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +[Frag. VII] + +¶Marcius, comprehending how it is not sufficient for men who wish to +remain at peace to refrain from wrongdoing, and that refusing to +molest others, without active measures, is not a means of safety, but +the more one longs for it the more vulnerable does one become to the +mass of mankind, changed his course. He saw that a desire for quiet +was not a power for protection unless accompanied by equipment for +war: he perceived also that delight in freedom from foreign broils +very quickly and very easily ruined men who were unduly enthusiastic +over it. For this reason he thought that war was nobler and safer, +both as a preparation and as forethought, than was peace, and so +whatever he was unable to obtain from the Latins with their consent, +and without harming them, he took away against their will by means of +a military expedition. (Mai, p. 139.) + +[Frag. VIII] + +¶Tarquinius, by using wealth, knowledge, and great wit opportunely +everywhere, put Marcius in such a frame of mind than he was enrolled +by the latter among the patricians and among the senators, was often +appointed general and was entrusted with the guardianship of his +children and of the kingdom. He was no less agreeable to the rest, and +consequently ruled them with their consent. The reason was that while +he took all measures from which he might derive strength he did not +lose his head, but though among the foremost humbled himself. Any +laborious tasks he was willing to undertake openly in the place of +others, but in pleasure he willingly made way for others while he +himself obtained either nothing or but little, and that unnoticed. The +responsibility for what went well he laid upon any one sooner than +upon himself and placed the resulting advantages within the reach of +the public for whoever desired them, but more unsatisfactory issues he +never laid to the charge of any one else, nor attempted to divide the +blame. Besides, he favored all the friends of Marcius individually +both by deeds and by words. Money he spent without stint and was ready +to offer his services if any one wanted anything of him. He neither +said nor did anything mean against any one, and did not fall into +enmity with any one if he could help it. Furthermore, whatever +benefits he received from any persons he always exaggerated, but +unpleasant treatment he either did not notice at all or minimized it +and regarded it is of very slight importance: not only did he refuse +to take offensive measures in return, but he conferred kindnesses +until he won the man over entirely. This gained him a certain +reputation for cleverness, because he had mastered Marcius and all the +latter's followers, but through subsequent events he caused the +majority of men to be distrusted, either as being deceitful by nature +or as changing their views according to their own influence and +fortunes. (Valesius, p. 570.) + +[Frag. IX] + +Second Book of Dio: "As there was nothing in which they did not yield +him obedience." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 19.) + +[Frag. X] 1. Dio, Book 2.--"Because his brother did not cooperate +with him he secretly put him out of the way by poison through the +agency of his wife." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 17. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 9.) + +2. ¶Tarquinius, when he had equipped himself sufficiently to reign over +them even if they were unwilling, first arrested the most powerful +members of the senate and next some of the rest, and put to death many +publicly, when he could bring some real charge against them, and many +besides secretly, while some he banished. Not merely because some of +them loved Tullius more than him, nor because they had family, wealth, +intelligence, and displayed conspicuous bravery and distinguished wisdom +did he destroy them, out of jealousy and out of a suspicion likewise +that their dissimilarity of character must force them to hate him, the +while he defended himself against some and anticipated the attack of +others; no, he slew all his bosom friends who had exerted themselves to +help him get the kingship no less than the rest; for he thought that +impelled by the audacity and fondness for revolution through which they +had obtained dominion for him they might equally well give it to some +one else. So he made away with the best part of the senate and of the +knights and did not appoint to those orders any one at all in place of +the men who had been destroyed: he understood that he was hated by the +entire populace and was anxious to render the classes mentioned +extremely weak through paucity of men. Yes, he even undertook to abolish +the senate altogether, since he believed that every gathering of men and +especially of chosen persons who had some pretence of prestige from +antiquity, was most hostile to a tyrant. But as he was afraid that the +multitude or else his body-guards themselves, in their capacity as +citizens, might by reason of vexation at the change in government +revolt, he refrained from doing this openly, but effected it in a +conveniently outrageous way. He failed to introduce any new member into +the senate to make up the loss, and to those who were left he +communicated nothing of importance. He called the senators together not +to help him in the administration of any important business; no, this +very act was to give them a proof of their littleness, and thereby to +enable him to humiliate and show scorn for them. Most of his business he +carried on by himself or with the aid of his sons, in the first place to +the end that no one else should have any power, and secondly because he +shrank from publishing matters involving his own wrongdoing. He was +difficult of access and hard to accost, and showed such great +haughtiness and brutality toward all alike that he received the nickname +among them of "Proud." Among other decidedly tyrannical deeds of himself +and his children might be mentioned the fact that he once had some +citizens bound naked to some crosses in the Forum and before the +eyes of the citizens, and had them shamefully beaten to death with rods. +This punishment, invented by him at that time, has often been +inflicted. (Valesius, p. 573.) + +3. Dio in 2nd Book: "Publicly and by arrangement reviling his father +in many unusual ways on the ground that he was a tyrant and was +forsworn." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 155, 1.) + +4. The Sibyl about whom Lycophron is now speaking was the Cumæan, who +died in the time of Tarquin the Proud and left behind three or nine of +her prophetic books. Of these the Romans bought either one or three, +after the Sibyl's servant had destroyed the rest by fire because they +would not give her as much gold as she wanted. This they did later and +bought up either one that was left over or else three, and gave them to +Marcus Acilius to keep. Him they cast alive into the skin of an ox and +put to death because he had given them to be copied: but for the book or +books they dug a hole in the Forum and buried them along with a chest. +(Ioannes Tzetzes, scholia on Lycophr. 1279.) + +5. ¶Lucius Junius, a son of Tarquinius's sister, in terror after the +king had killed his father and had moreover taken his property away +from him feigned madness, to the end that he might possibly survive. +For he well understood that every person possessed of sense, +especially when he is of a distinguished family, becomes an object of +suspicion to tyrants. And when once he had started on this plan he +acted it out with great precision, and for that reason was called +Brutus. This is the name that the Latins gave to idiots. Sent along +with Titus and Arruns as if he were a kind of plaything he carried a +staff as a votive offering, he said, to the gods, though it had no +great value so far as anyone could see. (Mai, p. 139.) + +6. Dio in Book 2: "After that he was found in the Pythian god's +temple." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 21.) + +7. ¶They made sport of the gift [i. e. the staff] of Brutus, and when to +the enquiry of the ambassadors as to who should succeed to the kingdom +of their father the oracle replied that the first to kiss his mother +should hold dominion over the Romans, he kissed the earth, pretending to +have fallen down by accident, for he regarded her as the mother of all +mankind. (Mai, p. 140.) + +8. ¶Brutus overthrew the Tarquins for the following reason. During the +siege of Ardea the children of Tarquin were one day dining with Brutus +and Collatinus, since these two were of their own age and relatives; +and they fell into a discussion and finally into a dispute about the +virtue of their wives,--each one giving the preference to his own +spouse. And, as all the women happened to be absent from the camp, +they decided straightaway that night, before they could be announced, +to take horse and ride away to all of them simultaneously. This they +did, and found all engaged in a carousal except Lucretia, wife of +Collatinus, whom they discovered at work on wool. This fact about her +becoming noised abroad led Sextus to desire to outrage her. Perchance +he even felt some love for her, since she was of surpassing beauty; +still it was rather her reputation than her body that he desired to +ruin. He watched for an opportunity when Collatinus was among the +Rutuli, hurried to Collatia, and coming by night to her house as that +of a kinswoman obtained both food and lodging. At first he tried to +persuade her to grant her favors to him, but as he could not succeed +he attempted force. When he found he could make no progress by this +means either, he devised a plan by which in the most unexpected way he +compelled her to submit voluntarily to be debauched. To his +declaration that he would cut her throat she paid no attention, and +his statement that he would make away with one of the servants she +listened to in contempt. When, however, he threatened to lay the body +of the servant beside her and spread the report that he had found them +sleeping together and killed them he was no longer to be resisted: and +she, fearing it might be believed that this had so happened, chose to +yield to him and die after giving an account of the affair rather than +lose her good name in perishing at once. For this reason she did not +refuse to commit adultery, but afterward she made ready a dagger +beneath the pillow and sent for her husband and her father. As soon as +they had come she shed many tears, then spoke with a sigh: "Father, I +utter your name because I have disgraced it less than my husband's. +It is no honorable deed I have done this last night, but Sextus forced +me, threatening to kill me and a slave together and pretend he had +found me sleeping with the man. This threat compelled me to sin, to +prevent you from believing that such a thing had taken place. And I, +because I am a woman, will treat my case as becomes me: but do you, if +you are men and care for your wives and for your children, avenge me, +free yourselves, and show the tyrants what manner of creatures you are +and what manner of woman they have outraged." Having spoken to this +effect she did not wait for any reply but immediately drawing the +dagger from its hiding place stabbed herself. (Valesius, p. 574.) + +9. Dio, Second Book: "And he [Footnote: Van Herweiden's reading is the +one adopted in this doubtful passage.] went outside of Roman territory +making frequent trials of neighboring peoples." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, +25.) + +1. ¶All crowds of people judge measures according to the men who +direct them, and of whatever sort they ascertain the men to be, they +believe that the measures are of the same sort. (Mai, p. 140.) + +[Frag. XI] + +2. Every one prefers the untried to the well known, attaching great +hope to the uncertain in comparison with what has already gained his +hatred. (Ib.) + +3. All changes are very dangerous, and especially do those in +governments work the greatest and most numerous evils to both +individuals and state. Sensible men, therefore, decide to remain under +the same forms continually, even if they be not very good, rather than +by changing to have now one, now another, and be continually +wandering. (Ib.) + +4. Dio, 2nd Book: "When he had learned this he accordingly both came +to them the following day [lacuna]" (Bekker, Anecd., p. 178, 20.) + +5. In 3rd Book of Dio: "Whose father also ruled you blamelessly." +(Ib., p. 120, 24.) + +6. Dio's 3rd Book: "Of the fact that he loves you, you could get no +greater proof than his eagerness to live in your midst and his action +in having his possessions long since brought here." (Ib., p. 139, 26, +and p. 164, 28.) + +7. Dio's 3rd Book: "How would it pay any one to do this?" (Ib, p. +155,14.) + +8. Dio's 3rd Book: "As Romulus also enjoined upon us." (Ib., p. 139, +29.) + +9. ¶Every person comes to possess wishes and desires according to his +fortune and whatever his circumstances be, of like nature are also the +opinions he acquires. (Mai, p. 141.) + +10. ¶The business of kingship, more than any other, demands not merely +virtue, but also great understanding and intelligence, and it is not +possible without these qualities for the man who takes hold of it to +show moderation. Many, for example, as if raised unexpectedly to some +great height, have not endured their elevation, but startled from +their senses have fallen and made failures of themselves and have +shattered all the interests of their subjects. (Mai, ib.) + +11. With regard to the future form a judgment from what they have +done, but do not be deceived by what they as suppliants falsely +pretend. Unholy deeds proceed in every case from a man's real purpose, +but any one may concoct creditable phrases. Hence judge from what a +man has done, not from what he says he will do. (Mai, ib.) + +12. 3rd Book of Dio: "It is done not merely by the actual men who rule +them, but also by those who share the power with those rulers." +(Bekker, Anecd. p.130, 23, and p.164, 32.) + +In the preceding fragment we have, apparently, some comment of Dio +himself on the change in the Roman government (from monarchy to +republic) together with scraps of two speeches,--namely, that of the +envoys of Tarquinius to the Roman people, and that of Brutus in reply. + +[Frag. XII] + +1. ¶Valerius, the colleague of Brutus, although he had proved himself +the most democratic of men came near being murdered in short order by +the multitude: they suspected him, in fact, of being eager to become +sole sovereign. They would have slain him, indeed, had he not quickly +anticipated their action by courting their favor. He entered the +assembly and bent the rods which he had formerly used straight, and +took away the surrounding axes that were bound in with them. After he +had in this way assumed an attitude of humility, he kept a sad +countenance for some time and shed tears: and when he at last managed +to utter a sound, he spoke in a low fearful voice with a suggestion of +a quaver. [The general subject is speechmaking.] (Mai, p. 141.) + +2. On account of whom (plur.) also [Collatinus] was enraged. +Consequently Brutus so incited the populace against him that they came +near slaying him on the spot. They did not quite do this, however, but +compelled him to resign without delay. They chose as colleague to the +consul in his place Publius Valerius, who had the additional title of +Poplicola. This appellation translated into Greek signifies "friend of +the people" or "most democratic." (Zonaras, 7, 12. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ +XIV.) + +[Frag. XIII] + +¶The temple of Jupiter was dedicated by Horatius, as determined by +lot, although Valerius made the declaration that his son was dead, and +arranged to have this news brought to him during the very performance +of his sacred office, with the purpose that Horatius under the blow of +the misfortune and because in general it was impious for any one in +grief to fulfill the duties of priest, should yield to him the +dedication of the structure. The other did not refuse credence to the +report--for it was noised abroad by many trustworthy persons--yet he +did not surrender his ministry: on the contrary, after bidding some +men to leave unburied the body of his son, as if it were a stranger's, +in order that he might seem unconcerned regarding the rites due to it, +he then performed all the necessary ceremonies. (Valesius, p.577.) + +[Frag. XIV] + +1. (Tarquinius continued to supplicate Klara Porsina.) (Zonaras, 7, +12. Cp. Tzetz. Hist. 6, 201. Plutarch, Poplic. 16, has "Lara +Porsina.") + +2. Dio in 4th Book: "But they overran the Roman territory and harried +everything up to the wall." (Bekker, Anecd. p.152, 3 and 1.) 3. +Larta Porsenna, an Etruscan, or, perhaps, Klara Porsenna, was +proceeding against Rome with a great army. But Mucius, a noble Roman +soldier, after equipping himself in arms and dress of Etruscans then +started to spy upon them, wishing to kill Porsenna. Beside the latter +at that time was sitting his secretary, who in the Etruscan tongue was +called Clusinus; and Mucius, doubtful which might be the king, killed +Clusinus instead of the king. The man was arrested, and when Porsenna +asked him: "Why in the world did you do this thing? What injury had +you received from him?" the other cried out: "I happen to be not +Etruscan but Roman; and three hundred others of like mind with me who +are now hunting thee to slay thee." This he had spoken falsely; and, +with his right hand thrust into the fire, he gazed on Porsenna as +though another were suffering: and when the prince enquired: "Why do +you look fixedly upon us?" he said: "Reflecting how I erred in failing +to slay thee and in thy stead killed one whom I thought Porsenna." And +when Porsenna exclaimed: "You shall now become my friend!" Mucius +rejoined: "If thou becom'st a Roman." Porsenna admiring the man for +his uprightness becomes a friend to the Romans and checks the tide of +battle. (Tzetzes, Chiliades, VI, 201-223.) + +(Cp. Scholia on John Tzetzes's Letters in Cramer's Anecd. Oxon., vol. +III, p.360, 30: "Clusinus was the name of Porsenna's secretary, +according to what Dio says"; and Zonaras, 7, 12: "Drawing his sword he +killed his secretary, who was sitting beside him and was similarly +arrayed.") + +4. Dio's 4th Book: "And he [Footnote: Porsenna.] presented to the maiden +[Footnote: Clælia] both arms (or so some say) and a horse." (Bekker, +Anecd. p.133, 8.) + +5. After this the Tarquins endeavored on several occasions, by forming +alliances with tribes bordering on Roman dominions, to recover the +kingdom; but they were all destroyed in the battles save the sire, +who, moreover, was called Superbus (or, as a Greek would say, Proud). +Subsequently he found his way to Cyme of Opicia and there died. Thus +the careers of the Tarquins reached a conclusion. And after their +expulsion from the kingdom consuls, as has been stated, were chosen by +the Romans. One of these was Publius Valerius, who became consul four +times,--the one to whom also the name Poplicola was applied. (Zonaras +7, 12 sq. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +6. And the management of the funds they assigned to others in order +that the men holding the consular office might not possess the great +influence that would spring from their having the revenues in their +power. Now for the first time "stewards" began to be created and they +called them _quæstors_. These in the first place tried capital cases, +from which fact they have obtained this title,--on account of their +_questionings_ and on account of their search for truth as the result +of _questionings_. But later they acquired also management of the +public funds and received the additional name of Stewards ([Greek: +tamiai]). After a time the courts were delivered over to different +persons, while these officials were managers of the funds. (Zonaras 7, +13. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_, XIV.) + +7. Dio's 4th Book: "And they provided them [Footnote: Probably a +reference to the quæstors.] with separate titles besides in general +making very different provision for them in the different cases." +(Bekker, Anecd. p.133, 16.) + +8. Dio in 5th Book: "The lords filling them with hope on certain +points." (Ib. p.140, 10.) + +9. Dio in 5th Book: "With this accordingly he honored him." (Ib. +p.175, 19.) + +[Frag. XV] + +¶To a large extent success consists in planning secretly, acting at the +opportune moment, following one's own counsel somewhat, and in having no +chance to fall back upon any one else, but being obliged to take upon +one's self the responsibility for the issue, however it turns out. +[Footnote: Fragment XV may perhaps be a comment on dictatorships.] +(Mai, p.142.) + +[Frag. XVI] + +1. They had recourse to civil strife. And the reason is plain. Those +whose money gave them influence desired to surpass their inferiors in +all respects as though they were their sovereigns, and the weaker +citizens, sure of their own equal rights, were unwilling to obey them +even in some small point. The one class, insatiate of freedom, sought +to enjoy the property of the other; and this other, uncontrolled in +its pride of place, to enjoy the fruits of the former's labors. So it +was that they sundered their former relations, wherein they were wont +harmoniously to assist each other with mutual profit, and no longer +made distinctions between foreign and native races. Indeed, both +disdained moderation, and the one class set its heart upon an extreme +of dominion, the other upon an extreme of resistance to voluntary +servitude; consequently they missed the results accomplished by their +previous allied efforts and inflicted many striking injuries, partly +in defence against each other's movements and partly by way of +anticipating them. More than all the rest of mankind they were at +variance save in the midst of particularly threatening dangers that +they incurred in the course of successive wars,--wars due chiefly to +their own dissensions; and for the sake of the respite many prominent +men on several occasions brought on these conflicts purposely. This, +then, was the beginning of their suffering more harm from each other +than from outside nations. And the complexion of their difficulties +inspires me to pronounce that it was impossible that they should be +deprived of either their power or their sway, unless they should lose +it through their own contentions. (Mai, ib.) + +2. They were especially irritated that the senators were not of the +same mind after obtaining something from them as they were while +requesting it, but after making them numbers of great promises while +in the midst of danger failed to perform the slightest one of them +when safety had been secured. (Mai, p.143.) + +3. So to the end that they might not fight in a compact mass, but each +division struggle separately for its own position and so become easier +to handle, they divided the army. [Footnote: Cp. Livy, II, 30.] (Ib.) + +4. ¶The populace, as soon as Valerius the dictator became a private +citizen, began a most bitter contest, going so far even as to overturn +the government. The well-to-do classes insisted, in the case of debts, +upon the very letter of the agreement, refusing to abate one iota of +it, and so they both failed to secure its fulfillment and came to be +deprived of many other advantages; they had failed to recognize the +fact that an extreme of poverty is the heaviest of curses and that the +desperation which results from it is, especially if shared by a large +number of persons, very difficult to combat. This is why not a few +politicians voluntarily choose the course which is expedient in +preference to that which is absolutely just. Justice is often worsted +in an encounter with human nature and sometimes suffers total +extinction, whereas expediency, by parting with a mere fragment of +justice, preserves the greater portion of it intact. + +Now the cause of most of the troubles that the Romans had lay in the +unyielding attitude adopted by the more powerful class toward its +inferiors. Many remedies were afforded them against delays in payment +of debts, one of which was that in case it happened that several +persons had been lending to anybody, they had authority to divide his +body piecemeal according to the proportionate amounts that he was +owing. Yet, however much this principle had been declared legal, still +it had surely never been put into practice. For how could a nation +have proceeded to such lengths of cruelty when it frequently granted +to those convicted of some crime a refuge for their preservation and +allowed such as were thrust from the cliffs of the Capitoline to live +in case they should survive the experience? (Mai, p.143. Cp. Zonaras. +7, 14.) + +5. ¶Those who were owing debts took possession of a certain hill and +having placed one Gaius at their head proceeded to secure their food +from the country as from hostile territory, thereby demonstrating that +the laws were weaker than arms, and justice than their desperation. +The senators being in terror both that this party might become more +estranged and that the neighboring tribes in view of the crisis might +join in an attack upon them proposed terms to the rebels offering +everything that they hoped might please them. The seceders at first +were for brazening it out, but were brought to reason in a remarkable +way. When they kept up a series of disorderly shouts, Agrippa, one of +the envoys, begged them to hearken to a fable and having obtained +their consent spoke as follows. Once all the Members of Man began a +contention against the Belly, saying that they worked and toiled +without food or drink, being at the beck and call of the Belly in +everything, whereas it endured no labor and alone got its fill of +nourishment. And finally they voted that the Hands should no longer +convey aught to the Mouth nor the latter receive anything, to the end +that the Belly might so far as possible come to lack both food and +drink and so perish. Now when this measure was determined and put into +execution, at first the entire body began to wither away and next it +collapsed and gave out. Accordingly, the members through their own +evil state grew conscious that the Belly was the salvation of them and +restored to it its nourishment. + +On hearing this the multitude comprehended that the abundance of the +prosperous also supports the condition of the poor; therefore they +showed greater mildness and accepted a reconciliation on being granted +a release from their debts and from seizures therefor. This then, was +voted by the senate. (Mai, p.144. Cp. Zonaras 7, 14.) The account of +John of Antioch, frag. 46 (Müller, fr. hist gr. IV, p.556) regarding +this secession of the plebs seems to have been taken from intact books +of Dio. (Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV, p.44, note 1; also G. Sotiriadis, +Zur Kritik des Johannes von Antiochia, Supplem. annal. philol. vol. +XVI, p.50.) + +6. And it seemed to be most inconsistent with human conditions, and to +many others also, some willingly, some unwillingly [lacuna] + +¶Whenever many men gathered in a compact body seek their own +advantage by violence, for the time being they have some equitable +agreement and display boldness, but later they become separated and +are punished on various pretexts. (Mai, p.146. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 15.) + +7. Through the tendency, natural to most persons, to differ with their +fellows in office (it is always difficult for a number of men to +attain harmony, especially in a position of any influence)--through +this natural tendency, then, all their power was dissipated and torn +to shreds. None of their resolutions was valid in case even one of +them opposed it. They had originally received their office for no +other purpose than to resist such as were oppressing their +fellow-citizens, and thus he who tried to prevent any measure from +being carried into effect was sure to prove stronger than those who +supported it. (Mai, ib. Cp. Zonaras 7, 15.) + +[Frag. XVII] + +1. For it is not easy for a man either to be strong at all points or +to possess excellence in both departments,--war and peace,--at once. +Those who are physically strong are, as a rule, weak-minded and +success that has come in unstinted measure generally does not +luxuriate equally well everywhere. This explains why after having +first been exalted by the citizens to the foremost rank he was not +much later exiled by them, and how it was that after making the city +of the Volsci a slave to his country he with their aid brought his own +land in turn into an extremity of danger. (Mai, p. 146. Cp. Zonaras +7,16.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 491 (_a.u._ 263)] 2. ¶The same man wished to be made +prætor, and upon failing to secure the office became angry at the +populace; and in his displeasure at the great influence of the tribunes +he employed greater frankness in speaking to that body than was +attempted by others whose deeds entitled them to the same rank as +himself. A severe famine occurring at the same time that a town Norba +needed colonizing, the multitude censured the powerful classes on both +these points, maintaining that they were being deprived of food and were +being purposely delivered into the hands of enemies for manifest +destruction. Whenever persons come to suspect each other, they take +amiss everything even that is done in their behalf, and yield wholly to +their belligerent instincts. Coriolanus had invariably evinced contempt +for the people, and after grain had been brought in from many sources +(most of it sent as a gift from princes in Sicily) he would not allow +them to receive allotments of it as they were petitioning. Accordingly, +the tribunes, whose functions he was especially eager to abolish, +brought him to trial before the populace on a charge of aiming at +tyranny and drove him into exile. It availed nothing that all his peers +exclaimed and expressed their consternation at the fact that tribunes +dared to pass such sentences upon _their_ order. So on being expelled he +betook himself, raging at his treatment, to the Volsci, though they had +been his bitterest foes. His valor, of which they had had a taste, and +the wrath that he cherished toward his fellow-citizens gave him reason +to expect that they would receive him gladly, since they might hope, +thanks to him, to inflict upon the Romans injuries equal to what they +had endured, or even greater. When one has suffered particular damage at +the hands of any party, one is strongly inclined to believe in the +possibility of benefit from the same party in case it is willing and +also able to confer favors. (Mai, p.147. Cp. Zonaras 7, 16.) 3. For he +was very angry that they, who were incurring danger for their own +country would not even under these conditions withdraw from the +possessions of others. When, accordingly, this news also was brought, +the men did not cease any the more from factional strife. They were, +indeed, so bitterly at variance that they could be reconciled not even +by dangers. But the women, Volumnia the wife of Coriolanus and Veturia +his mother, gathering a company of the other most eminent ladies visited +him in camp and took his children with them; and they caused him to end +the war not only without requiring the submission of the country, but +without even demanding restoration from exile. For he admitted them at +once as soon as he learned they were there, and granted them a +conversation, the course of which was as follows. While the rest wept +without speaking Veturia began: "Why are you surprised, my child? Why +are you startled? We are not deserters, but the country has sent to you, +if you should yield, your mother and wife and children, if otherwise, +your spoil; hence, if even now you still are angry, kill us first. Why +do you weep? Why turn away? Can you fail to know how we have just ceased +lamenting the affairs of state, in order that we might see you? Be +reconciled to us, then, and retain no longer your anger against your +citizens, friends, temples, tombs; do not come rushing down into the +city with hostile wrath nor take by storm your native land in which you +were born, were reared, and became Coriolanus, bearer of this great +name. Yield to me, my child, and send me not hence without result, +unless you would see me dead by own hand." + +At the end of this speech she sighed aloud, and tearing open her +clothing showed her breasts, and touching her abdomen exclaimed: "See, +my child, this brought you forth, these reared you up." When she had +said this, his wife and the children and the rest of the women joined +in the lament, so that he too was cast into grief. Recovering himself +at length with difficulty he embraced his mother and at the same time +kissing her replied: "Mother, I yield to you. Yours is the victory, +and let the other men, too, bestow their gratitude for this upon you. +For I can not endure even to see them, who after receiving such great +benefits at hands have treated me in such a way. Hence I never even +enter the city. Do you keep the country instead of me, since you have +so wished it, and I will take myself out of the way of you all." + +Having spoken thus he withdrew. For through fear of the multitude and +shame before his peers, in that he had made an expedition against them +at all he would not accept even the safe return offered him, but +retired among the Volsci, and there, either as the result of a plot or +from old age, died. (Mai, p.148. Zonaras, 7, 16. Cp. John Tzetzes, +Letters, 6, p.9, 16.) + +4. Dio Cocceianus himself and numberless others who have set forth the +deeds of the Romans, tell the story of this Marcus Coriolanus. This +Marcus, as he was formerly called and later Gnæus, had along with +these the name of Coriolanus. When the Romans were warring against the +city of Coriolanus [_sic_], and had all turned to flight at full +speed, the man himself turned toward the hostile city and finding it +open alone set fire to it. As the flames rose brilliantly he mounted +his horse and with great force fell upon the rear of the barbarians, +who were bringing headlong flight upon the Romans. They wheeled about +and when they saw the fire consuming the city, thinking it was sacked +they fled in another direction. He, having saved the Romans and sacked +the city, which we have already said was called Coriolanus, received, +in addition to his former names Marcus and Gnæus, the title of +Coriolanus, from the rout. But (the usual treatment that jealousy +accords to benefactors) after a little in the course of reflections +they fine the man. The man excessively afflicted with most just wrath +leaves his wife, his mother, and his country, and goes to the Corioli, +and they receive the man. Then after that they arrayed themselves +against the Romans. And had not his spouse and mother at the breaking +out of that war run and torn apart their tunics and stood about him +naked,--Veturia and Volumnia were their names,--and checked him with +difficulty from the battle against the Romans, Rome would have made a +resolve to honor benefactors. But brought to a halt by the prayers of +his mother and of his spouse he stopped the war against the Romans, +and he himself leaving behind the Corioli and the Romans hurried to +another land, smitten by sorrow. (Tzetzes, Hist. 6, 527-560. Cp. +Haupt, _Hermes_, XIV.) + +5. I pass over mention of the noble Marcus Coriolanus, and with Marcus +himself also Marcus Corvinus; of whom the one, having sacked unaided a +city named Coriolanus and burned it down, although the entire army of +the Romans had been routed, was called Coriolanus, though otherwise +termed Marcus. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, 856-861.) + +[Frag. XVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 486 (_a.u._ 268)] Cassius after benefiting the Romans +was put to death by that very people. So that thereby it is made plain +that there is no element deserving confidence in multitudes. On the +contrary they destroy men who are altogether devoted to them no less +than men guilty of the greatest wrongs. With respect to the interest of +the moment on various occasions they deem those great who are the cause +of benefits to them, but when they have profited to the full by such +men's services they no longer regard them as having any nearer claims +than bitterest foes. For Cassius, although he indulged them, they killed +because of the very matters on which he prided himself: and it is +manifest that he perished through envy and not as a result of some +injustice committed. (Mai, p.150.) + +[Frag. XIX] + +1. For the men from time to time in power when they became unable to +restrain them by any other method stirred up purposely wars after wars +in order that they might be kept busy attending to those conflicts and +not disturb themselves about the land. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. At any rate they were so inflamed with rage by each of the two as +to promise with an oath victory to their generals: with regard to the +immediate attack they thought themselves actually lords of fortune. +(Mai, p.150.) + +3. ¶It is natural for the majority of the human race to quarrel with +any opposing force even beyond what is to its own advantage and upon +those who yield to bestow a benefit in turn even beyond its power. +(Mai, p.151.) + +[Frag. XX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 477 (_a.u._ 277)] 1. ¶The Fabii, who on the basis of +birth and wealth made pretensions equal with the noblest, very quickly +indeed saw that they were dejected. For when persons involve themselves +in many undertakings that are at the same time hard to manage, they can +discover no device for confronting the multitude and array of dangers, +and give up as hopeless quite easy projects: after which their sober +judgments and, contrary to what one would expect, their very opinions +cause them to lose heart and they voluntarily abandon matters in hand +with the idea that their labor will be but vain; finally they surrender +themselves to unforseen dispensations of Heaven and await whatever +Chance may bring. (Mai, p.151. Zonaras 7,17.) + +2. ¶The Fabii, three hundred and six in number, were killed, by the +Etruscans. Thus the arrogance which arises from confidence in valor is +ofttimes ruined by its very boldness, and the boastfulness which comes +from good fortune runs mad and suffers a complete reverse. (Mai, ib. +Zonaras 7, 17.) + +3. For whom (plur.) the Romans grieved, both in private and with +public demonstrations, to a greater degree than the number of the lost +would seem to warrant. That number was not small, especially since it +was composed entirely of patricians, but they further felt, when they +stopped to consider the reputation and the resolute spirit of these +men that all their strength had perished. For this reason they +inscribed among the accursed days that one on which they had been +destroyed and put under the ban the gates through which they had +marched out, so that no magistrate might pass through them. And they +condemned Titus Menenius the prætor,--it was in his year that the +disaster took place,--when he was later accused before the people of +not having assisted the unfortunates and of having been subsequently +defeated in battle. (Valesius, p.578.) + +[Frag. XXI] + +1. ¶The patricians openly took scarcely any retaliatory measures, +except in a few cases, where they adjured some one of the gods, but +secretly slaughtered a number of the boldest spirits. Nine tribunes on +one occasion were delivered to the flames by the populace. This did +not, however, restrain the rest: on the contrary, those who in turn +held the tribuneship after that occurrence were rather filled with +hope in the matter of their own quarrels than with fear as a result of +the fate of their predecessors. Hence, so far from being calmed, they +were even the more emboldened by those very proceedings. For they put +forward the torture of the former tribunes as a justification of the +vengeance they would take really in their own behalf; and they got +great pleasure out of the idea that they might possibly, contrary to +expectation, survive without harm. The consequence was that some of +the patricians, being unable to accomplish anything in the other way, +transferred themselves to the ranks of the populace: they thought its +humble condition far preferable, considered in the light of their +desire for the tribunician power, to the weakness of their own +ornamental titles,--especially so because many held the office a +second and third and even greater number of times in succession, +although there was a prohibition against any one's taking the position +twice. (Mai, p. 152. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. ¶ The populace was incited to this course by the patricians +themselves. For the policy which the latter pursued with an eye to +their own advantage, that of always having some wars in readiness for +them, so that the people might be compelled by the dangers from +without to practice moderation,--this policy, I say, only rendered the +people bolder. By refusing to go on a campaign unless they obtained +in each instance the objects of their striving and by contending +listlessly whenever they did take the field, they accomplished all +that they desired. Meanwhile, as a matter of fact, not a few of the +neighboring tribes, relying on the dissension of their foes more than +on their own power, kept revolting. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +[Frag. XXII] + +1. ¶The Æqui after capturing Tusculum and conquering Marcus [Footnote: +Other accounts give his name as _Lucius_ or _Quintus_.] Minucius became +so proud that, in the case of the Roman ambassadors whom the latter +people sent to chide them regarding the seizure of the place, they made +no answer at all to the censure but after designating by the mouth of +their general, Cloelius Gracchus, a certain oak, bade them speak to it, +if they desired aught. (Ursinus, p.373. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. That the Romans on learning that Minucius with some followers had +been intercepted in a low-lying, bushy place elected as dictator +against the enemy Lucius Quintius, in spite of the fact that he was a +poor man and at the time was engaged in tilling with his own hands the +little piece of ground which was his sole possession: for in general +he was the peer in valor of the foremost and was distinguished by his +wise moderation; though he did let his hair grow in curls, from which +practice he received the nickname of Cincinnatus. (Valesius, p.578. +Zonaras 7, 17.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 449 (_a.u._ 305)] 2. ¶Affairs of state and camp alike +were thrown into confusion. For the men under arms in their zealous +eagerness that no success should attend those who held the power +voluntarily surrendered both public and private interests. The other +side, too, took no pleasure in the death of their own members at the +hands of opponents, but themselves likewise destroyed in some convenient +manner many of the most active persons who espoused the cause of the +populace. As a result no small contention arose between them. (Mai, +p.153. Zonaras, 7, 18.) + +3. For they [Footnote: This must mean the "military tribunes with +consular powers."]reached such a pitch of emulation and next of jealous +rivalry of one another that they no longer, as the custom had been, all +held office as one body, but each of them individually in turn; and the +consequence was by no means beneficial. Since each one of them had in +view his own profit and not the public weal and was more willing that +the State should be injured, if it so happened, than that his colleagues +should obtain credit, many unfortunate occurrences took place. (Mai, +ib.) + +4. ¶Democracy consists not in all winning absolutely the same prizes, +but in every man's obtaining his deserts. [Footnote: Seemingly an excerpt +from a speech of one of the optimates, though possibly a remark by Dio +himself.] (Mai, p.154.) + +[Frag. XXIII] + +1[lacuna]. to have happened as the law of triumphs enjoins, about which +Dio Cocceianus writes. And if it seems to you an irksome thing to delve +into books of ancient writers, at all events I will explain cursorily, +as best I may, the entertainments pertaining to the triumph. They cause +the celebrator of the triumph to ascend a car, smear his face with earth +of Sinope or cinnabar (representing blood) to screen his blushes, fasten +armlets on his arms, and put a laurel wreath and a branch of laurel in +his right hand. Upon his head they also place a crown of some kind of +wood having inscribed upon it his exploits or his experiences. A public +slave, standing in the back part of the chariot holds up the crown, +saying in his ear: "See also what comes after." Bells and a whip dangle +from the pole of the chariot. Next he runs thrice about the place in a +circle, mounts the stairs on his knees and there lays aside the +garlands. After that he departs home, accompanied by musicians. (Tzetzes +Epist. 107, p. 86.) + +[Therefore the following words of Zonaras (7, 21) correspond nearly +with those of Dio, concerning the popular anger against Camillus on +account of his triumph (according to Plutarch's Camillus, Chap. +7).--Editor] + +The celebration of the triumphal festivities, which they called +_thriambos_, was of somewhat the following nature. When any great +success, worthy of a triumph, had been gained, the general was +immediately saluted as imperator by the soldiers, and he would bind +twigs of laurel upon the rods and deliver them to the runners to +carry, who announced the victory to the city. On arriving home he +would assemble the senate and ask to have the triumph voted him. And +if he obtained a vote from the senate and from the people, his title +of imperator was confirmed. If he still held the office in the course +of which he happened to be victorious, he continued to enjoy it while +celebrating the festival; but if the term of his office had expired, +he received some other name connected with it, since it was forbidden +a private individual to hold a triumph. Arrayed in the triumphal dress +he took armlets, and with a laurel crown upon his head and holding a +branch in his right hand he called together the people. After praising +his comrades of the campaign he presented some both publicly and +privately with money: he honored them also with decorations, and upon +some he bestowed armlets and spears without the iron; crowns, too, he +gave to some of gold and to others of silver, bearing the name of each +man and the representation of his particular feat. For example, either +a man had been first to mount a wall and the crown bore the figure of +a wall, or he had captured some point by storm, and a likeness of that +particular place had been made. A man might have won a battle at sea +and the crown had been adorned with ships, or one might have won a +cavalry fight and some equestrian figure had been represented. He who +had rescued a citizen from battle or other peril, or from a siege, had +the greatest praise and would receive a crown fashioned of oak, which +was esteemed as far more honorable than all, both the silver and the +gold. And these rewards would be given not only to men singly, as each +had shown his prowess, but were also bestowed upon cohorts and whole +armies. Much of the spoils was likewise assigned to the sharers in the +campaign. Some have been known to extend their distributions even to +the entire populace and have gone to expense for the festival and +obtained public appropriations: if anything was left over, they would +spend it for temples, porticos or for some public work. + +After these ceremonies the triumphator ascended his chariot. Now the +chariot did not resemble one used in games or in war, but had been +made in the shape of a round tower. And he would not be alone in the +chariot, but if he had children or relatives he would make the girls +and the infant male children get up beside him in it and place those +who were grown upon the horses, outriggers as well as the yoke-pair. +If these were many, they would accompany the procession on chargers, +riding along beside the triumphator. None of the rest rode, but all +went on foot wearing laurel wreaths. A public servant, however, rode +also upon the chariot itself holding over him the crown made of +precious stones set in gold and kept saying to him "Look behind!", the +"behind" meaning naturally "Look ahead at the ensuing years of life, +and do not be elated or puffed up by your present fortune." Both a +bell and a whip were fastened to the chariot, signifying that it was +possible for him to meet misfortune as well, to the extent of being +disgraced or condemned to death. It was customary for those who had +been condemned to die for any offence to wear a bell, to the end that +no one should approach them as they walked along and so be affected +with pollution. + +Thus arrayed they entered the city, having at the head of the +procession the spoils and trophies and in images the captured forts +displayed, cities and mountains and rivers, lakes, seas,--everything +that they had taken. If one day sufficed for the exhibition of these +things in procession, well and good: otherwise, the celebration was +held during a second and a third. When these adjuncts had gone on +their way the triumphator reached the Roman Forum and after commanding +that some of the captives be led to prison and put to death he rode up +to the Capitol. There, when he had fulfilled certain rites and had +brought offerings and had dined in the buildings on the hill, toward +evening he departed homeward, accompanied by flutes and pipes. + +Such were the triumphs in old times. Factions and powerful cliques +attempted very frequently revolutionary movements on those occasions. + +All the matters pertaining to the triumphal, the curule chair the +letter contains. What need to write again? How after anointing with +cinnabar or else Sinopian earth the man who held a triumph they put +him on a chariot and placed upon his head a golden crown bearing +plainly marked all he had accomplished: in the man's hand they lay a +laurel sprig; armlets they clasp about his arms: they crown all who +had gained distinction with crowns made out of silver material +inscribed with the feats of daring; and how upon the chariot a public +slave stands behind him holding up the crown and saying in his ear: +"see also what comes after"--all things important the letter contains. +(Tzetzes, Hist. 13, 41-54.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 395 (_a.u._ 359)] 2. ¶ The Romans after fighting many +battles against the Falisci, [Footnote: Perhaps Dio wrote _Fidenates_ or +_Veientes_ (Livy, IV, 32), and _Falisci_ is due to the copyist, +although, to be sure, there were wars with the last named (Livy, IV, +18). Whether the transference of Juno from Veii to Rome (Livy, V, 22) or +the lectisternia just established about this time (Livy, V, 13) +constitutes the topic discussed is a matter respecting which scholars +differ.] and after many sufferings and achievements as well, despised +their ancestral rites and took up with foreign ones in the idea that the +latter would suffice them. Human nature is for some reason accustomed in +trouble to scorn what is usual even though it be divine, and to admire +the untried. Thinking, as men do, that they are not helped by it at the +present, they expect no benefit in the future, but from what is strange +they hope to accomplish whatever they may wish, by means of its novelty. +(Mai, p. 153.) + +3. ¶ The Romans, who were besieging the city of the Falisci would have +consumed much time encamped before it, had not an incident of the +following nature occurred. A school teacher of the place who instructed +a number of children of good family, either under the influence of anger +or through hope of gain led them all outside the wall, supposedly for +some different purpose from his real one. They had so great an abundance +of courage that they followed him even then. And he took them to +Camillus, saying that in their persons he surrendered to him the whole +city: for the inhabitants would no longer resist them when those dearest +to them were held prisoners. However, he [Sidenote: B.C. 393 (_a.u._ +361)] to accomplish aught; for Camillus, filled with a sense of the +conduct proper for Romans and also of the liability to failure of human +plans, would not agree to take them by treachery: instead, he bound the +traitor's hands behind his back and delivered him to the children +themselves to lead home again. + +After this episode the Falisci held out no longer, but in spite of the +fact that they were securely entrenched and had ample resources to +continue the war nevertheless came to terms voluntarily. They felt sure +it would be no ordinary friendship that they would enjoy at the hands of +one, whom, as an enemy even, they had found so just. (Valesius, p. 578. +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +4. Accordingly Camillus became on this account an object of even +greater jealousy to the citizens, and he was indicted by the tribunes +on the charge of not having benefited the public treasury with the +plunder of the Veii; and before the trial he voluntarily withdrew. +(Valesius, ib. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +5. In Dio's 7th Book: "When he had ended his term of office they +indicted him and imposed a money fine, not bringing him into danger of +his life." [Footnote: Boissevain believes that this fragment does not +refer to Camillus, and that the number of the Book is possibly a +corruption. He would locate it earlier.](Bekker, Anecd. p. 146, 21.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 393 (_a.u._ 361)]6. To such a degree did not only the +populace nor all those who were somewhat jealous of his reputation +merely, but his best friends and his relatives, too, feel envy toward +him that they did not even attempt to hide it. When he asked some of +them for support in his case, and others to deposit the money for his +release, they refused to assist him in regard to the vote but simply +promised, if he were convicted, to estimate the proper money value and +to help him pay the amount of the fine. This led him to take an oath in +anger that the city should have need of him; and he went over to the +Rutuli before accusation was brought against him. [Footnote: Very likely +the copyist erred here. The sense requires "before sentence was passed +upon him."] (Mai, p. 154. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +[Frag. XXIV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 391 (_a.u._ 363)] 1. ¶ The cause of the Gallic +expedition was this. The Clusini had endured hard treatment in the war +from the Gauls and fled for refuge to the Romans, having considerable +hope that they could obtain certainly some little help in that +quarter, from the fact that they had not taken sides with the people +of Veii, though of the same race. When the Romans failed to vote them +aid, but sent ambassadors to the Gauls and negotiated peace for them, +they came very near accepting it (it was offered them in return for a +part of the land); however, they attacked the barbarians after the +conference and took the Roman envoys into battle along with them. The +Gauls, vexed at seeing them on the opposite side, at first sent men to +Rome, preferring charges against the envoys. Since, however, no +punishment was visited upon the latter, but they were all, on the +contrary, appointed consular tribunes, they were filled with +wrath--being naturally quick to anger--and, as they held the Clusini +in contempt, started for Rome. (Ursinus, p.373. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 364 (_a.u._ 390)] 2. ¶ The Romans after withstanding +the inroads of the Gauls had no time to recover breath, but went +immediately from their march into battle, just as they were, and lost. +Panic-stricken by the unexpectedness of the invaders' hostile +expedition, by their numbers, their physical dimensions, and their +voices uttering some foreign and terrifying sound they forgot their +training in military science and after that lost possession of their +valor. A good comprehension contributes very largely to bravery, because +when present it confirms the strength of a man's resolution and when +lacking destroys the same more thoroughly by far, than if such a thing +had never existed at all. Many persons without experience often carry +things through by the violence of their spirit, but those who fail of +the discipline which they have learned lose also their strength of +purpose. This caused the defeat of the Romans. (Mai, p.154. Cp. Zonaras, +7, 23.) + +3. Coclius Horatius was by race a Roman. He, when on one occasion the +army of the Romans had been routed, so that there was danger of their +opponents occupying Rome, alone withstood them all at the wooden +bridge, while Marcus cut it down behind Minucius. When it had been cut +down, Coclius too crossed the Tiber, having saved himself and Rome by +the cutting of the bridge. Yet, as he swam, he might have been struck +by a spear of the enemy. To him the senate presents lands (as a reward +for his excellent bravery) as much as he could mark out in a day with +cattle fastened to a plow. He was called Coclius in the Roman tongue +because he had lost one of his eyes before he fought. (Tzetzes, Hist. +3, 818-830. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +[Sidenote: B. C 364 (_a.u._ 390)] 4. ¶ The Romans who were on the +Capitol under siege had no hope of safety unless from heavenly powers. +So scrupulously did they observe the mandates of religion, although in +every extremity of evil, that when it was requisite for one of the +sacred rites to be performed by the pontifices in another part of the +city Cæso [Footnote: Very likely the copyist erred here. The sense +requires "before sentence was passed upon him."] Fabius, who exercised +the office of priest, descended for the purpose from the Capitol after +receiving his charge, as he had been accustomed to do, and passing +through the enemy performed the customary ceremony and returned the same +day. I am led to admire the barbarians on the one hand because either on +account of the gods or his bravery they spared him: and far more do I +feel admiration for the man himself for two reasons, that he dared to +descend alone among the enemy, and that when he might have withdrawn to +some place of safety he refused and instead voluntarily returned up the +Capitol again to a danger that he foresaw: he understood that they +hesitated to abandon the spot which was the only part of their country +they still held but saw at the same time that no matter how much they +desired to escape it was impossible to do so by reason of the multitude +of the besiegers. (Valesius, p.581.) + +5. ¶ Camillus, being urged to let the leadership be entrusted to him, +would not allow it because he was an exile and could not take the +position according to time-honored usage. He showed himself so +law-abiding and exact a man that in so great a danger to his native +land he made precedent a matter of earnest thought and did not think +it right to hand down to posterity an example of lawlessness. +(Valesius, p.582. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +6. When Rome had been sacked by the Gauls, Brennus being at the head +of that expedition of theirs, as the Gauls were on the point of +capturing the Capitol by ascending secretly to the Acropolis at night, +a great outcry of geese arose in that quarter; and one Marcus Manlius +roused from sleep saw the enemy creeping up, and by striking some with +his oblong shield and slaying others with his sword he repulsed them +all and saved the Romans. For this they gave him the title of +Capitolinus, and in honor of the geese they have door-keepers as +guards in the palace in remembrance of their watch at that time, just +as earlier the Greeks in Athens called Pelargikon Geraneia (Crane-ry) +from such creatures. (Tzetzes, His. 830-842. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +[Frag. XXV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 384 (_a.u._ 370)] 1. ¶ The populace passed sentence +against Capitolinus, his house was razed to the ground, his money +confiscated, and his name and even likeness, if such anywhere existed, +were erased and destroyed. At the present day, too, all these +punishments, except the razing to the ground, are visited upon those who +conspire against the commonwealth. They gave judgment also that no +patrician should dwell upon the height because Capitolinus happened to +have had his house there. And his kinsmen among the Manlii prohibited +any one of their number from being named Marcus, since that appellation +had been his. + +Capitolinus at any rate underwent a great reversal, both in his +character and in his fortune. Having made a specialty of warfare he +did not understand how to remain at peace; the Capitol he had once +saved he occupied for the purpose of establishing a tyranny; although +a patrician he became the prey of a house-servant; and whereas he was +deemed a warrior, he was arrested after the manner of a slave and +hurled down the very rock from which he had repulsed the Gauls. +(Valesius, p.582. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +2. ¶ Capitolinus was thrown headlong down the rock by the Romans. So +true it is that nothing in the affairs of men,--generally +speaking,--remains at it was; and success, in particular, leads many +people on into catastrophes equally serious. It raises their hopes, +makes them continually strive after like or greater results and, if +they fail, casts them into just the opposite condition. (Mai, p. 155. +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +3. This Marcus Manlius, who was once termed also Capitolinus, and fell +through seeking the tyranny, when about to be put to death by vote of +all the jurors was saved by their looking just then at the Capitol, +where he himself had performed famous deeds of valor,--until the one +who spoke against him, perceiving the cause, transferred the assembly +to another court-house from which the Capitol could not be seen at all +and so a remembrance spring up of his trophies. Then they kill him. +But on the other hand, even so, through the whole period the populace +of Rome wore black, recompensing the graces of his valor and the +inimitable manner of his distinguished behavior. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, +843-855. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +[Frag. XXVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 381 (_a.u._ 373)] 1. ¶ Camillus made a campaign against +the Tusculans, but thanks to the astonishing attitude that they adopted +they suffered no harm. For just as if they themselves were guilty of no +offence and the Romans entertained no anger toward them, but were either +coming to them as friends to friends or else marching through their +territory against some other tribes, they changed none of their +accustomed habits and were not in the least disturbed: instead, all +without exception remaining in their places, at their occupations and at +their other work just as in time of peace, received the army within +their borders, gave them hospitable gifts, and in other ways honored +them like friends. Consequently the Romans so far from doing them harm +enrolled them subsequently among the citizens. (Valesius, p.582.) + +[Frag. XXVII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 376 (_a.u._ 378)] 2. In Dio's 7th Book: "Tusculans did +not raise their hands against him." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 123, 32.) + +1. ¶ The wife of Rufus, while he was military tribune and engaged in +public service in the Forum was visited by her sister.[Footnote: Livy +and Valerius Maximus give his name as _Gaius_.] When the husband arrived +and the lichtor, according to some ancient custom, knocked at the door, +the visitor was alarmed at this having never previously had any such +experience and was startled. She was consequently the subject of hearty +laughter on the part of her sister and the rest alike and she was made a +butt for jests as one not at home in an official atmosphere because her +husband had never proved his capacity in any position of authority. She +took it terribly to heart, as women, from their littleness of soul, +usually do, and would not give up her resentment until she had thrown +all the city in an uproar. Thus small accidental events become, in some +cases, the cause of many great evils, when a person receives them with +jealousy and envy. (Mai, p.155. Zonaras, 7, 24) + +2. ¶ In the midst of evils expectation of rescue has power to persuade +one to trust even in what is beyond reason. (Mai, p.156.) + +3. For by their disputes they kept constantly enfeebling in one way or +another the good order of their government; consequently, all these +objects so to speak for which they were formerly accustomed to wage +the greatest wars they gained in time--not without factional quarrels, +to be sure, but still with small difficulty. (Mai, ib.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 368 (_a.u._ 386)] 4. ¶ Publius,[Footnote: The gap +existing from the word "Forum" to the end of the sentence is supplied by +Bekker's conjecture.] when the citizens of Rome were quarreling with one +another, nearly reconciled them. For he chose as master of the horse +Licinius Stolo, who was merely one of the populace.[Footnote: This is +Publius Manlius, the dictator (Livy, VI, 39).] This innovation grieved +the patricians, but conciliated the rest so much that they no longer +laid claim to the consulship for the following year, but allowed the +consular tribunes to be chosen. As a result of this they in turn yielded +some points one to the other, and perhaps would have made peace with +each other had not Stolo the tribune made such utterance as that they +should not drink unless they could eat and so persuaded them to +relinquish nothing, but to perform as inevitable duties all that they +had taken in hand. (Valesius, p.585.) + +[Frag. XXVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 362 (_a.u._ 392)] 1. Dio Cassius Cocceianus, the +compiler of Roman history, states that as a result of the wrath of +Heaven a fissure opened in the ground round about Rome and would not +close. An oracular utterance having been obtained to the effect that the +fissure would close if they should throw into it the mightiest +possession of the Romans, one Curtius, a knight of noble birth, when no +one else was able to understand the oracle, himself interpreted it to +mean a horse and man together. Straightway he mounted his horse and, +just as he was, dashed heroically forward and passed down into that +frightful pit. No sooner had he rushed down the incline than the fissure +closed; and the rest of the Romans from above scattered flowers. From +this event the name of Curtius was applied also to a cellar. (Io. +Tzetzes, Scholia for the Interpretation of Homer's Iliad, p. 136, 17, +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +2. There is no mortal creature either better or stronger than man. Do +you not see that all the rest go downwards and look forever toward the +earth and accomplish nothing save what is closely connected with +eating and the propagation of their species? So they have been +condemned to these pursuits even by Nature herself. We alone gaze +upwards and associate with heaven itself and despise those things that +are on the earth, while we dwell with the gods themselves, believing +them to be similar to us inasmuch as we are both their offspring and +creations, not earthly but heavenly: for which reason we paint and +fashion those very beings according to our forms. For, if one may +speak somewhat boldly, man is naught else than a god with mortal body, +and a god naught else than a man without body and consequently +immortal. That is why we surpass all other creatures. And there is +nothing afoot which we do not enslave, overtaking it by speed or +subduing it by force or catching it by some artifice, nor yet aught +that lives in the water or travels the air: nay, even of these two +classes, we pull the former up from the depths without seeing them and +drag the latter down from the sky without reaching them. (Mai, p. 532. +Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +[Frag. XXIX] + +¶ Dio says: "Wherefore, although not accustomed to indulgence in +digressions, I have taken pains to make mention of it and have stated in +addition the Olympiad, in order that when most men forget the date of +the migration,[Footnote: This last clause is a conjecture by Reimar.] it +may, from the precaution mentioned, become less doubtful." (Mai, p. +156.) + +[Frag. XXX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 353 (_a.u._ 401)] ¶ The Agyllæans, when they ascertained +that the Romans wished to make war on them, despatched ambassadors to +Rome before any vote was taken, and obtained peace on surrender of half +their territory. (Ursinus, p. 374.) + +[Frag. XXXI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 349 (_a.u._ 405)] Marcus Corvinus received the name of +Corvinus because when once engaged with a barbarian in single combat, he +had a savage crow as his ally in the battle, that flew at the eyes of +the barbarian until this Marcus killed him at that time. (Tzetzes, Hist. +3, 862-866. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +[Frag. XXXII] + +1. These proposals and a few others of similar nature they put forward +not because they expected to carry any of them into effect,--for they, +if anybody, understood the purposes of the Romans,--but in order that +failing to obtain their requests they might secure an excuse for +complaints, on the ground that wrong had been done them. (Mai, p. +156.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 2. Dio in Book 7: "And for this +reason I shall execute you, in order that even as you obtain the prize +for your prowess, so you may receive the penalty for your disobedience." +[Footnote: The migration of Alexander(?). See Livy, VIII, 3, 6.] +(Bekker, Anecd. p. 133, 19. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +3. The statement is made by Douris, Diodorus and Dio that when the +Samnites, Etruscans and other nations were warring against the Romans, +Decius, a Roman consul and associated with Torquatus in command of the +troops, gave himself to be slain, and of the opposite side there were +slaughtered a hundred thousand that very day.[Footnote: Words of +Torquatus to his son.] (Io. Tzetzes, on Lycophr. 1378. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 4. ¶Dio says: "I am surprised that +his (Decius's) death should have set the battle right again, should have +defeated the side that was winning and have given victory to the men who +were getting worsted: I can not even comprehend what brought about the +result. When I reflect what some have accomplished,--for we know that +many such chances have befallen many persons before,--I can not +disbelieve the tradition: but when I come to calculate the causes of it, +I fall into a great dilemma. How can you believe that from such a +sacrifice of one man so great a multitude of human beings were brought +over at once to safety and to victory? Well, the truth of the matter and +the causes that are responsible shall be left to others to investigate." +(Mai, p.157. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +5. It was evident to every one that they had considered the outcome of +the event [Footnote: At the battle of Sentinum (295 B.C.).] and had +ranged themselves on the victorious side. Torquatus did not, however, +question them about it for fear they might revolt, since the affair of +the Latins was still a sore point with them. He was not harsh in every +case nor in most matters the sort of man he had shown himself toward his +son: on the contrary, he was admitted to be good at planning and good in +warfare, so that it was said by the citizens and by their adversaries +alike that he held success in war subservient to him, and that if he had +been leader of the Latins, he would certainly have made them conquer. +(Mai, p.157, and Valesius, p.585.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 6. ¶The Romans, although vexed at +Torquatus on account of his son to such an extent that deeds remarkable +for their cold-blooded indifference [Footnote: The phrase after "deeds" +is supplied from the general sense. The MS. shows a superlative ending +of adjective form, but the root portion of the word is lost.] are called +"Manliana," after him, and angry furthermore that he had celebrated the +triumph in spite of the death of that youth, in spite of the death of +his colleague, nevertheless when another war threatened them elected him +again to a fourth consulship. He, however, refused to hold their chief +office longer, and renounced it, declaring: "I could not endure you nor +you me." (Mai, p.157. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 338 (_a.u._ 416)] 7. ¶The Romans by way of bringing the +Latins in turn to a condition of friendliness, granted them +citizenship so that they secured equal privileges with themselves. +Those rights which they would not share with that people when it +threatened war and for which they underwent so many dangers, they +voluntarily voted to it now that they conquered. Thus they requited +some for their allegiance and others because they had taken no steps +of a revolutionary character. (Mai, p.158.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 328 (_a.u._ 426)] 8. ¶With reference to the inhabitants +of Privernum the Romans made no enquiry, asking them what they deserved +to suffer for such conduct. The others answered boldly: "Whatever is +suitable for men who are free and desire so to continue." To the next +question of the consul: "And what will you do if you obtain peace?" they +replied: "If we are granted it on [Sidenote: B.C. 426 (_a.u._ 426)] +fairly moderate terms, we will cease from disturbance, but if +unendurable burdens are placed upon us, we will fight." Admiring their +spirit they not only made a much more favorable truce with them than +with the rest [lacuna] (Mai, p.158.) + +[Frag. XXXIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] 1. [From the address of the father +of Rullus.] Be well assured that penalties most unfitting in such cases, +while they destroy the culprits under sentence, who might have been made +better, are of no avail in correcting the rest. Human nature refuses to +leave its regular course for any threats. Some pressing fear or violence +of audacity together with courage born of inexperience and rashness +sprung from opportunity, or some other combination of circumstances such +as often occurs unexpectedly in the careers of many persons leads men to +do wrong. And these men are of two classes,--such as do not even think +of the punishments but heedless of them rush into the business before +them, and such as esteem them of no moment in comparison with the +attainment of the ends for which they are striving. + +Consistent humanity, however, can produce an effect quite the opposite +of that just now mentioned. Through the influence of a seasonable pardon +the criminals frequently change their ways, especially when they have +acted from brave and not from wicked motives, from ambition and not from +baseness. For it should be noted that a reasonable humanity is a mighty +force for subduing and correcting a noble soul. As for the rest, they +are, without resistance, brought [Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] into +a proper frame of mind by the sight of the rescue. Every one would +rather obey than be forced, and prefers voluntary to compulsory +observance of the law. He who submits to a measure works for it as if it +were his own invention, but what is imposed upon him he rejects as +unfitting for a freeman. Furthermore it is the part of the highest +virtue and power alike not to kill a man,--this is often done by the +wickedest and weakest men,--but to spare him and to preserve him; yet no +one of us is at liberty to do that without your consent. + +It is my wish at length to cease from speaking. What little spirit I +have is weary, my voice is giving way, tears check my utterance and fear +closes my mouth. But I am at a loss how to close. For my suffering, +appearing to me in no doubtful light, does not allow me (unless you +decide otherwise) [Footnote: A clause that in the MS. has faded out is +represented here by Boissevian's conjecture.] to be silent, but compels +me, as if the safety of my child were going to be in accord with +whatever I say last, to speak even further as it were in prayers. (Mai, +p.159.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] 2. The name and form of the office with +which he was invested he shrank from changing, and when he was intending +to spare Rullus,--for he observed the zeal of the populace,--he wished +to resist him somewhat before granting the favor and to alter the +attitude of the young men, so as to have his pardon come unexpectedly. +Therefore he contracted his face, and darting a harsh frowning look at +the populace, he raised his voice and spoke. The talking ceased, but +still they were not quiet: instead, as generally happens in such a case, +what with groaning over his fate and whispering one to another, in spite +of their not uttering a single word they gave the impression that they +desired the rescue of the cavalry commander. Papirius seeing this, in +fear of their possibly taking hostile action, relaxed the extremely +domineering manner which he had assumed (for purposes of their +correction) in an unusual degree, and by showing moderation in the rest +of his actions brought them once more to friendship and enthusiasm for +him, so that they proved themselves men when they met their opponents. +(Mai, p.160. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +3. ¶The Samnites after their defeat at the hands of the Romans, made +proposals for truce to the Romans in the city. They sent them all the +Roman captives that they held, together with the property of a man named +Papius, [Footnote: _Papius Brutulus_.] who was esteemed among the +foremost of his race and bore the entire responsibility for the war; his +bones, since he anticipated them in committing suicide, they scattered +abroad. Yet they did not obtain their peace; for they were regarded as +untrustworthy and had the name of making truces according to events +merely for the purpose of cheating any power that conquered them: hence +they not only failed to obtain terms, but even brought a relentless war +upon themselves. The Romans while accepting their prisoners voted to +make war upon them without announcement. (Ursinus, p.374. Zonaras, 7, +26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 321. (_a.u._ 433)] 4. Among the many events of human +history that might give one cause for wonder must certainly be reckoned +what occurred at this time. The Romans, who were so extremely arrogant +as to vote that they would not again receive a herald from the Samnites +in the matter of peace and hoped moreover to capture them all at the +first blow, succumbed to a terrible disaster and incurred disgrace as +never before; the others, who to begin with were badly frightened and +thought the refusal to make peace a great calamity, seized their camp +and entire force, and sent them all under the yoke. So great a reverse +of fortune did they suffer. (Mai, p.161. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +5. Benefits lie rather within the actual choice of men and are not +brought about by necessity, or by ignorance, or anger, or deceit, or +anything of the sort, but are performed voluntarily by a willing and +eager condition of spirit. And for this reason it is proper to pity, +admonish, instruct those who commit any error and to admire, love, +reward those who do right. Whenever men act in both of these two ways, +it is decidedly more befitting our characters to remember their better +than their less correct deeds. [Footnote: Sections 5, 6, and 7 appear to +come from various speeches delivered at the Caudine Forks; section 8, +however, is from the speech of Herennius Pontius.] (Mai, p.535.) + +6. ¶Quarrels are checked by kindness. The greater the pitch of enmity to +which a man has come when he unexpectedly obtains safety instead of +severity, the more readily does he hasten voluntarily to abandon the +quarrel and to acknowledge gladly the influence of kindness. B.C. 321 +(_a.u._ 433) As in a random host of persons at variance from divers +causes those who have passed from friendship to enmity hate each other +with the more intense hatred, so in a random host of persons kindly +treated do those who receive this considerate treatment after a state of +strife love their benefactors the more. Romans, accordingly, are very +anxious to surpass in war and at the same time they honor virtue; for +this reason, compelled in both regards by their nobility of spirit, they +verily earn the right to surpass, since they take pains to recompense +fair treatment fairly, and even beyond its value. (Mai, p.161.) + +7. For it is right to pride one's self upon requiting those who have +done some wrong, but to feel more highly elated over recompensing such +as have conferred some benefit. (Mai, p.536.) + +8. ¶All men are by nature so constituted as to grieve more over any +insults offered them than they rejoice over benefits conferred upon +them: therefore they show hostility to persons who have injured them +with less effort than they require for aiding in return persons who have +shown them kindness; hence also they make no account, when their own +advantage is concerned, of the ill reputation they will gain by not +taking a friendly attitude toward their preserver, but indulge a spirit +of wrath even when such behavior runs counter to their own interest. + +Such was the advice he gave them out of his own inherent good sense +and experience acquired in a long life, not looking to the +gratification of the moment but to the possible regret of the future. +(Mai, p.162.) + +9. ¶The people of Capua, when the Romans after [Sidenote: B.C. 321 +(_a.u._ 433)] their defeat arrived in that city, were guilty of no +bitter speech or outrageous act, but on the contrary gave them both food +and horses and received them like victors. They pitied in their +misfortune the men whom they would have not wished to see conquer on +account of the treatment those same persons had formerly accorded them. +When the Romans heard of the event they were altogether possessed by +doubt whether to be pleased at the survival of their soldiers or whether +to continue displeased. When they thought of the depth of the disgrace +their grief was extreme; for they deemed it unworthy of them to have met +with defeat, and especially at the hands of the Samnites, so that they +could wish that all had perished; when they stopped to reflect, however, +that if such a calamity had befallen them all the rest as well would +have incurred danger, they were not sorry to hear that the men had been +saved. (Mai, p.162. Zonaras, 7, 26.) 10. ¶It is requisite and blameless +for all men to plan for their own safety, and if they get into any +danger to do anything whatsoever so as to be preserved. (Mai, p.163.) + +11. ¶Pardon is granted both by gods and by men to such as have committed +any act involuntarily. (Ib. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +12. Dio in Book 8: "I both take to myself the crime and admit the +perjury." (Bekker, Anecd. p.165, 13.) + +13. Dio in Book 8: "For in all such matters he was quite all-sufficient +to himself." [Footnote: This is thought to refer to L. Papirius Cursor or +possibly to Q. Fabius Maximus. Cp. Livy, X, 26.] (Ib. p.124, 1.) + +14.[Sidenote: B.C. 321 (_a.u._ 433)] ¶The Samnites, seeing that neither +were the oaths observed by them nor gratitude for favors manifested in +any other way, and that few instead of many were surrendered, thus +making void the oaths, became terribly angry and loudly called upon the +gods in respect to some of these matters: moreover, they brought the +pledges to their attention, demanded the captives, and ordered them to +pass naked under the same yoke where through pity they had been +released, in order that by experience they might learn to abide by terms +which had been once agreed upon. The men that had been surrendered they +dismissed, either because they did not think it right to destroy +guiltless persons or because they wished to fasten the perjury upon the +populace and not through the punishment of a few men to absolve the +rest. This they did, hoping as a result to secure decent treatment. +(Mai, p.163. Zonaras, 7, 26.) 15. ¶The Romans so far from being grateful +to the Samnites for the preservation of the surrendered soldiers, +actually behaved as if they had in this suffered some outrage. They +showed anger in their conduct of the war, and, being victorious, treated +the Samnites in the same way. For the justice of the battle-field does +not fit the ordinary definition of the word, and it is not inevitable +that the party which has been wronged should conquer: instead, war, in +its absolute sway, adjusts everything to the advantage of the victor, +often causing something that is the reverse of justice to go under that +name. (Mai, p.163. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +16.[Sidenote: B.C. 321 (_a.u._ 433)] ¶The Romans after vanquishing the +Samnites sent the captives in their turn under the yoke, regarding as +satisfactory to their honor a repayment of similar disgrace. So did +Fortune for both parties in the briefest time reverse her position and +by treating the Samnites to the same humiliation at the hands of their +outraged foes show clearly that here, too, she was all-supreme. (Mai, p. +164. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 319 (_a.u._ 435)] 17. ¶ Papirius made a campaign against +the Samnites and having reduced them to a state of siege entrenched +himself before them. At this time some one reproached him with excessive +use of wine, whereupon he replied: "That I am not intoxicated is clear +to every one from the fact that I am up at the peep of dawn and lie down +to rest latest of all. But on account of having public affairs on my +mind day and night alike, and not being able to obtain sleep easily, I +take a little wine to lull me to rest." (Mai, ib.) + +18. ¶ The same man one day while making the rounds of the garrison +became angry on not finding the general from Præneste at his post. He +summoned him and bade him hand the axe to the lictor. Alarm and +consternation at this was evident on the part of the general, and his +fear sufficed. Papirius harmed him no further but merely gave orders to +the lictor to cut off some roots growing beside the tents, so that they +should not injure passers-by. (Mai, ib.) + +19. ¶ In numerous cases instances of good fortune are not at all +constant, but lead many aside into paths of carelessness and ruin +them.[Footnote: Cp. Livy, IX, 18, 8.] (Mai, p. 165.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 310 (_a.u._ 444)] 20. ¶ The men of the city put forward +Papirius as dictator, and fearing that Rullus might be unwilling to name +him on account of his own experiences while master of the horse, they +sent for him and begged him to put the common weal before a private +grudge. And he gave the envoys, indeed, no response, but when night had +come (according to ancient custom it was quite necessary that the +dictator be appointed at night), he named Papirius and secured by this +act the greatest renown.(Valesius, p. 585.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 296 (_a.u._)] 21. ¶ Appius the Blind and Volumnius +became at variance each with the other: and it was owing to this that +Volumnius once, when Appius charged him in the assembly with showing no +gratitude for the progress he had made in wisdom through Appius's +instruction, answered that he had indeed grown wiser and was likewise +ready to admit it, but that Appius had not advanced at all in matters +pertaining to war. (Mai, p. 165.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 296 (_a.u._ 458)] 22. ¶ As regards the prophecy the +multitude was not capable for the time being of either believing or +disbelieving him.[Footnote: I.e., Manius, an Etruscan.] It neither +wished to hope for everything, inasmuch as it did not desire to see +everything fulfilled, nor did it dare to refuse belief in all points +inasmuch as it wished to be victorious, but was placed in an extremely +painful position, as it were between confusion and fear. As each single +event occurred they applied the interpretation to it according to the +actual result, and the man himself undertook to assume some reputation +for skill with regard to the foreknowledge of the unseen. (Mai, p. 165. +Cp. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 293 (_a.u._ 461)] 23. ¶ The Samnites, enraged at what +occurred and deeming it highly disgraceful to be defeated, resorted to +extreme daring and folly with the intention of either conquering or +being utterly destroyed. They assembled all their men that were of +military age, threatening with death all that should remain at home, and +they bound themselves with frightful oaths to the effect that no man +should flee from the contest but should slaughter any person that might +undertake to do so. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 292 (_a.u._ 462)] 24. ¶ The Romans on hearing that their +consul Fabius had been worsted in the war became terribly angry and +summoned him to stand trial. A vehement denunciation of the man was +made before the people,--and, indeed, he was depressed by the injury to +his father's reputation even more than by the complaints,--and no +opportunity was afforded the object of the attack for reply. Nor did the +elder man make a set defence of his son, but by enumerating his own +services and those of his ancestors, and by promising furthermore that +his son would do nothing unworthy of them, he abated the people's wrath, +especially since he urged his son's youth. Moreover, he joined him at +once in the campaign, overthrew the Samnites in battle, though they were +elated by their victory, and captured their camp and great booty. The +Romans therefore extolled him and ordered that his son also should +command for the future with consular powers, and still employ his father +as lieutenant. The latter managed and arranged everything for him, +sparing his old age not a whit, and the allied forces readily assisted +the father in remembrance of his old-time deeds. He made it clear, +however, that he was not executing the business on his own +responsibility, but he associated with his son as if actually in the +capacity of counselor and under-officer, while he moderated his +temperament and assigned to him the glory of the exploits. (Valesius, p. +585. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 291 (_a.u._ 463)] 25. ¶ The soldiers with Junius who took +the field along with Postumius fell sick on the way, and thought that +their trouble was due to the felling of the grove. He was recalled for +these reasons, but showed contempt for them even at this juncture, +declaring that the senate was not his master but that he was master of +the senate [lacuna] Envio [lacuna] and the [lacuna] men much [lacuna] +ambition [lacuna] [Words of Postumius Megillus: Cp. Dionys. Hal. Ant. +Rom. 16, [Footnote: The famous Apollonius of Tyana.]. (Mai, p. 167.) + +[Frag. XXXIV] + +¶ Gaius Fabricius in most respects was like Rufinus, but in +incorruptibility far superior. He was very firm against bribes, and on +that account did not please Rufinus, but was always at variance with +him. Yet the latter chose Fabricius, thinking that he was a most proper +person to meet the requirements of the war, and making his personal +enmity of little account in comparison with the advantage of the +commonwealth. + +[Frag. XXXIV] + +As a result he gained some reputation for having shown himself above +jealousy, which springs up in the hearts of many of the best men by +reason of emulation. Since he was a thorough patriot and did not +practice virtue for a show he thought it a matter of indifference +whether the State were benefited by him or through some other man, even +if that man should be an opponent. (Valesius, p.586.) + +[Frag. XXXV] + +¶Cornelius Fabricius, when asked why he had entrusted the business to +his foe, [lacuna][Footnote: See Niebuhr, Rh. Mus., 1828, p.600, or +_Kleine Schriften_, 2, p.241.] the general excellence of Rufius and +added that to be spoiled by the citizen is preferable to being bought +and sold by the enemy. [This anecdote concerns Fabricius Luscinus, +mentioned by Cicero, de orat. 2, 66, 268; Quintilian 12, 1, 43; Gellius +4, 48.] + +[Frag. XXXVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 290 (_a.u._ 464)] ¶Curius, in defence of his conduct in +the popular assembly, said that he had acquired so much land [lacuna] +and had hunted for so many men [lacuna] country [lacuna] [The person +referred to is Manius Curius Dentatus. Cp. Auct. de Viris. Illustr., c. +33. + +¶After Niebuhr, Rh. Mus. 1828, p.579.] + +[Frag. XXXVII] + +¶When the tribunes moved an annulment of debts, the law was often +proposed without avail, since the lenders were by no means willing to +accept it and the tribunes granted the nobles the choice of either +putting this law to the vote or following that of Stolo, by which they +were to reckon the previous interest toward the principal and receive +the remainder in triennial payments. [Footnote: The opening portion of +this fragment is based largely on conjectures of Niebuhr (Rhein. Mus., +1828, p.579ff.)] And for the time being the weaker party, dreading lest +it might lose all, paid court to them, and the wealthier class, +encouraged to think it would not be compelled to adopt either course, +maintained a hostile attitude. But when the revolted [Footnote: A +doubtful reading.] party proceeded to press matters somewhat, both sides +changed their positions. The debtors were no longer satisfied with +either plan, and the nobles thought themselves lucky if they should not +be deprived of their principal. Hence the dispute was not decided +immediately, but subsequently they prolonged their rivalry in a spirit +of contentiousness, and did not act at all in their usual character. +Finally the people made peace in spite of the fact that the nobles were +unwilling to remit much more than they had originally expected; however, +the more they beheld their creditors yielding, the more were they +emboldened, as if they were successful by a kind of right; and +consequently they regarded the various concessions almost as matters of +course and strove for yet more, using as a stepping-stone to that end +the fact that they had already obtained something. (Mai, p.167. Zonaras, +8,2.) + +[Frag. XXXVIII] + +¶When the opposite side [Footnote: The Tuscans, Senones, and Gauls +appear to be meant.] saw also another general approaching, they ceased +to heed the common interests of their force but each cast about to +secure his individual safety, as a common practice of those who form a +union uncemented by kindred blood, or who make a campaign without common +grievances, or who have not one commander. While good fortune attends +them their views are harmonious, but in disaster each one sees before +him only matters of individual concern. They betook themselves to flight +as soon as it had grown dark, without having communicated to one another +their intention. In a body they thought it would be impossible for them +to force their way out or for their defection to pass unnoticed, but if +they should leave each on his own account and, as they believed, alone, +they would more easily escape. And so, to his own party,--each one of +them [lacuna] they will think that accomplishing their flight with the +greatest security [lacuna] (Mai, p.167.) + +[Frag. XXXIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 283 (_a.u._ 471)] 1. The Romans had learned that the +Tarentini and some others were making ready to war against them, and had +despatched Fabricius as an envoy to the allied cities to prevent them +from committing any revolutionary act: but they had him arrested, and by +sending men to the Etruscans and Umbrians and Gauls they caused a number +of them also to secede, some immediately and some a little later. +(Ursinus, p.375. Zonaras, 8, 2-Vol. II, p.174, 4 sq.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 283 (_a.u._ 471)] 2. ¶The Tarentini, although they had +themselves initiated the war, nevertheless were sheltered from fear. For +the Romans, who understood what they were doing, pretended not to know +it on account of temporary embarrassments. Hereupon the Tarentini, +thinking that they either could mock [Footnote: Verb adopted from +Boissevain's conjecture [Greek: _diasilloun_] (cp. the same word in Book +Fifty-nine, chapter 25). at Rome or were entirely unobserved because +they were receiving no complaints behaved still more insolently and +involved the Romans even contrary to their own wishes in a war. This +proved the saying that even good fortune, when a disproportionately +large portion of it falls to the lot of any individuals, becomes the +cause of disaster to them; it entices them on to a state of frenzy +(since moderation refuses to cohabit with vanity) and ruins their +greatest interests. So these Tarentini, too, after rising to an +unexampled height of prosperity in turn met with a misfortune that was +an equivalent return for their wantonness. (Mai, p.168 and 536.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 282 (_a.u._ 472)] 3. Dio in Book 9: "Lucius Valerius, +[Footnote: Appian (Samnite Wars, VII, 1) gives the second name as +Cornelius.] who was admiral of the Romans and had been despatched on +some errand by them." (Bekker, Anecd. p.158, 25. Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +4. ¶Lucius was despatched by the Romans to Tarentum. Now the Tarentini +were celebrating the Dionysia, and sitting gorged with wine in the +theatre of an afternoon suspected that he was sailing against them as an +enemy. Immediately in a passion and partly under the influence of their +intoxication they set sail in turn: so without any show of force on his +part or the slightest expectation of any hostile act they attacked and +sent to the bottom both him and many others. When the Romans heard of +this they naturally were angry, but did not choose to take the field +against Tarentum at once. However, they despatched envoys in order not +to seem to have passed over the affair in silence and by that means +render them more impudent. But the Tarentini, so far from receiving them +decently or even sending them back with an answer in any way suitable, +at once, before so much as granting them an audience, made sport of +their dress and general appearance. It was the city garb, which we use +in the Forum; and this the envoys had put on, either for the sake of +stateliness or else through fear, thinking that this at least would +cause the foreigners to respect their position. Bands of revelers +accordingly jeered at them,--they were still celebrating the festival, +which, although they were at no time noted for temperate behavior, +rendered them still more wanton,--and finally a man planted himself in +the road of Postumius and, with a forward inclination, threw him down +and soiled his clothing. At this an uproar arose from all the rest, who +praised the fellow as if he had performed some remarkable deed, and they +sang many scurrilous anapæsts upon the Romans, accompanied by applause +and capering steps. But Postumius cried: "Laugh, laugh while you may! +For long will be the period of your weeping, when you shall wash this +garment clean with your blood." (Ursinus, p.375. Mai, 168. Zonaras, 8, +2.) + +5. Hearing this they ceased their jests but could accomplish nothing +towards obtaining pardon for their insult: however, they took to +themselves credit for a kindness in the fact that they let the +ambassadors withdraw unharmed. (Mai, ib.) + +6. ¶Meton, failing to persuade the Tarentini not to engage in +hostilities with the Romans, retired unobserved from the assembly, put +garlands on his head, and returned along with some fellow-revelers and a +flute girl. At the sight of him singing and dancing the kordax, they +gave up the business in hand to accompany his movements with shouts and +hand-clapping, as is often done under such circumstances. But he, after +reducing them to silence, spoke: "Now it is yours both to be drunken and +to revel, but if you accomplish what you plan to do, we shall be +slaves." (Mai, p.169.) + +[Frag. XL] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 281 (_a.u._ 473)] ¶King Pyrrhus was not only king of the +district called Epirus, but had made the larger part of the Greek world +his own, partly by kindness and partly by fear. The Ætolians, who at +that period possessed great power, and Philip [Footnote: The son of +Cassander, who ruled only four months in B. C. 296.] the Macedonian, and +the chief men in Illyricum did his bidding. By natural brilliancy and +force of education and experience in affairs he far surpassed all, so as +to be esteemed far beyond what was warranted by his own powers and those +of his allies, although these powers were great. (Valesius, p.589. +Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +2. ¶Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, had a particularly high opinion of his +powers in that he was deemed by foreign nations a match for the Romans: +and he believed that it would be opportune to assist the fugitives who +had taken refuge with him, especially as they were Greeks, and at the +same time to anticipate the Romans with some plausible excuse before he +received any damage at their hands. So careful was he about a fair +pretext that though he had long had his eye on Sicily and had been +considering how he could overthrow the Roman dominion, he shrank from +taking the initiative in hostilities, when no wrong had been done him. +(Mai, p.169. Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +3. ¶King Pyrrhus was said to have captured more cities by Cineas than by +his own spear. For the latter, says Plutarch, [Footnote: Cp. Plutarch, +Life of Pyrrhus, chapter 14.] was skilled in speaking,--the only one in +fact to be compared in skill with Demosthenes. Notwithstanding, as a +sensible man, he spoke in opposition to Pyrrhus, pointing out to him the +folly of the expedition. For the king intended by his prowess to rule +the whole earth, whereas Cineas urged him to be satisfied with his own +possessions, which were sufficient for enjoyment. But the man's fondness +for war and fondness for leadership prevailed against the advice of +Cineas and caused him to depart in disgrace from both Sicily and Italy, +after losing in all of the battles many myriads of his own forces. +(Valesius, p.586.) + +4. ¶Pyrrhus sent to Dodona and enquired of the oracle about the +expedition. And a response having come to him: "You, if you cross into +Italy, Romans shall conquer," he construed it according to his wish (for +desire has mighty power to deceive any one) and would not even await the +coming of spring. (Mai, p.169.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 280 (_a.u._ 474)] 5. ¶The Rhegians had asked of the +Romans a garrison, and Decius [Footnote: _Decius Vibellius_.] was the +leader of it. The majority of these guards, accordingly, as a result of +the excess of supplies and general easy habits,--for they enjoyed a far +less strenuous existence than they had known at home,--through the +persuasion of Decius formed the desire to kill the foremost Rhegians and +occupy the city. It seemed as though they might be quite free to perform +whatever they pleased, unconcerned about the Romans, who were busied +with the Tarentini and with Pyrrhus. Decius was further enabled to +persuade them by the fact that they saw Messana in the power of the +Mamertines. The latter, who were Campanians and had been appointed to +garrison it by Agathocles, the lord of Sicily, had slaughtered the +natives and occupied the town. + +The conspirators did not, however, make their attempt openly, since they +were decidedly inferior in numbers. Letters were forged by Decius, +purporting to have been written to Pyrrhus by some citizens with a view +to the betrayal of the city. He next assembled the soldiers and read +these to them, stating that they had been intercepted, and by his talk +(the character of which may easily be conceived) excited them greatly. +The effect was enhanced by the sudden announcement of a man (who had +been assigned to the role) that a portion of Pyrrhus's fleet had +anchored somewhere off the coast, having come for a conference with the +traitors. Others, who had been instructed, magnified the matter, and +shouted out that they must anticipate the Rhegians before some harm +happened, and that the traitors, ignorant of what was being done, would +find it difficult to resist them. So some rushed down to the landing +places, and others broke into the houses and slaughtered great +numbers,--save that a few had been invited to dinner by Decius and were +slain there. (Valesius, p.589.) + +6. ¶Decius, commander of the garrison, after slaying the Rhegians, +ratified friendship with the Mamertines, thinking that the similar +nature of their outrages would render them most trustworthy allies. He +was well aware that a great many men find the ties resulting from some +common transgression stronger to unite them than the obligations of +lawful association or the bonds of kinship. (Mai, p.170.) + +7. ¶The Romans suffered some reproach from them for a while, until such +time as they took the field against them. For since they were busied +with concerns that were greater and more urgent, what these men did +seemed to some of comparatively little importance. (Mai, p.170.) + +8. ¶The Romans, on learning that Pyrrhus was to come, stood in terror of +him, since they had heard that he was a good warrior and had a large +force by no means despicable as an adversary,--the sort of information, +of course, that is always given to enquirers in regard to persons +unknown to them who live at a very great distance. (Mai, p.170. Zonaras, +8,3.) + +9. For it is impossible that persons not brought up under the same +institutions, nor filled with the same ambitions, nor regarding the same +things as base or noble, should ever become friends with one +another. [Footnote: Nos. 9, 10, and 11 are thought to be possibly from +the speech made by Lævinus to the soldiers (Zonaras, VIII, 3, 6).] +(Mai, p. 537.) + +10. ¶Ambition and distrust are always qualities of tyrants, and so it is +inevitable that they should possess no real friend. A man who is +distrusted and envied could not love any one sincerely. Moreover, a +similarity of habits and a like station in life and the fact that the +same objects are disastrous and beneficial to persons are the only +forces that can create true, firm friends. Wherever any one of these +conditions is lacking, you see a delusive appearance of comradeship, but +find it to be without secure support. (Mai, p.170 and 537.) + +11. ¶Generalship, if it is assisted by respectable forces of men, +contributes greatly both to their preservation and their chances of +victory, but by itself is worth nothing. Nor is there any other +profession that is of weight without persons to coöperate and to aid in +its administration. (Mai, p.171.) + +12. ¶When Megacles was dead and Pyrrhus had cast off his cap the battle +took an opposite turn. One side was filled with much greater boldness by +his preservation and the fact that he had survived contrary to their +fears than if the idea had never gained ground that he was dead: the +other side, deceived, had no second fund of zeal to expend, but, since +they had been cut short in their premature encouragement and because of +the sudden change in their feelings to an expectation of less favorable +results, had no hope that he might subsequently perish once more. (Mai, +p.171. Zonaras, 8, 3.) + +13. ¶When certain men congratulated Pyrrhus on his victory, he accepted +the glory of the exploit, but said that if he should ever conquer again +in like fashion, it would be his ruin. Besides this story, it is told of +him that he admired the Romans even in their defeat and judged them +superior to his own soldiers, declaring: "I should already have mastered +the whole inhabited world, were I king of the Romans." (Mai, p.171. +Zonaras, 8, 3.) + +14. ¶Pyrrhus became famous for his victory and acquired a great +reputation from it, to such an extent that many who were standing +neutral came over to his side and that all the allies who had been +watching the turn of events espoused his cause. He did not openly +display anger towards them nor conceal entirely his suspicions; he +rebuked them somewhat for their tardiness, but otherwise received them +kindly. The result of showing excessive irritation would be, he feared, +their open estrangement, while if he failed to reveal his real feelings +at all, he thought that he would either be condemned by them for his +simplicity in not comprehending what they had done, or would be +suspected of harboring secret wrath. Such a surmise would breed in them +either contempt or hatred, or would lead to a plot against him, due to +the desire to anticipate injuries that they might suffer at his hands. +For these reasons, then, he conversed affably with them and presented to +them some of the spoils. (Mai, p.172. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +15. ¶Pyrrhus at first undertook to persuade the Roman captives (who +were many) to join with him in a campaign against Rome; when, however, +they refused, he treated them with the utmost consideration and did not +put them in prison or harm them in any other way, his intention being to +restore them voluntarily and through their agency to win over the city +without a battle. (Valesius, p.590.) + +16. ¶The Romans, who by reason of the elephants,--a kind of beast that +they had never before seen,--had fallen into dismay, still, by +reflecting on the mortal nature of the animals and the fact that no +beast is superior to man, but that all of them in every way show +inferiority if not as regards strength, at least in respect to +understanding, they gradually became encouraged. (Mai, p.172.) + +17. ¶The soldiers of Pyrrhus, also, both his native followers and the +allies, showed tremendous eagerness for plunder, which seemed to lie +ready before them and to be free from danger. (Mai, ib.) + +18. ¶The Epirots dishonored the ties of friendship, through vexation +that after making the campaign supported by high hopes they were getting +nothing except trouble. And this happened very opportunely for the +Romans: for the dwellers in Italy that had leagued themselves with him, +on seeing that he ravaged the possessions of allies and enemies alike, +withdrew. In other words, his acts made a greater impression upon them +than his promises. (Mai, ib.) + +19. ¶Pyrrhus dreaded being cut off on all sides by the Romans, while he +was in unfamiliar regions. When his allies showed displeasure at this he +told them that he could see clearly from the country itself what a +difference existed between them and the Romans. The subject territory +of the latter had all kinds of trees, vineyards and farms, and expensive +agricultural machinery; whereas the property of his own friends had been +so pillaged, that it was impossible to tell even whether it had ever +been settled. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +20. ¶The same man, when as he was retreating it occurred to him to +wonder [Footnote: Gap supplied by van Herwerden.] how he beheld the army +of Lævinus much larger than it was before, declared that the Roman +troops when cut to pieces grew whole again, hydra-fashion. This did not, +however, cause him to lose courage: he made preparations in his turn, +but did not come to the issue of battle. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8,4.) + +21. ¶Pyrrhus, who learned that Fabricius and other envoys were +approaching, to treat in behalf of the captives, sent a guard to them as +far as the border, to the end that they should suffer no violence at the +hands of the Tarentini, met them in due time, escorted them to the city, +entertained them brilliantly and honored them in other ways, expecting +that they would ask for a truce and make such terms as was proper for a +defeated party. (Ursinus, p.376. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +22. ¶When Fabricius made this statement merely: "The Romans sent us to +bring back the men captured in battle, and to pay ransoms of such size +for them as shall be agreed upon by both of us," he was quite +dumbfounded because the man did not say that he was commissioned to +treat about peace; and after removing them he took counsel with the +friends who were usually his advisers partly, to be sure, about the +return of the captives, but chiefly about the war and its management, +whether with vehemence or in some other way it [lacuna] (Four pages are +lacking.) (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +23 [lacuna]. "to manage, or to run the risk of battles and combats, the +outcome of which is doubtful. [Footnote: Cineas is the speaker.] Hence, +if you heed me, Milo, and the old proverb, you will not employ violence +for any purpose rather than skill, where the latter is feasible, since +Pyrrhus knows precisely what he has to do and does not need to be +enlightened by us regarding a single detail of his program." By this +speech they were all brought to one decision, particularly because this +course entailed neither loss nor danger, whereas the others were likely +to bring both. And Pyrrhus, being of this mind, said to the ambassadors: +"Not willingly, Romans, did I previously make war upon you, and I would +not war against you now: I feel that it is of the highest importance to +become your friend, and for this reason I release all the captives +without ransom and make a treaty of peace." Privately, also, he did them +favors, in order that, if possible, they might take his part, or at any +rate obtain friendship for him. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +24. Pyrrhus made friends of nearly all, and with Fabricius he conversed +as follows: "Fabricius, I do not want to be at war with you any longer, +and indeed I repent that I heeded the Tarentini in the first place and +came hither, although I have beaten you badly in battle. I would gladly, +then, become a friend to all the Romans, but most of all to you. For I +see that you are a thoroughly excellent and reputable [Footnote: The two +words "and reputable" are a conjecture of Bossevain's. Some ten letters +in the MS. have faded out.] man. I accordingly ask you to help me in +getting peace and furthermore to accompany me home. I want to make a +campaign against Greece and need you as adviser and general." Fabricius +replied: "I commend you for repenting of your expedition and desiring +peace, and will cordially assist you in that purpose if it is to our +advantage (for of course you will not ask me, a man who pretends to +uprightness, as you say, to do anything against my country); but an +adviser and general you must never choose from a democracy: as for me, I +have no leisure whatever. Nor could I ever accept any of these things, +because it is not seemly for an ambassador to receive gifts at all. I +would fain know, therefore, whether you in very truth regard me as a +reputable man or not. If I am a scoundrel, how is it that you deem me +worthy of gifts? If, on the other hand, I am a man of honor, how can you +bid me accept them? Let me assure you, then, of the fact that I have +many possessions and am in no need of more: what I own supplies me and I +feel no desire for what belongs to others. You, however, even if you +believe yourself ever so rich, are in unspeakable poverty. For you would +not have crossed over to this land, leaving behind Epirus and the rest +of your dominions, if you had been content with them and had not been +reaching out for more. Whenever a man is in this condition and sets no +limit to his greed, he is the poorest of beggars. And why? Because he +longs for everything not his own as if it were absolutely necessary, and +with the idea that he could not live without it. + +"Consequently I would gladly, since you call yourself my friend, afford +you a little of my own wealth. It is far more secure and imperishable +than yours, and no one envies it or plots against it, neither populace +nor tyrant: best of all, the larger the number of persons who share it, +the greater it will grow. In what, accordingly, does it consist? In +using the little one has with as much satisfaction as if it were +inexhaustible, in refraining from the goods of others as if they +contained some mighty danger, in wronging no man, in doing well to +many, and in numberless other details, which only a person of leisure +could rehearse. I, for my part, should choose, if it were absolutely +necessary to suffer either one or the other, to perish by violence +rather than by deceit. The former falls to the lot of some by the decree +of Fortune, but the latter only as a result of folly and great greed of +gain: it is, therefore, preferable to fall by the crushing hand of Fate +[Footnote: Omitting [Greek: ti], and reading [Greek: thehioy], which the +MSS. give.] rather than by one's own baseness. In the former instance a +man's body is laid low, but in the latter his soul is ruined as +well,[lacuna] but in that case a man becomes to a certain extent the +slayer of himself, because he who has once taught his soul not to be +content with the fortune already possessed, acquires a boundless desire +for increased advantages." (Mai, pp.174 and 538. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +25. And they presented themselves for the enlistment with the greatest +zeal, believing, each man of them, that his own defection would mean the +overthrow of the fatherland. [Footnote: Cp. Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus, +chapter 18 (early).] (Mai, p.176.) + +26. Such is the nature of oratory and so great is its power that it led +even them to change, causing courage and hatred to take the place +respectively of the fear inspired by Pyrrhus and the estrangements his +gifts had wrought. (Mai, ib.) + +27. ¶Every force which, contrary to expectation, is humbled in spirit, +suffers a loss also in strength. (Mai, p.177.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 279 (_a.u._ 475)] 28. ¶Pyrrhus sent to Decius, telling +him that he would not succeed in accomplishing this even if he wished it +[i. e., to die without being seized] and threatened besides that if he +were taken alive he should perish miserably. To this the consuls +answered that they were in no need of having recourse to such a +proceeding as the one to which he alluded, since they were sure to +conquer him in other ways. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 5.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 278 (_a.u._ 476)] 29. He did not know how he would +repulse the one of them [Footnote: "They" are C. Fabricius Luscinus and +Q. Aemilius Papus, Roman consuls.] first, nor how he should repel them +both, and was in perplexity. To divide the army, which was smaller than +that of his opponents, was something he feared to do, yet to allow one +of them to ravage the country with impunity seemed to him almost out of +the question. (Mai, p.177.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 277 (_a.u._ 477)] 30. However, he behaved in general +toward them with great circumspection, and awarded greater credit for +his safety to the fact that no one, even if he wished, could harm him, +than to the probability that no one would have desired to inflict an +injury. It was for this reason, too, that he expelled and slew many who +held office and many who called him in to help in their disputes. This +was partly because he was somewhat displeased with them, on account of +their statements that he had secured the reins of power in the State +through their influence, and partly because he was suspicious of them +and thought that as they had come over to his side so they might go over +to some one else's [lacuna] (Mai, p.178. Zonaras, 8, 5.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 276 (_a.u._ 479)] 31. ¶As the allies were unwilling to +contribute anything for the support of Pyrrhus, he betook himself to the +treasuries of Persephone, that were widely reputed for their wealth, +despoiled them and sent the spoils on ships to Tarentum. And the men +almost all perished through a storm, while the money and offerings were +cast out on land. (Valesius, p.590.) + +32. ¶All admired the following act of Pyrrhus. Some youths at a banquet +had ridiculed him, and at first he wished to have them before a court +and exact vengeance, but, afterward, when they declared: "We should have +said a lot more things a good deal worse, if the wine hadn't failed us," +he laughed and let them go. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 6.) + +[Frag. XLI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 273 (_a.u._ 481)] ¶Ptolemy, nicknamed Philadelphus, +king of Egypt, when he learned that Pyrrhus had fared poorly and that +the Romans were growing, sent gifts to them and made a compact. The +Romans, accordingly, pleased that a monarch living so very far away +should have come to respect them, despatched ambassadors to him in turn. +From him the envoys, too, received magnificent gifts; but when they had +offered these to the treasury, they would not accept them. (Ursinus, +p.374. Zonaras, 8, 6.) + +[Frag. XLII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 266 (_a.u._ 488)]¶Though the Romans were faring in this +manner and were constantly rising to greater heights they showed no +haughtiness as yet: on the contrary, they surrendered to the +Appolloniatians (Corinthian colonists on the Ionian Gulf) Quintus +Fabius, a senator, because he had insulted some of their ambassadors. +The people of this town, however, did him no harm, and even sent him +home. (Valesius, p.590. Zonaras, 8, 7.) + +[Frag. XLIII] + +1. ¶The causes responsible for the dispute between the two were--on the +side of the Romans that the Carthaginians had assisted the Tarentini, on +the side of the Carthaginians, that the Romans had made a treaty of +friendship with Hiero. But these they merely put forward as excuses, as +those are inclined to do who in reality are desirous of advancing their +own interests but pause before a reputation for such action. The truth +is different. As a matter of fact, the Carthaginians, who had long been +powerful, and the Romans, who were now growing rapidly, kept viewing +each other with jealousy; and they were incited to war partly by the +desire of continually getting more, according to the instinct of the +majority of mankind, most active when they are most successful, and +partly also by fear. Each alike thought that the one sure salvation for +her own possessions lay in obtaining what the other held. If there had +been no other reason, it was most difficult, nay, impossible, for two +nations that were free, powerful, and proud, and separated from each +other, so to speak, only a very short distance (considering the speed of +voyages) to rule any outside tribes and yet keep their hands off each +other. But a mere accident of the kind that befell broke the truce they +had been keeping and dashed them together in war. (Mai, p.178. Zonaras, +8, 8.) + +2. ¶The conflict, according to report, concerned Messana and Sicily, but +in reality both parties perceived that from this region danger +threatened their native land, and they thought that the island, lying, +as it did, between them, would furnish to the side that conquered it a +safe base for operations against the other party. (Mai, p.179. Zonaras, +8, 8.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 264 (_a.u._ 490)] 3. ¶Gaius Claudius came to the meeting, +and among other remarks which he made to tempt them declared that the +object of his presence was to free the city, since the Romans had no +need of Messana; and that he would immediately sail away, as soon as he +should set their affairs in order. Next he bade the Carthaginians also +either to withdraw, or, if they had any just plea to offer, to submit +to arbitration. Now when not one of the Mamertines (by reason of fear) +opened his lips, and the Carthaginians since they were occupying the +city by force of arms paid little heed to him, he stated that the +silence on both sides afforded sufficient evidence: on the part of the +invaders it showed that they were in the wrong, for they would have +justified themselves if their purposes were at all honest, and on the +part of the Mamertines that they desired freedom; they might have been +quite free to speak, had they espoused the cause of the Carthaginians, +especially as there was a force of the latter present. Furthermore he +promised that he would aid them, both on account of their Italian origin +and on account of the request for assistance they had made. (Mai, p.179. +Zonaras, 8,8.) + +4. ¶Gaius Claudius lost some of the triremes and with difficulty reached +safety. Neither he nor the Romans in the City, however, were prevented +from renewing attempts by sea through the fact that they had been +worsted when first making a trial of it, although this is the ordinary +course that people pursue who fail in the first undertaking and think +that they can never again succeed, viewing the past in the light of an +omen. On the contrary, they applied themselves to the watery element +with an even greater zeal, and chiefly because they were ambitious and +did not wish to appear to have been diverted from their purpose by the +disaster. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras 8, 8, sq.) 5. ¶Hanno, who was in no wise +disposed to make light of the war in case it were bound to occur, was +particularly anxious to throw the responsibility for breaking the truce +upon the other man, for fear it might be thought that he himself was +taking the initiative. Accordingly, he sent back to him the ships and +the captives, while he urged him to accept peace and exhorted him +besides not to meddle with the sea. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +6. ¶When he would accept nothing, he launched at him an arrogant and +reprehensible threat. For he declared that he would never allow the +Romans even to wash their hands in the sea: yet he lost not only the sea +but also Messana not much later. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +7. ¶Claudius, finding the Mamertines gathered at the harbor, called an +assembly of their number and made the statement: "I have no need of arms +but will leave it with you to decide everything." By this means he +persuaded them to send for Hanno. As the latter refused to come down, he +chid him soundly, inveighing against him and declaring that if he had +even the slightest justification, he would certainly hold a conference +with him and not persist in occupying the city by force. (Mai, p.180. +Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +8. ¶The consul Claudius exhorted the soldiers beforehand to be of good +cheer and not to be cast down over the defeat of the tribune. He +instructed them that in the first place victories fall to the lot of the +better equipped, and that secondly their valor far surpassed the skill +of their opponents. They would acquire, he said, the knowledge of +seafaring in a short time, whereas the Carthaginians would never have +bravery equal to theirs. Knowledge was something that could be obtained +in a brief space by men who gave their minds to it and could be mastered +by practice; but bravery, in case it were absent from a man's nature, +could never be furnished by instruction. (Mai, p. 181.) + +9. ¶ The Libyans, rejoicing in the idea that they had conquered not +through the nature of their position, but by their own valor, sallied +out. But Claudius made them so fearful that they would not even peep out +of the camp. (Mai, p. 181. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +10. For it happens in the majority of instances that those who as a +result of calculation fear something are successful by reason of their +precaution against it, whereas those whose boldness rests on lack of +forethought, are ruined on account of their unguarded condition. +[Footnote: The Carthaginians are, in a general way, the subject of this +section.] (Mai, p. 539.) + +11. The quality of moderation both obtains victories and preserves them +after they are won, whereas that of wantonness can prevail against +nothing, and if it be at any time fortunate in some matter, very easily +destroys it. And again, if it perchance preserves some conquest, it +grows worse by the very fact of extraordinary good fortune and so far +from being benefited by its success is actually ruined by it +irretrievably. + +Moreover, whenever there is boldness not in accord with reason, you may +expect to find unreasoning fear. Calculation, bringing with it +resolution strengthened by forethought, and a hope made confident by its +own trustworthiness do not allow one to be either dejected or +presumptuous. Unreasoning impulse, however, often elates men in the +midst of good fortune and humbles them to dust in disasters, possessing, +as it were, no support, but always copying the feature of the chance +event. (Mai, p. 539 and p. 181.) + +12. ¶ The Romans and Carthaginians when they entered upon war were +equally matched in the number of ships and readiness to serve. +[Sidenote: B.C. 260 (_a.u._ 494)] It was a naval battle soon after in +which, with equal equipment, they first became engaged. They hoped that +it would decide the whole war: Sicily lay before their eyes as the +prize: they were contending in a matter of servitude or empire, resolved +not to be beaten, lest they taste the former, but to conquer and obtain +the latter. One side surpassed in the experience possessed by the crews +of its triremes, since they had long been masters of the sea, and the +other in the strength of its marines and its daring; for the rashness +and audacity of their fighting was commensurate with their inexperience +in naval affairs. In matters of experience practically all men make +exact calculations and are imbued with wholesome fear, even if their +judgment approves a particular course, but the untried renders them +unreasonably bold, and draws them into conflict through lack of due +consideration. (Mai, p.181.) + +13. ¶The Carthaginians because of their defeat by the Romans in the +sea-fight came near putting Hannibal to death. It is a trait of +practically all people who send out armies on any mission to lay claims +to advantage gained but to put the responsibility of defeat upon their +leaders, and the Carthaginians were very ready to chastise those who +failed in an enterprise. + +He, however, was afraid and immediately after the defeat enquired of +them whether if the business were still untouched they would bid him +risk a sea-fight or not. When they declared in the affirmative, as he +had doubtless expected, because they prided themselves on having such a +superior navy, he added, by the mouths of the same messengers: "I, then, +have done no wrong, for I went into the engagement with the same hopes +as you. The decision was within my power but not the fortune of the +battle." (Mai, p.182. Zonaras, 8, 11.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 258 (_a.u._ 496)] 14. Dio in Book 11: "When the storm +continued and a mist arose besides, he brought about Hannibal's defeat +through the agency of some deserters." (Bekker, Anecd. p.171, 26. +Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +15. But regarding the non-surrender of their native land and the +acquirement of foreign territory as matters of equal importance, they +[Footnote: I.e., The Carthaginians.] contended with courage and force. +For whereas most men defend their own possessions to the very limit of +their power but are unwilling to lay claim to the goods of others if it +involves danger, these antagonists set a like value upon what they held +fast and what they expected, and so were equally determined upon both +points. Now the Romans thought it better to conduct the war no longer at +a distance, nor to risk a first encounter in the islands, but to have +the contest in the Carthaginians' own land. If they failed, they would +lose nothing; and if they conquered they would obtain something besides +hopes. Therefore, making their preparation follow their resolve, they +took the field against Carthage. (Mai, p. 183. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 256 (_a.u._ 498)] 16. Their leaders were Regulus and +Lucius, preferred before others for their excellence. Regulus was, +indeed, in so great poverty that he did not readily consent, on that +account, to take up the command; and it was voted that his wife and +children should be furnished their support from the public treasury. +(Valesius, p. 593. Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +17. ¶ Hanno had been sent to the Romans by Hamilcar, as was pretended, +in behalf of peace, but in reality for the sake of delay. And he, when +some clamored for his arrest, because the Carthaginians by fraud +[lacuna] Cornelius [lacuna] [Mai, p. 183.] Four pages of the MS. are +lacking. (Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +18. Dio the Roman, who wrote a history about the Empire and the Republic +of Rome and describes the far-famed Carthaginian war, says that when +Regulus, + +[Sidenote: B.C. 256 (_a.u._ 498)] consul for Rome, was warring against +Carthage, a serpent suddenly crept out of the palisade of the Roman army +and lay there. By his command the Romans slew the reptile and having +flayed it sent its skin, a great prodigy, to the Roman senate. And when +measured by the same senate (as the same Dio says) it was found to have +a length of one hundred and twenty feet. In addition to its length its +thickness was also notable. (Ioannes Damascenus, On Serpents, vol. I, p. +472, A.B. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 13.) + +19. ¶ The Carthaginians in fear of capture sent heralds to the consul to +the end that by some satisfactory arrangement they might turn aside the +danger of the moment, and so escape. But since they refused to withdraw +from both Sicily and Sardinia, to release the Roman captives free of +cost and to ransom their own, to make good all the expenses incurred by +the Romans for the war and besides to pay more as tribute each year, +they accomplished nothing. And in addition to the above mentioned, there +were the following commands which displeased them: that they should make +neither war nor treaties without the consent of the Romans, that they +should employ not more than one warship but the Romans would come to +their aid with fifty triremes as often as notice should be sent them, +and that they would not be on an equal footing in conducting some other +kinds of business. Considering these points they decided that the truce +would mean their utter subjugation, and preferred rather to fight with +the Romans. (Ursinus, p. 376. Zonaras, 8, 13.) + +20. Dio in Book 11: "The Carthaginians kept watch for their ships +homeward bound and captured several heavily laden with money." (Bekker, +Anecd. p. 131, 12. Zonaras, 8, 14.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 251 (_a.u._ 503)] 21. ¶ They say the Carthaginians sent +heralds to the Romans on account of the great number of the captives +(among other causes), and most of all to see if they would be inclined +to make peace on some moderate terms; if this could not be effected, +their purpose still held to get back the captives. They say that +Regulus, too, had been sent among the envoys because of his reputation +and valor. The people assumed that the Romans would do anything whatever +in the hope of getting him back, so that he might even be delivered up +alone in return for peace, or at any rate in exchange for the captives. +Accordingly, they bound him by mighty oaths and pledges to return +without fail in case neither of their objects should be accomplished, +and they despatched him as an envoy with others. + +And he acted in all respects like a Carthaginian, not a Roman; for he +did not even grant his wife leave to confer with him nor did he enter +the city, although he was invited: instead, when the senate assembled +outside of the walls, as their custom was in treating with the envoys of +the enemy, he asked for permission to approach with the others--at +least, so the story goes, [lacuna] (Ursinus, p. 377. Zonaras, 8, 15.) + +22. Dio in Book 11: "Regulus paid no heed to them until the +Carthaginians permitted him to do so." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 140, 20. +Zonaras, 8, 15.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 251 (_a.u._ 503)] 23. Dio in Book 11: "For it is neither +my duty nor that of any other upright man to give up aught that pertains +to the public welfare." (Ib. p. 165, 23.) + +24. In Book 11: "Any one else, wishing to console himself for the +disaster which had happened in his own case, would have exalted the +prowess of the enemy." (Ib. p. 165, 30.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 249 (_a.u._ 505)] 25. The second part of the augury is +transmitted to us by Dio Cassius Cocceianus, who says that they keep +tame birds which eat barley, and put barley grains in front of them when +they seek an omen. If, then, in the course of eating the birds do not +strike the barley with their beaks and toss it aside, the sign is good; +but if they do so strike the grain, it is not good. (Io. Tzetzes, +Exegesis of Homer's Iliad, p. 108, 2.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 244 (_a.u._ 510)] 26. He [sc. Mamilcar] thought it was +requisite for a man who wished to accomplish anything by secret means +not to make the matter known to anyone at all. There was no one, he +believed, so self-possessed as to be willing, when he had heard, merely +to observe operations and be silent. Just the reverse was true: the more +strongly a man might be forbidden to mention anything, the greater would +be his desire to speak of it, and thus one man learning the secret from +another with the understanding that he was the only person to know it +would reveal the story. [Footnote: Section 26 may refer to Hamilcar +Barca's plans for seizing Mount Eryx.] (Mai, p. 540. Cp. Diodorus, 24, +7.) + +27. In Book 11 of Dio: "He feasted the populace." [Footnote: Boissevain +thinks that No. 27 may concern the banqueting of the populace during +Metellus's triumph. Others have other opinions.] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 133, +24.) + +28. In Book 11 of Dio: "You attack even such friends as have been guilty +of any error, whereas I pardon even my enemies." (Ib. p.171, 29.) + +29. In Book 12 of Dio: "By the one process [Footnote: Perhaps from the +speech of Regulus to the senators.] he might have become to a certain +extent estranged from you." (Ib. p.124, 4.) 30. In Book 12 of Dio: "Some +are dead, and others who were deserving of some notice, have been +captured." [Footnote: This may be likewise from the speech of Regulus +and be said of the Carthaginian leaders.] (Ib. p. 133,25.) + +[Frag. XLIV] + +1. For the Ligurians occupy the whole shore from Etruria up to the Alps +and as far as Gaul, according to Dio's statement. (Isaac Tzetzes, on +Lycophron, 1312.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 236 (_a.u._ 518)] 2. The Romans at first sent Claudius +to the Corsicans and gave him up. This was after he had made terms with +them, but his countrymen, who claimed that the fault in breaking the +compact rested on him and not on themselves, had waged war upon them and +subdued them. When the Corsicans refused to receive him, the Romans +drove him out. (Valesius, p.593. Zonaras, 8, 18.) + +[Frag. XLV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 235 (_a.u._ 519)] 1. ¶The Romans after exacting also +money from the Carthaginians, renewed the truce. And at first when an +embassy from the latter arrived, they returned no proper answer, because +they were aware of the state of their own equipment and because they +were themselves still busied at that time with the war against the +neighboring tribes. After this, however, Hanno, a man of youthful years +who employed striking frankness of speech, was sent. He touched +unreservedly on a number of other subjects and finally his appeal--"If +you don't want to be at peace, restore to us both Sardinia and Sicily; +for with these we purchased not a temporary respite but eternal +friendship"--caused them to become milder and ashamed [lacuna] (Ursinus, +p.378. Zonaras, 8, 18.) + +2[lacuna] lest [Footnote: Preceding this fragment four pages of the MS. +are missing.] they might suffer the same injuries in return, so that +they were very glad to delay,--the one side choosing to preserve the +prosperity that was an inheritance of the past, and the other to cling +to the possessions which were still theirs. To judge by their threats +they were no longer maintaining peace, but in fact they still +deliberated about the matter, so that all could see that whichever of +the two found it to his advantage to create the first disturbance would +also be the one to begin war. Most men abide by their agreements just so +long as suits their own convenience. If they have in view a greater +resultant benefit to themselves, they deem it safe even to break some +compact. (Mai, p.184.) + +[Frag. XLVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 231 (_a.u._ 523)] ¶Once in the consulship of Marcus +Pomponius and Gaius Papirius they despatched envoys to investigate +affairs in Spain, although none of the Spanish States had ever yet +belonged to them. He, [Footnote: A reference to some previous proper +name, outside this fragment.] besides showing them other honors, +addressed them in suitable words, declaring that he was obliged to fight +against the Spaniards in order that the money which was still owing to +the Romans on the part of the Carthaginians might be paid; for it was +impossible to obtain it from any other source. The envoys were +consequently embarrassed to know how to censure him. (Mai, p.184) + +[Frag. XLVII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 230 (_a.u._ 524)] 1. ¶The island of Issa surrendered +itself voluntarily to the Romans. This was the first time the islanders +were about to make the acquaintance of the latter, but they judged them +more friendly and faithful than the powers which they then dreaded. +Calculation caused them to place more dependence on the unknown than on +the evident; for while the latter had aroused irritation through the +dealings already had with it, the former afforded good hope, because its +actions were as yet only matters of expectation. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, +19.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 230 (_a.u._ 524)] 2. When the Issæans had attached +themselves to the Romans, the latter, being ready and anxious to do them +some favor in return forthwith, so as to get the reputation of aiding +such as espoused their cause and also for the purpose of restraining the +Ardiasans, who were annoying those that sailed from Brundusium,--for +these reasons they sent messengers to Agro, who were to ask clemency for +the Issæans and censure the king in that he was wronging them without +previous cause. Now these men found Agro no longer in existence: he had +died, leaving behind a child named Pineus. Teuta, Agro's wife and +stepmother of Pineus, held the power over the Ardiæans,[lacuna] Being +[lacuna] by boldness, she made no moderate response to their requests, +but woman-like she showed a vanity (due to innate recklessness as well +as to the power that she was holding) by casting some of the ambassadors +into prison and killing others for speaking frankly. Such was her action +at that time, and she actually took pride in it as if she had displayed +some strength by her facile cruelty. In a very short space, however, she +proved the weakness of the female sex, for as she had quickly flown into +a passion through short-sightedness of judgment, so through cowardice +she was quickly terrified. As soon as she learned that the Romans had +voted for war against her she was panic-stricken, and promised to +restore their men whom she held, while she tried to defend herself for +the death of the others, declaring that they had been slain by some +robbers. When the Romans were thus led to cease temporarily their +campaign and demand the surrender of the murderers, she showed contempt +again, because the danger was not yet at her doors, and declaring that +she would not give anybody up despatched an army against Issa. When she +learned that the consuls were at hand she grew terrified again, gave +over her high spirit, and became ready to heed them in every minutest +detail. She had not yet, however, been fully brought to her senses, for +when the consuls had crossed over to Corcyra she felt imbued with new +courage, revolted, and despatched an army against Epidamnus and +Apollonia. After the Romans had rescued the cities and at the news of +their capture of ships and treasures of hers she was on the point of +again yielding obedience. Meanwhile in the course of scaling certain +heights overlooking the sea they were worsted near the Atyrian hill and +she now waited, hoping, in view of the fact that it was really winter +already, for their withdrawal. But on perceiving that Albinus remained +where he was and Demetrius as a result of her caprice as well as from +fear of the Romans had transferred his allegiance, besides persuading +some others to desert, she became utterly terrified and gave up her +sovereignty. (Ursinus, p. 378. Zonaras, 8, 19.) + +[Frag. XLVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 228 (_a.u._ 526)] In the time of Fabius Maximus +Berucosus ("full of warts") the Romans did this, after burying in the +middle Of the Forum a Greek and a Gallic couple, man and woman: they +were frightened by a certain oracle which said that Greek and Gaul +should occupy the city. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 603, 1056. Cp. +Zonaras, 8, 19.) + +[Frag. XLIX] + +1. ¶ The Romans were being frightened by an oracle of the Sibyl which +urged the necessity of guarding against the Gauls when a thunderbolt +should fall upon the Capitol near the temple of Apollo. (Mai, p. 185.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 225 (_a.u._ 529)] 2. ¶ The Gauls became dejected on +seeing that the Romans had taken beforehand the most favorable +locations. All men if they obtain the object of their first aim proceed +more readily toward their subsequent goals, but if they miss it, lose +interest in everything else. They, however, after the Gallic fashion and +more than is usual with the rest of mankind, lay hold very eagerly of +what they desire and cling most tenaciously to any success, but if they +meet with the slightest obstacle have no hope left for the future. Folly +makes them inclined to expect whatsoever they wish, and their spirited +temperament ready to carry out whatsoever they undertake. They are given +to violent anger and dash headlong into enterprises, and for that reason +they have within themselves no quality of endurance (since it is +impossible for reckless audacity to prevail for any time), and if they +once suffer any setback they are unable (especially by reason of the +fear to which they then fall a prey) to recover themselves: they are +plunged into a state of panic corresponding to their previous fearless +daring. In a brief period they rush vehemently to the most opposite +extremes, since they can furnish no motive based on calculation for +either action. (Mai, p. 185.) + +3. ¶ Æmilius on conquering the Insubres celebrated a triumph and in it +conveyed the foremost captives clad in armor up to the Capitol, making +jests upon them because he had heard that they had sworn not to remove +their breastplates before they had ascended the Capitol. (Mai, p. 186. +Zonaras, 8, 20.) + +[Frag. L] + +¶ If any of the details, even the smallest, that were customary in +festivals had been missed, they renewed the ceremonial proceedings at +any rate a second and a third time, and even more times still, so far as +was possible in one day, till everything seemed to them to have been +done faultlessly. (Mai, p. 186. Zonaras, 8, 20.) + +[Frag. LI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 219 (_a.u._ 535)] ¶ Demetrius, elated by his position as +guardian of Pineus and by the fact that he had married the latter's +mother Triteuta (Teuta was dead), was hateful to the natives and injured +the property of neighboring tribes. So they summoned him before them +(since it appeared that it was by misusing the friendship of the Romans +that he was able to wrong those peoples) as soon as they heard of it. +When he refused compliance and actually assailed their allies, they made +a campaign against Issa, where he was. (Valesius, p.593. Zonaras, 8, +20.) + +[Frag. LII] + +1. ¶The Romans were at their prime in equipment for war and enjoyed +absolute harmony among themselves. Whereas the majority of persons are +led by unmixed good fortune to audacity but by a tremendous fear to +proper behavior, they had quite a different experience at that time in +those matters. The more successes they had the more sober it made them; +against their enemies they displayed the kind of boldness that partakes +of bravery, while toward one another they employed that right dealing +which is closely connected with good order. [Footnote: The word for +"good order" is conjectured by van Herwerden.] They held their power +with a view to the practice of moderation and kept their orderliness for +the acquirement of a true bravery: they did not allow their good fortune +to develop into wantonness, nor their right dealing into cowardice. They +believed that in case of such laxity temperance might be ruined by +bravery and boldness by boldness; but that when people exercised care, +as they did, moderation was made more secure by bravery and good fortune +rendered surer by discipline. This was the reason for their vast +superiority over the enemies that encountered them and for their +excellent administration of both their own affairs and those of the +allies. (Mai, p. 186.) + +2. ¶ All who dwelt on the near side of the Alps revolted to join the +Carthaginians, not because they preferred the Carthaginians to the +Romans as leaders, but because they hated the force that ruled them and +were for welcoming the untried. The Carthaginians had allies against the +Romans from every one of the tribes that then existed; but Hannibal was +worth nearly all of them. He could comprehend matters very quickly and +plan the details of every project that he laid to heart, notwithstanding +the fact that generally sureness is the product of slowness and only +rash decisions result from hastiness of disposition. He was most +[lacuna] when given the smallest margin of time, and most enduring with +a very great degree of reliability. He managed in a safe way the affair +of the moment and showed skill in considering the future beforehand: he +proved himself a most capable counselor in ordinary events and a very +accurate judge of the unusual. By these powers he handled the issue +immediately confronting him very readily and in the shortest time, while +by calculation he anticipated the future afar off and considered it as +though it were actually present. Consequently he, more than any man, met +each occasion with suitable words and acts, because he made no +distinction between what he possessed and what he hoped for. He was able +to conduct matters so for the reason that in addition to his natural +capacity he was well versed in much Phoenician learning, common to his +country, and likewise much Greek, and furthermore he understood +divination by inspection of entrails. (Mai, p. 187 and Valesius, p. +593.) + +3. With such intellectual qualities he had brought his body to a state +of equal perfection, partly by nature, partly by practice, so that he +could carry out easily everything that he took in hand. It was nimble +and at the same time heavy to the utmost degree, and he could, +therefore, run, fight, and ride safely at full speed. He never burdened +himself with overmuch food, nor suffered annoyance by lack of it, but +took more or less with equal grace, feeling that either was +satisfactory. Hardship made him rugged, and on loss of sleep he grew +strong. + +Having these advantages of mind and body he universally administered +affairs in a fashion now to be described. Since he saw that most men +were trustworthy only in what concerned their own interest, he himself +dealt with them in this manner and expected the same treatment of them, +so that he very often succeeded by deceiving persons and very seldom +failed by being the object of a plot. He regarded as hostile every force +that could gain an advantage both among foreigners and among kinsmen +alike, and did not wait to learn their intentions from their acts, but +handled them quite unsparingly, assuming that they were anxious to +commit a wrong when they could: he thought it better to be the first to +act than the first to suffer, and resolved that the rest of the world +should be dependent on him, and not he upon other persons. In fine, he +paid attention to the nature of things, rather than to their reputed +good points, as often as the two did not happen to coincide. He also, +however, prized extravagantly whatever he needed. Slaves, most of them, +he esteemed in that way, and beheld them willing to encounter danger for +him even contrary to their own advantage. For these reasons he often +himself refrained from opportunities for gain and other most delightful +pleasures, but gave a share ungrudgingly to them. Hence he could get +them to be not unwilling partners in hard work. He subjected himself not +only to the same conditions of living as these men, but also to the same +dangers and was the first to accomplish every task that he demanded of +them. Likewise he was confident that they, too, without pretexts and +with zeal,--since he showed his care for them not in words only,--would +help him effect his projects. + +Toward the rest he always behaved quite proudly; and the whole +multitude, in consequence, felt either good-will or fear toward him +because of their similar conditions of life, on the one hand, and +because of his haughtiness on the other. Accordingly, he was fully able +to bring low the towering head, to exalt humility, and to inspire all +whom he pleased, in the shortest period, one with hesitation, another +with boldness, with hope also and despair regarding most important +matters. + +And that this information about him is not false, but is truthful +tradition, his works are proof. Much of Spain he won over in a short +time, and from there carried the war into Italy through the country of +the Gauls, most of whom were not only not in league with him, but +actually unknown to him. He was the first of non-Europeans, so far as we +know, to cross the Alps with an army, and after that he made a campaign +against Rome itself, sundering from it almost all its allies, some by +force and others by persuasion. This, however, he achieved by himself +without the aid of the Carthaginian government. He was not sent forth in +the beginning by the magistrates at home, nor did he later obtain any +considerable assistance from them. While they were on the eve of +enjoying the greatest glory and benefit through his efforts, they +wished rather not to appear to be leaving him in the lurch than to +coöperate effectively in any enterprise. (Valesius, p. 593.) + +[Frag. LIII] + +Dio Cocceianus calls the Narbonenses _Bebruces_, writing this: "To those +who of old were Bebruces, but now Narbonenses, belongs the Pyrenees +range. This range is the boundary between Spain and Gaul." (Isaac +Tzetzes on Lycophron, 516. Zonaras, 8, 21.) + +[Frag. LIV] + +1. ¶ Peace both creates wealth and preserves it, but war both expends it +and destroys it. [Footnote: The first eight sections of this fragment +seem to be taken from speeches of Romans in the senate-house. Nos. 1 and +2 are apparently the words of an unknown individual discouraging the +eagerness for war; Nos. 3 and 4 may be spoken by Lentulus, urging war; +and Nos. 5 to 8 may contain the opposing arguments of Fabius.](Mai, p. +188.) + +2. ¶Every human being is so constituted as to desire to lord it over +such as yield, and to employ the turn of Fortune's scale against +voluntary slaves. (Mai, ib.) + +3. But do you who know the facts and have experienced them, think that +propriety and humaneness are sufficient for your safety? And do you +regard listlessly all the wrongs they have committed against us by +stealth or deceit or violence? Are you not stimulated, are you not for +paying them back or for defending yourselves? Then again, you have never +reflected that such behavior is in place for you toward one another, but +toward the Carthaginians is cowardly and base. Our citizens we must +treat in a gentle and politic fashion; if one be preserved unexpectedly, +he is of our possessions: but harsh treatment is for the enemy. We shall +save ourselves not by our defeats as a result of sparing them, but by +our victories that will come from abasing them. (Mai, p.188.) + +4. ¶War both preserves men's own possessions and wins the property of +others, whereas peace destroys not only what has been bestowed by war +but itself in addition. (Mai, pp.188 and 541.) + +[Frag. LIV] + +5. ¶It is base to proceed to action ere arguments about the matter have +been heard: for in such a case, if successful, you will be thought to +have enjoyed good fortune rather than to have employed good counsel, and +if worsted, to have taken your resolution without forethought, at a time +when there was no profit in it. And yet who does not know this,--that to +heap up reproaches and to accuse people that have once warred against us +is very easy--any man can do it--whereas, to say what is advantageous +for the State, not in anger over other men's deeds, but with a view to +the State's benefit, is really the duty of the advising class? Do not +irritate us, Lentulus, nor persuade us to begin war until you show us +that it shall be really for our advantage. Reflect particularly (though +there are other considerations) that speaking here about deeds of war is +not the same sort of thing as their actual performance. (Mai, p.189.) + +6. Men are often set on their feet by disasters, and many who use them +wisely fare better than those who are completely fortunate and for that +very reason wanton. Somehow ill luck seems to hold no inconsiderable +portion of benefit, because it does not permit men to lose their senses +or indulge in extreme wantonness. For naturally it is most advisable to +set one's face steadfastly toward all the best things, and to make not +possibility, but calculation, the measure of desire. And if a man be not +able to prefer what is more excellent, it will still pay him to behave, +even unwillingly, with moderation so as to regard in the light of +happiness even the failure to be fortunate in all cases. (Mai, p.542.) + +7. It is imperative to be on one's guard against any similar experience +again,--that being the only benefit that can come from disasters. +Repeated good fortune occasionally ruins those who unthinkingly base +their hopes upon it, believing they are sure of another victory, whereas +failures compel every one as a result of his past trouble to provide for +the future carefully beforehand. (Mai, pp.189 and 542.) + +8. ¶For securing the favor of the gods or a good reputation among men it +is no small thing to escape the appearance of creating war, and seem to +be compelled to defend the existing population. (Mai, p.189.) + +9. After speeches of this character on both sides they determined to +prepare for fighting: they would not vote that way however, but +determined to send envoys to Carthage and denounce Hannibal; then, if +the Carthaginians refrained from approving his exploits, they would +arbitrate the matter, or if all responsibility were laid on his +shoulders, they would demand his extradition; if he were given up, well; +otherwise they would declare war. (Mai, p.190. Zonaras, 8, 22.) + +10. ¶When the Carthaginians made no definite answer to the envoys and +instead behaved contemptuously toward them, Marcus [Footnote: According +to Livy (XXI, 18, 1) his name was _Quintus_. Willems suggests emending +to Maximus here.] Fabius thrust his hands beneath his toga and holding +them with palms upward said: "Here I bring to you, Carthaginians, both +war and peace: do you choose unequivocally whichever of them you wish." +Upon their replying to this challenge even then that they chose neither +but would readily accept either that the Romans left with them, he +declared war upon them. (Mai, p.190. Zonaras, 8, 22.) + +[Frag. LV] + +¶The Romans invited the Narbonenses to an alliance. But the latter +declared that they had never suffered any harm from the Carthaginians or +received any favor from the Romans that they should war against the one +or defend the other, and were quite angry with them, charging that the +Romans had often treated their kinsmen outrageously. (Mai, p.190.) + +[Frag. LVI] + +1. ¶From such an expectation, Dio says, already acquired from that +source, the Romans and Carthaginians had reached a state in which they +had formed the most different judgments regarding the administration of +the war. For hopefulness, in that it leads all men to cheerfulness, +renders them also more active and confident, possessed of a faith that +they will be victorious; lack of hope casts them into dejection and +despair, and deprives of strength even the naturally stout-hearted. +(Mai, p.191.) + +2. Just as matters at a great distance and quite unknown are accustomed +to disturb many men, so now they struck no little fear to the hearts of +the Spaniards. [Footnote: This refers to the Spaniards' refusing, at the +start, to undertake a campaign. Cp. Livy, XXI, 23.] For the majority of +the multitude that makes a campaign not for any reason of its own but +ranking as an allied force is a strong force just so long as it has the +hopes of obtaining some benefit without danger. But when the men reach +the vicinity of the conflict, they are frightened out of their hopes of +gain and lose their faith in promises. And the most of them have gotten +it into their heads that they are by all means going to be successful in +any case; consequently, even if they should meet with some reverse, they +esteem it lightly in comparison with the hopes which have been +offsetting it. (Mai, p.191. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 218 (_a.u._ 536)] 3. When the preparations failed to be +sufficient in any respect for the size of Hannibal's army, and some one +on this account suggested to him that the soldiers be fed on the flesh +of their opponents, he did not take the idea amiss, but said he feared +that some day through lack of bodies of that kind they might turn to +eating one another. (Mai, p.191. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +4. ¶Hannibal before beginning operations called together the soldiers +and brought in the captives whom he had taken by the way: he enquired of +the latter whether they wished to undergo imprisonment in fetters and to +endure a grievous slavery or to fight in single combat one with another +on condition that the victors should be released. When they chose the +second alternative, he set them to fighting. And at the end of the +conflict he said: "Now is it not shameful, fellow-soldiers, that these +men who have been captured by us are so disposed toward bravery as to be +eager to die in place of becoming slaves, whereas we shrink from +incurring a little toil and danger for the purpose of not being +subservient to others,--yes, and ruling them besides?" (Mai, p.192. +Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +5. All the sufferings that we have endured when occasionally defeated by +the enemy we will inflict upon them, if we are victorious. Be well +assured that by conquering we shall obtain all the benefits that I +mention, but if conquered we shall not even have a safe means of escape. +The victor straightway finds everything friendly, even if possibly it +hates him, and to the vanquished no one even of his own household pays +any longer heed. (Mai, pp. 543 and 192.) + +6. ¶To have once failed in an enterprise against some foes puts them +forever out of countenance, and is a preventative of any future courage. +(Mai, p. 192.) + +7. For the whole Gallic race is naturally more or less eccentric and +cowardly and faithless. Just as they are readily emboldened in the face +of hopes, so (only more readily) when frightened do they fall into a +panic. The fact that they were no more faithful to the Carthaginians +will teach the rest of mankind a lesson never to dare to invade Italy. +(Mai, p. 192. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 24.) + +8. ¶Many portents, [Footnote: Cp. Livy XXI, 62, and XXII, I, 8-20.] some +of which had actually occurred and others which were the product of idle +talk, became the subject of conversation. For when persons get seriously +frightened and those [lacuna] are in reality proven to have occurred to +them, oftentimes others are imagined. And if once any of the former +phenomena is believed, heedlessly at once the rest [lacuna] + +Accordingly, the sacrifices were offered and all the other ceremonies +were accomplished which men are in the habit of performing for the cure +of their temporary terror and for escape from expected ruin. Yet the +race of men is wont to trust such agencies, hoping in the line of +improvement, and so now, even if because of the greatness of the danger +awaited they thought that the harshest fate would fall upon them, still +they kept hoping that they would not be defeated. (Mai, p. 192.) + +9. ¶ The Romans proclaimed Fabius dictator, satisfied if they could +themselves survive, and neither despatched any aid to the allies nor +[lacuna] but learning that Hannibal had turned aside from Campania, they +made sure of the former's safety through fear that they might change +sides either willingly or under compulsion. (Mai, p. 193. Zonaras, 8, +25.) + +10. ¶ Fabius continued to besiege him from a safe distance instead of in +dangerous proximity; he would not venture to make a trial of men skilled +in the art of war, and made the safety of the soldiers a matter of great +circumspection because of the scarcity of the citizens, deeming it no +disaster to fail of destroying the forces of the enemy but a great one +to lose any of his troops. The Carthaginians, he believed, by means of +their enormous multitude would encounter danger again even if once +defeated, but if the smallest part of his own army met with failure he +calculated that he should find himself in every extremity of evil; this +would not be due to the number of the dead on any such occasion but to +the previous setbacks endured. He was in the habit of saying that men +with powers undiminished could often suffer without hurt the most +dreadful losses, but those who were already exhausted might be harmed by +the slightest reverses. Once, when his son advised him to run the risk +and be done with it and said something about his not losing more than a +hundred men, the above consideration led him to refuse assent, and he +further inquired of the young man whether he would like to be one of the +hundred men. (Mai, pp. 193 and 544. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +11. ¶ The Carthaginians, far from sending voluntarily any support to +Hannibal, were rather disposed to make sport of him, because whereas he +was continually writing of his splendid progress and his many successes +he still asked money and soldiers of them. They said his requests did +not agree with his successes: victors ought to find their existing army +sufficient and to send money home instead of demanding additional funds +from them. (Mai, p. 194. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +12. I am under accusation, not because I dash headlong into battles nor +because I risk dangers in my office as general, purposing by losing many +soldiers and killing many enemies to be named dictator and celebrate a +triumph, but because I am slow and because I delay and because I always +exercise extreme foresight for your preservation. (Mai, p.542.) + +13. Is it not really absurd for us to be zealous for success in +enterprises outside and far off before the city itself is really set +upon a firm foundation? Is it not absolutely outrageous to be eager to +conquer the enemy before we set our own affairs well in order? (Mai, p. +543.) + +14 ¶ Hannibal either as a favor to Fabius, on the ground that he was an +advantage to them or perhaps to create a prejudice against him, did not +ravage any of his possessions. Accordingly, when an exchange of captives +was made between the Romans and Carthaginians with the proviso that any +number in excess on either side should be ransomed, and as the Romans +were unwilling to ransom their men with money from the public treasury, +Fabius sold the farms and paid their ransom. Therefore they did not +depose him but they gave equal power to his master of the horse, so that +both held their commands on a like footing. Fabius harbored no wrath +against either the citizens or Rufus: he excused them for an act +prompted by human nature and was for contenting himself if in any way +they might survive. He desired the preservation and victory of the +commonwealth rather than an individual reputation, and continued to +believe that excellence depends not on decrees but on each man's spirit, +and that a man is better or worse not as a result of any ordinance but +as a result of his own wisdom or ignorance. + +Rufus, however, who had not shown the right spirit in the first place +was now more than ever puffed up and could not contain himself because +he had obtained through his insubordination the further prize of equal +authority with the dictator. And so he kept asking for the right to hold +sole sway a day at a time, or for several days alternately. But Fabius, +in the fear that he might work some harm if he should get possession of +the undivided power, would not consent to either plan of his, but +divided the army in such a way that they each, like the consuls, had a +separate force. And immediately Rufus encamped apart, in order that he +might give a practical illustration of the fact that he held sway in his +own right and not subject to the dictator. (Valesius, p. 597. Zonaras, +8, 26.) + +15. ¶ It is customary for men who are ruled to concur in opinion easily. +Especially often do they join forces when the object is to slander men +of good reputation, for the reason that it is their nature to help in +augmenting any power just come to light but to bring low what has +already obtained preëminence. And though one can not immediately measure +one's self with men who surpass one through ampler resources, growth in +an unexpected quarter brings hope of a like good fortune to others that +dwell in obscurity. [Footnote: This may come from a speech of M. +Terentius Varro in favor of equalizing the powers of dictator and of +master-of-horse.](Mai, p. 194.) 16. ¶ Rufus, who obtained equal +authority with the dictator, after a defeat by the Carthaginians altered +his attitude (for disasters chasten somehow those who are not completely +fools) and voluntarily gave up his leadership. And for this all praised +him loudly. He was not held worthy of censure because he had failed to +recognize at first what was fitting, but was commended for not +hesitating to change his mind. They deemed it an act of good fortune for +a man to choose right at the start a proper course of conduct, but they +thoroughly approved the course of one, who, having learned from +practical experience the better way, was not ashamed to face squarely +about. From this episode, too, it was clearly shown how much one man +differs from another and true excellence from the reputation therefor. +What had been taken from Fabius by jealousy and prejudice of the +citizens, he received back with good-will and even at the request of his +colleague. (Mai, p. 194. Zonaras, 8, 26.) 17. ¶ The same man when about +to retire from office sent for the consuls, surrendered his army to +them, and advised them in addition very fully regarding all the details +of what must be done. The safety of the city stood higher in his +estimation than a reputation for being the only successful commander, +and expecting that if they followed their own bent they would probably +meet with failure, but if they heeded his counsel they would meet with a +favorable outcome, he preferred to look to the second contingency for +praise. And the consuls were not unduly bold but acted on the suggestion +of Fabius, deeming it better not to accomplish any important result than +to be ruined; hence they remained where they were throughout the entire +period of their command. (Mai, p. 195. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +18. For the Iapygians and Apulians dwell around the Ionic Gulf. Of the +Apulians the tribes according to Dio are the Peuketii Pediculi, Daunii, +Tarentini. There is also Cannæ, the "plain of Diomed," near Daunian +Apulia. Messapia was called also Iapygia, later Salentia, and then +Calabria. Argyrippa, a Diomedian city, was renamed Arpi by the +Apulians. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 603 and 852. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 216 (_a.u._ 538)] 19. Later he was arrayed against the +Romans at Cannæ, when the Roman generals were Paulus and Terentius. Now +Cannæ is a level district of Argyrippa, where Diomed founded the city +Argyrippa, that is to say "Argos the Horse-City" in the tongue of the +Greeks. And this plain comes to belong later to the Daunii (of the +Iapygians), then to the Salantii, and now to those that all call by the +name Calauri. It is also the boundary between the Calauri and +Longibardi, where the great war burst upon them. (Tzetzes, Hist., 1, +757-767. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +20. ¶ With regard to divination and astronomy Dio says: "I, however, can +not form any opinion either about these events or about others that are +foretold by divination. For what does foreshowing avail, if a thing +shall certainly come to pass, and if there could be no averting of it +either by human devices or by divine providence? Accordingly, let each +man look at these matters in what way he pleases." (Mai, p. 195. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +21. ¶ The commanders were Paulus and Terentius, men not of similar +temperament, but differing alike in family and in character. The former +was a patrician, possessed of the graces of education, and esteemed +safety before haste, being restrained partly, it might be said, as a +result of the censure he had received for his former conduct in office. +Hence he was not inclined to audacity, but was considering how he might +keep from getting into trouble again rather than how he might achieve +success by some desperate venture. Terentius, however, had been brought +up among the rabble, was practiced in vulgar bravado, and so displayed +lack of prudence in nearly all respects; for instance, he promised +himself general direction of the war, kept constantly annoying the +patricians, and thought that he alone should have the leadership in view +of the quiet behavior of his colleague. Now they both reached the camp +at a most opportune time: Hannibal had no longer any provender; Spain +was in turmoil; the affection of the allies was being alienated from +him: and if they had waited for even the briefest possible period, they +would have conquered without trouble. As matters went, however, the +heedlessness of Terentius and the submissiveness of Paulus, who always +desired the proper course but assented to his colleague in most +points--so sure is gentleness to be overcome by audacity,--compassed +their defeat. (Mai, p. 196. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +22. ¶ In the mêlée of the war not even the boldest possessed a hope so +buoyant as to rise above the fear that arose from its uncertainty. The +surer they felt of conquering the more did they tremble for fear they +might in some way come to grief. Those who are ignorant of a matter by +reason of their very lack of perception are not awaiting anything +terrible, but the boldness derived from calculation [lacuna] (Six pages +are lacking.) (Mai, p. 196.) + +23. At the time when burst this frightful war, a terrific earthquake +occurred, so that mountains were cleft asunder and showers of great +stones poured down from heaven. But they, fighting vigorously, perceived +none of these things. At last so great a multitude of Roman warriors +fell that Hannibal, the general, in sending to Sicily the finger-rings +of the generals and the other men of repute filled many bushel and peck +measures--so great a multitude that the noble, foremost Roman women ran +lamenting to the temples in Rome and with the hairs of their heads +cleansed the statues there;--and later had intercourse with both slaves +and barbarians (because the Roman land had been utterly impoverished of +men), to the end that their race might not be every whit extirpated. +Rome at that time, after the utter loss of all her citizens, stood +inglorious through many day-coursing cycles. Her old men sitting at her +outer gates bewailed the disaster most grievous to be borne and asked +ever and anon the passers-by whether any one perchance were left alive. +(Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 767-785. (Cp. Fragm. LVI, 19, which precedes this.) +Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +24. ¶ Scipio, on learning that some of the Romans were prepared to +abandon Rome, and indeed all Italy, because they felt it was destined to +fall into the hands of the Carthaginians, yet found a way to restrain +them. Sword in hand he sprang suddenly into the room where they were +conferring, and after himself swearing to take all proper measures both +of word and act he made them also devote themselves by oath to utter +destruction, should they fail to keep their pledges to him. Later these +men reached a harmonious decision and wrote to the consul that they were +safe enough. He, however, did not at once write or despatch a messenger +to Rome; on reaching Canusium he set in order affairs at that place, +sent to the regions in proximity garrisons sufficient for immediate +needs, and repulsed a cavalry attack upon the city. Altogether, he +displayed neither dejection nor terror, but with an unbending spirit, +as if no serious evil had befallen them, he both planned and executed +all measures of immediate benefit. (Valesius, p. 598. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +25. Hannibal took possession of the Nucerini under an agreement that +each man should leave the city carrying one change of clothing. As soon, +however, as he was master of the situation he shut the senators into +bath-houses and suffocated them, and in the case of the others, although +he had granted them permission to go away where they pleased, he cut +down many of them even on the road. Still, this course was of no profit +to him, for the rest became afraid that they might suffer a similar +fate, and so would not come to terms with him and resisted as long as +they could hold out. (Valesius, p. 598. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +26. ¶ Marcellus showed great bravery, moderation, and justice. His +demands on his subjects were not all rigorous or harsh, nor was he +careful to see that they also should do what was needful. Those of them +who committed any errors he pardoned humanely and, furthermore, was not +angry if they failed to be like him. (Valesius, p. 601.) + +27. ¶ When many citizens of Nola were dreading the men captured at Cannæ +and later released by Hannibal, because they thought that such persons +favored the invader's cause, and when they were even desirous of putting +them to death, he opposed it. Furthermore, he concealed from this time +on the suspicion that he felt toward them, and treated them in such a +way that they chose his side by preference, and became extremely useful +both to their native land and to the Romans. (Valesius, p. 601. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +28. ¶ The same Marcellus when he perceived that one of the Lucanian +cavalrymen was in love with a woman permitted him to keep her in the +camp, because he was a most excellent fighter: this in spite of the +fact that he had forbidden any women to enter the ramparts. (Valesius, +p. 601.) + +29. ¶ He pursued the same course with the people of Acerræ as he had +with those of Nucreia, except that he cast the senators into wells and +not into bath-houses. (Valesius, p. 601. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +30. ¶ Fabius got back some of the men captured in former battles by +exchanging man for man, while others he made a compact to ransom with +money. When, however, the senate failed to confirm the expenditure, +because it did not approve of their ransoming, he offered for sale, as I +have said, [Footnote: Cp. section 14 (first paragraph) of this fragment.] +his own farms and from the proceeds of them furnished the ransom for the +men. (Valesius, p. 601.) + +31. Archimedes, the well-known inventor, was by birth a Syracusan. Now +this old geometrician, who had passed through seventy-five seasons, had +built many powerful engines, and by the triple pulley, with the aid of +the left hand alone, could launch a merchant ship of fifty thousand +medimni burden. And when Marcellus once, the Roman general, assaulted +Syracuse by land and sea, this man first by his engines drew up some +merchantmen, and lifting them up against the wall of Syracuse dropped +them again and sent them every one to the bottom, crews and all. Again, +as Marcellus removed his ships a little distance, the old man gave all +the Syracusans the power to lift stones of a wagon's size, and letting +them go one by one to sink the ships. When Marcellus withdrew a bow +shot thence, the old man manufactured a kind of hexagonal mirror, and at +an interval proportionate to the size of the mirror he set similar small +mirrors with four edges, moving by links and by a kind of hinge, and +made the glass the center of the rays of the sun,--its noontide ray, +whether in summer or in the dead of winter. So after that when the beams +were reflected into this, a terrible kindling of flame arose upon the +ships, and he reduced them to ashes a bowshot off. Thus by his +contrivances did the old man vanquish Marcellus. + +He used to say, moreover, in Dorian, the Syracusan dialect: "Give me +where to stand, and with a lever I will move the whole earth." + +This man, when (according to Diodorus) this Syracuse surrendered herself +entire to Marcellus, or (according to Dio) was pillaged by the Romans +during an all-night festival to Artemis that the citizens were +celebrating, was killed by a certain Roman in the following fashion.--He +was bent over, drawing some geometrical figure, and some Roman, coming +upon him, made him his prisoner and began to drag him away: but he, with +all his attention fixed just then upon his figure, not knowing who it +was that pulled him said to the man: "Stand aside, fellow, from my +figure." But as the other kept on dragging, he turned, and recognizing +him as a Roman cried out: "Let some one give me one of my machines." The +Roman in terror immediately killed him, an unsound weak old man, but +marvelous through his works. Marcellus straightaway mourned on learning +this, buried him brilliantly in his ancestral tomb, assisted by the +noblest citizens and all the Romans, and the man's murderer, I trow, he +slew with an axe. Dio and Diodorus have written the story. (Tzetzes, +Hist. 2, 103-149. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 4.) + +32. Proculus sings of having forged fire-producing mirrors and of having +hung them from the wall opposite the enemy's ships. Then when the rays +of the sun fell upon these, fire was struck out of them that consumed +the naval force of the opponents and the ships themselves,--a device +which Dio relates Archimedes hit upon long ago, at the time when the +Romans were besieging Syracuse. (Zonaras, 14, 3.) + +33. Though such a disaster at that time had overwhelmed Rome, Hannibal +neglected to reduce the town, and occupied in triumphs, drinking bouts +and luxurious living appeared sluggish in the enterprise, until at +length a Roman army was collected for the Romans. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 211 (_a.u._ 543)] Then was he hindered in three-fold +manner when he set out for Rome. For of a sudden from the clear sky a +most violent hail poured down, and a spreading darkness kept him from +his journey. (Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 786-792. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +34. Dio in his Roman History 15: "For as a result of their position from +very early times and their pristine friendship for the Romans, they +would not endure to be punished, but the Campanians undertook to accuse +Flaccus and the Syracusans Marcellus. And they were condemned in the +assembly." (Suidas, s. v. [Greek: 'edkaióthaesan'].) + +35. Dio in 15th Book: "For fear the Syracusans, in despair of +assistance, commit some act of rebellion." (Bekker, Anecdota, p. 119, +121. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +36. ¶ The Romans had made propositions to Hannibal looking to a return +of the prisoners on both sides, but did not accomplish the exchange +although they sent, Carthalo to them for this very purpose. For when +they would not receive him, as an enemy, within the walls, he refused to +hold any conversation with them, but immediately turned back in anger. +(Ursinus, p. 379. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +37. ¶ Scipio the prætor, who saved his wounded father, surpassed in +natural excellence, was renowned for his education, and possessed great +force both of mind and also of language, whenever the latter was +necessary. These qualities he displayed conspicuously in his acts, so +that he seemed to be high-minded and disposed to do great deeds not for +the sake of an empty boast but as the result of a steadfast tendency. +For these reasons and because he scrupulously paid honors to the +heavenly powers, he was elected. He had never had charge of any public +or private enterprise before he ascended the Capitol and spent some time +there. On this account also he acquired the reputation of having sprung +from Jupiter, who had taken the form of a serpent on the occasion of +intercourse with his mother. [Footnote: Compare the story about Augustus +(Volume III, page 3 of this translation).] And by this tradition he +inspired many with a kind of hope in him. (Valesius, p.601. Zonaras, 9, +7.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 210 (_a.u._ 544)] 38. ¶ Scipio, although he did not +receive the title of legal commander from those by whom he was elected, +nevertheless made the army his friend, roused the men from their +undisciplined state and drilled them, and brought them out of the terror +with which their misfortunes had filled them. As for Marcius, [Footnote: +This is L. Marcius, a knight, who at the death of Publius and Gnæus +Scipio in Spain was chosen commander by the soldiers.] Scipio did not, +as most men would have done, regard him as unfit because he had acquired +popularity, but both in word and deed always showed him respect. He was +the sort of man to wish to make his way not by slandering and +overthrowing his neighbor, but by his native excellence. And it was this +most of all that helped him to conciliate the soldiers. (Valesius, +p.602.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 209 (_a.u._ 545)] 39. ¶ When a mutiny of the soldiers +took place, Scipio distributed many gifts to the soldiers and designated +many also for the public treasury. Some of the captives he appointed to +service in the general fleet and all the hostages he gave back freely to +their relatives. For this reason many towns and many princes, among them +Indibilis and Mandonius of the Ilergetes, came over to his side. The +Celtiberian race, the largest and strongest of those in that region, he +gained in the following way. He had taken among the captives a maiden +distinguished for her beauty and it was supposed, on general principles, +that he would fall in love with her: and when he learned that she was +betrothed to Allucius, one of the Celtiberian magistrates, he +voluntarily sent for him and delivered the girl to him along with the +ransom her kinsfolk had brought. By this deed he attached to his cause +both them and the rest of the nation. (Valesius, p.602. Zonaras, 9, 8.) + +40. ¶ Scipio was clever in strategy, agreeable in society, terrifying to +his opponents, and humane to such as yielded. Furthermore, through his +father's and his uncle's reputation he was thoroughly able to inspire +confidence in his projects, because he was thought to have acquired his +fame by hereditary excellence and not fortuitously. At this time the +swiftness of his victory, the fact that Hasdrubal had retreated into the +interior, and especially the recollection that he had predicted, whether +through divine inspiration or by some chance information, that he would +encamp in the enemy's country,--a prediction now fulfilled,--caused all +to honor him as superior to themselves, while the Spaniards actually +named him Great King. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 8.) + +41. ¶ The king of the Spaniards, taken captive by Scipio, chose to +follow the Roman cause, surrendered his own sovereignty, and stood ready +to furnish hostages. Scipio, though he accepted the man's alliance, said +there was no need of hostages, for he possessed the necessary pledge in +his own arms. [Footnote: Probably spurious (Melber).] (Mai, p. 545.) + +42. Dio in 16: "You all deserve to die: however, I shall not put you all +to death, but I shall execute only a few whom I have already arrested; +the rest I shall release." (Suidas, s. v. [Greek: edikaióthaesan]. +Zonaras, 9, 10.) + +43. Later Hannibal incurred the jealousy of the Sicilians, and when he +fell in need of grain, as the islanders did not send it, the former +noble conqueror, now by famine conquered, was put to flight by Scipio +the Roman, and to the Sicilians became part cause of their utter, dire +destruction. (Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 793-797.) + +44. Thus these authorities in regard to the Gymnesian islands. Dio +Cocceianus, however, says they are near the Iberus river and near the +European Pillars of Hercules,--which islands the Greeks and Romans alike +call the Gymnesian, but the Spaniards Valerian or Healthful Islands. +(Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 633. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 10.) + +45. ¶ Masinissa was in general among the most prominent men and was +wont to accomplish warlike deeds, whether by planning or by force, in +the best manner, and gained the foremost place in the confidence not +only of the men of his own race (and these are most distrustful as a +rule) but of those who greatly prided themselves upon their sagacity. +(Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +46. ¶ Masinissa became mightily enamoured of Sophonis, [Footnote: +The name appears as Sophoniba in Livy (XXX, 12).] who possessed +conspicuous beauty,--that symmetry of body and bloom of youth which +is characteristic of the prime of life,--and had also been trained +in a liberal literary and musical education. She was of attractive +manners, coy and altogether so lovable that the mere sight of her or +even the sound of her voice vanquished every one, however devoid of +affection he might be. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +47[lacuna]. However he also wished to take revenge on him. For having +incurred suspicion beforehand he took to flight, and on arriving at +Libya inflicted many injuries by himself and many with Roman aid upon +Syphax and the Carthaginians. Scipio, when he had won over the whole +territory south of the Pyrenees, partly by force, partly by treaty, +equipped himself for the journey to Libya, as he had received orders to +do. This business, too, had now been entrusted to him in spite of much +opposition, and he was instructed to join Syphax. Certainly he would +have accomplished something worthy of his aspirations: he would have +either surrounded Carthage with his troops and have captured the place +or he would have drawn Hannibal from as he later did, had not the Romans +at home through jealousy of him and through fear stood in his way. They +reflected that youth without exception always reaches out after greater +results and good fortune is often insatiate of success, and thought that +it would be very difficult for a youthful spirit [lacuna] through +self-confidence [lacuna] [lacuna] it would be of advantage not to treat +him according to his power and fame but to look to their own liberty and +safety, they dismissed him; in other words, the man that they themselves +had put in charge of affairs when they stood in need of him they now of +their own motion removed because he had become too great for the public +safety. They were no longer anxious to conduct a destructive warfare +through his agency against the Carthaginians, but simply to escape +training up for themselves a self-chosen tyrant. So they sent two of the +prætors to relieve him and called him home. Also they did not vote him a +triumph, because he was campaigning as an individual and had been +appointed to no legal command, but they allowed him to sacrifice a +hundred white oxen upon the Capitol, to celebrate a festival, and to +canvass for the consulship of the second year following. For the +elections for the next year had recently been held. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 207 (_a.u._ 547)] At this same period Sulpicius, too, +with Attalus captured Oreus by treachery and Opus by main force. Philip +although in Demetrias was unable to check their encroachments speedily +because the Ætolians had seized the passes in advance. At last, +however, he did arrive on the scene and finding Attalus disposing of the +spoil from Opus (for this had fallen to his lot and that from Oreus to +the Romans) he hurled him back to his ships. Attalus, accordingly, for +this reason and also because Prusias, king of Bithynia, had invaded his +country and was devastating it, hastily sailed away homewards. + +Philip, however, far from being elated at this success, even wished to +conclude a truce with the Romans and especially because Ptolemy, too, +was sending ambassadors from Egypt and trying to reconcile them. After +some preliminary discussion [lacuna] he no longer requested peace, but +[lacuna] drew the Ætolians away from the Roman alliance by some [lacuna] +and made them friends. + +Nothing worthy of remembrance, however, was done either by him or by any +others either then or in the following year when Lucius Veturius and +Cæcilius Metellus became consuls: this notwithstanding the fact that +many signs of ill-omen to the Romans were reported. For example, a +hermaphrodite lamb was born, and a swarm of [lacuna] was seen, down the +doors of the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter two serpents glided, both +the doors and the altar in the temple of Neptune ran with copious sweat, +in Antium bloody ears were seen by some reapers, elsewhere a woman +having horns appeared and many thunderbolts [lacuna] into temples +[lacuna] Paris Fragment (10th Century MS.) (See Haase, Rh. Mus., 1839, +p.458, ff. Zonaras 9, 11.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 205 (_a.u._ 549)]48. ¶ Licinius Crassus, by reason of +his geniality and beauty and wealth (which gained for him the name of +Wealthy) and because he was a high priest, was to stay in Italy without +casting lots for the privilege. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +49. ¶ The Pythian god commanded the Romans to entrust to the best of the +citizens the conveyance to the city of the goddess from Pessinus, and +they accordingly honored Publius Scipio, a son of Gnæus who died in +Spain, above all others by their first preference. The reason was that +he was in general [lacuna] and was deemed both pious and just. He at +this time, accompanied by the most prominent women, conducted the +goddess to Rome and to the Palatine. (Valesius, p. 606.) + +50. ¶ The Romans on learning of the actions of the Locrians, thinking it +had come about through contempt of Scipio, were displeased, and under +the influence of anger immediately made plans to end his leadership and +to recall him for trial. They were also indignant because he adopted +Greek manners, wore his toga thrown back over his shoulder, and +contended in the palæstra. Furthermore it was said he gave over to the +soldiers the property of the allies to plunder, and he was suspected of +delaying the voyage to Carthage purposely, in order that he might hold +office for a longer time; but it was principally at the instigation of +men who all along had been jealous of him that they wished to summon +him. Still, this proposition was not carried out because of the great +favor, based on their hopes of him, which the mass of the people felt +for him. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +51 [lacuna]. they stopped and pitched a camp in a suitable place and +fenced it all about with palisades, as they had brought in stakes for +this very purpose. It had just been finished when a great serpent came +gliding along beside it on the road leading to Carthage, so that by this +portent, Scipio, owing to the tradition about his father, was +encouraged, and devastated the country and assaulted the cities with +greater boldness. Some of the latter he did succeed in capturing; and +the Carthaginians not yet [lacuna] prepared remained still, and Syphax +was by profession their friend, but, as a matter of fact, he held aloof +from the action; by urging Scipio to come to terms with them he showed +that he was unwilling that either side should conquer the other and at +the same time become his master; on the contrary he desired them to +oppose each other as vigorously as possible but to be at peace with him. +Consequently, as Scipio was harrying the country, Hanno the cavalry +commander (he was a son of Hasdrubal) [lacuna] the [lacuna] was +persuaded on the part of Masinissa [lacuna] to the Carthaginians +[lacuna] warlike [lacuna] was believed, and, therefore, Scipio, sending +forward some horsemen on the advice of Masinissa [lacuna] laid an ambush +in a suitable spot where they were destined [lacuna] making an onset to +simulate flight. Against [lacuna] those wishing to pursue them. This +also took place. The Carthaginians attacked them, and when after a +little by agreement they turned, followed after at full speed while +Masinissa with his accompanying cavalry lagged behind and got in the +rear of the pursuers, and Scipio appearing from ambush went to meet +them: thus they were cut off and overwhelmed with weapons on both sides +and many were killed and captured [lacuna] and also Hanno. On learning +this, Hasdrubal arrested the mother of Masinissa. And those captives +were exchanged, one for the other. + +Now Syphax, being well aware that Masinissa would war against him no +less than against the Carthaginians and fearing that he might find +himself bereft of allies if they suffered any harm through his desertion +of their cause, renounced his pretended friendship for the Romans and +attached himself openly to the Carthaginians. He failed to render the +wholehearted assistance, however, to the point of actually resisting the +Romans, and the latter overran the country with impunity, carrying off +much plunder and recovering many prisoners from Italy who had previously +been sent to Libya by Hannibal; consequently they despised their foes +and began a campaign against Utica. When Syphax and Hasdrubal saw this, +they so feared for the safety of the place that they no longer remained +passive; and their approach caused the Romans to abandon the siege, +since they did not dare to contend against two forces at the same time. +Subsequently the invaders went into winter quarters where they were, +getting a part of their provisions from the immediate neighborhood and +sending for a part from Sicily and Sardinia; for the ships that carried +the spoils to Sicily could also bring them food supplies. + +In Italy no great results were accomplished in the war against Hannibal. +Publius Sempronius in a small engagement was vanquished by Hannibal, but +later overcame the latter in turn: Livius and Nero, having become +censors, announced to those Latins who had abandoned the joint +expedition and had been designated to furnish a double quota of +soldiers, that a census of persons taxable should be taken; this they +did in order that others, too, might contribute money, and they made +salt, which up to that time had been free of tax, taxable. This measure +was for no other purpose than to satisfy Livius, who designed it, thus +requiting the citizens for their vote of condemnation; and indeed, he +received a nickname from it; after this he was called Salinator. +[Footnote: Salinator = "salt-dealer."] This was one act that caused +these censors to become notorious; another was that they deprived each +other of their horses and made each other ærarii [Footnote: Ærarius--a +citizen of the lowest class, who paid only a poll-tax and had no right +to vote.] [lacuna] according to the [lacuna] (Paris fragment (p. 460). +Zonaras, 9, 12.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 203 (_a.u._ 551)] 52. ¶ Scipio captured a Carthaginian +vessel but released it, inflicting no injury when they feigned to have +been coming on an embassy to him. He knew that this pretext was invented +to secure the safety of the captives, but preferred avoiding the +possibility of being touched by the breath of slander to the retention +of the ship. Also, when Syphax at that time was still endeavoring to +reconcile them on the terms that Scipio should sail from Libya and +Hannibal from Italy, he received his proposition not because he trusted +him, but to the end that he might ruin him. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, +9, 12.) + +53. ¶ The Romans came bringing to Scipio along with much other property +Syphax himself. And the commander would not consent to see him remain +bound in chains, but calling to mind his entertainment at the other's +court and reflecting on human misfortunes, on the fact that his captive +had been king over no inconsiderable power and had shown commendable +zeal in his behalf, and that nevertheless he beheld him in so pitiable a +plight,--Scipio leaped from his chair, loosed him, embraced him, and +treated him with great consideration. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, 9, +13.) + +54. ¶ The Carthaginians made propositions to Scipio through heralds, and +of the demands made upon them by him there was none that did not promise +to satisfy, although they never intended to carry out their agreement; +they did, to be sure, give him money at once and gave back all the +prisoners, but in regard to the other matters they sent envoys to Rome. +The Romans would not receive them at that time, declaring that it was a +tradition in the State not to negotiate a peace with any parties while +their armies were in Italy. Later when Hannibal and Mago had embarked, +they granted the envoys an audience and fell into a dispute among +themselves, being of two minds. At last, however, they voted the peace +on the terms that Scipio had arranged. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, 9, +13.) + +55. ¶ The Carthaginians attacked Scipio both by land and by sea. Scipio, +vexed at this, made a complaint, but they returned no proper answer to +the envoys and moreover actually plotted against them when they sailed +back; and had not by chance a wind sprung up and aided them, they would +have been captured or would have perished. On this account Scipio, +although at this time the commissioners arrived with peace for the men +of Carthage, refused any longer to make it. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, +9, 13.) + +56. Nearly all who conduct a military expedition,--or many, at any +rate,--perform voluntarily many acts which would not be required of +them. They look askance at their instructions as something forced upon +them, but are delighted with the projects of their own minds because +they feel themselves so far independent. (Valesius, p. 609.) + +57. Dio in Book 17: "He suddenly halted in his running." (Bekker, +Anecd., p. 140, 23. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +58. Dio in _Roman History_ 17: "In general the fortunate party is +inclined to audacity and the unfortunate to moderate behavior, and +accordingly, the timid party is wont to show temperance and the +audacious intemperance. This was to be noted to an especial degree in +that case." [Footnote: This may conceivably relate to Masinissa's +marrying Sophoniba without authorization.] (Suidas s. v. [Greek: hôst +hephipan]) + +59. Dio in Roman History 17: "And a report about them of same such +nature as follows was made public." (Suidas and Etymologicum Magnum and +others s. v. [Greek: hedêmhôthê].) + +60. [Greek: henthymixhomenoi] = _calculating_. So Dio in Book 17, Roman +History. (Suidas or Etym. in Cramer. Anecd., Paris, Vol. IV, p. 169, 8. +Zonaras, Lex., p. 750.) + +61. [Greek: diathithêmi] ("arrange") for [Greek: diaprhattomai] +("accomplish"), with the accusative in Dio, Book 18: "And culling all +the best flowers of philosophy." (Bekker, Anecd., p. 133, 29.) [This is +from two glosses, and there is confusion caused by gaps.--Ed.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 201 (_a.u. 553_)]62. [The Carthaginians made overtures +for peace to Scipio. The terms agreed upon were, that they should give +hostages, should return the captives and deserters they were holding +(whether of the Romans or of the allies), should surrender all the +elephants and the triremes (save ten), and for the future possess +neither elephants nor ships, should withdraw from all territory of +Masinissa that they were holding and restore to him the country and the +cities that were properly in his domain, that they should not hold +levies, nor use mercenaries, nor make war upon any one contrary to the +advice and consent of the Romans. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +63. ¶ It seemed to Cornelius [Footnote: _Cu. Cornelius Lentulus_.] the +consul, as well as to many other Romans, that Carthage ought to be +destroyed, and he was wont to say that it was impossible, while that +city existed, for them to be free from fear. (Ursinus, p. 381. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +64. In the popular assembly, however, [lacuna] all unanimously voted for +peace. [_About three obscure lines (fragmentary) follow_.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 201 (_a.u._ 553)] And of the elephants the larger number +were carried off to Rome, and the rest were presented to Masinissa. +[lacuna] of Carthaginians. And they themselves, immediately after the +ratification of the peace, abandoned Italy, and the Romans, Libya. The +Carthaginians who sent commissioners to Rome were allowed by the Romans +to contribute for the benefit of the captives severally related to them; +and about two hundred of them were sent back without ransoms to Scipio +[lacuna] after the treaty [lacuna] and friendship [lacuna] confirmed; +and they granted peace [lacuna] [Two fragmentary lines.] + +Scipio accordingly attained great prominence by these deeds, but +Hannibal was even brought to trial by his own people; he was accused of +having refused to capture Rome when he was able to do so, and of having +appropriated the plunder in Italy. He was not, however, convicted, but +was shortly after entrusted with the highest office in Carthage [lacuna] +[One fragmentary line.] (Paris Fragment, p. 462. Zonaras, 9, 14. Livy, +30:42, 43, 45.) [Frag. LVII] + +1[lacuna]. Marcus [lacuna] sent to Philip by the generals [lacuna] from +them either [lacuna] was successful; embassy [lacuna] of Philip and +[lacuna] and some [lacuna] which he himself [lacuna] had sent to the +Carthaginians [lacuna] not at all peace [lacuna] having vanquished +[lacuna] enemies by the [lacuna] rendered them of no less importance in +reputation. (Paris Fragment, p. 463. Cp. Zonaras, 9. 15 = Livy 30:42.) + +[Frag. LVII] + +2. I found the Dardanians to be a race dwelling above the Illyrians and +Macedonians. And the city of Dardanus is there. (Isaac Tzetzes on +Lycophron, 1128. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 200 (_a.u._ 554)]3. And they [Footnote: I.e., the Romans +and the Macedonians.]delayed for several days, not meeting in battle +array but conducting skirmishes and sallies of the light-armed troops +and the horse. The Romans, for their part, were eager to join battle +with all speed: their force was a strong one, they had little provision, +and consequently would often go up to the foe's palisade. Philip, on the +other hand, was weaker in point of armed followers, but his supply of +provisions was better than theirs because his own country was close by; +so he waited, expecting that they would become exhausted without a +conflict, and if he had possessed self-control he certainly would have +accomplished something. As it was, he acquired a contempt for the +Romans, thinking that they feared him because they had transferred their +camp to a certain spot from which they could get food better: he +thereupon attacked them unexpectedly while they were engaged in +plundering and managed to kill a few. Galba on perceiving this made a +sortie from the camp, fell upon him while off his guard, and slew many +more in return. Philip, in view of his defeat and the further fact that +he was wounded, no longer held his position but after a truce of some +days for the taking up and burial of the corpses withdrew the first part +of the night. Galba, however, did not follow him up; he was short of +provisions, he did not know the country, and particularly he was +ignorant of his adversary's strength; he was also afraid that if he +advanced inconsiderately he might come to grief. For these reasons he +was unwilling to proceed farther, but retired to Apollonia. + +During this same time Apustius with the Rhodians and with Attalus +cruised about and subjugated many of the islands [lacuna] (Paris +Fragment, p. 464. Zonaras, 9, 15. Cp. Livy, 31:21 ff.) + +4. The Insubres were thrown into confusion. For Hamilcar, a +Carthaginian, who had made a campaign with Mago and remained secretly in +those regions, after a term of quiet, during which he was satisfied +merely to elude discovery, as soon as the Macedonian war broke out, +caused the Gauls to revolt from the Romans; then in company with the +rebels he made an expedition against the Ligurians and won over some of +them. Later they had a battle with the prætor Lucius Furius, were +defeated, and sent envoys asking peace. This the Ligurians obtained; +then others [lacuna] [Five fragmentary lines.] (Paris Fragment, p. 465. +Zonaras, 9, 15.) + +5[lacuna]. he thought he ought to be granted a triumph, and many +arguments were presented on both sides. Some, especially in view of the +malignity of Aurelius, eagerly furthered his cause and magnified his +victory, using many illustrations. Others declared he had contended with +the help of the consular army and had no individual and independent +appointment, and furthermore they even demanded an accounting from him +because he had not carried out his instructions. However, he won his +point. And he in that place [lacuna] before Aurelius [lacuna] Vermis +[lacuna] from the [lacuna] (Paris Fragment, p. 465. Cp. Livy, 31:47 ff.) + +[Frag. LVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 197 (_a.u._ 557)] ¶ Philip after his defeat sent heralds +to Flamininus. The latter, however eagerly he coveted Macedonia and +desired the fullest results from his good fortune of the moment, +nevertheless made a truce. The cause lay in the fear that, if Philip +were out of the way, the Greeks might recover their ancient spirit and +no longer pay them court, that the Ætolians, already filled with great +boasting because they had contributed the largest share to the victory, +might become more vexatious to them, and that Antiochus might, as was +reported, come to Europe and form an alliance with Philip. (Ursinus, p. +381. Zonaras, 9, 16.) + +[Frag. LIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 192 (_a.u._ 562)] 1. ¶ Antiochus and his generals were +ruined beforehand; for by his general indolence and his passion for a +certain girl he had drifted into luxurious living and had at the same +time rendered the rest unfit for warfare. (Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, +19.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 190 (_a.u._ 564)] 2. ¶ Seleucus [Footnote: Probably an +error of the excerptor, for Antiochus himself.] the son of Antiochus +captured the son of Africanus, who was sailing across from Greece, and +had given him the kindest treatment. Although his father many times +requested the privilege of ransoming him, his captor refused, yet did +him no harm: on the contrary, he showed him every honor and finally, +though he failed of securing peace, released him without ransom. +(Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, 20.) + +[Frag. LX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 189 (_a.u._ 565)] ¶ Many were jealous of the Scipios +because the two brothers of excellent stock and trained in virtue had +accomplished all that has been related and had secured such titles. That +these victors could not be charged with wrongdoing is made plain by my +former statements and was shown still more conclusively on the occasion +of the confiscation of the property of Asiaticus,--which was found to +consist merely of his original inheritance,--or again by the retirement +of Africanus to Liternum and the security that he enjoyed there to the +end of his life. At first he did appear in court, [Footnote: Political +enemies of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus summoned him to court on +trumped-up charges.] thinking that he would be saved by the genuineness +of his good behavior. (Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, 20.) + +[Frag. LXI] + +¶ The Romans, when they had had a taste of Asiatic luxury and had +spent some time in the possessions of the vanquished amid the +abundance of spoils and the license granted by success in arms, +rapidly came to emulate their prodigality and ere long to trample +under foot their ancestral traditions. Thus this terrible influence, +arising from that source, fell also upon the city. (Valesius, p. 609.) + +[Frag. LXII] + +¶ Gracchus was thoroughly a man of the people and a very fluent public +speaker, but his disposition was very different from Cato's. Although +he had an enmity of long standing against the Scipios, he would not +endure what was taking place but spoke in defence of Africanus, who +was accused while absent, and exerted himself to prevent any smirch +from attaching to that leader; and he prevented the imprisonment of +Asiaticus. Consequently the Scipios, too, relinquished their hatred of +him and made a family alliance, Africanus bestowing upon him his own +daughter. (Valesius, p. 610.) + +[Frag. LXIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 187 (_a.u._ 567)] ¶ Some youths who had insulted the +Carthaginian envoys that had come to Rome were sent to Carthage and +delivered up to the people; they received no injury, however, at the +hands of the citizens and were released. (Ursinus, p. 381.) + +[Frag. LXIV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 183 (_a.u._ 571)] ¶ He himself [i.e. Hannibal] died by +drinking poison near Bithynia, in a certain place called Libyssa by +name; though he thought to die in Libyssa his own proper country. For an +oracle had once been written down for Hannibal to the following effect: +"A Libyssan clod shall hide the form of Hannibal." Later the Roman +Emperor Severus, being of Libyan birth, interred in a tomb of white +marble this man, the general Hannibal. (Tzetzes. Hist. 1, 798-805. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 21.) + +[Frag. LXV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 169 (_a.u._ 585)] 1. ¶ Perseus hoped to eject the Romans +from Greece completely, but through his excessive and inopportune +parsimony and the consequent contempt of his allies he became weak once +more. When Roman influence was declining slightly and his own was +increasing, he was filled with scorn and thought he had no further need +of his allies, but believed that either they would assist him free of +cost or he could prevail by himself. Hence he paid neither Eumenes nor +Gentius the money that he had promised, thinking that they must have +reasons of their own strong enough to insure hostility towards the +Romans. These princes, therefore, and the Thrasians--they, too, were not +receiving their full pay--became indifferent; and Perseus fell into such +depths of despair again as actually to sue for peace. (Valesius, p. 610. +Zonaras, 9, 22.) + +2. ¶ Perseus sued for peace at the hands of the Romans, and would have +obtained it but for the presence in his embassy of the Rhodians, who +joined it through fear that a rival to the Romans might be annihilated. +Their language had none of the moderation which petitioners should +employ, and they talked as if they were not so much asking peace for +Perseus as bestowing it, and adopted a generally haughty tone: finally +they threatened those who should be responsible for their failing to +come to a satisfactory agreement by saying that they would fight on the +opposite side. They had previously been somewhat under the ban of Roman +suspicion, but after this many more hard things were said of them and +they prevented Perseus from obtaining peace. (Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, +9, 22.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 168 (_a.u._ 586)]3. ¶ When Perseus was in the temple at +Samothrace, a demand was made upon him for the surrender of one Evander, +of Cretan stock, a most faithful follower who had assisted him in many +schemes against the Romans and had helped to concoct the plot carried +out at Delphi against Eumenes. The prince, fearing that he might declare +all the intrigues to which he had been privy, did not deliver him but +secretly slew him and spread abroad the report that he had made way with +himself in advance. The associates of Perseus, fearing his treachery +and blood-guiltiness, then began to desert his standard. (Valesius, p. +610. Zonaras, 9, 23.) + +4. ¶ Perseus allowed himself [Footnote: Cp. Livy, XLV, 6.] to be found, +and upon his being brought to Amphipolis Paulus accorded him no harsh +treatment by deed or word, but on the contrary made way for him when he +approached, entertained him in various ways and had him sit at his +table, keeping him, meanwhile, although a prisoner, unconfined and +showing him every courtesy. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 23.) + +[Frag. LXVI] + +¶ Paulus was not only good at generalship but most inaccessible to +bribes. Of this the following is proof. Though he had at that time +entered for a second term upon the consulship and had gained possession +of untold spoils, he continued to live in so great indigence that when +he died the dowry was with difficulty paid back to his wife. Such was +the nature of the man and such were his deeds. The only thing regarded +as a blemish that attaches to his character is his turning over the +possessions [of the Epirots?] to his soldiers for pillage: for the rest, +he showed himself a man not devoid of charm and temperate in good +fortune, who was seen to be extremely lucky and at the same time full of +wise counsel in dealing with the enemy. As an illustration: he was not +cowardly or heedless in waging war against Perseus, but afterward did +not assume a pompous or boastful air toward him. (Valesius, p. 613. +Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXVII] + +1. ¶ The Rhodians, who formerly had possessed a vast amount of +self-esteem, thinking that they, too, ranked as conquerors of Philip and +Antiochus, and were stronger than the Romans, fell into such depths of +terror as to despatch an ambassador to Antiochus, king of Syria, and +summon Popilius, in whose presence they condemned all those opposed to +the Roman policy and then sent such as were arrested to punishment. +(Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +2. ¶ The same persons, though they had often sent envoys to them, as +frequently as they wanted anything, now ceased to bring to their +attention any of the former enterprises, but mentioned only those cases +which they could cite pertaining to services once rendered which might +be useful in diverting Roman ill-will. They were especially anxious at +this time to secure the title of Roman allies. Previously they had +refused to accept it. They had wished to inspire some fear in +Rome,--for, not being bound to friendship by any oath, they had power to +transfer their allegiance at any time,--and furthermore to be courted by +such states as from time to time might be engaged in war with that city. +But now they were looking to confirm the favor of the Romans and to the +consequent honor that was sure to be accorded to them by others. +(Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXVIII] + +¶ Prusias himself entered the senate-house at Rome and covered the +threshold with kisses. The senators he termed gods, and worshiped them. +Thus, then, he obtained an abundance of pity, though he had fought +against Attalus contrary to the Roman decision. It was said that at +home, too, whenever their envoys came to him, he worshiped them, calling +himself a freedman of the people, and often he would put on a slave's +cap. (Ursinus, p. 383. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 149 (_a.u._ 605)] ¶ Scipio Africanus excelled in +planning out at leisure the requisite course, but excelled also in +discovering at a moment's notice what needed to be done, and knew how to +employ either method on the proper occasion. The duties that lay before +him he reviewed boldly but accomplished their fulfillment as if with +timidity. Therefore by his fearless detailed investigation he obtained +accurate knowledge of the fitting action in every emergency, and by his +good judgment in doubtful cases met these emergencies safely. +Consequently, if he was ever brought face to face with some need that +admitted of no deliberation,--as is wont to happen in the contradictions +of warfare and the turns of fortune--not even then did he miss the +proper course. Through accustoming himself to regard no happening as +unreasonable he was not unprepared for the assault of sudden events, +but through his incessant activity was able to meet the unexpected as if +he had forseen it long before. As a result he showed himself daring in +matters where he felt he was right, and ready to run risks where he felt +bold. In bodily frame he was strong as the best of the soldiers. This +led to one of his most remarkable characteristics: he would devise +movements that looked advantageous as if he were merely going to command +others, and at the time of action would execute them as if they had been +ordered by others. Besides not swerving from the ordinary paths of +rectitude, he kept faith scrupulously not only with the citizens and his +acquaintances, but with foreign and most hostile nations. This, too, +brought many individuals as well as many cities to his standard. He +never spoke or acted without due consideration or through anger or fear, +but as a result of the certainty of his calculations he was ready for +all chances: he had thought out practically all human possibilities; he +never did anything unexpected, but deliberated every matter beforehand, +according to its nature. Thus he perceived very easily the right course +to follow even before there was any necessity, and pursued it with +firmness. + +These are the reasons, or chiefly these--I should mention also his +moderation and amiability--that he alone of men escaped the envy of his +peers, or of any one else. He chose to make himself like to his +inferiors, not better than his equals, weaker than greater men, and so +passed beyond the power of jealousy, which harasses only the noblest +men. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 27.) + +[Frag. LXX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 148 (_a.u._ 606)] Dio in Book 21: "Phameas, despairing +of the Carthaginian cause" [lacuna] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 124, 9a. Zonaras, +9, 27.) + +[Frag. LXXI] + +What age limit, pray, is imposed upon those who from their very boyhood +set their faces toward obtaining a right state of mind? What number of +years has been settled upon with reference to the fulfillment of duties? +Is it not true that all who enjoy an excellent nature and good fortune +both think and do in all things what is right from the very beginning, +whereas those who at this age of their life have little sense would +never subsequently grow more prudent, even if they should pass through +many years? A man may continue to improve upon his former condition as +he advances in age, but not one would turn out wise from being foolish, +or sensible from being silly. Do not, therefore, put the young into a +state of dejection through the idea that they are actually condemned to +a state of inability to perform their duties. On the contrary, you ought +to urge them to practice zealously the performance of all that they are +required to do, and to look for both honors and offices even before they +reach old age. By this course you will render their elders better, +too,--first, by confronting them with many competitors, and next by +making clear that you are going to establish not length of years but +innate excellence as the test in conferring positions of command upon +any citizens, even more than you do in the case of ordinary benefits. +[Footnote: These words would appear to be taken from the speech before +the senate of some such person as a tribune of the plebs, and to relate +either to the consulship of Scipio Æmilianus (B.C. 148) or to the +Spanish appointment of Scipio Africanus (B.C. 211), preferably the +former.] (Mai, p. 547, and also Excerpts from a Florentine MS. of John +of Antioch's _Parallela_. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 29.) + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dio's Rome, Vol VI., by Cassius Dio + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12061 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f8bd42 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12061 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12061) diff --git a/old/12061-8.txt b/old/12061-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..29dec36 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12061-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dio's Rome, Vol VI., by Cassius Dio + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dio's Rome, Vol VI. + An Historical Narrative Originally Composed In Greek During The + Reigns Of Septimius Severus, Geta And Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus + And Alexander Severus + + +Author: Cassius Dio + +Release Date: April 16, 2004 [EBook #12061] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIO'S ROME, VOL VI. *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Jayam Subramanian and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + DIO'S ROME + + + AN + + HISTORICAL NARRATIVE + ORIGINALLY COMPOSED IN GREEK + DURING THE REIGNS OF + SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, GETA + AND CARACALLA, MACRINUS, + ELAGABALUS AND ALEXANDER SEVERUS: + + AND + + + NOW PRESENTED IN ENGLISH FORM + + + BY + + + HERBERT BALDWIN FOSTER, + A.B. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), + Acting Professor of Greek in Lehigh University + + + + + SIXTH VOLUME + + + + +I. Books 77-80 (A.D. 211-229). + +II. Fragments of Books 1-21 (Melber's Arrangement). + +III. Glossary of Latin Terms. + +IV. General Index. + + + + 1905 + + + PAFRAETS BOOK COMPANY + TROY NEW YORK + + + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +77 + + +Antoninus begins his reign by having various persons assassinated, +among them his brother Geta (chapters 1-3). + +Cruelty of Antoninus toward Papinianus, Cilo, and others (chapters +4-6). + +Antoninus as emulator of Alexander of Macedon (chapters 7, 8). + +His levies and extravagance (chapters 9-11). + +His treachery toward Abgarus of Osrhoene, toward the Armenian king, +the Parthian king, and the Germans (chapters 12, 13). + +The Cenni conquer Antoninus in battle (chapter 14). + +He strives to drive out his disease of mind by consulting spirits and +oracles (chapter 15). + +Slaughter of vestals, insults to the senate, demise of others contrary +to his mother's wishes (chapters 16-18). + +Antoninus's Parthian war (chapters 19-21). + +Massacres of Alexandrians caused by Antoninus (chapters 22-24). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +Q. Epidius Rufus Lollianus Gentianus, Pomponius Bassus (A.D. 211 = a. +u. 964 = First of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th). + +C. Iulius Asper (II), C. Iulius Asper. (A.D. 212 = a.u. 965 = Second +of Antoninus.) + +Antoninus Aug. (IV), D. Coelius Balbinus (II). (A.D. 213 = a.u. 966 = +Third of Antoninus.) + +Silius Messala, Sabinus. (A.D. 214 = a.u. 967 = Fourth of Antoninus.) + +Lætus (II), Cerealis. (A.D. 215 = a.u. 968 = Fifth of Antoninus.) + +C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus. (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 = +Sixth of Antoninus.) + + +(_BOOK 78, BOISSEVAIN_.) + +[Sidenote: A.D. 211 (_a.u._ 964)] [Sidenote:--1--] After this Antoninus +secured the entire power. Nominally he ruled with his brother, but in +reality alone and at once. With the enemy he came to terms, withdrew +from their country, and abandoned the forts. But his own people he +either dismissed (as Papinianus the prefect) or else killed (as Euodus, +his nurse, Castor, and his wife Plautilla, and the latter's brother +Plautius). In Rome itself he also executed a man who was renowned for no +other reason than his profession, which made him very conspicuous. This +was Euprepes, the charioteer; he killed him when the man dared to show +enthusiasm for a cause that the emperor opposed. So Euprepes died in +old age after having been crowned in an endless number of horse-races. +He had won seven hundred and eighty-two of them,--a record equaled by +none other. + +Antoninus had first had the desire to murder his brother while his +father was still alive, but had been unable to do so at that time +because of Severus, or later, on the road, because of the legions. The +men felt very kindly toward the younger son, especially because in +appearance he was the very image of his father. But when Antoninus +arrived in Rome, he got rid of this rival also. The two pretended to +love and commend each other, but their actions proved quite the reverse +to be true, and anybody could see that some catastrophe would result +from their relations. This fact was recognized even prior to their +reaching Rome. When it had been voted by the senate to sacrifice in +behalf of their harmony both to the other gods and to Harmony herself, +the assistants made ready a victim to be sacrificed to Harmony and the +consul arrived to do the slaughtering; yet he could not find them, nor +could the assistants find the consul. They spent nearly the whole night +looking for each other, so that the sacrifice could not be performed on +that occasion. The next day two wolves climbed the Capitol, but were +chased away from that region: one of them was next encountered somewhere +in the Forum, and the other was later slain outside the pomerium. This +is the story about those two animals. + +[Sidenote:--2---] It was Antoninus's wish to murder his brother at the +Saturnalia, but he was not able to carry out his intention. The danger +had already grown too evident to be concealed. As a consequence, there +were many violent meetings between the two,--both feeling that they were +being plotted against,--and many precautionary measures were taken on +both sides. As many soldiers and athletes, abroad and at home, day and +night, were guarding Geta, Antoninus persuaded his mother to send for +him and his brother and have them come along to her house with a view to +being reconciled. Geta without distrust went in with him. When they were +well inside, some centurions suborned by Antoninus rushed in a body. +Geta on seeing them had run to his mother, and as he hung upon her neck +and clung to her bosom and breasts he was cut down, bewailing his fate +and crying out: "Mother that bore me, mother that bore me, help! I am +slain!!" + +[Sidenote: A.D. 212 (_a.u._ 965)] Tricked in this way, she beheld her son +perishing by most unholy violence in her very lap, and, as it were, +received his death into her womb whence she had borne him. She was all +covered with blood, so that she made no account of the wound she had +received in her hand. She might neither mourn nor weep for her son, +although, untimely he had met so miserable an end (he was only +twenty-two years and nine months old): on the contrary, she was +compelled to rejoice and laugh as though enjoying some great piece of +luck. All her words, gestures, and changes of color were watched with +the utmost narrowness. She alone, Augusta, wife of the emperor, mother +of emperors, was not permitted to shed tears even in private over so +great a calamity. + +[Sidenote:--3--] Antoninus, although it was evening, took possession of +the legions after bawling all the way along the road that he had been +the object of a plot and was in danger. On entering the fortifications, +he exclaimed: "Rejoice, fellow-soldiers, for now I have a chance to +benefit you!" Before they heard the whole story he had stopped their +mouths with so many and so great promises that they could neither think +nor speak anything decent. "I am one of you," he said, "it is on your +account alone that I care to live, that so I may afford you much +happiness. All the treasuries are yours." Indeed, he said this also: "I +pray if possible to live with you, but if not, at any rate to die with +you. I do not fear death in any form, and it is my desire to end my days +in warfare. There should a man die, or nowhere!" + +To the senate on the following day he made various remarks and after +rising from his seat he went towards the door and said: "Listen to a +great announcement from me. That the whole world may be glad, let all +the exiles, who have been condemned on any complaint whatever in any way +whatever, be restored to full rights." Thus did he empty the islands of +exiles and grant pardon to the worst condemned criminals, but before +long he had the isles full again. + +[Sidenote:--4--] The Cæsarians and the soldiers that had been with Geta +were suddenly put to death to the number of twenty thousand, men and +women alike, wherever in the palace any of them happened to be. +Antoninus slew also various distinguished men, among them Papinianus. + + ¶While the Pretorians accused Papianus (_sic_) and Patruinus + [Footnote: This is Valerius Patruinus.] for certain actions, + Antoninus allowed the complainants to kill them, and added the + following remark: "I hold sway for your advantage and not for my + own; therefore, I defer to you both as accusers and as judges." + +He rebuked the murderer of Papinianus for using an axe instead of a +sword to give the finishing stroke. + +He had also desired to deprive of life Cilo, his nurse and benefactor, +who had served as prefect of the city during his father's reign, whom he +had also often called father. The soldiers sent against him plundered +his silver plate, his robes, his money, and everything else that +belonged to him. Cilo himself they conducted along the Sacred Way, +making the palace their destination, where they prepared to give him his +quietus. He had low slippers [Footnote: Reading [Greek: blahytast] in the +place of the MS. [Greek: chlhapast]. This emendation is favored by Cobet +(Mnemosyne, N.S., X, p. 211) and Naber (Mnemosyne, N.S., XVI, p. 113).] +on his feet, since he had chanced to be in the bath when apprehended, +and wore an abbreviated tunic. The men rent his clothing open and +disfigured his face, so that the people and the soldiers stationed in +the city made clamorous objections. Therefore Antoninus, out of respect +and fear for them, met the party, and, shielding Cilo with his cavalry +cloak,--he was wearing military garb,--cried out: "Insult not my father! +Strike not my nurse!" The tribune charged with slaying him and the +soldiers in his contingent lost their lives, nominally for making plots +but really for not having killed their victim. + +[Sidenote:--5--] [But Antoninus was so anxious to appear to love Cilo +that he declared: "Those who have plotted against him have plotted +against me." Commended for this by the bystanders, he proceeded: "Call +me neither Hercules nor the name of any other god;" not that he was +unwilling to be termed a god, but because he wished to do nothing worthy +of a god. He was naturally capricious in all matters, and would bestow +great honors upon people and then suddenly disgrace them, quite without +reason. He would save those who least deserved it and punish those whom +one would never have expected. + +Julianus Asper was a man by no means contemptible, on account of his +education and good sense as well. He exalted him, together with his +sons, and after Asper had walked the streets surrounded by I don't know +how many fasces he without warning insulted him outrageously and +dismissed him to his native place [Footnote: I.e., Tusculum.] with abuse +and in mighty trepidation. Lætus, too, he would have disgraced or even +killed, had this man not been extremely sick. So the emperor before the +soldiers called his sickness "wicked," because it did not allow him to +display wickedness in one more case. + +Again he made way with Thrasea Priscus, a person second to none in +family or intelligence. + +Many others also, previously friends of his, he put to death.] + +[Sidenote:--6--] + + "Nay, I could not recite nor give the names all over" + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, II, verse 488.] of the distinguished men +whom he killed without any right. Dio, because the slain were very well +known in those days, even makes a list of them. For me it suffices to +say that he crushed the life out of everybody he chose, without +exception, + + "whether the man was guilty or whether he was not "; + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XV, verse 137.] and that he simply +mutilated Rome, by rendering it bereft of excellent men. [Antoninus was +allied to three races. And he possessed not a single one of their good +points, but included in himself all their vices. The lightness, the +cowardice, and recklessness of Gaul were his, the roughness and cruelty +of Africa, the abominations of Syria (whence he was on his mother's +side).] Veering from slaughter to sports, he pursued his murderous +course no less in the latter. Of course one would pay no attention to +an elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, and hippotigris being killed in the +theatre, but he took equal pleasure in having gladiators shed the +greatest amount of one another's blood. One of them, Bato, he forced +to fight three successive men on the same day, and then, when Bato +met death at the hands of the last, he honored him with a conspicuous +burial. + +[Sidenote:--7--] He had Alexander on the brain to such an extent that he +used certain weapons and cups which purported to have belonged to the +great conqueror, and furthermore he set up many representations of him +both among the legions and in Rome itself. He organized a phalanx, +sixteen thousand men, of Macedonians alone, named it "Alexander's +phalanx," and equipped it with the arms which warriors had used in his +day. These were: a helmet of raw oxhide, a three-ply linen breastplate, +a bronze shield, long pike, short spear, high boots, sword. Not even +this, however, satisfied him, but he called his hero "The Eastern +Augustus." Once he wrote to the senate that Alexander had come on earth +again in, the body of the Augustus, [Footnote: Antoninus meant +himself.] so that when he had finished his own brief existence he might +enjoy a larger life in the emperor's person. The so-called Aristotelian +philosophers he hated bitterly, wishing even to burn their books, and he +abolished the common messes they had in Alexandria and all the other +privileges they enjoyed: his grievance, as stated, was the tradition +that Aristotle had been an accomplice in the death of Alexander. + +This was the way he behaved in those matters. And, by Jupiter, he took +around with him numbers of elephants, that in this respect, too, he +might seem to be imitating Alexander, or rather, perhaps, Dionysus. + +[Sidenote:--8--] On Alexander's account he was fond of all the +Macedonians. Once after praising a Macedonian tribune because the latter +had shown agility in jumping upon his horse, he enquired of him first: +"From what country are you?" Then, learning that he was a Macedonian, he +pursued: "What is your name?" Having thereupon heard that it was +Antigonus, he further questioned: "How was your father called?" When +the father's name was found to be Philip, he declared: "I have all my +desire." He straightway bestowed upon him the whole series of exalted +military honors and before a great while appointed him one of the +senators with the rank of an ex-prætor. + +There was another man who had no connection with Macedonia, but had +committed many dreadful crimes, and for this reason was tried before him +in an appealed case. His name proved to be Alexander, and when the +orator accusing him said repeatedly "the bloodthirsty Alexander, the +god-detested Alexander," the emperor became angry, as if he were +personally slandered, and spoke out: "If Alexander doesn't suit you, you +may regard yourself as dismissed." + +[Sidenote:--9--] Now this great Alexandrophile, Antoninus, [kept many +men about him, alleging reasons after reasons, all fictitious, and wars +upon wars. He had also this most frightful characteristic, that he was +fond of spending money not only upon the soldiers but for all other +projects with one sole end in view,--to] strip, despoil and grind down +all mankind, and the senators by no means least. [In the first place, +there were gold crowns that he kept demanding, on the constant pretext +that he had conquered some enemy or other (I am not speaking about the +actual manufacture of the crowns,--for what does that amount to?--but +the great sums of money constantly being given under that name by the +cities, for the "crowning" (as it is called) of their emperors). Then +there was the provisions which we were all the time levying in great +abundance from all quarters, sometimes seizing them without compensation +and sometimes spending a little something on them: all this supply he +presented or else peddled to the soldiers. And the gifts, which he +demanded from wealthy individuals and from states. And the taxes, both +the new ones which he published and the ten per cent. tax that he +instituted in place of the twenty per cent. to apply to the emancipation +of slaves, to bequests left to any one, and to all gifts; for he +abolished in such cases the right of succession and exemption from taxes +which had been accorded to those closely related to persons deceased. +This accounts for his giving the title of Romans to all the men in his +empire. Nominally it was to honor them, but his real purpose was to get +an increased income by such means, since foreigners did not have to pay +most of those taxes. But aside from all these] we were also compelled to +build at our own expense all sorts of dwellings for him whenever he took +a trip from Rome, and costly lodgings in the middle of even the very +shortest journeys. Yet not only did he never live in them but he had no +idea of so much as looking at a single one. Moreover, without receiving +any appropriation from him we constructed hunting-theatres and +race-courses at every point where he wintered or expected to winter. +They were all torn down without delay and apparently the sole purpose of +their being called into existence was to impoverish us. + +[Sidenote:--10--] The emperor himself kept spending the money upon the +soldiers (as we said) and upon beasts and horses. He was forever +killing great collections of wild beasts, of horses, and also of +domestic animals, forcing us to contribute the majority of them, though +now and then he bought a few. One day he slew a hundred boars at once +with his own hands. He raced also in chariots, and then he would wear +the Blue costume. In all undertakings he was exceedingly hot-headed and +exceedingly fickle, and besides this he possessed the rascality of his +mother and of the Syrians, to which race she belonged. He would put up +some kind of freedman or other wealthy person as director of games +merely that in this occupation, too, the man might spend money. From +below he would make gestures of subservience to the audience with his +whip and would beg for gold pieces like one of the lowliest citizens. He +said that he used the same methods of chariot-driving as the Sun god, +and he took pride in the fact. Accordingly, during the whole extent of +his reign the whole earth, so far as it yielded obedience to him, was +plundered. Hence the Romans once at a horse-race uttered this among +other cries: "We are destroying the living in order to bury the dead." +The emperor would often say: "No man need have money but me, and I want +it to bestow it on the soldiers." Once when Julia chided him for his +great outlays upon them and said: "No longer is any resource, either +just or unjust, left to us," he replied, exhibiting his sword: "Cheer +up, mother: for, as long as we have this, money is not going to fail +us." + +[Sidenote:--11--] To those who flattered him, however, he distributed +possessions and money. + + ¶Julius Paulus [Footnote: Undoubtedly a mistake for the _Julius + Paulinus_ subsequently mentioned.] was a man of consular rank, + who was a great chatterer and joker and would not refrain from + aiming his shafts of wit at the very emperors: therefore Severus + had him taken into custody, though without constraints. When he + still continued, even under guard, to make the sovereigns the + objects of his jests, Severus sent for him and swore that he + would cut off his head. But the man replied: "Yes, you can cut it + off, but as long as I have it, neither you nor I can restrain + it," and so Severus laughed and released him. + +He granted to Julius Paulinus twenty-five myriads because the man, who +was a jester, had been led, though involuntarily, to make a joke upon +him. Paulinus had said that he actually resembled a man getting angry, +for somehow he was always assuming a fierce expression. [Footnote: None +of the editors, any more than the casual reader, has been able to find +anything of a sidesplitting nature in this joke. The trouble is, of +course, that the utterance sounds like a plain statement of fact. +Caracalla's natural disposition was harsh and irritable. Some have +changed the word "man" to "Pan (in anger)", but without gaining very +much. I offer for what it is worth the suggestion that a well-known +truth, especially in the case of personal characteristics, may sound +very amusing when pronounced in a quizzical or semi-ironical fashion by +a person possessing sufficient _vis comica_. Thus we may conceive +Paulinus, a professional jester, on meeting Antoninus to have blurted +out in a tone of mock surprise: "Why, anybody would really think you are +angry. You look so cross all the time!" There would then be a point in +the jest, but the point would lie not in the words but in the voice and +features of the speaker. Apart from this explanation of the possible +humor of the remark an excerpt of Peter Patricius (Exc. Vat. 143) gives +us to understand that it would be taken as a compliment by Antoninus +from the mouth of a person to whom he was accustomed to accord some +liberties, since Antoninus made a point of maintaining at all times this +character of harshness and abruptness.]--Antoninus made no account of +anything excellent: he never learned anything of the kind, as he himself +admitted. So it was that he showed a contempt for us, who possessed +something approaching education. Severus, to be sure, had trained him in +all pursuits, bar none, that tended to inculcate virtue, whether +physical or mental, so that even after he became emperor he went to +teachers and studied philosophy most of the day. He also took oil +rubbings without water and rode horseback to a distance of seven hundred +and fifty stades. Moreover, he practiced swimming even in rough water. +In consequence of this, Antoninus was, as you might say, strong, but he +paid no heed to culture, since he had never even heard the name of it. +Still, his language was not bad, nor did he lack judgment, but he showed +in almost everything a keen appreciation and talked very readily. For +through his authority and recklessness and his habit of saying right out +without reflection anything at all that occurred to him, and not being +ashamed to air his thoughts, he often stumbled upon some felicitous +expression. [But the same Antoninus made many mistakes through his +headstrong opinions. It was not enough for him to know everything: he +wanted to be the only one who knew anything. It was not enough for him +to have all power: he would be the only one with any power. Hence it +was that he employed no counselor and was jealous of such men as knew +something worth while. He never loved a single person and he hated all +those who excelled in anything; and most did he hate those whom he +affected most to love. Many of these he destroyed in some way or other. +Of course he had many men murdered openly, but others he would send to +provinces not suited to them, fatal to their physical condition, having +an unwholesome climate; thus, while pretending to honor them +excessively, he quietly got rid of them, exposing such as he did not +like to excessive heat or cold. Hence, though he spared some in so far +as not to put them to death, yet he subjected them to such hardships +that the stain [Footnote: This is very likely an incorrect translation of +an incorrect reading. The various editors of Dio have a few substitutes +to propose, but as all the interpretations seem to me extremely +lumbering I have turned the MS. [Greek] chêlidoysthai (taken as a +passive) in a way that may be not quite beyond the bounds of +possibility. The noun [Greek] chêlhist like the English "stain," often +passes from its original sense of "blemish" to that of the consequent +"disgrace."] of murder still rested on him. + +The above describes him in general terms. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 213(?)] [Sidenote:--12--] Now we shall state what sort +of person he showed himself in war. [Abgarus, king of the Osrhoeni, when +he had once got control of the kindred tribes, inflicted the most +outrageous treatment upon his superiors. Nominally he was compelling +them to change to Roman customs, but in fact he was making the most of +his authority over them in an unjustifiable way.] He tricked the king of +the Osrhoeni, Abgarus, inducing him to visit him as a friend, and then +arrested and imprisoned him. This left Osrhoene without a ruler and he +subdued it. + +The king of the Armenians had a dispute with his own children and +Antoninus summoned him in a friendly letter with the avowed purpose of +making peace between them: he treated these princes in the same fashion +as he had Abgarus. The Armenians, however, instead of yielding to him +had recourse to arms and not one of them thereafter would trust him in +the slightest particular. Thus he was brought by experience to +understand how great the penalty is for an emperor's practicing deceit +toward friends. [The same ruler assumed the utmost credit for the fact +that at the death of Vologæsus, king of the Parthians, his children +proceeded to fight about the sovereignty; what was purely accidental he +pretended had come about through his own connivance. He ever took +vehement delight in the actions and dissensions of the brothers and +generally in the mutual slaughter of foreign potentates.] He did not +hesitate, either, to write to the senate regarding the rulers of the +Parthians (who were brothers and at variance) that the brothers' quarrel +would work great harm to the Parthian state. Just as if barbarian +governments could be destroyed by such procedure and yet the Roman state +had been preserved! Just as if it had not been, on the contrary, almost +utterly overthrown! It was not merely that the great sums of blood money +given under such conditions to the soldiers for his brother's murder +served to demoralize mankind: in addition, vast numbers of citizens had +information laid against them,--not only those who had sent the brother +letters or had brought him presents [Footnote: Reading [Greek: +dôrophorhêsantest] (Reimar) for the MS. [Greek: doruphoraesantes].] when +he was still Cæsar or again after he had become emperor, but all the +rest who had never had any dealings with him. If anybody even so much as +wrote the name of Geta, or spoke it, that was the end of him then and +there. Hence the poets no longer used it even in comedies. [Footnote: +Geta was a common name for slaves in Latin comedy. It came into Rome +through Greek channels and was originally merely the national adjective +applied to a tribe of northern barbarians.] The property, too, of all +those in whose wills the name was found written was confiscated. + +[Many of his acts were committed with a view to getting money. And he +exhibited his hatred for his dead brother by abolishing the honor paid +to his birthday, by getting angry at the stones which had supported his +images, and by melting up the coinage that displayed his features. Not +even this sufficed him, but more than ever from this time he began his +practice of unholy rites and often forced others to share his pollution +by making a kind of annual offering to his brother's Manes.] + + [Sidenote: A.D. 213 (_a.u._ 966)] [Sidenote:--13--] Though + holding such views and behaving in such a way with regard to the + latter's murder he took delight in the dissension of the + barbarian brothers, on the ground that the Parthians would suffer + some great injury as a result of it. + +[The Celtic nations, however, afforded him neither pleasure nor any +pretence of cleverness or courage but proved him to be nothing more nor +less than a cheat, a simpleton, and an arrant coward. Antoninus made a +campaign among the Alamanni and wherever he saw a spot suitable for +habitation he would order: "There let a fort be erected: there let a +city be built." To those spots he applied names relating to himself, yet +the local designations did not get changed; for some of the people were +unaware of the new appellations and others thought he was joking. +Consequently he came to entertain a contempt for them and would not keep +his hands off this tribe even; but, whereas he had been saying that he +had come as an ally, he accorded them treatment to be expected of a most +implacable foe. He called a meeting of their men of military age under +promise that they were to receive pay, and then at a given signal,--his +raising aloft his own shield,--he had them surrounded and cut down; he +also sent cavalry around and arrested all others not present. + +¶Antoninus commended in the senate by means of a letter Pandion, a +fellow who had previously been an understudy of charioteers but in the +war against the Alamanni drove his chariot for him and in this capacity +was his comrade and fellow soldier. And he asserted that he had been +saved by this man from a portentous danger and was not ashamed to evince +greater gratitude to him than to the soldiers, whom in their turn he +regarded as our superiors.[Footnote: There is a gap of a word or two +here (Dindorf text), filled by reading [Greek: hêlen hechôn] (with +Boissevain).] + +¶Some of the most distinguished men whom Antoninus slew he ordered to be +cast out unburied. + +¶He made a search for the tomb of Sulla and repaired it, and reared a +cenotaph to Mesomedes, who had written a compilation of citharoedic +modes. He honored the latter because he was himself learning to sing to +the zither and the former because he was emulating his cruelty.] + +Still, in cases of necessity and urgent campaigns, he was simple and +frugal, toiling with painstaking care in menial offices as much as the +rest. He trudged beside the soldiers and ran beside them, not taking a +bath nor changing his clothing, but helping them in every labor and +choosing absolutely the same food as they had. Often he would send to +distinguished champions on the enemy's side and challenge them to single +combat. The details of generalship in which he certainly ought to have +been most versed he managed least well, as if he thought that victory +lay in the performance of those services mentioned and not in this +science of commanding. + +[Sidenote:--14--] He conducted war also against a certain Celtic tribe +of Cenni. These warriors are said to have assailed the Romans with the +utmost fierceness, using their mouths to pull from their flesh the +missiles with which the Osrhoeni wounded them, that they might give +their hands no respite in slaughtering the foe. Nevertheless even they, +after selling the name of defeat at a high figure, made an agreement +with him to go into Germany on condition of being spared. Their women +[and those of the Alamanni] all who were captured [would not, in truth, +await a servile doom, but] when Antoninus asked them whether they +desired to be sold or slain, chose the latter alternative. Afterward, as +they were offered for sale, they all killed themselves and some of their +children as well. [Many also of the people dwelling close to the ocean +itself, near the mouth of the Albis, sent envoys to him and asked his +friendship, when their real concern was to get money. For after he had +done as they desired, they would frequently attack him, threatening to +begin a war; and with all such he came to terms. Even though his offer +was contrary to their principles, yet when they saw the gold pieces they +were captivated. To them he gave true gold pieces, but the silver and +gold money with which he provided the Romans was alloyed.] He +manufactured the one of lead with a silver plating and the other of +bronze with a gold plating. + +[Sidenote:--15--] [The same ruler published some of his devices +directly, pretending that they were excellent and worthy of +commendation, however base their actual character. Other intentions he +rather unwillingly made known through the very precautions which he took +to conceal them, as, for example, in the case of the money. He plundered +the whole land and the whole sea and left nothing whatever unharmed. The +chants of the enemy made Antoninus frenzied and beside himself, hearing +which some of the Alamanni asserted that they had used charms to put him +out of his mind.] He was sick in body, partly with ordinary and partly +with private diseases, and was sick also in mind, suffering from +distressing visions; and often he thought he was being pursued by his +father and his brother, armed with swords. Therefore he called up +spirits to find some remedy against them, among others the spirit of his +father and of Commodus. But not one would speak a word to him except +Commodus. [Geta, so they say, attended Severus, though unsummoned. Yet +not even he offered any suggestion to relieve the emperor, but on the +contrary terrified him the more.] This is what he said: + + "Draw nearer judgment, which the gods demand of thee [Footnote: + Emended (by Fabricius and Reiske) from a corruption in the MS.] + for Severus," + +then something else, and finally-- + + "having in secret places a disease hard to heal." + +[For letting these facts become public many suffered unseemly outrage. +But to Antoninus not one of the gods gave any response pertaining to the +healing of either his body or his mind, although he showered attention +upon all the most distinguished shrines. This showed in the clearest +light that they regarded not his offerings, nor his sacrifices, but only +his purposes and his deeds. He got no aid from Apollo Grannus [Footnote: +Grannus was really a Celtic god, merely identified with Apollo. He was +honored most in Germany and Dacia (also known in Rhætia, Noricum), and, +inasmuch as many inscriptions bearing his name have been found near the +Danube, it may probably be conjectured that he had a temple of some +importance in that vicinity. For further details see Pauly, II, p. 46; +Roscher, I, col. 1738.] nor Asclepius nor Serapis, in spite of his many +supplications and his unwearying persistence. Even when abroad he sent +to them prayers and sacrifices and votive offerings and many runners +traveled to them daily, carrying things of the sort. He also went +himself, hoping to prevail by appearing in person, and he performed all +the usual practices of devotees, but he obtained nothing that would +contribute to health. + +[Sidenote:--16--] While declaring that he was the most scrupulous of all +mankind, he ran to an excess of blood-guiltiness,] killing four of the +vestal virgins, one of whom--so far as he was able--he had forcibly +outraged. For latterly all his sexual power had disappeared, as a result +of which it was reported that he satisfied his vileness in a different +way; and associated with him were others of similar inclinations, who +not only admitted that they were given to such practices but maintained +that they did so for the sake of their ruler's welfare. + +A young knight carried a coin with his image into a brothel and people +informed against him.[Footnote: Conjecture, on the basis of Reiske and +Bekker.] For this he was at the time imprisoned to await execution, but +later was released, as the emperor died before he did.] This maiden of +whom I speak was named Clodia Læta. She, crying out loudly, "Antoninus +himself knows that I am a virgin, [he himself knows that I am pure,]" +was buried alive. [Three others shared her sentence. Two of them, +Aurelia Severa and Pomponia Rufina, met a similar death, but Cannutia +Crescentina threw herself from the top of the house. + +And in the case of adulterers he did the same. For though he showed +himself the most adulterous of men (so far, at least, as he was +physically able) he both detested others who bore the same charge and +killed them contrary to established laws.--Though displeased at all good +men, he affected to honor some few of them after their death.-- + +¶Antoninus censured and rebuked them all because they asked nothing of +him. And he said, in the presence of all: "It is evident from the fact +that you ask nothing of me that you lack confidence in me. And if you +lack confidence, you are suspicious of me; and if you are suspicious of +me, you fear me; and if you fear me, you hate me." He made this an +excuse for severe measures. + +¶Antoninus being about to cause Cornificia to take leave of earth bade +her (as a token of honor) choose what death she wished to die. She, +after many lamentations, inspired by the memory of her father, Marcus, +her grandfather, Antoninus, and her brother, Commodus, ended with this +speech: "Pining, unhappy soul of mine, shut in a vile body, make forth, +be free, show them that you are Marcus's daughter, whether they will or +no!" Then she laid aside all the adornment in which she was arrayed, +and having composed her limbs in seemly fashion severed her veins and +died. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 214 (_a.u._ 967)] Next, Antoninus arrived in Thrace, +paying no further heed to Dacia. Having crossed the Hellespont, not +without danger, he did honor to Achilles with sacrifices and races, in +armor, about the tomb, in which he as well as the soldiers participated. +For this he gave them money, assuring them that they had won a great +success and had in very truth captured that famous Ilium of old, and he +set up a bronze statue of Achilles himself.] ¶Antoninus by arriving at +Pergamum, while there was some dispute about it, [Footnote: The sense of +these words is not clear. Boissevain conjectures that there may have +been some who doubted whether an emperor so diseased would ever live to +reach Mysia.] seemed to bring to fulfillment the following verse, +according to some oracle: + + "O'er the Telephian land shall prowl the Ausonian beast." + +He took a lasting delight and pride in the fact that he was called +"beast," and his victims fell in heaps. The man who had composed the +verse used to laugh and say that he was in very truth himself the +verse-maker (thereby indicating that no one may die contrary to the will +of fate, but that the common saying is true, which declares that liars +and deceivers are never believed, even if they tell the truth). + +[Sidenote:--17--] He held court but little or not at all. Most of his +leisure he devoted to meddlesomeness as much as anything. People from +all quarters brought him word of all the most insignificant occurrences. +For this reason he gave orders that the soldiers who kept their eyes and +ears wide open for these details should be liable to punishment by no +one save himself. This enactment, too, produced no good result, but we +had a new set of tyrants in them. But the thing that was especially +unseemly and most unworthy, both of the senate and of the Roman +people,--we had a eunuch to domineer over us. He was a native of Spain, +by name Sempronius Rufus, and his occupation that of a sorcerer and +juggler (for which he had been confined on an island by Severus). This +fellow was destined to pay the penalty for his conduct, as were also the +rest who laid information against others. As for Antoninus, he would +send word that he should hold court or transact any other public +business directly after dawn; but he kept putting us off till noon and +often till evening, and would not even admit us to the ante-chamber, so +that we had to stand about outside somewhere. Usually at a late hour he +decided that he would not even exchange greetings with us that day. +Meanwhile he was largely engaged in gratifying his inquisitiveness, as I +said, or was driving chariots, killing beasts, fighting as a gladiator, +drinking, enjoying the consequent big head, mixing great bowls (beside +their other food) for the soldiers that kept guard over him within, and +sending round cups of wine (this last before our very face and eyes). At +the conclusion of all this, once in a while he would hold court. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 214-215] [Sidenote:--18--] That was his behavior while +in winter-quarters at Nicomedea. He also trained the Macedonian phalanx. +He constructed two very large engines for the Armenian and for the +Parthian war, so that he could take them to pieces and carry them over +on boats into Syria. For the rest, he was staining himself with more +blood and transgressing laws and using up money. Neither in these +matters nor in any others did he heed his mother, who gave him much +excellent advice. This in spite of the fact that he entrusted to her the +management of the books and letters both, save the very important ones, +and that he inscribed her name with many praises in his letters to the +senate, mentioning it in the same connection as his own and that of his +armies, i.e., with a statement that she was _safe_. Need it be mentioned +that she greeted publicly all the foremost men, just as her son did? But +she continued more and more her study of philosophy with these persons. +He kept declaring that he needed nothing beyond necessities, and gave +himself airs over the fact that he could get along with the cheapest +kind of living. Yet there was nothing on earth or in the sea or in the +air that we did not keep furnishing him privately and publicly. [Of +these articles he used extremely few for the benefit of the friends with +him (for he no longer cared to dine with us), but the most of them he +consumed with his freedmen. Such was his delight in magicians and +jugglers that he commended and honored Apollonius [Footnote: The famous +Apollonius of Tyana.] of Cappadocia, who had flourished in Domitian's +reign and was a thoroughgoing juggler and magician; and he erected a +heroum to his memory. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 215 (_a.u._ 968)] [Sidenote:--19--] The pretext for his +campaign against the Parthians was that Vologæsus had not acceded to his +request for the extradition of Tiridates and a certain Antiochus with +him. Antiochus was a Cilician and pretended at first to be a philosopher +of the cynic school. In this way he was of very great assistance to the +soldiers in warfare. He strengthened them against the despair caused by +the excessive cold, for he threw himself into the snow and rolled in it; +and as a result he obtained money and honors from Severus himself and +from Antoninus. Elated at this, he attached himself to Tiridates and in +his company deserted to the Parthian prince. + +[Sidenote:--20--] [Antoninus surely maligned himself in asserting that +he had overcome by slyness the audacity, rapacity and faithlessness of +the Celtæ, against which arms were of no avail. The same man commended +Fabricius Luscinus because he had refused to let Pyrrhus be +treacherously murdered by his friend.--He took pride in having put +enmity between the Vandili and Marcomani, who were friends, and in +having executed Gaiobomarus, the accused king of the Quadi. And since +one of the latter's associates, under accusation at the same time with +him, hanged himself before execution, Antoninus delivered his corpse to +the barbarians to be wounded, that the man might be regarded as having +been killed in pursuance of a sentence instead of dying voluntarily +(which was deemed a creditable act among them). + +He killed Cæcilius Æmilianus, governor of Bætica, on suspicion that he +had asked an oracular reply from Hercules at Gades.] + +[Sidenote:--19--] Before leaving Nicomedea the emperor held a +gladiatorial contest there in honor of his birthday, for not even on +that day did he refrain from slaughter. Here it is said that a +combatant, being defeated, begged for his life, whereupon Antoninus +said: "Go and ask your adversary. I am not empowered to spare you." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (_a.u._ 969)] And so the wretch, who would probably +have been allowed by his antagonist to go, if the above words had not +been spoken, lost his life. The victor did not dare release him for fear +of appearing more humane than the emperor. + +[Sidenote:--20--] For all that, while so engaged and steeped in the +luxury of Antioch even to the point of keeping his chin wholly bare, he +gave utterance to laments, as if he were in the midst of great toils and +dangers. And he reproved the senate, saying for one thing that they were +slothful, did not understand readily, and did not give their votes +separately. Finally he wrote: "I know that my behavior doesn't please +you. But the reason for my having arms and soldiers alike is to enable +me to disregard anything that is said about me." + +[Sidenote:--21--] When the Parthian monarch in fear surrendered both +Tiridates and Antiochus, he disbanded the expedition at once. But he +despatched Theocritus with an army into Armenian territory and suffered +defeat amounting to a severe reverse at the hands of the inhabitants. +Theocritus was of servile origin and had been brought up in the +orchestra; [he was the man who had taught Antoninus dancing and had been +a favorite of Saoterus, and through the influence thus acquired he had +been introduced to the theatre at Rome. But, as he was disliked there, +he was driven out of Rome and went to Lugdunum, where he delighted the +people, who were rather provincial. And, from a slave and dancer, he +came to be an army leader and prefect.] He advanced to such power in the +household of Antoninus that both the prefects were as nothing compared +to him. Likewise Epagathus, himself also a Cæsarian, had equal influence +with him and committed equal transgressions. Thus Theocritus, who kept +traveling back and forth in the interest of securing provisions and +selling them at retail, proved the death of many persons because of his +authority and for other reasons. One victim was Titianus Flavius. The +latter, while procurator in Alexandria, offended him in some way, +whereupon Theocritus, leaping from his seat, drew his sword. At that +Titianus remarked: "This, too, you have done like a dancer." Hence the +other in a rage ordered him to be killed. + +[Sidenote:--22--] Now Antoninus, in spite of his declaration that he +cherished an overwhelming love for Alexander, all but destroyed utterly +the whole population of Alexander's city. Hearing that he was spoken +against and ridiculed by them for various reasons, and not least of all +for murdering his brother, he set out for Alexandria, concealing his +wrath and pretending to long to see them. But when he reached the +suburbs whither the leading citizens had come with certain mystic and +sacred symbols, he greeted them as if he intended to entertain them at a +banquet and then put them to death. After this he arrayed his whole +force in armor and marched into the city; he had sent previous notice to +all the people there to remain at home and had occupied all the streets +and in addition all the roofs in advance. And, to pass over the details +of the calamities that then befell the wretched city, he slaughtered so +many individuals that he dared not even speak about the number of them, +but wrote the senate that it was of no interest how many of them or who +had died, for they all deserved to suffer this fate. Of the property, +part was plundered and part destroyed. + +[Sidenote:--23--] With the people perished also many foreigners, and +not a few who had accompanied Antoninus were destroyed for want of +identification. As the city was large and persons were being murdered +all over it by night and by day, it was impossible to distinguish +anybody, no matter how much one might wish it. They simply expired as +chance directed and their bodies were straightway cast into deep +trenches to keep the rest from being aware of the extent of the +disaster.--That was the fate of the natives. The foreigners were all +driven out except the merchants, and even they had all their wares +plundered. Also some shrines were despoiled. In the midst of most of +these atrocities Antoninus was present and looked on and personally took +a hand, but sometimes he issued orders to others from the temple of +Serapis. He lived in this god's precinct even during the nights and days +that witnessed the shedding of Egyptian blood. [And he sent word to the +senate that he was observing purity during the days when he was in +reality sacrificing there domestic beasts and human beings at the same +time to the god.] Yet why should I have spoken of this, when he actually +dared to devote to the god the sword with which he had killed his +brother? + +Next he abolished the spectacles and the public messes of the +Alexandrians and ordered Alexandria to be broken up [Footnote: The +reading is [Greek: dioikisthaenai].] into villages, with a wall fully +garrisoned bisecting the city, that the inhabitants might no longer +visit one another with security. Such was the treatment accorded unhappy +Alexandria by the _Ausonian Beast_, as the tag of the oracle about him +called him; and he said he liked the title and was glad to be +distinguished by the honorific appellation of "Beast." Never mind how +many persons he murdered on the pretext that they had fulfilled the +oracle. + +[Sidenote:--24--] [The same man gave prizes to the soldiers for their +campaign, allowing those stationed in the pretorian guard to get some +six thousand two hundred and fifty [Footnote: The common reading is +"twelve hundred and fifty," but since it seems incredible that the +Pretorians should have obtained less, instead of more, than the ordinary +soldiers, Lange with much reason proposed the change carried out +above,--a change which requires the insertion (or restitution) of but +one Greek numeral-letter that might easily have been overlooked by some +copyist.] and the rest five thousand [lacuna] + +[That model of temperance (as he was wont to put it), the rebuker of +licentiousness in others, at the consummation of a most vile and at the +same time most dangerous outrage, appeared, in truth, to be indignant; +but by not giving that indignation sufficient free play and further by +allowing the youths to do what no one had ever yet dared to propose, he +greatly corrupted the latter, who had imitated the habits of women of +the demi-monde and of professional male buffoons.] + +[On the occasion of the Culenian [Footnote: Nobody knows what the +Culenian games were; Valois guesses that they may have been an +Alexandrian festival. The text of this whole chapter is in a very ragged +condition, and should not be held too strictly accountable in the matter +of sense or cohesion.] spectacle severe censure was passed, not only +upon those who there carried on their accustomed pursuits, but also upon +the spectators.] + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +78 + + +Antoninus's treacherous campaign against Artabanus, the Parthian +(chapters 1-3). + +Antoninus's death (chapters 4-6). Foreshadowings of his death, and +the abuse heaped upon him dead (chapters 7-10). + +About Macrinus Augustus, and his excellencies and faults (chapters +11-15). + +His letters and commands to the senate, and other official acts +(chapters 16-22). + +Death of Julia Augusta (chapters 23, 24). + +Inauspicious signs: peace arranged with Artabanus after submitting to +a defeat (chapters 25-27). + +Uprising of the soldiers: Pseudantoninus is proclaimed as emperor by +the soldiers (chapters 28-31). + +How Macrinus, conquered in battle, took to flight and was cut down +after the capture of his son (chapters 32-41). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 = +Sixth of Antoninus.) + +C. Bruttius Præsens, T. Messius Extricatus (II). (A.D. 217 = a.u. +970 = Seventh of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th to April 8th.) + +M. Opellius Macrinus Aug., Q.M. Coclatinus Adventus. (A.D. 218 = a.u. +971. The first year of Macrinus ends April 11th and his second year +is abruptly terminated June 8th.) + + +_(BOOK 79, BOISSEVAIN.)_ + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (_a.u._ 969)] [Sidenote:--1--] The next thing was a +campaign against the Parthians and the pretext that was used was that +Artabanus had refused to view favorably his wooing and give him his +daughter in marriage. (But he knew well enough that, while pretending to +want to marry her, he in fact was anxious to detach the Parthian +kingdom.) So he damaged a large section of the country around Media by +means of a sudden incursion, sacked many citadels, won over Arbela, dug +open the royal tombs of the Parthians, and flung the bones about. The +Parthians would not engage him at close quarters, and therefore I have +had nothing of especial interest to record concerning the doings of that +expedition except, perhaps, one anecdote. Two soldiers who had seized a +skin of wine came to him, each claiming the booty as entirely his own. +Being bidden by him to divide the wine equally they drew their swords +and cut the wine skin in two, apparently expecting each to get a half +with the wine in it. They so dreaded their emperor that they troubled +him even with such details and showed such scrupulousness as to lose +both wineskin and wine. + +Now the barbarians took refuge in the mountains and across the Tigris in +order to perfect their preparations. But Antoninus suppressed this fact +and, assuming that he had utterly vanquished a foe whom he had not even +seen, he displayed becoming pride; and, as he himself wrote, he was +particularly gratified because a lion ran down from the mountains and +fought on his side. + +[Sidenote:--2--] Not only in other ways did he live unnaturally and +transgress laws, but in his very campaigns [[lacuna] but truth; [Footnote: +Here begins the parchment codex, Vaticanus 1288. See Volume I, page 8.] +for I have run across the book written by him about it. He understood so +well how he stood with all the senators that, in spite of many protests, +their slaves and freedmen and intimate friends were arrested by him and +were asked under torture whether "so-and-so loves me" or "so-and-so +hates me." For the charts of the stars under which any of his foremost +courtiers had been born gave evidence, he said, as to who was friendly +to him and who was hostile. And on this basis he honored many persons +and destroyed many others. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 217 (_a.u._ 970)] [Sidenote:--3--] When the Parthians and +the Medes, greatly enraged at the treatment they had received, equipped +a large body of troops, he fell into an ecstasy of terror. He was very +bold in threats and very reckless in daring, but very cowardly in +following a slow course involving danger, and very weak in hard labor. +He could no longer bear either great heat or armor, and consequently +wore sleeved tunics made in such a shape as more or less to resemble +breastplates. Thus having the appearance of armor without its weight he +could be safe from plots and also arouse admiration. He often used these +garments when not in battle. He wore also a cavalry cloak, now all +purple, now purple with white threads, and again of white with purple +threads, and also red. In Syria and in Mesopotamia he used Celtic +clothing and shoes. He furthermore invented a costume of his own by +cutting out cloth and stitching it up, barbaric fashion, into a kind of +cloak. He himself wore it very constantly, so that it led to his being +called Caracalla, [Footnote: A word of Celtic origin, signifying a long, +ulster-like tunic plus a hood. This was a Gallic dress.] and he +prescribed it by preference as the dress for the soldiers. The +barbarians saw what sort of person he was and also heard that his men +were enervated through their previous luxury; for, to give an instance +of their behavior, the Romans passed the winter in houses, making use of +everything belonging to their entertainers as if it were their own. +[They further perceived that their opponents had become so physically +worn and so dejected in spirit by their toils and by the hardships which +they were now undergoing that they no longer heeded the presents which +they kept receiving from their commander.] Elated, therefore, to think +that they should find them rather helpers than foes, they made ready to +attack. [Footnote: The last five words are a conjecture of Bekker's.] + +[Sidenote:--4--] Antoninus made preparations in his turn, but it did not +fall to his lot to enter upon the war: he was struck down in the midst +of his soldiers, whom he most honored and in whom he reposed vast +confidence. A seer in Africa had declared (in such a way that it became +noised abroad) that both Macrinus the prefect and his son Diadumenianus +[Footnote: His full name was M. Opellius Diadumenianus.] must reign. +Macrinus, sent to Rome, had revealed this to Flavius Maternianus, who at +the time commanded the soldiers in the city, and he had at once sent +word to Antoninus. It happened that this letter was diverted to Antioch +and came to [his mother] Julia, since she had been given orders to read +over everything that arrived and thus prevent a mass of unimportant +letters being sent to him while in a hostile country. Another letter +written by Ulpius Julianus, who then had charge of appraisements, went +by other carriers straight to Macrinus and informed him of the state of +the case. It was in this way that the letter to the emperor suffered a +delay and the despatch to his rival came to the attention of the latter +in good season. Now Macrinus, becoming afraid that he might be put to +death by Antoninus on account of all this, especially since a certain +Egyptian Serapio had told the prince to his face that Macrinus should +succeed him, did not find it well to delay.--Serapio had first been +thrown to a lion for his pains, but when he merely held out his hand, as +is reported, and the animal did not touch him, he was slain. He might +have escaped even this fate (or so he declared) by calling upon certain +spirits, if he had lived one day longer. + +[Sidenote:--5--] Macrinus came to no harm but hastened his preparations, +having a presentiment that otherwise he should perish, especially since +Antoninus had suddenly, one day before [Footnote: "One day before" is a +conjecture of Bekker's. (The birthday of Antoninus seems to have been on +the sixth of April.)] his birthday, removed those of Macrinus's +companions that were in the latter's company, alleging one reason in one +case and another in another with the general pretext of doing them +honor. Not but [lacuna] expecting that it was fated for him to get it +he had also made a name which owed its origin to this fact. Accordingly, +he suborned two tribunes stationed in the pretorian guard, Nemesianus +and Apollinarius, brothers belonging to the Aurelian gens, and Julius +Martialius, who was enrolled among the evocati and had a private grudge +against Antoninus for not giving him the post of centurion on request. +Thus he made his plot, and it was carried out as follows. On the eighth +of April, when the emperor had set out from Edessa to Carrhæ and had +dismounted from his horse to go and ease himself, Martialius approached +as if he wanted to say something to him and struck him smartly with a +small knife. The assassin at once fled and would have escaped detection, +had he thrown away the sword. The weapon led to his being recognized by +one of the Scythians on the staff of Antoninus, and he was brought down +with a javelin. As for Martialius [lacuna] the military tribunes pretending +to come to the rescue slew [lacuna] + +[This Scythian attended him, not merely to be an ally of his, but as +keeping guard over him to a certain extent. [Sidenote:--6--] For he +maintained Scythians and Celtæ about him, free and slaves alike, whom he +had taken away from children and wives and had equipped with arms; and +he affected to place more dependence upon them than upon the soldiers. +To illustrate, he kept honoring them with posts as centurions, and he +called them "lions." Moreover, he would often converse with emissaries +sent from the very provinces, and in the presence of no one else but the +interpreters would urge them, in case any catastrophe befell him, to +invade Italy and march upon Rome, assuring them that it was very easy to +capture. And to prevent any inkling of his talk spreading to our ears he +would immediately put to death the interpreters. For all that, we did +ascertain it later from the barbarians themselves: and the matter of the +poisons we learned from Macrinus.] It seemed that he partly sent for and +partly bought quantities of all kinds of poisons from the inhabitants of +Upper Asia, spending altogether seven hundred and fifty myriads upon +them, in order that he might secretly kill in different ways great +numbers of men,--in fine, whomsoever he would. They were subsequently +discovered in the royal apartments and were all consumed by fire. [At +this time the soldiers, both for this reason and, beyond other +considerations, because they were vexed at having the barbarians +preferred to themselves, were not altogether so enthusiastic over their +leader as of yore and did not aid him when he became the victim of a +plot.] Such was the end that he met after a life of twenty-nine years +[and four days (for he had been born on the fourth of April)], and after +a reign of six years, two months, and two days. + +[Sidenote:--7--] There are many things at this point, too, in the story +that occur to excite my surprise. When he was about to start from +Antioch on his last journey, his father confronted him in a vision, girt +with a sword and saying: "As you killed your brother, so will I smite +you unto death;" and the soothsayers told him to beware of that day, +using so direct a form of speech as this: "The gates of the victim's +liver are shut." After this he went out through some door, paying no +heed to the fact that the lion, which he was wont to call "Rapier," and +had for a table companion and bedfellow, knocked him down as he went +out, and, moreover, tore some of his clothing. He kept many other lions +besides and always had some of them around him, but this one he would +often caress even publicly. It was thus that these events occurred. + +And a little before his death, as I have heard, a great fire suddenly +fastened upon the entire interior of the temple of Serapis in +Alexandria, and did no other harm whatever save only to destroy that +sword with which he had slain his brother. [Later, when it stopped, many +stars shone out.] In Rome, too, [a spirit wearing the likeness of a man +led an ass up the Capitol and later up the Palatine, seeking, as he +said, its master and stating that Antoninus was dead and Jupiter +reigned. Arrested for his behavior, he was sent by Maternianus to +Antoninus, and he declared: "I depart, as you bid, but I shall face not +this emperor but another." Afterwards on coming to Capua he vanished. + +[Sidenote:--8--] This took place while the prince was still alive.] At +the horse-race [held in memory of Severus's reign] the statue of Mars, +while being carried in procession, fell down. This perhaps would not +arouse such great wonder, but listen to the greatest marvel of all. The +Green faction had been defeated, whereupon, catching sight of a jackdaw, +which was screeching very loud on the tip of a javelin, they all gazed +at him and all of a sudden, as if by previous arrangement, cried out: +"Hail Martialius, Martialius hail, long it is since we beheld thee!" It +was not that the jackdaw was ever so called, but through him they were +greeting, apparently under some divine inspiration, Martialius, the +assassin of Antoninus. To some, indeed, Antoninus seemed to have +foretold his own end, inasmuch as in the last letter that he sent to the +senate he had said: "Cease praying that I may reign a hundred years." +The petition mentioned had always been uttered from the beginning of his +sovereignty and this was the first and only time that he found fault +with it. Thus, while his words were simply meant to chide them for +offering a prayer impossible of accomplishment, he was really indicating +that he should no longer rule for any length of time. And when certain +persons had once called attention to this fact, it also came to my mind +that when he was giving us a banquet in Nicomedea at the Saturnalia and +had talked a good deal, as was usual at a symposium, then on our rising +to go he had addressed me and said: "With great acumen and truth, Dio, +has Euripides remarked that + + "'Neath divers forms the spirit world is lurking, + Much passing hope the gods are ever working. + Oft disappointment strikes down sure ambition: + The unthought chance God brings to full fruition. + This story leaves things in just that condition.'" + +[Footnote: Lines that occur at the end of several of Euripides's +dramas.] + +At the time this quotation seemed to have been mere nonsense, but when +not long after he perished the fact that this was the last speech he +uttered to me was thought to infuse into it a certain truly oracular +significance with regard to what was to befall him. Similar importance +was attached to the utterance of Jupiter called Belus, [Footnote: The +same as Baal.] a god revered in Apamea [Footnote: This is the Apamea on +the Orontes, built by Seleucus Nicator.] of Syria. He, years before, +when Severus was still a private citizen, had spoken to him these +verses: + + "Touching eyes and head, like Zeus, whose delight is in thunder, + Like unto Ares in waist, and in chest resembling Poseidon." + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, II, verses 478-9.] + +And later, after his accession as emperor, the god had made this +response to an enquiry: "Thy house shall perish utterly in blood." +[Footnote: Adapted from Euripides, Phoenician Maidens, verse 20.] + +[Sidenote:--9--] [Accordingly the body of Antoninus was then burned, and +his bones, brought secretly by night into Rome, were deposited in the +mausoleum of the Antonines. All the senators and private individuals, +men and women, without exception entertained so violent a hatred of him +that all their words and actions relating to him were such as would +befit the downfall of a most implacable foe. He was not officially +disgraced, because the soldiers did not get from Macrinus the state of +peace which they had hoped to secure by a change. Deprived of the +profits which they were wont to receive from Antoninus, they began to +long for him again. Indeed, their wishes subsequently prevailed to the +extent of having him enrolled among the heroes: of course this was voted +by the senate.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 217, _a.u._ 970] In general, abundant ill was +consistently spoken of him by everybody. They would no longer term him +Antoninus, but [some called him Bassianus, [Footnote: He was originally +Septimius Bassianus, named after his maternal grandfather.] his old +name, others] Caracalla, as I have mentioned, [Footnote: In chapter 3.] +[others] also Tarautas, from the appellation of a gladiator who was [in +appearance] very small and very ugly and [in spirit very audacious and] +very bloodthirsty. + +[Sidenote:--10--] Now his affairs, however one may name him, were in +this state. As for me, even before he came to the throne, it was +foretold me in a way by his father that I should write this account. +Just after his death methought I saw in a great plain the whole power of +Rome arrayed in arms, and it seemed as if Severus were sitting [on a +knoll there and] on a lofty tribunal conversing with them. And, seeing +me standing by to hear what was said, he spoke out: "Come hither, Dio, +to this spot; approach nearer, that you may both ascertain accurately +and write a history of all that is said and done."--Such was the life +and the overthrow of Tarautas. [After him there perished also those who +had shared in the plot against him, some at once and others before a +great while. His intimate companions and the Cæsarians likewise +perished. He had been, as it were, coupled with a spirit of murder that +operated equally against enemies and against friends.] + +[Sidenote:--11--] Macrinus, by race a Moor from Cæsarea, came from most +obscure parents [so that with considerable justice he was likened to the +ass that was led to the Palatine by the apparition]. For one thing his +left ear had been bored, according to the custom [generally] in vogue +among the Moors. His affability was even more striking. As to duties, +his comprehension of them was not so accurate as his performance of them +was faithful. [Thus it was, thanks to the advocacy of a friend's cause, +that he became known to Plautianus, and at first he took the position of +manager of the latter's property; subsequently he ran a risk of +perishing together with his employer, but was unexpectedly saved by the +intercession of Cilo and was given charge of the vehicles of Severus +that passed back and forth along the Flaminian Way.] From Antoninus +[after securing some titles of a short-lived procuratorship] he obtained +an appointment as prefect and administered the affairs of this +responsible position excellently and with entire justice, [so far as he +was free to act independently. This, then, was his general character and +these the steps of his advancement. Even during the life of Tarautas he +was led, in the way that I have described, to harbor in his mind the +hope of empire;] and at his death [he did not, to be sure, either that +day or the two following days occupy the office, in order to avoid the +imputation of having killed him with such intentions: but for that space +of time the Roman state remained completely bereft of a ruler possessing +authority, though without the people's knowing it. He communicated with +the soldiers in every direction,--that is to say, the ones who were in +Mesopotamia on account of the war but instead of being in one body were +scattered all about; and he won their allegiance through the agency of +his [Footnote: Reading [Greek: ohi] (Dindorf) instead of [Greek: hos].] +friends], among his various offers being a suggestion that they might +secure a respite from the war, which was an especial cause of +dissatisfaction to them: and so on the fourth day [the anniversary of +Severus's birthday] he was chosen emperor by them [after making a show +of resistance]. + +[Sidenote:--12--] [He delivered an address full of good points and held +out hopes of many advantages to the rest of mankind as well. Those who +had been doomed to some life punishment for an act of impiety, of the +kind that is so named with reference to attitude toward emperors, were +absolved from their sentence; and complaints of that nature which were +pending were dismissed. He rescinded the measures enacted by Caracalla +relating to inheritances and emancipations and, by asseverating that it +was a sacrilege to kill a senator, he succeeded in his appeal for the +pardon of Aurelianus, whose surrender was demanded by the soldiers +because he had proved most obnoxious to them in many previous campaigns. +Not for long, however, was it in his power to behave as an honest man +[lacuna] and Aurelianus [lacuna] soldiers [lacuna] this man [lacuna] by +him [lacuna] absolute power [lacuna] wrath [lacuna] and two hundred and +fifty denarii [lacuna] there had been public notice of giving more +[lacuna] fearing that [lacuna] Aurelianus, the only one then present not +only of ex-consuls but of those who were senators at all [lacuna] by aid +of money [lacuna] upon him [lacuna] glad to divert the blame for +Caracalla's death [lacuna] and about the [lacuna] them [lacuna] the +[lacuna] the [lacuna] great masses both of furniture and of property of +the emperors. But as not even this on account of the soldiers sufficed +for the [lacuna] of senators [lacuna] kill [lacuna] no one, but putting +some under guard [lacuna] of the knights and the freedmen and the +Cæsarians and [lacuna] causing those who erred in even the slightest +respect to be punished, so that to all [lacuna] of them [lacuna] the +procuratorships and the excessive expenditures and the majority of the +burdens recently laid upon them by Tarautas [lacuna] of the games +[lacuna] multitude [lacuna], gathering the presents which had +unnecessarily been bestowed upon any persons, and he forbade any silver +image of him being made over five pounds in weight, or any golden image +of over three. Greatest of all, the hire of those serving in the +pretorian guard [lacuna] to that appointed [lacuna] by Severus [lacuna] + +[Sidenote:--13--] Though in truth he was praised by some for this (and +not without reason), still he incurred (on the part of the sensible) a +censure that quite counterbalanced it. The adverse sentiment in question +was due to the fact that he enrolled certain persons in the ranks of +ex-consuls and immediately assigned them to governorships of provinces. +Yet he refused the following year to have the reputation of being consul +twice because he had the honors of ex-consul: this was a practice begun +during the reign of Severus and followed also by the latter's son. This +procedure, however, both in his own case and in that of Adventus was +lawful enough, but he showed great folly in sending Marcius Agrippa +first into Pannonia and later into Dacia to govern. The previous +officials of the districts mentioned,--Sabinus and Castinus,--he +summoned at once to his side, pretending that he wanted their company, +but really because he feared their surpassing spirit and their +friendship for Caracalla. It was in this way that he came to despatch +Agrippa to Dacia and Deccius Triccianus [Footnote: _Ælius Deccius +Triccianus_.] to Pannonia. The former had been a slave acting as master +of wardrobe for some woman and for this cause [Footnote: It is hard to +see why, unless in the age of Severus slaves were forbidden to have +charge of women's attire.] had been tried by Severus, although at the +time he was attached to the fiscus; he had then been driven out to an +island for betraying some interest, was subsequently restored, together +with the rest, by Tarautas, had taken charge of his decisions and +letters, and finally had been degraded to the position of senator, with +ex-consular rank, because he had admitted overgrown lads into the army. +Triccianus served in the rank and file of the Pannonian contingent, had +once been porter to the governor of that country, and was at this time +commanding the Alban legion. + +[Sidenote:--14--] These were some of the grounds that led many persons +to find fault with him. Another was his elevation of Adventus. Adventus +had drawn pay as one of the spies and detectives, had left his position +there and served among the letter-carriers, had later been appointed +cubicularius, and still later was advanced to a position as procurator. +Now although old age prevented him from seeing, lack of education from +reading, and want of experience from being able to accomplish anything, +the emperor made him senator, fellow-consul, and prefect of the city. +This upstart had dared to say to the soldiers after the death of +Caracalla: "The sovereignty properly belongs to me, since I am elder +than Macrinus: but inasmuch as I am extremely old, I make way for him." +His behavior was regarded as nonsensical, as was also that of Macrinus, +in granting the greatest dignity of the senate to such a man, who could +not when consul carry on a plain conversation with anybody in the +senate, and consequently on the day of elections pretended to be sick. +Hence, before long Macrinus assigned the direction of the city to Marius +Maximus in his stead. It looked as if he had made him præfectus urbi +with the sole purpose of polluting the senate-house. And this pollution +took place not only in virtue of the fact that he had served in the +mercenary force and had performed the duties belonging to executioners, +scouts, and centurions, but in that he had secured control of the city +prior to fulfilling the demands of the consulship. In other words, he +became city prefect before senator. Macrinus connived at his promotion +with the definite intention of blinding the public in regard to his own +record, which would have shown that he had seized the imperial office +while yet a knight. + +[Sidenote:--15--] Besides these not unmerited censures that some passed +upon him, he also attracted adverse criticism for designating as +prefects Ulpius Julianus and Julianus Nestor, who possessed no +particular excellence and had not been tested in many undertakings, but +had become quite notorious for rascality in Caracalla's reign; for, +being at the head of the late prince's messengers [Footnote: Mommsen +thinks that by this expression Dio probably means the position of +_princeps peregrinorum_.] they had been of great assistance to him in +his unholy meddling. However, only a few citizens took account of these +details, which did not tend wholly to encourage them. The majority of +individuals, in view of their having recently got rid of Tarautas, which +was more than they could have hoped, and comparing the new ruler in the +few indications afforded with the old, and in view of all the other +considerations and expectations, did not deem it fitting to condemn him +so soon. And for this reason they mourned him exceedingly when he was +killed, though they would certainly have felt hatred for him had he +lived longer.] + +For he began to live rather more luxuriously and he took official notice +of those who reproved him. His putting Maternianus and Datus out of the +way was not reasonable,--for what wrong had they done in being attentive +to their emperor?--but it was not unlike human nature, since he had been +involved in great danger. But he made a mistake in venting his wrath +upon the rest, who were suspected of disliking his low birth and his +unexpected attempt upon the sovereign power. He ought to have done +precisely the opposite; realizing what he had been at the outset and +what his position then was, he should not have been supercilious, but +should have behaved moderately, cultivated the genius of his household, +and encouraged men by good deeds and a display of excellence unchanged +by circumstances. + +[Sidenote:--16--] These things [lacuna] in regard to him [lacuna] have +been said by me [lacuna] in detail [lacuna] of any [lacuna] just as +[lacuna] nominally throughout his entire reign [lacuna] of all [lacuna] +of it [lacuna] that he said in conversation with the soldiers [lacuna] +it was proved [lacuna] and he dared to utter not a few laudations of +himself and to send still more of them in letters, saying among other +things: "I have been quite sure that you also would agree with the +legions, since I enjoy the consciousness of having conferred many +benefits upon the commonwealth." He subscribed himself in the letter as +Cæsar and emperor and Severus, adding to the name of Macrinus the titles +of Pious, and Fortunate, and Augustus, and Proconsul, of course without +awaiting any vote on our part. He sent the letter without being ignorant +that he was, on his own responsibility, assuming so many and great +designations nor [lacuna] name [lacuna] of Pretorians as formerly some +[lacuna] not but what [lacuna] so wrote [lacuna] in the beginning +[lacuna] war chiefly [lacuna] of barbarians [lacuna] near [lacuna] in +the letter he used simply the same terms as the emperors before +Caracalla, and this he did the whole year through [lacuna] memoranda +found among the soldiers. Thus [lacuna] of things accustomed to be said +with a view to flattery and not inspired by truthfulness they became so +suspicious as to ask that they be made public, and he sent them to us, +and the quæstor read them aloud, as he did other similar documents in +their turn. And a certain prætor, as the senate was then in session and +none of the quæstors was present, also read an epistle once composed by +Macrinus himself. + +[Sidenote:--17--] The first letter having been read, appropriate +measures were passed with reference to both Macrinus and his son. He was +designated Patrician, and Princeps Iuventutis, and Cæsar. He accepted +everything save the horse-race voted in honor of the beginning of his +reign; from this he begged to be excused, saying that the event had been +sufficiently honored by the spectacle on the birthday of Severus. Of +Tarautas he made no mention at this time, in the way of either honor or +dishonor, save only that he called him Emperor. He ventured to term him +neither Hero nor Foe, and, as I conjecture, it was because the deeds of +his predecessor and the hatred of much of mankind made him shrink from +the former epithet, and the thought of the soldiers restrained him from +the latter. Some suspected that it was because he wanted the disgracing +to be the act of the senate and the people rather than his own, +especially since he was in the midst of the legions. He did say that +Tarautas by his wrongdoing had been chiefly responsible for the war and +had terribly burdened the public treasury by increasing the money given +to the barbarians, inasmuch as it was of equal amount with the pay of +the soldiers under arms. No one dared, however, to give utterance +publicly to any such statement against him and vote that he was an +enemy, for fear of immediate annihilation at the hands of the soldiers +in the City. Still, they abused him in their own fashion and heaped +insults upon him as much as they could, going over the list of his +bloody deeds, with the name of each victim, and ranging him alongside +all the evil tyrants that had ever held sway over them. + +[Sidenote:--18--] At the same time the public demanded that the +horse-race given on his birthday be abolished, that absolutely all the +statues, both gold and silver, erected [Footnote: Supplying, with Reiske, +[Greek: hidruthentas].] in his honor be melted down, and that those who +had served with him in any capacity as informers be made known and +punished with the utmost speed. For great numbers, not only slaves and +freedmen and soldiers and Cæsarians, but likewise knights and senators +and numerous very distinguished women, were believed to have given +secret hints during his reign and to have blackmailed various persons. +And although they did not attach to Antoninus the name of Enemy, they +did keep vociferating that Martialius (on account of the similarity of +his name to that of Mars, as they pretended,) ought to be honored with +enconiums and with statues for worship. They also showed for the moment +no indication of annoyance at Macrinus], the reason being that they were +so overwhelmed by joy on account of the death of Tarautas as not to have +leisure to think anything about his humble origin, and they were glad to +accept him as emperor. They were less concerned about whose slaves they +should be next than about whose yoke they had shaken off, and were +impressed with the idea that any chance comer who might present himself +would be preferable to their former master. [All the unusual +expenditures were rehearsed that had been made, not only by the Roman +Treasury but privately for any persons and on the part of any foreign +nations as a result of the former sovereign's direction: and thus the +overthrow of those charged with carrying out the enactments made by him +and the hope that in the future nothing similar would be done inclined +people to be satisfied with the existing arrangement. + +[Sidenote:--19--] However, they soon learned that Aurelianus was dead +and that Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus, had been appointed Cæsar. This +last was nominally the act of the soldiers, through whose ranks he +passed when summoned from Antioch to meet his father, but really it was +accomplished by Macrinus. People further learned that their ruler had +assumed the name of Antoninus. (He had done this to win the favor of the +soldiers, partly to avoid seeming to dishonor his predecessor's memory +entirely, especially in view of the fact that he had secretly thrown +down some of the statues offered to him in Rome by Alexander and set on +pedestals by Antoninus himself: and again he wanted to get an excuse for +promising them seven hundred and fifty denarii more.) So persons began +to think differently and reflected that previously they had held him in +no esteem. Taking account, furthermore, of all the additional ignoble +manifestations on his part that they suspected and thought likely, they +began to be ashamed and did not [lacuna] Caracalla any more than +[lacuna] things pertaining to him differently [lacuna] by deprecating +the [lacuna] of Severus [lacuna] of Antoninus [lacuna] they displayed +[lacuna] and hero and what befitted his reign, not to be sure [lacuna] +and wholly the judgments of all men in Rome [lacuna] underwent a change +[lacuna] senate [lacuna] to him [lacuna] me [lacuna] however, when all +were questioned man by man regarding his honors, both others answered +ambiguously and [lacuna] Saturninus [lacuna] in a way attributing +[lacuna] prætors [lacuna] that it was not permissible for him to put any +vote about anything, in order that they might avoid the consul's +jealousy. This procedure was contrary to precedent, for it was not +lawful that there should take place in the senate-chamber an inquiry +into any matter, except at the command of the emperor. + +[Sidenote:--20--] The crowd, because they could obscure their identity +at the contest and by their numbers, gained the greater boldness, raised +a loud cry at the horse-race on the birthday of Diadumenianus, which +fell on the fourteenth of September: they uttered many lamentations, +asserting that they alone of all mankind were destitute of a leader, +destitute of a king; and they invoked the name of Jupiter, declaring +that he alone should be their leader and uttering aloud these words: "As +a master thou wert angry, as a father take pity on us." Nor would they +pay any heed at first to either the equestrian or the senatorial order +[lacuna] and commending the emperor and the Cæsar to the extent of +[lacuna] in Greek saying: "Ah, what a glorious day is to-day! What noble +kings!" and desiring that the others also should share their opinion. +But they stretched out their arms toward the sky and exclaimed: +"[lacuna]. this is the Roman Augustus: having him we have all!" So true +it is that among mankind respect is a distinct characteristic of the +better element and contempt a characteristic of the worse. For these two +now regarded Macrinus and Diadumenianus as henceforth absolutely +non-existent and trampled upon their claims as though they were already +dead. This was one great reason why his soldiers despised him, and paid +no heed to what was done to win their favor. Another still more +important cause lay in the frequent and extraordinary insolence shown +toward him by the Pergamenians, who were deprived of what they had +formerly received from Tarautas; and for this conduct he imposed upon +them public sentence of loss of citizenship. [Sidenote:--21--] The +attitude of the soldiers is straightway to be described. At this time +Macrinus neither sent to the senate, as they were demanding, nor +published otherwise any document of the informers, saying either truly +or falsely (to avoid a great disturbance) that none such had been found +in the royal residence. For Tarautas had either destroyed the majority +of those containing any accusation or had returned them to the senders +themselves, as I have stated, [Footnote: The passage to which Dio refers +is lost.] to the end that no proof of his baseness should be left. But +he did reveal the names of three senators whom, from what he had himself +discovered, he deemed to be especially deserving of hatred. These were +Manilius and Julius, and moreover Sulpicius Arrhenianus, who had +blackmailed, among others, Bassus, the son of Pomponius, whose +lieutenant he had been when Bassus was governor of Moesia. These men +were banished to islands, as the emperor expressly forbade their being +put to death. "We would avoid,"--he wrote--these were his very +words,--"ourselves appearing to do the things for which we censure +them."--And Lucius Priscillianus [whose name was presented by the senate +itself,] was as much renowned for his insulting behavior as he was for +his killing of wild beasts. [He fought them at Tusculum every now and +then, and contended with so many each time that he bore the scars of +their bites.] Once he, unassisted, joined battle with a bear and +panther, a lioness and lion at once, but far more numerous were the men, +both knights and senators, whom he destroyed as a result of his +slanders. [For both of these achievements] he was greatly honored by +Caracalla [was enrolled among the ex-prætors and became (contrary to +precedent) governor of Achæa. He incurred the violent hatred of the +senate, was summoned for trial] and was confined upon an island. These +men, then, came to their end as described. + +[Sidenote:--22--] And Flaccus was entrusted also with the dispensation +of food stuffs,--an office which Manilius had formerly held,--for he had +secured [Footnote: Reading [Greek: eilaephos] (Reimar).] it (with the +added ratification of Macrinus) as a reward of his information against +him; and he was subsequently made superintendent of the distribution of +dole which took place at the games given by the major prætors, save +those celebrated in honor of Flora [lacuna] moreover the iuridici +possessing authority in Italy had to stop rendering decisions outside +the traditional limits set by Marcus. [Footnote: The text of the early +part of this chapter may be characterized as "jagged." The sentences +lack clearness and the relation of the individual words is not always +certain. The reader may be interested to see a translation of +Hirschfeld's interpretation of the section, taken from his book entitled +_Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der Roemischen Verwaltungsgeschichte_ +(pp. 117-120). + +a [Flaccus]--It is here a question of a high senatorial office, which +can only be the _præfectura alimentorum_. + +b [The iuridici]--Perhaps the person entrusted with the execution of +this ruling was C. Octavius Sabinus, who had the title of _electus ad +corrigendum statum Italiæ_. + +c [The orphans]--Probably during the latter portion of Caracalla's +reign, as also under Commodus, the funds for food had been available +either not at all or at irregular intervals, and therefore the +restitution of district prefects was determined upon. + +From these Food Prefects for a particular district those officials must +be distinguished who bear the general title of _præfectus alimentorum_ +without any local limitation, and show a marked difference from the rest +in that they are invariably of consular rank, whereas the position of +district prefect, like that of curator of roads, was usually held by a +candidate that had only passed the prætorship. The inscriptions of these +_consular_ prefects begin not earlier than the end of the reign of +Marcus Aurelius, perhaps not till Commodus, and extend to the time of +Macrinus, while during this whole time (a period, that is, of about +forty years) all trace of the district prefects vanishes. Under these +circumstances the conclusion seems to me inevitable that towards the end +of the second century (probably from the first years of Marcus Aurelius +on) the district prefecture was abolished and the administration was +centralized in Rome under a consular _præfectus alimentorum_, whose +authority extended over the whole of Italy. + +Now very probably it was the introduction under Marcus Aurelius of the +_iuridici_ which occasioned this change, even if not immediately, and +that these duties of distribution, as well as other administrative +functions, were placed in their hands; one thing that would seem to +recommend this view particularly is that their position in general +tended to make them official examiners of the affairs of the +_municipia_. When, in addition, we have evidence that Macrinus in the +year 217 reduced the authority of the _iundici_ to the limits originally +imposed by Marcus Aurelius and that further the same emperor instituted +certain rulings for the amelioration of food distribution; when, +moreover, we consider in connection with this the coincidence of the +disappearance of the _consular food prefects_ for Italy on the one hand +and the reappearance of the _pretorial district prefects_ on the other, +it will not appear overbold to suppose that Macrinus, in the course of +the reform affecting the _iuridici_, also detached from them the right +to supervise foods, restored it to the curators of roads (as in the +original arrangement) and abolished the central bureau in Rome.]--A +certain Domitius Florus had formerly had charge of the senate records +and ought to have been next appointed ædile, but before entering upon +office had been deprived of all hope on account of Plautianus; he now +had recourse to sedulous office-seeking, recovered his lost standing and +was appointed tribune. Anicius Faustus was sent into Asia to govern in +place of Asper. The latter had at first obtained very great honor from +Macrinus, who thought he could settle affairs in Asia: afterwards, when +he was already _en route_ and was approaching the province (Macrinus had +not accorded a favorable reception to the petition forwarded to +Caracalla and delivered to him, in which the inhabitants begged that +Asper be not sent them as proconsul), the emperor offered him a terrible +affront in rejecting him. It was reported to the prince that Asper had +made some improper remarks, and moreover he affected to think that old +age and disease constituted a second reason for relieving him of his +duties, and therefore he delivered Asia into the keeping of Faustus, a +man who had been overlooked in the order of allotment by Severus. As the +time for him to govern turned out to be short, Macrinus bade him hold +the office for the following year in place of Aufidius Fronto. To the +latter he would entrust neither Africa (which he had drawn by lot), +because the Africans begged that he be not allowed to come, nor yet +Asia, though he had first transferred him thither. As a fitting +recognition, however, Macrinus proposed that twenty-five myriads be +given him to stay at home. Fronto, however, would not accept that, +saying that he wanted not money but a position of authority, and +accordingly later he received the province from Sardanapalus. + +Besides these events aid was extended to the orphans, whose hopes of +support were small, from the [lacuna] age of childhood to military +years. [Footnote: See note 2c, page 58.] + +[Sidenote:--23--] Now Julia, the mother of Tarautas, chanced to be in +Antioch, and at the first information of her son's death she was so +affected that she struck herself violently and undertook to starve +herself to death. The presence of this very same man, whom she hated +alive, became the object of her longings now that he had ceased to +exist; yet not because she desired him to live, but because she was +furious at having to return to private life; and this led her to abuse +Macrinus also long and bitterly. Subsequently, as no change was made in +her royal suite or in the guard of Pretorians attending her, and the new +emperor sent her a kind message (not having yet heard what she had +said), she took courage, laid aside her longing for death, and, without +writing him any response, held some negotiations with the soldiers she +had about her, especially [lacuna] and as they were angry with Macrinus +[lacuna] as they had a pleasanter remembrance of her son, how she might +attain the imperial position, rendering herself the peer of Semiramis +and Nitocris, since she came in a way from the same regions as +they; [Footnote: Boissevain's conjecture for the succeeding sentences +(valuable, of course, only as the guess of an expert) is the following: + +But when nobody would cooperate with her and letters came from Macrinus +making certain announcements at which, in view of her circumstances, she +felt herself depressed in spirits, she renounced her ambitions out of +fear that she might be deprived of the title of Augusta and be forced to +depart to her native land, and al [lacuna] drea [lacuna] wom [lacuna] ad +[lacuna] eake [lacuna] and mos [lacuna] any one behol [lacuna] she +decided to do just the reverse and submit lest she be forced eventually +to return to Rome and be there compelled by Macrinus to remain at home +for the future for appearing to be opposed to his policy. Afterwards, +however, she was intending to take measures that would enable her to get +away by ship, if possibility still offered, when he ordered her, etc.] +as [lacuna] coöperated [lacuna] and letters [lacuna] of Macrinus +[lacuna] some for which [lacuna] judgment [lacuna] fearing that she +might be deprived of the title of Augusta and to [lacuna] native country +be forced to return [lacuna] to fear [lacuna] go to Rome [lacuna] +Macrinus [lacuna] seeming to do the opposite [lacuna] how [lacuna] might +depart and he ordered her to depart from Antioch with all speed and go +whithersoever she would. [And when she heard what was said in Rome about +her son] she no longer cared to live. The cancer in her breast, which, +for a very long time had remained stationary in its progress, had been +made angry and inflamed by the blow which she struck her chest on +hearing of her son's death; this helped to undermine her constitution +and she made sure of her demise by voluntary starvation. + +[Sidenote:--24--][And so this queen, sprung from a family of common +people and raised to a high station, who had lived during her husband's +reign in great unhappiness on account of Plautianus, who had beheld her +younger son butchered in her own lap and had borne ill-will to her elder +son while he lived, finally receiving such tidings of his assassination, +withdrew from power while in the full flush of life and thereafter did +herself to death. Hence a person reviewing her career could not deem +infallibly happy all those who attain great authority; indeed, in no +case unless some true and undefiled pleasure in life belongs to them, +and unswerving, permanent good fortune.--This, then, was the fate of +Julia. Her body was taken to Rome and placed in the tomb of Gaius and +Lucius. Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were +transferred by her sister Mæsa to the precinct of Antoninus. + +[Sidenote:--25--] Nor was Macrinus destined to survive for long,--a fact +of which he doubtless had previous indications. A mule bore a mule in +Rome and a sow had a little pig with four ears and two tongues and eight +feet. A great earthquake occurred, blood flowed from a pipe, and bees +formed honeycombs in the Forum Boarium. The hunting-theatre was smitten +with thunderbolts on the very day of the Vulcanalia [Footnote: August +twenty-third.] and such a blaze ensued that all its upper circumference +and the whole circuit of construction and the ground-level were burned +and thereupon the rest of it caught fire and fell in ruins. No human aid +availed against the conflagration, though every possible stream of water +was directed upon the blaze, nor could the downpour from the sky, which +came in great amount and violence, accomplish anything. The force of +both kinds of water was exhausted by the power of the thunderbolts, and +to a certain extent, at least, the building only received additional +injury; [Footnote: Reading [Greek: prosesineto](Bekker).] wherefore the +gladiatorial spectacle was held in the stadium for many years. + +This naturally seemed to foreshow what was to be. There were other fires +besides and imperial possessions were burned especially often during his +reign,--a thing which in itself has always been regarded as of ill omen; +but the fact that it seemed to have overthrown the horse-race of Vulcan +had a direct bearing upon the emperor. This accordingly gave rise to a +feeling that something out of the ordinary was in process of +consummation, and the idea was strengthened by the behavior on that same +day of the Tiber, which rose until it invaded the Forum and the roads +leading to it with such impetus as to sweep away even human beings. And +a woman, as I have heard, grim and gigantic, was seen by some persons +and declared that these disasters were insignificant as compared with +what was destined to befall them. + +[Sidenote:--26--] And so it proved, for the evil did not confine itself +to the City alone, but took possession of the whole world under its +dominion, with whose inhabitants the theatre was customarily filled. The +Romans, defeated, gave up their war against the barbarians and likewise +received great detriment from the greed and factional differences of the +soldiers. The progress of both these evils I am now to describe.] +Macrinus, seeing that Artabanus was exceedingly angry at the way he had +been treated and had invaded Mesopotamia with a large force, at first of +his own accord sent him the captives and used friendly language, urging +him to accept peace and laying the blame for the past upon Tarautas. But +the other would not entertain his proposition and furthermore bade him +build up the forts and demolished cities, abandon Mesopotamia entirely +and offer satisfaction in general, but particularly for the damage to +the royal tombs. [For, trusting in the large force that he had gathered +and despising Macrinus as an unworthy emperor, he gave reign to his +wrath and expected that even without the Roman's consent he could +accomplish whatever he wished.] Macrinus had no opportunity to think it +over, but, meeting the enemy already on the way to Nisibis, was defeated +in a battle begun by the soldiers about water, while encamped opposite +each other. And he came very near losing the rampart itself, but some +armor-bearers and baggage-carriers happened along and saved it. In their +confidence, they had started out ahead and made a rush upon the +barbarians; and the unexpectedness of their sally was of advantage to +them, making them appear to be armed soldiers and not mere helpers. But +the [lacuna] both was not present then and [lacuna] the night [lacuna] +the camps [lacuna] and the Romans followed on. The enemy, perceiving the +noise that they made in going out, suspected [lacuna] flight, but seeing +them at a glance [lacuna] the Romans barbarians [lacuna] forced by their +[lacuna] and the flight of Macrinus, they became dejected and were +conquered. And as a result [lacuna] from Mesopotamia especially [lacuna] +they overran Syria [lacuna] he abandoned. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] This took place at the season under +consideration: but in the autumn and winter, during which Macrinus and +Adventus became consuls, they no longer came to blows with each other +but kept up an interchange of envoys and heralds until they had reached +an agreement. + +[Sidenote:--27--] For Macrinus, through native cowardice (being a Moor +he was tremendously timorous) and by reason of the soldiers' lack of +discipline, did not dare to begin a war. On the contrary] he expended +for the sake of peace enormous amounts, in the shape of both gifts and +money, to Artabanus himself and to his assistants in the government, so +that the entire outlay came to five thousand myriads. [And the emperor +was not unwilling to effect a reconciliation, both for the reasons +mentioned and because his soldiers were extremely restive,--a condition +due to their having been away from home an unusual length of time, as +well as to the scarcity of food. No supplies were to be had from stores, +since there were no stores ready, nor from the country itself, because +part had been devastated and part was controlled by forts. Macrinus, +however, did not forward an exact account of all their proceedings to +the senate and consequently triumphal sacrifices were voted him and the +name of Parthicus was bestowed. But this he would not accept, being +apparently ashamed to adopt the appellation of an enemy by whom he had +been defeated. + +Moreover, the war that had been waged in the regions of the Armenian +king subsided. Tiridates received the diadem sent him by Macrinus, and +got back his mother (whom Tarautas had confined in prison eleven +months), together with the booty captured from Armenia and all the +territory that his father possessed in Cappadocia, with hopes of +obtaining the annual payment often furnished by the Romans. And the +Dacians, after damaging parts of Dacia, held their hands in spite of a +desire for further conflict, and got back the hostages that Caracalla, +under the name of an alliance, had taken from them. This was the course +of these events. + +[Sidenote:--28--] But a new war broke upon the heads of the Romans, and +no longer a foreign but a civil strife. It was the soldiers who were +responsible for the outbreak. They were somewhat irritated by their +setbacks, but their behavior was owing still more to the fact that they +would no longer endure any hard work if they could help it, but were +thoroughly out of training in every respect and wanted to have no +emperor that ruled with a firm hand but demanded that they get +everything without stint, and chose to perform no task that was fitting +for them. They were further angered by the cutting off of their pay and +the deprivation of prizes and exemptions (these last among the +privileges of the military), which they had gained from Tarautas, even +though they personally were not destined to be affected by these +measures. Their resolution was definitely strengthened by the delay +which they had undergone in practically one and the same spot while +wintering in Syria on account of the war. It should be stated that +Macrinus seemed to have shown good generalship and to have acted +sensibly in debarring the men in arms from no privilege, but preserving +to them intact all the rights allowed by his predecessor, whereas he +gave notice to such as intended to enlist anew that they would be +enrolled only upon the old schedule published by Severus. He hoped that +these recruits, entering the army a few at a time, would hold aloof from +rebellion, at first through peaceful inclinations and fear and later +through the influence of time and custom, and that by having no +corrupting effect upon the rest they would quiet them. + +[Sidenote:--29--] If this had been done after the members of the army +had retired to their individual fortresses and were consequently +scattered, it would have been a correct move. Perhaps some of them would +not have shown indignation, believing that they would really be put at +no disadvantage because temporarily they suffered no loss: and even if +they had been vexed, yet, each body being few in number and subservient +to the commanders sent by the senate, they could have accomplished no +great harm. But, united in Syria, they suspected that they should be +liable to innovations if they separated;--for the time being they could +well believe they were being pampered on account of the demands of war. +And again [lacuna] So the others killed certain soldiers and ravaged +portions of Mesopotamia, and these men butchered not a few of their own +number and also overthrew their emperor; and, what is still worse, they +set up another similar ruler, by whom nothing was done save what was +evil and base. [Sidenote:--30--] It seems to me that this occurrence had +been foreshadowed more clearly, perhaps, than any previous event. A +very distinct eclipse of the sun [had taken place] about that time, [and +the comet-star was seen for a considerable period. And another] +luminary, whose tail extended from the west to the east, for several +nights caused us terrible alarm, so that this verse of Homer's was ever +on our lips: + + "Rang the vast welkin with clarion calls, and Zeus heard the tumult." + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XXI, verse 388.] + +It was brought about in the following way: + +Mæsa, the sister of Julia Augusta, had two daughters, Soæmias and +Mammæa, by her husband Julius, an ex-consul. She had also two male +grandchildren. One was Avitus, the child of Soæmias and Varius +Marcellus, a man of the same race,--he was from Apamea,--who had been +occupied in procuratorships, had been enrolled in the senate, and soon +after died. The other was Bassianus, the child of Mammæa and Gessius +Marcianus, who was himself also a Syrian, from a city called Arca, and +had been assigned to various positions as procurator. Now Mæsa at home +in Emesa her life [lacuna] her sister Julia, with whom she had made her +abode during the entire period of the latter's reign, having perished. +For Avitus, after governing in Asia, sent by Caracalla from Mesopotamia +into Cyprus, was seen to be limited to the position of adviser to some +magistrate who suffered from old age and sickness; and again [lacuna] +him, when [lacuna] he died, one Eutychianus, that had given satisfaction +in games and exercises, and for that reason [lacuna] who [lacuna] +[Sidenote:--31--] [lacuna] upon [lacuna] becoming aware of the strong +dislike of the soldiers for Macrinus [lacuna] wall [lacuna] and partly +persuaded by the Sun, whom they name Elagabalus and worship devotedly, +and by some other prophecies, he undertook to overthrow Macrinus and put +up Avitus, the grandson of Mæsa and a mere child, as emperor in his +stead. And he accomplished both projects, although he had himself as yet +not fully reached manhood and had as helpers only a few freedmen and +soldiers [lacuna] and Emesenian senators [lacuna] pretending that he was +a natural son of Tarautas and arraying him in clothing which the latter +had worn when a child, Cæsar by the [lacunæ] introduced into the camp at +night, without the knowledge of his mother or his grandmother, and at +dawn on the sixteenth of May he persuaded the soldiers, who were eager +to get some starting-point for an uprising, to revolt. Julianus, the +prefect, learning this (for he happened to be not far distant), caused +both a daughter and a son-in-law of Marcianus, together with some +others, to be assassinated. Then, after collecting as many of the +soldiers remaining as he could in the short time at his disposal, he +made an attack upon what was, to all intents and purposes, a most +hostile fortress. [Sidenote:--32--] He might have taken it that very +day, for the Moors sent to Tarautas according to the terms of alliance +fought most valiantly for Macrinus, who was a countryman of theirs, and +even broke through some of the gates. But he refused the opportunity, +either because he was afraid to rush in or because he expected that he +could win the men inside to surrender voluntarily. As no propositions +were made to him, and they furthermore built up all the gates during the +night, so that they were now in a securer position, he again assaulted +the place but effected nothing. For they carried Avitus (whom they were +already saluting as "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus") all about upon the +ramparts, and exhibited some likeness of Caracalla when a child as +bearing some resemblance to their new ruler, declaring that the latter +was truly Caracalla's child and his proper successor in the imperial +office. "Why do you do this, fellow-soldiers?" they exclaimed. "Why do +you thus fight against your benefactor's son?" By this means they +corrupted all the soldiers with Julianus, especially as the troops were +anxious to have a change, so that the attackers killed their commanders, +save Julianus (for he effected his escape), and surrendered themselves +to the False Antoninus. For when an attempt to restrain them was made by +their centurions and the other subordinates, and they were, as a result, +hesitating, Eutychianus sent Festus (thus--according to the cubicularius +of Tarautas--was one of the Cæsarians named) [Footnote: The text is +emended in accordance with a tentative suggestion of Boissevain.] and +persuaded them to kill all such officers and offered as a prize to each +soldier who should slay his man the victim's property and military rank. +The boy also harangued them from the wall with fictitious statements, +praising his "father" and [lacuna] Macrinus, as [lacuna] + +[Fourteen lines are lacking.] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote:--33--] [lacuna] those left to be restored to their original +property and status as citizens. But the most effective means by which +he attached them to himself was his promise to give each and every one +unlimited amounts of money, and to restore the exiles,--an act which +would seem to make him out in truth a legitimate son of Tarautas +[lacuna] + + * * * * * + +[Fourteen lines are lacking.] + +[Sidenote:--34--] [lacuna] Marcianus [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] (for +Marcellus was dead) he put this person to death; but, lacking courage to +proceed further on his own responsibility without Macrinus, he sent for +the latter. Macrinus came quickly to the Alban soldiers at Apamea and +appointed his son emperor in spite of the lad's being but ten years old, +in order that with this excuse he might mollify the soldiers by various +means, chief among which should be the promise of five thousand denarii; +he assigned them a thousand each on the spot and restored to the rest +complete allowances of food and everything else of which they had been +deprived: in this way he hoped to appease them. With this same end in +view he bestowed upon the populace a dinner worth one hundred and fifty +denarii a head before revealing to them anything about the uprising; for +he wanted it to be thought that he was banqueting them not because of +that event but to show honor to his son. And on that occasion first one +of the revolted soldiers approached him carrying the head of Julianus +(who had been found somewhere in hiding and slain), in many linen cloths +and tied up very strongly indeed with ropes, pretending it was the head +of the False Antoninus. He had sealed the package with the finger ring +of Julianus. After doing that the soldier ran out when the head was +uncovered. Macrinus, upon discovering what had been done, no longer +dared either to stay where he was or to assault the fortification, but +returned to Antioch with all speed. So the Alban legion and the rest who +were wintering in that region likewise revolted. The opposing parties +continued their preparations and both sides sent messengers and letters +to the provinces and to the legions. As a result perturbation was caused +in many places by the first communication of each side about the other +and by the constant messages contradicting each other. In the course of +the uncertainty numerous letter-carriers on both sides lost their lives, +and numbers of those who had slain the followers of Antoninus, or had +not immediately attached themselves to their cause, were censured. Some +perished on this account and some merely incurred a small loss. Hence I +will pass over most of this (it is all very much alike and permits of no +considerable description in detail) and will give a summary of what took +place in Egypt. + +[Sidenote:--35--] The governor of that country was Basilianus, whom +Macrinus had also made prefect in place of Julianus. Some interests were +managed also by Marius Secundus, although he had been created senator by +Macrinus and was at the head of affairs in Phoenicia. In this way both +of them were dependent upon Macrinus and for that reason put to death +the runners of the False Antoninus. As long, therefore, as the outcome +of the business was still in dispute, they and the soldiers and the +individuals were in suspense, some wishing and praying and reporting one +thing and others the opposite, as always in factional disturbances. When +the news of the defeat of Macrinus arrived, a riot of some magnitude +followed, in which many of the populace and not a few of the soldiers +were destroyed. Secundus found himself in a dilemma; and Basilianus, +fearing that he should lose his life instanter, effected his escape +from Egypt. After coming to the vicinity of Brundusium in Italy he was +discovered, having been betrayed by a friend in Rome to whom he had sent +a secret message asking for food. So he was later taken back to +Nicomedea and executed. + +[Sidenote:--36--] Macrinus wrote also to the senate about the False +Antoninus [as he did also to the governors everywhere], calling him +"boy" and saying that he was mad. He wrote also to Maximus, the +præfectus urbi, giving him such information as one might expect, and +further stating that the soldiers recently enlisted insisted upon +receiving all that they were wont to have before, and that the rest, who +had been deprived of nothing, made common cause with them in their anger +at what was withheld. And to omit a recital, he said, of all the many +means devised by Severus and his son for the ruin of rigid discipline, +it was impossible for the troops to be given their entire pay in +addition to the donatives which they were receiving; for the increase in +their pay granted by Tarautas amounted to seven thousand myriads +annually, and could not be given, partly because the soldiers and again +because [lacuna] righteous [lacuna] but the recognized expenditures +[lacuna] and the [lacuna] could he himself and the child as [lacuna] +himself [lacuna] and he commiserated himself upon having a son, but said +that he found it a solace in his disaster to think that he had outlived +the fratricide who attempted to destroy the whole world. He also added +to the missive something like the following: "I know that there are +many who are more anxious to have emperors killed than to have them +live, but this is one thing I can not say in respect to myself, that any +one could either desire or pray that I should perish." At which Fulvius +Diogenianus exclaimed: "We have all prayed for it!" + +[Sidenote:--37--] The speaker was one of the ex-consuls, but not of very +sound mind, and consequently he caused himself as much exasperation as +he did other people. He also [lacuna] the subscription [lacuna] of +letter [lacuna] and to the [lacuna] leather it had been entrusted to +read [lacuna] and those [lacuna] and [lacuna] others and also [lacuna] +be sent [lacuna] directly as [lacuna] hesitating [lacuna] ordering +[lacuna] by the [lacuna] and both to others [lacuna] of foremost to the +[lacuna] any care for the common preserver [lacuna] over [lacuna] that +the False Antoninus finding in the chests of Macrinus not yet [lacuna] +he himself voluntarily [lacuna] published [lacuna] calumny [lacuna] +making with reference to the soldiers. And he marched so quickly against +him that Macrinus could with difficulty encounter him in a village of +the Antiochians one hundred and fifty stades distant from the city. +There, so far as the zeal of the Pretorians went, he had him conquered +(he had taken from them their breastplates scales and their grooved +shields and had thus rendered them lighter for the battle): but he was +beaten by his own cowardice, as Heaven had foreshown to him. For on that +day when his first letter about the imperial office was read to us a +pigeon had lighted upon an image of Severus (whose name he had applied +to himself) that stood in the senate-chamber. [And subsequently, when +the communication about his son was sent, we had convened, not at the +bidding of the consuls or the prætors (for they did not happen to be +present) but of the tribunes,--a practice which by this time had fallen +more or less into disuse. And he had not written even his name in the +preface of the letter, though he termed him Cæsar and emperor and +indicated that the contents emanated from them both. Also, in the +rehearsal of events, he mentioned the name Diadumenianus, but left out +that of Antoninus, though he had this title too. Such was the state of +these [Sidenote:--38--] affairs; and, by Jupiter, when he sent word +about the uprising of the False Antoninus, the consuls uttered certain +formulæ against him, as is regularly done under such circumstances, and +one of the prætors and another of the tribunes did the same. War was +declared and solemnly proclaimed against the usurper and his cousin and +their mothers and their grandmother, and immunity was granted to those +that had taken part in the uprising, in case they should submit, +according as Macrinus had promised them. For the conversation he had had +with the soldiers was read aloud.] As a result of this, we all condemned +still more strongly his abasement and folly. [For one thing] he was most +constantly calling himself "father" and Diadumenianus his "son," and he +kept holding up to reproach the age of the False Antoninus, though he +had designated as emperor his son, who was much younger. [Now in the +battle Gannys hurriedly took possession of the narrow place in front of +the village and disposed his soldiers in good order for warfare, +regardless of the fact that he was most inexperienced in military +matters. Of such surpassing importance is good fortune in comparison +with other qualifications, that it actually bestows understanding upon +the ignorant.] But his army made a very weak fight and the men would not +have stood their ground, had not Mæsa and Soæmias [for they were already +in the boy's retinue] leaped down from their vehicles and, rushing among +the fugitives, by their lamentations restrained them from flight, and +had not the lad himself been seen by them (by some divine disposition of +affairs) with drawn sword on horseback charging the enemy. Even so they +would have turned their backs again, had not Macrinus fled at sight of +their resistance. + +[Sidenote:--39--] The latter, having been thus defeated on the eighth of +June, sent his son in charge of Epagathus and some other attendants, to +Artabanus, king of the Parthians. He himself went to Antioch, giving out +that victory was his, to the end that he might be offered shelter there. +Then, when the news of his defeat became noised abroad, in the midst of +many consequent slaughters both along the roads and in the city, +springing from somebody's favoring the one side or the other, he made +his escape. From Antioch he proceeded by night, on horseback, with his +head and whole chin shaved, and attired in a dark garment worn over his +purple robe in order that he might, so far as possible, resemble an +ordinary citizen. In this way, with a few companions, he reached Ægæ in +Cilicia, and there, by pretending to be one of the soldiers that carried +messages, he got a wagon, on which he drove through Cappadocia and +Galatia and Bithynia as far as the shipyard of Eribolus, which is +opposite the city of Nicomedea. It was his intention to make his way +back to Rome, expecting that there he could gain some assistance from +the senate and from the people. And, if he had escaped thither, he would +certainly have accomplished something. For their disposition was +decidedly more favorable to him, in view of the hardihood of the +Syrians, the age of the False Antoninus, and the uncontrolledness of +Gannys and Comazon, so that even the soldiers would either +voluntarily [Footnote: Reading [Greek: 'hechhontast'] instead of +[Greek: thnhêschontast].] have changed their attitude or, refusing to do +so, would have been overpowered. As it turned out, however, if any one +recognized him in the course of his journey so far described, at least +no one ventured to lay hands on him: but he came to grief on his voyage +from Eribolus to Chalcedon. He did not dare to enter Nicomedea [through +fear of the governor of Bithynia, Cæcilius Aristo], and so he sent to +one of the procurators asking for money, and in this way he became +known. He was overtaken [while still] in Chalcedon and, on the arrival +of those sent by the False Antoninus in order that [lacuna] now if ever +[lacuna] he was arrested [by Aurelius Celsus, a centurion,] and taken to +Cappadocia [like a man held in no honor]. Ascertaining there that his +son had also been captured [(Claudius Pollio, the centurion of the +legion, had arrested him while driving through Zeugma, where, in the +course of a previous journey, he had been designated Cæsar)], he threw +himself from the conveyance (for he had not been bound) and at the time +suffered a fracture of his shoulder; but subsequently (though not a +great deal later) being sentenced to die before entering Antioch, he was +slain by Marcianus Taurus, a centurion, and his body remained unburied +until the False Antoninus could come from Syria into Bithynia and gloat +over it. + +[Sidenote:--40--] So Macrinus, when an old man,--for he was fifty-four +years of age [lacking three or five days],--and eminent in experience of +affairs, displaying some degree of excellence and commanding so many +legions, was overthrown by a mere child of whose very name he had +previously been ignorant,--even as the oracle had foretold to him; +[[lacuna]] for upon his applying [to Zeus Belus] it had answered him: + + "Old man, verily warriors young harass and exhaust thee: + Utterly spent is thy strength, and a grievious eld comes upon thee!" + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, VIII, verses 102-103.] + +And fleeing [lacuna] or [lacuna], having played part of runaway slave +through the provinces which he had ruled, arrested like some robber by +common officers, beholding himself with villains most dishonored +[lacuna] guarded before whom often many senators had been brought; and +_his_ death was ordered who had the authority to punish or to release +any Roman whomsoever, and he was arrested and beheaded by centurions, +when he had authority to put to death both them and others, inferior and +superior. And his son likewise perished. + +[Sidenote:--41--] This proves that no one, even of those whose +foundations seem unshakable, is sure of his position, but the exceeding +prosperous, equally with the rest, are poised in the balance. + +And this man would have been lauded beyond all mankind, if he had not +himself desired to become emperor, but had chosen some person enrolled +in the senate to stand at the head of the Roman empire and had +appointed him emperor; and only in this way could he have avoided blame +for the plot against Caracalla, for by such action he would have +demonstrated that he resorted to it to secure his own safety and not on +account of a desire for supremacy. Whereas, instead, he got himself into +disrepute and ruined his career, becoming subject to reproach, and +finally falling a victim to a disaster that he richly deserved. And +having grasped at sole sovereignty before he had even the title of +senator, he lost it very quickly and in the most disappointing way. He +had ruled only a year and two months, lacking three days (a result +obtained by reckoning to the date of the battle). + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +79 + + +Dio's Roman History 79:-- + +About Avitus, called also Pseudantoninus, and the slaughter that he +wrought (chapters 1-7). + +About his transgression of law and how he married the Vestal (chapters +8-10). + +About Eleogabalus [Footnote: It will be noted that the spelling of this +word in the Greek "arguments" of the MSS. differs from that in the +Greek text of the same.] and how he summoned Urania to Rome and united +her in bonds of wedlock with Eleogabalus (chapters 11-12). + +About his licentiousness (chapters 13-16). + +How he adopted his cousin and also renamed him Alexander (chapters 17, +18). + +How he was overthrown and slain (chapters 19-21). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +The remainder of the consulship of Macrinus and Adventus, together with +four additional years, in which there were the following magistrates, +here enumerated. Pseudantoninus (II) and Q. Tineius Sacerdos. (A.D. 219 += a.u. 972 = Second of Eleogabalus, from June 8th.) + +Pseudantoninus (III) and M. Valerius Comazon. (A.D. 220 = a.u. 973 = +Third of Elagabalus.) + +C. Vettius Gratus Sabinianus and M. Flavius Vitellius Seleucus. (A.D. +221 = a.u. 974 = Fourth of Elagabalus.) + +Pseudantoninus (IV) and M. Amelius Severus Alexander. (A.D. 222 = a.u. +975 = Fifth of Elagabalus to March 11th.) + + +(BOOK 80, BOISSEVAIN.) + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] [Sidenote:--1--] Now Avitus, alias +False Antoninus, alias Assyrian or again Sardanapalus and also Tiberinus +(he secured the last appellation after he had been slain and his body +thrown into the Tiber) [on the very next day after the victory entered +Antioch, first promising the soldiers attending him five hundred denarii +apiece on condition that they should not sack the town,--a thing which +they were very anxious to do. This amount he levied upon the people. And +he sent to Rome such a despatch as might have been expected, speaking +much evil of Macrinus, especially with reference to his low birth and +his plot against Antoninus. Here is a sample of what he said: "He who +was not permitted to enter even the senate-house after the proclamation +debarring everybody other than senators from doing so, this man, I say, +dared treacherously to murder the emperor whom he had been trusted to +guard, dared to appropriate his office and to become emperor before he +was senator." About himself he made many promises, not only to the +soldiers but also to the senate and the people. He asserted that he +should do everything without exception to emulate Augustus (to whose +youth he likened his own) and also Marcus Antoninus. Yes, and he wrote +also the following, alluding to the derogatory remarks made about him +by Macrinus: "He undertook to censure my age, when he himself appointed +a five-year old son." + +[Sidenote:--2--] Besides forwarding this communication to the senate, he +sent to the senate the records discovered among the soldiers and the +letters of Macrinus written, to Maximus, and sent them likewise to the +legions, hoping that these would cause them to hold the preceding +emperor's memory in greater detestation, and to feel greater affection +for him. In both the despatch to the senate and the letter to the people +he subscribed himself as emperor and Cæsar, son of Antoninus, grandson +of Severus, Pius, Felix, Augustus, proconsul, and holder of the +tribunician power, assuming these titles before they were voted,[lacuna] +the [lacuna] not the [lacuna] but the [lacuna] of [lacuna] +used [Footnote: Illegible MS.--Boissevain conjectures: "And he used not +the name of Avitus, but that of his father."] [lacuna] the records of +the soldiers [lacuna] for of Macrinus [lacuna] Cæsar [lacuna] Pretorians +and Alban legionaries who were in Italy [lacuna] and as consul should +proclaim [Footnote: "He sent another letter to the Pretorians and to the +Alban legionaries who were in Italy, in which he stated incidentally +that he was consul and high-priest." (Boissevain's conjecture.)] +[lacuna] and the [lacuna] Marius Censorinus [lacuna] superintendence +[lacuna] accepted [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] himself since not +sufficiently by his own voice [lacuna] public [lacuna] read [lacuna] the +letters of Sardanapalus [lacuna] registered among the ex-consuls and +gave him injunctions that if any one should resist him he should use the +band of soldiers. As a consequence, though against its will, it read +everything to those [lacuna] [Footnote: "Most of it Marius Censorinus, +who was their commandant, read aloud, but the news about Macrinus he +suppressed, because he thought that his single voice could not give it +sufficient publicity; at the same time, however, he took it upon himself +to have the letter of Sardanapalus read to the senate through the medium +of Claudius Pollio, who had been enrolled among the ex-consuls; thus, if +any opposition should develop, he would be in a position to use the band +of soldiers. As a consequence the senate, though against its will, read +everything to those enlisted." (Boissevain's conjecture.)] + +For, by reason of the necessity thrust upon them, they were not able to +do anything that they should or had better have done [lacuna] but were +panic-stricken by fear [lacuna] and Macrinus, whom they had often +commended, they voted should be regarded as a public enemy and they +abused him, together with his son; and Tarautas, whom they had often +wished to declare an enemy, they now exalted and of course prayed that +his son might be like him. + +[Sidenote:--3--] This was in Rome. And Avitus assigned [lacuna] Pollio +to govern [lacuna] Germany [lacuna] since the latter had very rapidly +reduced Bithynia to subjection. He himself, after sojourning some months +in Antioch until he had established his authority there in every +direction, went into Bithynia, coadjutor [lacuna] often [lacuna] making +Gannys, as had been his custom in the case of Antioch. + +Having passed the winter here he proceeded into Italy through Thrace and +Moesia and both the Pannonias, and there he abode to the end of his +life. One action of his was worthy of a thoroughly good emperor: for, +whereas many individuals and communities alike, + + including the Romans themselves, + both knights and senators, + +had privately and publicly, by word and deed, heaped insults upon [both +Caracalla and] himself as a result of the letters of Macrinus, he +[neither threatened to make reprisals] in the case of a single person, +nor did he make reprisals. But on the other hand he drifted into all the +most obscene and lawless and bloodthirsty practices. [Some of them never +before known in Rome, took root and grew like ancestral institutions. +Others, taken up tentatively from one time [Footnote: Reading [Greek: +allote] (Bekker, Dindorf) in place of [Greek: alla te].] to another by +various individuals] flourished for the three years and nine months and +four days during which he ruled (to compute from the battle in which he +gained supreme control). [In Syria, he caused the assassination of +Nestor and Fabius Agrippinus, the governor of the country, as well as of +the foremost knights belonging to the party of Macrinus; but he +inflicted a similar fate upon men in Rome who were on most friendly +terms with him. In Arabia, he executed Pica Cæsianus, [Footnote: _P. +Numicius Pica Cæsianus_.] entrusted with the administration, because he +had not immediately declared his allegiance; and, in Cyprus, Claudius +Attalus, because he had fallen out with Comazon. Attalus had once been +governor of Thrace, had been expelled from the senate by Severus in the +war with Niger, but was restored to it by Tarautas, and had at this time +been assigned to Cyprus, as the lot directed. He had incurred Comazon's +ill-will by having formerly reduced him to the position of rower in a +trireme as a punishment for some villany which the latter committed +while serving in Thrace.] + +[Sidenote:--4--] This incident sheds some light on the character of +Comazon, who got this name from mimes and buffoonery. [Footnote: This +statement is an error on the part of Xiphilinus, who thought that +"Comazon" (in Greek=The Reveler) was a nickname for a certain +Eutychianus. Investigations, however, show that there was a M. Valerius +Comazon prominent at this time and that the word should be taken as a +proper and not as a vulgar noun.] He commanded the Pretorians and, +though holding no position of management or superintendence whatever, +except over the camp, [he obtained the consular honors] and subsequently +actually became consul. [Also he became city prefect] not merely once, +but twice and thrice, as could be recorded in no other case. Wherefore +this, too, must be enumerated among the most illegal proceedings. [It +was on his account, then, that Attalus was put to death. + +Triccianus came to his end on account of the Alban legion, which he +commanded with good discipline during Macrinus's reign, and Castinus +[Footnote: _C. Iulius Septimius Castinus_.] because he was energetic and +was known to many soldiers in consequence of the commands he had held +and his association with Antoninus. He had accordingly been sent out in +advance by Macrinus without reference to other events and was living in +Bithynia. The emperor put him to death in spite of having written +concerning him to the senate that Triccianus had been banished from +Rome, like Julius Asper, by Macrinus, and that he had restored him. He +took similar vengeance on Sulla, who had been governing Cappadocia but +had relinquished it, because Sulla both meddled in some matters that did +not concern him and when summoned to Rome by Elagabalus had managed to +meet the Celtic soldiers returning home after their winter in Bithynia, +a period during which they had raised some little disturbance. These men +perished for the reasons specified and no statements about them were +communicated to the senate. Seius Carus, the descendant of Fuscianus, +who had been city prefect, was killed because he was rich, great, and +sensible, on the pretext that he was forming a league of some of the +soldiers belonging to the Alban legion; and, on the basis of some +charges preferred by the emperor alone, he was accused in the palace, +where he was also slain.] Valerianus Pætus lost his life because he had +stamped some likeness of himself upon gold pieces to serve as ornaments +for his mistresses. [This led to the accusation that he intended to +remove to Cappadocia, a country bordering on his own (he was a Gaul), +for the purpose of starting a revolution, and that this was why he made +gold pieces bearing his own figure. + +[Sidenote:--5--] On these charges] Silius Messala and Pomponius Bassus +[also were condemned to death by the senate: they] incurred blame +because they were not pleased with what he was doing. He did not +hesitate to write this statement about them to the senate, and called +them investigators of his habits of life and censors of proceedings in +the palace. ["The proofs of their plot I have not sent you," he said, +"because it would be useless to read them, in view of the fact that the +men are already dead."] There was another cause of dislike underlying +[the case against Messala,--the point, namely, that he sturdily made +public many facts in the senate. This was what led the emperor at the +outset to send for him to come to Syria, pretending to have very great +need of him, whereas his real fear was that Messala might bring about a +change of attitude on the part of the senators. + + +The cause in] the case of Bassus was that he had a wife both fair to +look upon and of noble rank; she was a descendant of Claudius Severus +and of Marcus Antoninus. Indeed, the prince married her, not allowing +her even to mourn the catastrophe. Now of his marriages, in which he +both married and was bestowed in marriage, an account will be given +presently. He appeared both as man and as woman, and performed the +functions of both in the most licentious fashion [lacuna] about [lacuna] +and [lacuna] by whom [lacuna] own [lacuna] Sergius [lacuna] and [lacuna] +out of [lacuna] any [lacuna] making [lacuna] him [lacuna] blame for +[lacuna] slaughter the [Sidenote:--6--] [lacuna] and of knights [lacuna] +Cæsarians [lacuna] [lacuna] were destroyed [lacuna] nothing [lacuna] but +by killing in Nicomedea at the very start of his reign Gannys, who had +arranged the uprising, who had introduced him into the camp and had +likewise caused [the soldiers to revolt, who had presented him with the +victory over Macrinus, one who had reared and managed him,--by this act +he came to be regarded as the most impious of men. To be sure, Gannys +was living rather luxuriously and was fond of accepting bribes, but for +all that he brought no injury upon anybody and bestowed many benefits +upon many people. Most of all, he always showed a deep respect for the +emperor, and he was thoroughly satisfactory to Mæsa and Soæmias, suiting +the former because she had brought him up and the latter because he +practically lived with her. But these were not the reasons why the +emperor put him out of the way, seeing that he was willing to give him a +marriage contract and appoint him Cæsar. It was rather that Gannys +compelled him to live temperately and prudently. And his own hand was +the first to give his minister a mortal blow, since no one of the +soldiers had the hardihood to take the initiative in his murder.--These +events, then, took place in this way. + +[Sidenote:--7--] [lacuna] Another pair executed were Verus, who had +likewise mustered courage to make an attempt upon the sovereignty while +in the midst of the third (Gallic) legion, which he was commanding; and +Gellius Maximus, on the same sort of charge, though he was lieutenant in +Syria proper and at the head of the fourth (Scythian) legion. For to +such an extent had everything got upside down, that these men, too, one +of whom had been enrolled in the senate from the ranks of the centurions +and the other of whom was the son of a physician, took it into their +heads to aim at the imperial office. I have mentioned them alone by +name, not so much because they were the only ones who appeared entirely +insane as because they belonged to the senate; for other attempts were +made. A certain centurion's son undertook to throw into disorder the +same Gallic legion, and another, a worker in wool, tampered with the +Fourth, and a third, a private citizen, with the fleet in harbor at +Cyzicus when the False Antoninus was wintering at Nicomedea. And there +were many others elsewhere, so that it became a very ordinary thing for +those who so wished to hazard the chance of fomenting rebellion and +becoming emperor. They were encouraged partly by the fact that many +persons had entered upon the supreme office without expecting or +deserving it. Let no one be incredulous of my statements, for the facts +about the private citizens I ascertained from men who are worthy of +confidence, and of what I have written about the fleet I gained an exact +knowledge in Pergamum, close at hand, the affairs of which, as also of +Smyrna, I managed, having been assigned to duty there by Macrinus. And +in view of this attempt none of the others seemed at all incredible to +me. + +[Sidenote:--8--] This is what he did in the way of murders. His acts +which varied from our ancestral precedents, however, were of simple +character and inflicted no great harm upon us. Some noteworthy +innovations were his applying to himself certain titles connected with +his sovereignty before they had been voted, as I have already described, +[Footnote: See Chapter 2.] and again his enrolling himself in the +consulship in place of Macrinus when he had not been elected to it and +did not enter upon any of its duties (the time expiring too soon): yet +at first, in three letters, he had referred to the year by the name of +Adventus, as if assuming that the latter had been sole consul. Other +points were that he undertook to be consul a second time, without having +secured any office previously or the privileges of any office, and that +while consul in Nicomedea he did not employ the triumphal costume on the +Day of Vows. [Footnote: Translated by Sturz "_votivorum ludorum die_." +What festival is meant is uncertain, but it is probably _not_ the +Compitalia (III. Non. Ian.). [Sidenote:--11--] With his infractions of +law is connected also the matter of Elagabalus. The offence consisted, +not in his introducing a foreign god into Rome, or in his exalting him +in very strange ways, but in his placing him before even Jupiter and +having himself voted his priest, in his circumcising his foreskin and +abstaining from swine's flesh [on the ground that his devotion would be +purer by this means. He had thought of cutting off his genitals +altogether, but that was an idea prompted by salaciousness; the +circumcision which he actually accomplished was a part of the priestly +requirements of Elagabalus. Hence he mutilated in like manner numerous +of his associates.] A further offence was his being frequently seen in +public clad in the barbaric dress which the Syrian priests employ, a +circumstance which had more to do than anything else with his getting +the name of "The Assyrian." + +[Sidenote:--12--] ¶ A golden statue of False Antoninus was erected, +distinguished by its great and varied adornment. + +¶ Macrinus, though he found considerable money in the treasury, +squandered it all, and incomes did not suffice for expenditures. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 219 (_a.u._ 972)] [Sidenote:--9--] As to his marriage. +He espoused Cornelia Paula in order that he might sooner (these are his +words) become a father,--he, who could not even be a man. On the +occasion of his marriage not only the senate and the equestrian order +but also the wives of the senators received some distribution of +presents. The people were given a banquet at the per capita rate of one +hundred and fifty denarii, and the soldiers had one that cost a hundred +more. There were contests of gladiators at which the prince wore a +purple-bordered toga, the same as he had done at the ludi votivi. +Various beasts were slain, among them an elephant and fifty-one tigers, +a greater number than had ever yet been despatched at one time. +Afterwards he dismissed Paula on the pretext that she had some blemish +on her person and cohabited with Aqulia Severa,--a most flagrant breach +of law. She was consecrated to Vesta and yet he most sinfully ravished +her and actually dared to say: "I did it in order that godlike children +may spring from me, the high-priest, and from her, the high-priestess." +He felicitated himself on an act which was destined to lead to his being +maltreated in the Forum and thrown into prison and subsequently put to +death. However, he did not keep even this woman for long, but married a +second, and then a third, and still another; after that he went back to +Severa. + +[Sidenote:--10--] Portents had been taking place in Rome, one of them on +the statue of Isis, which is borne upon a dog above the pediment of her +temple: it consisted in her turning her face towards the +interior.--Sardanapalus was conducting games and numerous spectacles, +in which Helix, the athlete, won renown. How far he surpassed his +adversaries is shown by his wishing to contend in both wrestling and +pancratium at Olympia, and by his winning victories in both at the +Capitolina. The Eleans, being jealous of him, and through fear that he +might prove the eighth from Hercules (as the saying is), [Footnote: +The history and significance of this proverb are not known.] would not +call any wrestler into the stadium, in spite of their having inscribed +this contest on the bulletin-board. But in Rome he won each of the two +games,--a feat that no one else had accomplished. + +[Sidenote:--11--] And here I must omit mention of the barbaric chants +which Sardanapalus chanted to Elagabalus, and his mother and +grandmother, all three, as also of the secret sacrifices that he offered +to him: at these he slaughtered boys, and used charms, besides shutting +up in the god's temple a live lion and monkey and snake, throwing in +among them human genitals, and practicing other unholy rites, while he +wore invariably innumerable amulets. [Sidenote:--12--] But to run +briefly over these matters, he actually (most ridiculous of all) courted +a wife for Elagabalus, on the assumption that the god wanted marriage +and children. Such a wife might be neither poor nor low-born, and so he +chose the Carthaginian Urania, summoned her to come thence, and +established her in the palace. He gathered wedding gifts for her from +all his subjects, as he might have done in the case of his own wives. +All these presents that were given during his lifetime were exacted +later, but in the way of dowry he declared that nothing should be +brought save the gold lions, which were melted down. + +[Sidenote:--13--] But this Sardanapalus, who thought it right to make +the gods cohabit under the form of marriage, himself lived from first to +last most licentiously. [He married many women] and had liaisons with +many more [without any lawful title], yet it was not that he cared about +them; he simply wanted to imitate their actions when he should lie with +his lovers [and get accomplices in his excesses by returning to them +indiscriminately]. He used his body for doing and allowing many unheard +of things which no one would endure telling or hearing, but his most +conspicuous acts, which it would be impossible to conceal, were the +following. He would go by night, wearing a wig of long hair, into the +taverns and ply the trade of a female huckster. He frequented the +notorious brothels, drove out the prostitutes, and prostituted himself. +Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his +indecencies, standing all the time naked at the door of it, as the +harlots do, and shaking the curtain, which was fastened by gold rings, +the while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by. +Certain persons had been given special orders to let themselves be +attracted to his abode. For, as in other matters, so in this business, +too, he had numerous detectives through whom he sought out the persons +who could please him most by their foulness. He would collect money from +his Patrons and put on airs over his gains: he would also dispute with +his associates in this shameful occupation, saying that he had more +lovers than they and took in more money. [Sidenote:--14--] This is the +way he behaved to all alike that enjoyed his services. But he had, +besides, one chosen man whom he accordingly desired to appoint Cæsar. + +Also, arrayed in the Green uniform, he drove a chariot privately and at +home,--if one can call that place home where contests were conducted by +the foremost of his suite [and knights and Cæsarians], the very +prefects, his grandmother, his mother, his women, and likewise several +members of the senate, including Leo, the præfectus urbi, and where they +watched him playing charioteer and begging gold coin like any vagabond, +and bowing down before the managers of the games and the members of the +factions. + +[Now in trying anybody in court he really did have the appearance of a +man, but everywhere else his actions and the quality of his voice showed +the wantonness of youth. For instance, he used to dance not only in the +orchestra but more or less also while walking, performing sacrifice, +greeting friends or making speeches. + +And finally (to go back now to the story which I began) he was bestowed +in marriage and was termed wife, mistress, queen. He worked in wool, +sometimes wore a hair-net, painted his eyes [daubing them with white +lead and alkanet], and once he shaved his chin and celebrated a festival +to mark the event. After that he went with smooth face, because it would +help him appear like a woman, and he often reclined while greeting the +senators. [Sidenote:--15--] "Her" husband was Hierocles, a Carian slave +[once the favorite of Gordius], from whom he had learned +chariot-driving. It was in this connection, also, that by a most +unexpected chance he won the imperial approbation. At a horse-race +Heirocles fell out of his chariot just opposite the seat of +Sardanapalus, losing his helmet in his fall. Being still beardless and +adorned with a crown of yellow hair, he attracted the attention of the +prince and was at once carried hastily to the palace; and by his +nocturnal feats he captivated Sardanapalus more than ever and rose to +still greater power. Consequently his influence became even greater than +his patron's and it was thought a small thing that his mother, while +still a slave, should be brought to Rome by soldiers and be numbered +among the wives of ex-consuls. Certain other persons, too, were not +seldom honored by the emperor and became powerful, some because they had +joined in his uprising and others because they committed adultery with +him. For he was anxious to have the reputation of committing adultery, +that in this respect, too, he might imitate the most lascivious women; +and he would often get caught voluntarily and in the very act. Then, for +his conduct, he would be brutally abused by his husband and would be +beaten, so that he had black eyes. His affection for this "husband" was +no light inclination, but a serious matter and a firmly fixed passion, +so much so that he did not become vexed at any such harsh treatment, but +on the contrary loved him the more for it and actually wished to appoint +him Cæsar;--he threatened his grandmother when she interfered, and +chiefly on this man's account he became at odds with the soldiers. It +was this that was destined to lead his destruction. + +[Sidenote:--16--] As for Aurelius Zoticus, a native of Smyrna, whom they +also called "Cook" (from his father's trade), he incurred the +sovereign's thorough love and thorough hatred, and consequently his life +was saved. This Aurelius had a body that was beautiful all over, as if +ready for a gymnastic contest, and he surpassed everybody in the size of +his private parts. The fact was reported to the emperor by those who +were on the lookout for such features and the man was suddenly snatched +away from the games and taken to Rome, accompanied by an immense +procession, larger than Abgarus had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates +in that of Nero. He was appointed cubicularius before he had been even +seen by the emperor, [was honored by the name of his grandfather, +Avitus, was adorned with garlands as at a festival,] and entered the +palace the center of a great glare of lights. Sardanapalus, on seeing +him, rose with modesty; the newcomer addressed him, as was usual, "My +Lord Emperor, hail!" whereupon the other, bending his neck so as to +assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes wide open upon +him, answered without hesitation: "Call me Not Lord, for I am a Lady." +Then Sardanapalus immediately took a bath with him, and, finding his +guest when stripped to correspond to the report of him, burned with even +greater lust, reposed upon his breast, and took dinner, like some loved +mistress, in his bosom. Hierocles began to fear that Zoticus would bring +the emperor into a greater state of subjection than he himself was able +to effect, and that he might suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as +often happens in the case of rival lovers. Therefore he had the +wine-bearers, who were well-disposed to him, administer some drug that +abated the visitor's ferocity. And so Zoticus after a whole night of +embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all +that he had obtained, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and +later out of the remainder of Italy; and this saved his life. [However, +the emperor drove himself to such a frenzy of lewdness that he asked the +physicians to contrive a woman's vagina in his person by means of an +incision, and held out to them the hope of great pay for this +achievement.] + +[Sidenote:--17--] Sardanapalus himself was destined not much later to +receive his well-deserved pay for his own defilement. For his acting in +this way and for making himself the object of these actions he became +hated by the populace and by the soldiers to whom he was most attached, +and at last he was slain by them in the very camp. + +¶The False Antoninus was despised and put out of the way by the +soldiers. When any persons, particularly if armed, have accustomed +themselves to feel contempt for their rulers, they set no limits on +their right to do what they please but keep their arms ready to use even +against the very man who gave them whatever rights they possess. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 221 (_a.u._ 974)] This is how it happened. He introduced +his cousin Bassianus before the senate, and, having stationed Mæsa and +Soæmias on either hand, adopted him as his child. Then did he +congratulate himself on being suddenly the father of so large a child +(as if he surpassed him in age) and declared that he needed no other +offspring to keep his house free from despondency. + +Elagabalus, he said, had ordered him to do this and further to call his +son's name Alexander. And I for my part am persuaded that it came about +in very truth by some divine intention, and I base my inference not upon +what he said but upon what was said to him by some one, viz., that an +Alexander would come from Emesa to succeed him, and again on what took +place in upper Moesia and in Thrace. [Sidenote:--18--] A little before +this a spirit, declaring that he was the famous Alexander of Macedon, +wearing his appearance and all his apparatus, started from the regions +near the Ister, appearing there in I know not what way. It traversed +Thrace and Asia, reveling in company with four hundred male attendants, +who were equipped with thyrsi and fawn-skins and did no harm. The fact +was admitted by all those who lived in Thrace at that time that lodgings +and all the provisions for It were provided at public expense. And no +one dared to oppose It either by word or by deed,--no governor, no +soldier, no procurator, no heads of provinces,--but It proceeded, as if +in a daylight procession prescribed by proclamation, to the confines of +Bithynia. Leaving that point, it approached the Chalcedonian land and +there, after performing some sacred rite by night and burying a wooden +horse, it vanished. These facts I ascertained while still in Asia, as I +stated, and before anything at all had been done about Bassianus in +Rome. + + ¶One day the same man said this: "I have no need of titles + derived, from war and blood. It suffices me to have you call me + 'Pious' and 'Fortunate'." + + ¶The False Antoninus on receiving praise from the senate one + day remarked: "Yes, you love me and, by Jupiter, so does the + populace and likewise the foreign legions. But I do not satisfy + the Pretorians, to whom I keep giving so much." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 222 (_a.u._ 975)] [Sidenote:--19--] So long as +Sardanapalus continued to love his cousin, he was safe. But, since he +was suspicious of all men, and learned that their favor was turning +solely and absolutely to the boy, he dared to change his mind and worked +in every way to effect his overthrow. + + ¶Some persons were conversing with the False Antoninus and + remarked how fortunate he was to be consul along with his son. He + rejoined: "I shall be more fortunate next year, for then I'm + going to be consul with my truly-begotten son." + +The moment, though, that he tried to destroy him, he not only +accomplished nothing but ran the risk of being killed himself. +Alexander was sedulously guarded by his mother and his grandmother and +the soldiers, and the Pretorians, on becoming aware of the attempt of +Sardanapalus, raised a terrible tumult. They would not cease their +rebellious attitude until Sardanapalus, with Alexander, visited the +camp; and he poured out his supplications and under compulsion gave up +such of his companions in lewdness as the soldiers demanded. In behalf +of Hierocles he pled piteously and lamented him with tears, foretelling +his own death, and adding: "Grant me this one man, whatever you are +pleased to suspect about him, or else kill me!" and thus with difficulty +he succeeded in appeasing them. On this occasion, then, he was saved, +though with difficulty. His grandmother hated him for his practices +(which seemed to show that he was not the son of Antoninus) and was +coming to favor Alexander, as being really sprung from him. + +[Sidenote:--20--] Later he again made a plot against Alexander and, as +the Pretorians raised an outcry at this, entered the camp with him. +Then, he became aware that he was under guard and awaiting execution, +for the mothers of the two, being more openly at variance with each +other than before, were stirring up the soldiers to action. He then made +an attempt to flee, and intended to escape to some point by being placed +in a box, but was discovered and slain, having reached eighteen years of +age. His mother, who embraced and clung tightly to him, perished with +him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped +naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the woman's trunk +was cast off in some corner, while his was thrown into the river. + +[Sidenote:--21--] With him perished Hierocles, and others, and the +prefects; and Aurelius Eubulus, who was an Emesenian by race [and had +gone so far in lewdness and defilement that his surrender had earlier +been demanded by the populace]. He had been entrusted with the general +accounts [Footnote: One of the _rationales summarum_.] and there was +nothing that escaped his confiscations. So now he was torn to pieces by +the populace and the soldiers, and Fulvius, the city prefect, with him. +Comazon succeeded the latter, as he had succeeded Fulvius's predecessor. +Just as a mask used to be carried into the theatres to occupy the stage +during the intervals in the acting, when it was left vacant by the +comedians, so was Comazon put in the vacant place of the men who had +been prefects in his day over the city of Rome.--As for +Elagabalus, [Footnote: Elagabalus, the god.] he was banished from Rome +altogether. + +Such was the story of Tiberinus: and none of those even who helped him +arrange the uprising and attained great power in return, save perhaps a +single individual, [Footnote: This probably refers to Comazon.] survived. + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +80 + + +Why Dio was not able to relate in detail the history of the reign of +Alexander (chapter 1). + +About Ulpian, Pretorian Prefect, and his death (chapter 2). + +Undertakings of Artaxerxes the Persian against the Parthians and Romans +(chapters 3, 4). + +Dio's second consulship, his return to his own country, and conclusion +of the History (chapter 5). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +Duration of time eight years, in which the following are enumerated as +consuls. + +Antoninus Elagabalus (IV), M. Aurelius Severus Alexander Coss. (A.D. 222 += a.u. 975 = First of Alexander, from March 11th.) + +L. Marius Maximus (II), L. Roscius Ælianus. (A.D. 223 = a.u. 976 = +Second of Alexander.) + +Iulianus (II), Crispinus. (A.D. 224 = a.u. 977 = Third of Alexander.) + +Fuscus (II), Dexter. (A.D. 225 = a.u. 978 = Fourth of Alexander.) + +Alexander Aug. (II), C. Marcellus Quintilianus (II). (A.D. 226 = a.u. +979 = Fifth of Alexander.) + +Lucius Albinus, Max. Æmilius Æmilianus. (A.D. 227 = a.u. 980 = Sixth of +Alexander.) + +T. Manilius Modestus, Ser. Calpurnius Probus. (A.D. 228 = a.u. 981 = +Seventh of Alexander.) + +Alexander Aug. (III), Cassius Dio (II). (A.D. 229 = a.u. 982 = Eighth +of Alexander.) + +[Sidenote: A.D. 222-229 (_a.u._ 975-982)] [Sidenote:--1--] Alexander +became emperor immediately after him [and at once proclaimed Augusta, +his own mother, Mammæa, who had in hand the administration of affairs +and gathered wise men about her son, that by their guidance he might be +duly trained in morals; and she chose out of the senate the better class +of counselors, to whom she communicated everything that had to be done]. +He entrusted to one Domitius Ulpianus the command of the Pretorians and +the remaining business of the empire.--These matters I have set down in +detail, so far as I was able, in each case, but of the rest I have not +found it feasible to give a detailed account, for the reason that for a +long time I did not sojourn in Rome. After going from Asia to Bithynia I +fell sick, and from there I hurried to my duties as head of Africa. On +returning to Italy I was almost immediately sent to govern in Dalmatia +and from there into Upper Pannonia. After that I came back to Rome and +on reaching Campania at once set out for home. + +[Sidenote:--2--] For these reasons, then, I have not been able to +compile an account of what follows similar to that which precedes. I +will narrate briefly, however, all the things that were done up to the +time of my second consulship. + +Ulpianus corrected many of the irregular practices instituted by +Sardanapalus; but, after putting to death Flavianus and Chrestus, that +he might succeed them, he was himself before long slain by the +Pretorians, who attacked him in the night; and it availed nothing that +ran to the palace and took refuge with the emperor himself and the +latter's mother.--Even during his lifetime a great dispute had arisen +between the populace and the Pretorians, from some small cause, with the +result that they fought each other for three days, and many were lost by +both sides. The soldiers, on getting the worst of it, directed their +efforts to firing the buildings, and so the populace, fearing that the +whole city would be destroyed, reluctantly came to terms with them. +Besides these occurrences, Epagathus, who was believed to have been +chiefly [Footnote: Reading [Greek: to pleon] (Reimar, Bekker, +Boissevain).] responsible for the death of Ulpianus, was sent into +Egypt, supposedly to govern it, but really to prevent any disturbance +taking place in Rome when he met with punishment. From there he was +taken to Crete and executed. [Alexander's mother, being a slave to +money, gathered funds from all sources. She also brought home for her +son a spouse, whom she would not allow to be addressed as Augusta. After +a time, however, she separated her from her son and drove her away to +Libya, in spite of the woman's possessing his affections. Alexander, +however, could not oppose his mother, for she ruled him absolutely.] + +[Sidenote:--3--] Many uprisings were made by many persons, some of which +caused serious alarm, but they were all checked. But affairs in +Mesopotamia were still more terrifying, and provoked in the hearts of +all, not merely the men of Rome but the rest of mankind, a fear that had +a truer foundation. Artaxerxes, a Persian, having conquered the +Parthians in three battles and killed their king, Artabanus, [made a +campaign against Hatra, which he endeavored to take as a base for +attacking the Romans. He did make a breach in the wall but, as he lost a +number of soldiers through an ambuscade, he transferred his position +into Media. Of this district, as also of Parthia, he acquired no small +portion, partly by force and partly by intimidation, and then] marched +against Armenia. Here he suffered a reverse at the hands of the natives, +some Medes, and the children of Artabanus, and either fled (as some say) +or (as others assert) retired to prepare a larger expedition. +[Sidenote:--4--] He accordingly became a source of fear to us; for he +was encamped with a large army over against not Mesopotamia only but +Syria also and boasted that he would win back everything that the +ancient Persians had once held, as far as the Grecian Sea. It was, he +said, his rightful inheritance from his forefathers. He was of no +particular account himself, but our military affairs are in such a +condition that some joined his cause and others refused to defend +themselves. The troops are so distinguished by wantonness, and +arrogance, and freedom from reproof, that those in Mesopotamia dared to +kill their commander, Flavius Heracleo, and the Pretorians found fault +with me before Ulpianus because I ruled the soldiers in Pannonia with a +strong hand; and they demanded my surrender, through fear that some one +might compel them to submit to a régime similar to that of the Pannonian +troops. + +[Sidenote:--5--] Alexander, however, paid no attention to them, but +promoted me in various ways, appointing me to be consul for the second +time, as his colleague, and taking upon himself personally the +responsibility of meeting the expenditures of my office. As the +malcontents evinced displeasure at this, he became afraid that they +might kill me if they saw me in the insignia of my office, and he bade +me spend the period of my consulship in Italy, somewhere outside of +Rome. Later, accordingly, I came both to Rome and to Campania to visit +him. After spending a few days in his company, during which the soldiers +saw me without offering to do me any harm, I started for home, being +released on account of the trouble with my feet. Consequently, I expect +to spend all the remainder of my life in my own country, as the Divine +Presence revealed to me most clearly at the time I was in Bithynia. +Once, in a dream there, I thought I saw myself commanded by it to write +at the close of my work the following verses: + + "Hector was led of Zeus far out of the range of the missiles, + Out of the dust and the slaying of men, out of blood and of uproar." + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XI, verses 163-4.] + + * * * * * + + + + +PRESERVED FROM BOOKS +PRECEDING No. 36. + + * * * * * + +(The "Fragments" of Dio.) + +[Frag. I] + + +1. Dio says: "I am anxious to write a history of all (that is worth +remembering) done by the Romans both at peace and in war, so as to have +nothing essential lacking, either of those matters or of others. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +2[lacuna] everything about them, so to speak, that has been written +by any persons, and I have put in my history not everything but what I +have selected. However, let no one entertain any suspicions (as has +happened in the case of some other writers), regarding the truth of it +merely because I have used elaborate diction to whatever extent the +subject matter permitted; for I have been anxious to be equally perfect +in both respects so far as was possible. I will begin at the point where +I have obtained the clearest accounts of what is reported to have taken +place in this land which we inhabit. + +This territory in which the city of Rome has been built" [Lacuna] +(Mai, p. 135.) + +[Frag. II] + +1. Ausonia, as Dio Cocceianus writes, is properly the land of the +Aurunci only, lying between the Campanians and Volsci along the +sea-coast. Many persons, however, thought that Ausonia extended even as +far as Latium, so that all of Italy was called from it Ausonia. (Isaac +Tzetzes on Lycophron, 44. and 615, 702.) + +2. Where now Chone is there was formerly a district called Oenotria, in +which Philoctetes settled after the sack of Troy as Dionysius and Dio +Cocceianus and all those who write the story of Rome relate. (Idem, v. +912.) + +3. ¶ About the Etruscans Dio says: "These facts about them required to +be written at this point in the narrative, and elsewhere something else +and later some still different fact will be told as occasion demands, in +whatever way the course of the history may chance to prepare the point +temporarily under discussion. Let this same explanation be sufficient +[Footnote: The MS. here has [Greek: ekontes] = "being (plural) +sufficient." I have adopted the reading [Greek: eketo], suggested by +Melber.] to cover also the remaining matters of importance. For I shall +recount to the best of my ability all the exploits of the Romans, but as +to the rest only what has a bearing on the Romans will be written." +(Mai, p. 136.) + +[Frag. III] + +1. Dio and Dionysius give the story of Cacus (Tzetzes, History, 5, +21). + +2. In this way the country was called Italy. Picus was the first king of +it, and after him his son Faunus, when Heracles came there with the rest +of the kine of Geryon. And he begat Latinus by the wife of Faunus, who +was king of the people there, and from him all were called Latins. In +the fifty-fifth year after Heracles this Æneas, subsequent to the +capture of Troy, came, as we have remarked, to Italy and the Latins. He +landed near Laurentum, called also Troy, near the River Numicius along +with his own son by Creusa, Ascanius or Ilus. There his followers ate +their tables, which were of parsley or of the harder portions of bread +loaves (they had no real tables), and likewise a white sow leaped from +his boat and running to the Alban mount, named from her, gave birth to a +litter of thirty, by which she indicated that in the thirtieth year his +children should get fuller possession of both land and sovereignty. As +he had heard of this beforehand from an oracle he ceased his +wanderings, sacrificed the sow, and prepared to found a city. Latinus +would not put up with him, but being defeated in war gave Æneas his +daughter Lavinia in marriage. Æneas then founded a city and called it +Lavinium. When Latinus and Thurnus, king of the Rutuli, perished in war +each at the other's hands, Æneas became king. After Æneas had been +killed in war at Laurentum by the same Rutuli and Mezentius the +Etruscan, and Lavinia the wife of Æneas was pregnant (of Silvius +[Footnote: Reimar thinks this word a later interpolation.]), Ascanius +the child of Creusa was king. He finally conquered Mezentius, who had +opposed him in war and had refused to receive his embassies but sought +to command all the dependents of Latinus for an annual tribute. When the +Latins had grown strong because of the arrival of the thirtieth year, +they scorned Lavinium and founded a second city named from the sow Alba +Longa, i. e. "long white,"--and likewise called the mountain there +Albanus. Only, the images from Troy turned back a second time to +Lavinium. + +After the death of Ascanius it was not Ascanius's son Iulus who became +king, but Æneas's son by Lavinia, Silvius,--or, according to some +Ascanius's son Silvius. Silvius again begat another Æneas, and he +Latinus, and he Capys. Capys had a child Tiberinus, whose son was +Amulius, whose son was Aventinus. + +So far regarding Alba and Albanians. The story of Rome follows. +Aventinus begat Numitor and Amulius. Numitor while king was driven out +by Amulius, who killed Numitor's son Ægestes in a hunting party and +made the sister of Ægestes, daughter of the aforesaid Numitor, Silvia +or Rhea Ilia, a priestess of Vesta, so that she might remain a virgin. +He stood in terror of an oracle which foretold his death at the hands +of the children of Numitor. For this reason he had killed Ægestes and +made the other a priestess of Vesta, that she might continue a virgin +and childless. But she while drawing water in Mars's grove conceived, +and bore Romulus and Remus. The daughter of Amulius by supplication +rescued her from being put to death, but the babes she gave to +Faustulus, a shepherd, husband of Laurentia, to expose in the vicinity +of the river Tiber. These the shepherd's wife took and reared up; for +it happened that she had about that time brought forth a still-born +infant. + +When Romulus and Remus were grown they kept flocks in the fields of +Amulius, but as they killed some of the shepherds of their grandfather +Numitor a watch was set for them. Remus being arrested, Romulus ran +and told Faustulus, and he ran to narrate everything to Numitor. +Finally Numitor recognized them to be his own daughter's children. +They with the assistance of many persons killed Amulius, and after +bestowing the kingdom of Alba on their grandfather Numitor themselves +made a beginning of founding Rome in the eighteenth year of Romulus's +life. Prior to this great Rome, which Romulus founded on the Palatine +mount about the dwelling of Faustulus, another Rome in the form of a +square had been founded by a Romulus and Remus older than these. + +(Is. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1232. Consequently Dio must have written +what is found in Zonaras 7, 3 [vol. II, p. 91, 7-10:]) "Romulus has +been described as eighteen years old when he joined in settling Rome. +He founded it around the dwelling of Faustulus. The place had been +named Palatium." + +3. I have related previously at some length the story how Æneas +founded Lavinium, though these ignorant persons say Rome. See how +_they_ tell the story. Æneas received an oracle to found the city on +the spot where his companions should devour their own tables. Now when +they came to Italy and were in want of tables they used loaves instead +of tables. Finally they ate also the tables--or the loaves. Æneas, +consequently, understanding the oracle founded there the Lavinian +city, even if the ignorant do say Rome. (Is. Tzetz. on Lycophr. 1250.) +(Cp. Frag. III, 4.) + +4. ¶Rome is part of the Latin country and the Latins have the same +name as Latinus, who is said to be the son of Odysseus and Circe, and +the Tiber, once called Albulus, received its change of name from the +fact that King Tiberius lost his life in it; this is proclaimed by +Dio's history among others. The Tiberius here meant by the history is +not the one subsequent to Augustus, but another who came earlier. He, +they say, died in battle and was carried away by the stream, and so +left his own name to the river. (Eustathius on Dionysius, 350.) + +5. Arceisius--Lærtes was a son of Arceisius who was so called either +from [Greek: arkeo arkeso] [Footnote: These are the first two principal +parts of a Greek verb meaning "to be sufficient."] as if he were able +merely to be sufficient ([Greek: eparkeo]), whence comes the epithet +[Greek: podarkaes] (sufficient with the feet) or else because an _arkos_ +or _arktos_ (bear) suckled him, just as some one else was suckled by a +horse or goat, and still others by a wolf, among whom were also the +Roman chiefs (according to Dio),--Remus, that is to say, and Romulus, +whom a wolf (lykaina) suckled, called by the Italians _lupa_; this name +has been aptly used metaphorically as a title for the _demi-monde_. +(Eustathius on the Odyssey, p. 1961, 13-16.) + +[Frag. IV] + +1. [Lacuna] [lacuna] (for it is not possible that one who is a mortal +should either foresee everything, or find a way to turn aside what is +destined to occur) children to punish his wrongdoing were born +[infinitive] of that maiden. [Footnote: I.e., Rhea Sylvia.] (Mai, p. +136.) + +2. ¶Romulus and Remus, by their quarrel together, made it plain that +some can bear dangers straight through life altogether more easily +than good fortune. (Mai, p. 136.) + +3. On Romulus and Remus Dionysius of Halicarnassus makes remarks in +his History, and so do Dio and Diodorus. (Scholia of Io. Tzetzes in +Exeg. Hom. II. p. 141, 20.) + +4. After they had set about the building of the city a dispute arose +between the brothers regarding the sovereignty and regarding the city, +and they got into a conflict in which Remus was killed. (Zonaras, 7, +3, vol. II, p-90, 7 sqq.) (Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +5. Whence also the custom arose that he who dared to cross the trench +of the camp otherwise than by the usual paths should be put to death. +(Zonaras, ib., p. 90, 16-18.) + + 6. They themselves [Footnote: The Cæninenses, Crustumini, and +Antemnates are meant (Bekker).--Compare Livy, I, 10, 11.] learned well +and taught others the lesson that those who take vengeance on others are +not certainly right merely because the others have previously done +wrong, and that those who make demands on stronger men do not +necessarily get them, but often lose the rest besides. (Mai, p. 136.) + +7. ¶Hersilia and the rest of the women of her kin on discovering them +one day drawn up in opposing ranks ran down from the Palatine with +their little children (children had already been born), and rushing +suddenly into the space between the armies aroused much pity by their +words and their actions. Looking now at the one side and now at the +other they cried: "Why, fathers, do you do this? Why, husbands, do you +do it? When will you stop fighting? When will you stop hating each +other? Make peace with your sons-in-law! Make peace with your +fathers-in-law! For Pan's sake spare your children, for Quirinus's +sake your grandchildren! Pity your daughters, pity your wives! For if +you refuse to make peace and some bolt of madness has fallen upon your +heads to drive you to frenzy, then kill at once us, the causes of +your contention, and slay at once the little children whom you hate, +that with no longer any name or bond of kinship between you you may +gain the greatest of evils--to slay the grandsires of your children +and the fathers of your grandchildren." As they said this they tore +open their garments and exposed their breasts and abdomens, while some +pressed themselves against the swords and others threw their children +against them. Moved by such sounds and sights the men began to weep, +so that they desisted from battle and came together for a conference +there, just as they were, in the _comitium_, which received its name +from this very event. (Mai, p. 137.) + +8. Tribous Trittys; or a third part. Romulus's heavy-armed men, three +thousand in number (as Dio tells us in the first book of his History), +were divided into three sections called _tribous_, i. e. trittyes, +which the Greeks also termed "tribes." Each trittys was separated into +ten _Curiæ_ or "thinking bodies"--_cura_ meaning thoughtfulness--and +the men who were appointed to each particular _curia_ came together +and thought out the business in hand. + +Among the Greeks the _curiae_ are called _phratriae_ and +_phatriae_--in other words _associations, brotherhoods unions, +guilds_--from the fact that men of the same _phratry phrased_ or +revealed to one another their own intentions without scruple or fear. +Hence fathers or kinsmen or teachers are _phrators_,--those who share +in the same _phratry_. But possibly it was derived from the Roman word +_frater_, which signifies "brother." (--Glossar. Nom. Labbaei.) + +9. (And he named the people _populus_.) Hence in the Law Books the +popular assembly has the name _popularia_. (Zonaras 7, 3 (vol. 11, p. +91, 17 and 18.) Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +10. She [i. e. Tarpeia] having come down for water was seized and +brought to Tatius, and was induced to betray the fathers. (Zonaras, +ib., p. 93, 15-17.) + +11. It is far better for them [senate-houses?] to be established anew +than having existed previously to be named over. (Mai, p. 137.) + +12. ¶Romulus assumed a rather harsh attitude toward the senate and +behaved toward it rather like a tyrant, and the hostages of the Veientes +he returned [Footnote: Mai supplies the missing verb.] on his own +responsibility and not by common consent, as was usually done. When he +perceived them vexed at this he made a number of unpleasant remarks, +and finally said: "I have chosen you, Fathers, not for the purpose of +your ruling me, but that I might give directions to you." (Mai, p. 138.) + +[What is said of Romulus in John of Antioch, Frag. 32 (Mueller) to +have been drawn from the extant books of Dio. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ +XIV.] + +13. Dio I: "Thus by nature, doubtless, mankind will not endure to be +ruled by what is similar and ordinary partly through jealousy, partly +through contempt of it." [Footnote: This is probably a remark in regard +to the quarrels of the Roman elders over the kingdom after the death of +Romulus.--Compare Livy. I, 17.] (--Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 15.) + +14. Dio in I: "What time he threw both body and soul into the balance, +encountering danger in your behalf." [Footnote: Perhaps a reference to +the father of Horatius defending his son, or even to Romulus.] (Ib. p. +165, 27.) + +[Frag. V] 1. Romulus had a crown and a sceptre with an eagle on the +top and a white cloak reaching to the feet striped with purple +embroideries from the shoulders to the feet: the name of the cloak was +toga, i. e. "covering," from _tegere_ the corresponding verb (this is +the word the Romans use for "cover") and a purple shoe which was +called _cothurnus_, as Cocceius says. (Io. Laur. Lydus, De Magis. +Reip. Rom. 1, pp. 20-22.) + +Therefore the words of Zonaras II, p. 96, 5, may be attributed to Dio: +"(Romulus) also used red sandals." + +2. "Shedding ashes from the hearth over the earth, they skillfully +traced the prophesies with this wand, as they gazed at the sun and +foretold the future. This wand Plutarch terms _lituos_, but _lituoi_ +is what Cocceianus Cassius Dio says." (Io. Tzetzes, Alleg. Iliadis 1, +28.) + +3. Numa dwelt on a hill called Quirinal, because he was a Sabine, but +he had his official residence in the Sacred Way and used to spend his +time near the temple of Vesta and sometimes even remained on the spot. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +4. For since he understood well that the majority of mankind hold in +contempt what is of like nature and consorts with them through a +feeling that it is no better than themselves, but cultivate what is +obscure and foreign as being superior, because they believe it divine, +he dedicated a certain lot of land to the Muses [lacuna] (Mai, p. 138.) + +5. ¶The gods, as guardians of peace and justice, must be pure of +murder; and not listen to or look at anything pertaining to divinity +in a cursory or neglectful manner, but must exist enjoying leisure +from other affairs and fixing their attention on the practice of piety +as the most important act.--Zonaras, 7, 5 (vol. II, p. 100). + +6. Dio, Book I: "This, then, is what Numa thought" (Bekker, Anecd. p. +158, 23.) + +7. Furthermore, also, that they became composed at that time through +their own efforts, and took the sacred oath; after which they +themselves continued at peace both with one another and with the +outside tribes throughout the entire reign of Numa, and they seemed to +have lighted upon him by divine guidance no less than in the case of +Romulus. Men who know Sabine history best declare that he was born on +the same day that Rome was founded. In this way, because of both them +the city quickly became strong and well adorned: for the one gave it +practice in warfare,--of necessity, since it was but newly +founded,--and the other taught it besides the art of peace, so that it +was equally distinguished in each of these two particulars. (Valesius, +p. 569.) + +8. Dio the Roman says that Janus, an ancient hero, because of his +entertainment of Saturn, received the knowledge of the future and of +the past, and that on this account he was represented with two faces +by the Romans. From him the month of January was named, and the +beginning of the year comes in the same month. (Cedrenus, Vol. 1, p. +295, 10, Bekker.) + +9. Book 1, Dio:--"For in some beginnings, when grasping at ends, the +costs that we endure are not unwelcome." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 161, 3.) + +10. (Numa) having lived for a period of three more than eighty years, +and having been king forty and three years.--Zonaras, 7, 5. (Cp. +Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +[Frag. VI] + +1. Dio, Book 2: "that their [Footnote: Probably refers to the people of +Alba.] reputation would stand in the way of their growth." (Bekker, +Anecd., p. 139, 12.) + +2. ¶Neither of the two [Tullus or Mettius] sanctioned the removal, but +both championed their own pretensions. For Tullus in view of the report +about Romulus and the power they possessed was elated and so was +Fufetius in view of the age of Alba and because it was the mother city +not only of the Romans themselves but of many others; and both felt no +little pride. For these reasons they withdrew from that dispute but +plunged into a new quarrel about the sovereignty: for they saw that it +was impossible [Footnote: Refers to the Romans.] to keep them free from +party feeling, dwelling with them in safety on fair terms; and this was +due to the inherent disposition of men to quarrel with their equals, and +to desire to rule others. Many claims also regarding this they preferred +against each other, to see if by any means the one party would +voluntarily concede either of the two favors to the other. They +accomplished nothing, but formed a compact to struggle in her behalf. + +(Mai, p. 139.) + +3. Dio, Book 2.--"and attacking them who expected no further danger." +(Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 15.) + +4. ¶Tullus was deemed most able against the enemy, but absolutely +despised and neglected religion until, during the recurrence of a +plague, he himself fell sick. Then, indeed, he paid the strictest +regard to all the gods, and furthermore established the Salii Collini. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +[Frag. VII] + +¶Marcius, comprehending how it is not sufficient for men who wish to +remain at peace to refrain from wrongdoing, and that refusing to +molest others, without active measures, is not a means of safety, but +the more one longs for it the more vulnerable does one become to the +mass of mankind, changed his course. He saw that a desire for quiet +was not a power for protection unless accompanied by equipment for +war: he perceived also that delight in freedom from foreign broils +very quickly and very easily ruined men who were unduly enthusiastic +over it. For this reason he thought that war was nobler and safer, +both as a preparation and as forethought, than was peace, and so +whatever he was unable to obtain from the Latins with their consent, +and without harming them, he took away against their will by means of +a military expedition. (Mai, p. 139.) + +[Frag. VIII] + +¶Tarquinius, by using wealth, knowledge, and great wit opportunely +everywhere, put Marcius in such a frame of mind than he was enrolled +by the latter among the patricians and among the senators, was often +appointed general and was entrusted with the guardianship of his +children and of the kingdom. He was no less agreeable to the rest, and +consequently ruled them with their consent. The reason was that while +he took all measures from which he might derive strength he did not +lose his head, but though among the foremost humbled himself. Any +laborious tasks he was willing to undertake openly in the place of +others, but in pleasure he willingly made way for others while he +himself obtained either nothing or but little, and that unnoticed. The +responsibility for what went well he laid upon any one sooner than +upon himself and placed the resulting advantages within the reach of +the public for whoever desired them, but more unsatisfactory issues he +never laid to the charge of any one else, nor attempted to divide the +blame. Besides, he favored all the friends of Marcius individually +both by deeds and by words. Money he spent without stint and was ready +to offer his services if any one wanted anything of him. He neither +said nor did anything mean against any one, and did not fall into +enmity with any one if he could help it. Furthermore, whatever +benefits he received from any persons he always exaggerated, but +unpleasant treatment he either did not notice at all or minimized it +and regarded it is of very slight importance: not only did he refuse +to take offensive measures in return, but he conferred kindnesses +until he won the man over entirely. This gained him a certain +reputation for cleverness, because he had mastered Marcius and all the +latter's followers, but through subsequent events he caused the +majority of men to be distrusted, either as being deceitful by nature +or as changing their views according to their own influence and +fortunes. (Valesius, p. 570.) + +[Frag. IX] + +Second Book of Dio: "As there was nothing in which they did not yield +him obedience." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 19.) + +[Frag. X] 1. Dio, Book 2.--"Because his brother did not cooperate +with him he secretly put him out of the way by poison through the +agency of his wife." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 17. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 9.) + +2. ¶Tarquinius, when he had equipped himself sufficiently to reign over +them even if they were unwilling, first arrested the most powerful +members of the senate and next some of the rest, and put to death many +publicly, when he could bring some real charge against them, and many +besides secretly, while some he banished. Not merely because some of +them loved Tullius more than him, nor because they had family, wealth, +intelligence, and displayed conspicuous bravery and distinguished wisdom +did he destroy them, out of jealousy and out of a suspicion likewise +that their dissimilarity of character must force them to hate him, the +while he defended himself against some and anticipated the attack of +others; no, he slew all his bosom friends who had exerted themselves to +help him get the kingship no less than the rest; for he thought that +impelled by the audacity and fondness for revolution through which they +had obtained dominion for him they might equally well give it to some +one else. So he made away with the best part of the senate and of the +knights and did not appoint to those orders any one at all in place of +the men who had been destroyed: he understood that he was hated by the +entire populace and was anxious to render the classes mentioned +extremely weak through paucity of men. Yes, he even undertook to abolish +the senate altogether, since he believed that every gathering of men and +especially of chosen persons who had some pretence of prestige from +antiquity, was most hostile to a tyrant. But as he was afraid that the +multitude or else his body-guards themselves, in their capacity as +citizens, might by reason of vexation at the change in government +revolt, he refrained from doing this openly, but effected it in a +conveniently outrageous way. He failed to introduce any new member into +the senate to make up the loss, and to those who were left he +communicated nothing of importance. He called the senators together not +to help him in the administration of any important business; no, this +very act was to give them a proof of their littleness, and thereby to +enable him to humiliate and show scorn for them. Most of his business he +carried on by himself or with the aid of his sons, in the first place to +the end that no one else should have any power, and secondly because he +shrank from publishing matters involving his own wrongdoing. He was +difficult of access and hard to accost, and showed such great +haughtiness and brutality toward all alike that he received the nickname +among them of "Proud." Among other decidedly tyrannical deeds of himself +and his children might be mentioned the fact that he once had some +citizens bound naked to some crosses in the Forum and before the +eyes of the citizens, and had them shamefully beaten to death with rods. +This punishment, invented by him at that time, has often been +inflicted. (Valesius, p. 573.) + +3. Dio in 2nd Book: "Publicly and by arrangement reviling his father +in many unusual ways on the ground that he was a tyrant and was +forsworn." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 155, 1.) + +4. The Sibyl about whom Lycophron is now speaking was the Cumæan, who +died in the time of Tarquin the Proud and left behind three or nine of +her prophetic books. Of these the Romans bought either one or three, +after the Sibyl's servant had destroyed the rest by fire because they +would not give her as much gold as she wanted. This they did later and +bought up either one that was left over or else three, and gave them to +Marcus Acilius to keep. Him they cast alive into the skin of an ox and +put to death because he had given them to be copied: but for the book or +books they dug a hole in the Forum and buried them along with a chest. +(Ioannes Tzetzes, scholia on Lycophr. 1279.) + +5. ¶Lucius Junius, a son of Tarquinius's sister, in terror after the +king had killed his father and had moreover taken his property away +from him feigned madness, to the end that he might possibly survive. +For he well understood that every person possessed of sense, +especially when he is of a distinguished family, becomes an object of +suspicion to tyrants. And when once he had started on this plan he +acted it out with great precision, and for that reason was called +Brutus. This is the name that the Latins gave to idiots. Sent along +with Titus and Arruns as if he were a kind of plaything he carried a +staff as a votive offering, he said, to the gods, though it had no +great value so far as anyone could see. (Mai, p. 139.) + +6. Dio in Book 2: "After that he was found in the Pythian god's +temple." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 21.) + +7. ¶They made sport of the gift [i. e. the staff] of Brutus, and when to +the enquiry of the ambassadors as to who should succeed to the kingdom +of their father the oracle replied that the first to kiss his mother +should hold dominion over the Romans, he kissed the earth, pretending to +have fallen down by accident, for he regarded her as the mother of all +mankind. (Mai, p. 140.) + +8. ¶Brutus overthrew the Tarquins for the following reason. During the +siege of Ardea the children of Tarquin were one day dining with Brutus +and Collatinus, since these two were of their own age and relatives; +and they fell into a discussion and finally into a dispute about the +virtue of their wives,--each one giving the preference to his own +spouse. And, as all the women happened to be absent from the camp, +they decided straightaway that night, before they could be announced, +to take horse and ride away to all of them simultaneously. This they +did, and found all engaged in a carousal except Lucretia, wife of +Collatinus, whom they discovered at work on wool. This fact about her +becoming noised abroad led Sextus to desire to outrage her. Perchance +he even felt some love for her, since she was of surpassing beauty; +still it was rather her reputation than her body that he desired to +ruin. He watched for an opportunity when Collatinus was among the +Rutuli, hurried to Collatia, and coming by night to her house as that +of a kinswoman obtained both food and lodging. At first he tried to +persuade her to grant her favors to him, but as he could not succeed +he attempted force. When he found he could make no progress by this +means either, he devised a plan by which in the most unexpected way he +compelled her to submit voluntarily to be debauched. To his +declaration that he would cut her throat she paid no attention, and +his statement that he would make away with one of the servants she +listened to in contempt. When, however, he threatened to lay the body +of the servant beside her and spread the report that he had found them +sleeping together and killed them he was no longer to be resisted: and +she, fearing it might be believed that this had so happened, chose to +yield to him and die after giving an account of the affair rather than +lose her good name in perishing at once. For this reason she did not +refuse to commit adultery, but afterward she made ready a dagger +beneath the pillow and sent for her husband and her father. As soon as +they had come she shed many tears, then spoke with a sigh: "Father, I +utter your name because I have disgraced it less than my husband's. +It is no honorable deed I have done this last night, but Sextus forced +me, threatening to kill me and a slave together and pretend he had +found me sleeping with the man. This threat compelled me to sin, to +prevent you from believing that such a thing had taken place. And I, +because I am a woman, will treat my case as becomes me: but do you, if +you are men and care for your wives and for your children, avenge me, +free yourselves, and show the tyrants what manner of creatures you are +and what manner of woman they have outraged." Having spoken to this +effect she did not wait for any reply but immediately drawing the +dagger from its hiding place stabbed herself. (Valesius, p. 574.) + +9. Dio, Second Book: "And he [Footnote: Van Herweiden's reading is the +one adopted in this doubtful passage.] went outside of Roman territory +making frequent trials of neighboring peoples." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, +25.) + +1. ¶All crowds of people judge measures according to the men who +direct them, and of whatever sort they ascertain the men to be, they +believe that the measures are of the same sort. (Mai, p. 140.) + +[Frag. XI] + +2. Every one prefers the untried to the well known, attaching great +hope to the uncertain in comparison with what has already gained his +hatred. (Ib.) + +3. All changes are very dangerous, and especially do those in +governments work the greatest and most numerous evils to both +individuals and state. Sensible men, therefore, decide to remain under +the same forms continually, even if they be not very good, rather than +by changing to have now one, now another, and be continually +wandering. (Ib.) + +4. Dio, 2nd Book: "When he had learned this he accordingly both came +to them the following day [lacuna]" (Bekker, Anecd., p. 178, 20.) + +5. In 3rd Book of Dio: "Whose father also ruled you blamelessly." +(Ib., p. 120, 24.) + +6. Dio's 3rd Book: "Of the fact that he loves you, you could get no +greater proof than his eagerness to live in your midst and his action +in having his possessions long since brought here." (Ib., p. 139, 26, +and p. 164, 28.) + +7. Dio's 3rd Book: "How would it pay any one to do this?" (Ib, p. +155,14.) + +8. Dio's 3rd Book: "As Romulus also enjoined upon us." (Ib., p. 139, +29.) + +9. ¶Every person comes to possess wishes and desires according to his +fortune and whatever his circumstances be, of like nature are also the +opinions he acquires. (Mai, p. 141.) + +10. ¶The business of kingship, more than any other, demands not merely +virtue, but also great understanding and intelligence, and it is not +possible without these qualities for the man who takes hold of it to +show moderation. Many, for example, as if raised unexpectedly to some +great height, have not endured their elevation, but startled from +their senses have fallen and made failures of themselves and have +shattered all the interests of their subjects. (Mai, ib.) + +11. With regard to the future form a judgment from what they have +done, but do not be deceived by what they as suppliants falsely +pretend. Unholy deeds proceed in every case from a man's real purpose, +but any one may concoct creditable phrases. Hence judge from what a +man has done, not from what he says he will do. (Mai, ib.) + +12. 3rd Book of Dio: "It is done not merely by the actual men who rule +them, but also by those who share the power with those rulers." +(Bekker, Anecd. p.130, 23, and p.164, 32.) + +In the preceding fragment we have, apparently, some comment of Dio +himself on the change in the Roman government (from monarchy to +republic) together with scraps of two speeches,--namely, that of the +envoys of Tarquinius to the Roman people, and that of Brutus in reply. + +[Frag. XII] + +1. ¶Valerius, the colleague of Brutus, although he had proved himself +the most democratic of men came near being murdered in short order by +the multitude: they suspected him, in fact, of being eager to become +sole sovereign. They would have slain him, indeed, had he not quickly +anticipated their action by courting their favor. He entered the +assembly and bent the rods which he had formerly used straight, and +took away the surrounding axes that were bound in with them. After he +had in this way assumed an attitude of humility, he kept a sad +countenance for some time and shed tears: and when he at last managed +to utter a sound, he spoke in a low fearful voice with a suggestion of +a quaver. [The general subject is speechmaking.] (Mai, p. 141.) + +2. On account of whom (plur.) also [Collatinus] was enraged. +Consequently Brutus so incited the populace against him that they came +near slaying him on the spot. They did not quite do this, however, but +compelled him to resign without delay. They chose as colleague to the +consul in his place Publius Valerius, who had the additional title of +Poplicola. This appellation translated into Greek signifies "friend of +the people" or "most democratic." (Zonaras, 7, 12. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ +XIV.) + +[Frag. XIII] + +¶The temple of Jupiter was dedicated by Horatius, as determined by +lot, although Valerius made the declaration that his son was dead, and +arranged to have this news brought to him during the very performance +of his sacred office, with the purpose that Horatius under the blow of +the misfortune and because in general it was impious for any one in +grief to fulfill the duties of priest, should yield to him the +dedication of the structure. The other did not refuse credence to the +report--for it was noised abroad by many trustworthy persons--yet he +did not surrender his ministry: on the contrary, after bidding some +men to leave unburied the body of his son, as if it were a stranger's, +in order that he might seem unconcerned regarding the rites due to it, +he then performed all the necessary ceremonies. (Valesius, p.577.) + +[Frag. XIV] + +1. (Tarquinius continued to supplicate Klara Porsina.) (Zonaras, 7, +12. Cp. Tzetz. Hist. 6, 201. Plutarch, Poplic. 16, has "Lara +Porsina.") + +2. Dio in 4th Book: "But they overran the Roman territory and harried +everything up to the wall." (Bekker, Anecd. p.152, 3 and 1.) 3. +Larta Porsenna, an Etruscan, or, perhaps, Klara Porsenna, was +proceeding against Rome with a great army. But Mucius, a noble Roman +soldier, after equipping himself in arms and dress of Etruscans then +started to spy upon them, wishing to kill Porsenna. Beside the latter +at that time was sitting his secretary, who in the Etruscan tongue was +called Clusinus; and Mucius, doubtful which might be the king, killed +Clusinus instead of the king. The man was arrested, and when Porsenna +asked him: "Why in the world did you do this thing? What injury had +you received from him?" the other cried out: "I happen to be not +Etruscan but Roman; and three hundred others of like mind with me who +are now hunting thee to slay thee." This he had spoken falsely; and, +with his right hand thrust into the fire, he gazed on Porsenna as +though another were suffering: and when the prince enquired: "Why do +you look fixedly upon us?" he said: "Reflecting how I erred in failing +to slay thee and in thy stead killed one whom I thought Porsenna." And +when Porsenna exclaimed: "You shall now become my friend!" Mucius +rejoined: "If thou becom'st a Roman." Porsenna admiring the man for +his uprightness becomes a friend to the Romans and checks the tide of +battle. (Tzetzes, Chiliades, VI, 201-223.) + +(Cp. Scholia on John Tzetzes's Letters in Cramer's Anecd. Oxon., vol. +III, p.360, 30: "Clusinus was the name of Porsenna's secretary, +according to what Dio says"; and Zonaras, 7, 12: "Drawing his sword he +killed his secretary, who was sitting beside him and was similarly +arrayed.") + +4. Dio's 4th Book: "And he [Footnote: Porsenna.] presented to the maiden +[Footnote: Clælia] both arms (or so some say) and a horse." (Bekker, +Anecd. p.133, 8.) + +5. After this the Tarquins endeavored on several occasions, by forming +alliances with tribes bordering on Roman dominions, to recover the +kingdom; but they were all destroyed in the battles save the sire, +who, moreover, was called Superbus (or, as a Greek would say, Proud). +Subsequently he found his way to Cyme of Opicia and there died. Thus +the careers of the Tarquins reached a conclusion. And after their +expulsion from the kingdom consuls, as has been stated, were chosen by +the Romans. One of these was Publius Valerius, who became consul four +times,--the one to whom also the name Poplicola was applied. (Zonaras +7, 12 sq. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +6. And the management of the funds they assigned to others in order +that the men holding the consular office might not possess the great +influence that would spring from their having the revenues in their +power. Now for the first time "stewards" began to be created and they +called them _quæstors_. These in the first place tried capital cases, +from which fact they have obtained this title,--on account of their +_questionings_ and on account of their search for truth as the result +of _questionings_. But later they acquired also management of the +public funds and received the additional name of Stewards ([Greek: +tamiai]). After a time the courts were delivered over to different +persons, while these officials were managers of the funds. (Zonaras 7, +13. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_, XIV.) + +7. Dio's 4th Book: "And they provided them [Footnote: Probably a +reference to the quæstors.] with separate titles besides in general +making very different provision for them in the different cases." +(Bekker, Anecd. p.133, 16.) + +8. Dio in 5th Book: "The lords filling them with hope on certain +points." (Ib. p.140, 10.) + +9. Dio in 5th Book: "With this accordingly he honored him." (Ib. +p.175, 19.) + +[Frag. XV] + +¶To a large extent success consists in planning secretly, acting at the +opportune moment, following one's own counsel somewhat, and in having no +chance to fall back upon any one else, but being obliged to take upon +one's self the responsibility for the issue, however it turns out. +[Footnote: Fragment XV may perhaps be a comment on dictatorships.] +(Mai, p.142.) + +[Frag. XVI] + +1. They had recourse to civil strife. And the reason is plain. Those +whose money gave them influence desired to surpass their inferiors in +all respects as though they were their sovereigns, and the weaker +citizens, sure of their own equal rights, were unwilling to obey them +even in some small point. The one class, insatiate of freedom, sought +to enjoy the property of the other; and this other, uncontrolled in +its pride of place, to enjoy the fruits of the former's labors. So it +was that they sundered their former relations, wherein they were wont +harmoniously to assist each other with mutual profit, and no longer +made distinctions between foreign and native races. Indeed, both +disdained moderation, and the one class set its heart upon an extreme +of dominion, the other upon an extreme of resistance to voluntary +servitude; consequently they missed the results accomplished by their +previous allied efforts and inflicted many striking injuries, partly +in defence against each other's movements and partly by way of +anticipating them. More than all the rest of mankind they were at +variance save in the midst of particularly threatening dangers that +they incurred in the course of successive wars,--wars due chiefly to +their own dissensions; and for the sake of the respite many prominent +men on several occasions brought on these conflicts purposely. This, +then, was the beginning of their suffering more harm from each other +than from outside nations. And the complexion of their difficulties +inspires me to pronounce that it was impossible that they should be +deprived of either their power or their sway, unless they should lose +it through their own contentions. (Mai, ib.) + +2. They were especially irritated that the senators were not of the +same mind after obtaining something from them as they were while +requesting it, but after making them numbers of great promises while +in the midst of danger failed to perform the slightest one of them +when safety had been secured. (Mai, p.143.) + +3. So to the end that they might not fight in a compact mass, but each +division struggle separately for its own position and so become easier +to handle, they divided the army. [Footnote: Cp. Livy, II, 30.] (Ib.) + +4. ¶The populace, as soon as Valerius the dictator became a private +citizen, began a most bitter contest, going so far even as to overturn +the government. The well-to-do classes insisted, in the case of debts, +upon the very letter of the agreement, refusing to abate one iota of +it, and so they both failed to secure its fulfillment and came to be +deprived of many other advantages; they had failed to recognize the +fact that an extreme of poverty is the heaviest of curses and that the +desperation which results from it is, especially if shared by a large +number of persons, very difficult to combat. This is why not a few +politicians voluntarily choose the course which is expedient in +preference to that which is absolutely just. Justice is often worsted +in an encounter with human nature and sometimes suffers total +extinction, whereas expediency, by parting with a mere fragment of +justice, preserves the greater portion of it intact. + +Now the cause of most of the troubles that the Romans had lay in the +unyielding attitude adopted by the more powerful class toward its +inferiors. Many remedies were afforded them against delays in payment +of debts, one of which was that in case it happened that several +persons had been lending to anybody, they had authority to divide his +body piecemeal according to the proportionate amounts that he was +owing. Yet, however much this principle had been declared legal, still +it had surely never been put into practice. For how could a nation +have proceeded to such lengths of cruelty when it frequently granted +to those convicted of some crime a refuge for their preservation and +allowed such as were thrust from the cliffs of the Capitoline to live +in case they should survive the experience? (Mai, p.143. Cp. Zonaras. +7, 14.) + +5. ¶Those who were owing debts took possession of a certain hill and +having placed one Gaius at their head proceeded to secure their food +from the country as from hostile territory, thereby demonstrating that +the laws were weaker than arms, and justice than their desperation. +The senators being in terror both that this party might become more +estranged and that the neighboring tribes in view of the crisis might +join in an attack upon them proposed terms to the rebels offering +everything that they hoped might please them. The seceders at first +were for brazening it out, but were brought to reason in a remarkable +way. When they kept up a series of disorderly shouts, Agrippa, one of +the envoys, begged them to hearken to a fable and having obtained +their consent spoke as follows. Once all the Members of Man began a +contention against the Belly, saying that they worked and toiled +without food or drink, being at the beck and call of the Belly in +everything, whereas it endured no labor and alone got its fill of +nourishment. And finally they voted that the Hands should no longer +convey aught to the Mouth nor the latter receive anything, to the end +that the Belly might so far as possible come to lack both food and +drink and so perish. Now when this measure was determined and put into +execution, at first the entire body began to wither away and next it +collapsed and gave out. Accordingly, the members through their own +evil state grew conscious that the Belly was the salvation of them and +restored to it its nourishment. + +On hearing this the multitude comprehended that the abundance of the +prosperous also supports the condition of the poor; therefore they +showed greater mildness and accepted a reconciliation on being granted +a release from their debts and from seizures therefor. This then, was +voted by the senate. (Mai, p.144. Cp. Zonaras 7, 14.) The account of +John of Antioch, frag. 46 (Müller, fr. hist gr. IV, p.556) regarding +this secession of the plebs seems to have been taken from intact books +of Dio. (Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV, p.44, note 1; also G. Sotiriadis, +Zur Kritik des Johannes von Antiochia, Supplem. annal. philol. vol. +XVI, p.50.) + +6. And it seemed to be most inconsistent with human conditions, and to +many others also, some willingly, some unwillingly [lacuna] + +¶Whenever many men gathered in a compact body seek their own +advantage by violence, for the time being they have some equitable +agreement and display boldness, but later they become separated and +are punished on various pretexts. (Mai, p.146. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 15.) + +7. Through the tendency, natural to most persons, to differ with their +fellows in office (it is always difficult for a number of men to +attain harmony, especially in a position of any influence)--through +this natural tendency, then, all their power was dissipated and torn +to shreds. None of their resolutions was valid in case even one of +them opposed it. They had originally received their office for no +other purpose than to resist such as were oppressing their +fellow-citizens, and thus he who tried to prevent any measure from +being carried into effect was sure to prove stronger than those who +supported it. (Mai, ib. Cp. Zonaras 7, 15.) + +[Frag. XVII] + +1. For it is not easy for a man either to be strong at all points or +to possess excellence in both departments,--war and peace,--at once. +Those who are physically strong are, as a rule, weak-minded and +success that has come in unstinted measure generally does not +luxuriate equally well everywhere. This explains why after having +first been exalted by the citizens to the foremost rank he was not +much later exiled by them, and how it was that after making the city +of the Volsci a slave to his country he with their aid brought his own +land in turn into an extremity of danger. (Mai, p. 146. Cp. Zonaras +7,16.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 491 (_a.u._ 263)] 2. ¶The same man wished to be made +prætor, and upon failing to secure the office became angry at the +populace; and in his displeasure at the great influence of the tribunes +he employed greater frankness in speaking to that body than was +attempted by others whose deeds entitled them to the same rank as +himself. A severe famine occurring at the same time that a town Norba +needed colonizing, the multitude censured the powerful classes on both +these points, maintaining that they were being deprived of food and were +being purposely delivered into the hands of enemies for manifest +destruction. Whenever persons come to suspect each other, they take +amiss everything even that is done in their behalf, and yield wholly to +their belligerent instincts. Coriolanus had invariably evinced contempt +for the people, and after grain had been brought in from many sources +(most of it sent as a gift from princes in Sicily) he would not allow +them to receive allotments of it as they were petitioning. Accordingly, +the tribunes, whose functions he was especially eager to abolish, +brought him to trial before the populace on a charge of aiming at +tyranny and drove him into exile. It availed nothing that all his peers +exclaimed and expressed their consternation at the fact that tribunes +dared to pass such sentences upon _their_ order. So on being expelled he +betook himself, raging at his treatment, to the Volsci, though they had +been his bitterest foes. His valor, of which they had had a taste, and +the wrath that he cherished toward his fellow-citizens gave him reason +to expect that they would receive him gladly, since they might hope, +thanks to him, to inflict upon the Romans injuries equal to what they +had endured, or even greater. When one has suffered particular damage at +the hands of any party, one is strongly inclined to believe in the +possibility of benefit from the same party in case it is willing and +also able to confer favors. (Mai, p.147. Cp. Zonaras 7, 16.) 3. For he +was very angry that they, who were incurring danger for their own +country would not even under these conditions withdraw from the +possessions of others. When, accordingly, this news also was brought, +the men did not cease any the more from factional strife. They were, +indeed, so bitterly at variance that they could be reconciled not even +by dangers. But the women, Volumnia the wife of Coriolanus and Veturia +his mother, gathering a company of the other most eminent ladies visited +him in camp and took his children with them; and they caused him to end +the war not only without requiring the submission of the country, but +without even demanding restoration from exile. For he admitted them at +once as soon as he learned they were there, and granted them a +conversation, the course of which was as follows. While the rest wept +without speaking Veturia began: "Why are you surprised, my child? Why +are you startled? We are not deserters, but the country has sent to you, +if you should yield, your mother and wife and children, if otherwise, +your spoil; hence, if even now you still are angry, kill us first. Why +do you weep? Why turn away? Can you fail to know how we have just ceased +lamenting the affairs of state, in order that we might see you? Be +reconciled to us, then, and retain no longer your anger against your +citizens, friends, temples, tombs; do not come rushing down into the +city with hostile wrath nor take by storm your native land in which you +were born, were reared, and became Coriolanus, bearer of this great +name. Yield to me, my child, and send me not hence without result, +unless you would see me dead by own hand." + +At the end of this speech she sighed aloud, and tearing open her +clothing showed her breasts, and touching her abdomen exclaimed: "See, +my child, this brought you forth, these reared you up." When she had +said this, his wife and the children and the rest of the women joined +in the lament, so that he too was cast into grief. Recovering himself +at length with difficulty he embraced his mother and at the same time +kissing her replied: "Mother, I yield to you. Yours is the victory, +and let the other men, too, bestow their gratitude for this upon you. +For I can not endure even to see them, who after receiving such great +benefits at hands have treated me in such a way. Hence I never even +enter the city. Do you keep the country instead of me, since you have +so wished it, and I will take myself out of the way of you all." + +Having spoken thus he withdrew. For through fear of the multitude and +shame before his peers, in that he had made an expedition against them +at all he would not accept even the safe return offered him, but +retired among the Volsci, and there, either as the result of a plot or +from old age, died. (Mai, p.148. Zonaras, 7, 16. Cp. John Tzetzes, +Letters, 6, p.9, 16.) + +4. Dio Cocceianus himself and numberless others who have set forth the +deeds of the Romans, tell the story of this Marcus Coriolanus. This +Marcus, as he was formerly called and later Gnæus, had along with +these the name of Coriolanus. When the Romans were warring against the +city of Coriolanus [_sic_], and had all turned to flight at full +speed, the man himself turned toward the hostile city and finding it +open alone set fire to it. As the flames rose brilliantly he mounted +his horse and with great force fell upon the rear of the barbarians, +who were bringing headlong flight upon the Romans. They wheeled about +and when they saw the fire consuming the city, thinking it was sacked +they fled in another direction. He, having saved the Romans and sacked +the city, which we have already said was called Coriolanus, received, +in addition to his former names Marcus and Gnæus, the title of +Coriolanus, from the rout. But (the usual treatment that jealousy +accords to benefactors) after a little in the course of reflections +they fine the man. The man excessively afflicted with most just wrath +leaves his wife, his mother, and his country, and goes to the Corioli, +and they receive the man. Then after that they arrayed themselves +against the Romans. And had not his spouse and mother at the breaking +out of that war run and torn apart their tunics and stood about him +naked,--Veturia and Volumnia were their names,--and checked him with +difficulty from the battle against the Romans, Rome would have made a +resolve to honor benefactors. But brought to a halt by the prayers of +his mother and of his spouse he stopped the war against the Romans, +and he himself leaving behind the Corioli and the Romans hurried to +another land, smitten by sorrow. (Tzetzes, Hist. 6, 527-560. Cp. +Haupt, _Hermes_, XIV.) + +5. I pass over mention of the noble Marcus Coriolanus, and with Marcus +himself also Marcus Corvinus; of whom the one, having sacked unaided a +city named Coriolanus and burned it down, although the entire army of +the Romans had been routed, was called Coriolanus, though otherwise +termed Marcus. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, 856-861.) + +[Frag. XVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 486 (_a.u._ 268)] Cassius after benefiting the Romans +was put to death by that very people. So that thereby it is made plain +that there is no element deserving confidence in multitudes. On the +contrary they destroy men who are altogether devoted to them no less +than men guilty of the greatest wrongs. With respect to the interest of +the moment on various occasions they deem those great who are the cause +of benefits to them, but when they have profited to the full by such +men's services they no longer regard them as having any nearer claims +than bitterest foes. For Cassius, although he indulged them, they killed +because of the very matters on which he prided himself: and it is +manifest that he perished through envy and not as a result of some +injustice committed. (Mai, p.150.) + +[Frag. XIX] + +1. For the men from time to time in power when they became unable to +restrain them by any other method stirred up purposely wars after wars +in order that they might be kept busy attending to those conflicts and +not disturb themselves about the land. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. At any rate they were so inflamed with rage by each of the two as +to promise with an oath victory to their generals: with regard to the +immediate attack they thought themselves actually lords of fortune. +(Mai, p.150.) + +3. ¶It is natural for the majority of the human race to quarrel with +any opposing force even beyond what is to its own advantage and upon +those who yield to bestow a benefit in turn even beyond its power. +(Mai, p.151.) + +[Frag. XX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 477 (_a.u._ 277)] 1. ¶The Fabii, who on the basis of +birth and wealth made pretensions equal with the noblest, very quickly +indeed saw that they were dejected. For when persons involve themselves +in many undertakings that are at the same time hard to manage, they can +discover no device for confronting the multitude and array of dangers, +and give up as hopeless quite easy projects: after which their sober +judgments and, contrary to what one would expect, their very opinions +cause them to lose heart and they voluntarily abandon matters in hand +with the idea that their labor will be but vain; finally they surrender +themselves to unforseen dispensations of Heaven and await whatever +Chance may bring. (Mai, p.151. Zonaras 7,17.) + +2. ¶The Fabii, three hundred and six in number, were killed, by the +Etruscans. Thus the arrogance which arises from confidence in valor is +ofttimes ruined by its very boldness, and the boastfulness which comes +from good fortune runs mad and suffers a complete reverse. (Mai, ib. +Zonaras 7, 17.) + +3. For whom (plur.) the Romans grieved, both in private and with +public demonstrations, to a greater degree than the number of the lost +would seem to warrant. That number was not small, especially since it +was composed entirely of patricians, but they further felt, when they +stopped to consider the reputation and the resolute spirit of these +men that all their strength had perished. For this reason they +inscribed among the accursed days that one on which they had been +destroyed and put under the ban the gates through which they had +marched out, so that no magistrate might pass through them. And they +condemned Titus Menenius the prætor,--it was in his year that the +disaster took place,--when he was later accused before the people of +not having assisted the unfortunates and of having been subsequently +defeated in battle. (Valesius, p.578.) + +[Frag. XXI] + +1. ¶The patricians openly took scarcely any retaliatory measures, +except in a few cases, where they adjured some one of the gods, but +secretly slaughtered a number of the boldest spirits. Nine tribunes on +one occasion were delivered to the flames by the populace. This did +not, however, restrain the rest: on the contrary, those who in turn +held the tribuneship after that occurrence were rather filled with +hope in the matter of their own quarrels than with fear as a result of +the fate of their predecessors. Hence, so far from being calmed, they +were even the more emboldened by those very proceedings. For they put +forward the torture of the former tribunes as a justification of the +vengeance they would take really in their own behalf; and they got +great pleasure out of the idea that they might possibly, contrary to +expectation, survive without harm. The consequence was that some of +the patricians, being unable to accomplish anything in the other way, +transferred themselves to the ranks of the populace: they thought its +humble condition far preferable, considered in the light of their +desire for the tribunician power, to the weakness of their own +ornamental titles,--especially so because many held the office a +second and third and even greater number of times in succession, +although there was a prohibition against any one's taking the position +twice. (Mai, p. 152. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. ¶ The populace was incited to this course by the patricians +themselves. For the policy which the latter pursued with an eye to +their own advantage, that of always having some wars in readiness for +them, so that the people might be compelled by the dangers from +without to practice moderation,--this policy, I say, only rendered the +people bolder. By refusing to go on a campaign unless they obtained +in each instance the objects of their striving and by contending +listlessly whenever they did take the field, they accomplished all +that they desired. Meanwhile, as a matter of fact, not a few of the +neighboring tribes, relying on the dissension of their foes more than +on their own power, kept revolting. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +[Frag. XXII] + +1. ¶The Æqui after capturing Tusculum and conquering Marcus [Footnote: +Other accounts give his name as _Lucius_ or _Quintus_.] Minucius became +so proud that, in the case of the Roman ambassadors whom the latter +people sent to chide them regarding the seizure of the place, they made +no answer at all to the censure but after designating by the mouth of +their general, Cloelius Gracchus, a certain oak, bade them speak to it, +if they desired aught. (Ursinus, p.373. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. That the Romans on learning that Minucius with some followers had +been intercepted in a low-lying, bushy place elected as dictator +against the enemy Lucius Quintius, in spite of the fact that he was a +poor man and at the time was engaged in tilling with his own hands the +little piece of ground which was his sole possession: for in general +he was the peer in valor of the foremost and was distinguished by his +wise moderation; though he did let his hair grow in curls, from which +practice he received the nickname of Cincinnatus. (Valesius, p.578. +Zonaras 7, 17.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 449 (_a.u._ 305)] 2. ¶Affairs of state and camp alike +were thrown into confusion. For the men under arms in their zealous +eagerness that no success should attend those who held the power +voluntarily surrendered both public and private interests. The other +side, too, took no pleasure in the death of their own members at the +hands of opponents, but themselves likewise destroyed in some convenient +manner many of the most active persons who espoused the cause of the +populace. As a result no small contention arose between them. (Mai, +p.153. Zonaras, 7, 18.) + +3. For they [Footnote: This must mean the "military tribunes with +consular powers."]reached such a pitch of emulation and next of jealous +rivalry of one another that they no longer, as the custom had been, all +held office as one body, but each of them individually in turn; and the +consequence was by no means beneficial. Since each one of them had in +view his own profit and not the public weal and was more willing that +the State should be injured, if it so happened, than that his colleagues +should obtain credit, many unfortunate occurrences took place. (Mai, +ib.) + +4. ¶Democracy consists not in all winning absolutely the same prizes, +but in every man's obtaining his deserts. [Footnote: Seemingly an excerpt +from a speech of one of the optimates, though possibly a remark by Dio +himself.] (Mai, p.154.) + +[Frag. XXIII] + +1[lacuna]. to have happened as the law of triumphs enjoins, about which +Dio Cocceianus writes. And if it seems to you an irksome thing to delve +into books of ancient writers, at all events I will explain cursorily, +as best I may, the entertainments pertaining to the triumph. They cause +the celebrator of the triumph to ascend a car, smear his face with earth +of Sinope or cinnabar (representing blood) to screen his blushes, fasten +armlets on his arms, and put a laurel wreath and a branch of laurel in +his right hand. Upon his head they also place a crown of some kind of +wood having inscribed upon it his exploits or his experiences. A public +slave, standing in the back part of the chariot holds up the crown, +saying in his ear: "See also what comes after." Bells and a whip dangle +from the pole of the chariot. Next he runs thrice about the place in a +circle, mounts the stairs on his knees and there lays aside the +garlands. After that he departs home, accompanied by musicians. (Tzetzes +Epist. 107, p. 86.) + +[Therefore the following words of Zonaras (7, 21) correspond nearly +with those of Dio, concerning the popular anger against Camillus on +account of his triumph (according to Plutarch's Camillus, Chap. +7).--Editor] + +The celebration of the triumphal festivities, which they called +_thriambos_, was of somewhat the following nature. When any great +success, worthy of a triumph, had been gained, the general was +immediately saluted as imperator by the soldiers, and he would bind +twigs of laurel upon the rods and deliver them to the runners to +carry, who announced the victory to the city. On arriving home he +would assemble the senate and ask to have the triumph voted him. And +if he obtained a vote from the senate and from the people, his title +of imperator was confirmed. If he still held the office in the course +of which he happened to be victorious, he continued to enjoy it while +celebrating the festival; but if the term of his office had expired, +he received some other name connected with it, since it was forbidden +a private individual to hold a triumph. Arrayed in the triumphal dress +he took armlets, and with a laurel crown upon his head and holding a +branch in his right hand he called together the people. After praising +his comrades of the campaign he presented some both publicly and +privately with money: he honored them also with decorations, and upon +some he bestowed armlets and spears without the iron; crowns, too, he +gave to some of gold and to others of silver, bearing the name of each +man and the representation of his particular feat. For example, either +a man had been first to mount a wall and the crown bore the figure of +a wall, or he had captured some point by storm, and a likeness of that +particular place had been made. A man might have won a battle at sea +and the crown had been adorned with ships, or one might have won a +cavalry fight and some equestrian figure had been represented. He who +had rescued a citizen from battle or other peril, or from a siege, had +the greatest praise and would receive a crown fashioned of oak, which +was esteemed as far more honorable than all, both the silver and the +gold. And these rewards would be given not only to men singly, as each +had shown his prowess, but were also bestowed upon cohorts and whole +armies. Much of the spoils was likewise assigned to the sharers in the +campaign. Some have been known to extend their distributions even to +the entire populace and have gone to expense for the festival and +obtained public appropriations: if anything was left over, they would +spend it for temples, porticos or for some public work. + +After these ceremonies the triumphator ascended his chariot. Now the +chariot did not resemble one used in games or in war, but had been +made in the shape of a round tower. And he would not be alone in the +chariot, but if he had children or relatives he would make the girls +and the infant male children get up beside him in it and place those +who were grown upon the horses, outriggers as well as the yoke-pair. +If these were many, they would accompany the procession on chargers, +riding along beside the triumphator. None of the rest rode, but all +went on foot wearing laurel wreaths. A public servant, however, rode +also upon the chariot itself holding over him the crown made of +precious stones set in gold and kept saying to him "Look behind!", the +"behind" meaning naturally "Look ahead at the ensuing years of life, +and do not be elated or puffed up by your present fortune." Both a +bell and a whip were fastened to the chariot, signifying that it was +possible for him to meet misfortune as well, to the extent of being +disgraced or condemned to death. It was customary for those who had +been condemned to die for any offence to wear a bell, to the end that +no one should approach them as they walked along and so be affected +with pollution. + +Thus arrayed they entered the city, having at the head of the +procession the spoils and trophies and in images the captured forts +displayed, cities and mountains and rivers, lakes, seas,--everything +that they had taken. If one day sufficed for the exhibition of these +things in procession, well and good: otherwise, the celebration was +held during a second and a third. When these adjuncts had gone on +their way the triumphator reached the Roman Forum and after commanding +that some of the captives be led to prison and put to death he rode up +to the Capitol. There, when he had fulfilled certain rites and had +brought offerings and had dined in the buildings on the hill, toward +evening he departed homeward, accompanied by flutes and pipes. + +Such were the triumphs in old times. Factions and powerful cliques +attempted very frequently revolutionary movements on those occasions. + +All the matters pertaining to the triumphal, the curule chair the +letter contains. What need to write again? How after anointing with +cinnabar or else Sinopian earth the man who held a triumph they put +him on a chariot and placed upon his head a golden crown bearing +plainly marked all he had accomplished: in the man's hand they lay a +laurel sprig; armlets they clasp about his arms: they crown all who +had gained distinction with crowns made out of silver material +inscribed with the feats of daring; and how upon the chariot a public +slave stands behind him holding up the crown and saying in his ear: +"see also what comes after"--all things important the letter contains. +(Tzetzes, Hist. 13, 41-54.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 395 (_a.u._ 359)] 2. ¶ The Romans after fighting many +battles against the Falisci, [Footnote: Perhaps Dio wrote _Fidenates_ or +_Veientes_ (Livy, IV, 32), and _Falisci_ is due to the copyist, +although, to be sure, there were wars with the last named (Livy, IV, +18). Whether the transference of Juno from Veii to Rome (Livy, V, 22) or +the lectisternia just established about this time (Livy, V, 13) +constitutes the topic discussed is a matter respecting which scholars +differ.] and after many sufferings and achievements as well, despised +their ancestral rites and took up with foreign ones in the idea that the +latter would suffice them. Human nature is for some reason accustomed in +trouble to scorn what is usual even though it be divine, and to admire +the untried. Thinking, as men do, that they are not helped by it at the +present, they expect no benefit in the future, but from what is strange +they hope to accomplish whatever they may wish, by means of its novelty. +(Mai, p. 153.) + +3. ¶ The Romans, who were besieging the city of the Falisci would have +consumed much time encamped before it, had not an incident of the +following nature occurred. A school teacher of the place who instructed +a number of children of good family, either under the influence of anger +or through hope of gain led them all outside the wall, supposedly for +some different purpose from his real one. They had so great an abundance +of courage that they followed him even then. And he took them to +Camillus, saying that in their persons he surrendered to him the whole +city: for the inhabitants would no longer resist them when those dearest +to them were held prisoners. However, he [Sidenote: B.C. 393 (_a.u._ +361)] to accomplish aught; for Camillus, filled with a sense of the +conduct proper for Romans and also of the liability to failure of human +plans, would not agree to take them by treachery: instead, he bound the +traitor's hands behind his back and delivered him to the children +themselves to lead home again. + +After this episode the Falisci held out no longer, but in spite of the +fact that they were securely entrenched and had ample resources to +continue the war nevertheless came to terms voluntarily. They felt sure +it would be no ordinary friendship that they would enjoy at the hands of +one, whom, as an enemy even, they had found so just. (Valesius, p. 578. +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +4. Accordingly Camillus became on this account an object of even +greater jealousy to the citizens, and he was indicted by the tribunes +on the charge of not having benefited the public treasury with the +plunder of the Veii; and before the trial he voluntarily withdrew. +(Valesius, ib. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +5. In Dio's 7th Book: "When he had ended his term of office they +indicted him and imposed a money fine, not bringing him into danger of +his life." [Footnote: Boissevain believes that this fragment does not +refer to Camillus, and that the number of the Book is possibly a +corruption. He would locate it earlier.](Bekker, Anecd. p. 146, 21.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 393 (_a.u._ 361)]6. To such a degree did not only the +populace nor all those who were somewhat jealous of his reputation +merely, but his best friends and his relatives, too, feel envy toward +him that they did not even attempt to hide it. When he asked some of +them for support in his case, and others to deposit the money for his +release, they refused to assist him in regard to the vote but simply +promised, if he were convicted, to estimate the proper money value and +to help him pay the amount of the fine. This led him to take an oath in +anger that the city should have need of him; and he went over to the +Rutuli before accusation was brought against him. [Footnote: Very likely +the copyist erred here. The sense requires "before sentence was passed +upon him."] (Mai, p. 154. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +[Frag. XXIV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 391 (_a.u._ 363)] 1. ¶ The cause of the Gallic +expedition was this. The Clusini had endured hard treatment in the war +from the Gauls and fled for refuge to the Romans, having considerable +hope that they could obtain certainly some little help in that +quarter, from the fact that they had not taken sides with the people +of Veii, though of the same race. When the Romans failed to vote them +aid, but sent ambassadors to the Gauls and negotiated peace for them, +they came very near accepting it (it was offered them in return for a +part of the land); however, they attacked the barbarians after the +conference and took the Roman envoys into battle along with them. The +Gauls, vexed at seeing them on the opposite side, at first sent men to +Rome, preferring charges against the envoys. Since, however, no +punishment was visited upon the latter, but they were all, on the +contrary, appointed consular tribunes, they were filled with +wrath--being naturally quick to anger--and, as they held the Clusini +in contempt, started for Rome. (Ursinus, p.373. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 364 (_a.u._ 390)] 2. ¶ The Romans after withstanding +the inroads of the Gauls had no time to recover breath, but went +immediately from their march into battle, just as they were, and lost. +Panic-stricken by the unexpectedness of the invaders' hostile +expedition, by their numbers, their physical dimensions, and their +voices uttering some foreign and terrifying sound they forgot their +training in military science and after that lost possession of their +valor. A good comprehension contributes very largely to bravery, because +when present it confirms the strength of a man's resolution and when +lacking destroys the same more thoroughly by far, than if such a thing +had never existed at all. Many persons without experience often carry +things through by the violence of their spirit, but those who fail of +the discipline which they have learned lose also their strength of +purpose. This caused the defeat of the Romans. (Mai, p.154. Cp. Zonaras, +7, 23.) + +3. Coclius Horatius was by race a Roman. He, when on one occasion the +army of the Romans had been routed, so that there was danger of their +opponents occupying Rome, alone withstood them all at the wooden +bridge, while Marcus cut it down behind Minucius. When it had been cut +down, Coclius too crossed the Tiber, having saved himself and Rome by +the cutting of the bridge. Yet, as he swam, he might have been struck +by a spear of the enemy. To him the senate presents lands (as a reward +for his excellent bravery) as much as he could mark out in a day with +cattle fastened to a plow. He was called Coclius in the Roman tongue +because he had lost one of his eyes before he fought. (Tzetzes, Hist. +3, 818-830. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +[Sidenote: B. C 364 (_a.u._ 390)] 4. ¶ The Romans who were on the +Capitol under siege had no hope of safety unless from heavenly powers. +So scrupulously did they observe the mandates of religion, although in +every extremity of evil, that when it was requisite for one of the +sacred rites to be performed by the pontifices in another part of the +city Cæso [Footnote: Very likely the copyist erred here. The sense +requires "before sentence was passed upon him."] Fabius, who exercised +the office of priest, descended for the purpose from the Capitol after +receiving his charge, as he had been accustomed to do, and passing +through the enemy performed the customary ceremony and returned the same +day. I am led to admire the barbarians on the one hand because either on +account of the gods or his bravery they spared him: and far more do I +feel admiration for the man himself for two reasons, that he dared to +descend alone among the enemy, and that when he might have withdrawn to +some place of safety he refused and instead voluntarily returned up the +Capitol again to a danger that he foresaw: he understood that they +hesitated to abandon the spot which was the only part of their country +they still held but saw at the same time that no matter how much they +desired to escape it was impossible to do so by reason of the multitude +of the besiegers. (Valesius, p.581.) + +5. ¶ Camillus, being urged to let the leadership be entrusted to him, +would not allow it because he was an exile and could not take the +position according to time-honored usage. He showed himself so +law-abiding and exact a man that in so great a danger to his native +land he made precedent a matter of earnest thought and did not think +it right to hand down to posterity an example of lawlessness. +(Valesius, p.582. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +6. When Rome had been sacked by the Gauls, Brennus being at the head +of that expedition of theirs, as the Gauls were on the point of +capturing the Capitol by ascending secretly to the Acropolis at night, +a great outcry of geese arose in that quarter; and one Marcus Manlius +roused from sleep saw the enemy creeping up, and by striking some with +his oblong shield and slaying others with his sword he repulsed them +all and saved the Romans. For this they gave him the title of +Capitolinus, and in honor of the geese they have door-keepers as +guards in the palace in remembrance of their watch at that time, just +as earlier the Greeks in Athens called Pelargikon Geraneia (Crane-ry) +from such creatures. (Tzetzes, His. 830-842. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +[Frag. XXV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 384 (_a.u._ 370)] 1. ¶ The populace passed sentence +against Capitolinus, his house was razed to the ground, his money +confiscated, and his name and even likeness, if such anywhere existed, +were erased and destroyed. At the present day, too, all these +punishments, except the razing to the ground, are visited upon those who +conspire against the commonwealth. They gave judgment also that no +patrician should dwell upon the height because Capitolinus happened to +have had his house there. And his kinsmen among the Manlii prohibited +any one of their number from being named Marcus, since that appellation +had been his. + +Capitolinus at any rate underwent a great reversal, both in his +character and in his fortune. Having made a specialty of warfare he +did not understand how to remain at peace; the Capitol he had once +saved he occupied for the purpose of establishing a tyranny; although +a patrician he became the prey of a house-servant; and whereas he was +deemed a warrior, he was arrested after the manner of a slave and +hurled down the very rock from which he had repulsed the Gauls. +(Valesius, p.582. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +2. ¶ Capitolinus was thrown headlong down the rock by the Romans. So +true it is that nothing in the affairs of men,--generally +speaking,--remains at it was; and success, in particular, leads many +people on into catastrophes equally serious. It raises their hopes, +makes them continually strive after like or greater results and, if +they fail, casts them into just the opposite condition. (Mai, p. 155. +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +3. This Marcus Manlius, who was once termed also Capitolinus, and fell +through seeking the tyranny, when about to be put to death by vote of +all the jurors was saved by their looking just then at the Capitol, +where he himself had performed famous deeds of valor,--until the one +who spoke against him, perceiving the cause, transferred the assembly +to another court-house from which the Capitol could not be seen at all +and so a remembrance spring up of his trophies. Then they kill him. +But on the other hand, even so, through the whole period the populace +of Rome wore black, recompensing the graces of his valor and the +inimitable manner of his distinguished behavior. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, +843-855. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +[Frag. XXVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 381 (_a.u._ 373)] 1. ¶ Camillus made a campaign against +the Tusculans, but thanks to the astonishing attitude that they adopted +they suffered no harm. For just as if they themselves were guilty of no +offence and the Romans entertained no anger toward them, but were either +coming to them as friends to friends or else marching through their +territory against some other tribes, they changed none of their +accustomed habits and were not in the least disturbed: instead, all +without exception remaining in their places, at their occupations and at +their other work just as in time of peace, received the army within +their borders, gave them hospitable gifts, and in other ways honored +them like friends. Consequently the Romans so far from doing them harm +enrolled them subsequently among the citizens. (Valesius, p.582.) + +[Frag. XXVII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 376 (_a.u._ 378)] 2. In Dio's 7th Book: "Tusculans did +not raise their hands against him." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 123, 32.) + +1. ¶ The wife of Rufus, while he was military tribune and engaged in +public service in the Forum was visited by her sister.[Footnote: Livy +and Valerius Maximus give his name as _Gaius_.] When the husband arrived +and the lichtor, according to some ancient custom, knocked at the door, +the visitor was alarmed at this having never previously had any such +experience and was startled. She was consequently the subject of hearty +laughter on the part of her sister and the rest alike and she was made a +butt for jests as one not at home in an official atmosphere because her +husband had never proved his capacity in any position of authority. She +took it terribly to heart, as women, from their littleness of soul, +usually do, and would not give up her resentment until she had thrown +all the city in an uproar. Thus small accidental events become, in some +cases, the cause of many great evils, when a person receives them with +jealousy and envy. (Mai, p.155. Zonaras, 7, 24) + +2. ¶ In the midst of evils expectation of rescue has power to persuade +one to trust even in what is beyond reason. (Mai, p.156.) + +3. For by their disputes they kept constantly enfeebling in one way or +another the good order of their government; consequently, all these +objects so to speak for which they were formerly accustomed to wage +the greatest wars they gained in time--not without factional quarrels, +to be sure, but still with small difficulty. (Mai, ib.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 368 (_a.u._ 386)] 4. ¶ Publius,[Footnote: The gap +existing from the word "Forum" to the end of the sentence is supplied by +Bekker's conjecture.] when the citizens of Rome were quarreling with one +another, nearly reconciled them. For he chose as master of the horse +Licinius Stolo, who was merely one of the populace.[Footnote: This is +Publius Manlius, the dictator (Livy, VI, 39).] This innovation grieved +the patricians, but conciliated the rest so much that they no longer +laid claim to the consulship for the following year, but allowed the +consular tribunes to be chosen. As a result of this they in turn yielded +some points one to the other, and perhaps would have made peace with +each other had not Stolo the tribune made such utterance as that they +should not drink unless they could eat and so persuaded them to +relinquish nothing, but to perform as inevitable duties all that they +had taken in hand. (Valesius, p.585.) + +[Frag. XXVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 362 (_a.u._ 392)] 1. Dio Cassius Cocceianus, the +compiler of Roman history, states that as a result of the wrath of +Heaven a fissure opened in the ground round about Rome and would not +close. An oracular utterance having been obtained to the effect that the +fissure would close if they should throw into it the mightiest +possession of the Romans, one Curtius, a knight of noble birth, when no +one else was able to understand the oracle, himself interpreted it to +mean a horse and man together. Straightway he mounted his horse and, +just as he was, dashed heroically forward and passed down into that +frightful pit. No sooner had he rushed down the incline than the fissure +closed; and the rest of the Romans from above scattered flowers. From +this event the name of Curtius was applied also to a cellar. (Io. +Tzetzes, Scholia for the Interpretation of Homer's Iliad, p. 136, 17, +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +2. There is no mortal creature either better or stronger than man. Do +you not see that all the rest go downwards and look forever toward the +earth and accomplish nothing save what is closely connected with +eating and the propagation of their species? So they have been +condemned to these pursuits even by Nature herself. We alone gaze +upwards and associate with heaven itself and despise those things that +are on the earth, while we dwell with the gods themselves, believing +them to be similar to us inasmuch as we are both their offspring and +creations, not earthly but heavenly: for which reason we paint and +fashion those very beings according to our forms. For, if one may +speak somewhat boldly, man is naught else than a god with mortal body, +and a god naught else than a man without body and consequently +immortal. That is why we surpass all other creatures. And there is +nothing afoot which we do not enslave, overtaking it by speed or +subduing it by force or catching it by some artifice, nor yet aught +that lives in the water or travels the air: nay, even of these two +classes, we pull the former up from the depths without seeing them and +drag the latter down from the sky without reaching them. (Mai, p. 532. +Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +[Frag. XXIX] + +¶ Dio says: "Wherefore, although not accustomed to indulgence in +digressions, I have taken pains to make mention of it and have stated in +addition the Olympiad, in order that when most men forget the date of +the migration,[Footnote: This last clause is a conjecture by Reimar.] it +may, from the precaution mentioned, become less doubtful." (Mai, p. +156.) + +[Frag. XXX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 353 (_a.u._ 401)] ¶ The Agyllæans, when they ascertained +that the Romans wished to make war on them, despatched ambassadors to +Rome before any vote was taken, and obtained peace on surrender of half +their territory. (Ursinus, p. 374.) + +[Frag. XXXI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 349 (_a.u._ 405)] Marcus Corvinus received the name of +Corvinus because when once engaged with a barbarian in single combat, he +had a savage crow as his ally in the battle, that flew at the eyes of +the barbarian until this Marcus killed him at that time. (Tzetzes, Hist. +3, 862-866. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +[Frag. XXXII] + +1. These proposals and a few others of similar nature they put forward +not because they expected to carry any of them into effect,--for they, +if anybody, understood the purposes of the Romans,--but in order that +failing to obtain their requests they might secure an excuse for +complaints, on the ground that wrong had been done them. (Mai, p. +156.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 2. Dio in Book 7: "And for this +reason I shall execute you, in order that even as you obtain the prize +for your prowess, so you may receive the penalty for your disobedience." +[Footnote: The migration of Alexander(?). See Livy, VIII, 3, 6.] +(Bekker, Anecd. p. 133, 19. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +3. The statement is made by Douris, Diodorus and Dio that when the +Samnites, Etruscans and other nations were warring against the Romans, +Decius, a Roman consul and associated with Torquatus in command of the +troops, gave himself to be slain, and of the opposite side there were +slaughtered a hundred thousand that very day.[Footnote: Words of +Torquatus to his son.] (Io. Tzetzes, on Lycophr. 1378. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 4. ¶Dio says: "I am surprised that +his (Decius's) death should have set the battle right again, should have +defeated the side that was winning and have given victory to the men who +were getting worsted: I can not even comprehend what brought about the +result. When I reflect what some have accomplished,--for we know that +many such chances have befallen many persons before,--I can not +disbelieve the tradition: but when I come to calculate the causes of it, +I fall into a great dilemma. How can you believe that from such a +sacrifice of one man so great a multitude of human beings were brought +over at once to safety and to victory? Well, the truth of the matter and +the causes that are responsible shall be left to others to investigate." +(Mai, p.157. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +5. It was evident to every one that they had considered the outcome of +the event [Footnote: At the battle of Sentinum (295 B.C.).] and had +ranged themselves on the victorious side. Torquatus did not, however, +question them about it for fear they might revolt, since the affair of +the Latins was still a sore point with them. He was not harsh in every +case nor in most matters the sort of man he had shown himself toward his +son: on the contrary, he was admitted to be good at planning and good in +warfare, so that it was said by the citizens and by their adversaries +alike that he held success in war subservient to him, and that if he had +been leader of the Latins, he would certainly have made them conquer. +(Mai, p.157, and Valesius, p.585.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 6. ¶The Romans, although vexed at +Torquatus on account of his son to such an extent that deeds remarkable +for their cold-blooded indifference [Footnote: The phrase after "deeds" +is supplied from the general sense. The MS. shows a superlative ending +of adjective form, but the root portion of the word is lost.] are called +"Manliana," after him, and angry furthermore that he had celebrated the +triumph in spite of the death of that youth, in spite of the death of +his colleague, nevertheless when another war threatened them elected him +again to a fourth consulship. He, however, refused to hold their chief +office longer, and renounced it, declaring: "I could not endure you nor +you me." (Mai, p.157. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 338 (_a.u._ 416)] 7. ¶The Romans by way of bringing the +Latins in turn to a condition of friendliness, granted them +citizenship so that they secured equal privileges with themselves. +Those rights which they would not share with that people when it +threatened war and for which they underwent so many dangers, they +voluntarily voted to it now that they conquered. Thus they requited +some for their allegiance and others because they had taken no steps +of a revolutionary character. (Mai, p.158.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 328 (_a.u._ 426)] 8. ¶With reference to the inhabitants +of Privernum the Romans made no enquiry, asking them what they deserved +to suffer for such conduct. The others answered boldly: "Whatever is +suitable for men who are free and desire so to continue." To the next +question of the consul: "And what will you do if you obtain peace?" they +replied: "If we are granted it on [Sidenote: B.C. 426 (_a.u._ 426)] +fairly moderate terms, we will cease from disturbance, but if +unendurable burdens are placed upon us, we will fight." Admiring their +spirit they not only made a much more favorable truce with them than +with the rest [lacuna] (Mai, p.158.) + +[Frag. XXXIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] 1. [From the address of the father +of Rullus.] Be well assured that penalties most unfitting in such cases, +while they destroy the culprits under sentence, who might have been made +better, are of no avail in correcting the rest. Human nature refuses to +leave its regular course for any threats. Some pressing fear or violence +of audacity together with courage born of inexperience and rashness +sprung from opportunity, or some other combination of circumstances such +as often occurs unexpectedly in the careers of many persons leads men to +do wrong. And these men are of two classes,--such as do not even think +of the punishments but heedless of them rush into the business before +them, and such as esteem them of no moment in comparison with the +attainment of the ends for which they are striving. + +Consistent humanity, however, can produce an effect quite the opposite +of that just now mentioned. Through the influence of a seasonable pardon +the criminals frequently change their ways, especially when they have +acted from brave and not from wicked motives, from ambition and not from +baseness. For it should be noted that a reasonable humanity is a mighty +force for subduing and correcting a noble soul. As for the rest, they +are, without resistance, brought [Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] into +a proper frame of mind by the sight of the rescue. Every one would +rather obey than be forced, and prefers voluntary to compulsory +observance of the law. He who submits to a measure works for it as if it +were his own invention, but what is imposed upon him he rejects as +unfitting for a freeman. Furthermore it is the part of the highest +virtue and power alike not to kill a man,--this is often done by the +wickedest and weakest men,--but to spare him and to preserve him; yet no +one of us is at liberty to do that without your consent. + +It is my wish at length to cease from speaking. What little spirit I +have is weary, my voice is giving way, tears check my utterance and fear +closes my mouth. But I am at a loss how to close. For my suffering, +appearing to me in no doubtful light, does not allow me (unless you +decide otherwise) [Footnote: A clause that in the MS. has faded out is +represented here by Boissevian's conjecture.] to be silent, but compels +me, as if the safety of my child were going to be in accord with +whatever I say last, to speak even further as it were in prayers. (Mai, +p.159.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] 2. The name and form of the office with +which he was invested he shrank from changing, and when he was intending +to spare Rullus,--for he observed the zeal of the populace,--he wished +to resist him somewhat before granting the favor and to alter the +attitude of the young men, so as to have his pardon come unexpectedly. +Therefore he contracted his face, and darting a harsh frowning look at +the populace, he raised his voice and spoke. The talking ceased, but +still they were not quiet: instead, as generally happens in such a case, +what with groaning over his fate and whispering one to another, in spite +of their not uttering a single word they gave the impression that they +desired the rescue of the cavalry commander. Papirius seeing this, in +fear of their possibly taking hostile action, relaxed the extremely +domineering manner which he had assumed (for purposes of their +correction) in an unusual degree, and by showing moderation in the rest +of his actions brought them once more to friendship and enthusiasm for +him, so that they proved themselves men when they met their opponents. +(Mai, p.160. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +3. ¶The Samnites after their defeat at the hands of the Romans, made +proposals for truce to the Romans in the city. They sent them all the +Roman captives that they held, together with the property of a man named +Papius, [Footnote: _Papius Brutulus_.] who was esteemed among the +foremost of his race and bore the entire responsibility for the war; his +bones, since he anticipated them in committing suicide, they scattered +abroad. Yet they did not obtain their peace; for they were regarded as +untrustworthy and had the name of making truces according to events +merely for the purpose of cheating any power that conquered them: hence +they not only failed to obtain terms, but even brought a relentless war +upon themselves. The Romans while accepting their prisoners voted to +make war upon them without announcement. (Ursinus, p.374. Zonaras, 7, +26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 321. (_a.u._ 433)] 4. Among the many events of human +history that might give one cause for wonder must certainly be reckoned +what occurred at this time. The Romans, who were so extremely arrogant +as to vote that they would not again receive a herald from the Samnites +in the matter of peace and hoped moreover to capture them all at the +first blow, succumbed to a terrible disaster and incurred disgrace as +never before; the others, who to begin with were badly frightened and +thought the refusal to make peace a great calamity, seized their camp +and entire force, and sent them all under the yoke. So great a reverse +of fortune did they suffer. (Mai, p.161. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +5. Benefits lie rather within the actual choice of men and are not +brought about by necessity, or by ignorance, or anger, or deceit, or +anything of the sort, but are performed voluntarily by a willing and +eager condition of spirit. And for this reason it is proper to pity, +admonish, instruct those who commit any error and to admire, love, +reward those who do right. Whenever men act in both of these two ways, +it is decidedly more befitting our characters to remember their better +than their less correct deeds. [Footnote: Sections 5, 6, and 7 appear to +come from various speeches delivered at the Caudine Forks; section 8, +however, is from the speech of Herennius Pontius.] (Mai, p.535.) + +6. ¶Quarrels are checked by kindness. The greater the pitch of enmity to +which a man has come when he unexpectedly obtains safety instead of +severity, the more readily does he hasten voluntarily to abandon the +quarrel and to acknowledge gladly the influence of kindness. B.C. 321 +(_a.u._ 433) As in a random host of persons at variance from divers +causes those who have passed from friendship to enmity hate each other +with the more intense hatred, so in a random host of persons kindly +treated do those who receive this considerate treatment after a state of +strife love their benefactors the more. Romans, accordingly, are very +anxious to surpass in war and at the same time they honor virtue; for +this reason, compelled in both regards by their nobility of spirit, they +verily earn the right to surpass, since they take pains to recompense +fair treatment fairly, and even beyond its value. (Mai, p.161.) + +7. For it is right to pride one's self upon requiting those who have +done some wrong, but to feel more highly elated over recompensing such +as have conferred some benefit. (Mai, p.536.) + +8. ¶All men are by nature so constituted as to grieve more over any +insults offered them than they rejoice over benefits conferred upon +them: therefore they show hostility to persons who have injured them +with less effort than they require for aiding in return persons who have +shown them kindness; hence also they make no account, when their own +advantage is concerned, of the ill reputation they will gain by not +taking a friendly attitude toward their preserver, but indulge a spirit +of wrath even when such behavior runs counter to their own interest. + +Such was the advice he gave them out of his own inherent good sense +and experience acquired in a long life, not looking to the +gratification of the moment but to the possible regret of the future. +(Mai, p.162.) + +9. ¶The people of Capua, when the Romans after [Sidenote: B.C. 321 +(_a.u._ 433)] their defeat arrived in that city, were guilty of no +bitter speech or outrageous act, but on the contrary gave them both food +and horses and received them like victors. They pitied in their +misfortune the men whom they would have not wished to see conquer on +account of the treatment those same persons had formerly accorded them. +When the Romans heard of the event they were altogether possessed by +doubt whether to be pleased at the survival of their soldiers or whether +to continue displeased. When they thought of the depth of the disgrace +their grief was extreme; for they deemed it unworthy of them to have met +with defeat, and especially at the hands of the Samnites, so that they +could wish that all had perished; when they stopped to reflect, however, +that if such a calamity had befallen them all the rest as well would +have incurred danger, they were not sorry to hear that the men had been +saved. (Mai, p.162. Zonaras, 7, 26.) 10. ¶It is requisite and blameless +for all men to plan for their own safety, and if they get into any +danger to do anything whatsoever so as to be preserved. (Mai, p.163.) + +11. ¶Pardon is granted both by gods and by men to such as have committed +any act involuntarily. (Ib. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +12. Dio in Book 8: "I both take to myself the crime and admit the +perjury." (Bekker, Anecd. p.165, 13.) + +13. Dio in Book 8: "For in all such matters he was quite all-sufficient +to himself." [Footnote: This is thought to refer to L. Papirius Cursor or +possibly to Q. Fabius Maximus. Cp. Livy, X, 26.] (Ib. p.124, 1.) + +14.[Sidenote: B.C. 321 (_a.u._ 433)] ¶The Samnites, seeing that neither +were the oaths observed by them nor gratitude for favors manifested in +any other way, and that few instead of many were surrendered, thus +making void the oaths, became terribly angry and loudly called upon the +gods in respect to some of these matters: moreover, they brought the +pledges to their attention, demanded the captives, and ordered them to +pass naked under the same yoke where through pity they had been +released, in order that by experience they might learn to abide by terms +which had been once agreed upon. The men that had been surrendered they +dismissed, either because they did not think it right to destroy +guiltless persons or because they wished to fasten the perjury upon the +populace and not through the punishment of a few men to absolve the +rest. This they did, hoping as a result to secure decent treatment. +(Mai, p.163. Zonaras, 7, 26.) 15. ¶The Romans so far from being grateful +to the Samnites for the preservation of the surrendered soldiers, +actually behaved as if they had in this suffered some outrage. They +showed anger in their conduct of the war, and, being victorious, treated +the Samnites in the same way. For the justice of the battle-field does +not fit the ordinary definition of the word, and it is not inevitable +that the party which has been wronged should conquer: instead, war, in +its absolute sway, adjusts everything to the advantage of the victor, +often causing something that is the reverse of justice to go under that +name. (Mai, p.163. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +16.[Sidenote: B.C. 321 (_a.u._ 433)] ¶The Romans after vanquishing the +Samnites sent the captives in their turn under the yoke, regarding as +satisfactory to their honor a repayment of similar disgrace. So did +Fortune for both parties in the briefest time reverse her position and +by treating the Samnites to the same humiliation at the hands of their +outraged foes show clearly that here, too, she was all-supreme. (Mai, p. +164. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 319 (_a.u._ 435)] 17. ¶ Papirius made a campaign against +the Samnites and having reduced them to a state of siege entrenched +himself before them. At this time some one reproached him with excessive +use of wine, whereupon he replied: "That I am not intoxicated is clear +to every one from the fact that I am up at the peep of dawn and lie down +to rest latest of all. But on account of having public affairs on my +mind day and night alike, and not being able to obtain sleep easily, I +take a little wine to lull me to rest." (Mai, ib.) + +18. ¶ The same man one day while making the rounds of the garrison +became angry on not finding the general from Præneste at his post. He +summoned him and bade him hand the axe to the lictor. Alarm and +consternation at this was evident on the part of the general, and his +fear sufficed. Papirius harmed him no further but merely gave orders to +the lictor to cut off some roots growing beside the tents, so that they +should not injure passers-by. (Mai, ib.) + +19. ¶ In numerous cases instances of good fortune are not at all +constant, but lead many aside into paths of carelessness and ruin +them.[Footnote: Cp. Livy, IX, 18, 8.] (Mai, p. 165.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 310 (_a.u._ 444)] 20. ¶ The men of the city put forward +Papirius as dictator, and fearing that Rullus might be unwilling to name +him on account of his own experiences while master of the horse, they +sent for him and begged him to put the common weal before a private +grudge. And he gave the envoys, indeed, no response, but when night had +come (according to ancient custom it was quite necessary that the +dictator be appointed at night), he named Papirius and secured by this +act the greatest renown.(Valesius, p. 585.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 296 (_a.u._)] 21. ¶ Appius the Blind and Volumnius +became at variance each with the other: and it was owing to this that +Volumnius once, when Appius charged him in the assembly with showing no +gratitude for the progress he had made in wisdom through Appius's +instruction, answered that he had indeed grown wiser and was likewise +ready to admit it, but that Appius had not advanced at all in matters +pertaining to war. (Mai, p. 165.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 296 (_a.u._ 458)] 22. ¶ As regards the prophecy the +multitude was not capable for the time being of either believing or +disbelieving him.[Footnote: I.e., Manius, an Etruscan.] It neither +wished to hope for everything, inasmuch as it did not desire to see +everything fulfilled, nor did it dare to refuse belief in all points +inasmuch as it wished to be victorious, but was placed in an extremely +painful position, as it were between confusion and fear. As each single +event occurred they applied the interpretation to it according to the +actual result, and the man himself undertook to assume some reputation +for skill with regard to the foreknowledge of the unseen. (Mai, p. 165. +Cp. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 293 (_a.u._ 461)] 23. ¶ The Samnites, enraged at what +occurred and deeming it highly disgraceful to be defeated, resorted to +extreme daring and folly with the intention of either conquering or +being utterly destroyed. They assembled all their men that were of +military age, threatening with death all that should remain at home, and +they bound themselves with frightful oaths to the effect that no man +should flee from the contest but should slaughter any person that might +undertake to do so. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 292 (_a.u._ 462)] 24. ¶ The Romans on hearing that their +consul Fabius had been worsted in the war became terribly angry and +summoned him to stand trial. A vehement denunciation of the man was +made before the people,--and, indeed, he was depressed by the injury to +his father's reputation even more than by the complaints,--and no +opportunity was afforded the object of the attack for reply. Nor did the +elder man make a set defence of his son, but by enumerating his own +services and those of his ancestors, and by promising furthermore that +his son would do nothing unworthy of them, he abated the people's wrath, +especially since he urged his son's youth. Moreover, he joined him at +once in the campaign, overthrew the Samnites in battle, though they were +elated by their victory, and captured their camp and great booty. The +Romans therefore extolled him and ordered that his son also should +command for the future with consular powers, and still employ his father +as lieutenant. The latter managed and arranged everything for him, +sparing his old age not a whit, and the allied forces readily assisted +the father in remembrance of his old-time deeds. He made it clear, +however, that he was not executing the business on his own +responsibility, but he associated with his son as if actually in the +capacity of counselor and under-officer, while he moderated his +temperament and assigned to him the glory of the exploits. (Valesius, p. +585. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 291 (_a.u._ 463)] 25. ¶ The soldiers with Junius who took +the field along with Postumius fell sick on the way, and thought that +their trouble was due to the felling of the grove. He was recalled for +these reasons, but showed contempt for them even at this juncture, +declaring that the senate was not his master but that he was master of +the senate [lacuna] Envio [lacuna] and the [lacuna] men much [lacuna] +ambition [lacuna] [Words of Postumius Megillus: Cp. Dionys. Hal. Ant. +Rom. 16, [Footnote: The famous Apollonius of Tyana.]. (Mai, p. 167.) + +[Frag. XXXIV] + +¶ Gaius Fabricius in most respects was like Rufinus, but in +incorruptibility far superior. He was very firm against bribes, and on +that account did not please Rufinus, but was always at variance with +him. Yet the latter chose Fabricius, thinking that he was a most proper +person to meet the requirements of the war, and making his personal +enmity of little account in comparison with the advantage of the +commonwealth. + +[Frag. XXXIV] + +As a result he gained some reputation for having shown himself above +jealousy, which springs up in the hearts of many of the best men by +reason of emulation. Since he was a thorough patriot and did not +practice virtue for a show he thought it a matter of indifference +whether the State were benefited by him or through some other man, even +if that man should be an opponent. (Valesius, p.586.) + +[Frag. XXXV] + +¶Cornelius Fabricius, when asked why he had entrusted the business to +his foe, [lacuna][Footnote: See Niebuhr, Rh. Mus., 1828, p.600, or +_Kleine Schriften_, 2, p.241.] the general excellence of Rufius and +added that to be spoiled by the citizen is preferable to being bought +and sold by the enemy. [This anecdote concerns Fabricius Luscinus, +mentioned by Cicero, de orat. 2, 66, 268; Quintilian 12, 1, 43; Gellius +4, 48.] + +[Frag. XXXVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 290 (_a.u._ 464)] ¶Curius, in defence of his conduct in +the popular assembly, said that he had acquired so much land [lacuna] +and had hunted for so many men [lacuna] country [lacuna] [The person +referred to is Manius Curius Dentatus. Cp. Auct. de Viris. Illustr., c. +33. + +¶After Niebuhr, Rh. Mus. 1828, p.579.] + +[Frag. XXXVII] + +¶When the tribunes moved an annulment of debts, the law was often +proposed without avail, since the lenders were by no means willing to +accept it and the tribunes granted the nobles the choice of either +putting this law to the vote or following that of Stolo, by which they +were to reckon the previous interest toward the principal and receive +the remainder in triennial payments. [Footnote: The opening portion of +this fragment is based largely on conjectures of Niebuhr (Rhein. Mus., +1828, p.579ff.)] And for the time being the weaker party, dreading lest +it might lose all, paid court to them, and the wealthier class, +encouraged to think it would not be compelled to adopt either course, +maintained a hostile attitude. But when the revolted [Footnote: A +doubtful reading.] party proceeded to press matters somewhat, both sides +changed their positions. The debtors were no longer satisfied with +either plan, and the nobles thought themselves lucky if they should not +be deprived of their principal. Hence the dispute was not decided +immediately, but subsequently they prolonged their rivalry in a spirit +of contentiousness, and did not act at all in their usual character. +Finally the people made peace in spite of the fact that the nobles were +unwilling to remit much more than they had originally expected; however, +the more they beheld their creditors yielding, the more were they +emboldened, as if they were successful by a kind of right; and +consequently they regarded the various concessions almost as matters of +course and strove for yet more, using as a stepping-stone to that end +the fact that they had already obtained something. (Mai, p.167. Zonaras, +8,2.) + +[Frag. XXXVIII] + +¶When the opposite side [Footnote: The Tuscans, Senones, and Gauls +appear to be meant.] saw also another general approaching, they ceased +to heed the common interests of their force but each cast about to +secure his individual safety, as a common practice of those who form a +union uncemented by kindred blood, or who make a campaign without common +grievances, or who have not one commander. While good fortune attends +them their views are harmonious, but in disaster each one sees before +him only matters of individual concern. They betook themselves to flight +as soon as it had grown dark, without having communicated to one another +their intention. In a body they thought it would be impossible for them +to force their way out or for their defection to pass unnoticed, but if +they should leave each on his own account and, as they believed, alone, +they would more easily escape. And so, to his own party,--each one of +them [lacuna] they will think that accomplishing their flight with the +greatest security [lacuna] (Mai, p.167.) + +[Frag. XXXIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 283 (_a.u._ 471)] 1. The Romans had learned that the +Tarentini and some others were making ready to war against them, and had +despatched Fabricius as an envoy to the allied cities to prevent them +from committing any revolutionary act: but they had him arrested, and by +sending men to the Etruscans and Umbrians and Gauls they caused a number +of them also to secede, some immediately and some a little later. +(Ursinus, p.375. Zonaras, 8, 2-Vol. II, p.174, 4 sq.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 283 (_a.u._ 471)] 2. ¶The Tarentini, although they had +themselves initiated the war, nevertheless were sheltered from fear. For +the Romans, who understood what they were doing, pretended not to know +it on account of temporary embarrassments. Hereupon the Tarentini, +thinking that they either could mock [Footnote: Verb adopted from +Boissevain's conjecture [Greek: _diasilloun_] (cp. the same word in Book +Fifty-nine, chapter 25). at Rome or were entirely unobserved because +they were receiving no complaints behaved still more insolently and +involved the Romans even contrary to their own wishes in a war. This +proved the saying that even good fortune, when a disproportionately +large portion of it falls to the lot of any individuals, becomes the +cause of disaster to them; it entices them on to a state of frenzy +(since moderation refuses to cohabit with vanity) and ruins their +greatest interests. So these Tarentini, too, after rising to an +unexampled height of prosperity in turn met with a misfortune that was +an equivalent return for their wantonness. (Mai, p.168 and 536.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 282 (_a.u._ 472)] 3. Dio in Book 9: "Lucius Valerius, +[Footnote: Appian (Samnite Wars, VII, 1) gives the second name as +Cornelius.] who was admiral of the Romans and had been despatched on +some errand by them." (Bekker, Anecd. p.158, 25. Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +4. ¶Lucius was despatched by the Romans to Tarentum. Now the Tarentini +were celebrating the Dionysia, and sitting gorged with wine in the +theatre of an afternoon suspected that he was sailing against them as an +enemy. Immediately in a passion and partly under the influence of their +intoxication they set sail in turn: so without any show of force on his +part or the slightest expectation of any hostile act they attacked and +sent to the bottom both him and many others. When the Romans heard of +this they naturally were angry, but did not choose to take the field +against Tarentum at once. However, they despatched envoys in order not +to seem to have passed over the affair in silence and by that means +render them more impudent. But the Tarentini, so far from receiving them +decently or even sending them back with an answer in any way suitable, +at once, before so much as granting them an audience, made sport of +their dress and general appearance. It was the city garb, which we use +in the Forum; and this the envoys had put on, either for the sake of +stateliness or else through fear, thinking that this at least would +cause the foreigners to respect their position. Bands of revelers +accordingly jeered at them,--they were still celebrating the festival, +which, although they were at no time noted for temperate behavior, +rendered them still more wanton,--and finally a man planted himself in +the road of Postumius and, with a forward inclination, threw him down +and soiled his clothing. At this an uproar arose from all the rest, who +praised the fellow as if he had performed some remarkable deed, and they +sang many scurrilous anapæsts upon the Romans, accompanied by applause +and capering steps. But Postumius cried: "Laugh, laugh while you may! +For long will be the period of your weeping, when you shall wash this +garment clean with your blood." (Ursinus, p.375. Mai, 168. Zonaras, 8, +2.) + +5. Hearing this they ceased their jests but could accomplish nothing +towards obtaining pardon for their insult: however, they took to +themselves credit for a kindness in the fact that they let the +ambassadors withdraw unharmed. (Mai, ib.) + +6. ¶Meton, failing to persuade the Tarentini not to engage in +hostilities with the Romans, retired unobserved from the assembly, put +garlands on his head, and returned along with some fellow-revelers and a +flute girl. At the sight of him singing and dancing the kordax, they +gave up the business in hand to accompany his movements with shouts and +hand-clapping, as is often done under such circumstances. But he, after +reducing them to silence, spoke: "Now it is yours both to be drunken and +to revel, but if you accomplish what you plan to do, we shall be +slaves." (Mai, p.169.) + +[Frag. XL] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 281 (_a.u._ 473)] ¶King Pyrrhus was not only king of the +district called Epirus, but had made the larger part of the Greek world +his own, partly by kindness and partly by fear. The Ætolians, who at +that period possessed great power, and Philip [Footnote: The son of +Cassander, who ruled only four months in B. C. 296.] the Macedonian, and +the chief men in Illyricum did his bidding. By natural brilliancy and +force of education and experience in affairs he far surpassed all, so as +to be esteemed far beyond what was warranted by his own powers and those +of his allies, although these powers were great. (Valesius, p.589. +Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +2. ¶Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, had a particularly high opinion of his +powers in that he was deemed by foreign nations a match for the Romans: +and he believed that it would be opportune to assist the fugitives who +had taken refuge with him, especially as they were Greeks, and at the +same time to anticipate the Romans with some plausible excuse before he +received any damage at their hands. So careful was he about a fair +pretext that though he had long had his eye on Sicily and had been +considering how he could overthrow the Roman dominion, he shrank from +taking the initiative in hostilities, when no wrong had been done him. +(Mai, p.169. Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +3. ¶King Pyrrhus was said to have captured more cities by Cineas than by +his own spear. For the latter, says Plutarch, [Footnote: Cp. Plutarch, +Life of Pyrrhus, chapter 14.] was skilled in speaking,--the only one in +fact to be compared in skill with Demosthenes. Notwithstanding, as a +sensible man, he spoke in opposition to Pyrrhus, pointing out to him the +folly of the expedition. For the king intended by his prowess to rule +the whole earth, whereas Cineas urged him to be satisfied with his own +possessions, which were sufficient for enjoyment. But the man's fondness +for war and fondness for leadership prevailed against the advice of +Cineas and caused him to depart in disgrace from both Sicily and Italy, +after losing in all of the battles many myriads of his own forces. +(Valesius, p.586.) + +4. ¶Pyrrhus sent to Dodona and enquired of the oracle about the +expedition. And a response having come to him: "You, if you cross into +Italy, Romans shall conquer," he construed it according to his wish (for +desire has mighty power to deceive any one) and would not even await the +coming of spring. (Mai, p.169.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 280 (_a.u._ 474)] 5. ¶The Rhegians had asked of the +Romans a garrison, and Decius [Footnote: _Decius Vibellius_.] was the +leader of it. The majority of these guards, accordingly, as a result of +the excess of supplies and general easy habits,--for they enjoyed a far +less strenuous existence than they had known at home,--through the +persuasion of Decius formed the desire to kill the foremost Rhegians and +occupy the city. It seemed as though they might be quite free to perform +whatever they pleased, unconcerned about the Romans, who were busied +with the Tarentini and with Pyrrhus. Decius was further enabled to +persuade them by the fact that they saw Messana in the power of the +Mamertines. The latter, who were Campanians and had been appointed to +garrison it by Agathocles, the lord of Sicily, had slaughtered the +natives and occupied the town. + +The conspirators did not, however, make their attempt openly, since they +were decidedly inferior in numbers. Letters were forged by Decius, +purporting to have been written to Pyrrhus by some citizens with a view +to the betrayal of the city. He next assembled the soldiers and read +these to them, stating that they had been intercepted, and by his talk +(the character of which may easily be conceived) excited them greatly. +The effect was enhanced by the sudden announcement of a man (who had +been assigned to the role) that a portion of Pyrrhus's fleet had +anchored somewhere off the coast, having come for a conference with the +traitors. Others, who had been instructed, magnified the matter, and +shouted out that they must anticipate the Rhegians before some harm +happened, and that the traitors, ignorant of what was being done, would +find it difficult to resist them. So some rushed down to the landing +places, and others broke into the houses and slaughtered great +numbers,--save that a few had been invited to dinner by Decius and were +slain there. (Valesius, p.589.) + +6. ¶Decius, commander of the garrison, after slaying the Rhegians, +ratified friendship with the Mamertines, thinking that the similar +nature of their outrages would render them most trustworthy allies. He +was well aware that a great many men find the ties resulting from some +common transgression stronger to unite them than the obligations of +lawful association or the bonds of kinship. (Mai, p.170.) + +7. ¶The Romans suffered some reproach from them for a while, until such +time as they took the field against them. For since they were busied +with concerns that were greater and more urgent, what these men did +seemed to some of comparatively little importance. (Mai, p.170.) + +8. ¶The Romans, on learning that Pyrrhus was to come, stood in terror of +him, since they had heard that he was a good warrior and had a large +force by no means despicable as an adversary,--the sort of information, +of course, that is always given to enquirers in regard to persons +unknown to them who live at a very great distance. (Mai, p.170. Zonaras, +8,3.) + +9. For it is impossible that persons not brought up under the same +institutions, nor filled with the same ambitions, nor regarding the same +things as base or noble, should ever become friends with one +another. [Footnote: Nos. 9, 10, and 11 are thought to be possibly from +the speech made by Lævinus to the soldiers (Zonaras, VIII, 3, 6).] +(Mai, p. 537.) + +10. ¶Ambition and distrust are always qualities of tyrants, and so it is +inevitable that they should possess no real friend. A man who is +distrusted and envied could not love any one sincerely. Moreover, a +similarity of habits and a like station in life and the fact that the +same objects are disastrous and beneficial to persons are the only +forces that can create true, firm friends. Wherever any one of these +conditions is lacking, you see a delusive appearance of comradeship, but +find it to be without secure support. (Mai, p.170 and 537.) + +11. ¶Generalship, if it is assisted by respectable forces of men, +contributes greatly both to their preservation and their chances of +victory, but by itself is worth nothing. Nor is there any other +profession that is of weight without persons to coöperate and to aid in +its administration. (Mai, p.171.) + +12. ¶When Megacles was dead and Pyrrhus had cast off his cap the battle +took an opposite turn. One side was filled with much greater boldness by +his preservation and the fact that he had survived contrary to their +fears than if the idea had never gained ground that he was dead: the +other side, deceived, had no second fund of zeal to expend, but, since +they had been cut short in their premature encouragement and because of +the sudden change in their feelings to an expectation of less favorable +results, had no hope that he might subsequently perish once more. (Mai, +p.171. Zonaras, 8, 3.) + +13. ¶When certain men congratulated Pyrrhus on his victory, he accepted +the glory of the exploit, but said that if he should ever conquer again +in like fashion, it would be his ruin. Besides this story, it is told of +him that he admired the Romans even in their defeat and judged them +superior to his own soldiers, declaring: "I should already have mastered +the whole inhabited world, were I king of the Romans." (Mai, p.171. +Zonaras, 8, 3.) + +14. ¶Pyrrhus became famous for his victory and acquired a great +reputation from it, to such an extent that many who were standing +neutral came over to his side and that all the allies who had been +watching the turn of events espoused his cause. He did not openly +display anger towards them nor conceal entirely his suspicions; he +rebuked them somewhat for their tardiness, but otherwise received them +kindly. The result of showing excessive irritation would be, he feared, +their open estrangement, while if he failed to reveal his real feelings +at all, he thought that he would either be condemned by them for his +simplicity in not comprehending what they had done, or would be +suspected of harboring secret wrath. Such a surmise would breed in them +either contempt or hatred, or would lead to a plot against him, due to +the desire to anticipate injuries that they might suffer at his hands. +For these reasons, then, he conversed affably with them and presented to +them some of the spoils. (Mai, p.172. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +15. ¶Pyrrhus at first undertook to persuade the Roman captives (who +were many) to join with him in a campaign against Rome; when, however, +they refused, he treated them with the utmost consideration and did not +put them in prison or harm them in any other way, his intention being to +restore them voluntarily and through their agency to win over the city +without a battle. (Valesius, p.590.) + +16. ¶The Romans, who by reason of the elephants,--a kind of beast that +they had never before seen,--had fallen into dismay, still, by +reflecting on the mortal nature of the animals and the fact that no +beast is superior to man, but that all of them in every way show +inferiority if not as regards strength, at least in respect to +understanding, they gradually became encouraged. (Mai, p.172.) + +17. ¶The soldiers of Pyrrhus, also, both his native followers and the +allies, showed tremendous eagerness for plunder, which seemed to lie +ready before them and to be free from danger. (Mai, ib.) + +18. ¶The Epirots dishonored the ties of friendship, through vexation +that after making the campaign supported by high hopes they were getting +nothing except trouble. And this happened very opportunely for the +Romans: for the dwellers in Italy that had leagued themselves with him, +on seeing that he ravaged the possessions of allies and enemies alike, +withdrew. In other words, his acts made a greater impression upon them +than his promises. (Mai, ib.) + +19. ¶Pyrrhus dreaded being cut off on all sides by the Romans, while he +was in unfamiliar regions. When his allies showed displeasure at this he +told them that he could see clearly from the country itself what a +difference existed between them and the Romans. The subject territory +of the latter had all kinds of trees, vineyards and farms, and expensive +agricultural machinery; whereas the property of his own friends had been +so pillaged, that it was impossible to tell even whether it had ever +been settled. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +20. ¶The same man, when as he was retreating it occurred to him to +wonder [Footnote: Gap supplied by van Herwerden.] how he beheld the army +of Lævinus much larger than it was before, declared that the Roman +troops when cut to pieces grew whole again, hydra-fashion. This did not, +however, cause him to lose courage: he made preparations in his turn, +but did not come to the issue of battle. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8,4.) + +21. ¶Pyrrhus, who learned that Fabricius and other envoys were +approaching, to treat in behalf of the captives, sent a guard to them as +far as the border, to the end that they should suffer no violence at the +hands of the Tarentini, met them in due time, escorted them to the city, +entertained them brilliantly and honored them in other ways, expecting +that they would ask for a truce and make such terms as was proper for a +defeated party. (Ursinus, p.376. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +22. ¶When Fabricius made this statement merely: "The Romans sent us to +bring back the men captured in battle, and to pay ransoms of such size +for them as shall be agreed upon by both of us," he was quite +dumbfounded because the man did not say that he was commissioned to +treat about peace; and after removing them he took counsel with the +friends who were usually his advisers partly, to be sure, about the +return of the captives, but chiefly about the war and its management, +whether with vehemence or in some other way it [lacuna] (Four pages are +lacking.) (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +23 [lacuna]. "to manage, or to run the risk of battles and combats, the +outcome of which is doubtful. [Footnote: Cineas is the speaker.] Hence, +if you heed me, Milo, and the old proverb, you will not employ violence +for any purpose rather than skill, where the latter is feasible, since +Pyrrhus knows precisely what he has to do and does not need to be +enlightened by us regarding a single detail of his program." By this +speech they were all brought to one decision, particularly because this +course entailed neither loss nor danger, whereas the others were likely +to bring both. And Pyrrhus, being of this mind, said to the ambassadors: +"Not willingly, Romans, did I previously make war upon you, and I would +not war against you now: I feel that it is of the highest importance to +become your friend, and for this reason I release all the captives +without ransom and make a treaty of peace." Privately, also, he did them +favors, in order that, if possible, they might take his part, or at any +rate obtain friendship for him. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +24. Pyrrhus made friends of nearly all, and with Fabricius he conversed +as follows: "Fabricius, I do not want to be at war with you any longer, +and indeed I repent that I heeded the Tarentini in the first place and +came hither, although I have beaten you badly in battle. I would gladly, +then, become a friend to all the Romans, but most of all to you. For I +see that you are a thoroughly excellent and reputable [Footnote: The two +words "and reputable" are a conjecture of Bossevain's. Some ten letters +in the MS. have faded out.] man. I accordingly ask you to help me in +getting peace and furthermore to accompany me home. I want to make a +campaign against Greece and need you as adviser and general." Fabricius +replied: "I commend you for repenting of your expedition and desiring +peace, and will cordially assist you in that purpose if it is to our +advantage (for of course you will not ask me, a man who pretends to +uprightness, as you say, to do anything against my country); but an +adviser and general you must never choose from a democracy: as for me, I +have no leisure whatever. Nor could I ever accept any of these things, +because it is not seemly for an ambassador to receive gifts at all. I +would fain know, therefore, whether you in very truth regard me as a +reputable man or not. If I am a scoundrel, how is it that you deem me +worthy of gifts? If, on the other hand, I am a man of honor, how can you +bid me accept them? Let me assure you, then, of the fact that I have +many possessions and am in no need of more: what I own supplies me and I +feel no desire for what belongs to others. You, however, even if you +believe yourself ever so rich, are in unspeakable poverty. For you would +not have crossed over to this land, leaving behind Epirus and the rest +of your dominions, if you had been content with them and had not been +reaching out for more. Whenever a man is in this condition and sets no +limit to his greed, he is the poorest of beggars. And why? Because he +longs for everything not his own as if it were absolutely necessary, and +with the idea that he could not live without it. + +"Consequently I would gladly, since you call yourself my friend, afford +you a little of my own wealth. It is far more secure and imperishable +than yours, and no one envies it or plots against it, neither populace +nor tyrant: best of all, the larger the number of persons who share it, +the greater it will grow. In what, accordingly, does it consist? In +using the little one has with as much satisfaction as if it were +inexhaustible, in refraining from the goods of others as if they +contained some mighty danger, in wronging no man, in doing well to +many, and in numberless other details, which only a person of leisure +could rehearse. I, for my part, should choose, if it were absolutely +necessary to suffer either one or the other, to perish by violence +rather than by deceit. The former falls to the lot of some by the decree +of Fortune, but the latter only as a result of folly and great greed of +gain: it is, therefore, preferable to fall by the crushing hand of Fate +[Footnote: Omitting [Greek: ti], and reading [Greek: thehioy], which the +MSS. give.] rather than by one's own baseness. In the former instance a +man's body is laid low, but in the latter his soul is ruined as +well,[lacuna] but in that case a man becomes to a certain extent the +slayer of himself, because he who has once taught his soul not to be +content with the fortune already possessed, acquires a boundless desire +for increased advantages." (Mai, pp.174 and 538. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +25. And they presented themselves for the enlistment with the greatest +zeal, believing, each man of them, that his own defection would mean the +overthrow of the fatherland. [Footnote: Cp. Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus, +chapter 18 (early).] (Mai, p.176.) + +26. Such is the nature of oratory and so great is its power that it led +even them to change, causing courage and hatred to take the place +respectively of the fear inspired by Pyrrhus and the estrangements his +gifts had wrought. (Mai, ib.) + +27. ¶Every force which, contrary to expectation, is humbled in spirit, +suffers a loss also in strength. (Mai, p.177.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 279 (_a.u._ 475)] 28. ¶Pyrrhus sent to Decius, telling +him that he would not succeed in accomplishing this even if he wished it +[i. e., to die without being seized] and threatened besides that if he +were taken alive he should perish miserably. To this the consuls +answered that they were in no need of having recourse to such a +proceeding as the one to which he alluded, since they were sure to +conquer him in other ways. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 5.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 278 (_a.u._ 476)] 29. He did not know how he would +repulse the one of them [Footnote: "They" are C. Fabricius Luscinus and +Q. Aemilius Papus, Roman consuls.] first, nor how he should repel them +both, and was in perplexity. To divide the army, which was smaller than +that of his opponents, was something he feared to do, yet to allow one +of them to ravage the country with impunity seemed to him almost out of +the question. (Mai, p.177.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 277 (_a.u._ 477)] 30. However, he behaved in general +toward them with great circumspection, and awarded greater credit for +his safety to the fact that no one, even if he wished, could harm him, +than to the probability that no one would have desired to inflict an +injury. It was for this reason, too, that he expelled and slew many who +held office and many who called him in to help in their disputes. This +was partly because he was somewhat displeased with them, on account of +their statements that he had secured the reins of power in the State +through their influence, and partly because he was suspicious of them +and thought that as they had come over to his side so they might go over +to some one else's [lacuna] (Mai, p.178. Zonaras, 8, 5.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 276 (_a.u._ 479)] 31. ¶As the allies were unwilling to +contribute anything for the support of Pyrrhus, he betook himself to the +treasuries of Persephone, that were widely reputed for their wealth, +despoiled them and sent the spoils on ships to Tarentum. And the men +almost all perished through a storm, while the money and offerings were +cast out on land. (Valesius, p.590.) + +32. ¶All admired the following act of Pyrrhus. Some youths at a banquet +had ridiculed him, and at first he wished to have them before a court +and exact vengeance, but, afterward, when they declared: "We should have +said a lot more things a good deal worse, if the wine hadn't failed us," +he laughed and let them go. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 6.) + +[Frag. XLI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 273 (_a.u._ 481)] ¶Ptolemy, nicknamed Philadelphus, +king of Egypt, when he learned that Pyrrhus had fared poorly and that +the Romans were growing, sent gifts to them and made a compact. The +Romans, accordingly, pleased that a monarch living so very far away +should have come to respect them, despatched ambassadors to him in turn. +From him the envoys, too, received magnificent gifts; but when they had +offered these to the treasury, they would not accept them. (Ursinus, +p.374. Zonaras, 8, 6.) + +[Frag. XLII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 266 (_a.u._ 488)]¶Though the Romans were faring in this +manner and were constantly rising to greater heights they showed no +haughtiness as yet: on the contrary, they surrendered to the +Appolloniatians (Corinthian colonists on the Ionian Gulf) Quintus +Fabius, a senator, because he had insulted some of their ambassadors. +The people of this town, however, did him no harm, and even sent him +home. (Valesius, p.590. Zonaras, 8, 7.) + +[Frag. XLIII] + +1. ¶The causes responsible for the dispute between the two were--on the +side of the Romans that the Carthaginians had assisted the Tarentini, on +the side of the Carthaginians, that the Romans had made a treaty of +friendship with Hiero. But these they merely put forward as excuses, as +those are inclined to do who in reality are desirous of advancing their +own interests but pause before a reputation for such action. The truth +is different. As a matter of fact, the Carthaginians, who had long been +powerful, and the Romans, who were now growing rapidly, kept viewing +each other with jealousy; and they were incited to war partly by the +desire of continually getting more, according to the instinct of the +majority of mankind, most active when they are most successful, and +partly also by fear. Each alike thought that the one sure salvation for +her own possessions lay in obtaining what the other held. If there had +been no other reason, it was most difficult, nay, impossible, for two +nations that were free, powerful, and proud, and separated from each +other, so to speak, only a very short distance (considering the speed of +voyages) to rule any outside tribes and yet keep their hands off each +other. But a mere accident of the kind that befell broke the truce they +had been keeping and dashed them together in war. (Mai, p.178. Zonaras, +8, 8.) + +2. ¶The conflict, according to report, concerned Messana and Sicily, but +in reality both parties perceived that from this region danger +threatened their native land, and they thought that the island, lying, +as it did, between them, would furnish to the side that conquered it a +safe base for operations against the other party. (Mai, p.179. Zonaras, +8, 8.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 264 (_a.u._ 490)] 3. ¶Gaius Claudius came to the meeting, +and among other remarks which he made to tempt them declared that the +object of his presence was to free the city, since the Romans had no +need of Messana; and that he would immediately sail away, as soon as he +should set their affairs in order. Next he bade the Carthaginians also +either to withdraw, or, if they had any just plea to offer, to submit +to arbitration. Now when not one of the Mamertines (by reason of fear) +opened his lips, and the Carthaginians since they were occupying the +city by force of arms paid little heed to him, he stated that the +silence on both sides afforded sufficient evidence: on the part of the +invaders it showed that they were in the wrong, for they would have +justified themselves if their purposes were at all honest, and on the +part of the Mamertines that they desired freedom; they might have been +quite free to speak, had they espoused the cause of the Carthaginians, +especially as there was a force of the latter present. Furthermore he +promised that he would aid them, both on account of their Italian origin +and on account of the request for assistance they had made. (Mai, p.179. +Zonaras, 8,8.) + +4. ¶Gaius Claudius lost some of the triremes and with difficulty reached +safety. Neither he nor the Romans in the City, however, were prevented +from renewing attempts by sea through the fact that they had been +worsted when first making a trial of it, although this is the ordinary +course that people pursue who fail in the first undertaking and think +that they can never again succeed, viewing the past in the light of an +omen. On the contrary, they applied themselves to the watery element +with an even greater zeal, and chiefly because they were ambitious and +did not wish to appear to have been diverted from their purpose by the +disaster. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras 8, 8, sq.) 5. ¶Hanno, who was in no wise +disposed to make light of the war in case it were bound to occur, was +particularly anxious to throw the responsibility for breaking the truce +upon the other man, for fear it might be thought that he himself was +taking the initiative. Accordingly, he sent back to him the ships and +the captives, while he urged him to accept peace and exhorted him +besides not to meddle with the sea. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +6. ¶When he would accept nothing, he launched at him an arrogant and +reprehensible threat. For he declared that he would never allow the +Romans even to wash their hands in the sea: yet he lost not only the sea +but also Messana not much later. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +7. ¶Claudius, finding the Mamertines gathered at the harbor, called an +assembly of their number and made the statement: "I have no need of arms +but will leave it with you to decide everything." By this means he +persuaded them to send for Hanno. As the latter refused to come down, he +chid him soundly, inveighing against him and declaring that if he had +even the slightest justification, he would certainly hold a conference +with him and not persist in occupying the city by force. (Mai, p.180. +Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +8. ¶The consul Claudius exhorted the soldiers beforehand to be of good +cheer and not to be cast down over the defeat of the tribune. He +instructed them that in the first place victories fall to the lot of the +better equipped, and that secondly their valor far surpassed the skill +of their opponents. They would acquire, he said, the knowledge of +seafaring in a short time, whereas the Carthaginians would never have +bravery equal to theirs. Knowledge was something that could be obtained +in a brief space by men who gave their minds to it and could be mastered +by practice; but bravery, in case it were absent from a man's nature, +could never be furnished by instruction. (Mai, p. 181.) + +9. ¶ The Libyans, rejoicing in the idea that they had conquered not +through the nature of their position, but by their own valor, sallied +out. But Claudius made them so fearful that they would not even peep out +of the camp. (Mai, p. 181. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +10. For it happens in the majority of instances that those who as a +result of calculation fear something are successful by reason of their +precaution against it, whereas those whose boldness rests on lack of +forethought, are ruined on account of their unguarded condition. +[Footnote: The Carthaginians are, in a general way, the subject of this +section.] (Mai, p. 539.) + +11. The quality of moderation both obtains victories and preserves them +after they are won, whereas that of wantonness can prevail against +nothing, and if it be at any time fortunate in some matter, very easily +destroys it. And again, if it perchance preserves some conquest, it +grows worse by the very fact of extraordinary good fortune and so far +from being benefited by its success is actually ruined by it +irretrievably. + +Moreover, whenever there is boldness not in accord with reason, you may +expect to find unreasoning fear. Calculation, bringing with it +resolution strengthened by forethought, and a hope made confident by its +own trustworthiness do not allow one to be either dejected or +presumptuous. Unreasoning impulse, however, often elates men in the +midst of good fortune and humbles them to dust in disasters, possessing, +as it were, no support, but always copying the feature of the chance +event. (Mai, p. 539 and p. 181.) + +12. ¶ The Romans and Carthaginians when they entered upon war were +equally matched in the number of ships and readiness to serve. +[Sidenote: B.C. 260 (_a.u._ 494)] It was a naval battle soon after in +which, with equal equipment, they first became engaged. They hoped that +it would decide the whole war: Sicily lay before their eyes as the +prize: they were contending in a matter of servitude or empire, resolved +not to be beaten, lest they taste the former, but to conquer and obtain +the latter. One side surpassed in the experience possessed by the crews +of its triremes, since they had long been masters of the sea, and the +other in the strength of its marines and its daring; for the rashness +and audacity of their fighting was commensurate with their inexperience +in naval affairs. In matters of experience practically all men make +exact calculations and are imbued with wholesome fear, even if their +judgment approves a particular course, but the untried renders them +unreasonably bold, and draws them into conflict through lack of due +consideration. (Mai, p.181.) + +13. ¶The Carthaginians because of their defeat by the Romans in the +sea-fight came near putting Hannibal to death. It is a trait of +practically all people who send out armies on any mission to lay claims +to advantage gained but to put the responsibility of defeat upon their +leaders, and the Carthaginians were very ready to chastise those who +failed in an enterprise. + +He, however, was afraid and immediately after the defeat enquired of +them whether if the business were still untouched they would bid him +risk a sea-fight or not. When they declared in the affirmative, as he +had doubtless expected, because they prided themselves on having such a +superior navy, he added, by the mouths of the same messengers: "I, then, +have done no wrong, for I went into the engagement with the same hopes +as you. The decision was within my power but not the fortune of the +battle." (Mai, p.182. Zonaras, 8, 11.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 258 (_a.u._ 496)] 14. Dio in Book 11: "When the storm +continued and a mist arose besides, he brought about Hannibal's defeat +through the agency of some deserters." (Bekker, Anecd. p.171, 26. +Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +15. But regarding the non-surrender of their native land and the +acquirement of foreign territory as matters of equal importance, they +[Footnote: I.e., The Carthaginians.] contended with courage and force. +For whereas most men defend their own possessions to the very limit of +their power but are unwilling to lay claim to the goods of others if it +involves danger, these antagonists set a like value upon what they held +fast and what they expected, and so were equally determined upon both +points. Now the Romans thought it better to conduct the war no longer at +a distance, nor to risk a first encounter in the islands, but to have +the contest in the Carthaginians' own land. If they failed, they would +lose nothing; and if they conquered they would obtain something besides +hopes. Therefore, making their preparation follow their resolve, they +took the field against Carthage. (Mai, p. 183. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 256 (_a.u._ 498)] 16. Their leaders were Regulus and +Lucius, preferred before others for their excellence. Regulus was, +indeed, in so great poverty that he did not readily consent, on that +account, to take up the command; and it was voted that his wife and +children should be furnished their support from the public treasury. +(Valesius, p. 593. Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +17. ¶ Hanno had been sent to the Romans by Hamilcar, as was pretended, +in behalf of peace, but in reality for the sake of delay. And he, when +some clamored for his arrest, because the Carthaginians by fraud +[lacuna] Cornelius [lacuna] [Mai, p. 183.] Four pages of the MS. are +lacking. (Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +18. Dio the Roman, who wrote a history about the Empire and the Republic +of Rome and describes the far-famed Carthaginian war, says that when +Regulus, + +[Sidenote: B.C. 256 (_a.u._ 498)] consul for Rome, was warring against +Carthage, a serpent suddenly crept out of the palisade of the Roman army +and lay there. By his command the Romans slew the reptile and having +flayed it sent its skin, a great prodigy, to the Roman senate. And when +measured by the same senate (as the same Dio says) it was found to have +a length of one hundred and twenty feet. In addition to its length its +thickness was also notable. (Ioannes Damascenus, On Serpents, vol. I, p. +472, A.B. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 13.) + +19. ¶ The Carthaginians in fear of capture sent heralds to the consul to +the end that by some satisfactory arrangement they might turn aside the +danger of the moment, and so escape. But since they refused to withdraw +from both Sicily and Sardinia, to release the Roman captives free of +cost and to ransom their own, to make good all the expenses incurred by +the Romans for the war and besides to pay more as tribute each year, +they accomplished nothing. And in addition to the above mentioned, there +were the following commands which displeased them: that they should make +neither war nor treaties without the consent of the Romans, that they +should employ not more than one warship but the Romans would come to +their aid with fifty triremes as often as notice should be sent them, +and that they would not be on an equal footing in conducting some other +kinds of business. Considering these points they decided that the truce +would mean their utter subjugation, and preferred rather to fight with +the Romans. (Ursinus, p. 376. Zonaras, 8, 13.) + +20. Dio in Book 11: "The Carthaginians kept watch for their ships +homeward bound and captured several heavily laden with money." (Bekker, +Anecd. p. 131, 12. Zonaras, 8, 14.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 251 (_a.u._ 503)] 21. ¶ They say the Carthaginians sent +heralds to the Romans on account of the great number of the captives +(among other causes), and most of all to see if they would be inclined +to make peace on some moderate terms; if this could not be effected, +their purpose still held to get back the captives. They say that +Regulus, too, had been sent among the envoys because of his reputation +and valor. The people assumed that the Romans would do anything whatever +in the hope of getting him back, so that he might even be delivered up +alone in return for peace, or at any rate in exchange for the captives. +Accordingly, they bound him by mighty oaths and pledges to return +without fail in case neither of their objects should be accomplished, +and they despatched him as an envoy with others. + +And he acted in all respects like a Carthaginian, not a Roman; for he +did not even grant his wife leave to confer with him nor did he enter +the city, although he was invited: instead, when the senate assembled +outside of the walls, as their custom was in treating with the envoys of +the enemy, he asked for permission to approach with the others--at +least, so the story goes, [lacuna] (Ursinus, p. 377. Zonaras, 8, 15.) + +22. Dio in Book 11: "Regulus paid no heed to them until the +Carthaginians permitted him to do so." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 140, 20. +Zonaras, 8, 15.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 251 (_a.u._ 503)] 23. Dio in Book 11: "For it is neither +my duty nor that of any other upright man to give up aught that pertains +to the public welfare." (Ib. p. 165, 23.) + +24. In Book 11: "Any one else, wishing to console himself for the +disaster which had happened in his own case, would have exalted the +prowess of the enemy." (Ib. p. 165, 30.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 249 (_a.u._ 505)] 25. The second part of the augury is +transmitted to us by Dio Cassius Cocceianus, who says that they keep +tame birds which eat barley, and put barley grains in front of them when +they seek an omen. If, then, in the course of eating the birds do not +strike the barley with their beaks and toss it aside, the sign is good; +but if they do so strike the grain, it is not good. (Io. Tzetzes, +Exegesis of Homer's Iliad, p. 108, 2.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 244 (_a.u._ 510)] 26. He [sc. Mamilcar] thought it was +requisite for a man who wished to accomplish anything by secret means +not to make the matter known to anyone at all. There was no one, he +believed, so self-possessed as to be willing, when he had heard, merely +to observe operations and be silent. Just the reverse was true: the more +strongly a man might be forbidden to mention anything, the greater would +be his desire to speak of it, and thus one man learning the secret from +another with the understanding that he was the only person to know it +would reveal the story. [Footnote: Section 26 may refer to Hamilcar +Barca's plans for seizing Mount Eryx.] (Mai, p. 540. Cp. Diodorus, 24, +7.) + +27. In Book 11 of Dio: "He feasted the populace." [Footnote: Boissevain +thinks that No. 27 may concern the banqueting of the populace during +Metellus's triumph. Others have other opinions.] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 133, +24.) + +28. In Book 11 of Dio: "You attack even such friends as have been guilty +of any error, whereas I pardon even my enemies." (Ib. p.171, 29.) + +29. In Book 12 of Dio: "By the one process [Footnote: Perhaps from the +speech of Regulus to the senators.] he might have become to a certain +extent estranged from you." (Ib. p.124, 4.) 30. In Book 12 of Dio: "Some +are dead, and others who were deserving of some notice, have been +captured." [Footnote: This may be likewise from the speech of Regulus +and be said of the Carthaginian leaders.] (Ib. p. 133,25.) + +[Frag. XLIV] + +1. For the Ligurians occupy the whole shore from Etruria up to the Alps +and as far as Gaul, according to Dio's statement. (Isaac Tzetzes, on +Lycophron, 1312.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 236 (_a.u._ 518)] 2. The Romans at first sent Claudius +to the Corsicans and gave him up. This was after he had made terms with +them, but his countrymen, who claimed that the fault in breaking the +compact rested on him and not on themselves, had waged war upon them and +subdued them. When the Corsicans refused to receive him, the Romans +drove him out. (Valesius, p.593. Zonaras, 8, 18.) + +[Frag. XLV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 235 (_a.u._ 519)] 1. ¶The Romans after exacting also +money from the Carthaginians, renewed the truce. And at first when an +embassy from the latter arrived, they returned no proper answer, because +they were aware of the state of their own equipment and because they +were themselves still busied at that time with the war against the +neighboring tribes. After this, however, Hanno, a man of youthful years +who employed striking frankness of speech, was sent. He touched +unreservedly on a number of other subjects and finally his appeal--"If +you don't want to be at peace, restore to us both Sardinia and Sicily; +for with these we purchased not a temporary respite but eternal +friendship"--caused them to become milder and ashamed [lacuna] (Ursinus, +p.378. Zonaras, 8, 18.) + +2[lacuna] lest [Footnote: Preceding this fragment four pages of the MS. +are missing.] they might suffer the same injuries in return, so that +they were very glad to delay,--the one side choosing to preserve the +prosperity that was an inheritance of the past, and the other to cling +to the possessions which were still theirs. To judge by their threats +they were no longer maintaining peace, but in fact they still +deliberated about the matter, so that all could see that whichever of +the two found it to his advantage to create the first disturbance would +also be the one to begin war. Most men abide by their agreements just so +long as suits their own convenience. If they have in view a greater +resultant benefit to themselves, they deem it safe even to break some +compact. (Mai, p.184.) + +[Frag. XLVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 231 (_a.u._ 523)] ¶Once in the consulship of Marcus +Pomponius and Gaius Papirius they despatched envoys to investigate +affairs in Spain, although none of the Spanish States had ever yet +belonged to them. He, [Footnote: A reference to some previous proper +name, outside this fragment.] besides showing them other honors, +addressed them in suitable words, declaring that he was obliged to fight +against the Spaniards in order that the money which was still owing to +the Romans on the part of the Carthaginians might be paid; for it was +impossible to obtain it from any other source. The envoys were +consequently embarrassed to know how to censure him. (Mai, p.184) + +[Frag. XLVII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 230 (_a.u._ 524)] 1. ¶The island of Issa surrendered +itself voluntarily to the Romans. This was the first time the islanders +were about to make the acquaintance of the latter, but they judged them +more friendly and faithful than the powers which they then dreaded. +Calculation caused them to place more dependence on the unknown than on +the evident; for while the latter had aroused irritation through the +dealings already had with it, the former afforded good hope, because its +actions were as yet only matters of expectation. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, +19.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 230 (_a.u._ 524)] 2. When the Issæans had attached +themselves to the Romans, the latter, being ready and anxious to do them +some favor in return forthwith, so as to get the reputation of aiding +such as espoused their cause and also for the purpose of restraining the +Ardiasans, who were annoying those that sailed from Brundusium,--for +these reasons they sent messengers to Agro, who were to ask clemency for +the Issæans and censure the king in that he was wronging them without +previous cause. Now these men found Agro no longer in existence: he had +died, leaving behind a child named Pineus. Teuta, Agro's wife and +stepmother of Pineus, held the power over the Ardiæans,[lacuna] Being +[lacuna] by boldness, she made no moderate response to their requests, +but woman-like she showed a vanity (due to innate recklessness as well +as to the power that she was holding) by casting some of the ambassadors +into prison and killing others for speaking frankly. Such was her action +at that time, and she actually took pride in it as if she had displayed +some strength by her facile cruelty. In a very short space, however, she +proved the weakness of the female sex, for as she had quickly flown into +a passion through short-sightedness of judgment, so through cowardice +she was quickly terrified. As soon as she learned that the Romans had +voted for war against her she was panic-stricken, and promised to +restore their men whom she held, while she tried to defend herself for +the death of the others, declaring that they had been slain by some +robbers. When the Romans were thus led to cease temporarily their +campaign and demand the surrender of the murderers, she showed contempt +again, because the danger was not yet at her doors, and declaring that +she would not give anybody up despatched an army against Issa. When she +learned that the consuls were at hand she grew terrified again, gave +over her high spirit, and became ready to heed them in every minutest +detail. She had not yet, however, been fully brought to her senses, for +when the consuls had crossed over to Corcyra she felt imbued with new +courage, revolted, and despatched an army against Epidamnus and +Apollonia. After the Romans had rescued the cities and at the news of +their capture of ships and treasures of hers she was on the point of +again yielding obedience. Meanwhile in the course of scaling certain +heights overlooking the sea they were worsted near the Atyrian hill and +she now waited, hoping, in view of the fact that it was really winter +already, for their withdrawal. But on perceiving that Albinus remained +where he was and Demetrius as a result of her caprice as well as from +fear of the Romans had transferred his allegiance, besides persuading +some others to desert, she became utterly terrified and gave up her +sovereignty. (Ursinus, p. 378. Zonaras, 8, 19.) + +[Frag. XLVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 228 (_a.u._ 526)] In the time of Fabius Maximus +Berucosus ("full of warts") the Romans did this, after burying in the +middle Of the Forum a Greek and a Gallic couple, man and woman: they +were frightened by a certain oracle which said that Greek and Gaul +should occupy the city. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 603, 1056. Cp. +Zonaras, 8, 19.) + +[Frag. XLIX] + +1. ¶ The Romans were being frightened by an oracle of the Sibyl which +urged the necessity of guarding against the Gauls when a thunderbolt +should fall upon the Capitol near the temple of Apollo. (Mai, p. 185.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 225 (_a.u._ 529)] 2. ¶ The Gauls became dejected on +seeing that the Romans had taken beforehand the most favorable +locations. All men if they obtain the object of their first aim proceed +more readily toward their subsequent goals, but if they miss it, lose +interest in everything else. They, however, after the Gallic fashion and +more than is usual with the rest of mankind, lay hold very eagerly of +what they desire and cling most tenaciously to any success, but if they +meet with the slightest obstacle have no hope left for the future. Folly +makes them inclined to expect whatsoever they wish, and their spirited +temperament ready to carry out whatsoever they undertake. They are given +to violent anger and dash headlong into enterprises, and for that reason +they have within themselves no quality of endurance (since it is +impossible for reckless audacity to prevail for any time), and if they +once suffer any setback they are unable (especially by reason of the +fear to which they then fall a prey) to recover themselves: they are +plunged into a state of panic corresponding to their previous fearless +daring. In a brief period they rush vehemently to the most opposite +extremes, since they can furnish no motive based on calculation for +either action. (Mai, p. 185.) + +3. ¶ Æmilius on conquering the Insubres celebrated a triumph and in it +conveyed the foremost captives clad in armor up to the Capitol, making +jests upon them because he had heard that they had sworn not to remove +their breastplates before they had ascended the Capitol. (Mai, p. 186. +Zonaras, 8, 20.) + +[Frag. L] + +¶ If any of the details, even the smallest, that were customary in +festivals had been missed, they renewed the ceremonial proceedings at +any rate a second and a third time, and even more times still, so far as +was possible in one day, till everything seemed to them to have been +done faultlessly. (Mai, p. 186. Zonaras, 8, 20.) + +[Frag. LI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 219 (_a.u._ 535)] ¶ Demetrius, elated by his position as +guardian of Pineus and by the fact that he had married the latter's +mother Triteuta (Teuta was dead), was hateful to the natives and injured +the property of neighboring tribes. So they summoned him before them +(since it appeared that it was by misusing the friendship of the Romans +that he was able to wrong those peoples) as soon as they heard of it. +When he refused compliance and actually assailed their allies, they made +a campaign against Issa, where he was. (Valesius, p.593. Zonaras, 8, +20.) + +[Frag. LII] + +1. ¶The Romans were at their prime in equipment for war and enjoyed +absolute harmony among themselves. Whereas the majority of persons are +led by unmixed good fortune to audacity but by a tremendous fear to +proper behavior, they had quite a different experience at that time in +those matters. The more successes they had the more sober it made them; +against their enemies they displayed the kind of boldness that partakes +of bravery, while toward one another they employed that right dealing +which is closely connected with good order. [Footnote: The word for +"good order" is conjectured by van Herwerden.] They held their power +with a view to the practice of moderation and kept their orderliness for +the acquirement of a true bravery: they did not allow their good fortune +to develop into wantonness, nor their right dealing into cowardice. They +believed that in case of such laxity temperance might be ruined by +bravery and boldness by boldness; but that when people exercised care, +as they did, moderation was made more secure by bravery and good fortune +rendered surer by discipline. This was the reason for their vast +superiority over the enemies that encountered them and for their +excellent administration of both their own affairs and those of the +allies. (Mai, p. 186.) + +2. ¶ All who dwelt on the near side of the Alps revolted to join the +Carthaginians, not because they preferred the Carthaginians to the +Romans as leaders, but because they hated the force that ruled them and +were for welcoming the untried. The Carthaginians had allies against the +Romans from every one of the tribes that then existed; but Hannibal was +worth nearly all of them. He could comprehend matters very quickly and +plan the details of every project that he laid to heart, notwithstanding +the fact that generally sureness is the product of slowness and only +rash decisions result from hastiness of disposition. He was most +[lacuna] when given the smallest margin of time, and most enduring with +a very great degree of reliability. He managed in a safe way the affair +of the moment and showed skill in considering the future beforehand: he +proved himself a most capable counselor in ordinary events and a very +accurate judge of the unusual. By these powers he handled the issue +immediately confronting him very readily and in the shortest time, while +by calculation he anticipated the future afar off and considered it as +though it were actually present. Consequently he, more than any man, met +each occasion with suitable words and acts, because he made no +distinction between what he possessed and what he hoped for. He was able +to conduct matters so for the reason that in addition to his natural +capacity he was well versed in much Phoenician learning, common to his +country, and likewise much Greek, and furthermore he understood +divination by inspection of entrails. (Mai, p. 187 and Valesius, p. +593.) + +3. With such intellectual qualities he had brought his body to a state +of equal perfection, partly by nature, partly by practice, so that he +could carry out easily everything that he took in hand. It was nimble +and at the same time heavy to the utmost degree, and he could, +therefore, run, fight, and ride safely at full speed. He never burdened +himself with overmuch food, nor suffered annoyance by lack of it, but +took more or less with equal grace, feeling that either was +satisfactory. Hardship made him rugged, and on loss of sleep he grew +strong. + +Having these advantages of mind and body he universally administered +affairs in a fashion now to be described. Since he saw that most men +were trustworthy only in what concerned their own interest, he himself +dealt with them in this manner and expected the same treatment of them, +so that he very often succeeded by deceiving persons and very seldom +failed by being the object of a plot. He regarded as hostile every force +that could gain an advantage both among foreigners and among kinsmen +alike, and did not wait to learn their intentions from their acts, but +handled them quite unsparingly, assuming that they were anxious to +commit a wrong when they could: he thought it better to be the first to +act than the first to suffer, and resolved that the rest of the world +should be dependent on him, and not he upon other persons. In fine, he +paid attention to the nature of things, rather than to their reputed +good points, as often as the two did not happen to coincide. He also, +however, prized extravagantly whatever he needed. Slaves, most of them, +he esteemed in that way, and beheld them willing to encounter danger for +him even contrary to their own advantage. For these reasons he often +himself refrained from opportunities for gain and other most delightful +pleasures, but gave a share ungrudgingly to them. Hence he could get +them to be not unwilling partners in hard work. He subjected himself not +only to the same conditions of living as these men, but also to the same +dangers and was the first to accomplish every task that he demanded of +them. Likewise he was confident that they, too, without pretexts and +with zeal,--since he showed his care for them not in words only,--would +help him effect his projects. + +Toward the rest he always behaved quite proudly; and the whole +multitude, in consequence, felt either good-will or fear toward him +because of their similar conditions of life, on the one hand, and +because of his haughtiness on the other. Accordingly, he was fully able +to bring low the towering head, to exalt humility, and to inspire all +whom he pleased, in the shortest period, one with hesitation, another +with boldness, with hope also and despair regarding most important +matters. + +And that this information about him is not false, but is truthful +tradition, his works are proof. Much of Spain he won over in a short +time, and from there carried the war into Italy through the country of +the Gauls, most of whom were not only not in league with him, but +actually unknown to him. He was the first of non-Europeans, so far as we +know, to cross the Alps with an army, and after that he made a campaign +against Rome itself, sundering from it almost all its allies, some by +force and others by persuasion. This, however, he achieved by himself +without the aid of the Carthaginian government. He was not sent forth in +the beginning by the magistrates at home, nor did he later obtain any +considerable assistance from them. While they were on the eve of +enjoying the greatest glory and benefit through his efforts, they +wished rather not to appear to be leaving him in the lurch than to +coöperate effectively in any enterprise. (Valesius, p. 593.) + +[Frag. LIII] + +Dio Cocceianus calls the Narbonenses _Bebruces_, writing this: "To those +who of old were Bebruces, but now Narbonenses, belongs the Pyrenees +range. This range is the boundary between Spain and Gaul." (Isaac +Tzetzes on Lycophron, 516. Zonaras, 8, 21.) + +[Frag. LIV] + +1. ¶ Peace both creates wealth and preserves it, but war both expends it +and destroys it. [Footnote: The first eight sections of this fragment +seem to be taken from speeches of Romans in the senate-house. Nos. 1 and +2 are apparently the words of an unknown individual discouraging the +eagerness for war; Nos. 3 and 4 may be spoken by Lentulus, urging war; +and Nos. 5 to 8 may contain the opposing arguments of Fabius.](Mai, p. +188.) + +2. ¶Every human being is so constituted as to desire to lord it over +such as yield, and to employ the turn of Fortune's scale against +voluntary slaves. (Mai, ib.) + +3. But do you who know the facts and have experienced them, think that +propriety and humaneness are sufficient for your safety? And do you +regard listlessly all the wrongs they have committed against us by +stealth or deceit or violence? Are you not stimulated, are you not for +paying them back or for defending yourselves? Then again, you have never +reflected that such behavior is in place for you toward one another, but +toward the Carthaginians is cowardly and base. Our citizens we must +treat in a gentle and politic fashion; if one be preserved unexpectedly, +he is of our possessions: but harsh treatment is for the enemy. We shall +save ourselves not by our defeats as a result of sparing them, but by +our victories that will come from abasing them. (Mai, p.188.) + +4. ¶War both preserves men's own possessions and wins the property of +others, whereas peace destroys not only what has been bestowed by war +but itself in addition. (Mai, pp.188 and 541.) + +[Frag. LIV] + +5. ¶It is base to proceed to action ere arguments about the matter have +been heard: for in such a case, if successful, you will be thought to +have enjoyed good fortune rather than to have employed good counsel, and +if worsted, to have taken your resolution without forethought, at a time +when there was no profit in it. And yet who does not know this,--that to +heap up reproaches and to accuse people that have once warred against us +is very easy--any man can do it--whereas, to say what is advantageous +for the State, not in anger over other men's deeds, but with a view to +the State's benefit, is really the duty of the advising class? Do not +irritate us, Lentulus, nor persuade us to begin war until you show us +that it shall be really for our advantage. Reflect particularly (though +there are other considerations) that speaking here about deeds of war is +not the same sort of thing as their actual performance. (Mai, p.189.) + +6. Men are often set on their feet by disasters, and many who use them +wisely fare better than those who are completely fortunate and for that +very reason wanton. Somehow ill luck seems to hold no inconsiderable +portion of benefit, because it does not permit men to lose their senses +or indulge in extreme wantonness. For naturally it is most advisable to +set one's face steadfastly toward all the best things, and to make not +possibility, but calculation, the measure of desire. And if a man be not +able to prefer what is more excellent, it will still pay him to behave, +even unwillingly, with moderation so as to regard in the light of +happiness even the failure to be fortunate in all cases. (Mai, p.542.) + +7. It is imperative to be on one's guard against any similar experience +again,--that being the only benefit that can come from disasters. +Repeated good fortune occasionally ruins those who unthinkingly base +their hopes upon it, believing they are sure of another victory, whereas +failures compel every one as a result of his past trouble to provide for +the future carefully beforehand. (Mai, pp.189 and 542.) + +8. ¶For securing the favor of the gods or a good reputation among men it +is no small thing to escape the appearance of creating war, and seem to +be compelled to defend the existing population. (Mai, p.189.) + +9. After speeches of this character on both sides they determined to +prepare for fighting: they would not vote that way however, but +determined to send envoys to Carthage and denounce Hannibal; then, if +the Carthaginians refrained from approving his exploits, they would +arbitrate the matter, or if all responsibility were laid on his +shoulders, they would demand his extradition; if he were given up, well; +otherwise they would declare war. (Mai, p.190. Zonaras, 8, 22.) + +10. ¶When the Carthaginians made no definite answer to the envoys and +instead behaved contemptuously toward them, Marcus [Footnote: According +to Livy (XXI, 18, 1) his name was _Quintus_. Willems suggests emending +to Maximus here.] Fabius thrust his hands beneath his toga and holding +them with palms upward said: "Here I bring to you, Carthaginians, both +war and peace: do you choose unequivocally whichever of them you wish." +Upon their replying to this challenge even then that they chose neither +but would readily accept either that the Romans left with them, he +declared war upon them. (Mai, p.190. Zonaras, 8, 22.) + +[Frag. LV] + +¶The Romans invited the Narbonenses to an alliance. But the latter +declared that they had never suffered any harm from the Carthaginians or +received any favor from the Romans that they should war against the one +or defend the other, and were quite angry with them, charging that the +Romans had often treated their kinsmen outrageously. (Mai, p.190.) + +[Frag. LVI] + +1. ¶From such an expectation, Dio says, already acquired from that +source, the Romans and Carthaginians had reached a state in which they +had formed the most different judgments regarding the administration of +the war. For hopefulness, in that it leads all men to cheerfulness, +renders them also more active and confident, possessed of a faith that +they will be victorious; lack of hope casts them into dejection and +despair, and deprives of strength even the naturally stout-hearted. +(Mai, p.191.) + +2. Just as matters at a great distance and quite unknown are accustomed +to disturb many men, so now they struck no little fear to the hearts of +the Spaniards. [Footnote: This refers to the Spaniards' refusing, at the +start, to undertake a campaign. Cp. Livy, XXI, 23.] For the majority of +the multitude that makes a campaign not for any reason of its own but +ranking as an allied force is a strong force just so long as it has the +hopes of obtaining some benefit without danger. But when the men reach +the vicinity of the conflict, they are frightened out of their hopes of +gain and lose their faith in promises. And the most of them have gotten +it into their heads that they are by all means going to be successful in +any case; consequently, even if they should meet with some reverse, they +esteem it lightly in comparison with the hopes which have been +offsetting it. (Mai, p.191. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 218 (_a.u._ 536)] 3. When the preparations failed to be +sufficient in any respect for the size of Hannibal's army, and some one +on this account suggested to him that the soldiers be fed on the flesh +of their opponents, he did not take the idea amiss, but said he feared +that some day through lack of bodies of that kind they might turn to +eating one another. (Mai, p.191. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +4. ¶Hannibal before beginning operations called together the soldiers +and brought in the captives whom he had taken by the way: he enquired of +the latter whether they wished to undergo imprisonment in fetters and to +endure a grievous slavery or to fight in single combat one with another +on condition that the victors should be released. When they chose the +second alternative, he set them to fighting. And at the end of the +conflict he said: "Now is it not shameful, fellow-soldiers, that these +men who have been captured by us are so disposed toward bravery as to be +eager to die in place of becoming slaves, whereas we shrink from +incurring a little toil and danger for the purpose of not being +subservient to others,--yes, and ruling them besides?" (Mai, p.192. +Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +5. All the sufferings that we have endured when occasionally defeated by +the enemy we will inflict upon them, if we are victorious. Be well +assured that by conquering we shall obtain all the benefits that I +mention, but if conquered we shall not even have a safe means of escape. +The victor straightway finds everything friendly, even if possibly it +hates him, and to the vanquished no one even of his own household pays +any longer heed. (Mai, pp. 543 and 192.) + +6. ¶To have once failed in an enterprise against some foes puts them +forever out of countenance, and is a preventative of any future courage. +(Mai, p. 192.) + +7. For the whole Gallic race is naturally more or less eccentric and +cowardly and faithless. Just as they are readily emboldened in the face +of hopes, so (only more readily) when frightened do they fall into a +panic. The fact that they were no more faithful to the Carthaginians +will teach the rest of mankind a lesson never to dare to invade Italy. +(Mai, p. 192. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 24.) + +8. ¶Many portents, [Footnote: Cp. Livy XXI, 62, and XXII, I, 8-20.] some +of which had actually occurred and others which were the product of idle +talk, became the subject of conversation. For when persons get seriously +frightened and those [lacuna] are in reality proven to have occurred to +them, oftentimes others are imagined. And if once any of the former +phenomena is believed, heedlessly at once the rest [lacuna] + +Accordingly, the sacrifices were offered and all the other ceremonies +were accomplished which men are in the habit of performing for the cure +of their temporary terror and for escape from expected ruin. Yet the +race of men is wont to trust such agencies, hoping in the line of +improvement, and so now, even if because of the greatness of the danger +awaited they thought that the harshest fate would fall upon them, still +they kept hoping that they would not be defeated. (Mai, p. 192.) + +9. ¶ The Romans proclaimed Fabius dictator, satisfied if they could +themselves survive, and neither despatched any aid to the allies nor +[lacuna] but learning that Hannibal had turned aside from Campania, they +made sure of the former's safety through fear that they might change +sides either willingly or under compulsion. (Mai, p. 193. Zonaras, 8, +25.) + +10. ¶ Fabius continued to besiege him from a safe distance instead of in +dangerous proximity; he would not venture to make a trial of men skilled +in the art of war, and made the safety of the soldiers a matter of great +circumspection because of the scarcity of the citizens, deeming it no +disaster to fail of destroying the forces of the enemy but a great one +to lose any of his troops. The Carthaginians, he believed, by means of +their enormous multitude would encounter danger again even if once +defeated, but if the smallest part of his own army met with failure he +calculated that he should find himself in every extremity of evil; this +would not be due to the number of the dead on any such occasion but to +the previous setbacks endured. He was in the habit of saying that men +with powers undiminished could often suffer without hurt the most +dreadful losses, but those who were already exhausted might be harmed by +the slightest reverses. Once, when his son advised him to run the risk +and be done with it and said something about his not losing more than a +hundred men, the above consideration led him to refuse assent, and he +further inquired of the young man whether he would like to be one of the +hundred men. (Mai, pp. 193 and 544. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +11. ¶ The Carthaginians, far from sending voluntarily any support to +Hannibal, were rather disposed to make sport of him, because whereas he +was continually writing of his splendid progress and his many successes +he still asked money and soldiers of them. They said his requests did +not agree with his successes: victors ought to find their existing army +sufficient and to send money home instead of demanding additional funds +from them. (Mai, p. 194. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +12. I am under accusation, not because I dash headlong into battles nor +because I risk dangers in my office as general, purposing by losing many +soldiers and killing many enemies to be named dictator and celebrate a +triumph, but because I am slow and because I delay and because I always +exercise extreme foresight for your preservation. (Mai, p.542.) + +13. Is it not really absurd for us to be zealous for success in +enterprises outside and far off before the city itself is really set +upon a firm foundation? Is it not absolutely outrageous to be eager to +conquer the enemy before we set our own affairs well in order? (Mai, p. +543.) + +14 ¶ Hannibal either as a favor to Fabius, on the ground that he was an +advantage to them or perhaps to create a prejudice against him, did not +ravage any of his possessions. Accordingly, when an exchange of captives +was made between the Romans and Carthaginians with the proviso that any +number in excess on either side should be ransomed, and as the Romans +were unwilling to ransom their men with money from the public treasury, +Fabius sold the farms and paid their ransom. Therefore they did not +depose him but they gave equal power to his master of the horse, so that +both held their commands on a like footing. Fabius harbored no wrath +against either the citizens or Rufus: he excused them for an act +prompted by human nature and was for contenting himself if in any way +they might survive. He desired the preservation and victory of the +commonwealth rather than an individual reputation, and continued to +believe that excellence depends not on decrees but on each man's spirit, +and that a man is better or worse not as a result of any ordinance but +as a result of his own wisdom or ignorance. + +Rufus, however, who had not shown the right spirit in the first place +was now more than ever puffed up and could not contain himself because +he had obtained through his insubordination the further prize of equal +authority with the dictator. And so he kept asking for the right to hold +sole sway a day at a time, or for several days alternately. But Fabius, +in the fear that he might work some harm if he should get possession of +the undivided power, would not consent to either plan of his, but +divided the army in such a way that they each, like the consuls, had a +separate force. And immediately Rufus encamped apart, in order that he +might give a practical illustration of the fact that he held sway in his +own right and not subject to the dictator. (Valesius, p. 597. Zonaras, +8, 26.) + +15. ¶ It is customary for men who are ruled to concur in opinion easily. +Especially often do they join forces when the object is to slander men +of good reputation, for the reason that it is their nature to help in +augmenting any power just come to light but to bring low what has +already obtained preëminence. And though one can not immediately measure +one's self with men who surpass one through ampler resources, growth in +an unexpected quarter brings hope of a like good fortune to others that +dwell in obscurity. [Footnote: This may come from a speech of M. +Terentius Varro in favor of equalizing the powers of dictator and of +master-of-horse.](Mai, p. 194.) 16. ¶ Rufus, who obtained equal +authority with the dictator, after a defeat by the Carthaginians altered +his attitude (for disasters chasten somehow those who are not completely +fools) and voluntarily gave up his leadership. And for this all praised +him loudly. He was not held worthy of censure because he had failed to +recognize at first what was fitting, but was commended for not +hesitating to change his mind. They deemed it an act of good fortune for +a man to choose right at the start a proper course of conduct, but they +thoroughly approved the course of one, who, having learned from +practical experience the better way, was not ashamed to face squarely +about. From this episode, too, it was clearly shown how much one man +differs from another and true excellence from the reputation therefor. +What had been taken from Fabius by jealousy and prejudice of the +citizens, he received back with good-will and even at the request of his +colleague. (Mai, p. 194. Zonaras, 8, 26.) 17. ¶ The same man when about +to retire from office sent for the consuls, surrendered his army to +them, and advised them in addition very fully regarding all the details +of what must be done. The safety of the city stood higher in his +estimation than a reputation for being the only successful commander, +and expecting that if they followed their own bent they would probably +meet with failure, but if they heeded his counsel they would meet with a +favorable outcome, he preferred to look to the second contingency for +praise. And the consuls were not unduly bold but acted on the suggestion +of Fabius, deeming it better not to accomplish any important result than +to be ruined; hence they remained where they were throughout the entire +period of their command. (Mai, p. 195. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +18. For the Iapygians and Apulians dwell around the Ionic Gulf. Of the +Apulians the tribes according to Dio are the Peuketii Pediculi, Daunii, +Tarentini. There is also Cannæ, the "plain of Diomed," near Daunian +Apulia. Messapia was called also Iapygia, later Salentia, and then +Calabria. Argyrippa, a Diomedian city, was renamed Arpi by the +Apulians. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 603 and 852. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 216 (_a.u._ 538)] 19. Later he was arrayed against the +Romans at Cannæ, when the Roman generals were Paulus and Terentius. Now +Cannæ is a level district of Argyrippa, where Diomed founded the city +Argyrippa, that is to say "Argos the Horse-City" in the tongue of the +Greeks. And this plain comes to belong later to the Daunii (of the +Iapygians), then to the Salantii, and now to those that all call by the +name Calauri. It is also the boundary between the Calauri and +Longibardi, where the great war burst upon them. (Tzetzes, Hist., 1, +757-767. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +20. ¶ With regard to divination and astronomy Dio says: "I, however, can +not form any opinion either about these events or about others that are +foretold by divination. For what does foreshowing avail, if a thing +shall certainly come to pass, and if there could be no averting of it +either by human devices or by divine providence? Accordingly, let each +man look at these matters in what way he pleases." (Mai, p. 195. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +21. ¶ The commanders were Paulus and Terentius, men not of similar +temperament, but differing alike in family and in character. The former +was a patrician, possessed of the graces of education, and esteemed +safety before haste, being restrained partly, it might be said, as a +result of the censure he had received for his former conduct in office. +Hence he was not inclined to audacity, but was considering how he might +keep from getting into trouble again rather than how he might achieve +success by some desperate venture. Terentius, however, had been brought +up among the rabble, was practiced in vulgar bravado, and so displayed +lack of prudence in nearly all respects; for instance, he promised +himself general direction of the war, kept constantly annoying the +patricians, and thought that he alone should have the leadership in view +of the quiet behavior of his colleague. Now they both reached the camp +at a most opportune time: Hannibal had no longer any provender; Spain +was in turmoil; the affection of the allies was being alienated from +him: and if they had waited for even the briefest possible period, they +would have conquered without trouble. As matters went, however, the +heedlessness of Terentius and the submissiveness of Paulus, who always +desired the proper course but assented to his colleague in most +points--so sure is gentleness to be overcome by audacity,--compassed +their defeat. (Mai, p. 196. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +22. ¶ In the mêlée of the war not even the boldest possessed a hope so +buoyant as to rise above the fear that arose from its uncertainty. The +surer they felt of conquering the more did they tremble for fear they +might in some way come to grief. Those who are ignorant of a matter by +reason of their very lack of perception are not awaiting anything +terrible, but the boldness derived from calculation [lacuna] (Six pages +are lacking.) (Mai, p. 196.) + +23. At the time when burst this frightful war, a terrific earthquake +occurred, so that mountains were cleft asunder and showers of great +stones poured down from heaven. But they, fighting vigorously, perceived +none of these things. At last so great a multitude of Roman warriors +fell that Hannibal, the general, in sending to Sicily the finger-rings +of the generals and the other men of repute filled many bushel and peck +measures--so great a multitude that the noble, foremost Roman women ran +lamenting to the temples in Rome and with the hairs of their heads +cleansed the statues there;--and later had intercourse with both slaves +and barbarians (because the Roman land had been utterly impoverished of +men), to the end that their race might not be every whit extirpated. +Rome at that time, after the utter loss of all her citizens, stood +inglorious through many day-coursing cycles. Her old men sitting at her +outer gates bewailed the disaster most grievous to be borne and asked +ever and anon the passers-by whether any one perchance were left alive. +(Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 767-785. (Cp. Fragm. LVI, 19, which precedes this.) +Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +24. ¶ Scipio, on learning that some of the Romans were prepared to +abandon Rome, and indeed all Italy, because they felt it was destined to +fall into the hands of the Carthaginians, yet found a way to restrain +them. Sword in hand he sprang suddenly into the room where they were +conferring, and after himself swearing to take all proper measures both +of word and act he made them also devote themselves by oath to utter +destruction, should they fail to keep their pledges to him. Later these +men reached a harmonious decision and wrote to the consul that they were +safe enough. He, however, did not at once write or despatch a messenger +to Rome; on reaching Canusium he set in order affairs at that place, +sent to the regions in proximity garrisons sufficient for immediate +needs, and repulsed a cavalry attack upon the city. Altogether, he +displayed neither dejection nor terror, but with an unbending spirit, +as if no serious evil had befallen them, he both planned and executed +all measures of immediate benefit. (Valesius, p. 598. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +25. Hannibal took possession of the Nucerini under an agreement that +each man should leave the city carrying one change of clothing. As soon, +however, as he was master of the situation he shut the senators into +bath-houses and suffocated them, and in the case of the others, although +he had granted them permission to go away where they pleased, he cut +down many of them even on the road. Still, this course was of no profit +to him, for the rest became afraid that they might suffer a similar +fate, and so would not come to terms with him and resisted as long as +they could hold out. (Valesius, p. 598. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +26. ¶ Marcellus showed great bravery, moderation, and justice. His +demands on his subjects were not all rigorous or harsh, nor was he +careful to see that they also should do what was needful. Those of them +who committed any errors he pardoned humanely and, furthermore, was not +angry if they failed to be like him. (Valesius, p. 601.) + +27. ¶ When many citizens of Nola were dreading the men captured at Cannæ +and later released by Hannibal, because they thought that such persons +favored the invader's cause, and when they were even desirous of putting +them to death, he opposed it. Furthermore, he concealed from this time +on the suspicion that he felt toward them, and treated them in such a +way that they chose his side by preference, and became extremely useful +both to their native land and to the Romans. (Valesius, p. 601. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +28. ¶ The same Marcellus when he perceived that one of the Lucanian +cavalrymen was in love with a woman permitted him to keep her in the +camp, because he was a most excellent fighter: this in spite of the +fact that he had forbidden any women to enter the ramparts. (Valesius, +p. 601.) + +29. ¶ He pursued the same course with the people of Acerræ as he had +with those of Nucreia, except that he cast the senators into wells and +not into bath-houses. (Valesius, p. 601. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +30. ¶ Fabius got back some of the men captured in former battles by +exchanging man for man, while others he made a compact to ransom with +money. When, however, the senate failed to confirm the expenditure, +because it did not approve of their ransoming, he offered for sale, as I +have said, [Footnote: Cp. section 14 (first paragraph) of this fragment.] +his own farms and from the proceeds of them furnished the ransom for the +men. (Valesius, p. 601.) + +31. Archimedes, the well-known inventor, was by birth a Syracusan. Now +this old geometrician, who had passed through seventy-five seasons, had +built many powerful engines, and by the triple pulley, with the aid of +the left hand alone, could launch a merchant ship of fifty thousand +medimni burden. And when Marcellus once, the Roman general, assaulted +Syracuse by land and sea, this man first by his engines drew up some +merchantmen, and lifting them up against the wall of Syracuse dropped +them again and sent them every one to the bottom, crews and all. Again, +as Marcellus removed his ships a little distance, the old man gave all +the Syracusans the power to lift stones of a wagon's size, and letting +them go one by one to sink the ships. When Marcellus withdrew a bow +shot thence, the old man manufactured a kind of hexagonal mirror, and at +an interval proportionate to the size of the mirror he set similar small +mirrors with four edges, moving by links and by a kind of hinge, and +made the glass the center of the rays of the sun,--its noontide ray, +whether in summer or in the dead of winter. So after that when the beams +were reflected into this, a terrible kindling of flame arose upon the +ships, and he reduced them to ashes a bowshot off. Thus by his +contrivances did the old man vanquish Marcellus. + +He used to say, moreover, in Dorian, the Syracusan dialect: "Give me +where to stand, and with a lever I will move the whole earth." + +This man, when (according to Diodorus) this Syracuse surrendered herself +entire to Marcellus, or (according to Dio) was pillaged by the Romans +during an all-night festival to Artemis that the citizens were +celebrating, was killed by a certain Roman in the following fashion.--He +was bent over, drawing some geometrical figure, and some Roman, coming +upon him, made him his prisoner and began to drag him away: but he, with +all his attention fixed just then upon his figure, not knowing who it +was that pulled him said to the man: "Stand aside, fellow, from my +figure." But as the other kept on dragging, he turned, and recognizing +him as a Roman cried out: "Let some one give me one of my machines." The +Roman in terror immediately killed him, an unsound weak old man, but +marvelous through his works. Marcellus straightaway mourned on learning +this, buried him brilliantly in his ancestral tomb, assisted by the +noblest citizens and all the Romans, and the man's murderer, I trow, he +slew with an axe. Dio and Diodorus have written the story. (Tzetzes, +Hist. 2, 103-149. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 4.) + +32. Proculus sings of having forged fire-producing mirrors and of having +hung them from the wall opposite the enemy's ships. Then when the rays +of the sun fell upon these, fire was struck out of them that consumed +the naval force of the opponents and the ships themselves,--a device +which Dio relates Archimedes hit upon long ago, at the time when the +Romans were besieging Syracuse. (Zonaras, 14, 3.) + +33. Though such a disaster at that time had overwhelmed Rome, Hannibal +neglected to reduce the town, and occupied in triumphs, drinking bouts +and luxurious living appeared sluggish in the enterprise, until at +length a Roman army was collected for the Romans. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 211 (_a.u._ 543)] Then was he hindered in three-fold +manner when he set out for Rome. For of a sudden from the clear sky a +most violent hail poured down, and a spreading darkness kept him from +his journey. (Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 786-792. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +34. Dio in his Roman History 15: "For as a result of their position from +very early times and their pristine friendship for the Romans, they +would not endure to be punished, but the Campanians undertook to accuse +Flaccus and the Syracusans Marcellus. And they were condemned in the +assembly." (Suidas, s. v. [Greek: 'edkaióthaesan'].) + +35. Dio in 15th Book: "For fear the Syracusans, in despair of +assistance, commit some act of rebellion." (Bekker, Anecdota, p. 119, +121. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +36. ¶ The Romans had made propositions to Hannibal looking to a return +of the prisoners on both sides, but did not accomplish the exchange +although they sent, Carthalo to them for this very purpose. For when +they would not receive him, as an enemy, within the walls, he refused to +hold any conversation with them, but immediately turned back in anger. +(Ursinus, p. 379. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +37. ¶ Scipio the prætor, who saved his wounded father, surpassed in +natural excellence, was renowned for his education, and possessed great +force both of mind and also of language, whenever the latter was +necessary. These qualities he displayed conspicuously in his acts, so +that he seemed to be high-minded and disposed to do great deeds not for +the sake of an empty boast but as the result of a steadfast tendency. +For these reasons and because he scrupulously paid honors to the +heavenly powers, he was elected. He had never had charge of any public +or private enterprise before he ascended the Capitol and spent some time +there. On this account also he acquired the reputation of having sprung +from Jupiter, who had taken the form of a serpent on the occasion of +intercourse with his mother. [Footnote: Compare the story about Augustus +(Volume III, page 3 of this translation).] And by this tradition he +inspired many with a kind of hope in him. (Valesius, p.601. Zonaras, 9, +7.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 210 (_a.u._ 544)] 38. ¶ Scipio, although he did not +receive the title of legal commander from those by whom he was elected, +nevertheless made the army his friend, roused the men from their +undisciplined state and drilled them, and brought them out of the terror +with which their misfortunes had filled them. As for Marcius, [Footnote: +This is L. Marcius, a knight, who at the death of Publius and Gnæus +Scipio in Spain was chosen commander by the soldiers.] Scipio did not, +as most men would have done, regard him as unfit because he had acquired +popularity, but both in word and deed always showed him respect. He was +the sort of man to wish to make his way not by slandering and +overthrowing his neighbor, but by his native excellence. And it was this +most of all that helped him to conciliate the soldiers. (Valesius, +p.602.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 209 (_a.u._ 545)] 39. ¶ When a mutiny of the soldiers +took place, Scipio distributed many gifts to the soldiers and designated +many also for the public treasury. Some of the captives he appointed to +service in the general fleet and all the hostages he gave back freely to +their relatives. For this reason many towns and many princes, among them +Indibilis and Mandonius of the Ilergetes, came over to his side. The +Celtiberian race, the largest and strongest of those in that region, he +gained in the following way. He had taken among the captives a maiden +distinguished for her beauty and it was supposed, on general principles, +that he would fall in love with her: and when he learned that she was +betrothed to Allucius, one of the Celtiberian magistrates, he +voluntarily sent for him and delivered the girl to him along with the +ransom her kinsfolk had brought. By this deed he attached to his cause +both them and the rest of the nation. (Valesius, p.602. Zonaras, 9, 8.) + +40. ¶ Scipio was clever in strategy, agreeable in society, terrifying to +his opponents, and humane to such as yielded. Furthermore, through his +father's and his uncle's reputation he was thoroughly able to inspire +confidence in his projects, because he was thought to have acquired his +fame by hereditary excellence and not fortuitously. At this time the +swiftness of his victory, the fact that Hasdrubal had retreated into the +interior, and especially the recollection that he had predicted, whether +through divine inspiration or by some chance information, that he would +encamp in the enemy's country,--a prediction now fulfilled,--caused all +to honor him as superior to themselves, while the Spaniards actually +named him Great King. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 8.) + +41. ¶ The king of the Spaniards, taken captive by Scipio, chose to +follow the Roman cause, surrendered his own sovereignty, and stood ready +to furnish hostages. Scipio, though he accepted the man's alliance, said +there was no need of hostages, for he possessed the necessary pledge in +his own arms. [Footnote: Probably spurious (Melber).] (Mai, p. 545.) + +42. Dio in 16: "You all deserve to die: however, I shall not put you all +to death, but I shall execute only a few whom I have already arrested; +the rest I shall release." (Suidas, s. v. [Greek: edikaióthaesan]. +Zonaras, 9, 10.) + +43. Later Hannibal incurred the jealousy of the Sicilians, and when he +fell in need of grain, as the islanders did not send it, the former +noble conqueror, now by famine conquered, was put to flight by Scipio +the Roman, and to the Sicilians became part cause of their utter, dire +destruction. (Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 793-797.) + +44. Thus these authorities in regard to the Gymnesian islands. Dio +Cocceianus, however, says they are near the Iberus river and near the +European Pillars of Hercules,--which islands the Greeks and Romans alike +call the Gymnesian, but the Spaniards Valerian or Healthful Islands. +(Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 633. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 10.) + +45. ¶ Masinissa was in general among the most prominent men and was +wont to accomplish warlike deeds, whether by planning or by force, in +the best manner, and gained the foremost place in the confidence not +only of the men of his own race (and these are most distrustful as a +rule) but of those who greatly prided themselves upon their sagacity. +(Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +46. ¶ Masinissa became mightily enamoured of Sophonis, [Footnote: +The name appears as Sophoniba in Livy (XXX, 12).] who possessed +conspicuous beauty,--that symmetry of body and bloom of youth which +is characteristic of the prime of life,--and had also been trained +in a liberal literary and musical education. She was of attractive +manners, coy and altogether so lovable that the mere sight of her or +even the sound of her voice vanquished every one, however devoid of +affection he might be. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +47[lacuna]. However he also wished to take revenge on him. For having +incurred suspicion beforehand he took to flight, and on arriving at +Libya inflicted many injuries by himself and many with Roman aid upon +Syphax and the Carthaginians. Scipio, when he had won over the whole +territory south of the Pyrenees, partly by force, partly by treaty, +equipped himself for the journey to Libya, as he had received orders to +do. This business, too, had now been entrusted to him in spite of much +opposition, and he was instructed to join Syphax. Certainly he would +have accomplished something worthy of his aspirations: he would have +either surrounded Carthage with his troops and have captured the place +or he would have drawn Hannibal from as he later did, had not the Romans +at home through jealousy of him and through fear stood in his way. They +reflected that youth without exception always reaches out after greater +results and good fortune is often insatiate of success, and thought that +it would be very difficult for a youthful spirit [lacuna] through +self-confidence [lacuna] [lacuna] it would be of advantage not to treat +him according to his power and fame but to look to their own liberty and +safety, they dismissed him; in other words, the man that they themselves +had put in charge of affairs when they stood in need of him they now of +their own motion removed because he had become too great for the public +safety. They were no longer anxious to conduct a destructive warfare +through his agency against the Carthaginians, but simply to escape +training up for themselves a self-chosen tyrant. So they sent two of the +prætors to relieve him and called him home. Also they did not vote him a +triumph, because he was campaigning as an individual and had been +appointed to no legal command, but they allowed him to sacrifice a +hundred white oxen upon the Capitol, to celebrate a festival, and to +canvass for the consulship of the second year following. For the +elections for the next year had recently been held. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 207 (_a.u._ 547)] At this same period Sulpicius, too, +with Attalus captured Oreus by treachery and Opus by main force. Philip +although in Demetrias was unable to check their encroachments speedily +because the Ætolians had seized the passes in advance. At last, +however, he did arrive on the scene and finding Attalus disposing of the +spoil from Opus (for this had fallen to his lot and that from Oreus to +the Romans) he hurled him back to his ships. Attalus, accordingly, for +this reason and also because Prusias, king of Bithynia, had invaded his +country and was devastating it, hastily sailed away homewards. + +Philip, however, far from being elated at this success, even wished to +conclude a truce with the Romans and especially because Ptolemy, too, +was sending ambassadors from Egypt and trying to reconcile them. After +some preliminary discussion [lacuna] he no longer requested peace, but +[lacuna] drew the Ætolians away from the Roman alliance by some [lacuna] +and made them friends. + +Nothing worthy of remembrance, however, was done either by him or by any +others either then or in the following year when Lucius Veturius and +Cæcilius Metellus became consuls: this notwithstanding the fact that +many signs of ill-omen to the Romans were reported. For example, a +hermaphrodite lamb was born, and a swarm of [lacuna] was seen, down the +doors of the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter two serpents glided, both +the doors and the altar in the temple of Neptune ran with copious sweat, +in Antium bloody ears were seen by some reapers, elsewhere a woman +having horns appeared and many thunderbolts [lacuna] into temples +[lacuna] Paris Fragment (10th Century MS.) (See Haase, Rh. Mus., 1839, +p.458, ff. Zonaras 9, 11.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 205 (_a.u._ 549)]48. ¶ Licinius Crassus, by reason of +his geniality and beauty and wealth (which gained for him the name of +Wealthy) and because he was a high priest, was to stay in Italy without +casting lots for the privilege. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +49. ¶ The Pythian god commanded the Romans to entrust to the best of the +citizens the conveyance to the city of the goddess from Pessinus, and +they accordingly honored Publius Scipio, a son of Gnæus who died in +Spain, above all others by their first preference. The reason was that +he was in general [lacuna] and was deemed both pious and just. He at +this time, accompanied by the most prominent women, conducted the +goddess to Rome and to the Palatine. (Valesius, p. 606.) + +50. ¶ The Romans on learning of the actions of the Locrians, thinking it +had come about through contempt of Scipio, were displeased, and under +the influence of anger immediately made plans to end his leadership and +to recall him for trial. They were also indignant because he adopted +Greek manners, wore his toga thrown back over his shoulder, and +contended in the palæstra. Furthermore it was said he gave over to the +soldiers the property of the allies to plunder, and he was suspected of +delaying the voyage to Carthage purposely, in order that he might hold +office for a longer time; but it was principally at the instigation of +men who all along had been jealous of him that they wished to summon +him. Still, this proposition was not carried out because of the great +favor, based on their hopes of him, which the mass of the people felt +for him. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +51 [lacuna]. they stopped and pitched a camp in a suitable place and +fenced it all about with palisades, as they had brought in stakes for +this very purpose. It had just been finished when a great serpent came +gliding along beside it on the road leading to Carthage, so that by this +portent, Scipio, owing to the tradition about his father, was +encouraged, and devastated the country and assaulted the cities with +greater boldness. Some of the latter he did succeed in capturing; and +the Carthaginians not yet [lacuna] prepared remained still, and Syphax +was by profession their friend, but, as a matter of fact, he held aloof +from the action; by urging Scipio to come to terms with them he showed +that he was unwilling that either side should conquer the other and at +the same time become his master; on the contrary he desired them to +oppose each other as vigorously as possible but to be at peace with him. +Consequently, as Scipio was harrying the country, Hanno the cavalry +commander (he was a son of Hasdrubal) [lacuna] the [lacuna] was +persuaded on the part of Masinissa [lacuna] to the Carthaginians +[lacuna] warlike [lacuna] was believed, and, therefore, Scipio, sending +forward some horsemen on the advice of Masinissa [lacuna] laid an ambush +in a suitable spot where they were destined [lacuna] making an onset to +simulate flight. Against [lacuna] those wishing to pursue them. This +also took place. The Carthaginians attacked them, and when after a +little by agreement they turned, followed after at full speed while +Masinissa with his accompanying cavalry lagged behind and got in the +rear of the pursuers, and Scipio appearing from ambush went to meet +them: thus they were cut off and overwhelmed with weapons on both sides +and many were killed and captured [lacuna] and also Hanno. On learning +this, Hasdrubal arrested the mother of Masinissa. And those captives +were exchanged, one for the other. + +Now Syphax, being well aware that Masinissa would war against him no +less than against the Carthaginians and fearing that he might find +himself bereft of allies if they suffered any harm through his desertion +of their cause, renounced his pretended friendship for the Romans and +attached himself openly to the Carthaginians. He failed to render the +wholehearted assistance, however, to the point of actually resisting the +Romans, and the latter overran the country with impunity, carrying off +much plunder and recovering many prisoners from Italy who had previously +been sent to Libya by Hannibal; consequently they despised their foes +and began a campaign against Utica. When Syphax and Hasdrubal saw this, +they so feared for the safety of the place that they no longer remained +passive; and their approach caused the Romans to abandon the siege, +since they did not dare to contend against two forces at the same time. +Subsequently the invaders went into winter quarters where they were, +getting a part of their provisions from the immediate neighborhood and +sending for a part from Sicily and Sardinia; for the ships that carried +the spoils to Sicily could also bring them food supplies. + +In Italy no great results were accomplished in the war against Hannibal. +Publius Sempronius in a small engagement was vanquished by Hannibal, but +later overcame the latter in turn: Livius and Nero, having become +censors, announced to those Latins who had abandoned the joint +expedition and had been designated to furnish a double quota of +soldiers, that a census of persons taxable should be taken; this they +did in order that others, too, might contribute money, and they made +salt, which up to that time had been free of tax, taxable. This measure +was for no other purpose than to satisfy Livius, who designed it, thus +requiting the citizens for their vote of condemnation; and indeed, he +received a nickname from it; after this he was called Salinator. +[Footnote: Salinator = "salt-dealer."] This was one act that caused +these censors to become notorious; another was that they deprived each +other of their horses and made each other ærarii [Footnote: Ærarius--a +citizen of the lowest class, who paid only a poll-tax and had no right +to vote.] [lacuna] according to the [lacuna] (Paris fragment (p. 460). +Zonaras, 9, 12.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 203 (_a.u._ 551)] 52. ¶ Scipio captured a Carthaginian +vessel but released it, inflicting no injury when they feigned to have +been coming on an embassy to him. He knew that this pretext was invented +to secure the safety of the captives, but preferred avoiding the +possibility of being touched by the breath of slander to the retention +of the ship. Also, when Syphax at that time was still endeavoring to +reconcile them on the terms that Scipio should sail from Libya and +Hannibal from Italy, he received his proposition not because he trusted +him, but to the end that he might ruin him. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, +9, 12.) + +53. ¶ The Romans came bringing to Scipio along with much other property +Syphax himself. And the commander would not consent to see him remain +bound in chains, but calling to mind his entertainment at the other's +court and reflecting on human misfortunes, on the fact that his captive +had been king over no inconsiderable power and had shown commendable +zeal in his behalf, and that nevertheless he beheld him in so pitiable a +plight,--Scipio leaped from his chair, loosed him, embraced him, and +treated him with great consideration. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, 9, +13.) + +54. ¶ The Carthaginians made propositions to Scipio through heralds, and +of the demands made upon them by him there was none that did not promise +to satisfy, although they never intended to carry out their agreement; +they did, to be sure, give him money at once and gave back all the +prisoners, but in regard to the other matters they sent envoys to Rome. +The Romans would not receive them at that time, declaring that it was a +tradition in the State not to negotiate a peace with any parties while +their armies were in Italy. Later when Hannibal and Mago had embarked, +they granted the envoys an audience and fell into a dispute among +themselves, being of two minds. At last, however, they voted the peace +on the terms that Scipio had arranged. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, 9, +13.) + +55. ¶ The Carthaginians attacked Scipio both by land and by sea. Scipio, +vexed at this, made a complaint, but they returned no proper answer to +the envoys and moreover actually plotted against them when they sailed +back; and had not by chance a wind sprung up and aided them, they would +have been captured or would have perished. On this account Scipio, +although at this time the commissioners arrived with peace for the men +of Carthage, refused any longer to make it. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, +9, 13.) + +56. Nearly all who conduct a military expedition,--or many, at any +rate,--perform voluntarily many acts which would not be required of +them. They look askance at their instructions as something forced upon +them, but are delighted with the projects of their own minds because +they feel themselves so far independent. (Valesius, p. 609.) + +57. Dio in Book 17: "He suddenly halted in his running." (Bekker, +Anecd., p. 140, 23. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +58. Dio in _Roman History_ 17: "In general the fortunate party is +inclined to audacity and the unfortunate to moderate behavior, and +accordingly, the timid party is wont to show temperance and the +audacious intemperance. This was to be noted to an especial degree in +that case." [Footnote: This may conceivably relate to Masinissa's +marrying Sophoniba without authorization.] (Suidas s. v. [Greek: hôst +hephipan]) + +59. Dio in Roman History 17: "And a report about them of same such +nature as follows was made public." (Suidas and Etymologicum Magnum and +others s. v. [Greek: hedêmhôthê].) + +60. [Greek: henthymixhomenoi] = _calculating_. So Dio in Book 17, Roman +History. (Suidas or Etym. in Cramer. Anecd., Paris, Vol. IV, p. 169, 8. +Zonaras, Lex., p. 750.) + +61. [Greek: diathithêmi] ("arrange") for [Greek: diaprhattomai] +("accomplish"), with the accusative in Dio, Book 18: "And culling all +the best flowers of philosophy." (Bekker, Anecd., p. 133, 29.) [This is +from two glosses, and there is confusion caused by gaps.--Ed.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 201 (_a.u. 553_)]62. [The Carthaginians made overtures +for peace to Scipio. The terms agreed upon were, that they should give +hostages, should return the captives and deserters they were holding +(whether of the Romans or of the allies), should surrender all the +elephants and the triremes (save ten), and for the future possess +neither elephants nor ships, should withdraw from all territory of +Masinissa that they were holding and restore to him the country and the +cities that were properly in his domain, that they should not hold +levies, nor use mercenaries, nor make war upon any one contrary to the +advice and consent of the Romans. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +63. ¶ It seemed to Cornelius [Footnote: _Cu. Cornelius Lentulus_.] the +consul, as well as to many other Romans, that Carthage ought to be +destroyed, and he was wont to say that it was impossible, while that +city existed, for them to be free from fear. (Ursinus, p. 381. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +64. In the popular assembly, however, [lacuna] all unanimously voted for +peace. [_About three obscure lines (fragmentary) follow_.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 201 (_a.u._ 553)] And of the elephants the larger number +were carried off to Rome, and the rest were presented to Masinissa. +[lacuna] of Carthaginians. And they themselves, immediately after the +ratification of the peace, abandoned Italy, and the Romans, Libya. The +Carthaginians who sent commissioners to Rome were allowed by the Romans +to contribute for the benefit of the captives severally related to them; +and about two hundred of them were sent back without ransoms to Scipio +[lacuna] after the treaty [lacuna] and friendship [lacuna] confirmed; +and they granted peace [lacuna] [Two fragmentary lines.] + +Scipio accordingly attained great prominence by these deeds, but +Hannibal was even brought to trial by his own people; he was accused of +having refused to capture Rome when he was able to do so, and of having +appropriated the plunder in Italy. He was not, however, convicted, but +was shortly after entrusted with the highest office in Carthage [lacuna] +[One fragmentary line.] (Paris Fragment, p. 462. Zonaras, 9, 14. Livy, +30:42, 43, 45.) [Frag. LVII] + +1[lacuna]. Marcus [lacuna] sent to Philip by the generals [lacuna] from +them either [lacuna] was successful; embassy [lacuna] of Philip and +[lacuna] and some [lacuna] which he himself [lacuna] had sent to the +Carthaginians [lacuna] not at all peace [lacuna] having vanquished +[lacuna] enemies by the [lacuna] rendered them of no less importance in +reputation. (Paris Fragment, p. 463. Cp. Zonaras, 9. 15 = Livy 30:42.) + +[Frag. LVII] + +2. I found the Dardanians to be a race dwelling above the Illyrians and +Macedonians. And the city of Dardanus is there. (Isaac Tzetzes on +Lycophron, 1128. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 200 (_a.u._ 554)]3. And they [Footnote: I.e., the Romans +and the Macedonians.]delayed for several days, not meeting in battle +array but conducting skirmishes and sallies of the light-armed troops +and the horse. The Romans, for their part, were eager to join battle +with all speed: their force was a strong one, they had little provision, +and consequently would often go up to the foe's palisade. Philip, on the +other hand, was weaker in point of armed followers, but his supply of +provisions was better than theirs because his own country was close by; +so he waited, expecting that they would become exhausted without a +conflict, and if he had possessed self-control he certainly would have +accomplished something. As it was, he acquired a contempt for the +Romans, thinking that they feared him because they had transferred their +camp to a certain spot from which they could get food better: he +thereupon attacked them unexpectedly while they were engaged in +plundering and managed to kill a few. Galba on perceiving this made a +sortie from the camp, fell upon him while off his guard, and slew many +more in return. Philip, in view of his defeat and the further fact that +he was wounded, no longer held his position but after a truce of some +days for the taking up and burial of the corpses withdrew the first part +of the night. Galba, however, did not follow him up; he was short of +provisions, he did not know the country, and particularly he was +ignorant of his adversary's strength; he was also afraid that if he +advanced inconsiderately he might come to grief. For these reasons he +was unwilling to proceed farther, but retired to Apollonia. + +During this same time Apustius with the Rhodians and with Attalus +cruised about and subjugated many of the islands [lacuna] (Paris +Fragment, p. 464. Zonaras, 9, 15. Cp. Livy, 31:21 ff.) + +4. The Insubres were thrown into confusion. For Hamilcar, a +Carthaginian, who had made a campaign with Mago and remained secretly in +those regions, after a term of quiet, during which he was satisfied +merely to elude discovery, as soon as the Macedonian war broke out, +caused the Gauls to revolt from the Romans; then in company with the +rebels he made an expedition against the Ligurians and won over some of +them. Later they had a battle with the prætor Lucius Furius, were +defeated, and sent envoys asking peace. This the Ligurians obtained; +then others [lacuna] [Five fragmentary lines.] (Paris Fragment, p. 465. +Zonaras, 9, 15.) + +5[lacuna]. he thought he ought to be granted a triumph, and many +arguments were presented on both sides. Some, especially in view of the +malignity of Aurelius, eagerly furthered his cause and magnified his +victory, using many illustrations. Others declared he had contended with +the help of the consular army and had no individual and independent +appointment, and furthermore they even demanded an accounting from him +because he had not carried out his instructions. However, he won his +point. And he in that place [lacuna] before Aurelius [lacuna] Vermis +[lacuna] from the [lacuna] (Paris Fragment, p. 465. Cp. Livy, 31:47 ff.) + +[Frag. LVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 197 (_a.u._ 557)] ¶ Philip after his defeat sent heralds +to Flamininus. The latter, however eagerly he coveted Macedonia and +desired the fullest results from his good fortune of the moment, +nevertheless made a truce. The cause lay in the fear that, if Philip +were out of the way, the Greeks might recover their ancient spirit and +no longer pay them court, that the Ætolians, already filled with great +boasting because they had contributed the largest share to the victory, +might become more vexatious to them, and that Antiochus might, as was +reported, come to Europe and form an alliance with Philip. (Ursinus, p. +381. Zonaras, 9, 16.) + +[Frag. LIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 192 (_a.u._ 562)] 1. ¶ Antiochus and his generals were +ruined beforehand; for by his general indolence and his passion for a +certain girl he had drifted into luxurious living and had at the same +time rendered the rest unfit for warfare. (Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, +19.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 190 (_a.u._ 564)] 2. ¶ Seleucus [Footnote: Probably an +error of the excerptor, for Antiochus himself.] the son of Antiochus +captured the son of Africanus, who was sailing across from Greece, and +had given him the kindest treatment. Although his father many times +requested the privilege of ransoming him, his captor refused, yet did +him no harm: on the contrary, he showed him every honor and finally, +though he failed of securing peace, released him without ransom. +(Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, 20.) + +[Frag. LX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 189 (_a.u._ 565)] ¶ Many were jealous of the Scipios +because the two brothers of excellent stock and trained in virtue had +accomplished all that has been related and had secured such titles. That +these victors could not be charged with wrongdoing is made plain by my +former statements and was shown still more conclusively on the occasion +of the confiscation of the property of Asiaticus,--which was found to +consist merely of his original inheritance,--or again by the retirement +of Africanus to Liternum and the security that he enjoyed there to the +end of his life. At first he did appear in court, [Footnote: Political +enemies of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus summoned him to court on +trumped-up charges.] thinking that he would be saved by the genuineness +of his good behavior. (Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, 20.) + +[Frag. LXI] + +¶ The Romans, when they had had a taste of Asiatic luxury and had +spent some time in the possessions of the vanquished amid the +abundance of spoils and the license granted by success in arms, +rapidly came to emulate their prodigality and ere long to trample +under foot their ancestral traditions. Thus this terrible influence, +arising from that source, fell also upon the city. (Valesius, p. 609.) + +[Frag. LXII] + +¶ Gracchus was thoroughly a man of the people and a very fluent public +speaker, but his disposition was very different from Cato's. Although +he had an enmity of long standing against the Scipios, he would not +endure what was taking place but spoke in defence of Africanus, who +was accused while absent, and exerted himself to prevent any smirch +from attaching to that leader; and he prevented the imprisonment of +Asiaticus. Consequently the Scipios, too, relinquished their hatred of +him and made a family alliance, Africanus bestowing upon him his own +daughter. (Valesius, p. 610.) + +[Frag. LXIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 187 (_a.u._ 567)] ¶ Some youths who had insulted the +Carthaginian envoys that had come to Rome were sent to Carthage and +delivered up to the people; they received no injury, however, at the +hands of the citizens and were released. (Ursinus, p. 381.) + +[Frag. LXIV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 183 (_a.u._ 571)] ¶ He himself [i.e. Hannibal] died by +drinking poison near Bithynia, in a certain place called Libyssa by +name; though he thought to die in Libyssa his own proper country. For an +oracle had once been written down for Hannibal to the following effect: +"A Libyssan clod shall hide the form of Hannibal." Later the Roman +Emperor Severus, being of Libyan birth, interred in a tomb of white +marble this man, the general Hannibal. (Tzetzes. Hist. 1, 798-805. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 21.) + +[Frag. LXV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 169 (_a.u._ 585)] 1. ¶ Perseus hoped to eject the Romans +from Greece completely, but through his excessive and inopportune +parsimony and the consequent contempt of his allies he became weak once +more. When Roman influence was declining slightly and his own was +increasing, he was filled with scorn and thought he had no further need +of his allies, but believed that either they would assist him free of +cost or he could prevail by himself. Hence he paid neither Eumenes nor +Gentius the money that he had promised, thinking that they must have +reasons of their own strong enough to insure hostility towards the +Romans. These princes, therefore, and the Thrasians--they, too, were not +receiving their full pay--became indifferent; and Perseus fell into such +depths of despair again as actually to sue for peace. (Valesius, p. 610. +Zonaras, 9, 22.) + +2. ¶ Perseus sued for peace at the hands of the Romans, and would have +obtained it but for the presence in his embassy of the Rhodians, who +joined it through fear that a rival to the Romans might be annihilated. +Their language had none of the moderation which petitioners should +employ, and they talked as if they were not so much asking peace for +Perseus as bestowing it, and adopted a generally haughty tone: finally +they threatened those who should be responsible for their failing to +come to a satisfactory agreement by saying that they would fight on the +opposite side. They had previously been somewhat under the ban of Roman +suspicion, but after this many more hard things were said of them and +they prevented Perseus from obtaining peace. (Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, +9, 22.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 168 (_a.u._ 586)]3. ¶ When Perseus was in the temple at +Samothrace, a demand was made upon him for the surrender of one Evander, +of Cretan stock, a most faithful follower who had assisted him in many +schemes against the Romans and had helped to concoct the plot carried +out at Delphi against Eumenes. The prince, fearing that he might declare +all the intrigues to which he had been privy, did not deliver him but +secretly slew him and spread abroad the report that he had made way with +himself in advance. The associates of Perseus, fearing his treachery +and blood-guiltiness, then began to desert his standard. (Valesius, p. +610. Zonaras, 9, 23.) + +4. ¶ Perseus allowed himself [Footnote: Cp. Livy, XLV, 6.] to be found, +and upon his being brought to Amphipolis Paulus accorded him no harsh +treatment by deed or word, but on the contrary made way for him when he +approached, entertained him in various ways and had him sit at his +table, keeping him, meanwhile, although a prisoner, unconfined and +showing him every courtesy. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 23.) + +[Frag. LXVI] + +¶ Paulus was not only good at generalship but most inaccessible to +bribes. Of this the following is proof. Though he had at that time +entered for a second term upon the consulship and had gained possession +of untold spoils, he continued to live in so great indigence that when +he died the dowry was with difficulty paid back to his wife. Such was +the nature of the man and such were his deeds. The only thing regarded +as a blemish that attaches to his character is his turning over the +possessions [of the Epirots?] to his soldiers for pillage: for the rest, +he showed himself a man not devoid of charm and temperate in good +fortune, who was seen to be extremely lucky and at the same time full of +wise counsel in dealing with the enemy. As an illustration: he was not +cowardly or heedless in waging war against Perseus, but afterward did +not assume a pompous or boastful air toward him. (Valesius, p. 613. +Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXVII] + +1. ¶ The Rhodians, who formerly had possessed a vast amount of +self-esteem, thinking that they, too, ranked as conquerors of Philip and +Antiochus, and were stronger than the Romans, fell into such depths of +terror as to despatch an ambassador to Antiochus, king of Syria, and +summon Popilius, in whose presence they condemned all those opposed to +the Roman policy and then sent such as were arrested to punishment. +(Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +2. ¶ The same persons, though they had often sent envoys to them, as +frequently as they wanted anything, now ceased to bring to their +attention any of the former enterprises, but mentioned only those cases +which they could cite pertaining to services once rendered which might +be useful in diverting Roman ill-will. They were especially anxious at +this time to secure the title of Roman allies. Previously they had +refused to accept it. They had wished to inspire some fear in +Rome,--for, not being bound to friendship by any oath, they had power to +transfer their allegiance at any time,--and furthermore to be courted by +such states as from time to time might be engaged in war with that city. +But now they were looking to confirm the favor of the Romans and to the +consequent honor that was sure to be accorded to them by others. +(Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXVIII] + +¶ Prusias himself entered the senate-house at Rome and covered the +threshold with kisses. The senators he termed gods, and worshiped them. +Thus, then, he obtained an abundance of pity, though he had fought +against Attalus contrary to the Roman decision. It was said that at +home, too, whenever their envoys came to him, he worshiped them, calling +himself a freedman of the people, and often he would put on a slave's +cap. (Ursinus, p. 383. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 149 (_a.u._ 605)] ¶ Scipio Africanus excelled in +planning out at leisure the requisite course, but excelled also in +discovering at a moment's notice what needed to be done, and knew how to +employ either method on the proper occasion. The duties that lay before +him he reviewed boldly but accomplished their fulfillment as if with +timidity. Therefore by his fearless detailed investigation he obtained +accurate knowledge of the fitting action in every emergency, and by his +good judgment in doubtful cases met these emergencies safely. +Consequently, if he was ever brought face to face with some need that +admitted of no deliberation,--as is wont to happen in the contradictions +of warfare and the turns of fortune--not even then did he miss the +proper course. Through accustoming himself to regard no happening as +unreasonable he was not unprepared for the assault of sudden events, +but through his incessant activity was able to meet the unexpected as if +he had forseen it long before. As a result he showed himself daring in +matters where he felt he was right, and ready to run risks where he felt +bold. In bodily frame he was strong as the best of the soldiers. This +led to one of his most remarkable characteristics: he would devise +movements that looked advantageous as if he were merely going to command +others, and at the time of action would execute them as if they had been +ordered by others. Besides not swerving from the ordinary paths of +rectitude, he kept faith scrupulously not only with the citizens and his +acquaintances, but with foreign and most hostile nations. This, too, +brought many individuals as well as many cities to his standard. He +never spoke or acted without due consideration or through anger or fear, +but as a result of the certainty of his calculations he was ready for +all chances: he had thought out practically all human possibilities; he +never did anything unexpected, but deliberated every matter beforehand, +according to its nature. Thus he perceived very easily the right course +to follow even before there was any necessity, and pursued it with +firmness. + +These are the reasons, or chiefly these--I should mention also his +moderation and amiability--that he alone of men escaped the envy of his +peers, or of any one else. He chose to make himself like to his +inferiors, not better than his equals, weaker than greater men, and so +passed beyond the power of jealousy, which harasses only the noblest +men. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 27.) + +[Frag. LXX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 148 (_a.u._ 606)] Dio in Book 21: "Phameas, despairing +of the Carthaginian cause" [lacuna] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 124, 9a. Zonaras, +9, 27.) + +[Frag. LXXI] + +What age limit, pray, is imposed upon those who from their very boyhood +set their faces toward obtaining a right state of mind? What number of +years has been settled upon with reference to the fulfillment of duties? +Is it not true that all who enjoy an excellent nature and good fortune +both think and do in all things what is right from the very beginning, +whereas those who at this age of their life have little sense would +never subsequently grow more prudent, even if they should pass through +many years? A man may continue to improve upon his former condition as +he advances in age, but not one would turn out wise from being foolish, +or sensible from being silly. Do not, therefore, put the young into a +state of dejection through the idea that they are actually condemned to +a state of inability to perform their duties. On the contrary, you ought +to urge them to practice zealously the performance of all that they are +required to do, and to look for both honors and offices even before they +reach old age. By this course you will render their elders better, +too,--first, by confronting them with many competitors, and next by +making clear that you are going to establish not length of years but +innate excellence as the test in conferring positions of command upon +any citizens, even more than you do in the case of ordinary benefits. +[Footnote: These words would appear to be taken from the speech before +the senate of some such person as a tribune of the plebs, and to relate +either to the consulship of Scipio Æmilianus (B.C. 148) or to the +Spanish appointment of Scipio Africanus (B.C. 211), preferably the +former.] (Mai, p. 547, and also Excerpts from a Florentine MS. of John +of Antioch's _Parallela_. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 29.) + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dio's Rome, Vol VI., by Cassius Dio + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIO'S ROME, VOL VI. *** + +***** This file should be named 12061-8.txt or 12061-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/0/6/12061/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Jayam Subramanian and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/12061-8.zip b/old/12061-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3601dca --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12061-8.zip diff --git a/old/12061.txt b/old/12061.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b94aa87 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12061.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dio's Rome, Vol VI., by Cassius Dio + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dio's Rome, Vol VI. + An Historical Narrative Originally Composed In Greek During The + Reigns Of Septimius Severus, Geta And Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus + And Alexander Severus + + +Author: Cassius Dio + +Release Date: April 16, 2004 [EBook #12061] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIO'S ROME, VOL VI. *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Jayam Subramanian and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + DIO'S ROME + + + AN + + HISTORICAL NARRATIVE + ORIGINALLY COMPOSED IN GREEK + DURING THE REIGNS OF + SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, GETA + AND CARACALLA, MACRINUS, + ELAGABALUS AND ALEXANDER SEVERUS: + + AND + + + NOW PRESENTED IN ENGLISH FORM + + + BY + + + HERBERT BALDWIN FOSTER, + A.B. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), + Acting Professor of Greek in Lehigh University + + + + + SIXTH VOLUME + + + + +I. Books 77-80 (A.D. 211-229). + +II. Fragments of Books 1-21 (Melber's Arrangement). + +III. Glossary of Latin Terms. + +IV. General Index. + + + + 1905 + + + PAFRAETS BOOK COMPANY + TROY NEW YORK + + + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +77 + + +Antoninus begins his reign by having various persons assassinated, +among them his brother Geta (chapters 1-3). + +Cruelty of Antoninus toward Papinianus, Cilo, and others (chapters +4-6). + +Antoninus as emulator of Alexander of Macedon (chapters 7, 8). + +His levies and extravagance (chapters 9-11). + +His treachery toward Abgarus of Osrhoene, toward the Armenian king, +the Parthian king, and the Germans (chapters 12, 13). + +The Cenni conquer Antoninus in battle (chapter 14). + +He strives to drive out his disease of mind by consulting spirits and +oracles (chapter 15). + +Slaughter of vestals, insults to the senate, demise of others contrary +to his mother's wishes (chapters 16-18). + +Antoninus's Parthian war (chapters 19-21). + +Massacres of Alexandrians caused by Antoninus (chapters 22-24). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +Q. Epidius Rufus Lollianus Gentianus, Pomponius Bassus (A.D. 211 = a. +u. 964 = First of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th). + +C. Iulius Asper (II), C. Iulius Asper. (A.D. 212 = a.u. 965 = Second +of Antoninus.) + +Antoninus Aug. (IV), D. Coelius Balbinus (II). (A.D. 213 = a.u. 966 = +Third of Antoninus.) + +Silius Messala, Sabinus. (A.D. 214 = a.u. 967 = Fourth of Antoninus.) + +Laetus (II), Cerealis. (A.D. 215 = a.u. 968 = Fifth of Antoninus.) + +C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus. (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 = +Sixth of Antoninus.) + + +(_BOOK 78, BOISSEVAIN_.) + +[Sidenote: A.D. 211 (_a.u._ 964)] [Sidenote:--1--] After this Antoninus +secured the entire power. Nominally he ruled with his brother, but in +reality alone and at once. With the enemy he came to terms, withdrew +from their country, and abandoned the forts. But his own people he +either dismissed (as Papinianus the prefect) or else killed (as Euodus, +his nurse, Castor, and his wife Plautilla, and the latter's brother +Plautius). In Rome itself he also executed a man who was renowned for no +other reason than his profession, which made him very conspicuous. This +was Euprepes, the charioteer; he killed him when the man dared to show +enthusiasm for a cause that the emperor opposed. So Euprepes died in +old age after having been crowned in an endless number of horse-races. +He had won seven hundred and eighty-two of them,--a record equaled by +none other. + +Antoninus had first had the desire to murder his brother while his +father was still alive, but had been unable to do so at that time +because of Severus, or later, on the road, because of the legions. The +men felt very kindly toward the younger son, especially because in +appearance he was the very image of his father. But when Antoninus +arrived in Rome, he got rid of this rival also. The two pretended to +love and commend each other, but their actions proved quite the reverse +to be true, and anybody could see that some catastrophe would result +from their relations. This fact was recognized even prior to their +reaching Rome. When it had been voted by the senate to sacrifice in +behalf of their harmony both to the other gods and to Harmony herself, +the assistants made ready a victim to be sacrificed to Harmony and the +consul arrived to do the slaughtering; yet he could not find them, nor +could the assistants find the consul. They spent nearly the whole night +looking for each other, so that the sacrifice could not be performed on +that occasion. The next day two wolves climbed the Capitol, but were +chased away from that region: one of them was next encountered somewhere +in the Forum, and the other was later slain outside the pomerium. This +is the story about those two animals. + +[Sidenote:--2---] It was Antoninus's wish to murder his brother at the +Saturnalia, but he was not able to carry out his intention. The danger +had already grown too evident to be concealed. As a consequence, there +were many violent meetings between the two,--both feeling that they were +being plotted against,--and many precautionary measures were taken on +both sides. As many soldiers and athletes, abroad and at home, day and +night, were guarding Geta, Antoninus persuaded his mother to send for +him and his brother and have them come along to her house with a view to +being reconciled. Geta without distrust went in with him. When they were +well inside, some centurions suborned by Antoninus rushed in a body. +Geta on seeing them had run to his mother, and as he hung upon her neck +and clung to her bosom and breasts he was cut down, bewailing his fate +and crying out: "Mother that bore me, mother that bore me, help! I am +slain!!" + +[Sidenote: A.D. 212 (_a.u._ 965)] Tricked in this way, she beheld her son +perishing by most unholy violence in her very lap, and, as it were, +received his death into her womb whence she had borne him. She was all +covered with blood, so that she made no account of the wound she had +received in her hand. She might neither mourn nor weep for her son, +although, untimely he had met so miserable an end (he was only +twenty-two years and nine months old): on the contrary, she was +compelled to rejoice and laugh as though enjoying some great piece of +luck. All her words, gestures, and changes of color were watched with +the utmost narrowness. She alone, Augusta, wife of the emperor, mother +of emperors, was not permitted to shed tears even in private over so +great a calamity. + +[Sidenote:--3--] Antoninus, although it was evening, took possession of +the legions after bawling all the way along the road that he had been +the object of a plot and was in danger. On entering the fortifications, +he exclaimed: "Rejoice, fellow-soldiers, for now I have a chance to +benefit you!" Before they heard the whole story he had stopped their +mouths with so many and so great promises that they could neither think +nor speak anything decent. "I am one of you," he said, "it is on your +account alone that I care to live, that so I may afford you much +happiness. All the treasuries are yours." Indeed, he said this also: "I +pray if possible to live with you, but if not, at any rate to die with +you. I do not fear death in any form, and it is my desire to end my days +in warfare. There should a man die, or nowhere!" + +To the senate on the following day he made various remarks and after +rising from his seat he went towards the door and said: "Listen to a +great announcement from me. That the whole world may be glad, let all +the exiles, who have been condemned on any complaint whatever in any way +whatever, be restored to full rights." Thus did he empty the islands of +exiles and grant pardon to the worst condemned criminals, but before +long he had the isles full again. + +[Sidenote:--4--] The Caesarians and the soldiers that had been with Geta +were suddenly put to death to the number of twenty thousand, men and +women alike, wherever in the palace any of them happened to be. +Antoninus slew also various distinguished men, among them Papinianus. + + ¶While the Pretorians accused Papianus (_sic_) and Patruinus + [Footnote: This is Valerius Patruinus.] for certain actions, + Antoninus allowed the complainants to kill them, and added the + following remark: "I hold sway for your advantage and not for my + own; therefore, I defer to you both as accusers and as judges." + +He rebuked the murderer of Papinianus for using an axe instead of a +sword to give the finishing stroke. + +He had also desired to deprive of life Cilo, his nurse and benefactor, +who had served as prefect of the city during his father's reign, whom he +had also often called father. The soldiers sent against him plundered +his silver plate, his robes, his money, and everything else that +belonged to him. Cilo himself they conducted along the Sacred Way, +making the palace their destination, where they prepared to give him his +quietus. He had low slippers [Footnote: Reading [Greek: blahytast] in the +place of the MS. [Greek: chlhapast]. This emendation is favored by Cobet +(Mnemosyne, N.S., X, p. 211) and Naber (Mnemosyne, N.S., XVI, p. 113).] +on his feet, since he had chanced to be in the bath when apprehended, +and wore an abbreviated tunic. The men rent his clothing open and +disfigured his face, so that the people and the soldiers stationed in +the city made clamorous objections. Therefore Antoninus, out of respect +and fear for them, met the party, and, shielding Cilo with his cavalry +cloak,--he was wearing military garb,--cried out: "Insult not my father! +Strike not my nurse!" The tribune charged with slaying him and the +soldiers in his contingent lost their lives, nominally for making plots +but really for not having killed their victim. + +[Sidenote:--5--] [But Antoninus was so anxious to appear to love Cilo +that he declared: "Those who have plotted against him have plotted +against me." Commended for this by the bystanders, he proceeded: "Call +me neither Hercules nor the name of any other god;" not that he was +unwilling to be termed a god, but because he wished to do nothing worthy +of a god. He was naturally capricious in all matters, and would bestow +great honors upon people and then suddenly disgrace them, quite without +reason. He would save those who least deserved it and punish those whom +one would never have expected. + +Julianus Asper was a man by no means contemptible, on account of his +education and good sense as well. He exalted him, together with his +sons, and after Asper had walked the streets surrounded by I don't know +how many fasces he without warning insulted him outrageously and +dismissed him to his native place [Footnote: I.e., Tusculum.] with abuse +and in mighty trepidation. Laetus, too, he would have disgraced or even +killed, had this man not been extremely sick. So the emperor before the +soldiers called his sickness "wicked," because it did not allow him to +display wickedness in one more case. + +Again he made way with Thrasea Priscus, a person second to none in +family or intelligence. + +Many others also, previously friends of his, he put to death.] + +[Sidenote:--6--] + + "Nay, I could not recite nor give the names all over" + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, II, verse 488.] of the distinguished men +whom he killed without any right. Dio, because the slain were very well +known in those days, even makes a list of them. For me it suffices to +say that he crushed the life out of everybody he chose, without +exception, + + "whether the man was guilty or whether he was not "; + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XV, verse 137.] and that he simply +mutilated Rome, by rendering it bereft of excellent men. [Antoninus was +allied to three races. And he possessed not a single one of their good +points, but included in himself all their vices. The lightness, the +cowardice, and recklessness of Gaul were his, the roughness and cruelty +of Africa, the abominations of Syria (whence he was on his mother's +side).] Veering from slaughter to sports, he pursued his murderous +course no less in the latter. Of course one would pay no attention to +an elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, and hippotigris being killed in the +theatre, but he took equal pleasure in having gladiators shed the +greatest amount of one another's blood. One of them, Bato, he forced +to fight three successive men on the same day, and then, when Bato +met death at the hands of the last, he honored him with a conspicuous +burial. + +[Sidenote:--7--] He had Alexander on the brain to such an extent that he +used certain weapons and cups which purported to have belonged to the +great conqueror, and furthermore he set up many representations of him +both among the legions and in Rome itself. He organized a phalanx, +sixteen thousand men, of Macedonians alone, named it "Alexander's +phalanx," and equipped it with the arms which warriors had used in his +day. These were: a helmet of raw oxhide, a three-ply linen breastplate, +a bronze shield, long pike, short spear, high boots, sword. Not even +this, however, satisfied him, but he called his hero "The Eastern +Augustus." Once he wrote to the senate that Alexander had come on earth +again in, the body of the Augustus, [Footnote: Antoninus meant +himself.] so that when he had finished his own brief existence he might +enjoy a larger life in the emperor's person. The so-called Aristotelian +philosophers he hated bitterly, wishing even to burn their books, and he +abolished the common messes they had in Alexandria and all the other +privileges they enjoyed: his grievance, as stated, was the tradition +that Aristotle had been an accomplice in the death of Alexander. + +This was the way he behaved in those matters. And, by Jupiter, he took +around with him numbers of elephants, that in this respect, too, he +might seem to be imitating Alexander, or rather, perhaps, Dionysus. + +[Sidenote:--8--] On Alexander's account he was fond of all the +Macedonians. Once after praising a Macedonian tribune because the latter +had shown agility in jumping upon his horse, he enquired of him first: +"From what country are you?" Then, learning that he was a Macedonian, he +pursued: "What is your name?" Having thereupon heard that it was +Antigonus, he further questioned: "How was your father called?" When +the father's name was found to be Philip, he declared: "I have all my +desire." He straightway bestowed upon him the whole series of exalted +military honors and before a great while appointed him one of the +senators with the rank of an ex-praetor. + +There was another man who had no connection with Macedonia, but had +committed many dreadful crimes, and for this reason was tried before him +in an appealed case. His name proved to be Alexander, and when the +orator accusing him said repeatedly "the bloodthirsty Alexander, the +god-detested Alexander," the emperor became angry, as if he were +personally slandered, and spoke out: "If Alexander doesn't suit you, you +may regard yourself as dismissed." + +[Sidenote:--9--] Now this great Alexandrophile, Antoninus, [kept many +men about him, alleging reasons after reasons, all fictitious, and wars +upon wars. He had also this most frightful characteristic, that he was +fond of spending money not only upon the soldiers but for all other +projects with one sole end in view,--to] strip, despoil and grind down +all mankind, and the senators by no means least. [In the first place, +there were gold crowns that he kept demanding, on the constant pretext +that he had conquered some enemy or other (I am not speaking about the +actual manufacture of the crowns,--for what does that amount to?--but +the great sums of money constantly being given under that name by the +cities, for the "crowning" (as it is called) of their emperors). Then +there was the provisions which we were all the time levying in great +abundance from all quarters, sometimes seizing them without compensation +and sometimes spending a little something on them: all this supply he +presented or else peddled to the soldiers. And the gifts, which he +demanded from wealthy individuals and from states. And the taxes, both +the new ones which he published and the ten per cent. tax that he +instituted in place of the twenty per cent. to apply to the emancipation +of slaves, to bequests left to any one, and to all gifts; for he +abolished in such cases the right of succession and exemption from taxes +which had been accorded to those closely related to persons deceased. +This accounts for his giving the title of Romans to all the men in his +empire. Nominally it was to honor them, but his real purpose was to get +an increased income by such means, since foreigners did not have to pay +most of those taxes. But aside from all these] we were also compelled to +build at our own expense all sorts of dwellings for him whenever he took +a trip from Rome, and costly lodgings in the middle of even the very +shortest journeys. Yet not only did he never live in them but he had no +idea of so much as looking at a single one. Moreover, without receiving +any appropriation from him we constructed hunting-theatres and +race-courses at every point where he wintered or expected to winter. +They were all torn down without delay and apparently the sole purpose of +their being called into existence was to impoverish us. + +[Sidenote:--10--] The emperor himself kept spending the money upon the +soldiers (as we said) and upon beasts and horses. He was forever +killing great collections of wild beasts, of horses, and also of +domestic animals, forcing us to contribute the majority of them, though +now and then he bought a few. One day he slew a hundred boars at once +with his own hands. He raced also in chariots, and then he would wear +the Blue costume. In all undertakings he was exceedingly hot-headed and +exceedingly fickle, and besides this he possessed the rascality of his +mother and of the Syrians, to which race she belonged. He would put up +some kind of freedman or other wealthy person as director of games +merely that in this occupation, too, the man might spend money. From +below he would make gestures of subservience to the audience with his +whip and would beg for gold pieces like one of the lowliest citizens. He +said that he used the same methods of chariot-driving as the Sun god, +and he took pride in the fact. Accordingly, during the whole extent of +his reign the whole earth, so far as it yielded obedience to him, was +plundered. Hence the Romans once at a horse-race uttered this among +other cries: "We are destroying the living in order to bury the dead." +The emperor would often say: "No man need have money but me, and I want +it to bestow it on the soldiers." Once when Julia chided him for his +great outlays upon them and said: "No longer is any resource, either +just or unjust, left to us," he replied, exhibiting his sword: "Cheer +up, mother: for, as long as we have this, money is not going to fail +us." + +[Sidenote:--11--] To those who flattered him, however, he distributed +possessions and money. + + ¶Julius Paulus [Footnote: Undoubtedly a mistake for the _Julius + Paulinus_ subsequently mentioned.] was a man of consular rank, + who was a great chatterer and joker and would not refrain from + aiming his shafts of wit at the very emperors: therefore Severus + had him taken into custody, though without constraints. When he + still continued, even under guard, to make the sovereigns the + objects of his jests, Severus sent for him and swore that he + would cut off his head. But the man replied: "Yes, you can cut it + off, but as long as I have it, neither you nor I can restrain + it," and so Severus laughed and released him. + +He granted to Julius Paulinus twenty-five myriads because the man, who +was a jester, had been led, though involuntarily, to make a joke upon +him. Paulinus had said that he actually resembled a man getting angry, +for somehow he was always assuming a fierce expression. [Footnote: None +of the editors, any more than the casual reader, has been able to find +anything of a sidesplitting nature in this joke. The trouble is, of +course, that the utterance sounds like a plain statement of fact. +Caracalla's natural disposition was harsh and irritable. Some have +changed the word "man" to "Pan (in anger)", but without gaining very +much. I offer for what it is worth the suggestion that a well-known +truth, especially in the case of personal characteristics, may sound +very amusing when pronounced in a quizzical or semi-ironical fashion by +a person possessing sufficient _vis comica_. Thus we may conceive +Paulinus, a professional jester, on meeting Antoninus to have blurted +out in a tone of mock surprise: "Why, anybody would really think you are +angry. You look so cross all the time!" There would then be a point in +the jest, but the point would lie not in the words but in the voice and +features of the speaker. Apart from this explanation of the possible +humor of the remark an excerpt of Peter Patricius (Exc. Vat. 143) gives +us to understand that it would be taken as a compliment by Antoninus +from the mouth of a person to whom he was accustomed to accord some +liberties, since Antoninus made a point of maintaining at all times this +character of harshness and abruptness.]--Antoninus made no account of +anything excellent: he never learned anything of the kind, as he himself +admitted. So it was that he showed a contempt for us, who possessed +something approaching education. Severus, to be sure, had trained him in +all pursuits, bar none, that tended to inculcate virtue, whether +physical or mental, so that even after he became emperor he went to +teachers and studied philosophy most of the day. He also took oil +rubbings without water and rode horseback to a distance of seven hundred +and fifty stades. Moreover, he practiced swimming even in rough water. +In consequence of this, Antoninus was, as you might say, strong, but he +paid no heed to culture, since he had never even heard the name of it. +Still, his language was not bad, nor did he lack judgment, but he showed +in almost everything a keen appreciation and talked very readily. For +through his authority and recklessness and his habit of saying right out +without reflection anything at all that occurred to him, and not being +ashamed to air his thoughts, he often stumbled upon some felicitous +expression. [But the same Antoninus made many mistakes through his +headstrong opinions. It was not enough for him to know everything: he +wanted to be the only one who knew anything. It was not enough for him +to have all power: he would be the only one with any power. Hence it +was that he employed no counselor and was jealous of such men as knew +something worth while. He never loved a single person and he hated all +those who excelled in anything; and most did he hate those whom he +affected most to love. Many of these he destroyed in some way or other. +Of course he had many men murdered openly, but others he would send to +provinces not suited to them, fatal to their physical condition, having +an unwholesome climate; thus, while pretending to honor them +excessively, he quietly got rid of them, exposing such as he did not +like to excessive heat or cold. Hence, though he spared some in so far +as not to put them to death, yet he subjected them to such hardships +that the stain [Footnote: This is very likely an incorrect translation of +an incorrect reading. The various editors of Dio have a few substitutes +to propose, but as all the interpretations seem to me extremely +lumbering I have turned the MS. [Greek] chelidoysthai (taken as a +passive) in a way that may be not quite beyond the bounds of +possibility. The noun [Greek] chelhist like the English "stain," often +passes from its original sense of "blemish" to that of the consequent +"disgrace."] of murder still rested on him. + +The above describes him in general terms. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 213(?)] [Sidenote:--12--] Now we shall state what sort +of person he showed himself in war. [Abgarus, king of the Osrhoeni, when +he had once got control of the kindred tribes, inflicted the most +outrageous treatment upon his superiors. Nominally he was compelling +them to change to Roman customs, but in fact he was making the most of +his authority over them in an unjustifiable way.] He tricked the king of +the Osrhoeni, Abgarus, inducing him to visit him as a friend, and then +arrested and imprisoned him. This left Osrhoene without a ruler and he +subdued it. + +The king of the Armenians had a dispute with his own children and +Antoninus summoned him in a friendly letter with the avowed purpose of +making peace between them: he treated these princes in the same fashion +as he had Abgarus. The Armenians, however, instead of yielding to him +had recourse to arms and not one of them thereafter would trust him in +the slightest particular. Thus he was brought by experience to +understand how great the penalty is for an emperor's practicing deceit +toward friends. [The same ruler assumed the utmost credit for the fact +that at the death of Vologaesus, king of the Parthians, his children +proceeded to fight about the sovereignty; what was purely accidental he +pretended had come about through his own connivance. He ever took +vehement delight in the actions and dissensions of the brothers and +generally in the mutual slaughter of foreign potentates.] He did not +hesitate, either, to write to the senate regarding the rulers of the +Parthians (who were brothers and at variance) that the brothers' quarrel +would work great harm to the Parthian state. Just as if barbarian +governments could be destroyed by such procedure and yet the Roman state +had been preserved! Just as if it had not been, on the contrary, almost +utterly overthrown! It was not merely that the great sums of blood money +given under such conditions to the soldiers for his brother's murder +served to demoralize mankind: in addition, vast numbers of citizens had +information laid against them,--not only those who had sent the brother +letters or had brought him presents [Footnote: Reading [Greek: +dorophorhesantest] (Reimar) for the MS. [Greek: doruphoraesantes].] when +he was still Caesar or again after he had become emperor, but all the +rest who had never had any dealings with him. If anybody even so much as +wrote the name of Geta, or spoke it, that was the end of him then and +there. Hence the poets no longer used it even in comedies. [Footnote: +Geta was a common name for slaves in Latin comedy. It came into Rome +through Greek channels and was originally merely the national adjective +applied to a tribe of northern barbarians.] The property, too, of all +those in whose wills the name was found written was confiscated. + +[Many of his acts were committed with a view to getting money. And he +exhibited his hatred for his dead brother by abolishing the honor paid +to his birthday, by getting angry at the stones which had supported his +images, and by melting up the coinage that displayed his features. Not +even this sufficed him, but more than ever from this time he began his +practice of unholy rites and often forced others to share his pollution +by making a kind of annual offering to his brother's Manes.] + + [Sidenote: A.D. 213 (_a.u._ 966)] [Sidenote:--13--] Though + holding such views and behaving in such a way with regard to the + latter's murder he took delight in the dissension of the + barbarian brothers, on the ground that the Parthians would suffer + some great injury as a result of it. + +[The Celtic nations, however, afforded him neither pleasure nor any +pretence of cleverness or courage but proved him to be nothing more nor +less than a cheat, a simpleton, and an arrant coward. Antoninus made a +campaign among the Alamanni and wherever he saw a spot suitable for +habitation he would order: "There let a fort be erected: there let a +city be built." To those spots he applied names relating to himself, yet +the local designations did not get changed; for some of the people were +unaware of the new appellations and others thought he was joking. +Consequently he came to entertain a contempt for them and would not keep +his hands off this tribe even; but, whereas he had been saying that he +had come as an ally, he accorded them treatment to be expected of a most +implacable foe. He called a meeting of their men of military age under +promise that they were to receive pay, and then at a given signal,--his +raising aloft his own shield,--he had them surrounded and cut down; he +also sent cavalry around and arrested all others not present. + +¶Antoninus commended in the senate by means of a letter Pandion, a +fellow who had previously been an understudy of charioteers but in the +war against the Alamanni drove his chariot for him and in this capacity +was his comrade and fellow soldier. And he asserted that he had been +saved by this man from a portentous danger and was not ashamed to evince +greater gratitude to him than to the soldiers, whom in their turn he +regarded as our superiors.[Footnote: There is a gap of a word or two +here (Dindorf text), filled by reading [Greek: helen hechon] (with +Boissevain).] + +¶Some of the most distinguished men whom Antoninus slew he ordered to be +cast out unburied. + +¶He made a search for the tomb of Sulla and repaired it, and reared a +cenotaph to Mesomedes, who had written a compilation of citharoedic +modes. He honored the latter because he was himself learning to sing to +the zither and the former because he was emulating his cruelty.] + +Still, in cases of necessity and urgent campaigns, he was simple and +frugal, toiling with painstaking care in menial offices as much as the +rest. He trudged beside the soldiers and ran beside them, not taking a +bath nor changing his clothing, but helping them in every labor and +choosing absolutely the same food as they had. Often he would send to +distinguished champions on the enemy's side and challenge them to single +combat. The details of generalship in which he certainly ought to have +been most versed he managed least well, as if he thought that victory +lay in the performance of those services mentioned and not in this +science of commanding. + +[Sidenote:--14--] He conducted war also against a certain Celtic tribe +of Cenni. These warriors are said to have assailed the Romans with the +utmost fierceness, using their mouths to pull from their flesh the +missiles with which the Osrhoeni wounded them, that they might give +their hands no respite in slaughtering the foe. Nevertheless even they, +after selling the name of defeat at a high figure, made an agreement +with him to go into Germany on condition of being spared. Their women +[and those of the Alamanni] all who were captured [would not, in truth, +await a servile doom, but] when Antoninus asked them whether they +desired to be sold or slain, chose the latter alternative. Afterward, as +they were offered for sale, they all killed themselves and some of their +children as well. [Many also of the people dwelling close to the ocean +itself, near the mouth of the Albis, sent envoys to him and asked his +friendship, when their real concern was to get money. For after he had +done as they desired, they would frequently attack him, threatening to +begin a war; and with all such he came to terms. Even though his offer +was contrary to their principles, yet when they saw the gold pieces they +were captivated. To them he gave true gold pieces, but the silver and +gold money with which he provided the Romans was alloyed.] He +manufactured the one of lead with a silver plating and the other of +bronze with a gold plating. + +[Sidenote:--15--] [The same ruler published some of his devices +directly, pretending that they were excellent and worthy of +commendation, however base their actual character. Other intentions he +rather unwillingly made known through the very precautions which he took +to conceal them, as, for example, in the case of the money. He plundered +the whole land and the whole sea and left nothing whatever unharmed. The +chants of the enemy made Antoninus frenzied and beside himself, hearing +which some of the Alamanni asserted that they had used charms to put him +out of his mind.] He was sick in body, partly with ordinary and partly +with private diseases, and was sick also in mind, suffering from +distressing visions; and often he thought he was being pursued by his +father and his brother, armed with swords. Therefore he called up +spirits to find some remedy against them, among others the spirit of his +father and of Commodus. But not one would speak a word to him except +Commodus. [Geta, so they say, attended Severus, though unsummoned. Yet +not even he offered any suggestion to relieve the emperor, but on the +contrary terrified him the more.] This is what he said: + + "Draw nearer judgment, which the gods demand of thee [Footnote: + Emended (by Fabricius and Reiske) from a corruption in the MS.] + for Severus," + +then something else, and finally-- + + "having in secret places a disease hard to heal." + +[For letting these facts become public many suffered unseemly outrage. +But to Antoninus not one of the gods gave any response pertaining to the +healing of either his body or his mind, although he showered attention +upon all the most distinguished shrines. This showed in the clearest +light that they regarded not his offerings, nor his sacrifices, but only +his purposes and his deeds. He got no aid from Apollo Grannus [Footnote: +Grannus was really a Celtic god, merely identified with Apollo. He was +honored most in Germany and Dacia (also known in Rhaetia, Noricum), and, +inasmuch as many inscriptions bearing his name have been found near the +Danube, it may probably be conjectured that he had a temple of some +importance in that vicinity. For further details see Pauly, II, p. 46; +Roscher, I, col. 1738.] nor Asclepius nor Serapis, in spite of his many +supplications and his unwearying persistence. Even when abroad he sent +to them prayers and sacrifices and votive offerings and many runners +traveled to them daily, carrying things of the sort. He also went +himself, hoping to prevail by appearing in person, and he performed all +the usual practices of devotees, but he obtained nothing that would +contribute to health. + +[Sidenote:--16--] While declaring that he was the most scrupulous of all +mankind, he ran to an excess of blood-guiltiness,] killing four of the +vestal virgins, one of whom--so far as he was able--he had forcibly +outraged. For latterly all his sexual power had disappeared, as a result +of which it was reported that he satisfied his vileness in a different +way; and associated with him were others of similar inclinations, who +not only admitted that they were given to such practices but maintained +that they did so for the sake of their ruler's welfare. + +A young knight carried a coin with his image into a brothel and people +informed against him.[Footnote: Conjecture, on the basis of Reiske and +Bekker.] For this he was at the time imprisoned to await execution, but +later was released, as the emperor died before he did.] This maiden of +whom I speak was named Clodia Laeta. She, crying out loudly, "Antoninus +himself knows that I am a virgin, [he himself knows that I am pure,]" +was buried alive. [Three others shared her sentence. Two of them, +Aurelia Severa and Pomponia Rufina, met a similar death, but Cannutia +Crescentina threw herself from the top of the house. + +And in the case of adulterers he did the same. For though he showed +himself the most adulterous of men (so far, at least, as he was +physically able) he both detested others who bore the same charge and +killed them contrary to established laws.--Though displeased at all good +men, he affected to honor some few of them after their death.-- + +¶Antoninus censured and rebuked them all because they asked nothing of +him. And he said, in the presence of all: "It is evident from the fact +that you ask nothing of me that you lack confidence in me. And if you +lack confidence, you are suspicious of me; and if you are suspicious of +me, you fear me; and if you fear me, you hate me." He made this an +excuse for severe measures. + +¶Antoninus being about to cause Cornificia to take leave of earth bade +her (as a token of honor) choose what death she wished to die. She, +after many lamentations, inspired by the memory of her father, Marcus, +her grandfather, Antoninus, and her brother, Commodus, ended with this +speech: "Pining, unhappy soul of mine, shut in a vile body, make forth, +be free, show them that you are Marcus's daughter, whether they will or +no!" Then she laid aside all the adornment in which she was arrayed, +and having composed her limbs in seemly fashion severed her veins and +died. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 214 (_a.u._ 967)] Next, Antoninus arrived in Thrace, +paying no further heed to Dacia. Having crossed the Hellespont, not +without danger, he did honor to Achilles with sacrifices and races, in +armor, about the tomb, in which he as well as the soldiers participated. +For this he gave them money, assuring them that they had won a great +success and had in very truth captured that famous Ilium of old, and he +set up a bronze statue of Achilles himself.] ¶Antoninus by arriving at +Pergamum, while there was some dispute about it, [Footnote: The sense of +these words is not clear. Boissevain conjectures that there may have +been some who doubted whether an emperor so diseased would ever live to +reach Mysia.] seemed to bring to fulfillment the following verse, +according to some oracle: + + "O'er the Telephian land shall prowl the Ausonian beast." + +He took a lasting delight and pride in the fact that he was called +"beast," and his victims fell in heaps. The man who had composed the +verse used to laugh and say that he was in very truth himself the +verse-maker (thereby indicating that no one may die contrary to the will +of fate, but that the common saying is true, which declares that liars +and deceivers are never believed, even if they tell the truth). + +[Sidenote:--17--] He held court but little or not at all. Most of his +leisure he devoted to meddlesomeness as much as anything. People from +all quarters brought him word of all the most insignificant occurrences. +For this reason he gave orders that the soldiers who kept their eyes and +ears wide open for these details should be liable to punishment by no +one save himself. This enactment, too, produced no good result, but we +had a new set of tyrants in them. But the thing that was especially +unseemly and most unworthy, both of the senate and of the Roman +people,--we had a eunuch to domineer over us. He was a native of Spain, +by name Sempronius Rufus, and his occupation that of a sorcerer and +juggler (for which he had been confined on an island by Severus). This +fellow was destined to pay the penalty for his conduct, as were also the +rest who laid information against others. As for Antoninus, he would +send word that he should hold court or transact any other public +business directly after dawn; but he kept putting us off till noon and +often till evening, and would not even admit us to the ante-chamber, so +that we had to stand about outside somewhere. Usually at a late hour he +decided that he would not even exchange greetings with us that day. +Meanwhile he was largely engaged in gratifying his inquisitiveness, as I +said, or was driving chariots, killing beasts, fighting as a gladiator, +drinking, enjoying the consequent big head, mixing great bowls (beside +their other food) for the soldiers that kept guard over him within, and +sending round cups of wine (this last before our very face and eyes). At +the conclusion of all this, once in a while he would hold court. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 214-215] [Sidenote:--18--] That was his behavior while +in winter-quarters at Nicomedea. He also trained the Macedonian phalanx. +He constructed two very large engines for the Armenian and for the +Parthian war, so that he could take them to pieces and carry them over +on boats into Syria. For the rest, he was staining himself with more +blood and transgressing laws and using up money. Neither in these +matters nor in any others did he heed his mother, who gave him much +excellent advice. This in spite of the fact that he entrusted to her the +management of the books and letters both, save the very important ones, +and that he inscribed her name with many praises in his letters to the +senate, mentioning it in the same connection as his own and that of his +armies, i.e., with a statement that she was _safe_. Need it be mentioned +that she greeted publicly all the foremost men, just as her son did? But +she continued more and more her study of philosophy with these persons. +He kept declaring that he needed nothing beyond necessities, and gave +himself airs over the fact that he could get along with the cheapest +kind of living. Yet there was nothing on earth or in the sea or in the +air that we did not keep furnishing him privately and publicly. [Of +these articles he used extremely few for the benefit of the friends with +him (for he no longer cared to dine with us), but the most of them he +consumed with his freedmen. Such was his delight in magicians and +jugglers that he commended and honored Apollonius [Footnote: The famous +Apollonius of Tyana.] of Cappadocia, who had flourished in Domitian's +reign and was a thoroughgoing juggler and magician; and he erected a +heroum to his memory. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 215 (_a.u._ 968)] [Sidenote:--19--] The pretext for his +campaign against the Parthians was that Vologaesus had not acceded to his +request for the extradition of Tiridates and a certain Antiochus with +him. Antiochus was a Cilician and pretended at first to be a philosopher +of the cynic school. In this way he was of very great assistance to the +soldiers in warfare. He strengthened them against the despair caused by +the excessive cold, for he threw himself into the snow and rolled in it; +and as a result he obtained money and honors from Severus himself and +from Antoninus. Elated at this, he attached himself to Tiridates and in +his company deserted to the Parthian prince. + +[Sidenote:--20--] [Antoninus surely maligned himself in asserting that +he had overcome by slyness the audacity, rapacity and faithlessness of +the Celtae, against which arms were of no avail. The same man commended +Fabricius Luscinus because he had refused to let Pyrrhus be +treacherously murdered by his friend.--He took pride in having put +enmity between the Vandili and Marcomani, who were friends, and in +having executed Gaiobomarus, the accused king of the Quadi. And since +one of the latter's associates, under accusation at the same time with +him, hanged himself before execution, Antoninus delivered his corpse to +the barbarians to be wounded, that the man might be regarded as having +been killed in pursuance of a sentence instead of dying voluntarily +(which was deemed a creditable act among them). + +He killed Caecilius AEmilianus, governor of Baetica, on suspicion that he +had asked an oracular reply from Hercules at Gades.] + +[Sidenote:--19--] Before leaving Nicomedea the emperor held a +gladiatorial contest there in honor of his birthday, for not even on +that day did he refrain from slaughter. Here it is said that a +combatant, being defeated, begged for his life, whereupon Antoninus +said: "Go and ask your adversary. I am not empowered to spare you." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (_a.u._ 969)] And so the wretch, who would probably +have been allowed by his antagonist to go, if the above words had not +been spoken, lost his life. The victor did not dare release him for fear +of appearing more humane than the emperor. + +[Sidenote:--20--] For all that, while so engaged and steeped in the +luxury of Antioch even to the point of keeping his chin wholly bare, he +gave utterance to laments, as if he were in the midst of great toils and +dangers. And he reproved the senate, saying for one thing that they were +slothful, did not understand readily, and did not give their votes +separately. Finally he wrote: "I know that my behavior doesn't please +you. But the reason for my having arms and soldiers alike is to enable +me to disregard anything that is said about me." + +[Sidenote:--21--] When the Parthian monarch in fear surrendered both +Tiridates and Antiochus, he disbanded the expedition at once. But he +despatched Theocritus with an army into Armenian territory and suffered +defeat amounting to a severe reverse at the hands of the inhabitants. +Theocritus was of servile origin and had been brought up in the +orchestra; [he was the man who had taught Antoninus dancing and had been +a favorite of Saoterus, and through the influence thus acquired he had +been introduced to the theatre at Rome. But, as he was disliked there, +he was driven out of Rome and went to Lugdunum, where he delighted the +people, who were rather provincial. And, from a slave and dancer, he +came to be an army leader and prefect.] He advanced to such power in the +household of Antoninus that both the prefects were as nothing compared +to him. Likewise Epagathus, himself also a Caesarian, had equal influence +with him and committed equal transgressions. Thus Theocritus, who kept +traveling back and forth in the interest of securing provisions and +selling them at retail, proved the death of many persons because of his +authority and for other reasons. One victim was Titianus Flavius. The +latter, while procurator in Alexandria, offended him in some way, +whereupon Theocritus, leaping from his seat, drew his sword. At that +Titianus remarked: "This, too, you have done like a dancer." Hence the +other in a rage ordered him to be killed. + +[Sidenote:--22--] Now Antoninus, in spite of his declaration that he +cherished an overwhelming love for Alexander, all but destroyed utterly +the whole population of Alexander's city. Hearing that he was spoken +against and ridiculed by them for various reasons, and not least of all +for murdering his brother, he set out for Alexandria, concealing his +wrath and pretending to long to see them. But when he reached the +suburbs whither the leading citizens had come with certain mystic and +sacred symbols, he greeted them as if he intended to entertain them at a +banquet and then put them to death. After this he arrayed his whole +force in armor and marched into the city; he had sent previous notice to +all the people there to remain at home and had occupied all the streets +and in addition all the roofs in advance. And, to pass over the details +of the calamities that then befell the wretched city, he slaughtered so +many individuals that he dared not even speak about the number of them, +but wrote the senate that it was of no interest how many of them or who +had died, for they all deserved to suffer this fate. Of the property, +part was plundered and part destroyed. + +[Sidenote:--23--] With the people perished also many foreigners, and +not a few who had accompanied Antoninus were destroyed for want of +identification. As the city was large and persons were being murdered +all over it by night and by day, it was impossible to distinguish +anybody, no matter how much one might wish it. They simply expired as +chance directed and their bodies were straightway cast into deep +trenches to keep the rest from being aware of the extent of the +disaster.--That was the fate of the natives. The foreigners were all +driven out except the merchants, and even they had all their wares +plundered. Also some shrines were despoiled. In the midst of most of +these atrocities Antoninus was present and looked on and personally took +a hand, but sometimes he issued orders to others from the temple of +Serapis. He lived in this god's precinct even during the nights and days +that witnessed the shedding of Egyptian blood. [And he sent word to the +senate that he was observing purity during the days when he was in +reality sacrificing there domestic beasts and human beings at the same +time to the god.] Yet why should I have spoken of this, when he actually +dared to devote to the god the sword with which he had killed his +brother? + +Next he abolished the spectacles and the public messes of the +Alexandrians and ordered Alexandria to be broken up [Footnote: The +reading is [Greek: dioikisthaenai].] into villages, with a wall fully +garrisoned bisecting the city, that the inhabitants might no longer +visit one another with security. Such was the treatment accorded unhappy +Alexandria by the _Ausonian Beast_, as the tag of the oracle about him +called him; and he said he liked the title and was glad to be +distinguished by the honorific appellation of "Beast." Never mind how +many persons he murdered on the pretext that they had fulfilled the +oracle. + +[Sidenote:--24--] [The same man gave prizes to the soldiers for their +campaign, allowing those stationed in the pretorian guard to get some +six thousand two hundred and fifty [Footnote: The common reading is +"twelve hundred and fifty," but since it seems incredible that the +Pretorians should have obtained less, instead of more, than the ordinary +soldiers, Lange with much reason proposed the change carried out +above,--a change which requires the insertion (or restitution) of but +one Greek numeral-letter that might easily have been overlooked by some +copyist.] and the rest five thousand [lacuna] + +[That model of temperance (as he was wont to put it), the rebuker of +licentiousness in others, at the consummation of a most vile and at the +same time most dangerous outrage, appeared, in truth, to be indignant; +but by not giving that indignation sufficient free play and further by +allowing the youths to do what no one had ever yet dared to propose, he +greatly corrupted the latter, who had imitated the habits of women of +the demi-monde and of professional male buffoons.] + +[On the occasion of the Culenian [Footnote: Nobody knows what the +Culenian games were; Valois guesses that they may have been an +Alexandrian festival. The text of this whole chapter is in a very ragged +condition, and should not be held too strictly accountable in the matter +of sense or cohesion.] spectacle severe censure was passed, not only +upon those who there carried on their accustomed pursuits, but also upon +the spectators.] + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +78 + + +Antoninus's treacherous campaign against Artabanus, the Parthian +(chapters 1-3). + +Antoninus's death (chapters 4-6). Foreshadowings of his death, and +the abuse heaped upon him dead (chapters 7-10). + +About Macrinus Augustus, and his excellencies and faults (chapters +11-15). + +His letters and commands to the senate, and other official acts +(chapters 16-22). + +Death of Julia Augusta (chapters 23, 24). + +Inauspicious signs: peace arranged with Artabanus after submitting to +a defeat (chapters 25-27). + +Uprising of the soldiers: Pseudantoninus is proclaimed as emperor by +the soldiers (chapters 28-31). + +How Macrinus, conquered in battle, took to flight and was cut down +after the capture of his son (chapters 32-41). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 = +Sixth of Antoninus.) + +C. Bruttius Praesens, T. Messius Extricatus (II). (A.D. 217 = a.u. +970 = Seventh of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th to April 8th.) + +M. Opellius Macrinus Aug., Q.M. Coclatinus Adventus. (A.D. 218 = a.u. +971. The first year of Macrinus ends April 11th and his second year +is abruptly terminated June 8th.) + + +_(BOOK 79, BOISSEVAIN.)_ + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (_a.u._ 969)] [Sidenote:--1--] The next thing was a +campaign against the Parthians and the pretext that was used was that +Artabanus had refused to view favorably his wooing and give him his +daughter in marriage. (But he knew well enough that, while pretending to +want to marry her, he in fact was anxious to detach the Parthian +kingdom.) So he damaged a large section of the country around Media by +means of a sudden incursion, sacked many citadels, won over Arbela, dug +open the royal tombs of the Parthians, and flung the bones about. The +Parthians would not engage him at close quarters, and therefore I have +had nothing of especial interest to record concerning the doings of that +expedition except, perhaps, one anecdote. Two soldiers who had seized a +skin of wine came to him, each claiming the booty as entirely his own. +Being bidden by him to divide the wine equally they drew their swords +and cut the wine skin in two, apparently expecting each to get a half +with the wine in it. They so dreaded their emperor that they troubled +him even with such details and showed such scrupulousness as to lose +both wineskin and wine. + +Now the barbarians took refuge in the mountains and across the Tigris in +order to perfect their preparations. But Antoninus suppressed this fact +and, assuming that he had utterly vanquished a foe whom he had not even +seen, he displayed becoming pride; and, as he himself wrote, he was +particularly gratified because a lion ran down from the mountains and +fought on his side. + +[Sidenote:--2--] Not only in other ways did he live unnaturally and +transgress laws, but in his very campaigns [[lacuna] but truth; [Footnote: +Here begins the parchment codex, Vaticanus 1288. See Volume I, page 8.] +for I have run across the book written by him about it. He understood so +well how he stood with all the senators that, in spite of many protests, +their slaves and freedmen and intimate friends were arrested by him and +were asked under torture whether "so-and-so loves me" or "so-and-so +hates me." For the charts of the stars under which any of his foremost +courtiers had been born gave evidence, he said, as to who was friendly +to him and who was hostile. And on this basis he honored many persons +and destroyed many others. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 217 (_a.u._ 970)] [Sidenote:--3--] When the Parthians and +the Medes, greatly enraged at the treatment they had received, equipped +a large body of troops, he fell into an ecstasy of terror. He was very +bold in threats and very reckless in daring, but very cowardly in +following a slow course involving danger, and very weak in hard labor. +He could no longer bear either great heat or armor, and consequently +wore sleeved tunics made in such a shape as more or less to resemble +breastplates. Thus having the appearance of armor without its weight he +could be safe from plots and also arouse admiration. He often used these +garments when not in battle. He wore also a cavalry cloak, now all +purple, now purple with white threads, and again of white with purple +threads, and also red. In Syria and in Mesopotamia he used Celtic +clothing and shoes. He furthermore invented a costume of his own by +cutting out cloth and stitching it up, barbaric fashion, into a kind of +cloak. He himself wore it very constantly, so that it led to his being +called Caracalla, [Footnote: A word of Celtic origin, signifying a long, +ulster-like tunic plus a hood. This was a Gallic dress.] and he +prescribed it by preference as the dress for the soldiers. The +barbarians saw what sort of person he was and also heard that his men +were enervated through their previous luxury; for, to give an instance +of their behavior, the Romans passed the winter in houses, making use of +everything belonging to their entertainers as if it were their own. +[They further perceived that their opponents had become so physically +worn and so dejected in spirit by their toils and by the hardships which +they were now undergoing that they no longer heeded the presents which +they kept receiving from their commander.] Elated, therefore, to think +that they should find them rather helpers than foes, they made ready to +attack. [Footnote: The last five words are a conjecture of Bekker's.] + +[Sidenote:--4--] Antoninus made preparations in his turn, but it did not +fall to his lot to enter upon the war: he was struck down in the midst +of his soldiers, whom he most honored and in whom he reposed vast +confidence. A seer in Africa had declared (in such a way that it became +noised abroad) that both Macrinus the prefect and his son Diadumenianus +[Footnote: His full name was M. Opellius Diadumenianus.] must reign. +Macrinus, sent to Rome, had revealed this to Flavius Maternianus, who at +the time commanded the soldiers in the city, and he had at once sent +word to Antoninus. It happened that this letter was diverted to Antioch +and came to [his mother] Julia, since she had been given orders to read +over everything that arrived and thus prevent a mass of unimportant +letters being sent to him while in a hostile country. Another letter +written by Ulpius Julianus, who then had charge of appraisements, went +by other carriers straight to Macrinus and informed him of the state of +the case. It was in this way that the letter to the emperor suffered a +delay and the despatch to his rival came to the attention of the latter +in good season. Now Macrinus, becoming afraid that he might be put to +death by Antoninus on account of all this, especially since a certain +Egyptian Serapio had told the prince to his face that Macrinus should +succeed him, did not find it well to delay.--Serapio had first been +thrown to a lion for his pains, but when he merely held out his hand, as +is reported, and the animal did not touch him, he was slain. He might +have escaped even this fate (or so he declared) by calling upon certain +spirits, if he had lived one day longer. + +[Sidenote:--5--] Macrinus came to no harm but hastened his preparations, +having a presentiment that otherwise he should perish, especially since +Antoninus had suddenly, one day before [Footnote: "One day before" is a +conjecture of Bekker's. (The birthday of Antoninus seems to have been on +the sixth of April.)] his birthday, removed those of Macrinus's +companions that were in the latter's company, alleging one reason in one +case and another in another with the general pretext of doing them +honor. Not but [lacuna] expecting that it was fated for him to get it +he had also made a name which owed its origin to this fact. Accordingly, +he suborned two tribunes stationed in the pretorian guard, Nemesianus +and Apollinarius, brothers belonging to the Aurelian gens, and Julius +Martialius, who was enrolled among the evocati and had a private grudge +against Antoninus for not giving him the post of centurion on request. +Thus he made his plot, and it was carried out as follows. On the eighth +of April, when the emperor had set out from Edessa to Carrhae and had +dismounted from his horse to go and ease himself, Martialius approached +as if he wanted to say something to him and struck him smartly with a +small knife. The assassin at once fled and would have escaped detection, +had he thrown away the sword. The weapon led to his being recognized by +one of the Scythians on the staff of Antoninus, and he was brought down +with a javelin. As for Martialius [lacuna] the military tribunes pretending +to come to the rescue slew [lacuna] + +[This Scythian attended him, not merely to be an ally of his, but as +keeping guard over him to a certain extent. [Sidenote:--6--] For he +maintained Scythians and Celtae about him, free and slaves alike, whom he +had taken away from children and wives and had equipped with arms; and +he affected to place more dependence upon them than upon the soldiers. +To illustrate, he kept honoring them with posts as centurions, and he +called them "lions." Moreover, he would often converse with emissaries +sent from the very provinces, and in the presence of no one else but the +interpreters would urge them, in case any catastrophe befell him, to +invade Italy and march upon Rome, assuring them that it was very easy to +capture. And to prevent any inkling of his talk spreading to our ears he +would immediately put to death the interpreters. For all that, we did +ascertain it later from the barbarians themselves: and the matter of the +poisons we learned from Macrinus.] It seemed that he partly sent for and +partly bought quantities of all kinds of poisons from the inhabitants of +Upper Asia, spending altogether seven hundred and fifty myriads upon +them, in order that he might secretly kill in different ways great +numbers of men,--in fine, whomsoever he would. They were subsequently +discovered in the royal apartments and were all consumed by fire. [At +this time the soldiers, both for this reason and, beyond other +considerations, because they were vexed at having the barbarians +preferred to themselves, were not altogether so enthusiastic over their +leader as of yore and did not aid him when he became the victim of a +plot.] Such was the end that he met after a life of twenty-nine years +[and four days (for he had been born on the fourth of April)], and after +a reign of six years, two months, and two days. + +[Sidenote:--7--] There are many things at this point, too, in the story +that occur to excite my surprise. When he was about to start from +Antioch on his last journey, his father confronted him in a vision, girt +with a sword and saying: "As you killed your brother, so will I smite +you unto death;" and the soothsayers told him to beware of that day, +using so direct a form of speech as this: "The gates of the victim's +liver are shut." After this he went out through some door, paying no +heed to the fact that the lion, which he was wont to call "Rapier," and +had for a table companion and bedfellow, knocked him down as he went +out, and, moreover, tore some of his clothing. He kept many other lions +besides and always had some of them around him, but this one he would +often caress even publicly. It was thus that these events occurred. + +And a little before his death, as I have heard, a great fire suddenly +fastened upon the entire interior of the temple of Serapis in +Alexandria, and did no other harm whatever save only to destroy that +sword with which he had slain his brother. [Later, when it stopped, many +stars shone out.] In Rome, too, [a spirit wearing the likeness of a man +led an ass up the Capitol and later up the Palatine, seeking, as he +said, its master and stating that Antoninus was dead and Jupiter +reigned. Arrested for his behavior, he was sent by Maternianus to +Antoninus, and he declared: "I depart, as you bid, but I shall face not +this emperor but another." Afterwards on coming to Capua he vanished. + +[Sidenote:--8--] This took place while the prince was still alive.] At +the horse-race [held in memory of Severus's reign] the statue of Mars, +while being carried in procession, fell down. This perhaps would not +arouse such great wonder, but listen to the greatest marvel of all. The +Green faction had been defeated, whereupon, catching sight of a jackdaw, +which was screeching very loud on the tip of a javelin, they all gazed +at him and all of a sudden, as if by previous arrangement, cried out: +"Hail Martialius, Martialius hail, long it is since we beheld thee!" It +was not that the jackdaw was ever so called, but through him they were +greeting, apparently under some divine inspiration, Martialius, the +assassin of Antoninus. To some, indeed, Antoninus seemed to have +foretold his own end, inasmuch as in the last letter that he sent to the +senate he had said: "Cease praying that I may reign a hundred years." +The petition mentioned had always been uttered from the beginning of his +sovereignty and this was the first and only time that he found fault +with it. Thus, while his words were simply meant to chide them for +offering a prayer impossible of accomplishment, he was really indicating +that he should no longer rule for any length of time. And when certain +persons had once called attention to this fact, it also came to my mind +that when he was giving us a banquet in Nicomedea at the Saturnalia and +had talked a good deal, as was usual at a symposium, then on our rising +to go he had addressed me and said: "With great acumen and truth, Dio, +has Euripides remarked that + + "'Neath divers forms the spirit world is lurking, + Much passing hope the gods are ever working. + Oft disappointment strikes down sure ambition: + The unthought chance God brings to full fruition. + This story leaves things in just that condition.'" + +[Footnote: Lines that occur at the end of several of Euripides's +dramas.] + +At the time this quotation seemed to have been mere nonsense, but when +not long after he perished the fact that this was the last speech he +uttered to me was thought to infuse into it a certain truly oracular +significance with regard to what was to befall him. Similar importance +was attached to the utterance of Jupiter called Belus, [Footnote: The +same as Baal.] a god revered in Apamea [Footnote: This is the Apamea on +the Orontes, built by Seleucus Nicator.] of Syria. He, years before, +when Severus was still a private citizen, had spoken to him these +verses: + + "Touching eyes and head, like Zeus, whose delight is in thunder, + Like unto Ares in waist, and in chest resembling Poseidon." + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, II, verses 478-9.] + +And later, after his accession as emperor, the god had made this +response to an enquiry: "Thy house shall perish utterly in blood." +[Footnote: Adapted from Euripides, Phoenician Maidens, verse 20.] + +[Sidenote:--9--] [Accordingly the body of Antoninus was then burned, and +his bones, brought secretly by night into Rome, were deposited in the +mausoleum of the Antonines. All the senators and private individuals, +men and women, without exception entertained so violent a hatred of him +that all their words and actions relating to him were such as would +befit the downfall of a most implacable foe. He was not officially +disgraced, because the soldiers did not get from Macrinus the state of +peace which they had hoped to secure by a change. Deprived of the +profits which they were wont to receive from Antoninus, they began to +long for him again. Indeed, their wishes subsequently prevailed to the +extent of having him enrolled among the heroes: of course this was voted +by the senate.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 217, _a.u._ 970] In general, abundant ill was +consistently spoken of him by everybody. They would no longer term him +Antoninus, but [some called him Bassianus, [Footnote: He was originally +Septimius Bassianus, named after his maternal grandfather.] his old +name, others] Caracalla, as I have mentioned, [Footnote: In chapter 3.] +[others] also Tarautas, from the appellation of a gladiator who was [in +appearance] very small and very ugly and [in spirit very audacious and] +very bloodthirsty. + +[Sidenote:--10--] Now his affairs, however one may name him, were in +this state. As for me, even before he came to the throne, it was +foretold me in a way by his father that I should write this account. +Just after his death methought I saw in a great plain the whole power of +Rome arrayed in arms, and it seemed as if Severus were sitting [on a +knoll there and] on a lofty tribunal conversing with them. And, seeing +me standing by to hear what was said, he spoke out: "Come hither, Dio, +to this spot; approach nearer, that you may both ascertain accurately +and write a history of all that is said and done."--Such was the life +and the overthrow of Tarautas. [After him there perished also those who +had shared in the plot against him, some at once and others before a +great while. His intimate companions and the Caesarians likewise +perished. He had been, as it were, coupled with a spirit of murder that +operated equally against enemies and against friends.] + +[Sidenote:--11--] Macrinus, by race a Moor from Caesarea, came from most +obscure parents [so that with considerable justice he was likened to the +ass that was led to the Palatine by the apparition]. For one thing his +left ear had been bored, according to the custom [generally] in vogue +among the Moors. His affability was even more striking. As to duties, +his comprehension of them was not so accurate as his performance of them +was faithful. [Thus it was, thanks to the advocacy of a friend's cause, +that he became known to Plautianus, and at first he took the position of +manager of the latter's property; subsequently he ran a risk of +perishing together with his employer, but was unexpectedly saved by the +intercession of Cilo and was given charge of the vehicles of Severus +that passed back and forth along the Flaminian Way.] From Antoninus +[after securing some titles of a short-lived procuratorship] he obtained +an appointment as prefect and administered the affairs of this +responsible position excellently and with entire justice, [so far as he +was free to act independently. This, then, was his general character and +these the steps of his advancement. Even during the life of Tarautas he +was led, in the way that I have described, to harbor in his mind the +hope of empire;] and at his death [he did not, to be sure, either that +day or the two following days occupy the office, in order to avoid the +imputation of having killed him with such intentions: but for that space +of time the Roman state remained completely bereft of a ruler possessing +authority, though without the people's knowing it. He communicated with +the soldiers in every direction,--that is to say, the ones who were in +Mesopotamia on account of the war but instead of being in one body were +scattered all about; and he won their allegiance through the agency of +his [Footnote: Reading [Greek: ohi] (Dindorf) instead of [Greek: hos].] +friends], among his various offers being a suggestion that they might +secure a respite from the war, which was an especial cause of +dissatisfaction to them: and so on the fourth day [the anniversary of +Severus's birthday] he was chosen emperor by them [after making a show +of resistance]. + +[Sidenote:--12--] [He delivered an address full of good points and held +out hopes of many advantages to the rest of mankind as well. Those who +had been doomed to some life punishment for an act of impiety, of the +kind that is so named with reference to attitude toward emperors, were +absolved from their sentence; and complaints of that nature which were +pending were dismissed. He rescinded the measures enacted by Caracalla +relating to inheritances and emancipations and, by asseverating that it +was a sacrilege to kill a senator, he succeeded in his appeal for the +pardon of Aurelianus, whose surrender was demanded by the soldiers +because he had proved most obnoxious to them in many previous campaigns. +Not for long, however, was it in his power to behave as an honest man +[lacuna] and Aurelianus [lacuna] soldiers [lacuna] this man [lacuna] by +him [lacuna] absolute power [lacuna] wrath [lacuna] and two hundred and +fifty denarii [lacuna] there had been public notice of giving more +[lacuna] fearing that [lacuna] Aurelianus, the only one then present not +only of ex-consuls but of those who were senators at all [lacuna] by aid +of money [lacuna] upon him [lacuna] glad to divert the blame for +Caracalla's death [lacuna] and about the [lacuna] them [lacuna] the +[lacuna] the [lacuna] great masses both of furniture and of property of +the emperors. But as not even this on account of the soldiers sufficed +for the [lacuna] of senators [lacuna] kill [lacuna] no one, but putting +some under guard [lacuna] of the knights and the freedmen and the +Caesarians and [lacuna] causing those who erred in even the slightest +respect to be punished, so that to all [lacuna] of them [lacuna] the +procuratorships and the excessive expenditures and the majority of the +burdens recently laid upon them by Tarautas [lacuna] of the games +[lacuna] multitude [lacuna], gathering the presents which had +unnecessarily been bestowed upon any persons, and he forbade any silver +image of him being made over five pounds in weight, or any golden image +of over three. Greatest of all, the hire of those serving in the +pretorian guard [lacuna] to that appointed [lacuna] by Severus [lacuna] + +[Sidenote:--13--] Though in truth he was praised by some for this (and +not without reason), still he incurred (on the part of the sensible) a +censure that quite counterbalanced it. The adverse sentiment in question +was due to the fact that he enrolled certain persons in the ranks of +ex-consuls and immediately assigned them to governorships of provinces. +Yet he refused the following year to have the reputation of being consul +twice because he had the honors of ex-consul: this was a practice begun +during the reign of Severus and followed also by the latter's son. This +procedure, however, both in his own case and in that of Adventus was +lawful enough, but he showed great folly in sending Marcius Agrippa +first into Pannonia and later into Dacia to govern. The previous +officials of the districts mentioned,--Sabinus and Castinus,--he +summoned at once to his side, pretending that he wanted their company, +but really because he feared their surpassing spirit and their +friendship for Caracalla. It was in this way that he came to despatch +Agrippa to Dacia and Deccius Triccianus [Footnote: _AElius Deccius +Triccianus_.] to Pannonia. The former had been a slave acting as master +of wardrobe for some woman and for this cause [Footnote: It is hard to +see why, unless in the age of Severus slaves were forbidden to have +charge of women's attire.] had been tried by Severus, although at the +time he was attached to the fiscus; he had then been driven out to an +island for betraying some interest, was subsequently restored, together +with the rest, by Tarautas, had taken charge of his decisions and +letters, and finally had been degraded to the position of senator, with +ex-consular rank, because he had admitted overgrown lads into the army. +Triccianus served in the rank and file of the Pannonian contingent, had +once been porter to the governor of that country, and was at this time +commanding the Alban legion. + +[Sidenote:--14--] These were some of the grounds that led many persons +to find fault with him. Another was his elevation of Adventus. Adventus +had drawn pay as one of the spies and detectives, had left his position +there and served among the letter-carriers, had later been appointed +cubicularius, and still later was advanced to a position as procurator. +Now although old age prevented him from seeing, lack of education from +reading, and want of experience from being able to accomplish anything, +the emperor made him senator, fellow-consul, and prefect of the city. +This upstart had dared to say to the soldiers after the death of +Caracalla: "The sovereignty properly belongs to me, since I am elder +than Macrinus: but inasmuch as I am extremely old, I make way for him." +His behavior was regarded as nonsensical, as was also that of Macrinus, +in granting the greatest dignity of the senate to such a man, who could +not when consul carry on a plain conversation with anybody in the +senate, and consequently on the day of elections pretended to be sick. +Hence, before long Macrinus assigned the direction of the city to Marius +Maximus in his stead. It looked as if he had made him praefectus urbi +with the sole purpose of polluting the senate-house. And this pollution +took place not only in virtue of the fact that he had served in the +mercenary force and had performed the duties belonging to executioners, +scouts, and centurions, but in that he had secured control of the city +prior to fulfilling the demands of the consulship. In other words, he +became city prefect before senator. Macrinus connived at his promotion +with the definite intention of blinding the public in regard to his own +record, which would have shown that he had seized the imperial office +while yet a knight. + +[Sidenote:--15--] Besides these not unmerited censures that some passed +upon him, he also attracted adverse criticism for designating as +prefects Ulpius Julianus and Julianus Nestor, who possessed no +particular excellence and had not been tested in many undertakings, but +had become quite notorious for rascality in Caracalla's reign; for, +being at the head of the late prince's messengers [Footnote: Mommsen +thinks that by this expression Dio probably means the position of +_princeps peregrinorum_.] they had been of great assistance to him in +his unholy meddling. However, only a few citizens took account of these +details, which did not tend wholly to encourage them. The majority of +individuals, in view of their having recently got rid of Tarautas, which +was more than they could have hoped, and comparing the new ruler in the +few indications afforded with the old, and in view of all the other +considerations and expectations, did not deem it fitting to condemn him +so soon. And for this reason they mourned him exceedingly when he was +killed, though they would certainly have felt hatred for him had he +lived longer.] + +For he began to live rather more luxuriously and he took official notice +of those who reproved him. His putting Maternianus and Datus out of the +way was not reasonable,--for what wrong had they done in being attentive +to their emperor?--but it was not unlike human nature, since he had been +involved in great danger. But he made a mistake in venting his wrath +upon the rest, who were suspected of disliking his low birth and his +unexpected attempt upon the sovereign power. He ought to have done +precisely the opposite; realizing what he had been at the outset and +what his position then was, he should not have been supercilious, but +should have behaved moderately, cultivated the genius of his household, +and encouraged men by good deeds and a display of excellence unchanged +by circumstances. + +[Sidenote:--16--] These things [lacuna] in regard to him [lacuna] have +been said by me [lacuna] in detail [lacuna] of any [lacuna] just as +[lacuna] nominally throughout his entire reign [lacuna] of all [lacuna] +of it [lacuna] that he said in conversation with the soldiers [lacuna] +it was proved [lacuna] and he dared to utter not a few laudations of +himself and to send still more of them in letters, saying among other +things: "I have been quite sure that you also would agree with the +legions, since I enjoy the consciousness of having conferred many +benefits upon the commonwealth." He subscribed himself in the letter as +Caesar and emperor and Severus, adding to the name of Macrinus the titles +of Pious, and Fortunate, and Augustus, and Proconsul, of course without +awaiting any vote on our part. He sent the letter without being ignorant +that he was, on his own responsibility, assuming so many and great +designations nor [lacuna] name [lacuna] of Pretorians as formerly some +[lacuna] not but what [lacuna] so wrote [lacuna] in the beginning +[lacuna] war chiefly [lacuna] of barbarians [lacuna] near [lacuna] in +the letter he used simply the same terms as the emperors before +Caracalla, and this he did the whole year through [lacuna] memoranda +found among the soldiers. Thus [lacuna] of things accustomed to be said +with a view to flattery and not inspired by truthfulness they became so +suspicious as to ask that they be made public, and he sent them to us, +and the quaestor read them aloud, as he did other similar documents in +their turn. And a certain praetor, as the senate was then in session and +none of the quaestors was present, also read an epistle once composed by +Macrinus himself. + +[Sidenote:--17--] The first letter having been read, appropriate +measures were passed with reference to both Macrinus and his son. He was +designated Patrician, and Princeps Iuventutis, and Caesar. He accepted +everything save the horse-race voted in honor of the beginning of his +reign; from this he begged to be excused, saying that the event had been +sufficiently honored by the spectacle on the birthday of Severus. Of +Tarautas he made no mention at this time, in the way of either honor or +dishonor, save only that he called him Emperor. He ventured to term him +neither Hero nor Foe, and, as I conjecture, it was because the deeds of +his predecessor and the hatred of much of mankind made him shrink from +the former epithet, and the thought of the soldiers restrained him from +the latter. Some suspected that it was because he wanted the disgracing +to be the act of the senate and the people rather than his own, +especially since he was in the midst of the legions. He did say that +Tarautas by his wrongdoing had been chiefly responsible for the war and +had terribly burdened the public treasury by increasing the money given +to the barbarians, inasmuch as it was of equal amount with the pay of +the soldiers under arms. No one dared, however, to give utterance +publicly to any such statement against him and vote that he was an +enemy, for fear of immediate annihilation at the hands of the soldiers +in the City. Still, they abused him in their own fashion and heaped +insults upon him as much as they could, going over the list of his +bloody deeds, with the name of each victim, and ranging him alongside +all the evil tyrants that had ever held sway over them. + +[Sidenote:--18--] At the same time the public demanded that the +horse-race given on his birthday be abolished, that absolutely all the +statues, both gold and silver, erected [Footnote: Supplying, with Reiske, +[Greek: hidruthentas].] in his honor be melted down, and that those who +had served with him in any capacity as informers be made known and +punished with the utmost speed. For great numbers, not only slaves and +freedmen and soldiers and Caesarians, but likewise knights and senators +and numerous very distinguished women, were believed to have given +secret hints during his reign and to have blackmailed various persons. +And although they did not attach to Antoninus the name of Enemy, they +did keep vociferating that Martialius (on account of the similarity of +his name to that of Mars, as they pretended,) ought to be honored with +enconiums and with statues for worship. They also showed for the moment +no indication of annoyance at Macrinus], the reason being that they were +so overwhelmed by joy on account of the death of Tarautas as not to have +leisure to think anything about his humble origin, and they were glad to +accept him as emperor. They were less concerned about whose slaves they +should be next than about whose yoke they had shaken off, and were +impressed with the idea that any chance comer who might present himself +would be preferable to their former master. [All the unusual +expenditures were rehearsed that had been made, not only by the Roman +Treasury but privately for any persons and on the part of any foreign +nations as a result of the former sovereign's direction: and thus the +overthrow of those charged with carrying out the enactments made by him +and the hope that in the future nothing similar would be done inclined +people to be satisfied with the existing arrangement. + +[Sidenote:--19--] However, they soon learned that Aurelianus was dead +and that Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus, had been appointed Caesar. This +last was nominally the act of the soldiers, through whose ranks he +passed when summoned from Antioch to meet his father, but really it was +accomplished by Macrinus. People further learned that their ruler had +assumed the name of Antoninus. (He had done this to win the favor of the +soldiers, partly to avoid seeming to dishonor his predecessor's memory +entirely, especially in view of the fact that he had secretly thrown +down some of the statues offered to him in Rome by Alexander and set on +pedestals by Antoninus himself: and again he wanted to get an excuse for +promising them seven hundred and fifty denarii more.) So persons began +to think differently and reflected that previously they had held him in +no esteem. Taking account, furthermore, of all the additional ignoble +manifestations on his part that they suspected and thought likely, they +began to be ashamed and did not [lacuna] Caracalla any more than +[lacuna] things pertaining to him differently [lacuna] by deprecating +the [lacuna] of Severus [lacuna] of Antoninus [lacuna] they displayed +[lacuna] and hero and what befitted his reign, not to be sure [lacuna] +and wholly the judgments of all men in Rome [lacuna] underwent a change +[lacuna] senate [lacuna] to him [lacuna] me [lacuna] however, when all +were questioned man by man regarding his honors, both others answered +ambiguously and [lacuna] Saturninus [lacuna] in a way attributing +[lacuna] praetors [lacuna] that it was not permissible for him to put any +vote about anything, in order that they might avoid the consul's +jealousy. This procedure was contrary to precedent, for it was not +lawful that there should take place in the senate-chamber an inquiry +into any matter, except at the command of the emperor. + +[Sidenote:--20--] The crowd, because they could obscure their identity +at the contest and by their numbers, gained the greater boldness, raised +a loud cry at the horse-race on the birthday of Diadumenianus, which +fell on the fourteenth of September: they uttered many lamentations, +asserting that they alone of all mankind were destitute of a leader, +destitute of a king; and they invoked the name of Jupiter, declaring +that he alone should be their leader and uttering aloud these words: "As +a master thou wert angry, as a father take pity on us." Nor would they +pay any heed at first to either the equestrian or the senatorial order +[lacuna] and commending the emperor and the Caesar to the extent of +[lacuna] in Greek saying: "Ah, what a glorious day is to-day! What noble +kings!" and desiring that the others also should share their opinion. +But they stretched out their arms toward the sky and exclaimed: +"[lacuna]. this is the Roman Augustus: having him we have all!" So true +it is that among mankind respect is a distinct characteristic of the +better element and contempt a characteristic of the worse. For these two +now regarded Macrinus and Diadumenianus as henceforth absolutely +non-existent and trampled upon their claims as though they were already +dead. This was one great reason why his soldiers despised him, and paid +no heed to what was done to win their favor. Another still more +important cause lay in the frequent and extraordinary insolence shown +toward him by the Pergamenians, who were deprived of what they had +formerly received from Tarautas; and for this conduct he imposed upon +them public sentence of loss of citizenship. [Sidenote:--21--] The +attitude of the soldiers is straightway to be described. At this time +Macrinus neither sent to the senate, as they were demanding, nor +published otherwise any document of the informers, saying either truly +or falsely (to avoid a great disturbance) that none such had been found +in the royal residence. For Tarautas had either destroyed the majority +of those containing any accusation or had returned them to the senders +themselves, as I have stated, [Footnote: The passage to which Dio refers +is lost.] to the end that no proof of his baseness should be left. But +he did reveal the names of three senators whom, from what he had himself +discovered, he deemed to be especially deserving of hatred. These were +Manilius and Julius, and moreover Sulpicius Arrhenianus, who had +blackmailed, among others, Bassus, the son of Pomponius, whose +lieutenant he had been when Bassus was governor of Moesia. These men +were banished to islands, as the emperor expressly forbade their being +put to death. "We would avoid,"--he wrote--these were his very +words,--"ourselves appearing to do the things for which we censure +them."--And Lucius Priscillianus [whose name was presented by the senate +itself,] was as much renowned for his insulting behavior as he was for +his killing of wild beasts. [He fought them at Tusculum every now and +then, and contended with so many each time that he bore the scars of +their bites.] Once he, unassisted, joined battle with a bear and +panther, a lioness and lion at once, but far more numerous were the men, +both knights and senators, whom he destroyed as a result of his +slanders. [For both of these achievements] he was greatly honored by +Caracalla [was enrolled among the ex-praetors and became (contrary to +precedent) governor of Achaea. He incurred the violent hatred of the +senate, was summoned for trial] and was confined upon an island. These +men, then, came to their end as described. + +[Sidenote:--22--] And Flaccus was entrusted also with the dispensation +of food stuffs,--an office which Manilius had formerly held,--for he had +secured [Footnote: Reading [Greek: eilaephos] (Reimar).] it (with the +added ratification of Macrinus) as a reward of his information against +him; and he was subsequently made superintendent of the distribution of +dole which took place at the games given by the major praetors, save +those celebrated in honor of Flora [lacuna] moreover the iuridici +possessing authority in Italy had to stop rendering decisions outside +the traditional limits set by Marcus. [Footnote: The text of the early +part of this chapter may be characterized as "jagged." The sentences +lack clearness and the relation of the individual words is not always +certain. The reader may be interested to see a translation of +Hirschfeld's interpretation of the section, taken from his book entitled +_Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der Roemischen Verwaltungsgeschichte_ +(pp. 117-120). + +a [Flaccus]--It is here a question of a high senatorial office, which +can only be the _praefectura alimentorum_. + +b [The iuridici]--Perhaps the person entrusted with the execution of +this ruling was C. Octavius Sabinus, who had the title of _electus ad +corrigendum statum Italiae_. + +c [The orphans]--Probably during the latter portion of Caracalla's +reign, as also under Commodus, the funds for food had been available +either not at all or at irregular intervals, and therefore the +restitution of district prefects was determined upon. + +From these Food Prefects for a particular district those officials must +be distinguished who bear the general title of _praefectus alimentorum_ +without any local limitation, and show a marked difference from the rest +in that they are invariably of consular rank, whereas the position of +district prefect, like that of curator of roads, was usually held by a +candidate that had only passed the praetorship. The inscriptions of these +_consular_ prefects begin not earlier than the end of the reign of +Marcus Aurelius, perhaps not till Commodus, and extend to the time of +Macrinus, while during this whole time (a period, that is, of about +forty years) all trace of the district prefects vanishes. Under these +circumstances the conclusion seems to me inevitable that towards the end +of the second century (probably from the first years of Marcus Aurelius +on) the district prefecture was abolished and the administration was +centralized in Rome under a consular _praefectus alimentorum_, whose +authority extended over the whole of Italy. + +Now very probably it was the introduction under Marcus Aurelius of the +_iuridici_ which occasioned this change, even if not immediately, and +that these duties of distribution, as well as other administrative +functions, were placed in their hands; one thing that would seem to +recommend this view particularly is that their position in general +tended to make them official examiners of the affairs of the +_municipia_. When, in addition, we have evidence that Macrinus in the +year 217 reduced the authority of the _iundici_ to the limits originally +imposed by Marcus Aurelius and that further the same emperor instituted +certain rulings for the amelioration of food distribution; when, +moreover, we consider in connection with this the coincidence of the +disappearance of the _consular food prefects_ for Italy on the one hand +and the reappearance of the _pretorial district prefects_ on the other, +it will not appear overbold to suppose that Macrinus, in the course of +the reform affecting the _iuridici_, also detached from them the right +to supervise foods, restored it to the curators of roads (as in the +original arrangement) and abolished the central bureau in Rome.]--A +certain Domitius Florus had formerly had charge of the senate records +and ought to have been next appointed aedile, but before entering upon +office had been deprived of all hope on account of Plautianus; he now +had recourse to sedulous office-seeking, recovered his lost standing and +was appointed tribune. Anicius Faustus was sent into Asia to govern in +place of Asper. The latter had at first obtained very great honor from +Macrinus, who thought he could settle affairs in Asia: afterwards, when +he was already _en route_ and was approaching the province (Macrinus had +not accorded a favorable reception to the petition forwarded to +Caracalla and delivered to him, in which the inhabitants begged that +Asper be not sent them as proconsul), the emperor offered him a terrible +affront in rejecting him. It was reported to the prince that Asper had +made some improper remarks, and moreover he affected to think that old +age and disease constituted a second reason for relieving him of his +duties, and therefore he delivered Asia into the keeping of Faustus, a +man who had been overlooked in the order of allotment by Severus. As the +time for him to govern turned out to be short, Macrinus bade him hold +the office for the following year in place of Aufidius Fronto. To the +latter he would entrust neither Africa (which he had drawn by lot), +because the Africans begged that he be not allowed to come, nor yet +Asia, though he had first transferred him thither. As a fitting +recognition, however, Macrinus proposed that twenty-five myriads be +given him to stay at home. Fronto, however, would not accept that, +saying that he wanted not money but a position of authority, and +accordingly later he received the province from Sardanapalus. + +Besides these events aid was extended to the orphans, whose hopes of +support were small, from the [lacuna] age of childhood to military +years. [Footnote: See note 2c, page 58.] + +[Sidenote:--23--] Now Julia, the mother of Tarautas, chanced to be in +Antioch, and at the first information of her son's death she was so +affected that she struck herself violently and undertook to starve +herself to death. The presence of this very same man, whom she hated +alive, became the object of her longings now that he had ceased to +exist; yet not because she desired him to live, but because she was +furious at having to return to private life; and this led her to abuse +Macrinus also long and bitterly. Subsequently, as no change was made in +her royal suite or in the guard of Pretorians attending her, and the new +emperor sent her a kind message (not having yet heard what she had +said), she took courage, laid aside her longing for death, and, without +writing him any response, held some negotiations with the soldiers she +had about her, especially [lacuna] and as they were angry with Macrinus +[lacuna] as they had a pleasanter remembrance of her son, how she might +attain the imperial position, rendering herself the peer of Semiramis +and Nitocris, since she came in a way from the same regions as +they; [Footnote: Boissevain's conjecture for the succeeding sentences +(valuable, of course, only as the guess of an expert) is the following: + +But when nobody would cooperate with her and letters came from Macrinus +making certain announcements at which, in view of her circumstances, she +felt herself depressed in spirits, she renounced her ambitions out of +fear that she might be deprived of the title of Augusta and be forced to +depart to her native land, and al [lacuna] drea [lacuna] wom [lacuna] ad +[lacuna] eake [lacuna] and mos [lacuna] any one behol [lacuna] she +decided to do just the reverse and submit lest she be forced eventually +to return to Rome and be there compelled by Macrinus to remain at home +for the future for appearing to be opposed to his policy. Afterwards, +however, she was intending to take measures that would enable her to get +away by ship, if possibility still offered, when he ordered her, etc.] +as [lacuna] cooeperated [lacuna] and letters [lacuna] of Macrinus +[lacuna] some for which [lacuna] judgment [lacuna] fearing that she +might be deprived of the title of Augusta and to [lacuna] native country +be forced to return [lacuna] to fear [lacuna] go to Rome [lacuna] +Macrinus [lacuna] seeming to do the opposite [lacuna] how [lacuna] might +depart and he ordered her to depart from Antioch with all speed and go +whithersoever she would. [And when she heard what was said in Rome about +her son] she no longer cared to live. The cancer in her breast, which, +for a very long time had remained stationary in its progress, had been +made angry and inflamed by the blow which she struck her chest on +hearing of her son's death; this helped to undermine her constitution +and she made sure of her demise by voluntary starvation. + +[Sidenote:--24--][And so this queen, sprung from a family of common +people and raised to a high station, who had lived during her husband's +reign in great unhappiness on account of Plautianus, who had beheld her +younger son butchered in her own lap and had borne ill-will to her elder +son while he lived, finally receiving such tidings of his assassination, +withdrew from power while in the full flush of life and thereafter did +herself to death. Hence a person reviewing her career could not deem +infallibly happy all those who attain great authority; indeed, in no +case unless some true and undefiled pleasure in life belongs to them, +and unswerving, permanent good fortune.--This, then, was the fate of +Julia. Her body was taken to Rome and placed in the tomb of Gaius and +Lucius. Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were +transferred by her sister Maesa to the precinct of Antoninus. + +[Sidenote:--25--] Nor was Macrinus destined to survive for long,--a fact +of which he doubtless had previous indications. A mule bore a mule in +Rome and a sow had a little pig with four ears and two tongues and eight +feet. A great earthquake occurred, blood flowed from a pipe, and bees +formed honeycombs in the Forum Boarium. The hunting-theatre was smitten +with thunderbolts on the very day of the Vulcanalia [Footnote: August +twenty-third.] and such a blaze ensued that all its upper circumference +and the whole circuit of construction and the ground-level were burned +and thereupon the rest of it caught fire and fell in ruins. No human aid +availed against the conflagration, though every possible stream of water +was directed upon the blaze, nor could the downpour from the sky, which +came in great amount and violence, accomplish anything. The force of +both kinds of water was exhausted by the power of the thunderbolts, and +to a certain extent, at least, the building only received additional +injury; [Footnote: Reading [Greek: prosesineto](Bekker).] wherefore the +gladiatorial spectacle was held in the stadium for many years. + +This naturally seemed to foreshow what was to be. There were other fires +besides and imperial possessions were burned especially often during his +reign,--a thing which in itself has always been regarded as of ill omen; +but the fact that it seemed to have overthrown the horse-race of Vulcan +had a direct bearing upon the emperor. This accordingly gave rise to a +feeling that something out of the ordinary was in process of +consummation, and the idea was strengthened by the behavior on that same +day of the Tiber, which rose until it invaded the Forum and the roads +leading to it with such impetus as to sweep away even human beings. And +a woman, as I have heard, grim and gigantic, was seen by some persons +and declared that these disasters were insignificant as compared with +what was destined to befall them. + +[Sidenote:--26--] And so it proved, for the evil did not confine itself +to the City alone, but took possession of the whole world under its +dominion, with whose inhabitants the theatre was customarily filled. The +Romans, defeated, gave up their war against the barbarians and likewise +received great detriment from the greed and factional differences of the +soldiers. The progress of both these evils I am now to describe.] +Macrinus, seeing that Artabanus was exceedingly angry at the way he had +been treated and had invaded Mesopotamia with a large force, at first of +his own accord sent him the captives and used friendly language, urging +him to accept peace and laying the blame for the past upon Tarautas. But +the other would not entertain his proposition and furthermore bade him +build up the forts and demolished cities, abandon Mesopotamia entirely +and offer satisfaction in general, but particularly for the damage to +the royal tombs. [For, trusting in the large force that he had gathered +and despising Macrinus as an unworthy emperor, he gave reign to his +wrath and expected that even without the Roman's consent he could +accomplish whatever he wished.] Macrinus had no opportunity to think it +over, but, meeting the enemy already on the way to Nisibis, was defeated +in a battle begun by the soldiers about water, while encamped opposite +each other. And he came very near losing the rampart itself, but some +armor-bearers and baggage-carriers happened along and saved it. In their +confidence, they had started out ahead and made a rush upon the +barbarians; and the unexpectedness of their sally was of advantage to +them, making them appear to be armed soldiers and not mere helpers. But +the [lacuna] both was not present then and [lacuna] the night [lacuna] +the camps [lacuna] and the Romans followed on. The enemy, perceiving the +noise that they made in going out, suspected [lacuna] flight, but seeing +them at a glance [lacuna] the Romans barbarians [lacuna] forced by their +[lacuna] and the flight of Macrinus, they became dejected and were +conquered. And as a result [lacuna] from Mesopotamia especially [lacuna] +they overran Syria [lacuna] he abandoned. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] This took place at the season under +consideration: but in the autumn and winter, during which Macrinus and +Adventus became consuls, they no longer came to blows with each other +but kept up an interchange of envoys and heralds until they had reached +an agreement. + +[Sidenote:--27--] For Macrinus, through native cowardice (being a Moor +he was tremendously timorous) and by reason of the soldiers' lack of +discipline, did not dare to begin a war. On the contrary] he expended +for the sake of peace enormous amounts, in the shape of both gifts and +money, to Artabanus himself and to his assistants in the government, so +that the entire outlay came to five thousand myriads. [And the emperor +was not unwilling to effect a reconciliation, both for the reasons +mentioned and because his soldiers were extremely restive,--a condition +due to their having been away from home an unusual length of time, as +well as to the scarcity of food. No supplies were to be had from stores, +since there were no stores ready, nor from the country itself, because +part had been devastated and part was controlled by forts. Macrinus, +however, did not forward an exact account of all their proceedings to +the senate and consequently triumphal sacrifices were voted him and the +name of Parthicus was bestowed. But this he would not accept, being +apparently ashamed to adopt the appellation of an enemy by whom he had +been defeated. + +Moreover, the war that had been waged in the regions of the Armenian +king subsided. Tiridates received the diadem sent him by Macrinus, and +got back his mother (whom Tarautas had confined in prison eleven +months), together with the booty captured from Armenia and all the +territory that his father possessed in Cappadocia, with hopes of +obtaining the annual payment often furnished by the Romans. And the +Dacians, after damaging parts of Dacia, held their hands in spite of a +desire for further conflict, and got back the hostages that Caracalla, +under the name of an alliance, had taken from them. This was the course +of these events. + +[Sidenote:--28--] But a new war broke upon the heads of the Romans, and +no longer a foreign but a civil strife. It was the soldiers who were +responsible for the outbreak. They were somewhat irritated by their +setbacks, but their behavior was owing still more to the fact that they +would no longer endure any hard work if they could help it, but were +thoroughly out of training in every respect and wanted to have no +emperor that ruled with a firm hand but demanded that they get +everything without stint, and chose to perform no task that was fitting +for them. They were further angered by the cutting off of their pay and +the deprivation of prizes and exemptions (these last among the +privileges of the military), which they had gained from Tarautas, even +though they personally were not destined to be affected by these +measures. Their resolution was definitely strengthened by the delay +which they had undergone in practically one and the same spot while +wintering in Syria on account of the war. It should be stated that +Macrinus seemed to have shown good generalship and to have acted +sensibly in debarring the men in arms from no privilege, but preserving +to them intact all the rights allowed by his predecessor, whereas he +gave notice to such as intended to enlist anew that they would be +enrolled only upon the old schedule published by Severus. He hoped that +these recruits, entering the army a few at a time, would hold aloof from +rebellion, at first through peaceful inclinations and fear and later +through the influence of time and custom, and that by having no +corrupting effect upon the rest they would quiet them. + +[Sidenote:--29--] If this had been done after the members of the army +had retired to their individual fortresses and were consequently +scattered, it would have been a correct move. Perhaps some of them would +not have shown indignation, believing that they would really be put at +no disadvantage because temporarily they suffered no loss: and even if +they had been vexed, yet, each body being few in number and subservient +to the commanders sent by the senate, they could have accomplished no +great harm. But, united in Syria, they suspected that they should be +liable to innovations if they separated;--for the time being they could +well believe they were being pampered on account of the demands of war. +And again [lacuna] So the others killed certain soldiers and ravaged +portions of Mesopotamia, and these men butchered not a few of their own +number and also overthrew their emperor; and, what is still worse, they +set up another similar ruler, by whom nothing was done save what was +evil and base. [Sidenote:--30--] It seems to me that this occurrence had +been foreshadowed more clearly, perhaps, than any previous event. A +very distinct eclipse of the sun [had taken place] about that time, [and +the comet-star was seen for a considerable period. And another] +luminary, whose tail extended from the west to the east, for several +nights caused us terrible alarm, so that this verse of Homer's was ever +on our lips: + + "Rang the vast welkin with clarion calls, and Zeus heard the tumult." + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XXI, verse 388.] + +It was brought about in the following way: + +Maesa, the sister of Julia Augusta, had two daughters, Soaemias and +Mammaea, by her husband Julius, an ex-consul. She had also two male +grandchildren. One was Avitus, the child of Soaemias and Varius +Marcellus, a man of the same race,--he was from Apamea,--who had been +occupied in procuratorships, had been enrolled in the senate, and soon +after died. The other was Bassianus, the child of Mammaea and Gessius +Marcianus, who was himself also a Syrian, from a city called Arca, and +had been assigned to various positions as procurator. Now Maesa at home +in Emesa her life [lacuna] her sister Julia, with whom she had made her +abode during the entire period of the latter's reign, having perished. +For Avitus, after governing in Asia, sent by Caracalla from Mesopotamia +into Cyprus, was seen to be limited to the position of adviser to some +magistrate who suffered from old age and sickness; and again [lacuna] +him, when [lacuna] he died, one Eutychianus, that had given satisfaction +in games and exercises, and for that reason [lacuna] who [lacuna] +[Sidenote:--31--] [lacuna] upon [lacuna] becoming aware of the strong +dislike of the soldiers for Macrinus [lacuna] wall [lacuna] and partly +persuaded by the Sun, whom they name Elagabalus and worship devotedly, +and by some other prophecies, he undertook to overthrow Macrinus and put +up Avitus, the grandson of Maesa and a mere child, as emperor in his +stead. And he accomplished both projects, although he had himself as yet +not fully reached manhood and had as helpers only a few freedmen and +soldiers [lacuna] and Emesenian senators [lacuna] pretending that he was +a natural son of Tarautas and arraying him in clothing which the latter +had worn when a child, Caesar by the [lacunae] introduced into the camp at +night, without the knowledge of his mother or his grandmother, and at +dawn on the sixteenth of May he persuaded the soldiers, who were eager +to get some starting-point for an uprising, to revolt. Julianus, the +prefect, learning this (for he happened to be not far distant), caused +both a daughter and a son-in-law of Marcianus, together with some +others, to be assassinated. Then, after collecting as many of the +soldiers remaining as he could in the short time at his disposal, he +made an attack upon what was, to all intents and purposes, a most +hostile fortress. [Sidenote:--32--] He might have taken it that very +day, for the Moors sent to Tarautas according to the terms of alliance +fought most valiantly for Macrinus, who was a countryman of theirs, and +even broke through some of the gates. But he refused the opportunity, +either because he was afraid to rush in or because he expected that he +could win the men inside to surrender voluntarily. As no propositions +were made to him, and they furthermore built up all the gates during the +night, so that they were now in a securer position, he again assaulted +the place but effected nothing. For they carried Avitus (whom they were +already saluting as "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus") all about upon the +ramparts, and exhibited some likeness of Caracalla when a child as +bearing some resemblance to their new ruler, declaring that the latter +was truly Caracalla's child and his proper successor in the imperial +office. "Why do you do this, fellow-soldiers?" they exclaimed. "Why do +you thus fight against your benefactor's son?" By this means they +corrupted all the soldiers with Julianus, especially as the troops were +anxious to have a change, so that the attackers killed their commanders, +save Julianus (for he effected his escape), and surrendered themselves +to the False Antoninus. For when an attempt to restrain them was made by +their centurions and the other subordinates, and they were, as a result, +hesitating, Eutychianus sent Festus (thus--according to the cubicularius +of Tarautas--was one of the Caesarians named) [Footnote: The text is +emended in accordance with a tentative suggestion of Boissevain.] and +persuaded them to kill all such officers and offered as a prize to each +soldier who should slay his man the victim's property and military rank. +The boy also harangued them from the wall with fictitious statements, +praising his "father" and [lacuna] Macrinus, as [lacuna] + +[Fourteen lines are lacking.] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote:--33--] [lacuna] those left to be restored to their original +property and status as citizens. But the most effective means by which +he attached them to himself was his promise to give each and every one +unlimited amounts of money, and to restore the exiles,--an act which +would seem to make him out in truth a legitimate son of Tarautas +[lacuna] + + * * * * * + +[Fourteen lines are lacking.] + +[Sidenote:--34--] [lacuna] Marcianus [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] (for +Marcellus was dead) he put this person to death; but, lacking courage to +proceed further on his own responsibility without Macrinus, he sent for +the latter. Macrinus came quickly to the Alban soldiers at Apamea and +appointed his son emperor in spite of the lad's being but ten years old, +in order that with this excuse he might mollify the soldiers by various +means, chief among which should be the promise of five thousand denarii; +he assigned them a thousand each on the spot and restored to the rest +complete allowances of food and everything else of which they had been +deprived: in this way he hoped to appease them. With this same end in +view he bestowed upon the populace a dinner worth one hundred and fifty +denarii a head before revealing to them anything about the uprising; for +he wanted it to be thought that he was banqueting them not because of +that event but to show honor to his son. And on that occasion first one +of the revolted soldiers approached him carrying the head of Julianus +(who had been found somewhere in hiding and slain), in many linen cloths +and tied up very strongly indeed with ropes, pretending it was the head +of the False Antoninus. He had sealed the package with the finger ring +of Julianus. After doing that the soldier ran out when the head was +uncovered. Macrinus, upon discovering what had been done, no longer +dared either to stay where he was or to assault the fortification, but +returned to Antioch with all speed. So the Alban legion and the rest who +were wintering in that region likewise revolted. The opposing parties +continued their preparations and both sides sent messengers and letters +to the provinces and to the legions. As a result perturbation was caused +in many places by the first communication of each side about the other +and by the constant messages contradicting each other. In the course of +the uncertainty numerous letter-carriers on both sides lost their lives, +and numbers of those who had slain the followers of Antoninus, or had +not immediately attached themselves to their cause, were censured. Some +perished on this account and some merely incurred a small loss. Hence I +will pass over most of this (it is all very much alike and permits of no +considerable description in detail) and will give a summary of what took +place in Egypt. + +[Sidenote:--35--] The governor of that country was Basilianus, whom +Macrinus had also made prefect in place of Julianus. Some interests were +managed also by Marius Secundus, although he had been created senator by +Macrinus and was at the head of affairs in Phoenicia. In this way both +of them were dependent upon Macrinus and for that reason put to death +the runners of the False Antoninus. As long, therefore, as the outcome +of the business was still in dispute, they and the soldiers and the +individuals were in suspense, some wishing and praying and reporting one +thing and others the opposite, as always in factional disturbances. When +the news of the defeat of Macrinus arrived, a riot of some magnitude +followed, in which many of the populace and not a few of the soldiers +were destroyed. Secundus found himself in a dilemma; and Basilianus, +fearing that he should lose his life instanter, effected his escape +from Egypt. After coming to the vicinity of Brundusium in Italy he was +discovered, having been betrayed by a friend in Rome to whom he had sent +a secret message asking for food. So he was later taken back to +Nicomedea and executed. + +[Sidenote:--36--] Macrinus wrote also to the senate about the False +Antoninus [as he did also to the governors everywhere], calling him +"boy" and saying that he was mad. He wrote also to Maximus, the +praefectus urbi, giving him such information as one might expect, and +further stating that the soldiers recently enlisted insisted upon +receiving all that they were wont to have before, and that the rest, who +had been deprived of nothing, made common cause with them in their anger +at what was withheld. And to omit a recital, he said, of all the many +means devised by Severus and his son for the ruin of rigid discipline, +it was impossible for the troops to be given their entire pay in +addition to the donatives which they were receiving; for the increase in +their pay granted by Tarautas amounted to seven thousand myriads +annually, and could not be given, partly because the soldiers and again +because [lacuna] righteous [lacuna] but the recognized expenditures +[lacuna] and the [lacuna] could he himself and the child as [lacuna] +himself [lacuna] and he commiserated himself upon having a son, but said +that he found it a solace in his disaster to think that he had outlived +the fratricide who attempted to destroy the whole world. He also added +to the missive something like the following: "I know that there are +many who are more anxious to have emperors killed than to have them +live, but this is one thing I can not say in respect to myself, that any +one could either desire or pray that I should perish." At which Fulvius +Diogenianus exclaimed: "We have all prayed for it!" + +[Sidenote:--37--] The speaker was one of the ex-consuls, but not of very +sound mind, and consequently he caused himself as much exasperation as +he did other people. He also [lacuna] the subscription [lacuna] of +letter [lacuna] and to the [lacuna] leather it had been entrusted to +read [lacuna] and those [lacuna] and [lacuna] others and also [lacuna] +be sent [lacuna] directly as [lacuna] hesitating [lacuna] ordering +[lacuna] by the [lacuna] and both to others [lacuna] of foremost to the +[lacuna] any care for the common preserver [lacuna] over [lacuna] that +the False Antoninus finding in the chests of Macrinus not yet [lacuna] +he himself voluntarily [lacuna] published [lacuna] calumny [lacuna] +making with reference to the soldiers. And he marched so quickly against +him that Macrinus could with difficulty encounter him in a village of +the Antiochians one hundred and fifty stades distant from the city. +There, so far as the zeal of the Pretorians went, he had him conquered +(he had taken from them their breastplates scales and their grooved +shields and had thus rendered them lighter for the battle): but he was +beaten by his own cowardice, as Heaven had foreshown to him. For on that +day when his first letter about the imperial office was read to us a +pigeon had lighted upon an image of Severus (whose name he had applied +to himself) that stood in the senate-chamber. [And subsequently, when +the communication about his son was sent, we had convened, not at the +bidding of the consuls or the praetors (for they did not happen to be +present) but of the tribunes,--a practice which by this time had fallen +more or less into disuse. And he had not written even his name in the +preface of the letter, though he termed him Caesar and emperor and +indicated that the contents emanated from them both. Also, in the +rehearsal of events, he mentioned the name Diadumenianus, but left out +that of Antoninus, though he had this title too. Such was the state of +these [Sidenote:--38--] affairs; and, by Jupiter, when he sent word +about the uprising of the False Antoninus, the consuls uttered certain +formulae against him, as is regularly done under such circumstances, and +one of the praetors and another of the tribunes did the same. War was +declared and solemnly proclaimed against the usurper and his cousin and +their mothers and their grandmother, and immunity was granted to those +that had taken part in the uprising, in case they should submit, +according as Macrinus had promised them. For the conversation he had had +with the soldiers was read aloud.] As a result of this, we all condemned +still more strongly his abasement and folly. [For one thing] he was most +constantly calling himself "father" and Diadumenianus his "son," and he +kept holding up to reproach the age of the False Antoninus, though he +had designated as emperor his son, who was much younger. [Now in the +battle Gannys hurriedly took possession of the narrow place in front of +the village and disposed his soldiers in good order for warfare, +regardless of the fact that he was most inexperienced in military +matters. Of such surpassing importance is good fortune in comparison +with other qualifications, that it actually bestows understanding upon +the ignorant.] But his army made a very weak fight and the men would not +have stood their ground, had not Maesa and Soaemias [for they were already +in the boy's retinue] leaped down from their vehicles and, rushing among +the fugitives, by their lamentations restrained them from flight, and +had not the lad himself been seen by them (by some divine disposition of +affairs) with drawn sword on horseback charging the enemy. Even so they +would have turned their backs again, had not Macrinus fled at sight of +their resistance. + +[Sidenote:--39--] The latter, having been thus defeated on the eighth of +June, sent his son in charge of Epagathus and some other attendants, to +Artabanus, king of the Parthians. He himself went to Antioch, giving out +that victory was his, to the end that he might be offered shelter there. +Then, when the news of his defeat became noised abroad, in the midst of +many consequent slaughters both along the roads and in the city, +springing from somebody's favoring the one side or the other, he made +his escape. From Antioch he proceeded by night, on horseback, with his +head and whole chin shaved, and attired in a dark garment worn over his +purple robe in order that he might, so far as possible, resemble an +ordinary citizen. In this way, with a few companions, he reached AEgae in +Cilicia, and there, by pretending to be one of the soldiers that carried +messages, he got a wagon, on which he drove through Cappadocia and +Galatia and Bithynia as far as the shipyard of Eribolus, which is +opposite the city of Nicomedea. It was his intention to make his way +back to Rome, expecting that there he could gain some assistance from +the senate and from the people. And, if he had escaped thither, he would +certainly have accomplished something. For their disposition was +decidedly more favorable to him, in view of the hardihood of the +Syrians, the age of the False Antoninus, and the uncontrolledness of +Gannys and Comazon, so that even the soldiers would either +voluntarily [Footnote: Reading [Greek: 'hechhontast'] instead of +[Greek: thnheschontast].] have changed their attitude or, refusing to do +so, would have been overpowered. As it turned out, however, if any one +recognized him in the course of his journey so far described, at least +no one ventured to lay hands on him: but he came to grief on his voyage +from Eribolus to Chalcedon. He did not dare to enter Nicomedea [through +fear of the governor of Bithynia, Caecilius Aristo], and so he sent to +one of the procurators asking for money, and in this way he became +known. He was overtaken [while still] in Chalcedon and, on the arrival +of those sent by the False Antoninus in order that [lacuna] now if ever +[lacuna] he was arrested [by Aurelius Celsus, a centurion,] and taken to +Cappadocia [like a man held in no honor]. Ascertaining there that his +son had also been captured [(Claudius Pollio, the centurion of the +legion, had arrested him while driving through Zeugma, where, in the +course of a previous journey, he had been designated Caesar)], he threw +himself from the conveyance (for he had not been bound) and at the time +suffered a fracture of his shoulder; but subsequently (though not a +great deal later) being sentenced to die before entering Antioch, he was +slain by Marcianus Taurus, a centurion, and his body remained unburied +until the False Antoninus could come from Syria into Bithynia and gloat +over it. + +[Sidenote:--40--] So Macrinus, when an old man,--for he was fifty-four +years of age [lacking three or five days],--and eminent in experience of +affairs, displaying some degree of excellence and commanding so many +legions, was overthrown by a mere child of whose very name he had +previously been ignorant,--even as the oracle had foretold to him; +[[lacuna]] for upon his applying [to Zeus Belus] it had answered him: + + "Old man, verily warriors young harass and exhaust thee: + Utterly spent is thy strength, and a grievious eld comes upon thee!" + [Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, VIII, verses 102-103.] + +And fleeing [lacuna] or [lacuna], having played part of runaway slave +through the provinces which he had ruled, arrested like some robber by +common officers, beholding himself with villains most dishonored +[lacuna] guarded before whom often many senators had been brought; and +_his_ death was ordered who had the authority to punish or to release +any Roman whomsoever, and he was arrested and beheaded by centurions, +when he had authority to put to death both them and others, inferior and +superior. And his son likewise perished. + +[Sidenote:--41--] This proves that no one, even of those whose +foundations seem unshakable, is sure of his position, but the exceeding +prosperous, equally with the rest, are poised in the balance. + +And this man would have been lauded beyond all mankind, if he had not +himself desired to become emperor, but had chosen some person enrolled +in the senate to stand at the head of the Roman empire and had +appointed him emperor; and only in this way could he have avoided blame +for the plot against Caracalla, for by such action he would have +demonstrated that he resorted to it to secure his own safety and not on +account of a desire for supremacy. Whereas, instead, he got himself into +disrepute and ruined his career, becoming subject to reproach, and +finally falling a victim to a disaster that he richly deserved. And +having grasped at sole sovereignty before he had even the title of +senator, he lost it very quickly and in the most disappointing way. He +had ruled only a year and two months, lacking three days (a result +obtained by reckoning to the date of the battle). + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +79 + + +Dio's Roman History 79:-- + +About Avitus, called also Pseudantoninus, and the slaughter that he +wrought (chapters 1-7). + +About his transgression of law and how he married the Vestal (chapters +8-10). + +About Eleogabalus [Footnote: It will be noted that the spelling of this +word in the Greek "arguments" of the MSS. differs from that in the +Greek text of the same.] and how he summoned Urania to Rome and united +her in bonds of wedlock with Eleogabalus (chapters 11-12). + +About his licentiousness (chapters 13-16). + +How he adopted his cousin and also renamed him Alexander (chapters 17, +18). + +How he was overthrown and slain (chapters 19-21). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +The remainder of the consulship of Macrinus and Adventus, together with +four additional years, in which there were the following magistrates, +here enumerated. Pseudantoninus (II) and Q. Tineius Sacerdos. (A.D. 219 += a.u. 972 = Second of Eleogabalus, from June 8th.) + +Pseudantoninus (III) and M. Valerius Comazon. (A.D. 220 = a.u. 973 = +Third of Elagabalus.) + +C. Vettius Gratus Sabinianus and M. Flavius Vitellius Seleucus. (A.D. +221 = a.u. 974 = Fourth of Elagabalus.) + +Pseudantoninus (IV) and M. Amelius Severus Alexander. (A.D. 222 = a.u. +975 = Fifth of Elagabalus to March 11th.) + + +(BOOK 80, BOISSEVAIN.) + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] [Sidenote:--1--] Now Avitus, alias +False Antoninus, alias Assyrian or again Sardanapalus and also Tiberinus +(he secured the last appellation after he had been slain and his body +thrown into the Tiber) [on the very next day after the victory entered +Antioch, first promising the soldiers attending him five hundred denarii +apiece on condition that they should not sack the town,--a thing which +they were very anxious to do. This amount he levied upon the people. And +he sent to Rome such a despatch as might have been expected, speaking +much evil of Macrinus, especially with reference to his low birth and +his plot against Antoninus. Here is a sample of what he said: "He who +was not permitted to enter even the senate-house after the proclamation +debarring everybody other than senators from doing so, this man, I say, +dared treacherously to murder the emperor whom he had been trusted to +guard, dared to appropriate his office and to become emperor before he +was senator." About himself he made many promises, not only to the +soldiers but also to the senate and the people. He asserted that he +should do everything without exception to emulate Augustus (to whose +youth he likened his own) and also Marcus Antoninus. Yes, and he wrote +also the following, alluding to the derogatory remarks made about him +by Macrinus: "He undertook to censure my age, when he himself appointed +a five-year old son." + +[Sidenote:--2--] Besides forwarding this communication to the senate, he +sent to the senate the records discovered among the soldiers and the +letters of Macrinus written, to Maximus, and sent them likewise to the +legions, hoping that these would cause them to hold the preceding +emperor's memory in greater detestation, and to feel greater affection +for him. In both the despatch to the senate and the letter to the people +he subscribed himself as emperor and Caesar, son of Antoninus, grandson +of Severus, Pius, Felix, Augustus, proconsul, and holder of the +tribunician power, assuming these titles before they were voted,[lacuna] +the [lacuna] not the [lacuna] but the [lacuna] of [lacuna] +used [Footnote: Illegible MS.--Boissevain conjectures: "And he used not +the name of Avitus, but that of his father."] [lacuna] the records of +the soldiers [lacuna] for of Macrinus [lacuna] Caesar [lacuna] Pretorians +and Alban legionaries who were in Italy [lacuna] and as consul should +proclaim [Footnote: "He sent another letter to the Pretorians and to the +Alban legionaries who were in Italy, in which he stated incidentally +that he was consul and high-priest." (Boissevain's conjecture.)] +[lacuna] and the [lacuna] Marius Censorinus [lacuna] superintendence +[lacuna] accepted [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] himself since not +sufficiently by his own voice [lacuna] public [lacuna] read [lacuna] the +letters of Sardanapalus [lacuna] registered among the ex-consuls and +gave him injunctions that if any one should resist him he should use the +band of soldiers. As a consequence, though against its will, it read +everything to those [lacuna] [Footnote: "Most of it Marius Censorinus, +who was their commandant, read aloud, but the news about Macrinus he +suppressed, because he thought that his single voice could not give it +sufficient publicity; at the same time, however, he took it upon himself +to have the letter of Sardanapalus read to the senate through the medium +of Claudius Pollio, who had been enrolled among the ex-consuls; thus, if +any opposition should develop, he would be in a position to use the band +of soldiers. As a consequence the senate, though against its will, read +everything to those enlisted." (Boissevain's conjecture.)] + +For, by reason of the necessity thrust upon them, they were not able to +do anything that they should or had better have done [lacuna] but were +panic-stricken by fear [lacuna] and Macrinus, whom they had often +commended, they voted should be regarded as a public enemy and they +abused him, together with his son; and Tarautas, whom they had often +wished to declare an enemy, they now exalted and of course prayed that +his son might be like him. + +[Sidenote:--3--] This was in Rome. And Avitus assigned [lacuna] Pollio +to govern [lacuna] Germany [lacuna] since the latter had very rapidly +reduced Bithynia to subjection. He himself, after sojourning some months +in Antioch until he had established his authority there in every +direction, went into Bithynia, coadjutor [lacuna] often [lacuna] making +Gannys, as had been his custom in the case of Antioch. + +Having passed the winter here he proceeded into Italy through Thrace and +Moesia and both the Pannonias, and there he abode to the end of his +life. One action of his was worthy of a thoroughly good emperor: for, +whereas many individuals and communities alike, + + including the Romans themselves, + both knights and senators, + +had privately and publicly, by word and deed, heaped insults upon [both +Caracalla and] himself as a result of the letters of Macrinus, he +[neither threatened to make reprisals] in the case of a single person, +nor did he make reprisals. But on the other hand he drifted into all the +most obscene and lawless and bloodthirsty practices. [Some of them never +before known in Rome, took root and grew like ancestral institutions. +Others, taken up tentatively from one time [Footnote: Reading [Greek: +allote] (Bekker, Dindorf) in place of [Greek: alla te].] to another by +various individuals] flourished for the three years and nine months and +four days during which he ruled (to compute from the battle in which he +gained supreme control). [In Syria, he caused the assassination of +Nestor and Fabius Agrippinus, the governor of the country, as well as of +the foremost knights belonging to the party of Macrinus; but he +inflicted a similar fate upon men in Rome who were on most friendly +terms with him. In Arabia, he executed Pica Caesianus, [Footnote: _P. +Numicius Pica Caesianus_.] entrusted with the administration, because he +had not immediately declared his allegiance; and, in Cyprus, Claudius +Attalus, because he had fallen out with Comazon. Attalus had once been +governor of Thrace, had been expelled from the senate by Severus in the +war with Niger, but was restored to it by Tarautas, and had at this time +been assigned to Cyprus, as the lot directed. He had incurred Comazon's +ill-will by having formerly reduced him to the position of rower in a +trireme as a punishment for some villany which the latter committed +while serving in Thrace.] + +[Sidenote:--4--] This incident sheds some light on the character of +Comazon, who got this name from mimes and buffoonery. [Footnote: This +statement is an error on the part of Xiphilinus, who thought that +"Comazon" (in Greek=The Reveler) was a nickname for a certain +Eutychianus. Investigations, however, show that there was a M. Valerius +Comazon prominent at this time and that the word should be taken as a +proper and not as a vulgar noun.] He commanded the Pretorians and, +though holding no position of management or superintendence whatever, +except over the camp, [he obtained the consular honors] and subsequently +actually became consul. [Also he became city prefect] not merely once, +but twice and thrice, as could be recorded in no other case. Wherefore +this, too, must be enumerated among the most illegal proceedings. [It +was on his account, then, that Attalus was put to death. + +Triccianus came to his end on account of the Alban legion, which he +commanded with good discipline during Macrinus's reign, and Castinus +[Footnote: _C. Iulius Septimius Castinus_.] because he was energetic and +was known to many soldiers in consequence of the commands he had held +and his association with Antoninus. He had accordingly been sent out in +advance by Macrinus without reference to other events and was living in +Bithynia. The emperor put him to death in spite of having written +concerning him to the senate that Triccianus had been banished from +Rome, like Julius Asper, by Macrinus, and that he had restored him. He +took similar vengeance on Sulla, who had been governing Cappadocia but +had relinquished it, because Sulla both meddled in some matters that did +not concern him and when summoned to Rome by Elagabalus had managed to +meet the Celtic soldiers returning home after their winter in Bithynia, +a period during which they had raised some little disturbance. These men +perished for the reasons specified and no statements about them were +communicated to the senate. Seius Carus, the descendant of Fuscianus, +who had been city prefect, was killed because he was rich, great, and +sensible, on the pretext that he was forming a league of some of the +soldiers belonging to the Alban legion; and, on the basis of some +charges preferred by the emperor alone, he was accused in the palace, +where he was also slain.] Valerianus Paetus lost his life because he had +stamped some likeness of himself upon gold pieces to serve as ornaments +for his mistresses. [This led to the accusation that he intended to +remove to Cappadocia, a country bordering on his own (he was a Gaul), +for the purpose of starting a revolution, and that this was why he made +gold pieces bearing his own figure. + +[Sidenote:--5--] On these charges] Silius Messala and Pomponius Bassus +[also were condemned to death by the senate: they] incurred blame +because they were not pleased with what he was doing. He did not +hesitate to write this statement about them to the senate, and called +them investigators of his habits of life and censors of proceedings in +the palace. ["The proofs of their plot I have not sent you," he said, +"because it would be useless to read them, in view of the fact that the +men are already dead."] There was another cause of dislike underlying +[the case against Messala,--the point, namely, that he sturdily made +public many facts in the senate. This was what led the emperor at the +outset to send for him to come to Syria, pretending to have very great +need of him, whereas his real fear was that Messala might bring about a +change of attitude on the part of the senators. + + +The cause in] the case of Bassus was that he had a wife both fair to +look upon and of noble rank; she was a descendant of Claudius Severus +and of Marcus Antoninus. Indeed, the prince married her, not allowing +her even to mourn the catastrophe. Now of his marriages, in which he +both married and was bestowed in marriage, an account will be given +presently. He appeared both as man and as woman, and performed the +functions of both in the most licentious fashion [lacuna] about [lacuna] +and [lacuna] by whom [lacuna] own [lacuna] Sergius [lacuna] and [lacuna] +out of [lacuna] any [lacuna] making [lacuna] him [lacuna] blame for +[lacuna] slaughter the [Sidenote:--6--] [lacuna] and of knights [lacuna] +Caesarians [lacuna] [lacuna] were destroyed [lacuna] nothing [lacuna] but +by killing in Nicomedea at the very start of his reign Gannys, who had +arranged the uprising, who had introduced him into the camp and had +likewise caused [the soldiers to revolt, who had presented him with the +victory over Macrinus, one who had reared and managed him,--by this act +he came to be regarded as the most impious of men. To be sure, Gannys +was living rather luxuriously and was fond of accepting bribes, but for +all that he brought no injury upon anybody and bestowed many benefits +upon many people. Most of all, he always showed a deep respect for the +emperor, and he was thoroughly satisfactory to Maesa and Soaemias, suiting +the former because she had brought him up and the latter because he +practically lived with her. But these were not the reasons why the +emperor put him out of the way, seeing that he was willing to give him a +marriage contract and appoint him Caesar. It was rather that Gannys +compelled him to live temperately and prudently. And his own hand was +the first to give his minister a mortal blow, since no one of the +soldiers had the hardihood to take the initiative in his murder.--These +events, then, took place in this way. + +[Sidenote:--7--] [lacuna] Another pair executed were Verus, who had +likewise mustered courage to make an attempt upon the sovereignty while +in the midst of the third (Gallic) legion, which he was commanding; and +Gellius Maximus, on the same sort of charge, though he was lieutenant in +Syria proper and at the head of the fourth (Scythian) legion. For to +such an extent had everything got upside down, that these men, too, one +of whom had been enrolled in the senate from the ranks of the centurions +and the other of whom was the son of a physician, took it into their +heads to aim at the imperial office. I have mentioned them alone by +name, not so much because they were the only ones who appeared entirely +insane as because they belonged to the senate; for other attempts were +made. A certain centurion's son undertook to throw into disorder the +same Gallic legion, and another, a worker in wool, tampered with the +Fourth, and a third, a private citizen, with the fleet in harbor at +Cyzicus when the False Antoninus was wintering at Nicomedea. And there +were many others elsewhere, so that it became a very ordinary thing for +those who so wished to hazard the chance of fomenting rebellion and +becoming emperor. They were encouraged partly by the fact that many +persons had entered upon the supreme office without expecting or +deserving it. Let no one be incredulous of my statements, for the facts +about the private citizens I ascertained from men who are worthy of +confidence, and of what I have written about the fleet I gained an exact +knowledge in Pergamum, close at hand, the affairs of which, as also of +Smyrna, I managed, having been assigned to duty there by Macrinus. And +in view of this attempt none of the others seemed at all incredible to +me. + +[Sidenote:--8--] This is what he did in the way of murders. His acts +which varied from our ancestral precedents, however, were of simple +character and inflicted no great harm upon us. Some noteworthy +innovations were his applying to himself certain titles connected with +his sovereignty before they had been voted, as I have already described, +[Footnote: See Chapter 2.] and again his enrolling himself in the +consulship in place of Macrinus when he had not been elected to it and +did not enter upon any of its duties (the time expiring too soon): yet +at first, in three letters, he had referred to the year by the name of +Adventus, as if assuming that the latter had been sole consul. Other +points were that he undertook to be consul a second time, without having +secured any office previously or the privileges of any office, and that +while consul in Nicomedea he did not employ the triumphal costume on the +Day of Vows. [Footnote: Translated by Sturz "_votivorum ludorum die_." +What festival is meant is uncertain, but it is probably _not_ the +Compitalia (III. Non. Ian.). [Sidenote:--11--] With his infractions of +law is connected also the matter of Elagabalus. The offence consisted, +not in his introducing a foreign god into Rome, or in his exalting him +in very strange ways, but in his placing him before even Jupiter and +having himself voted his priest, in his circumcising his foreskin and +abstaining from swine's flesh [on the ground that his devotion would be +purer by this means. He had thought of cutting off his genitals +altogether, but that was an idea prompted by salaciousness; the +circumcision which he actually accomplished was a part of the priestly +requirements of Elagabalus. Hence he mutilated in like manner numerous +of his associates.] A further offence was his being frequently seen in +public clad in the barbaric dress which the Syrian priests employ, a +circumstance which had more to do than anything else with his getting +the name of "The Assyrian." + +[Sidenote:--12--] ¶ A golden statue of False Antoninus was erected, +distinguished by its great and varied adornment. + +¶ Macrinus, though he found considerable money in the treasury, +squandered it all, and incomes did not suffice for expenditures. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 219 (_a.u._ 972)] [Sidenote:--9--] As to his marriage. +He espoused Cornelia Paula in order that he might sooner (these are his +words) become a father,--he, who could not even be a man. On the +occasion of his marriage not only the senate and the equestrian order +but also the wives of the senators received some distribution of +presents. The people were given a banquet at the per capita rate of one +hundred and fifty denarii, and the soldiers had one that cost a hundred +more. There were contests of gladiators at which the prince wore a +purple-bordered toga, the same as he had done at the ludi votivi. +Various beasts were slain, among them an elephant and fifty-one tigers, +a greater number than had ever yet been despatched at one time. +Afterwards he dismissed Paula on the pretext that she had some blemish +on her person and cohabited with Aqulia Severa,--a most flagrant breach +of law. She was consecrated to Vesta and yet he most sinfully ravished +her and actually dared to say: "I did it in order that godlike children +may spring from me, the high-priest, and from her, the high-priestess." +He felicitated himself on an act which was destined to lead to his being +maltreated in the Forum and thrown into prison and subsequently put to +death. However, he did not keep even this woman for long, but married a +second, and then a third, and still another; after that he went back to +Severa. + +[Sidenote:--10--] Portents had been taking place in Rome, one of them on +the statue of Isis, which is borne upon a dog above the pediment of her +temple: it consisted in her turning her face towards the +interior.--Sardanapalus was conducting games and numerous spectacles, +in which Helix, the athlete, won renown. How far he surpassed his +adversaries is shown by his wishing to contend in both wrestling and +pancratium at Olympia, and by his winning victories in both at the +Capitolina. The Eleans, being jealous of him, and through fear that he +might prove the eighth from Hercules (as the saying is), [Footnote: +The history and significance of this proverb are not known.] would not +call any wrestler into the stadium, in spite of their having inscribed +this contest on the bulletin-board. But in Rome he won each of the two +games,--a feat that no one else had accomplished. + +[Sidenote:--11--] And here I must omit mention of the barbaric chants +which Sardanapalus chanted to Elagabalus, and his mother and +grandmother, all three, as also of the secret sacrifices that he offered +to him: at these he slaughtered boys, and used charms, besides shutting +up in the god's temple a live lion and monkey and snake, throwing in +among them human genitals, and practicing other unholy rites, while he +wore invariably innumerable amulets. [Sidenote:--12--] But to run +briefly over these matters, he actually (most ridiculous of all) courted +a wife for Elagabalus, on the assumption that the god wanted marriage +and children. Such a wife might be neither poor nor low-born, and so he +chose the Carthaginian Urania, summoned her to come thence, and +established her in the palace. He gathered wedding gifts for her from +all his subjects, as he might have done in the case of his own wives. +All these presents that were given during his lifetime were exacted +later, but in the way of dowry he declared that nothing should be +brought save the gold lions, which were melted down. + +[Sidenote:--13--] But this Sardanapalus, who thought it right to make +the gods cohabit under the form of marriage, himself lived from first to +last most licentiously. [He married many women] and had liaisons with +many more [without any lawful title], yet it was not that he cared about +them; he simply wanted to imitate their actions when he should lie with +his lovers [and get accomplices in his excesses by returning to them +indiscriminately]. He used his body for doing and allowing many unheard +of things which no one would endure telling or hearing, but his most +conspicuous acts, which it would be impossible to conceal, were the +following. He would go by night, wearing a wig of long hair, into the +taverns and ply the trade of a female huckster. He frequented the +notorious brothels, drove out the prostitutes, and prostituted himself. +Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his +indecencies, standing all the time naked at the door of it, as the +harlots do, and shaking the curtain, which was fastened by gold rings, +the while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by. +Certain persons had been given special orders to let themselves be +attracted to his abode. For, as in other matters, so in this business, +too, he had numerous detectives through whom he sought out the persons +who could please him most by their foulness. He would collect money from +his Patrons and put on airs over his gains: he would also dispute with +his associates in this shameful occupation, saying that he had more +lovers than they and took in more money. [Sidenote:--14--] This is the +way he behaved to all alike that enjoyed his services. But he had, +besides, one chosen man whom he accordingly desired to appoint Caesar. + +Also, arrayed in the Green uniform, he drove a chariot privately and at +home,--if one can call that place home where contests were conducted by +the foremost of his suite [and knights and Caesarians], the very +prefects, his grandmother, his mother, his women, and likewise several +members of the senate, including Leo, the praefectus urbi, and where they +watched him playing charioteer and begging gold coin like any vagabond, +and bowing down before the managers of the games and the members of the +factions. + +[Now in trying anybody in court he really did have the appearance of a +man, but everywhere else his actions and the quality of his voice showed +the wantonness of youth. For instance, he used to dance not only in the +orchestra but more or less also while walking, performing sacrifice, +greeting friends or making speeches. + +And finally (to go back now to the story which I began) he was bestowed +in marriage and was termed wife, mistress, queen. He worked in wool, +sometimes wore a hair-net, painted his eyes [daubing them with white +lead and alkanet], and once he shaved his chin and celebrated a festival +to mark the event. After that he went with smooth face, because it would +help him appear like a woman, and he often reclined while greeting the +senators. [Sidenote:--15--] "Her" husband was Hierocles, a Carian slave +[once the favorite of Gordius], from whom he had learned +chariot-driving. It was in this connection, also, that by a most +unexpected chance he won the imperial approbation. At a horse-race +Heirocles fell out of his chariot just opposite the seat of +Sardanapalus, losing his helmet in his fall. Being still beardless and +adorned with a crown of yellow hair, he attracted the attention of the +prince and was at once carried hastily to the palace; and by his +nocturnal feats he captivated Sardanapalus more than ever and rose to +still greater power. Consequently his influence became even greater than +his patron's and it was thought a small thing that his mother, while +still a slave, should be brought to Rome by soldiers and be numbered +among the wives of ex-consuls. Certain other persons, too, were not +seldom honored by the emperor and became powerful, some because they had +joined in his uprising and others because they committed adultery with +him. For he was anxious to have the reputation of committing adultery, +that in this respect, too, he might imitate the most lascivious women; +and he would often get caught voluntarily and in the very act. Then, for +his conduct, he would be brutally abused by his husband and would be +beaten, so that he had black eyes. His affection for this "husband" was +no light inclination, but a serious matter and a firmly fixed passion, +so much so that he did not become vexed at any such harsh treatment, but +on the contrary loved him the more for it and actually wished to appoint +him Caesar;--he threatened his grandmother when she interfered, and +chiefly on this man's account he became at odds with the soldiers. It +was this that was destined to lead his destruction. + +[Sidenote:--16--] As for Aurelius Zoticus, a native of Smyrna, whom they +also called "Cook" (from his father's trade), he incurred the +sovereign's thorough love and thorough hatred, and consequently his life +was saved. This Aurelius had a body that was beautiful all over, as if +ready for a gymnastic contest, and he surpassed everybody in the size of +his private parts. The fact was reported to the emperor by those who +were on the lookout for such features and the man was suddenly snatched +away from the games and taken to Rome, accompanied by an immense +procession, larger than Abgarus had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates +in that of Nero. He was appointed cubicularius before he had been even +seen by the emperor, [was honored by the name of his grandfather, +Avitus, was adorned with garlands as at a festival,] and entered the +palace the center of a great glare of lights. Sardanapalus, on seeing +him, rose with modesty; the newcomer addressed him, as was usual, "My +Lord Emperor, hail!" whereupon the other, bending his neck so as to +assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes wide open upon +him, answered without hesitation: "Call me Not Lord, for I am a Lady." +Then Sardanapalus immediately took a bath with him, and, finding his +guest when stripped to correspond to the report of him, burned with even +greater lust, reposed upon his breast, and took dinner, like some loved +mistress, in his bosom. Hierocles began to fear that Zoticus would bring +the emperor into a greater state of subjection than he himself was able +to effect, and that he might suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as +often happens in the case of rival lovers. Therefore he had the +wine-bearers, who were well-disposed to him, administer some drug that +abated the visitor's ferocity. And so Zoticus after a whole night of +embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all +that he had obtained, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and +later out of the remainder of Italy; and this saved his life. [However, +the emperor drove himself to such a frenzy of lewdness that he asked the +physicians to contrive a woman's vagina in his person by means of an +incision, and held out to them the hope of great pay for this +achievement.] + +[Sidenote:--17--] Sardanapalus himself was destined not much later to +receive his well-deserved pay for his own defilement. For his acting in +this way and for making himself the object of these actions he became +hated by the populace and by the soldiers to whom he was most attached, +and at last he was slain by them in the very camp. + +¶The False Antoninus was despised and put out of the way by the +soldiers. When any persons, particularly if armed, have accustomed +themselves to feel contempt for their rulers, they set no limits on +their right to do what they please but keep their arms ready to use even +against the very man who gave them whatever rights they possess. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 221 (_a.u._ 974)] This is how it happened. He introduced +his cousin Bassianus before the senate, and, having stationed Maesa and +Soaemias on either hand, adopted him as his child. Then did he +congratulate himself on being suddenly the father of so large a child +(as if he surpassed him in age) and declared that he needed no other +offspring to keep his house free from despondency. + +Elagabalus, he said, had ordered him to do this and further to call his +son's name Alexander. And I for my part am persuaded that it came about +in very truth by some divine intention, and I base my inference not upon +what he said but upon what was said to him by some one, viz., that an +Alexander would come from Emesa to succeed him, and again on what took +place in upper Moesia and in Thrace. [Sidenote:--18--] A little before +this a spirit, declaring that he was the famous Alexander of Macedon, +wearing his appearance and all his apparatus, started from the regions +near the Ister, appearing there in I know not what way. It traversed +Thrace and Asia, reveling in company with four hundred male attendants, +who were equipped with thyrsi and fawn-skins and did no harm. The fact +was admitted by all those who lived in Thrace at that time that lodgings +and all the provisions for It were provided at public expense. And no +one dared to oppose It either by word or by deed,--no governor, no +soldier, no procurator, no heads of provinces,--but It proceeded, as if +in a daylight procession prescribed by proclamation, to the confines of +Bithynia. Leaving that point, it approached the Chalcedonian land and +there, after performing some sacred rite by night and burying a wooden +horse, it vanished. These facts I ascertained while still in Asia, as I +stated, and before anything at all had been done about Bassianus in +Rome. + + ¶One day the same man said this: "I have no need of titles + derived, from war and blood. It suffices me to have you call me + 'Pious' and 'Fortunate'." + + ¶The False Antoninus on receiving praise from the senate one + day remarked: "Yes, you love me and, by Jupiter, so does the + populace and likewise the foreign legions. But I do not satisfy + the Pretorians, to whom I keep giving so much." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 222 (_a.u._ 975)] [Sidenote:--19--] So long as +Sardanapalus continued to love his cousin, he was safe. But, since he +was suspicious of all men, and learned that their favor was turning +solely and absolutely to the boy, he dared to change his mind and worked +in every way to effect his overthrow. + + ¶Some persons were conversing with the False Antoninus and + remarked how fortunate he was to be consul along with his son. He + rejoined: "I shall be more fortunate next year, for then I'm + going to be consul with my truly-begotten son." + +The moment, though, that he tried to destroy him, he not only +accomplished nothing but ran the risk of being killed himself. +Alexander was sedulously guarded by his mother and his grandmother and +the soldiers, and the Pretorians, on becoming aware of the attempt of +Sardanapalus, raised a terrible tumult. They would not cease their +rebellious attitude until Sardanapalus, with Alexander, visited the +camp; and he poured out his supplications and under compulsion gave up +such of his companions in lewdness as the soldiers demanded. In behalf +of Hierocles he pled piteously and lamented him with tears, foretelling +his own death, and adding: "Grant me this one man, whatever you are +pleased to suspect about him, or else kill me!" and thus with difficulty +he succeeded in appeasing them. On this occasion, then, he was saved, +though with difficulty. His grandmother hated him for his practices +(which seemed to show that he was not the son of Antoninus) and was +coming to favor Alexander, as being really sprung from him. + +[Sidenote:--20--] Later he again made a plot against Alexander and, as +the Pretorians raised an outcry at this, entered the camp with him. +Then, he became aware that he was under guard and awaiting execution, +for the mothers of the two, being more openly at variance with each +other than before, were stirring up the soldiers to action. He then made +an attempt to flee, and intended to escape to some point by being placed +in a box, but was discovered and slain, having reached eighteen years of +age. His mother, who embraced and clung tightly to him, perished with +him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped +naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the woman's trunk +was cast off in some corner, while his was thrown into the river. + +[Sidenote:--21--] With him perished Hierocles, and others, and the +prefects; and Aurelius Eubulus, who was an Emesenian by race [and had +gone so far in lewdness and defilement that his surrender had earlier +been demanded by the populace]. He had been entrusted with the general +accounts [Footnote: One of the _rationales summarum_.] and there was +nothing that escaped his confiscations. So now he was torn to pieces by +the populace and the soldiers, and Fulvius, the city prefect, with him. +Comazon succeeded the latter, as he had succeeded Fulvius's predecessor. +Just as a mask used to be carried into the theatres to occupy the stage +during the intervals in the acting, when it was left vacant by the +comedians, so was Comazon put in the vacant place of the men who had +been prefects in his day over the city of Rome.--As for +Elagabalus, [Footnote: Elagabalus, the god.] he was banished from Rome +altogether. + +Such was the story of Tiberinus: and none of those even who helped him +arrange the uprising and attained great power in return, save perhaps a +single individual, [Footnote: This probably refers to Comazon.] survived. + + + + +DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY + +80 + + +Why Dio was not able to relate in detail the history of the reign of +Alexander (chapter 1). + +About Ulpian, Pretorian Prefect, and his death (chapter 2). + +Undertakings of Artaxerxes the Persian against the Parthians and Romans +(chapters 3, 4). + +Dio's second consulship, his return to his own country, and conclusion +of the History (chapter 5). + + +DURATION OF TIME. + +Duration of time eight years, in which the following are enumerated as +consuls. + +Antoninus Elagabalus (IV), M. Aurelius Severus Alexander Coss. (A.D. 222 += a.u. 975 = First of Alexander, from March 11th.) + +L. Marius Maximus (II), L. Roscius AElianus. (A.D. 223 = a.u. 976 = +Second of Alexander.) + +Iulianus (II), Crispinus. (A.D. 224 = a.u. 977 = Third of Alexander.) + +Fuscus (II), Dexter. (A.D. 225 = a.u. 978 = Fourth of Alexander.) + +Alexander Aug. (II), C. Marcellus Quintilianus (II). (A.D. 226 = a.u. +979 = Fifth of Alexander.) + +Lucius Albinus, Max. AEmilius AEmilianus. (A.D. 227 = a.u. 980 = Sixth of +Alexander.) + +T. Manilius Modestus, Ser. Calpurnius Probus. (A.D. 228 = a.u. 981 = +Seventh of Alexander.) + +Alexander Aug. (III), Cassius Dio (II). (A.D. 229 = a.u. 982 = Eighth +of Alexander.) + +[Sidenote: A.D. 222-229 (_a.u._ 975-982)] [Sidenote:--1--] Alexander +became emperor immediately after him [and at once proclaimed Augusta, +his own mother, Mammaea, who had in hand the administration of affairs +and gathered wise men about her son, that by their guidance he might be +duly trained in morals; and she chose out of the senate the better class +of counselors, to whom she communicated everything that had to be done]. +He entrusted to one Domitius Ulpianus the command of the Pretorians and +the remaining business of the empire.--These matters I have set down in +detail, so far as I was able, in each case, but of the rest I have not +found it feasible to give a detailed account, for the reason that for a +long time I did not sojourn in Rome. After going from Asia to Bithynia I +fell sick, and from there I hurried to my duties as head of Africa. On +returning to Italy I was almost immediately sent to govern in Dalmatia +and from there into Upper Pannonia. After that I came back to Rome and +on reaching Campania at once set out for home. + +[Sidenote:--2--] For these reasons, then, I have not been able to +compile an account of what follows similar to that which precedes. I +will narrate briefly, however, all the things that were done up to the +time of my second consulship. + +Ulpianus corrected many of the irregular practices instituted by +Sardanapalus; but, after putting to death Flavianus and Chrestus, that +he might succeed them, he was himself before long slain by the +Pretorians, who attacked him in the night; and it availed nothing that +ran to the palace and took refuge with the emperor himself and the +latter's mother.--Even during his lifetime a great dispute had arisen +between the populace and the Pretorians, from some small cause, with the +result that they fought each other for three days, and many were lost by +both sides. The soldiers, on getting the worst of it, directed their +efforts to firing the buildings, and so the populace, fearing that the +whole city would be destroyed, reluctantly came to terms with them. +Besides these occurrences, Epagathus, who was believed to have been +chiefly [Footnote: Reading [Greek: to pleon] (Reimar, Bekker, +Boissevain).] responsible for the death of Ulpianus, was sent into +Egypt, supposedly to govern it, but really to prevent any disturbance +taking place in Rome when he met with punishment. From there he was +taken to Crete and executed. [Alexander's mother, being a slave to +money, gathered funds from all sources. She also brought home for her +son a spouse, whom she would not allow to be addressed as Augusta. After +a time, however, she separated her from her son and drove her away to +Libya, in spite of the woman's possessing his affections. Alexander, +however, could not oppose his mother, for she ruled him absolutely.] + +[Sidenote:--3--] Many uprisings were made by many persons, some of which +caused serious alarm, but they were all checked. But affairs in +Mesopotamia were still more terrifying, and provoked in the hearts of +all, not merely the men of Rome but the rest of mankind, a fear that had +a truer foundation. Artaxerxes, a Persian, having conquered the +Parthians in three battles and killed their king, Artabanus, [made a +campaign against Hatra, which he endeavored to take as a base for +attacking the Romans. He did make a breach in the wall but, as he lost a +number of soldiers through an ambuscade, he transferred his position +into Media. Of this district, as also of Parthia, he acquired no small +portion, partly by force and partly by intimidation, and then] marched +against Armenia. Here he suffered a reverse at the hands of the natives, +some Medes, and the children of Artabanus, and either fled (as some say) +or (as others assert) retired to prepare a larger expedition. +[Sidenote:--4--] He accordingly became a source of fear to us; for he +was encamped with a large army over against not Mesopotamia only but +Syria also and boasted that he would win back everything that the +ancient Persians had once held, as far as the Grecian Sea. It was, he +said, his rightful inheritance from his forefathers. He was of no +particular account himself, but our military affairs are in such a +condition that some joined his cause and others refused to defend +themselves. The troops are so distinguished by wantonness, and +arrogance, and freedom from reproof, that those in Mesopotamia dared to +kill their commander, Flavius Heracleo, and the Pretorians found fault +with me before Ulpianus because I ruled the soldiers in Pannonia with a +strong hand; and they demanded my surrender, through fear that some one +might compel them to submit to a regime similar to that of the Pannonian +troops. + +[Sidenote:--5--] Alexander, however, paid no attention to them, but +promoted me in various ways, appointing me to be consul for the second +time, as his colleague, and taking upon himself personally the +responsibility of meeting the expenditures of my office. As the +malcontents evinced displeasure at this, he became afraid that they +might kill me if they saw me in the insignia of my office, and he bade +me spend the period of my consulship in Italy, somewhere outside of +Rome. Later, accordingly, I came both to Rome and to Campania to visit +him. After spending a few days in his company, during which the soldiers +saw me without offering to do me any harm, I started for home, being +released on account of the trouble with my feet. Consequently, I expect +to spend all the remainder of my life in my own country, as the Divine +Presence revealed to me most clearly at the time I was in Bithynia. +Once, in a dream there, I thought I saw myself commanded by it to write +at the close of my work the following verses: + + "Hector was led of Zeus far out of the range of the missiles, + Out of the dust and the slaying of men, out of blood and of uproar." + +[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XI, verses 163-4.] + + * * * * * + + + + +PRESERVED FROM BOOKS +PRECEDING No. 36. + + * * * * * + +(The "Fragments" of Dio.) + +[Frag. I] + + +1. Dio says: "I am anxious to write a history of all (that is worth +remembering) done by the Romans both at peace and in war, so as to have +nothing essential lacking, either of those matters or of others. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +2[lacuna] everything about them, so to speak, that has been written +by any persons, and I have put in my history not everything but what I +have selected. However, let no one entertain any suspicions (as has +happened in the case of some other writers), regarding the truth of it +merely because I have used elaborate diction to whatever extent the +subject matter permitted; for I have been anxious to be equally perfect +in both respects so far as was possible. I will begin at the point where +I have obtained the clearest accounts of what is reported to have taken +place in this land which we inhabit. + +This territory in which the city of Rome has been built" [Lacuna] +(Mai, p. 135.) + +[Frag. II] + +1. Ausonia, as Dio Cocceianus writes, is properly the land of the +Aurunci only, lying between the Campanians and Volsci along the +sea-coast. Many persons, however, thought that Ausonia extended even as +far as Latium, so that all of Italy was called from it Ausonia. (Isaac +Tzetzes on Lycophron, 44. and 615, 702.) + +2. Where now Chone is there was formerly a district called Oenotria, in +which Philoctetes settled after the sack of Troy as Dionysius and Dio +Cocceianus and all those who write the story of Rome relate. (Idem, v. +912.) + +3. ¶ About the Etruscans Dio says: "These facts about them required to +be written at this point in the narrative, and elsewhere something else +and later some still different fact will be told as occasion demands, in +whatever way the course of the history may chance to prepare the point +temporarily under discussion. Let this same explanation be sufficient +[Footnote: The MS. here has [Greek: ekontes] = "being (plural) +sufficient." I have adopted the reading [Greek: eketo], suggested by +Melber.] to cover also the remaining matters of importance. For I shall +recount to the best of my ability all the exploits of the Romans, but as +to the rest only what has a bearing on the Romans will be written." +(Mai, p. 136.) + +[Frag. III] + +1. Dio and Dionysius give the story of Cacus (Tzetzes, History, 5, +21). + +2. In this way the country was called Italy. Picus was the first king of +it, and after him his son Faunus, when Heracles came there with the rest +of the kine of Geryon. And he begat Latinus by the wife of Faunus, who +was king of the people there, and from him all were called Latins. In +the fifty-fifth year after Heracles this AEneas, subsequent to the +capture of Troy, came, as we have remarked, to Italy and the Latins. He +landed near Laurentum, called also Troy, near the River Numicius along +with his own son by Creusa, Ascanius or Ilus. There his followers ate +their tables, which were of parsley or of the harder portions of bread +loaves (they had no real tables), and likewise a white sow leaped from +his boat and running to the Alban mount, named from her, gave birth to a +litter of thirty, by which she indicated that in the thirtieth year his +children should get fuller possession of both land and sovereignty. As +he had heard of this beforehand from an oracle he ceased his +wanderings, sacrificed the sow, and prepared to found a city. Latinus +would not put up with him, but being defeated in war gave AEneas his +daughter Lavinia in marriage. AEneas then founded a city and called it +Lavinium. When Latinus and Thurnus, king of the Rutuli, perished in war +each at the other's hands, AEneas became king. After AEneas had been +killed in war at Laurentum by the same Rutuli and Mezentius the +Etruscan, and Lavinia the wife of AEneas was pregnant (of Silvius +[Footnote: Reimar thinks this word a later interpolation.]), Ascanius +the child of Creusa was king. He finally conquered Mezentius, who had +opposed him in war and had refused to receive his embassies but sought +to command all the dependents of Latinus for an annual tribute. When the +Latins had grown strong because of the arrival of the thirtieth year, +they scorned Lavinium and founded a second city named from the sow Alba +Longa, i. e. "long white,"--and likewise called the mountain there +Albanus. Only, the images from Troy turned back a second time to +Lavinium. + +After the death of Ascanius it was not Ascanius's son Iulus who became +king, but AEneas's son by Lavinia, Silvius,--or, according to some +Ascanius's son Silvius. Silvius again begat another AEneas, and he +Latinus, and he Capys. Capys had a child Tiberinus, whose son was +Amulius, whose son was Aventinus. + +So far regarding Alba and Albanians. The story of Rome follows. +Aventinus begat Numitor and Amulius. Numitor while king was driven out +by Amulius, who killed Numitor's son AEgestes in a hunting party and +made the sister of AEgestes, daughter of the aforesaid Numitor, Silvia +or Rhea Ilia, a priestess of Vesta, so that she might remain a virgin. +He stood in terror of an oracle which foretold his death at the hands +of the children of Numitor. For this reason he had killed AEgestes and +made the other a priestess of Vesta, that she might continue a virgin +and childless. But she while drawing water in Mars's grove conceived, +and bore Romulus and Remus. The daughter of Amulius by supplication +rescued her from being put to death, but the babes she gave to +Faustulus, a shepherd, husband of Laurentia, to expose in the vicinity +of the river Tiber. These the shepherd's wife took and reared up; for +it happened that she had about that time brought forth a still-born +infant. + +When Romulus and Remus were grown they kept flocks in the fields of +Amulius, but as they killed some of the shepherds of their grandfather +Numitor a watch was set for them. Remus being arrested, Romulus ran +and told Faustulus, and he ran to narrate everything to Numitor. +Finally Numitor recognized them to be his own daughter's children. +They with the assistance of many persons killed Amulius, and after +bestowing the kingdom of Alba on their grandfather Numitor themselves +made a beginning of founding Rome in the eighteenth year of Romulus's +life. Prior to this great Rome, which Romulus founded on the Palatine +mount about the dwelling of Faustulus, another Rome in the form of a +square had been founded by a Romulus and Remus older than these. + +(Is. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1232. Consequently Dio must have written +what is found in Zonaras 7, 3 [vol. II, p. 91, 7-10:]) "Romulus has +been described as eighteen years old when he joined in settling Rome. +He founded it around the dwelling of Faustulus. The place had been +named Palatium." + +3. I have related previously at some length the story how AEneas +founded Lavinium, though these ignorant persons say Rome. See how +_they_ tell the story. AEneas received an oracle to found the city on +the spot where his companions should devour their own tables. Now when +they came to Italy and were in want of tables they used loaves instead +of tables. Finally they ate also the tables--or the loaves. AEneas, +consequently, understanding the oracle founded there the Lavinian +city, even if the ignorant do say Rome. (Is. Tzetz. on Lycophr. 1250.) +(Cp. Frag. III, 4.) + +4. ¶Rome is part of the Latin country and the Latins have the same +name as Latinus, who is said to be the son of Odysseus and Circe, and +the Tiber, once called Albulus, received its change of name from the +fact that King Tiberius lost his life in it; this is proclaimed by +Dio's history among others. The Tiberius here meant by the history is +not the one subsequent to Augustus, but another who came earlier. He, +they say, died in battle and was carried away by the stream, and so +left his own name to the river. (Eustathius on Dionysius, 350.) + +5. Arceisius--Laertes was a son of Arceisius who was so called either +from [Greek: arkeo arkeso] [Footnote: These are the first two principal +parts of a Greek verb meaning "to be sufficient."] as if he were able +merely to be sufficient ([Greek: eparkeo]), whence comes the epithet +[Greek: podarkaes] (sufficient with the feet) or else because an _arkos_ +or _arktos_ (bear) suckled him, just as some one else was suckled by a +horse or goat, and still others by a wolf, among whom were also the +Roman chiefs (according to Dio),--Remus, that is to say, and Romulus, +whom a wolf (lykaina) suckled, called by the Italians _lupa_; this name +has been aptly used metaphorically as a title for the _demi-monde_. +(Eustathius on the Odyssey, p. 1961, 13-16.) + +[Frag. IV] + +1. [Lacuna] [lacuna] (for it is not possible that one who is a mortal +should either foresee everything, or find a way to turn aside what is +destined to occur) children to punish his wrongdoing were born +[infinitive] of that maiden. [Footnote: I.e., Rhea Sylvia.] (Mai, p. +136.) + +2. ¶Romulus and Remus, by their quarrel together, made it plain that +some can bear dangers straight through life altogether more easily +than good fortune. (Mai, p. 136.) + +3. On Romulus and Remus Dionysius of Halicarnassus makes remarks in +his History, and so do Dio and Diodorus. (Scholia of Io. Tzetzes in +Exeg. Hom. II. p. 141, 20.) + +4. After they had set about the building of the city a dispute arose +between the brothers regarding the sovereignty and regarding the city, +and they got into a conflict in which Remus was killed. (Zonaras, 7, +3, vol. II, p-90, 7 sqq.) (Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +5. Whence also the custom arose that he who dared to cross the trench +of the camp otherwise than by the usual paths should be put to death. +(Zonaras, ib., p. 90, 16-18.) + + 6. They themselves [Footnote: The Caeninenses, Crustumini, and +Antemnates are meant (Bekker).--Compare Livy, I, 10, 11.] learned well +and taught others the lesson that those who take vengeance on others are +not certainly right merely because the others have previously done +wrong, and that those who make demands on stronger men do not +necessarily get them, but often lose the rest besides. (Mai, p. 136.) + +7. ¶Hersilia and the rest of the women of her kin on discovering them +one day drawn up in opposing ranks ran down from the Palatine with +their little children (children had already been born), and rushing +suddenly into the space between the armies aroused much pity by their +words and their actions. Looking now at the one side and now at the +other they cried: "Why, fathers, do you do this? Why, husbands, do you +do it? When will you stop fighting? When will you stop hating each +other? Make peace with your sons-in-law! Make peace with your +fathers-in-law! For Pan's sake spare your children, for Quirinus's +sake your grandchildren! Pity your daughters, pity your wives! For if +you refuse to make peace and some bolt of madness has fallen upon your +heads to drive you to frenzy, then kill at once us, the causes of +your contention, and slay at once the little children whom you hate, +that with no longer any name or bond of kinship between you you may +gain the greatest of evils--to slay the grandsires of your children +and the fathers of your grandchildren." As they said this they tore +open their garments and exposed their breasts and abdomens, while some +pressed themselves against the swords and others threw their children +against them. Moved by such sounds and sights the men began to weep, +so that they desisted from battle and came together for a conference +there, just as they were, in the _comitium_, which received its name +from this very event. (Mai, p. 137.) + +8. Tribous Trittys; or a third part. Romulus's heavy-armed men, three +thousand in number (as Dio tells us in the first book of his History), +were divided into three sections called _tribous_, i. e. trittyes, +which the Greeks also termed "tribes." Each trittys was separated into +ten _Curiae_ or "thinking bodies"--_cura_ meaning thoughtfulness--and +the men who were appointed to each particular _curia_ came together +and thought out the business in hand. + +Among the Greeks the _curiae_ are called _phratriae_ and +_phatriae_--in other words _associations, brotherhoods unions, +guilds_--from the fact that men of the same _phratry phrased_ or +revealed to one another their own intentions without scruple or fear. +Hence fathers or kinsmen or teachers are _phrators_,--those who share +in the same _phratry_. But possibly it was derived from the Roman word +_frater_, which signifies "brother." (--Glossar. Nom. Labbaei.) + +9. (And he named the people _populus_.) Hence in the Law Books the +popular assembly has the name _popularia_. (Zonaras 7, 3 (vol. 11, p. +91, 17 and 18.) Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +10. She [i. e. Tarpeia] having come down for water was seized and +brought to Tatius, and was induced to betray the fathers. (Zonaras, +ib., p. 93, 15-17.) + +11. It is far better for them [senate-houses?] to be established anew +than having existed previously to be named over. (Mai, p. 137.) + +12. ¶Romulus assumed a rather harsh attitude toward the senate and +behaved toward it rather like a tyrant, and the hostages of the Veientes +he returned [Footnote: Mai supplies the missing verb.] on his own +responsibility and not by common consent, as was usually done. When he +perceived them vexed at this he made a number of unpleasant remarks, +and finally said: "I have chosen you, Fathers, not for the purpose of +your ruling me, but that I might give directions to you." (Mai, p. 138.) + +[What is said of Romulus in John of Antioch, Frag. 32 (Mueller) to +have been drawn from the extant books of Dio. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ +XIV.] + +13. Dio I: "Thus by nature, doubtless, mankind will not endure to be +ruled by what is similar and ordinary partly through jealousy, partly +through contempt of it." [Footnote: This is probably a remark in regard +to the quarrels of the Roman elders over the kingdom after the death of +Romulus.--Compare Livy. I, 17.] (--Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 15.) + +14. Dio in I: "What time he threw both body and soul into the balance, +encountering danger in your behalf." [Footnote: Perhaps a reference to +the father of Horatius defending his son, or even to Romulus.] (Ib. p. +165, 27.) + +[Frag. V] 1. Romulus had a crown and a sceptre with an eagle on the +top and a white cloak reaching to the feet striped with purple +embroideries from the shoulders to the feet: the name of the cloak was +toga, i. e. "covering," from _tegere_ the corresponding verb (this is +the word the Romans use for "cover") and a purple shoe which was +called _cothurnus_, as Cocceius says. (Io. Laur. Lydus, De Magis. +Reip. Rom. 1, pp. 20-22.) + +Therefore the words of Zonaras II, p. 96, 5, may be attributed to Dio: +"(Romulus) also used red sandals." + +2. "Shedding ashes from the hearth over the earth, they skillfully +traced the prophesies with this wand, as they gazed at the sun and +foretold the future. This wand Plutarch terms _lituos_, but _lituoi_ +is what Cocceianus Cassius Dio says." (Io. Tzetzes, Alleg. Iliadis 1, +28.) + +3. Numa dwelt on a hill called Quirinal, because he was a Sabine, but +he had his official residence in the Sacred Way and used to spend his +time near the temple of Vesta and sometimes even remained on the spot. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +4. For since he understood well that the majority of mankind hold in +contempt what is of like nature and consorts with them through a +feeling that it is no better than themselves, but cultivate what is +obscure and foreign as being superior, because they believe it divine, +he dedicated a certain lot of land to the Muses [lacuna] (Mai, p. 138.) + +5. ¶The gods, as guardians of peace and justice, must be pure of +murder; and not listen to or look at anything pertaining to divinity +in a cursory or neglectful manner, but must exist enjoying leisure +from other affairs and fixing their attention on the practice of piety +as the most important act.--Zonaras, 7, 5 (vol. II, p. 100). + +6. Dio, Book I: "This, then, is what Numa thought" (Bekker, Anecd. p. +158, 23.) + +7. Furthermore, also, that they became composed at that time through +their own efforts, and took the sacred oath; after which they +themselves continued at peace both with one another and with the +outside tribes throughout the entire reign of Numa, and they seemed to +have lighted upon him by divine guidance no less than in the case of +Romulus. Men who know Sabine history best declare that he was born on +the same day that Rome was founded. In this way, because of both them +the city quickly became strong and well adorned: for the one gave it +practice in warfare,--of necessity, since it was but newly +founded,--and the other taught it besides the art of peace, so that it +was equally distinguished in each of these two particulars. (Valesius, +p. 569.) + +8. Dio the Roman says that Janus, an ancient hero, because of his +entertainment of Saturn, received the knowledge of the future and of +the past, and that on this account he was represented with two faces +by the Romans. From him the month of January was named, and the +beginning of the year comes in the same month. (Cedrenus, Vol. 1, p. +295, 10, Bekker.) + +9. Book 1, Dio:--"For in some beginnings, when grasping at ends, the +costs that we endure are not unwelcome." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 161, 3.) + +10. (Numa) having lived for a period of three more than eighty years, +and having been king forty and three years.--Zonaras, 7, 5. (Cp. +Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +[Frag. VI] + +1. Dio, Book 2: "that their [Footnote: Probably refers to the people of +Alba.] reputation would stand in the way of their growth." (Bekker, +Anecd., p. 139, 12.) + +2. ¶Neither of the two [Tullus or Mettius] sanctioned the removal, but +both championed their own pretensions. For Tullus in view of the report +about Romulus and the power they possessed was elated and so was +Fufetius in view of the age of Alba and because it was the mother city +not only of the Romans themselves but of many others; and both felt no +little pride. For these reasons they withdrew from that dispute but +plunged into a new quarrel about the sovereignty: for they saw that it +was impossible [Footnote: Refers to the Romans.] to keep them free from +party feeling, dwelling with them in safety on fair terms; and this was +due to the inherent disposition of men to quarrel with their equals, and +to desire to rule others. Many claims also regarding this they preferred +against each other, to see if by any means the one party would +voluntarily concede either of the two favors to the other. They +accomplished nothing, but formed a compact to struggle in her behalf. + +(Mai, p. 139.) + +3. Dio, Book 2.--"and attacking them who expected no further danger." +(Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 15.) + +4. ¶Tullus was deemed most able against the enemy, but absolutely +despised and neglected religion until, during the recurrence of a +plague, he himself fell sick. Then, indeed, he paid the strictest +regard to all the gods, and furthermore established the Salii Collini. +(Valesius, p. 569.) + +[Frag. VII] + +¶Marcius, comprehending how it is not sufficient for men who wish to +remain at peace to refrain from wrongdoing, and that refusing to +molest others, without active measures, is not a means of safety, but +the more one longs for it the more vulnerable does one become to the +mass of mankind, changed his course. He saw that a desire for quiet +was not a power for protection unless accompanied by equipment for +war: he perceived also that delight in freedom from foreign broils +very quickly and very easily ruined men who were unduly enthusiastic +over it. For this reason he thought that war was nobler and safer, +both as a preparation and as forethought, than was peace, and so +whatever he was unable to obtain from the Latins with their consent, +and without harming them, he took away against their will by means of +a military expedition. (Mai, p. 139.) + +[Frag. VIII] + +¶Tarquinius, by using wealth, knowledge, and great wit opportunely +everywhere, put Marcius in such a frame of mind than he was enrolled +by the latter among the patricians and among the senators, was often +appointed general and was entrusted with the guardianship of his +children and of the kingdom. He was no less agreeable to the rest, and +consequently ruled them with their consent. The reason was that while +he took all measures from which he might derive strength he did not +lose his head, but though among the foremost humbled himself. Any +laborious tasks he was willing to undertake openly in the place of +others, but in pleasure he willingly made way for others while he +himself obtained either nothing or but little, and that unnoticed. The +responsibility for what went well he laid upon any one sooner than +upon himself and placed the resulting advantages within the reach of +the public for whoever desired them, but more unsatisfactory issues he +never laid to the charge of any one else, nor attempted to divide the +blame. Besides, he favored all the friends of Marcius individually +both by deeds and by words. Money he spent without stint and was ready +to offer his services if any one wanted anything of him. He neither +said nor did anything mean against any one, and did not fall into +enmity with any one if he could help it. Furthermore, whatever +benefits he received from any persons he always exaggerated, but +unpleasant treatment he either did not notice at all or minimized it +and regarded it is of very slight importance: not only did he refuse +to take offensive measures in return, but he conferred kindnesses +until he won the man over entirely. This gained him a certain +reputation for cleverness, because he had mastered Marcius and all the +latter's followers, but through subsequent events he caused the +majority of men to be distrusted, either as being deceitful by nature +or as changing their views according to their own influence and +fortunes. (Valesius, p. 570.) + +[Frag. IX] + +Second Book of Dio: "As there was nothing in which they did not yield +him obedience." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 19.) + +[Frag. X] 1. Dio, Book 2.--"Because his brother did not cooperate +with him he secretly put him out of the way by poison through the +agency of his wife." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 17. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 9.) + +2. ¶Tarquinius, when he had equipped himself sufficiently to reign over +them even if they were unwilling, first arrested the most powerful +members of the senate and next some of the rest, and put to death many +publicly, when he could bring some real charge against them, and many +besides secretly, while some he banished. Not merely because some of +them loved Tullius more than him, nor because they had family, wealth, +intelligence, and displayed conspicuous bravery and distinguished wisdom +did he destroy them, out of jealousy and out of a suspicion likewise +that their dissimilarity of character must force them to hate him, the +while he defended himself against some and anticipated the attack of +others; no, he slew all his bosom friends who had exerted themselves to +help him get the kingship no less than the rest; for he thought that +impelled by the audacity and fondness for revolution through which they +had obtained dominion for him they might equally well give it to some +one else. So he made away with the best part of the senate and of the +knights and did not appoint to those orders any one at all in place of +the men who had been destroyed: he understood that he was hated by the +entire populace and was anxious to render the classes mentioned +extremely weak through paucity of men. Yes, he even undertook to abolish +the senate altogether, since he believed that every gathering of men and +especially of chosen persons who had some pretence of prestige from +antiquity, was most hostile to a tyrant. But as he was afraid that the +multitude or else his body-guards themselves, in their capacity as +citizens, might by reason of vexation at the change in government +revolt, he refrained from doing this openly, but effected it in a +conveniently outrageous way. He failed to introduce any new member into +the senate to make up the loss, and to those who were left he +communicated nothing of importance. He called the senators together not +to help him in the administration of any important business; no, this +very act was to give them a proof of their littleness, and thereby to +enable him to humiliate and show scorn for them. Most of his business he +carried on by himself or with the aid of his sons, in the first place to +the end that no one else should have any power, and secondly because he +shrank from publishing matters involving his own wrongdoing. He was +difficult of access and hard to accost, and showed such great +haughtiness and brutality toward all alike that he received the nickname +among them of "Proud." Among other decidedly tyrannical deeds of himself +and his children might be mentioned the fact that he once had some +citizens bound naked to some crosses in the Forum and before the +eyes of the citizens, and had them shamefully beaten to death with rods. +This punishment, invented by him at that time, has often been +inflicted. (Valesius, p. 573.) + +3. Dio in 2nd Book: "Publicly and by arrangement reviling his father +in many unusual ways on the ground that he was a tyrant and was +forsworn." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 155, 1.) + +4. The Sibyl about whom Lycophron is now speaking was the Cumaean, who +died in the time of Tarquin the Proud and left behind three or nine of +her prophetic books. Of these the Romans bought either one or three, +after the Sibyl's servant had destroyed the rest by fire because they +would not give her as much gold as she wanted. This they did later and +bought up either one that was left over or else three, and gave them to +Marcus Acilius to keep. Him they cast alive into the skin of an ox and +put to death because he had given them to be copied: but for the book or +books they dug a hole in the Forum and buried them along with a chest. +(Ioannes Tzetzes, scholia on Lycophr. 1279.) + +5. ¶Lucius Junius, a son of Tarquinius's sister, in terror after the +king had killed his father and had moreover taken his property away +from him feigned madness, to the end that he might possibly survive. +For he well understood that every person possessed of sense, +especially when he is of a distinguished family, becomes an object of +suspicion to tyrants. And when once he had started on this plan he +acted it out with great precision, and for that reason was called +Brutus. This is the name that the Latins gave to idiots. Sent along +with Titus and Arruns as if he were a kind of plaything he carried a +staff as a votive offering, he said, to the gods, though it had no +great value so far as anyone could see. (Mai, p. 139.) + +6. Dio in Book 2: "After that he was found in the Pythian god's +temple." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 21.) + +7. ¶They made sport of the gift [i. e. the staff] of Brutus, and when to +the enquiry of the ambassadors as to who should succeed to the kingdom +of their father the oracle replied that the first to kiss his mother +should hold dominion over the Romans, he kissed the earth, pretending to +have fallen down by accident, for he regarded her as the mother of all +mankind. (Mai, p. 140.) + +8. ¶Brutus overthrew the Tarquins for the following reason. During the +siege of Ardea the children of Tarquin were one day dining with Brutus +and Collatinus, since these two were of their own age and relatives; +and they fell into a discussion and finally into a dispute about the +virtue of their wives,--each one giving the preference to his own +spouse. And, as all the women happened to be absent from the camp, +they decided straightaway that night, before they could be announced, +to take horse and ride away to all of them simultaneously. This they +did, and found all engaged in a carousal except Lucretia, wife of +Collatinus, whom they discovered at work on wool. This fact about her +becoming noised abroad led Sextus to desire to outrage her. Perchance +he even felt some love for her, since she was of surpassing beauty; +still it was rather her reputation than her body that he desired to +ruin. He watched for an opportunity when Collatinus was among the +Rutuli, hurried to Collatia, and coming by night to her house as that +of a kinswoman obtained both food and lodging. At first he tried to +persuade her to grant her favors to him, but as he could not succeed +he attempted force. When he found he could make no progress by this +means either, he devised a plan by which in the most unexpected way he +compelled her to submit voluntarily to be debauched. To his +declaration that he would cut her throat she paid no attention, and +his statement that he would make away with one of the servants she +listened to in contempt. When, however, he threatened to lay the body +of the servant beside her and spread the report that he had found them +sleeping together and killed them he was no longer to be resisted: and +she, fearing it might be believed that this had so happened, chose to +yield to him and die after giving an account of the affair rather than +lose her good name in perishing at once. For this reason she did not +refuse to commit adultery, but afterward she made ready a dagger +beneath the pillow and sent for her husband and her father. As soon as +they had come she shed many tears, then spoke with a sigh: "Father, I +utter your name because I have disgraced it less than my husband's. +It is no honorable deed I have done this last night, but Sextus forced +me, threatening to kill me and a slave together and pretend he had +found me sleeping with the man. This threat compelled me to sin, to +prevent you from believing that such a thing had taken place. And I, +because I am a woman, will treat my case as becomes me: but do you, if +you are men and care for your wives and for your children, avenge me, +free yourselves, and show the tyrants what manner of creatures you are +and what manner of woman they have outraged." Having spoken to this +effect she did not wait for any reply but immediately drawing the +dagger from its hiding place stabbed herself. (Valesius, p. 574.) + +9. Dio, Second Book: "And he [Footnote: Van Herweiden's reading is the +one adopted in this doubtful passage.] went outside of Roman territory +making frequent trials of neighboring peoples." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, +25.) + +1. ¶All crowds of people judge measures according to the men who +direct them, and of whatever sort they ascertain the men to be, they +believe that the measures are of the same sort. (Mai, p. 140.) + +[Frag. XI] + +2. Every one prefers the untried to the well known, attaching great +hope to the uncertain in comparison with what has already gained his +hatred. (Ib.) + +3. All changes are very dangerous, and especially do those in +governments work the greatest and most numerous evils to both +individuals and state. Sensible men, therefore, decide to remain under +the same forms continually, even if they be not very good, rather than +by changing to have now one, now another, and be continually +wandering. (Ib.) + +4. Dio, 2nd Book: "When he had learned this he accordingly both came +to them the following day [lacuna]" (Bekker, Anecd., p. 178, 20.) + +5. In 3rd Book of Dio: "Whose father also ruled you blamelessly." +(Ib., p. 120, 24.) + +6. Dio's 3rd Book: "Of the fact that he loves you, you could get no +greater proof than his eagerness to live in your midst and his action +in having his possessions long since brought here." (Ib., p. 139, 26, +and p. 164, 28.) + +7. Dio's 3rd Book: "How would it pay any one to do this?" (Ib, p. +155,14.) + +8. Dio's 3rd Book: "As Romulus also enjoined upon us." (Ib., p. 139, +29.) + +9. ¶Every person comes to possess wishes and desires according to his +fortune and whatever his circumstances be, of like nature are also the +opinions he acquires. (Mai, p. 141.) + +10. ¶The business of kingship, more than any other, demands not merely +virtue, but also great understanding and intelligence, and it is not +possible without these qualities for the man who takes hold of it to +show moderation. Many, for example, as if raised unexpectedly to some +great height, have not endured their elevation, but startled from +their senses have fallen and made failures of themselves and have +shattered all the interests of their subjects. (Mai, ib.) + +11. With regard to the future form a judgment from what they have +done, but do not be deceived by what they as suppliants falsely +pretend. Unholy deeds proceed in every case from a man's real purpose, +but any one may concoct creditable phrases. Hence judge from what a +man has done, not from what he says he will do. (Mai, ib.) + +12. 3rd Book of Dio: "It is done not merely by the actual men who rule +them, but also by those who share the power with those rulers." +(Bekker, Anecd. p.130, 23, and p.164, 32.) + +In the preceding fragment we have, apparently, some comment of Dio +himself on the change in the Roman government (from monarchy to +republic) together with scraps of two speeches,--namely, that of the +envoys of Tarquinius to the Roman people, and that of Brutus in reply. + +[Frag. XII] + +1. ¶Valerius, the colleague of Brutus, although he had proved himself +the most democratic of men came near being murdered in short order by +the multitude: they suspected him, in fact, of being eager to become +sole sovereign. They would have slain him, indeed, had he not quickly +anticipated their action by courting their favor. He entered the +assembly and bent the rods which he had formerly used straight, and +took away the surrounding axes that were bound in with them. After he +had in this way assumed an attitude of humility, he kept a sad +countenance for some time and shed tears: and when he at last managed +to utter a sound, he spoke in a low fearful voice with a suggestion of +a quaver. [The general subject is speechmaking.] (Mai, p. 141.) + +2. On account of whom (plur.) also [Collatinus] was enraged. +Consequently Brutus so incited the populace against him that they came +near slaying him on the spot. They did not quite do this, however, but +compelled him to resign without delay. They chose as colleague to the +consul in his place Publius Valerius, who had the additional title of +Poplicola. This appellation translated into Greek signifies "friend of +the people" or "most democratic." (Zonaras, 7, 12. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ +XIV.) + +[Frag. XIII] + +¶The temple of Jupiter was dedicated by Horatius, as determined by +lot, although Valerius made the declaration that his son was dead, and +arranged to have this news brought to him during the very performance +of his sacred office, with the purpose that Horatius under the blow of +the misfortune and because in general it was impious for any one in +grief to fulfill the duties of priest, should yield to him the +dedication of the structure. The other did not refuse credence to the +report--for it was noised abroad by many trustworthy persons--yet he +did not surrender his ministry: on the contrary, after bidding some +men to leave unburied the body of his son, as if it were a stranger's, +in order that he might seem unconcerned regarding the rites due to it, +he then performed all the necessary ceremonies. (Valesius, p.577.) + +[Frag. XIV] + +1. (Tarquinius continued to supplicate Klara Porsina.) (Zonaras, 7, +12. Cp. Tzetz. Hist. 6, 201. Plutarch, Poplic. 16, has "Lara +Porsina.") + +2. Dio in 4th Book: "But they overran the Roman territory and harried +everything up to the wall." (Bekker, Anecd. p.152, 3 and 1.) 3. +Larta Porsenna, an Etruscan, or, perhaps, Klara Porsenna, was +proceeding against Rome with a great army. But Mucius, a noble Roman +soldier, after equipping himself in arms and dress of Etruscans then +started to spy upon them, wishing to kill Porsenna. Beside the latter +at that time was sitting his secretary, who in the Etruscan tongue was +called Clusinus; and Mucius, doubtful which might be the king, killed +Clusinus instead of the king. The man was arrested, and when Porsenna +asked him: "Why in the world did you do this thing? What injury had +you received from him?" the other cried out: "I happen to be not +Etruscan but Roman; and three hundred others of like mind with me who +are now hunting thee to slay thee." This he had spoken falsely; and, +with his right hand thrust into the fire, he gazed on Porsenna as +though another were suffering: and when the prince enquired: "Why do +you look fixedly upon us?" he said: "Reflecting how I erred in failing +to slay thee and in thy stead killed one whom I thought Porsenna." And +when Porsenna exclaimed: "You shall now become my friend!" Mucius +rejoined: "If thou becom'st a Roman." Porsenna admiring the man for +his uprightness becomes a friend to the Romans and checks the tide of +battle. (Tzetzes, Chiliades, VI, 201-223.) + +(Cp. Scholia on John Tzetzes's Letters in Cramer's Anecd. Oxon., vol. +III, p.360, 30: "Clusinus was the name of Porsenna's secretary, +according to what Dio says"; and Zonaras, 7, 12: "Drawing his sword he +killed his secretary, who was sitting beside him and was similarly +arrayed.") + +4. Dio's 4th Book: "And he [Footnote: Porsenna.] presented to the maiden +[Footnote: Claelia] both arms (or so some say) and a horse." (Bekker, +Anecd. p.133, 8.) + +5. After this the Tarquins endeavored on several occasions, by forming +alliances with tribes bordering on Roman dominions, to recover the +kingdom; but they were all destroyed in the battles save the sire, +who, moreover, was called Superbus (or, as a Greek would say, Proud). +Subsequently he found his way to Cyme of Opicia and there died. Thus +the careers of the Tarquins reached a conclusion. And after their +expulsion from the kingdom consuls, as has been stated, were chosen by +the Romans. One of these was Publius Valerius, who became consul four +times,--the one to whom also the name Poplicola was applied. (Zonaras +7, 12 sq. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +6. And the management of the funds they assigned to others in order +that the men holding the consular office might not possess the great +influence that would spring from their having the revenues in their +power. Now for the first time "stewards" began to be created and they +called them _quaestors_. These in the first place tried capital cases, +from which fact they have obtained this title,--on account of their +_questionings_ and on account of their search for truth as the result +of _questionings_. But later they acquired also management of the +public funds and received the additional name of Stewards ([Greek: +tamiai]). After a time the courts were delivered over to different +persons, while these officials were managers of the funds. (Zonaras 7, +13. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_, XIV.) + +7. Dio's 4th Book: "And they provided them [Footnote: Probably a +reference to the quaestors.] with separate titles besides in general +making very different provision for them in the different cases." +(Bekker, Anecd. p.133, 16.) + +8. Dio in 5th Book: "The lords filling them with hope on certain +points." (Ib. p.140, 10.) + +9. Dio in 5th Book: "With this accordingly he honored him." (Ib. +p.175, 19.) + +[Frag. XV] + +¶To a large extent success consists in planning secretly, acting at the +opportune moment, following one's own counsel somewhat, and in having no +chance to fall back upon any one else, but being obliged to take upon +one's self the responsibility for the issue, however it turns out. +[Footnote: Fragment XV may perhaps be a comment on dictatorships.] +(Mai, p.142.) + +[Frag. XVI] + +1. They had recourse to civil strife. And the reason is plain. Those +whose money gave them influence desired to surpass their inferiors in +all respects as though they were their sovereigns, and the weaker +citizens, sure of their own equal rights, were unwilling to obey them +even in some small point. The one class, insatiate of freedom, sought +to enjoy the property of the other; and this other, uncontrolled in +its pride of place, to enjoy the fruits of the former's labors. So it +was that they sundered their former relations, wherein they were wont +harmoniously to assist each other with mutual profit, and no longer +made distinctions between foreign and native races. Indeed, both +disdained moderation, and the one class set its heart upon an extreme +of dominion, the other upon an extreme of resistance to voluntary +servitude; consequently they missed the results accomplished by their +previous allied efforts and inflicted many striking injuries, partly +in defence against each other's movements and partly by way of +anticipating them. More than all the rest of mankind they were at +variance save in the midst of particularly threatening dangers that +they incurred in the course of successive wars,--wars due chiefly to +their own dissensions; and for the sake of the respite many prominent +men on several occasions brought on these conflicts purposely. This, +then, was the beginning of their suffering more harm from each other +than from outside nations. And the complexion of their difficulties +inspires me to pronounce that it was impossible that they should be +deprived of either their power or their sway, unless they should lose +it through their own contentions. (Mai, ib.) + +2. They were especially irritated that the senators were not of the +same mind after obtaining something from them as they were while +requesting it, but after making them numbers of great promises while +in the midst of danger failed to perform the slightest one of them +when safety had been secured. (Mai, p.143.) + +3. So to the end that they might not fight in a compact mass, but each +division struggle separately for its own position and so become easier +to handle, they divided the army. [Footnote: Cp. Livy, II, 30.] (Ib.) + +4. ¶The populace, as soon as Valerius the dictator became a private +citizen, began a most bitter contest, going so far even as to overturn +the government. The well-to-do classes insisted, in the case of debts, +upon the very letter of the agreement, refusing to abate one iota of +it, and so they both failed to secure its fulfillment and came to be +deprived of many other advantages; they had failed to recognize the +fact that an extreme of poverty is the heaviest of curses and that the +desperation which results from it is, especially if shared by a large +number of persons, very difficult to combat. This is why not a few +politicians voluntarily choose the course which is expedient in +preference to that which is absolutely just. Justice is often worsted +in an encounter with human nature and sometimes suffers total +extinction, whereas expediency, by parting with a mere fragment of +justice, preserves the greater portion of it intact. + +Now the cause of most of the troubles that the Romans had lay in the +unyielding attitude adopted by the more powerful class toward its +inferiors. Many remedies were afforded them against delays in payment +of debts, one of which was that in case it happened that several +persons had been lending to anybody, they had authority to divide his +body piecemeal according to the proportionate amounts that he was +owing. Yet, however much this principle had been declared legal, still +it had surely never been put into practice. For how could a nation +have proceeded to such lengths of cruelty when it frequently granted +to those convicted of some crime a refuge for their preservation and +allowed such as were thrust from the cliffs of the Capitoline to live +in case they should survive the experience? (Mai, p.143. Cp. Zonaras. +7, 14.) + +5. ¶Those who were owing debts took possession of a certain hill and +having placed one Gaius at their head proceeded to secure their food +from the country as from hostile territory, thereby demonstrating that +the laws were weaker than arms, and justice than their desperation. +The senators being in terror both that this party might become more +estranged and that the neighboring tribes in view of the crisis might +join in an attack upon them proposed terms to the rebels offering +everything that they hoped might please them. The seceders at first +were for brazening it out, but were brought to reason in a remarkable +way. When they kept up a series of disorderly shouts, Agrippa, one of +the envoys, begged them to hearken to a fable and having obtained +their consent spoke as follows. Once all the Members of Man began a +contention against the Belly, saying that they worked and toiled +without food or drink, being at the beck and call of the Belly in +everything, whereas it endured no labor and alone got its fill of +nourishment. And finally they voted that the Hands should no longer +convey aught to the Mouth nor the latter receive anything, to the end +that the Belly might so far as possible come to lack both food and +drink and so perish. Now when this measure was determined and put into +execution, at first the entire body began to wither away and next it +collapsed and gave out. Accordingly, the members through their own +evil state grew conscious that the Belly was the salvation of them and +restored to it its nourishment. + +On hearing this the multitude comprehended that the abundance of the +prosperous also supports the condition of the poor; therefore they +showed greater mildness and accepted a reconciliation on being granted +a release from their debts and from seizures therefor. This then, was +voted by the senate. (Mai, p.144. Cp. Zonaras 7, 14.) The account of +John of Antioch, frag. 46 (Mueller, fr. hist gr. IV, p.556) regarding +this secession of the plebs seems to have been taken from intact books +of Dio. (Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV, p.44, note 1; also G. Sotiriadis, +Zur Kritik des Johannes von Antiochia, Supplem. annal. philol. vol. +XVI, p.50.) + +6. And it seemed to be most inconsistent with human conditions, and to +many others also, some willingly, some unwillingly [lacuna] + +¶Whenever many men gathered in a compact body seek their own +advantage by violence, for the time being they have some equitable +agreement and display boldness, but later they become separated and +are punished on various pretexts. (Mai, p.146. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 15.) + +7. Through the tendency, natural to most persons, to differ with their +fellows in office (it is always difficult for a number of men to +attain harmony, especially in a position of any influence)--through +this natural tendency, then, all their power was dissipated and torn +to shreds. None of their resolutions was valid in case even one of +them opposed it. They had originally received their office for no +other purpose than to resist such as were oppressing their +fellow-citizens, and thus he who tried to prevent any measure from +being carried into effect was sure to prove stronger than those who +supported it. (Mai, ib. Cp. Zonaras 7, 15.) + +[Frag. XVII] + +1. For it is not easy for a man either to be strong at all points or +to possess excellence in both departments,--war and peace,--at once. +Those who are physically strong are, as a rule, weak-minded and +success that has come in unstinted measure generally does not +luxuriate equally well everywhere. This explains why after having +first been exalted by the citizens to the foremost rank he was not +much later exiled by them, and how it was that after making the city +of the Volsci a slave to his country he with their aid brought his own +land in turn into an extremity of danger. (Mai, p. 146. Cp. Zonaras +7,16.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 491 (_a.u._ 263)] 2. ¶The same man wished to be made +praetor, and upon failing to secure the office became angry at the +populace; and in his displeasure at the great influence of the tribunes +he employed greater frankness in speaking to that body than was +attempted by others whose deeds entitled them to the same rank as +himself. A severe famine occurring at the same time that a town Norba +needed colonizing, the multitude censured the powerful classes on both +these points, maintaining that they were being deprived of food and were +being purposely delivered into the hands of enemies for manifest +destruction. Whenever persons come to suspect each other, they take +amiss everything even that is done in their behalf, and yield wholly to +their belligerent instincts. Coriolanus had invariably evinced contempt +for the people, and after grain had been brought in from many sources +(most of it sent as a gift from princes in Sicily) he would not allow +them to receive allotments of it as they were petitioning. Accordingly, +the tribunes, whose functions he was especially eager to abolish, +brought him to trial before the populace on a charge of aiming at +tyranny and drove him into exile. It availed nothing that all his peers +exclaimed and expressed their consternation at the fact that tribunes +dared to pass such sentences upon _their_ order. So on being expelled he +betook himself, raging at his treatment, to the Volsci, though they had +been his bitterest foes. His valor, of which they had had a taste, and +the wrath that he cherished toward his fellow-citizens gave him reason +to expect that they would receive him gladly, since they might hope, +thanks to him, to inflict upon the Romans injuries equal to what they +had endured, or even greater. When one has suffered particular damage at +the hands of any party, one is strongly inclined to believe in the +possibility of benefit from the same party in case it is willing and +also able to confer favors. (Mai, p.147. Cp. Zonaras 7, 16.) 3. For he +was very angry that they, who were incurring danger for their own +country would not even under these conditions withdraw from the +possessions of others. When, accordingly, this news also was brought, +the men did not cease any the more from factional strife. They were, +indeed, so bitterly at variance that they could be reconciled not even +by dangers. But the women, Volumnia the wife of Coriolanus and Veturia +his mother, gathering a company of the other most eminent ladies visited +him in camp and took his children with them; and they caused him to end +the war not only without requiring the submission of the country, but +without even demanding restoration from exile. For he admitted them at +once as soon as he learned they were there, and granted them a +conversation, the course of which was as follows. While the rest wept +without speaking Veturia began: "Why are you surprised, my child? Why +are you startled? We are not deserters, but the country has sent to you, +if you should yield, your mother and wife and children, if otherwise, +your spoil; hence, if even now you still are angry, kill us first. Why +do you weep? Why turn away? Can you fail to know how we have just ceased +lamenting the affairs of state, in order that we might see you? Be +reconciled to us, then, and retain no longer your anger against your +citizens, friends, temples, tombs; do not come rushing down into the +city with hostile wrath nor take by storm your native land in which you +were born, were reared, and became Coriolanus, bearer of this great +name. Yield to me, my child, and send me not hence without result, +unless you would see me dead by own hand." + +At the end of this speech she sighed aloud, and tearing open her +clothing showed her breasts, and touching her abdomen exclaimed: "See, +my child, this brought you forth, these reared you up." When she had +said this, his wife and the children and the rest of the women joined +in the lament, so that he too was cast into grief. Recovering himself +at length with difficulty he embraced his mother and at the same time +kissing her replied: "Mother, I yield to you. Yours is the victory, +and let the other men, too, bestow their gratitude for this upon you. +For I can not endure even to see them, who after receiving such great +benefits at hands have treated me in such a way. Hence I never even +enter the city. Do you keep the country instead of me, since you have +so wished it, and I will take myself out of the way of you all." + +Having spoken thus he withdrew. For through fear of the multitude and +shame before his peers, in that he had made an expedition against them +at all he would not accept even the safe return offered him, but +retired among the Volsci, and there, either as the result of a plot or +from old age, died. (Mai, p.148. Zonaras, 7, 16. Cp. John Tzetzes, +Letters, 6, p.9, 16.) + +4. Dio Cocceianus himself and numberless others who have set forth the +deeds of the Romans, tell the story of this Marcus Coriolanus. This +Marcus, as he was formerly called and later Gnaeus, had along with +these the name of Coriolanus. When the Romans were warring against the +city of Coriolanus [_sic_], and had all turned to flight at full +speed, the man himself turned toward the hostile city and finding it +open alone set fire to it. As the flames rose brilliantly he mounted +his horse and with great force fell upon the rear of the barbarians, +who were bringing headlong flight upon the Romans. They wheeled about +and when they saw the fire consuming the city, thinking it was sacked +they fled in another direction. He, having saved the Romans and sacked +the city, which we have already said was called Coriolanus, received, +in addition to his former names Marcus and Gnaeus, the title of +Coriolanus, from the rout. But (the usual treatment that jealousy +accords to benefactors) after a little in the course of reflections +they fine the man. The man excessively afflicted with most just wrath +leaves his wife, his mother, and his country, and goes to the Corioli, +and they receive the man. Then after that they arrayed themselves +against the Romans. And had not his spouse and mother at the breaking +out of that war run and torn apart their tunics and stood about him +naked,--Veturia and Volumnia were their names,--and checked him with +difficulty from the battle against the Romans, Rome would have made a +resolve to honor benefactors. But brought to a halt by the prayers of +his mother and of his spouse he stopped the war against the Romans, +and he himself leaving behind the Corioli and the Romans hurried to +another land, smitten by sorrow. (Tzetzes, Hist. 6, 527-560. Cp. +Haupt, _Hermes_, XIV.) + +5. I pass over mention of the noble Marcus Coriolanus, and with Marcus +himself also Marcus Corvinus; of whom the one, having sacked unaided a +city named Coriolanus and burned it down, although the entire army of +the Romans had been routed, was called Coriolanus, though otherwise +termed Marcus. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, 856-861.) + +[Frag. XVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 486 (_a.u._ 268)] Cassius after benefiting the Romans +was put to death by that very people. So that thereby it is made plain +that there is no element deserving confidence in multitudes. On the +contrary they destroy men who are altogether devoted to them no less +than men guilty of the greatest wrongs. With respect to the interest of +the moment on various occasions they deem those great who are the cause +of benefits to them, but when they have profited to the full by such +men's services they no longer regard them as having any nearer claims +than bitterest foes. For Cassius, although he indulged them, they killed +because of the very matters on which he prided himself: and it is +manifest that he perished through envy and not as a result of some +injustice committed. (Mai, p.150.) + +[Frag. XIX] + +1. For the men from time to time in power when they became unable to +restrain them by any other method stirred up purposely wars after wars +in order that they might be kept busy attending to those conflicts and +not disturb themselves about the land. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. At any rate they were so inflamed with rage by each of the two as +to promise with an oath victory to their generals: with regard to the +immediate attack they thought themselves actually lords of fortune. +(Mai, p.150.) + +3. ¶It is natural for the majority of the human race to quarrel with +any opposing force even beyond what is to its own advantage and upon +those who yield to bestow a benefit in turn even beyond its power. +(Mai, p.151.) + +[Frag. XX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 477 (_a.u._ 277)] 1. ¶The Fabii, who on the basis of +birth and wealth made pretensions equal with the noblest, very quickly +indeed saw that they were dejected. For when persons involve themselves +in many undertakings that are at the same time hard to manage, they can +discover no device for confronting the multitude and array of dangers, +and give up as hopeless quite easy projects: after which their sober +judgments and, contrary to what one would expect, their very opinions +cause them to lose heart and they voluntarily abandon matters in hand +with the idea that their labor will be but vain; finally they surrender +themselves to unforseen dispensations of Heaven and await whatever +Chance may bring. (Mai, p.151. Zonaras 7,17.) + +2. ¶The Fabii, three hundred and six in number, were killed, by the +Etruscans. Thus the arrogance which arises from confidence in valor is +ofttimes ruined by its very boldness, and the boastfulness which comes +from good fortune runs mad and suffers a complete reverse. (Mai, ib. +Zonaras 7, 17.) + +3. For whom (plur.) the Romans grieved, both in private and with +public demonstrations, to a greater degree than the number of the lost +would seem to warrant. That number was not small, especially since it +was composed entirely of patricians, but they further felt, when they +stopped to consider the reputation and the resolute spirit of these +men that all their strength had perished. For this reason they +inscribed among the accursed days that one on which they had been +destroyed and put under the ban the gates through which they had +marched out, so that no magistrate might pass through them. And they +condemned Titus Menenius the praetor,--it was in his year that the +disaster took place,--when he was later accused before the people of +not having assisted the unfortunates and of having been subsequently +defeated in battle. (Valesius, p.578.) + +[Frag. XXI] + +1. ¶The patricians openly took scarcely any retaliatory measures, +except in a few cases, where they adjured some one of the gods, but +secretly slaughtered a number of the boldest spirits. Nine tribunes on +one occasion were delivered to the flames by the populace. This did +not, however, restrain the rest: on the contrary, those who in turn +held the tribuneship after that occurrence were rather filled with +hope in the matter of their own quarrels than with fear as a result of +the fate of their predecessors. Hence, so far from being calmed, they +were even the more emboldened by those very proceedings. For they put +forward the torture of the former tribunes as a justification of the +vengeance they would take really in their own behalf; and they got +great pleasure out of the idea that they might possibly, contrary to +expectation, survive without harm. The consequence was that some of +the patricians, being unable to accomplish anything in the other way, +transferred themselves to the ranks of the populace: they thought its +humble condition far preferable, considered in the light of their +desire for the tribunician power, to the weakness of their own +ornamental titles,--especially so because many held the office a +second and third and even greater number of times in succession, +although there was a prohibition against any one's taking the position +twice. (Mai, p. 152. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. ¶ The populace was incited to this course by the patricians +themselves. For the policy which the latter pursued with an eye to +their own advantage, that of always having some wars in readiness for +them, so that the people might be compelled by the dangers from +without to practice moderation,--this policy, I say, only rendered the +people bolder. By refusing to go on a campaign unless they obtained +in each instance the objects of their striving and by contending +listlessly whenever they did take the field, they accomplished all +that they desired. Meanwhile, as a matter of fact, not a few of the +neighboring tribes, relying on the dissension of their foes more than +on their own power, kept revolting. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +[Frag. XXII] + +1. ¶The AEqui after capturing Tusculum and conquering Marcus [Footnote: +Other accounts give his name as _Lucius_ or _Quintus_.] Minucius became +so proud that, in the case of the Roman ambassadors whom the latter +people sent to chide them regarding the seizure of the place, they made +no answer at all to the censure but after designating by the mouth of +their general, Cloelius Gracchus, a certain oak, bade them speak to it, +if they desired aught. (Ursinus, p.373. Zonaras 7, 17.) + +2. That the Romans on learning that Minucius with some followers had +been intercepted in a low-lying, bushy place elected as dictator +against the enemy Lucius Quintius, in spite of the fact that he was a +poor man and at the time was engaged in tilling with his own hands the +little piece of ground which was his sole possession: for in general +he was the peer in valor of the foremost and was distinguished by his +wise moderation; though he did let his hair grow in curls, from which +practice he received the nickname of Cincinnatus. (Valesius, p.578. +Zonaras 7, 17.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 449 (_a.u._ 305)] 2. ¶Affairs of state and camp alike +were thrown into confusion. For the men under arms in their zealous +eagerness that no success should attend those who held the power +voluntarily surrendered both public and private interests. The other +side, too, took no pleasure in the death of their own members at the +hands of opponents, but themselves likewise destroyed in some convenient +manner many of the most active persons who espoused the cause of the +populace. As a result no small contention arose between them. (Mai, +p.153. Zonaras, 7, 18.) + +3. For they [Footnote: This must mean the "military tribunes with +consular powers."]reached such a pitch of emulation and next of jealous +rivalry of one another that they no longer, as the custom had been, all +held office as one body, but each of them individually in turn; and the +consequence was by no means beneficial. Since each one of them had in +view his own profit and not the public weal and was more willing that +the State should be injured, if it so happened, than that his colleagues +should obtain credit, many unfortunate occurrences took place. (Mai, +ib.) + +4. ¶Democracy consists not in all winning absolutely the same prizes, +but in every man's obtaining his deserts. [Footnote: Seemingly an excerpt +from a speech of one of the optimates, though possibly a remark by Dio +himself.] (Mai, p.154.) + +[Frag. XXIII] + +1[lacuna]. to have happened as the law of triumphs enjoins, about which +Dio Cocceianus writes. And if it seems to you an irksome thing to delve +into books of ancient writers, at all events I will explain cursorily, +as best I may, the entertainments pertaining to the triumph. They cause +the celebrator of the triumph to ascend a car, smear his face with earth +of Sinope or cinnabar (representing blood) to screen his blushes, fasten +armlets on his arms, and put a laurel wreath and a branch of laurel in +his right hand. Upon his head they also place a crown of some kind of +wood having inscribed upon it his exploits or his experiences. A public +slave, standing in the back part of the chariot holds up the crown, +saying in his ear: "See also what comes after." Bells and a whip dangle +from the pole of the chariot. Next he runs thrice about the place in a +circle, mounts the stairs on his knees and there lays aside the +garlands. After that he departs home, accompanied by musicians. (Tzetzes +Epist. 107, p. 86.) + +[Therefore the following words of Zonaras (7, 21) correspond nearly +with those of Dio, concerning the popular anger against Camillus on +account of his triumph (according to Plutarch's Camillus, Chap. +7).--Editor] + +The celebration of the triumphal festivities, which they called +_thriambos_, was of somewhat the following nature. When any great +success, worthy of a triumph, had been gained, the general was +immediately saluted as imperator by the soldiers, and he would bind +twigs of laurel upon the rods and deliver them to the runners to +carry, who announced the victory to the city. On arriving home he +would assemble the senate and ask to have the triumph voted him. And +if he obtained a vote from the senate and from the people, his title +of imperator was confirmed. If he still held the office in the course +of which he happened to be victorious, he continued to enjoy it while +celebrating the festival; but if the term of his office had expired, +he received some other name connected with it, since it was forbidden +a private individual to hold a triumph. Arrayed in the triumphal dress +he took armlets, and with a laurel crown upon his head and holding a +branch in his right hand he called together the people. After praising +his comrades of the campaign he presented some both publicly and +privately with money: he honored them also with decorations, and upon +some he bestowed armlets and spears without the iron; crowns, too, he +gave to some of gold and to others of silver, bearing the name of each +man and the representation of his particular feat. For example, either +a man had been first to mount a wall and the crown bore the figure of +a wall, or he had captured some point by storm, and a likeness of that +particular place had been made. A man might have won a battle at sea +and the crown had been adorned with ships, or one might have won a +cavalry fight and some equestrian figure had been represented. He who +had rescued a citizen from battle or other peril, or from a siege, had +the greatest praise and would receive a crown fashioned of oak, which +was esteemed as far more honorable than all, both the silver and the +gold. And these rewards would be given not only to men singly, as each +had shown his prowess, but were also bestowed upon cohorts and whole +armies. Much of the spoils was likewise assigned to the sharers in the +campaign. Some have been known to extend their distributions even to +the entire populace and have gone to expense for the festival and +obtained public appropriations: if anything was left over, they would +spend it for temples, porticos or for some public work. + +After these ceremonies the triumphator ascended his chariot. Now the +chariot did not resemble one used in games or in war, but had been +made in the shape of a round tower. And he would not be alone in the +chariot, but if he had children or relatives he would make the girls +and the infant male children get up beside him in it and place those +who were grown upon the horses, outriggers as well as the yoke-pair. +If these were many, they would accompany the procession on chargers, +riding along beside the triumphator. None of the rest rode, but all +went on foot wearing laurel wreaths. A public servant, however, rode +also upon the chariot itself holding over him the crown made of +precious stones set in gold and kept saying to him "Look behind!", the +"behind" meaning naturally "Look ahead at the ensuing years of life, +and do not be elated or puffed up by your present fortune." Both a +bell and a whip were fastened to the chariot, signifying that it was +possible for him to meet misfortune as well, to the extent of being +disgraced or condemned to death. It was customary for those who had +been condemned to die for any offence to wear a bell, to the end that +no one should approach them as they walked along and so be affected +with pollution. + +Thus arrayed they entered the city, having at the head of the +procession the spoils and trophies and in images the captured forts +displayed, cities and mountains and rivers, lakes, seas,--everything +that they had taken. If one day sufficed for the exhibition of these +things in procession, well and good: otherwise, the celebration was +held during a second and a third. When these adjuncts had gone on +their way the triumphator reached the Roman Forum and after commanding +that some of the captives be led to prison and put to death he rode up +to the Capitol. There, when he had fulfilled certain rites and had +brought offerings and had dined in the buildings on the hill, toward +evening he departed homeward, accompanied by flutes and pipes. + +Such were the triumphs in old times. Factions and powerful cliques +attempted very frequently revolutionary movements on those occasions. + +All the matters pertaining to the triumphal, the curule chair the +letter contains. What need to write again? How after anointing with +cinnabar or else Sinopian earth the man who held a triumph they put +him on a chariot and placed upon his head a golden crown bearing +plainly marked all he had accomplished: in the man's hand they lay a +laurel sprig; armlets they clasp about his arms: they crown all who +had gained distinction with crowns made out of silver material +inscribed with the feats of daring; and how upon the chariot a public +slave stands behind him holding up the crown and saying in his ear: +"see also what comes after"--all things important the letter contains. +(Tzetzes, Hist. 13, 41-54.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 395 (_a.u._ 359)] 2. ¶ The Romans after fighting many +battles against the Falisci, [Footnote: Perhaps Dio wrote _Fidenates_ or +_Veientes_ (Livy, IV, 32), and _Falisci_ is due to the copyist, +although, to be sure, there were wars with the last named (Livy, IV, +18). Whether the transference of Juno from Veii to Rome (Livy, V, 22) or +the lectisternia just established about this time (Livy, V, 13) +constitutes the topic discussed is a matter respecting which scholars +differ.] and after many sufferings and achievements as well, despised +their ancestral rites and took up with foreign ones in the idea that the +latter would suffice them. Human nature is for some reason accustomed in +trouble to scorn what is usual even though it be divine, and to admire +the untried. Thinking, as men do, that they are not helped by it at the +present, they expect no benefit in the future, but from what is strange +they hope to accomplish whatever they may wish, by means of its novelty. +(Mai, p. 153.) + +3. ¶ The Romans, who were besieging the city of the Falisci would have +consumed much time encamped before it, had not an incident of the +following nature occurred. A school teacher of the place who instructed +a number of children of good family, either under the influence of anger +or through hope of gain led them all outside the wall, supposedly for +some different purpose from his real one. They had so great an abundance +of courage that they followed him even then. And he took them to +Camillus, saying that in their persons he surrendered to him the whole +city: for the inhabitants would no longer resist them when those dearest +to them were held prisoners. However, he [Sidenote: B.C. 393 (_a.u._ +361)] to accomplish aught; for Camillus, filled with a sense of the +conduct proper for Romans and also of the liability to failure of human +plans, would not agree to take them by treachery: instead, he bound the +traitor's hands behind his back and delivered him to the children +themselves to lead home again. + +After this episode the Falisci held out no longer, but in spite of the +fact that they were securely entrenched and had ample resources to +continue the war nevertheless came to terms voluntarily. They felt sure +it would be no ordinary friendship that they would enjoy at the hands of +one, whom, as an enemy even, they had found so just. (Valesius, p. 578. +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +4. Accordingly Camillus became on this account an object of even +greater jealousy to the citizens, and he was indicted by the tribunes +on the charge of not having benefited the public treasury with the +plunder of the Veii; and before the trial he voluntarily withdrew. +(Valesius, ib. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +5. In Dio's 7th Book: "When he had ended his term of office they +indicted him and imposed a money fine, not bringing him into danger of +his life." [Footnote: Boissevain believes that this fragment does not +refer to Camillus, and that the number of the Book is possibly a +corruption. He would locate it earlier.](Bekker, Anecd. p. 146, 21.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 393 (_a.u._ 361)]6. To such a degree did not only the +populace nor all those who were somewhat jealous of his reputation +merely, but his best friends and his relatives, too, feel envy toward +him that they did not even attempt to hide it. When he asked some of +them for support in his case, and others to deposit the money for his +release, they refused to assist him in regard to the vote but simply +promised, if he were convicted, to estimate the proper money value and +to help him pay the amount of the fine. This led him to take an oath in +anger that the city should have need of him; and he went over to the +Rutuli before accusation was brought against him. [Footnote: Very likely +the copyist erred here. The sense requires "before sentence was passed +upon him."] (Mai, p. 154. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 22.) + +[Frag. XXIV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 391 (_a.u._ 363)] 1. ¶ The cause of the Gallic +expedition was this. The Clusini had endured hard treatment in the war +from the Gauls and fled for refuge to the Romans, having considerable +hope that they could obtain certainly some little help in that +quarter, from the fact that they had not taken sides with the people +of Veii, though of the same race. When the Romans failed to vote them +aid, but sent ambassadors to the Gauls and negotiated peace for them, +they came very near accepting it (it was offered them in return for a +part of the land); however, they attacked the barbarians after the +conference and took the Roman envoys into battle along with them. The +Gauls, vexed at seeing them on the opposite side, at first sent men to +Rome, preferring charges against the envoys. Since, however, no +punishment was visited upon the latter, but they were all, on the +contrary, appointed consular tribunes, they were filled with +wrath--being naturally quick to anger--and, as they held the Clusini +in contempt, started for Rome. (Ursinus, p.373. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 364 (_a.u._ 390)] 2. ¶ The Romans after withstanding +the inroads of the Gauls had no time to recover breath, but went +immediately from their march into battle, just as they were, and lost. +Panic-stricken by the unexpectedness of the invaders' hostile +expedition, by their numbers, their physical dimensions, and their +voices uttering some foreign and terrifying sound they forgot their +training in military science and after that lost possession of their +valor. A good comprehension contributes very largely to bravery, because +when present it confirms the strength of a man's resolution and when +lacking destroys the same more thoroughly by far, than if such a thing +had never existed at all. Many persons without experience often carry +things through by the violence of their spirit, but those who fail of +the discipline which they have learned lose also their strength of +purpose. This caused the defeat of the Romans. (Mai, p.154. Cp. Zonaras, +7, 23.) + +3. Coclius Horatius was by race a Roman. He, when on one occasion the +army of the Romans had been routed, so that there was danger of their +opponents occupying Rome, alone withstood them all at the wooden +bridge, while Marcus cut it down behind Minucius. When it had been cut +down, Coclius too crossed the Tiber, having saved himself and Rome by +the cutting of the bridge. Yet, as he swam, he might have been struck +by a spear of the enemy. To him the senate presents lands (as a reward +for his excellent bravery) as much as he could mark out in a day with +cattle fastened to a plow. He was called Coclius in the Roman tongue +because he had lost one of his eyes before he fought. (Tzetzes, Hist. +3, 818-830. Cp. Haupt, _Hermes_ XIV.) + +[Sidenote: B. C 364 (_a.u._ 390)] 4. ¶ The Romans who were on the +Capitol under siege had no hope of safety unless from heavenly powers. +So scrupulously did they observe the mandates of religion, although in +every extremity of evil, that when it was requisite for one of the +sacred rites to be performed by the pontifices in another part of the +city Caeso [Footnote: Very likely the copyist erred here. The sense +requires "before sentence was passed upon him."] Fabius, who exercised +the office of priest, descended for the purpose from the Capitol after +receiving his charge, as he had been accustomed to do, and passing +through the enemy performed the customary ceremony and returned the same +day. I am led to admire the barbarians on the one hand because either on +account of the gods or his bravery they spared him: and far more do I +feel admiration for the man himself for two reasons, that he dared to +descend alone among the enemy, and that when he might have withdrawn to +some place of safety he refused and instead voluntarily returned up the +Capitol again to a danger that he foresaw: he understood that they +hesitated to abandon the spot which was the only part of their country +they still held but saw at the same time that no matter how much they +desired to escape it was impossible to do so by reason of the multitude +of the besiegers. (Valesius, p.581.) + +5. ¶ Camillus, being urged to let the leadership be entrusted to him, +would not allow it because he was an exile and could not take the +position according to time-honored usage. He showed himself so +law-abiding and exact a man that in so great a danger to his native +land he made precedent a matter of earnest thought and did not think +it right to hand down to posterity an example of lawlessness. +(Valesius, p.582. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +6. When Rome had been sacked by the Gauls, Brennus being at the head +of that expedition of theirs, as the Gauls were on the point of +capturing the Capitol by ascending secretly to the Acropolis at night, +a great outcry of geese arose in that quarter; and one Marcus Manlius +roused from sleep saw the enemy creeping up, and by striking some with +his oblong shield and slaying others with his sword he repulsed them +all and saved the Romans. For this they gave him the title of +Capitolinus, and in honor of the geese they have door-keepers as +guards in the palace in remembrance of their watch at that time, just +as earlier the Greeks in Athens called Pelargikon Geraneia (Crane-ry) +from such creatures. (Tzetzes, His. 830-842. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 23.) + +[Frag. XXV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 384 (_a.u._ 370)] 1. ¶ The populace passed sentence +against Capitolinus, his house was razed to the ground, his money +confiscated, and his name and even likeness, if such anywhere existed, +were erased and destroyed. At the present day, too, all these +punishments, except the razing to the ground, are visited upon those who +conspire against the commonwealth. They gave judgment also that no +patrician should dwell upon the height because Capitolinus happened to +have had his house there. And his kinsmen among the Manlii prohibited +any one of their number from being named Marcus, since that appellation +had been his. + +Capitolinus at any rate underwent a great reversal, both in his +character and in his fortune. Having made a specialty of warfare he +did not understand how to remain at peace; the Capitol he had once +saved he occupied for the purpose of establishing a tyranny; although +a patrician he became the prey of a house-servant; and whereas he was +deemed a warrior, he was arrested after the manner of a slave and +hurled down the very rock from which he had repulsed the Gauls. +(Valesius, p.582. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +2. ¶ Capitolinus was thrown headlong down the rock by the Romans. So +true it is that nothing in the affairs of men,--generally +speaking,--remains at it was; and success, in particular, leads many +people on into catastrophes equally serious. It raises their hopes, +makes them continually strive after like or greater results and, if +they fail, casts them into just the opposite condition. (Mai, p. 155. +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +3. This Marcus Manlius, who was once termed also Capitolinus, and fell +through seeking the tyranny, when about to be put to death by vote of +all the jurors was saved by their looking just then at the Capitol, +where he himself had performed famous deeds of valor,--until the one +who spoke against him, perceiving the cause, transferred the assembly +to another court-house from which the Capitol could not be seen at all +and so a remembrance spring up of his trophies. Then they kill him. +But on the other hand, even so, through the whole period the populace +of Rome wore black, recompensing the graces of his valor and the +inimitable manner of his distinguished behavior. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, +843-855. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 24.) + +[Frag. XXVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 381 (_a.u._ 373)] 1. ¶ Camillus made a campaign against +the Tusculans, but thanks to the astonishing attitude that they adopted +they suffered no harm. For just as if they themselves were guilty of no +offence and the Romans entertained no anger toward them, but were either +coming to them as friends to friends or else marching through their +territory against some other tribes, they changed none of their +accustomed habits and were not in the least disturbed: instead, all +without exception remaining in their places, at their occupations and at +their other work just as in time of peace, received the army within +their borders, gave them hospitable gifts, and in other ways honored +them like friends. Consequently the Romans so far from doing them harm +enrolled them subsequently among the citizens. (Valesius, p.582.) + +[Frag. XXVII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 376 (_a.u._ 378)] 2. In Dio's 7th Book: "Tusculans did +not raise their hands against him." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 123, 32.) + +1. ¶ The wife of Rufus, while he was military tribune and engaged in +public service in the Forum was visited by her sister.[Footnote: Livy +and Valerius Maximus give his name as _Gaius_.] When the husband arrived +and the lichtor, according to some ancient custom, knocked at the door, +the visitor was alarmed at this having never previously had any such +experience and was startled. She was consequently the subject of hearty +laughter on the part of her sister and the rest alike and she was made a +butt for jests as one not at home in an official atmosphere because her +husband had never proved his capacity in any position of authority. She +took it terribly to heart, as women, from their littleness of soul, +usually do, and would not give up her resentment until she had thrown +all the city in an uproar. Thus small accidental events become, in some +cases, the cause of many great evils, when a person receives them with +jealousy and envy. (Mai, p.155. Zonaras, 7, 24) + +2. ¶ In the midst of evils expectation of rescue has power to persuade +one to trust even in what is beyond reason. (Mai, p.156.) + +3. For by their disputes they kept constantly enfeebling in one way or +another the good order of their government; consequently, all these +objects so to speak for which they were formerly accustomed to wage +the greatest wars they gained in time--not without factional quarrels, +to be sure, but still with small difficulty. (Mai, ib.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 368 (_a.u._ 386)] 4. ¶ Publius,[Footnote: The gap +existing from the word "Forum" to the end of the sentence is supplied by +Bekker's conjecture.] when the citizens of Rome were quarreling with one +another, nearly reconciled them. For he chose as master of the horse +Licinius Stolo, who was merely one of the populace.[Footnote: This is +Publius Manlius, the dictator (Livy, VI, 39).] This innovation grieved +the patricians, but conciliated the rest so much that they no longer +laid claim to the consulship for the following year, but allowed the +consular tribunes to be chosen. As a result of this they in turn yielded +some points one to the other, and perhaps would have made peace with +each other had not Stolo the tribune made such utterance as that they +should not drink unless they could eat and so persuaded them to +relinquish nothing, but to perform as inevitable duties all that they +had taken in hand. (Valesius, p.585.) + +[Frag. XXVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 362 (_a.u._ 392)] 1. Dio Cassius Cocceianus, the +compiler of Roman history, states that as a result of the wrath of +Heaven a fissure opened in the ground round about Rome and would not +close. An oracular utterance having been obtained to the effect that the +fissure would close if they should throw into it the mightiest +possession of the Romans, one Curtius, a knight of noble birth, when no +one else was able to understand the oracle, himself interpreted it to +mean a horse and man together. Straightway he mounted his horse and, +just as he was, dashed heroically forward and passed down into that +frightful pit. No sooner had he rushed down the incline than the fissure +closed; and the rest of the Romans from above scattered flowers. From +this event the name of Curtius was applied also to a cellar. (Io. +Tzetzes, Scholia for the Interpretation of Homer's Iliad, p. 136, 17, +Cp. Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +2. There is no mortal creature either better or stronger than man. Do +you not see that all the rest go downwards and look forever toward the +earth and accomplish nothing save what is closely connected with +eating and the propagation of their species? So they have been +condemned to these pursuits even by Nature herself. We alone gaze +upwards and associate with heaven itself and despise those things that +are on the earth, while we dwell with the gods themselves, believing +them to be similar to us inasmuch as we are both their offspring and +creations, not earthly but heavenly: for which reason we paint and +fashion those very beings according to our forms. For, if one may +speak somewhat boldly, man is naught else than a god with mortal body, +and a god naught else than a man without body and consequently +immortal. That is why we surpass all other creatures. And there is +nothing afoot which we do not enslave, overtaking it by speed or +subduing it by force or catching it by some artifice, nor yet aught +that lives in the water or travels the air: nay, even of these two +classes, we pull the former up from the depths without seeing them and +drag the latter down from the sky without reaching them. (Mai, p. 532. +Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +[Frag. XXIX] + +¶ Dio says: "Wherefore, although not accustomed to indulgence in +digressions, I have taken pains to make mention of it and have stated in +addition the Olympiad, in order that when most men forget the date of +the migration,[Footnote: This last clause is a conjecture by Reimar.] it +may, from the precaution mentioned, become less doubtful." (Mai, p. +156.) + +[Frag. XXX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 353 (_a.u._ 401)] ¶ The Agyllaeans, when they ascertained +that the Romans wished to make war on them, despatched ambassadors to +Rome before any vote was taken, and obtained peace on surrender of half +their territory. (Ursinus, p. 374.) + +[Frag. XXXI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 349 (_a.u._ 405)] Marcus Corvinus received the name of +Corvinus because when once engaged with a barbarian in single combat, he +had a savage crow as his ally in the battle, that flew at the eyes of +the barbarian until this Marcus killed him at that time. (Tzetzes, Hist. +3, 862-866. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 25.) + +[Frag. XXXII] + +1. These proposals and a few others of similar nature they put forward +not because they expected to carry any of them into effect,--for they, +if anybody, understood the purposes of the Romans,--but in order that +failing to obtain their requests they might secure an excuse for +complaints, on the ground that wrong had been done them. (Mai, p. +156.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 2. Dio in Book 7: "And for this +reason I shall execute you, in order that even as you obtain the prize +for your prowess, so you may receive the penalty for your disobedience." +[Footnote: The migration of Alexander(?). See Livy, VIII, 3, 6.] +(Bekker, Anecd. p. 133, 19. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +3. The statement is made by Douris, Diodorus and Dio that when the +Samnites, Etruscans and other nations were warring against the Romans, +Decius, a Roman consul and associated with Torquatus in command of the +troops, gave himself to be slain, and of the opposite side there were +slaughtered a hundred thousand that very day.[Footnote: Words of +Torquatus to his son.] (Io. Tzetzes, on Lycophr. 1378. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 4. ¶Dio says: "I am surprised that +his (Decius's) death should have set the battle right again, should have +defeated the side that was winning and have given victory to the men who +were getting worsted: I can not even comprehend what brought about the +result. When I reflect what some have accomplished,--for we know that +many such chances have befallen many persons before,--I can not +disbelieve the tradition: but when I come to calculate the causes of it, +I fall into a great dilemma. How can you believe that from such a +sacrifice of one man so great a multitude of human beings were brought +over at once to safety and to victory? Well, the truth of the matter and +the causes that are responsible shall be left to others to investigate." +(Mai, p.157. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +5. It was evident to every one that they had considered the outcome of +the event [Footnote: At the battle of Sentinum (295 B.C.).] and had +ranged themselves on the victorious side. Torquatus did not, however, +question them about it for fear they might revolt, since the affair of +the Latins was still a sore point with them. He was not harsh in every +case nor in most matters the sort of man he had shown himself toward his +son: on the contrary, he was admitted to be good at planning and good in +warfare, so that it was said by the citizens and by their adversaries +alike that he held success in war subservient to him, and that if he had +been leader of the Latins, he would certainly have made them conquer. +(Mai, p.157, and Valesius, p.585.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 340 (_a.u._ 414)] 6. ¶The Romans, although vexed at +Torquatus on account of his son to such an extent that deeds remarkable +for their cold-blooded indifference [Footnote: The phrase after "deeds" +is supplied from the general sense. The MS. shows a superlative ending +of adjective form, but the root portion of the word is lost.] are called +"Manliana," after him, and angry furthermore that he had celebrated the +triumph in spite of the death of that youth, in spite of the death of +his colleague, nevertheless when another war threatened them elected him +again to a fourth consulship. He, however, refused to hold their chief +office longer, and renounced it, declaring: "I could not endure you nor +you me." (Mai, p.157. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 338 (_a.u._ 416)] 7. ¶The Romans by way of bringing the +Latins in turn to a condition of friendliness, granted them +citizenship so that they secured equal privileges with themselves. +Those rights which they would not share with that people when it +threatened war and for which they underwent so many dangers, they +voluntarily voted to it now that they conquered. Thus they requited +some for their allegiance and others because they had taken no steps +of a revolutionary character. (Mai, p.158.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 328 (_a.u._ 426)] 8. ¶With reference to the inhabitants +of Privernum the Romans made no enquiry, asking them what they deserved +to suffer for such conduct. The others answered boldly: "Whatever is +suitable for men who are free and desire so to continue." To the next +question of the consul: "And what will you do if you obtain peace?" they +replied: "If we are granted it on [Sidenote: B.C. 426 (_a.u._ 426)] +fairly moderate terms, we will cease from disturbance, but if +unendurable burdens are placed upon us, we will fight." Admiring their +spirit they not only made a much more favorable truce with them than +with the rest [lacuna] (Mai, p.158.) + +[Frag. XXXIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] 1. [From the address of the father +of Rullus.] Be well assured that penalties most unfitting in such cases, +while they destroy the culprits under sentence, who might have been made +better, are of no avail in correcting the rest. Human nature refuses to +leave its regular course for any threats. Some pressing fear or violence +of audacity together with courage born of inexperience and rashness +sprung from opportunity, or some other combination of circumstances such +as often occurs unexpectedly in the careers of many persons leads men to +do wrong. And these men are of two classes,--such as do not even think +of the punishments but heedless of them rush into the business before +them, and such as esteem them of no moment in comparison with the +attainment of the ends for which they are striving. + +Consistent humanity, however, can produce an effect quite the opposite +of that just now mentioned. Through the influence of a seasonable pardon +the criminals frequently change their ways, especially when they have +acted from brave and not from wicked motives, from ambition and not from +baseness. For it should be noted that a reasonable humanity is a mighty +force for subduing and correcting a noble soul. As for the rest, they +are, without resistance, brought [Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] into +a proper frame of mind by the sight of the rescue. Every one would +rather obey than be forced, and prefers voluntary to compulsory +observance of the law. He who submits to a measure works for it as if it +were his own invention, but what is imposed upon him he rejects as +unfitting for a freeman. Furthermore it is the part of the highest +virtue and power alike not to kill a man,--this is often done by the +wickedest and weakest men,--but to spare him and to preserve him; yet no +one of us is at liberty to do that without your consent. + +It is my wish at length to cease from speaking. What little spirit I +have is weary, my voice is giving way, tears check my utterance and fear +closes my mouth. But I am at a loss how to close. For my suffering, +appearing to me in no doubtful light, does not allow me (unless you +decide otherwise) [Footnote: A clause that in the MS. has faded out is +represented here by Boissevian's conjecture.] to be silent, but compels +me, as if the safety of my child were going to be in accord with +whatever I say last, to speak even further as it were in prayers. (Mai, +p.159.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 325 (_a.u._ 429)] 2. The name and form of the office with +which he was invested he shrank from changing, and when he was intending +to spare Rullus,--for he observed the zeal of the populace,--he wished +to resist him somewhat before granting the favor and to alter the +attitude of the young men, so as to have his pardon come unexpectedly. +Therefore he contracted his face, and darting a harsh frowning look at +the populace, he raised his voice and spoke. The talking ceased, but +still they were not quiet: instead, as generally happens in such a case, +what with groaning over his fate and whispering one to another, in spite +of their not uttering a single word they gave the impression that they +desired the rescue of the cavalry commander. Papirius seeing this, in +fear of their possibly taking hostile action, relaxed the extremely +domineering manner which he had assumed (for purposes of their +correction) in an unusual degree, and by showing moderation in the rest +of his actions brought them once more to friendship and enthusiasm for +him, so that they proved themselves men when they met their opponents. +(Mai, p.160. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +3. ¶The Samnites after their defeat at the hands of the Romans, made +proposals for truce to the Romans in the city. They sent them all the +Roman captives that they held, together with the property of a man named +Papius, [Footnote: _Papius Brutulus_.] who was esteemed among the +foremost of his race and bore the entire responsibility for the war; his +bones, since he anticipated them in committing suicide, they scattered +abroad. Yet they did not obtain their peace; for they were regarded as +untrustworthy and had the name of making truces according to events +merely for the purpose of cheating any power that conquered them: hence +they not only failed to obtain terms, but even brought a relentless war +upon themselves. The Romans while accepting their prisoners voted to +make war upon them without announcement. (Ursinus, p.374. Zonaras, 7, +26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 321. (_a.u._ 433)] 4. Among the many events of human +history that might give one cause for wonder must certainly be reckoned +what occurred at this time. The Romans, who were so extremely arrogant +as to vote that they would not again receive a herald from the Samnites +in the matter of peace and hoped moreover to capture them all at the +first blow, succumbed to a terrible disaster and incurred disgrace as +never before; the others, who to begin with were badly frightened and +thought the refusal to make peace a great calamity, seized their camp +and entire force, and sent them all under the yoke. So great a reverse +of fortune did they suffer. (Mai, p.161. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +5. Benefits lie rather within the actual choice of men and are not +brought about by necessity, or by ignorance, or anger, or deceit, or +anything of the sort, but are performed voluntarily by a willing and +eager condition of spirit. And for this reason it is proper to pity, +admonish, instruct those who commit any error and to admire, love, +reward those who do right. Whenever men act in both of these two ways, +it is decidedly more befitting our characters to remember their better +than their less correct deeds. [Footnote: Sections 5, 6, and 7 appear to +come from various speeches delivered at the Caudine Forks; section 8, +however, is from the speech of Herennius Pontius.] (Mai, p.535.) + +6. ¶Quarrels are checked by kindness. The greater the pitch of enmity to +which a man has come when he unexpectedly obtains safety instead of +severity, the more readily does he hasten voluntarily to abandon the +quarrel and to acknowledge gladly the influence of kindness. B.C. 321 +(_a.u._ 433) As in a random host of persons at variance from divers +causes those who have passed from friendship to enmity hate each other +with the more intense hatred, so in a random host of persons kindly +treated do those who receive this considerate treatment after a state of +strife love their benefactors the more. Romans, accordingly, are very +anxious to surpass in war and at the same time they honor virtue; for +this reason, compelled in both regards by their nobility of spirit, they +verily earn the right to surpass, since they take pains to recompense +fair treatment fairly, and even beyond its value. (Mai, p.161.) + +7. For it is right to pride one's self upon requiting those who have +done some wrong, but to feel more highly elated over recompensing such +as have conferred some benefit. (Mai, p.536.) + +8. ¶All men are by nature so constituted as to grieve more over any +insults offered them than they rejoice over benefits conferred upon +them: therefore they show hostility to persons who have injured them +with less effort than they require for aiding in return persons who have +shown them kindness; hence also they make no account, when their own +advantage is concerned, of the ill reputation they will gain by not +taking a friendly attitude toward their preserver, but indulge a spirit +of wrath even when such behavior runs counter to their own interest. + +Such was the advice he gave them out of his own inherent good sense +and experience acquired in a long life, not looking to the +gratification of the moment but to the possible regret of the future. +(Mai, p.162.) + +9. ¶The people of Capua, when the Romans after [Sidenote: B.C. 321 +(_a.u._ 433)] their defeat arrived in that city, were guilty of no +bitter speech or outrageous act, but on the contrary gave them both food +and horses and received them like victors. They pitied in their +misfortune the men whom they would have not wished to see conquer on +account of the treatment those same persons had formerly accorded them. +When the Romans heard of the event they were altogether possessed by +doubt whether to be pleased at the survival of their soldiers or whether +to continue displeased. When they thought of the depth of the disgrace +their grief was extreme; for they deemed it unworthy of them to have met +with defeat, and especially at the hands of the Samnites, so that they +could wish that all had perished; when they stopped to reflect, however, +that if such a calamity had befallen them all the rest as well would +have incurred danger, they were not sorry to hear that the men had been +saved. (Mai, p.162. Zonaras, 7, 26.) 10. ¶It is requisite and blameless +for all men to plan for their own safety, and if they get into any +danger to do anything whatsoever so as to be preserved. (Mai, p.163.) + +11. ¶Pardon is granted both by gods and by men to such as have committed +any act involuntarily. (Ib. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +12. Dio in Book 8: "I both take to myself the crime and admit the +perjury." (Bekker, Anecd. p.165, 13.) + +13. Dio in Book 8: "For in all such matters he was quite all-sufficient +to himself." [Footnote: This is thought to refer to L. Papirius Cursor or +possibly to Q. Fabius Maximus. Cp. Livy, X, 26.] (Ib. p.124, 1.) + +14.[Sidenote: B.C. 321 (_a.u._ 433)] ¶The Samnites, seeing that neither +were the oaths observed by them nor gratitude for favors manifested in +any other way, and that few instead of many were surrendered, thus +making void the oaths, became terribly angry and loudly called upon the +gods in respect to some of these matters: moreover, they brought the +pledges to their attention, demanded the captives, and ordered them to +pass naked under the same yoke where through pity they had been +released, in order that by experience they might learn to abide by terms +which had been once agreed upon. The men that had been surrendered they +dismissed, either because they did not think it right to destroy +guiltless persons or because they wished to fasten the perjury upon the +populace and not through the punishment of a few men to absolve the +rest. This they did, hoping as a result to secure decent treatment. +(Mai, p.163. Zonaras, 7, 26.) 15. ¶The Romans so far from being grateful +to the Samnites for the preservation of the surrendered soldiers, +actually behaved as if they had in this suffered some outrage. They +showed anger in their conduct of the war, and, being victorious, treated +the Samnites in the same way. For the justice of the battle-field does +not fit the ordinary definition of the word, and it is not inevitable +that the party which has been wronged should conquer: instead, war, in +its absolute sway, adjusts everything to the advantage of the victor, +often causing something that is the reverse of justice to go under that +name. (Mai, p.163. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +16.[Sidenote: B.C. 321 (_a.u._ 433)] ¶The Romans after vanquishing the +Samnites sent the captives in their turn under the yoke, regarding as +satisfactory to their honor a repayment of similar disgrace. So did +Fortune for both parties in the briefest time reverse her position and +by treating the Samnites to the same humiliation at the hands of their +outraged foes show clearly that here, too, she was all-supreme. (Mai, p. +164. Zonaras, 7, 26.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 319 (_a.u._ 435)] 17. ¶ Papirius made a campaign against +the Samnites and having reduced them to a state of siege entrenched +himself before them. At this time some one reproached him with excessive +use of wine, whereupon he replied: "That I am not intoxicated is clear +to every one from the fact that I am up at the peep of dawn and lie down +to rest latest of all. But on account of having public affairs on my +mind day and night alike, and not being able to obtain sleep easily, I +take a little wine to lull me to rest." (Mai, ib.) + +18. ¶ The same man one day while making the rounds of the garrison +became angry on not finding the general from Praeneste at his post. He +summoned him and bade him hand the axe to the lictor. Alarm and +consternation at this was evident on the part of the general, and his +fear sufficed. Papirius harmed him no further but merely gave orders to +the lictor to cut off some roots growing beside the tents, so that they +should not injure passers-by. (Mai, ib.) + +19. ¶ In numerous cases instances of good fortune are not at all +constant, but lead many aside into paths of carelessness and ruin +them.[Footnote: Cp. Livy, IX, 18, 8.] (Mai, p. 165.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 310 (_a.u._ 444)] 20. ¶ The men of the city put forward +Papirius as dictator, and fearing that Rullus might be unwilling to name +him on account of his own experiences while master of the horse, they +sent for him and begged him to put the common weal before a private +grudge. And he gave the envoys, indeed, no response, but when night had +come (according to ancient custom it was quite necessary that the +dictator be appointed at night), he named Papirius and secured by this +act the greatest renown.(Valesius, p. 585.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 296 (_a.u._)] 21. ¶ Appius the Blind and Volumnius +became at variance each with the other: and it was owing to this that +Volumnius once, when Appius charged him in the assembly with showing no +gratitude for the progress he had made in wisdom through Appius's +instruction, answered that he had indeed grown wiser and was likewise +ready to admit it, but that Appius had not advanced at all in matters +pertaining to war. (Mai, p. 165.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 296 (_a.u._ 458)] 22. ¶ As regards the prophecy the +multitude was not capable for the time being of either believing or +disbelieving him.[Footnote: I.e., Manius, an Etruscan.] It neither +wished to hope for everything, inasmuch as it did not desire to see +everything fulfilled, nor did it dare to refuse belief in all points +inasmuch as it wished to be victorious, but was placed in an extremely +painful position, as it were between confusion and fear. As each single +event occurred they applied the interpretation to it according to the +actual result, and the man himself undertook to assume some reputation +for skill with regard to the foreknowledge of the unseen. (Mai, p. 165. +Cp. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 293 (_a.u._ 461)] 23. ¶ The Samnites, enraged at what +occurred and deeming it highly disgraceful to be defeated, resorted to +extreme daring and folly with the intention of either conquering or +being utterly destroyed. They assembled all their men that were of +military age, threatening with death all that should remain at home, and +they bound themselves with frightful oaths to the effect that no man +should flee from the contest but should slaughter any person that might +undertake to do so. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 292 (_a.u._ 462)] 24. ¶ The Romans on hearing that their +consul Fabius had been worsted in the war became terribly angry and +summoned him to stand trial. A vehement denunciation of the man was +made before the people,--and, indeed, he was depressed by the injury to +his father's reputation even more than by the complaints,--and no +opportunity was afforded the object of the attack for reply. Nor did the +elder man make a set defence of his son, but by enumerating his own +services and those of his ancestors, and by promising furthermore that +his son would do nothing unworthy of them, he abated the people's wrath, +especially since he urged his son's youth. Moreover, he joined him at +once in the campaign, overthrew the Samnites in battle, though they were +elated by their victory, and captured their camp and great booty. The +Romans therefore extolled him and ordered that his son also should +command for the future with consular powers, and still employ his father +as lieutenant. The latter managed and arranged everything for him, +sparing his old age not a whit, and the allied forces readily assisted +the father in remembrance of his old-time deeds. He made it clear, +however, that he was not executing the business on his own +responsibility, but he associated with his son as if actually in the +capacity of counselor and under-officer, while he moderated his +temperament and assigned to him the glory of the exploits. (Valesius, p. +585. Zonaras, 8, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 291 (_a.u._ 463)] 25. ¶ The soldiers with Junius who took +the field along with Postumius fell sick on the way, and thought that +their trouble was due to the felling of the grove. He was recalled for +these reasons, but showed contempt for them even at this juncture, +declaring that the senate was not his master but that he was master of +the senate [lacuna] Envio [lacuna] and the [lacuna] men much [lacuna] +ambition [lacuna] [Words of Postumius Megillus: Cp. Dionys. Hal. Ant. +Rom. 16, [Footnote: The famous Apollonius of Tyana.]. (Mai, p. 167.) + +[Frag. XXXIV] + +¶ Gaius Fabricius in most respects was like Rufinus, but in +incorruptibility far superior. He was very firm against bribes, and on +that account did not please Rufinus, but was always at variance with +him. Yet the latter chose Fabricius, thinking that he was a most proper +person to meet the requirements of the war, and making his personal +enmity of little account in comparison with the advantage of the +commonwealth. + +[Frag. XXXIV] + +As a result he gained some reputation for having shown himself above +jealousy, which springs up in the hearts of many of the best men by +reason of emulation. Since he was a thorough patriot and did not +practice virtue for a show he thought it a matter of indifference +whether the State were benefited by him or through some other man, even +if that man should be an opponent. (Valesius, p.586.) + +[Frag. XXXV] + +¶Cornelius Fabricius, when asked why he had entrusted the business to +his foe, [lacuna][Footnote: See Niebuhr, Rh. Mus., 1828, p.600, or +_Kleine Schriften_, 2, p.241.] the general excellence of Rufius and +added that to be spoiled by the citizen is preferable to being bought +and sold by the enemy. [This anecdote concerns Fabricius Luscinus, +mentioned by Cicero, de orat. 2, 66, 268; Quintilian 12, 1, 43; Gellius +4, 48.] + +[Frag. XXXVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 290 (_a.u._ 464)] ¶Curius, in defence of his conduct in +the popular assembly, said that he had acquired so much land [lacuna] +and had hunted for so many men [lacuna] country [lacuna] [The person +referred to is Manius Curius Dentatus. Cp. Auct. de Viris. Illustr., c. +33. + +¶After Niebuhr, Rh. Mus. 1828, p.579.] + +[Frag. XXXVII] + +¶When the tribunes moved an annulment of debts, the law was often +proposed without avail, since the lenders were by no means willing to +accept it and the tribunes granted the nobles the choice of either +putting this law to the vote or following that of Stolo, by which they +were to reckon the previous interest toward the principal and receive +the remainder in triennial payments. [Footnote: The opening portion of +this fragment is based largely on conjectures of Niebuhr (Rhein. Mus., +1828, p.579ff.)] And for the time being the weaker party, dreading lest +it might lose all, paid court to them, and the wealthier class, +encouraged to think it would not be compelled to adopt either course, +maintained a hostile attitude. But when the revolted [Footnote: A +doubtful reading.] party proceeded to press matters somewhat, both sides +changed their positions. The debtors were no longer satisfied with +either plan, and the nobles thought themselves lucky if they should not +be deprived of their principal. Hence the dispute was not decided +immediately, but subsequently they prolonged their rivalry in a spirit +of contentiousness, and did not act at all in their usual character. +Finally the people made peace in spite of the fact that the nobles were +unwilling to remit much more than they had originally expected; however, +the more they beheld their creditors yielding, the more were they +emboldened, as if they were successful by a kind of right; and +consequently they regarded the various concessions almost as matters of +course and strove for yet more, using as a stepping-stone to that end +the fact that they had already obtained something. (Mai, p.167. Zonaras, +8,2.) + +[Frag. XXXVIII] + +¶When the opposite side [Footnote: The Tuscans, Senones, and Gauls +appear to be meant.] saw also another general approaching, they ceased +to heed the common interests of their force but each cast about to +secure his individual safety, as a common practice of those who form a +union uncemented by kindred blood, or who make a campaign without common +grievances, or who have not one commander. While good fortune attends +them their views are harmonious, but in disaster each one sees before +him only matters of individual concern. They betook themselves to flight +as soon as it had grown dark, without having communicated to one another +their intention. In a body they thought it would be impossible for them +to force their way out or for their defection to pass unnoticed, but if +they should leave each on his own account and, as they believed, alone, +they would more easily escape. And so, to his own party,--each one of +them [lacuna] they will think that accomplishing their flight with the +greatest security [lacuna] (Mai, p.167.) + +[Frag. XXXIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 283 (_a.u._ 471)] 1. The Romans had learned that the +Tarentini and some others were making ready to war against them, and had +despatched Fabricius as an envoy to the allied cities to prevent them +from committing any revolutionary act: but they had him arrested, and by +sending men to the Etruscans and Umbrians and Gauls they caused a number +of them also to secede, some immediately and some a little later. +(Ursinus, p.375. Zonaras, 8, 2-Vol. II, p.174, 4 sq.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 283 (_a.u._ 471)] 2. ¶The Tarentini, although they had +themselves initiated the war, nevertheless were sheltered from fear. For +the Romans, who understood what they were doing, pretended not to know +it on account of temporary embarrassments. Hereupon the Tarentini, +thinking that they either could mock [Footnote: Verb adopted from +Boissevain's conjecture [Greek: _diasilloun_] (cp. the same word in Book +Fifty-nine, chapter 25). at Rome or were entirely unobserved because +they were receiving no complaints behaved still more insolently and +involved the Romans even contrary to their own wishes in a war. This +proved the saying that even good fortune, when a disproportionately +large portion of it falls to the lot of any individuals, becomes the +cause of disaster to them; it entices them on to a state of frenzy +(since moderation refuses to cohabit with vanity) and ruins their +greatest interests. So these Tarentini, too, after rising to an +unexampled height of prosperity in turn met with a misfortune that was +an equivalent return for their wantonness. (Mai, p.168 and 536.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 282 (_a.u._ 472)] 3. Dio in Book 9: "Lucius Valerius, +[Footnote: Appian (Samnite Wars, VII, 1) gives the second name as +Cornelius.] who was admiral of the Romans and had been despatched on +some errand by them." (Bekker, Anecd. p.158, 25. Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +4. ¶Lucius was despatched by the Romans to Tarentum. Now the Tarentini +were celebrating the Dionysia, and sitting gorged with wine in the +theatre of an afternoon suspected that he was sailing against them as an +enemy. Immediately in a passion and partly under the influence of their +intoxication they set sail in turn: so without any show of force on his +part or the slightest expectation of any hostile act they attacked and +sent to the bottom both him and many others. When the Romans heard of +this they naturally were angry, but did not choose to take the field +against Tarentum at once. However, they despatched envoys in order not +to seem to have passed over the affair in silence and by that means +render them more impudent. But the Tarentini, so far from receiving them +decently or even sending them back with an answer in any way suitable, +at once, before so much as granting them an audience, made sport of +their dress and general appearance. It was the city garb, which we use +in the Forum; and this the envoys had put on, either for the sake of +stateliness or else through fear, thinking that this at least would +cause the foreigners to respect their position. Bands of revelers +accordingly jeered at them,--they were still celebrating the festival, +which, although they were at no time noted for temperate behavior, +rendered them still more wanton,--and finally a man planted himself in +the road of Postumius and, with a forward inclination, threw him down +and soiled his clothing. At this an uproar arose from all the rest, who +praised the fellow as if he had performed some remarkable deed, and they +sang many scurrilous anapaests upon the Romans, accompanied by applause +and capering steps. But Postumius cried: "Laugh, laugh while you may! +For long will be the period of your weeping, when you shall wash this +garment clean with your blood." (Ursinus, p.375. Mai, 168. Zonaras, 8, +2.) + +5. Hearing this they ceased their jests but could accomplish nothing +towards obtaining pardon for their insult: however, they took to +themselves credit for a kindness in the fact that they let the +ambassadors withdraw unharmed. (Mai, ib.) + +6. ¶Meton, failing to persuade the Tarentini not to engage in +hostilities with the Romans, retired unobserved from the assembly, put +garlands on his head, and returned along with some fellow-revelers and a +flute girl. At the sight of him singing and dancing the kordax, they +gave up the business in hand to accompany his movements with shouts and +hand-clapping, as is often done under such circumstances. But he, after +reducing them to silence, spoke: "Now it is yours both to be drunken and +to revel, but if you accomplish what you plan to do, we shall be +slaves." (Mai, p.169.) + +[Frag. XL] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 281 (_a.u._ 473)] ¶King Pyrrhus was not only king of the +district called Epirus, but had made the larger part of the Greek world +his own, partly by kindness and partly by fear. The AEtolians, who at +that period possessed great power, and Philip [Footnote: The son of +Cassander, who ruled only four months in B. C. 296.] the Macedonian, and +the chief men in Illyricum did his bidding. By natural brilliancy and +force of education and experience in affairs he far surpassed all, so as +to be esteemed far beyond what was warranted by his own powers and those +of his allies, although these powers were great. (Valesius, p.589. +Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +2. ¶Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, had a particularly high opinion of his +powers in that he was deemed by foreign nations a match for the Romans: +and he believed that it would be opportune to assist the fugitives who +had taken refuge with him, especially as they were Greeks, and at the +same time to anticipate the Romans with some plausible excuse before he +received any damage at their hands. So careful was he about a fair +pretext that though he had long had his eye on Sicily and had been +considering how he could overthrow the Roman dominion, he shrank from +taking the initiative in hostilities, when no wrong had been done him. +(Mai, p.169. Zonaras, 8, 2.) + +3. ¶King Pyrrhus was said to have captured more cities by Cineas than by +his own spear. For the latter, says Plutarch, [Footnote: Cp. Plutarch, +Life of Pyrrhus, chapter 14.] was skilled in speaking,--the only one in +fact to be compared in skill with Demosthenes. Notwithstanding, as a +sensible man, he spoke in opposition to Pyrrhus, pointing out to him the +folly of the expedition. For the king intended by his prowess to rule +the whole earth, whereas Cineas urged him to be satisfied with his own +possessions, which were sufficient for enjoyment. But the man's fondness +for war and fondness for leadership prevailed against the advice of +Cineas and caused him to depart in disgrace from both Sicily and Italy, +after losing in all of the battles many myriads of his own forces. +(Valesius, p.586.) + +4. ¶Pyrrhus sent to Dodona and enquired of the oracle about the +expedition. And a response having come to him: "You, if you cross into +Italy, Romans shall conquer," he construed it according to his wish (for +desire has mighty power to deceive any one) and would not even await the +coming of spring. (Mai, p.169.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 280 (_a.u._ 474)] 5. ¶The Rhegians had asked of the +Romans a garrison, and Decius [Footnote: _Decius Vibellius_.] was the +leader of it. The majority of these guards, accordingly, as a result of +the excess of supplies and general easy habits,--for they enjoyed a far +less strenuous existence than they had known at home,--through the +persuasion of Decius formed the desire to kill the foremost Rhegians and +occupy the city. It seemed as though they might be quite free to perform +whatever they pleased, unconcerned about the Romans, who were busied +with the Tarentini and with Pyrrhus. Decius was further enabled to +persuade them by the fact that they saw Messana in the power of the +Mamertines. The latter, who were Campanians and had been appointed to +garrison it by Agathocles, the lord of Sicily, had slaughtered the +natives and occupied the town. + +The conspirators did not, however, make their attempt openly, since they +were decidedly inferior in numbers. Letters were forged by Decius, +purporting to have been written to Pyrrhus by some citizens with a view +to the betrayal of the city. He next assembled the soldiers and read +these to them, stating that they had been intercepted, and by his talk +(the character of which may easily be conceived) excited them greatly. +The effect was enhanced by the sudden announcement of a man (who had +been assigned to the role) that a portion of Pyrrhus's fleet had +anchored somewhere off the coast, having come for a conference with the +traitors. Others, who had been instructed, magnified the matter, and +shouted out that they must anticipate the Rhegians before some harm +happened, and that the traitors, ignorant of what was being done, would +find it difficult to resist them. So some rushed down to the landing +places, and others broke into the houses and slaughtered great +numbers,--save that a few had been invited to dinner by Decius and were +slain there. (Valesius, p.589.) + +6. ¶Decius, commander of the garrison, after slaying the Rhegians, +ratified friendship with the Mamertines, thinking that the similar +nature of their outrages would render them most trustworthy allies. He +was well aware that a great many men find the ties resulting from some +common transgression stronger to unite them than the obligations of +lawful association or the bonds of kinship. (Mai, p.170.) + +7. ¶The Romans suffered some reproach from them for a while, until such +time as they took the field against them. For since they were busied +with concerns that were greater and more urgent, what these men did +seemed to some of comparatively little importance. (Mai, p.170.) + +8. ¶The Romans, on learning that Pyrrhus was to come, stood in terror of +him, since they had heard that he was a good warrior and had a large +force by no means despicable as an adversary,--the sort of information, +of course, that is always given to enquirers in regard to persons +unknown to them who live at a very great distance. (Mai, p.170. Zonaras, +8,3.) + +9. For it is impossible that persons not brought up under the same +institutions, nor filled with the same ambitions, nor regarding the same +things as base or noble, should ever become friends with one +another. [Footnote: Nos. 9, 10, and 11 are thought to be possibly from +the speech made by Laevinus to the soldiers (Zonaras, VIII, 3, 6).] +(Mai, p. 537.) + +10. ¶Ambition and distrust are always qualities of tyrants, and so it is +inevitable that they should possess no real friend. A man who is +distrusted and envied could not love any one sincerely. Moreover, a +similarity of habits and a like station in life and the fact that the +same objects are disastrous and beneficial to persons are the only +forces that can create true, firm friends. Wherever any one of these +conditions is lacking, you see a delusive appearance of comradeship, but +find it to be without secure support. (Mai, p.170 and 537.) + +11. ¶Generalship, if it is assisted by respectable forces of men, +contributes greatly both to their preservation and their chances of +victory, but by itself is worth nothing. Nor is there any other +profession that is of weight without persons to cooeperate and to aid in +its administration. (Mai, p.171.) + +12. ¶When Megacles was dead and Pyrrhus had cast off his cap the battle +took an opposite turn. One side was filled with much greater boldness by +his preservation and the fact that he had survived contrary to their +fears than if the idea had never gained ground that he was dead: the +other side, deceived, had no second fund of zeal to expend, but, since +they had been cut short in their premature encouragement and because of +the sudden change in their feelings to an expectation of less favorable +results, had no hope that he might subsequently perish once more. (Mai, +p.171. Zonaras, 8, 3.) + +13. ¶When certain men congratulated Pyrrhus on his victory, he accepted +the glory of the exploit, but said that if he should ever conquer again +in like fashion, it would be his ruin. Besides this story, it is told of +him that he admired the Romans even in their defeat and judged them +superior to his own soldiers, declaring: "I should already have mastered +the whole inhabited world, were I king of the Romans." (Mai, p.171. +Zonaras, 8, 3.) + +14. ¶Pyrrhus became famous for his victory and acquired a great +reputation from it, to such an extent that many who were standing +neutral came over to his side and that all the allies who had been +watching the turn of events espoused his cause. He did not openly +display anger towards them nor conceal entirely his suspicions; he +rebuked them somewhat for their tardiness, but otherwise received them +kindly. The result of showing excessive irritation would be, he feared, +their open estrangement, while if he failed to reveal his real feelings +at all, he thought that he would either be condemned by them for his +simplicity in not comprehending what they had done, or would be +suspected of harboring secret wrath. Such a surmise would breed in them +either contempt or hatred, or would lead to a plot against him, due to +the desire to anticipate injuries that they might suffer at his hands. +For these reasons, then, he conversed affably with them and presented to +them some of the spoils. (Mai, p.172. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +15. ¶Pyrrhus at first undertook to persuade the Roman captives (who +were many) to join with him in a campaign against Rome; when, however, +they refused, he treated them with the utmost consideration and did not +put them in prison or harm them in any other way, his intention being to +restore them voluntarily and through their agency to win over the city +without a battle. (Valesius, p.590.) + +16. ¶The Romans, who by reason of the elephants,--a kind of beast that +they had never before seen,--had fallen into dismay, still, by +reflecting on the mortal nature of the animals and the fact that no +beast is superior to man, but that all of them in every way show +inferiority if not as regards strength, at least in respect to +understanding, they gradually became encouraged. (Mai, p.172.) + +17. ¶The soldiers of Pyrrhus, also, both his native followers and the +allies, showed tremendous eagerness for plunder, which seemed to lie +ready before them and to be free from danger. (Mai, ib.) + +18. ¶The Epirots dishonored the ties of friendship, through vexation +that after making the campaign supported by high hopes they were getting +nothing except trouble. And this happened very opportunely for the +Romans: for the dwellers in Italy that had leagued themselves with him, +on seeing that he ravaged the possessions of allies and enemies alike, +withdrew. In other words, his acts made a greater impression upon them +than his promises. (Mai, ib.) + +19. ¶Pyrrhus dreaded being cut off on all sides by the Romans, while he +was in unfamiliar regions. When his allies showed displeasure at this he +told them that he could see clearly from the country itself what a +difference existed between them and the Romans. The subject territory +of the latter had all kinds of trees, vineyards and farms, and expensive +agricultural machinery; whereas the property of his own friends had been +so pillaged, that it was impossible to tell even whether it had ever +been settled. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +20. ¶The same man, when as he was retreating it occurred to him to +wonder [Footnote: Gap supplied by van Herwerden.] how he beheld the army +of Laevinus much larger than it was before, declared that the Roman +troops when cut to pieces grew whole again, hydra-fashion. This did not, +however, cause him to lose courage: he made preparations in his turn, +but did not come to the issue of battle. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8,4.) + +21. ¶Pyrrhus, who learned that Fabricius and other envoys were +approaching, to treat in behalf of the captives, sent a guard to them as +far as the border, to the end that they should suffer no violence at the +hands of the Tarentini, met them in due time, escorted them to the city, +entertained them brilliantly and honored them in other ways, expecting +that they would ask for a truce and make such terms as was proper for a +defeated party. (Ursinus, p.376. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +22. ¶When Fabricius made this statement merely: "The Romans sent us to +bring back the men captured in battle, and to pay ransoms of such size +for them as shall be agreed upon by both of us," he was quite +dumbfounded because the man did not say that he was commissioned to +treat about peace; and after removing them he took counsel with the +friends who were usually his advisers partly, to be sure, about the +return of the captives, but chiefly about the war and its management, +whether with vehemence or in some other way it [lacuna] (Four pages are +lacking.) (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +23 [lacuna]. "to manage, or to run the risk of battles and combats, the +outcome of which is doubtful. [Footnote: Cineas is the speaker.] Hence, +if you heed me, Milo, and the old proverb, you will not employ violence +for any purpose rather than skill, where the latter is feasible, since +Pyrrhus knows precisely what he has to do and does not need to be +enlightened by us regarding a single detail of his program." By this +speech they were all brought to one decision, particularly because this +course entailed neither loss nor danger, whereas the others were likely +to bring both. And Pyrrhus, being of this mind, said to the ambassadors: +"Not willingly, Romans, did I previously make war upon you, and I would +not war against you now: I feel that it is of the highest importance to +become your friend, and for this reason I release all the captives +without ransom and make a treaty of peace." Privately, also, he did them +favors, in order that, if possible, they might take his part, or at any +rate obtain friendship for him. (Mai, p.173. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +24. Pyrrhus made friends of nearly all, and with Fabricius he conversed +as follows: "Fabricius, I do not want to be at war with you any longer, +and indeed I repent that I heeded the Tarentini in the first place and +came hither, although I have beaten you badly in battle. I would gladly, +then, become a friend to all the Romans, but most of all to you. For I +see that you are a thoroughly excellent and reputable [Footnote: The two +words "and reputable" are a conjecture of Bossevain's. Some ten letters +in the MS. have faded out.] man. I accordingly ask you to help me in +getting peace and furthermore to accompany me home. I want to make a +campaign against Greece and need you as adviser and general." Fabricius +replied: "I commend you for repenting of your expedition and desiring +peace, and will cordially assist you in that purpose if it is to our +advantage (for of course you will not ask me, a man who pretends to +uprightness, as you say, to do anything against my country); but an +adviser and general you must never choose from a democracy: as for me, I +have no leisure whatever. Nor could I ever accept any of these things, +because it is not seemly for an ambassador to receive gifts at all. I +would fain know, therefore, whether you in very truth regard me as a +reputable man or not. If I am a scoundrel, how is it that you deem me +worthy of gifts? If, on the other hand, I am a man of honor, how can you +bid me accept them? Let me assure you, then, of the fact that I have +many possessions and am in no need of more: what I own supplies me and I +feel no desire for what belongs to others. You, however, even if you +believe yourself ever so rich, are in unspeakable poverty. For you would +not have crossed over to this land, leaving behind Epirus and the rest +of your dominions, if you had been content with them and had not been +reaching out for more. Whenever a man is in this condition and sets no +limit to his greed, he is the poorest of beggars. And why? Because he +longs for everything not his own as if it were absolutely necessary, and +with the idea that he could not live without it. + +"Consequently I would gladly, since you call yourself my friend, afford +you a little of my own wealth. It is far more secure and imperishable +than yours, and no one envies it or plots against it, neither populace +nor tyrant: best of all, the larger the number of persons who share it, +the greater it will grow. In what, accordingly, does it consist? In +using the little one has with as much satisfaction as if it were +inexhaustible, in refraining from the goods of others as if they +contained some mighty danger, in wronging no man, in doing well to +many, and in numberless other details, which only a person of leisure +could rehearse. I, for my part, should choose, if it were absolutely +necessary to suffer either one or the other, to perish by violence +rather than by deceit. The former falls to the lot of some by the decree +of Fortune, but the latter only as a result of folly and great greed of +gain: it is, therefore, preferable to fall by the crushing hand of Fate +[Footnote: Omitting [Greek: ti], and reading [Greek: thehioy], which the +MSS. give.] rather than by one's own baseness. In the former instance a +man's body is laid low, but in the latter his soul is ruined as +well,[lacuna] but in that case a man becomes to a certain extent the +slayer of himself, because he who has once taught his soul not to be +content with the fortune already possessed, acquires a boundless desire +for increased advantages." (Mai, pp.174 and 538. Zonaras, 8, 4.) + +25. And they presented themselves for the enlistment with the greatest +zeal, believing, each man of them, that his own defection would mean the +overthrow of the fatherland. [Footnote: Cp. Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus, +chapter 18 (early).] (Mai, p.176.) + +26. Such is the nature of oratory and so great is its power that it led +even them to change, causing courage and hatred to take the place +respectively of the fear inspired by Pyrrhus and the estrangements his +gifts had wrought. (Mai, ib.) + +27. ¶Every force which, contrary to expectation, is humbled in spirit, +suffers a loss also in strength. (Mai, p.177.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 279 (_a.u._ 475)] 28. ¶Pyrrhus sent to Decius, telling +him that he would not succeed in accomplishing this even if he wished it +[i. e., to die without being seized] and threatened besides that if he +were taken alive he should perish miserably. To this the consuls +answered that they were in no need of having recourse to such a +proceeding as the one to which he alluded, since they were sure to +conquer him in other ways. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 5.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 278 (_a.u._ 476)] 29. He did not know how he would +repulse the one of them [Footnote: "They" are C. Fabricius Luscinus and +Q. Aemilius Papus, Roman consuls.] first, nor how he should repel them +both, and was in perplexity. To divide the army, which was smaller than +that of his opponents, was something he feared to do, yet to allow one +of them to ravage the country with impunity seemed to him almost out of +the question. (Mai, p.177.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 277 (_a.u._ 477)] 30. However, he behaved in general +toward them with great circumspection, and awarded greater credit for +his safety to the fact that no one, even if he wished, could harm him, +than to the probability that no one would have desired to inflict an +injury. It was for this reason, too, that he expelled and slew many who +held office and many who called him in to help in their disputes. This +was partly because he was somewhat displeased with them, on account of +their statements that he had secured the reins of power in the State +through their influence, and partly because he was suspicious of them +and thought that as they had come over to his side so they might go over +to some one else's [lacuna] (Mai, p.178. Zonaras, 8, 5.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 276 (_a.u._ 479)] 31. ¶As the allies were unwilling to +contribute anything for the support of Pyrrhus, he betook himself to the +treasuries of Persephone, that were widely reputed for their wealth, +despoiled them and sent the spoils on ships to Tarentum. And the men +almost all perished through a storm, while the money and offerings were +cast out on land. (Valesius, p.590.) + +32. ¶All admired the following act of Pyrrhus. Some youths at a banquet +had ridiculed him, and at first he wished to have them before a court +and exact vengeance, but, afterward, when they declared: "We should have +said a lot more things a good deal worse, if the wine hadn't failed us," +he laughed and let them go. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, 6.) + +[Frag. XLI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 273 (_a.u._ 481)] ¶Ptolemy, nicknamed Philadelphus, +king of Egypt, when he learned that Pyrrhus had fared poorly and that +the Romans were growing, sent gifts to them and made a compact. The +Romans, accordingly, pleased that a monarch living so very far away +should have come to respect them, despatched ambassadors to him in turn. +From him the envoys, too, received magnificent gifts; but when they had +offered these to the treasury, they would not accept them. (Ursinus, +p.374. Zonaras, 8, 6.) + +[Frag. XLII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 266 (_a.u._ 488)]¶Though the Romans were faring in this +manner and were constantly rising to greater heights they showed no +haughtiness as yet: on the contrary, they surrendered to the +Appolloniatians (Corinthian colonists on the Ionian Gulf) Quintus +Fabius, a senator, because he had insulted some of their ambassadors. +The people of this town, however, did him no harm, and even sent him +home. (Valesius, p.590. Zonaras, 8, 7.) + +[Frag. XLIII] + +1. ¶The causes responsible for the dispute between the two were--on the +side of the Romans that the Carthaginians had assisted the Tarentini, on +the side of the Carthaginians, that the Romans had made a treaty of +friendship with Hiero. But these they merely put forward as excuses, as +those are inclined to do who in reality are desirous of advancing their +own interests but pause before a reputation for such action. The truth +is different. As a matter of fact, the Carthaginians, who had long been +powerful, and the Romans, who were now growing rapidly, kept viewing +each other with jealousy; and they were incited to war partly by the +desire of continually getting more, according to the instinct of the +majority of mankind, most active when they are most successful, and +partly also by fear. Each alike thought that the one sure salvation for +her own possessions lay in obtaining what the other held. If there had +been no other reason, it was most difficult, nay, impossible, for two +nations that were free, powerful, and proud, and separated from each +other, so to speak, only a very short distance (considering the speed of +voyages) to rule any outside tribes and yet keep their hands off each +other. But a mere accident of the kind that befell broke the truce they +had been keeping and dashed them together in war. (Mai, p.178. Zonaras, +8, 8.) + +2. ¶The conflict, according to report, concerned Messana and Sicily, but +in reality both parties perceived that from this region danger +threatened their native land, and they thought that the island, lying, +as it did, between them, would furnish to the side that conquered it a +safe base for operations against the other party. (Mai, p.179. Zonaras, +8, 8.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 264 (_a.u._ 490)] 3. ¶Gaius Claudius came to the meeting, +and among other remarks which he made to tempt them declared that the +object of his presence was to free the city, since the Romans had no +need of Messana; and that he would immediately sail away, as soon as he +should set their affairs in order. Next he bade the Carthaginians also +either to withdraw, or, if they had any just plea to offer, to submit +to arbitration. Now when not one of the Mamertines (by reason of fear) +opened his lips, and the Carthaginians since they were occupying the +city by force of arms paid little heed to him, he stated that the +silence on both sides afforded sufficient evidence: on the part of the +invaders it showed that they were in the wrong, for they would have +justified themselves if their purposes were at all honest, and on the +part of the Mamertines that they desired freedom; they might have been +quite free to speak, had they espoused the cause of the Carthaginians, +especially as there was a force of the latter present. Furthermore he +promised that he would aid them, both on account of their Italian origin +and on account of the request for assistance they had made. (Mai, p.179. +Zonaras, 8,8.) + +4. ¶Gaius Claudius lost some of the triremes and with difficulty reached +safety. Neither he nor the Romans in the City, however, were prevented +from renewing attempts by sea through the fact that they had been +worsted when first making a trial of it, although this is the ordinary +course that people pursue who fail in the first undertaking and think +that they can never again succeed, viewing the past in the light of an +omen. On the contrary, they applied themselves to the watery element +with an even greater zeal, and chiefly because they were ambitious and +did not wish to appear to have been diverted from their purpose by the +disaster. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras 8, 8, sq.) 5. ¶Hanno, who was in no wise +disposed to make light of the war in case it were bound to occur, was +particularly anxious to throw the responsibility for breaking the truce +upon the other man, for fear it might be thought that he himself was +taking the initiative. Accordingly, he sent back to him the ships and +the captives, while he urged him to accept peace and exhorted him +besides not to meddle with the sea. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +6. ¶When he would accept nothing, he launched at him an arrogant and +reprehensible threat. For he declared that he would never allow the +Romans even to wash their hands in the sea: yet he lost not only the sea +but also Messana not much later. (Mai, p.180. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +7. ¶Claudius, finding the Mamertines gathered at the harbor, called an +assembly of their number and made the statement: "I have no need of arms +but will leave it with you to decide everything." By this means he +persuaded them to send for Hanno. As the latter refused to come down, he +chid him soundly, inveighing against him and declaring that if he had +even the slightest justification, he would certainly hold a conference +with him and not persist in occupying the city by force. (Mai, p.180. +Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +8. ¶The consul Claudius exhorted the soldiers beforehand to be of good +cheer and not to be cast down over the defeat of the tribune. He +instructed them that in the first place victories fall to the lot of the +better equipped, and that secondly their valor far surpassed the skill +of their opponents. They would acquire, he said, the knowledge of +seafaring in a short time, whereas the Carthaginians would never have +bravery equal to theirs. Knowledge was something that could be obtained +in a brief space by men who gave their minds to it and could be mastered +by practice; but bravery, in case it were absent from a man's nature, +could never be furnished by instruction. (Mai, p. 181.) + +9. ¶ The Libyans, rejoicing in the idea that they had conquered not +through the nature of their position, but by their own valor, sallied +out. But Claudius made them so fearful that they would not even peep out +of the camp. (Mai, p. 181. Zonaras, 8, 9.) + +10. For it happens in the majority of instances that those who as a +result of calculation fear something are successful by reason of their +precaution against it, whereas those whose boldness rests on lack of +forethought, are ruined on account of their unguarded condition. +[Footnote: The Carthaginians are, in a general way, the subject of this +section.] (Mai, p. 539.) + +11. The quality of moderation both obtains victories and preserves them +after they are won, whereas that of wantonness can prevail against +nothing, and if it be at any time fortunate in some matter, very easily +destroys it. And again, if it perchance preserves some conquest, it +grows worse by the very fact of extraordinary good fortune and so far +from being benefited by its success is actually ruined by it +irretrievably. + +Moreover, whenever there is boldness not in accord with reason, you may +expect to find unreasoning fear. Calculation, bringing with it +resolution strengthened by forethought, and a hope made confident by its +own trustworthiness do not allow one to be either dejected or +presumptuous. Unreasoning impulse, however, often elates men in the +midst of good fortune and humbles them to dust in disasters, possessing, +as it were, no support, but always copying the feature of the chance +event. (Mai, p. 539 and p. 181.) + +12. ¶ The Romans and Carthaginians when they entered upon war were +equally matched in the number of ships and readiness to serve. +[Sidenote: B.C. 260 (_a.u._ 494)] It was a naval battle soon after in +which, with equal equipment, they first became engaged. They hoped that +it would decide the whole war: Sicily lay before their eyes as the +prize: they were contending in a matter of servitude or empire, resolved +not to be beaten, lest they taste the former, but to conquer and obtain +the latter. One side surpassed in the experience possessed by the crews +of its triremes, since they had long been masters of the sea, and the +other in the strength of its marines and its daring; for the rashness +and audacity of their fighting was commensurate with their inexperience +in naval affairs. In matters of experience practically all men make +exact calculations and are imbued with wholesome fear, even if their +judgment approves a particular course, but the untried renders them +unreasonably bold, and draws them into conflict through lack of due +consideration. (Mai, p.181.) + +13. ¶The Carthaginians because of their defeat by the Romans in the +sea-fight came near putting Hannibal to death. It is a trait of +practically all people who send out armies on any mission to lay claims +to advantage gained but to put the responsibility of defeat upon their +leaders, and the Carthaginians were very ready to chastise those who +failed in an enterprise. + +He, however, was afraid and immediately after the defeat enquired of +them whether if the business were still untouched they would bid him +risk a sea-fight or not. When they declared in the affirmative, as he +had doubtless expected, because they prided themselves on having such a +superior navy, he added, by the mouths of the same messengers: "I, then, +have done no wrong, for I went into the engagement with the same hopes +as you. The decision was within my power but not the fortune of the +battle." (Mai, p.182. Zonaras, 8, 11.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 258 (_a.u._ 496)] 14. Dio in Book 11: "When the storm +continued and a mist arose besides, he brought about Hannibal's defeat +through the agency of some deserters." (Bekker, Anecd. p.171, 26. +Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +15. But regarding the non-surrender of their native land and the +acquirement of foreign territory as matters of equal importance, they +[Footnote: I.e., The Carthaginians.] contended with courage and force. +For whereas most men defend their own possessions to the very limit of +their power but are unwilling to lay claim to the goods of others if it +involves danger, these antagonists set a like value upon what they held +fast and what they expected, and so were equally determined upon both +points. Now the Romans thought it better to conduct the war no longer at +a distance, nor to risk a first encounter in the islands, but to have +the contest in the Carthaginians' own land. If they failed, they would +lose nothing; and if they conquered they would obtain something besides +hopes. Therefore, making their preparation follow their resolve, they +took the field against Carthage. (Mai, p. 183. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 256 (_a.u._ 498)] 16. Their leaders were Regulus and +Lucius, preferred before others for their excellence. Regulus was, +indeed, in so great poverty that he did not readily consent, on that +account, to take up the command; and it was voted that his wife and +children should be furnished their support from the public treasury. +(Valesius, p. 593. Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +17. ¶ Hanno had been sent to the Romans by Hamilcar, as was pretended, +in behalf of peace, but in reality for the sake of delay. And he, when +some clamored for his arrest, because the Carthaginians by fraud +[lacuna] Cornelius [lacuna] [Mai, p. 183.] Four pages of the MS. are +lacking. (Zonaras, 8, 12.) + +18. Dio the Roman, who wrote a history about the Empire and the Republic +of Rome and describes the far-famed Carthaginian war, says that when +Regulus, + +[Sidenote: B.C. 256 (_a.u._ 498)] consul for Rome, was warring against +Carthage, a serpent suddenly crept out of the palisade of the Roman army +and lay there. By his command the Romans slew the reptile and having +flayed it sent its skin, a great prodigy, to the Roman senate. And when +measured by the same senate (as the same Dio says) it was found to have +a length of one hundred and twenty feet. In addition to its length its +thickness was also notable. (Ioannes Damascenus, On Serpents, vol. I, p. +472, A.B. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 13.) + +19. ¶ The Carthaginians in fear of capture sent heralds to the consul to +the end that by some satisfactory arrangement they might turn aside the +danger of the moment, and so escape. But since they refused to withdraw +from both Sicily and Sardinia, to release the Roman captives free of +cost and to ransom their own, to make good all the expenses incurred by +the Romans for the war and besides to pay more as tribute each year, +they accomplished nothing. And in addition to the above mentioned, there +were the following commands which displeased them: that they should make +neither war nor treaties without the consent of the Romans, that they +should employ not more than one warship but the Romans would come to +their aid with fifty triremes as often as notice should be sent them, +and that they would not be on an equal footing in conducting some other +kinds of business. Considering these points they decided that the truce +would mean their utter subjugation, and preferred rather to fight with +the Romans. (Ursinus, p. 376. Zonaras, 8, 13.) + +20. Dio in Book 11: "The Carthaginians kept watch for their ships +homeward bound and captured several heavily laden with money." (Bekker, +Anecd. p. 131, 12. Zonaras, 8, 14.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 251 (_a.u._ 503)] 21. ¶ They say the Carthaginians sent +heralds to the Romans on account of the great number of the captives +(among other causes), and most of all to see if they would be inclined +to make peace on some moderate terms; if this could not be effected, +their purpose still held to get back the captives. They say that +Regulus, too, had been sent among the envoys because of his reputation +and valor. The people assumed that the Romans would do anything whatever +in the hope of getting him back, so that he might even be delivered up +alone in return for peace, or at any rate in exchange for the captives. +Accordingly, they bound him by mighty oaths and pledges to return +without fail in case neither of their objects should be accomplished, +and they despatched him as an envoy with others. + +And he acted in all respects like a Carthaginian, not a Roman; for he +did not even grant his wife leave to confer with him nor did he enter +the city, although he was invited: instead, when the senate assembled +outside of the walls, as their custom was in treating with the envoys of +the enemy, he asked for permission to approach with the others--at +least, so the story goes, [lacuna] (Ursinus, p. 377. Zonaras, 8, 15.) + +22. Dio in Book 11: "Regulus paid no heed to them until the +Carthaginians permitted him to do so." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 140, 20. +Zonaras, 8, 15.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 251 (_a.u._ 503)] 23. Dio in Book 11: "For it is neither +my duty nor that of any other upright man to give up aught that pertains +to the public welfare." (Ib. p. 165, 23.) + +24. In Book 11: "Any one else, wishing to console himself for the +disaster which had happened in his own case, would have exalted the +prowess of the enemy." (Ib. p. 165, 30.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 249 (_a.u._ 505)] 25. The second part of the augury is +transmitted to us by Dio Cassius Cocceianus, who says that they keep +tame birds which eat barley, and put barley grains in front of them when +they seek an omen. If, then, in the course of eating the birds do not +strike the barley with their beaks and toss it aside, the sign is good; +but if they do so strike the grain, it is not good. (Io. Tzetzes, +Exegesis of Homer's Iliad, p. 108, 2.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 244 (_a.u._ 510)] 26. He [sc. Mamilcar] thought it was +requisite for a man who wished to accomplish anything by secret means +not to make the matter known to anyone at all. There was no one, he +believed, so self-possessed as to be willing, when he had heard, merely +to observe operations and be silent. Just the reverse was true: the more +strongly a man might be forbidden to mention anything, the greater would +be his desire to speak of it, and thus one man learning the secret from +another with the understanding that he was the only person to know it +would reveal the story. [Footnote: Section 26 may refer to Hamilcar +Barca's plans for seizing Mount Eryx.] (Mai, p. 540. Cp. Diodorus, 24, +7.) + +27. In Book 11 of Dio: "He feasted the populace." [Footnote: Boissevain +thinks that No. 27 may concern the banqueting of the populace during +Metellus's triumph. Others have other opinions.] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 133, +24.) + +28. In Book 11 of Dio: "You attack even such friends as have been guilty +of any error, whereas I pardon even my enemies." (Ib. p.171, 29.) + +29. In Book 12 of Dio: "By the one process [Footnote: Perhaps from the +speech of Regulus to the senators.] he might have become to a certain +extent estranged from you." (Ib. p.124, 4.) 30. In Book 12 of Dio: "Some +are dead, and others who were deserving of some notice, have been +captured." [Footnote: This may be likewise from the speech of Regulus +and be said of the Carthaginian leaders.] (Ib. p. 133,25.) + +[Frag. XLIV] + +1. For the Ligurians occupy the whole shore from Etruria up to the Alps +and as far as Gaul, according to Dio's statement. (Isaac Tzetzes, on +Lycophron, 1312.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 236 (_a.u._ 518)] 2. The Romans at first sent Claudius +to the Corsicans and gave him up. This was after he had made terms with +them, but his countrymen, who claimed that the fault in breaking the +compact rested on him and not on themselves, had waged war upon them and +subdued them. When the Corsicans refused to receive him, the Romans +drove him out. (Valesius, p.593. Zonaras, 8, 18.) + +[Frag. XLV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 235 (_a.u._ 519)] 1. ¶The Romans after exacting also +money from the Carthaginians, renewed the truce. And at first when an +embassy from the latter arrived, they returned no proper answer, because +they were aware of the state of their own equipment and because they +were themselves still busied at that time with the war against the +neighboring tribes. After this, however, Hanno, a man of youthful years +who employed striking frankness of speech, was sent. He touched +unreservedly on a number of other subjects and finally his appeal--"If +you don't want to be at peace, restore to us both Sardinia and Sicily; +for with these we purchased not a temporary respite but eternal +friendship"--caused them to become milder and ashamed [lacuna] (Ursinus, +p.378. Zonaras, 8, 18.) + +2[lacuna] lest [Footnote: Preceding this fragment four pages of the MS. +are missing.] they might suffer the same injuries in return, so that +they were very glad to delay,--the one side choosing to preserve the +prosperity that was an inheritance of the past, and the other to cling +to the possessions which were still theirs. To judge by their threats +they were no longer maintaining peace, but in fact they still +deliberated about the matter, so that all could see that whichever of +the two found it to his advantage to create the first disturbance would +also be the one to begin war. Most men abide by their agreements just so +long as suits their own convenience. If they have in view a greater +resultant benefit to themselves, they deem it safe even to break some +compact. (Mai, p.184.) + +[Frag. XLVI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 231 (_a.u._ 523)] ¶Once in the consulship of Marcus +Pomponius and Gaius Papirius they despatched envoys to investigate +affairs in Spain, although none of the Spanish States had ever yet +belonged to them. He, [Footnote: A reference to some previous proper +name, outside this fragment.] besides showing them other honors, +addressed them in suitable words, declaring that he was obliged to fight +against the Spaniards in order that the money which was still owing to +the Romans on the part of the Carthaginians might be paid; for it was +impossible to obtain it from any other source. The envoys were +consequently embarrassed to know how to censure him. (Mai, p.184) + +[Frag. XLVII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 230 (_a.u._ 524)] 1. ¶The island of Issa surrendered +itself voluntarily to the Romans. This was the first time the islanders +were about to make the acquaintance of the latter, but they judged them +more friendly and faithful than the powers which they then dreaded. +Calculation caused them to place more dependence on the unknown than on +the evident; for while the latter had aroused irritation through the +dealings already had with it, the former afforded good hope, because its +actions were as yet only matters of expectation. (Mai, ib. Zonaras, 8, +19.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 230 (_a.u._ 524)] 2. When the Issaeans had attached +themselves to the Romans, the latter, being ready and anxious to do them +some favor in return forthwith, so as to get the reputation of aiding +such as espoused their cause and also for the purpose of restraining the +Ardiasans, who were annoying those that sailed from Brundusium,--for +these reasons they sent messengers to Agro, who were to ask clemency for +the Issaeans and censure the king in that he was wronging them without +previous cause. Now these men found Agro no longer in existence: he had +died, leaving behind a child named Pineus. Teuta, Agro's wife and +stepmother of Pineus, held the power over the Ardiaeans,[lacuna] Being +[lacuna] by boldness, she made no moderate response to their requests, +but woman-like she showed a vanity (due to innate recklessness as well +as to the power that she was holding) by casting some of the ambassadors +into prison and killing others for speaking frankly. Such was her action +at that time, and she actually took pride in it as if she had displayed +some strength by her facile cruelty. In a very short space, however, she +proved the weakness of the female sex, for as she had quickly flown into +a passion through short-sightedness of judgment, so through cowardice +she was quickly terrified. As soon as she learned that the Romans had +voted for war against her she was panic-stricken, and promised to +restore their men whom she held, while she tried to defend herself for +the death of the others, declaring that they had been slain by some +robbers. When the Romans were thus led to cease temporarily their +campaign and demand the surrender of the murderers, she showed contempt +again, because the danger was not yet at her doors, and declaring that +she would not give anybody up despatched an army against Issa. When she +learned that the consuls were at hand she grew terrified again, gave +over her high spirit, and became ready to heed them in every minutest +detail. She had not yet, however, been fully brought to her senses, for +when the consuls had crossed over to Corcyra she felt imbued with new +courage, revolted, and despatched an army against Epidamnus and +Apollonia. After the Romans had rescued the cities and at the news of +their capture of ships and treasures of hers she was on the point of +again yielding obedience. Meanwhile in the course of scaling certain +heights overlooking the sea they were worsted near the Atyrian hill and +she now waited, hoping, in view of the fact that it was really winter +already, for their withdrawal. But on perceiving that Albinus remained +where he was and Demetrius as a result of her caprice as well as from +fear of the Romans had transferred his allegiance, besides persuading +some others to desert, she became utterly terrified and gave up her +sovereignty. (Ursinus, p. 378. Zonaras, 8, 19.) + +[Frag. XLVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 228 (_a.u._ 526)] In the time of Fabius Maximus +Berucosus ("full of warts") the Romans did this, after burying in the +middle Of the Forum a Greek and a Gallic couple, man and woman: they +were frightened by a certain oracle which said that Greek and Gaul +should occupy the city. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 603, 1056. Cp. +Zonaras, 8, 19.) + +[Frag. XLIX] + +1. ¶ The Romans were being frightened by an oracle of the Sibyl which +urged the necessity of guarding against the Gauls when a thunderbolt +should fall upon the Capitol near the temple of Apollo. (Mai, p. 185.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 225 (_a.u._ 529)] 2. ¶ The Gauls became dejected on +seeing that the Romans had taken beforehand the most favorable +locations. All men if they obtain the object of their first aim proceed +more readily toward their subsequent goals, but if they miss it, lose +interest in everything else. They, however, after the Gallic fashion and +more than is usual with the rest of mankind, lay hold very eagerly of +what they desire and cling most tenaciously to any success, but if they +meet with the slightest obstacle have no hope left for the future. Folly +makes them inclined to expect whatsoever they wish, and their spirited +temperament ready to carry out whatsoever they undertake. They are given +to violent anger and dash headlong into enterprises, and for that reason +they have within themselves no quality of endurance (since it is +impossible for reckless audacity to prevail for any time), and if they +once suffer any setback they are unable (especially by reason of the +fear to which they then fall a prey) to recover themselves: they are +plunged into a state of panic corresponding to their previous fearless +daring. In a brief period they rush vehemently to the most opposite +extremes, since they can furnish no motive based on calculation for +either action. (Mai, p. 185.) + +3. ¶ AEmilius on conquering the Insubres celebrated a triumph and in it +conveyed the foremost captives clad in armor up to the Capitol, making +jests upon them because he had heard that they had sworn not to remove +their breastplates before they had ascended the Capitol. (Mai, p. 186. +Zonaras, 8, 20.) + +[Frag. L] + +¶ If any of the details, even the smallest, that were customary in +festivals had been missed, they renewed the ceremonial proceedings at +any rate a second and a third time, and even more times still, so far as +was possible in one day, till everything seemed to them to have been +done faultlessly. (Mai, p. 186. Zonaras, 8, 20.) + +[Frag. LI] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 219 (_a.u._ 535)] ¶ Demetrius, elated by his position as +guardian of Pineus and by the fact that he had married the latter's +mother Triteuta (Teuta was dead), was hateful to the natives and injured +the property of neighboring tribes. So they summoned him before them +(since it appeared that it was by misusing the friendship of the Romans +that he was able to wrong those peoples) as soon as they heard of it. +When he refused compliance and actually assailed their allies, they made +a campaign against Issa, where he was. (Valesius, p.593. Zonaras, 8, +20.) + +[Frag. LII] + +1. ¶The Romans were at their prime in equipment for war and enjoyed +absolute harmony among themselves. Whereas the majority of persons are +led by unmixed good fortune to audacity but by a tremendous fear to +proper behavior, they had quite a different experience at that time in +those matters. The more successes they had the more sober it made them; +against their enemies they displayed the kind of boldness that partakes +of bravery, while toward one another they employed that right dealing +which is closely connected with good order. [Footnote: The word for +"good order" is conjectured by van Herwerden.] They held their power +with a view to the practice of moderation and kept their orderliness for +the acquirement of a true bravery: they did not allow their good fortune +to develop into wantonness, nor their right dealing into cowardice. They +believed that in case of such laxity temperance might be ruined by +bravery and boldness by boldness; but that when people exercised care, +as they did, moderation was made more secure by bravery and good fortune +rendered surer by discipline. This was the reason for their vast +superiority over the enemies that encountered them and for their +excellent administration of both their own affairs and those of the +allies. (Mai, p. 186.) + +2. ¶ All who dwelt on the near side of the Alps revolted to join the +Carthaginians, not because they preferred the Carthaginians to the +Romans as leaders, but because they hated the force that ruled them and +were for welcoming the untried. The Carthaginians had allies against the +Romans from every one of the tribes that then existed; but Hannibal was +worth nearly all of them. He could comprehend matters very quickly and +plan the details of every project that he laid to heart, notwithstanding +the fact that generally sureness is the product of slowness and only +rash decisions result from hastiness of disposition. He was most +[lacuna] when given the smallest margin of time, and most enduring with +a very great degree of reliability. He managed in a safe way the affair +of the moment and showed skill in considering the future beforehand: he +proved himself a most capable counselor in ordinary events and a very +accurate judge of the unusual. By these powers he handled the issue +immediately confronting him very readily and in the shortest time, while +by calculation he anticipated the future afar off and considered it as +though it were actually present. Consequently he, more than any man, met +each occasion with suitable words and acts, because he made no +distinction between what he possessed and what he hoped for. He was able +to conduct matters so for the reason that in addition to his natural +capacity he was well versed in much Phoenician learning, common to his +country, and likewise much Greek, and furthermore he understood +divination by inspection of entrails. (Mai, p. 187 and Valesius, p. +593.) + +3. With such intellectual qualities he had brought his body to a state +of equal perfection, partly by nature, partly by practice, so that he +could carry out easily everything that he took in hand. It was nimble +and at the same time heavy to the utmost degree, and he could, +therefore, run, fight, and ride safely at full speed. He never burdened +himself with overmuch food, nor suffered annoyance by lack of it, but +took more or less with equal grace, feeling that either was +satisfactory. Hardship made him rugged, and on loss of sleep he grew +strong. + +Having these advantages of mind and body he universally administered +affairs in a fashion now to be described. Since he saw that most men +were trustworthy only in what concerned their own interest, he himself +dealt with them in this manner and expected the same treatment of them, +so that he very often succeeded by deceiving persons and very seldom +failed by being the object of a plot. He regarded as hostile every force +that could gain an advantage both among foreigners and among kinsmen +alike, and did not wait to learn their intentions from their acts, but +handled them quite unsparingly, assuming that they were anxious to +commit a wrong when they could: he thought it better to be the first to +act than the first to suffer, and resolved that the rest of the world +should be dependent on him, and not he upon other persons. In fine, he +paid attention to the nature of things, rather than to their reputed +good points, as often as the two did not happen to coincide. He also, +however, prized extravagantly whatever he needed. Slaves, most of them, +he esteemed in that way, and beheld them willing to encounter danger for +him even contrary to their own advantage. For these reasons he often +himself refrained from opportunities for gain and other most delightful +pleasures, but gave a share ungrudgingly to them. Hence he could get +them to be not unwilling partners in hard work. He subjected himself not +only to the same conditions of living as these men, but also to the same +dangers and was the first to accomplish every task that he demanded of +them. Likewise he was confident that they, too, without pretexts and +with zeal,--since he showed his care for them not in words only,--would +help him effect his projects. + +Toward the rest he always behaved quite proudly; and the whole +multitude, in consequence, felt either good-will or fear toward him +because of their similar conditions of life, on the one hand, and +because of his haughtiness on the other. Accordingly, he was fully able +to bring low the towering head, to exalt humility, and to inspire all +whom he pleased, in the shortest period, one with hesitation, another +with boldness, with hope also and despair regarding most important +matters. + +And that this information about him is not false, but is truthful +tradition, his works are proof. Much of Spain he won over in a short +time, and from there carried the war into Italy through the country of +the Gauls, most of whom were not only not in league with him, but +actually unknown to him. He was the first of non-Europeans, so far as we +know, to cross the Alps with an army, and after that he made a campaign +against Rome itself, sundering from it almost all its allies, some by +force and others by persuasion. This, however, he achieved by himself +without the aid of the Carthaginian government. He was not sent forth in +the beginning by the magistrates at home, nor did he later obtain any +considerable assistance from them. While they were on the eve of +enjoying the greatest glory and benefit through his efforts, they +wished rather not to appear to be leaving him in the lurch than to +cooeperate effectively in any enterprise. (Valesius, p. 593.) + +[Frag. LIII] + +Dio Cocceianus calls the Narbonenses _Bebruces_, writing this: "To those +who of old were Bebruces, but now Narbonenses, belongs the Pyrenees +range. This range is the boundary between Spain and Gaul." (Isaac +Tzetzes on Lycophron, 516. Zonaras, 8, 21.) + +[Frag. LIV] + +1. ¶ Peace both creates wealth and preserves it, but war both expends it +and destroys it. [Footnote: The first eight sections of this fragment +seem to be taken from speeches of Romans in the senate-house. Nos. 1 and +2 are apparently the words of an unknown individual discouraging the +eagerness for war; Nos. 3 and 4 may be spoken by Lentulus, urging war; +and Nos. 5 to 8 may contain the opposing arguments of Fabius.](Mai, p. +188.) + +2. ¶Every human being is so constituted as to desire to lord it over +such as yield, and to employ the turn of Fortune's scale against +voluntary slaves. (Mai, ib.) + +3. But do you who know the facts and have experienced them, think that +propriety and humaneness are sufficient for your safety? And do you +regard listlessly all the wrongs they have committed against us by +stealth or deceit or violence? Are you not stimulated, are you not for +paying them back or for defending yourselves? Then again, you have never +reflected that such behavior is in place for you toward one another, but +toward the Carthaginians is cowardly and base. Our citizens we must +treat in a gentle and politic fashion; if one be preserved unexpectedly, +he is of our possessions: but harsh treatment is for the enemy. We shall +save ourselves not by our defeats as a result of sparing them, but by +our victories that will come from abasing them. (Mai, p.188.) + +4. ¶War both preserves men's own possessions and wins the property of +others, whereas peace destroys not only what has been bestowed by war +but itself in addition. (Mai, pp.188 and 541.) + +[Frag. LIV] + +5. ¶It is base to proceed to action ere arguments about the matter have +been heard: for in such a case, if successful, you will be thought to +have enjoyed good fortune rather than to have employed good counsel, and +if worsted, to have taken your resolution without forethought, at a time +when there was no profit in it. And yet who does not know this,--that to +heap up reproaches and to accuse people that have once warred against us +is very easy--any man can do it--whereas, to say what is advantageous +for the State, not in anger over other men's deeds, but with a view to +the State's benefit, is really the duty of the advising class? Do not +irritate us, Lentulus, nor persuade us to begin war until you show us +that it shall be really for our advantage. Reflect particularly (though +there are other considerations) that speaking here about deeds of war is +not the same sort of thing as their actual performance. (Mai, p.189.) + +6. Men are often set on their feet by disasters, and many who use them +wisely fare better than those who are completely fortunate and for that +very reason wanton. Somehow ill luck seems to hold no inconsiderable +portion of benefit, because it does not permit men to lose their senses +or indulge in extreme wantonness. For naturally it is most advisable to +set one's face steadfastly toward all the best things, and to make not +possibility, but calculation, the measure of desire. And if a man be not +able to prefer what is more excellent, it will still pay him to behave, +even unwillingly, with moderation so as to regard in the light of +happiness even the failure to be fortunate in all cases. (Mai, p.542.) + +7. It is imperative to be on one's guard against any similar experience +again,--that being the only benefit that can come from disasters. +Repeated good fortune occasionally ruins those who unthinkingly base +their hopes upon it, believing they are sure of another victory, whereas +failures compel every one as a result of his past trouble to provide for +the future carefully beforehand. (Mai, pp.189 and 542.) + +8. ¶For securing the favor of the gods or a good reputation among men it +is no small thing to escape the appearance of creating war, and seem to +be compelled to defend the existing population. (Mai, p.189.) + +9. After speeches of this character on both sides they determined to +prepare for fighting: they would not vote that way however, but +determined to send envoys to Carthage and denounce Hannibal; then, if +the Carthaginians refrained from approving his exploits, they would +arbitrate the matter, or if all responsibility were laid on his +shoulders, they would demand his extradition; if he were given up, well; +otherwise they would declare war. (Mai, p.190. Zonaras, 8, 22.) + +10. ¶When the Carthaginians made no definite answer to the envoys and +instead behaved contemptuously toward them, Marcus [Footnote: According +to Livy (XXI, 18, 1) his name was _Quintus_. Willems suggests emending +to Maximus here.] Fabius thrust his hands beneath his toga and holding +them with palms upward said: "Here I bring to you, Carthaginians, both +war and peace: do you choose unequivocally whichever of them you wish." +Upon their replying to this challenge even then that they chose neither +but would readily accept either that the Romans left with them, he +declared war upon them. (Mai, p.190. Zonaras, 8, 22.) + +[Frag. LV] + +¶The Romans invited the Narbonenses to an alliance. But the latter +declared that they had never suffered any harm from the Carthaginians or +received any favor from the Romans that they should war against the one +or defend the other, and were quite angry with them, charging that the +Romans had often treated their kinsmen outrageously. (Mai, p.190.) + +[Frag. LVI] + +1. ¶From such an expectation, Dio says, already acquired from that +source, the Romans and Carthaginians had reached a state in which they +had formed the most different judgments regarding the administration of +the war. For hopefulness, in that it leads all men to cheerfulness, +renders them also more active and confident, possessed of a faith that +they will be victorious; lack of hope casts them into dejection and +despair, and deprives of strength even the naturally stout-hearted. +(Mai, p.191.) + +2. Just as matters at a great distance and quite unknown are accustomed +to disturb many men, so now they struck no little fear to the hearts of +the Spaniards. [Footnote: This refers to the Spaniards' refusing, at the +start, to undertake a campaign. Cp. Livy, XXI, 23.] For the majority of +the multitude that makes a campaign not for any reason of its own but +ranking as an allied force is a strong force just so long as it has the +hopes of obtaining some benefit without danger. But when the men reach +the vicinity of the conflict, they are frightened out of their hopes of +gain and lose their faith in promises. And the most of them have gotten +it into their heads that they are by all means going to be successful in +any case; consequently, even if they should meet with some reverse, they +esteem it lightly in comparison with the hopes which have been +offsetting it. (Mai, p.191. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 218 (_a.u._ 536)] 3. When the preparations failed to be +sufficient in any respect for the size of Hannibal's army, and some one +on this account suggested to him that the soldiers be fed on the flesh +of their opponents, he did not take the idea amiss, but said he feared +that some day through lack of bodies of that kind they might turn to +eating one another. (Mai, p.191. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +4. ¶Hannibal before beginning operations called together the soldiers +and brought in the captives whom he had taken by the way: he enquired of +the latter whether they wished to undergo imprisonment in fetters and to +endure a grievous slavery or to fight in single combat one with another +on condition that the victors should be released. When they chose the +second alternative, he set them to fighting. And at the end of the +conflict he said: "Now is it not shameful, fellow-soldiers, that these +men who have been captured by us are so disposed toward bravery as to be +eager to die in place of becoming slaves, whereas we shrink from +incurring a little toil and danger for the purpose of not being +subservient to others,--yes, and ruling them besides?" (Mai, p.192. +Zonaras, 8, 23.) + +5. All the sufferings that we have endured when occasionally defeated by +the enemy we will inflict upon them, if we are victorious. Be well +assured that by conquering we shall obtain all the benefits that I +mention, but if conquered we shall not even have a safe means of escape. +The victor straightway finds everything friendly, even if possibly it +hates him, and to the vanquished no one even of his own household pays +any longer heed. (Mai, pp. 543 and 192.) + +6. ¶To have once failed in an enterprise against some foes puts them +forever out of countenance, and is a preventative of any future courage. +(Mai, p. 192.) + +7. For the whole Gallic race is naturally more or less eccentric and +cowardly and faithless. Just as they are readily emboldened in the face +of hopes, so (only more readily) when frightened do they fall into a +panic. The fact that they were no more faithful to the Carthaginians +will teach the rest of mankind a lesson never to dare to invade Italy. +(Mai, p. 192. Cp. Zonaras, 8, 24.) + +8. ¶Many portents, [Footnote: Cp. Livy XXI, 62, and XXII, I, 8-20.] some +of which had actually occurred and others which were the product of idle +talk, became the subject of conversation. For when persons get seriously +frightened and those [lacuna] are in reality proven to have occurred to +them, oftentimes others are imagined. And if once any of the former +phenomena is believed, heedlessly at once the rest [lacuna] + +Accordingly, the sacrifices were offered and all the other ceremonies +were accomplished which men are in the habit of performing for the cure +of their temporary terror and for escape from expected ruin. Yet the +race of men is wont to trust such agencies, hoping in the line of +improvement, and so now, even if because of the greatness of the danger +awaited they thought that the harshest fate would fall upon them, still +they kept hoping that they would not be defeated. (Mai, p. 192.) + +9. ¶ The Romans proclaimed Fabius dictator, satisfied if they could +themselves survive, and neither despatched any aid to the allies nor +[lacuna] but learning that Hannibal had turned aside from Campania, they +made sure of the former's safety through fear that they might change +sides either willingly or under compulsion. (Mai, p. 193. Zonaras, 8, +25.) + +10. ¶ Fabius continued to besiege him from a safe distance instead of in +dangerous proximity; he would not venture to make a trial of men skilled +in the art of war, and made the safety of the soldiers a matter of great +circumspection because of the scarcity of the citizens, deeming it no +disaster to fail of destroying the forces of the enemy but a great one +to lose any of his troops. The Carthaginians, he believed, by means of +their enormous multitude would encounter danger again even if once +defeated, but if the smallest part of his own army met with failure he +calculated that he should find himself in every extremity of evil; this +would not be due to the number of the dead on any such occasion but to +the previous setbacks endured. He was in the habit of saying that men +with powers undiminished could often suffer without hurt the most +dreadful losses, but those who were already exhausted might be harmed by +the slightest reverses. Once, when his son advised him to run the risk +and be done with it and said something about his not losing more than a +hundred men, the above consideration led him to refuse assent, and he +further inquired of the young man whether he would like to be one of the +hundred men. (Mai, pp. 193 and 544. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +11. ¶ The Carthaginians, far from sending voluntarily any support to +Hannibal, were rather disposed to make sport of him, because whereas he +was continually writing of his splendid progress and his many successes +he still asked money and soldiers of them. They said his requests did +not agree with his successes: victors ought to find their existing army +sufficient and to send money home instead of demanding additional funds +from them. (Mai, p. 194. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +12. I am under accusation, not because I dash headlong into battles nor +because I risk dangers in my office as general, purposing by losing many +soldiers and killing many enemies to be named dictator and celebrate a +triumph, but because I am slow and because I delay and because I always +exercise extreme foresight for your preservation. (Mai, p.542.) + +13. Is it not really absurd for us to be zealous for success in +enterprises outside and far off before the city itself is really set +upon a firm foundation? Is it not absolutely outrageous to be eager to +conquer the enemy before we set our own affairs well in order? (Mai, p. +543.) + +14 ¶ Hannibal either as a favor to Fabius, on the ground that he was an +advantage to them or perhaps to create a prejudice against him, did not +ravage any of his possessions. Accordingly, when an exchange of captives +was made between the Romans and Carthaginians with the proviso that any +number in excess on either side should be ransomed, and as the Romans +were unwilling to ransom their men with money from the public treasury, +Fabius sold the farms and paid their ransom. Therefore they did not +depose him but they gave equal power to his master of the horse, so that +both held their commands on a like footing. Fabius harbored no wrath +against either the citizens or Rufus: he excused them for an act +prompted by human nature and was for contenting himself if in any way +they might survive. He desired the preservation and victory of the +commonwealth rather than an individual reputation, and continued to +believe that excellence depends not on decrees but on each man's spirit, +and that a man is better or worse not as a result of any ordinance but +as a result of his own wisdom or ignorance. + +Rufus, however, who had not shown the right spirit in the first place +was now more than ever puffed up and could not contain himself because +he had obtained through his insubordination the further prize of equal +authority with the dictator. And so he kept asking for the right to hold +sole sway a day at a time, or for several days alternately. But Fabius, +in the fear that he might work some harm if he should get possession of +the undivided power, would not consent to either plan of his, but +divided the army in such a way that they each, like the consuls, had a +separate force. And immediately Rufus encamped apart, in order that he +might give a practical illustration of the fact that he held sway in his +own right and not subject to the dictator. (Valesius, p. 597. Zonaras, +8, 26.) + +15. ¶ It is customary for men who are ruled to concur in opinion easily. +Especially often do they join forces when the object is to slander men +of good reputation, for the reason that it is their nature to help in +augmenting any power just come to light but to bring low what has +already obtained preeminence. And though one can not immediately measure +one's self with men who surpass one through ampler resources, growth in +an unexpected quarter brings hope of a like good fortune to others that +dwell in obscurity. [Footnote: This may come from a speech of M. +Terentius Varro in favor of equalizing the powers of dictator and of +master-of-horse.](Mai, p. 194.) 16. ¶ Rufus, who obtained equal +authority with the dictator, after a defeat by the Carthaginians altered +his attitude (for disasters chasten somehow those who are not completely +fools) and voluntarily gave up his leadership. And for this all praised +him loudly. He was not held worthy of censure because he had failed to +recognize at first what was fitting, but was commended for not +hesitating to change his mind. They deemed it an act of good fortune for +a man to choose right at the start a proper course of conduct, but they +thoroughly approved the course of one, who, having learned from +practical experience the better way, was not ashamed to face squarely +about. From this episode, too, it was clearly shown how much one man +differs from another and true excellence from the reputation therefor. +What had been taken from Fabius by jealousy and prejudice of the +citizens, he received back with good-will and even at the request of his +colleague. (Mai, p. 194. Zonaras, 8, 26.) 17. ¶ The same man when about +to retire from office sent for the consuls, surrendered his army to +them, and advised them in addition very fully regarding all the details +of what must be done. The safety of the city stood higher in his +estimation than a reputation for being the only successful commander, +and expecting that if they followed their own bent they would probably +meet with failure, but if they heeded his counsel they would meet with a +favorable outcome, he preferred to look to the second contingency for +praise. And the consuls were not unduly bold but acted on the suggestion +of Fabius, deeming it better not to accomplish any important result than +to be ruined; hence they remained where they were throughout the entire +period of their command. (Mai, p. 195. Zonaras, 8, 26.) + +18. For the Iapygians and Apulians dwell around the Ionic Gulf. Of the +Apulians the tribes according to Dio are the Peuketii Pediculi, Daunii, +Tarentini. There is also Cannae, the "plain of Diomed," near Daunian +Apulia. Messapia was called also Iapygia, later Salentia, and then +Calabria. Argyrippa, a Diomedian city, was renamed Arpi by the +Apulians. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 603 and 852. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 216 (_a.u._ 538)] 19. Later he was arrayed against the +Romans at Cannae, when the Roman generals were Paulus and Terentius. Now +Cannae is a level district of Argyrippa, where Diomed founded the city +Argyrippa, that is to say "Argos the Horse-City" in the tongue of the +Greeks. And this plain comes to belong later to the Daunii (of the +Iapygians), then to the Salantii, and now to those that all call by the +name Calauri. It is also the boundary between the Calauri and +Longibardi, where the great war burst upon them. (Tzetzes, Hist., 1, +757-767. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +20. ¶ With regard to divination and astronomy Dio says: "I, however, can +not form any opinion either about these events or about others that are +foretold by divination. For what does foreshowing avail, if a thing +shall certainly come to pass, and if there could be no averting of it +either by human devices or by divine providence? Accordingly, let each +man look at these matters in what way he pleases." (Mai, p. 195. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +21. ¶ The commanders were Paulus and Terentius, men not of similar +temperament, but differing alike in family and in character. The former +was a patrician, possessed of the graces of education, and esteemed +safety before haste, being restrained partly, it might be said, as a +result of the censure he had received for his former conduct in office. +Hence he was not inclined to audacity, but was considering how he might +keep from getting into trouble again rather than how he might achieve +success by some desperate venture. Terentius, however, had been brought +up among the rabble, was practiced in vulgar bravado, and so displayed +lack of prudence in nearly all respects; for instance, he promised +himself general direction of the war, kept constantly annoying the +patricians, and thought that he alone should have the leadership in view +of the quiet behavior of his colleague. Now they both reached the camp +at a most opportune time: Hannibal had no longer any provender; Spain +was in turmoil; the affection of the allies was being alienated from +him: and if they had waited for even the briefest possible period, they +would have conquered without trouble. As matters went, however, the +heedlessness of Terentius and the submissiveness of Paulus, who always +desired the proper course but assented to his colleague in most +points--so sure is gentleness to be overcome by audacity,--compassed +their defeat. (Mai, p. 196. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +22. ¶ In the melee of the war not even the boldest possessed a hope so +buoyant as to rise above the fear that arose from its uncertainty. The +surer they felt of conquering the more did they tremble for fear they +might in some way come to grief. Those who are ignorant of a matter by +reason of their very lack of perception are not awaiting anything +terrible, but the boldness derived from calculation [lacuna] (Six pages +are lacking.) (Mai, p. 196.) + +23. At the time when burst this frightful war, a terrific earthquake +occurred, so that mountains were cleft asunder and showers of great +stones poured down from heaven. But they, fighting vigorously, perceived +none of these things. At last so great a multitude of Roman warriors +fell that Hannibal, the general, in sending to Sicily the finger-rings +of the generals and the other men of repute filled many bushel and peck +measures--so great a multitude that the noble, foremost Roman women ran +lamenting to the temples in Rome and with the hairs of their heads +cleansed the statues there;--and later had intercourse with both slaves +and barbarians (because the Roman land had been utterly impoverished of +men), to the end that their race might not be every whit extirpated. +Rome at that time, after the utter loss of all her citizens, stood +inglorious through many day-coursing cycles. Her old men sitting at her +outer gates bewailed the disaster most grievous to be borne and asked +ever and anon the passers-by whether any one perchance were left alive. +(Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 767-785. (Cp. Fragm. LVI, 19, which precedes this.) +Cp. Zonaras, 9, 1.) + +24. ¶ Scipio, on learning that some of the Romans were prepared to +abandon Rome, and indeed all Italy, because they felt it was destined to +fall into the hands of the Carthaginians, yet found a way to restrain +them. Sword in hand he sprang suddenly into the room where they were +conferring, and after himself swearing to take all proper measures both +of word and act he made them also devote themselves by oath to utter +destruction, should they fail to keep their pledges to him. Later these +men reached a harmonious decision and wrote to the consul that they were +safe enough. He, however, did not at once write or despatch a messenger +to Rome; on reaching Canusium he set in order affairs at that place, +sent to the regions in proximity garrisons sufficient for immediate +needs, and repulsed a cavalry attack upon the city. Altogether, he +displayed neither dejection nor terror, but with an unbending spirit, +as if no serious evil had befallen them, he both planned and executed +all measures of immediate benefit. (Valesius, p. 598. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +25. Hannibal took possession of the Nucerini under an agreement that +each man should leave the city carrying one change of clothing. As soon, +however, as he was master of the situation he shut the senators into +bath-houses and suffocated them, and in the case of the others, although +he had granted them permission to go away where they pleased, he cut +down many of them even on the road. Still, this course was of no profit +to him, for the rest became afraid that they might suffer a similar +fate, and so would not come to terms with him and resisted as long as +they could hold out. (Valesius, p. 598. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +26. ¶ Marcellus showed great bravery, moderation, and justice. His +demands on his subjects were not all rigorous or harsh, nor was he +careful to see that they also should do what was needful. Those of them +who committed any errors he pardoned humanely and, furthermore, was not +angry if they failed to be like him. (Valesius, p. 601.) + +27. ¶ When many citizens of Nola were dreading the men captured at Cannae +and later released by Hannibal, because they thought that such persons +favored the invader's cause, and when they were even desirous of putting +them to death, he opposed it. Furthermore, he concealed from this time +on the suspicion that he felt toward them, and treated them in such a +way that they chose his side by preference, and became extremely useful +both to their native land and to the Romans. (Valesius, p. 601. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +28. ¶ The same Marcellus when he perceived that one of the Lucanian +cavalrymen was in love with a woman permitted him to keep her in the +camp, because he was a most excellent fighter: this in spite of the +fact that he had forbidden any women to enter the ramparts. (Valesius, +p. 601.) + +29. ¶ He pursued the same course with the people of Acerrae as he had +with those of Nucreia, except that he cast the senators into wells and +not into bath-houses. (Valesius, p. 601. Zonaras, 9, 2.) + +30. ¶ Fabius got back some of the men captured in former battles by +exchanging man for man, while others he made a compact to ransom with +money. When, however, the senate failed to confirm the expenditure, +because it did not approve of their ransoming, he offered for sale, as I +have said, [Footnote: Cp. section 14 (first paragraph) of this fragment.] +his own farms and from the proceeds of them furnished the ransom for the +men. (Valesius, p. 601.) + +31. Archimedes, the well-known inventor, was by birth a Syracusan. Now +this old geometrician, who had passed through seventy-five seasons, had +built many powerful engines, and by the triple pulley, with the aid of +the left hand alone, could launch a merchant ship of fifty thousand +medimni burden. And when Marcellus once, the Roman general, assaulted +Syracuse by land and sea, this man first by his engines drew up some +merchantmen, and lifting them up against the wall of Syracuse dropped +them again and sent them every one to the bottom, crews and all. Again, +as Marcellus removed his ships a little distance, the old man gave all +the Syracusans the power to lift stones of a wagon's size, and letting +them go one by one to sink the ships. When Marcellus withdrew a bow +shot thence, the old man manufactured a kind of hexagonal mirror, and at +an interval proportionate to the size of the mirror he set similar small +mirrors with four edges, moving by links and by a kind of hinge, and +made the glass the center of the rays of the sun,--its noontide ray, +whether in summer or in the dead of winter. So after that when the beams +were reflected into this, a terrible kindling of flame arose upon the +ships, and he reduced them to ashes a bowshot off. Thus by his +contrivances did the old man vanquish Marcellus. + +He used to say, moreover, in Dorian, the Syracusan dialect: "Give me +where to stand, and with a lever I will move the whole earth." + +This man, when (according to Diodorus) this Syracuse surrendered herself +entire to Marcellus, or (according to Dio) was pillaged by the Romans +during an all-night festival to Artemis that the citizens were +celebrating, was killed by a certain Roman in the following fashion.--He +was bent over, drawing some geometrical figure, and some Roman, coming +upon him, made him his prisoner and began to drag him away: but he, with +all his attention fixed just then upon his figure, not knowing who it +was that pulled him said to the man: "Stand aside, fellow, from my +figure." But as the other kept on dragging, he turned, and recognizing +him as a Roman cried out: "Let some one give me one of my machines." The +Roman in terror immediately killed him, an unsound weak old man, but +marvelous through his works. Marcellus straightaway mourned on learning +this, buried him brilliantly in his ancestral tomb, assisted by the +noblest citizens and all the Romans, and the man's murderer, I trow, he +slew with an axe. Dio and Diodorus have written the story. (Tzetzes, +Hist. 2, 103-149. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 4.) + +32. Proculus sings of having forged fire-producing mirrors and of having +hung them from the wall opposite the enemy's ships. Then when the rays +of the sun fell upon these, fire was struck out of them that consumed +the naval force of the opponents and the ships themselves,--a device +which Dio relates Archimedes hit upon long ago, at the time when the +Romans were besieging Syracuse. (Zonaras, 14, 3.) + +33. Though such a disaster at that time had overwhelmed Rome, Hannibal +neglected to reduce the town, and occupied in triumphs, drinking bouts +and luxurious living appeared sluggish in the enterprise, until at +length a Roman army was collected for the Romans. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 211 (_a.u._ 543)] Then was he hindered in three-fold +manner when he set out for Rome. For of a sudden from the clear sky a +most violent hail poured down, and a spreading darkness kept him from +his journey. (Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 786-792. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +34. Dio in his Roman History 15: "For as a result of their position from +very early times and their pristine friendship for the Romans, they +would not endure to be punished, but the Campanians undertook to accuse +Flaccus and the Syracusans Marcellus. And they were condemned in the +assembly." (Suidas, s. v. [Greek: 'edkaiothaesan'].) + +35. Dio in 15th Book: "For fear the Syracusans, in despair of +assistance, commit some act of rebellion." (Bekker, Anecdota, p. 119, +121. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +36. ¶ The Romans had made propositions to Hannibal looking to a return +of the prisoners on both sides, but did not accomplish the exchange +although they sent, Carthalo to them for this very purpose. For when +they would not receive him, as an enemy, within the walls, he refused to +hold any conversation with them, but immediately turned back in anger. +(Ursinus, p. 379. Zonaras, 9, 6.) + +37. ¶ Scipio the praetor, who saved his wounded father, surpassed in +natural excellence, was renowned for his education, and possessed great +force both of mind and also of language, whenever the latter was +necessary. These qualities he displayed conspicuously in his acts, so +that he seemed to be high-minded and disposed to do great deeds not for +the sake of an empty boast but as the result of a steadfast tendency. +For these reasons and because he scrupulously paid honors to the +heavenly powers, he was elected. He had never had charge of any public +or private enterprise before he ascended the Capitol and spent some time +there. On this account also he acquired the reputation of having sprung +from Jupiter, who had taken the form of a serpent on the occasion of +intercourse with his mother. [Footnote: Compare the story about Augustus +(Volume III, page 3 of this translation).] And by this tradition he +inspired many with a kind of hope in him. (Valesius, p.601. Zonaras, 9, +7.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 210 (_a.u._ 544)] 38. ¶ Scipio, although he did not +receive the title of legal commander from those by whom he was elected, +nevertheless made the army his friend, roused the men from their +undisciplined state and drilled them, and brought them out of the terror +with which their misfortunes had filled them. As for Marcius, [Footnote: +This is L. Marcius, a knight, who at the death of Publius and Gnaeus +Scipio in Spain was chosen commander by the soldiers.] Scipio did not, +as most men would have done, regard him as unfit because he had acquired +popularity, but both in word and deed always showed him respect. He was +the sort of man to wish to make his way not by slandering and +overthrowing his neighbor, but by his native excellence. And it was this +most of all that helped him to conciliate the soldiers. (Valesius, +p.602.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 209 (_a.u._ 545)] 39. ¶ When a mutiny of the soldiers +took place, Scipio distributed many gifts to the soldiers and designated +many also for the public treasury. Some of the captives he appointed to +service in the general fleet and all the hostages he gave back freely to +their relatives. For this reason many towns and many princes, among them +Indibilis and Mandonius of the Ilergetes, came over to his side. The +Celtiberian race, the largest and strongest of those in that region, he +gained in the following way. He had taken among the captives a maiden +distinguished for her beauty and it was supposed, on general principles, +that he would fall in love with her: and when he learned that she was +betrothed to Allucius, one of the Celtiberian magistrates, he +voluntarily sent for him and delivered the girl to him along with the +ransom her kinsfolk had brought. By this deed he attached to his cause +both them and the rest of the nation. (Valesius, p.602. Zonaras, 9, 8.) + +40. ¶ Scipio was clever in strategy, agreeable in society, terrifying to +his opponents, and humane to such as yielded. Furthermore, through his +father's and his uncle's reputation he was thoroughly able to inspire +confidence in his projects, because he was thought to have acquired his +fame by hereditary excellence and not fortuitously. At this time the +swiftness of his victory, the fact that Hasdrubal had retreated into the +interior, and especially the recollection that he had predicted, whether +through divine inspiration or by some chance information, that he would +encamp in the enemy's country,--a prediction now fulfilled,--caused all +to honor him as superior to themselves, while the Spaniards actually +named him Great King. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 8.) + +41. ¶ The king of the Spaniards, taken captive by Scipio, chose to +follow the Roman cause, surrendered his own sovereignty, and stood ready +to furnish hostages. Scipio, though he accepted the man's alliance, said +there was no need of hostages, for he possessed the necessary pledge in +his own arms. [Footnote: Probably spurious (Melber).] (Mai, p. 545.) + +42. Dio in 16: "You all deserve to die: however, I shall not put you all +to death, but I shall execute only a few whom I have already arrested; +the rest I shall release." (Suidas, s. v. [Greek: edikaiothaesan]. +Zonaras, 9, 10.) + +43. Later Hannibal incurred the jealousy of the Sicilians, and when he +fell in need of grain, as the islanders did not send it, the former +noble conqueror, now by famine conquered, was put to flight by Scipio +the Roman, and to the Sicilians became part cause of their utter, dire +destruction. (Tzetzes, Hist. 1, 793-797.) + +44. Thus these authorities in regard to the Gymnesian islands. Dio +Cocceianus, however, says they are near the Iberus river and near the +European Pillars of Hercules,--which islands the Greeks and Romans alike +call the Gymnesian, but the Spaniards Valerian or Healthful Islands. +(Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 633. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 10.) + +45. ¶ Masinissa was in general among the most prominent men and was +wont to accomplish warlike deeds, whether by planning or by force, in +the best manner, and gained the foremost place in the confidence not +only of the men of his own race (and these are most distrustful as a +rule) but of those who greatly prided themselves upon their sagacity. +(Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +46. ¶ Masinissa became mightily enamoured of Sophonis, [Footnote: +The name appears as Sophoniba in Livy (XXX, 12).] who possessed +conspicuous beauty,--that symmetry of body and bloom of youth which +is characteristic of the prime of life,--and had also been trained +in a liberal literary and musical education. She was of attractive +manners, coy and altogether so lovable that the mere sight of her or +even the sound of her voice vanquished every one, however devoid of +affection he might be. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +47[lacuna]. However he also wished to take revenge on him. For having +incurred suspicion beforehand he took to flight, and on arriving at +Libya inflicted many injuries by himself and many with Roman aid upon +Syphax and the Carthaginians. Scipio, when he had won over the whole +territory south of the Pyrenees, partly by force, partly by treaty, +equipped himself for the journey to Libya, as he had received orders to +do. This business, too, had now been entrusted to him in spite of much +opposition, and he was instructed to join Syphax. Certainly he would +have accomplished something worthy of his aspirations: he would have +either surrounded Carthage with his troops and have captured the place +or he would have drawn Hannibal from as he later did, had not the Romans +at home through jealousy of him and through fear stood in his way. They +reflected that youth without exception always reaches out after greater +results and good fortune is often insatiate of success, and thought that +it would be very difficult for a youthful spirit [lacuna] through +self-confidence [lacuna] [lacuna] it would be of advantage not to treat +him according to his power and fame but to look to their own liberty and +safety, they dismissed him; in other words, the man that they themselves +had put in charge of affairs when they stood in need of him they now of +their own motion removed because he had become too great for the public +safety. They were no longer anxious to conduct a destructive warfare +through his agency against the Carthaginians, but simply to escape +training up for themselves a self-chosen tyrant. So they sent two of the +praetors to relieve him and called him home. Also they did not vote him a +triumph, because he was campaigning as an individual and had been +appointed to no legal command, but they allowed him to sacrifice a +hundred white oxen upon the Capitol, to celebrate a festival, and to +canvass for the consulship of the second year following. For the +elections for the next year had recently been held. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 207 (_a.u._ 547)] At this same period Sulpicius, too, +with Attalus captured Oreus by treachery and Opus by main force. Philip +although in Demetrias was unable to check their encroachments speedily +because the AEtolians had seized the passes in advance. At last, +however, he did arrive on the scene and finding Attalus disposing of the +spoil from Opus (for this had fallen to his lot and that from Oreus to +the Romans) he hurled him back to his ships. Attalus, accordingly, for +this reason and also because Prusias, king of Bithynia, had invaded his +country and was devastating it, hastily sailed away homewards. + +Philip, however, far from being elated at this success, even wished to +conclude a truce with the Romans and especially because Ptolemy, too, +was sending ambassadors from Egypt and trying to reconcile them. After +some preliminary discussion [lacuna] he no longer requested peace, but +[lacuna] drew the AEtolians away from the Roman alliance by some [lacuna] +and made them friends. + +Nothing worthy of remembrance, however, was done either by him or by any +others either then or in the following year when Lucius Veturius and +Caecilius Metellus became consuls: this notwithstanding the fact that +many signs of ill-omen to the Romans were reported. For example, a +hermaphrodite lamb was born, and a swarm of [lacuna] was seen, down the +doors of the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter two serpents glided, both +the doors and the altar in the temple of Neptune ran with copious sweat, +in Antium bloody ears were seen by some reapers, elsewhere a woman +having horns appeared and many thunderbolts [lacuna] into temples +[lacuna] Paris Fragment (10th Century MS.) (See Haase, Rh. Mus., 1839, +p.458, ff. Zonaras 9, 11.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 205 (_a.u._ 549)]48. ¶ Licinius Crassus, by reason of +his geniality and beauty and wealth (which gained for him the name of +Wealthy) and because he was a high priest, was to stay in Italy without +casting lots for the privilege. (Valesius, p. 605. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +49. ¶ The Pythian god commanded the Romans to entrust to the best of the +citizens the conveyance to the city of the goddess from Pessinus, and +they accordingly honored Publius Scipio, a son of Gnaeus who died in +Spain, above all others by their first preference. The reason was that +he was in general [lacuna] and was deemed both pious and just. He at +this time, accompanied by the most prominent women, conducted the +goddess to Rome and to the Palatine. (Valesius, p. 606.) + +50. ¶ The Romans on learning of the actions of the Locrians, thinking it +had come about through contempt of Scipio, were displeased, and under +the influence of anger immediately made plans to end his leadership and +to recall him for trial. They were also indignant because he adopted +Greek manners, wore his toga thrown back over his shoulder, and +contended in the palaestra. Furthermore it was said he gave over to the +soldiers the property of the allies to plunder, and he was suspected of +delaying the voyage to Carthage purposely, in order that he might hold +office for a longer time; but it was principally at the instigation of +men who all along had been jealous of him that they wished to summon +him. Still, this proposition was not carried out because of the great +favor, based on their hopes of him, which the mass of the people felt +for him. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, 9, 11.) + +51 [lacuna]. they stopped and pitched a camp in a suitable place and +fenced it all about with palisades, as they had brought in stakes for +this very purpose. It had just been finished when a great serpent came +gliding along beside it on the road leading to Carthage, so that by this +portent, Scipio, owing to the tradition about his father, was +encouraged, and devastated the country and assaulted the cities with +greater boldness. Some of the latter he did succeed in capturing; and +the Carthaginians not yet [lacuna] prepared remained still, and Syphax +was by profession their friend, but, as a matter of fact, he held aloof +from the action; by urging Scipio to come to terms with them he showed +that he was unwilling that either side should conquer the other and at +the same time become his master; on the contrary he desired them to +oppose each other as vigorously as possible but to be at peace with him. +Consequently, as Scipio was harrying the country, Hanno the cavalry +commander (he was a son of Hasdrubal) [lacuna] the [lacuna] was +persuaded on the part of Masinissa [lacuna] to the Carthaginians +[lacuna] warlike [lacuna] was believed, and, therefore, Scipio, sending +forward some horsemen on the advice of Masinissa [lacuna] laid an ambush +in a suitable spot where they were destined [lacuna] making an onset to +simulate flight. Against [lacuna] those wishing to pursue them. This +also took place. The Carthaginians attacked them, and when after a +little by agreement they turned, followed after at full speed while +Masinissa with his accompanying cavalry lagged behind and got in the +rear of the pursuers, and Scipio appearing from ambush went to meet +them: thus they were cut off and overwhelmed with weapons on both sides +and many were killed and captured [lacuna] and also Hanno. On learning +this, Hasdrubal arrested the mother of Masinissa. And those captives +were exchanged, one for the other. + +Now Syphax, being well aware that Masinissa would war against him no +less than against the Carthaginians and fearing that he might find +himself bereft of allies if they suffered any harm through his desertion +of their cause, renounced his pretended friendship for the Romans and +attached himself openly to the Carthaginians. He failed to render the +wholehearted assistance, however, to the point of actually resisting the +Romans, and the latter overran the country with impunity, carrying off +much plunder and recovering many prisoners from Italy who had previously +been sent to Libya by Hannibal; consequently they despised their foes +and began a campaign against Utica. When Syphax and Hasdrubal saw this, +they so feared for the safety of the place that they no longer remained +passive; and their approach caused the Romans to abandon the siege, +since they did not dare to contend against two forces at the same time. +Subsequently the invaders went into winter quarters where they were, +getting a part of their provisions from the immediate neighborhood and +sending for a part from Sicily and Sardinia; for the ships that carried +the spoils to Sicily could also bring them food supplies. + +In Italy no great results were accomplished in the war against Hannibal. +Publius Sempronius in a small engagement was vanquished by Hannibal, but +later overcame the latter in turn: Livius and Nero, having become +censors, announced to those Latins who had abandoned the joint +expedition and had been designated to furnish a double quota of +soldiers, that a census of persons taxable should be taken; this they +did in order that others, too, might contribute money, and they made +salt, which up to that time had been free of tax, taxable. This measure +was for no other purpose than to satisfy Livius, who designed it, thus +requiting the citizens for their vote of condemnation; and indeed, he +received a nickname from it; after this he was called Salinator. +[Footnote: Salinator = "salt-dealer."] This was one act that caused +these censors to become notorious; another was that they deprived each +other of their horses and made each other aerarii [Footnote: AErarius--a +citizen of the lowest class, who paid only a poll-tax and had no right +to vote.] [lacuna] according to the [lacuna] (Paris fragment (p. 460). +Zonaras, 9, 12.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 203 (_a.u._ 551)] 52. ¶ Scipio captured a Carthaginian +vessel but released it, inflicting no injury when they feigned to have +been coming on an embassy to him. He knew that this pretext was invented +to secure the safety of the captives, but preferred avoiding the +possibility of being touched by the breath of slander to the retention +of the ship. Also, when Syphax at that time was still endeavoring to +reconcile them on the terms that Scipio should sail from Libya and +Hannibal from Italy, he received his proposition not because he trusted +him, but to the end that he might ruin him. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, +9, 12.) + +53. ¶ The Romans came bringing to Scipio along with much other property +Syphax himself. And the commander would not consent to see him remain +bound in chains, but calling to mind his entertainment at the other's +court and reflecting on human misfortunes, on the fact that his captive +had been king over no inconsiderable power and had shown commendable +zeal in his behalf, and that nevertheless he beheld him in so pitiable a +plight,--Scipio leaped from his chair, loosed him, embraced him, and +treated him with great consideration. (Valesius, p. 606. Zonaras, 9, +13.) + +54. ¶ The Carthaginians made propositions to Scipio through heralds, and +of the demands made upon them by him there was none that did not promise +to satisfy, although they never intended to carry out their agreement; +they did, to be sure, give him money at once and gave back all the +prisoners, but in regard to the other matters they sent envoys to Rome. +The Romans would not receive them at that time, declaring that it was a +tradition in the State not to negotiate a peace with any parties while +their armies were in Italy. Later when Hannibal and Mago had embarked, +they granted the envoys an audience and fell into a dispute among +themselves, being of two minds. At last, however, they voted the peace +on the terms that Scipio had arranged. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, 9, +13.) + +55. ¶ The Carthaginians attacked Scipio both by land and by sea. Scipio, +vexed at this, made a complaint, but they returned no proper answer to +the envoys and moreover actually plotted against them when they sailed +back; and had not by chance a wind sprung up and aided them, they would +have been captured or would have perished. On this account Scipio, +although at this time the commissioners arrived with peace for the men +of Carthage, refused any longer to make it. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, +9, 13.) + +56. Nearly all who conduct a military expedition,--or many, at any +rate,--perform voluntarily many acts which would not be required of +them. They look askance at their instructions as something forced upon +them, but are delighted with the projects of their own minds because +they feel themselves so far independent. (Valesius, p. 609.) + +57. Dio in Book 17: "He suddenly halted in his running." (Bekker, +Anecd., p. 140, 23. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +58. Dio in _Roman History_ 17: "In general the fortunate party is +inclined to audacity and the unfortunate to moderate behavior, and +accordingly, the timid party is wont to show temperance and the +audacious intemperance. This was to be noted to an especial degree in +that case." [Footnote: This may conceivably relate to Masinissa's +marrying Sophoniba without authorization.] (Suidas s. v. [Greek: host +hephipan]) + +59. Dio in Roman History 17: "And a report about them of same such +nature as follows was made public." (Suidas and Etymologicum Magnum and +others s. v. [Greek: hedemhothe].) + +60. [Greek: henthymixhomenoi] = _calculating_. So Dio in Book 17, Roman +History. (Suidas or Etym. in Cramer. Anecd., Paris, Vol. IV, p. 169, 8. +Zonaras, Lex., p. 750.) + +61. [Greek: diathithemi] ("arrange") for [Greek: diaprhattomai] +("accomplish"), with the accusative in Dio, Book 18: "And culling all +the best flowers of philosophy." (Bekker, Anecd., p. 133, 29.) [This is +from two glosses, and there is confusion caused by gaps.--Ed.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 201 (_a.u. 553_)]62. [The Carthaginians made overtures +for peace to Scipio. The terms agreed upon were, that they should give +hostages, should return the captives and deserters they were holding +(whether of the Romans or of the allies), should surrender all the +elephants and the triremes (save ten), and for the future possess +neither elephants nor ships, should withdraw from all territory of +Masinissa that they were holding and restore to him the country and the +cities that were properly in his domain, that they should not hold +levies, nor use mercenaries, nor make war upon any one contrary to the +advice and consent of the Romans. (Ursinus, p. 380. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +63. ¶ It seemed to Cornelius [Footnote: _Cu. Cornelius Lentulus_.] the +consul, as well as to many other Romans, that Carthage ought to be +destroyed, and he was wont to say that it was impossible, while that +city existed, for them to be free from fear. (Ursinus, p. 381. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +64. In the popular assembly, however, [lacuna] all unanimously voted for +peace. [_About three obscure lines (fragmentary) follow_.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 201 (_a.u._ 553)] And of the elephants the larger number +were carried off to Rome, and the rest were presented to Masinissa. +[lacuna] of Carthaginians. And they themselves, immediately after the +ratification of the peace, abandoned Italy, and the Romans, Libya. The +Carthaginians who sent commissioners to Rome were allowed by the Romans +to contribute for the benefit of the captives severally related to them; +and about two hundred of them were sent back without ransoms to Scipio +[lacuna] after the treaty [lacuna] and friendship [lacuna] confirmed; +and they granted peace [lacuna] [Two fragmentary lines.] + +Scipio accordingly attained great prominence by these deeds, but +Hannibal was even brought to trial by his own people; he was accused of +having refused to capture Rome when he was able to do so, and of having +appropriated the plunder in Italy. He was not, however, convicted, but +was shortly after entrusted with the highest office in Carthage [lacuna] +[One fragmentary line.] (Paris Fragment, p. 462. Zonaras, 9, 14. Livy, +30:42, 43, 45.) [Frag. LVII] + +1[lacuna]. Marcus [lacuna] sent to Philip by the generals [lacuna] from +them either [lacuna] was successful; embassy [lacuna] of Philip and +[lacuna] and some [lacuna] which he himself [lacuna] had sent to the +Carthaginians [lacuna] not at all peace [lacuna] having vanquished +[lacuna] enemies by the [lacuna] rendered them of no less importance in +reputation. (Paris Fragment, p. 463. Cp. Zonaras, 9. 15 = Livy 30:42.) + +[Frag. LVII] + +2. I found the Dardanians to be a race dwelling above the Illyrians and +Macedonians. And the city of Dardanus is there. (Isaac Tzetzes on +Lycophron, 1128. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 14.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 200 (_a.u._ 554)]3. And they [Footnote: I.e., the Romans +and the Macedonians.]delayed for several days, not meeting in battle +array but conducting skirmishes and sallies of the light-armed troops +and the horse. The Romans, for their part, were eager to join battle +with all speed: their force was a strong one, they had little provision, +and consequently would often go up to the foe's palisade. Philip, on the +other hand, was weaker in point of armed followers, but his supply of +provisions was better than theirs because his own country was close by; +so he waited, expecting that they would become exhausted without a +conflict, and if he had possessed self-control he certainly would have +accomplished something. As it was, he acquired a contempt for the +Romans, thinking that they feared him because they had transferred their +camp to a certain spot from which they could get food better: he +thereupon attacked them unexpectedly while they were engaged in +plundering and managed to kill a few. Galba on perceiving this made a +sortie from the camp, fell upon him while off his guard, and slew many +more in return. Philip, in view of his defeat and the further fact that +he was wounded, no longer held his position but after a truce of some +days for the taking up and burial of the corpses withdrew the first part +of the night. Galba, however, did not follow him up; he was short of +provisions, he did not know the country, and particularly he was +ignorant of his adversary's strength; he was also afraid that if he +advanced inconsiderately he might come to grief. For these reasons he +was unwilling to proceed farther, but retired to Apollonia. + +During this same time Apustius with the Rhodians and with Attalus +cruised about and subjugated many of the islands [lacuna] (Paris +Fragment, p. 464. Zonaras, 9, 15. Cp. Livy, 31:21 ff.) + +4. The Insubres were thrown into confusion. For Hamilcar, a +Carthaginian, who had made a campaign with Mago and remained secretly in +those regions, after a term of quiet, during which he was satisfied +merely to elude discovery, as soon as the Macedonian war broke out, +caused the Gauls to revolt from the Romans; then in company with the +rebels he made an expedition against the Ligurians and won over some of +them. Later they had a battle with the praetor Lucius Furius, were +defeated, and sent envoys asking peace. This the Ligurians obtained; +then others [lacuna] [Five fragmentary lines.] (Paris Fragment, p. 465. +Zonaras, 9, 15.) + +5[lacuna]. he thought he ought to be granted a triumph, and many +arguments were presented on both sides. Some, especially in view of the +malignity of Aurelius, eagerly furthered his cause and magnified his +victory, using many illustrations. Others declared he had contended with +the help of the consular army and had no individual and independent +appointment, and furthermore they even demanded an accounting from him +because he had not carried out his instructions. However, he won his +point. And he in that place [lacuna] before Aurelius [lacuna] Vermis +[lacuna] from the [lacuna] (Paris Fragment, p. 465. Cp. Livy, 31:47 ff.) + +[Frag. LVIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 197 (_a.u._ 557)] ¶ Philip after his defeat sent heralds +to Flamininus. The latter, however eagerly he coveted Macedonia and +desired the fullest results from his good fortune of the moment, +nevertheless made a truce. The cause lay in the fear that, if Philip +were out of the way, the Greeks might recover their ancient spirit and +no longer pay them court, that the AEtolians, already filled with great +boasting because they had contributed the largest share to the victory, +might become more vexatious to them, and that Antiochus might, as was +reported, come to Europe and form an alliance with Philip. (Ursinus, p. +381. Zonaras, 9, 16.) + +[Frag. LIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 192 (_a.u._ 562)] 1. ¶ Antiochus and his generals were +ruined beforehand; for by his general indolence and his passion for a +certain girl he had drifted into luxurious living and had at the same +time rendered the rest unfit for warfare. (Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, +19.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 190 (_a.u._ 564)] 2. ¶ Seleucus [Footnote: Probably an +error of the excerptor, for Antiochus himself.] the son of Antiochus +captured the son of Africanus, who was sailing across from Greece, and +had given him the kindest treatment. Although his father many times +requested the privilege of ransoming him, his captor refused, yet did +him no harm: on the contrary, he showed him every honor and finally, +though he failed of securing peace, released him without ransom. +(Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, 20.) + +[Frag. LX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 189 (_a.u._ 565)] ¶ Many were jealous of the Scipios +because the two brothers of excellent stock and trained in virtue had +accomplished all that has been related and had secured such titles. That +these victors could not be charged with wrongdoing is made plain by my +former statements and was shown still more conclusively on the occasion +of the confiscation of the property of Asiaticus,--which was found to +consist merely of his original inheritance,--or again by the retirement +of Africanus to Liternum and the security that he enjoyed there to the +end of his life. At first he did appear in court, [Footnote: Political +enemies of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus summoned him to court on +trumped-up charges.] thinking that he would be saved by the genuineness +of his good behavior. (Valesius, p. 609. Zonaras, 9, 20.) + +[Frag. LXI] + +¶ The Romans, when they had had a taste of Asiatic luxury and had +spent some time in the possessions of the vanquished amid the +abundance of spoils and the license granted by success in arms, +rapidly came to emulate their prodigality and ere long to trample +under foot their ancestral traditions. Thus this terrible influence, +arising from that source, fell also upon the city. (Valesius, p. 609.) + +[Frag. LXII] + +¶ Gracchus was thoroughly a man of the people and a very fluent public +speaker, but his disposition was very different from Cato's. Although +he had an enmity of long standing against the Scipios, he would not +endure what was taking place but spoke in defence of Africanus, who +was accused while absent, and exerted himself to prevent any smirch +from attaching to that leader; and he prevented the imprisonment of +Asiaticus. Consequently the Scipios, too, relinquished their hatred of +him and made a family alliance, Africanus bestowing upon him his own +daughter. (Valesius, p. 610.) + +[Frag. LXIII] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 187 (_a.u._ 567)] ¶ Some youths who had insulted the +Carthaginian envoys that had come to Rome were sent to Carthage and +delivered up to the people; they received no injury, however, at the +hands of the citizens and were released. (Ursinus, p. 381.) + +[Frag. LXIV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 183 (_a.u._ 571)] ¶ He himself [i.e. Hannibal] died by +drinking poison near Bithynia, in a certain place called Libyssa by +name; though he thought to die in Libyssa his own proper country. For an +oracle had once been written down for Hannibal to the following effect: +"A Libyssan clod shall hide the form of Hannibal." Later the Roman +Emperor Severus, being of Libyan birth, interred in a tomb of white +marble this man, the general Hannibal. (Tzetzes. Hist. 1, 798-805. Cp. +Zonaras, 9, 21.) + +[Frag. LXV] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 169 (_a.u._ 585)] 1. ¶ Perseus hoped to eject the Romans +from Greece completely, but through his excessive and inopportune +parsimony and the consequent contempt of his allies he became weak once +more. When Roman influence was declining slightly and his own was +increasing, he was filled with scorn and thought he had no further need +of his allies, but believed that either they would assist him free of +cost or he could prevail by himself. Hence he paid neither Eumenes nor +Gentius the money that he had promised, thinking that they must have +reasons of their own strong enough to insure hostility towards the +Romans. These princes, therefore, and the Thrasians--they, too, were not +receiving their full pay--became indifferent; and Perseus fell into such +depths of despair again as actually to sue for peace. (Valesius, p. 610. +Zonaras, 9, 22.) + +2. ¶ Perseus sued for peace at the hands of the Romans, and would have +obtained it but for the presence in his embassy of the Rhodians, who +joined it through fear that a rival to the Romans might be annihilated. +Their language had none of the moderation which petitioners should +employ, and they talked as if they were not so much asking peace for +Perseus as bestowing it, and adopted a generally haughty tone: finally +they threatened those who should be responsible for their failing to +come to a satisfactory agreement by saying that they would fight on the +opposite side. They had previously been somewhat under the ban of Roman +suspicion, but after this many more hard things were said of them and +they prevented Perseus from obtaining peace. (Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, +9, 22.) + +[Sidenote: B.C. 168 (_a.u._ 586)]3. ¶ When Perseus was in the temple at +Samothrace, a demand was made upon him for the surrender of one Evander, +of Cretan stock, a most faithful follower who had assisted him in many +schemes against the Romans and had helped to concoct the plot carried +out at Delphi against Eumenes. The prince, fearing that he might declare +all the intrigues to which he had been privy, did not deliver him but +secretly slew him and spread abroad the report that he had made way with +himself in advance. The associates of Perseus, fearing his treachery +and blood-guiltiness, then began to desert his standard. (Valesius, p. +610. Zonaras, 9, 23.) + +4. ¶ Perseus allowed himself [Footnote: Cp. Livy, XLV, 6.] to be found, +and upon his being brought to Amphipolis Paulus accorded him no harsh +treatment by deed or word, but on the contrary made way for him when he +approached, entertained him in various ways and had him sit at his +table, keeping him, meanwhile, although a prisoner, unconfined and +showing him every courtesy. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 23.) + +[Frag. LXVI] + +¶ Paulus was not only good at generalship but most inaccessible to +bribes. Of this the following is proof. Though he had at that time +entered for a second term upon the consulship and had gained possession +of untold spoils, he continued to live in so great indigence that when +he died the dowry was with difficulty paid back to his wife. Such was +the nature of the man and such were his deeds. The only thing regarded +as a blemish that attaches to his character is his turning over the +possessions [of the Epirots?] to his soldiers for pillage: for the rest, +he showed himself a man not devoid of charm and temperate in good +fortune, who was seen to be extremely lucky and at the same time full of +wise counsel in dealing with the enemy. As an illustration: he was not +cowardly or heedless in waging war against Perseus, but afterward did +not assume a pompous or boastful air toward him. (Valesius, p. 613. +Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXVII] + +1. ¶ The Rhodians, who formerly had possessed a vast amount of +self-esteem, thinking that they, too, ranked as conquerors of Philip and +Antiochus, and were stronger than the Romans, fell into such depths of +terror as to despatch an ambassador to Antiochus, king of Syria, and +summon Popilius, in whose presence they condemned all those opposed to +the Roman policy and then sent such as were arrested to punishment. +(Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +2. ¶ The same persons, though they had often sent envoys to them, as +frequently as they wanted anything, now ceased to bring to their +attention any of the former enterprises, but mentioned only those cases +which they could cite pertaining to services once rendered which might +be useful in diverting Roman ill-will. They were especially anxious at +this time to secure the title of Roman allies. Previously they had +refused to accept it. They had wished to inspire some fear in +Rome,--for, not being bound to friendship by any oath, they had power to +transfer their allegiance at any time,--and furthermore to be courted by +such states as from time to time might be engaged in war with that city. +But now they were looking to confirm the favor of the Romans and to the +consequent honor that was sure to be accorded to them by others. +(Ursinus, p. 382. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXVIII] + +¶ Prusias himself entered the senate-house at Rome and covered the +threshold with kisses. The senators he termed gods, and worshiped them. +Thus, then, he obtained an abundance of pity, though he had fought +against Attalus contrary to the Roman decision. It was said that at +home, too, whenever their envoys came to him, he worshiped them, calling +himself a freedman of the people, and often he would put on a slave's +cap. (Ursinus, p. 383. Zonaras, 9, 24.) + +[Frag. LXIX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 149 (_a.u._ 605)] ¶ Scipio Africanus excelled in +planning out at leisure the requisite course, but excelled also in +discovering at a moment's notice what needed to be done, and knew how to +employ either method on the proper occasion. The duties that lay before +him he reviewed boldly but accomplished their fulfillment as if with +timidity. Therefore by his fearless detailed investigation he obtained +accurate knowledge of the fitting action in every emergency, and by his +good judgment in doubtful cases met these emergencies safely. +Consequently, if he was ever brought face to face with some need that +admitted of no deliberation,--as is wont to happen in the contradictions +of warfare and the turns of fortune--not even then did he miss the +proper course. Through accustoming himself to regard no happening as +unreasonable he was not unprepared for the assault of sudden events, +but through his incessant activity was able to meet the unexpected as if +he had forseen it long before. As a result he showed himself daring in +matters where he felt he was right, and ready to run risks where he felt +bold. In bodily frame he was strong as the best of the soldiers. This +led to one of his most remarkable characteristics: he would devise +movements that looked advantageous as if he were merely going to command +others, and at the time of action would execute them as if they had been +ordered by others. Besides not swerving from the ordinary paths of +rectitude, he kept faith scrupulously not only with the citizens and his +acquaintances, but with foreign and most hostile nations. This, too, +brought many individuals as well as many cities to his standard. He +never spoke or acted without due consideration or through anger or fear, +but as a result of the certainty of his calculations he was ready for +all chances: he had thought out practically all human possibilities; he +never did anything unexpected, but deliberated every matter beforehand, +according to its nature. Thus he perceived very easily the right course +to follow even before there was any necessity, and pursued it with +firmness. + +These are the reasons, or chiefly these--I should mention also his +moderation and amiability--that he alone of men escaped the envy of his +peers, or of any one else. He chose to make himself like to his +inferiors, not better than his equals, weaker than greater men, and so +passed beyond the power of jealousy, which harasses only the noblest +men. (Valesius, p. 613. Zonaras, 9, 27.) + +[Frag. LXX] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 148 (_a.u._ 606)] Dio in Book 21: "Phameas, despairing +of the Carthaginian cause" [lacuna] (Bekker, Anecd. p. 124, 9a. Zonaras, +9, 27.) + +[Frag. LXXI] + +What age limit, pray, is imposed upon those who from their very boyhood +set their faces toward obtaining a right state of mind? What number of +years has been settled upon with reference to the fulfillment of duties? +Is it not true that all who enjoy an excellent nature and good fortune +both think and do in all things what is right from the very beginning, +whereas those who at this age of their life have little sense would +never subsequently grow more prudent, even if they should pass through +many years? A man may continue to improve upon his former condition as +he advances in age, but not one would turn out wise from being foolish, +or sensible from being silly. Do not, therefore, put the young into a +state of dejection through the idea that they are actually condemned to +a state of inability to perform their duties. On the contrary, you ought +to urge them to practice zealously the performance of all that they are +required to do, and to look for both honors and offices even before they +reach old age. By this course you will render their elders better, +too,--first, by confronting them with many competitors, and next by +making clear that you are going to establish not length of years but +innate excellence as the test in conferring positions of command upon +any citizens, even more than you do in the case of ordinary benefits. +[Footnote: These words would appear to be taken from the speech before +the senate of some such person as a tribune of the plebs, and to relate +either to the consulship of Scipio AEmilianus (B.C. 148) or to the +Spanish appointment of Scipio Africanus (B.C. 211), preferably the +former.] (Mai, p. 547, and also Excerpts from a Florentine MS. of John +of Antioch's _Parallela_. Cp. Zonaras, 9, 29.) + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dio's Rome, Vol VI., by Cassius Dio + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIO'S ROME, VOL VI. *** + +***** This file should be named 12061.txt or 12061.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/0/6/12061/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Jayam Subramanian and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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